Sledding

Did you know we had a blizzard last week?

Studmuffin had the grand idea that he would rocket down poised on two trash can lids.  Yeah, it was a rather glorious tumble down the hill.  I'm only sorry I didn't get pictures snapped of it as it happened!

Thursday I got to stay home with the family.  They had all been trapped in the house since Monday night, as our roads were impassable, and I'd been held hostage at the hospital.  We decided if I could make it 20 miles home, then we could surely brave the roads to go sledding!

I had bought a genuine old fashioned sled complete with wood and metal runners a few years ago for two bucks at our town wide garage sale.  Studmuffin sneered and wondered when I would ever use the thing.

Well, it worked great!  However, since we are a family of four, we had to get creative on sledding gear.  We used this lovely blue laundry basket, circa 1996. 

How do I know what year it was bought?  Well, Gentle Reader, it was the laundry basket we bought after we got married!  We had both always just used laundry bags to get back and forth from college.

Notice it is navy blue.  Remember in the mid 90s when everything was navy blue, burgundy and hunter green?

We actually ended up sledding for two hours.  We were all a little sore the next day from trudging back up the hill with sleds in tow...

Well, and crashing may have added a small measure of soreness.

Please refrain mentioning how dwarfed that sled looks under a full grown woman!

I was also sore due to the fact that I had a wipe out of epic proportions...

On my way back to the pickup!

I was carrying my trusty trash can lid, and as I walked up the slope to the pickup grass was showing up through the snow.  I allowed this to mislead me into believing I had traction.  The next thing I knew, my feet flew out from under me, I did a 180 in the air, and landed on my shoulders, bonking myself in the head with the corner of the trash can lid!  I rolled my ankle in the process, and my upper body landed on the pavement...

I laughed.  Loud and long.

What else are you going to do?  Let's be real.  There is nothing funnier than a good fall.  Especially after you force yourself to hold in the laughter until you ascertain the person is not seriously injured.

Then it is laugh until you cry and cross your legs to avoid wetting your pants.

Because falling is funny. Don't pretend you're above laughing at others expense!

Other people were using cardboard boxes.  The best cardboard box was rapped in duct tape.  That sucker went farther and faster than any contraption besides the actual sled!  Popcorn was trying out a box while she let someone else use the trash can lid.

I would have no readers of this blog if you did not enjoy laughing at others misfortunes!

I will end this post with an embarrassing picture of my husband who laughed lovingly at my fall and repeatedly asked why I did not drop the trash can lid before bonking myself with it...

Because clearly, any quick thinking individual would be able to plan falls more gracefully than I did!

And can I please have a show of hands for all who gleefully tromp their kids at Twister?  My beloved mother scolds me for "not even letting your kids win at Twister."  My answer to that?  There is no glory in a hollow victory!

And I hate to lose.

Oh, and since I know many of you have been holding Oliver up in prayer during this trying winter, I thought I'd post a picture letting you know how he's doing...

I'd say he's fair to middlin'.