Guess what I did today!

I actually, factually skated!!! That's right, our pond is open and ready for business!!! Daddy got out the snowblower late this afternoon and now as much of the pond as possible is cleared off. (Parts around the edges couldn't be done because water seeped up from under the ice into the snow creating a slushy mess that is too much for the ol' snowblower to handle.)

I also went sledding down the hill onto the pond. Unfortunately, I found out on my second trip that I have gotten to big to ride my sled on my stomach. It's a short little thing and when I went over either my chest would bump the front painfully or I would wrench my back trying to prevent my chest from bumping painfully. The wrenching was just about as painful. Oh, well, too bad. I am a bit sad about it because my sled is very fast, but we have plenty of sleds that are big enough. I guess I'll just ride those now.

Next I skied down the slopes behind our house, where the seemingly endless array of pine and hemlock trees necessitated a dodging motion not unlike that used in the slalom. I almost hit a tree a couple times, but my cat-like reflexes prevented any serious accident. The closest call came when I was going to fast to stop at the bottom and, dodging the house, sped right down the sledding hill and across the pond. I lay flat on my back on the other side for several minutes before I was able to catch my breath and walk back to the warmth of the house.

After a few minutes of recovery over a steaming mug of hot cocoa, I was once again ready for adventure. The cocoa had made me quite warm, so I felt like swimming. Since our pool is covered (obviously!) and our pond is frozen, I decided to just practice my jumps on the diving board so I would be ready in the spring. I managed a quadruple flip--a personal record! I would estimate that I was nine feet in the air, but that may be an exaggeration. After all, I can't really see how high I am when I am turning so fast in the air!

As you may imagine, I was quite cold after being out in the cold in my swim suit, even though I wore a turtleneck with it. I decided the best way to warm up would be by exercise. Naturally, the best way to get exercise in New Hampshire this time of year is from shovelling. Daddy had already blown all the snow off both the driveway and the pond, so I shovelled the hill that leads to the pond since it and the yard were the only snowy places I could immediately think of. It was only afterward that I realized I had ruined our sledding path. Cara practically exploded when I told her what I had done, and I didn't even dare tell Ryan after that. The poor boy had been so looking forward to sledding, and now I'm the only one who had the opportunity. I guess both he and Cara will have to wait for the next snow.

I was so upset after being yelled at that I had to take my frustration out on something, so I decided to try snowball baseball. I rigged up a system for throwing snowballs that I consider quite ingenious, but which is too complicated to describe here. Unfortunately, the effort in building it was primarily wasted, as the snowballs never failed to explode upon colliding with the bat. I gave up after about twenty-five tries.

Then I woke up. I was back on the pond and had just finished sledding and had been knocked out by a sudden bump or wrench--which one I am not sure. Actually that's not true either. THE WHOLE THING IS A LIE!! That includes that last sentence as well, because the first two paragraphs ARE true. But that's not a lie, and I said the whole thing was a lie. Okay, I think I'd better stop now before I confuse myself!