Mum 2's Contribution...

A MAYONNAISE JAR AND 2 CUPS OF COFFEE

When things in your life seem almost too much too handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full they agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar .
Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things- your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions--things that if everything else was lost and only they remained your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.
The sand is everything else -- the small stuff.
If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner.
Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."
Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

sounds like a plan stan!

Can someone tell me where "sounds like a plan stan!" comes from.. who the hell was Stan, and why does he always get a mention?? Stan... Stan the man? etc etc et - flamin - cetera!...

Fiona can NOT make coffee...

Contessa Makes me laugh....


Thursday, January 11, 2007

I have some news you may not be aware of...

...I am ridiculously neurotic.I know what you're thinking. "Oh, she's just exaggerating!"No.I'm not.See, I'm the kind of person that will sit and read every inch of a menu, not to decide what to order, but because I'm spell checking it. I'll do the same with a box of cereal or the packaging for a bottle of Ibuprofen.Sometimes I can't decide whether to have carrots or beans for dinner. Because one is higher in riboflavin than the other and hey! Maybe I should get a quick blood test to see what my levels are.It could be a relaxing summer day and I'll be sitting there wondering, is that cloud in the shape of a tiger or does it look more like Woody Allen having sex with a crocodile? And if I choose tiger, what does that mean?Am I nuts? Am I the only one that wonders what the price of tea in China really is??

This is probably why I can't fall asleep at night.

Luce finishing that coffee...

LUST LUST LUST

A new perspective.

With its effective focal length range of approximately 16-35mm in 35mm format, the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM is a remarkable lens with outstanding image quality that will take your photography into new dimensions and areas of dramatic expression. Beyond human perspective

The super-wide zoom not only gives you the freedom to get exactly what you want in the shot, it dramatically alters perspective to allow for dynamic expression. The lens allows you to get extremely close to subjects, exaggerating the difference in size between a near object and its background.

Creative photographers can use this phenomenon to create excellent separation between subject and background for a strong sense of presence, or for a pan-focus effect with everything from foreground to background sharply in focus. Small, light and close

Exceptionally light and compact for its focal length range, the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM also has an incredibly close minimum focusing distance of just 24cm. Fast focusA ring-type USM works in concert with the camera to provide super-fast, precision auto focusing and predictive tracking - with full manual override available at any time.

Designed for digital Designed specifically for digital photography, the lens has specially shaped lens elements and Super Spectra coatings to suppress ghosting and flare, which can be caused by reflections off digital camera sensors. An exclusive optional lens hood can further reduce the incidence of flare.

Background blur A circular aperture provides a pleasing background blur when shooting with a wide aperture; ideal for creating a sense of depth and getting your subject or model to stand out from the background.


What can I say... I lust

Anon....


Thank you - Good Will Hunting - for solving the mystery of the airoplane. If only we had more people around like you.


Back home, had a little sleep, up now... going for dinner... must stay awake... must... stay... awake.... must zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Denver Airport loves you....

.....Almost as much as Beaver Creek

Paul from SnowBound Express dropped us off in the A-Team van a little while ago, we watched wedding crashers in the van, plush-tastic. If you want a plush van to take you from Denver International to Vail or any other Rocky Mountain resort Call SnowBound Express - (970) 845-9985... you guys rock...
After almost stripping naked to get through US customs and stuff, we are now sat in the "food court" getting stuck into a bit of KFC (apparently the Kernel is dead?!) Just doesnt taste anygood any more...

Pasky wants to know - How many people does it take to actually launch a Jet, like a jumbo... So, from the pilot to the ground crew to the people sitting you down on board... the blokes that book you in and take your bags, the people that ready the runway and clean the ducks out of the engine... does anyone know?... can anyone guess?...

Thomas - that picture up there is for you...
My Lips are sore... Jodes just gave me some random tingling stuff to wipe on them... tingle-ingle
Pasky is over on the other table updating as we speak... G'Day Pasky....
Good week was had by all, no injuries to report (cracked lips, bruised feet, bruised knee and a couple of sore necks aside) no emergency medical treatment required... lovely
Marilyn, if you read this - thanks again for having us!!... why you would be reading this is WAY beyond me, but stranger things have happened.

over and out, Sime™

Goodbye Lodge at LionsHead

....We loved you!

Pasky, Pirate, Pollock, Jodes and Mitchy

Last day on the hill....

"lets make it out for first lift!" ....we never did

Broke another glass this morning - bad luck?...

Dad, did you get some surfing in?...

Aching....


Day was OK, snow is pretty thin... lucky for us its the last day, though, there are some heavy looking clouds on the horizon... PERFECT TIMING

Its our last night, we are headed out for dinner tonight to some totally american burger joint.. should be ok...

PUR - PolyUrinalReactiv.... Pirate and Pask are teaching me "printing and binding".... amazing stuff..

Check out at 10am cause Marilyn is back in tomorrow... darn it all...

Not a bad day, the base of the Karmas will tell you different - rock-tastic, few chinks...

Right... chill time.

HAS ANYONE SEEN IAN?

I took this daft quiz, just to test if my adsense pages were working... this is what happened!

How Romantic Are You?
Take the Quiz
Your Quiz Results: You're a hopeless romantic. You require ample doses of warmth and sentiment. You embroider your fantasies; they titillate you and lift you out of the ordinary. You're the cockeyed optimist of song, a dreamy, maybe impractical idealist, the willing victim of infatuation.

Yeah, sounds like me... oh, they forgot "you cry in crappy chick flicks"



Anyway... HAS ANYONE SEEN IAN?

Warm outside...

Currently not very many degrees hot here in the Rocky Mountains... but feeling very warm having just wandered in from the spa into the warmth of our Condo (sounds like a birdman or something...) pretty chilled out and sad that tomorrow is the last day of the 2007 trip... we have one more weekend to La Tania in Feb... but it just aint the same, is it?

Can someone loan me $15,750.000 so I can buy THIS please?!....

La Tania has had 20cm overnight and powder conditions apply, good news... keep falling.my nose hurts...

Todays Events.... and some skiing

So, after the little partoy lastnight, we made it out of bed pretty late - Jodes had to fit in another couple of runs to bring her weekly total to at least 6!!...that'd make it about $70 a run Joey....!!!...

Any ways... I have a headache... so, here are some pictures.

Jodes went home today, we just waved her off in her CME
back to Denver Int... Cya JodesLove, was great to have you on the hill with us... xx



Sime™


Me and Mitch


The Crew (less pirate)


Looking back down the Gondola


Jodes Rockin' Out


Mitch and Pirate in the Gondola.


Me getting all James Hetfield on my airguitar!


Bruce Lee who?


bzzzzt bzzzzzzzrrrrt


Me and Mitchy chillin by the fire...

Right.... going to soak in the spa.... out.

I can see the moon from here!...



Yahwey, Yahwey... EVERYONE is in fine form tonight... we had a bbq with a bit of steak and some snags "HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY" the kids are playing cards and lenny kravitz is rocking out in the background... no... no... it's JOHN FARNHAM!!... no no... Frou Frou - DETAILS... brilliant, buy it HERE


Price check on isle two... isle?...


Skiing today was magic, lots of speed.. lots of laughs.. pirate tried to get me back for a little bit of "snow drifting" and rode up my skipole on his big old snowboard, rendering yet another pole bent... that's three in three seasons...!! ...i love poles. Pasky was trying to set a new land speed record, and almost succeeded... we were going so quick down pitchfork that i thought the devil himself would come out and tell us to slow the hell down... at one point a 12 (?) year old girl decided to traverse right infront of me across a lip I was about to launch off.. as it happened Jodi was standing on the same lip.. so I decided that rather than yell "Yeild" and blast right through her that I would throw out all the anchors that I had and stop to say hi to Jodes... what happened next was pretty funny... a wall of snow about 7' high rose up and engulfed the young woman... think I may have scared her, poor dear... her dad thought it was funny, I explained "yeild" and skiied on... crumbs!


Jodes has decided to get all sleepy on us:



....music is worthless unless it can make a complete stranger break down and cry

night kids... s

Guess who cooked tonight.....


.....pasky rippin' it up

And he did....

Beaver Creek.....didn't see ONE beaver...

Welcome to Beaver Creek

...bit of lift action


Mitchy at Beaver Creek!...


We found a run "PitchFork" it's a tasty black out of Beaver Creek village... I think we were managing top to bottom in 45 odd seconds... quite the buzz... pirate couldn't talk he was that excited.

Beaver Creek.....

......we are headed for BC today. hopefully the snow will be kind to us... beaver creeks tag line is "not exactly roughing it"... um... what could they mean??




See ya's later...

Can't someone stop this train?





Speaking of Jenga....

This news just in...
An acquaintance of mine has heard that a small alpine town in the rocky mountains has had all their complete winter supply of hair products sold in a matter of days! Locals have also been seeing a young lady frantically crashing into other skiers (mainly young men) and causing considerably injury. Eyewitnesses have described her as: wearing a designer ski suit and (believe it or not) skiing with a handbag. It is believed that while the young lady’s skiing ability is in great doubt, most of the accidents are the result of her talking on her mobile phone... NO IDEA WHO THEY COULD MEAN.....

Fiona....GET BACK TO WORK

Well, we had the jenga match to end all Jenga matches lastnight... "strip jenga" proved to be quite high stress... here's a pic of Pirate trying to hold it together.... Needless to say, with this kind of concentration on his face - Pete didn't lose... Pasky on the other hand....
The boys battled it out, but as you can see Pasky lost his cool, and his trousers!!... In the end Jodie (wearing three sets of clothes and a steady hand) came off on top with the rest of us in some minor state of undress. there was no nudity involved and no animals were harmed during the making of this amazing sporting event.







everyone loves a roast...

THREE DAYS TO GO


so, i think i have had the best roast beef ever tonight... maybe it was the altitude...

also played a quality game of "strip jenga" which saw mr.nathan sitting in his boxers gritting his near naked teeth at every go... quality.


TG, you'll be pleased to note that I saw a QUALITY "World" hand dryer... Tried to get a snapshot, but whipping a camera out in the middle of a mens toilets seemed a bit weird...

The place we're staying in is hilarious... there are family pictures up everywhere, so many infact that we are tempted to take a few pictures of our own and photoshop them into some of the frames... that's not mean is it?!...

Thats me up there... scraping some snow off the side of a hill, namely "blue ox" a double diamond black slide at vail... quality hill that one.

Here are some facts about Vail for ya...

Resort Type: Alpine
Winter: Nov to April
Total pistes/trails: 193
Total ride area: 5289acres
Longest run: 4miles (6.4km)
Average annual snowfall: 8.5m
Artificial snowmaking coverage: 5%
Lifts
Total Lifts: 34
Gondolas: 1
Chair lifts: 23
Drag lifts: 10
Max people per hour: 53,281
Board Leashes required: Yes
Passes & Facilities
Lift Passes: Day pass $81
3 of 5 days $243
5 of 8 days $405
Better deals if you book in advance via their websiteLift times:8.30am to 4.00pm
Night Riding: Yes
Snowboard Schoolsone day group $90/100 1 Hour Private Lesson - $110 3 hours park lesson $80
Snowboard HireBoard and boots - $27
Heliboarding: Yes
Snowmobiles1 hour from $62

Right.. you have all the info...
HERE is a piste map...
HERE is the official vail website
HERE is the weather forecast... (yes, i know... no snow till we leave)

Day... i never touched your bag....!!

The look of love.....






.....is a nicely groomed piste amongst other things...



My lips are dry from the sun and the snow... dry, like the dry you get when you eat a cup of dust...

the kids are playing canasta....cannister?... a card game and joey is workin' "to pay for the trip" ..tempted to go for a swim....









Just been chattin' to Thomas, he is in Sydney right now and going to be married soon... :) fella... these are a couple of crap pics of the place we are stayin in Vail...


This is the pool as taken through our lounge room window... pretty close then
Do a bit more stuff later... word.