Snow!!!

I can't believe that we got snow this past weekend. I am guessing I had about 6-8 inches piled up on the deck Monday morning. The is early for this much snow. There is this misconception that we have snow on the ground all but a few months of the year here. The fact is we hardly get anything. Colorado as a whole gets lots of snow in the mountains. The mountains themselves generate a lot of there own weather patterns. The snow doesn't make it out to the foothills/plains all that often. We are a very arid state all in all. When we do get a big snow it melts almost as fast as it fell.

It snowed in the evening Sunday, then on and off all day Monday. Today it all melted except where there is shade. Personally I would love to get about 6 big snows a year. I am talking over 12 inches each. I love the snow. Maybe some of this is from growing up in Michigan.

I have reserved a cabin for a weekend in November up in the mountains about an hour or so away. These cabin are for Agilent employee use, and don't cost a thing. You gotta love that. Near the cabins there is a great looking sled hill that I know we will be using if there is enough snow.

The pictures here are from March of 2003. Yes, that is me crashing hard after going off a jump. I had a worse one later that day where I did a back flip. My back was killing me that night. I remember it well.

My sister Patti and her family will be here for Christmas, so I know we'll get in at least one day of skiing, and possibly more. We have a mandatory shutdown at work which gives me time to go. I typically only get to go skiing once, maybe twice a year. Last year we didn't go at all since we had Christmas in Michigan.

I booked a flight to Michigan for my mom, Mike and myself for Dec 3rd through 5th for Patti's surprise 50th birthday party. Her birthday is on Dec 1st (the day after mine). It is sure to be a tear jerker considering that Dec 2nd last year was when Paula died. This has been a tough year for all of us.

Chantel has been trying to call a lot lately. I have ignored every one. She should be getting the last of her stuff tomorrow. She gave up on calling and sent me a text message last night. I didn't see it until this morning. She asked, "Are you never going to return my calls?". I debated whether to answer the question. I decided to just send back a message saying that her stuff should be there today or tomorrow. Once I hit send I knew I was going to regret it. She then asked why I won't talk to her. I basically told her that I don't want to talk to her anymore. I stopped responding to further questions. She then asked if she could send Erik a birthday card. I told her "no". I decided a while back that I want no contact with her anymore, and since she has used the kids to try to manipulate me before, then they were off limits too. I personally thought she had a lot of nerve to even ask.

Is her behavior typical? Normally when I date someone and we end up breaking up (whether I break it off or she does) I have never been mad at the other person. Granted most of the women I have dated in the past 4 years didn't go past 2 or 3 weeks, but I still stayed cordial with many of them. Hell I still get my hair cut by someone I dated. Have I just been lucky in the past? Is it easier to just cut and run in all cases? Is this another change I need to make for the future?