Anybody Out There?

It finally dawned on me that the reason I wasn't blogging was that looking at this blog was too painful a reminder of a life that I loved and cherished but was thrown away- unceremoniously. So that life is gone. And that is all I will say about that.

But our family, Clarke, Oscar and I, are here. Here in Brooklyn. Here at the barn in Saranac Lake. And daaaaamn, we are still having some fun. So I want to blog, but not here. New site but the same ol' stuff. Funny stories, restaurant reviews, recipes, ADK adventures and love.

And because I insist on cheesy, double-entendre blog names, the name reflects my new neighborhood (Park Slope, Brooklyn) and my old Adirondack mountains, with a wink to the crazy-ass year it has been. Introducing..... www.SlopeOpera.blogspot.com.

Hope to see you there. Bridget

Ski Season!

We didn't arrive until Saturday afternoon, which was a great excuse not to be productive or cook but just to chill out and ski. In our absence we had a freezing water pipe accident, but by the time we arrived on Saturday, Bill, our trusty neighbor, had not only fixed the pipes, but rerouted and insulated some problem areas. Each year we are making little improvements.

After a Saturday evening of pizza dinner and scrabble, Sunday we had our first outing and the skiing was fantastic. You can tell it is the beginning of the season because we were out of the house by 8:15am. Clarke talked me into trying the "Silver Glades", some moguls, AND a jump (which landed me on my a**) The crowds have not arrived, yet. The weather was mild. We all had shaking legs at the end of the day and the boys snoozed on the way home while I belted out Christmas music to keep myself awake. Worth all the effort!

We will be back up at some point during the holidays.

Sedation

It is more than calm that takes over at the barn. I literally feel like i enter a different state. Oscar and I woke up early and walked the "estate". We made pancakes, ran errands (Clarke got an awesome ski jacket at the Saranac Lake ski club used ski sale), went bowling ($3 per game!), and arrived back early afternoon to make a fire, warm some cider, switch on NPR and do some reading. The boys did their homework. I made roast turkey, mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner and then we played Risk. I raged through 4 loads of laundry, and started my Christmas list. All in all, it seemed like a pretty busy day but again, I was sort of happily, slowly going from activity to activity in a lovely, calm fog. Do you think there is some sort of carbon monoxide leak? Or is it brain space?

The weather was "eh." Too warm and rainy. We are ready ready ready for the snow! The boys may be up there for Thanksgiving and we will all be back the weekend after, hopefully putting up a Christmas tree and SKIING.

We are back in Brooklyn and Oscar has asked that we also get a Brooklyn tree and decorate it in Brooklyn style. I am considering hanging replica slices and Uncle Louie's containers. Any other ideas?

Whoah

It's November in the Adirondacks, and I am in a tank top swatting flies. What is wrong with this picture?

Anyway, trip up was peaceful and lovely...but longer than I remembered. Have to get back in the groove again. My plan was to bake all the chicken pieces in my fridge and the boys could munch on delicious oven-baked, coated chicken, raw carrots, and wine sap apples...but then a friend, who was long overdue for a catch-up, showed up unexpectedly in Brooklyn from the far away land of Manhattan and all that healthy, nutritious prep was dropped in lieu of ladies brunch at Sweet Melissa. See. I haven't posted for awhile but not much has changed. We are still flying by the seat of our pants. The boys and I stopped at the lovely Malta Diner instead. The diner was fine but the city planning folks of Malta must have been on crack when they designed the off road from the highway -these crazy traffic circles everywhere a la London. "Look kids Malta Diner. Look kids Malta Diner"

We arrived in time for Jenga, Shut the Box and then shut off the lights and go to bed while mom blogs. More tomorrow!

One Week?

So Saranac Lake, you couldn't wait one week before you started Winter Wonderland 2008-2009 Edition? When I saw the picture of our yard from Wednesday, I literally gasped. Too exciting. The boys and I are heading up next week to get ready for our winter fun. The picture also prompted me to call our trusty neighbor Bill to inquire if he has found any firewood. Anyone know a good source?

For this week, we will enjoy our first Halloween in Brooklyn...yo. I'll try to take some pictures but um...I can't seem to find my camera after my move. Sigh. Not so important as the costumes are pretty uninspired. Clarke rejected my Todd Palin and Bloodied Banker idea and Oscar just wanted The Joker. Each year I get a little less inspired for this damn holiday. I'm waiting for the kids to kind of get over it? Is that wrong? I'll happily move on to the real holidays coming up.

Pondering

Thanks to all for your nudges, and hellos, and emails. Well, it is very tempting to get into great detail about the reasons why I haven't been blogging, because it might make the 46er Stickler (OCD?) commenter feel terrible about being so petty when life is about so much more...but I won't. Suffice to say, life has gotten a lot more complicated lately and everytime I go to post, I feel odd leaving out details, and I have no desire to make my nice family blog into something else.

Also we haven't been getting to the barn very often which makes me incredibly sad. I can't believe I haven't been to Tuckers Taters for the corn maze; I can't believe Oscar chose not to have his party there this year; i can't believe I missed the fall color.

HOWEVER, I now have a bit of mind space to figure out how to schedule in our regular trips again, and am determined to take a trip in November and then of course, SKI SEASON!

I am not going to post until we get back up there but I think I will be ready soon. Thanks again, everyone.

Helloooo??

Yikes, it's been a long time! Boys have been up at the barn with their dad and I've tried to convince them to blog about their epic climb of McKenzie Mountain (!). Not bad, eh? Alas, they couldn't be bothered but trust that they are having a great summer. Now, I am back and getting a plan for the rest of our week. Seems like today will be a nice one and we will be visiting our lovely friends Angus and Linnea on lovely Rainbow Lake. Stay tuned!