Finally, Some Skiing

So, for the second time this "winter" (note the quotation marks), I went x-country skiing! Sunday was a beautiful day (actually a little too warm) and I hit the local trail with G. There I am! Whee! Did you notice I'm wearing my Panta? The picture's a little small, but trust me, I'm wearing it!

I learned how to go dowhill with less fear and more control. Only after G MADE ME DO IT, though. The first time I *screamed* as I went down. Then I realized that I had, indeed, survived, so I didn't have to scream any more. I also learned to snowplow to control my speed. Snowplowing on x-country skis feels a bit different than on downhill skis! All in all, I had an awesome time! This is such a great sport...it is so fun and I really like that it gives your arms a workout, which most physical activities I enjoy don't do (does knitting count?) I'm going to try to go a couple days this week after work. The last time I checked the weather, it might rain this weekend, which unfortunately may mean the end of snow this year. Then again, we sometimes get storms into April, so who knows?

I was very excited to receive the Knitting Pattern-a-Day calendar from my friend L in the mail! She got this for me for Christmas but forgot to bring it on our ski trip a few weeks ago. It was kinda fun getting to tear through the first two months of patterns right away...but now I'm gonna be patient and only look at the pattern on the day I'm supposed to. I found a few intriguing patterns that have been added to the pattern stash (which is actually scarier than my yarn stash).

Cherie's arms are growing: And in a sure sign of spring, I started my seeds this weekend:

Pretty much all flowers, except for some Early Girl tomatoes and Sungold cherry tomatoes. I grow tomatoes in pots, and between that and the short, frigid growing season here they never really thrive. But darn it, I try every year, and the few tomatoes I get out of it are worth it. We'll see how everything does...I usually have some brilliant successes and some abject failures when it comes to my gardening.