Hello, again!

Yikes! Three months since my last blog entry. One of my goals this fall was (is) to keep up on my blogs. My copywriting blog has sort of taken a backseat since I am no longer independently employed, but I would like to be better about Megskis. And actually, there is a lot to report since I last wrote in July . . . Luke returned from Japan, we moved back to Boulder, AND I started my new job. But, I’m not going to catch up on all that now, because it’s too far behind. So current stuff instead . . .

The last few weeks have been really busy work-wise. It’s almost ski season (well, not really, but because I work with the industry, the season starts for me in a few days). The PSIA-AASI National Teams just arrived for a week of training, which means the office has been in freakout mode. So far, so good, though. We just wrapped up a weekend training session in Lakewood, and the teams just left for Copper Mountain. I will chill in Boulder tomorrow (one day of weekend is better than none!), and then head up to Copper on Monday for what will probably be three days of schlepping on skis, by foot, or in the car. I’m totally looking forward to it, however, as I like to be crazy busy.

(World Series interruption – Rays vs. Phillies, game three. I can hardly believe that this time last year I was in Japan during the World Series, watching the Rockies in the corner of Luke’s TV screen! Visit www.cooltiques.blogspot.com)

It should be a lot of fun. And I am really psyched to get back to skiing, as my season was cut short in the spring by my shoulder dislocation accident. Speaking of which, I have just been able to start climbing again, and it looks like Luke and I will head for Moab next weekend after I wrap up in Copper and Vail (have to go to Vail for a meeting right after team training!). We plan to climb and bike, which will make for a nice trip before the winter comes.

I can hardly believe that it’s the end of October. It seems like we were just on the Western Slope viewing the colors (see picture above), but I realize now that it’s been a month since we went over that way to hang out in Carbondale, Marble and Glenwood with Matt and Anne! Wow, before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas. And probably another three months until I blog again. Time is flying!

New Job! PSIA/AASI

Now that I’ve updated my website and built up my clientele, I’ve gone and gotten a new job. Really, it’s an opportunity I could not pass up. So, as of the beginning of August I will be the marketing coordinator at the Professional Ski Instructors of America and American Association of Snowboard Instructors! I am super excited to pursue what I consider to be a dream job. This will, however, necessitate a move back to the Front Range. So, I am Boulder bound!

Goodbye Rowdy . . .

I’m feeling a little bit sad today. Well, maybe not sad. There’s not really any reason to be sad – this is, after all, just bittersweet, I suppose. But, I can’t help but feel sort of down about the fact that the University of Colorado is getting a new Ralphie. And actually, I do have a right to be broken up about it, because I spent three of my four years at CU as a Ralphie Runner. Ralphie IV, or Rowdy, as we called her, was the only buffalo I ever worked with. She was pretty young when I joined the team, but that was more than seven years ago, and as captive bison don’t have a very long life expectancy, she is at the end of her career.

In the past, the team always scrambled to find a new mascot after the current animal passed on. I suppose they wanted to be prepared this time, which is smart, but it’s sad to me that Rowdy’s days on Folsom Field have come to an end. She was kind of my baby. We were, after all, the only girls on the team for a while and we had a special bond. That bond was cemented when she tossed me like hay on pitchfork during one of my first practices, leaving my right leg black and blue from the knee up. From that day on we understood each other a lot better.

I would spend hours upon hours sitting in her pen, doing my homework, while she sniffed around me and grunted, as if to say, “I know you now, and I like you. We’re friends.”

For a long time, I was the only one she trusted to harness her before her runs. The boys didn’t get her and she didn’t get them. They weren’t gentle and sweet and certainly never kissed her slobbery nose like I did. And if they saw me coddle, I would always get scolded – the boys wanted her to be mean and fast.

But she wasn’t mean and she was never as fast as her predecessors, but I believe she possessed much more spirit and personality than any bison that came before or will come after her. She did what she wanted when she wanted to do it – and no one could stand in her way. (Maybe that’s why we got along so well.) And I know that I will always remember this impressive creature, at once gentle and wild, for her great might, tempered by poise and quiet resolve. . . I think I carry a little bit of her spirit with me.

Quick Catch Up

For someone who claims to be as addicted to blogging as I do, I sure haven’t done a very good job of feeding my addiction recently. So, let’s see, quick catch up . . .

I moved back to Vail! Well, actually Edwards. And so far I love it. It’s much more livable than Vail with lots of shops and restaurants for us normal people. There’s also a much greater sense of community here, thanks to all the year-round residents.

And as much as I would love to just park it here and not leave for a while, my second love, CU football, (first love, skiing) keeps dragging me back to Boulder and various other places. A few weekends ago, I went to Denver to watch the Buffs play CSU, and win! Last weekend I went to Phoenix to watch the Buffs play ASU, and lose. ☹ Still bummed, but what can you do? It’s in my blood, so I keep going back to watch them get stomped. Which is probably what I’ll be doing this weekend when I head to Folsom Field to see the Buffs challenge Florida State.

Up here in the Vail Valley, I have been really busy getting settled in my new place, working and prepping for ski season. I am actually taking a ski conditioning class with my fellow ski instructors and I love it! It’s a super hard workout, but I think it will really whip me into shape.

So, between moving, catching up on work and settling back into the mountain life, you can see why it has been so hard for me to keep up with my blog. That said, my future entries will hopefully be more exciting, not just a rundown of my recent activities. How boring, but I needed to fill in the gaps.

Until next time, Go Buffs and Think Snow!

Happy Hour Boulder

I did something today that I haven’t done in a long time – write a Happy Hour Boulder newsletter. When we first launched the site, I was so good about communicating happy hour news on a weekly basis. But, as the luster of new business ownership faded, the parties ended, and the work set in, I began to lose motivation. Over the winter, skiing took precedence, as did work that actually paid, but I still took care of happy hour business as much as possible. By the time summer rolled around, though, and I left for Japan, happy hour news really fell by the wayside, and I was totally neglectful insofar as promoting our brilliant business idea.

On the upside, I diligently maintained the database. So even if anxious happy hour goers weren’t getting a weekly buzz from me, they could still count on the site to be complete and updated.

But, I’ve renewed my happy hour spirit with the idea of featuring a weekly cocktail in our newsletter and creating a happy hour blog (coming soon).

I plan on spending some time over the next few weeks rejuvenating our original plan by reestablishing relationships with different happy hours and the users of our site. We’re planning a one-year celebration and some cool ways to get businesses psyched on keeping their information updated. And, if there’s time, maybe we’ll even hit a happy hour or two. ☺

Meg skis and does some other stuff, too

Blogging in Japan was so much fun that I decided to continue posting entries back in the real world. I had a hard time coming up with a blog title, so I stole the name “megskis” from my flickr.com photo account. It doesn’t quite cover all the bases, but since I’ve spent my last few winters ski bumming it in Vail and I am about to move back up there, this time for a year, it seemed at least somewhat appropriate.

At present, I am in Boulder, having nearly recovered from jet lag, only to put myself through the ringer again on a red-eye flight to Boston tonight. My dear friend Sarah (actually the only friend I ever made in a huge lecture at CU) is getting married tomorrow, so I’m off to see her tie the knot.

Then it’s back to Boulder for a week to work (I have several great copywriting projects going now), followed by a short camping trip and weekend in Glenwood Springs before I move up to Vail.

And thus, the Meg Skis blog is begun . . .