"I can't do that" is no longer in my vocabulary since becoming a GlamMa. It might be a dangerous decision but hey....somebody said we only live once. Like Betty White...I am going out with a high kick.
I used to ski. I used to love to ski. I used to have wonderful ski experience with friends and family. Then the kids grew up and ski holidays with the parents became "lame". So it had been a good ten years since I had donned my boots and Bogner one piece. A scavenger hunt in the attic uncovered 1,000 dead stink bugs, 500 dead wasps and a plethora of "gently used" clothing ...size 4. Who wore those???? Amid the rubble was my very stylish collection of ski clothing. I loved my one piece Bogner. Every picture taken with my children and husband on various ski trips was in the one piece. I was looking forward to donning it again.
I unfolded it gently remembering when Ross and Lauren learned to ski / snowboard. The wonderful trips with friends to Mamouth Mountain in California with various children barfing in the backseat. Vail vacations with 4 year old boys having fist fights under the dining room table. New Year's Eve at a trendy Japanese restaurant in Aspen where every dish was just plain awful and the one Thanksgiving when Lauren had gone off with her husband to be and his family causeing Ross, Steve and I to escape to Aspen and a dinner where we were surrounded by families with no fewer than 30 members. I vowed never again.
So here we were again. I smiled....actually giggled... at the prospect of starting a new tradition with Meg (now 4 1/2) and Julia ( 21 months) on the ski slopes. But first, the outfit.
After assuring that no stink bugs or spiders had created homes in the outfit I slipped one leg then another into the sleek black fabric. Good so far. Insert arms into the sleeves, pull up and zip. Zip??? Zip???? What is happening at the waist????????? Why won't it zip? Can't be. Won't accept. Zip harder. Suck it in. SHIT!!!!
After assuring myself that it wasn't a zipper malfunction but rather a middle age waist malfunction I slipped my arms and legs out of the offending outfit that used to be my go to piece and tossed it aside. How did this happen? Well, I'll tell you how it happened. Too much food, too much wine and not enough exercise. Aargh.
I decided that GlamMa would be fine in two pieces as long as they were still red. My choice, another Bogner, but this time I a jacket only with separate ski pants. When I got the pictures later I was horrified to see I looked like a sausage. Not only was the jacket bulky, it was too long and outdated. Nevermind, this trip wasn't about me, it was about being with the GlamBabies and their parents, my newly married son and his wife and of course Steve. Plus it would be Steve's birthday on this trip.
Vanity has its place but not when you are fighting the elements. None of us looked our best.
But we were together and that's a beautiful thing.
And Meg did learn to ski! And ice skate. Fun times to come.