Forecasting

So the weekend forecast was for more snow. It doesn't look like the forecasters were right this time though I was looking forward to the idea of being buffered against the world in our home, filled with my favorite comforts, on our little street, full of good people.

The view of the backyard from earlier this month

There is a different kind of storm brewing up outside now; one that I forecast will not allow me to stay buffered up inside, nice and comfortable.

The kids watching their parents slide down a 20 degree incline on a plastic dome that dead ends in 40 ft fur trees.

Day 1 - the boys were not loving the snow; B and I were crushed that ski trips may not be in the boys top ten lists.

Though, that is not a bad thing, as I often lament about too much comfort at this juncture in life. And that is not to sound ungrateful as I feel a combination of very good luck and good planning got us here; it doesn't feel right to be overly 'comfortable' right now. I mean that in a very Kundera-ish way - think 'unbearable lightness of being'. I need weight, I need calculated risk, to recognize the extents of our comforts.

So we took some risks and others were dropped on us, but I forecast the next decade to be one of steep trajectory in a number of roles in each of our lives. The hope is that we have built and will continue to maintain the strong foundations that will allow for rapid change.

It is only in going outside our comfort zones that we can truly, fully appreciate what we have inside; what we want inside.

The Tings, chilling after an intense morning of handwriting practice. He requested his teachers just call him 'Blank' so he wouldn't have to keep writing his name all over the place. We thought this was funny enough that he could call it quits for the rest of the day.

I think my lazy weekends at home are going to have to be placed on hold for a while. The blog may be hard to get to in the evenings. There will need to be more outsourcing of life. More shaving off of superfluous activities. I'll just have to be more organized, more efficient, more focused on what I really want.

When you know what to expect you can at least somewhat prepare yourself to deal with change. And since I love to analyze, refine, optimize, the next year looks like it will provide plenty of opportunities to do just that.
 

Day 4 - After a bit of pep talk, extra warm clothes and the promise of dog sledding with a team of Huskies, ice hotels and ski trips were back on the top ten list with gusto! The boys enjoyed lunch in the snow - complete with ice sculptures I forgot to photograph!



I'll be taking a lesson from the kids this year - venturing into new ground fearlessly. Though unlike the Huns, I'd like to think my fearless appearance comes from preparedness as opposed to straight-up ignorance of the consequences. However, I suppose that is one that only time will tell!

The is no terrain too extreme for stuntman Hunie

For now, all I can forecast is a blizzard of blogs as I try to get around to recapping Thansgiving to New Year's 2010 before the avalanche of work descends!