Full on "on-season"

Sorry I haven't done this lately but have been very busy. It is truly on-season and will be until the end of April. Work is good except we had a MAJOR glitch in our computer system that was very scary. It doesn't give me much faith in our system which we have been using for many years and spent a lot of money on. Fortunately we did get them to fix the problem and let others know of the major issue they were having with their system. Other than that Brad has taken up telemarking and I joined him trying it. I have had rondenee gear (back country gear for skinning up and skiing down) for years but usually use the system as regular skiis going down. Today I tried using it to telemark. It was interesting but I don't see the advantage over snowboarding and skiing. We also had a friend visiting for a few days and although we didn't get to spend much time with him the little we did was awesome. I had delivered his first baby, Bella, but then they moved out of the state to be closer to his wife's family. His wife and my friend, Cindy, died suddenly within weeks of delivering their second baby, Zeva. Since then he has done an absolutely fabulous job raising the kids alone in a place he does not love but stays for his children to know Cindy's family and in a country that is not his native country (he is originally from Slovakia). I am just honored to know him. He is one of the strongest, kindest, most amazing and loving person I know. Hope you are all happy and healthy and thankful for what you have.

Dad's 80th etc...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am very sorry I couldn't be there but am glad we got to celebrate a little in Jan and I will see you soon in Aspen!...

I have had a very busy last 2 weeks (as noted with my last message) but it is better now. I have a full day off (the first without a beeper attached in 14 days! Tomorrow I am back to it with work, call, work but hopefully I will only have to work 40ish hours this week unlike the average 90 hours the last 2 weeks!

I have had some time to play (although limited). First I missed most of Jamie Zimeron's Aikido workshop she gave Sat due to call. She is a 5th degree blackbelt that has been studying for over 35 years and was AMAZING to watch. Brad has known her for about 20 years and relishes practicing with her whenever he can. As he said once "she has what I want on the matt"... meaning she is FABULOUS. It truely was magical watching her Aikido. She stayed with us and Clifford even bonded with her.

I got out to enjoy a few walks with Clifford and this is one just outside our house. Today is catching up, laundry, maybe taxes etc... AND SLEEP!

Miss and love you all...

Kim

some busy weeks...

really not much to say except working hard... had some minus 30 nights and minus double digit days... got out into some powder one of the days but otherwise haven't seen the sun since getting up before it comes up and getting home after it goes down... will be done with the insanity and back to regular craziness 9 days from now...

x games week

Twas a fun week with some relief at work. Slowing just a bit and it was the last week of Jenny helping us out so she now knows our system ans was able to help. Jenny is the new doc we will be having join us full time in October and staff/patients loved her. That is good. Then Friday night went to see Brad play music with a new band he is part of at a Jewish service in town (the Mozeltones) and it was fun. My first service and possibly my last (I did like the Mozeltones so may be enticed back once in a while but not often!). Brad will play with them maybe once a month in the future. After that we went to my friend Shereen's house for a fantastic dinner (Shereen was "splash" in our splash/crash/dash triathelon last year). Then we had an impromptu visit from Ken, Holly, Satori, Bodhi and their dog for the weekend. It was spectacular and we did a lot of cross country skiing past Ashcroft which was STUNNING! Then Ken joined Brad in another music event tonight playing at Highlands and they had a blast. Overall great fun/friends/food etc. Now back to reality :) Oh yeah, and I had my 10 seconds of fame featured on ESPN this weekend when a discharge note I wrote ended up on the show. That is all the fame I want :)

my first sign language teacher

So last week was fun. NY was not as "yuck" as I had expected it to be (see last blog... I even enjoyed it... ESPECIALLY the awesome restaurant that Jeff brought me to that last night and the great company of him and my folks that evening) and then got back to spend a spectacular bday at home with Clifford and Brad doing what I love including spending quality time inside and outside my fabulous mountain home. The hiking was incredible that day and I was so caught up in it that I was late to meet Shinta who had made me a fabulous bday cake. I continued to do a lot of hiking and enjoying not being in the office for the rest of the week. Fri night had a great bday dinner at Brad's folks and then Sunday had a great time skiing and later went to the deaf camp to give a lecture to the deaf women's snowshoe retreat group. There I met up with my first sign language teacher Dorothy Wilkin who I hadn't seen since around 1981 when I took her AWESOME sign language class. I had taken the course to get an easy A and instead she opened my life to amazing adventures and fun. To pass her class we had to wear "maskers" to make ourselves deaf for a whole weekend and write about it (amazing eye opener), go to a party of hers with all of her deaf friends and leave our voices downstairs, and go to dinner with her and only sign the whole dinner. It was a fantastic course and I learned a ton. After that course I immersed myself in the deaf community in Rochester and went on to do an interpreter training course and get my masters in deaf education. I had expected to teach the Deaf before the course but only in an "oral" environment. The education she gave of teaching me language and culture opened my eyes to a whole new world and made me a better person. I told her how much she changed my life and she mentioned that another student from that first class I took with her had gone on to get a PhD in Linguistics and is now working for her in ASL (American Sign Language) research. Pretty cool having 2 "doctors" still involved in the Deaf community coming out of 1 class! A tribute to how good she was.

in NY... YUCK...

Last week was busy with work. It is NOT slowing down like it usually does after the New Year. This is good for business but hard on staff. Fortunately we have the best staff we have ever had at AMC and I am very happy about that.
Worked the full week. We have Jenny C, our new hire next 10/2011, visiting to do a rotation, learn and help out. Interesting to see again why we don't bring in residents/students during on season. There is NO time to teach. She is doing a good job but it is still hard.
Sat flew to NY to celebrate some birthdays and visit my mom since she couldn't come to Aspen after breaking her hip. She is finally turning a corner and it looks as if there is some healing on the xrays. She moves around quite a bit (better with 1 or 2 crutches than without them). We had dinner with Jeff in the apt Sat night after I arrived (Thai) then yesterday we went to a movie and then to dinner with my uncles in New Rochelle (Indian). It was the first time my mom has been out and she did great and the food and company was very enjoyable. SO, all is well so far. Today is a walk in the park with my dad, a museum with my Mom and Dad and then dinner with Jeff down near his place. He gave me a great hat for my bday (will have to put in a picture later). All is well and can't wait to go back to my beloved CO tomorrow. In my absence Brad has been taking care of Clifford, had a GREAT gig at the Belly Up (which I wished I could have been at) and has been doing laps snowboarding around our house! Life is good :)

2010 ends and 2011 begins...

First, it is amazing to me that a year has passed so quickly... it is TRULY AMAZING... starting with "End of a Decade" and ending with "dueling breaks" with the following in between...

Belize- the vacation that might not have been, an "ah ha" moment, a totally yucky spring weather wise, my first raft trip and my 8th year anniversary, almost 12 days of camping and another fabulous "Strawberry", a great July, Martha's Vineyard, Mt Sopris, Las Vegas (and the gecko girl tattoo), Shari joining the AMC family (I tell her almost daily how happy I am she joined us), Brad's Bday weekend and other spectacular Sept camping, Rally to Restore Sanity from afar, the awesome "Sky is Falling Party", Thanksgiving with the girls, prepping for and doing the Summit for Life with my staff, the Mastodon find, the wrong and then the right car, Shinta becoming the teacher, etc etc...

During my last week of 2010 Anne took me to the "Crystal Palace Review" at the Wheeler and it was fantastic. And because I worked for New Years Eve and was on call tonight Brad took me out for an early New Years at a very nice restaurant and then we went to see the Mother Puckers play the Aspen Police (who brought in ringers from up and down the valley)... The Mother Puckers were winning at half time when I left.... it was VERY fun. A great way to end the year. Brad went to some parties but managed to get home just at midnight to watch fireworks with me and Clifford at our house as the year changed over. Tomorrow (today) we do our traditional New Years Day party at Lee and Steve Rittvo's.

I look forward to another fantastic year in 2011. I expect some good times with my family, more wonderful time with Clifford d-dog hiking and playing, another year of celebration with my long time partner Brad, continued work with a currently and hopefully continuing fantastic staff (with Jenny joining us towards the end of the year), another great "Strawberry", and adventures in Nashville and "Burning Man" which will be some exciting new experiences for me.

Lots of love and peace out to those who read this and to the universe...