On the road...Here I am, blogging from the bedroom of a condo in Vail, Colorado. First off, for Mama T, the definition of boondoggle applicable to this trip is "a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft" . It means I have a business associate (another chemical company) who puts out massive amounts of money to pay for my room, meals, ski rentals, lift tickets, etc. under the guise of a "winter seminar". So for a half hour one morning we listen to an economist give us his outlook on energy markets and the rest of the time we enjoy the ridiculously luxurious trip. Nice, eh?

Except here's the thing, and I truly shouldn't complain because few people ever get these types of opportunities. But I miss the boys. Stuff is happening at my house and I'm not there. I'm sad to miss the good and the bad. Hayden was throwing up Sunday and I wasn't there to comfort him. Trevor was up in the middle of the night (likely screaming for milk to no avail) and I wasn't there to put him back to bed. Trevor has apparently learned to blow kisses in my absence. And he brings his plate into the kitchen when he's done eating. I won't be home till tomorrow night and he'll probably be off to college by then.

So I successfully skiied two days without a single mishap and it's really, really lovely here. But it just isn't the same to be somewhere wonderful when you're not able to share it with the people you love. My favorite part of the trip was the few times I rode the little chair lift by the bunny hill and was asked to escort a ski-schooler up the lift. Those five minute rides with Elan (5-yr old boy from New Jersey) and Henry (7-yr old boy from St. Louis) were the highlight of my day. We chatted about Cars (the movie) and Spiderman and their younger siblings, etc. and I felt like a mom for a minute as I helped them on and off the list and made sure they reconnected with their group at the top of the hill. Doing your own thing is fun, but being a mom is better.

I'll close with this picture of me taken with the camera phone today. Aren't I the picture perfect ski bunny? HA!