Thoughts on skiing

I had no idea Madison kept its zoo open in the snow! Doesn't this polar bear look just like he's at home now? The bears were out at the zoo, along with the Bison, but otherwise, naturally, not much was out, but it was a fun snow walk.

So, I went skiing yesterday and had so much fun. My body is paying for it today though - oh so sore! However, I did not fall and went down many black diamonds. I used to be quite the little ski bunny when I was young and skiied at Lake Tahoe a lot, but I am more careful now because of my back. I have to say that my physical therapy that I've done this year must be paying off because my knees didn't hurt nearly as much as they did last year when we went skiing. Yay for getting my legs stronger!!!

We went skiing last night in support of a fund raiser for ski equipment for the disabled. We've done it every year, and I almost didn't go this year because I thought it would make me sad. Why? I thought it would make me sad because I thought skiing would be crossed off my list of things I could do post-op. As I was happily gliding down the mountain (ok, mountain is a little exaggerated in Wisconsin), I decided that I don't see any reason why I couldn't ski a couple years after back surgery. I don't bend my back my back while skiing and I'm experienced enough that I know how to be careful. I could just cross black diamonds off my list of to-dos. My husband said, "That's my girl. I don't think 'I can't' is in your vocabulary." Well, that is probably a little exaggerated too. I can't do math. Hee hee - but it is true, as far as my back goes, I'm pretty determined to do whatever I can, and not much usually stops me when I put my mind to it. I hope I'm this optimistic when it comes time for surgery and recovering.