Working over Christmas was an odd new first, but I actually loved it so much. I got Christmas day itself off (until 7pm), so I was able to drive down to Denver to spend the day with my family. But otherwise, I spent all December up in Buena Vista.
^^ The Family
I was in charge of the teen class with my pals Peter and Riley. This was a very simple job…one hour each night for two weeks. Riley and Peter are hilarious and also deep, so we had amazing conversations and sometimes we played uno all night. I struggled some days because I had to come up with hard questions about classic Christmas stories, but I loved how most of the discussions turned out.
I also got to work the rock wall with Conner and Riley, which is always a blast (both the rock wall and Conner & Riley). The rock wall building uses a stove for heat, which adds a very mountainy vibe to a gym.
The teen class also has the option to go skiing and skating. I went to all of these and had a blast. Our second ski day, the teens who came opted to go off with their friends, so Peter, Conner, Tegan, and I skied together all day. Since Monarch is mostly two person lifts, this was the perfect group. I loved riding with all of them and we had a good number to mix and match. Plus (with the exception of Peter who’s really good) we were all around the same skill level.
The Truitt family decorates Christmas cookies together every year, but Mrs. Truitt made a plethora of cookies this year, so they invited all the young folks who work at Spring Canyon to come and decorate with them. We had a jolly time and the cookies ended up in a hilarious range of sophistication.
The first week, I helped Conner with the middle schoolers for the all-day childcare program. We had a lovely time. I like middle schoolers. We made gingerbread milk cartons and went to the tubing hill. Conner and I laughed at the flirtatious escapades of two of the twelve-year-olds.
It snowed really hard right after Christmas, so we worked pretty nonstop all day to keep the shoveling under control. The early morning snow dumps (see first photo) hold mixed feelings for me now. I love wading through the snow, but I’m also distinctly aware that every step I take will ice and make shoveling that much harder.
Conner and I go boarding at the tubing hill a lot. I’m learning. I can sometimes make it down without falling now. He texted on Jan 1 asking if I wanted to do something, go boarding, but since the tubing hill usually has guests now, I suggested we see if we could wade through the snow on the Colorado Trail. Tegan and Riley joined us (happy day!) and we had a jolly time traipsing up the hill. Very doable. They’re all great people.
Here’s a last photo from skiing at Monarch. Can’t get much better, can it?
I’m so grateful for living at Spring Canyon. I feel like every day is a vacation, even working all the time, so now that I’m on a two week break, I feel totally content to stay at home with my familia. That said, Mamma, Ellie, and I are heading down to Miami next week! Roll tide 🙂
xoxo
ceci
Cecilia Joy 