Ski week

Sometimes when you are in the middle of something, you think it is very normal. But when you start talking to others about it, you realize your reality is just that, only your reality. That's the conclusion I came to when I mentioned to a few of the sales reps I work with who live out of state that I was taking off for Ski Week, to go skiing, of course.

"Ski week," they said. "What do you mean ski week?"

"All the kids around here get not only President's Day off but the whole week after that Monday. It's called Ski Week," I explained.

"Oh, so they get that instead of Spring Break?"

"No," I replied, "They get Spring Break too. I think the schools stay open one week longer in June to make up for it."

"Why do they get an extra week of vacation?" asked my sales rep friends.

"Parents were pulling their kids out that week anyway to go skiing so the Newport Mesa School District decided to institutionalize it by declaring this week an official week off. It cuts down on absences and, hence, increases the school's revenue."

"Interesting," they commented.

That's when you realize you live in "The O.C." and things here are just different.

We decided to go to Mammoth Mountain for our ski week http://www.mammothmountain.com/. Actually, my husband decided. When it comes to skiing I have been a nonparticipant in our family going on 8 years. My husband and my Kid took up snowboarding last year, because it was time to purchase equipment for the Kid and stop renting. My husband decided that he, himself, would like to start snowboarding. And so it was decided, the Kid would snowboard. They went up 3 or 4 times to local mountains. It was a struggle to teach the Kid how to snowboard (crying, whining, the usual) but my husband prevailed. By the end of the season, the Kid had stopped talking about skiing and seemed excited about snowboarding.

So my husband set up this trip to Mammoth and invited his sister's son who also likes to snowboard. My husband and Kid had already went once in January with Indian Guides and had a blast (more about Newport Beach Indian guides another time). I was the last one to convince to join the trip. I had a million reasons why I didn't really want to do this including "busy at work," "too cold," "old dog," "too crowded" etc. I had tried snowboarding 2 seasons ago and it seemed too hard to me (hence the "old dog" comment). The real reason: I was afraid of my skis. I had bought them when I knew how to ski 9 years ago. They are Volkl skinny 190s. I knew I would potentially injure or actually kill myself on them. Finally I revealed my fear to my husband. He explained to me that nowadays people ski on short, fat, parabolic skis. He showed me a story online which explained them http://www.getoutdoors.com/go/golearn/477 . Well, heck. Even I could ski on those things. So I agreed to go, and got myself down to Sports Chalet and rented some beat-to-death K2 153s. They came to below my nose. I was thrilled. And also happy to not be left out of something that was rapidly becoming a major family activity between my husband and son.

The 6 hour drive to Mammoth was pretty uneventful. Our nephew and Kid chattered in the back. The nephew is 15 and extremely patient. He listened to all the Kid's stories and laughed at all his jokes. The Kid was in heaven. We stayed at Chamonix Condos right near Canyon Lodge. They were functional and pretty reasonable at a little below $200/night for a one bedroom with pullout sofa. The 70's decor with matching avocado appliances was just about in style again. The weather up at Mammoth was absolutely spectacular. You can see from the picture above that there is no way anyone got cold. The parabolic skis were a joy. I felt completely competent and could keep up with the snowboarders really well. In fact, my fellow boarders started to bore me a little. Skiing with snowboarders can be a drag for skiers. Snowboarders need to clip and unclip in and out of their boards all the time. And, they fall down a lot (even the good ones). Once down they like to sit for awhile and appreciate their surroundings. The scene below of my husband, nephew and Kid was pretty common for me on our trip.

Another funny thing about Ski Week: you constantly see people you think you know or that you really know. I bumped into a friend as well as a lady that goes to my gym that I see frequently in "Spin Class." Both mentioned that they had bumped into a bunch of people too. So "The O.C." truly seems to invade Mammoth during Ski Week.

Not having skied for 8 years, I was shocked by how many snowboarders there were. In the early 90's snowboarders were kind of an oddity. Sort of a rebellious group of surfers who needed something to do during the winter. Skiers liked to put down the snowboarders and talk about how they interfered with the grooming of the slopes, got in the way sitting on their butts across the face, clogging up the chair lift unloading zone with their buckling and how difficult it was to sit on a chair lift with boards jabbing at horizontal rather than vertical angles. All true. But it looks like a funny thing happened. To me, it appears that if anyone is taking up a snow sport, they tend to take up snowboarding more than skiing. There were just more snowboarders, plain and simple. Could be that it's cooler? Or that it's cheaper (2 edges are cheaper than 4)? Or that the boots are more comfortable? Or the clothes are better? Or that it's easier to learn? Who knows, but whenever we ended up at the base in long lines, I would amuse myself by trying to figure out what the ratio of skiers to snowboarders was. Probably about 55% snowboarders to 45% skiers. Meaning just over 50/50.

There have been other big changes at Mammoth while I was gone. The Village area now has a Starbucks, a Gondola, restaurants and shopping! And, Warming Hut 2 is now called Canyon Lodge. Still looks the same. I guess I can commit to skiing at least once a year. If they're gonna make it this easy.

It's good to be the king

An important part of being the parent of an elementary school child is to go through all papers stuffed in their backpack every single night. Very important things come home photocopied on yellow, pink, blue and white sheets. One night, a few weeks ago, I was rooting around through the backpack at about 8PM, right before the Kid's bedtime and I found a VERY interesting notice. I took it and went and found the Kid brushing his teeth.

"So," I said, "next week is Career Week."
"So," the Kid replied.
"Well," I said, not letting this one go, "it says here that you have selected a career, and that next Monday you need to go to school dressed for your career. What did you pick?"
"A train conductor."
"A train conductor," I unsupportively blurted out, "There are only about 8 train conductors in the United States. And, no one even uses trains anymore. Why did you pick that?"
You can see I am well suited to motherhood.
"ACTUALLY," the Kid shot back (actually being one of his favorite words), "I picked Mayor but the teacher told me that it was inappropriate" (inappropriate being a recent favorite word added into his vocabulary).
"Inappropriate?? What isn't appropriate about being Mayor for a career?" I snapped back.
"She said mayors don't help people and our career day is about people who help people."
“Your teacher said that?” I replied in disbelief? His teacher is so nice and professional, I couldn't imagine her discouraging a kid.
“No, another teacher who was helping.”
"Oh," I said, fairly well shut down.

Incredulous, I stormed around the house to find my husband and complain. "Can you believe that he is going to be a goofy train conductor for career day? How can I dress him as that? And it's stupid besides. What's wrong with being a mayor?" Cleverly the Husband responded only with sympathetic nods and uh huh's, not really commenting at all since there was no possible way of really understanding what my problem with the whole thing was. (My root problem was probably knowing that I couldn't possibly get the Kid dressed up as a train conductor in 4 days, it being months until Halloween. I hate lack of achievement in eduation.)

Additionaly, I knew the Kid's interest in the Mayor role wasn't as altruistic as it might seem. We got him “Sim City” for Christmas (because he begged for it and kids in the O.C. get anything they beg for). Sim City is a computer game where you build your own city and you are the mayor. You get an approval rating, have advisors, and your city earns money if you run it well. It is actually fairly interesting and can be considered, practically, educational. Now if you have heard of “The Sims” this is totally different (more or less). “The Sims” is a computer game where the people in your virtual world seem to engage in all kinds of things, things that are definitely not rated “E” for “Everyone.” The Kid was more or less just extending his playtime for Sim City (currently limited to 30 minutes a day) by picking Mayor for a career at school. Clever.

I decided to take action into my own hands and emailed the Kid’s teacher. In a briefly worded, polite email, I asked if the Kid could switch over to Mayor for Career Day. I explained the circumstances of the odd train conductor selection and that I thought Mayor would be more appropriate. A day or so later, I got an email back, saying sure, no problem, he could be Mayor of Newport Beach. As simple as that.

Part of his assignment was to write down what his career choice's responsibilities are. I sat down to help him but must admit, I was completely stumped. Well, good question. What does the Mayor of Newport Beach do? So I went online and found the city of Newport Beach web site. http://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/index.html After a brief search, I found the Mayor's email address. I sent him a quick note:

To: Mr. Mayor
Do you have a link or a document with the City of Newport Beach Mayor responsibilities? My 7-year-old is going to be the Mayor of Newport Beach for Career Day at his elementary school. He is in 2nd grade. It was his idea, believe it or not. I am trying to teach him what a mayor is. Thank you very much for your kind consideration.
Sincerely, AnonMomOC

A day later, I got a nice email back from the Mayor.

AnonMomOC,
Section 404 of the City’s Municipal Code gives a very brief description of the duties of Mayor. "The Mayor shall have a voice and vote in all its proceedings. The Mayor shall have the primary but not exclusive responsibility for interpreting the policies, programs and needs of the city government to the people, and, as occasion requires, the Mayor may inform the people of any change in such other duties consistent with the office as may be prescribed by this charter or as may be imposed by the City Council."

That does not tell you too much. The Mayor is the City’s official representative at all special events. The Mayor signs all documents approved by the City Council. He runs the City Council meetings. He makes the appointments to all the City Committees. The Mayor works with other City Council Members, the City Staff and the public to make sure that the City is properly run. The Mayor answers questions such as this.

If you and your child would like to meet me at City Hall in the Mayor's office Thursday, Friday or Monday at 4: 30 I would be happy to answer questions and show you around. Let me know which day you can make it.
Mr. Mayor

A few short emails later we had arranged our appointment for Monday at 4:30 PM.

On Monday, the Kid was dressed up in career gear for his day at school being Mayor of Newport Beach. A quick trip over the weekend to The Gap down at Crystal Cove Promenade, which is across the street from beautiful Crystal Cove State Park http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/ , pretty much solved the problem (nice pants, dress shirt and tie). A run down to the Costa Mesa Target got him appropriate work shoes and dark dress socks. It is good to live 15 minutes away from nearly EVERY major store. We were set.

Monday, after school on Career Day, I picked up the Kid. I asked him how his day as Mayor had gone. He said "good" which is his standard response to almost any type of question about anything. I asked the typical follow-up "What was good about your day." He said the kids all day called him "Mr. Mayor" and asked him to do mayor things which he seemed to think was hilarious. I decided not to ask what mayor things were. Then off we went to meet with the real Mayor of Newport Beach.

We arrived at City Hall down on Lido Island just a little early. The Mayor hadn't quite yet arrived. We were both very excited and waited patiently in the reception area (as directed by the Mayor's pretty assistant). While we were waiting, I got a cellphone call from a VP at my job. The VP needed something urgently. I apologized and said I could email it tonight, but, believe it or not, right now I was waiting with my Kid to meet the Mayor of Newport Beach. The VP answered back, "That is a most excellent excuse." And we said our goodbyes.

Shortly, a sixtyish, tanned, medium height, average weight, grey haired and grey beareded man approached us in a Hawaiian shirt and kahkis. He greeted us very warmly. "You must be the Kid." He sat me and the Kid down in his office. He looked suspiciously like Santa Claus gone Jimmy Buffet. The Mayor started out by asking, "Do you have any questions." Unbeknownst to him, he had fallen right into our trap. Boy did we have questions. I had warned the Kid that the Mayor might ask him if he had "any quesitons" and that we should prepare questions in advance. And we had. The Kid looked over at me significantly, nodded, and reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his list of questions. We could tell the Mayor knew we meant business.

And, we went through every one.

1) How does the city get more money? Answer: Percent of property taxes and other fees
2) Why did you choose to be a mayor? Answer: Volunteer position selected from the 7 City Council members by the City Council. He wanted to be Mayor this year due to the City Centennial Celebration as he had led that committee. The City Council Members are paid $1,000 per month. The Mayor-zippo.
3) What kind of power do you have? Answer: In times of great emergency, the Mayor could give the City Manager an order possibly. He admitted this is mostly a ceremonial position which does things to promote the city.
4) Do you try to get more tourist attractions? Answer: Surprisingly this City Council is not too in favor of additional tourist attractions due to city congestion.
5) Does Newport Beach have a “seaport”? Answer: A long time ago, McFadden Pier was a seaport but something happened with a rail line, some other jealous port, and some bad guy closed it all down. (Long historical story I don't really remember, but clearly the Mayor is a local history buff. The Kid's attention was wandering, I could tell.)
6) Does Newport Beach have medical facilities? What kind? Answer: Not really, the largest facility, Hoag Hospital is private (the Kid was born there, by the way) http://www.hoaghospital.org/. The city's only medical facilities that it owns are EMTs (paramedics run by the fire department).
7) Do you have kids? Answer: Yes 3 and several grandkids too. (A cutie's picture was on the desk along with a picture of the Newport Beach Centennial float in the very wet 2006 Rose Parade. Yes, he got to ride on it.)
8) Do you have to be married to be a mayor? Answer: No. For example there is a female city councilperson who is not married and might be Mayor next year.

Some of these questions were based purely on strategy ideas that The Kid needed for Sim City. I didn't explain this to the Mayor. I am sure he wondered.

I could hear the Mayor's pretty assistant suppressing a chuckle from time to time just outside the door. I was having a little trouble myself but had to take the whole thing as seriously as the Kid and the Mayor were taking it.

During a lull in the conversation, I asked my one question that had been submitted by my husband, "Why isn't City Hall located in Fashion Island rather than out of the way, on Lido Island."

The Mayor carefully replied that in 1972, in fact, there was a vote before the citizens of Newport Beach to raise a bond to fund a city hall, fire station and police department exactly where the current Newport Beach City Library stands today http://www.city.newport-beach.ca.us/nbpl/ . But, the good citizens of Newport Beach voted it down, and the rest is history--Newport Beach without a proper city central. Interesting, indeed.

Next was our first photo opportunity. The Mayor invited the Kid to take a picture with The Mayor in his office at his desk. I had brought my camera, of course (I AM a good mother). More surprisingly, the Mayor had his camera ready to take a picture and print it on the spot for the Kid.

But, the highlight of our visit was yet to come. The Mayor took us into the City Council Chambers and explained what they are used for and how the voting occurs. Buttons and light up panels. The Kid was FASCINATED. And then, the Coup de Gras. The Mayor had actually pre-made a sign with the Kid's name on it and sat him in an actual Council person chair for his picture. The Kid was positively beaming.

We then turned off the lights in the Council and went back to the Mayor's office and printed out the pictures. The Mayor had spent over 30 minutes with us. While the pictures were printing, the Mayor went in search of something. The Mayor's assistant whispered to me as we were waiting for the Mayor to return, "We have a very good Mayor this year." I certainly agreed. The Mayor came back shortly and gave the Kid a cap, a Newport Beach bag and several Newport Beach pins as well as some recently printed pictures of our visit. The Kid was ecstatic.

At the end of the visit the Kid and I shook hands with the Mayor and thanked him for his time and trouble. He said, "My pleasure. Please vote for me in the next City Council election."

I said, "Mr. Mayor, you absolutely have my vote."

On becoming Catholic

Let me cut to the chase. I am becoming a Catholic. My confirmation is scheduled for Holy Saturday (in Catholic language this means the Saturday before Easter or April 15, 2006). Every Sunday I attend, after Mass, RCIA classes. RCIA stands for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It is a complex and time consuming process. Sometimes quite tedious. The people in charge of it at my church are kind of disorganized and a little crazy. My friends question how a mom with a young son could convert to Catholicism--of all religions. The nasty pedophile priests have given the Catholics a pretty bad rap. And, I don't appear to be very religious, and really, in a traditional definition, probably am not. After attending a few of the classes, it became obvious to me that people who go to RCIA fall into three basic categories with very few exceptions:

1) A member of a couple that is getting married and their future spouse wants to have full mass at their wedding with both members of the new couple fully participating,
a) groom being forced to become Catholic because future wife demands it
b) groom or bride were raised Catholic but somehow missed the Confirmation process which would be easy to do since it happens YEARs after First Communion and dragging a surly teenager to Mass and Sunday school wouldn't be fun for anybody
2) Parents of school age or younger children who have a need to raise their children similarly to how they were raised by their parents
3) People who are old and confronting their morality and sinful past lives and have some concern about what happens when they die and are looking for answers.

That is it. Typically, it seems that most Catholics are "cradle Catholics" and were raised Catholic and don't have to go through this weird adult decision and process. Anyone else who wants to join the club, needs to do this. And, as any Catholic knows, to get what you want out of the Catholic church, you must play by their rules. 100%.

Why me? I fall into the category of a mom with a school age child. It is time for the Kid to start his First Communion process as he is in second grade (he is actually 1 year late, but that isn't unusual now a days). My Husband's family is very Catholic. They are Catholics from Spain Catholic. Once-a-week Mass, praying the rosary, baptism, communition & confirmation Catholics. I am sure my Husband's mother and four sisters have been lighting candles for the 9 years of our marriage hoping for just such a miracle. I am positive my mother-in-law has probably worried herself sick over my Kid's religious upbringing and has prayed many, many times about this problem. My husband of course (the of course means this is typical) is a Catholic drop out and seemed to be happy with our lack of faith. To his credit, he tried to get us married in the Catholic church. But after checking into it, he got discouraged by the rules, as he was interested in getting married in the out-of-doors. Turns out, you can only get married outside in Orange County by a Catholic Priest if a Jewish Rabbi is actually presiding over the wedding. The real rule in the Catholic religion is that marriage is a sacrament which can ONLY be performed in a Catholic church (makes sense). However, in THE OC, apparently some rich Catholic was marrying some rich Jew and they got some sort of exception in the OC Diocese for their wedding so they could have a big expensive wedding outside. At that point in the investigation process, my husband became re-disgusted with the Catholic religion. We ended up getting married at noon, at Five Crowns (a Lawrey's owned restaurant in the style of an English pub) in their garden in Corona del Mar. It was, in my opinion, a nice luncheon with a nice jazz band and kegs of beer (donated by our OC brewer friends). A Methodist Minister presided and we had a Christian wedding. I have learned later from the Catholics that our marriage counts in their book as an official sacrament and doesn't have to be re-done in the Catholic church to count because it is in fact a Christian marriage. See, they aren't as tough as they appear after all. However, should we get divorced we wouldn't have to get the marriage annulled because it really isn't in their records, and we would each be free to remarry in the Catholic church. I know, a web of contradictions.

My Catholic roots go way back. My mom is Methodist and married into a strong German Catholic family. My parents were married in the Catholic church (Fort Wayne, IN), but not at the alter. In those days, when you married a non-Catholic you got married in the aisle. My mom had aunts that refused to go to her wedding, due to the fact that she was marrying a Catholic. I guess, in the old days, the Methodists didn't like the Catholics. I was baptized Catholic about 9 months after my birth, and my mom promised to bring me up Catholic. I had godparents, my Aunt and Uncle on my dad's side. My mom told me she had full intentions of raising me Catholic, but since my dad immediately became a Catholic dropout upon marriage, she decided, to heck with this, and started taking me and eventually my sister to Methodist church. We went regularly until I was about 14. I actively participated in Youth Group and Choir.

Why now? Cut to the present. my godmother died over the past Memorial Day weekend (2005). I flew back to Fort Wayne, Indiana to help my cousin attend to the funeral becausemy Aunt's husband (my godfather) had died about 10 years earlier. My cousin is the youngest of 4 and, coincidentally, adopted. She was the caregiver for my Aunt in her later years, managing the household, my aunts hospice care in my aunt's home, and managing the money. She also got to manage the funeral. It is lucky that my aunt and uncle adopted her, or else who would have taken care of all that? At least that is my comment to my cousin. The bottom line is that during the process of preparing for the funeral, my cousin selected me to be the first reader (from the old Testament). I was a little lost during the service as to when to stand and when to kneel and when my reading was. Which is typical for me during the many Catholic services I have gone to over the years. At the viewing, the night before, and during the service, the Priest gave a really good speech about my Aunt and her devotion to the church, and the help she provided him personally in his 10 years that he knew her. They first met when he gave the funeral for my uncle. This little tiny Sri Lankan priest said very touching things about my aunt and spoke to her devotion to the church and her friendship with him. My Aunt lived in the shadow of my uncle, the doctor, her whole life without getting much credit for her accomplishments, even from her own children (except my cousin, the youngest adopted child). I was impressed. When I realized how much the church had meant to my Aunt, and how much it provided her comfort and a way to contribute in her community, I decided right then and there during the service that as a tribute to my Aunt, I would actively raise my kid Catholic, and I would officially convert to Catholicism. I figured she would be very happy.

Immediately when I got back that Thursday from the funeral, I called the local Catholic Church and entered their RCIA program which had just started for the new year. This particular church is EXTREMELY well funded due to its location in Newport Beach central. I am told there are celebrities at the church. Like Kobe Bryant for example. A lot of good it has done him, but apparently he gave a BIG donation during "the trouble."

As part of my RCIA process, I had to select a sponsor. They were going to select one for me but I said no, I would find my own. So I asked my friend if she would be my sponsor. My friend is a former co-worker of mine (5 years ago). She and I attend "spin" classes weekly, and have bagels and coffee afterwards. Her brother is a Priest and she has raised both her kids Catholic. So I figured she was perfect. She has been perfect. Whenever I have questions, she emails them to her brother, The Priest. He is a Priest in Hawaii which I think must be a pretty good gig. He thinks I am a little crazy because I check everything out and question everything.

So far so good. Me and my friend have learned a lot. The Catholic religion, being a very old Christian religion, has a lot of history. Plus it is very rooted in deep tradition with good moral values. It has felt right from the very beginning. I have told my parents, who were cool with this (my mom is in favor of religious upbringing). I haven't told my husband's mother yet. Why get her all excited?

My Kid started his Sunday School classes in September and will go through his First Communion, not this Easter, but the next Easter. They don't confirm kids until the can think for themselves which is ninth grade or so, I think. I will have to remain devout at least until then.
My friend says I shows signs of being a very good Catholic.

This was the First Reading at my Aunt's Mass:

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Hooters

I was driving the kid home from my mom's house. We were going South on the 405 and got on at Harbor Blvd.
The kid said "There's Hooters" like he seemed quite familiar with the place.
I calmly said "Do you know what Hooters is?"
Kid with great confidence, "They have girls who dress up in owl suits."
Okay, in my head I am LMAO. Dead silence in the car as I attempt to drive and suppress huge giant laugh.
Kid is quiet for a minute then to himself... "I wonder why?"
Finally, I can't stand it anymore, "Who told you about the girls in owl suits?"
Kid replied quickly, "Daddy."

Life in the O.C.

How did I get my even limited access to this priviledged world behind what is fondly known in Los Angles as "the orange curtain?" Somewhat accidentally as it turns out. When California real estate was at its most affordable, my husband and I got married and bought the worst house in the best neighborhood in Newport Beach, California. Mostly because I, due to some particularly fond but hazy memories of my single life in Newport Beach, insisted on living in the area. The housing tract we purchased into, nestled just above Balboa Island, in those days, was mostly populated with really old people. Made up of mid-century moderns (1950s tract houses), it was a relatively quiet place. In late 1999, the stock market shot through the roof and California real estate started taking off with it. The Dot Com money created unusual amounts of wealth in the Orange County area (even more than normal). As the old people died or moved to retirement communities, "younger" families with kids started taking over the houses. Then the remodeling boom began. We found ourselves living in the middle of a giant construction site, amongst some of the most beautiful homes and richest people in all of California. Game on.