1: By some miracle, we load the car and leave the garage on time to pick Shef's friend just when I said I would.  "This is so nice of you," Jimmy's mom says, smiling.  She's wearing her robe and telling me that she bought her kids new books at Barnes and Noble yesterday.  Turns out she's planning to read an excellent suspense novel called Into the Darkness while I'm skiing with two third-graders and a preschooler.  This IS really nice of me, I'm thinking while nodding pleasantly at her.

2: It pleases me to find that both Mac and Shef remember how to ski, even though we've neglected the slopes in favor of the hockey rink this winter.  My youngest, however, prefers a straight-down speedy approach, instead of performing the clean, sweeping turns that I prefer.  "MAC," I'm screaming from behind, "TURN!"  "But I don't like to do the turns," he explains.  "I hate them."

3:Midway through the morning, and Mac and I are riding the lift with another dude.  The three of us witness the scurrying of a rodent across the hill.  "Oh gross," I exclaim.  "It's like.... a rat."  "I think it's a muskrat," says the other guy.  "Maybe so," I agree.  "How disgusting." Mac says he wants to ski over it.  I tell him I think that would be nasty beyond belief.  And also not so nice for the animal.

4: I valiantly fight against my instinct to bust 12 year-old lift-line budgers.  I can't stand those budgers, but I'm not in an official capacity in this particular lift-line.  I settle for some meaningful disapproving looks.

5: I soften the reality of departure time for the gentlemen by offering to purchase candy for the road.  Three takers, not surprisingly.