Sometimes it is just fun to be a tourist in your own town.

The Beach Retreat's restaurant, The Boathouse, is the only place like it. It is located on a pier so we dined 'in' the Lake.
With nowhere to go and all night to get there, we delighted in a long, leisurely meal, which brought back memories of Italy.
 Patrick Major provided an amazing soundtrack for our evening.

Lakeside for the night was a great staycation. I'm totally loving my birthday month!

What could have possibly been our last day on the mountain top, due to a lack of snow, was incredibly fun.

This was the first time Jenny and I were rangers alone. We did an awesome job. It was an exceptional, appreciative class, which made it that much easier.



One of the best picnic spots- ever!
I can't think of a better place to spend a Thursday... sharing Tahoe with 5th graders and hanging out with my friend.

The Lake Tahoe Historical Society hosted a going away party for our friends, Dick & Joan.

I have to confess that I'm a "hoarder" but the items I want mass quantities of are useful paper products. When CoCo Foy said she was going to teach us how to make Upcycle Stationery out of discarded things (magazines, old calendars, etc) I was in!

There is something very satisfying about making something yourself out of nothing. I love it, truly.

This was my favorite notecard and envelope.
Bona Fide Books is this awesome space that encourages creativity and provides incredible camaraderie. What a true Tahoe Treasure!

This was our first experience with SnowFest. This North Lake Tahoe, ten day long event, was created in 1982. Its mission was to promote Tahoe's incredible weather and skiing early in March, to encourage tourism to the area at a traditionally off-season time of the year, and to provide an opportunity for the locals to get out and enjoy Tahoe at its winter's finest.

River Ranch Lodge & Restaurant has been on the scenic Truckee River for over 60 years. It's special to us because most summers past, we would raft the river and this is where we would pull out. Never once did we enjoy this awesome patio, but after today, we've promised to visit often.
In addition to being a Tahoe Red Neck Beach Party, it was also a fundraiser for Disabled Sports USA Far West. Since 1967, this organization has led the way in adaptive sports and recreation for people with disabilities. Their trained staff and volunteers guide people in discovering life without limits. That is a pretty cool cause.

Anything, during March, is a celebration of my birthday month, so when T & K came for the weekend to ski, PARTY!

An added cool occurrence was getting to know Sarah and her friends, staying in the cabin across the street. Sarah is the daughter of Steve's pre-Denise friend, Steve. She's in college and this is the first time meeting her and how cool that it was in Tahoe. Sweet!
The kids cooked an amazing meal, starring stuffed portobello mushrooms. Wow, what a treat.
The day ended on the lanes for some pretty fun bowling. Yes, a dang good first week of my birthday month!

We concluded our day at one of our favorite spaces, Bona Fide HQ. The theme was HAVE PAINTS, WILL TRAVEL Art Reception and Bona Fide Books Reboot Party.

We loved local artist, Ginny Schankerman's work.
From Ginny (center): "I have lived and played in these places for many years and they are my inspiration for my paintings. I am excited by the trees, rocks, lakes, meadows and streams. I enjoy exploring new and old places, the nooks and crannies! Each place is a gem and I try to capture that feeling, make an impression of it, a remembrance that I can bring back with me. Plein air painting is my way of trying to ‘take it with me’. The clarity of the air, the stark contrast of light and shadow present challenges and I constantly strive to present something others can enjoy too."

I have sung Kim's (the owner of this amazing place) praises, since the first time I met her. Tonight was the occasion for her to roll out what's been cooking at Bona Fide during the last year. I am so excited by the "what's next". 

After hours of snowshoeing with 5th Graders, Steve took me to enjoy this glorious Tahoe day, in style, at our new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

We delighted in the lazy afternoon sunshine, fireside.

So, I've never been a groupie but I'm loving how well the Hard Rock is taking care of us locals. Great discounts, giveaways and free fun. I'm definitely a groupie now (the non derogatory definition being an enthusiastic or uncritical follower).

We may have had some snow but little of it remains at 'lake level' so we got high (7,500').

It was just our group of five, making fresh tracks and new memories in the snow.

We hiked on the edge of the lake's frozen surface until we were concerned about the melting ice, having developed a fear of falling through (the women not the men).

We frequently get photos, from our Southern California friends, of beautiful beach scenes. What I think they forget is that we have 72 miles of shoreline here in Lake Tahoe and it is pretty exceptional, too.

Sand & Snow... a super combination.

Having to share something with my Writing Group, I decided to tell my Scoliosis tale...

By the time I was ten, I had broken my collar bone, my jaw and had fractured my skull, in three separate incidences. I was a tomboy and had to keep up with my brother, only ten months older than me.

Flash forward to the preparations my 8th grade graduation. My mom was a wonderful seamstress and was fitting me for the dress I would be wearing to the ceremony. One of my shoulder blades was out of alignment, so the dress just wouldn't lay correctly. "Hmm, maybe your collar bone didn't heal properly" was her summation.

I was promptly scheduled an appointment with my pediatrician who, upon viewing my spine, deemed me "The most severe scoliosis case" she had ever seen. Scoliosis is a condition in which the spine bends to the side abnormally; either to the right or left. The curvature can be moderate to severe.

The majority of children with scoliosis require no treatment, as the condition resolves on its own as the child grows. But I've never been part of the majority and I required the treatment of using a back brace. I knew, if left untreated, the condition could lead to serious spine, chest, pelvis, heart and lung damage.
So in the summer of 1976, fresh out of Junior High and 4 1/2 years of complete dental orthodontia, including the ever attractive head gear, I enter into a two and a half year relationship with a Milwaukee Back Brace. Extending from just below my chin, to slightly above my pelvis, I was wrapped in a metal and plastic contraption for 23 hours a day- through some very formative years.

There are many aspects of our lives that shaped who we are and I can only imagine how powerful this experience was for me, standing out so prominently from everyone I knew from the ages of 14 to 16 years. I was the only braced girl in high school and due to this uniqueness, I was put into adaptive p.e. with students with severe physical and mental disabilities.While different, I don't ever remember having a pity party. I knew the brace was for my own good, but there certainly was a loneliness in my obvious difference.
One book helped me through it all, Deenie, by Judy Bloom. "When Deenie sees the brace for the first time, she wants to scream, Forget it...I'm never going to wear that thing! But the words won't come out. And beautiful Deenie, who everyone says should be a model, is stuck wearing a brace from her neck to her hips. What will her friends think? And what about Buddy Brader, who was just starting to like her? A tough ride to finding out who you are."

Like Deenie, it was a tough ride. However, it was a necessary journey and part of who I am today. I'm a firm believer in the adage, Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger and I thoroughly believe dealing with my scoliosis, the taunts that sometimes came my way, and the difficulty of not fitting in, made me a stronger person able to not only survive the ride but to find the beauty the journey offered.

My birthday month started off fabulously. One boy, and a group of friends, came for the fresh powder the recent storm brought us (and some mom hugs, I'm pretty certain).

And Coco Foy graciously offered to teach another bookbinding class, at Bona Fide, so I could create a unique going away gift for friends who are leaving 'the hill'.
This is going to be one sweet birthday month!