TheSabins.com

The company Jason works for sponsors a ski week every year at Sundance Resort. Thanks to their sponsorship, hitting the slopes is extremely cheap during that week. This year the deal included a super day pass, good for both day and night skiing, and lunch at the resort for only $30. What a bargain! It would normally cost $90 for all of this.

Since Jason and I are always looking for excuses to board, and this price was way too good to pass up, we skipped work on Friday and headed up to Sundance. Jason’s brother Jeremy and our friend Aaron tagged along.

The day was exceptionally sunny and pleasant. Beautiful! A snow storm had hit the night before and left a fresh sprinkling of powder…even better. While the lower regions of the mountain quickly lost their new-snow-feel due to the mighty sun, the upper regions, accessible by the Arrowhead lift, were soft and powdery all day.

This is me, Jason, Jeremy, and Aaron. Jason wanted us to all pretend we were doing something super cool for this picture but we had been boarding all day and were into the night shift at this point. We were pooped...and sadly not energetic enough to look very cool.

The only time the exquisite spring sunshine vanished on this delightful day was when we were literally boarding inside a cloud. Up near the ridge of the mountain a cloud settled in for a bit as it struggled to climb over the saddle making visibility extremely limited and the temperature drop. It was a strange experience…I’ve never roamed around inside a cloud before. But the mist soon sank into a nearby valley and it was clear and spectacular once again.

Although the good deal alone would have been enough to entice us onto the slopes, Jason’s company went beyond just making this activity economically friendly. They rented the rehearsal hall at the resort for employees and their guests to take a break in, eat lunch, warm themselves by a giant fire, play some Wii, or watch a movie. Additionally, they gave free swag to everyone. Sweet!

We met up with Jason's longtime friend and coworker, Dan, while at Sundance. He took a break from teaching all his girls how to board to ride a run with us.

It was a lovely day and well worth the $30 price. Having our friends with us made it even more awesome. Aaron was, as always, a great help in improving my snowboarding skills. Thanks Aaron for your patience and knowledge! You’re amazing!

Incidentally, there are no restrictions on who can join us for ski week. So friends and family members feel free to take advantage of this discount and keep us company next year.

Like everyone else, we think we have some terrific nieces and nephews. They are talented, sweet, intelligent…and perhaps a bit mischievous. Unlike most couples our age, in this region anyway, we are not knee-deep in our own child rearing. Because Jason and I have purposefully delayed that adventure we have more time, money, and patience for our nieces and nephews than most of our counterparts. Hence, we have an opportunity to be the “cool” aunt and uncle that every kid wants but few have.

The kids liked shaping the cookies, especially Miles.

As the glamorous auntie and uncle we like to plan fun activities for our nieces and nephew periodically. These activities hopefully not only give the kids something to look forward to but also provide a break for their parents. We thought my brother’s and sister’s kids would enjoy a little Valentine’s Day celebration so we schemed one up for them. However, due to sick children, this event got delayed until after Valentine’s Day. The kids didn’t seem to mind that the holiday had come and gone though as they baked and decorated heart shaped cookies and made paper airplane valentines.

Miles loved helping roll the dough. He called himself "the steamroller".

We had a good time laughing and making messes with the rest of the juveniles. They are special little people and we hope it will at least take them a few more years to realize that we really aren’t that cool.

Shopping with your woman: the bane of every man. As much as most men despise being coerced, guilted, or tricked into shopping with their girly there is something they find even more tedious: boutique shopping with their girly. Many men shutter just at the thought…excuse me while I roll my eyes. What’s so horrible about boutiques? Whole stores dedicated to marketing every form of baby bow in existence or establishments that smell of potpourri and old wood and are stuffed to the rafters with overpriced decorative doodads. What’s so awful about that?

Although I have no pity for you men that are feeling a little queasy right now as you envision such hells, let me give you a big pointer. There is an easy way to avoid such a loathsome experience and still be the hero of your woman’s dreams: Girls’ Day Out.

That’s right, all you have to do is suggest that your significant other go out shopping with her sisters or girlfriends to those doilie packed boutiques and you are off the hook. If you want extra brownie points simply recommend that they get together for lunch beforehand as well. The “Girls’ Day Out” ploy makes you seem like such a thoughtful guy and it gives your girl exactly what she wants: some relaxing time shopping leisurely with adults. (No, you do not count as an adult in this context. You know that you whine just as much as your children when forced into one of those cutesy stores; don’t try to deny it.)

I too like shopping with those of the female persuasion. Jason is an excellent husband and a very patient shopping partner; he doesn’t grumble like the 5 year olds everyone else seems to be married to, but he does have his deficiencies. When I’m shopping with Jason and I need a second opinion on something such as, whether this or that quilt is cuter, and I’m forced to asked him because I have no other companions, he usually pauses momentarily before responding, not to conscientiously contemplate the question but rather to give himself time to do “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe” in his head. Considering this, I gladly took my sister up on her plans for a refreshing girly excursion.

Simone, Madison, Tonya, and my mom...yes, they do have a lot of shopping bags.

Last Saturday my sister, sister-in-law, mom, niece, and I all went to Gardner Village for lunch and shopping. We had a great time! We laughed through our meal and enjoyed conversation that for once didn’t revolve around virtual hard drives, software, or network security. After lunch it was time to do some serious boutique shopping damage…for that, you men will find, is the one flaw in the Girls’ Day Out scheme. When girls go shopping together they will spend much more of their dough on items you might find frivolous or perhaps downright unattractive than they would if you were present.

Our men didn’t suffer too much wallet shock from Saturday’s outing though. Sure, my sister and mom may have come home with a few extra pieces of furniture, a rug or two, and enough doll clothes to dress a doll army but it was all on sale and every girl knows that when you buy stuff on sale the only thing that counts is how much you saved not how much you actually spent. I don’t know why guys don’t understand this basic rule; it makes perfect sense in girl world.

The girls having a laugh

Well, whether our husbands would have approved or not, we spent some of our money and had a lovely time doing so. It was great hanging out with the wonderful ladies in my family…and getting opinions that weren’t based on random number generators was pretty sweet as well.

So remember boys: send your wife out with her girlfriends and save both of you the misery of shopping together. It’s a win/win scenario; you look like an angel instead of a selfish prick and your lady gets to truly enjoy shopping for once. Your pocketbook may suffer a little but better it than you.

Party hopping: reserved for just the socially elite and the chronically noncommittal?

No, apparently it also for the super awesomest party people on the planet…yes, I’m talking about us…duh.

Although we typically get invited to a couple New Years Parties every year, this year we outdid ourselves in the invitee department. Our presence was requested at no less than 5 events. Yeah, you wish you were that cool. While we are not fantastic enough to somehow pull off going to five parties in one night, we decided to try attending three.

Here's Cody the seal. Kenny kindly offered to slide with him; there's nothing sweeter than volunteer idiocy.

We started our evening at the Rowley’s with some Killer Oompi. Killer Oompi is a game that has long been a tradition among Jason’s friends. It’s basically speed Uno with penalties. The loser of each round has to do something completely idiotic like go through a spanking tunnel or eating a carrot out of the winner’s nose. Visions of Cody sliding through the snow on his stomach while acting like a seal were fresh in our memories and still warming our hearts as we departed the Rowley’s for our next gathering. Good times.

Here's Jason with his harem of women at the Hughes' party. After all, what's more Italian than cavorting with a bunch of females?

We then stopped in at Cam and Fran’s. They adopt a different country theme for their party each year and this year the motif was Italy. Yes! Tiramisu: food of the gods…or of some fat Italians at the very least.

This is the Nothing Bundt Cake we took to my sister's house. It was nothing bundt delicious!

We finished off the evening by counting down to 2010 with my sister and her kids. The youngsters were a little loopy from staying up past their bedtimes but they were very excited about ushering in the new year and getting to drink sparkling cider from fancy cups.

Instead of turning into pumpkins this is what happens to the Marshalls after midnight.

We returned home at 4 in the morning after our night of social scattering. Man, being awesome is exhausting!

Happy New Years to us!

Many thanks to all of you who hosted, entertained, and fed us; you were the wind beneath our wings.

When one thinks of Christmas one usually envisions minty candy canes, twinkling lights, lively carols, jolly men…and monstrously huge granny panties? No? Well, you must not have had your share of Sabin Christmas fun then.

All of our friends with their white elephant loot at this year's party

Every year we host a small Christmas get-together. The particulars of this festivity have changed through the years; what used to be a fancy candlelight dinner has turned into a relaxed informal gathering of friends. But through all the shifting party schemes one party favorite has remained: the white elephant gift exchange.

Brett in his prize panties

What a white elephant has to do with gifts that typically range from tacky to bizarre is beyond me but this classic Christmas game certainly unearths some timeless treasures. Power Klingon on cassette tape, golden pheasant sculptures, lice spray, headless nutcrackers, archaic computer manuals, brass knuckles…the list goes on and on. This year Brett was even fortunate enough to procure a very large pair of granny panties. Lucky!

This awesome gingerbread house was made by some of my coworkers and displayed at our Christmas party.

In our version of the white elephant exchange all the gifts remain wrapped until the end. We find this method more amusing since oftentimes the gifts that are fought over most turn out to be quite absurd, like a pair of used socks from a guy with stinky feet or a half eaten box of cereal. Just what you’ve always wanted!

Jacob decided he needed to try on Brett's panties and various other unmentionables that were exchanged via the white elephant game. Is that a look of horror or ecstasy on Sara's face?

A pretty bow may disguise a loathsome gift: that’s the lesson one quickly learns from attending a Sabin Christmas party and I think it’s also the title of a James Bond theme song.

Merry Christmas everyone! May your brass knuckles be shiny and bright and your headless nutcracker a delight!