When I was a teenager I volunteered to take part in a service project organized by my local church which involved knitting slippers for some of the less fortunate. I didn’t know how to knit but instructional help was promised for those with no skills like me. That instructional assistance came in the form of Gretha, an elderly Norwegian lady that lived in the neighborhood who had been knitting pretty much her whole life. She was a very patient teacher and when I didn’t finish my slippers in the allotted time at our church she offered to give me some one-on-one assistance later at her house. That one evening spent knitting and chatting in her tiny home was the beginning of a great friendship between us and many more such nights.

It may seem strange that a 14 year old would enjoy the company of a lady 60 years her senior but it’s not so strange when you consider that Gretha was kind, energetic, and nonjudgmental. I always felt welcome in her home and eager for her company. She had lived through the Nazi occupation of Norway and the tales of her life’s adventures were perpetually engrossing plus I had no difficulty relating to her tenacious stubbornness.

I knitted myself a matching scarf and beanie out of alpaca yarn. They aren't super fancy but they're cute and comfy all the same.

She taught me to not only knit like a pro but to cook some fantastic Norwegian cuisine. Unfortunately, in my adolescent stupidity, I didn’t write down any of the recipes we made together so I can only vaguely recall how to prepare them now. Why are teenagers such idiots?

Many pairs of slippers, a sweater, oodles of woven Christmas tree decorations, and countless pounds of marzipan later my family moved making it more difficult for me to see Gretha. But we kept in touch and I traveled to her house periodically for knitting sleepovers until she passed away just a year or so later.

I hadn’t knitted since Gretha’s death until a few months ago when I decided I really needed to pick it up again. After nearly two decades of no knitting the whole procedure was pretty hazy in my head but thanks to a couple classes and some muscle memory I am now on my way to being a knitter again. So far my knitting renaissance has only resulted in a couple simple scarves and a beanie but I look forward to further needle fruition.

I have a soft spot for this fellow so I made him a soft scarf.

I will always look back on my youthful nights of knitting with warmth and fondness. Thanks Gretha for changing my perspectives, improving my skills, and proving that there are no generation gaps where kindred spirits are concerned.

So many of life’s great lessons are learned just by being in the presence of great people.

No holiday is greeted with as much animosity as Valentine’s Day. Sure, there are those that resent the “commercialization” of Christmas or having to eat Aunt Sally’s grey mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving but Valentine’s Day gets the worst beating of all.

First, you have the ladies that reject this holiday on the grounds that it’s a bitter reminder of their current lack of a meaningful relationship. Then you’ve got the husbands that grumble about having to buy flowers for their wives. And don’t forget the women that protest the occasion because of the improper amount of pampering they receive from their significant other. Geez! Doesn’t anyone enjoy Cupid’s day? Oh yeah, I do!

I love spoiling Jason in general so it makes sense that I would enjoy a day that gives me an excuse to do so with excessive gusto.

I wore a new darling dress to Meditrina. Every girl needs an excuse now and then to put on a fancy frock.

This year I took several rounds of surprise treats to Jason’s work, including caramel apples and my favorite cookies from a local bakery, just to get the fuss started. Additionally, since it was my turn to plan our activities, I organized a group dinner at Meditrina, an enchanting tapas bar, with 5 other couples a few days before the big day. I would be lying if I said that arranging this outing was hassle-free. Too many people with differing opinions and way too much griping were involved so I don’t think I’ll be planning anything like that again with such a large group. Despite the pointless hang-ups, I did appreciate the company for the most part and my tummy definitely appreciated the tasty cuisine. So I guess the evening was mainly a success.

Our friend Jenny arranged these flowers. Great job! She recently opened her own floral design business.

Speaking of food, that wasn’t the end of the festive gourmet grub for us. Jason and I also had a romantic fondue dinner at home on Valentine’s Day made by yours truly. Cave aged Swiss cheese and velvety Irish cream spiked chocolate were the perfect ingredients for a charming evening, especially when paired with the company of a man I absolutely adore. I would happily do a repeat of that night anytime!

This may not look too impressive as far as meals go but it was just course one. Trust me, we were stuffed to the point of sickness by the time we finished our supper.

Our Valentine’s Day celebrations were again a delight and, as always, a little over the top. Like I said, I love to spoil Jason and, as far as I’m concerned, he deserves more pampering than I could ever bestow.

You can't have a romantic dinner without rose petals, candlelight, and Joshua Bell.

As a final note, in true obstinate fashion, I feel the need to once more complain about the rampant negativity directed towards Valentine’s Day. I know many of you think that all this romantic goo may be fine for those of us that are happily hooked up but that the holiday’s a waste for the single. To you I say, not so. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love so why does that just have to mean romantic love? Love takes many forms: the bond between brothers, the adulation of a child, the concern of a friend. I think nearly all of us are surrounded by plenty of people that matter in our lives. Why not take the opportunity afforded by this holiday to remind them that they are important to us? A card for a friend telling them what a difference their friendship has made, an unexpected bouquet of flowers for a mother or grandmother, some quality time spent decorating cookies with a child: there are lots of ways to get caught up in the spirit of this holiday that don’t involve giving a 5 ft teddy bear to your girlfriend. I always enjoyed Valentine’s Day even before I had someone to bring me flowers or make dinner for. Celebrating love and expressing gratitude to those that are essential to us shouldn’t induce whining. It doesn’t hurt to have a significant other on Valentine’s Day but we all have people that matter significantly in our lives and isn’t that worth some rejoicing?

Last September, as we and a few of our friends were discussing some group training runs that we had done to prepare for a relay race, the idea was tossed around of starting a runners club that would meet once a week for a communal dash. The conversation ended with all of us deciding to give it a go. Jason and I ran anyway so why not smack the asphalt with some buddies?

We collectively elected to operate our club with homogeny of responsibility a.k.a. we would take turns “hosting” our runs. The job of choosing locations and arranging our gatherings would alternate between members each week.

Every week Jason insists on taking a picture of our run. This has proven good advertising and has escalated attendance and anticipation.

I offered to create a Facebook group page for us so we would have a means of communicating with each other easily about our meetings. I also took it upon myself, because no one else offered any creative assistance, to name our organization. I decided to call us the R.A.C., an acronym for The Run Around Club. Utterly brilliant, right? Even more brilliant is the hidden joke in that name. For the greater part of my life my family and friends have referred to me as Rac so I kind of named this club after myself. What an ingenious egomaniac I am!

Jason and I offered to plan the R.A.C.’s inaugural run. Only 4 people showed up for that historic sprint but it was enough to get the movement going. I guess I shouldn’t have set everything up and taken all that initial initiative though. Everyone else acclimated very quickly, virtually instantly, to not having to be involved in the scheduling and location selecting. After multiple members shrugged off taking their turn at planning, Jason and I somehow became the “hosts” of every week from now until forever. Alas, why must I be so organized and responsible…and bossy? It almost always comes back to bite me. Jason and I now do pretty much all the coordinating, communicating, strategizing, energizing, and fraternizing for the R.A.C.

Stretching your upper thighs is very important before running, especially when striving to look ridiculous.

Whether due to the perseverance of our group’s great leaders, which I am gratuitously patting myself on the back for, or to the determination of our members, our club has been a huge success. Attendance at the R.A.C. has steadily increased since its inception. In the first month or two we never had more then 4 or 5 runners at each of our meetings but now we usually have about 7. We jogged outside in the fall until the sun set too prematurely to permit this and then we switched to a combo of outdoor Saturday and indoor evening runs. We’ve dashed over all manner of trail and track as we’ve diligently hit the pavement every week. The R.A.C. has only defaulted once and that was while Jason and I were away on vacation and therefore unable to bestow order to the entire universe.

The R.A.C. has proven itself remarkable. It motivates people to be more active than they ever thought they could be persuaded to be and it transforms what some would consider to be a miserable pursuit into a thrilling social experience. As we scuttle along we chat, race each other, and forget that we are actually exercising. The peer pressure and competitive challenge do wonders too I might add. Jason’s the superhero among us and he inspires us, or shames us, into picking up our pace a little. Seeing some club members try to outrun him makes me giggle a bit but keep it up boys.

Jeremy must not have gotten the "jumping" memo. His confused feet were firmly on the ground while the rest of ours were soaring.

I look forward to seeing my friends accomplish that which they didn’t think was possible as the R.A.C. continues to grow and outpace itself. Many of our members have already set lofty goals for themselves to push their progress along. Excellent! Long may the R.A.C. continue to flatten the flabby and firm the infirmed while entertaining all!

The Sundance Film Festival takes place every January right here in the heart of exotic Utah but, although players come from all over the world to be present at this illustrious affair, to many Utahans this event is little more than a nuisance that makes the streets and ski resorts unnaturally crowded.

However, to me and Jason Sundance is a chance to get an exclusive look at some pretty awesome, and sometimes not, indie films and catch the movie makers and actors.

This year Jason and I again pulled our act together and remembered to register for the locals passes in the fall. We shared half of our tickets with a few lucky friends. (Yes, you are very fortunate that we are willing to let you benefit from all the planning and shuffling we have to do in order to get tickets.) That left me and Jason with passes to five shows, five movie surprises.

The Bones Brigade members were gracious and appreciative. Talent and manners: what a lovely combination.

As I’ve always said, at the Sundance Film Festival you get a singular opportunity to see movies without any critics telling you what you should think about them. With no trailers to whet your appetite, no ratings to enthrall or appall you, nothing to recommend a show, you are free to experience it with no expectations or preconceptions. Since everyone’s opinion about everything is available at the click of a mouse these days, concluding without the collective is a rare treat indeed.

The downside to not knowing anything about a movie before you see it is that you don’t know anything about it before you see it. You are occasionally amazed, sometimes caught off guard, and quite often just plain confused. But who wouldn’t want to play a little cinematic roulette?

Here’s what we saw:

Bones Brigade: an Autobiography was my favorite film this year. The documentaries at Sundance are generally superb and without fail one of them ends up my top pick every time. This year this one was it. If “Bones Brigade” stirs up thoughts of burial site digging Indiana Jones types then either you weren’t around in the 80s or you were completely oblivious back then. The Bones Brigade was a team of skateboarders that brought the sport up a notch twenty plus years ago. Heard of Tony Hawk? Maybe Steve Caballero? Or Rodney Mullen? How about the tricks they invented when they were merely teenagers: the McTwist, Ollie Pop, Kickflip, Caballerial? If not, you best be a googling.

I’m no skateboarding expert but I still loved this show and was very impressed by the Brigade in general and their treatment of their fans. Nearly all of the gang showed up at our screening to sign posters including Mike McGill, Steve Caballero, Tommy Guerrero, Rodney Mullen, Lance Mountain, and their old manager, the skateboarding legend, Stacy Peralta. Hawk was the only one missing; apparently he had contractual obligations in Australia. All the boys were exceptionally nice but Rodney was an absolute sweetheart.

A big snow storm hit the night we went to see Compliance. We had to wait in line outside the Tower Theater while giant flakes accumulated on our heads and shoulders.

Declaration of War was a very French portrayal of a couple’s experience when their two-year old son is diagnosed with a rare brain cancer. It was sad and strangely European yet still universally appealing.

Beasts of the Southern Wild was a fantastical journey into the disappearing cultures of the Deep South as seen through the eyes of a fierce darling girl. The unusual characters of this show live in a world almost as extraordinary as the one fabricated by that little munchkin.

The audience went crazy for the cast and director of Beasts of the Southern Wild. I guess even the indie arena has its bigwigs.

I won’t lie, Compliance was one of the hardest movies to watch that I’ve ever seen. It was well done but the subject matter, based on true events, was a depressing commentary on human nature and the power of authoritative figures. The audience was constantly squirming throughout and not all of us made it through.

Grabbers was a fun throwback to the monster movie classics. It was more intense than disturbing and giggling spots were found throughout. I really enjoyed its mix of horror and humor.

We had another satisfying Sundance experience. We saw shows that made us writhe, cry, jump, long to jump, and contemplate the complexities of human behavior. Not too bad for a bunch of films we chose based on a few synoptic sentences.