Around 10 am yesterday, I headed to Hidden Valley to check it out. It only had 5 trails opened. Before I put on my ski boots, I gave my feet a good massage. I also skied gently for the first couple of runs. My feet were less in pain than the day before.

At noon, I went to Seven Springs. I took a short nap in the parking lot because I had trouble sleeping the night before. I put on my snowboard boots and hit the trails. I only did 3 runs and decided to switch back to ski. I started to get a hang of my new skis. They are a bit longer (159 cm) and faster, but steadier and easier to turn. Seven Springs was pumping lots of snow all day long and I could ski on blues and black terrains easily. I am going to spend more time honing my ski turns.

Around 7:00 pm, I was exhausted and a bit sleepy. I was going to call it the night, but I switched to snowboarding and did a couple more runs until the North Face lift closed.

After I showered and changed, I fell asleep immediately. My wife and kids are coming later today. Can’t wait to spend a whole day with them on Saturday at Seven Springs.

Yesterday morning I drove Đạo to school and headed toward Pennsylvania for a few days of skiing and snowboarding. My first stop was Laurel Mountain. I arrived around noon. Laurel only had four trails opened and the conditions were very icy. I started out skiing with the Rossignol Experience 88 TI, which I just bought brand new.

My skiing skills are getting rusty. I couldn’t parallel on both feet. Worst, my boots were hurting my feet. After the first run, I sat on the lift as if I had two dumbbells under my feet. I couldn’t wait to get off the lift. Once I was off, I had to go into the lodge to take my boots off and gave my feet a message. The second run was still still painful. After the third run, I was done with skiing. I switched to snowboard and did three runs. My feet felt comfortable and snowboarding on crunchy ice was not as bad as skiing.

Around 3:30 pm, I wrapped up at Laurel Mountain and headed over to Seven Springs. Unlike Laurel Mountain, which only had half a dozens of skiers and snowboarders, Seven Springs were a bit more crowded. I imagined weekends would be worse. Seven Springs had better conditions and more trails. I didn’t know where I was going. I just followed the lift to where it took me. I went to the green slopes and landed on the terrain park. I took the North Face lift and headed into the North Face Black Diamond trail, which had moguls. I stayed there for a while trying to learn to snowboard around the mogul terrain.

I loved night snowboarding. The vibe was just awesome. I left around 8:30 pm to a hotel about half an hour a way my wife had booked for me. Isn’t she just great? She let me enjoy the last few days of my vacation before I go back to work next week. I hope she and the boys will join me on Friday for a weekend of skiing and snowboarding. I am pretty sure they will enjoy Seven Springs.

Two years ago, my oldest sister blocked my calls and my messages. I still don’t know why she shut me out of her life, but I respect her decision. I stay out of her way until she lets me back in.

She and I haven’t been close. She’s my half sister and she left Việt Nam when I was a kid. Our mother was the only reason she brought me to America. Our mother wouldn’t leave Việt Nam to come to America without me. Regardless, I will always be thankful to my sister for giving me the opportunity to live and thrive in America.

It’s such a shame that our relationship had fallen out, but I hold no grudges against her. I do take issue that she didn’t bother to attend our mother’s death anniversaries. Our mother had given birth to all of us. The least my sister could do was to burn incense or show respect.

I am disappointed to witness my sister has turned cold and heartless. Well, you know what? Fuck her.

I read 92 books this year, which is 45 more than last year.

The volume jumped almost double because I read quite a bit of poetry books. I wanted to delve deeper into poems, particularly in English. In the last month or so, however, I picked up a handful of poetry books in Vietnamese. I enjoyed reading poems because they were shorter and I could finish a poem when I had a few minutes here and there.

I continued to attempt switching from fiction to non-fiction. I read quite a bit of Vietnamese-American authors including Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Việt Thanh Nguyễn, Mai Nguyễn, Beth Nguyễn Cường Lư, Tranh Thanh Trấn. I also read Vũ Trọng Phụng’s classic novels.

For 2024, I want to return to thicker books and less poetry. Then again, it doesn’t really matter as long as I am reading.

Check out my reading record.

My favorite sports start with an s:

• Soccer
• Skating (figure)
• Skating (aggressive)
• Skiing
• Snowboarding
• Sex

Each sport needs dependency. Soccer depends on the team. Skating (figure) depends on the rink. Skating (aggressive) depends on the weather. Skiing and snowboarding depend on the snow. Sex depends on the partner.

Hôm nay tưởng niệm ngày Mẹ xa chúng con. Thời gian không thể nào xóa được hình ảnh Mẹ trong con. Con vẫn nhớ đến Mẹ từng giờ từng giây. Mỗi khi chạm vào dòng ký ức, con luôn hối tiếc. Phải chi Mẹ còn ở đây.

Con có lỗi với Mẹ. Để Mẹ ra đi trong sự đau đớn và cô đơn. Những ngày cuối đời của Mẹ là sự trừng phạt của thằng con trai bất hiếu này. Nó không làm được gì cho mẹ nó mà chỉ trải nghiệm từ xa sự chết dần chết mòn của mẹ nó. Đến lúc nó ra đi cũng sẽ thảm thiết như thế.

Hôm nay là ngày giỗ của Mẹ, con không nên tâm sự những điều đau buồn nhưng con không thể kiềm chế được. Đây là nỗi hối hận cũng là một bài học lớn lao. Đừng bao giờ nghĩ rằng Mẹ sẽ sống mãi bên chúng ta cho dù Mẹ vẫn mãi trong tim chúng ta.

Nicki Minaj has some kick-ass flows and she can ride any beat. On top of all, she raps with clarity. She goes hard on “Barbie Dangerous” and “Fallin 4 U.” With “Super Freaky Girl,” she gets too nasty. Pink Friday 2 once again suffers with her singing.

After losing the 2023 Fischer RC Fire SLR Pro Skis with RS 9 SLR Bindings ($215) at the Stowe Mountain Resort, I just purchases the 2020 Rossignol Experience 88 TI with Look SPX 12 Dual WTR Bindings for $255, which seems like a great deal. I am looking forward to skiing in it.

The Black & Blue Them 909 Marius Gaile Complete Pro Roller Blades arrived a week ago just after we left for vacation. I tried them on last night and they seemed to fit well. Can’t wait to hit the skate park on them.

I enjoyed snowboarding on the 2023 Salomon Super 8. The board served me well at Stowe on all the green and blue terrains and under different conditions. I am super satisfied with the purchase, which I found a great deal for $265. I also like the 2021 DC Men’s Laced Lace Snowboard Boots. Its firmness helps tremendously with snowboarding. I got the pair for $164.

I got myself some Christmas presents.

Snowboarding five days straight is exhausting. My body is aging not too well. I lost count of how many runs I did. I tried out Malcolm Moore’s latest video to carve harder. I need more time to practice, but I have the theory down. Malcolm is an incredible instructor.

I took my wife to the green terrain today and she did a fine job. I am glad to see her giving skiing a try. Once we retire, I hope we can go skiing together. Speaking of skiing, my skis are gone for sure. I got them for a very good price. I am looking to replace them.

I miss skiing, but I am loving snowboarding. I love my Salomon Super 8. It has accompanied well. Man, I want to write more, but I am falling asleep. I am really tired. Good night.

Xuân wanted to learn carving on skis. I signed him up for group lessons. I selected level 6, but they placed him on level 4. He learned pole planting and dynamic riding. He didn’t get to learn carving at all. I spoke to his instructor at the end of the day and he said he couldn’t get to carving. If Xuân wanted to learn something that specific, we should sign him for private lessons. I checked the price for private lessons. Half day lessons (3 hours) cost $875 and full day lessons (6 hours) cost $1235. Thanks, but no thanks. He’s going to have do skidded turns for now until I learn carving technique on skiing.

As for me, I lost counts of how many runs I had. Snowboarding for four days is wearing me out. Man, I am getting old. The good thing is that I am learning to turn skidded to carving thanks to this video from Malcolm Moore. He is such a great instructor. I watched all of his instructional videos. If you want to learn snowboarding, subscribe to his channel.

I might just stick with snowboarding if my skis don’t turn up. I ordered a pair with a great deal on Sun & Ski website this morning. Unfortunately, they cancelled the item because they couldn’t fulfill it. Son of a bitch. I am really enjoying snowboarding, especially carving. It felt so nice leaving the line behind. I haven’t been able to carve on skis in the past two seasons.

P.S. A young snowboard crashed into me from behind as we went down a blue terrain. He must had lost control. Fortunately I didn’t get hurt. On another occasion, I pulled over the side to pick up a phone call from my wife. About a minute later, an elder skier flew off his skis and poles. One of his skis flew toward me just a few feet away.