So it turns out...

...that days are long when they start at 5 am! I know some people regularly start days at such an hour, but I am sooooo not one of them!

Today was mostly good, and thankfully not long like the last few days have been. It just seems like this morning was a week ago!

I was able to wake up pretty successfully and leave more or less when I needed to. The drive was super smooth and I got there more than 15 min. early. I was thinking I was so super early but was surprised to find at least 5 ppl already there. I have very little experience being in the early crowd! lol

It felt really good to get back on skis again. Really, I don't think I've ever felt that excited to ski. Maybe because most years lately it's been a given, and just what I do. But I was starting to worry that this year I wasn't going to get to (can't afford a ski pass unless I get it as part of my job). I think it's also that I'm just slowly becoming able to accept good things a bit more in my life.

It became apparent early on that I'm one of the most qualified of the new hires. I mostly only know about my group, but in my group there is only one other girl that's certified, and at a lower level than me (and with only one of the two certs I have). Then only two others beyond the two of us has ever taught before. Everyone else is brand new. It's kind of fun getting to be an expert of sorts...especially considering how low my confidence has been lately.

A lot of the training is focused around the basics of how to teach a lesson, which is what I've done for 5 winters now. It's a little slow but it's always helpful to hear how others do stuff. And yeah, I get to be an expert. Mostly though I'm just working on learning the mountain (it's scary to be responsible for a group of kids on a mountain you don't know well!), and learning how everything works in general.

The downside is that I've come away with an injury of sorts. It's nothing major, but putting my out of shape legs into uncomfortable ski boots they haven't been in in months caused some pretty serious cramps. When I took my boots off my calves had visibly changed shape. They were all knotted up and hard up at the top of way they normally are. At first it felt good to get my boots off but then I could barely walk. Thankfully it's mostly my left leg, so I was able to drive home. I took a hot bath to relax the muscles which helped a little, but now they're getting super tight and painful again. I'm really worried about tomorrow. Even though I could probably teach most of what we're being trained on, I really can't afford (financially or job-security wise) to miss it.

The good news is that tomorrow starts later than today so I'll get to sleep in a bit. Yay! And I might be able to get to sleep at a somewhat reasonable hour.
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Definitely grateful for being out in the sun and back on my skis today!