I think I am just going to post in my homeschooling journal for now because mom keeps giving us assignments and it's going to be easier to just keep one journal.

http://zachshomeschool.bravejournal.com

See ya there. Peace ouuuuuuuttt!

Shane and Matthew came over after school today. I went to the school with my sister to look for them after school let out. Shane's mom picked him up and then Matt and I had ramen noodles and then we played piano until his mom came up. We played the demo for her and let her think it was really us it was funny.

At first I was trying to get my PSP online by downloading a free shareware proxy server program called CHARLES -which helped alot of people get online through the Wipeout Pure PSP hack - (http://www.xk72.com/charles/download.html), and configuring Charles for DNS spoofing, setting up the PSP network connection, and then realized that PSP's website http://www.us.playstation.com/psp.aspx?id=SoftwareUpdate already finally had the downloadable update!!!! I hooked up the PSP to the PC because I kept getting error messages when I tried to do a network update but then did a direct download instead and BOOM! I was ONLINE, surfing !!!

I used to have version 1.5 but now it's 2.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and I spent the night before at Shane's. We played video games, watched tv and went to bed. At Matts we played video games, watched tv and went to bed too. Shane left for vacation with his mom and brother today. He'll be gone for a week!

I keep missing getting online to see Brandon and Nayshia on the webcam but everytime they call I am either at Shane's or Matthew's house. Hopefully I'll get to see them later on today.

We all miss him really bad.  He left on Tuesday to go back to West Palm Beach with Aunt Amanda. I miss him alot.

Tonight Matt showed up kinda late and asked if I could stay overnight, so I went. I was still practicing guitar when he came.

(My mom is typing this for me today because I can't type right now)

Today I woke up and got ready to go skiing with Brandon & my Dad at Jiminy Peak.  We left at 10am.  We get there and its really crowded Dad says, so we had to park really far away.  It was really cold outside and we had to get our equipment on.  And there was like this wagon truck that was carrying a wooden wagon, a big one, and it was so far away that you had to get on this wooden wagon truck that had like 10 other people on it.  And you just stand there until its time to go.  It was like a shuttle that take you to where you get the tickets.  And you just have to walk a little up. 

Then there's the line for the lift and the line was really long.  It wasn't like Stratton, it was like really crowded.  Jiminy Peak's whole mountain is like only half of what Stratton is.  Jiminy Peak stinks!  But I'd still rather ski there, than not ski at all.  So we just wait in line for our turn to get on the lift and when it finally comes, me, Brandon & my dad go on the lift.  And when we got to the top and got off the lift, Dad saw one of his college friends that he hasn't seen in 14 yrs.  They were talking a little about Dad's job & other things.  They were talking about why Dad didn't end up going pro in baseball because of his arm injury. She had a little kid and her husband was doing snowboarding, which he hadn't done in a year and Dad was talking to him.  My dad and her husband were talking about their jobs.  We started off on a green trail & Dad told us that it was going to be hard, because there was fresh snow on the ground, and it was hard to move in. And I fell like 2 times while on that trail.  Brandon didn't fall.  My dad fell once I think.  When we got down we went on our 2nd turn to the lift, and this lift wasn't nearly as crowded. This was our second time on the lift.  When we were going to go on the lift, I tripped over my blade when I was trying to get to the lift, when the lift was coming behind us. I fell, and they stopped the lift, which was embarrassing.  I couldn't get up because my blades were tangled, but I did get up eventually, and I told Dad that it was embarrassing, and he was like, "yeah it happens sometimes". 

When we got to the top we started to go this trail called "Out to Sea".  And we took that to this trail named Scooter.  And then the Scooter was very flat at first, but then got kinda steep, and Dad wanted us to go in front of him in case we fell so that he could know he needed to help us...and there was like this turn and while we were going down, my dad was waiting at the top until we got to this bend in the trail.  But I didn't know that we were supposed to stop, he thought we were going to stop, so I went past, so he started going.  And there were these couple of other people that were down the trail.  And I was coming up too fast on this other kid that had skis and my blade was caught up in his ski and I got off of his ski and I lost my balance and my blades came up & I fell on my back but used my arm to brace myself and I BROKE my right wrist!!!  (This would have never happened at Stratton because we always had so much of the trails to ourselves!)

Then ski patrol got to the scene. They got to the scene before my dad did.  I don't know who told them, but they were there fast.  They were there in like 2 or 3 minutes.  I was crying out, "Dad" because it really hurt.  Like 1 minute after ski patrol was there, which felt like 15 because it hurt so bad, Dad got there and told me to take deep breaths.  They put my arm in this cheap little splint.  Then they told me to get in this little sled that this guy brought that I had to lay down in. This guy snowboarded down the mountain with this sled that I had to climb in . We took the easiest trails, but he was going kind of fast.  It was like this metal sled and  there was this guy that was snowboarding & pulling the sled by these handles on the sled, and when he'd come to a stop snow would spray all over me.  And some other guy skied beside him and Dad followed and so did Brandon.  Then they took me to this like house where the window slid open like a garage, and he pulled the sled inside the window.  They would radio each other and stuff.  It was like an underground first aid house and these 2 guys lifted me up on this couch thing.  And then they took off the splint and replaced it with a better one.  They asked me all these questions like my address, what school I go to and all this other crud. Even with the new splint & ice pack it still really hurt.  Then we had to go to the hospital.  I got x-rays and they put a real cast on my right arm.

They gave me a note saying I can't play gym for weeks & weeks!!!!

But Dad said my wrist should be healed in time to get a little more skiing in before the season is totally over

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005

Today Brandon, Dad & I went first up to Tamarac Lift.
Then we skied over Ursa Access to Ursa Express,
which is a lift, to get to the top of Stratton Mt.
Then we got on the Black Bear Trail.  It's a Blue Square
Trail, which is a little harder trail than a Green Circle.
We got off the Sunbowl Express, which is a short blue
square trail.  And we skied the Lower Down Easter to
the Sunbowl Lodge. While we were there we had some
water, and my foot was sore from skiing so much
lately.  So I rested it a little while.

Then we got on this lift called the Sunrise Express.
That's when Brandon realized that he had dropped
his pole!!!  The guy behind us told Dad where it was.
So then Dad told us to ski BY OURSELVES down the
Lower Down Easter while Dad had to ski BY HIMSELF
down Rowley's Run which was ROPED OFF.  If a trail
is roped off you are not supposed to ski on it because
that means it is TOO DANGEROUS to be skiing on, but
Dad would rather risk his life to save himself from
having to stop skiing to buy another pole!  He had to
ski this really narrow trail called Sun Riser Super Trail
and fell 4 times because fresh snow was on it which
made it hard because no one else had skied there since
the snow fell. (Kind of hard to explain).

So Dad met us at the bottom of the Lower DE'ster at
the Sunbowl Lodge (Sunrise Express Lift) and then
for the 1st time we went on this lift called the
Shooting Star.Then we took Black Bear again and
from there took Upper Middle Brook, which is a
BLACK DIAMOND trail! (Most Difficult!) ..it's a
single black diamond trail.From there Brandon and I
wanted to ski Way Home trail to Old #8 to Run Way,
and then to Craig's Run to Lower Tamarac and then
to the condo.

I didn't fall ONCE!  Brandon did fall once but it wasn't
even during the steepest part of the Black Diamond
Trail-it was during the beginning b4 it got real steep,
but that's because he was going too fast & Dad told
him to slow down. Then he skied the rest of the
way perfect just like I did. 

I am going to take a shower now & then we are going
back out again before the lifts close.  Today is our
last day for skiing b4 we have to go home.  That
stinks!

I wish my friends from school could be here.

UPDATE:  I went skiing again with Brandon & Dad & we skied another black diamond trail again, Kidderbrook Trail:

When we went back out we took Tamarac Lift to Ursa Express lift. Then
we went to Janeway Junction & then to Upper Drifter.  Then we went
Interstate.  Then to Snowball Alley, then to Snowbowl Lift up to the
top.  Then we went black diamond Upper Kidderbrook to Kidderbrook
(also black diamond).  Then we took lower Kidderbrook, which is green.
Then we went down to Sunrise Express lift and then took Shooting Star
lift up to the top. Then we took Black Bear trail blue square, to Sunbowl
Express to try to get to the shooting star lift, but it was closed (we were
two minutes too late) so we took Way Home to Old #8 to Run Away, to
Mark's Run, to Daniel Webster, to home.

Then we came home and got ready to go back to the village to shop & Dad is making pork loin.

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2004
 
I woke up early and got ready to ski at 8am.  Dad said we could get out earlier than everybody else who has to drive to ski here because we have a lift that is close to the door of the condo we are staying in.  He said our lift opens at 8-the one at the bottom of the mountain opens at 8:30. 

Yesterday the weather wasn't that great but today it was perfect.  It snowed last night & there was fresh snow on the mountain.  The snow was different today-it was more sticky, which means it was harder to go straight because snow would build up on the blade and make me fall.   I had to go slower because I had to zig zag more so the snow wouldn't build up.  Yesterday was really windy and cold, and there was a snowstorm.  I fell going on Yodler's Express (a trail on the mountain).  But I was ok.  We went down YE without problems and did it three times.  We went down Mark's Run two times and we had fun.  And then my dad said, "Are we ready to go to the top of the mountain?"  And my cousin
Brandon & I said "yes."  We had to ski down a couple of trails to get to Ursula's Express, which was a special lift to take you up to the top of the mountain & it was bigger & it was faster.   When me & my dad & Brandon hopped on, and some other guy, we went up to the very top of the mountain.  It was very foggy when we started to go up, you could hardly see where you had to get off.  When we finally got to the end of the thing we all hopped off and I was kind of afraid to hop off, and there were people behind us.  So when we had to get off it was slowing down alot so it was supposed to be easier to get off but it was still a little hard to get off.  So when it was finally time to get off, I was holding my poles in my left hand, and holding on to the seat with my right hand, and I pushed off and the thing
made me fall.  I hit < he ground and immediately rolled three times as fast as I could (like a stuntman in a movie), to safety.  And when I saw the people who were behind me, they said, "Good move!"  I was smiling because it was funny.

We had to look at our map to see where we were going to ski.  And the one that we wanted to go on was closed for some reason.  So we had to go on Interstate.  It's just like a little hill trail, but to get to it, we had climb up this little hill, but it was still hard because the wind was so outrageous it was pulling people down the hill on their skis. So if you didn't have your poles, and dig them into the ground hard, you'd be gliding backward.  I was right behind Brandon going up toward Interstate.  We had to ski through Mike's Way to Upper West Meadow to get to Interstate.  Then we took Interstate to get to Overpass.  After Overpass we went to a place to eat called Aunt Chilada's.  I had yogurt &
rootbeer, Brandon had chicken soup, brownie & french fries, and Dad had a hot dog, french fries & peanuts.

After we ate, Brandon wanted to go down Tink's Link, which is a more difficult course.  But then we decided to go to lower Tamarac.  We skied down Mark's Run to Get Stumped.  It was easy.
 

Friday, February 11, 2005

Dad came to get us at like 8:30pm.  We rode up to Stratton VT in a Denali SUV. Dad stopped to get gas and some snacks and drinks. We listened to some CDs on the way up.  One of my favorite songs, If You're Gonna Play in Texas, You Gotta Have a Fiddle the Band by Alabama.  Dad said he didn't like that song.  But I do and so does my sister.  Then we listened to one of my other  favorite songs,
called Peace of Mind by Boston. We our GameBoy SPs and held onto Joey because he came with us. We finally got to VT and checked in around 10:30 at night.  When we saw the sign that said Welcome to Stratton my sister yelled, "we're in Hollywood now!"It was funny.  And the village and all the condos were lit up with white lights like a winter wonderland. Dad unpacked the truck and then went to the store to get some food to have in the condo.  We played Playstation and watched cartoons.  Then we layed down on the couches that turn into sofabeds.  At first Brandon slept in the same bed as me but then he moved to Jacob's bed. Rachael slept on a different mattress from a  bed.  Joey slept with me. It's great because we are in the same condo as last year    It almost felt like its another home of ours, like the way we always felt when we would stay at the Samoset in Lake George every summer.
Except now we can't stay there this summer, because they are turning it into a big indoor waterpark.  And it won't be finished until next summer.

Saturday, February 12, 2005

We woke up early and Dad had to got out and get more stuff that he couldn't get last night because we got there so late.  I don't think that we are supposed to have our dog here so we are making sure he doesn't bark alot.  But we found evidence of another dog being here before - a dried up turd that was under the couch when we moved it to pull out the bed last night!!! LOL  So that made me think that maybe its ok that Joey's with us. We had breakfast and got ready to go to a ski lesson.  Dad arranged a  private lesson for me, Brandon, Rachael and Jacob.  But Rachael couldn't go to the lesson.  Her boots were hurting her so Dad had to take her to get her boots custom-fitted.  She was crying.  Jacob fell a bunch of times during the lesson.  He had to take his ski blades off after a while.  When Jacob was trying to go up the lift on the bunny hill, with the ski instructor, he fell.  So the
instructor had to pick him up and he stayed near the instructor the rest of the time.  Brandon and I went up the lift and skied down the bunny slope like 4 times and then we skied halfway down Stratton twice.  Dad had us take lessons because he said we were 'rusty' because it was a year since we went skiing last.  Brandon's feet were hurting because they were really really cold. My hands were really really cold too.  And I fell on my butt when I jumped off the ski lift. I can't believe those lessons cost 250 dollars!!! All we did was go down the bunny slope 4 times.   But then Dad met us where we were waiting with the ski instructor near the ski rentals.  He said, "we're gonna ski the way home"...so we had to go on the lift, we went down some trails to get home.

Once we got home we looked at the map of ski trails and decided to go down Yodler Express.  We could've went down Mark's Run, which is our favorite trail.  Yodler's Express was pretty smooth but we had to go down a pretty steep hill that's short  but had ice. Then Brandon kept on so he would go slower.  When we had to go down the steep hill, I accidentally went onto a different trail so I turned around and started going across the trail and started going down this trail nobody was really skiing on and I fell.  And I started crying because my fingers were numb and cold. I was behind Dad and he had yelled to me to cut across the trail and when I fell he expected me to get up immediately but I didn't because I was crying.  He didn't know I was crying. Then when he realized I was crying (Brandon was with Dad), he took off his skis and started running up the mountain.  But then when everything was ok Dad put his skis back on and we skied the rest of the way home without falling.

Mom made me some chicken noodle soup when I got back.  Rachael had some too. 

Then Brandon and I took a nap because we were exhausted.  We slept for three hours. Dad made a steak and I didn't get to eat it because I was asleep.  He made a fire and when I woke up I was REALLY HOT because I still had my chili's (thermals) on and my head felt heavy.