Whistler 2008- Part 2

Be careful what you ask for....
Never have truer words been spoken.

Day 1 was powder, powder and more powder. Not a stitch of cordouroy in sight.
Powder=fun=hard work.
FUCK!
For those who don't know, you better ask.
Powder for a snowboarder is the best thing since sliced bread right up until the moment that you get your ass stuck in a bowl and have to dig out and post hole up a hill... which Spanky and I did about 3 times each until we gave up and went back to tracked up powder which is less fun but less dangerous. Regardless, everyone was superworked by the end of the day, even the superstar skiiers Sue, Josh, and Shelly.
With the notable excepton of FUCKING NATHAN! who took his first snowboard lesson which Steve and I assured him would be the equivalent of being beaten with lead pipe for 6 hours.

Me: How ya feeling Nathan?
Him: GREAT!
Me: Bullshit.
Him: No. I'm fine. Wonderful, in fact. It was fun. Can't wait until tomorrow.
Me: I fucking hate you.

After corraling me, Steve, and Josh (who, incidently, needs no corraling) for most of the day, Sue managed to get lost herself and missed lunch. Her version of events is much different, of course.

Well, anyway. We all ended up in the hottub waiting for the lasagne to cook. Ate dinner. And hijinks ensued.


Sadly, Patron was NINTY FUCKING DOLLARS in Canada (those poor, poor, people.)
So we had to make do with Gin & Tonics. It was rough but we preserveered.

Played a few rounds of Apples to Apples and went to bed.
And it was still snowing.

Whistler 2008-Part 1

Back in November, I think, Nathan sent out an email about a condo at Whistler he could get for a good price in January and was anyone interested.
I wonder if he has ever gotten so many replies so fast in his life.

The week finally came. Nathan, Steve, Josh, Shelly, Sue and I all headed up on Wednesday.
Nathan, Sue, and Shelly ditched work and headed up early.
Steve, Josh, and I had to stay until the bell and left at five. (How, you are wondering, did I end up in the latter group of people with real jobs? Chuck gave me a serious and meaningful look that morning and asked, "You are setting up tonight before you leave, right?" "Of course!", I answered. Damn.)

Steve and I spent a large portion of the drive wringing our hands over whether we would ski on Saturday or watch the Hawks. Making contigency plans and wondering whether the Hawks could pull it off and how sorry we would be if we missed it.
Arg. That's all I have to say about that.

Got there around ten and the place was sweet! Heated pool and outdoor hotub.

And it was snowing!

Don't hate the player...hate the game

A thousand miles seems pretty far,
But they’ve got planes and trains and cars,
I’d walk to you if I had no other way.

Once again, this time with feeling!

A thousand miles seems pretty far,
But they’ve got planes and trains and cars,
I’d WALK to you if I had no other way!

Better.

I'd like to think that Jeremy took this picture just for me (imitation being the highest form of flattery and what not) but I'm not sure that's the case. He's just that cool all the time. And like me, he loves Photobooth!
That is, when he's not too busy arresting and interogating known terrorists so they can be brought before the man (Hideyo) and properly diciplined.

I don't know how he has the time for it all. SWAT team, fireman, student, thug and rock star.
Amazing.

After the holidays Holiday Party

The gang finally got together for our annual Christmas/New Year's/December Birthdays/January Birthdays Party at Sue's house.

Every year Sue insists that everyone "dress up"!
Every year there are some compliance issues.

I personally haven't changed my definition of "dress up" since age 5!
It simply means my favorite clothes.
Since board shorts and wife beater would have been too cold and snowboard pants too hot, I just settled on my uniform. Black Calvins and black t-shirt.
Others made a better show of it.

And a good time was had by all.
Lot's of great food and Joan even made a cake for her own birthday.



Joan, Kumi, Sheila, and Annie all turned 29 again.. and they were sooooo excited about it. At some point, friends remember your birthday just to be passive-aggresive assholes, I think.
(I have issued a death threat if anyone gets me anything or throws a party for my birthday. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!)

We also did our usual "steal or pick" gift exchange. The climbing calander and video reached the maximum steal value. The "Chocolate Fountain" suffered a shocking lack of popularity. If I didn't live in a trailer, it would be mine! Who doesn't need a fountain that spews chocolate.
Seriously.

BTW

The accident waiting to happen known as my next door neighbor has finally moved.
She packed herself up and took off.

I no longer have to lay awake windy nights waiting for her camper top to fall and crush my propane tank and burn me alive.

Now, I just have to lay awake windy nights worrying about trees falling through my trailer and smashing my head.

Or cars spinning out of control on Lake City Way and barrelling over the embankment onto my trailer and smashing my head.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.....

Starting off Right

I didn't have any blackeyed peas and cornbread on New Year's Day so I'm kind of asking for it.
Hopefully, pizza and Patron are acceptable substitutes cos that's what we had.

Steve, Sue, Josh, and I spent the day at Steven's. Shelly sadly had a headache and couldn't join us (she's really banking on Chinese New Year to change her mojo anyway, but she was missed.)

It wasn't a bluebell day but it was mostly clear and crisp. Not too many people.

Josh has been telemarking exactly two days and is already faster than me. I really hate him sometimes.
And now that Spanky has his new board, he's beating me back to the lift most of the time, too. I'm running out of excuses for why it takes me so long.
1- Some rookie cut me off.
2- Had to stop to tighten my bindings.
3- Got lost.
4- Got a phone call.
5- Dropped my flask.

If anyone has any ideas, send me a PM.

At least, when Josh telemarks, he gets tired faster. He and Sue were gonna head back at 4 and me and the Spankster were going to try to go bell to bell. Nine to Ten. Imagine our surprise when they stuck a CLOSED sign on Skyline at exactly 4:01! Fucking Hell, you're kidding me. It's a goddamn holiday!




So that was a wrap for all of us. Sue leads the way so far with six days in the snow so far. Steve and I are right behind with five a piece.

The one week countdown to Whistler begins NOW!

Is it fucking 2008 already!?

Surest sign that your getting old when time flys by like this.

Sue had Josh, Shelly, and I over for New Year's Eve.
Couldn't go too crazy, though, cos we were going to Steven's Pass for New Year's Day.
Resolved to celebrate at 12:00 Eastern Standard time. (Yet another sign of progressing age!)
But we got carried away playing Apples to Apples, eating sweets, and drinking cheap champagne.
Rescheduled to Central Standard time.
Almost made it to Mountain Standard time but the 6 a.m. wake up call started looming large. I still had to charge my shuffle and funnel Patron into a water bottle!


Almost made it out unscathed. What's this kissing tradition anyway!?

New Years Resolution:
Don't tell anyone else about my aversion to physical intimacy. It just makes them more determined.