Jimspeak

Even tho the weekend has been long, it's whipped by entirely too quickly. Friday I worked from home for a couple of hours instead of using up time commuting. This was essential as I headed up to Mt Hood with some friends a little before noon to get in some turns. It was a beautiful day (not just because I wasn't working) and we spent some hours making turns on packed powder interspersed with the occasional ice patch. No matter. The weather was fine, the company was good and a rad time was had by all. A little after dark we stopped to have a drink while looking out 2-story picture windows at the mountain. Afterwards we headed back out for a few more runs of post-sunlit goodness. The night skiing that night was quite different than the last time I skied at night, which was in Wisconsin. I didn't feel as though my entire body were freezing into a block of ice and all the slopes were not iced over, tho many had large patches. The lights hitting the hills, the dark recesses left untouched by the light and the quiet mountain air combined for a pretty magical experience. It was great! There is some freestyle terrain that we hit up, airing it out a bit before bombing down the hill. Good times.

Saturday...I don't remember. Some Xmas set-up stuff (i.e.-buying presents).

Sunday was cool. Candace and I went out for some breakfast and lounged around a lot of the day. Watched a movie maybe. Then we bought out the grocery and the cooking began. I cooked up 3 pounds of potatoes which became gnocchi after a lot of kneading and mixing on the kitchen table. As that masterpiece took form between my fingers, C did up a big batch of pesto sauce to accompany it. Good times. This food wasn't just for us, oh no. A friend had a potluck over at his house and perhaps 10 people or so went over for feasting and frivolity. It was a great time and I ate way too much. I need to learn to eat more than just starches-gnocchi, a couple kinds of mashed taters, dinner rolls....all so good! No matter, I unbuttoned my pants and pulled thru.

Eventually, by a little after 2am, we straggled home and crashed out.

Christmas day was nice. Had some breakfast, opened presents and did a lot of lounging. We finished off the second season of The Office (so good, so painfully uncomfortable. I want more!) and went for a walk down Peacock Street. Sounds exciting, non? There is a 3 or 4 block section of Peacock Street along which every house has lights up, and past which mobs of people meander past daily. It's insane. Because of the riduculous traffic, the constant police traffic control, the horsedrawn carriage rides (for 4 blocks) and general chaosity of the area I expected huge displays and tons of lights. But this was not to be. All houses were very tastefully decorated! Which was good, just not up to the hype in my head.

The day ended with me winning a game of rummy 500 (a rarity)! Good times.

Today has started....yeah. It's started. We are cat sitting for the next 10 days or so and it's going to be obnoxious. The cat we are sitting is very cranky and unpleasant. Of course she is upended being away from her owner and in a new place with a strange cat. But it doesn't matter. She is cranky in her own home and now we have constant growling and hissing and all that jazz. And poor Marvin hasn't quite figured out what it all means and all he wants to do is play. She doesn't. Hell, she even growls at us if we walk too close. Argh. Right now she's shut up in the bedroom and friendly Marvin is reaching under the door and mewling for us to let him in. Not now, son. Let her calm down and get acclimated a bit and maybe later. Darn it.

The rest of the day? No idea. I'm not working, obviously. I might have to get some skiing in this week. 7" of new should not go untracked, and I'd like to help out. Later this week Jennifer and I are meeting with the office manager to discuss a new venture and that should be interesting.

Dumb and Dumber. Oh yes, it will come to pass....