Thursday, January 31, 2013

Just call me Picabo Street

I'm going skiing on Saturday for the first time, along with three friends. All but one of us are beginners, and to hear us talk, you'd think we were headed for the Olympic runs at Lake Placid. So, behold....


Things We Have Actually Said While Discussing Our Upcoming Ski Trip

"As long as we all make it out without any broken bones, I'll consider it a successful day!" 
"Really? THAT's the measure of success we're using?"

"How much should I expect to fall down?"

"....What do I wear?"

"Difficulty-wise, is this much like ice skating? Because I'm TERRIBLE at ice skating."

"Everybody remember to bring your health insurance card."


Seriously, though, I'm excited. We're taking a lesson and then attempting the easy trails, so I'm confident we'll have a great time and a lot of laughs. Learning to ski also happens to be a Life List item, so I'll be documenting it. Details to come!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Three things

1. The weather people are predicting snow tomorrow, except that they've changed their minds six times in the last eight hours about how much. Predictions run the gamut from freezing rain to six inches or more, which probably means that we see an hour of light flurries that don't hit the ground but still cause evening traffic to snarl beyond explanation. That's the way it goes in Washington. 

Personally, I've been waiting for snow since November, preferably a repeat of Snowpocalypse 2010. I'll be wearing my new snow boots tomorrow, come flurry or snowstorm. 

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2. I'm getting excited for the spring, which is booking up with a number of short little weekend trips. Notably, two of awesome cousins invited me to join them for a weekend in New York City in March. Neither of them have ever been there, and since I'm just a short train ride away and know my way around decently well (and am ALWAYS looking for an excuse to go to NYC), I'm excited to tag along. None of us have traveled together before, and since we only really see each other at family holiday events (once a year, twice if there's a wedding), it'll be a great chance to spend some rare quality time together. 

We're still in the early stages of planning, so tell me--what would you do (and more importantly, where would you EAT) if you were visiting the city for the first time? 

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3. That post about Holly and Lucky the other day might not have been the best idea, because now I cannot stop looking at pictures of dogs. My family's dogs. My friends' dogs. Your dogs. Strangers' dogs. Doesn't matter. But I stare at puppy pictures on Instagram for HOURS. Help.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

2012 Catch-up: Atlantic/Pacific

A lot of things happened in 2012, particularly in the latter half of the year, and I barely wrote about any of it! So for the next few days (weeks?) I'm going to catch up on a few of the stuff I missed last year--and clean off my camera card while I'm at it.  Happy New Year, all! 

August was a weird month. 


I was off swimming in this during our annual family vacation... 


Edisto Island, SC





...and the next week I was dipping my toes in this: 

Monday, January 14, 2013

Holly and Lucky

We had an unusual Christmas this year.

For one thing, it was the first without my sister, who was spending her first Christmas with her husband's family. But even that was sort of forgotten, because this will forever be remembered as The Christmas We Unexpectedly Acquired Two Dogs.

Let me back up.