Nah Nah Nah Nah! Hey Heeey! Goodbye!



Oh Thank God...






















So long sir, may your descent into private life offer the dignity you've lacked so desperately these last eight years.

Ski Season is Here!


Even late lasst night, you could almost smell the snow in the air.
It's a deep, cold, subtle smell, that's almost as much of a innate sensing, as a smell.

The snow today made me happy! Even if it DID make my drive to work slightly more treacherous than normal (you know, river pirates) - my lightweight little car needs to pack some heat in the trunk...

Skiing this weekend was amazing! Friday was some good fun teaching some newbies (Kate and Vall) & looking out for our repeat offender (Doug). Davey's brilliant addition of radios to the mix resulted in hilarious call names, and us acting like we owned the place. Sorry Greg, Anal Thunder is much easier to remember than Yankee Bravo. :-)

Saturday the Big Kids went skiing. The first weekend of the season isn't necessarily the best weekend to go two days in a row. We were sore & tired in a LOT of ways, but desperately kept our spirits up. Each run brought some problem or other, whether it was complete blindness due to snow & fogging glasses, or boots hurting several legs - we went the distance. Mostly. ;-)

Which brings me to our next adventure... Maine. We'll get in some more skiing before then, I'm sure, but:

How do you go from this...
Camelback Mountain, the most... varied & difficult resort
in the nearby Pocono area - 33 Trails

To this...?
Sunday River, in Bethel, MAINE - 131 Trails
And four times the size of anything I've ever seen...

Ever since I broke my two front teeth in half as a kid, I've exercised caution in a lot of 'falling' sports, particularly where hard ground is involved.

This past weekend Davey & I challenged ourselves by hitting an intimidating looking hill with moguls and everything at Camelback.... we were... less than impressive. But we did it, despite not being in the best condition to try it.

In order for me to *not* die in Maine, several things need to happen... Battle Plan!!!:

I need better face protection from the cold -- AND goggles that I can live with that won't fog up.
I still think I need better gloves.... and something has to happen in the neck area. Otherwise I'm quite warm.

My ski boots need tweaking. Friday I did okay, Saturday I put them on, and my left foot failed at life, my big toe specifically. Either they need to be heat molded again, or I might need bigger boots... I *have* had them since high school.

I need to get to the gym and start doing a lot more lower work with my legs on the weights.

And more skiing needs to be done!
Building stamina back up for tackling hills is the best thing to do aside from hitting the gym.
I feel I'd have been better able to tackle more difficult hills if I weren't feeling so exhausted come the end of Saturday (that and the knot in my right thigh)

I'm very excited. Sunday River has ski clinics for skiers to better learn advanced tactics. I've never HAD advanced lessons, just rudimentary instructions from my Dad & things I've picked up from watching people. This prospect is the even MORE exciting.

Davey & I *aren't* Greg. But we'll do our best, & hopefully learn alot, and keep laughing our asses off while doing it. That's all that matters. I'll try my best to be as ready to tackle Maine as I can be by March 6th...

Whiskey Tango, out. :-)

Talk about a jam-packed weekend.

It started out Friday going straight towards the mall to grab last minute decorations and things for Sunday afternoon, and placing my order of balloons.

Then Sarah's birthday at the Khyber - we were only out till midnight because we were all still exhausted from New Years festivities/having to work during the day Friday.

Saturday was the Bachelorette Party/Scavenger Hunt Extravaganza, which came together under Julia's direction perfectly!

My location was Bob & Barbara's, where Jess was kind enough to chill with me for a PBR & whiskey special while I had my ususal, before heading to the Wilma to meet Amanda. The vodka & cranberry drinks there are wonderful because they come in pint glasses. And I had three.

In that time, the bartender, aptly named Butch, and I conversed about the wonderful crap on the walls (So much PBR content), how the PBR special originated at Bob & Barbara's, and about the Scavenger hunt I was a part of.
During this time, Butch decided I was a classy lady, and began pouring me several free shots of whiskey, to help fight off the cold for the next leg of our journey.

Amanda arrived - the toilet paper veil was craftily assembled in the bathroom, and advise on marriage was offered by both Butch, and another patron we will always remember as St. Tim.

The belligerent stumble down South street to Manny Browns eventually led us to Mixto on Pine Street, where I wisely chose not to drink any further till the end of the evening.

Sunday morning, bright and early I was off picking up the balloons, to my aunt's for more extra chairs for the party, and back to my house to whip up a batch of Green Bean Caserole - one of my mother's prized dishes which sadly takes a good hour & a half to cook. I dove into my car and the rest of the day went alot more smoothly. We had an ungodly amount of wonderful food and snacks at Ali's apartment, and ooh'd and ahh'd over Amanda's pretty presents.

After doing some cleaning up, I drove back home, took many antihistamines and passed out early in the evening.

So today, despite feeling like I haven't had any weekend at all -- things are good.
Even with another ridiculously busy weekend on the horizon.
Everything turned out better than we'd hoped (and we were desperate for things to go well) and there are a ton of pictures floating around out there to document our every move. :-)

And with that... I'm crawling back under my desk ;-)

Happy New Year!

Last evening was spent at Cantina Los Caballitos where Mexican food was delicious, free nachos were plentiful, and a 2 hour $15 open bar sealed the deal very nicely.

Good times were had - photos were taken - just not on my camera.

There IS one great one floating around out there with the group of us each double fisting our drink of choice.

Today was my first time seeing the Mummers Parade in person. I've watched it on TV. I do a mean Mummers Strut, complete with parasol, when given the opportunity. But it's just never worked out properly.

We wound up with a spot right along the fenceline just south of Broad & Washington right at one of the performance areas.


Television really doesn't do this bizarre tradition justice, let me tell you. We went into the streets armed with spiked hot chocolate or orange juice just as the String Bands hit the street.

We laughed, ooh'd & aah'd, and hooted the entire time. We reached the point of near death due to exposure just as the last of the String Bands were finishing - so it worked out perfectly.

I'd love to watch it again next year, probably slightly more intoxicated, and definitely with several more layers of clothing on!

Traditional New Years Dinner of pork & sauerkraut was held at my grandmother's, where Craig & I giggled over SNL clips.


And now -- after nearly 2 weeks off -- I'm headed back to work tomorrow.

At least I'll have 2 paychecks waiting for me. ;-)
And next week is only a four day week...

Never having been a great fan of New Years, 2009 certainly started off on the right foot.

And with lots of girly Wedding-Type-Things this weekend I'm sure to be busy.

But I figure, last year I broke my blogging record... so I might as well shoot for that again this year - and start that off right too!