I've even raped and killed a mountain panda in the hills of Shaanxi.

Pictures of my and the group, the four of us on the bottom left carpooled together. It was fun as like duh why wouldn't it be?

The driver of the carpool was actually close to my own horrible skill level, as he'd been going twice a week or more since December. DANG. So we went back and forth, from Holiday to Express to 360 back to Express then up and down Express, then up and down 360. Never taking any blacks of course, which means to get from Express to 360 area, we had to float over new snow that was about 2ft high. If you're skiing, you have to go REALLY FAST to get over that sort of soft powder.

Anyway, good times. Got numbers so if I want to, I can go skiing without Reg again. But I really want to go to Stevens this weekend, so ... yeah.

So I've had like 3 root canals that I need to pay for, so everyone is giving me money for xmas so I can do this. Basically my insurance ran out on the 2nd one and I couldn't not get the root canal. I mean I suppose I could have just had the teeth pulled but they were frontish teeth, not molars. I already feel like a gap-toothed hillbilly.

So yeah, a couple shirts and candy and random stuff - Reg paid for my new tattoo for part of an Xmas present, and also he got me a sweet necklace. And some new gloves since I dropped one at Mission Ridge.

Plus we were going to go to Crystal Mountain for the 25th, and gloves would be awesome. It started snowing on the drive up - it's much closer than I realized, but that's partly because there was no traffic. We went to Rainier area a few times over the summer, and the traffic was always terrible on a nice day, but this time nada. So we got there before noon, traded in the corporate passes for gondola passes.

I am not an awesome skier, and I have mainly NOT skied while it snows. It was not quite what people call "Washington Concrete", but it was close. A bit too warm and too much fluffy shit that you just basically snowplow into. I mean, I normally am good at falling on my ass when I ski, but on that last bit of the bunny slope, I was going really really fast and hit a drift and faceplanted like whoa. So that wetted out my jacket, and filled my goggles with snow, and I had a really hard time just getting up. The weather finally calmed down around 2:30pm, but by then my muscles were feeling the burn of trying to keep control in the deep snow. I am totally sticking to groomed runs if I take up cross-country, I swear.

When we got home Reg wanted to watch Schindler's List. I'd actually successfully avoided it for years, I mean, I knew the basic plot, but Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes are pretty goddamn awesome in it. I told Reg they should make a sequel, set in 1950s Saudi Arabia oil plants. Well, ok, maybe not, but the premise appeals to that black hearted cynic inside me. Afterwards naturally we watched Die Hard.

And I know that almost no one in Seattle reads this, but I'm planning to go to Leavenworth to improve my skiing.

Yesterday we watched the Men's Downhill till it was a foregone conclusion (about at #32) then walked all over the village. I got myself a stylish non-wintery hat, and lots of chocolate. We couldn't decide where to eat, so we stopped at Longhorn's, Whistler's answer to Senor Frogs. It was loud and silly and the service was shit, but the portions were huge and the waitresses were hot enough. We also stopped in a few art galleries; I need to ask tyrven what the painter's name we liked was, but he's the only modern painter I've seen in years that's moved me.

Today was skiing. We woke up to snow, the first time since we've been here, and it was lovely. It calmed down by the time we got up to near the top, and the sun came out for a bit. It went away by noon, when we stopped near the Blackcomb Rendezvous for lunch. But by 1:30pm it was back, and we had some lovely runs. Except at the peak, where it was foggy as Hades. And then around 3:30pm, near the bottom. The odd thing about Whistler-Blackcomb is that it's so very huge, the runs take 30 min even if you're fast. And I am not. I guess we went downhill about 3 times, but the last run was all the way to Whistler Village, with the fog and slushy runs. The only time I fell was on the slush.

Anyway. We got back and I showered, and soon we are heading to dinner. Mongolian Grill, I think. Tomorrow we will sit around moaning about how sore we are, then I fly home.

skiing in wenatchee

I really wonder what kind of parent takes their toddler who can't yet talk to a ski resort. He was screaming his bloody head off as the altitude changed and his ears didn't pop. Reg and I got to the point where the more he screamed the more we laughed, though. I told Reg we really needed an abortion for Valentine's Day. "Oh, did you hear me say that to Casey?" I got the couple next to us to whisper "Throw it in the river" after chanting it out loud.

I mean, I don't like kids, but I don't want to hurt them. Because then they're loud.

If we go skiing this weekend, I'm gonna get these.

so I am in pain from skiing, as was to be expected, but the second I got home and got out of my car, I stepped on my left foot "wrong" and "hyperextended" my ankle, or something. I have to keep it bent or else it hurts like crazy. Well, maybe bent is the wrong word, the top of my foot needs to be extended parallel to my leg. Whatever. It isn't as bad as yesterday - i can actually put a bit of weight on it - but it's still bad.

I tried out my skis yesterday, just cross-country around the block, and wow, do my arms and calves hurt today. Forgot about that. Well, anyway I just dropped my skis off to get the bindings tightened, will have them back on Saturday and then, possibly sunday, skiing!

Only I could go on a week-long cross country skiing vacation and gain ten pounds. Although that's not true - Nick admitted that he'd gained ten pounds as well, despite doing more skiing than I.

So we're trying to diet, which basically amounts to me eating the way I always eat and him eating less at dinner.