In a Country Where They Turn Back Time

Here is pretty Heidi, all cute and sleeping.

I guess it's weekend synopsis post day today. Wanna hear it? Here is is:

Friday night was nice and mellow. We made dinner and then I got Stinky some Chinese take-out and a DVD and drove her to her friend's house, so they could have a girl's night. I got home and The Guy and I watched Good Bye Lenin! I really enjoyed it.

Me making the X with my ski poles. I'm not quite sure what that was for...

On Saturday, we went to Lake McBride to ski. The snow wasn't great, but we've been a little desperate lately. I felt like I was doing a little more awkward walking on the snow then fluidly gliding. After about an hour and a half, I was feeling a little migrainy. After last week, we didn't want to push it, so we went out for Mexican food for lunch and then came home and showered and took what turned out to be a two and a half hour nap. Jaysus!

The Guy under a very impressive tree.

After we woke-up, it was clear we weren't going to get any chores done around the house, so we headed over to the Dublin, to play some pool, have a drink and wait for Stinky to get off work. We decided on Chinese take-out. Apparently, Stinky was up for it a second night in a row and then we tried to make her hang out with us, but watching The Town. She did grace us with an hour of her time, but alas, she had better things to do and off she went with one of her friends.

A Grant Wood homage in Stone City, Iowa.

On Sunday morning, we were desperately trying to find somewhere to ski. We knew the temps were rising and there was some weird misting, that would wreak havoc on our shoddy snow. The Guy found a place outside of Stone City (an hour away) that looked like our best bet.

We drove there and some of the country roads were pretty slick, but manageable. The trails were wonderful, though. We skied for almost two hours, but it started getting sticky and hard to glide on, so we bagged it and headed into the town of Stone City.

The General Store in Stone City.

We stopped at the General store for lunch and beer. It was so nice and quaint and the staff was really nice. We will definitely come back to ski again this Winter and bike in the Summer.

The blurry but cozy pub with the wood burning fireplace.

We got home and putzed around the the house. I went to my friend G's for a bit and then picked up Stinky from work. We had salmon quesadillas (shut-up. The salmon was leftover and they were actually pretty good) and veggie tamales for dinner and then watched the South Korean movie, The Host. It was so bizarre but so good.

So Will You Catch Me Now I'm Falling

The Guy at the top of the hill I was about ready to herring bone up.

This three day weekend was lovely for the most part. On Friday we had some people over for fish tacos. We ate and drank and talked and knew it was time to go to bed after our friend S.'s boyfriend started doing his Tom Waits impersonation and we couldn't stop laughing.

On Saturday, we got up and The Guy went to the cross-country ski trails and I stayed home and did a work-out for an hour on the bike trainer. He came back with good news. There was enough snow to ski on. We headed to the trails and skied until it got dark. It was so very nice.

We stopped at the Dublin for a drink and a pool game or two on the way home. I actually won my first pool game ever. Yea!

I had made up a pan of lasagna before we left to ski, so all I had to do was put it in the oven and put the beet salad together and we were ready to eat. We watched Midnight in Paris. Woody
Allen can be pretty hit and miss with me, but I thought this movie was just good escapism.


The Guy all lousy with cats. Archie wants to touch Heidi with his paw so badly, but he doesn't want her to get up and move away either. Poor guy.

We went skiing bright and early on Sunday morning, since we knew that the snow was going to melt by afternoon. Of course, I forgot how exhausted I'd be after working-out for 3 hours the day before. By the time we had skied for almost 2 1/2 more hours, I was so tired that I forgot all function or form and fell hard on my back down a hill. I heard a loud cracking sound from my neck and my left arm suddenly felt very, very hot. I was dizzy, but I could move my fingers, so I got up and slowly, VERY slowly, skied back to where we were parked. It was pretty scary.

The Guy took me out for sushi for lunch, but we decided to nix our later afternoon swimming plans and just took a nap instead. We had leftover lasagna for dinner and then The Guy went to play pool with his friend Bry, while I laid around on the couch and read my Prohibition book.

Yesterday I woke up sore and had some whiplash. Luckily, I didn't have to go to work yesterday. I needed the rest. I'm taking at least another recovery day, before I try to work-out again. It's not hard to listen to your body, when it's screaming at you, is it?

And I Know When I Give Her a Listen That She. She's What I've Been Missing.

Here is a sweet little pic, just in time for Valentine's Day.

I had another wonderful weekend here. Friday night the guy and I made dinner and had drinks. We drank a little more than we normally do and I'll take the blame for that. The guy likes these martinis at one of the places we go to that uses blue cheese stuffed olives. So, I figured I'd make some as a little surprise. We had a martini and some wine with dinner and a fun talk. Such a great night.
Archie "helping" the guy with his physical therapy.

Because of the over indulgence the night before, we didn't wake up as early as we wanted to on Saturday. It was just fine though. We made breakfast when we did get up - portabello mushroom and spinach omelets and potato pancakes and fruit. It was lovely. Even though it was warmer than we wanted, we were still able to ski. We checked out some different trails at Lake MacBride and liked them a lot. There were less trees on these trails and with the snow, it felt a little like being in the high desert. We skied until it was time to take Stinky to work.

We showered and then headed downtown for a drink. My favorite bartender, S. was working and we had a good time shooting the shit. We finally got hungry and went back to my place and ordered a pizza. We also watched our disturbing movie. Dead Girl was the name. It was a zombie'ish movie and it was pretty hard to watch at times. It does seem to be the kind of movie that stays with you for a while too - like a bad dream, in some ways. It was pretty powerful.

The flowers the guy bought me.

Today was a little annoying at first. I had more problems with my internet. It seems much better now, but I was pretty frustrated for much of the morning. I met the guy for a swim and a steam in the afternoon. It was exactly what I needed. When we finished, he asked me to come with him to the Co-op so he could buy me flowers. He said he wanted to make sure I had something to wake up to. Awww. Maybe we aren't completely cynical after all. Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone.

But Friday Never Hesitate...

Here are some things that have frozen over.

Sorry I didn't post last night. The guy and I had a wonderful evening together, but we wanted to swim early in the morning, so I didn't have time.

Now, onto the weekend...Stinky is going to spend Friday night in a cabin with some of her other single girlfriends as their own little anti-lovey, anti-coupley, anti-Valentine's Day celebration. They plan to bring snacks, have fondue and play board games. It sounds like a perfect idea to me. The guy and I are going to make pan seared scallops, artichokes, salad and bread. We also want to watch some disturbing movies in our own anti-Valentine's Day weekend celebration. Just because we're happy in our relationship, doesn't mean we can't still be cynical in general, right?

Saturday morning we want to get up fairly early. I'll probably make a quiche and some potato pancakes and fill our bellies before we go skiing. It's finally supposed to get into the 30's around here. I'm happy it isn't so mind numbingly cold, but that means we won't be able to ski after this weekend until it snows and gets cold again. So, we figure we'll eek out as much skiing as possible before that happens.

I'm not sure what I'll do the rest of the weekend. After how fun the last couple of weekends have been, I'm excited to see how it pans out.

How about you all? Are you celebrating an anti-holiday or soaking up some snow this weekend?

I Wanna Free Fall Out Into Nothin'

Here is a tree with a bunch of snow all around it.

So, kids. I'm exhausted. But it's that good kind of exhausted - from having such a wonderful and active weekend.

On Friday night, the guy and I met our friends for sushi and the food was good and the company was even better. I tried to get the guy home at a decent hour, so he could get some things done before we skied the next day.

On Saturday, I took Stinky to work, got a few things done and then picked up the guy and met our friend Bry to ski. Bry had never X-country skied before, so we weren't sure if he was going to like it...Of course, Bry and the guy like to squabble like that old married couple we've all met before called the Bickersons. So, even if Bry did like skiing, since the guy loves it, he couldn't actually admit it.

We finished skiing and the guy and I decided it would be nice to go to the rec services building for a steam to warm up. We got done with that and headed over to pick Stinky up. We decided a nap would be nice before dinner, and we were right. It was awesome to wake up about an hour later and be all rested for dinner. Speaking of dinner...It was amazing. We had another one of those 2 hour meals where we had a cocktail with our appetizers and soup and salad and split a bottle of wine with our entrees. I ordered the halibut that was served with artichoke hearts and potato pancakes. It was really, really good.

After dinner we went back to my place to watch some kind of kooky Norwegian Nazi zombie movie. There was much gore and eating of flesh - as one might expect, but what's more fun than a zombie movie after a nice meal?

The guy spent the night, as to make it easier to get up and get going the next morning. We had a nice breakfast at the Bluebird Diner and while we were eating, our friend Bry called to tell us he was just purchasing skis and boots and wondered when we were skiing. Apparently, he did like skiing after all. He met us at Lake MacBride and we skied those awesome trails for about 2 1/2 hours. I really loved it there and we plan to go back as long as the snow permits.

See what I mean? Great skiing, great food, great drinks, great zombie movies, and great company. It was pretty much my dream weekend.

But I Can Live and Breathe and See the Sun in Wintertime

College co-eds sledding down the alley behind my office on lunch trays they stole from the dorm food service.

Hey, what do you know...My second post in one day. This week seems like it went ridiculously fast. Maybe that damn blizzard upset the time space continuum.

They seemed to work very well.

I'm going to bed early tonight to rest up for the weekend. Tomorrow night The guy and I are meeting some friends for sushi. Stinky doesn't get off work until 8, so we should be easily done in time to pick her up.

I loved this girl's Ernie hat.

Saturday at noon, we're going Cross-country skiing with our friend Bry and anyone else who decides to show up. I'm excited to see what it's like to ski on this much snow. In the evening, the guy and I are going to Orchard Green restaurant for a nice dinner and wine. It should be lovely and relaxing after a day of skiing.

Throwing down another tray....Er, sled.

I'm not really sure what I'm doing on Sunday. I'm assuming I'll ski at some point and possibly swim. I haven't decided if I'll make an effort to watch the big game or not.

Right now, I plan on resting my arms, since they're about to fall off from shoveling snow for 3 hours yesterday. It's one hell of a work-out...

What are your plans? Will you be recovering from shoveling or getting right back out and tiring yourself out in the snow?

You See I Believe in Nothing and You're Convinced of the Hex

Time to take out the trash...Sorry. All I have are cat pics right now.

Soooo. Apparently, we're getting some kind of crazy blizzard in the next day or two. Right now, they're predicting about a foot of snow. Jinkies! I can't remember the last time it snowed that much at one time.

Now that I cross-country ski, I'm pretty excited about the snow. I guess the trick is to find something fun to do in any type of weather, in order to better appreciate it....I'm still working on an interesting activity for 20 below zero temps, but haven't found anything yet. I'm not sure if hibernating counts.

I'd Hate to Look Into Those Eyes and See an Ounce of Pain

Here the guy is either getting ready to pinch the cat's ass, or pointing to the part of him that best represents the whole. Asshole.

Well, this weekend turned out just lovely. On Friday night, the guy came over and helped me cook dinner. I'm not used to being with someone who really does want to help and isn't going to get all in my face about whatever it is he thinks I'm doing wrong. It's so refreshing, but it has taken some getting used to. I'm trying to be better about letting him help me more.

After we ate, we retired to my living room and watched Machete. There were a whole bunch people getting shot in the head and decapitations and stuff blowing up. Once it was over the guy said, "Well, that was romantic." Then he said, "You and your chick flicks...." Hilarious.

On Saturday, I got a few things done around the house, took Stinky to work and then picked up the guy. We went to the university cross country running course and finally got to ski. It was nice. We even did some off-roading and skiied on a few bike paths. I'm still not all that confident on the downhills, but I'm nothing if not a work in progress.

After we got done skiing, we picked Stinky up from work and were all going to go to the rec services building so the guy and I could swim, while Stinky got on the treadmill. Right when we got there, Stinky decided she didn't feel well and wanted to go home. I'm not sure exactly what happened on the 15 minute car ride, but sometimes with 17 year old girls, things don't have to make sense. I dropped the guy off at the pool and took Stinky home. She was fine, so I went back and got a steam in after the guy finished swimming. We headed downtown for a drink and then back to my place to order pizza from The Wedge. We started watching an old Cary Grant movie called, My Favorite Wife, but both fell asleep before it was over. Stinky and her friend both had a little laugh that we were asleep before they were even heading out. Yeah. Old people are funny that way...

I Know a Place That's Safe and Warm From the Crowd

Here is my self-portrait in a bathroom. Quaint.

Sorry. I didn't get around to posting last night, but I'm doing it now. So, that's at least something, right? Anyway, it was a quick and crazy week, and now the weekend is upon us.

I just spent most of the evening making shrimp tomato bisque soup and tomorrow after work I'll pick up the guy and make some black bean burgers with Monterrey Jack cheese and guacamole to go on them and we should have ourselves a right nice meal. I can't wait.

With everything else going on this week, the guy and I didn't really have time to talk about what we'd do this weekend. I think we'll try to get some skiing in. We finally have enough snow that there are a few places that have groomed their snow and laid down tracks for cross country skiing around here and we want to check those out. Of course, it's also frigid cold here, so we might not be able to ski quite as long as we'd like. I'd really like to get some swimming in too, if that works out.

How about you? Will you be looking forward to eating good Winter comfort food or ways to work that off?

And You're Standing Here Beside Me, I Love the Passing of Time

My brother and I at Mirror Lake.

There were so many lessons I learned this weekend. Like, just because you think you're in pretty good shape, you shouldn't try to cross country ski on and off for 5 hours, for the first time in 10 years. Ooops. The other side of that lesson is that I'm 45 years old, and apparently, I keep forgetting that too.

This weekend was as wonderful as I imagined it would be. My brother had called me around Christmas to see if we could meet up. That didn't work out, but I mentioned that the guy and I were going up for a ski weekend. He told me to stop by his place, on the way up and he would wax our skis for us. Nice. We got there a little before 8. We had a VERY quick visit and meal. My brother is a HUGE bike geek, so he had to show the guy his 5,000 bicycles and luckily, the guy is a bike geek too, so he could appreciate them all.

The guy and I on my favorite trail.

Saturday we had a great day of skiing at Mirror Lake. The guy was really helpful about instructing me on technique. We skiied a few trails. I love the actual skiing, but I do have problems maneuvering down hills.

My brother joined us around 3 and the guy reminded me to ask him the most important question of the day: How do you fall down without hurting yourself? Luckily, my brother is a cross country ski instructor, so he gave me all kinds of instruction and tips. I skiied sooo much better after that.

Once it started getting dark, we followed my brother to a brew pub in The Dells and had pretty good food and great beer. My brother is a horrible beer snob,and thinks there should only be 4 ingredients in beer (one of those is water). I ordered a raspberry ale and actually made my brother try it...I think he was just really tired or weak or suddenly crazy or something. Of course, he told me he didn't need to drink anything like it again.

The red heart shaped jacuzzi in the hotel. Classss-yyyyy.

The guy and I headed back to our room and had a few cocktails and a wonderful talk. We were going to try and watch the movie, Breaking Away, because we've been talking about it a lot lately, but never got around to it.

On Sunday morning, I discovered the error of my ways. I was ridiculously sore and tired. I still tried to ski and managed a 3 mile trail, but realized that I was going to get injured, so I bowed out and let the guy ski a few trails on his own while I started reading Water for Elephants in the car and then dozing off. The guy went on some difficult trails he wouldn't have been able to ski with me and so we were both pretty happy.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend as well.

Oh, Baby Just You Shut Your Mouth

Here are people watching a bike race on a hill.

Well, kids. We're only a day away from our cross-country ski trip. I spent most of the evening packing, shopping and hanging out with Stinky.

Tomorrow, I get off work at 2:30. I'll load up my car, gas it up and pick the guy up from his job around 4:30....Then we're off. Yea!

We'll make a very brief stop in Madison so my brother can wax my new skis and have a quick drink and then we'll take off to Baraboo - where our motel is. We'll get there later than we want, but we'll still have all Saturday and much of Sunday to ski, before we head back to Iowa. The skiing conditions aren't perfect there, but at least we'll be able to ski there. There really isn't any snow here.

So, how about you all? Will you hunting down snow, or staying in and hibernating?