tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Go read the lyrics to James Blunt’s Tears and Rain.

You’re still here? GO!

Fine, here’s a teaser:

How I wish I could walk through the doors of my mind;
Hold memory close at hand,
Help me understand the years.
How I wish I could choose between Heaven and Hell.
How I wish I would save my soul.
I’m so cold from fear.

I had some weird dreams about my cousins last night. Two sets of them, both from my mom’s side. I watched a Bernie Mac episode right before bed, which may have contributed to it in the form of extended family. Also, the kid had to walk home from school because Bernie wouldn’t give him a ride and there were a few scenes with Bernie in the car looking out at the boy walking. I think I stole that image for my dream.

In one of the dreams, I was talking to my cousin Carly, who was pregnant and wearing a blazer. Not sure why. (Well, she IS pregnant, I meant not sure about the blazer). We were sitting and talking and I was telling her how Aaron and I just bought snowboards and were really into it. I expected her to be happy and psyched since she loves snowboarding and lives in CO. But she wasn’t. She didn’t really react at all. And in my dream I was so disappointed that she didn’t care. Left me feeling very empty.

In the other dream, I think I was in an airport of sorts with my mother and there was this lady there who was friends with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who is dead, but he was alive and well and cranky in my dream. He was defending this lady he was there with for some reason. And I was sure he wrote Le Petit Prince, and I knew my mom and I had driven through a town in France where he did something – either was born, or lived, or something. (We know this because the sign announcing the beginning of the town said it was the place where Antoine de Saint-Exupéry did whatever he did). And I wanted to talk to him about it, but second guessed myself about him being the author of the book, so I found a computer and googled him. Even in dreams, I doubt myself. Of course, he was the author so I went up and said something to him about how I loved Le Petit Prince and had driven through his town, and I said the name of the town which I can’t remember now, but I know it started with an L. I just looked it up and he was born in Lyon! That’s not the town we drove through, but interesting nonetheless. At least to me.

Then we were all about to board the plane for this very same town. Except, horror of horrors, I didn’t have my ticket, or even an e-ticket receipt. I was looking through everything in my bag and found old tickets, but not the one I needed. I was freaking out, as I’m sure you can imagine. I was also on the plane at this point. Apparently they weren’t checking tickets until you were seated. So they shut the doors and we were going down the runway, which was actually a neighborhood street, which meant I couldn’t even get off and go buy a new ticket. But, I was on the plane….

There were even enough seats for everyone, which was very fortuitous I must say. I think at that point I just accepted that I wasn’t getting off the plane and no one else seemed to object.

So anyway I was standing in the back (didn’t want to sit yet) and looking out the window, and there, walking down the street, were my cousins Dorothee and William! So I opened the window (at this point the plane felt like a school bus with similar windows) and yelled out, “Guillaume! On va a Paris!” even though we weren’t going to Paris, but I guess I forgot the name of the town. The two of them just looked up at me with open mouths, I think they were happy to see me, and everyone on the plane was asking me, “Do you want to get off and walk with your cousins?” And I replied something along the lines of, “No, I’ll see them again soon. I want to go to Paris.”

And then I think we took off, and I woke up.

(Sorry Dorothee, next time I’ll get off the plane and talk to you!)

I finally put a new poem up on my site.

Still don’t quite have the hang of happy poems, it seems.

here it is….

We bought snowboards!!! I’m sooo excited. But I want to write about Christmas first.

I made Aaron open one Christmas present early, on Christmas Eve morning. I had to do it because it was a Redskins jersey (Moss) and they were playing at 1pm. I knew he would be happier to watch the game wearing it. And guess what? Moss had an excellent game and they won! Yes, I take partial credit for the victory. You’re welcome. He gave me a super cuddly blanket which I love.

We tried to go to bed early because we were both so excited for Christmas morning and presents! Sunday was the first day since I’ve known him that he got out of bed before 10am on a weekend. It might have even been 9am, I can’t quite remember because I was still half asleep. I think the best part of Christmas was Aaron telling me that this was the first time he had been excited for Christmas since he was a kid.

So we opened our stockings, which were both overflowing. Well mine more so than his since I had a stuffed bunny (I have named him Baudelaire since he looks a little sad) sticking out of the top. Then I made breakfast which was inhaled in about 30 seconds so we could open all the rest of the presents.

I made quite a haul. (So did he). Got some great stuff – a new Eco-Drive watch, a Dell Axim X51v, salad bowls, and other goodies. He got a PSP and I can’t remember what else I gave him.

THEN we went to his dad’s house, and I was completely not expecting to get anything big there, but they had gone completely overboard and bought half the stuff on my Amazon wish list. I’m pretty sure they’re going for The Best In-Laws Ever Award. Dinner with his family (well really his step-mom’s family) was really fun, and we ended the night playing (and winning!) Cranium, which was one of the gifts they got me.

So now I’m all stocked up on happiness, and fully prepared for the onslaught of seasonal depression which January and February typically bring.

So back to the snowboards…..as if we both hadn’t spent enough money on each other, we bought boards, boots, and bindings. Got some great deals and my stuff matches pretty well too with my jacket, hat, etc. So I’m happy about that. Cannot WAIT to go boarding now!!!

Yesterday Aaron and I skipped work and went to Whitetail to take a 2 hour private snowboarding lesson. It was awesome, and I am so sore today.

We got there early and rented our equipment, and then went out to the beginner’s area to stumble around a bit before our lesson.

Not much was accomplished during this hour.

At this point I was most pleased with the plethora of accessories I had purchased for the event, and how well they all worked. I had on my moisture-wicking base layer pants and shirt, moisture-wicking socks (which I think are not to blame for my near-blisters), a shell jacket, a ski jacket, snowboarding pants, hat, gloves, and goggles. I was toasty. By the end of the day I was sweaty. Didn’t get cold once.

After that we met up with our instructor, Keith, who reminded me very much of Jennifer’s Aaron – their voices were almost exactly the same. He was a pretty cool guy too, for a redhead.

He taught us some of the basics and before I knew it we were on the chairlift, which kind of freaked me out at first. Sort of the same way escalators do. But I managed to keep it under control. Having Aaron there helped a ton (the real Aaron, not the pseudo-Aaron emanating from Keith’s mouth). So then we were making J-turns down the mountain and the next run we were linking them! Aaron looked super cool but I don’t know if the video I took on my crappy camera turned out enough to see.

Probably the best part was Keith telling each of us what the other was doing wrong, so next time we go out we can help correct each other. That damn front hip gets me every time. I started out sucking at heel-side turns but now I think I like them more than toe-side. Funny.

After the two hours were up we were both wiped out and our legs couldn’t take any more of the mountain, so we headed home.

Nothing is better than the feeling of crashing on the couch with the love of your life after a day of exhausting yourself on the slope. I could have laid there for hours, in heaven.

Getting up this morning sucked though, and now every time I move any part of me, my body screams. But it was totally worth it. I wanted to go straight back out there today.

Next step is buying some boards, boots and bindings!

I’m taking off work on Tuesday to go snowboarding with Aaron. We’re taking a private lesson since I have never been before (he went for the first time last year.) I’m soooo excited. I went a bit overboard stocking up on warm clothes – base layer/socks/jackets (yes plural)/snowpants/hat/gloves – but I do like to accessorize.

If you have any tips you’d like to share, please do! I think I may also buy wrist guards as I plan on falling a lot. And yes, I did buy the snowpants with the reinforced seat as I thought this would provide extra padding (every little helps).

My fear is this will become a very expensive hobby – and that’s not even including hospital bills.

But I’m reassured that I will like the sport, as when I was in a meeting with many government officials and contractors, the one guy there my age said I looked like a snowboarder.

I’ll take that as a good luck sign.

It was the best birthday ever

I cannot wait to watch season’s 1-4 of MacGyver!!

I won’t bore you with all the details, but it was a wonderful night.

Then I was slapped back to reality this morning when the jackass in the office across the hall from me started listening to all of his voicemail on speakerphone, as loud as it could go. Who leaves 5 minute messages? Leave your number and hang up!

Today is all set to be the best birthday ever. I can’t wait to go home and see what Aaron has cooked for me and of course, open my presents I already got to open one present last night (it was almost midnight!) which makes me think that these are going to be the best gifts ever too!

I knew he would get me stuff I like, but he really went above and beyond. And I only opened one so far! I can’t believe he noticed me looking up knitting techniques online all the time – and that he then found the perfect knitting reference book to get me. Or that he would be able to pick out the perfect journal – and I am picky about my journals. I can’t wait to write in it.

The party last night was great too. I had tons of fun and got some really nice presents.

So all in all, wonderful!

Mornings like this one, where I wake up to three inches of snow covering my car, make me miss condo living a little bit. At least the covered garage part of it.

On the bright side, I got to use my fancy new ice scraper/snow brush that Aaron bought for me. A few days ago I had mentioned that I only had a small ice scraper since I have been able to park in garages for the past several years, and since now I park outside, it was going to suck come winter*. I suppose after the first few snows I eventually would have gotten around to buying a better scraper, but when I came home last night, he surprised me with a new one! And it works like a champ, I’m happy to report. Little thoughtful things like that make me go all warm and fuzzy inside.

To top it off, he bought a Christmas tree and put it all together as a surprise for me for when I got home!

Ah, love him.

*I love anytime I can put the words ’suck’ and ‘come’ right next to each other in a sentence.

The jackass carrying on a conversation.

He has the LOUDEST voice ever. On the one hand, it’s good that it drowns out the radio, but on the other, he’s a moron, and now I have to listen to him spew his idiotic opinions to whichever poor fool happened to wander past his office and get sucked in by the gravitational pull (he’s a large man).

Right now he and Moron #2 are discussing the fact that Moron #2 owns stock in GE, and does this REALLY mean he owns a ‘piece’ of the company? The Jackass’s opinion is that no, it doesn’t, and Moron #2 has been fooled by the stock market, GE, and himself into thinking that his life actually matters on some level.

At least, that was my take on it.