Whistler

We went to Whistler last weekend. I was originally going to snowboard but I didn’t ‘take’ to snowboarding. I did take to hitting the icy ground with my fists and swearing while trying to learn how to snowboard. So for the sake of my oh-so-patient husband (and for the sake of my hands – it hurts to hit ice!) I opted for a weekend of snowshoeing and cross country skiing instead.

I took Thursday off and kind of loafed. It was great. Instead of going to work in the morning I took a gift certificate to a salon by my work and had a pedicure and manicure. ~ Thanks, Meg! So, I had all day to pack for the long weekend, which I did. I also had all day to pack our passports. I did not pack our passports. Fortunately Abbotts asked if we all remembered our passports before we hit the road. I knew the second it was out of his mouth that I forgot them at home. It took an hour to go from the Abbotts’ in North Seattle to our house in South Seattle and back. Abbotts called to make sure I wasn’t driving like a maniac ~ can’t go on a ski trip when you’re dead.

I don’t remember exactly where we were when we encountered snow but I’m glad it was dark otherwise I would have freaked out knowing we were on a small two lane highway that was winding it’s way up a cliff – mountains on one side and a long, long way down was the ocean on the other side. Knowing you can slide off the road and plummet to your death is not a good feeling.

We arrived at the cabin, pardon me, chalet, around 1:30 in the morning. The car wouldn’t make it up the hill the last little bit to our parking spot. It drove in the snow for well over an hour and finally had enough when we were just about there. I’m really glad it waited to poop out until the very end. It really would have sucked to get stranded on the ‘side’ of the itty bitty Sea to Sky highway.

We all hit the sack shortly after arriving. Ryan & co. drew straws at work and we got the second best accommodations (a queen size bed in a private room). Well, I would call it semi-private. Sure, there were four walls but you could hear a mouse squeak two floors away!

Bright and early the next morning everyone but three girls hit the slopes. I wish I had a picture of the guys trying to help Ryan into his ski boots. At one point Ryan was lying on the floor with another guy wrestling his leg trying to get enough leverage to lock in a strap on his boot. It was really funny to watch.

Helen, Nichole and I went to the Village - (that is so much fun to say ~ "What did you do today?" "Me? Well, I went into the Village.") - to buy groceries for lunch and breakfast since we couldn't bring a lot of food across the border. Meat and cheese were forbidden items. Never mind that the grocery store sold Tillamook cheese in Whistler. We went into sticker shock in the store. OK, I went into shock. There we were, an hour and a half north of Vancouver, B.C., in the heart of the resort town known as Whistler, in the cutesy grocery store with the mood lighting, special displays of European chocolates, the deli with the special cheeses and olives and the bakery with every kind of baked good your little heart could desire and there were the price tags on the said goods. The teeny, tiny price tags. And no, I don't mean the price tag itself was small, I mean the cost was minuscule. I was in shock. Was this loaf of bread really only $0.95 ~ it wasn't on a shelf of day old stuff ~ yep, it was good. Then it really hit me. It wasn't $0.95 in American dollars. No! It was 95 cents CANADIAN dollars! It was less than 95 cents for a loaf of bread. *small side note (literally): gas was freakin' expensive but that detracts from the story of the outrageously cheap food*

Listen up Seattle-ites: We are getting hosed at the grocery store! I knew prices were more expensive in Seattle but c'mon! Does it really cost that much less to ship the food Whistler than to Seattle? I understand land and rent are not cheap in Seattle but I really don't think dirt is cheap in Whistler. Sheesh. I'm surprised Nichole and Helen didn't slap me because I wouldn't shut up about the prices.

See the pretty picture up top? I want to go back. Forget tropical vacations where you have to worry about bathing suits and diets. Winter vacations with sweaters and bulky coats are the way to go!

OK, that's all I have for now. I'll write more about our adventures in Whistler in a few days.

I'm officially an adult!

30 years old as of yesterday. Happy one day late birthday to me!

I notice that I've changed the date of 'official' adult status a few times. The first was when I turned 18 - able to vote, then 21 - able to drink, now 30 - able to... ?
Maybe I keep changing it because I don't 'feel' any older. I don't want to wake up one day and say, "Hm, I feel old." Maybe people feel old when their bodies start to fail. That criterion won't work for me either since I've had creaky knees for so long now that I don't consider it an 'old person' ailment.

Ah ha! I have it! The official "official adult" age criteria: 25. The age at which you can rent a car and attend a timeshare presentation. So, I've been an adult for 5 years and didn't even know it.

So... yesterday. My birthday. The first half of the day Ryan and I cleaned the house and at 2:00 his mom and step-dad showed up and they too cleaned the house. The whole time of the mass cleaning effort no one said why we were cleaning like it was a normal everyday occasion for your in laws to drive an hour and a half to visit to promptly begin cleaning. We all knew why we were cleaning but no one said a word.

My bible study girl friends took me to dinner at Guadalajara in West Seattle in the evening. We had a lovely, huge Mexican feast. Heidi pointed out early on that our server sounded like Fez from That 70's Show. Every time he came over I had to suppress the strong urge to giggle and I avoided eye contact with Heidi for fear I would see her trying to not laugh and lose all control.

The girls dropped me off at home and I invited them in to the house. It was odd, the lights were off and the house was quiet. Not even a wiggly yellow dog came to greet me. Do I smell a surprise party? Yes, I do! The lights came on and everyone yelled, "Surprise!" I was surprised. I knew it was going to happen but I wasn't sure who was going to be there. Soccer friends, actually Ryan's co-workers & their spouses turned friends over two seasons of soccer, my girls of course and my family! I was so surprised that they came up! It was such a nice surprise to see my mom, brother and sis-in-law and my Aunt Paulette and cousin Ashley!

Everyone brought gifts. It has been a very long time since I sat on a chair and people stared at me while I opened gifts. Well, they watched, not so much stared. Stare has such a rude connotation. I did decide last night that we need some sort of stereo upstairs. Using the music channels on the TV isn't quite the same as playing CDs.

I got a hula hoop from my mom. I asked for it. I hope that sometime this year I will be able to keep it up around my waist for... any length of time, actually.

It snowed on Wednesday night! It was light and fluffy and compacted nicely into ice over night so I couldn't go to work. : ) I like living on a hill and working on a hill.
I especially like that there is a huge valley between the two hills.
No one expects me to brave the treacherous hills to come into the office.
So Thursday was a snow day for me!

I got so much done! Since I couldn't put off doing laundry any longer and
seeing as how birthday suits are not socially acceptable (nor practical in January) I washed and dried and folded all day long. I even swept and dusted; between the two cats and dog I swear there is enough fur that accumulates in one week to spin yarn and make a queen size blanket.
Would that be gross? Collecting cat fur to make yarn? What's the difference
between that and an angora rabbit's fur or a sheep's wool for that matter?

What an off night. One of Ryan's co-workers and his wife are looking for a new church so he asked Ryan what kind of church we go to and said he would like to come to visit ours. We thought that was pretty cool since we had no idea they were spiritually inclined. Hmm, that sounds like I'm calling them heathens. I'm not. They are really cool, fun and more importantly, nice people. So, we met up at the church.

After the first song I knew it was going to be a bad night. Ryan told Ryan and Nichole (from here on out it will be Abbotts and Nichole; I know Ryan Abbotts hates being called Abbotts but I must), that the 5 o'clock service was a contemporary service. 'Contemporary' is a very relative term. It is contemporary when compared the robed hymn singing choir in the morning but not at all contemporary when compared to a church that has a worship band and plays music that is more like rock 'n roll than hymns. Earl, the senior pastor, likes the music selection to fit with his message. That's cool but every song was slooow and very much like a hymn. Hymn's are great but if I wanted to sing nothing but hymn's I would go to a morning service. So, the music was less than great. Then Earl's sermon, well, Earl doesn't give sermons as much as he gives lessons. Earl's lesson was just not something I was grasping. His reading was from Revelations and it was about God being the Creator. The only thing I really took away from him tonight was when he gave the advice to not read too much into the great creatures in the book of Revelations. That really is something, actually. Maybe I'll try reading Revelations again.

After church we went to Cedars which serves the best Indian food in all of Seattle. OK, I can't really say that with much authority because I've only been to a few Indian places. The wait was supposed to be 15 minutes but was more like 30 and it was crowded as usual. We figured it would be OK because they are so quick to take your order and bring out the food. Wrong. We sat down and had our drink order taken right away. Then a table that was seated after us had their order taken and the waiter left. We were waiting and waiting and waiting for a server to come by and take our order. Ryan kind of lost his cool and yelled, "Hey!" when the waiter left the dining room after scanning it and overlooking us. When he finally showed up Nichole wasn't sure she wanted to order. I don't blame her for wanting to leave. But the food is so good! I hate that I will put up with horrible service and sub-par atmosphere because I want their chicken tikka masala and chai so bad. We did all order and the food was very good but it's too bad the service was so off tonight because they are normally very fast. Not the warmest bunch of servers but the fastest.

So the music was blah at church, the sermon/lesson was less than inspiring and the service at Cedars was the worst. At least the company was good. We are going to try out a new church with Abbotts and Nichole. My girlfriends would disown me if they knew I'm going to set foot inside Mars Hill. I just want to see what it's like. Katie actually said, "We can't be friends if you go to Mars Hill." And everyone else chimed in, "Yes." That made me want to go even more just to test them. I don't like churches where there is no one between the pastor and the congregation. There is usually a token board to counsel the pastor but they are appointed by the pastor and are usually just yes men. I came from a church where the pastor had the final say in everything. Now I see that a church that has some form of government/leadership is a good thing. If the pastor is off there is a governing body to reign him in. I am most interested in Mars Hills' worship. I really miss being out of the Christian music scene. I have no idea who anyone is anymore. The Christian station in Seattle suck. They play really old music and lots of worship music. If I want to hear worship music I'll go to church or put in a CD. I want to know who the latest and greatest is. I'm totally clueless. I occasionally flip over to the Christian station but am always disgusted with their music selection. I always turn it back to the alternative station that plays Death Cab for Cutie, Snow Patrol, Wolfmother, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the like. I know there are good alternative types of Christian bands out there but where they are hiding, I don't know. If you know of any good Christian bands that have come out in the last few years please clue me in.

Lookout, Hollywood!

I think my movie should be out soon. Didn't you know I was in one? Oh, yeah. I'm all that. It was a production by BCC. Bellevue Community College. My character was girl extra number 10. I think I was number 10. I completely forgot to write about the experience when it was fresh in my head. Let's see if I can step back in time to the month of June.... (if you were watching this like a TV sitcom the screen would go kind of hazy and you would see me looking off into the distance....)

Here is the post I started but did not finish this summer:

If all had gone according to plan I would have had a very normal weekend. Well, normal for me. Working around the house, eating microwaved meals that came out of a box and maybe doing a little yard work. About 4:30 on Sunday afternoon I got a call from Krissy. She said that she had a question for me and that it might sound kind of odd. Jenn (Krissy's roommate and my friend, too) passed on an opportunity to be an extra in a movie that was being shot in Kirkland but would I like to be in it as an extra? I think I said something like, "What? No way! When? Where?! Let me ask Ryan!" I got the name of the place and hung up, then breathlessly told Ryan I was going to Kirkland to be a potential extra in a movie!

... now working from my memory....

I took the fastest shower of my adult life and only mildly agonized over the clothes I was going to wear. Krissy told me the scene was a speed dating scene so I threw on a cute black skirt, a shirt that probably shows too much cleavage and left my ring on my nightstand. That felt weird, leaving my "I'm taken marker" at home.

I didn't find out what kind of production it was until I arrived at TJ's, the bar that was the scene of the party. The official looking guy (read: the guy with the clipboard) at the door to the bar was my first clue that the outfit wasn't super prestigious since he seemed really sincere when he thanked me for coming. Who is excited to see an extra? Really?

I sat and fidgeted for a while and kept looking for Krissy. She arrived just as I was calling her. She too was thrown by the sincere thanks for showing up from Mr. Clipboard. We sat and chatted with some of the other extras. One guy was something else. I just felt so bad for the guy. He really wanted to make it big in Hollywood. Really, really, really. I think he also wanted a girl friend. Really, really, really. I really, really, really wanted my wedding ring on my finger. Really. I don't remember his name which is fine because I would rather not publish not so nice things about him and use his name. Not that anyone outside of a few family and friends are going to read this. So, I'll call him James. James took a liking to me and Krissy. I think because we are cute and were nice enough to talk to him and probably because we were the first girls he saw. James was cute enough but you knew he wasn't all right when you looked at him. He was entirely too wide for his frame. He had short guy syndrome; build out if you feel inadequately short. Someone should really tell them that getting wider, even if it is solid muscle, just makes you look even shorter and less attractive. I shouldn't say that, maybe some women like the, "I'm-so-big-and-strong-I-would-snap-if-I-had-to-bend-to-tie-my-shoelaces" look.

Ladies, if you want to throw a salivating guy off your trail and onto fresh blood I have a GREAT answer to the question: "So, what do you like to do for fun?" Or, "How are you two friends?"

James: So, how do you two know each other?
Me: We are in the same bible study.

James, eyes slightly wider, noticeably sadder, but still hopeful: Oh, yeah? What do you guys like to do for fun?
Me: I like to hang out with my husband and you know, go to coffee shops, study the bible.

It was so much fun. Krissy did well and not laughing out loud although I could see she was dying to let it out.

So the scene that probably took up 5-10 minutes of the movie took at least 8 hours to shoot. Ohmigosh. It was sooooo boring. They lined up the girl extras and gave us numbers and told us where to sit. The guys, 'real' actors had to shuffle from table to table until they got to the table with Sarah, the main character, or was her name Amy? Well, one of the guys was really funny. He was the stereo-typical high school jock guy who seemed like he was staying in character. We were supposed to talk quietly so we chatted about where we were from and all that jazz. But he kept asking really personal questions and me, not liking conflict, kept going along until I couldn't take it anymore. I try to show displeasure but people think it's cute ~ no one takes me seriously until I swear. So, Mr. Nosey finally quit asking questions. Meanwhile James kept circulating through and, sorry Krissy, I was much happier when he was at your table than mine. He was too much.

We put our names and contact information on a list and are supposed to be contacted when the movie is done and ready to be viewed. I wonder if Krissy remembers it is supposed to be done sometime right around the New Year. It looked like a really lame movie. I can only imagine how bad the other scripts were that the students submitted for this one to be the chosen one. It's not very original. A girl decides she wants to get married by the end of the year and sets out determined to find her soul mate at the ripe old age of 22. Hilarity (not really) ensues as she does everything she possibly can to meet the man of her dreams. If the speed dating scene was an indication of the rest of the movie: it's going to stink. My favorite character was the guy who played the business man. He was too busy to date so he tried speed dating and was on his cell phone the entire time. He cracked me up! He reminded me of a friend from high school, Rob Bennett.

So, after hours of sitting in tall bar stools and pretending to talk we finally were released to go but were told that if we wanted to make sure our faces were in the scene we could stick around for the next sequence. No thanks. If it hadn't been 11 pm and a Sunday with work to face the next day I would have stayed because it is fascinating to see how a film is produced.

Ryan and I saw part of a film being produced in Paris and it looked just as boring as what we were doing at TJ's in Kirkland. It was November and very cold and the actors were just sitting at a table outside waiting and waiting and waiting. People all around them were measuring. Measuring from the light to the chair, to the mug to the actor to the camera. It was crazy. Crazy boring. Like this post is turning out to be.

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

What a game! I only saw bits and pieces because I was getting ready for my friend Wendy's 30th birthday party that started at 7. It was painful to hear muffled crowd sounds coming through the bathroom door. I would stop drying my hair when I thought I heard sounds coming from the TV and whip open the door and yell, "I heard crowd noise! What happened?" Usually it was nothing good.

Once at the party Ryan and I were good for a while but Ryan eventually asked the host if he could turn the t.v. on to the game, promising he would mute it. The host wisely deferred to Wendy who told Ryan he could if he did it downstairs. At first it was just Ryan then slowly an exodus occurred. I ran back and forth between the party upstairs and the party downstairs. I hope Wendy wasn't too upset I was watching the game. There were not many people that I could talk to upstairs. Well, I probably could have talked to people but why? I don't think I'll see most of them ever again and they were all theater people who've been acting together for years. Hmm, does this mean I'm not the social butterfly I thought I was? Downstairs was a wonderful crowd of people that had a commonality: Football. We didn't have to make awkward small talk because we were too busy yelling at the TV together.

Back to the game: How bad does that holder feel that he could not hold on to the ball that was snapped perfectly well? They kept replaying the botched hold job over and over and over. I can only imagine how awful that guy feels. Oh, well. I would rather he feel bad and the Seahawks go to the playoffs. GO SEAHAWKS!!!

It was a good party even though I only knew 5 people there out of the 30 or so that were there. The birthday girl, her husband Lars - who by the way - seems a little different. He seemed more outgoing. Let's see, who else? The birthday girls' brother, Justin. Very cool guy. It's still wierd seeing Justin as an adult, an adult with a fiance, Kim, at least I think that's her name. I remember when Justin had a cabbage patch doll; Wendy and I have been friends for a very long time... Justin wasn't an adult with a doll, just a very young kid (and my brother and all his friends had cabbage patch dolls, too - that's for you Justin, in case you happen to read this). Justin's band played at my wedding. He and some buddies from school had a jazz band and they were young enough that they would accept the measely amount we could afford to shell out and they were AMAZING!!! Everyone loved them. Worth every penny and then some. I think Ryan liked them so much he paid them a little extra. A little. But a little to a college kid is a lot, right?

So, a great game and great party all in one night. Can't beat that for a Saturday night, right? And, I was so good I didn't even have a piece of cake! If you know me you know how truely shocking that is. I'll indulge in a piece of cake on my birthday... this Saturday! Woo-hoo! I'm going to be 30! I'm so excited! Ryan knows well enough to have a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. One year, I think our first year together he didn't get me a cake and I had a melt down. Well, mini-melt down. I made him take me to Safeway so I could buy a piece of cake. Sounds kind of crazy now that I'm writing it down. Well, let's just call it part of my charm.

I'm dying to know what he's going to do. I've been none to subtle letting him know how much this one means to me and have told him that I want a party. Everyone tells me that men aren't mind readers; although Ryan's pretty good at picking up on hints. If I point out something at the store that I like it may very well end up under the Christmas tree even if it's been 6 months. So, my hints, I think have done their job as Ryan has been Mr. Not-so-subtle recently. That and his co-worker said, "I'll see you in two weeks. I think that's supposed to be a surprise, though." Grrr. I don't mind knowing when I'm not supposed to but sheesh! Can no one keep a secret? I did have one other surprise party. My bible study girls threw me a surprise bridal shower but Amee, then friend and bridesmaid, couldn't hold the excitement in and burst at the house as we were packing up to go to the scene of the party which I thought was just going to be a girls night. We lived in the same neighborhood. It makes me laugh when I think about it. Amee was so giddy! Then I had to act surprised when I got there. They went all out with the decorations but since my mom is probably reading this I'll leave the decorations to your imagination.