What a day

This morning I woke up at 4AM and didn't get to work until quarter of eleven.

Of course, I woke up in Whistler/Blackcomb, the ski area two hours' drive north of Vancouver, British Columbia. It's pretty surreal to be sitting here at work in Mountain View, California. I'm going to be able to work a full day today. It feels like I've already HAD a full day!

I was dressed & fed & out of the condo by 4:15 or so. I did NOT know that the drive to the airport in zero traffic and zero snow was TWO hours, not slightly over one. So after clearing customs and spending nearly an hour in line for security, I heard the final boarding call and sprinted down the entire row of gates. Took off at 7:10. Got to watch the sun rise as we climbed through 25,000 feet or so. Landed just after nine. Waited until 10 for luggage -- no big surprise, my bag didn't make it. Filled out the form, shuttled to long term parking, drove about 45 minutes, and here I am.

No wonder I'm hungry for lunch a little early today.

Oh dear. :-)

Take the What animal best portrays your sexual appetite?? Quiz

I know I'm a Goddess, but which one?

I took it twice, one for each set of I-couldn't-decide answers.

See which Greek
Goddess you are.

See which Greek
Goddess you are.

What a great weekend!

Whistler/Blackcomb is BEAUTIFUL. Actually, all of British Columbia I've seen is beautiful (except Richmond). The combination of tall, snow-covered peaks, LOTS of trees, and wide blue ocean all in one visual image is irresistible. Anyhow...

Got into Vancouver early Friday evening and spent the entire rest of the evening picking our noses in the airport, waiting for an 11:30 arrival who didn't feel like renting a car. We were also supposed to drive another group up, but somebody didn't count right and we wouldn't all fit, so the other group got another car. (We should've taken that group and told the 11:30 to get herself a car! Doh.) Chris was great and quizzed me on C4 calls for hours while we waited. Saw more and more snow on the drive up. Fog, too. BEAUTIFUL mountains and snow-covered pines, as much as we could see at night, anyway. Arrived at the condo around 2:30AM. This set the sleep pattern for the rest of the weekend.

Up late Saturday. Much futzing around before all eight of us were ready. This group needs a shepherd. Jeff did some prodding and we eventually got our acts together. It was snowing in earnest all morning, and the slopes were PERFECT! Apparently I remember how to ski. I was doing blue slopes pretty soon after my first run. My Never Cold Coat performed admirably. The clouds slowly moved off during the afternoon, and I spent some time standing on the side of the ski trails just drinking in the beautiful scenery around me. Snow... pines... mountains... water... mountains... snow... pines...

Saturday evening after dinner we searched for lost car keys in the snow. No luck. Chris devoted much of Sunday to getting back into the car (and retrieving it from the towing company, because it had been stranded in a no-overnight-parking lot). I shopped -- my skis were one of the sets stuck in the car. Had a lovely T-shirt made at a silkscreen place. 8-) Just as the lifts were closing, we got the car back into the area, so we made haste to pull our skis out of it and try for one last run. We succeeded only in riding the gondola that stays open an hour later, to the upper village, but there's a pleasant little ten-minute run from there, so we did that about four times. I took some video. Probably caught my cussing as I hit icy spots -- looking through a video camera is bad for visibility.

Then up at 4AM and you've heard the rest.

I wish I were still back there. Being surrounded by the beauty of the outdoors is like a Band-Aid for my soul. I now realize how ugly I find my home. :-/