It's True!

Last week Eron and I were on vacation. It's been lazy and wonderful. We left last Thursday and had two very uneventful flights. Up, down, up, down, done. No running from one terminal to another, no late, delayed or canceled flights - I think this is because I have a very positive traveling foo which cancels out Eron's solid negative traveling foo. Eron should travel more with me. ;)

We landed in Maine on Thursday, ate, and caffeinated, we had enough time to make a quick trip to L.L. Bean and then we were off to Eron's little brother's band concert. He plays the Oboe. I have never seen a boy's face turn such a shade of purple as I did watching Elija! It was an excellent concert. Friday was pretty lazy. I spent most of the day attempting to keep two fires going and waiting for Eron to get back from Elija's orthopedic appointment. Saturday was Elija's birthday party - hooray for 4 boys running around and playing video games. I hid in the kitchen with Eron's mom playing Sequence while Eron reverted to the age of 12 and played with the boys. Eron and I watched over Elija while their mom went to a concert in Boston.

This is Eron's mom's house. The porch off to the left has a jacuzzi and the red barn in the back is directly connected. I absolutely LOVE the way the entry way into the barn smells of hay and horses - it has a sweet smell of nostalgia for me. Have I mentioned that the house is heated entierly by wood? Thirteen cords of wood were delived earlier this year. By logging truck. Full tree trunks were unloaded... Yikes!

This is where Eron's mom puts her kayak in. Granted it is a small hike to get here from the house... and by that I mean less then a quarter mile. If it weren't for all the cold and hauling of wood I wouldn't mid living up there... but I kind of like North Carolina better and just go up for visits.

After a ridiculously poor night of sleep - consisting of a nonexistent mouse in a fireplace and a cramped couple hours trying to sleep on the couch - we woke at 7am to drive 2 hours to Sugarloaf for some skiing. I think I got less then 3 hours of sleep and there was absolutely zero chance of me sleeping in the car. Eron slept the entire way. Eron's mom, Janice, was diving - thankfully. We arrive at the mountain around 10 but didn't strap on skis around noon. We were all in need of some serious nourishment and caffeine.

I hadn't been on a set of skis for probably 10+ years and was pleasantly surprised at how fast it all came back to me! I only fell once (on Monday). Eron and Janice were very kind and patient with me... taking me down some very friendly green runs before graduating to some blue runs. We even made it to the top of the mountain. I was so concerned with not falling and making a fool of myself that I almost forgot to take in the view from the top! Simply AMAZING!

The top of the mountain was a bit "firm" (marketing language for icy) but we were able to get in a couple good runs before the lifts closed at 4. I was so exhausted at that point that all I wanted to do was shower, eat, and then go to bed. We were finished with dinner by 6:30 and I really wanted the lights out at 8. I couldn't even keep my eyes open to read. Brushing my teeth was an incredible chore. Lights were out a little after 9 and I had the most glorious 12 hours of sleep. We hit the slopes a little earlier on Tuesday - properly rested made a great difference. After a bit of a warm up Eron and I split - I stayed on the comfortable blue run that we did the day before and Eron went off to do some black diamonds. Thankfully my blue run and Eron's black runs were side by side and we'd met at the bottom to ride the lift back up. We really couldn't have asked for a better time up there. The weather was perfect and the lines for the lifts were never long - every one kept saying that Monday and Tuesday were the best days of the season. Not that I really know better, but I couldn't agree more! I can't wait to get back up there. Maybe next time I'll hazard a black diamond and then I won't feel so bad as I watch all the little children head off to the black diamonds as I head for a blue... seriously, 6 yr olds have no fear.

Our travels back to North Carolina were not as smooth - but still not bad. Our original flight out of Portland was canceled but Eron quickly got us re-booked on a later flight only to find out when we got to the airport that we didn't have guaranteed seats on our flight out of Philly. We landed in Philly with just enough time to check in and secure seats (yea!) and grab a bite to eat... had we realized that our flight was delayed we may not have rushed as much. Eh. We made it and we had seats so we can't complain. We did, however, have a rather cranky man on our flight... the flight attendants didn't help much in the situation but I tend to side with them - who more then likely know the regulations better than any passenger - than Mr. Cranky Pants who was sitting behind me and kicking my seat. There was some discussion about whether or not the man was allowed to have in (non-medically prescribed) high frequency noise cancelers that are apparently not FTA approved. All I really know was I was tired and wanted to get home.

Oh... so let me introduce you to Buster. Buster is a 18 yr old Maine Coon cat and he tried to take my hand off the first night I was in Maine. This is him sleeping on my pillow. I take this a mor of him saying "What? What is this smell? This smells like that girl. Oh no. This will not do." and so he puts his sent on the pillow. Not so much that "Hey, this smells nice and pretty and the sun feels sooo good. I want to sleep here."

Buster and I also clashed one night over the covers. He thought they were his and I knew he was wrong. But because I really was scared of him I didn't really want to take them back by force. I figured if I slid my feet under him enough to disturb him that he'd get of the bed - I was so, so, so wrong. I ended up getting so fed up that I just grabbed the covers and got away with my life - I imagine that he probably made a pretty good swipe at me but because it was dark I don't have a clue and he stayed put. Like a freaking rock on the bed... a purring rock. Weirdo.

Alright. I think that's all I got. Later kiddies!