Happy and Sore
First of all, I'd like to say that my New Year's here this year, was better than my last one (druggie kicking in the door).
After ambling around a few days from my last entry, Janelle's Aunt Joan took us up to her huge house up north in Glen Arbor. Our first night there was spent just relaxing, and there was more ambling to be done the second day. I went to the Cherry Republic store with Janelle and her younger cousin Rylie, and got my Dad 2 bottles of wine and some cherry candies for Christmas. We also started to make a little fort in the forest near Joan's house, it was a fun diversion, and I enjoy breaking dead trees. Later that night I also played Scrabble with Joan, Janelle, and Rylie. At one point in the game, I said to Janelle, "This is how I feel right now, guess what the blank letter is" pointing to my letters, emphasizing on these bold characters:
[T][R][A][P][ ][D][V]
Janelle laughed for a moment and said, "Traped?"
I haven't gotten anything for my mother yet, just because we agreed she'd think of something she wants by the time I get back. And for David? I'm going to ask him for a gift: David-style. For some reason he still believes it is appropriate to ask people just for money. His list looks something like this:
Mom: $200
Dad: $200
Dan: $50
Shaws: $200
Deckers: $200
Grandma and Grandpa: $200
So I'll just give him a list reading only, "David: $150" and we'll see how he takes it. :P
It was also snowing a lot that day while we were up there, and I also slipped once on the ice. Didn't hurt myself or anything. Joe, Alaina, and Tony arrived far behind schedule because of the snow; their 4 and a half hour trip turned into a 7 and a half hour trip, through snow. The day after that we split into groups; Joe, Janelle, Joan, and Clint [Joan's husband] went snow-shoeing. Rylie, Alania, Tony and I went to a nearby ski resort to snowboard. Having not been exposed to snow for this long, I could not help but throw snow at one of them every chance I got. And I found that, if it can be managed, throwing snow over somebody is better than throwing it at them. Why? Because then you get the maximum amount of snow going down their neck and back, as I did to Rylie.
The slopes were alright, I'm more fond of Soda-Springs back near Sacramento. The "Terrain Park" at the resort was lacking, but still fun. It had one jump, one funbox, and one rail. I decided upon seeing that rail that it would be my mission to grind it. After Rylie's lessons finished partway through the day, we'd each take turns going on a slope with her. One time when I went on a slope with Tony, he had a spectacular bail. He flew by me on his board shouting, "WooooooooOOOO", and then BAM, just like a NASCAR crash; plumes of powder and snow fly everywhere in the air, and somewhere through it all I could see Tony bumping, twisting, and turning as he looked like Chevy Chase on the saucer sled in Christmas Vacation. I also got to display my awesome eating skills to them when we went to the lodge for lunch. All in all, the cost of my meal totaled to the cost of their three meals combined. Had some beef-vegetable soup, mac & cheese, a turkey sub sandwich, chicken tenders, a side of french fries, and some cocoa and a snickers bar to finish it off.
Later that evening we watched some of the Planet Earth DVD which Joan had. It's really cool, and I enjoy how they cover the various environments in nature. After that and some dinner, we sat down for a game of Apples to Apples. I got to use "The Far Right" for the word "Cowardly", so I was content.
So on this day Alaina, Tony and I were fairly sore. Yet Joan wanted us to keep doing stuff continuously; she's quite friendly and adept at forcing fun on people. But today everybody was relieved to stay inside, and get some rest. So me and the rest of the gang (Tony, Janelle, Alaina, Rylie) went outside to play. At first we messed around with our little fort more, and then tried some hide and seek. Hide and Seek didn't last long though, because Alaina was disappointed to find she could not hide by standing up, and quit. So then Rylie suggested the idea of snowmen. I'd always thought that those balls were made by just packing snow up into a ball, and was sincerely surprised to find that you roll them. It was just like Katamari Damacy, but cooler. I didn't expect the snow to be able to pick up more snow as well as it did, and in no time I was huffing and sweating from the size of the ball I'd rolled up. And I also kept teasing Janelle, because she said it wasn't the right snow and I wouldn't be able to roll one. In the end, they'd said I'd rolled one too big. When I was teasing Janelle and giving her a peck on the cheek, I heard Tony's voice somewhere behind me, "WHERE'S TONY'S MONEY AT! YOU OWE TONY! YOU OWE TONY!" and he was beating apart the ball I'd rolled up.
It was okay though, because in a short time we decided the best thing to do would be to build 3 big snowman right in the driving path to get to/from Joan's garage. Or at least one of the paths, there are two and we figured if there was still one open we couldn't get in trouble. So we built three snowmen, and I got to roll the bases for all of them. Tony said I had a talent and making the base. Or as he put it, "I roll this thing for five damn minutes, and all I have is a torso. You disappear into the forest with your ball for one minute, and you come back with something five times bigger" After our snowmen were constructed (with both freshly rolled balls, and chunks of the former snowman-base), we dressed them up. One had spiked hair with a mullet, and a shirt made of bark. One had womanly-hair, and leaves acting as pieces of a bikini (snow-boobs included). The last one had hair around its head (bald on top), and facial hair to make it look like colonel sanders.
We played more Apples to Apples that night as well. And there was one part where Joan was yelling, "YA, I finally got a point!" since she had not gotten one after 20 minutes. But then Rylie corrected her and said, "No, Aunt Joan, I was actually eliminating your card, the point goes to Alaina" and she was crushed yet utterly humored at the same time. It was great.
So the day after rest we went snowboarding again. This day however I was determined to grind on the railing in the Terrain Park. To start with I focused on the funbox; grinded it head on (5-0), and eventually got to doing boardslides on it. Alaina was with me for the most part, as she was interested in building up her abilities on the funbox. It wasn't until close to dusk that I tried going on the railing. On my first try I managed to grind it 5-0 all the way, so that was encouraging. We tried to organize it a couple times so that Tony could video Alaina on the box, and myself on the rail at the same time. Eventually it got to dark for recording, but Alaina and I continued towards our goals. I had a few bails on the rail of course, one being particularly irritating, both from attempting boardslides on it. The first one was when I biffed my landing at the end, and landed flat on my butt/tail-bone. The second one however was a lot less fun. I was too far to the right side and slid off, fell leaning slightly backwards, and landed hitting my tailbone again, and right elbow simultaneously. Thanks to my good 'ole friend adrenaline, I didn't feel anything bad for some time. On our last run for the night though, I managed to nail a perfect boardslide the length of the rail, landing included.
Once I got back home though I realized the extent of the impacts. It hurt to sit and squat because of the tail bone, and it hurt to do anything with my elbow. However this day was New Year's night, and some Mimosas and Screw-Drivers helped to ease the pain.
And has anybody seen the guy that's taken Dick Clarke's place? He looks like a younger Dick Clarke to the extent that it creeps me out. In fact, I bet every guy after this one hosting it will be required to look like Dick Clarke to some degree.
I also passed all of my classes, which makes me very happy.
I need to change my habits for the spring semester though. I want to get an A in Differentials as well as the Third Course for Physics (Waves, Radiation, Nuclear Forces, Relativity). I just get too lazy some times. I guess to say, the things I want to do this year are build my self-discipline, and build up my kick-myself-in-the-ass skill.
The days since New Year's have been spent doing more ambling. Playing games, trying out a new strategy game called "Maelstrom", eating out here and there, and going around getting more gifts.
I look forward to completing the next semester of school, but I always hate having to leave Janelle's company. When I told her how sore my butt was after New Years, she said that I shouldn't have had so much alcohol, "That's how little boys get visits from the Mike-Fairy" I suppose I'll leave beer-money under the pillow next time.
In any case, since I didn't bring my phone charger I'm going to have quite a bit of catching up to do when I get home. But that just means I get to see more of my friends, which is fine by me.
After ambling around a few days from my last entry, Janelle's Aunt Joan took us up to her huge house up north in Glen Arbor. Our first night there was spent just relaxing, and there was more ambling to be done the second day. I went to the Cherry Republic store with Janelle and her younger cousin Rylie, and got my Dad 2 bottles of wine and some cherry candies for Christmas. We also started to make a little fort in the forest near Joan's house, it was a fun diversion, and I enjoy breaking dead trees. Later that night I also played Scrabble with Joan, Janelle, and Rylie. At one point in the game, I said to Janelle, "This is how I feel right now, guess what the blank letter is" pointing to my letters, emphasizing on these bold characters:
[T][R][A][P][ ][D][V]
Janelle laughed for a moment and said, "Traped?"
I haven't gotten anything for my mother yet, just because we agreed she'd think of something she wants by the time I get back. And for David? I'm going to ask him for a gift: David-style. For some reason he still believes it is appropriate to ask people just for money. His list looks something like this:
Mom: $200
Dad: $200
Dan: $50
Shaws: $200
Deckers: $200
Grandma and Grandpa: $200
So I'll just give him a list reading only, "David: $150" and we'll see how he takes it. :P
It was also snowing a lot that day while we were up there, and I also slipped once on the ice. Didn't hurt myself or anything. Joe, Alaina, and Tony arrived far behind schedule because of the snow; their 4 and a half hour trip turned into a 7 and a half hour trip, through snow. The day after that we split into groups; Joe, Janelle, Joan, and Clint [Joan's husband] went snow-shoeing. Rylie, Alania, Tony and I went to a nearby ski resort to snowboard. Having not been exposed to snow for this long, I could not help but throw snow at one of them every chance I got. And I found that, if it can be managed, throwing snow over somebody is better than throwing it at them. Why? Because then you get the maximum amount of snow going down their neck and back, as I did to Rylie.
The slopes were alright, I'm more fond of Soda-Springs back near Sacramento. The "Terrain Park" at the resort was lacking, but still fun. It had one jump, one funbox, and one rail. I decided upon seeing that rail that it would be my mission to grind it. After Rylie's lessons finished partway through the day, we'd each take turns going on a slope with her. One time when I went on a slope with Tony, he had a spectacular bail. He flew by me on his board shouting, "WooooooooOOOO", and then BAM, just like a NASCAR crash; plumes of powder and snow fly everywhere in the air, and somewhere through it all I could see Tony bumping, twisting, and turning as he looked like Chevy Chase on the saucer sled in Christmas Vacation. I also got to display my awesome eating skills to them when we went to the lodge for lunch. All in all, the cost of my meal totaled to the cost of their three meals combined. Had some beef-vegetable soup, mac & cheese, a turkey sub sandwich, chicken tenders, a side of french fries, and some cocoa and a snickers bar to finish it off.
Later that evening we watched some of the Planet Earth DVD which Joan had. It's really cool, and I enjoy how they cover the various environments in nature. After that and some dinner, we sat down for a game of Apples to Apples. I got to use "The Far Right" for the word "Cowardly", so I was content.
So on this day Alaina, Tony and I were fairly sore. Yet Joan wanted us to keep doing stuff continuously; she's quite friendly and adept at forcing fun on people. But today everybody was relieved to stay inside, and get some rest. So me and the rest of the gang (Tony, Janelle, Alaina, Rylie) went outside to play. At first we messed around with our little fort more, and then tried some hide and seek. Hide and Seek didn't last long though, because Alaina was disappointed to find she could not hide by standing up, and quit. So then Rylie suggested the idea of snowmen. I'd always thought that those balls were made by just packing snow up into a ball, and was sincerely surprised to find that you roll them. It was just like Katamari Damacy, but cooler. I didn't expect the snow to be able to pick up more snow as well as it did, and in no time I was huffing and sweating from the size of the ball I'd rolled up. And I also kept teasing Janelle, because she said it wasn't the right snow and I wouldn't be able to roll one. In the end, they'd said I'd rolled one too big. When I was teasing Janelle and giving her a peck on the cheek, I heard Tony's voice somewhere behind me, "WHERE'S TONY'S MONEY AT! YOU OWE TONY! YOU OWE TONY!" and he was beating apart the ball I'd rolled up.
It was okay though, because in a short time we decided the best thing to do would be to build 3 big snowman right in the driving path to get to/from Joan's garage. Or at least one of the paths, there are two and we figured if there was still one open we couldn't get in trouble. So we built three snowmen, and I got to roll the bases for all of them. Tony said I had a talent and making the base. Or as he put it, "I roll this thing for five damn minutes, and all I have is a torso. You disappear into the forest with your ball for one minute, and you come back with something five times bigger" After our snowmen were constructed (with both freshly rolled balls, and chunks of the former snowman-base), we dressed them up. One had spiked hair with a mullet, and a shirt made of bark. One had womanly-hair, and leaves acting as pieces of a bikini (snow-boobs included). The last one had hair around its head (bald on top), and facial hair to make it look like colonel sanders.
We played more Apples to Apples that night as well. And there was one part where Joan was yelling, "YA, I finally got a point!" since she had not gotten one after 20 minutes. But then Rylie corrected her and said, "No, Aunt Joan, I was actually eliminating your card, the point goes to Alaina" and she was crushed yet utterly humored at the same time. It was great.
So the day after rest we went snowboarding again. This day however I was determined to grind on the railing in the Terrain Park. To start with I focused on the funbox; grinded it head on (5-0), and eventually got to doing boardslides on it. Alaina was with me for the most part, as she was interested in building up her abilities on the funbox. It wasn't until close to dusk that I tried going on the railing. On my first try I managed to grind it 5-0 all the way, so that was encouraging. We tried to organize it a couple times so that Tony could video Alaina on the box, and myself on the rail at the same time. Eventually it got to dark for recording, but Alaina and I continued towards our goals. I had a few bails on the rail of course, one being particularly irritating, both from attempting boardslides on it. The first one was when I biffed my landing at the end, and landed flat on my butt/tail-bone. The second one however was a lot less fun. I was too far to the right side and slid off, fell leaning slightly backwards, and landed hitting my tailbone again, and right elbow simultaneously. Thanks to my good 'ole friend adrenaline, I didn't feel anything bad for some time. On our last run for the night though, I managed to nail a perfect boardslide the length of the rail, landing included.
Once I got back home though I realized the extent of the impacts. It hurt to sit and squat because of the tail bone, and it hurt to do anything with my elbow. However this day was New Year's night, and some Mimosas and Screw-Drivers helped to ease the pain.
And has anybody seen the guy that's taken Dick Clarke's place? He looks like a younger Dick Clarke to the extent that it creeps me out. In fact, I bet every guy after this one hosting it will be required to look like Dick Clarke to some degree.
I also passed all of my classes, which makes me very happy.
I need to change my habits for the spring semester though. I want to get an A in Differentials as well as the Third Course for Physics (Waves, Radiation, Nuclear Forces, Relativity). I just get too lazy some times. I guess to say, the things I want to do this year are build my self-discipline, and build up my kick-myself-in-the-ass skill.
The days since New Year's have been spent doing more ambling. Playing games, trying out a new strategy game called "Maelstrom", eating out here and there, and going around getting more gifts.
I look forward to completing the next semester of school, but I always hate having to leave Janelle's company. When I told her how sore my butt was after New Years, she said that I shouldn't have had so much alcohol, "That's how little boys get visits from the Mike-Fairy" I suppose I'll leave beer-money under the pillow next time.
In any case, since I didn't bring my phone charger I'm going to have quite a bit of catching up to do when I get home. But that just means I get to see more of my friends, which is fine by me.