I'm back!

YAY, I'm back! The vacation was FABULOUS. Here's what happened:

Friday: Geoff got home around 3 and we left by 3:30. We drove straight through until we got to Sisters where we ate at the Snow Cap... I ate there before I climbed Middle Sister and loved it - Geoff liked it just as much! Then we got some ice cream at the Snow Cap and headed to the house where we were staying with my family friends. Geoff thought their house was BEAUTIFUL and that they were really nice. We chatted with them for a couple of hours and then went to bed so we could get up early the next morning to go ski!

Saturday: We woke up and had breakfast - oatmeal for me, Cheerios and marionberries for Geoff. Then we headed out. My boots were a disaster... for some reason I have GIANT CALVES. I never knew this... actually, it might just be from running. Anyway, it was a nightmare - anything that would fit my calves was WAY too big in the foot. So I was pretty much miserable in terms of boot fit the entire day... I would take Advil and feel better for a while but that would go away pretty quickly. There were also a TON of people there which is never quite as fun. Geoff is a phenominal skier but was very patient with me all day, which I greatly appreciated. We had lunch at the lodge in the middle of the mountain, and then Geoff went up to the summit and I skiied down and met at the bottom. It was really fun... I do love skiing, it just wasn't my day. After that we went home and got showered and cleaned up, then went out to REI, the Columbia outlet, and a few local ski shops to look for boots for me. We thought maybe I could find some boots that fit better - but there was nothing! Then we went to Target to get some Advil and and also went to GI Joes to try some other boots, but still, nothing. Then we had dinner and FRIED ICE CREAM at the place I really wanted to go. Geoff agreed that their food was great! The funniest part was that I couldn't remember what the third topping to the ice cream was... I knew it was strawberries and whipped cream, and then Geoff said "Honey" and I said "yes?" and he said "HONEY" and I was like "what?!" and he said "HONEY!!!!" and I was like "ohhhhhhh....!!!" HONEY, as in the stuff from BEES... not as in "hun" or "sweetie". Hehe. It is probably funnier if you hear it with the voice inflections, but you get the gist. After that we went home and watched National Treasure (a purchase from Target).

Sunday: We decided not to ski... we slept in late and then got up and went out for breakfast at The Original Pancake House. This is in the same franchise as Walker Brothers in Chicago so I was hoping for an amazing breakfast, and it was good, but not as good as I had hoped. I could definitely tell some similarities, but their hash browns and waffles were NOT the same. Sad, because I love the Walker Brothers hash browns! Let's see... then we went to REI again to check out some other stuff. Seems like we went to a few other stores as well but I cannot recall them at the moment! We talked about going to the mountain a little later but didn't end up doing that either. Oh, I know what we did - we went home so Geoff could watch the Daytona 500. He did that while I helped Karolyn with her computer. After that we headed out... we went to Target where I bought 24, and we went to Costco where I bought some socks and Geoff bought DaVinci Code (the movie) and Michael Creighton's new book. Then we went to dinner at a place called Bella Cucina in the Old Mill District in Bend - WONDERFUL food! Geoff said it was the best meal he'd had in months. It was really super tasty! It was small and intimate and wonderful. After that we went home and watched quite a few episodes of Season 1 of 24 and then I fell asleep!

Monday: My birthday! I got TONS of Facebook messages on my wall, that was fun. I also got a Wusthof Carver - yay, I have really been looking forward to that knife! - from my parents. And several gift certificates which gave me enough to get the Calphalon Contemporary pan that I've been wanting! 2 interesting things to note: (1) the price of that pan went up $5 ON MY BIRTHDAY... seriously, the price changed online on my birthday, how random is that? and (2) Bed Bath and Beyond does not have in-store pickup. Lame. Geoff gave me the Sex and the City Complete Series which I have been wanting for either 1 or 2 years (can't remember exactly when it came out!). That was pretty exciting! We went to breakfast at iHOP and as we were leaving I saw a sign that said "free birthday breakfast!" So I busted out my ID and got a free breakfast! Then I sang a song that I appropriately titled "free big bacon omelette". I invited Geoff to make up his own song about my free breakfast, but he polititely declined... so I told him I'd teach him MY song, which he also declined... so then I told him a rap or interpretive dance would also be acceptable. Yeah -- still declined! So then I made up my own interpretive dance. I think he pretty much thinks I'm the weirdest person ever. It was fun though! Then we went to Sears to look at tools, then home to shower! After that we talked to Karolyn for a bit and then headed out to go SHOPPING! We went to Old Navy and bought me a BUNCH of clothes and a few things for Geoff. Then we stopped into Costco to buy something... or maybe we just looked. We want a deep fryer but they were sold out. Then we headed to Target where I got EVEN MORE clothes and we also looked at a store called Sportsmans Warehouse, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy my pan, and we went to Best Buy to look at digital cameras for him and me (we want two VERY DIFFERENT types of cameras - I want a point and shoot and he wants an SLR). I was super excited to have new clothes for the first time in 10 or 15 years - literally, I RARELY buy new clothes and certainly not that many! We also went to Barnes and Noble so I could buy the new Nelson DeMille book - he is my favorite author and my favorite character, John Corey, is in this book. I can't wait to read it! After that we set out to find some food - we ended up at the sketchiest place of all time. Okay, so that's a total exaggeration, but it was WEIRD, especially for my birthday dinner! They had "mountain oysters" which Geoff informed me are TESTICLES! WEIRD!!!! But we had a ton of food and it was an *experience*, so it was okay. It was entertaining. And it makes me laugh when I think about it. After that we stopped by Best Buy to look at cameras again and then headed home to watch more 24. I fell asleep after one episode. It was a good birthday!

Tuesday: We were all excited to finally go skiing again - and the weather was AWFUL. It snowed all morning, but you couldn't see anything at the mountain, a lot of the lifts opened late, etc. So Geoff said he'd rather skip it, which surprised me, but we did. We went to Pilot Butte Drive In for lunch - SO GOOD! We ate so much in Bend, I swear I gained 10 pounds, but it was tasty! Geoff read Time Magazine and I read the local paper while we ate. Then we headed back home and got packed up and left around 2. We were home by 6 - or should I say to Costco by 6? We went to the Aloha and Hillsboro stores looking for the deep fryer, but they were both out! (it was on sale this week). BUMMER. But... Geoff got a camera. It is SUPER nice and was a wonderful deal and included TWO lenses! We also upgraded our Costco membership so we get 2% back on things now. Then we got a pizza at Costco (yes I will admit I have a new Costco obsession) and headed home to watch some more 24. I took a nice long shower while he unloaded the car... so sweet! Then I fell right to sleep.

This afternoon I will either go to the gym or for a bike ride - haven't decided yet. I need to go to Costco again (YES AGAIN!!!) for lettuce... so we'll check out the third store in the area to see if THEY have the deep fryer. We're going to go to Staples to get a cheap xd card (that's what his new camera takes). Then we are going to go to Best Buy to get a camera bag for him and LOOK at the cameras for me. Again! Our life is on repeate lately. Then we'll go home and unpack, then we'll both update our Quickens and finish up Geoff's taxes. Exciting night I tell ya! Actually I'm looking forward to it a lot. Then we'll either watch more of season 1 of 24 or watch the episode from Monday night that we still haven't seen yet. I'm looking forward to it!