19. Spend at least 24 hours in 10 states (3/10) - New Mexico

We jumped on another plane last weekend bound for those snow covered mountains.. trying to make the most of the season before it melts away...  this time we landed into Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Excitement State, late on a Friday evening pumped for our two and a half hour haul into heart of Indian country and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range to our final destination Taos. 

Heading up the mountain on that warm sunny morning we were both charged up and ready to hit the slopes! 

Riding the cattle car from the car park to the chair lifts... warm day!!

Expecting it to be nice and slushy due to the positive temperatures I headed up the lift planning to practice my carving... Only to be massively surprised when I heard the terrifying sound of 'packed powder' scraping away my boards wax on my first blue run... uh oh... its been a while since I've taken my chances on a hard surface... why so nervous? You see soft, fresh or slightly powdery or slushy surfaces are ULTRA forgiving... you dig in an edge or only partially commit to a turn and the surface forgives you and compensates, keeping you upright and still hurtling 'in a controlled manner' down the mountain.. on packed surfaces... totally different story!!! On hard surfaces you need to be totally and utterly committed, you need to be aggressive and succinct in your motions or the mountain makes you pay... uh oh indeed.... I hit the ground HARD on my first run - thankfully my head broke my fall.. even more thankfully I had decided to wear my helmet that day... and it was just my neck and arm that took the brunt of the fall... off to the bar I went... yes I knew it was only 10:30 but seriously screw it... I just narrowly missed a concussion.. time for a beer... 

You know its going to be a bad day on the mountain when your sitting at the bar at 11am!

So after my injection of liquid courage I thought, stuff you stupid evil mountain (there could of been more expletives in there) you're not going to beat me... I strapped up and jumped on that chair lift ready to give it another go... Everything was good! I made a number of runs without having anything go awry.. the beer helped calm my nerves a little and I was gaining confidence and picking up speed... UNTIL WHAM!! I dug in a heel edge and hit the snow once again HARD... this time my butt took the brunt of the impact... Not fun!! Well at that point I'm afraid to say I decided it was time to call it a day and I limped and hobbled my way across to the bar for some liquid condolence.

Yup, the mountain kicked my ass... BAD!!!

So I spent the rest of the day at the bar... unfortunately I didn't meet any cute alpine ski instructors.. but I guess that would be counter-productive these days anyways (teehehe) 

At the end of the day we decided to trek a couple of miles down the road (by car... I was in no condition to walk) to check out the Rio Grande Gorge - which  was actually really cool - just like the Grand Canyon, its a gorge that has over time has been created by a river, in this case the Rio Grande... very awesome! From there we headed back to the hotel, showered, I took about a million Tylenol and we headed out for pizza and beer in the picturesque and historic town of Taos. 

Standing on the bridge across the Rio Grande Gorge

...So 5 days later everything is finally starting to feel normal again.. apart from my poor upper arms and shoulder blades... yup.. guess I might have two more things to add to that phyiso list! 

91. Read and review 100 books (7/100) The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan

'In this installment, Riordan continues to enliven ancient mythology with wit, contemporary staging, and teenage heroics. Percy Jackson is now 14, a bit older and wiser, yet still entangled with the Fates. Friends, monsters, dysfunctional gods, and the romantic stirrings of all things natural and mythological are encountered. His good friend, if oft-time rival, Annabeth (daughter of Athena) is missing, as is Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Joined by best buddy Grover-the-goat-boy and an argumentative array of accomplices, Percy sets off to fulfill, and hopefully foil, the foreboding prophecy of the Oracle. Plagued by ominous dreams, thwarted by hideous monsters, and challenged by conflicting partnerships, the search party's success hinges on unlikely unity. The droll pitch is teen-perfect, as when Apollo heats up the scene by arriving in his fire-red Maserati, wearing jeans, a sleeveless T-shirt, and loafers. 'Wow,' Thalia muttered, 'Apollo is hot.' 'He's the sun god,' I said. 'That's not what I meant.' Intricate prophecies and relationships are neatly braided into the adventurous plot.'

Still really enjoying the series but unfortunately its such light reading that I seriously have nothing insightful to report... looking forward to the next novel in the series... 

80. Treat Paul to something he's always wanted with my first US paycheck

Paul has been wonderful to me since moving to Houston 18 months ago. To make the move, I had to quit my job and move to Houston accepting the reality that I would be unemployed temporarily... well we thought it would be temporary... with fantastic typical us timing we actually ended up moving to Houston just weeks before the global financial crisis hit and all those job opportunities and interviews I had spent months dutifully setting up suddenly didn't seem to have employment opportunities attached to them. So I sat in Houston being a glorified housewife and wedding planning for the first 12 months of our expatriation assignment rather than being the independent financial contributor that I am used to being... let's just say I wasn't a happy camper being relegated to housework, household budgeting and errand running!!! 

I returned from our wedding and honeymoon in November, ready, willing and completely able to hit the job market hard - luckily for me the US economy was beginning to turn the corner and the market had begun to pick up (or rather the price of oil had strengthened). Within weeks I had an interview for a contract position with Chevron, and only days later I was being offered a 6 month contract with their US Land Drilling and Completions Department... finally a foot in the door!!

Paul and I had an agreement that I could spend my first pay cheque on whatever I liked, kind of like a reward for finally getting a job... Well I always knew that I wanted to spend that first pay cheque on something for him... something that he had been lusting after for months and months, kind of as a thank you for being so good to me throughout my days of unemployment (I beat myself up over it WAY more than he ever did... in fact he wasn't concerned at all with me being a housewife... damn my ambition and deep seated need for independence... I could still be living the easy life right now!!!) I really wanted to buy him the Tag Heuer he had been eyeing off since his Thai knockoff died 18 months ago but unfortunately as I began to do my research I quickly realised they had discontinued that particular design... so I either could risk it and purchase the new model, hoping that he loved it as much as the original OR i could ruin the surprise and ask him what he would like to do.. typical practical me went with option number two... after all who wants to spend that much money on a present that isn't exactly what the recipient wants?!?!?!

I hatched a plan and decided it made more sense to give Paul and option - Sitting, enjoying a frozen margarita at Pappasitos a day or two after my first pay cheque cleared I hit Paul with my plan... ' I want to buy you either your watch (as close as we can get) or your car pod... he surprised me and chose the pod... maybe he's not as impractical as I always suspected.... ;D 

Thus weeks later, the Thule Boxter 611 car pod arrived on our doorstep... and now the massive box lives on our office floor, just waiting to be taken out and used on a cross country road trip... dont worry, that's something we're definitely working on!!! 

91. Read and review 100 books (6/100) The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan

'In this second adventure in Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Percy is anticipating the end of seventh grade and a summer at Camp Half-Blood with kids who are the offspring of Greek gods and mortals. He dreams that his pal Grover, a satyr, is in danger. After monsters attack in his school gym class, Percy and Tyson, a homeless kid, are picked up by Annabeth, a half-blood friend, and rushed to the camp, which is under attack. The tree that guards the camp is dying, and Chiron, the activity director, has been dismissed. Another dream reveals that Grover, whose peril is increasing, is on the same island as the legendary Golden Fleece, which may be the cure for the troubled camp. With the help of Hermes, Percy and his pals set off to the Sea of Monsters, where they encounter legendary dangers. Riordan's clever mix of classical mythology, contemporary teen characters, and an action-packed adventure will bring new readers to the series.'


Second book in the series, and its still got me rushing to download the next! Quite a bit shorter than the last Percy Jackson adventure however the author still manages to cram in enough action to keep you turning the pages without realising you're getting perilously closer to the back of the book! Still very much easy reading, and not anything to heavy or groundbreaking.. but I'm hooked and looking forward to the next instalment...  


On a side note... really surprised (tho I shouldn't of been) to realise that the Gorgon gas field off of the Western Australian coast line is actually named after a Greek monster (actually now that I think about it... it makes sense...) Gorgon, which means 'dreadful' refers to the three sisters of the underworld, one of which was Medusa, whom had snakes for hair and a horrifying gaze that turned people to stone... interesting... 

49. My Two new words of the week...

My words this week are all about the fact that I've been a lazy little fatty since I've started working and its all starting to catch up with me... back to the gym I go this week... sigh

en·er·vat·ed  [en-er-vey-tid]

–adjective

without vigor, force, or strength; languid.

AND

cor·pu·lent  [kawr-pyuh-luhnt]

–adjective

large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat.

91. Read and review 100 books (5/100) The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

'Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen prperty and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.'

I have found my Harry Potter replacement... his name? Percy Jackson... yes I'll be the first one to admit that I like children's books, and I'm not being facetious here. This really is like Harry Potter - only a Greek version! The series is all about a boy, who doesn't really fit into the real world, who finds out that he is actually the child of a Greek god, and is squirreled away to a private and secret 'summer camp' that normal people can't see even through its right in front of them, where he is taught how to be a good little demigod.. but alas, war is brewing and only our special young hero can stop it by going on a quest to retrieve something that was stolen... sound familiar? It should, if you're at all familiar with Mr. Potter! However don't let that influence your judgement of the story - it is different enough to stand on its own merit and it kept me interested on a flight between Seattle and Houston for 4 hours! An easy and quick read (remember, children's book) I found the writting to be entertaining and the premise to be unique enought that the tired and overused ideas didn't detract from the main story line. Looking forward to starting on the second book this weekend... hopefully it can keep me entertainined through my next flight or two!!

19. Spend at least 24 hours in 10 states (2/10) Washington State

Who is crazy enough to attempt a journey across the country for one day of snowboarding? If you said we are, you would be correct!! We, being the overly ambitious and sometimes stupidly enthusiastic travelers that we are, decided that it was indeed completely within our ability to attempt a weekend trip from Houston to Mt Baker...yup!! We decided that a four hour flight, combined with a two and a half hour drive whist battling a two hour time difference at the end of a working day (for me anyway) really wasn't all that much to deal with... after all, what's travelling a couple of thousand miles at the end of a Friday?? Where are those men in white coats with those pretty straight jackets??

So we arrive at our gorgeous log cabin up in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forrest, less than 100 miles from the Canadian border, after a delayed flight and a less than agreeable experience with the rental car company and of course we both fall straight into a deep sleep... zzZZzZzzzZZ....

The next morning we wake early (damn two hour time difference) and its raining... don't worry Paul says... you know this means it'll be dumping up on the mountain, woohoo fresh powder for us this morning... Unfortunately we forgot the 'Curse of Paul'! You see, every time we go sonwboarding somewhere, no matter how lovely and cold it is the days before we arrive, no matter how many inches of new powder they receive the week proceeding, no matter how wonderful the extended forecast looks.. the moment Paul steps off of that plane into that State, the sun comes out of hibernation and the weather turns to unseasonable warmth!! (Strange that he doesnt have the same effect on beach holidays??).. SOOOOO of course we're travelling up the mountain... up switchback after switchback, watching the rain fall against the windscreen, thinking to ourselves, 'dont worry it'll turn to snow soon, it has to'... up the mountain we continue, our eyes glued to the temperature display on the dash that is tormenting us with its stupid positive numbers.. higher and higher we climb... the entire time the temperature not falling one single measly degree... we arrive at the top... to a slushy rainy wet mess!! What to do?? What to do?? Grit our teeth, bear it and make the most of a wet situation... Needless to day it wasnt the best day I've ever had on a mountain.. thank god the scenery was soo pretty.. (when you could see it through the fog and clouds) and the lift tickets sooo cheap!!

Washington State is a gorgeous part of the country, the scenery is breathtaking, everything is soooo green, the water is crystal clear and even the air smells sweet (Ive been in Houston too damn long!). The weekend was over waaaaay too quickly.. thank goodness we have a second chance at some snow this weekend when we head to New Mexico... wonder what the weather will be like.....