Let's Ski

I slithered into bed near 1am. I remember Mindy questioning my late appearance in a surprised yet sad tone. She apparently had no idea that I had fallen asleep on the sofa. I might've woken a couple of times through the night but all in all I slept fairly well. I didn't wake again until I heard Mindy getting out of bed and heading downstairs. It occurred to me then that I'd forgotten to prep coffee the night before. I felt bad but not enough to drag my ass out of bed. Moments after Mindy returned for a shower I woke with a sudden urge to sneeze. It felt as though something was crawling around in my left nostril tickling the very back of my sinus cavity. I woke, grabbed a tissue from the night stand and blew hard. That provided temporary relief at best. The tickling continued until I could no longer stand lying in bed. I got up and headed downstairs to start my day. By then, Mindy was already preparing to depart for work. It was 7:25am. I reached for another tissue to blow my stuffy nose. It just wouldn't stop running. On top of that, I still didn't feel 100% after waking Wednesday feeling bloated and slightly ill. I had a busy agenda planned and wasn't about to acquiesce to illness. The kids were busy preparing to depart for the bus. At the same time I exercised and walked Ykraps. Come 7:55am I headed out to the bus stop with the kids. Bella gave Mrs. Vanorder, her main bus driver, a Xmas gift Wednesday. She had a gift for her other bus driver today, the one that takes them to Noah's house once or twice each week. Off they went. I gave Chrissy her house/car keys. She left them at our house last night, and asked that I bring them this morning. Back at home I fooled around on the PC before heading out for my run. Among other things, I checked Mad River's website. They were touting excellent conditions having made 6" inches of fresh snow overnight. I figured I had to be back home by 915am if I were to make it to my 10am dental appointment on time. I ran just three miles. My sinuses continued to run non-stop. I kept sneezing too. My original plans called for snow skiing later in the afternoon, but judging by how I was feeling , I wasn't so sure. I was back home after my run by 9:10am. I sipped another cup of coffee before hitting the shower. I was ready by 9:40am. I checked my Blackberry before heading off to the dentist. I had an email from Bob Imber sent late last night citing himself as a maybe for Thursday afternoon skiing. Off I went to see Dr March. It's a quick drive though Arlington up Tremont to Dr March's office. Took no more than ten minutes. I was early. After a few minutes of reading the latest Sports Illustrated, Faith intercepted me in the lobby to do the panoramic Xray they've been dying to do for the past year. I finally agreed last visit. That went quick. Faith then handed me off to Laura, who's the dental assistant that helped Dr March prep my #14 molar for the crown two weeks prior. Laura whisked me off to another area that I'd never seen before, an open chair area set-up much like an orthodontist's office. I later learned that is what it used to be. There, Laura asked how the temp crown worked out. Painful, I shared. Took Advil twice daily for the first ten days or so. She asked if I wanted to proceed with or without numbing today. She explained that she had to scrape off the temp glue in order to assure a proper fit and adhesion of the new permanent crown. I opted for none citing my desire to ski afterwards without a numb face. She agreed to try, but she wasn't too hopeful given my declaring it hyper-sensitive earlier. Nope- stop. Almost as soon as she started using the scraping tool I raised my hand after feeling that familiar 'zing' of pain. I'd have to be numbed. Soon Dr March entered and numbed my upper left jaw. They let it soak in for a good ten minutes before trying again. They eventually moved back to the regular patient area. Dr March explained that because of a couple unplanned dental emergencies all the chairs were full. The actual work was brief. After scraping off the temp glue they made sure the new crown fit snuggly then took another x-ray to check for any gaps/leaks. There were none. Time to glue it on. I was on my merry way by 11am. Armed with a half dozen tissues, I was ready to empty my sinuses at the dentist's office, but happily that proved to be unnecessary. At least for the time being my symptoms had abated. I headed for home. Having eaten nothing, I could think of little else beyond food. I choked down some ham & chunks of cheese being careful not to chew near my new crown. Not long after returning home the door bell rang. It was Rachel, our friend and house cleaner. She was bearing a gift - a tin of goodies. She didn't stay long. She was heading down to Chrissy's to clean. I thanked her and verified that she was coming to clean our place next Wednesday. It was 1130am. My sinuses started draining again, and the incessant sneezing resumed too. I wondered in the back of my mind if I were allergic to something in the house. My plans still called for skiing later but before that I wanted to wrap Mindy's Xmas presents. I'd targeted this date long ago knowing I'd be home all the while Mindy worked. Before any wrapping, I had to unearth all of her gifts. The trick was remembering where they were. I literally had them stashed/ hidden all over the house - and some for several weeks. Finding them was like a scavenger hunt. It took longer than I expected, the first package consuming the most time. But once I got rolling the process went smoothly. I wasn't too thrilled with the wrapping paper, but I am committed to burning up our supply this year. We must have 25 rolls stashed away. I finished up just after 1pm. During the wrapping exercise, I must've burned through 25 tissues. It would've been easy to bag skiing due to my sinuses , but I also knew I'd regret it later. I decided to move forward with my plan despite not feeling too well. Carefully, I gathered all of my ski gear, and then hit the medicine closet looking for something to help ward off my runny nose, which was making my eyes water too. We must have 50 different meds - maybe more. Finally, after an exhaustive search, I found some tiny pseudoephedrine tablets. The only problem was they were out of their box, so I was without instructions. Ever since the codeine cough syrup incident, I am a bit more cautious. I decided to take just one. My plan was to leave the house at 3pm and arrive at Mad River just before 4pm. Happily, I managed to stay on course. Mindy phoned right at 3pm, just as I was preparing to exit the house. I shared my day and my plan to go skiing. I hadn't heard from Tommy or Bob. I planned on skiing alone. Mindy shared that she and the kids would most likely go out to dinner. Well prepared, I headed out of the house at 305pm. The drive is an easy one - straight up route 33 past the Honda plant by about 10-15 miles. The weather was pleasant - dry, sunny, and about 36 degrees. I arrived at Mad River 3:45pm. I bought an after 4pm lift ticket for $23. From the lot the mountain looked good - plenty of snow and only a few skiers. I've never been there on a weekday. I was able to park real close too. It took no more than five minutes to gear up. I was ready and stoked! After a quick self-portrait against a lovely sunset I headed up the lift. It was hard to believe that I was skiing again, although it's been almost ten months - Holiday Valley last February. The time has gone super fast. First run ... I was cautious heading down the hill for the first time. The snow was nice - not the little balls of ice I expected. I took three or four runs without a break. By run four I began to find my groove, and by six or seven I was feeling completely comfortable and confident. I took a few more pics then a time check. It was only 5pm. Time was going slow. I decided to take a brief lodge break and have a beer, a Sam Adams draft. While sipping my beer I snacked on the lil' baby sausages and cheese I pocketed. Hit the spot. I realized then that my sinus issue was a total non-issue. Hmm? Was the pseudoephedrine working that well? After my beer I returned to the slopes for another 30-40 minutes. The last four or five runs were awesome. I let it rip. I had found my mojo. All totaled, I must've gotten in 12-14 runs. Not wanting to push the envelope and knowing that we'd likely be coming up again Saturday. I decided to call it a day after only 2 hours. I was on the road for home by 615pm. Lot to driveway, the drive home took 46 minutes. The house was empty. No sign of Mindy or the kids. I quickly put away my ski gear, unloaded the dishwasher, and prepped Friday's coffee. I wanted to get sofa-ready. I was hungry for dinner but ate just a few chunks of cheese and crackers thinking that Mindy might bring me something home. She and the kids must've arrived home near 7:15pm. Mindy shared that they did dinner with her mom at Bob Evan's. They brought home a carton of extra rolls, that's it. While we talked, I warmed a Taco Bell leftover that was still in the fridge from last weekend. It was really good. Mindy asked that I help Jacob with his shower. I did. I also helped Bella practice her spelling words and had her read a book while Mindy contended with laundry. Once the kids were settled into bed we watched the Saturday Night Live Holiday special. It was entertaining. I enjoyed a Jack & Coke while watching TV. SNL ended at 10pm. We headed to bed promptly after. I was looking forward to a really good night of sleep.