This past weekend I had a very special visitor! Nick flew into Boston on Thursday afternoon (he will do anything to avoid connections, and there is not a direct flight from Indianapolis to Providence) and I picked him up after work. In order to avoid rush hour traffic, we decided to eat dinner in the city. I took Nick to Newbury St, a popular shopping area in Boston. I was starting to get a little hypoglycemic, so we ate an early, casual dinner at Upper Crust (*love* their calzones!), followed by some window shopping in some ridiculously expensive stores.
I ended up going into work on Friday after much debate between the two of us about the underlying meaning and implications of me not taking a day off. From my point of view, why wouldn't I take the day off, and why didn't Nick want me to? His argument was that we would still be able to spend time together and that I'd have an extra vacation day to visit him for a 3-day weekend. In the end, I didn't take the day off for 2 reasons: 1. I had a lot of work to do in the office 2. I started to agree with Nick's point. He is going to China in April (*so* jealous!), so I won't be able to visit when I originally planned (he will be gone on his birthday, April 4). At least now I'll have the option of taking a 3-day weekend in March. (I hate it when he's right!)
When I had gotten home from work, Nick had flowers and chocolates waiting for me.
They smell wonderful! Fresh flowers are one of my favorite gifts.
As a combination Valentine's Day and birthday gift, I got Nick a new iPod nano! Apple offers free engraving (he wanted his full name and new e-mail address) and free shipping. The new nano shoots video, which will be nice for his trip this spring.
On Friday night, we went into downtown Providence. My co-worker, Alan, had given me a free pair of tickets to see the Providence Bruins game at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Our tickets were in the luxury suite, which was more relaxing, and there were 5 other people from work watching the game. It wasn't anything fancy, but we had a nice time. Nick had never been to any type of professional hockey game (his last one was a high school game), so the opportunity for free tickets couldn't be passed up. After the game, we went out to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. (I know, I didn't take him to any local restaurants, but it was what sounded best to both of us at the time.)
Alan and his son, Daniel, who was so well-behaved for a two year-old
So upset that we forgot to take a picture of ourselves!
On Saturday, Nick and I made one of our wonderful homemade breakfasts. We had blueberry pancakes, fresh orange juice, turkey bacon (for me- it's not really my favorite, but I need the protein), and an omelet for Nick (complete with tomatoes, goat cheese, peppers, and onions- this guy doesn't mess around in the kitchen!) Nick and I make a good team- my pancake batter is better than his, but I always end up burning them, while he seems to cook them just right. We lazed around and watched some of season five of The Office that Nick had brought with him from Indy. Nick had never really seen the show when we started dating, so we began watching the seasons on DVD. When the fifth season came out, we vowed not to watch the new episodes until we could watch them together (Awww, how cute).
On Saturday afternoon, Nick and I drove to Princeton, Massachusetts to go skiing on Wachusett Mountain. This area is only an hour from my apartment and had night skiing available (we aren't always morning people on the weekends). There are 22 trails with a peak elevation of 2,006 feet. The weather turned out to cooperate, too- it was just above freezing and not too windy. I had not been skiing in seven years, so I guess I was what you call "rusty." However, for whatever reason, I didn't think I'd have that many problems, but I struggled a little more than I thought I would.
A picture of Wachusett Mountain at night
The trails at Wachusett Mountain
Nick had skied much more than I have, and I didn't want him to be bored by going on all of the easy trails. (He was such a good sport the entire time- it was so nice to ski together.) We started off on a blue square trail (medium difficulty), which didn't seem all that bad until about a third of the way down the mountain. I managed to have two major falls with my feet over my head both times. (At this point, I am laughing hysterically after my falls- I am sure that I looked like some sort of cartoon character tumbling down the snow.) After a couple of runs, I started to get the hang of it with the help of my ski instructor (that would be Nick). He was very patient with me, even when I got frosty with him (no pun intended) a couple of times. (I can take one piece of advice per run... e.g. I will focus on keeping my skis together this time, but I can't keep my skis together, keep my back straight, and look for soft spots in the snow to turn.)
Before our skiing adventure
On one of the lifts... we look like we are going to rob a bank!
Nick and I went inside the lodge at the base of the mountain to get a drink of water and find the bathroom. I went into the restroom and looked into the mirror to pull off my hat, gloves, and scarf. There was a woman who was cleaning up around the sinks.
The cleaning woman: "Is it raining outside?"
Me: "No, I just fell a couple of times."
The cleaning woman: "On your face?"
Me (laughing so hard that I could barely answer her): "Twice!"
I had gotten so much snow underneath my hat during my falls that my hair had become so wet that it looked like a bucket of water was dumped on me.
After our quick rest, Nick and I decided to try to find Bullock Lodge. Bullock Lodge is a small cabin about halfway down the mountain in between two black diamond trails (aka difficult) that serves hot cider and doughnuts, so you know that it was a high priority stop for me! We started down one difficult trail but not the right one- the trail that the cabin was located off of was closed shortly for grooming. I fell on the trail after about 200 yards, but after regaining composure, I did well going down the rest of the trail, well enough for me to even give a "woo-hoo!" scream. When we returned to the top, the trail to the cider house had been opened (another difficult trail). There is a split halfway down the mountain, and instead of going left, Nick and I went right. We spotted the lodge through the woods, and Nick quickly yelled that there was a path through the woods that we could use to reach it. I was in front of him (going way too fast, I might add), so I didn't have much time to cut over. I made it onto the trail, but because I was out of control, took a serious tumble about 50 yards later (It was more of a face-plant that a tumble). This fall hurt the worst of all... I felt my chest and face hit the hard, icy ground, and my left leg had a sharp pain. Nick helped me get up- no broken bones, but I was definitely banged up.
We made it into the cider house for our respite, and I was so glad to be there. Not only were the homemade cider and doughnuts amazing, the lodge was warm and inviting. A local farm, Red Apple Farm, makes both the doughnuts and cider- just thinking about them makes me hungry!
Not the greatest picture (my camera kept fogging up!), but here's a view of the inside of the lodge
We went down several more trails, and after one more serious head-over-heels fall, I was done for the day. I went inside to the lodge at the base of the mountain to warm up, while Nick did one more run on his own. All in all, it was a very successful (and fun!) day on the slopes.
Nick and I made dinner at my apartment on Saturday night- tacos, Spanish rice, and frozen margaritas (well, for me... Nick stuck to his wheat beer). We were thinking about enchiladas, but I had forgotten to pick up the sauce and chiles. I can only make a few meals that both of us like, and this happens to be one of them. Sometimes it is more relaxing to eat at home than to try to go out to eat, especially on holiday weekends. (Growing up, we would always try to eat at home for Mother's Day and Father's Day- it can be too crazy to even make the trip worth it.)
Nick had to be at the airport by 1:00 PM today (Sunday), so we took it easy in the morning (more pancakes!) since we had to leave by noon. I still get sad every time he or I leave one another (well, I get sad when anyone leaves after visiting me here, for that matter), but for Nick, it usually doesn't hit me until I get back to my apartment. All of the little things around my place start to have memories connected with them (why else would I have olives, Dr. Pepper, or Franziskaner in my refrigerator?). I've been doing really well the past couple of months as am working to "embrace" my experience here in Rhode Island, but there is a part of me that will always miss my valentines at home.
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