Today I...
...am sharing three photos from my day at Mont-Tremblant with all of you. The view from one of the windows of my aunt and uncle's condo, the view from the Cabriolet ski lift which takes you from the South side Village entrance to the foot of the south side ski hills and the driving conditions my brother and I went through for about half the drive home, f not a bit more. It was very windy and very snowy and we went through a few white outs (for anyone who might not know what a white out is, aside from brand name liquid paper, it's when snow gets blown around so much that you can't see through it anymore). It was not as bad as when we drove up to Tremblant in a snow storm two years ago though and still, in our opinion, not as bad as when we were stuck in traffic for almost two of the three and a half hours it took us to get up there on Friday. A normal drive from Montreal to Mont-Tremblant should take between and hour and a half and two hours when there is little to no traffic. Trying to make it up there on a Friday between 4:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. is not for the faint of heart. Try it at 8:00 P.M. or 9:00 P.M. and you'll have an easier time. But doing it in mediocre driving conditions? Piece of cake. No one is out there unless they have absolutely no nervousness issues at that wheel, as my brother and I do not because we both learned how to drive in the dead of winter. As long as the white outs are not constant, we're fine.
...got home from the mountain at 1:15 A.M., got to bed at 2:00 A.M. and slept until 10:00 A.M.
...have sore calves from my ski boots. I love downhill skiing, but I hate the boots.
...am happy to report that I did not wipe out once yesterday. I hadn't skied in two years, but my body remembered how to do it very quickly and by the end of the day, I was more than ready to attack intermediate runs.
...heard a timid knock at the door while I was eating breakfast and oped up to find the superintendent's daughter standing there with a letter from my landlord. My rent is increasing. This is the cherry on the sundae of all the cost increases I've had in the past few months: cable and internet, transit pass, gas and now rent and there goes my financial wiggle room. I don't know what to do about all this, but I'll have to go over my budget again and really pray that the mythical pay equity raise I've been hearing about for a year now comes through, otherwise I will soon be up the proverbial creek without a paddle and I can forget about skiing or traveling any time soon.
...will be going out with G. She called me earlier not too long after I got my rent increase notice and offered to take me out for a coffee or tea so I can 'let it all out'. Thank God for friends.
