shred some gnar

I always try to spend government only holidays doing something fun. This past weekend was no different. Since all my friends have significant others and it was valentine's day, I decided to go skiing. The original plan was to go to Snowshoe for multiple days, but instead I took a day trip with a buddy from church and one of his friends to Massenutten. The picture at left is of some goats that were living at the top of the mountain. The large bearded man off camera told me they are probably strays from a nearby farm. Now if you are from Vermont or out west the conditions at Massenutten were atrocious. Only 3 black diamonds, which weren't very challening, and plenty of ice instead of snow are characteristic of Virginia skiing. But when you live in a flat, cool, snowless existance in Hampton Roads, it is heaven. I had a blast just being in the mountains with snow. I enjoyed laughing at folks who fell alot on the bunny slopes as well as at myself when I fell learning how to ski backwards.

Speaking of winter sports, the Winter Olympics rule. What rules more than the Winter Olympics? DVRing the Winter Olympics. There is no better feeling than fast forwarding through figure skating and figure skating-related events, and the endless interviews/Bob Costas talking about nothing. My Olympic viewing is quite efficient.

In other news, I have officially found a name suitable for the new ride. Her name is Gabriella. If that is too many syllables for you, you can just call her Gabby.

Hosed

So every Wednesday a bunch of friends and I go to the same restaurant for wings. So this past Wednesday I'm driving to wings when a friend calls. I'm sitting in the parking lot when a man walks up and motions as if he would like to talk to me. I open the door and ask what he wants. "Money for groceries for his family", he says. I give him all the cash I have, $2.11. He asks for more. I say no. He asks if I could go to an ATM. I lie about how I don't have a nearby bank account. Feeling guilty, I offer to take him to the Hardee's across the street and buy him a bucket of chicken for his family. He says he wants something healthier for his kids. I collect my thoughts and suggest that I go to Farm Fresh (a grocery store) and buy his groceries for him. I thought that surely he would accept. He said that Farm Fresh was too expensive and he wanted to go to a cheaper place for groceries. He still wanted the ATM. Now here is the really sad part. Most people would have walked away from this guy so as not to feed a bad habit. I gave in and got him $20 from the ATM. I got hosed. He asked afterward if we could pray. I said sure. I forgot his name and therefore prayed a really awkward and impersonal prayer. I need to work on how I handle people asking me for money.

Norfolk Froze Over

I feel so fortunate. I absolutely love snow and Norfolk got some! It was amazing to wake up on Saturday morning to my roomates yelling, "Snow"! I got out of bed and looked outside to a gorgeous blanket of 4" outside. To think that 2 months ago I looked out the window to 2 feet of water on the street is just nuts. I've included a few pictures for your enjoyment. Some of the highlights of the snow include: not working Monday, a random snowball fight with some 5th graders, doing donuts in a local parking lot and fishtailing all over town, a 3 mile run today in the snow, laughing at how Norfolk literally has no snow removal system, and wearing snowpants and rolling around in the snow.

In other news, my roomate, Jeremy, bought a house last week. I've been uncertain as to where I would live when my lease ran out in May, but now I'll be moving in March. Don't worry, it's not a big move. I'll still be in the Larchmont neighborhood of Norfolk, only about 1/4 mile away from where I currently live.