the trend will probably look like mid week updates. that is when i have more downtime. weekends are so busy with groups coming in and whatever else that i likely won't write much.

i went snowboarding a few days ago. i was nervous about my rib but i decided it wasn't worth it anymore. a little pain is far more worth the experience than just remaining idle. it didn't turn out bad actually. for the most part it stayed in the backdrop but there were a few mellow falls or where i just sat up where it hurt like the dickens. i don't think i permanently irritated more (like the first time i tried riding last week with the injury). i wish i knew what was wrong just so i had a response to people and to know whether my pain is validated by a legit diagnosis of something that would hurt a lot.

i also mentioned i think that we were going to a snowboard video premier last week. the night started out well. i was hyper. we loaded up everyone and went down to denver to watch that snowboard video premier i mentioned. it was amazing. the video was very very good quality. it was made by "nation foundation" and the video was called One Year. a couple of the pros in it were Andy Finch, Kelly Clark, Eric Oulette. they were there for the premier. they gave away a full snowboard setup, and a bunch of other odds and ends. i got a free shirt.

so that was conclusively a good experience. it was after the show ended that my night started going downhill. all of these things (except one, kind of) are menial, but together it affected me harshly enough. first, we come outside to get in the van and Sara is waiting in her lexus for the kids who came up with her to come out. so I'm like, "hey! can i ride back with you?!?!" and she's like yea sure, of course. so me and a few guys hop in. Dan said thats fine but you have to go tell those people that they are now in a van and its leaving. so i go tell them and they run full speed out into the lot to the car. by the time i get to the car they are all sitting in it and have kicked all of us out. so they ride back in the comfort of a lexus, get to watch a snowboard video on the way back, stop for food, and still get back before the vans. it wasn't so much the transport accomidations that annoyed me (cause i had fun in the van) it was more just how childish they were about it...as if they deserved that much more cause they talked about riding back together? stupid i know. ok so i'm a little annoyed at this point, and then my eye which as been acting up all night is now insisting that i not open it. it was so dry and irritated that i couldn't open it very often at all. these new contacts are bogus. so that is irritating me. all day i was planning on coming back and playing hockey afterward cause curfew isn't until 12 but somehow we managed to get home at some point after 11 (even though the movie was done at around 8:30ish) so that was disappointing too. THEN the worst of it. i realize after being on the road for about 15 or 20 minutes that i left my favourite pinstripe blazer and new black scarf in the theater on my seat. i was so pissed. so basically the rest of the night was a social write off. i didn't want to talk to anyone at all. i just went to bed. i was much much better the following morning. all of that stuff in the scheme of today has no bearing. it didn't that night either, but i decided to give myself the benefit of the mood.

i've been playing hockey nearly every single day. often even twice a day. its superb exercise and i love playing. i want to get into a pick up league when i come back or something because i'm getting pretty good. ravencrest (the other torchbearer school in colorado about an hour away) is coming to visit in february, and we always have a competitive hockey game each year. we're gunna slap em around this year i think.

got to watch some football this past weekend. holy upsets eh? i guess pittsburg isn't but the cardinals weren't supposed to make it past round one. i think they're gunna take it all down. yesterday i hung out with Dan most of the day. we went thrift store shopping and talked over coffee and folk music. i really appreciate being here. i'm aware of how much i need to soak it up. its funny though that i play more hockey than i do snowboard. once i'm fully healthy again from my rib injury i think that might even out though.

i've got a seriously pivotal decision to make about this summer. i got a hold of a tree planting foreman this past week. i just need to send him a resume but i think i could get on board. the cost included though is missing a full month of school as well as a really neat outing at the end of the year to moab utah. i've been looking forward to tree planting and that experience, but it would be hard to leave. there is another opportunity i'm interested in pursuing overseas too for the summer. i wouldn't make as much money but it would be a heck of an experience. mom we gotta talk on the phone in the next day or two...i'd like your input.

i don't have any big thoughts today, but they are hangin around not to far from my mind. i'm sure they'll show up soon.

take care.

J.R. Whitfield