Surreality

What a weird-feeling week it is turning out to be. Especially today. A 40 degree drop in temperature! Tonight I made it to Home Depot, finally. I was in there for much longer than I expected. It was getting a little colder when I went in, but I left my hat and gloves in the car, thinking that I didn't want to carry them around. Later, when I walked out a few minutes before they closed, there was a blizzard outside! Literally! The snow was blowing sideways at like 60 mph (well, not quite)!! The most surreal thing was, the snow was so bad that I had no idea where I was. I felt totally disoriented. I didn't recognize anything, and I had no idea where I was parked. It just seemed like I was in another world. I couldn't even see where to go to get out of the parking lot once I blew across the lot into the car. Everything was white and the wind was whooshing and I couldn't even see Mt. Trashmore and the park across the street. Once out on the street I still saw white and more white. I could not tell where the yellow line was. When I caught a glimpse of it peeking out I realized I was halfway into the other lane, oops!

I went to do some looking and research for some renovation and ended up with an informal lesson from the sales guy, based on his experience. ( I like learning this kind of stuff. ) This was in the bath department. Besides finding out what the best brands of faucets they carry are, in his opinion, I also found out which faucet styles guys choose and which ones they hate, as well as which ones women prefer. I found out what faucet the sales guy always shows moms with kids. (single handle, he says) I found out which granite vanity top colors men like, which one women always choose but men never do, which one old ladies like, and which one no one ever buys! As well as which one couples agree on as a compromise. Men prefer cabinets with knobs. Women go for handles, and drawers are a big plus. Light colors for women, dark for men. Men supposedly will tolerate a less than manly countertop and vanity if they like the faucet. Litttle old ladies like vanities with legs, so that they can clean underneath. I found out what vanities are likely to come apart and get moldy if they are right next to the shower. I pointed out that the bathroom cabinetry line that the guy said was real wood really wasn't. He hadn't realized that. Hmmm. Maybe he's not the Professor of the Bath.

I didn't realize how much bathroom trends have changed, I don't normally pay attention to that stuff. Some of the newer style sinks and cabinets are really cool looking, but not always so practical! Alot of the trendy vessel sinks don't have an overflow hole, for one thing. And the design of it really limits your counter space. I saw a really cool hammered copper vessel sink that the salespeople have nicknamed the "armadillo sink". Cuz it looks like it has scales, I guess. His impression is that alot of his customers were buying for rental apartments. The people buying for their own home spend alot more time making decisions, going to lots of different places, and might come back to the store 4 times before they decide on everything.

The bad thing is I had every intention of going straight to the gym from Home Depot - but I made the mistake of stopping at home. I never made it to the gym, unusual for me. I try to go every day, except on days that I get out for a ride.

Other out of the ordinary things - in the space of two days I got a request from a friend to photograph her artwork, and an offer from another friend to join the business that she is thinking about starting. I have been told that when your life isn't going the way you had planned (for example, being injured and having to change your focus on racing), other things present themselves. But sometimes people are too stubborn to recognize those things and take a different path.... As I said that I was not qualified for the photo job and didn't have the right equipment, and as I said I wasn't sure I had time to get involved in a new business, I wondered if these were things that were supposed to lead me in a new direction.... new-agey as that sounds.....

As for last weekend, I got to get out and play in the snow twice before the big melt. Saturday was 2 hours of snowshoeing in a lakefront park and on the beach, and Sunday was x-c skiing for 2.5 hours in the same place. I hadn't x-c skiied in years and years - I felt super ackward on my new skiis! I have had them for a while but didn't get to try them out last year. Different type of boots, bindings, and skinnier skiis, than I used to have. The old ones had metal edges and were wide for backcountry trailbreaking. I will miss that, but I won't miss waxing!! The new ones are waxless and I will probably use them a lot more because I can just grab them and go. If we get enough snow, that is. The boots are Rossignol and have zippers, which I could barely zip once they hit the ankle. Really a struggle. I know for sure that I am not ready to go skiing somewhere like Kettle that's really hilly. I have memories of struggling uphill at Kettle and being out of control on the downhills trying to turn at the bottom and miss trees!


Those crazy snowshoers....