How did I miss...

...O Fortuna & Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves in my last post? Very emotional pieces, as well. There's more classical on the list but I'm at a loss right now.

Actually, I'm sick right now. Of course I am....we went out West to ski! I sincerely do not know why this always happens. Go ski for a week, come home & immediately have sinus infection. :-( Oh, well....I didn't have a zillion things to do at work or anything. hehe.

Yeah, so we made the trek out to Tahoe - I'll post pics in a bit. Skiing at Heavenly was in fact heavenly; it is the darn prettiest ski place I've seen by far. The town was not as cute as Breck expecially since casinos litter the landscape, but it was all right. We ate at an incredible sushi place called the Naked Fish - highly recommended if anyone is planning a trip to Tahoe soon. I would love to go back to do some hiking in the spring....not this year of course, but someday. Emerald Bay looks beautiful & I'd love to hike up to the tea house and the Vikingsholm castle.

All in all it was a great trip - we had such a wonderful time skiing. It was a bit difficult coming home due to Chicago weather, but that's ok.

As I recall, I know you love to show off...

but i never thought you would take it this far
but what do i know
flashing lights...flashing lights

New Kanye song is pretty sweet.

New Snoop song makes me cringe - it's way too 'sexy' for me... "She gone get hers before I". Hehe. Yeah, I'm gettin' too old for that stuff. Although, sometimes my mp3 player has some crazy stuff on it...and I mouth the words when I run. Some words/phrases I have to skip....or risk losing career opportunities. :-)

Hey, everyone - join linkedin if you haven't already. Ben finally convinced me to tonight. Well, he convinced me to years ago but I lost my account bec I never did anything with it...so I've rejoined. Found some of you, but not all. I didn't put in any specifics, though.

So, let's see. Had a great dinner with Shanon & Dave last night at Nabe - so good to see them, and we finally got to see the amazing New Zealand and Australia pics! They are talking African safari next year and invited us...wouldn't that be fab? They're thinking one year from right now...that might be too soon for me...the next big trip will take quite a bit of my leave - I hope I don't need a year to recover from it & we can join them! I wonder what shots we'd have to get...and if we'd be able to still give blood. Hm.

T minus 201 hours to decide on next career move. Tick-tock, tick-tock....

Oh, since we were talking music...and since we were recently talking movies/scenes that strike me, let's combine the two. So, song/lyrics that make me emotional: first and foremost is definitely Homeward Bound. Dunno why - possibly bec I never really had a true 'home' until I came to Chattanooga? Anyway, this song strikes such a chord with me...a very emotional listen. "Home, where my thoughts escapin', home, where my music's playin', home, where my love lies waiting silently for me." Very nice.

Others:

Film School: Like You Know "But I thought the strongest go alone? Don't you fall for anything. But I thought the best go out alone? You won't fall for anything." We can listen to that song 20 times in a row and not tire of it. Heard it on a boarding video and at that time Film School had no online presence...I googled every lyric and could find nothing. Now, they have a website! Yay, Film School. They must have gotten back together, bec I wrote the boarder video guy to find out their name and he told me they broke up and it was about near impossible to get the download. Whatevs...we finally found the song and it's amazing. San Fran band, I think. Too bad they won't be touring in Tahoe anytime soon.
Guster: Come Downstairs and Say Hello
Eva Cassidy: Fields of Gold
John Mayer: City Love "And I can't remember life before her name." Ben sang this to me shortly after we started dating & we danced to it at the wedding. It's 'our song'.
James Taylor: Something in the Way She Moves "I feel fine anytime she's around me now and she's around me now almost all the time" such a lovely line for when you fall in love, isn't it? Suddenly you're around someone constantly and it's so nice and comfy and fun. I would think of this line while reading the Sunday newspaper at what was then 'Ben's house' while ben did his own thing.
Keane: Everybody's Changing "and I don't feel the same" :-( This song was popular when everyone was getting engaged/married and it just fit bec we were afraid we were losing everyone. (Now it's babies!)
America, the Beautiful
Toad: Walk on the Ocean "where the air makes you choke...and people don't know you...and trust is a joke" I love my hometown, but I do think of it when I hear this line.
Beck: Lost Cause - I always wonder if I'm a lost cause
Gavin DeGraw: Follow Through
The Postal Service: Such Great Heights "It's thoughts like this that catch my troubled head when you're away when I'm missing you to death" I often think of/listen to this song when Ben is away and I am seriously missing him to death.
Dave Clark Five: Because
Jay & the Americans: This Magic Moment - I have always loved this song - so sweet
Norah Jones: Sunrise "looks like morning in your eyes, but the clock's said 9:15 for hours...." a much classier 'sexy' song than the snoop song. I actually won't write on here what that line makes me think of. ;-)
Blood, Sweat and Tears: And When I Die "I can swear there ain't no Heaven but I pray there ain't no Hell...swear there ain't no Heaven and I pray there ain't no Hell...I'll never know by livin', only by dyin' will tell, yes only by dyin' will tell, yeah, only by dyin' will tell" He's not very risk averse, is he?
Stereophonics: Maybe Tomorrow "I'll find my way home"
And yes, probably surprising to those who know me the best: Lee Greenwood: God Bless the USA - "to the hills of Tennessee" It was the grand ending to the 'best' show at Opryland when I was a kid - funny stuff, huh? But, yeah, I might detest country music, and it might be overdone by redneck politicians aiming to scare people into voting for them, but it is a rather nice song. (Plus, Lee G is apparently a nice fellow - he used to bring mom coffee on very cold mornings while she was working.) And fond memories from recent years: Jess and Mom and I watched the fountains at the Bellagio 'dance' to this song....I 'whoo-hooed' the Tennessee line. :-) Hehe...I was the redneck in Vegas.

Again, not a complete list - nowhere near it, but what I could think of at the moment.

Anyway, I think it's time to go to bed. Big day tomorrow.

Woosh, woosh!

So, to alleviate some of the stress of late, Ben and I decided to take a quick weekend trip to sugar for a bit of skiing/boarding. Wow. Was that ever a mistake. First, last minute 'fires' had to be put out - I really hate that phrase - so of course I couldn't leave until late - again - and had to sit through horrific traffic. Whatever. Finally made it to sugar. Saturday - let's go ski! Realize have missed 4 phone calls - oh, no! What's going on at work on Saturday? Check voicemail - mom is sitting at my house waiting on me. Yes, she was supposed to come in for hair appt and I'm so busy that I completely forgot and scheduled a ski trip with my husband. Lovely. Call mom, apologize profusely and make mental note to send nice gift on Monday. (Like I'll ever find the time! Ok, must find someone who can send nice gift to Mom on Monday. I really need a wife.) So, walk outside - it's 60 damn degrees outside! What? This is February. And we're trying to have a weekend ski retreat. Anyway, so off to the mountain (haha - I always seem to forget how tee-iny that place is) where there actually is still snow. I had checked earlier in the week and it looked nice there and of course there was no time for checking weather for the weekend. Yay, there's snow. So, go to rental line for me which is crazy long. Seriously. Stand in crazy long line. Tell Ben, "babe, I don't feel so well." He replies, "You're fine." A few mins later, "Honey, I really don't feel good." "You're fine." Awhile later, "Babe, I think I'm going to pass out." "No, you're not." Wait a bit again. Then things start going black....and I'm down. And shoot, we're next in line! Next thing I know, Ben is picking me up and I hear a guy saying, "I'll hold your things while you take care of her." Ben whisks me outside and sits me down. Ears are ringing but getting better - nice 60 degree cool weather outside is overcoming the black that's still swirling around. Apparently the crazy heat, lack of proper food and extreme CO2 all led to a Stacey collapsed on the ground. How embarrassing.

So, after standing in line for a good 45 mins or so, what to do? Apparently grab some lunch. Anyway, after the drama, we did not even get on the slope - haha - until 3. And of course there's a crazy line for the lift. The lift. Why did we go to Sugar again? Ski down. In the mush of melting snow. Got hot! What? You don't get hot skiing. I mean, not like 'oh my god, I wish I were in a bathing suit' hot. Anyway, we do. Afraid of passing out again. No, seriously. Go sit down. This is just ridiculous. Let's just say that it was quite an expensive weekend for very little skiing.

Glad we're home and looking forward to the Tahoe trip. Hopefully, there won't be any passing out drama.