The Yurt

This post is a little late in comming but I've had other things to do so now seemed like a good time. Originally the Yurt trip was going to be couples, except for S who organized it. C said and I quote "not on your life - but you can go if you want" so that was him out and in the end T decided he'd rather do the powderkeg race so it was just us girls, me H, S and her friend V and 3 dogs (2 V's and 1 S's).

The prep for this trip was weird cos normally someone else is carrying my gear and there's usually a car parked right outside our tent. My normal rucksack wasn't big enough so I had to borrow T's which is huge but I just managed to cram everything in. Sleeping bag (C's), mattress pad, pillow, extra clothes, food and snacks. Having packed it all in I tried to heft the thing onto my back, it was v heavy and I re-packed in and it was still heavy!

We drove down in V's truck, our Yurt was in the Uintah Mountains and you have to drive into Wyoming (Evanston) to get onto the Mirror Lake Highway. The car-park is just down from the Bear River Lodge which is where C and I stopped for lunch on the bike a couple of years ago. So we parked up and skied in, the pack doesn't feel too bad when you're leaning forward on skis and although we were going uphill I only fell over once. It took about 2 hours to get to the Yurt and we were lucky it was a pretty large one (sleeps six). We quickly unpacked and spent the next hour or so trying to get the wood stove going. The people who'd been in there before us hadn't bothered to leave any kindling so S had to go out and chop a bunch of logs, she got it going but it wasn't drawing very well and so each time we opened the door to put logs on we had to ventilate the smoke out of the Yurt with the front door and the fanlight in the ceiling! The snowpit was pretty much played out so H got some fresh snow from behind it. Once we got the snow melting and the fire roaring the place was downright cozy (even after finding that the lamps had been left on full so the propane ignited out of the bowl when we lit them!)

After dinner, veggie curry with rice, salad and cake for pudding, and some very good beer, we washed up and then played a card game called phase 10 which has elements of games I've played before and was a lot of fun. Then we started thinking about bed - C's sleeping bag has a drawstring on it and when I pulled it, well lets just say I know how a sausage feels! I slept like a log and in the morning H and I went for a quick pre-brekkie ski up to Lily Lake, got back in time for pancakes and sausage (veggie but you wouldn't know it) We had to be out by 11 as that's when the next group were supposed to be comming in. So we washed up and swept the place out, sorted the fire and dumped the ashes, packed and got ready to go. We left around 11.30 so when those others were comming in I don't know. But they will have found a nice tidy Yurt, fully stocked with kindling and we turned the propane lamps off (!!)

On the way back down it was downhill all the way, I must say that pack really gives you momentum (I fell over again - backwards this time)and the drive to Evanston was uneventful. Found out an interesting tidbit. Did you know it's illegal to bring beer into Utah? I didn't. Mind you the gnat's pee they serve in bars in this state could hardly be called beer! The trip was a lot of fun, good friends, great weather, stunning views and I would definitely do it again.

Where Life Begins (So they say) and Skype

Today is my birthday apparently life begins at this age - but I don't feel like I've begun anything new.

We had a party last night and all the friends we invited turned up and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had food upstairs and the game Dance, Dance, Revolution downstairs, we were all game and some of us (J!) got the hang of it really quickly. I suck at the game, although I use the workout mode every day. K had been practising and pretty much wiped the floor with all of us. H & J snuck out and bought a couple of cakes and a candle and everyone came upstairs and sang "Happy Birthday" I was really touched and I admit I had a wee teary.

Pressies!!! which I love were very imaginative, I got CD's, a handmade bracelet, a watch from hubby amongst a ton of other things from him, cosmetics, enough Berringer to bathe in oh yes and a pair of granny panties (courtesy of M,L and J) with "this way up" written on them. By the time I opened my pressies I'd had a bit to drink so had no trouble in putting them on in front of everyone. C has the pictures to prove it!

This morning I opened the other pressies. M bought me the Maroon Five CD, I've got books about everything from Alias to Crosswords and Cats. We went to REI this morning and bought a mattress pad and a pillow for my Yurt trip next weekend. We had come home and were having lunch when the phone went and it was my cousin R in England. We had a nice chat and I congratulated him on his engagement to T (about time too!)

The only downside to the whole party thing was that Dory's routine was shot to piecies, she took ages to get in last night and then woke me up at 5.30 this morning mewing so I let her sleep with us and she was curled up under our bed when we woke up this morning.......

Skype - this is an interesting piece of kit. You can use it to make internet phone calls all over the world - for the cost of a local call - using VOIP, that's Voice Over Internet Protocol. We heard about it a couple of years ago and when C's Dad upgraded his PC the plan was to get him to use Skype to communicate but it never materialised. Then yesteday morning the phone went and it was D, from England. He'd been tinkering with Skype and called us. It was a looooonnng conversation and we exchanged several files while we talked. So we've now seem their new canal-side house, complete with balcony and they've seen our walk-through. It's a great way to keep in touch and I'm thinking of trying to use it with M, maybe.

It was all going so well

Beware the eides of March - well actually beware March in general. It may be the month of my birth but in the last few years this month has caused it's fair share of trouble.

Layoffs are comming, we knew that but not just how bad. Even though C will keep his job (we think) the company won't be the same and it will be top heavy with managers. What is up with that? Didn't they ever hear the saying too many chiefs and not enough indians?

I can sympathize, when James' company was run into the ground by that tit Savage I wanted to do him (Savage) serious physical harm (and to think I spent sleepless nights wondering if I should invite him to our wedding!)

The following is an open message to Mr C Savage esq, as this is the week that I seem to be letting go of the past here goes. Carl old boy, you are the most arrogant son of a bitch it has been my misfortune to work for - you ruined a company that had stood for 25 years purely to get your filthy little hands on our client database. Call yourself an entrepreneur - ha! Richard Branson's an entreprenuer you are just an asset stripping shark. I quite happily tore up your commendation letters and then I burned them.

Anyway enough of that - ahhhhh I feel much better. Meanwhile - back in camp depression......C is blaming himself for something that he and the other employees had absolutely no control over. I'm being chipper but I'm not sure how long I can keep up the act - don't want to lose it in front of him. He's got to move on and look after himself not worry about the company. Even Dory knows somethings up and they say cats are daft.