Ben asked me to acknowledge publicly that he renewed my ip address for this blog so it can continue to be the inspiring piece of literature that it is.

Thank you Ben for keeping me in touch with my fans.

I will have more earth shattering news and updates on a more frequent schedule soon, as school is out in 12 days!

Here it is, the blog about our trip to Cali.  First and foremost, we had a BLAST!  It was cold and I didn’t get a tan, but we saw some amazing sights and definitely had a memorable trip.

I joined Ben in San Francisco on Thursday evening the 2nd–we stayed at the W Hotel; it was very posh, light-up buddha man and all.  On Friday, we had lunch at our favorite sandwich place, Boudin, followed by ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli’s and hit the Golden Gate bridge out of town towards Lake Tahoe.  Traffic was very much like you see in the movies–bumper to bumper–so it took us a good 4 hours to get to South Lake Tahoe, the first destination on our Cali tour de force.

We stayed at Secrets Inn in Tahoe, a nice little family run hotel for couples.   South Lake Tahoe reminded Ben and I of an upscale version of Houghton Lake for those from Michigan–some touristy areas, but mostly mom and pop owned places and a very local flavor overall.  On Saturday, we decided to ride the Heavenly Gondola.  This enclosed ski lift takes you up 3,000 feet over 20 minutes time to view all of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area.  On the way up, there is a scenic overlook where you can get out and take pictures–we took a lot of incredible pictures there.  We then rode to the top and watched all the activities taking place–skiing, of course, but also tubing, snowshoeing, sledding, zip-cord rides, and most uniquely, an opportunity to rent ski bikes…

After the gondola ride, Ben and I decided to use our rental Jeep Commander and see some more scenery.  Since we were staying on the California/Nevada border, we decided we should probably go explore Nevada a little bit…so we headed for Reno.  Ben wanted to find the famous arch sign in that city and I thought it would be something to see.  Not so much, folks.  As I’ve told everyone, Reno is the armpit of America.  That sounds harsh–it was harsh to say the least.  We were both left feeling disappointed and a bit dirty.  The best thing we saw?  P.F. Chang’s, and we didn’t even eat there!

Heading back to California, we chose to drive around all of Lake Tahoe.  There were many small little towns, each with a bit of charm.  The views were incredible as was some of the housing we saw.  Our drive led Ben to ponder as to the location of the house the Corleone family stayed in during The Godfather II.  We googled the idea and found out that, unfortunately, it is now held in a private estate and can only be located by boat from Lake Tahoe to just catch a glimpse of it.  It was way too cold for a boat ride, so no Godfather sightseeing this trip!

On Sunday, we took in brunch at one of the casinos and went back around the lake to see some of our favorite spots again.  Lake Tahoe was fun, but there were many places we wanted to go and see that were not open for the season yet–unless you were there to ski, we sadly learned, it is definitely a summer spot to visit.  We packed up on Monday morning and journeyed off to Yosemite National Park, our second stop on the Cali tour de force.

The drive to Yosemite was an eye-opener.  Not only did I see my first coyote wandering the barren land, but I learned how much snow one can really get in the mountains.  At 50 degrees, there was still FEET of snow on the ground–it was really insane!  We steadily drove downhill into warmer weather, including green grass and wildflowers!  The temperature hit a heat-wave inducing 79 degrees before we went back uphill into the national park.  The hills and mountain roads were once again steep and intimidating, but with our nice weather, we really relaxed and enjoyed the spectacular views.  We finally arrived at our hotel, the Wawona, around 5pm that day.  The Wawona Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in the nation and it boasted the first swimming pool in 1912.  The hotel was at the southern end of the park, with the closest off-site dining a whopping 30 miles away!  Needless to say, we enjoyed the dining room at our hotel along with the European-styled community bathrooms and lack of technology (no WiFi, TV, radio, etc.) quite a lot.  It was a neat experience, one I would recommend to anyone visiting Yosemite.

We spent our one complete day in Yosemite seeing all the sights.  We saw Yosemite Valley including Half Moon, El Capitan, the Upper and Lower Falls, Ansel Adams gallery, and museum.  We also went to Bridalveil Falls and checked out the non-bear proof canvas tents that Ben had initially wanted us to stay in.  (I made the right call on this one–not a good idea!)  We took many pictures and began heading back to the hotel around 4:30 pm.  We wanted to see the famous sequoia trees, but much like Tahoe, many things were not open yet, including the roads that lead to the sequoia groves.  One grove, the Mariposa Grove, had a paved road that led to it that you could hike up and still view the trees–it was a two-mile hike, but a paved one.  Ben and I really wanted to see these, but the skies did not look so promising and we are flat out of shape…but we sucked it up and drove to the base of the grove.

As we began the hike, it was in the 40’s and lightly misting–no big deal, we were dressed warm and felt okay.  The road was all uphill, though, which had Ben and I winded early in the hike and wondering if we were capable of this trek.  We persevered, only for the mist to turn into rain.  Now we are still going uphill, getting a little more wet, when we hear thunder.  Oh yes, thunder.  At this point, we roughly estimate we are halfway up the hill and a mile into this climb–we can do it.  It gets better–while the thunder continues, we are now apparently at an elevation where the rain turns to sleet.  As the sleet eventually turns to snow showers, we are cursing our way up the hills with no idea how far away these damn sequoia trees are while we watch everyone steadily go down the hill to the safety of their cars.  When almost all hope was lost, we rounded a corner and saw the first sequoia.  It was really something to see–we shared a high five and started snapping pictures.  The thunder has now ceased, but the snow is slowly picking up.  Once into the park, we spot a sign telling us that we have seen some sequoias, but the really famous ones are another two miles down a snow-covered trail (I’m wearing tennis shoes, fyi).  We shared some more curse words and turned back to head for dry ground.  As we exited the park and began down the hills, the snow went from pretty to hell-bent on soaking us–it was quickly becoming a snow storm.  We had blindly ignored the Winter Weather Advisory posted on the hotel bulletin board that morning, figuring two chumps from Michigan can handle a little snow.  We were SOAKED–to the point that the entire trip to the grove was becoming comedic.  We made it down the hill in half the time it had taken us to get up, only to start cleaning off the car with our coats (no snow scraper in the rental from San Francisco, right?).  As we were relishing the thought of heated seats and hot air pouring on our soaked heads and feet, a young couple approached us and asked for a ride back to the Wawona if we were heading that way.  I recognized them from breakfast that morning and we gave them a lift.  As it turns out, they were from England and had not realized when they booked their trip to Yosemite that he would not be old enough in America to rent a car (the age is 26–he was 20), so they had walked from our hotel to the groves and did not want to have to walk back in the snow.  They had already walked 15 miles that day just to see the groves.  15 MILES!  And I thought we were out of shape…they put us to shame.

We thoroughly enjoyed our hot showers and warm meals upon our arrival at the Wawona Hotel…mainly, we were happy to be out of the snow and cold.  We slept like babies and awoke to snow everywhere–there had been a real snowfall the night before, and we watched the snow continue to come down at a fast pace throughout breakfast.  Most of the guests planning to leave that day were panicking–to get down the mountain, you had to have a 4×4 vehicle at minimum and carrying chains to be permitted down the mountain roads.  We had the 4×4, but no chains, and we didn’t want to have to buy them and/or put them on.  We were advised to try to get down without them, but if the park personnel told us we had to have them, we’d have to go get them.  We checked out, found our English pals (they needed a lift to Yosemite Valley to pick up their Amtrak train), and headed down the snow-covered mountain road.  It was treacherous, I could not imagine driving in those conditions on a daily basis, or if I had never driven in the snow before.  We watched a motorhome come within inches of spinning out and going over the edge of the road into steep forest below–we could now see why roads were still closed in April and chains were required.

The rest of our drive back to San Francisco to fly home was uneventful compared to the snowy travel that morning.  We ate some Chili’s, returned our Jeep, and hung out at SFO for our red eye flight home.  We were early, no doubt, and so was the strange pedophile man who gave Ben and I the creeps and kept trying to become our friend.  He was obviously flying alone and was desperate for companionship, but he was creepy.  He was the kind-of needy creepy that told you his life story in the first five minutes you chatted without your asking any questions…you get my drift here.  I finally got us away by whining that I needed headache medicine and we had to go find a store to buy some before all the stores closed (I did have a migraine by the way).  When we returned to the gate, he had latched onto someone else, not before we saw him start talking with a little girl and her mom…which is how he became pedophile man.

The strangest thing we discovered about California was their aversion to using guardrails on their highways.  They’re everywhere in Michigan–ten foot drop-off to a ravine?  Guardrail.  Crossing a creek?  Guardrail.  Train tracks twenty feet off the highway?  Guardrail.  Steep mountainous terrain with staggering drop-offs?  In Cali, NO guardrail.  45 degree drops on both sides of the highway?  NO guardrail.  Huge valley looming below, lined with a forest of trees?  NO guardrail.  They had guardrails in so few places, we started noting where they were so we could try to discover a pattern!  There was no rhyme or reason as to their locale, and it was totally a California thing because there were guardrails all over the place in Nevada.  If anyone knows the answer to this practice, we’d love to hear it.  One local told us California considers the trees their guardrail system–I’m just curious if that’s actually the answer.

We think we’d go back to California and these places again, especially if it were the summer.  I highly recommend the places we stayed and the things we saw, we just wished we’d been able to see more and had it be a little bit warmer–you know, no rain-to-snow events like the Mariposa Grove incident.  Check out Ben’s flickr page for more pictures if you’re interested: www.flickr.com/photos/benrapin

Here I am, at SFO, ready to fly back from my Spring Break 09 in California.  Ben thought I should post a teaser until I could really blog and tell the whole story of the trip, complete with pictures.  Here are some of the highlights…

Ben’s quest to find the Tahoe home from the Godfather, Part II.

Finding the famous arch sign in Reno.

Hiking 4 miles to see sequoias.

Staying in a hotel built in the 19th century, complete with community baths.

California’s resistance to installing guardrails.

The freak snowstorm that we didn’t take seriously and almost kept us at Yosemite.  (It made the 4×4 upgrade all worthwhile!)

The pedophile at SFO.

Ben attempting to swindle us two more round trip tickets via United Airlines for Spring Break 2010.

Check in soon, loyal readers, you will not be disappointed.  Ben and I don’t go ANYWHERE without humorous stories to follow!

So, California is T-1 week away!  I was finally getting geeked about going away…until I watched the NBC Nightly News this evening.  I have all but sworn off the news lately, I hear enough doom and gloom in my life without watching a half-hour program dedicated to nothing but the depressing status of American life today.  But Ben was eating dinner in front of the news, so I joined.  After the run down of what Obama is doing, how upset everyone is about AIG, the stock market, and how houses still aren’t selling (duh, duh, uh-huh, and double duh), they turned to the newest threat-earthquakes in California!  Apparently, over 240 small earthquakes have been detected in the last few weeks in southern California, making the leading scientists concerned that the big one is coming.  WHAT??????

Ben’s reaction to this news was as follows:  he broke into a huge grin and said, “Wouldn’t that be cool to be there and really experience an earthquake?”

REALLY?  I think that it scares the gadzooks out of me to be in the middle of the chaos that an earthquake would inevitably bring and be stranded in a state I don’t know.  Ben?  Thinks it’d be cool.   The phrase “you never really know anyone” ran through my mind.

Needless to say, I guess I should have opted for the tent accommodations at Yosemite.   Then I wouldn’t  have to worry about the hotel floors above me crashing onto my semiconscious sleeping body at 3 am when the big one rocks every living structure in California.  Am I being too dramatic?  Anxious? I think not.

I leave all my worldly possessions to my loved ones and I hope someone will take Lucy.  This is in lieu of the will Ben and I won’t get around to writing before we leave for California and our “cool” experiencing of an earthquake.

Ben told me today I was being difficult.  Not that that comment in and of itself is a shocker, I have been known to be difficult a time or maybe two in my lifetime.  But this comment was in response to my scheming to go to Key West for Spring Break this year.

We decided in light of the money we are spending on other things that we would not go to Key West for Spring Break, the first time in four years that we won’t be going there.  I admit I was the stickler on this rule–it is truly paradise, but it is very expensive.  Then, last night, Ben decides we should watch the Modern Marvels episode about the intercoastal highway, the one and only way in and out of Key West.  After spending an hour in paradise via DirecTV, I was ready to book a trip.

So this morning/afternoon, I began pricing out plane tickets and places we could stay, even at this late date.  This made Ben really mad since he had just booked a conference for the week before in San Francisco and our plan was to spend part of Spring Break in California this year.  California’s great, just not the warm, tropical paradise that is Key West.

Needless to say, we ARE going to California.  We will spend a few days at Lake Tahoe and a day or so at Yosemite.  Ben wants to stay in a canvas tent with a “bear proof” locker for food at Yosemite…I’m thinkin’ that the Bear will just head straight for me in the absence of food.  A “bear proof” locker and canvas tent?  ARE PEOPLE NUTS?  Am I?

I will let you know what happens as the trip to Cali progresses.  I could be bear bait before Easter!

Well, loyal readers, Bailey’s current health saga continues.  It appears that his back condition is still causing him problems.  Ben took him to our regular vet today and apparently, it is common for beagles to suffer from these back issues.  It will probably be something he will battle the rest of his life as it flares up from time to time.  The current course of action is to continue his current meds until Friday; if he is still experiencing pain like he currently is, they will switch his medicine to something similar to Celebrex.  If that still fails to work, next are steroids.  If both are a bust, we are looking at a specialist vet appointment for back surgery.

Did you hear it??  That “choo-choo”?  You guessed it, the Money Train just pulled up to my door.

No, it is not similar to the Polar Express or Amtrak.  That’s an urban legend.  It is an endless parade of mile after mile of cars that take dollar after dollar out of my hardworking hands to pay for health coverage my family does not have and most companies do not offer.  The Money Train really likes the Rapin Compound; between fertility treatments and vet bills, the neighbors don’t even peek out of their curtains anymore when the whistle blows.

I shouldn’t complain about money–Lord knows there are hundreds of thousands of folks who are in a much worse place than I am, but I can hardly choke out the statement “How much?” without gagging on my own tongue.  I wonder how many more generations we will survive before major changes take place in insurance reform.  Can you see listing your frozen embryos or pets on your dependent sheet?  I am inclined to believe it could just happen in my lifetime…

Ah, Rapin life sure is Loco these days!  I have had a roller coaster of a few weeks…here’s the recap for those interested:

1.  I finally decided to go see my doctor about new antidepressants.  I knew the ones I’ve been on forever weren’t really doing the trick anymore (the voices came back…just kidding!), so my psychiatrist recommended Cymbalta or Effexor.  My general doctor gave me Cymbalta, and as I quote a fellow blogger, “let the gastrointestinal sideshow begin!”  I have been on several antidepressants over the course of the past 10 years, and this one took the side effects “cake”.  I was ill everyday, so after the 10 day period in which I was supposed to overcome the side effects, I went back to the doctor for Effexor.  Surprise!  Effexor is about to lose its patent, so they (Wyeth) are now pushing a new drug called Pristiq and I am my doctor’s first patient on the meds.  Well, Day 2 is done, and I feel much better as far as side effects go.  As for helping subside the actual depression, it’ll be a few weeks before the jury comes back with a verdict.  Good times.

2.  I attended my first baby shower in years.  This was quite a feat, to be honest, since I have allowed myself to bow out of these activities on account of all my infertility problems.  My best friend from high school, Kristie, is having her first child and I was actually excited about going  to see her and shower her with baby fun and games.  Kristie has affectionately nicknamed her child baby rhino because she is HUGE and still has 8 weeks to go, so I was also eager to see how “big” she really was.   Well, she was not kidding.  She is one very large pregnant woman–if I saw her in a grocery store, I would be shocked she wasn’t on the OB ward at the hospital.  Ben also agreed–he used the adjective enormous.  She is doing very well given a difficult pregnancy and even tougher times in her personal life.  She is a trooper–I enjoyed catching up with her, it will probably be our last visit sans baby!

3.  Bailey is sick…again.   Both Ben and I went away this weekend for different activities and Ben’s sisters stayed at our house to watch Toby and Bailey.  Ben called me late Sunday eve on my way back from Ttown and Kristie’s shower to tell me Bailey was acting strange and wouldn’t let anyone touch his back.  He was whining and was obviously in pain–he wouldn’t jump on furniture, his favorite napping grounds.   Bailey has a high threshold of pain as he lived for weeks with an infected tooth in his mouth without our knowledge, so we knew something was really wrong.  Ben decided to take him to the emergency vet (where his sister works weekends from time to time) and they determined he has something called innerdisc disease–its similar to a slipped disc in humans.   He is on pain med’s and we’re hoping his condition improves in the next day or so.  Otherwise, we are talking an MRI to check for soft tissue damage, and those run around $800 on dogs.  I feel my financial aneurysm coming back…

4.  We found out our house is worth even less than we thought after an assessment came back from the bank in our efforts to refinance.  No refinance for a better rate since the mortgage we would need to take out trumps the value of our property.  God bless the mortgage crisis and recession.

Borrowing a phrase from Kristie, “I’m just sliding down the razor blade of life”.  The winter blahs have set in and as nice as Spring Break in Florida sounds, that won’t be on the Rapin calendar this year.  I may just have to go tanning and buy some new clothes like I’m going someplace anyway to relieve the Michigan winter funk setting in over everyone these days…

The 2nd annual Strong Woman Weekend (SWW) of 2009 took place this past weekend, in true Strong Woman style.  Sheila traditionally invites myself and our friends Kim and Robyn up to her ski chalet near Mancelona, Michigan for a weekend of rest, relaxation, skiing, and inevitable catch phrases.  We headed out Thursday night and made quick time to the retreat.  We quickly swung by the chalet to turn up the heat before we left for Ivan’s Restaurant at Schuss Mountain.  After a tasty dinner in which we filled in Sheila about what a Mudslide is (and isn’t), we unpacked at the chalet and watched Baby Mama (interesting selection by my peers, by the way)…

Our first Strong Women moment came when we realized that the key to open the supply closets at the chalet did not work.  While Sheila and I just eventually gave up hope on getting into the closets, Kim and Robyn, the real women of the weekend, decided that we should just take off the hinge pins on the doors and undo the doors the opposite way.  Of course, it worked beautifully!  Strong Women Moment #1, shared by Kim and Robyn.

Friday morning brought snow and a trip to Bellaire to check out a real old-fashioned themed toy store.  We enjoyed the toy store, the pharmacy, Hallmark store, and True Value to pick up a cable for Sheila’s DTV converter box.  At the True Value, we bought a True Value reusable bag for Kim’s mom who works at a True Value store in an “undisclosed location” and has a boss that’s too cheap to give all the employees one of these reusable bags.  We all signed it to commemorate the purchase.  And took a picture.  I’m sure the guy behind the counter thought we were either high, drunk, or off our schizophrenia med’s.  Strong Women Moment #2–all us women enjoyed this one!  Sad end to the journey–Kim lost her new gloves somewhere in Bellaire, recon proved unsuccessful.

We went back to the chalet, ate a yummy lunch (”Eat A Samich”, “Sheila, Want A Water?”), and watched the first movie in the Love Series from Hallmark, Love Comes Softly.  I got Sheila addicted to these movies a few Christmases ago and we have now roped Kim and Robyn in.  We decided around 5ish it was time to ski, so we bundled up, loaded up, and headed to Shanty for some night skiing (minus Robyn who stayed behind to do schoolwork).  By the time we found a parking spot, got inside and redeemed our vouchers, and figured out how to work Bob’s 20 year old skis from Sheila’s basement that I was using, it was 6ish and time to ski!!! 

It is important to note here that this is only the 3rd time I’ve ever skied and Sheila is the one who has taught me everything I know about skiing.  Thank God Kim and Sheila are teachers and two of the most patient people I know because I am not the most athletic, quickest learner on the slopes.  I bit it hard the first run down and hit my head on the icy slope–instant headache, real gracious stuff.  The happy part of this story is that I learned how to ski back and forth down a hill and not get crazy out of control.  This was named important skill #2 by Sheila (#1 is snowplow). 

The not-so-wonderful ending to the evening of cold and snow was the tow rope.  I had never used one and while Kim and Sheila gave me good instructions, I grabbed on without my skis lined up and got dragged-literally-halfway up the hill.  When they finally stopped the rope, to maintain what little shred of dignity I still had, I walked the rest of the way up the hill.  I wasn’t the only one who fell and we all maintained our dignity along with our sense of humor–Strong Women Moment #3.

The evening ended Friday night with a marathon of Guitar Hero, courtesy of Kim and Robyn.  Sheila kept getting booed offstage and soon fell asleep, so the three of us began our world tour that lasted 24 songs and a tour halfway around the world, on Easy of course.  We were so determined to keep unlocking songs, by 1am, we were playing on pure determination and adrenaline.  We woke up Saturday morning to sore ski muscles and NO band–all our Guitar Hero data was gone.  I had to be the “Mississippi Queen” once again…

We skied some more on Saturday, this time at Schuss which is my preferred ski location.  We watched the next three Love Series movies and had a Thanksgiving-like dinner courtesy of Sheila.  Sheila’s husband and two kids joined us Saturday evening, when we played more Guitar Hero and watched SNL before crashing into bed.  We enjoyed Sunday morning breakfast along with some Wii Sports before Kim, Robyn, and I called it a weekend and packed up for home.

The weekend was full of fun and laughs, and it was WAY too short.  All three of us teachers are dragging ourselves through the week due to our lack of sleep and energy, and general lack of wanting to be working versus relaxing up north.  I can hardly wait for next year, I enjoy having the time to relax, laugh, chew the fat, and laugh some more with some of my closest friends.  Sheila and I have some serious shopping to do so we can get on par with Kim and Robyn’s “gear” factor, but we have a year to get there before SWW ‘10 arrives…

Welcome the newest edition to the Rapin Clan, GR Branch…Toby, the giant black lab.  Toby is “on loan” from my sister-in-law and mother-in-law as Marie heads back to dorm life and Barb moves to Florida for a nursing job during the winter.  Toby lived with Ben’s brother and his wife in the fall, so now his care has fallen to us.  Thus far, Toby is doing just fine and is adjusting as well as could be expected to life with us.  He’s proved to be a good dog and we are readjusting a few things that are issues for him that haven’t been with Bailey–drinking from toilets, sneaking out doors not completely closed, stuff like that.   I do feel bad for him, I’m sure he’s just wondering where he’s supposed to really live–everyone had taken good care of him, he’s just lived in three homes in the past month, so I’m sure he’s confused.

Bailey seems to be enjoying having the company–he has someone else to pee, bark, and walk with.  There’s also an additional body to compete for attention, food, toys, treats, and the who-sheds-the-most contest.

Toby’s had two funny moments so far with us–the first is pictured above.  He has a security blanket much like a small child might–and there are times that he sucks on it like a binky.  We took that pic last night.  Tonight, he went and settled with the blankie on his Rapin GR dog bed in the hallway.  About ten minutes later, we heard a low dog bark–enough of a bark that Bailey woke up, became dog-alert, and was about to look out a window when all three of us realized it was Toby!  He was either having a bad dream that caused him to whimper in his sleep or he was just having a good cry.  We’re not sure which, but it was cute.  I’ll be sure to update things as his stay with us progresses.

It has been since last break that I’ve written, and while excuses do little to apologize to my devout readership (no one), the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are CRAZY at school.  Beyond the usual holiday craziness, we had to say goodbye to our student teacher, Becca.  It was very sad and sobering for me.  She’s been there since day one this year; it was an adjustment to go back to being the only teacher in the classroom.  Quite honestly, I had come to enjoy and rely on sharing the workload. 

My 1st Day of Christmas came early–snow day on Friday!  That was a nice little bonus!  I baked cookies that stuck to the counter and tasted almost as good as my mom’s.  Winter weather hit Grand Rapids full force–over the next three days, we received almost 22 inches of snow!  I attempted to finish my Christmas shopping by stalking people for a parking spot at the mall in between the 8 foot snow piles, wrapped all our gifts for family and Ben, and packed for our extended trip home.  We chose to drive through a devil of a storm to Tecumseh on the evening of Tuesday the 23rd–it took us 4 hours when it normally takes around 2.5. 

We spent Christmas Eve with my family–Jill came home from Kentucky and Todd & Jeannie came from their home in Waterford.  It was nice to see everyone and catchup; we had a very nice early Christmas dinner and we enjoyed all the gifts we received.  Of course, Wriska Christmas would not be complete without a dog incident–this time, my parents dog urinated in front of my dad’s favorite chair during dinner when we locked him out of the eating area.  I guess he was “pissed”.  

Next, we went to Midnight Mass at Ben’s former Catholic Church–it was a LONG mass mainly due to a drawn out homily, but a local doctor with an incredible voice sang ‘O Holy Night’ like he does every year, which always makes up for the windy homily.  The bad news from mass–an older man broke his ankle trying to get into the church through the icy parking lot.  Talk about a sign from God that you shouldn’t be at that mass!

We spent Christmas Day with the Rapin’s at the farmhouse.  Again, we had a wonderful meal and enjoyed all our gifts.  Again, with three dogs at the celebration, it would not be a Rapin Christmas without a dog incident.  We ate early and everyone stuck around to watch Mama Mia on DVD.  We turned off all the lights to watch the movie (Rapins like it similar to a movie theater) and when we got up and Matt & Melissa got ready to leave, we noticed that someone had dragged drops of water all over the tile in the kitchen, laundry room, and mud room.  Upon closer examination, it was doggy pee drips that all of us had already WALKED through!  It was disgusting–I was especially disappointed because I had only worn my new slippers for less than 12 hours before they’d been “broken in”. 

On the day after Christmas, Jill and I talked about going shopping, but with freezing rain, we decided it was a bad idea.  Later in the day, my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law decided to trek to Ann Arbor, so I rode along and enjoyed all the 50% off deals at Target.  I bought lots of fun Christmas stuff for next year, mainly prizes for my classroom.  I spent the evening visiting with my Aunt and Uncle who drove from Green Bay to visit and stayed with my parents for a few days before journeying back to their “Snow Bird” home in Arizona.  They are always amusing and even though I went to visit them this summer, they are my favorite relatives and they rarely come for visits in Michigan, so I enjoyed seeing them again.

Saturday was one of the highlights of my vacation–my main gift from Ben’s mom was a ticket to see the Broadway tour of “Wicked” at the Detroit Operahouse!  All of my sister-in-laws, plus my mother-in-law and two of Ben’s aunts went to see this production on Saturday night.  It was absolutely phenomenal!  Ben and I often take in musicals at the Grand Rapids Civic Theater and we always enjoy the productions, but this was a whole other level of musical and cast.  I knew the main premise of the musical, but I was not prepared for how awesomely talented the main cast members were–if I had an iota of their talent, I would not be a teacher.  Everyone really enjoyed the show and we even talked about doing it again next year.

Sunday, the 10th day, was another day at the Wriska’s–both Ben and I went to visit my relatives and watch the Packers/Lions game before we returned to Grand Rapids.  On the way to my parents house, however, Ben decided that it would probably be best that he and Matt take his newly purchased snowmobile to the Shack in the Woods that night, briefly stay over, and return Monday morning to get me before departing back home.  After a year of saving and lots of working on me, he finally bought his uncle’s 2002 Yamaha snowmobile.  So…..while I was looking forward to returning home, I spent one more night in T-town and spent a little more time with my Green Bay relatives.

After unpacking the gifts, taking down the tree, cleaning the house, catching up on laundry, doing the grocery shopping, and playing some Dr. Mario on the Wii, Ben and I headed to the Shack in the Woods New Years Eve morning to spend our final few days up nort, relaxing and snowmobiling.  There was a TON of snow at the Shack, so much so that once we got the all-wheel drive Equinox in the driveway, the snow was so deep that the bottom of the car got stuck on the snow and after digging out all four wheels, we could not get the car out!  After Ben’s brute strength and my awesome driving skill set, we did get it out, but it was a real surprise to us that it was so completely stuck.  We spent the rest of Wednesday getting settled in to the cabin, I made my famous peanut-butter cake, and Ben played on the snowmobiles, ensuring they were ready for a journey through the nortern trails on New Years Day.

Withboth of us in our 30’s now, it should come as no surprise that we fell asleep long before the ball dropped–technically, we wanted to be well rested for our journey on the snow the next day.  We were out and on the sleds by 10am (impressive for me, I must say!).  I had only driven a snowmobile once the previous winter, so needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive and certainly very rusty at driving one of these machines.  Ben was incredibly patient with me and helped me get reacclimated with how to drive a sled.  We rode several trails that were very accessible from the Shack and the more I rode, the more comfortable I felt.  We rode to get gas–got a bit turned around due to poor trail markings–and came back to the cabin for a snack and a little nap.  We head out again for the trails around 4:30 for a short ride–I felt much better the second time around, and while I was not comfortable keeping up with Ben aka “Speedy Gonzales”, I did enjoy the second ride much more.  Ben’s sled began overheating on this trip, and we again took a wrong turn on the trails, so we were out until after dark (not my choice), but it was fun anyway. 

Friday, the 15th day, Ben’s friend Mark joined us at the Shack to snowmobile with us.  Unfortunately, I was so sore from fighting the steering column on the older sled, I stayed behind while the boys ran their sleds to their limits on the area trails.  Instead, I partook in some binge reading–I read Nicholas Sparks’ book The Choice in four hours–and watched some movies on the satellite.  I highly recommend The Choice–if you’re looking for a great book, pick it up.  As you can tell from above, it is a quick read.

Today, the 16th day, we closed up the Shack and returned to GR.  I am already mourning the return of normal life and the end of vacation, which is still one day away.  One more big change took place over the holiday–stay tuned to my next post for the details of THIS interesting little development…