I feel like the days have been filled with lifetimes. It’s like the days are buzzing. I feel like it’s summer, only it’s 15 degrees as I write this. And sometimes I feel like I get away from myself. Like one minute I have a few plans, and the next minute I have 11,000 plans and am rethinking my whole life along with it.
It started with ballroom dancing lessons with my husband. I did this on a whim, partially to torture him, knowing full well that I, at least, can’t dance at all. We learned the Rumba and the Bachata and I will grudgingly admit we both had a great time.
To conclude this romantic evening we began what we have dubbed the “Super-Matrix-Bowl” and basically means that we will be marathoning the Matrix movies over three days while eating Superbowl food and NOT watching the Superbowl. Who’s even in the superbowl? I don’t know.
Also speaking of romance, The Matrix is definitely the greatest love story ever told, after the Village. We planned this perfectly for Valentine’s Day. Somewhere in this marathon I found some time for a virtual get together with my college friends to celebrate my birthday. I also went climbing at the gym for a few hours and worked my regular evening shift. I stopped at a bakery to get my partner’s favorite cookies for Valentine’s day and did a list of other errands that I’m not sure how I found the time for them. No wait, it was Grocery delivery, that’s how I found the time.
Then we got to Monday and I took the day off to go snowboarding with a friend for his birthday. I can not stress enough that It Did Not Go Well and so we come to the part where sometimes I get away from myself.
I struggled and fell for four hours and now have the bruises to show for it. It hurt. I was cold. I was not having fun. I was not good at. I don’t know why I did it. The really awful thing is that I would probably do it again. And given the choice between all of that pain that I’m still feeling today, and a day spent in the office… I’d chose to fall on my face all the way down a mountain over and over again. What’s wrong with me?
When it was under an hour until closing time at the slope I had to give in and call it quits. The idea of having to survive the ski lift and the arduous trip back down one more time was too much even for me. I found a lukewarm spot by a heater in this bar with a glass of Pinot Noir while my friend soldered on.
If you want to do what I did, probably don’t, but here’s how:
The dance class was put on by Binghamton University Ballroom Dance Team at the Broome County Regional Farmer’s Market and it cost $20 for the pair of us. I think they do this every year for Valentine’s Day and it was excellent.
The Matrix can be rented on most of the usual streaming services or if you’re super old you might own the series on DVD, which we do. Now watch it and tell me it’s not the most romantic love story you’ve ever seen after the Village. Go watch the Village, too, it’s Valentine’s Day this week after all.
I work and climb at Lindseth Climbing Center at Cornell University. You can’t climb there unless you are affiliated with the school or if you take a class at the gym. You should definitely do that.
Roma’s Bakery in Endicott has the best half-moon cookies.
We went snowboarding at Labrador Mountain. Neither of us had ever been there, it was about 11 degrees so everything was icy and I have some not good things to say about their beginner slope. Other than all of that, I’m sure it is an excellent place.