A Stressful Calm

So I had a wonderful weekend with Jason in Virginia. I managed to get out of New York before the snow started falling in VA which was good. It snowed at least 3 inches though, possibly closer to half a foot.

In true NH style we went out in the snow regardless of the fact Virginians don't know how to plow. It's okay, the Hunter loves slush and Jason enjoys fishtailing on purpose. Ran some errands and bought Jason a DVD player for real cheap at BestBuy and hooked it up to the giant TV his friend grandfathered to him when he shipped out in November.

Before that literally the TV was just sitting in the middle of the room...it wasn't even a sad TV facing the corner like it had done something wrong...it was front and center screaming "I'M NOT BEING USED BUT I'M HERE AND I'M PROUD!" Not plugged into anything, just sitting there taking up space at an odd angle that really bothered me (one of my neurotic tendencies involves things being even (or sometimes completely odd)...I will go about straightening photo frames on walls and shifting papers so they are flush in a stack). So we hooked up the DVD player, moved the TV back into the corner and watched a few movies.

It was a nice low-key weekend and we did a whole lot of nothing and some good talking which is important in any relationship. Basically this whole long distance thing blows and we're going to be rectifying the situation as soon as penguinly possible. Jason is still waiting to hear if he got his full time position and if not my sister is trying to convince him to move to Baltimore and find a job in the MD so we can all live there like one big happy family.

Meanwhile I spent a good deal of my morning organizing our Olympic Adventure! I went through all of the confirmation emails and copied them into a neat little document and printed all that information out. Then I sifted through all the transportation around Vancouver and printed out maps for park and rides and bus/train lines. And in true Elise-like fashion I went into the maps and circled important points and labeled extra options and routes. Then I folded everything up nicely and put it into a brightly colored folder.

Most importantly I started our checklist on the inside of the folder, you know, things that are a must to remember to pack and bring along otherwise we're screwed.

• Passport
• Pants
• Student ID (for discounts at Capilano)
  
• Comfortable boots
• Light layers
• Flight confirmation
• Hotel confirmation
• Ticket confirmation

So far that's all I have. Yes, there are those of us who might forget to pack pants *cough cough* Jason *cough cough* if it's not on the list plus in my mind whenever I think "Passport" I recall the scene in Bridget Jones when they're taking her away for New Years and her friends are packing and one of them just says: "Passport Bridget, and pants!" "Passport, pants..." she repeats.

I thought that putting all of this information and organizing our travel plans would be stressful. And we still aren't 100% on where we'll be parking outside of the city but I feel a strange sense of calm now that all the information I could find is all in one neat place.

I'm so excited about this trip.
I'm so excited to see my brother!
And I'm so excited to ring my cowbell.