Stumbling around on an empty stomach

I was hanging at the apartment this afternoon wondering how I was so damn hungry. After all, I'd just been to the grocery store and spent $65. I guess that's what happens when you go to Whole Foods...or more precisely, when you go to a local grocery store owned by Whole Foods. I got the friendly neighborhood markup, and I always do. At the end of the day, though, Ideal Market makes me feel like a free spirited, dirt bag, Subaru driving local, which I fancy myself to begin with, so I always come back. Tattoos are rampant with the staff, and most of the greens were grown in the county. They've got local goat cheese, and they bake their own bread. Going there is somewhere between farmer's market and upscale deli.
Plus, they now carry European Style Rice Pudding by Kozy Shack. I'm no Jew, but this stuff is Kosher, literally and otherwise. It's right up there with dark chocolate as my favorite after dinner (0r lunch, or breakfast for that matter) course.

I spent last week in CA skiing with friends, but when Kate and I got home, the cupboards were free of everything, even old mother Hubbard. That led me to spend so much scratch on a few pieces of fruit, rice mixed with milk (and annatto for color), and bread. And while I was on the far left end of Americana, a few choice incidents left me giggling and thinking about relaying them to my faithful Voeuyers.

I was having a picnic in Pacific Grove, right on the Monterrey Peninsula, when two things hit me.
The first was an aggressive sea gull, highly habituated to the human species and their generosity with crumbs. This winged rat made a dive bomb for my chicken salad sandwich, and followed this war crime up with an attack on an unsuspecting lesbian trying to enjoy her afternoon with her kids and special lady.
The second was the distinct urge to pee. I finished off my scraps of people food, careful to leave nothing for the greedy interlopers (birds, my picnic companions, or victims of Prop. 8) and headed off to find the facilities. Once found, I made note that I was likely pissing into a pipe that led directly into the sea I'd seen just moments before, and that there was a small child behind me filling his water bottle in the sink. After I noticed the kid, I made a mental note to keep any gas well inhumed within my guts, and giggled at the fact that this young chap would have quite the story to tell his family if I failed in my attempt to keep in the air that otherwise would have gone out.
I know he'd have had a good story because I was in Yellowstone one time, an unsuspecting young chap attempting to tangle with a urinal at chest level, when some old codger let fly with his ass trumpet right as I passed by behind him. History may well repeat, but I held firm, knowing I'd not let it do so on my watch.

The trip was otherwise filled with skiing in balmy temps with bony snow, a few nostalgic runs at beer pong and Asshole, and plenty of time kicking it around Pebble Beach. I could think of worse places to relax, that's for sure.
The skiing was a little tough, mostly because the snow pack was grim and the ambient air temp was hovering right around 60. I scoured the suitcase, but the lightest thing I could find was a hooded sweatshirt that left me, ironically, sweating through my shirt. More specifically, it left me sweating through my pants, and utterly destroyed the screen capabilities of my cell phone. I just had to get a new one upon arrival back home, and here's a choice little nugget....Verizon has a deal going on where its buy one, get one free for Blackberries. Kate just got a new, super state of the art Storm, and with minimal cajoling, I got one today for free. I've gotten a few dirty looks back home on the reservation.
Now that I'm back, I'm just trying to get back into the swing of yoga and climbing, and did both today. Everything felt out of wack, with wobbly postures and weak forearms. Oh well. I'll get back on track by the end of the week, just in time for a possible Creek trip for Valentine's Day. Kate and I have to just do the sunshine dance, 'cause the weather is looking dodgy. What gives? I just spent all the time I wanted in the searing sunshine, why can't I get some more of that, and in the desert, no less?
I've missed you all. It's good to be back.

-Sent from a Verizon Blackberry Device-