if highlights from your long weekend include stripping wallpaper....

then you might be motivated to kill yourself. or, reevaluate your life.

yes, i finally have a great job that i love and am making consistent (if meager) money.

yes, i finally have an apartment of my own.

yes, i have great friends and usually something to keep me busy every night of the weekend.

i'll avoid the boy sitch for the moment.

then why am i so restless, so bored, so unmotivated? i want to just sit in my apartment drinking tea and watching tv. i have all of brooklyn and manhattan to explore, yet i find excuses like its too cold, or its too far of a trip, or i don't want to do it alone. all of those excuses are valid, of course, but none will get me off my butt.

so why not pour my energies into something outside of the five boroughs and even the suburbs that reach as far as my parents' house in connecticut? i don't mind spending some money, i am now making it consistently and even have a tiny bit saved up. what can i do that will pull me from my one bedroom coccoon?

i thought about shopping, my first love, but as i have lamented before, the thrill of that old hag is gone. i need something new.

well they do say what is old is new again, so why don't i delve (or re-delve) into something that i used to enjoy a lot? eureka! what is something that i used to love, that will motivate me to get off my butt and that is perfect for this time of year? skiing of course! there are so many places to go that i have never been, it is something i wouldn't mind doing alone (all i need is my trusty ipod) and it is both exercise and zen. maybe i'll even try snowboarding. all i'll need is some courage and a bunny hill. now i'm even old enough to enjoy a beer in the lodge.

i think i'll start pursuing my hobby on a weekend soon. first i need to visit boston, then i'll take a day trip to some mountain. all are welcome to join, suggestions are welcome. i have been to quite a few local mountains, and my favorites are in the catskills. so now i need to decide if i should revisit or just go places i've never been before. a long weekend trip to the catskills is definitely in my future, i'm thinking maybe martin luther king jr. weekend? i'll have to make reservations soon. oh its probably so expensive! well it will be worth it! and i can save money on ski rentals since i can still wear the ones my parents bought me years ago.

yay! just call me manda the ski bunny.