Written from a hospital bed with two broken ankles, a dislocated hip, and hypothermia*

Good thing healthcare in the Wild North is free!
*no, not really. I'm completely uninjured. Mom, you can start breathing again.

I went skating for the first time outside last night. It was pretty fun, except for the fact that my skates were just slightly too small, and the ice was all irregular and bumpy (seeing that it's naturally-occuring, and not zambonied every half hour). It was also only a very small area we could skate on, since it had snowed that morning and only maybe 1/6th of the rink had been cleared off. Still, it was fun. I kind of got the hang of it, and never actually fell down (mainly because I was going too slow). I wore my tocque and two pairs of mitts, and my happy down vest. I fully intended to document my first skating experience for everyone to see, but when I tried to turn on my camera the batteries died, which was vexing. Fortunately, I've already got plans to go again with another person on Saturday afternoon, so I can charge my batteries in preparation for that outing. Plus, those pictures will be taken during the day time, so they'll be more likely to come out well.

All is going well, except I should probably get started on writing some papers for my classes... Tonight I'm going to a pizza potluck, and I'm not sure if they just mean to buy a pizza and bring it, or actually make one yourself. I'm going the safe route and making one myself. It'll be more fun and less greasy that way.

You know how a couple of weeks ago I drove east? Well, in a couple of weeks, I'm going to drive west, with a different set of friends. It will be great fun, and I'm very excited to go. I'm even more excited, though, for my big trip that's coming at the end of April. I've been planning out routes and places to stay on the way, and it'll be all kinds of fun. My first real road trip! All these other trips I've been on this year don't count, since they only take less than a day of driving to get to the final destination. This'll be a full-blown, longer than a week drive with zany adventures and youthful hijinks. Well, perhaps no hijinks, but it'll still be fun.