we need to spend 3 weeks in Vail from mid January to early February. my friends are disgustingly jealous. what they don't know is that there will be no skiing whatsoever, and we will probably end up renting a house owned by rich people with fake teeth who bought their furniture from the Colorado version of MFI.

when i was younger, every time i heard Vail mentioned, i had visions of chic americans wearing shearling and fur, looking tanned and healthy, and rich. sort of ralph lauren in the alps kind of thing. then i opened a newspaper article about the A-list who live there and it was all about Martina Navratilova. wearing plaid and looking like Martin.

i am ambivalent about any and all ski resorts - because i don't ski. tried once - school ski trip, disaster, lots of screaming (at me), humiliation and tons of blood/pain.

the reason we're going to Vail is that G is having knee surgery. to be performed by the God of all things knee-related. who happens to be slap bang in the middle of skiers paradise. the perfect location for a knee-fixer.

"So you've done this procedure before, yes? You have decent experience in it, yes?" asked by G with a slightly haughty affect (read: "you'd better not butcher me you gringo witchdoctor")

"Yes, a few times. I developed the procedure" said in a modest, calm voice by doctor.

nervous laughter from G - looking around for signs of camaraderie-esque amusement from the others in the room. met with stony silence and stony faces. nice one G-man.

anyway, the knee surgery will be followed by intensive physio at the clinic. three weeks of it. G, being a man, cannot cope solo. therefore, i shall be accompanying him for the duration, as his slave. sorry, i meant to write doting significant other. [i couldn't write girlfriend as it made me gag--i am no longer 15 after all.]

i will be working, albeit remotely. not sure how bored we will get during downtime. if we can't ski, and G won't even be able to walk for the first week...well, we will always have healthy and happy conversation, won't we. la la la lalalala.