Our friends Noah and Katelyn bought new cross-country skis just a couple days after our trip to Eklutna.

It's been a blessing and a curse for Gina and I.

First the curse: Our classic skis are old. I'm not even sure how old they are, but we've owned them for at least 11 years. We bought them from Play it Again Sports in Michigan -- and they seemed pretty old back then. I wouldn't be surprised if they were 20 years old or more. While Gina bought new skate skis for herself last year from REI, our classics work perfectly fine -- they're just old. We are currently suffering from ski envy. It’s not a pretty place to be. Gina even made the foolish decision to go into REI the other day, but she came to her senses.

Now the blessing: Noah is always super-stoked to ski. I’m going to put in a long day at work today. I got here before 8 and won’t leave until after 7. But Noah sent a text over earlier. It was pretty simple: "Ski tonight?" I might normally have said "no" when I didn’t plan to arrive home until 7:30 or so, but it’s hard to reject him and his enthusiasm.

So it'll be a quick turnaround and down to the ski trails. We'll be joined by two good friends, and two sets of ancient skis. It'll be fun.

-- Steve