This week actually turns out decent in review - guess that's what happens when I actually take people up on invites to get out and do something social. It took work tho, to drag myself up to Virginia. But it was good to see evilpirate007 and his '03 crew.


5.11.08
I now declare May 11th Leffe Day.
After months of moping about things lost in the move, it turns out I was just lazy/unorganized...no big surprise there.
Found a box with both our 'best' dishes AND my prized Leffe glass from the Windsor Castle Pub (thanks jupiterjuniper for
prompting that nab). We had written the name of the brew down wrong and for over a
year we had searched in vain. After finding the glass and doing some quick online
work...coffeefortwo ran out and purchases two six packs before closing as a
reward for my kitchen-painting. AND it is fantastic!


( Project 365 - Week 20 )

This is a late post for my long hike of last Sunday. Lesson's learned...don't put off the long hike till 4 p.m. on Sunday. I ended up chunking it into two treadmill bursts (to be fair the weather was on/off all weekend and threatening storms).

Chunk One - miles 0-5:
The first half of the 'hike'. Odd, 1989, overly dramatic with an earlier Colin Firth performance. probably sounded good on the page.

Chunk Two - miles 5-10:
UGH
At least the sound effects were entertaining. not through it yet, because it is CRAzy long. it has that typical Michael Bay touch - editing you can't follow but noise loud enough that it forces your eyes to *think* that you are seeing cohesive action.

But the great hike was today at The Smokies....


This is the path in on my 7 mile hike.



This log bridge entry to the trail system was the narrowest bridge over all the stream crossings. The view was GREEN. I hiked the oddly named Boogerman Trail. Nice big tree and me.

On the way in there was a little field of daisies.




There was no mental beginning-middle-end to this hike. The up was hard, but it was overcast and dripping and PERFECT for hiking. The smells were gorgeous, there were ruins and rocks and the only bad thing was that I wore the wrong pair of shoes. This is why I'm here.

This week is a week of moodiness. Lots of small pictures for a small week.


5.4.08
Hiking up Blue Ridge Parkway, near my turnaround point (mile 6).
Nice little plant, only on the north side of the ridge.



( Project 365- Week 19 )

read closely this is clever and fun. I don't think that I will be able to ever encapsulate myself in six words - but my general subject lines can. (on a bad day I came up with "born in California, downhill from there").


Another 12 mile day.

This time, the Blue Ridge Parkway, just up from our valley.


Drove up, parked, hiked UPHILL six miles and then returned. It seemed easier in some ways than last weeks, but harder in others. I didn't drink enough water the last 3 miles and i'm now suffering one of those exertion headaches usually driven by a long run in the heat.

Miles 1-3: A little like meditation, it takes effort to purge the brain of trivialities (TV shows, to-do lists, etc.). Main thoughts...cake decoration. Mentally decorated a certain work person's retirement jello cake (which is super silly, because the retirement is wishful thinking), spent the rest of the time trying to figure out how in the world to construct an Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom ice cream cake.

Miles 3-6: The trouble with out-and-back is that when the 'out' is pretty much the uphill slog, then mile 6 feels like the achievement. Thus, halfway through I mentally felt done. I did count a bit to get to that most uphill point. keeping the view to myself, i worked for it. :)

Miles 6-9: Now THIS bit had rhythm. Slogged past Rattlesnake Lodge ruins, encountered some German hikers, and spent a good mile or so trying to recall jr. high school German class nouns and creating pleasant conversation in mein kopf.

Miles 9-12: Part of this bit looks like this. Hiking along, I passed a gaggle of camera-carriers hovering around what I thought should have been something mobile, like a butterfly or bird. But no...they were flower hunters and I got a glimpse of something pink as I sped past


I returned via vehicle for a closer look.

The best part of the hike was when I was at mile 10.5...I met a gentleman hiker volunteering for the Carolina Mountain Club. Over the course of about 10 min. I learned that he was originally from Chile, lived for years in upstate new york, believed in global warming and zoning, retired to NC 20 years ago after crossing over the Great Smokey Mountains and realizing he was 'home' - he also declared that I'd found my mountains, that I would never leave, and that someday I would remember him saying so. His name was Jorge and he reminded me of my grandfather. lovely day.

It's that time of the week again. Sometimes, when I look back at the week in pictures (182 to choose from this time), my life seems incredibly boring. hikes, dogs, cooking, hikes, dogs...And yet, my Friday post is fun even while I left off my hike, Bennett Gap trail in the Pisgah Nat'l forest - which really, sums up my life here. I WANTED this. I worked for this. I just have to keep getting outside and trying to be more social.


4.27.08
I was guilted/cajoled into shipping cookies southward.
(to be fair, it was owed/overdue and EC was right in calling in the cookie favor)
So I went for an entirely Caker Cookbook menu of Mama Peplinski's Pecan Mini-Muffins (seen below),
Grandma Lois' Brownies, Oato-Choc-Toffee cookies (the big hit)...and rice krispies. mmm.


( the rest of the week... )

I've decided to post about my 'big' hikes...now that they are 10 miles or more. I will still summarize my week in my filtered format. But these long hikes are a breed of their own and possibly worth documenting differently. Although, for the most part they will be the same hikes over and over again and will look essentially like this:




Saturday (yesterday) I did my first 12-miler (Loop E twice). I have run that distance before, but it was a few years ago and I had forgotten a bit about how each and every time you take on a new distance, the added length (in this case, 2 miles more than previous long hikes) is *the* test.

Challenges this week:
83 effing degrees. OK, so i know my marathon is in mid July and will most likely be hotter than that...but it sucked. The first 6 miles were physically easy but hot hot hot. Then around mile 8 a storm started to roll in and I was torn between joy for the cool breeze and worry over whether or not the lighting/thunder/rain was actually going to hit me with an hour left in my hike.
Additionally, my iPod is still dead and I forgot to ask for coffeefortwo's. So the rhythm was all in my head. Which does some odd things (see below).

Random Thoughts (from what I can remember and probably best left unsaid):

Miles One-Four: Why haven't wasps adapted to NOT building their underground holes in the middle of the beaten path? Are people born evil and taught to be good...born good and taught to be evil...or born with the capacity for both and taught gradations of both? All this downhill is really going to suck when it is mile 10 through 12 on my way back.

Miles Four-Seven: Perhaps my problem is that my inner rhythm, my repeated word in my head, is "no.no.no.no.no" some people probably dance to a tune of YES! But not me. Not even sure what started the first 'no' but they lasted a while. The particular black shorts I was wearing cannot be worn on distances over 6 miles as they start to chafe.

Miles Seven-Ten: Worrying about the storm - loving the storm. Remembered the childhood story of thunder being bowling in the sky (or some such thing). thought about how we (family) used to sit out on our porch in WI and watch the storms roll in (or walk down to the river). Blisters really started after mile 8 (on feet). Got tired of cranberry flavored water. Created film reel in head on how to get the gydgs on 'what not to wear' (i was very convincing).

Miles Ten-Twelve: Realized that the sound of my voice in my head (my unspoken voice) actually has no sound? I think that I had a concept of sound when I thought words to myself. I mean, I can sing in my head and 'hear' the notes kind of...but my voice, which i had thought was a variation on what I hear when I speak...was not there. it is more like a whisper - but not because it is not quiet, it has force and inflection and emotion...but no sound. The uphill wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but i was moving VERY slowly on the way down to the car.

First 6 miles in 1:45, Final time - 3:45. Not great but ok. At that rate, if I improve my fitness level on the longer distances...i should be able to hike the full marathon in 9 hours. Maybe a bit more depending on breaks. Sounds eternal I imagine to those of you that bike or run...or even who walk flat surfaces. But for hiking roughish terrain with ups and downs, it's good enough for me.

Last week Sunday was my first really long training hike (10 miles). I've learned that while it is cool to get a few photos along the way, pulling the camera in and out of my day pack slows me way down and is both okay (forced water break) and annoying as crap.


4.20.08
So here is WWC college, Dam Pasture Trail at about mile 4ish or so.
Rain was coming in at this point and the picture doesn't quite do the colors
justice. The rain kept it cool...i'm not looking forward to summer heat.


( Rest of the Week )

Picture Day for Week 16!
(the !!! are to cover for the complete and utter lack of energy I have right now, must still be recovering from last weekend).




4.13.08
Stevens Point! Wisconsin! Trivia!
Go Gregg's baby belly! Go Cakers!
I could go on and on about this particular weekend, but i didn't
want to throw out people pics in the interest of privacy.



( the rest of the week lies here )

1. Where is your mobile phone? stashed
2. Your significant other? nearby
3. Your hair? drab
4. Your mother? inside
5. Your father? dead
6. Your favorite thing? trails
7. Your dream last night? closeness
8. Your favorite drink? guinness
9. Your dream/goal? strength
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your ex? anywhere
12. Your fear? incapacitation
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? content
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? nice
16. Muffins? tops
17. One of your wish list items? Nepal
18. Where you grew up? Point
19. The last thing you did? BSG
20. What are you wearing? jeans
21. Your TV? Mario
22. Your pets? content
23. Your computer? annoying
24. Your life? fine
25. Your mood? iffy
26. Missing someone? no
27. Your car? zoom
28. Something you're not wearing? diamonds
29. Favorite Store? REI
30. Your summer? excruciating
31. Like someone? usually
32. Your favorite color? indigo
33. When is the last time you laughed? twoish
34. Last time you cried? Triviatown

No intro needed. Boring to mechanical, awesome to awesome-r...


4.6.08
Sunday is about Packing & Cleaning.
(for work, for Trivia, for guest)



Click here for ( Project 365 )

We are in full Spring swing...most of the pictures will reflect that, whether spring cleaning, or springing plants/flowers. It has been a week of rain/drizzle, visiting friends, work work work, and pre-Trivia preparation. I'm changing up my post format and copying junipterjupiter by kicking things off with last Sunday:


3.30.08
A visit from some northern friends led me downtown to a fantastic toy store,
thankfully open on Sundays. Shopped, ate at the Early Girl, and brought home
more Chocolate Fetish
truffle samples to share with coffeefortwo as he had been
house-bound for the day. Truffle flavors sampled:
Dragon's Kiss (wasabi), Sweet and Stout (Guinness), Chai, and Grand Marnier.


Click here for the rest of the pics - ( Project 365 )

Very strange week indeed. Spring has sprung, so most pics center around blooms. Spent the week in Morganton, NC for training - so i was very hotel-bound, campus-bound. Click on ( Project 365 )

Enjoy! I took a buttload of pictures this week, it was hard to choose. But each is fairly representative and you'll most likely appreciate the omission of the carcass. ( Project 365 )

Things I learned, things in me, memories…

1. We both think we know the “right” way to do things…sometimes we are in sync (changing a garbage disposal out)…sometimes not (rearranging a pantry). The confidence in knowing the better way to do something HAS to come from you.
2. When I see kids riding on the back of their parents bicycles…I think of how I used to ride on the front bar, on a pillow (ouch)…and how once we were chatting so much you ran us in to the back of a parked car on an otherwise empty street.
3. When I have a house task to do…I know I can figure it out because I had such an amazing role model/amateur electrician, plumber, painter, sewer, cooker, and gardener.
4. The topic of censorship is one of my main push-button issues…even though I saw a few things at a kind of young age (first movie of memory…Slaughterhouse Five) I feel pretty strongly about the need for honesty in how we process the world.
5. I think that I can cook sans recipe because of you.
6. I’m not afraid to protest in the streets, there is no such thing as foolishness when exhibiting our freedom of speech and dissent.
7. I will never see a concert greater than you – you saw the Beatles LIVE in San Francisco!
8. When I watch movies, their soundtracks tend to stay embedded in my memory, I can identify movies based on their scores and I think it is due to the ritual of you picking out random albums to play for me at night, to get me to sleep.
9. I’m free of so many things…you didn’t want me to be gender-stereotyped.
10. You let me run wild as a kid…I fought Nazi’s in alleyways after dark in below zero weather…I built my own snow castles up the side of our front yard trees…I led an expedition to the Bukolt Park lagoon island with only one casualty…the willow tree was my friend...the neighborhood was my kingdom.
11. I had traveled the length of the country several times by the age of 10.
12. I had my own dissection kit and dead animals were brought home for my formal ‘education’ – and you let me bury them in the back yard with individual headstones when I was done with them.
13. You have no physical shame…I’m not quite there, but it is liberating to be halfway there.
14. I made acorn bread as a child…just like the Native Americans used to (although we did use our stove).
15. You trusted me to take care of my baby brother…sometimes it went well, sometimes, not so much. But it was the best birth control a teenage girl could ask for.
16. Cold winter mornings were for flannel nightgowns with long underwear on underneath, hot oatmeal, and a good book (or two).
17. I had no concept of how frugally we lived until high school…I still have no real idea as to how you did it except that you worked really, really hard at home to make it work. I can live simply when I need to, although I rarely choose that now – it is good to know I can.
18. You pushed and pushed and pushed me through early phobias (talking to strangers on the phone, pumping gas).
19. You didn’t want me to grow up hateful.
20. When I take photos…there are bits of you in me…but I’ve learned to not hold the camera diagonally.
21. I’m jealous of your green thumb, I have no patience for it and your gardens were always so beautiful and thriving. I loved your planner (crop rotation) and that I earned 10¢ for removing each cabbage moth and 25¢ for bringing in each toad.
22. No matter what you tried to teach me, I still can’t pick up clothes properly. And I hoard. But I also learned to purge on a semi-regular schedule…so I forgive you for making me Sophie’s Choice-away my stuffed animals at Jim and Nancy’s yard sale. (I don’t know if Rocky forgives you though)
23. I have been to Yosemite, Yellowstone, Banff, Glacier, Tetons, Grasslands, Badlands, Smokies, Estes, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Haleakala, Finger Lakes, Devil’s Tower, Olympic, Crater Lake, Redwoods, White Sands, Bryce Canyon to name a few parks/forests – most with you.
24. I know that the first true voyagers to reach North America weren’t those darn Vikings…but the Basque whalers. And that thanks to you, I have some heritage from the mountains between Spain and France to counter the German/Slavic side of me. (although it usually doesn’t ‘win’)
25. Plastic makes me guilty. Saran wrap in particular. You were eco-forward well before such things as carbon-banking to assuage consumer guilt.
26. I learn things from you still…about vanity, time, passion, stubbornness, forgiveness, faith, tenacity…
27. You made some of my favorite eats/smells…Red-eye post roast, pumpkin pies from scratch, grilled cheese sandwiches, Dutch Pancakes…and you always made me eat my vegetables. And now I love them all. (except for Green Peppers).
28. Back to frugal…we hung all our laundry and in the winter, we would sled the wet clothes to the Laundromat – in order to only pay for the drier costs. We were garage sale hounds…which is where I got most of my Nancy Drews (not that new fangled ND either!), mysteries, and Conan books.
29. You kept NPR on all the time…there are voices on the radio that can zip me back to the late 70’s/early 80’s. I go through phases where I try this myself…and I still get most of my daily news through NPR (because TV news sources are all corrupt – but that’s another post topic).
30. I remember being brought everywhere, sometimes the only kid present…I can still hear your heart beat through your chest from dozing off to sleep in your lap so often.
31. My favorite Bible story is the one you drew out for me in crayon, on a scroll of paper left over from the Point Journal. I remember giggling about the whole ‘from mud’ and ‘from Adam’s rib’ parts. Regardless, I totally preferred my Greek Mythology – it was much more human and humble.
32. When I was sick, you would give me these endless massages to get me past the pain…how did you not get tired? I still physically crave being touched.
33. I’m a yeller. Ok. So that might not be completely attributable to you. But I have no fear of conflict, no urge to flee. I can hold my own and find resolution.
34. You once reincarnated a favorite stuffed animal. “Bunny” got new skin…same eyes, nose, tail, and innards. Added years onto his life.
35. We did odd things as a family. I loved getting up in the middle of the night to bake croissants with the EarthCrust Bakery folks. Sauna’s ending in snow baths. Rushing around to catch a glimpse of the northern lights. Walking to the river whenever there was an especially good storm coming in.
36. Once, we read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, on a 3-4 day canoe trip, in parts…each one of us reading a different section of the book at different times. And we would read aloud to each other…we were our own TV substitute.
37. You made sure I got to Japan.
38. I was free to ask whatever I wanted…I once remember coming home and asking why my friends were making fun of our adult acquaintance (BJ)…and you came right out and explained why they might find that name funny. No shame in our house.
39. You hiked almost the entire Grand Canyon trip in pain from plantars warts and boot issues…and then seven years later inherited those boots and experienced some pain of my own in them in the Rockies. We use and use and reuse. That’s what we do.
40. Favorite smell: Roasted Garlic…from your garden, baked in your oven with a little oil…I have never overdosed on garlic (yes, you can overdo it) like I have in your home.
41. Every time I see a flower poking through the earth, I think of you and want to share it with you. Like, I’m vicariously getting joy out of the bloom…knowing how much you love bourgeoning plants, and all signs of Spring.
42. Organic = Juanita (I can hear you say that word, no matter how much time and distance has passed)
43. You love all my friends babies…even the ones you haven’t met. It’s cute, although your obsession with ‘how babies smell’ borders on the bizarre (just teasing, really…I know they smell good).
44. You have always been my vision of this poem.
45. Child-like joy…you’ve lost none of it. I can still hear the thud of the antique bed falling apart as you “somersaulted” off it one morning.
46. Christmas was about decorating the tree with all our handmade ornaments…anise seed cookies (painted with colored egg dye), gnomes in walnuts shells, clothespin Santa’s…even your childhood yarn-glue swirls. Something to aspire to. I have yet to try to reproduce the anise seed cookies – but it is a goal of mine.
47. You tried to get me a version of all those HS things we silly teens crave. I still have the (now) vintage letter jacket you found for me, wasn’t the in-season one – but it is pretty darn cool now.
48. Mothers and daughters…you could write a book on it. Thank you for taking the lessons from your mother and not passing them on to me. Although I guess grandma finally got the ‘girl scientist’ she always wanted to be herself.
49. We are both kick-ass canoers, in the stern. All those men need to figure out that we ARE in control, and good at it!
50. It seems at though I have your smile…I never really felt like we had much resemblance…but I think it is in our energy, our verbiage, our light.
51. When I’ve muddled though my life at times, I can’t help but think on what you were doing at my relative age…and I’m always in awe of what you faced. I’ve never had to make the choices you’ve made.
52. You once made me eat liver for breakfast. Well, at least you went along with it. I understand…I’m stubborn. But I still eat my liver – I still try everything and anything.
53. Childhood tomes with your touch: Free to Be, You and Me…Our Bodies, Ourselves…the dictionary (“look it up”)…Vonnegut.
54. I think you make the best blueberry pancakes off a camp stove, ever. And real maple syrup is better. And real butter is better. And diet sodas cause cancer…you win.
55. When you made me do my chores (because “everyone is part of this household”) with no allowance…I would fantasize that I was some Cinderella-esque princess, scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees for my cruel stepmother/witch…but I kind of liked the work. Not that I scrub my floors much – but I do know that on hands-and-knees is best, and there is a rhythm to hard work that I learned early on, and have never minded.
56. Strawberries…if roasted garlic is the best smell, strawberries are the best fruit. I loved that story of you eating them en masse during your pregnancy. I still can never get enough and I can’t believe we never got to do the Strawberry Festival down FL way.
57. I still hesitate when I buy grapes…”where do they come from?”…laden with poisons from South America? Sold by corporate giants who are hooking nursing African women on their low-grade baby formula so that they dry up and then have to buy the formula for 80% of their income…
58. You always want to share the things you love with me. I owe you another yoga session…but it can’t be under a pollinating tree this time! I was unable to give you the right attention and I so wanted that experience with you. Note to self: no outdoor yoga. (those lungs open up and that’s the end of it for me).
59. I’m turning into a repeater (just ask coffeefortwo). But when the brain turns on…it’s just gotta get out. The more time passes, the more I see of you in me. We are all just sponges, soaking up our environment.
60. No one can drive me crazy like you. And vice versa I assume. But that’s only because we have so much history, know each other in such a particular way. All my high school friends were jealous of our relationship, because theirs were lacking with their moms…none of the friendship element that we maintained (not always, but most of the time).


Happy Birthday Mom, I wish we were nearer so that I could get/give a big hug. But that's for April.

If this quiz doesn't get me drinking at Pisgah Brewery tonight...

Link: The What is your REAL age Test written by eqreemi on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(eqreemi)

It's that time again...under the wire with my ( Project 365 )

Ok, so this isn't a great week for me, again. the weather was inhibitive (for work purposes) and i've been under the weather as well - so i wasn't pushing for anything spectacular. but it was a week, with some interesting personal changes...for the pics, click on ( Project 365 )

one of my leftover pics from last week...the weather here is amazing. it snows, then thaws, then snows again. this time it really just stuck on the mountain tops and I had to really wind my way around to get this picture. The amazing thing is, it is very wet here and the freezes come on so fast the moisture pushes up out of the ground in crystalized formations. Never seen anything like this before...and I KNOW cold.

Wintery weather this week, and a bad attitude...led to more homey pics. Click ( Project 365 )

I don't know if you'uns knew this...but Jesus is PRO war simulation. He even has his own paintball association (look closely at the lower left). This is where you go to train your little ones to fight for jesus.

And remember people..."Play Hard....Pray Harder"