Baker Street Hotel.

What an adventure the last two days have been. Murph dog is leaving town and heading for San Diego. She is the first person since I have moved here that is actually leaving. People don't leave Colorado. They might leave Denver for Fort Collins or the Springs or maybe even to go more towards the Front Range, but they don't actually leave Colorado. However, Murph Dog and Woody (her boyfriend) are heading out to the great state of California to try their luck at living without SNOW!

Murph and Woody's goodbye party was on Thursday night. A perfect night for everyone in the service industry because it is really slow. Unfortunately, the shin-dig was in Lakewood. For Murph and Murph only I'll suck it up and make the 15-20 minute drive to the other Baker's. Party started at 7, Rome and I strolled in around 8:45 (I had a volleyball game before hand). The great thing about being in the service industry is we buy each other drinks. Swallow loves hanging out with us, because the rounds of drinks just don't stop coming. Unless of course you are the DD like me, and I got the luxury of buying a round and sipping on some club soda. It will all come back to me, so I am not worried about it. As the night progressed, the shots were flowing and Swallow proceeded to get absolutely hammered. She was her typical fun self, and I loved it...EVERYONE LOVED IT. We all knew she was hammered when she went over and HUGGED SeaBiscuit. Her drunken filter must have gone right out the window, because on a sober day it takes all of Swallow's power to not want to hit the girl. Watching that made the night spectacular! I don't mind being the babysitter for Swallow, as she pretty much takes care of herself and everyone always gets a good laugh out of her drunkenness. However, around midnight, I realize that if Swallow continues to try to keep up with everyone else and the random rounds of shots, she was going to end up puking...so I instead decided it was a good time for us to say our goodbyes and head out. Swallow again hugged SeaBiscuit, how comical!

We get home safely and Hungry had a visitor from Kansas (make note the guest room is occupied). Around 12:30-12:45ish I decide I have had enough fun for one night and turn in. Three in the morning rolls around and Midget crawls in my bed. What is going on? I didn't even know she was at the house let alone in my bed. I think to myself, she must be drunk because she still has her work clothes on. I thought it made sense because Hungry's friend was in the guest room and Sam must have someone in her bed. Since she woke me and Camden up, I might as well go get a drink of water. I come back up to my room look in Sam's room to see her and Midget both sleeping, I think to myself "rut rhoe, who the heck is in my bed?" I get back to my room to find no one, just the sheets and comforter all messed up. I guess Midget realized that she was in the wrong room and went back to where she came from. "I think to myself, okay good Camden and I can go back to bed in peace, and we can sleep in since I don't have to work until 3! Yippie!" Oh, how wrong I was.

The phone rings at 4:18 am. That is a bad sign, next bad sign is its on vibrate and I actually hear it. Nothing good can happen at 4:18 in the morning, no matter who or what is on the other end of the phone, it can't be positive! I see that Rome is calling...in my slumber I answer it and try to have a conversation. She is hysterically crying on the other end of the phone so of course I can't understand anything. She tries to explain why she is crying, but between being woken up in the wee hours of the morning and the hysterical sobs I couldn't grasp anything of what she was saying. As I slowly begin to come too, she tells me she has no where to go and needs to come over. Great, I finally understand something and tell her to come over! She asks for directions, and where to park? I think where to park is a funny question, "so I tell her in front of the house...she responds with there is no room!" I walk outside and sure enough we look like a Hotel parking lot...my car, hungry's car, midget's car, sam's car, random person from Kansas's car, and a motor cycle. I tell her to park on the street somewhere and to come in.

When I finally calm her down enough to actually understand what she says, I find out that her lovely boyfriend beat her up in front of all our friends at the going away party. The cops were called and she filed domestic violence charges. Yikes, how does this happen? Since they live together, she can't go home because she doesn't know if he will be there...so what happens I invite her to crash with us until she gets on her feet. I inform the roommates about what is going on and they look at me like I have 5 heads! Not the impression I was expecting, but they explain that I really am too nice. I can't always fix everything, but they all do get a good laugh watching me try. I deal with Rome for the next few hours, wondering how to actually be effective. I guess just listening and hugging her makes things better, or at least I thought they did. I call work, explain what happened and they ask me if I can cover her shift. I respond with sure, no problem...because I can't say no.

I ended up working 13+ hours on about 3 1/2 hours of sleep. Not pretty! It only got worse when I found that Rome's boyfriend has beaten her up 2 other times and she has never followed through on the charges! Maybe this time is different, but I quickly learned that it isn't, she dropped the charges later in the afternoon. What is wrong with girls? To make a long story longer, she went back home to be with him and they are happy ever after! GRRRRRRRR! I update Swallow on the progress and she says, "don't worry spit, you can continue to save the world again tomorrow."

Blunt vs. Sugarcoat

While at work today JoJo walked up to me and said "I am having a bad hair day, what do you think?" I took a second, I looked at her hair and I agreed with her. I then giggled and said yeah, it even looks worse then SeaBiscuit's hair. Okay, so I know I was in the wrong by adding the insult, but it really was funny. JoJo even laughed for a second, at least until she realized that for once in someone's life SeaBiscuit actually looked better than someone else. She then told me that although, I was funny, she didn't want to talk to me for five minutes because I was in time out. I laughed, it isn't the first time I have been put in time-out by JoJo.

Another girl walked up and asked "why I was in time-out?" I explained to her what I said and she just laughed. We got to talking about whether it is better to be blunt or sugarcoat. My argument is if, you ask me a question you obviously want a truthful answer, otherwise there is no point in wasting the time or energy asking the question. Back in Florida I had a friend Babu that loved when I was around, because he would say that I don't gift wrap anything. I will always tell you exactly like it is. To this day, I still do that. I don't mean to be mean or harsh, but honest! I can't stand it when a chick that weighs about 110 pounds says something to the effect "I am so fat." What is that about? Instead of agreeing or disagreeing, I simply say something like "why are you fishing today?" Fishing for compliments that it is. They never know how to respond, yet they stop asking me if they are fat. Problem solved! I don't have to hear them fish for compliments and I don't have to hear about their obesity or lack of obesity.

I am getting off topic...Focus! Okay, so back to the point. I decided to take a poll at work. Is it better to be blunt or to sugarcoat the answer. Nine out of 12 people said they prefer blunt, however, 8 out of 9 said that the other people's feelings should be taken into consideration. That makes no sense to me! Of course, I was the 1 out of 9 that didn't care about the feelings. Why ask a question if you don't want an honest answer. Example, does my hair look bad today?...MY ANSWER- yes, it does...the new improved answer is - well, it looked better yesterday. I still like my answer better, but the new and improved answer isn't a lie, so I guess I can learn to accept it! The 3 people that said they would prefer things sugarcoated said, that it isn't nice to be so brutal. When did brutal and blunt start going together? You can be blunt without being brutal, correct? Well, we will see. I have been challenged to sugarcoat my bluntedness for 7 straight days. I will do my best to apply some gift wrap, consider people's feelings, while keeping the honesty of my answers.

Deep down, I still believe that blunt is the way to go. Their is no way to misinterpret the act of being blunt. However, maybe after a week of sugarcoating things I will soon realize that it is nice to sugarcoat things.

Victoria Secrets

I had a very special person send me a gift card as a Christmas present. Everyone that knows me that I am not a huge fan of gift cards. I feel as though they are impersonal and a cop out to the act of gift giving. There is something about the thought process and the idea behind the gift that I enjoy when I receive a gift. Even if I hate the gift, I don't return things. I just kind of smile and enjoy that they took the time to pick something out that was special for me. That completely goes out the window when you get a gift card...however, a gift card does have its perks. I can pick out whatever it is that I want.

Well it took me about 6 months and roughly 5 trips to Victoria Secrets before I was actually able to spend the gift card, the best part is that I ended up doing it online! Swallow mentioned that they were having their semi-annual sale so I should go see if I could find anything. I thought to myself, that is a great plan! Well until I actually walked into the store. The thing I hate about sales are that I actually have to shop! I know you must thinking, that I am insane because technically you have to shop to purchase anything, but that isn't true. Usually, when I go to a specialty store like Victoria Secrets, I inform the sales clerk what it is that I am looking for and they grab it, show it to me, and I buy it. Totally painless! Oh, that goes right out the window when there is a sale. They have bins for you to literally dig through. There are people that are reaching over you (probably with dirty hands) while trying to grab out of the same small bin that you are trying to find just the right bra. Well, I am really sorry, but no matter how reduced the price is, if it isn't free, then I want no part in that type of shopping.

Don't get me wrong, if I go into a Ross or TJ Maxx or something similar, then I have no problem searching for things. Very infrequently do you get the "reachers" in a store like that. However, a specialty store like VS that is having one of its two yearly sales, watch out. After a good 10 minutes of being utterly annoyed, I decided no matter how much money I was about to save, I don't want to have anything to do with bin shopping. So, I come home, walk in the door and Swallow asks "why don't you have any bags?" Good question, I respond. I tell her about my experience and she enlightens me that the sale is online and they have free shipping! GRRRRRRR. Why didn't she tell me this before I drove to the store, bin shopped, dealt with probably dirty people, and got annoyed. I did however, get a cup of coffee out of it, so the adventure wasn't a total loss!

I go up to my room, turn on my computer and I log on. To my amazement I get the pleasure of shopping at my leisure, and then all I have to do is press purchase. I was so excited! I got to save money and buy the stuff from the semi-annual sale, I got to use my gift card, and I didn't have to do anything but click the mouse a few times and typed a few letters on the keyboard. Never again will I go to VS for one of there sales. It is absolutely pointless! Why do we even have stores? I think I'll be doing a lot more online shopping. How can I go wrong? Free shipping, no lines, no wasting gas to drive to the mall and I get all the same prices. Hmmmmm, let me think about how could this situation could be bad...oh right it isn't instant gratification! Okay, so honestly how often does retail therapy work when you have to bin shop with the next random reacher?

To Buy or Not to Buy....

That is the question? Should I buy a Nintendo Wii? I love playing it! Can I get some feedback from anyone who has an opinion?

Thanks.

Weekend.

Swallow bought a new book "How To Make Love Like A Porn Star" by Jenna Jameson and Neil Strauss. She finished in it within a day. The book has roughly 570 pages (yes, there are pictures scattered throughout), but still its a pretty lengthy book. When you hear someone say that they read a book within a day or even a couple days, it often makes you want to read it (at least it does to me). So, I started the book last night and am already about 120 pages in when I literally fell asleep with the book on my chest and the light on. I felt like I was a little kid when I woke up at 3 am and turned off my light, moved the book and repositioned my pillows so I could sleep better. I was literally exhausted from a long weekend.

I had a visitor on Friday night and then Saturday I was busy busy busy. I had another first for my tourist style living, I went to the Cherry Creek Farmer's Market...what a disappointment! I grew up in Florida where there were "real" farmer's markets every Saturday, rain or shine. They were long and had everything from fruits and veggies to bread and flowers, I am sure at one point there were even live animals for sale...who knows. This farmers market was like a bunch of bad street vendors all huddled together. There were only two vegetable stands, ZERO fruit stands, 1 vendor selling flowers and the others were selling things from beaded belts, to kettle popcorn, to European beef jerky (apparently, European is better than American). There were probably 15 vendors on each side of the 1 block space. We were down and back within 30 minutes and as all of you who know me, know I am a pretty slow walker. Especially when it comes to a Saturday morning stroll. Needless to say I didn't buy anything.

I did get to partake in some of the beating for the New York Mets, Saturday night 7-1. I was pretty happy to see Pedro Martinez pitch. Though, it was a mix of emotions. I like Pedro, so I'd like to see him do well, but he doesn't play for the Sox any more so I now have to root for Rockies. Sorry Pedro.

Yesterday was Sunday Funday with the girls (10 to be exact). Started with a boring basic stupid meeting on Sunday morning followed by bloody mary's at Dirks (I had a vodka soda, since I can't have the carbs). After Dirks we went to Nyki's pool and laid out. We all laid around and shot the shit, I happened to be 1 of the 2 that weren't smokers so I spent a lot of time watching everyone's stuff as they had to leave the pool area to go smoke. I wasn't going anywhere anyways so it mattered little to none, but I was pretty surprised how often they all smoke. After the pool we headed over to Drea's for an all chick bbq. The men in our lives would have been in heaven. I got to be the cook, and it scored me a new nickname "chef." I cooked Italian chicken for Swallow, two flank steaks, and a ton of garlic shrimp. Drea made the spinach salad (since two of the 10 of us are doing the no carbs) everyone had to suffer and not have any carbs. Funny how when you are important enough to people they go above and beyond to make sure you can eat everything.

At one point I was looking at the table and thinking, it is absolutely amazing that we all come from such different walks of life. Some of us were college graduates, some of us were still in college, some of us were college dropouts, some of us were high school dropouts. Some were sports nuts while others could rattle off about 25 museums they had walked through. Our music choice ranged from heavy metal to country. Yet we all always had something to talk about. It was great to see such a wide variety of people in my new comfort zone. Some how parents got brought up in the conversation and everyone asked when my parents were coming to visit. I said they would be here for about 10 or 11 days. Swallow went off on a tangent about how awesome my parents were and how she was excited to see them. We talked about how we might have a bbq while they are here so that everyone can meet them. It was pretty cool to hear that my friends want to meet my family. What a compliment!

I really have grown a lot since moving to Colorado. I have expanded my horizon and become a better person. I know it may look like I have challenges ahead of me, but my god at least I will be surrounded by great people to overcome whatever challenges are placed in my lap!

The Secret (Sneaky) Park

I live in a pretty nice part of town. The neighborhood is pretty respectable, most of the people that live in the neighborhood have been in these houses since they were built. All of the houses are relatively large and extremely well kept.

At the end of our street their is a park that runs the entire length of the neighoborhood. Swallow and I drive this road everyday, when we are in the car together we always laugh because there is usually at least two or three different cars of teenagers skipping school and smoking pot or drinking at night and then there are always a older couples that are actually hooking up in their cars. We can only assume that the older cars are actually people who are cheating on their spouses. Why else would people in their forties and fifties go parking into the evening hours? Remember their is a possibility that just maybe they are trying to be spontaneous and keep the romance alive in their marriage, but I seriously doubt it. Either way, Swallow and I ALWAYS laugh when we see this activity.

Last night as I was leaving the house their was a seven car drug bust. The police had seven cars on the side of the road with the doors open, all the kids were sitting handcuffed on the hoods of the police cars or on the curbs. The police were searching the car (more like ripping everything out), but either way you look at it they call that searching. As I drove by I laughed and laughed, and then I called Swallow to inform her of the good times. I am not aware of the rules for drugs found in cars in the state of Colorado, however, I know that if you are in Florida and they find drugs in your car...you LOSE your car! It might very well be different out here, so I am not really sure about the consequences those kids face. I can tell you this, their lives are forever changed and I thought it was pretty funny.

It is so different being a older and actually wiser. I could have seen that drug bust coming months ago, but who am I to tell the munchkins about it. :)

1 arm with 2 hands.

The Dirty Birds strike again. This time it was a good 24-2 loss that ended with an injury and ejection! Luckily for me, I happened to be the one, who was injured and ejected!

We were down 11-2 after the first inning. Our outfield couldn't make a catch, our infield could knock down a ball and my pitching wasn't spectular by any means! All in all it was just a rough game for us. If we could have only gotten out of the first inning without them going through the line-up once and halfway through the second time, our spirits would probably have been a little better. Oh not so much! I realize that we play in the D league of slow pitch softball, but by all means I don't like to get slaughtered!

The third inning it was 18-2 and I hit a line drive over the third baseman's head. I rounded first and was going to go second when I realized the third baseman had the ball. Instead I ran back to first only to be clothes lined by the first baseman. A first baseman that was most likely 6'2-6'3 and easily 280-300#. I layed on the ground in agony and he stands over me and says I didn't hit you that hard you should be able get up. I lost it. We are losing 18-2 and he is really going to stand over top me as I holding my shoulder in severe pain. Before I exploded on him, I thought to myself two things a)is this really happening and b)oh man I am so glad I still have insurance. And then I lost it. As I lay on the ground and the first baseman again telling me to get up because I should be able to handle it, I started cussing up a storm. It wasn't one of my finer moments, but at the same time I had had it! I reemed this guy up one side and down the other. In my tirant the umpire came over to see if I was okay and heard my mouth going a million words a minute. Apparently, we play in a family league that cussing isn't allowed (I honestly didn't know this, I'll explain that later). So I was ejected from the game and escorted out of the dugout. Did you all know that you can't sit in a dugout after having been ejected? Who knew. So, I watched the rest of the game from a different field.

I am invited back for next week, although I doubt I will be in any shape to play. My entire shoulder is black and blue and it hurts to raise my arm. I was incredibly swollen last night, but most of the swelling has gone down. So, as of now I have one good arm and two good hands. It makes going to work rather interesting. Apparently, the guy that clothes lined me told my team that I should know better than to test his third basemans arm. Really, we are losing 18-2 and he is going to be that kind of jerk? That is sportsmanship at its finest!

By the way lesson of the day was...even though we play in a beer league that you can actually drink beer on the field, you aren't allowed to cuss. I am pretty sure I am not the first person to cuss on the field, but I was the first person of the season ejected from a game. The goodnews is, there are actually 12 teams in our league. So you figure 12 people per team times 12 teams...I was the first of 144 players to be ejected. I hope that isn't my 15 minutes of fame.

Motivation

Motivation is different to every person. Some people are easily motivated while others struggle to get up and get going. I grew up with a saying on my mirror that said "The only person that can motivate you, is YOU!" That saying has stuck with me over the years.

I was talking to Hungry the other day about becoming a runner. He asked me why? I didn't really have a reason, but I thought it would be a good idea. He looked me like I had five heads and then asked me if how I could become a runner without a true "why?" He explained that most people need to a motivating factor to become a runner, especially if they are like me and have no love for running. I am one of those people that hate running! I think it is boring, lonely, and down right stupid. To say its a waste of time is a severe exaggeration, because I know its a good exercise but to be completely honest, I can think of a lot better way to spend my time. My aunt lent me the book The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer a few months back that I still haven't really read, but I have thumbed through it a few times. I ended up giving it to Hungry so that he could read it and tell me what I do and don't need to do to become a runner.

He sent me a link about having a free online smart running coach. It is a great program. All you have to do is log on, fill in some basic information and it gives you a training program. Score for me! Hungry went ahead and signed up for the Denver Marathon, in hopes that registering and telling everyone that he registered will motivate him to really run a marathon. Me on the other hand haven't signed up and don't really plan on doing it for at least a month. The training for the 1/2 marathon and full marathon are the same for the first 4 weeks. I figured that gives me a month to decide a) if my knee and back can handle the running, b) if I even like running and c) which race I want to do. Pretty sad that I am 26 years old and have a bad knee and lower back...not to mention my bum rib that continues to provide me with new challenges.

I will be training along with the Smart Running Coach and Hungry will be training along with the Non-Runner's Marathon book. Hungry found his motivation, and mine will probably be found daily within myself. I did however, print out the quote "The only person who can motivate you, is YOU" and placed it on my mirror. I have always believed that quote, so I don't see any reason to not believe it now.

Bye Bye...BIKE or BIKES

Swallow parks on the left side of the garage and she has done that for that past 5 months. I keep my two relatively nice bikes in front of her car. There really isn't another place to put them, and she supposedly has never hit them.. She knows how long the garage is, how long her car is, and how far in the garage she needs to be to shut the door. Apparently, last night all of that went out the window, as she came barreling into the garage and hit not only one of my bikes but both of them.

Hungry and I were sitting at the kitchen table chit chatting last night when I heard Swallow pull into the driveway. She must have hit the curb pretty hard, because I asked him if she had hit anything. He said no that is the sound the curb makes, and then we here CRASH! He quickly stated "yeah, I am pretty sure she hit something now." I come out to see Swallow sitting in her car and my bikes pinched between her car and the wall. Swallow is sitting in her car and looks at me and says "I think I hit your bikes." Yeah, ya think so huh? I told her to back up, which she does but only like 6 inches. I told her to back again so I could at least examine the damages. She again backs up, but this time with a question...she asked "were you standing by the front door waiting for me to hit the bikes, because I came out awfully quick?" I looked at her and smiled, not even having a chance to respond she then says "good, glad you aren't mad, wanna have a drink?"

After examining my bikes I noticed that the frame of my road bike is bent enough that it isn't rideable and my mountain bikes handle bars went through the wall of the garage. Good Job Swallow! Unfortunately, she will have a permanent reminder since the handle bars also dented the hood of her car.

I came inside to have Travis tell me that I handled that situation really well. I enlighted him on my strategy of, if I get myself all worked up, I end up being the only one to calm myself down. So I just skip the entire part and try not react. No reaction really is the best reaction. Swallow felt bad enough (or at least I thought she did), its a material possession so they can be either fixed or replaced (I am not to concerned about it), and Swallow is my girl (I'd go to bat for her any day, so I am willing to let things go). All in all ther is really no point in crying over spilled milk!

Dirty Birds...STRIKE AGAIN.

Our softball team is atrocious! We lost 27-1 this past week. That is really hard to do when you have a full squad and the apposing team only has 8 players. Maybe I am wrong, but the object of the pitcher is put the ball in play and let your defense field the ball, makes some plays and get you up to bat quickly. Oh well, the dirty bird team must not have gotten the memo. The outfield couldn't catch a ball if their life depended on in, the third baseman missed an easy pop fly right to him, because he tried to catch it with his bare hand! Brilliant I tell you, he said he forgot which hand his glove was on! Unfortunately, I believe he was serious.

Its also nice when our MALE short stop can't make the throw from short to first without hitting the dirt. I know I sound like a terrible teammate, but our players simply can't compete. We are already in the D league and collectively we are the worst team are still terrible! On top of that their attitude about losing was even worse. The coach was yelling at me (the pitcher) for not covering second base when the ball was hit to third. Apparently, he wanted to turn a double play and he knew that neither short nor second were going to a)get to the bag, b) catch the ball or c) throw it to first! However, being the pitcher I am suppose to know to do that. Okay fine...you want me to play the entire infield, I'd be happy to...FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO PITCH! I wanted to say that, but I didn't...instead I just started laughing, which of course didn't help anyone. The more I laughed the more pissed they became.

I on the other hand I had a pretty decent game. I went 2-2, both line drives up the middle. I was pretty happy. No RBI's this game, but hey I can't do everything. I also struck out 5 batters. They happened to be all the same batter, but at least I know to find the weakness on the other team and pounce on her. Pretty sad when the apposing team goes through their line up at least 6 times in a 5 inning game. After this season the catcher and I are going to be heading to another team. I don't mind losing when its close or even on the odd occasion when we are simply out played, but the Dirty Birds team is atrocious!

Largest in America.

I never thought I'd be one of those people who swear that their home state is fantastic, but that is just what I have become. Rather scary. A few of the crew were talking about going to Water World (the largest water park in America), my immediate response was "we are in Colorado, Florida water parks probably put that to shame!" I couldn't have been more wrong!

Growing up in the pool, our parents took us to water parks all the time, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, Wet-n-Wild, and Adventure Island. None of them compare to the size of this park. This place really was spread out and the rides were longer than that I had remembered rides to be as a child. Since, I was totally convinced that Water World couldn't have been as large as Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon I thought I'd post the park maps for all four water parks that I had previous been too. Look for yourself, Water World is in fact HUGE!

The rides were great! They had a few group rides, some blacked out rides, a racing ride, of course the traditional straight drop rides (I didn't go on that those!) The mix was great, because they had 1 person rides up to 4 people rides. Talk about a well balanced park. The children's play area even had adult activities for the parents that stayed to play with their little ones.

We got to the park around 11ish (they open at 10 and close at 6). We paid our $27.00 entry fee, and then made our way into the park. I had the luxury of wearing the magnet wrist band for our locker (even though I swore up and down that I didn't want to get a wrist band). At least it wasn't that god awful key thing, it was just a regular wrist band like you would get a bar or club. I still have it on (but that is only to prove a point to the crew). We did go on a Monday, but the longest line we waited on was at most 10 minutes, and I think that is even a stretch. I hit up the lazy river twice. It is still one of favorite things about a water park! I would definitely give this park 2 thumbs up.

The first map you see is Water World! It is by far the largest in square footage. I am sure that Adventure Island and Wet-n-Wild give them a run for their money in regards to the number of rides, but I did forget to mention that Water World is adding on 6 new rides that are suppose to open in July! The largest just got larger!

Florida is great, but I am quickly realizing the Colorado is fantastic! Come on out and visit, you might just stay a while!

Photos!

Here are few photos from the infamous camping trip. Camden is the cutest camper of all times. She did in fact carry her own weight, so I was pretty proud of her. Of course, we had to cheers our Corona in a can. More importantly, notice the snow in the background. :)

I believe I need to invest in some light weight pliers to add to my cooking equipment. That lid sure did get hot!

1st Camp Shouldn't be BackPacking

I was introduced to primitive camping about six years ago. I was taken to Ocala National Forest in the middle of November. We camped on a lake, went fishing, watch dear swim with alligators, collected fire wood, hiked around the lake. We were about a half a mile away from our car and the next nearest campers. It was a perfect first camping trip. I fell in love with the outdoors, the peace and quiet, mother nature, the rustic feeling I get when I look down and I am covered in dirt, ash, or sap. It is probably the only time in my life that I can handle being dirty for an extended period of time. I can't seem to get enough of the outdoors.

Since my first camping trip I have slowly (and I do mean slowly) grown fond of backpacking. Camping and backpacking are two totally different animals. With camping, I break out the grill the condo sized tent, a cooler full of adult beverages, enough food to make a three course meal for the army and things to occupy myself. It is great if there are a bunch of people to camp, drink, and play games. It is a nice mixture of the friends and wilderness...However, as I get older and wiser I have grown to love the quiet peaceful sounds of the wind blowing in the trees, watching the sunset as I start a fire, and listening to my own thoughts.

About a year and half ago I went on my first backpacking trip. I was in heaven. I have since gone out and bought all the necessities to be a true backpacker. I have even worked on keeping my pack to being under 30 pounds. That is a true accomplishment for someone who can still count how many times they have used their pack on one hand. I took Swallow for her first ever camping experience, which also happened to be her first ever backpacking experience. I thought taking her to a class would help her appreciate packing and carrying her pack. I couldn't have been more wrong. I woke up Saturday morning, packed the few last minute essentials and went to go wake up Swallow. I walk into her room to find her packing a stereo into her pack, my first thought is "Oh lord, please help us!" I take a deep breath and remember that its her pack and she has to carry it so she can pack as much or as little as she wants. I didn't actually weigh her pack, but I am willing to be it was 50+ pounds. As we are walking out the door, she grabs my pack and says something to the effect of "how is your pack so much lighter than mine?" I just chuckle and tell her to keep walking, we have a big day ahead of us.

We finally hit the road around 10 am. We make it up to James Peak around 11ish give or take 15 minutes. We pay to park, put on our packs (Camden had a pack too) and then take off up the trail. We couldn't have been walking more than 5 minutes when Swallow says "my pack is too heavy, it hurts my back, I don't think I can make it, can we switch packs?" You better believe that all of that came out of her mouth. We took a short rest and then proceeded. What took most people about 30-45 minutes to hike to heart lake (where we ended up setting up camp, but it wasn't our orginial destination) took us a little over an hour an half. Our base was just under 10,000 feet and our final destinationi was about 12,400 feet. We ended up camping at what I would guess was about 11,900. I gotta give Swallow credit, she did in fact make it...at least she had her IPOD to keep her motivated and entertained, her IPOD also gave me the opportunity to enjoy my hike in peace.

The higher up we got the more and more snow we came too. My first thought, "rut rhoe, this could be ugly, I bet Swallow didn't pack the correct clothes." I wasn't going to talk about the snow or the dropping temperature until she brought it up...the last thing I needed to do was to give her something else to worry about. We stumble upon a stream that although it was truly unexpected was one of the more beautiful pieces of mother nature I had ever witnessed. The water was crystal clear as it was melting snow, certain parts of the stream were deep enough to be above my head but other parts were shallow enough to walk across and not get the tops of my hiking shoes wet. Maybe it was more beautiful because I wasn't expecting it or maybe it was the way the sun was making the rocks glisten. Either way it brought a smile to my face and sense of ease. A sense that no matter how bad things might get with Swallow this site is absolutely beautiful and I want to enjoy it. I decided it was a good idea to camp right next to the stream. We would have a place to get water, wash dishes and anything else that Swallow might come up with. When I told Swallow we were setting up camp right there, she responded with "THANK GOD, I didn't think I could walk any further!"

We set up camp and then Swallow asked why, we didn't have any beer? An ice cold beer sounded so good. We still had a lot of day light left, so I offered to take her back into town to get some beer, as long as it didn't take us an hour and half to hike back up to camp. She promised me if she could leave her pack up at camp she could do it in 30 minutes...DEAL! We hike the 20 minutes back to car, and head into town, grab 18 pack of beer and head back up to camp. I emptied my pack at camp so I could put the beer in my pack and hike with it. Lucky for me I got the pleasure of making that hike up hill with weight both times. Funny how, when Swallow doesn't have a pack she makes the trip in 28 minutes, you better believe I timed her! As soon as we get back to camp, Swallow cracks open a beer, while Camden and I head off into the woods to collect firewood.

It amazes me that Camden will run away as soon as the front door opens but in the woods she walks right next to me without a leash. I call her if she gets to far in front of me, but she always comes back. It just made me think that Camden will be going on more and more hikes in the woods, especially with her pack on...she was the topic of conversation with what little hikers we came across. Some even stopped and took pictures of her, rather amusing I must admit. We gathered our fire wood and came back to camp to crack open a beer. Oh that corona in a can tasted better than any beer I had ever had! I was pretty proud of the first fire that I ever built, I think I even had Swallow take a picture of it. Shortly, after that I began to make dinner, the dinner was edible, but by no means gourmet! I need to perfect my backpacking menu for future trips. Swallow on the other hand just chilled while listening to her IPOD. It sounds very one sided but we were both extremely happy. I got to play in the woods, analyze life, listen to my thoughts and enjoy mother nature...Swallow got to be outdoors and listen to her music.

Our trip was cut a little short. I woke her up before dawn this morning to take a hike so that we could see the sunrise. We saw the sun rise and I could tell Swallow was a little unhappy (after all her IPOD batteries died at about 8:30 last night), so I knew better than to make her spend an entire rest of the day in the wilderness without any music. Besides its Red's birthday today, so we came back to Denver to shower up and head over to the birthday party. Swallow said it best, "I have never been so happy to see Denver."

We have pictures of our trip, so as soon as I get them from Swallow I'll be sure to post them! :) I am sure everyone could use a good laugh.

at peace.

I'll be waking up to this view for the new few days. Do something you wouldn't normally do, live on the edge, push your limitations, but most importantly do it with a smile on your face. :)

Backpacking Class

Swallow, Camden and I are headed into the woods for a three day backpacking trip. I thought it would be a good idea to take Swallow to an all women's intro to backpacking class at REI, it will at least reiterate all the tips and tricks I have already offered, most of which have gone in one ear and out the other...but at least I put them out there. Last night we attend the class. There were probably 10 other people besides ourselves, so it was a relatively intimate setting. As the instructor begins the class, she asks if anyone wants to learn anything specific to ensure that she touches on it. I just sat back and looked over at Swallow who was raising her hand. My immediate thought was "great, this has to be good...she hasn't be in the class 2 minutes and she already has something to say."

Swallow told the instructor that she needs to learn everything because she has never camped a day in her life. She went on to say that I was taking her and that she felt very bad for me. The class erupts with laughter, as did I. That is pretty much the reaction I have gotten from everyone when I tell them that I am taking Swallow backpacking. I have gotten reactions that range from blessing to laughter to thoughts that I might be crazy. Not one person that knows that we are camping has agreed that it is a good idea to take Swallow on a three day backpacking trip. When they find out that we will be hiking about 2 miles with our packs to our "spot" they really believe I am insane!

During the class, we learned how to pack our packs so that the weight is distributed correctly, tips for clothing, how to pee/poop in the woods, and numerous other tricks. One that I loved was that you use the tea bag from your morning tea to was your face, apparently it is a good exfoliator. I immediately looked over at Swallow and she had a look on her face that could have caused a 100 car pile up. I am a relatively quiet person when in a group that I know literally no one, that and well, when I am with Swallow she does all the talking for me. Yesterday was no different, I pretty much let Swallow do all the talking, I just sit back and listen. After the class, all these women came up and asked me tons of questions. Somehow I went from being a camper to an experienced backpacker. There was one lady that was particularly annoying in class. She must have asked 15 questions in a 10 minute span and had a response to the teacher's answer. To say she was on my nerves was a severe understatement. Luckily for me, after the class she found me shopping in the store and of course she had 20 questions for me. The best part is all the questions she asked me were ones she or others had asked in class. For instance some of the questions were...what do I do for water?, what do I sit on?, how much should her pack be?, how often do I rest on the hike?...SERIOUSLY lady, leave me alone! Swallow knew she was driving me nuts and did absolutely nothing to help get this old hag away from me. If anything she was egging her on...what a great friend Swallow is!

Overall the class was great. I did disagree with the instructor when she said that everyone should be able to take one fun thing to entertain them whether it be a book, a journal, or an IPOD. Swallow has been begging me to take her IPOD and I have refused every time. Being on a backpacking trip is about nature, peace and quiet and enjoying the sounds of mother nature. After class, Hungry and I met up with "Sam I am" the new roommate, and few others from work. I was telling them about the class and Swallow they all agreed that I might enjoy my trip a lot more if Swallow has her IPOD and is out of my hair. Woo said it best, when she said "there isn't enough marijuana in the world to calm Swallow down, so an hour or two of her listening to an IPOD might be the best for everyone." Everyone laughed and I finally caved. Swallow doesn't know yet, but she will be able to take her IPOD on our trip. Its pretty funny, I feel like her mom. The sad part is that she actually listens to me, I am not sure why she listens to me, but she does!

Hopefully, we make it out alive. I am sure we will have some great stories to share.

11 texts - 16 voicemails

As soon as I got to high school, I got a pager. It was the new coolest thing that everyone had. Probably a lost concept now, but who knows. When I turned 16 I got a cell phone. When I graduated from college and got my first "real" job I had two cell phones. I was completely accessible to all of my clients on nights and weekends. It use to drive my boyfriend crazy, and truth be told I had to agree with him. I hated having my phone with me at all times.

When I moved west, I made a promise to myself that it was all about me. It was based on my happiness and my success...the move and the new life style would be selfish and enjoyable. It was all about ME! I know that seems shocking, since I was the baby of the family and the majority of the time it was all about me anyways! However, this is different. I am going to be picky about my career, my living arrangements, my exercise habits, my consumption and my social lifestyle. During the mix, I decided I didn't want to be attached to a cell phone. One way to do so, was to leave it on silent PERMANENTLY! This allows me to still see what I might have missed, but not have it interupt what I am doing. I have since realized that I am getting back to being addicted to my phone, I can be down stairs and hear my phone vibrate upstairs in my room. That alone is shocking to me, but it really does happen.

So I have decided to that I will take a more hands on approach with my "me time." I will now start to turn my phone off all together! I had my phone off yesterday for about 7 hours and I was in heaven...literally heaven. I didn't care if people were leaving a voicemail or a text, I didn't care if people were desperately trying to find me. There was a life before cell phones and personally I think it was a pretty enjoyable one. My cell phone is for me and my convienence! What did people do before cell phones? Oh thats right, they called and left messages at your home or office and waited for your response, there was no instant gratification that cell phones have since provided. As a society we have become extremely impatient, we are so use to cell phones, pda's, or crackberry's that provide us with instant answers. People are so addicted to their cell phones its down right scary!

Last week, I had a little tiff with someone who was upset with me, because that she sent me a text message, and I didn't respond within a 6 hour period of time. When did we get so impatient that we can't wait six hours? It wasn't as if she sent me a text and asked me to take her to the hospital. When I explained to her that I couldn't/wouldn't jump every time someone sent me a text she couldn't believe I was the type to be disrespectful. I don't see it as disrespectful, I see it as individuality. My father use to say that he didn't want a cell phone or a pager because someone could always get ahold of him. It use to drive my mother nuts, but she eventually trained him to carry his phone...soon enough she will teach him to text (its only a matter of time pops).

Yesterday, was the first day of my no cell phone policy. When I turned my phone back on I had 11 text messages and 16 voicemails. Now don't go getting your panties in a wad, some of the voicemails were actually from a couple of days prior, but I did still have 8 new ones. It turns out when people can't find you for a certain period of time, they try harder to find you. The best part about all of them was that none of them were urgent by any means. None of them were life shattering or altering. In my opinion, none of them even needed a response, YET when I got to work today, I got bombarded with the "I sent you a text yesterday and you didn't respond" or the "I called you and left a message but you didn't call me." I am sorry, but when your message says "hey, its me...just calling to see whats up," I don't see it necessary to respond. As soon as Swallow walked in the door, she said "where have you been, I have been calling you all day?" I told her that I had my phone off for some me time, she said "well, I don't like that, what if I need you?" Sorry dear, sometimes "me time" is neccessary.

I am going to continue to turn my phone off. I'll start with once a week for a few hours of "me time." You are all probably thinking "why doesn't she just leave it in her car or at home." My response to that is, when you call and it goes right to voicemail, I want you to know that it is "me time."

Elitch Gardens.

Living like a tourist is really a lot of fun. Yesterday, I got a phone call from Seabiscuit asking if I wanted to go Elitch Gardens. Of course, I do! It was rather ironic that she called and asked, because I was just talking to Swallow about how I'd like to go check that place out.

Seabiscuit bought the season pass and I purchased the premiere pass for an extra 20 bucks. It seemed like the most logical of the choice. With my premiere pass I get the luxury of free parking, a free day pass for a friend or family member, 20% off all food and merchandise, a free outlaw lacrosse ticket, free entrance to the zoo, the haunted house and all concerts that will be held at Elitch Gardens. All of this for a whopping 79.99! SCORE FOR ME!

Coming from basically the theme park capital of the world, Elitch Gardens was well a small version of what Busch Gardens use to be. The are about 5 roller coasters, four of which go upside down. I liked the old white wooden roller coaster that is famous for being the opening scene of the show Step by Step with Suzanne Sommers. They had the typical fair style rides that you get in little carts and flip you all around or the pay to throw a ring around a bottle and win a gaint sponge bob square pants stuffed animal. I still to this day love to see the people win those first thing in the morning and then have to carry it around all day! That is loads of fun.

Elitch Gardens has a portion that I am not quite familiar with...a water park attached to the theme park. The price of admission gets you both parks! Although, we didn't do the actual water rides (we decided we would save that for another day). We did however, go on two water rides, Canyon Run and the Tidal Wave, at the very end of the day. Both rides ended up making soaked from head to toe! At least it was the end of the day and we didn't have to walk around wet all day. :) My day was complete when I had a turkey drum stick! They are always my favorite. Maybe I'll start learning how to cook them. That sounds like a challenge right up my alley!

All in all, I think my invest of 80.00 for some fun was well worth it. I think I even convinced Hungry that he wants to partake in the festivities. So, he will probably be purchasing his season pass as well.

30 day Challenge.

Swallow and I took a walk this morning, a walk just shy of 5 miles. During the walk I began to think about getting myself back into the shape I was when I graduated high school. Back down to a buck eleven with lines defining my abs. As I was thinking to myself, 8 years ago that body came so easy, now I have to work at it. I asked myself what am I doing now that I wasn't doing then or what am I not doing now that I was doing back in high school? Oh, thats right my entire lifestyle has changed.

I no longer run/practice soccer for two hours a day 10 months a year and I consume a lot empty calories. I still don't drink a lot of soda, so that hasn't changed...but my over all consumption of calories has obviously increased by the alcohol consumption alone. As I was thinking about all of this, I decided to challenge myself to remain alcohol free for 30 days and to workout 5 days a week. The workout part wont be that difficult, as I am in training for the MS 150 at the end of June, but the alcohol consumption will be a challenge. It is extremely easy to have a glass of wine with dinner or a shot with the girls after work.

Today is the 1st of June and I am ready to eat better and drink water or club soda. As I was talking to Swallow about not drinking alcohol, she said I need to do that as well. Maybe we can motivate each other not to drink. I thought about that statement for a minute, I don't think I need motivation not to drink, I just need other things in the fridge than a bottle of chardonnay. Call me crazy, but it is just as easy to reach for a bottle of syfo as it is to reach for a chardonnay.

I'll keep you posted on how my challenge is coming along.

the RING!

Okay, so you read the title of my post and you could be thinking 1 of two things. First, it being about the infamous engagement ring...or perhaps you are thinking about the RING birth control. Unfortunately, you are wrong with both options. I am writing about my favorite five dollar ring. A ring that, if you know me know it is never off my hand. Well, that isn't true there have been a couple times in my life that someone has held it as collaterl, to get me to come back and see them. However, that was at most two days.

I awoke this morning to find that my mother of peral ring has a crack in it. Not only is there a crack, but because there is a crack a small piece has fallen out. This five dollar mother of pearl ring, has become a part of me. It is a ring that I only take off for sports, it has never been polished or cleaned. Well, it is probably cleaned everytime I do dishes, but it hasn't been professionally cleaned. Who on earth would professionally clean a 5 dollar ring? I can still remember it being the middle of August in 2003, standing on the Navy Pier in Chicago, picking out this ring. It stuck out like a sore thumb. Of course it had to be mine.

Numerous times in my life, my sister has taken it and wanted to wear this particular ring. I bought her one similar, but a little different. She wore it for a few days and then got bored with it. Just what I expected, that is why I didn't give her my ring. This ring is important to me, but I feel lost or naked without this ring. I can go without a watch or my necklace, but I struggle to go without this ring. I am not a huge jewelry person. I wear the same Aspen leaf necklace, a silver Eddie Bauer watch, and my 5 dollar mother of pearl ring on my right ring finger. When I broke my right finger bowling in December of 2004, I begged the doctor not to cut the ring off. Shockingly, they listened to my request, but I couldn't wear the ring for a few weeks.

Being upset about my ring, I went online looking for an identical replacement. Of course, I can't find one. I don't think I will be back in Chicago anytime soon, to look for a replacement, so I am just going to have to hope the rest of the mother of pearl doesn't fall out before I can find its match. I tried to find a picture of it for you all to see. Here is the best one I could find, without actually taking a picture of my hand.