Here it goes...tagged by Jenny :)
5 (or is it 6?)intersting things about me....... maybe not so much interesting as just facts!
1. I hate the HOLIDAYS!!! Unless I'm around my family. I appreciate my friends for inviting me to their houses or their families houses or out for a drink even. But, I'm so uncomfortable celebrating anything Christmas or Thanksgiving unless I'm with family. I'm super crabby when the holidays come around and I can't go home. I hate it when my neighborhood decorates because it looks like Xmas threw up on the block. I know I'll get the mandatory phone call where I'm passed around to everyone and it just breaks my heart every time. I know what the house smells like and what all the food taste like (YUMMY), I know what the table looks like and where people are going to sit, I know there's plenty of laughing and having a good time. The teasing jokes, the laughs at the kids, the games afterwards...... It kills me to always miss that!
2. I view the world as if I was taking a picture of it. Whatever I'm doing I'm always looking around for a good picture. I usually have a soundtrack to go along with it too....all in my head like a little movie making machine that won't stop.
3. Every stuffed animal I was given as a present (from boyfriends usually) has been given to the dogs as toys that they instantly shred. It started off innocently enough, Olive got a hold of one and within minutes the room was filled with stuffing and plastic eye balls, the pure joy she took in shaking it and ripping it to shreds was such fun to watch! I honestly tried several times to put the stuffed animals up knowing they would be destroyed if ever left at dog level.....but I find myself giggling and secretly happy when I would come home and Houdini (aka olive) would have gotten a hold of them and made a mess which I would find her rolling in and getting all the stuffing stuck to her fur. Sorry guys...don't buy me stuffed animals I guess is the solution!
4. I have an inner Ninja that I channel when I'm trying something that scares the crap out of me. don't get me wrong I love the adrenaline rush of trying a new kayak run or going down a hill steeper then I've ever done before. I'm not scared to do much of anything, but when I am...I call upon my inner Ninja who is never scared, she's always confident in her skills and knows how to keep things safe while still kicking ass! It's cheesy but it works for me!
5. e-mail.... I prefer it to the phone, but get so obsessed about it. I send ridiculously long e-mails because it's where I feel most comfortable expressing myself. I get irritated when people reply without answering questions, or they don't reply at all. I will check my e-mail a million times constantly wondering if you're gotten the e-mail, why you're not answering it faster, did I not get across what I wanted to say..blah blah blah... its borderline crazy really :)
6. I'm an incessant list maker. I make lists about my lists and rarely remember to bring them with to check off the things I've done. I periodically stack all my outdated lists and make a new list with the items from the old one's that I didn't get done. It's ridiculous....probably a bit OCD.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
Costa Rica fun...yes there was a little!
Ok, so my orginal post about Costa Rica was a bit shocking, but I did have some fun. I didn't really mind the rain all that much, things were just as peaceful and pretty when the clouds hung on the trees. So here are some pictures.Even though the trip was chaotic and had it's moments of doom, it was a fantastic group to go with and I wouldn't trade any of it. It was an adventure of a lifetime, that I hope I can do again, minus the deportation and hospital stay :)
This is Me and Patty walking through town (just past the whore house) to the beach to begin our morning hike through the rainforest. It was aobut 6:30AM, I had only slept about 3 hours at this point in the previous 48 hours I had been up and traveling back to CR.
This is on the death trap dingy! We had to wade out up to our hips to get in this thing...it wasn't very big and we almost tipped over by the waves crashing into us as we motored parallel to the beach up to the tip of the pennisula. Front to back and right to left the people are: Mad Max, Rachel, the eyeball of Kay, Suzy, Dede, Charlie, Robert, Me, Jeff, Patty, Rich, Tom, Amatto, Lyle (aka Lelo).
Here we're waiting for the dingy death trap to show up. We had hiked for about an hour or so at this point. Notice Amatto in front with the red rain jacket and red shorts. He didn't speak much english and was one of the van drivers. He always smelled good and even with the communication barrier he was a hoot to talk to, we always seemed to get what the other way saying. Such a funny guy.
Here we're unloading at the put in on the first day I got in my boat on the river for this trip. On top of the first van is Cacho and Ferdinand. Both Costa Rican natives and excellent paddlers!
This was fun. The run was challenging but not over my anyone's head and it was relatively short. At this point we've already gone through all the rapids it had to offer and were just paddling the last flat section to get to the take out. The scenery on the river was so breath taking...I wish I had more shots of that. Hopefully more will come from the other's in the group. It's was beautiful to say the least.
This is just one of the houses we past during the day that was flooded. This wasn't even as bad as what Cacho and I saw on our journey through the middle of the night...the water had gone down by this point. It's really sad when you think about what the families options are...it's not like they can go to the hearest hotel for a few days.
This was the view on Saturday morning from our Hotel. It was beautiful...a little hazy but what can you do...we were standing int he middle of a cloud :) It really is a beautiful country!
More to come later.....
This is Me and Patty walking through town (just past the whore house) to the beach to begin our morning hike through the rainforest. It was aobut 6:30AM, I had only slept about 3 hours at this point in the previous 48 hours I had been up and traveling back to CR.
This is on the death trap dingy! We had to wade out up to our hips to get in this thing...it wasn't very big and we almost tipped over by the waves crashing into us as we motored parallel to the beach up to the tip of the pennisula. Front to back and right to left the people are: Mad Max, Rachel, the eyeball of Kay, Suzy, Dede, Charlie, Robert, Me, Jeff, Patty, Rich, Tom, Amatto, Lyle (aka Lelo).
Here we're waiting for the dingy death trap to show up. We had hiked for about an hour or so at this point. Notice Amatto in front with the red rain jacket and red shorts. He didn't speak much english and was one of the van drivers. He always smelled good and even with the communication barrier he was a hoot to talk to, we always seemed to get what the other way saying. Such a funny guy.
Here we're unloading at the put in on the first day I got in my boat on the river for this trip. On top of the first van is Cacho and Ferdinand. Both Costa Rican natives and excellent paddlers!
This was fun. The run was challenging but not over my anyone's head and it was relatively short. At this point we've already gone through all the rapids it had to offer and were just paddling the last flat section to get to the take out. The scenery on the river was so breath taking...I wish I had more shots of that. Hopefully more will come from the other's in the group. It's was beautiful to say the least.
This is just one of the houses we past during the day that was flooded. This wasn't even as bad as what Cacho and I saw on our journey through the middle of the night...the water had gone down by this point. It's really sad when you think about what the families options are...it's not like they can go to the hearest hotel for a few days.
This was the view on Saturday morning from our Hotel. It was beautiful...a little hazy but what can you do...we were standing int he middle of a cloud :) It really is a beautiful country!
More to come later.....
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Adventures in traveling.....
I'll start the beginning and by the end I predict jaws will have dropped. Michele's response was classic after hearing this adventure story from the past week all she could say was 'Wholly Balls!'
Here it goes..... I was suppose to have a little over a week of whitewater kayaking in beautiful Costa Rica. Instead I had the following adventure. On Friday 11/2 a group of 6 of us all headed to the airport to catch our flight in route to Costa Rica. We had 6 kayaks, 6 dry bags and 1 very confused counter person who wasn't sure to do with all that gear! It went smoothly though as the counter lady eventually accepted that we needed these boats on the plane.
From Denver we stopped in Mexico City, Mexico for a 2 hour layover. I was sitting on the plane while landing with my passport out filling in the immigration/customs forms and when done put my passport back into the travel pouch that held onto my cash, bank card, credit card and my liscense. I locked my backpack best I could and we deboarded the plane. Once we walked through the crowded airport, sat and had a soda in a little cafe, we headed to immigration so we could board our final flight to Costa Rica. I start to go into my backpack while waiting in line and my heart sank. No pouch with my passport or anything else. The whole thing was gone. Panic set in and ran back to the cafe to look and ask if anyone saw it, then I ran back to the gate we exited after deboarding and argued with the policia and airline people trying to get back on to the plane. No one was interested in my urgency, they just shewed me away and said go to this person or that person over there...not a helpful person in the bunch. When I retured to the immigration section I saw two people...and I was so happy to see these two women I can't even tell you. Prior to running back to them I thought to myself 'I'm alone without any documentation to say who I am, in Mexico city one of the most crime infested cities and some of the most corrupt police and government. I'm without any money, very little spanish...OMG!'. So my friend Patty was standing there crying, and Rachel who grew up in Mexico City and speaks fluent spanish was also there trying to find me. We went through hell trying to get in touch with the US Embassy and anything we could think of to fix this. We were told to go to so many places to look for my stuff which lead us to have to be seperated from Rachel who ended up having to leave the aiport security area and not allowed back in. Eventually immigration caught up with me and put me in a temporary holding tank which I was guarded with armed guards and not allowed to leave. Patty ran back and forth to make phone calls to whomever she could, trying to find Rachel and to keep her sanity. Eventually my fate was in the hands of the immigration people, and I was stuck for the night. They let Patty stay with me in the holding tank until 4AM when they kicked her out. I didn't sleep for a second...eyes wide until noon when they escorted me to the very exact place I entered the airport and sat me in my seat on a plane back to Denver. I was the first US citizen to be deported from Mexico!
So, I do everything I need to do to get back to Costa Rica....which didn't happen until Tuesday. I returned after another layover in Mexico city ( I was on the exact same flight and one seat over from my orginal seat). I made it safely into Alajuela, Costa Rica around 11PM, took a taxi to the hotel and had Cacho (hotel owner, kayaker and Costa Rican Hub for this group, plus he was one of he drivers) waiting for me with open arms. He wanted to get me to the others in the group that very same night. So we loaded my kayak and gear into his van and headed out. Cacho was very worried when driving, it was downpouring the entire time, which then creates flash floods, mud slides and many dangers while trying to drive through the mountains and rainforest...int he middle of the night... Our first route was long and windy with lots of rain....every now and then I'd heard Cacho unclip his seat belt...and say 'It's not wise to have your seatbelt if we see mud slides'. So I follow his lead unclip my seat belt and we saw numerous mudslides that happened right before our eyes... we then get to a sharp turn in the road and see a full sized tree along with a mountin of mud which had wiped out the road...there's nothing to do but turn around. We turn around and back track about 1 hour and a half to our starting point. Cacho asks the Red Cross about the conditions on the other route which they said if you go now you might make it. So we're off again following the second route. It was also filled with lots of mudslides but the bigger danger was the roads being flooded and washed out. We saw a entire community being evacuated from their homes....their houses were filled with water up to the roofs, and babies crying, family members from different villages bicycling in to help. It was very sad...very serious! Cacho and I at this point were both clenched and wide awake...seatbelts off ready for whatever might happen. We get to one section of road that had a full stream of water flowing over it...Cacho said we need to go through this fast so we don't get swept away...so he punches it and I can feel the large van being pulled with the flow of water and hearing the engine fight to keep us going forward... We made it and high fived each other ! We came accross a few more villages being evacuated and more sections of road that had water flowing over them. Cacho says we're almost there...and then we see it...a river where the road was! The water was so forceful coming down the mountain and over the road that at the downside of the road was a full sized rapid with whitewater on it. My stomach sank and I look at Cacho, he said we're gunna punch it and he was visiblly worried as was I. We started high on the left hand side and by the time we made it to where we could feel the grip of the road we were on the very edge of the right hand side. Whew...another high five! about a mile down the road was where the group was and at this point it was about 4AM. I see Patty waiting for me and took a sigh of releif that I was finally there. Come to find out in the morning that minutes after Cacho and I made it through that section of water/road a tour bus tried it and failed. They were swept off the road and turned upside down.
Day 2 it was a long day in the van as all the rivers that we were by had flooded and were unrunable. so we headed for the beach on the Carribean side. It was still downpouring...actually the entire trip it didn't stop raning for more than an hour...the entire time! We had a really good time here... I got to surf my kayak in the ocean which was the most fun I'd had in a long time!! I loved it...then a nice dinner, lots of drinks and off to bed. The next morning we got up around 6 AM for a morning hike through the park in the rainforest which was also along the beach of the pinnesula we were on. We saw some monkeys and snakes but most of all we saw the largest mosquitos you'll ever see. We were suppose to hike and then go snorkling which didn't work out. We hiked in a ways so we could be picked up by this very small dingy like fishing boat (think canoe that can hold 14 people (barely) and then put a motor on the back). We were told once we loaded this thing to not move much...there's a good chance we'll capsize. SUPER! We slowly made our way to the tip of the penninsula and got off that death trap of a boat! We then find out that the smaller boat which carried our snorkling gear did capsize...sank the boat and the gear. So we had to hike out without snorkling. It was a long hike and if you didn't walk fast enough you were engulfed in a cloud of mosquites who were eager to bite you. I hit a pack of about 5 all chomping down on my neck and thought to myself as I looked at the smeared puddle of blood on my hand...hmmm I wonder if I just got some rare diseas or malaria... how fun!! We finally got back and I took a 4 hour nap then went back to the beach to surf in my kayak again....so much fun!!
The next day was uneventful...we found some water run that wasn't flooded and got a nice day in our kayaks on the river. It was short but the wave trains were HUGE and it was fun!
Saturday...the last day .... We ran the same river but put in a little higher this time. It wasn't anything we all couldn't do...just a big wave train, no moves to make or anything. A smaller group put in even higher to get in some tougher water. They were going to meet us at the put in in about 30 mins.... an hour and half later they still hadn't shown up....we were all worried and just staring upstream hoping to see them any second now...tick toc tick toc. We had been in our boats...in the water....getting rained on the for the entire time they were gone...too long, we were all cold at this point so nothing good could come of it! They finally arrived and we could all breath again. We found out Dede who is a solid class V boater, very strong, ended up swimming twice. That's not a good sign! She had to hike up a trash heap in barefeet at one point during her swims to get out... GROSS!!!
So we sat and sat until we were realy cold, then all of a sudden we were off... with a bang! I flipped when we got into the wave train and attempted to roll 4 times before I coudln't take the beating anymore...the water was running SO FAST it was so pushy! Then Patty flipped and ejected, then Jeff flipped and ejected... 3 swimmers on class II/III water ... ridiculous! Patty and I went for possibly the worst swim either of us has ever had. I got hit by so many rocks...I bruised my ribs on my left size, almost deflated my left breast, scrapped off a lot of skin from my right hip and butt cheek, my knees were bloody and instantly bruised as well....then the water got shallow again and patty and I both had to let go of our of recue boats that were trying to tow us to the shore to avoid having our arms ripped out of the socket. I found myself feel the bottom of the river which was like gravel there and I could sit down without being pushed by the water.. I was literally in the middle of the river sitting on my butt catching my breath. I look to my left and Jeff is on the banks of the river, safe! I look to my right and at the exact position I was in about 10 feet away from me was Patty. We looked at each other and just kind of giggled out of nervousness and said 'Hey, how's it going for ya'. We sat in shock for about 5 mins...then attempted to make it to the left hand bank of the river. The water started to pick up pace and get deeper and within a second we were again swimming full speed down the river hitting every rock and pour over it had to offer. I see Max, our group leader, with safety ropes so I started to swim as hard as I could to get to him and then I was sucked into a hole...a hole which didn't spit me out right away...but bobbed me up and down, I felt it suck me down deep and I tried to relaxe...i finally found the exit stream and got some air into my lungs, caught onto the resuce rope and stuck my foot out so patty could grab on... we got pulled to the banks and Patty and I both threw up buckets of water. But we were safe. Patty was done and wasn't going to boat anymore. I wanted to finish it so I got back in my boat. We sat on the banks and eagerly waited while the lost paddlers roaming the banks were found and back in their boats. I noticed the water was changing colors...from milky brown to dark chocolatly brown and it was rising fast...so fast you could watch it go up and up and up. We went about a half mile down the river and the guides pull over and said we have to get off the river now... it was a flash flood and we were in some serious danger... come to find out there was a keeper hold not that much farther down the river which would have easily swallowed the entire van we were driving in....not to mention what it would have done to any of us in our kayaks and worse yet if anyone was swimming. So we hiked out with our boats, waited for our ride and tried to keep warm. We finally got to the hotel after we stacked the van 10 boats high, got in a car accident on the freeway and huddled together for warmth. Whew...we're back...finally.
It was late, people were frantically packing their things as just about everyone was leaving the next morning (except for me) and I look down the hallway to see Patty fainting...and Max catching her. We get her back upstairs into her bed and she's twitching and halucinating, her eyes rolling back into her head, when she did speak it sounded like a child...high pitched, scared and weak. The night was long and filled with sounds of retching and convulsing. The morning finally came and Patty tried to get herself together so she could get on her plane...she could barely walk. She fought hard, but failed...and at about 6AM Max and I took Patty to the clinic while the rest of the group was headed for the flights home. She was admitted immediatley and pumped with fluids for sever dehydration and also testing for Dengai Fever. Oh those two days she can barely remember but they are burned in my brain forever... two american women in a foreigh country, receiving medical care with an obvious communication barrier... It was scary....I can say it now ..... I was scared shitless at this point. If it was Dengai she couldn't fly for at least 5 days if not longer... I wasn't going to leave her.. she stayed with me while I was being deported and I couldn't imagine leaving someone in that situation while hallucinating and not knowing where she was...it just wasn't an option. So when the docter came in the next morning and said she was cleared to fly and must see a DR when she gets back home (he pretty much said run while you can get back to your own country), I was so releived. I arranged the next flight I could get for us which was Tuesday afternoon... We made it home safe and compared to the rest of the week it was a piece of cake. Patty was very weak still, but she was a tropper and we pulled in to my house around 12:30. Whew...never been so a happy to be home in my life!!! And this all is the short version of the trip. Just a string of events that alone would be scary but tollerable... all happening in the same week on the same trip is just beyond my comprehension. I woke up this morning and had to think hard on whether or not I dreamt it all :) I did not...As Michele's put it so accurately.... WHOLLY BALLS!!!
I did manage to get a few pictures...which with my luck probably didn't turn out.. But when I have some I'll post them!
Here it goes..... I was suppose to have a little over a week of whitewater kayaking in beautiful Costa Rica. Instead I had the following adventure. On Friday 11/2 a group of 6 of us all headed to the airport to catch our flight in route to Costa Rica. We had 6 kayaks, 6 dry bags and 1 very confused counter person who wasn't sure to do with all that gear! It went smoothly though as the counter lady eventually accepted that we needed these boats on the plane.
From Denver we stopped in Mexico City, Mexico for a 2 hour layover. I was sitting on the plane while landing with my passport out filling in the immigration/customs forms and when done put my passport back into the travel pouch that held onto my cash, bank card, credit card and my liscense. I locked my backpack best I could and we deboarded the plane. Once we walked through the crowded airport, sat and had a soda in a little cafe, we headed to immigration so we could board our final flight to Costa Rica. I start to go into my backpack while waiting in line and my heart sank. No pouch with my passport or anything else. The whole thing was gone. Panic set in and ran back to the cafe to look and ask if anyone saw it, then I ran back to the gate we exited after deboarding and argued with the policia and airline people trying to get back on to the plane. No one was interested in my urgency, they just shewed me away and said go to this person or that person over there...not a helpful person in the bunch. When I retured to the immigration section I saw two people...and I was so happy to see these two women I can't even tell you. Prior to running back to them I thought to myself 'I'm alone without any documentation to say who I am, in Mexico city one of the most crime infested cities and some of the most corrupt police and government. I'm without any money, very little spanish...OMG!'. So my friend Patty was standing there crying, and Rachel who grew up in Mexico City and speaks fluent spanish was also there trying to find me. We went through hell trying to get in touch with the US Embassy and anything we could think of to fix this. We were told to go to so many places to look for my stuff which lead us to have to be seperated from Rachel who ended up having to leave the aiport security area and not allowed back in. Eventually immigration caught up with me and put me in a temporary holding tank which I was guarded with armed guards and not allowed to leave. Patty ran back and forth to make phone calls to whomever she could, trying to find Rachel and to keep her sanity. Eventually my fate was in the hands of the immigration people, and I was stuck for the night. They let Patty stay with me in the holding tank until 4AM when they kicked her out. I didn't sleep for a second...eyes wide until noon when they escorted me to the very exact place I entered the airport and sat me in my seat on a plane back to Denver. I was the first US citizen to be deported from Mexico!
So, I do everything I need to do to get back to Costa Rica....which didn't happen until Tuesday. I returned after another layover in Mexico city ( I was on the exact same flight and one seat over from my orginal seat). I made it safely into Alajuela, Costa Rica around 11PM, took a taxi to the hotel and had Cacho (hotel owner, kayaker and Costa Rican Hub for this group, plus he was one of he drivers) waiting for me with open arms. He wanted to get me to the others in the group that very same night. So we loaded my kayak and gear into his van and headed out. Cacho was very worried when driving, it was downpouring the entire time, which then creates flash floods, mud slides and many dangers while trying to drive through the mountains and rainforest...int he middle of the night... Our first route was long and windy with lots of rain....every now and then I'd heard Cacho unclip his seat belt...and say 'It's not wise to have your seatbelt if we see mud slides'. So I follow his lead unclip my seat belt and we saw numerous mudslides that happened right before our eyes... we then get to a sharp turn in the road and see a full sized tree along with a mountin of mud which had wiped out the road...there's nothing to do but turn around. We turn around and back track about 1 hour and a half to our starting point. Cacho asks the Red Cross about the conditions on the other route which they said if you go now you might make it. So we're off again following the second route. It was also filled with lots of mudslides but the bigger danger was the roads being flooded and washed out. We saw a entire community being evacuated from their homes....their houses were filled with water up to the roofs, and babies crying, family members from different villages bicycling in to help. It was very sad...very serious! Cacho and I at this point were both clenched and wide awake...seatbelts off ready for whatever might happen. We get to one section of road that had a full stream of water flowing over it...Cacho said we need to go through this fast so we don't get swept away...so he punches it and I can feel the large van being pulled with the flow of water and hearing the engine fight to keep us going forward... We made it and high fived each other ! We came accross a few more villages being evacuated and more sections of road that had water flowing over them. Cacho says we're almost there...and then we see it...a river where the road was! The water was so forceful coming down the mountain and over the road that at the downside of the road was a full sized rapid with whitewater on it. My stomach sank and I look at Cacho, he said we're gunna punch it and he was visiblly worried as was I. We started high on the left hand side and by the time we made it to where we could feel the grip of the road we were on the very edge of the right hand side. Whew...another high five! about a mile down the road was where the group was and at this point it was about 4AM. I see Patty waiting for me and took a sigh of releif that I was finally there. Come to find out in the morning that minutes after Cacho and I made it through that section of water/road a tour bus tried it and failed. They were swept off the road and turned upside down.
Day 2 it was a long day in the van as all the rivers that we were by had flooded and were unrunable. so we headed for the beach on the Carribean side. It was still downpouring...actually the entire trip it didn't stop raning for more than an hour...the entire time! We had a really good time here... I got to surf my kayak in the ocean which was the most fun I'd had in a long time!! I loved it...then a nice dinner, lots of drinks and off to bed. The next morning we got up around 6 AM for a morning hike through the park in the rainforest which was also along the beach of the pinnesula we were on. We saw some monkeys and snakes but most of all we saw the largest mosquitos you'll ever see. We were suppose to hike and then go snorkling which didn't work out. We hiked in a ways so we could be picked up by this very small dingy like fishing boat (think canoe that can hold 14 people (barely) and then put a motor on the back). We were told once we loaded this thing to not move much...there's a good chance we'll capsize. SUPER! We slowly made our way to the tip of the penninsula and got off that death trap of a boat! We then find out that the smaller boat which carried our snorkling gear did capsize...sank the boat and the gear. So we had to hike out without snorkling. It was a long hike and if you didn't walk fast enough you were engulfed in a cloud of mosquites who were eager to bite you. I hit a pack of about 5 all chomping down on my neck and thought to myself as I looked at the smeared puddle of blood on my hand...hmmm I wonder if I just got some rare diseas or malaria... how fun!! We finally got back and I took a 4 hour nap then went back to the beach to surf in my kayak again....so much fun!!
The next day was uneventful...we found some water run that wasn't flooded and got a nice day in our kayaks on the river. It was short but the wave trains were HUGE and it was fun!
Saturday...the last day .... We ran the same river but put in a little higher this time. It wasn't anything we all couldn't do...just a big wave train, no moves to make or anything. A smaller group put in even higher to get in some tougher water. They were going to meet us at the put in in about 30 mins.... an hour and half later they still hadn't shown up....we were all worried and just staring upstream hoping to see them any second now...tick toc tick toc. We had been in our boats...in the water....getting rained on the for the entire time they were gone...too long, we were all cold at this point so nothing good could come of it! They finally arrived and we could all breath again. We found out Dede who is a solid class V boater, very strong, ended up swimming twice. That's not a good sign! She had to hike up a trash heap in barefeet at one point during her swims to get out... GROSS!!!
So we sat and sat until we were realy cold, then all of a sudden we were off... with a bang! I flipped when we got into the wave train and attempted to roll 4 times before I coudln't take the beating anymore...the water was running SO FAST it was so pushy! Then Patty flipped and ejected, then Jeff flipped and ejected... 3 swimmers on class II/III water ... ridiculous! Patty and I went for possibly the worst swim either of us has ever had. I got hit by so many rocks...I bruised my ribs on my left size, almost deflated my left breast, scrapped off a lot of skin from my right hip and butt cheek, my knees were bloody and instantly bruised as well....then the water got shallow again and patty and I both had to let go of our of recue boats that were trying to tow us to the shore to avoid having our arms ripped out of the socket. I found myself feel the bottom of the river which was like gravel there and I could sit down without being pushed by the water.. I was literally in the middle of the river sitting on my butt catching my breath. I look to my left and Jeff is on the banks of the river, safe! I look to my right and at the exact position I was in about 10 feet away from me was Patty. We looked at each other and just kind of giggled out of nervousness and said 'Hey, how's it going for ya'. We sat in shock for about 5 mins...then attempted to make it to the left hand bank of the river. The water started to pick up pace and get deeper and within a second we were again swimming full speed down the river hitting every rock and pour over it had to offer. I see Max, our group leader, with safety ropes so I started to swim as hard as I could to get to him and then I was sucked into a hole...a hole which didn't spit me out right away...but bobbed me up and down, I felt it suck me down deep and I tried to relaxe...i finally found the exit stream and got some air into my lungs, caught onto the resuce rope and stuck my foot out so patty could grab on... we got pulled to the banks and Patty and I both threw up buckets of water. But we were safe. Patty was done and wasn't going to boat anymore. I wanted to finish it so I got back in my boat. We sat on the banks and eagerly waited while the lost paddlers roaming the banks were found and back in their boats. I noticed the water was changing colors...from milky brown to dark chocolatly brown and it was rising fast...so fast you could watch it go up and up and up. We went about a half mile down the river and the guides pull over and said we have to get off the river now... it was a flash flood and we were in some serious danger... come to find out there was a keeper hold not that much farther down the river which would have easily swallowed the entire van we were driving in....not to mention what it would have done to any of us in our kayaks and worse yet if anyone was swimming. So we hiked out with our boats, waited for our ride and tried to keep warm. We finally got to the hotel after we stacked the van 10 boats high, got in a car accident on the freeway and huddled together for warmth. Whew...we're back...finally.
It was late, people were frantically packing their things as just about everyone was leaving the next morning (except for me) and I look down the hallway to see Patty fainting...and Max catching her. We get her back upstairs into her bed and she's twitching and halucinating, her eyes rolling back into her head, when she did speak it sounded like a child...high pitched, scared and weak. The night was long and filled with sounds of retching and convulsing. The morning finally came and Patty tried to get herself together so she could get on her plane...she could barely walk. She fought hard, but failed...and at about 6AM Max and I took Patty to the clinic while the rest of the group was headed for the flights home. She was admitted immediatley and pumped with fluids for sever dehydration and also testing for Dengai Fever. Oh those two days she can barely remember but they are burned in my brain forever... two american women in a foreigh country, receiving medical care with an obvious communication barrier... It was scary....I can say it now ..... I was scared shitless at this point. If it was Dengai she couldn't fly for at least 5 days if not longer... I wasn't going to leave her.. she stayed with me while I was being deported and I couldn't imagine leaving someone in that situation while hallucinating and not knowing where she was...it just wasn't an option. So when the docter came in the next morning and said she was cleared to fly and must see a DR when she gets back home (he pretty much said run while you can get back to your own country), I was so releived. I arranged the next flight I could get for us which was Tuesday afternoon... We made it home safe and compared to the rest of the week it was a piece of cake. Patty was very weak still, but she was a tropper and we pulled in to my house around 12:30. Whew...never been so a happy to be home in my life!!! And this all is the short version of the trip. Just a string of events that alone would be scary but tollerable... all happening in the same week on the same trip is just beyond my comprehension. I woke up this morning and had to think hard on whether or not I dreamt it all :) I did not...As Michele's put it so accurately.... WHOLLY BALLS!!!
I did manage to get a few pictures...which with my luck probably didn't turn out.. But when I have some I'll post them!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Running...snowboarding....kayaking
Hola!! Only a few more days until I leave for Costa Rica and I am so excited!!! After flipping out at work and with people in general lately I desperatley need a vacation!
Last weekend I spent Saturday night up in Breckenridge and hung out with a group of 22 years olds. I met a friend of mine Jon who rafted for my westwater permit and in turn hung out with a group of his friends. Jon is a exceptionally good rafter, kayker and snowboarder, but he's definitley still in his 20's. Wow, I drank more alchohol that night than I have in a long long time!
It was fun to go out in Breck since I've never had a chance to explore any nightlife (but will this year)! I think I might try to avoid the hangover though..
Sunday after I got some OJ in me and my head stopped feeling like it was going to EXPLODE,I met my friend Kim and her boyfriend up at Arapahoe Basin ski area. It's the only hill open this early in the season. Everything else opens in the next few weeks, but I wanted to get a turn on the hill to make sure I remembered how to snowboard :) It was really busy of course, the snow was man made and slushy, the lift lines were long and never seemed to move, and only two runs on the whole mtn open for all these people! It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm so I can't complain too much. The two runs open were Blue runs (intermediate) and the place had posted all over that no beginner runs were available, but beginners that day apparently couldn't read. I had one who was obviously trying to keep her balance while going at snails speed and while I was turning to avoid her, she turned right into me while screaming BEGINNER...WATCH OUT! We collided...pretty hard. Her rent a board took a chunk out mine. Then on the second run, a beginner behind me couldn't stop and slammed into me, which forced all the snow he was scrapping off the hill into my jacket! That also left a nice scratch on my board as well. I made one more run dodging every wobbly person I could spot and then headed home. It was worth it to get on my board again, but not worth to stay any longer! too many people trying to cram onto one lift and the 1.5 short runs that were open.
My week now is packing for Costa Rica. I'm taking my boat with me, which will be an experience in and of itself! I have one large dry bag which I have to pack my paddle gear (life jacket, helmet, spray skirt etc), and then layer in my clothes and personal items. That's it...that's all I can take! I have a feeling we're all going to be a bit stinky on the return flight home...between smelling like the river/rainforest and having only one or two sets of clothes for a week, it's a guarantee'd stink fest!! I can't wait!!!
I've still been running everyday which I've gotten better at but I'm a little bit stuck right now. I can't seem to push myself enough on my own. I have lost about 7 lbs in the last month though from all the running and I can see my body change shape...I love that!!! When I get back from my trip I'm going to start switching it up more and get in the pool and hopefully ride around on my bike a few times before the snow falls. I need to figure out how to eat, to support the running and everything else. I can tell if I haven't had much that day that I just poop out after the 1st 30 mins. The second 30 - 45 mins is painful, forced and I can tell I'm all tensed up in my shoulders. I'm not hungry at all lately which makes me forget sometimes to get some fuel for running later in the day. Anyway, I need to read up on that a little more and make some adjustments.
I'll post some pictures when I get back! Pura Vida!!!
Last weekend I spent Saturday night up in Breckenridge and hung out with a group of 22 years olds. I met a friend of mine Jon who rafted for my westwater permit and in turn hung out with a group of his friends. Jon is a exceptionally good rafter, kayker and snowboarder, but he's definitley still in his 20's. Wow, I drank more alchohol that night than I have in a long long time!
It was fun to go out in Breck since I've never had a chance to explore any nightlife (but will this year)! I think I might try to avoid the hangover though..
Sunday after I got some OJ in me and my head stopped feeling like it was going to EXPLODE,I met my friend Kim and her boyfriend up at Arapahoe Basin ski area. It's the only hill open this early in the season. Everything else opens in the next few weeks, but I wanted to get a turn on the hill to make sure I remembered how to snowboard :) It was really busy of course, the snow was man made and slushy, the lift lines were long and never seemed to move, and only two runs on the whole mtn open for all these people! It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm so I can't complain too much. The two runs open were Blue runs (intermediate) and the place had posted all over that no beginner runs were available, but beginners that day apparently couldn't read. I had one who was obviously trying to keep her balance while going at snails speed and while I was turning to avoid her, she turned right into me while screaming BEGINNER...WATCH OUT! We collided...pretty hard. Her rent a board took a chunk out mine. Then on the second run, a beginner behind me couldn't stop and slammed into me, which forced all the snow he was scrapping off the hill into my jacket! That also left a nice scratch on my board as well. I made one more run dodging every wobbly person I could spot and then headed home. It was worth it to get on my board again, but not worth to stay any longer! too many people trying to cram onto one lift and the 1.5 short runs that were open.
My week now is packing for Costa Rica. I'm taking my boat with me, which will be an experience in and of itself! I have one large dry bag which I have to pack my paddle gear (life jacket, helmet, spray skirt etc), and then layer in my clothes and personal items. That's it...that's all I can take! I have a feeling we're all going to be a bit stinky on the return flight home...between smelling like the river/rainforest and having only one or two sets of clothes for a week, it's a guarantee'd stink fest!! I can't wait!!!
I've still been running everyday which I've gotten better at but I'm a little bit stuck right now. I can't seem to push myself enough on my own. I have lost about 7 lbs in the last month though from all the running and I can see my body change shape...I love that!!! When I get back from my trip I'm going to start switching it up more and get in the pool and hopefully ride around on my bike a few times before the snow falls. I need to figure out how to eat, to support the running and everything else. I can tell if I haven't had much that day that I just poop out after the 1st 30 mins. The second 30 - 45 mins is painful, forced and I can tell I'm all tensed up in my shoulders. I'm not hungry at all lately which makes me forget sometimes to get some fuel for running later in the day. Anyway, I need to read up on that a little more and make some adjustments.
I'll post some pictures when I get back! Pura Vida!!!
Friday, October 19, 2007
boating and updates
this is going to be really short... Just got off of my 15 person permit on Westwater (co/utah boarder class III/IV). Lots of drama and rapids and swims. Will update later.
Here's a little video that makes me laugh hysterically! Rafting guides from West Virginia...the Gaulley is some gnarly stuff...class V carnage...classic!! The first time I watched I kept putting my hands of my eyes...screaming at the screen 'NO DON'T GO UNDER THE RAFT....AHHHH BE CAREFUL!'. But I've had bad experiences ..namely the times I've gotten too close to a raft while in my kayak and gotten sucked under it. PANIC! But these guys are a hoot! I've mentioned holes a couple of times in previous posts and these show what holes can do...to rafts...and one of the first clips is of a kayakers going through a big ol hole. Fun stuff man!!
Enjoy....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4975456070922767135&hl=en
Here's a little video that makes me laugh hysterically! Rafting guides from West Virginia...the Gaulley is some gnarly stuff...class V carnage...classic!! The first time I watched I kept putting my hands of my eyes...screaming at the screen 'NO DON'T GO UNDER THE RAFT....AHHHH BE CAREFUL!'. But I've had bad experiences ..namely the times I've gotten too close to a raft while in my kayak and gotten sucked under it. PANIC! But these guys are a hoot! I've mentioned holes a couple of times in previous posts and these show what holes can do...to rafts...and one of the first clips is of a kayakers going through a big ol hole. Fun stuff man!!
Enjoy....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4975456070922767135&hl=en
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
RUNNING, GADGETS AND KAYAKINGS
It's been a busy couple of weeks! After my last post I didn't boat that weekend since the water levels are going down and the season is pretty much over unless you have a Westwater permit or willing to travel... I HAVE AND AM WILLING TO DO BOTH! I refuse to give up my kayaking season without a fight....more on that later :)
Two weekends ago I tried to take advantage of the extra time, since we didn't boat anything, to get caught up with my day to day stuff. I went to Sports Authority and got some new running shoes, a heart rate monitoring watch and few pairs of yoga pants. I also got a holder for my Ipod since up until this point I have been holding it in my hand and it was awkward!
I've gotten into a routine now and things are starting to flow better for me. The new shoes made a huge difference! I was using an old pair of walking shoes which had no cushion and were pretty worn out. I got a pair Asics Gel which I love, they work well outside and on the treadmill, which I didn't think that would be the case for whatever reason. I started using the heart rate monitor and staying in my 70 - 80% range for at least 30 minutes. The first few days I struggled a little. I've gotten my schedule down so I do this 5 days a week and then either boat on the weekends or flex that time during the week so I rest 1 or 2 days in there. I keep upping the time every few days too. I'm working my way to 1 hour walk/run on that schedule. By the end of the first week I managed to run for a entire song and I had a little involuntary wohoo...it was a goal I set for myself, to be able to run for an entire song without huffing and puffing and to enjoy it :) I can run for a couple of songs in a row now, but no where near the 3 mile mark yet. Yesterday I met my friend Patty and we ran with the dogs on the Bobolink Trial in Boulder. It went a lot better than I thought it would. We slowly jogged the entire thing...took about 40 mins and total I believe it was 2.5 miles or so. It was the first time Patty had jogged in a long time, so she was going a lot slower than my pace was originally. I couldn't find a good place to keep time with her, it was either a little to fast to walk and a little too slow to jog, so there was a mixture, but I tried to keep jogging. Going again on Thursday...it'll get easier. It was nice to have a partner....when I would have talked myself into walking she kept going and vice versa. The dogs loved it! I look forward to jogging now...It's a nice release of the daily stress (mostly work), I get to zone out for a half hour or more and have no worries. I can probably say now that this will not be what its like when I start biking....blech...not looking forward to that piece!! Swimming I could do all day every day! And by 'run' in this blog I mean slowly jogging....very slowly. Once I meet the marker where I can run consistently for 30 mins, I'm going to start timing myself.
OK enough about running....I wanna talk about boating :) Last weekend I went on an overnight trip which was a blast! On the Colorado River by the Colorado/Utah border there is a long stretch of flat water that flows through a gorgeous canyon. The run is called Ruby Horse Theif.
It's a float...there's not a lick of whitewater on the entire 26 mile stretch. You really need to know this information before you do it, otherwise you could get pretty restless. I did this with the small group of people that will be going to costa rica with me, it was intended to be a bonding trip for us and there were a couple others too. Total we had a group of 12, two rafts for support and the rest of us were in our kayaks. Friday night around 8:30Pm or so (5 hour drive from Denver) Patty and I arrived at the put in at Loma. It's a boat launch patrolled by the BLM
We were the first of the group to arrive but were followed closely by a few others. We setup tents on the beach of the boat launch and settled in for the night. It was relatively cool and we were about 10 feet from the river on the beach so I slept in my long johns, hat and 0 degree sleeping bag. I was comfy! Morning came and we had to beat cheeks to rig up the rafts with our gear and get a move on. Campsites in the canyon are first come first server even with the BLM's sign up sheet at the put in. If we wanted a site big enough for our 12 person group we needed to get there first. Did I mention it was ALL FLAT... ALL OF IT!!! We had to make our own entertainment.
The Canyon is gorgeous.... here's a few pics from the early AM at the boat launch, riggin the rafts and the other boats getting ready to launch (not all of them were with us, only kim's raft in this pic, in the forefront)...
And we're off.... Day 1 floating (I'm the orange boat), chatting, laughing and beautiful views.......
Our campsite was easy enough to find with this tell tale rock formation it was about 12 miles into the day going only 4 miles an hour.....
Our campsite was Ok, not what we originally wanted as the other was stolen by an inconsiderate group that we didn't like much. But not the end of the world. We de-rigged the rafts got our tents set up and started dinner. There is a fire ban in the canyon so no campfire but we made do and chatted a little until we all realized how tired we were. Right around the time everyone went to bed it started to sprinkle....then rain....then downpour the entire night!....and by morning it was off an on until we all started to wake up which the rain then stayed at a constant 'on'! Breakfast was served under a rain flap, and we rigged up the rafts in the rain while sliding down the muddy hill. It was a weird night because of the rock we were on it must have been retaining heat because I felt like I was being slow roasted by morning...it was SOOO HOT! And because of how much it rained we all woke up in a puddle. Once out of the sleeping bag and off the heat rock it was quite chilly. I didn't even take off my long johns... I boated the rest of the day in all my rain gear plus my long johns...... burr!
Once we were on the water again we had some more gorgeous scenery.....
Black Rocks is the name, pretty obvious right :)
A couple miles into the second day we crossed into Utah... the boarder is marked on the canyon wall in this picture look for the white in the middle of photo.....
After 26 miles over two days it was over...we arrived at the Westwater put in and did a few hours worth of work to get everything taken down and packed back into our cars... I was happy as could be... on the water and with my friends, the weekend couldn't have been better :) wish you were here!
Two weekends ago I tried to take advantage of the extra time, since we didn't boat anything, to get caught up with my day to day stuff. I went to Sports Authority and got some new running shoes, a heart rate monitoring watch and few pairs of yoga pants. I also got a holder for my Ipod since up until this point I have been holding it in my hand and it was awkward!
I've gotten into a routine now and things are starting to flow better for me. The new shoes made a huge difference! I was using an old pair of walking shoes which had no cushion and were pretty worn out. I got a pair Asics Gel which I love, they work well outside and on the treadmill, which I didn't think that would be the case for whatever reason. I started using the heart rate monitor and staying in my 70 - 80% range for at least 30 minutes. The first few days I struggled a little. I've gotten my schedule down so I do this 5 days a week and then either boat on the weekends or flex that time during the week so I rest 1 or 2 days in there. I keep upping the time every few days too. I'm working my way to 1 hour walk/run on that schedule. By the end of the first week I managed to run for a entire song and I had a little involuntary wohoo...it was a goal I set for myself, to be able to run for an entire song without huffing and puffing and to enjoy it :) I can run for a couple of songs in a row now, but no where near the 3 mile mark yet. Yesterday I met my friend Patty and we ran with the dogs on the Bobolink Trial in Boulder. It went a lot better than I thought it would. We slowly jogged the entire thing...took about 40 mins and total I believe it was 2.5 miles or so. It was the first time Patty had jogged in a long time, so she was going a lot slower than my pace was originally. I couldn't find a good place to keep time with her, it was either a little to fast to walk and a little too slow to jog, so there was a mixture, but I tried to keep jogging. Going again on Thursday...it'll get easier. It was nice to have a partner....when I would have talked myself into walking she kept going and vice versa. The dogs loved it! I look forward to jogging now...It's a nice release of the daily stress (mostly work), I get to zone out for a half hour or more and have no worries. I can probably say now that this will not be what its like when I start biking....blech...not looking forward to that piece!! Swimming I could do all day every day! And by 'run' in this blog I mean slowly jogging....very slowly. Once I meet the marker where I can run consistently for 30 mins, I'm going to start timing myself.
OK enough about running....I wanna talk about boating :) Last weekend I went on an overnight trip which was a blast! On the Colorado River by the Colorado/Utah border there is a long stretch of flat water that flows through a gorgeous canyon. The run is called Ruby Horse Theif.
It's a float...there's not a lick of whitewater on the entire 26 mile stretch. You really need to know this information before you do it, otherwise you could get pretty restless. I did this with the small group of people that will be going to costa rica with me, it was intended to be a bonding trip for us and there were a couple others too. Total we had a group of 12, two rafts for support and the rest of us were in our kayaks. Friday night around 8:30Pm or so (5 hour drive from Denver) Patty and I arrived at the put in at Loma. It's a boat launch patrolled by the BLM
We were the first of the group to arrive but were followed closely by a few others. We setup tents on the beach of the boat launch and settled in for the night. It was relatively cool and we were about 10 feet from the river on the beach so I slept in my long johns, hat and 0 degree sleeping bag. I was comfy! Morning came and we had to beat cheeks to rig up the rafts with our gear and get a move on. Campsites in the canyon are first come first server even with the BLM's sign up sheet at the put in. If we wanted a site big enough for our 12 person group we needed to get there first. Did I mention it was ALL FLAT... ALL OF IT!!! We had to make our own entertainment.
The Canyon is gorgeous.... here's a few pics from the early AM at the boat launch, riggin the rafts and the other boats getting ready to launch (not all of them were with us, only kim's raft in this pic, in the forefront)...
And we're off.... Day 1 floating (I'm the orange boat), chatting, laughing and beautiful views.......
Our campsite was easy enough to find with this tell tale rock formation it was about 12 miles into the day going only 4 miles an hour.....
Our campsite was Ok, not what we originally wanted as the other was stolen by an inconsiderate group that we didn't like much. But not the end of the world. We de-rigged the rafts got our tents set up and started dinner. There is a fire ban in the canyon so no campfire but we made do and chatted a little until we all realized how tired we were. Right around the time everyone went to bed it started to sprinkle....then rain....then downpour the entire night!....and by morning it was off an on until we all started to wake up which the rain then stayed at a constant 'on'! Breakfast was served under a rain flap, and we rigged up the rafts in the rain while sliding down the muddy hill. It was a weird night because of the rock we were on it must have been retaining heat because I felt like I was being slow roasted by morning...it was SOOO HOT! And because of how much it rained we all woke up in a puddle. Once out of the sleeping bag and off the heat rock it was quite chilly. I didn't even take off my long johns... I boated the rest of the day in all my rain gear plus my long johns...... burr!
Once we were on the water again we had some more gorgeous scenery.....
Black Rocks is the name, pretty obvious right :)
A couple miles into the second day we crossed into Utah... the boarder is marked on the canyon wall in this picture look for the white in the middle of photo.....
After 26 miles over two days it was over...we arrived at the Westwater put in and did a few hours worth of work to get everything taken down and packed back into our cars... I was happy as could be... on the water and with my friends, the weekend couldn't have been better :) wish you were here!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
I don't know what's wrong with this thingy!
I have no idea what's wrong with the format of this blog... I changed the template so maybe that'll do the trick. I tried to make the last one all colorful, but apparently that screwed it up. Try posting comments now and see if it works.
What's happened lately..... Last weekend I went boating on Saturday with a women who asked me to help her get started in kayaking. The woman who does my hair also does her and mentioned I was a kayaker, so we exchanged phone numbers via our hairdresser. She was nice enough and I took her to boat Deckers which is a classic beginner run. She had only been in a boat once before which I mis understood her I guess when she was originally telling me what's she's done as far as learning. But she was very stable in her boat and wasn't scared at all. We came up to the Chutes which is the only significant part of the run and normally portaged by beginners. She said she wanted to do it and seemed very stable in her boat so I agreed. We made it through the zig zaggy part which a lot of people have a hard time with and she managed to get pushed into an eddy at the top just before the entrance to the chutes. That was a bit stressful as she got a little stuck and didn't know how to get herself out. I was ahead of her because she was following my line so I had to catch an eddy in the middle of the meat and try to ferry upstream to help her out. We got her out of her boat and into a safer position. I asked again if she was ok (if she wasn't it was going to get interesting) and she seemed fine. She said she was good and she trusted me, so we started off towards the entrance to the chutes. I went down first, got to the bottom and waited. She took a couple strokes then flipped over by the lateral wave at the top and swam the rest of the rapid. I made sure she was ok, then got her boat to shore, chased her paddle and attempted the rescue of her lost shoe. I had to walk through some brush on the side of the river to go make sure she could get in her boat. She was fine and we were off to finish the run which went seamlessly. She had a blast and the rental boat she had for the day she ended up buying when she went to return it. She's hooked!! SUCKER!! I love it when people get hooked it's so much fun to watch when someone gets that rush and can't stop smiling about it! Once I got home my legs started to itch...to the point I thought I was going to loose the first layer of flesh. I started to get tiny little blisters from my knees down and quickly realized the brush I walked through was POISON IVY! SUPER! Oh well, it's all part of it, it'll heal!
Tuesday night I met my girlfriend Patty for a hike just outside of Boulder with the doggies. It was great, we walked next to a little stream that my dogs were in and out of the entire time! I love watching them play. At the trail head we saw a little family with small children. My dogs will not hurt a fly and have had kids pull on them, love on them and everything else...and they LOVE IT! Obviously strangers don't know that, so the three little kids (all 5 or 6 and maybe a 3 year old) just stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the dogs coming. Olive was taller then almost all of them so it was probably pretty intimidating for the little kiddos. My dogs stopped in front of them and Desil immediately sits down in front of this little girl....waiting for her to pet him. She looks at me and I said 'I think he likes you, do you want to pet him?'. She nods with a big grin and gives him a bear hug! It was so cute. Desil sat quietly until she was done then gave her a huge slobbery kiss and bolted down to the water! Baxter the elderly beagle (Patty's dog) came with as they're all inseparable. This pic is when I was dog sitting Baxter......... hyper
and then the rare 3 secs when they weren't moving...............................
On Wednesday I had an excellent conversation with and old friend who I've learned might be visiting family out here. I think it's been at least 5 years...maybe closer to 6 since I've seen this friend and I really hope it works out where we can at least squeeze in a dinner during that visit! Hopefully we'll have a little more time but I'll take what I can get!
Tonight I just got back from another hike with the dogs and Patty. She mentioned today that she used to be on the cross country team when she was in HS! PERFECT!! So, next week we're going to jog instead of walk the trail. I'm stoked...I FOUND A RUNNING BUDDY!
I will have some time this weekend to get that Mom and Dad trip posted I hope...I can't wait to share it, it was such a good time!
till next time.....
What's happened lately..... Last weekend I went boating on Saturday with a women who asked me to help her get started in kayaking. The woman who does my hair also does her and mentioned I was a kayaker, so we exchanged phone numbers via our hairdresser. She was nice enough and I took her to boat Deckers which is a classic beginner run. She had only been in a boat once before which I mis understood her I guess when she was originally telling me what's she's done as far as learning. But she was very stable in her boat and wasn't scared at all. We came up to the Chutes which is the only significant part of the run and normally portaged by beginners. She said she wanted to do it and seemed very stable in her boat so I agreed. We made it through the zig zaggy part which a lot of people have a hard time with and she managed to get pushed into an eddy at the top just before the entrance to the chutes. That was a bit stressful as she got a little stuck and didn't know how to get herself out. I was ahead of her because she was following my line so I had to catch an eddy in the middle of the meat and try to ferry upstream to help her out. We got her out of her boat and into a safer position. I asked again if she was ok (if she wasn't it was going to get interesting) and she seemed fine. She said she was good and she trusted me, so we started off towards the entrance to the chutes. I went down first, got to the bottom and waited. She took a couple strokes then flipped over by the lateral wave at the top and swam the rest of the rapid. I made sure she was ok, then got her boat to shore, chased her paddle and attempted the rescue of her lost shoe. I had to walk through some brush on the side of the river to go make sure she could get in her boat. She was fine and we were off to finish the run which went seamlessly. She had a blast and the rental boat she had for the day she ended up buying when she went to return it. She's hooked!! SUCKER!! I love it when people get hooked it's so much fun to watch when someone gets that rush and can't stop smiling about it! Once I got home my legs started to itch...to the point I thought I was going to loose the first layer of flesh. I started to get tiny little blisters from my knees down and quickly realized the brush I walked through was POISON IVY! SUPER! Oh well, it's all part of it, it'll heal!
Tuesday night I met my girlfriend Patty for a hike just outside of Boulder with the doggies. It was great, we walked next to a little stream that my dogs were in and out of the entire time! I love watching them play. At the trail head we saw a little family with small children. My dogs will not hurt a fly and have had kids pull on them, love on them and everything else...and they LOVE IT! Obviously strangers don't know that, so the three little kids (all 5 or 6 and maybe a 3 year old) just stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the dogs coming. Olive was taller then almost all of them so it was probably pretty intimidating for the little kiddos. My dogs stopped in front of them and Desil immediately sits down in front of this little girl....waiting for her to pet him. She looks at me and I said 'I think he likes you, do you want to pet him?'. She nods with a big grin and gives him a bear hug! It was so cute. Desil sat quietly until she was done then gave her a huge slobbery kiss and bolted down to the water! Baxter the elderly beagle (Patty's dog) came with as they're all inseparable. This pic is when I was dog sitting Baxter......... hyper
and then the rare 3 secs when they weren't moving...............................
On Wednesday I had an excellent conversation with and old friend who I've learned might be visiting family out here. I think it's been at least 5 years...maybe closer to 6 since I've seen this friend and I really hope it works out where we can at least squeeze in a dinner during that visit! Hopefully we'll have a little more time but I'll take what I can get!Tonight I just got back from another hike with the dogs and Patty. She mentioned today that she used to be on the cross country team when she was in HS! PERFECT!! So, next week we're going to jog instead of walk the trail. I'm stoked...I FOUND A RUNNING BUDDY!
I will have some time this weekend to get that Mom and Dad trip posted I hope...I can't wait to share it, it was such a good time!
till next time.....
Monday, September 10, 2007
To keep you interested.......
Still working on the Mom and Dad road trip post. I took too many pictures as usual. It will likely be the longest post you'll ever read!
I just saw the comments you guys left when we were on the road.... Mom and Dad CRACK ME UP! We laughed... a lot! Good times! So here's a little game to keep your interest in this Monster BLOG I keep talking about. And as a bonus here's a little pic for you.....
To explain why I have this is kind of funny.... King and Queen of technology meant to copy a few pictures that I had once taken and downloaded to their laptop to a CD. I'm pretty sure they have no idea but they included on that cd, EVERY PICTURE THEY'VE EVER TAKEN! Two years ago when I was home, Izzy's hospital pictures, ALL of their Ireland photos, the rest of Dad's fishing trips, Jacobs Halloween pictures from last year or maybe earlier...everything!!! Too funny!
Time to play 'Who dun it'
Perps... Mom OR Dad ?
While driving on the Million Dollar Highway (very curvy) in the mountains and rounding the top of an 'S', perp turns on the right blinker. Perp is asked 'Um, Are you practicing for the next exit (hysterical laughter ensued)?'. Perp says in a very serious tone 'You keep laughing, SOMEDAY their going to pull me over.....and they'll give me an 'Excellent driver award', you'll see!'
I quit smoking....today is day 17. I made a deal with myself that for the first week which was the hardest I can do whatever I want. I was so tired that I barely moved all week except to take the dogs to the park for chuck it in between naps. But I'm over that part and I have been running almost everyday, but sometimes every other. I only do 20 to 30 mins, and still walk a lot, but I'm getting to longer and longer stretches of running. I also only do it during the week since I'm usually boating on the weekends. Talk about starting from scratch, it's very obvious I was NEVER a runner! I'll get there though...eventually.
IT'S OFFICIAL. I'M GOING TO COSTA RICA AGAIN...THIS TIME TO KAYAK!! I'm going with a small group of women (a couple guys too). It's before the parents get there. But it wouldn't have mattered as we'll be in the mountains jungle where the rivers are and on the opposite side of the country! It's going to be so much fun, I really can't wait!
That's it!
I just saw the comments you guys left when we were on the road.... Mom and Dad CRACK ME UP! We laughed... a lot! Good times! So here's a little game to keep your interest in this Monster BLOG I keep talking about. And as a bonus here's a little pic for you.....
To explain why I have this is kind of funny.... King and Queen of technology meant to copy a few pictures that I had once taken and downloaded to their laptop to a CD. I'm pretty sure they have no idea but they included on that cd, EVERY PICTURE THEY'VE EVER TAKEN! Two years ago when I was home, Izzy's hospital pictures, ALL of their Ireland photos, the rest of Dad's fishing trips, Jacobs Halloween pictures from last year or maybe earlier...everything!!! Too funny!Time to play 'Who dun it'
Perps... Mom OR Dad ?
While driving on the Million Dollar Highway (very curvy) in the mountains and rounding the top of an 'S', perp turns on the right blinker. Perp is asked 'Um, Are you practicing for the next exit (hysterical laughter ensued)?'. Perp says in a very serious tone 'You keep laughing, SOMEDAY their going to pull me over.....and they'll give me an 'Excellent driver award', you'll see!'
I quit smoking....today is day 17. I made a deal with myself that for the first week which was the hardest I can do whatever I want. I was so tired that I barely moved all week except to take the dogs to the park for chuck it in between naps. But I'm over that part and I have been running almost everyday, but sometimes every other. I only do 20 to 30 mins, and still walk a lot, but I'm getting to longer and longer stretches of running. I also only do it during the week since I'm usually boating on the weekends. Talk about starting from scratch, it's very obvious I was NEVER a runner! I'll get there though...eventually.
IT'S OFFICIAL. I'M GOING TO COSTA RICA AGAIN...THIS TIME TO KAYAK!! I'm going with a small group of women (a couple guys too). It's before the parents get there. But it wouldn't have mattered as we'll be in the mountains jungle where the rivers are and on the opposite side of the country! It's going to be so much fun, I really can't wait!
That's it!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Kids are FUNNY!!
Ok. I'm working on posting about my road trip with the parents but it'll be long and will take some time, there are a lot of pictures! For now, this is a little clip of Izzy laughing. It gets funnier and funnier every time I watch it! Michele I think you've seen this by now, but this is the one I was trying to e-mail to you. Classic!!
AAANNNDDD CUT!
AAANNNDDD CUT!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Beautiful Colorado and some running
I feel obligated to start with the running info. It's nothing impressive but it's a start. I started trying to running on Tuesday. I've been putting it off mainly because I feared it. I wasn't confident I could do even a minute. But, I did. It felt good, I ran and walked for about 20 mins on tuesday and Wednesday. I wasn't as out of breath and I thought I'd be and the reason for walking was more for my calf muscles. My muscles are getting used to the new movement. I did the same Wednesday and will keep it up! I have my eyes on the ball now...Next spring isn't that far away... Danskin Tiathalon is in my sights :)
I've finally gotten my internet connection working again. I had some major issues with the first router...cause it was old.. got a second one that was defective and had tech support issues, so I went to Best Buy after work. I got it hooked up and working in about 30 mins. WOHOO!! I love wireless and when I can get things to work properly!
Last weekend I went camping and kayaking with some friends. I got off work Saturday grabbed the doggies and we headed into the mountains. It's such a beautiful drive down to Buena Vista where we were camping. I got there and met my friends in town (Buena Vista) as they were picking up my paddle for me at CKS just before it closed (wasn't sure I'd make it in time). I LOVE MY NEW PADDLE!! We went to a little hole in the wall mexican place and had some dinner (suprisingly enough we all agreed it was pretty good and we were worried at first). Then we headed off to the campsite, it was dark by now. Luckily it was only about 2 miles outside of town, but it was on dirt roads, with a bunch of switch backs. I decided to sleep in back of the jeep with the dogs...never a good idea. It's too hairy, my dogs are too hyper in the morning and I always end up with a dog butt in my face and usually a paw in my mouth. But I was too lazy and hate setting up a tent in the dark. But I learned my lesson this time...I slept like crap and at one point woke up with both my dogs SPRAWLED out and snoring while I was in the fetal position off my sleeping pad all twisted up in my sleeping bag.
Anyway, we sat around the campfire, dogs snoozing all warm and curled up by the fire. Those campfire night are always long...before we realize it's after midnight. The next morning we get packed up and start talking about the plan. A few of the people in the group went to run 'numbers' which is a technical class IV run and not something I'm ready for yet. I opted for the medium run which was Frog Rock. OMG I love this run. It was the first time I've run it and was pretty hesitant. Boaters have a tendency to glorify horror stories of certain features on different runs. It took me a long time to tune out their personal dramatazation and pull the facts out. The run was technical which i love. Technical means it's a lot of quick moves, dodging and finding a clean line as opposed to big waves and fluffy features. So I loved it.
I took a few pictures in the morning before we headed out to do our runs. I love this state! Colorado...any part of it....never stops amazing me. It's inspiring to be in such a huge natural environment. Buena Vista has some of the 14ers which you could see one from the camping pictures. It really puts life into perspective. We're all just small little specs in life. I love how it smells, the never ending peacefulness and there's just so much to see and do in the Mountains. I feel at home, comfortable, and peaceful! But for you people at sea level, you'll just have to appreciate the pictures :) Wish you were here!!
This is the video from the campsite
Now for the pictures (open them up to full size to see the details)
I've finally gotten my internet connection working again. I had some major issues with the first router...cause it was old.. got a second one that was defective and had tech support issues, so I went to Best Buy after work. I got it hooked up and working in about 30 mins. WOHOO!! I love wireless and when I can get things to work properly!
Last weekend I went camping and kayaking with some friends. I got off work Saturday grabbed the doggies and we headed into the mountains. It's such a beautiful drive down to Buena Vista where we were camping. I got there and met my friends in town (Buena Vista) as they were picking up my paddle for me at CKS just before it closed (wasn't sure I'd make it in time). I LOVE MY NEW PADDLE!! We went to a little hole in the wall mexican place and had some dinner (suprisingly enough we all agreed it was pretty good and we were worried at first). Then we headed off to the campsite, it was dark by now. Luckily it was only about 2 miles outside of town, but it was on dirt roads, with a bunch of switch backs. I decided to sleep in back of the jeep with the dogs...never a good idea. It's too hairy, my dogs are too hyper in the morning and I always end up with a dog butt in my face and usually a paw in my mouth. But I was too lazy and hate setting up a tent in the dark. But I learned my lesson this time...I slept like crap and at one point woke up with both my dogs SPRAWLED out and snoring while I was in the fetal position off my sleeping pad all twisted up in my sleeping bag.
Anyway, we sat around the campfire, dogs snoozing all warm and curled up by the fire. Those campfire night are always long...before we realize it's after midnight. The next morning we get packed up and start talking about the plan. A few of the people in the group went to run 'numbers' which is a technical class IV run and not something I'm ready for yet. I opted for the medium run which was Frog Rock. OMG I love this run. It was the first time I've run it and was pretty hesitant. Boaters have a tendency to glorify horror stories of certain features on different runs. It took me a long time to tune out their personal dramatazation and pull the facts out. The run was technical which i love. Technical means it's a lot of quick moves, dodging and finding a clean line as opposed to big waves and fluffy features. So I loved it.
I took a few pictures in the morning before we headed out to do our runs. I love this state! Colorado...any part of it....never stops amazing me. It's inspiring to be in such a huge natural environment. Buena Vista has some of the 14ers which you could see one from the camping pictures. It really puts life into perspective. We're all just small little specs in life. I love how it smells, the never ending peacefulness and there's just so much to see and do in the Mountains. I feel at home, comfortable, and peaceful! But for you people at sea level, you'll just have to appreciate the pictures :) Wish you were here!!
This is the video from the campsite
Now for the pictures (open them up to full size to see the details)
Saturday, August 11, 2007
kayaking AGAIN and stupid keys! and intro to Windowshadding
I'll start with last weekend (8/3). I went kayaking of course, big shocker!! It was an arranged weekend sponsored by the local paddling community, Colorado Whitewater Association. They have several weekends a year on different rivers to offer instruction and support for new paddlers. We were at the Colorado river which at these water levels is almost ALL beginner runs. There's one short stretch which is called Shoshone and it's is a class III run. It's very short and the take out is also the put in for a much much easier run which is where we meet up with the beginners we're going to take down the easy stretch. Last year I ran Shoshone and ate shit several times. I think I swam more of the run then I was actually in my boat. THIS time however it was AWESOME!! I made it through all the rapids upright and solid!! I was so stoked. Then the trickiest rapid of the run is called Tombstone. It's tricky because there is a gigantic rock on river right, but you enter on river right, so it's a quick move left to avoid the rock then another right to avoid another obstacle a few yards away from the rock. Normally it would have been fine but I did not start cutting over until too late which caused me to hit the rock (hard) and then my boat flipped upside down. I waited for a few seconds until I felt my paddle catch on the surface and then rolled up. I have this on a head cam video but I can't seem to make it load onto You Tube. Anyway the head cam isn't the greatest but the audio on this is classic. You see the rapid ahead, then hear a distinct grunt as I hit the rock, and I tip over under water and then you hear what it's like to be under water in current which is cool. The last part is me flipping up and you can hear everyone in my group screaming 'YEAH...NICE JOB...THAT was AWESOME!!'. I'll keep working on the videos to post. All in all in was a great weekend. All my paddling girlfriends were there and we had a great time hanging out around the campfire and chatting with the huge group of people that were there :) We even went skinny dipping....one thing's for sure Colorado rivers are COLD!!! VERY VERY COLD! It was a bad idea but we were already in the water before that started to make sense :) BURRRRRRRR! The whole weekend was a lot of paddling...the beginner runs are really flat so you have to keep paddling if you want to move any faster. My shoulders, arms and torso were so sore on Sunday night. I love that feeling of just having made your muscles work extra hard. The cardio comes in when we have to hike boats in and out on our shoulders...I have a creek/river running boat which means it's heavy and bulky. It may not sound like a workout, but it is..there's sweating involved, heaving breathing, raised heart rates.
I got back on Sunday pretty late. On Monday I had the day off so I ran some errands and took the dogs for a walk. It was pretty muggy from all the rain lately so it was a shorter walk than normal. I got on the treadmill afterwards and hiked up the incline. I'm still a little nervous when walking Olive I don't want to trigger anything. She's was fine...very happy and energtic, so I should probably stop worring about it.
The week went by and on Thursday I met Laura and Chad for a surf lesson at Golden Play park. There are several whitewater play parks around here that are mostly occupied by play boaters and stupid teenieboppers who ride an entertube (sp) down it without life jackets and in their bikinis without shoes.. STUPiD!!!!! I have only ever done river running and creeking which requires large volume boats and lots of rapids and moves. Play boating requires short tiny boats and you are usually getting on a wave to surf if and do tricks. So we started pretty high up on the course (they held the junior olympics on this run a few weeks ago). We went down the first couple of holes until we reached the 'library hole'. Holes are tricky...some are sticky, some are keepers and some will just flush you out, but in these parks there's a big wave to ride just at the bottom of the hole. I wish I would have taken pictures..it's hard to explain it. Anyway, we waited in swirly eddy's for our turn on the wave. Since it was my first time I just ferried accross the wave to get the feel for it. By the end of the day I had gotten flipped about 4 or 5 times, but managed to surf for about a milisecond. I was happy with that :)
I was happy because just a few minutes prior to my milisecond on the wave was my introduction to watching windowshadding. It happens when the wave catches an edge just right on your boat which is caused by doing something wrong. the result is a violent and very audible smack when the wave literally whips you upside down and smacks you back to the water. It's incredbily painful to watch and you hear the commentery from the other boaters in the eddy all scream at the same time 'OHHHH that's gotta hurt'! Thank you, but I prefer to not be windowshadded if I can help it!! :)
We started to get a little cold and tired, so we got out and headed back to the cars which is a very long walk while shouldering your boat. I was in pain by the time I saw my car. I took out my key opened the door and put the key in the change holder so I wouldn't mis place it while I dried off. I hit what I thought was unlock so I could get into the back and then closed the door... Opps, it was lock instead of unlock. So now I am locked out of my car soaking wet in my gear and it's starting to get dark. I called a locksmith and my kayaking buds hung out while I waited. Laura decided we needed to try and unlock it ourselves. So about an hour later while there was a kayaking paddle shoved into the seam of my car window, and from a borrowed spool of wire we made a hook like device that was also shoved into the small opening the paddle provided, we all stood with flashlights and commentary, to try and get the door to unlock. The locksmith guy finally showed up, reaking of alcohol, bloodshot eyes and stinky aroma from smoke and liquor (so glad he drove there to do this). There were approximately 6 or 7 people gathered around my car window and we all asked if I could get a discout because we had ALMOST gotten it open :) He said yes and I gave him a little less cash under the table and I was in!! These people hung out while it was dark and the monster misquitoes attacked violently all while giving 100% effort to try and beat the locksmith. Great friends, this is why I love this little community of boaters. It's filled with genuinely good people!! Anyway, I'm investing in a hide-a-key box and lots of extra keys! First and last time it will ever happen!!
So Mike...Mr. Matchmaker... where's my hook up? I'm single yet again, maybe I should try and find a firefighter? I'm not sure I could date anyone else from Goex though....crazy Matt was enough!!
OK after work today (yes I'm at work), I'm heading up to Buena Vista to camp out with friends and paddle something on the Arkansas river on Sunday. My goal next week is to post again with actual hours on the treadmill RUNNING!! ....and maybe a few videos and pics from the last few weekends.
I got back on Sunday pretty late. On Monday I had the day off so I ran some errands and took the dogs for a walk. It was pretty muggy from all the rain lately so it was a shorter walk than normal. I got on the treadmill afterwards and hiked up the incline. I'm still a little nervous when walking Olive I don't want to trigger anything. She's was fine...very happy and energtic, so I should probably stop worring about it.
The week went by and on Thursday I met Laura and Chad for a surf lesson at Golden Play park. There are several whitewater play parks around here that are mostly occupied by play boaters and stupid teenieboppers who ride an entertube (sp) down it without life jackets and in their bikinis without shoes.. STUPiD!!!!! I have only ever done river running and creeking which requires large volume boats and lots of rapids and moves. Play boating requires short tiny boats and you are usually getting on a wave to surf if and do tricks. So we started pretty high up on the course (they held the junior olympics on this run a few weeks ago). We went down the first couple of holes until we reached the 'library hole'. Holes are tricky...some are sticky, some are keepers and some will just flush you out, but in these parks there's a big wave to ride just at the bottom of the hole. I wish I would have taken pictures..it's hard to explain it. Anyway, we waited in swirly eddy's for our turn on the wave. Since it was my first time I just ferried accross the wave to get the feel for it. By the end of the day I had gotten flipped about 4 or 5 times, but managed to surf for about a milisecond. I was happy with that :)
I was happy because just a few minutes prior to my milisecond on the wave was my introduction to watching windowshadding. It happens when the wave catches an edge just right on your boat which is caused by doing something wrong. the result is a violent and very audible smack when the wave literally whips you upside down and smacks you back to the water. It's incredbily painful to watch and you hear the commentery from the other boaters in the eddy all scream at the same time 'OHHHH that's gotta hurt'! Thank you, but I prefer to not be windowshadded if I can help it!! :)
We started to get a little cold and tired, so we got out and headed back to the cars which is a very long walk while shouldering your boat. I was in pain by the time I saw my car. I took out my key opened the door and put the key in the change holder so I wouldn't mis place it while I dried off. I hit what I thought was unlock so I could get into the back and then closed the door... Opps, it was lock instead of unlock. So now I am locked out of my car soaking wet in my gear and it's starting to get dark. I called a locksmith and my kayaking buds hung out while I waited. Laura decided we needed to try and unlock it ourselves. So about an hour later while there was a kayaking paddle shoved into the seam of my car window, and from a borrowed spool of wire we made a hook like device that was also shoved into the small opening the paddle provided, we all stood with flashlights and commentary, to try and get the door to unlock. The locksmith guy finally showed up, reaking of alcohol, bloodshot eyes and stinky aroma from smoke and liquor (so glad he drove there to do this). There were approximately 6 or 7 people gathered around my car window and we all asked if I could get a discout because we had ALMOST gotten it open :) He said yes and I gave him a little less cash under the table and I was in!! These people hung out while it was dark and the monster misquitoes attacked violently all while giving 100% effort to try and beat the locksmith. Great friends, this is why I love this little community of boaters. It's filled with genuinely good people!! Anyway, I'm investing in a hide-a-key box and lots of extra keys! First and last time it will ever happen!!
So Mike...Mr. Matchmaker... where's my hook up? I'm single yet again, maybe I should try and find a firefighter? I'm not sure I could date anyone else from Goex though....crazy Matt was enough!!
OK after work today (yes I'm at work), I'm heading up to Buena Vista to camp out with friends and paddle something on the Arkansas river on Sunday. My goal next week is to post again with actual hours on the treadmill RUNNING!! ....and maybe a few videos and pics from the last few weekends.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Tagged
I was tagged by Jenny and Mike so here it goes.....
Jobs I've held:
Wisconsin/Minnesota Swim Camp - camp couselor * I video taped kids in stroke clinics, made sure they didn't misbehave, kept them on schedule and helped them train for the Triathalon that was held at the end of each camp session.. I LOVED THIS JOB!!!!
Lifeguard/Swim lesson teacher * I lifeguarded at Lion's Beach and did swim lessons at rockport pool in the summers. I also worked for the City of janesville as a Swim teacher during summer school. In the winters I lifeguarded, taught swim lessons, and taught water areobics (I was horrible at it). I taught swim lessons and lifeguarded as a second job until about 4 years ago.
Waitress at Pizzeria Uno's (I WAS THE WORLDS WORST WAITRESS)
Assembler at a parker pen factory - I had to be there from 6-10AM, then I went to lifeguard from 10a -6p, and then I went to my waitressing job until the resturaunt closed. 6 days a week. I quit the 6A - 10A factory job pretty quick!!!
Seasonal Boston store sales associate - worked during Xmas break at school.
Cleaner at medical clinics _ GROSS job...hated it, but it was nights and it didn't interfer with any of my courses at school.
Dispatcher for private security company. - Uh it was interesting to say the least!
Student Helpdesk. I was the student helpdesk in the mainframe computer lab. it counted towards my internship credits and I got to do my homework if I wasn't helping someone else.
Computer operator - internship at Great lakes Higher Education for 2 months
Computer Operator - WI State Lottery - waiting for GLHEC to hire me full time
computer Operator - Hired full time with GLHEC
Mainframe Scheduler - State of WI - CARES - This was a really cool job. Loved the people, loved the work and freedom, and great pay.
Aquatics Supervisor YMCA - I was in charge of swim lessons, the pool schedule, the lifeguard staff, and the swim team staff. I really enjoyed this because I got to help coach the swim team!!! this was my first job in Colorado...my two paychecks were about 50 dollars LESS than I owed in just rent alone.
Mainframe Tech Support - TIAA-CREF and I've been here for a little over 5 years
Places I've lived: (in order)
Janesville, WI
Madison, WI
Janesville, WI
Madison, WI
Denver, CO
(you might think the janesville to Madison is a mistake...but it's not I obviously couldn't make up my mind)
Movies I can watch over and over:
Oh there's just so many
The parent Trap (Haley Mills version)
The grinch who stole Christmas (cartoom and Jim Carrey versions)
My big fat greek wedding
Hoosiers
Ice age (all of them)
Pretty in Pink
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
I won't bore you with the rest of the list... I watch a lot of movies
My guilty pleasures:
chocolate
Pizza
sleeping in
kayaking (it's hard to focus on work in the beginning of the season)
snowboarding (again it's hard to focus on work in the beginning of the season)
butterscotch discs
Shows I enjoy
Bones
House
So you think you can dance
MTV - duels and/or Infernos - Physical and mental challenges to win prizes...LOVE IT!
GlobeTrekkers (PBS)
Man Vs. Wild
Weeds
what not to wear
Places I've been on vacation:
Northern Wisconsin (family camping trips)
Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Kissimmee, Orlando, the Keys and a few others)
Elwood, IN
Rockton, ILL
Mexico ( a few different spots with family)
Olympia, WA
Missouri (a few different places)
Montana (Beartooth MTNS, backpacking, and to meet my my uncle's family to share a cabin)
South Dakota (badlands and Mt rushmore)
Wyoming - (backpacking)
Boulder, CO (for a wedding and it made me want to move back to live there)
charlotte, NC (business trip)
Austin, Texas
Little Rock, AR
Arizona (for a wedding)
Costa Rica (to visit parents)
Spain (Tormellinos and took a day trip to Morroco)
Favorite foods:
Club sandwhich without tomatoes
Pizza
chicken salad from Sentry
Peanut butter, banana and jelly sandwhiches
sweet and sour chicken with rice
Shrimp and Lobster with butter
Website i visit daily:
9news.com
msn.com
msnbc.com
coloradokayakers.com
mountainbuzz.com
jenny's blog
mike's blog
michele's blog
people.com
usatoday.com
Awards I've won
a bucket full of ribbons from swim meets when I was a kid. camp ribbons from basketball and softball and track.
AAUW scholarship
a few things at work
I just won last weekend the 'best combat roll in tombstone rapid'. I'll post the video but i rolled and came back up without having to get out of my boat. I won some super cool hiking poles that you can mount your camera on and use a stabilizer, plus they have shock absorbers...very cool!!
Nicknames I've been called:
Aggie - a co-worker assigned it, I never got it.
TK -
Just like jenny and I'm sure Michele too, my school friends were lame and not very creative. Weinie was popular because of the last name (Keeney). it was stupid and they even made up little songs that rhymed.
that's it. whew...lots of questions and long answers :) I'll post again here a little later to show the video and the chaos from last night!!
Jobs I've held:
Wisconsin/Minnesota Swim Camp - camp couselor * I video taped kids in stroke clinics, made sure they didn't misbehave, kept them on schedule and helped them train for the Triathalon that was held at the end of each camp session.. I LOVED THIS JOB!!!!
Lifeguard/Swim lesson teacher * I lifeguarded at Lion's Beach and did swim lessons at rockport pool in the summers. I also worked for the City of janesville as a Swim teacher during summer school. In the winters I lifeguarded, taught swim lessons, and taught water areobics (I was horrible at it). I taught swim lessons and lifeguarded as a second job until about 4 years ago.
Waitress at Pizzeria Uno's (I WAS THE WORLDS WORST WAITRESS)
Assembler at a parker pen factory - I had to be there from 6-10AM, then I went to lifeguard from 10a -6p, and then I went to my waitressing job until the resturaunt closed. 6 days a week. I quit the 6A - 10A factory job pretty quick!!!
Seasonal Boston store sales associate - worked during Xmas break at school.
Cleaner at medical clinics _ GROSS job...hated it, but it was nights and it didn't interfer with any of my courses at school.
Dispatcher for private security company. - Uh it was interesting to say the least!
Student Helpdesk. I was the student helpdesk in the mainframe computer lab. it counted towards my internship credits and I got to do my homework if I wasn't helping someone else.
Computer operator - internship at Great lakes Higher Education for 2 months
Computer Operator - WI State Lottery - waiting for GLHEC to hire me full time
computer Operator - Hired full time with GLHEC
Mainframe Scheduler - State of WI - CARES - This was a really cool job. Loved the people, loved the work and freedom, and great pay.
Aquatics Supervisor YMCA - I was in charge of swim lessons, the pool schedule, the lifeguard staff, and the swim team staff. I really enjoyed this because I got to help coach the swim team!!! this was my first job in Colorado...my two paychecks were about 50 dollars LESS than I owed in just rent alone.
Mainframe Tech Support - TIAA-CREF and I've been here for a little over 5 years
Places I've lived: (in order)
Janesville, WI
Madison, WI
Janesville, WI
Madison, WI
Denver, CO
(you might think the janesville to Madison is a mistake...but it's not I obviously couldn't make up my mind)
Movies I can watch over and over:
Oh there's just so many
The parent Trap (Haley Mills version)
The grinch who stole Christmas (cartoom and Jim Carrey versions)
My big fat greek wedding
Hoosiers
Ice age (all of them)
Pretty in Pink
Sixteen Candles
The Breakfast Club
I won't bore you with the rest of the list... I watch a lot of movies
My guilty pleasures:
chocolate
Pizza
sleeping in
kayaking (it's hard to focus on work in the beginning of the season)
snowboarding (again it's hard to focus on work in the beginning of the season)
butterscotch discs
Shows I enjoy
Bones
House
So you think you can dance
MTV - duels and/or Infernos - Physical and mental challenges to win prizes...LOVE IT!
GlobeTrekkers (PBS)
Man Vs. Wild
Weeds
what not to wear
Places I've been on vacation:
Northern Wisconsin (family camping trips)
Florida (Ft. Lauderdale, Kissimmee, Orlando, the Keys and a few others)
Elwood, IN
Rockton, ILL
Mexico ( a few different spots with family)
Olympia, WA
Missouri (a few different places)
Montana (Beartooth MTNS, backpacking, and to meet my my uncle's family to share a cabin)
South Dakota (badlands and Mt rushmore)
Wyoming - (backpacking)
Boulder, CO (for a wedding and it made me want to move back to live there)
charlotte, NC (business trip)
Austin, Texas
Little Rock, AR
Arizona (for a wedding)
Costa Rica (to visit parents)
Spain (Tormellinos and took a day trip to Morroco)
Favorite foods:
Club sandwhich without tomatoes
Pizza
chicken salad from Sentry
Peanut butter, banana and jelly sandwhiches
sweet and sour chicken with rice
Shrimp and Lobster with butter
Website i visit daily:
9news.com
msn.com
msnbc.com
coloradokayakers.com
mountainbuzz.com
jenny's blog
mike's blog
michele's blog
people.com
usatoday.com
Awards I've won
a bucket full of ribbons from swim meets when I was a kid. camp ribbons from basketball and softball and track.
AAUW scholarship
a few things at work
I just won last weekend the 'best combat roll in tombstone rapid'. I'll post the video but i rolled and came back up without having to get out of my boat. I won some super cool hiking poles that you can mount your camera on and use a stabilizer, plus they have shock absorbers...very cool!!
Nicknames I've been called:
Aggie - a co-worker assigned it, I never got it.
TK -
Just like jenny and I'm sure Michele too, my school friends were lame and not very creative. Weinie was popular because of the last name (Keeney). it was stupid and they even made up little songs that rhymed.
that's it. whew...lots of questions and long answers :) I'll post again here a little later to show the video and the chaos from last night!!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
A kayaking experience
We ran a run called Deckers today. It is not much more than a meandering trout stream with a few fun little features that make it worth it to boat. As a kayker that has some experience and is confident in class III-IV stuff it's pretty boring (it's a class II with one class III rapid), but it's close to town, has enough water in it even after the other rivers have gotten so low they are unrunnable at this time in the season, and it's an excellent place for beginners to learn. It's also beautiful...it's nestled in a little canyon and has several other options for harder runs providing roberts tunnel is releasing water and they have enough in them to boat. So, this was the first time I've gone down this season without having the newbies (new kayakers who are still really green and can't do much over a class II float) out number the experienced one's. We did have one newbie and 6 others including myself. It's fairly low and running around 400 CFS (think 400 basketballs flowing down the river at once), I took beginners down this at about 600 CFS and there was lots o carnage (swimmers). So here are a few pics of the day. Keep in mind that I was using Kerry's camera which is a super awesome olympus that can be submerged up to 10 feet (maybe more I don't know), and can take just about anything....like smacking on a rock and it still works. But I used it as a point and shoot so some pictures aren't really up to standard, but what the hell, you'll see what you need to:) It was an awesome day!
Step 1: Shuttle and road side scout
We scout so we can read the lines (best route to take) of a particular rapid. This run has two, which the first of which we are scouting here and it's named 'Chutes'. The second one is easy and you can read and run. I hate scouting...you stare at a rapid, and some are rather intimidating, for too long and you psych yourself out. GO BIG is my motto, just try to stay upright!
Ok the next pic is of the Chutes, you can't really appreciate it until you see it in person but this is all I got for ya :) it's pretty easy but intimidating to the newer paddler because of it's rock walls on each side which make it very narrow and forceful. There's a big hole (holes can either be your friend your make you eat shit! Some are sticky, some will recycle you and not let go until they've had their fun, this one is nice and you can punch right through it) in the middle that you simply can't avoid but some hard paddle strokes will get you through it. I always tell people to point your boat just slightly left and the natural flow will flush you out. 
It's very short and at the end of it there's a huge pool with two big eddies, great for catching gear or swimmers :) We had two swimmers today on this part of the run, which they were both fairly new and the swirly water at the bottom gets people every time!
It's very short and at the end of it there's a huge pool with two big eddies, great for catching gear or swimmers :) We had two swimmers today on this part of the run, which they were both fairly new and the swirly water at the bottom gets people every time!
Step 2: Put in
This is the beginning of the run if you didn't under stand the lingo...tee hee hee.
Step 3: Having a good time!
*Patty being goofy!* Kerry trying his stern squirt* sitting in an eddy* me and Kerry floating
Step 4: Take Out
Whadda dork!! *I thought he was kissing me on the cheek, turns out the little
pervert wasn't!!! So much for a cute little picture. Like the hair?
It's impossible to look like anything other than a drowned rat at
the end of a run!!!
It's impossible to look like anything other than a drowned rat at
the end of a run!!!
So that's a day of kayaking...I love it! If I could only find a way to make money at it I'd do it everyday...all day :) Until winter comes then snowboarding season starts!
Olive seems to be fine too, she's been more hyper lately (haven't exercised her much since the 'incident'). Still keeping an eye on her but she seems to be fine! Thank God!! I'm positive that I will have a major breakdown if anything happened to her....she was just a little peanut when I brought her home and she's been the only constant thing throughout all the moving, and relationships and life (other than my awesome family)...she's my little buddy !!!
Friday, July 27, 2007
From Hell to heaven all while working from home.
Friday was a traumatic day. My dog Olive who is 10 years old had a seizure in the kitchen. The day started as normal with the addition of Baxter the elderly Beagle I'm dog sitting . We got up, went outside, ate breakfast and then Olive walked by me and just kind of tipped over, legs stiff, muscles tensed and her eyes rolled into her head. She just wobbled a little on the floor then her head whipped back for a second or two. I tried to calm her down, petting her, talking to her, and after a minute or two she was looking at me again. She hung out for a little bit then got up and walked around...napped pretty much the rest of the morning. I took her to the vet in the afternoon and she was happy and hyper like normal. They said her blood work came back looking excellent and they have no idea what caused it. It could be environmental, stress, a brain tumor, or a one time occurence that may be related to her age.
I heard this morning about food triggers, mainly purina brand dog food, which triggered seizures in other dogs. This is not completely out of the question as the cause since she ate a handful of Baxter's food about 20 mins before it happened. I think it actually took me longer to recover from her little episode then it took her, but I'm having someone watch her while I'm at work for a while just to make sure. Scary and so sad...there's nothing you can do to help really outside of holding them and waiting it out. While it was happening when her eyes were not rolling back she just looked scared and had no idea why she didn't have any control over herself. Poor thing....
Luckily the day was rainy and almost cold, it was a fantastic break from the high 90's and I know all the dogs enjoyed it as well. We took a slow walk around the park before bed.
So this morning at 4AM (it should be illegal to get up that early) I packed up all the dogs, my boat and gear, plus laptop for work and headed out. I dropped Baxter off at his house as his Mommy is coming home this afternoon, in Boulder, drove all the way to Littleton to drop my dogs off at Kerry's house and then went to work. We're going boating tomorrow....in Deckers which is a beautiful canyon up around Conifer. It's close to town and still has water in it, snow definitley melts too fast here!!
I have been eating good the last few weeks, but haven't gotten a whole lot of strenuous workouts in. Deckers will help with that, it's an easy run but when we're done a few of us are doing Foxton which is a little more difficult and will keep me on my toes!
I heard this morning about food triggers, mainly purina brand dog food, which triggered seizures in other dogs. This is not completely out of the question as the cause since she ate a handful of Baxter's food about 20 mins before it happened. I think it actually took me longer to recover from her little episode then it took her, but I'm having someone watch her while I'm at work for a while just to make sure. Scary and so sad...there's nothing you can do to help really outside of holding them and waiting it out. While it was happening when her eyes were not rolling back she just looked scared and had no idea why she didn't have any control over herself. Poor thing....
Luckily the day was rainy and almost cold, it was a fantastic break from the high 90's and I know all the dogs enjoyed it as well. We took a slow walk around the park before bed.
So this morning at 4AM (it should be illegal to get up that early) I packed up all the dogs, my boat and gear, plus laptop for work and headed out. I dropped Baxter off at his house as his Mommy is coming home this afternoon, in Boulder, drove all the way to Littleton to drop my dogs off at Kerry's house and then went to work. We're going boating tomorrow....in Deckers which is a beautiful canyon up around Conifer. It's close to town and still has water in it, snow definitley melts too fast here!!
I have been eating good the last few weeks, but haven't gotten a whole lot of strenuous workouts in. Deckers will help with that, it's an easy run but when we're done a few of us are doing Foxton which is a little more difficult and will keep me on my toes!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
I'm FINALLY getting a/c
It's a miracle!! I just got an estimate that I can afford so on Monday I'll have a/c! WOOHOO!
It's been REALLY hot lately and never seemed to let up. I'm really excited that I won't have to sit and puddle when I'm home anymore!
I went to Boulder the other night to hit a few local paddle shops. In my defense I did check the consignment store first....I bought the paddle I've been wanting. It was maybe a tad expensive but it'll be a good investment. I love this paddle!
Boulder is like visiting a different state, it's in a world of it's own and is always a unique experience. It's filled with Birkenstocks, peddle bikes and I Tele-Loveland (local ski area) stickers. You can't walk down the block without seeing dreadlocks. It has an abundance of hippies and granolas. I love it..not to live there but it's a fun little town! After spending a ridiculous amount of money on my paddle Patty, Alex and I went for dinner.
When I got home it was pretty late but nice and cool, so i took the dogs for a walk, about 3 miles. It's been so hot that I haven't done much of anything outside of walking the dogs but today and the rest of the weekend are suppose to be a lot cooler. I think i will take Baxter (I'm dog sitting) and Olive, who are my geriatric team out for a slow walk, then come back and take Desil for a run. I'm confident that if I have a heart attack from attempting to run and passout, Desil who is a solid 90 lbs of SPAZ will have no problems dragging (literally) me home!
I've been researching all the different gear and training trips for triathalons. It never fails to amaze me how many gadgets are out there for different sports. I'm not sure I can get into the world of Garmin gadgets and stats but you never know! For now I'll stick with the basics
It's been REALLY hot lately and never seemed to let up. I'm really excited that I won't have to sit and puddle when I'm home anymore!
I went to Boulder the other night to hit a few local paddle shops. In my defense I did check the consignment store first....I bought the paddle I've been wanting. It was maybe a tad expensive but it'll be a good investment. I love this paddle!
Boulder is like visiting a different state, it's in a world of it's own and is always a unique experience. It's filled with Birkenstocks, peddle bikes and I Tele-Loveland (local ski area) stickers. You can't walk down the block without seeing dreadlocks. It has an abundance of hippies and granolas. I love it..not to live there but it's a fun little town! After spending a ridiculous amount of money on my paddle Patty, Alex and I went for dinner.
When I got home it was pretty late but nice and cool, so i took the dogs for a walk, about 3 miles. It's been so hot that I haven't done much of anything outside of walking the dogs but today and the rest of the weekend are suppose to be a lot cooler. I think i will take Baxter (I'm dog sitting) and Olive, who are my geriatric team out for a slow walk, then come back and take Desil for a run. I'm confident that if I have a heart attack from attempting to run and passout, Desil who is a solid 90 lbs of SPAZ will have no problems dragging (literally) me home!
I've been researching all the different gear and training trips for triathalons. It never fails to amaze me how many gadgets are out there for different sports. I'm not sure I can get into the world of Garmin gadgets and stats but you never know! For now I'll stick with the basics
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Keeping up with the W's!
So here goes it...the first blog! My sister Jenny and her husband have inspired me to be a healthier person. My other sister Michele has just started to blog and train as well which has made me want to get going myself in that same direction.
My goal in general is to be healthier and get back into my athletic abilities. I used to play all kinds of sports, swimming being the main one but remember my childhood filled with sports of all kinds. My 20's were filled with things I'm not proud of and most of which is my health. My first personal goal is to get back into a routine of exercising regular. Once I get that under control I am going to try running....which I've always thought there's too much jiggle for me to be a descent runner. Time to change how I look at it and just get it done... I really want to participate with my sisters in a Triathalon next year.
I don't have the exercise buddy like Jenny and Mike have, and I don't have a coach/husband like Michele has but I am going to try and self motivate, we'll see how it goes.
I've started a food/exercise journal to keep me in check. This week will be the first trial run at getting into a routine...next week is focusing on the basics and pushing myself to do a little more.
Luckily I live right next to a very large outdoor gym...the Rocky Mountains. Last weekend was a full one with kayaking which after doing the math came to about 5 hours of paddling (easy lots of floating) on Saturday and 4 hours of hard paddling on Sunday. I ran the Arkansas River down by Canon City. Of course it's always beautiful.... here is a link (below) to the group I was with and the commercial pictures. The water was muddy from all the rain the night before which made me feel like I was boating in chocolate milk.
http://www.viewmyimages.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?eventid=0&eventstatus=0&categories=no&keywords2=no&groupid=146&bw=false&sep=false
Choose the 7-22-2007_451 PVT 1245PM link on the page, I have the red helmet and orange boat, and black paddle
My goal in general is to be healthier and get back into my athletic abilities. I used to play all kinds of sports, swimming being the main one but remember my childhood filled with sports of all kinds. My 20's were filled with things I'm not proud of and most of which is my health. My first personal goal is to get back into a routine of exercising regular. Once I get that under control I am going to try running....which I've always thought there's too much jiggle for me to be a descent runner. Time to change how I look at it and just get it done... I really want to participate with my sisters in a Triathalon next year.
I don't have the exercise buddy like Jenny and Mike have, and I don't have a coach/husband like Michele has but I am going to try and self motivate, we'll see how it goes.
I've started a food/exercise journal to keep me in check. This week will be the first trial run at getting into a routine...next week is focusing on the basics and pushing myself to do a little more.
Luckily I live right next to a very large outdoor gym...the Rocky Mountains. Last weekend was a full one with kayaking which after doing the math came to about 5 hours of paddling (easy lots of floating) on Saturday and 4 hours of hard paddling on Sunday. I ran the Arkansas River down by Canon City. Of course it's always beautiful.... here is a link (below) to the group I was with and the commercial pictures. The water was muddy from all the rain the night before which made me feel like I was boating in chocolate milk.
http://www.viewmyimages.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?eventid=0&eventstatus=0&categories=no&keywords2=no&groupid=146&bw=false&sep=false
Choose the 7-22-2007_451 PVT 1245PM link on the page, I have the red helmet and orange boat, and black paddle
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