Hiking!

This past week the weather was perfect - low temps, next to no humidity and I was still on "house arrest" due to grass pollen. I finally decided that the pollen count was lower and I just couldn't resist the weather so out I went - figuring that I would pay the price later. I got quite lucky though, I didn't have to pay any price, other than the tank of gas to get to SNP! YIPPEEE!!!!

Over Spring Break I'd begun exploring the southern district of SNP and so I decided I'd continue that exploration yesterday. I found a shortish, easyish loop trail - 5.8 miles, 1,300 feet of elevation gain/loss. At the trails lowest point there was a creek where I could enjoy lunch and a possible foot soak and/or some wading if I was hot.

I was so glad that I decided to go out to SNP - the weather was perfect - 61 degrees as I was driving down Skyline Drive! When I stopped at a picnic ground to use the comfort station and was wishing I'd worn pants - it was chilly! Once I got hiking though, I was working up a sweat.

Check out a few of my pictures from the day...




The view from the overlook where the trail started.

Trail post for the trail I was hiking, with a great view in the background.

When I reached the creek I bushwhacked off trail a bit to a big rock to sit on to eat my sandwich - from my rock I could see this waterfall so I climbed over a few more rocks and walked through a patch of stinging nettle to get this picture!

Rock overhang on the AT on my way back to my car.

There were lots of flowers in bloom on the AT. I like this one with the bug on it!

More pretty flowers - I believe they are columbine of some sort.

This is one of my favorite pics - it came out looking like a professional photographer!

My 1st picture of an SNP bear!!!! I have seen many black bears in the park - both on the trail and from the car, this is the 1st one I have been able to get a picture of! This pic was taken from the car on Skyline Drive and yes I used the zoom on the camera....


Here's hoping for a mild summer with more low temp/low humidity days for more hiking! :)

Reading Challenge!

On my friend Susan's blog she posted about a reading challenge she was taking part in that she learned about from another friend of her's - Lesley - got to her site for rules and info, but basically you pick 6 books about travel and read them between now and December.

Since I'm traveling to Alaska later in the summer I decided that I would try and read all books about Alaska! I have my 6 books, but I have also selected some alternates, in case I get sick of reading about Alaska! I also already know that I will need to take some time off from the challenge, since the new, and last, Harry Potter book will be released and as much as I think it should qualify, because I would love to got to Hogwarts, Lesley's rules clearly state that all places must be real - despite the fact that Harry Potter is also set in London, which is very real, I don't think it would fly (pun intended! :)

Ok....on to my books!

Alaska Books - 1st picks

About Grace: A Novel - by: Anthony Doerr
Manhunt - by: Janet Evanovich (have heard she is great, but have never read any of her books)
Sitka - by: Louis L'Amour (not big into westerns so have never read anything by him, but feel like I should)
True North - by: Kimberly Kafka
Drop City - by: T.C. Boyle
The Serpents Trail - by: Sue Henry (she has written a whole series of Alaska mysteries)

Alternate Books

Ordinary Wolves - by: Seth Kantner (set in Alaska also, however is not available at my library so might not get read - try not to buy "adult books" since I spend so much on children's books!)
Hey Ranger! True Tales of Humor in our National Parks - by: Jim Burnett (looks really funny, but not avaliable at the library)
There's No TP...on the Road Less Traveled: Best of Travel Humor and Misadventures - Edited by: Bruce Lansky (a compilation of a a number of comedians best travel misadventures - looks really funy - probably a great airplane read, but again, not in the library!)
Endangered Species - by: Nevada Barr (she has written a whole series of mysteries set in National Parks starring her ranger herione Anna Pigeon)
Stormy Weather - Carl Hiaasen (his books are set in Florida and a totally hysterical!)

Ok so I have almost as many alternate books as I do "real" books! So many books so little time! :)

Long Time....No Blog

Hello all my faithful readers - all 2 of ya! Sorry I haven't blogged in a very long time! I have had very little "Playtime" lately. The allergies got really really bad and I have been quarantined inside, then I got a really, really, really, bad sinus infection which kept me from doing pretty much anything for a few weeks - 3 rounds of antibiotics finally made it go away and then it was the end of the school year with all that insanity! School is finally out, the pollen is going away, and soon I should have more stuff to write about! :)

I have some cross stitching to post - but they are all baby gifts so wanted to wait and post after I'd given them to my friends.

First thing - I'm going to write it in a seperate post - is I'm taking my ist ever "Reading Challenge" - my friend Susan has a blogging friend who blogs about books and she has posted the challenge...links and more info above! :)

Elizabeth Furnace Hike - GWNF

Finally, I'm posting the pictures from my hike in the Elizabeth Furnace area of George Washington National Forest from last weekend! It was a beautiful day,however it was frigid! As evidenced by the amount of clothes we all have on! The cold temps are why I didn't take more pictures, in order to take a picture I would have had to stop and then I would have gotten cold! This trail has wonderful winter views of both the Massanuttan Mountains and the Shenandoah mountains. This was the 2nd time I have hiked in GWNF - I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to more hikes over there! :)

A view from a rock outcropping.

Surrounded by mountains!

Beryl, someone who's name I don't recall, and Andrew

Jeff, Russ (our fearless leader), and Robert, Beryl's son, don't remember the name of the man who is seated.
You can really see how cold it is out - we all have our hats and gloves on!

It was a terrific hike, with great company! I will def. repeat this hike soon! :)

New Blog Title

For all those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the unveiling of the name of my blog, this is for you.....as I was hiking yesterday I thought of a name for my blog...Playtime! It seems that I mostly use the blog to write about the fun things I do and share pictures I decided this would be a good thing to focus my blog around!

So, without further ado, scroll down and read all about the fun things I have done over Spring Break! :)

Tuesday Hightop Mt. in SNP

Amazingly Tuesday was an even more beautiful day than Mon! I was so glad I'd already decided I was going to hiking in SNP! I have been working on hiking the entire AT in SNP - I have been working on this for 6+ years now and before today I'd done roughly 50 miles of it, so 1/2 way through SNP. Today I decided to hike a few more AT miles. I haven't done much exploration of the south district of SNP since it's so far away, however I have covered most of the central and north districts and wanted an interesting hike for the day. I looked in the guide books and found Hightop Mountain which looked like a good day hike. I decided to hike up from Smith Roach Gap and go up the mt gently and then descend steeply to Skyline Drive and then hike back to the car via Skyline Drive rather than retracing my steps. It proved to be a wonderful hike, with wonderful views!

These little white flowers were abundant along the trail.

This winter's ice storms were especially hard on the central and southern districts of SNP. It's strange because the ice seemed to take the tops of the trees rather than the whole tree. It looked almost like tornado damage, rather than ice storm damage. The woods were a mess and I know it took many many trail crew hours to clear the trail so it was passable for hikers.

The view from the summit of Hightop mountain.

Another shot of the view from the top. You can see an overlook on SNP down below. Scroll down and you'll see the view of the mountain from the overlook - I think...there were two overlooks from which I could see the mountain so I'm not sure which one I'm looking at here.

Yet another shot of the view from Hightop.

Where the AT meets Skyline Drive.

A view of Hightop Mountain from one of the overlooks along Skyline Drive.

After I hiked the Hightop Loop (6.6 miles) it was still early in day and I'd considered doing a few more miles in southern district but was feeling like I should quit while I was ahead - 6 miles was a decent days hike and it was hot. I'd decided that I would drive back SD rather than deal with 29 and all the stop lights and such. As I drove up SD toward Big Meadows the beauty of the day got the better of me and I decided that I had to hike some more. There was a section of the AT from Lewis Mt Campground to Pocosin Fire Road that I needed to hike. I'd failed to bring my central district map so I was unsure of the distance but I remembered it being about a mile from the fire road to the campground meaning that it would be a 2 mile round trip. Well, I was a bit off...it was almost 2 miles from the fire road to the campground, adding 4 miles round trip to my day, bringing my total milage for the day to 10+ miles! Pretty impressive!

A shot of the AT between Pocosin Fire Road and Lewis Mt. Campground.

On the way back I actually pulled out my ipod - I swore I'd never use my ipod while hiking becacuse I love hearing the sounds of the forest, however the forest was very quiet today, scary quiet, and by the 9th and 10th mile of the day I needed something to keep me interested.

Overall it was a spectacular day! The best part....I didn't get a hiking headache! I have had a hard time with getting a horrible headache after hiking long distances but today I didn't...not sure the exact reason why but here are my theories...

1 - I drank A LOT! I started by "tanking" up before I even left home by drinking a large cup of water and then nursed a bottle of Gatorade on the way to the park. I made numerous stops to use the "facilitrees" all day. I think part of the problem could be dehydration.

2 - I ate throughout the day - little snacks here and there rather than a big meal at one point. I'm wondering if that might be part of the problem...I eat lunch within the 1st two hours of hiking and then hike all afternoon and my body needs me to stop and snack more. I do stop and snack but I realized that I frequently eat starchy/sugary stuff for my afternoon snack....I'm thinking I need to bring something more substaintail for the afternoon - like another sandwich or hard boiled eggs or someting with some protien.

3 - I kept the pace slow - it took me between 3.5 and 4 hours (not sure when I started) to do the 6.6 miles and then almost 2 hours to do 3.6 miles which I think helped too.

4 - I was maxed out on my allergy meds - I think allergies has something to do with this too...

One thing I would def change next time...get the sunscreen ALL over my body....there is always a spot that I miss....today it was the backs of my hands...after the hike it's always a "fun" surprise to discover where I missed getting the sunscreen!

Total AT in SNP miles: 55!!!!

Monday Evening at Prince William Forest Park

On Monday it was such a beautiful day I had to get out and enjoy! I didn't get moving in time to get out to SNP so I took Daisy Mae on a short jaunt in Prince William Forest Park. I'd hoped to see some beavers, however did not. :( Enjoy the pics of our evening!

A small falls on the South Fork of Quantico Creek.

Daisy hot and tired after just about a mile!

Beaver project, but no beavers. :(

Some small wildflowers...one of the few signs of Spring we saw.

The setting sun viewed through the trees.

A fire hydrant in the middle of the woods! Maybe Andrew will add a chapter to his "Random Boilers in the Woods" book to include other random urban developments! I'm really curious about what it's doing there, and how it got there!

Daisy heading down to the creek to get a drink of water!

Daisy in the car, exhausted after 2 miles and ready to go home for dinner!

Sunset Hike in SNP

Yesterday my good friend Andrew lead a "Sunset Hike" in Shenandoah National Park! It was bit cloudy which interfered with the sunset a bit, however it was a great group and a great hike! We started the hike at Jenkins Gap and hiked about a mile up Compton Peak and then back. Compton Peak has an excellent view, although yesterday it was bit obscured by the clouds


The view to the northeast from Compton Peak.

The view to the Northwest (ish...) . The head at the bottom right of the picture belongs to Beryl, a hiker from our group.

Another view from Compton Peak - this time looking west.

Skyline Drive snaking through the mountains, as seen from above on the AT.



A view from the AT - not the greatest view - the haze obscures the mountains in the distance.

As we were hiking along the Appalachian Trail I saw these daffodils planted right off the trail! They were the only flowers I saw the whole hike, strange because daffodils aren't wild, so someone must have planted them here at some point....I wonder who? and why? and how long ago?

Eating dinner while watching the sunset from the Browntown Valley overlook. Our fearless leader and my good friend, Andrew, is the 3rd person back - 1st guy...the other two gals are Fran and Colleen two great folks I had the pleasure of sharing my car with for the trip to and from the park.

Beryl and two other ladies whose names I don't remember, eating dinner in the overlook.

Looking to the southwestish. Interestingly enough the camera seems to have added light to the picture as the day itself was much gloomier than the pictures suggest.

Another shot of the sunset.

And a 3rd shot of the sunset.

After we finished dinner, and started to get cold, we headed back in the dark, hiking along Skyline Drive. The clouds broke up a bit and allowed the nearly full moon to provide us with a great deal of light. Since it is still very much winter in the mountains, there was very little traffic on Skyline Drive after dark making it the perfect night to walk the road. We stopped in an overlook to listen to a woodcock (I think that's what it was) and even heard a distant cow....oh I mean cell phone! :)

It was lovely hike with great people! :)

Contra Dancing!

On Friday night I went Contra Dancing at Glen Echo Park! It was so much fun! :) Back when I was active in MyPC there was an event coordinatorm, Robert, who did a lot of Contra Dancing and been hoping to go with him, but I never did and he moved away. Then a few weeks ago,while hiking at Sky Meadows State Park, I met Andrew and he goes Contra Dancing and I decided that now was my chance!

Now I know you are asking, what is Contra Dancing? That's a hard question - it's so hard to capture into words! It's like a hybrid folk dance - with elements from English and French and Irish Dancing as well as some elements from Square Dancing, although it's def not "Country" like square dancing is. Most dances are done in two lines and you have a partner and two couples come together to form groups of four - you do the dance with that group then everyone moves down and you and your partner have another differnt couple to do the dance with - it moves fast though.

Most events have a beginners lesson before the dance starts - I found this very helpful, although the caller did give everyone a chance to review the dance and practice before the music got going fast. Once you get in the rythem of each dance it's hard to really think about what you are doing.

One fun thing about Contra Dancing is that you change partners every dance and you dance with pretty much everyone, so it's very social! Your partner is almost more of a point of orientation than anything else - helps you remember where you are in the dance and who you belong with! Maybe I'll think differently as I learn more about dancing, but that's what it seemed on Friday!

Another fun thing about Contra Dancing is the spinning! It is NOT for people who get motion sick as almost all the dances involve lots and lots of spinning! I didn't think I'd enjoy that part as much as I did, but I found that the faster the better when it came to spinning! There were a few dances that involved so much spinning that I couldn't walk straight...luckly Contra Dancing involves lots of hand holding also (prob for this very reason!)

Here are some links to learn more about Contra Dancing....

http://www.fridaynightdance.org/ - This is the page about the dance here in Washington DC

http://www.sbcds.org/contradance/whatis/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_dance

I can't wait to go back next Friday! :)

Tagged by Susan

Susan has tasked me with telling you all about 7 songs I'm into right now....hmmm tough task...

The guidelines are: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what they are. They must be songs you are currently enjoying. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

This is a tough one since what I'm enjoying listening to typically changes by the day! Most of the time when I'm listening to my iod I have it on "shuffle" and I sometimes listen to the 1st part of a song then skip to the next one...these are the songs that I don't skip though (this week)....

1. James Taylor - (I've got to) Stop Thinking about That - This is from his greatest hits volume 2 album - I actually like this album much better than the 1st one. In fact pretty much anything on this album I like enough to play it everytime it comes up in my ipod!


2. The Samples - Shine on. This is an old favorite from Summer Camp. The Samples are a small band that has actually disbanded...they had quite a following in their day, I didn't become a fan until they were done but I still really enjoy this song and the whole album that it came from. Sadly this song seems to hardley ever come up when I shuffle my ipod.

3. Enya - Amid the Falling Snow. This is from Enya's latest album - Amarantine - and it's my favorite from the album. I did enjoy it more when it was snowing a few weeks ago!

4. Dave Matthews Band - Lie in Our Graves. I am a huge DMB fan and I recently discovered this song - it's on the "Crash" album which is one that I didn't listen to as much because a few of the songs just sound like noise and I only discovered this song when I uploaded the album to my ipod - I don't usually skip over DMB songs!

5. John Devner - Looking for Space. When I was a kid my parents listened to a lot of John Denver and I still enjoy him now! This song is from his "Greatest Hits Vol 2" album - which interestingly enough I like better that the first Volume! I really enjoy listening to John Denver when I'm going to the mountains - it just seems to fit!

6. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh!) or Dani California - it's a toss up since I like both songs so much! Again the Snow song was a bigger fav a few weeks ago when it was snowing! Both are just fun songs that I like to blast as loud as I can!

7. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Eine Klein Nachtmusick. I like lots of classic music however most of what I'm familar with I don't know artist/title because my dad always listened to it, but I never knew what we were listening to! This is one of the few that I know what it is and I loaded into my ipod for some study music but have been enjoying it on my way to school in the mornings!


Now, who to tag....I don't think 7 people read this so no idea if anyone will see this.... I guess I'll tage Andrew L., John Z., Brenna, Liz J., Judy (I know Susan tagged you, but I don't think there are any rules about tagging twice...I'm tempted to tag Susan again 'cause she didn't say "no backsies!), Matthew S. - I know you are busy with college and all.... Let's see one more....I know...if you are reading this and I didn't name you then I tag you...leave me a comment so I can know who you are! :)

Kennedy Peak

Yesterday I went on a lovely nine mile hike to Kennedy Peak in George Washington National Forest! Rain was in the forcast, however it never materialized, rather it was 60 degress and sunny! It was a wonderfully beautiful day, although it was very hazy and that hampered the views from Kennedy Peak. There was some snow and ice on the trail but nothing like a few weeks ago when I was sliding on my behind down the mountain!
Enjoy the pictures!

The river snaking through the valley is the Shenandoah River. This is looking east to the city of Luray.

The Traditional "Blue Ridge" shot!

On my way home from GWNF I decided to drive up Skyline Drive rather than going back via Sperryville. There was some rain moving in from the west which hampered the view somewhat, however I caught this view which reminded of the pictures on postcards and coffee table books! I actually took this picture by sticking the camera though the sunroof of the car!

Snow Surprise!

Finally, we got some snow!!!! We had all that sleet and such last week and I really thought that winter had done it's thing, not so, Mother Nature had one more surprise in store for us! The weather forecast was calling for a nasty winter mix - a wee little bit of snow, some sleet and a lot of freezing rain. Well, we got snow!!!!!! About 5 inches here in Lake Ridge! I love a good snow storm!!!! I esp love a surprise snow storm, which is so rare these days with all the advances in weather prediction! The only thing I didn't like was that I had plans to go to a friends Oscar Party this evening, however the weather threw a wrench in that. The snow let up, however we got some rain and there was a lot of water/slush on the roads and the temps were maybe going to drop below freezing - or maybe hover near freezing. I decided I couldn't trust that it would stay warm long enough since the weather people hadn't gotten anything right all weekend! Here are some pictures I took of the snow falling down:

Daisy Mae out in the snow! This was taken about 8:45am right when the snow began.

My backyard with snow falling down - about 10:30 am.

My backyard as seen from the 2nd floor.


The view from the front of my house.

150 Things About Me!

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink - Nope, I'm not the bar type

02. Swam with wild dolphins - Sadly, no. Would like to

03. Climbed a mountain - Yes, I climbed Hawksbill Mountain in Shenandoah National Park from the bottom of Cedar Run - highest mountain in the park!

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive - No

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid - Yes! I even rode a camel in front of it!

06. Held a tarantula - Yes - it was very cool!

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone - No

08. Said “I love you’ and meant it - Yes

09. Hugged a tree - Yes. I'm just that kind of girl.

10. Bungee jumped - No way - but I have done the "Sky Rider" thing at Kings Dominion - where you free fall and then swing...the free fall park freaks me out though.

11. Visited Paris - Paris France, no, but I have been to Paris, VA! And seen it from high above in Sky Meadows State Park.

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea - No, but I watched one in the grand canyon.

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise - Yes - way too old for that now!

14. Seen the Northern Lights - No

15. Gone to a huge sports game - I went to an OK Sooners game - it's wasn't a "Big Game" but it was a big deal to the people who were there!

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa - No, but I walked up the stairs of the Washington Monument back in the day!

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables - No, but I ate vegetables that someone else grew!

18. Touched an iceberg - No, but I have walked on a glacier, and drank glacier water.

19. Slept under the stars - Yes, at summer camp we often slept at the Pioneer Cabin out under the stars - lots of fun!

20. Changed a baby’s diaper - Oh boy, yes I have!

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon - No but I'd like to...almost did it in Tetons however it was really expensive.

22. Watched a meteor shower - no

23. Gotten drunk on champagne - Yes, but that's only because it doesn't take much for me to get drunk.

24. Given more than you can afford to charity - Yes. And I've never regretted it.

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope - No, but I have been to the planetarium!

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment - I was in 2nd or 3rd grade and it was Maundy Thursday and we were at church having a potluck dinner/seder meal. The tables were arranged in a cross and I was sitting at the far end, with my best friend and her brother. At the end of the meal we had communion and we passed the bread around and we were each supposed to tear some bread off. My friends brother grabbed the bread and tore it but he ended up tearing off a huge chunk - so the the "loaf" left in his hand was smaller than the piece he'd pulled off. Then he got really confused about which part to pass. My friend and I were laughing SOOOOO hard and we couldn't stop. Now keep in mid this is a very "reverent" place and laughing just isn't approparite! My mom finally had to trade seats with me and put me between two grown ups. To this day when Maundy Thursday rolls around I think about this and usually crack up!

27. Had a food fight - Yes, at my friend Laura's birthday party - we were about 8 - there was still chocolate cake on the ceiling years later!

28. Bet on a winning horse - No

29. Asked out a stranger - No

30. Had a snowball fight - Yes, but I was the target.

31. I accidentally deleted this one...sorry.

32. Held a lamb - Nope

33. Seen a total eclipse -no

34. Ridden a roller coaster - Yes, lots...Cedar Point is the best! :)

35. Hit a home run - No, I do good to hit the ball.

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking - Yes

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day - No

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment - Yes, but I'd like to even more

39. Had two hard drives for your computer - no

40. Visited all 50 states - No - 37 though

41. Taken care of someone who was drunk - no

42. Had amazing friends - Yes and I still do! :)

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country - No.

44. Watched wild whales - Nope, but I have seen wild dolphins.

45. Stolen a sign - Not exaclty....but I did steal an alien picture from the hallowed halls of Old Main at Westminter College!

46. Backpacked in Europe - No - never even gone backpacking

47. Taken a road-trip - Yep! All kinds of road trips!

48. Gone rock climbing - Yes, hated it.

49. Midnight walk on the beach - yes - when I was in Spain for a high school exhange program, we'd often sleep on the beach - not romantic - more "hobo", although we were there because we wanted to be, not because we had to be.

50. Gone sky diving - No - looks like fun, but the free fall thing gets me.

51. Visited UK - no.

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love - yes.

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them - No, but I think it's hysterical when Letterman does it! I'd love to try it sometime, but I don't think I could...

54. Visited Japan - Nope

55. Milked a cow - Nope

56. Alphabetized your CDs - Of course. They didn't stay that way...

57. Pretended to be a superhero - Yes, with Wonder Woman Underoos would could resist pretending to be a superhero!

58. Sung karaoke - Nope

59. Lounged around in bed all day - Yes, my 1st year teaching I caught an awful bug!

60. Posed nude in front of strangers - no.

61. Gone scuba diving - yes, sorta...it was in a pool.

62. Kissed in the rain - No

63. Played in the mud - Definitely have

64. Played in the rain - Yes, and I love it... I love being out in the rain.

65. Gone to a drive-in theater - Yes, in High School with our youth group.

67. Started a business - No

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken - not yet.

69. Toured ancient sites - Yes, toured ruins in Israel...very, very cool stuff.

70. Taken a martial arts class - No

71. Played a game for more than 6 hours - Yes, Risk - we had games of that that lasted multiple days! I have also played some card games - Uno and Egyptian Rat Screw - for that long.

72. Gotten married - no

73. Been in a movie - only home movies. My amazing graham cracker and frosting creation was featured on a YouTube exclusive!

74. Crashed a party - Please, I was never that cool.

75. Gotten divorced - No - gotta get married for that!

76. Gone without food for 5 days - No way.

77. Made cookies from scratch - Yes - only way to make cookies.

78. Won first prize in a costume contest - Never, ever.

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice - no.

80. Gotten a piercing - Yes - two, one in each ear.

81. Rafted the Snake River - yep - not "Whitewater" but we floated down the Snake
River in the shadow of the Grand Tetons!

82. Been on television news programs as an “expert” - No, but I did "star" in a video clip about Math games that was shown to the school board!

83. Got flowers for no reason - Nope.

84. Performed on stage - Yep. Drama club abnd chours in High School.

85. Been to Las Vegas - No

86. Recorded music - Nope

87. Eaten shark - Nope

88. Had a one-night stand - No

89. Gone to Thailand - Nope.

90. Bought a house - Yes, sitting in it right now.

91. Been in a combat zone - Nope

92. Buried one / both of your parents - Nope.

93. Been on a cruise ship - Yes - twice - once to the Bahamas and once to Mexico.

94. Spoken more than one language fluently - I came close to being fluent in Spanish.

95. Performed in Rocky Horror - Nope (never even seen it)

96. Raised children (or…raising children) - Other people's kids, but I only get the for 7 hours a day for a school year...

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour - Nope

98. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country - no - I'm not so much into bicyling...an exotic hiking tour I'd be all for!

100. Picked up and moved to another city to start over - Yes. And hated it every time.

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge - Nope

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking - As often as I can.

103. Had plastic surgery - Nope

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived - no

105. Wrote articles for a large publication - no

106. Lost over 100 pounds - No.

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback - No.

108. Piloted an airplane - No.

109. Petted a stingray - Yes, at Sea World in FL.

110. Broken someone’s heart - not that I know of.

111. Helped an animal give birth - no

112. Won money on a T.V. game show - Always a viewer, never a contestant.

113. Broken a bone - no

114. Gone on an African photo safari - No, but I saw some pictures of a friend's trip!

115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced - NO

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol - No

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild - Um no, I like to live.

118. Ridden a horse - Yes, I used to take riding lesson until my allergies got the best of me! I did enjoy the riding part, I hated the sneezing for hours afterward part.

119. Had major surgery - no - I had some warts removed in high school

120. Had a snake as a pet - No, but my friend Mel had a 6ft python and we'd take her out and play with her!

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon - no but I'd like to

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours - Yes - after lock ins and stuff...

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states - No. I have a ways to go

124. Visited all 7 continents - Nope

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days - No - but it sounds like fun!

126. Eaten kangaroo meat - No way!

127. Eaten sushi - yes, and I didn't like it.

128. Had your picture in the newspaper - prob but I can't remember why.

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about - not that I know
of.

130. Gone back to school - Yes - I'm working on my 2nd master's degree

131. Parasailed - Never, but would love to

132. Petted a cockroach - Eww, eww, eww!!

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes - Yeah, and I liked them.

134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer - nope.

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read - Tolkien...although I didn't make it though...high fantasy is not my thing.

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - No

137. Skipped all your high school reunions - Only had one so far, and I think pretty
much everyone skipped it

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language - Yes - I work in a diverse school so I frequently communicate without a common language.

139. Been elected to public office - No way. I haven't even run!

140. Written your own computer language - Nope

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream - Yes

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care - Thankfully, no.

143. Built your own PC from parts - No

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you - No

145. Had a booth at a street fair - Nope

146. Dyed your hair - no

147. Been a DJ - No.

148. Shaved your head - No.

149. Caused a car accident - Not that I know of.

150. Saved someone's life - Not that I know of.

PJs!

My good friend Susan posted a blog today about her escapades yesterday in her PJs....I won't post a link here to protect her privacy (although I'm not exactly convinced anyone is reading this so I'm not sure it matters!)...but it inspired me to tell some PJ tales of my own!

I thought I was bad the day I went to Giant in my PJs...now my PJs are pink thermal bottoms with little stars on them and lace on the ankles(def cannot pass for anything other jammies) and a very large light blue "Fannie Mae" long sleeve T-shirt I got during a walk-a-thon for the homeless a few years back - complete with bleach spots from cleaning the bathroom. I usually don't wear a bra with my pjs (would negate the whole experience). So one Sunday I decide I need to go to Giant and I went in that!

Then there's the dog pants...I went to a craft fair with my mom in Dec and I saw a pair of knit pants with dogs all over them - they went nicely with a large shirt that had pictures of dogs and read "bitch, bitch, bitch" - the whole ensamble was quite cute and I really should have bought the shirt but I really couldn't justify having MORE pjs as most of my closet consists of PJs. On Christmas morning however, Mommy dearest had a surprise waiting for me under the tree. No she had not bought me the cute ensamble - that's what a normal mom would do...my mom loves me way too much for store bought pjs. No, my mom MADE me a pair of flannel dog pants. She managed to find a most unattracive flannel that had dog heads all over it - it's mostly black and brown so not a pretty "color palette". She found a simple pattern, however she decided they needed a pocket (in her mind I was going to wear these pants to walk the dog so they needed to be functional) - so she sewed a patch pocket on the side of one leg - think "cargo pants" -just large enough for my keys, my ipod and maybe a poop bag. The icing on the cake however, is that the lady who cut the fabric cut it about a 1/2 yard too short and the pants fall above my ankle...so they are basically "capri pants". Try and picture this....dog print flannel cargo capri pants! That's not all - she decided I needed a shirt. Now she was running out of time so she went to her own closet and pulled out a ratty black t-shirt that was streched out of shape and had long lost it's tag. To this she added a "patch pocket" - a tiny scrap of the dog print flannel. And somehow the pocket landed on the shirt crooked...and pretty much in the middle rather then center. The whole ensamble is just hysterical! My mom actually forbid me from wearing it in her neighborhood! The really scary thing...I LOVE the pants...so comfortable, and soft - and yes I have worn them out in public! I have actually asked mom to make me another pair...only hopefully longer as they really are too short.

I'll leave you all with the mental images for now...maybe another day I'll post som pics!

Last Day Off

Well, I guess I must face the music that I'm actually going to have to go back to work tomorrow! It's been so nice having the time off! 6 weeks until Spring Break - yes I counted!

Today I went to get my 1st allergy shots. I have been switching drs from an ENT to an allergist. I didn't feel like I was getting what I needed from the ENT - and my allergies were only moderatly better, so mid-Jan I started seeing an allergist. So far she has helped me immensly! I have taken all of her suggestions - including geting an expensive air cleaner and replacing nearly all the wall-to-wall carpeting in my house with laminate and I have noticed a dramatic improvement - in fact I'm off most of my meds for the 1st time in a year! I'd been getting allergies shots at the ENT but now I'm getting my shots from the allergist and today was my 1st one. It went as expected, except for one thing...my dr insits that all her allergy shot patients have an epi-pen. For those of you who don't know, allergy shots carry a small, very small, risk of anaphalyxis shock - you are being injected with things that you are allergic too. You have to wait in the drs. office for 20 mins after your shots just in case and it's very rare for it to happen after that, but my dr. apparently uses lots of caution!!!! I like this, I hope I don't ever have to use my new epi-pen, however I'm glad I have it in case I need it! The other interesting thing is that I got a list of symptoms which I'm suppose to watch for and use the epi-pen if any appear...nearly every symptom on the list I'd had following shots at the ENT! Most of the time it was 24+ hours after the shots, so I don't think they were serious, but still... I'm hopeful that this dr can help get my allergies under control as they have impacted my whole life and have been effecting my quality of life.

After my appointment I decided I'd go out to lunch. My dr is in Reston and there are some fun resteraunts there. I'd e-mailed some friends hoping they'd be able to meet me, but one was going out of town and the other didn't answer the e-mail so it was just me. I first attempted to go to Potbelly but the parking lot was crazy - all sorts of yuppie soccer moms in their SUVs and Volvo's fighting for parking places. So I decided I'd go over to the Reston Town Center to Cosi. They have a parking garage there, but again it was craziness - too many people! I finally did get a spot and went and had a nice lunch at Cosi!

Spent the rest of the day running errands and now I'm home enjoying my last evening of peace and relaxtion! The sidewalks are still very icy - it only got above freezing this afternoon for the 1st time since Tuesday - so I'm wondering if maybe we'll have a delay tomorrow morning, I don't think we'll get that lucky though.

Busy, Busy Weekend!

Having been out of school for 3.5 days this week had left me with a bad case of cabin fever so I had to get out this weekend!

I had plan on Saturday to go hiking at Catocin NP in MD, however I'd gotten reports of bad ice from some hiking boards I follow, so I decided that I'd bail on that. I needed to find something else to do, I have been lurking on Meetup.com for a few months but not gone to any events. Saturday morning I surfed over and discovered that there was a movie meetup happening - they were going to lunch and then to see "Children of Men". Sounded perfect for a cold windy icy day!

We had a lovely lunch at Ireland's Four Courts in Arlington. The other people I met were very nice, easy to talk to, we had lots in common and it was great fun meeting new folks!

The movie on the other hand wasn't quite so thrilling. It had a lot more violence and was a lot more graphic than I was expecting. I should have read the book so I'd know what was going on and who was who. The story line for the movie was good, however the ending sucked (I won't spoil it, although there's not much to spoil!)

Today I decided that I had to get out and go hiking. I found a hike with the Center Hiking Club that looked doable - on the schedule it said that we would do an 8 miles hike on Bull Run Mountain, when we arrived at the meeting place however, the leader informed us that we'd be going to Manassass Battlefield - to do a 5 mile loop with an option to do another 5 - because the ice was quite dangerous on the mountain. No big deal, we'd still be getting out to hike! We actually had a big group - 12 of us all together! It was about 28 degrees with a fierce wind - cold doesn't even begin describe it! The trail was much like a luge run - a sheet of ice! We did more slipping and sliding than actual hiking! My legs ache not from walking, but rather from trying to control my body and move fast enough to keep up, yet slow enough to not break my neck. On a few of the downhills I actually sat down on the trail and slid! It was easier to start on my bottom than to let gravity get me there! Near the end of the hike it started to snow! I wasn't able to capture any pictures of the snow falling but it was really pretty! Also the snow helped to increase the traction on the ice! :) We aren't sure if we were "hardy souls" or "certifiably crazy". We were the only ones out there hiking. Once we got back to the visitor center I decided that my legs had had enough and bailed out on the extra 5 mile option. Even the hike leader bailed on that, although there were a few folks talking about doing it!

Here are some pictures from today's adventure:

That's not me coming down the hill...but this is one of the hills where I sat down on my bottom and slid my way down!

Out of School Again!

We are out of school for the 3rd day in a row! Sounds silly when you think that all we got was a bunch of sleet, however 3-4 inches of sleet is very hard to remove. It's very heavy and the temps have been so long it all froze up totally solid and it's been very hard to dig cars and such out. Also t he side walks are in very bad shape. This stuff sorta reminded me of oobleck...not quite solid, but not liquid either - hard to move. But unlike oobleck it doesn't dry out into a cornstarchy powder after an hour so and get vacuumed up! I don't understand why Blogger won't let me hit return and put lines between my paragrahs....anyone know? No big plans for today - gather my tax stuff to mail to my accountant (aka my dad), go to the grocery store, cook something yummy to eat, maybe read for class some. Tomorrow I have plans to go hiking with a group of folks from "Meetup" - it's an online bullietin board almost of activities and things to do - there's a group of hikers and while I have been a "member" of the group for awhile I have never actually hiked with them. It's an early morning - we are meeting at a park 2 hours from my house at 8:30 tomorrow morning! I don't think it will be a long hike though so I should be back by evening. We are going to Catocin Mountain NP in Maryland - it's really close to Camp David, I have wanted to go there for awhile but just haven't. It's supposed to be 37 degrees tomorrow which will feel downright tropical compared to the 20s we have had for the last few weeks!

Sleet Storm

So here in the Washington area we finally got some real winter weather! I'd been teasing a co-worker yesterday about how we seem to get weather forcasts, but no actual weather since so often we get a lot of hype, but it never materializes. We had a "sleet storm". How crazy is that? I kid you not, it was sleeting from about midnight last time until 6-7:00 this morning! And boy is it loud!!!! I couldn't sleep with all the little ice pellets bouncing off the window. At one point I got up and went downstairs to see if there was an announcement about school for today - despite the obviousness of the horrible weather there was no announcement. The announcement about today was not made until 4:30 this morning! Then about 3:45 this afternoon we got word that school would be closed again tomorrow! Accumulated sleet is very hard to remove from the roads and such! I'm hoping to do more blogging here as I really enjoy reading other people's blogs (even complete strangers) and figured I should get into the game! :) So bookmark this site and check periodically....if there's nothing new pester me! :)