Thursday, September 17, 2009

Boulder to the Shoulder

I went whitewater kayaking again this week. This time in a hardshell. It was much harder.

I flipped my kayak three times—it wasn't pretty.

The worst part? At one point I went down at the beginning of the rapid and had to swim down the rapid. I hit a whole bunch of rocks, with all sorts of me. Including, but not limited to, my head, my ankle, my shoulder, and, apparently, my ribs. Oh, and my favorite: my thumb.

Two days later, I'm still convincing myself I didn't break my ribs, and I'm quite glad that I still have full mobility in my shoulder.

Not feeling too hot, but I suppose it's only fair. If all holds from my previous sporting injuries, I should be good to go and not have another mess like this for quite a while.

Here's hoping.

Honey, I'm Home!

Bill went out of town for nearly a week. Having the house to myself was both nice and a bit lonely.

In the last couple of days I've been thinking about how much I could hardly wait for him to get home—to hug him and just hang out with him. When I got home today he was here. I walked up the stairs to the kitchen, and was thrilled when he opened his arms and said, "Come here, I missed you!"

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who was doing some missing.

I'm also glad that he was wanting a hug, too.

Celebrity Deathwatch

One quick passing comment on all the celebrity deaths of late.

There are two that I care about:
1. Patrick Swayze
2. Mary Travers of Peter, Paul & Mary

Interestingly, they both died of natural causes and weren't all about the limelight. Good people to miss, I suppose.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Only the Lonely

Bill has been out of town since Saturday morning and our house feels so big and empty. I feel a little silly how lonely I feel sitting around here without out him. I lived alone for 3 1/2 years and never felt as without company as I have the last two days. I can hardly wait for him to get home.

I have got to move out soon, this isn't good.

What You Wish For

Captain has been really encouraging me to get into white water kayaking (um, YES), but it's quite expensive. Minimum, we're looking at a grand to just gear up and get started. I've been slowly acquiring gear which works for kayaking and rafting. So, now I need a wet (or dry) suit, and a kayak and paddle and I'm set! Too bad that's all the expensive stuff...

I was joking with Captain and said, "well, if you know anyone who will lend me a boat, I'll totally do it more!"

"Hmm... I might..." she said, and a month later I currently have a loaner kayak sitting in my garage. The guy I borrowed it from has paddled with her "maybe four times, but she's such a good egg, so if she trusts you, I trust you." Um, yeah! Wow. She did promise that if anything happens to it I would, naturally, replace his boat—naturally.

And tomorrow? My first white water kayaking in a hard shell boat (as opposed to the inflatable kayak I took last time). I'm so very excited!

Monday, September 07, 2009

Back-up Plan

"I've been meaning to ask you, if something happens to me, and the youngest's dad can't or won't take both girls, would you take them for me?" Always one to take the subtle conversation opener, Fox jumped right in with both feet.

"Absolutely." I didn't even pause for a second. Yes, I have no kids. Yes, I'm single and loving it. But, I would have no problem whatsoever taking the girls if Fox got hit by a bus.

We spent the next little bit joking about how I'd turn them into dirt eating hippies. "Well, CULTURED grass-eating hippies," Fox corrected herself.

"That's right! We'd go to the symphony after enjoying dinner at the local vegan cafe!"

Yeah, not excited about the thoughts of my sister being hit by a bus (or some other untimely demise), but I'm glad she's thinking up back-up plans.

Also, it's kind of flattering to think that she thinks I'll do a good job with her midgets.

Devil's in the Details

Bill is going to go visit his grandparents this week. He called his grandmother to chat about final plans for the visit while we drove to dinner. Part way into the conversation he said, "yeah, she's in the car... No, she's not coming on this trip." Then he turned to me and said, "My grandma says 'hi'." "Hi, Grandma!" I say back. Because, you know, it's a law somewhere that you're not allowed to not say hi back to people's grandmothers. Pretty sure of it.

When he hung up the phone Bill turned to me and sheepishly said, "so, yeah... my grandparents know about you."

"Clearly. What have you told them?"

"Well, you're my best friend in Seattle, of course your name is going to come up! I don't know what all I've told them. They know that I'm living with this girl, and her name is Granola."

"Um, does she know I'm just your roommate?"

The only word to describe his expression is: "whoops." "Oh, um..." he stuttered, "I'm not sure."

Ah, so that's why granny was curious if I was coming on the trip—she wants to meet the girl her beloved grandson is shacking up with.

Sorry to disappoint (?) but, no. No, we're not living together, Biblically.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Century, Like 100 Miles

The first night we were in the new place Bill decided to have a massive shin-dig. Lots and lots of people came. Including a couple of our new neighbors. I was really excited to learn that one of them is really into cycling. At the party I ended up sitting around talking with the new neighbor, Brisk, and some random people. The conversation turned to cycling (Brisk and the neighbor were doing most of the talking, I was just listening). Eventually they got to talking about different types of bike shoes. The neighbor asserted that he liked road biking shoes. I piped in that I prefer mountain biking shoes. "Well," he said, "for long distances where you're just riding, road bike shoes are better."

"Hmm..." I said, "well, I'm constantly on and off my bike, even when doing long distances."

"I mean, like, centuries, and things," he said to me snootily.

I nodded, "yeah, I'm still on and off, constantly." Brisk had initially sided with the neighbor, but he hasn't done any rides as long as mine, and everyone rides a little differently, so just differed to my opinion.

The neighbor was incredulous that I would pretend to (a) know what a 'century ride' is; (because no one can do that math...) and (b) pretend to be capable of riding one. "A century?" he said with a sneer. I nodded, trying to think of something witty, but not bitchy, to say, "That's, like, 100 miles." he finished.

"Mm hmm..." I nodded.

"She actually just did the STP," Brisk volunteered—mostly to make him shut up, and quit making a fool of himself.

"Yup!" I said with enthusiasm, "It was so much fun!" The conversation eventually made it's way from where it was to other topics. When he left that night, I was pretty sure I wasn't his biggest fan.

A couple of days later I was changing a flat on my road bike, and pumping up the tires on my hybrid. The neighbor happened by. "Oooohhh, bikes" he said, popping into the garage. We chatted briefly, and he tried to impress me with his bike skillz again. "None of these are clipless?!" he half asked, half demanded.

"Actually," I said, indicating the road bike, "that one is."

"Oh," he sized up my road bike, "I haven't had a bike with 3 rings on the front in years."

"Why not?"

"They don't make road bikes with three gears."

"Um, that one's a road bike," I pointed out.

"No, it's a hybrid."

"Nope, that's a hybrid, this one's a road bike."

"Let me rephrase," he said, trying to save face, "they don't make road bikes under (whatever his favorite brand is) with more than 2 gears."

"Oh," I let it die. Yeah, you're a real jerk, I thought.

Making a House a Home

When I move into a new place the first thing I have to do to make it a home is hang artwork. We had been in the house for 2 and a half weeks before I finally hung up a picture (it's in the 1/2 bath on the main floor). I was waiting for Bill to make the first move—apparently hanging artwork isn't as important to him as it is to me. Bill's first let's-make-this-place-a-home action was setting up his bass amps. Good times were had by all.

But, a lot more needs to happen before we're settled. Painting, some more unpacking/deciding what really needs to stay packed, and really taking the opportunity to do some art. To that end, Bill and I spend Saturday painting the kitchen. It looks great. Monday is his bedroom, and then hopefully mine.