And Life Goes On

I had decided at some point, losing Jess would be a bookend in our life.  A thing we can forever put 'before' and 'after' around.  Instead, it's more of a turning of the page to a new chapter.  Life isn't neat enough to give you many definites, it's a messy and disorganized business.

Ben has turned 18.  In a move that would shock my own mother, I have managed to keep them all alive until adulthood.  I had my only hesitation of the year when he and Chan took off on the afternoon of his birthday to navigate the Interstate together.  He wasn't born until after 9 p.m.  That little voice threw out a what if.  Oh, little voice!  I wish I could smash you into a paste and spread you out in the summer sun until you were dry and crackled and eventually blew away.

We are getting the new roof put on, waiting for the materials to be delivered.  Estimates have ranged from 'OMG' to 'WTF'.  I had no idea a simple metal roof on a fairly small and uncomplicated house could run $12,000.  I'm talking galvalume, like on a barn.  Not hand polished bronze here.  They cut it AT the factory, they only have to slap it up there and screw it down.  DANG.  We had to get a loan for it, even going the cheapest route possible.  Well, not cheapest.  I did get the 50-year warranty stuff.  I don't want to even think about that roof again.  Other than "ooh, shiny!"

My father did a brief stint in the hospital after having a stroke.  He's checked out all clear, no damage or blockage or issues, no virus or anything they can detect that caused it after the fact.  Despite being 79 and never having taken the first round of medicine (other than for colds, no doubt) he's on a daily blood pressure medication as there was a spike in his BP just after and his, like mine, is usually quite low.

We have started a new family project, well, South Cumberland has started a new project headed up by everyone's favorite park ranger Park.  Matt took the kids and Alex up today for the groundbreaking.  I wanted to go, but Daddy was still in the hospital and I was on backup Butterbean duty.  You remember Butterbean-my Maltipoo nemesis brother?  I was the favorite for 40 years.  Then Daddy got Butterbean.  He has 900-to-1 photos of that dog over childhood photos of me.

Anyway, the project is one I have been yammering about for 3 years, it's the reconstruction of the old CCC cabins and building!  I've done a ton of research, I am really excited about the whole thing and hate I missed the FIRST DAY of the project.  But there are years of it ahead of us, I doubt it will be done soon.

The state elected a Democrat to Congress.  I'm still not even sure what to say beyond Yippee!

Ben's Christmas concert is Monday, then the next week Matt will have a few days off for the holiday, then it will be a new year. 

I've taken no photos, done no new hikes just the same old routes I have walked a hundred times if I've even bothered to leave the house at all.  It's all been routine-running the errands I have always run, taking Ben to music and picking him up, getting dog food, cat food, more toilet paper, time for another oil change.  I feel mired in it all, ready for something else.  Ready for a new chapter. 

Birthday, other Updates

We finally have rain, the burn ban is lifted, waterfalls are going again and all is starting to right itself.
Matt and I spent an afternoon filling in a few nearby counties on his geocaching map and hitting 900 finds.

Around the house, we have been doing a few things to make it more cozy for winter.  

We have a new couch-first one in...18 years.
Bought a few rugs, spent an afternoon doing some weather proofing.  It's not perfect, but it's getting more cozy and that's the goal!

We had a total of 10 kids here for Ben's b-day.  Jake, Rho, Chan, Michael and Casey went to Pathfinder and the rest of the kids stayed here to play boardgames.

Growing up!

Murphy...*sigh*

Spent Monday with my father, today we are getting tires on Jake's ride, tomorrow is a hike with friends, Friday is lunch with some new ladies I have met.  I am really excited about it!  I am ready to start branching out and finding some friends who actually want to hang out instead of just SAY they do and never actually take me up on any offers.  WTF is up with that?  Just say you don't want to and let me stop wasting my time, yo.

Anyway, not mad, just can't figure why people need to draw things out the way they do.

Feeling hopeful-in spite of the Cheeto Elect and his dumbassery.

Outta Here

Chan did not get the job, though it's possible another will pop up soon, we have decided to A) wait until after the sea lab trip before she applies for anything else and B) finally get around to Part 2 of the Summer o'Fun Plan that got hotted out.  Good grief, it's either been 110 or storming or both ALL DANG SUMMER.  I was so worried she'd get hired and we'd miss the chance.

We only had one actual idea for a trip, so we are doing that and dragging Ben along.  I set up AirBnB stops for couple night to ensure showers, laundry and recharging batteries could happen.  And to have a local contact because knowing a number of a real person in the area is a deterrent to serial killers, check engine lights and other people driving badly.  Plus, at $30 a night, it's nearly as cheap as camping but without the whole 'food storage safety' issue.  Bears.  And I read that if we hike near prairie dogs to use DEET.  ack.  I read that in some places, they carry the plague! I can't help it, I still want some for the yard.

We head out Monday, I have bins of snacks and bins of camping gear and a basic idea of clothing options.  I had 2 separate swimmy stomach panic things that hit so hard I had to sit a while.  I have no idea why I get so worked up.  I love to travel, I just don't want to actually leave home.  By the time Matt got home, I was irritable and so he hauled me to the track.  We got nearly 5 miles before I wound down.  Now it's midnight and I am back around to worked up.  And hungry, though I don't dare eat this late.  I've been SO good lately.  Eating carefully, walking at least 3 miles a day 5 times a week.  Boring, but I grow weary of feeling sluggy.  Eat less, move more.  Pretty much the only way to improve in that area.

Met up with friends Monday in Athens, went to Anniston on Tuesday for a field trip, went to Shakalaka Wednesday with a group.  Won't do THAT again, oh man.  It was packed to the rafters. Mowed, walked, vacuumed the whole house, fed the cats.  Wonder has shown up after 4 months of being gone.  She's in surprisingly good shape, I suspect...second home!  She was bright white and clean, trim but muscled and not at all scrawny.  Teeth look great, gums are pink and her tummy had no tender spots.  Eyes were clear, feet in great shape.  I thought she'd been killed by the dogs across the road.  She's disappeared again, I guess Cat Chow isn't her thing.

Anyway, that's the happs, I will post pics later as I have taken many and they are still on the camera. I used to think people who did that were brain damaged.  I still don't let the laundry pile up, though, There is a limit to my madness.

July! Well, nearly

Once again, a catch up post!

It's been hot.  And it's only rained a couple short bursts, enough to jack that humidity!  Whew!  It feels like what I remember July and August feeling like.  Hot, dry, dead grass, wilted leaves, dogs laying on their sides in one spot so long they make a little puddle with their hot, wet breath.  It's hot enough that to check the mail-a walk so short I have often gone without bothering to put on pants-I put my hair up, slather on sunscreen and have gone so far as to use an umbrella to shade my hide a bit.

I have been sort of productive.  I borrowed a steam cleaner and made myself ill cleaning the carpets. It was hot and gross, the cleaner was much better than any I have used before and the amount of sheer mud it sucked up from the dirt that filters under the carpet was appalling. I did 3 runs and the last was just as bad as the first as far as the amount of fine silt that poured out.  And the dog hair!  

Washed the baseboards, the bricks, the cabinets and Matt mopped the kitchen floor.  Then I made cake because it's his birthday today.  Devil's food with chocolate marshmallow icing.  It was not half bad and there's 3 slices left on the island, just waiting...  I have to think it through.  

Had lunch with Daddy last Thursday and walked with Karen on Wednesday.  We did 7 miles, which is pretty good for this heat.  The week before, we went swimming and Matt and I walked at the track a couple times.  Other than that, I have been home reading, organizing, planning and ordering stuff. And sitting in front of a box fan.  We mowed, Ben and I have been messing with the dog pool which has been taken over by frogs.  17 at last count.  The dogs are drinking out of one of my big mixing bowls, which is a PITA because they need refills 2-3 times in a day.  That's why I bought them a pool 3 years ago-I can wash it out once a week and refill it every 2-3 days instead of morning, noon and night! 

The new boat dock, it has a jumping platform, which I did not even go look over.  eeee!  It's not heights, it's the water closing over the top of my head.  It skeeves me right out!

Nia was given 1 week to live, I mean given a bath, last week.
Look at that face, UGH.  She's so the drama hound.

After our HOT walk, Karen said, "Wow, you look pretty good!" in response to "How hideously sweaty am I?"  We went out to eat anyway.
I like to think sweat is melting fat, but the scales beg to differ.

43!

I have more shoes on the way.  I have tried on so many trail shoes and I have sent them all back.  So many have safeguards against pronating and it ends up meaning they press the side of my foot just above my arch.  I wore a pair of Sauconys in the house for about 10 minutes and I had a red spot. Those were the worst, but they all do it.  My beloved boots SHREDDED my left heel (it looks like leather now), I was looking at trail shoes to lighten my load, but the only brand left is Keens and they are just as heavy as my boots. hahaha! Oh well, Matt swears by them because they are made for Fred Flintstone, the toe space is phenomenal.  As long as his toes only hear vague rumors of a shoe nearby, he's happy.  I like toe room, but I need that arch support.  Just, apparently, not ALL the arch support.

I bought a stack of National Geographic maps.  At $10 a pop, they are so pricy I usually just print out the sections we plan to hike via the internet but I decided $10 was WAY cheaper than 'totally lost'. When Chan and I were in VA, We just had the map for the section we were hiking, in fact we walked off the map at one point, went around a curve and popped back on it 1/8 mile later.  But we did not explore beyond the boundaries because-who knows what trail went where?  They were all marked at turnings, but no mileage or destination indicated.  There was a young man who spotted us at an overlook from down in a valley and he waved us down and slogged up the hill to see if we knew where we were...or actually, where he was. I decided I would like that very information at hand all the time, so I bought maps to cover the Jefferson National Forest and Mt Rogers, Springer and Cohutta, Chattahoochee National Forest and specifically the Tellico/Ocoee areas of Cherokee National Forest.  

While there are 19 maps for Tennessee, there are 0 for Alabama.  Not even for the Pinhoti!  The Pinhoti trail crew has their own set of maps which are HUGE and cost a fortune.  And I will buy those at some point, too.  I have map apps on Matt's old smart phone (which I have inherited), but only an idiot would trust there will always be a signal (there isn't) and a way to recharge as needed.  I don't want to be a slave to the socket and have to plan my hikes around recharging and I am not hauling a solar charger around, mainly because I am not planning on walking in the sun any more than I have to!  When they perfect that generator that goes in your shoe and stores power via walking, I will look into it.  Still won't mean I don't need a map!  I will say, the AT is well marked-until it isn't. There were a couple sections just in Grayson that had us confused and from reading blogs, I am seeing that nearly everyone walks off the AT at some point and wanders around until they find it again.  Trails overlap, share a corridor and then careen off, cross and recross...there's ALWAYS good use for a map.  Even if it's just to see the next water source.  

Anyway, that's the news.  We are headed out after these storms move through, going to swim and do some very minor backpacking.  Be back for the weekend because I don't fancy being out on a holiday!  I can't even think of anywhere that would not be packed, other than home in front of my fan.  hahaha! 

The Week 8/52 & 9/52

Put in 7 miles with Karen on Friday, we had so much fun!  Karen wore her new Osprey pack (ours match!) and we fiddled with it until she was very happy with the fit.  Hurrah!  I have not even done that with my own pack yet, the one day I loaded it to try out, I pulled a neck muscle picking it up, then the food was still in boxes, so they poked my kidneys.  I had it loaded for a full week of no resupply-clothes, food, water (well, 3 liters) stove, fuel, pot, cup, light, rain gear, tent, bag, pad, down jacket, hat, maps, camera, batteries...it was 33 pounds and toooooo heavy for my liking.  I was glad she was loving hers, I am hoping for a better plan next time I haul mine out! haha

found these at Big Lots, bought...a lot of them.  SO yummy!

deeeeer

Afterward, I went to meet Andrea at Ditto Landing and it was flooded!

We got in a couple miles anyway, then had dinner at Tazikis.

A weekend trip to Hobby Lobby for more art supplies for the Chan netted me some half off figurines to place along the trail.  

Lots of trail work and the occasional stab at trail work that ends with just hiking around.

This is the top of the log road I want to open back up, that's about 4 afternoons of just burning the downed stuff.  It's been so much work, but a really good way to sneak in some exercise.  After I get the loop at the north end done, that will add a serious climb.  It's 600 feet at the confluence where the property line is and it's 1000 at the cliff where the campsite is.  The house is about 200 feet higher than that, so a good elevation change!  The trail is a mile long now end to end, so a 2 mile walk to do it all.  So far. Going for 3 for now and planning to add 2 more miles next winter.  I don't want to disturb the critters too much by moving brush around, snakes in particular!

I needed to sit at the top a bit and plan where to start the trail down.

Jessie likes the contemplation time.

That's a dog smooch IN my backpack.  Nosers!

The start of the north loop path, so far I have just been moving large fallen things and rocks out of the path.  That tree was too heavy!

Salamanders are waking up!
Don't touch with bare hands, they absorb through their skins and can die from the crap we slather on ourselves.

On leap day, we returned Kurt's car and went geocaching so Matt could get a special leap year badge.  On the way home (all 5 of us crammed in Matt's tiny car) I snapped some pics out the window.

Lovely!

And that's it.
I got Ben registered for the next school year.  We talked it over and are TIRED of homeschooling.  He's going to work at getting his last few credits done early, so he can graduate next May instead of 2018.  So, without realizing it at the time, I enrolled us in our final year as homeschoolers!

So, I only have to plan 6 more events in my role as AC and I am DONE.  I am nearly giddy with the relief of the end being in sight.  I have planned so many things and led so many events and outings over the past 16 years.  I will be glad to be at the end of it all.  Fittingly, my last homeschooling event will be the May campout in 2017.