One year ago today marks the date of the last time Bret and I went backpacking. Here is a high level synopsis of our last backpacking trip:
* We headed up one trail and there were ticks everywhere
* We decided to turn around and go up another
* We started to set up camp at one camp and saw a dead deer and a homeless scary lady
* After hiking 8 miles, we were finally settling in when Bret fell and cut his leg
* We hiked 2 more miles and drove 2 hours and ended the day at the emergency room getting his leg stiched up
* We were headed for Lion's Den
The main lesson learned from this trip for me is that I didn't know what to do in an emergency situation. I started thinking about all the things that could have happened. Bret could have fallen and cracked his head open. He could have gone into shock and not been able to talk me through what to do. He could have fallen off a cliff or been eaten by a bear. I've been scared to go backpacking for an entire year because of all these fears running through my head. I finally decided to do something about it and take a first aid class. I'm certified!!! Too bad the second thing you do when confronted with an emergency is call 911. Cell Phones don't work in the wilderness!!!
Anyway, last weekend we decided to go backpacking. I have one more side story before I get into the weekend. Charlotte and Chapin, the cutest kittens in the whole wide world, have the smelliest, nastiest poop and farts. It is wrong. Marya writes about it here. Marya was in Hawaii last week so I had the pleasure of taking care of the little stinkers - and I mean STINKers!! I thought I was getting away from them for the weekend....but, I was wrong.
The hike started out decent enough for backpacking. There was lots of fog along the coast of Big Sur, so we made it up the steep, long hill without passing out. When we hiked down the hill in the hot, boiling sun the next day we realized we wouldn't have had as much motivation to go as far as we did if it hadn't been as foggy as it was. As we're hiking along through the beautiful fairy land - redwoods, ferns, oak trees, flowers... I started smelling things that reminded me of the kittens. Bret's extremely wrong smelling farts. Next thing I know, I have to take a poop. More reminders of the kittens. I thought I left those guys behind. Ok, just to let you know, I have never discussed this topic on my blog. This is a first. However, I thought it made for a funny story, so that is why I'm telling it. Plus - dooce talks about it and she can do no wrong, so I figure it's ok.
I have never done this sort of thing in the woods before. I've finally mastered peeing in the woods. I drink so much water and we go on long bike rides sometimes so it's become a necessitiy. But, the other has never been a real issue. Until now. Bret gives me some guidance such as, cover it up with a rock or leaves and go as far off the trail as possible. I started thinking that maybe I should have read the book, How to Shit in the Woods. Too late now, I was going to have to wing it. Off I go.... Here are some of the fears I have during this experience:
* TICKS!!!
* Ticks getting into areas that I don't want them near
* Crouching on poison oak
* Someone passing by
* Being attacked by a wild animal or TICK
* Will I really be able to do this not sitting down??
I survived this experience ok, but for the next hour, I kept thinking I felt a tick crawling around in my underpants. It didn't help that Bret kept finding them all over his body. He happened to find them right before digging in. While thinking about all these awful things, I made this deal with someone, God maybe, that if I didn't get a tick bite, it would be ok to have poison oak. I was thinking about how poison oak is so much better than a tick bite and I can handle that because I've had it so many times. What was I thinking???? I've never had a tick bite, but right now I wish I had that instead. I have the worst poison oak ever and it is driving me crazy!!! Anyway, to wrap up the poop - I'll have you know, not only did I take my first dump in the woods, but I went three times on this trip!!! I didn't realize that backpacking helps in these matters.
The poison oak, ticks, and poop may be enough to keep some people from backpacking. I get poison oak so often that some of my friends and family find it shocking that I continue to go backapcking and bike riding. As if I should stop these activities. Well, to me it's worth it. I love the adventure of taking off on a hike in the morning knowing that everything you'll need for the day and night is on your back - and your boyfriend's back. In this case, most everything I need is on his back. He carries the cooking materials and tent. I love how I get so exhausted from lugging my 35 pound backpack up big hills and down and how my ankles, legs, toes, back, arms and feet are sore and aching. I love all the flowers and the smell of the forrest. I love eating Mac and Chesse and gummy candies. I love getting away from modern appliances - with the exception of the toilet.
Since I met Bret at the office, the entire time we've been dating (with the exception of the past month) we've worked together as well. We didn't just work at the same company, we worked on the same projects. We had the same stressful deadlines. We worked with the same clients. I was his project manager.
We did work really well together and we managed to do a good job at not letting work affect our relationship in a negative way or let our personal relationship enter the workplace. We both really respected each other at work which was one of the reasons we were attracted to each other in the first place.
One of the good points about working together was that he could really and truly relate and understand to my work stress. I know it's hard in some relationships when the partner just doesn't understand what it's like for the other person with respect to their job. I loved being able to talk to him about work and have him understand and talk to me about things as well. I also enjoyed seeing him all day.
However, we both knew that in order to take our relationship to the next level - moving in together, marriage, kids, etc... we would need to not work together.
Bret started his new job last week and so far it's been really fun to see each other at the end of the day and not know what happened. It's fun to hear about his new job and the people he works with. I think it is allowing us to grow closer by spending quality time together outside of the office.
It's been a little over one month since my last day at my old place of work. People want to know what it's like to not be working. Myself included. I think it's one of those things in life - like high school graduation, moving away from home, college graduation, your first serious boyfriend...I'm talking about major life changes. The ones you think about for a long time - waiting and waiting for it to happen. Then it does and it may be great, but it doesn't have that super natural feeling that you expected it would. You keep pinching yourself and reminding yourself that this exciting thing is happening, but it doesn't feel that different. Life just keeps going on...
That's kind of what it's been like.
My first experience with being unemployed was crossing the border from the US to Canada. First of all, I've never crossed the border in a car before. The customs lady interviewing us totally intimidated me. She was asking all these questions like - who are you visiting, for how long, who's car is this... and the next thing I knew she was asking us what we did for a living. In my head I thought unemployed, but it didn't come out of my mouth - I heard myself saying, "Project Manager". I'm so used to saying this is what I do. This is who I am. That was the first glimpse of a changed life.
Because we left the day after our last day in the office, it didn't feel like I was unemployed until we got back from the vacation. It is really amazing to not have to go to work every day. I was talking to Pudah on the phone and she was at work and I wanted to tell her how wonderful it was, but at the same time I felt a little guilty. Everyone should have this experience once in their life.
So far though, it feels a little bit like a continuous weekend. I seem to plan on doing too many things in a day. I've kept myself pretty busy with errands, cleaning, playing with the kittens, and hanging out with Marya and several hikes with Bret. Here is a list of things that I had planned on doing that I'm realizing probably won't happen.
1. Working Out Twice a Day - Yeah right, I've only made it to the gym a handful of times. I'm hoping to change this, but I realize going twice a day is a bit ambitious. I think I should aim for 3 times a week to start out with.
2. Organizingmy whole house in a week - One of my biggest goals for this time off is to organize files, boxes, book shelves, cabinets - those places that gather all sorts of odds and ends. I keep thinking that once I organize every last corner, then I can relax. I've realized I need to tackle these things slowly. It can get pretty overwhelming. And it really isn't as fun as I imagined it would be.
3. Working on photo albums - I really want to finish my New Zealand album. I keep saying I can work on this after the organizing is done. I need to just break this out and allow myself some fun.
4. Catching up with all my friends - Hotmail has made this difficult to do. I've wasted so much time waiting for my Inbox to load. I could have written 10 emails in the time I've wasted sitting there waiting. It's also hard to catch up with friends in town when I don't have money to go out to lunch or dinner.
