A Hike

Since the weather was gorgeous the other day, I decided to pack up my stuff and go out for a hike in the Jordan River. It was a warm 72 degrees, with a nice cool breeze. Perfect for all the hills I had to climb up and down with 30 pounds of gear on my back. But little did I know that the 3 hours I spent hiking would set me up for a night of misery. The picture with all the white stuff on the ground, that isn't snow, it is all pollen. There was crap flying through the air the entire day. And the mosquitoes were extremely hungry and got quite the feast off of me. I am one lumpy and bumpy person right now. Makes me itch just thinking about it. Even though I jumped in the shower as soon as I got home, I sneezed and itched the entire night, even though I had benadryl and sudafed on board. No wonder why I couldn't get out of bed until noon......

Tuesday I'll be headed out for my first overnight hike of the year. Normally I have a hard time finding people to partake in activities like this, but I'll have 4 companions. Talking about backpacking at work enough has gotten some of my co-workers interested. I'm hoping that they have a good time so that they will go with me again. I'm looking forward to it!

Today I had my first outing with my "little sister." I was involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program when I was in high school, but it all seems so different now. It seems like too much responsibility and a huge commitment. Something that I fear. And the kid doesn't really talk. She'll answer all of my questions in as little words as possible, which is quite impressive. She showed me pictures of 6th grade camp when we met last week, and she also looks out of control. I think I might be in over my head. But I'll stick with it, and hopefully she'll start talking soon......

Well, I'm off to the grocery store. I bought a food dehydrator to make meals for my backpacking trips this summer. Time to get creative!!

A Quick Review!

So several small, yet significant, things going on lately.

The Wings have advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals!! They will be playing Pittsburgh, and the series starts on Saturday.

Only 12 more days until my first backpacking trip of the year! And less than 7 weeks before my departure for the Appalachian Trail! I've purchased a food dehydrator, and am going to attempt to make some fancy schmancy meals for the woods. My dinner menu for home for the next few weeks will consist of rehydrated food. Yummy!

It seems that summer is never going to come. Tonight, May 21st, it is snowing. Yes, snowing. Big wet flakes. What the hell?

I was matched with a little sister, through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program the other day. I am really only committed to seeing her 3 or 4 times a month, but with my huge problems with commitment, I've already got that feeling of regret and too much responsibility. What was I thinking? Of course I'll follow through with it, like I always do.

A really quick, funny nursing home story. The past two nights I moonlighted at the nursing home, and it just so happened to be a full moon! The residents were out of control. This one 90 year old lady with Alzheimer's, she was a rocking the one night. Very paranoid that her niece had taken her car out joy riding. I asked if she had any kids, she said no. I asked if she was ever married, she said no. Than she felt the need to toss in the fact that she was passionately in love with her first cousin when she was younger. I bet that is a secret that not many people, if any, know about! I didn't know what else to do but start laughing.....

Good times!

How Sweep It Is!

Yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings swept one of our best rivals the Colorado Avalanche, thus moving us on to the conference finals. We killed them in an 8-2 game, which from what I saw was pretty exciting. Now we are waiting to see who our opponent may be, San Jose or Dallas. I'm hoping for Dallas, solely to avoid the late 1030 games.

Update on the kitten situation, I'm down to two little kittens. They are just starting to open up there eyes. And I must say, the one is the ugliest little thing I've ever seen. It has this big gray/black blob right over its mouth, kind of like a mask. Poor thing. It sure won't help trying to find it a good home. Hopefully it has a good personality.

I continue to go out hiking on my days off. I went out and bought some insoles for my boots, and they seem to be working out fairly well. I've been going out on the mountain bike trail near town. It is a six mile loop, and close to home, so it is convenient. I've never done mountain biking to that extreme, but I think I might give it a whirl. I'm not big on helmets, but I would definitely purchase one prior to the event.

Off work for tomorrow, than I guess I got really money hungry a few weeks ago and volunteered to moon light over at the nursing home Sunday night. What was I thinking?