Christmas Organizing

My room in the middle of rearrangingThe final result

Man, oh man, I can't sleep. My computer arrived today and after about 6 weeks without my own stuff on my own computer, the thought of doing all sorts of things, like catching up on my finances on Quicken (exciting, hey?) is keeping me awake. So I have gotten out of bed after climbing into bed just over an hour ago and downloading the Quicken 2010.

I also received a letter from Mark today. I was torn between setting up my computer and sitting down to read his letter. The letter won out first, the computer took second place.

OK, so on to the actual blog post about Christmas:

When your parents come to town just start rearranging the house. I have decided that is a good sort of valid reason for things being messy. So I started moving things around in my bedroom before my parents arrived on December 20.

Mom and Dad were in Albuquerque for one week, leaving the day after Christmas with everything they had been storing at Nate's house. They left their dog behind, no room in the truck. OK, so they also wanted some stability for the dog over the next 5 months while they transition between two states, households and retirement. Three dogs in the house now.

I felt like there was no end to the gifts I received from Mark for Christmas. Christmas Eve, I received a dozen red and white roses, but the card said that wasn't really my Christmas gift. Then a box was delivered that my brother wrapped and put under the tree. That was a dozen jumbo chocolate-covered strawberries Christmas day I was notified of a subscription to Backpacker magazine. Marks says that he received a Christmas gift from his parents that I will really like, but have to wait to see it instead of him telling me what it is (feels almost like another present, just with the excitement and suspense) and then he also said there's more. So the Christmas excitement and anticipation is still around.

Wilderness Clarity. And Snowshoes!

Vuyo at Tree Spring Trail

I knew someone out there would clamor for a picture of me

My new snowshoes!

I'm still waiting for a functioning computer to access pictures about some previous events. And today it is pictures from my cell phone.

I took the week between Christmas and New Year's off and it provided the opportunity to organize my room and my projects, but then I also became engrossed in getting things done, like going through my papers from graduate school (from 5 years ago) to see what is really worth keeping. I kept telling myself I would take a day and go hiking in the mountains, but just needed to get these few more things done.

This past Friday (January 8), I started talking myself into hiking after my clinical supervision. Then I thought, "I'll go tomorrow, I want to get this, this and this done." And THEN my new snowshoes arrived! What better nudge did I need to get into the wilds. When I met with my clinical supervisor, he mentioned a quote he saw recently on a daily calendar:

"Busyness is the rape of relationships." -Charles Swindoll

Sounds harsh and drastic, but i would definitely say that spending time with a friend is more important than reading class notes from psychodynamics.

Time did slip away from me a bit, but I spent an hour in the Sandia Mountains in the snow. I hadn't realized how thirsty I was, it was really refreshing to be out there. Thinking I might need to borrow my boyfriend's resolution from last year to do something outdoors every weekend for the year.

Then I came back home and went to an appointment where I had my eyebrows waxed for the first time (indulgences or self-care?). I say it is part of the overall plan to look even better when I see Mark in February then I did the last time he saw me. Of course, the last time we saw each other, we spent 5 days backpacking in the Grand Canyon, so I don't think I have to work too hard. ;)

The Fun of Slot Canyons

Grand Canyon Thanksgiving

A full rainbow in the Grand Canyon

Well, my computer is temporarily dead (is that possible?), hoping it will be revived, so I my posts will not be chronological. Just going with the pictures I have access to.

So I spent Thanksgiving weekend in the Grand Canyon (just like last year), only this year was 5 days of hiking. Mark came back for this trip, 20 days after moving to New Jersey -- so it was wonderful that we didn't have to wait too long before seeing each other again.

I was really slow, I rolled my ankle in a soccer game in October and so wanted to make sure I made it out of the Canyon. Thursday we hiked from the top to the bottom and camped along the Colorado River, along with the company of mice. Then the next few days were up and down and around - it's a canyon! Word is we hiked a total of around 40 miles.

I managed to completely avoid using store bought freeze dried meals for this trip. I borrowed a friends' dehydrator and so had lots of homemade snacks and meals. It worked out really well. What I was most impressed with was making Chili and dehydrating it at home and rehydrating it in camp and marinara sauce (with ground dried tomato), both turned out great. And the favorite recipe though, is making brownies (good thing I planned for two nights of brownies).

Wanderings of a Wayfarer

Cucharo, Co

A view of East Spanish Peak (bottom picture)

And now to update on the summer adventures.

Starting with Labor day weekend though. I drove to John Martin Reservoir in southeast Colorado to meet a friend on Friday. We woke up to a cloudy overcast day and drove to Pueblo for the day.

On Sunday, I drove to Colorado Springs to have lunch with another friend and her husband. Then I drove to southwest Colorado in the Spanish Peaks Wilderness for my first solo backpacking trip. I didn't end up on the trail I had planned to hike and I started a bit late in the evening, so I hiked less than one hour before setting up camp and not much hiking the next day either. I drove through the mountains back to the interstate and had lunch in Cucharo, CO right in the mountains.

John Martin Reservoir (top picture)

My campsite

Colors of Personality

On facebook, people are taking all sorts of quizzes and so i went searching for a couple online that determine the color associated with a person's personality for fun. here are the results:

VIOLET
You surround yourself with art and music and are constantly driven to express yourself. You often daydream. You prefer honesty in your relationships and believe strongly in your personal morals.

White
You value law, order, community and light. You love to protect the social order and the rule of law. At your best, you are just and protective. At your worst, you are authoritarian and dogmatic. Your symbol is a sunburst. Your enemies are black and red.


green
your cool and calm... love nature and having fun .... your also smart and mysterious


You Are a Blue Crayon
Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors.You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find.On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody.However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front.Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying



Such a variety, hey? So in the last 2 months [since the middle of March, despite the date, when I took the quizzes and saved them in a rough draft of a post this is really being written May 13], I have done a little traveling, but getting ready for more as I start backpacking again. In April, I went to the Apache Kid Wilderness (apparently no on in Albuquerque really knows where that is), south of Albuquerque for an overnight camping and hike to San Mateo Peak. It was an interesting weekend of weather. Friday night brought in lots of rain and lightening, then a warm overcast day with snow at the peak. I was in Ohio this past weekend to visit a friend and attend a wedding.

This weekend, I am hiking part of the Continental Divide Trail, west of Albuquerque. We are supposed to go 25 miles. Whew! Vuyo is staying home for this one, water is supposed to be scarce, although it would be nice to have him, so that he could carry a lot of the water. Vuyo turned 2 on May 11 and the other dog in the house, Breckenridge turns 12 this month as well.

Winter Aconite (and snowboarding)

I didn't take my camera on any of my winter trips, so not a whole lot to show the audience. :) However I do have one photo of me on my snowboard at Wolf Creek in southern Colorado and a picture of the bruise I acquired on the ice of Red River in northern New Mexico. The bruise actually grew even more after the picture.

And now I am transitioning to soccer and backpacking. My first soccer game of the season was windy and I got to show off my bruise. Unfortunately, we lost 2-0. If all goes well, I will manuever to play goalkeeper next Sunday (the goalie is out of town) :)

Wolf Creek was the bestest snow ever, so we went back the next day. Definitely going to miss the winter and such great trips. However, definitely looking forward to backpacking again and maybe starting to plan some of my own trips into the wilderness.