January 24, 2016

I’m not sure what this dizziness is about but really  I need to get it checked out; early morning hours are like being on a carnival ride (without actually being on a carnival ride).  

Being up and about makes things a bit easier.  I sent off another job application to yet another school and looked into psych jobs…again I didn’t get very far.  I’m not looking to “be” a psychologist there and I’m not quite certain of the correct nomenclature for what it is I do – youth and family services.  

Mags had her Dean Winchester party today (and she was smelling sulfur [a sign of spirits] everywhere this morning) at 1, then Ethan and I headed out to hike.  Cronan Ranch had all of New York City there, so we headed to another (shorter) trail head and began exploring.    Initially we followed set trails, but it wasn’t long until we went off and found the tributary stream to the American River with a long tree acting as bridge.  Ethan crossed over and searched for a path and finding one, I followed.  Annie fell into the river, but she loves to swim, so no harm, no foul.  Ethan and I walked and walked alongside the freshly-fed river, frothing with foam at its new-found strength.  I saw how the earth we were walking upon looked like an old riverbed…on our way back, Ethan noticed an old rock wall built by miners many years ago to reroute the American river in hopes of finding gold on the old river bed.  And here we were, Ethan and I, 160 or so years later, walking alone, not a soul in site, other than the two dogs.  I spoke with Ethan somewhere during our adventure – he was doing better.  

 

We headed to a newer taqueria in Coloma and paid money for food that would have been right at home at a high school football game.  Really?  That kind of cheese for nachos?  Yet my question about the restaurant been answered and all is good. I'm on a forever quest of La Bodega nachos. We picked up Maggie at her party and headed home.

Tonight is Return of the Jedi.  This one is somewhat of a Jim Henson meets George Lucas –too many crazy creatures for my tastes.  Made a reservation for Yosemite for the kids and me  in March.  Looking forward  to one hell of an adventure.

 Pictures: Hiking near Coloma

January 16, 2016

I could have slept so long this morning – but of course the phone “pinged” around 7:30 regarding my niece’s dance class, so I was up.

I cleaned the kitchen, listening to Flo-Rida and Pitbull, deciding that the rain wasn’t enough to keep me home, so the pups and I got ready…

…and headed to the hills.  The first stop was had snow all over the road and the hill was too steep for my little 2WD to master, despite the chains I had on in minutes, so I backed up and we were going to try to find a trail, but a car passed by and stopped, then another, and NYC is not for me, so we loaded up, I whipped those chains off and we were off.  The second spot was more of a rugged off-trail adventure, but gunfire was so near that I kept imagining bullets piercing my body, so after half a mile here, I turned around again and left.  The third spot was a pay-site, but no guns nor motorized vehicles are allowed, so that was in my favor.  The $5 was worth it.  We walked a few miles…sadly I never found "The Trial" that takes us to the back part of the lake, but that’s ok.  I got 5 miles in, it was drizzly and I didn’t see a soul.  Perfect.

 

At home, I made a quick, healthy lunch (a bit of chicken and broccoli); the smell of curry making it smell like many motels I stay in on the road.  I don’t really have anything to do.  No school work and I am not enthusiastic about cleaning, so….I’m watching this series of which I pay attention to about 1/3 of it.  It isn’t really “gripping” but has serious eye candy and in my condition, that’s a nice thing to have.

Off for a bit of sushi and then kindling so I could build a fire while watching more eye candy.  I sat and watched this series, chatted online and ate so many damn energy balls that I'm exhausted.   I really need a damn hobby because this is boring as hell.

Pictures: Hiking pictures; Castiel from Supernatural

January 3, 2015

This morning I awoke with dizziness in my head, but less than usual.  Yesterday I had stopped by a pharmacy and, after signing my name and vowing I wouldn’t use this one packet of Sudafed to make and distribute meth, I walked out with a hopeful solution.  Today, I would put said-hopeful-solution to test.

Popped in two, and prepared for The Hike.  It wasn’t Christmas – people were going to back to work tomorrow, so families with kids would hopefully be at home, and I headed up the mountain with the pups.  It wasn’t 31 degrees like last time, but the slush was giving my tires a little bit of attitude, so I pulled over and threw on my chains: first in back where I’m supposed to (didn’t work too well), then in front (worked great but one side didn’t fit right), then one on back (the bad-fitting one) and one on the front, then - screw it – both on front.  Needless to say, I’m well versed in putting chains on a car.

The hike was picture-perfect: Not one person did I see – I only heard gun fire to the right of me and as we got to the lake, I heard some kids as dad was loading up the boat – but I didn’t see anyone.  It was quite a great multi-interactional hike – did a little mud-boarding down steep inclines, then mud-climbing as we came back up.  On the way back, a friend from Wisconsin texted to say he has a package to send me!!  Delicious cheese and fresh-from-the-march cranberries which will be in my Year End cranberry crunch.  I haven’t had a care package in decades and am quite excited.

Got home, cleared the dishwasher, discovered a sink-leak (which I will call about tomorrow), bathed the dogs, ate dinner and then…

 

I saw I had been unfriended on Facebook by someone whom I like and respect very much.  It seems my political comments were deemed rather hostile and insulting and this makes me very sad.  I label myself as an Independent because there are some aspects on the Democratic side which I find to be ridiculous and there are some issues on the Republican side which I see the same way.  Granted, I lean more in one direction than the other, but this doesn’t mean I believe everything they stand for, and to be quite honest, I tend to believe that while politicians may start out as wanting to serve and make things better, I think they end up working more for themselves and their bank account (most of them).  Something I have known about myself for a long time is that other than a few things (women’s rights), it is very difficult to put me “on a side” because I can usually understand the other side’s thinking.  It was very sobering for me to see that someone who means something to me was offended by my post.  So – what I am going to try to do is when I post on FB, not post anything political.  Now, I believe in women’s rights hardcore, but I see that more of a human right than anything political – I see same-sex love/marriage, etc the same way.  Instead, I’ll post music videos, since music makes everything better.  I really am sorry, Person-I-Offended.

Pictures:  Mabi on Ice (snow); A Really Tall Tree; Wood-stump hugging the snow;Dogs making sure all is safe for me around a long-fallen tree.