Bridge of Disappoitment

**Note** This article is from about a year ago. I had issue trying to remember where I put this picture. Without this picture the article is pretty useless.

This past weekend my friends A. and V. went with me for a camping adventure. This is one of the stories. Enjoy.

By this part in the day we had had a full day of horses, food, beautiful sunshine, fluffy clouds, and a drink or two when we were trying to figure out what to do next.

We were using a tourist guide and it had a nice map inside. On this map were little red bridges that indicated where the local covered bridges were in the area. Not having a plan we decided this would be a fun adventure, go and find a covered bridge, drive through it, take a picture or two. 

Just like they do in a football huddle, we said break, got in the car, A. navigated, V. drove, I chatted about nothing, made random comments, and stared at the landscape. You know, the things I’m best at.

As A. expertly guided us through the street names and turns, she informed us we are getting close to the bridge, it should be on a side street. 

We were going and going, and not seeing this bridge or a side street. Then all of a sudden, there, squished between a Panera and a Music Center, was the covered bridge. 

No way to drive through it, literally sitting right next to a busy highway/multi-lanes of traffic. 

Old world meets new world within 10 feet of each other. 

This, this is the bridge of disappointment. Dreams were crushed, moods dropped, faces frowned, souls and faith in humanity were shattered like the glass in a Jewish wedding, stomped out under foot into a million pieces.

Really? This is the bridge? This is what we were hoping for? Technically, it was two bridges that they combined together. 

No this, is not acceptable. This will not do. So we used the restroom in Panera and decided we had to find another bridge.

Broccoli

Broccoli

So this little guy is super yummy. New Dude re-affirmed that he loves this stuff.

In the process of trying to lose a few pounds and eat a little better, bringing in fresh veggies is a must. So, adding baby carrots and broccoli to the lunch snacks will be a new staple.

I also love broccoli. Even as a small child I would eat it as long as it wasn't cooked.

Odd, right?

Now, I can eat it in any form. The only problem is that it also has a permanent memory attached to it.

This story took place a few years ago. I had recently had a sledding accident and caused some kind of tear in my right shoulder. The way to fix this was pain pills and a sling.

I was working at the restaurant and could no longer serve because I couldn't hold trays or drinks. So I became a host for about 8 or so weeks.

One busy Friday, I was at the host stand when a assistant manager accidentally slammed into my bad arm. I had been there for 20 minutes and the pain was getting bad, really bad, fast. So I took half of a pain pill that I had brought with me.

Minus being a little crazy, the rest of the night went by okay.

Then, it started to happen. I got really pale and clammy. My stomach started to turn. I sat in the To Go Room and sipped on ginger ale and tried to eat some bread and crackers. This was working so when I felt better I went back to the host stand.

I was there for another 5 minutes before I was sprinting for the bathroom.

I stayed there for a few minutes while my entire lunch came scream out of my body. The problem with this was that it was both very violent and all encompassing.

My lunch, the fresh broccoli I had enjoyed earlier came burning out both my mouth AND nose.

I hope you  haven't had the joy of having those little broccoli bud things coming out of your nasal cavity but I hope you can skip that life lesson. It burned. It hurt. Some felt like they were stuck there for the next hour. Blowing you nose and having green little buds come out it not what I call fun.

I had to call a friend's husband to come pick me up because I was afraid to drive. I had him pull over once so I could puke a little bit more before we made it home. I crawled into bed and stayed there for the rest of the night.

Does anyone else have a story about a rough day at work or with food? If so let me know with a comment below.

100 Days of Happiness Days 1-10

At the start of this year one of my good friends post this challenge on her Facebook page. She was also kind enough to specifically dare me and a few of her other friends to do this 100 happy days.

I thought about it, thought about it, and thought about it, and after about a week, I was like I can do this. However, I really don't like posting things on Facebook that much. Sure I like to tell people about new blog posts but for the most part I mostly post about 2-3 times a week. 100 days in a row is just too much.

So I've turned it into a post series.

Why? Why not? I'm a blogger right?

Here are the simple rules straight form the site http://www.100happydays.com/ "How? Plain simple! every day submit a picture of what made you happy! It can be anything from a meet-up with a friend to a very tasty cake in the nearby coffee place, from a feeling of being at home after a hard day to a favor you did to a stranger."

1/13/2014 Monday

Ripley!

This lovely lady, Ripley, who I befriend at one of the worst places to work ever. Her posts make me happy. They fill my brain with food for though, my eyes with great food to look at, to eat and my brain full of knowledge.

1/14/2014 Tuesday

Hair Ties

Hair Ties make me happy. If I did not have this cloth covered rubber band I am pretty sure I would have hacked all my hair off by now. Usually in an unfavorably way. It keeps me cool when I get hot from working out or getting frustrated. It also keeps my hair out of soup and food in general.

1/15/2014 Wednesday

My boyfriend makes me very happy. Even when I'm angry and filled with crazy because of PMS or lack of sleep, or stress, or whatever it is that day, he is the calm, mostly reasonable one to bring me back to my happy place. 

Also, he's super cute, and fun to play around with. 

When I was going through the dating game, I kept staying I wasn't looking for a husband or boyfriend but my best friend and playmate, and I'm pretty sure I found him.

One day he was talking about and ex of his and how she was like you're such and such years old you should grow up. I looked at him and asked "Why?" He was like "Exactly!" So, you get the point.

1/16/2014 Thursday

Today the moon makes me happy. I enjoy the silvery light it produces. I love the moon in the winter time because it seems so clear and bright like you can just reach out and touch it. The moon and the phase make me happy.

1/17/2014 Friday

TGIF
Sorry, this one does not come with a picture

For over a year now I create a TGIF post. However, it doesn't ever say Thank Goodness It's Friday. It always says something else. I have people that seem to look forward to the and I enjoy sending them. One of my favorites, was inspired by our government when they shut theme selves down. It was This Government Is F*&%. Anyway. I enjoy them.

1/18/2014 Saturday

New Adventures!
New Dude and I went to the above event on Saturday and it was a great time. We tried a lot of new beers, most seemed to be kind of IPA-ish, which was a bummer, but it was fun. Something new, with lots of new drinks and food. The experience over all was great and I love new things like that.

Oh Work Shoes

Ode to my work shoes.

I have been holding on to this photo and this post for a very long time. Probably almost as soon as I started to write this blog.


I was going to follow the format of an ode and write a poem about these restaurant work shoes who had died. However, the pair I bought to replace them are almost dead too.

So here is a poem still but not in ode format.

Oh work shoes how you make me feel.

Sometimes sticky other times like I'm walking on a banana peel.

You once were shiny and black,

Now you're kept hidden in a sack.

You smell something awful,

it is almost of the point of being unlawful. 

I thank you for your service rendered.

But I think about sending you back to the vendor.

For your grippers no longer work.

Making you a very big jerk.

Water can creep in an wet my socks, 

That is why I should bury you in a box.

I thank you for all of your help,

I must go let you go before my feet yelp.

Power Up!

*NOTE* So this is one of those events that happened about 2-3 months ago.

New Dude and I were thinking about having a craft night. Just a night of something random to do. The last time we had craft night we had come up with pipe cleaner people. You can see them here.

Well, we wanted to do something different, and we hadn't seen B. in a long time so we invited her over.

First, I impressed B. with my ability to cook, clean up, change, and have like 4 pots on the stove and dishes everywhere, all while telling stories, and I think avoiding burning anything. I have a track record of burning rolls. Her words when we sat down for pork chops and at least two sides an rolls were, something to the affect of wow, this actually good. 

I had to ask, you thought it wasn't going to be? B. admitted she had been nevervous with the talking and the pots and the pans and things just kind of everywhere. 

I wasn't offended, she just clearly hadn't seen me cook before. 

Dinner was a success so we cleaned up and moved onto getting the project going.  

New Sunglasses!

So every time I work out I pay myself a dollar. If it is a hike, bike ride, run, long walk, canoe trip, race, soccer game, anything that isn't just walking around a mall it counts. Hey, it's my game I can make it as easy as I want.

Well this reward system has been going on for about 5 years or so. The first time I decided to spend some of this earned money it was on sports bras and socks and things like that.

This second time it was for a pair of really nice sunglasses. I needed them because when I go bike riding I need protecting from things like rocks that could fly up and hit me in the face. With these glasses, they should not shatter, so I don't have to worry about rock or plastic in my eyes. And it is kind of hard to wear a hat while you're also wearing a helmet, so sun glasses are a better idea.

Anyway.

Like most things, this took a long time for me to save up for. Mostly because when I had hit about the $80 mark, someone came in my house and stole my stash. It was my fault for having it in the open, but their fault for being a$$holes that broke into my house.

So this year in December when everyone else was shopping for friends, family, and random strangers, I went and bought these. My sister helped me pick them out. When it comes to performance sunglasses the selection for women is a little limited.

They are super light weight, polarized, and don't fog up too much.

I went for about a 4 mile run. They fogged up a little, but nothing to bad. They didn't slip, even when I was pouring sweat. They kind of have a brown tint to them so everything in the woods kind had the feeling of fall. It is okay thought, they worked really well.

The downside was that when I looked at them closely, I had noticed that where the nose parts were, one of the screw holes looked like it had been chipped away or something,.

So a few days later I had to return them and get a new pair. I paid a small fortune for them, I wanted to get a full and problem free pair. The guy that was working seem frazzled. He said all he's been dealing with are exchanges and refunds. I told him I was sorry and took my new non-blemished glasses and headed out.

Does anyone else have a story about how they got their sunglasses? If so leave a comment below!

Richmond Half Marathon 2013

End of the race when I could not smile.

*Note* Another post I started but apparently didn't finish from November 2013, which is when I completed my second half marathon.

I can only write this now because for the most part everything doesn't hurt any more.

This past weekend I ran my second half marathon. This was a huge challenge for several reasons.

The biggest, was that I was going to be running this big long race, alone. My mother and constant race running buddy was unable to run with me due to a foot injury.

This running race, I had to train by myself. The first half marathon I had lucked out and was able to run with a co-worker/friend every weekend with her and her little group. They were training for a full marathon and so half way through their run, I'd get dropped off, they'd grab more water and snacks and keep going.

I was also dealing with an injury. One of my only long runs of 10 miles, I pulled something. I still am not sure what, but it was either a groin muscle or a hip flexor. The only real thing that would help it is time. Time is not something you really have when trying to make sure the mileage for the race is still being covered. Not running is not an option when there are smaller but still fun races happening before the run. So that was a worry.

This race was hard. This race was difficult. This race was lonely. This race pushed me further and harder then I had ever been pushed at a race.

It hurt my knees. It hurt my back. It hurt my lungs. It hurt my shoulders. It hurt my legs. It hurt my feet. It hurt  my baby toe. It hurt my skin. It hurt my emotions. I hurt my stomach. It hurt my heart. It hurt my self confidence. It hurt my courage. I hurt my will to keep going.

This race made me hurt.

I had a high of passing the 2:30 hour mark pace runner for a while. It was around the 10k mark going though a park. Towards the last 3 miles I lost the pace guy. I couldn't see them any more. To be fair, the race was now starting to have a lot of turns around blocks in the city.

I didn't walk very often in my first race and this race was forcing me to walk, towards the end, a little more than I had hoped for. That was depressing me. The cold was depressing me. I had no idea of how long I had be running, what my time was, and that was causing stress. I had wanted to just beat my last time which was around 2:37 but now I thought I was around 2:45 and just wanted to be done. I just kept going because there was nothing else I could do. I had used most of my water and even kept drinking at the water stops.

Yet while I did this, I still kept passing some people. Others for sure kept passing me, but I'd focus on someone ahead of me and I'd try to pass them and I did. Some of them of course came back and passed me but not all of them.

Hello Kitty

Inside view of cat home.

So I came home tonight and it was really cold out side. Sitting on my porch was a kitty.

Well I thought it was a kitty, and to be sure I had to go inside turn on the light to the front porch and then came back around slowly to try and see it.

I didn't want to approach it if it was a ratcoon. It might have rabies. More importantly, it just wouldn't be allowed in the house and it's a wild animal, which is way more able to survive in all weather. 

So as I got closer and tried to do the whole, "Hey, kitty, kitty, kitty," which basically freaked it out and ran away.

To the dismay of my mother, who at the time I was talking on the phone with, I was going to let the kitty inside. 

But since it ran away, and it was suppose to be super cold tonight, I wanted to make sure it had a place to stay.

Today was garbage day and also paper recycling so the box that would have been perfect was now gone. After a short search in the basement I found a plastic container. I dumped out the contents and then found a blanket and sheet.

The first picture is the inside view of the new of the cat house. 

Because it is cold and the ground is froze, I thought this cat might be hungry. So I place a small dish of dog food next to it.

Now I know that it probably not going to eat the food, because it is dog food, but I don't have anything else and don't want to give it tuna fish.Why do cats even like tuna? How do they like it? Most of them couldn't kill a tuna. 

I guess that is a different argument for a different day. 

Cat home

Anyway, I don't know if the kitty is coming back or not, but if it does, it will have a place at least out of the direct wind to stay.

When it is cold out side keep your pets safely inside! They might not have to be in your bed but at least give them some kind of shelter.

Lost and Found

*Note* This post was suppose to be sent out in December but as you can tell, never made it. I didn't want to change the dates so published it the way it was written. 

Inside this box is a pair of shoes. These shoes cost about $22. At one point I thought they cost $122.

About a week or two ago my work had an Angel tree for a local Boys and Girls Club. They had a few angels left that needed to be picked up. I figured I was in a good place I could go pick up something for a kid that might not get something otherwise.

So I picked up the Angle. It was a little dude and he was awesome because he wanted something specific, a pair of shoes, which I had to look up what they were because I'm not so hip with it. The good news was that at the store I was looking on-line they had several shoes that were in the budget that we were allowed to spend.

I went to the local mall. I apparently don't go there enough seeing as it took me about 3 laps around the mall and 15 more minutes then needed because I couldn't find the store.

I went in, I looked around, I didn't see anything, and then asked a sales staff. I had like 3 options at the actual store. However, only one pair was in the budget range. So I got the shoes and headed out.

My next stop was the bank. I had waited to go to it second because it would have involved left turns but if I did it second it would only be right turns.

So, I waited. I went to deposit the cash in the drive through ATM, because sadly, it is usually faster then doing the line inside or drive through with the tubes. Except, this machine is finicky and doesn't want to eat my money like I had hoped it would.

Finding Nemo?

Christmas Day was spent at New Dude's parents house. We also visited his grandparents house and I have lovely nap and tons of food.

I was having such a good time that at 10 pm when they said hey, let's play Monopoly I said sure! Instead of what I should have done, which was head home so I could function for work the next day.

Instead I stayed up until 12:30 and then had to figure out what I was going to do. Stay there for a few hours and get up super early to run home to get to work on time. Or the option that we ended up taking, New Dude drove me home while I slept and later, after some miscommunication and slight delays, my car was dropped off for me.

As went to pull into the driveway in the early hours of the next day we saw this.

Dark, cold, and windy night and our head lights illuminated Nemo, sitting in the middle of our drive way.

We have no idea where he came from. Who's he was or how he got there. As you can see, he is missing his side fins... so maybe one of the seagulls dropped him off?

I was entertained by it and thought I'd share.

Has anyone else had something like this? if so leave a comment below.

As I sit here

This picture is from Christmas Day. I took all the ribbons. 

Hello! Greetings! Did you miss me? I have missed you guys. I apologize for my December absentees without notice. I tried to write, however, the holidays were kicking my butt.

The good news is that I'm back!

Or at least am going to try really hard to be on time with my posts. Also to finish some that I've started but have not finished.

2014 will hopefully be the year for accomplishing goals, trying even more new things, and finishing things that I have started.

As much as I'd like to list out all the things I did successfully last year and thing I need to improve upon, I'm tired.

I'm actually writing this post late at night while waiting for various rooms in my house to get a little warmer. It is currently like 10 degrees F. and about -5 or more with the wind chill.

Even with heaters in a room, I think we might have a slight freezing pipe issue.

That is okay, who needs sleep anyway?

The good news, is that I have a few minutes to actually stop in and let you know about a few of the randomness that has been my life.

In the restaurant world, well it has been less cherry and less fun. I had a shift that makes my nightmares about work, one of those stuck in the weeds, (in the restaurant world stuck in the weeds means you're behind on drinks, orders, you have too much to do, not enough time, not enough hands, and everything needs to be done right this minute.It is chaos, it is pain, it is frustration, it is horrible) look easy.

In my "real job" things have just been busy.

New Dude has to have a new name. He isn't shiny and new anymore. We've hit a year bench mark, a bench mark I have never even seen let a lone been too. So if you have any suggestions on his nick name that would be welcomed.

Family is doing well, just lots of babies and stuff.

Me, over all I'm good. I have some new aches and pains. My newest favorite is tennis elbow. I can get a brace for it if I want but I don't really want that many braces.

I start some swim lessons this weekend, this puts me in line with my goal of finishing a triathlon this year.This is very exciting news!

Alright, that is enough rambling for now. I promise to post more soon! Have a wonderful and warm day!