Brain Dump

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Today's post is going to have no real theme. I am just going to take a few minutes and talk about things bouncing around in my head. There is no rhyme nor reasonn so sit back and enjoy about 7 minutes of random things. Thank you and good luck.

The holidays were way more fun as children. The colors, the lights, the presents and the just the overall anticipation. As an adult, I feel more stress and pressure and not just due to monies spent. I feel like the time from last Christmas to next Christmas gets shorter and shorter and the expectations to run around get more and more.

The internet owns us all now. Good or bad everyone is connected to it. It is almost as important if not more so than electricity. That kind of scares me.

I do not like to read electronic books. However, I love audiobooks. Does that make me a hypocrite?

While folding socks and undies today I realized probably have more than 20 pairs for each. That's a lot, right? Also, why do I talk about underwear in as if it is a pair of underwear if it is clearly only one? Is it the two-leg holes that make it a pair?

In therapy, I am learning about feelings. I still do not understand them I still do not like them but I feel like I am getting a little bit better at actually identifying the feelings instead of just happy, mad and sad. Being able to do that really helps figure out the root issue. I think that is weird but fun.

I have also learned that your mind does crazy things to protect itself. I have no idea why it is even doing it. One of the big things I have learned is when you change statements from you to I can be huge. One example: You know how you feel like your friend relationships are changing and you don't know if you want them to or what to do with that information? Now try saying it like. I know that my relationships with my friends are changing and I don't know if I want them to change or how to handle the fact that they are. Profoundly different statements.

I still firmly feel that love is a verb and not an adjective. Every day I wake up and try my best to show my love and work for the love I have for my Husband, my family, and friends.

I love walking around with big fuzzy wool socks in the wintertime.

I think too much and it distracts me from being present.

Every day is a new opportunity to try again and try harder yet sometimes when I fail to meet my goals and expectations day after day I wonder what's the point? Then someone points out that my goals and expectations might be too high, unrealistic, and never achievable. Which boils down to I set myself up to fail. Isn't that insane?

I am not crazy.

I could become a crazy cat lady but not with Lock. He and I are not friends and I do not see that changing anytime soon. Honestly, I don't know why he doesn't like me. It bothers me some times but then I play with Teach and yell F. U. Cat!

My fingers are cold.

Running with Teach yesterday was good because he got exercise and I finished my mileage goal. Bad because I was frustrated several times. I hope I can get up earlier enough this week to try again with him in a different setting.

Okay, that's probably the top layer. I'm going to stop here to keep from going down any wormholes.

Thanks for reading maybe we'll do this again some time?

If you would also like to brain dump feel free with a comment below!

Weapon Wednesday - How to Make a Tourch

Sometimes Husband and I have what we like to call, Weapons Wednesday.

The activities we participate in can vary. On one occasion I learned about using a knife. On another, I learned a few self-defense moves on how to avoid/escape someone attaching from the front. One time I learned how to safely push my own car. You get the idea.

This Weapons Wednesday was learning about torches. How to make them and just experience a torch.

I asked Husband, did you learn about this in Boy Scouts? He looked at me funny and said no, I just like fire. Fair enough man, fair enough.

With just a little hesitation, we went downstairs to start our task.

Step one was to gather all of the supplies, socks, fuel, sticks, and some wire.

The next step was to roll up the socks, using the wire to securely attach the socks to the end of the sticks. Is there an exact reason for these steps? Honestly, probably. Do I know the reasons? Nope.

Once they were secure we took our fun outside. In this step, we carefully added the fuel. The fuel we used was lighter fluid, like the kind that would be added to charcoal before starting your gril. We slowly added the fluid to the socks and watching them absorb all the liquid. We didn't over saturate it so that they would drip because we were outside an there were many dry leaves on the ground. We wanted to learn about torches not how to put out fires.

Please note, we did do this right next to a garden hose so we were prepared.

Once both the socks were filled with liquid we lighted them.

Wow, they were bright, they were warm, and boy did they look cool!

When you moved them around they sounded so awesome. Sort of like a whooshing sound. They actually produced more light than I thought they would. If you waved them fast enough you could get little puffs of fire to jump off of them.

Husband explained that if I held the torch more to the side I could see better than if it is was out front because it didn't cause my vision to get so distorted.

The sticks themselves didn't catch fire because the fire was just consuming all of the lighter fluid. Husband said that the sock was just acting like a wick. As the fire burned it just pulled out more of the fluid.

Did the sock eventually burn? Oh yes. Did the fire eventually get dim? For sure. Did our sicks get a little blackened? Yup. Did the part the socks covered stay get burnt? Nope!

While I was waving around my torch burning spider webs and just wandering around under my porch I thought about all of the movies where people use torches. Indiana Jones and The Mummy came to mind first. Their torches were way bigger but still, they did the same thing. I have to give people from the past credit they sure were clever and very ingenious.

Our fun lasted about 20 minutes and I would say of that 20 minutes the first 10 were for sure super bright and the flames were huge. In the end you could still see things but it would have defiantly caused some alarm and worry if you were in the middle of a dark cave or temple.

Has anyone else built a torch before? If so, what did you use for fuel? How long did yours last? Let me know with a comment below!

High Ropes Course Birthday

A few weeks ago my mother turned another milestone year. She was kind of bummed about it but let's be honest after you hit 26(can I say rent a car whenever I want without fees please?) birthdays can be less than enthusiastic.

Over the last few years, my brother and I have been getting together to give her some kind of adventure. She and my brother have taken some of these like champs!

This year instead of a surprise I actually asked her what she wanted to do between two options. The first being going to see the musical Hamilton or a high ropes course, she chose the high ropes course.

I have been a few times with Husband, but not to a Go Ape before. We picked a date, she picked the course, I bought the tickets for her, my brother, and my stepdad and it was a done deal,

I came into to town visit her for a few days and then it was TIME!

I had to laugh because of the 4 of us on this adventure I was the only one who had done this before. Also, I found out, or maybe for the first time paid attention, that my mom was afraid of heights. My brother jumps out of planes so he was a no issue. My stepdad seemed to do pretty well since he goes in trees for hunting all the time.

The experience went really well. We all signed in, went to the restroom, put on or pulled off layers, then once it was our time went over with the instructor to be put into a harness, taught how to use the equipment, read the signs, and how to properly navigate the course. They had a little demo area that you practiced and passed before going to the actual course and then we were off!

I have to even admit a few times my stomach clenched up with some fear as I did a Tarzan swing into a cargo net. Also, it's been a while since I've climbed in a cargo net, those are harder to do then I thought. Mom did amazing, along with my brother and stepdad. We waited and encouraged and laughed at each other the whole time. It was great!

The end result is that we all had a good time. My mom was able to cross of zip lining and high ropes course off her bucket list and she asked that we do this again next year for her birthday. I told her done!

During the course, my stepdad took a video of me on the zip line. I keep laughing at it each time because I was trying to go straight but quickly lost it and apparently my mind at the same time.

Please note Go Ape didn't ask me to write this review or talk about their services. It was just a good day and I wanted to share.

Has anyone else done a high ropes course? Did you enjoy it? What part did you like the least? What was your favorite? Leave a comment below and thanks!

E-mail Fun

Photo by Webaroo.com.au on Unsplash

I don't know what it is with my e-mail but I get random people's e-mail several times a year. I always politely reply to make sure they know they have the wrong address.

Well, I thought this was pretty funny so I wanted to share it. enjoy.

First e-mail:
Hi gorgeous one hope all is going well.  We had a little rain today so your plants would have had a bit of a drink which was perfect.  Love you xx

My reply:

Hi XXXX,

Thank you for the compliment it is a very nice way to start the day. However, since I don't have plants I assume you have the wrong email address. =/ Thanks for a bright way to start my day!

Shannon

Their Reply:
Too funny sorry Shannon thanks for replying. 

Does anyone else get random e-mails like this? If so please let me know 

Rainbow Cupcakes

Yum!

A few weeks ago I was not bored as much as wanting to do something both creative and edible. With a box of white cake mix, vanilla frosting, and some food coloring and the adventure began.

I made the cake mix per the instructions and then I divided out portions of it into 5 different bowls. I added food coloring to four of the bowls and then just started to make my cupcakes.

I took a spoonful of one color and then another and another until the cupcake cup was two thirds full.

For some cupcakes, I tried to layer the colors and others I took a toothpick and tied to swirl the colors around. In the end, it was a colorful mess.

Once the cupcakes were out of the oven and cooled I added the frosting. I wanted the frosting to also be colorful so I scooped it into a zip lock bag, I don't own pastry bags and didn't think to grab one earlier, squeezed all the frosting into one corner, added a few drops of coloring and then cut the tip off the bag and began to squeeze/pipe the frosting out. I can thank that idea to the show The Great British Bake Off.

You can see from the pictures a few cupcakes without frosting and then some with the frosting.

How did they taste? Okay, they tasted just okay. The adding of the food dye caused the flavors to change a little bit. Not enough that I wouldn't do it again, I think I would just want to make sure that the cake was flavored with something. Maybe some strawberry in the pink or some lemon in the yellow, or just some kind of overall stronger vanilla for the cake itself.

Since we don't need a dozen and a half cupcakes for just 3 people, and I didn't make enough for my workgroup or my husband's workgroup we sent them to work with the Broha.

However, to make sure the cupcakes made it through the night I had to kitty proof them.

I enjoyed making these cupcakes. If you've got an extra 30 minutes or so to add a little bit of color to your next baking creation I would highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading and if you've ever made colorful cupcakes like this before what did you think? What would you do different, or have done different the next time? Leave me a comment below!

Creative Writing - Coffee Shop

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

It all started out like a normal Tuesday in any big city. The cars started honking their horns before 7am like roosters. The small shops and stores were slowly opening up their doors. The sounds of hoses washing off cement and scraping of tables being pulled onto the sidewalk could be heard.

This sleepy predictability was Morris’ favorite part of his day. Though he did not know the shopkeepers by name he knew their routines almost better than they did.

Since today was Tuesday, he walked slowly towards his favorite coffee shop to enjoy a cup of overpriced coffee with a slightly stale pastry. While he waited quietly for his order to be up he sat down at a tiny table and pulled out his laptop as was his normal routine.

Before Morris could even type his password his name was called. He quickly got up to retrieve his coffee and pastry. As he sat there sipping his coffee he suddenly heard, “HELP! Please can someone please help!?!"

Morris, quickly looked up and around the cafe for the person asking for help. No one else seemed to hear this cry for help. His head swiveled like a top looking to the voice but saw no one in distress. Morris then heard the same cry again, “HELP! Please can someone please help!?!”

Again, no one else seemed to take any notice. The barista kept making other people’s drinks, the pedestrians continued at their same pace outside the cafe window and while everyone inside the cafe continued to stare at their phones. It wasn’t until Morris hear the cry one more time that he finally spotted the person needing aid.

It was a tiny little lego man that was screaming from the table next to Morris’. A 6 year old girl was slowly pulling the lego man apart limb by limb. By this point she had removed their legs and one arm and was slowly pulling off the other arm.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

As you can tell from reading, Her name is Abigail part 1, Her name is Abigail part 2, Her name is Abigail part 3 and a Beautiful day to sit on the side of the road, I have been having a few car troubles. Husband and I had 3 vehicles, and now we are down to one car. One is in the shop and will be worked on sometime in the first week of September and the second one was just dropped off so we don't know when it will be worked on.

Having such different work schedules we could have probably made having one car work for about 1-2 days but soon it will be too complicated, worry some and stressful. I suggested that we rent a car for a few days until one of the vehicles was repaired. He agreed with needing a second vehicle but instead of a rental company called his family to see if we could borrow something. His aunt said we could borrow a truck and I was very thankful and to have that option.

We then took a nice drive up Route 11, stopped by Dinosaur Kingdom II, for a visit before hanging out with his grandparents and his parents for the day.

Sidebar, if you live in southwest Virginia and have not stopped by Dinosaur Kingdom II, your really should. Honestly, it is hard to describe except to keep an open mind and take in for what it is, just a neat little walk through the woods.

Back to the story.

Where Husband's family lives in Rockbridge County, they do not have weekly trash days like we do. You take your trash to community dumpsters. The truck we were borrowing had a few items that needed to be dumped, so before we left his parents we also picked up some of their trash since we had to stop by the dumpster anyway.

After southern goodbye-ing for about an hour, we finally started down the road about 9pm.

I was in the truck, Husband was in his car and I was in lead. I missed the pull off for the dumpster probably by about 5 miles. So we turned around with Husband leading and he brought us to the right place. We quickly unloaded all the trash and had a debate of who should take lead on the way back home. I was new to driving the truck and couldn't decide what to do so he said I'll take lead and see you at the gas station.

Husband pulled out and I followed after him. We made it down the road probably about a mile before I saw his brake lights go on, the screeching of tires, the sound of a thud and then his car pulling ahead to the side of the road.

Since I had been going slower I had time to slow down but not slow enough. He had just hit a deer, the poor thing was either in shock and had come back into the road or hadn't left. The end result is that I too hit the thing, but since I was in a truck and higher it just went down underneath my tires vs really hitting anything.

Scared, confused, and unsure what to do I pulled behind where Husband had parked on the side of the road.  I got out of the car and started to cry. It was one of those shaking all over, not able to breathe, while tears just slide slowly down your face.

Husband was checking out his car and when he saw me he came over and was like are you okay? Is the truck okay? I was like I hit the deer too. Is your car okay? He was like it's still running.

I'm standing between the two vehicles, all the lights are on and I am just standing there shaking and crying. Husband just does what needs to be done. He went back to the deer to end her suffering and pull her out of the road. Once he does that and comes back while I still standing there unsure what to do. Do we need to call the cops? Do we go home? What do we do? Since it is now about 9:30pm on Labor Day night, and there is deer fur in the lights of my husband's car we do not call the police. Since the vehicles are driveable we head down the road to the gas station which was our destination already.

When we arrive at the gas station I have stopped crying and shaking. I fill up the truck and car with gas while we survey the vehicles for damage and confirm they are both driveable and head home.

While driving home I start to question my goal for having a small farm of goats, chickens, and a cow or two. If I just freaked out that bad about killing a deer I didn't know if  I could kill animals I raise? I ponder how in the last week we went from having 3 vehicles down to probably none. Also, I took a moment to be thankful we had the option to even borrow a vehicle since not everyone has that opportunity.

Suffice to say when I got home Husband and I had to have a chat to clear up some of the confusion that had sprung up in my head. He also confirmed that tomorrow he would be calling our car insurance people because his car was not driving quite right.

All I kept hearing in my head were two phrases over and over. "And then there were none." And, "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."

The last time I had tried to help with the trash I had put a dent in the side of Husband's Dad's car.  I try to take out their trash again and we kill our last car. Great, just great.

That Tuesday, Husband ran around and dropped his car off to be repaired and to pick up a new rental while I worked and sent him a million text messages to find out what was going on.

Have you hit a deer before? If so when and what happened? Did you cry too or was that just me? Please let me know with a comment below!

I'm sorry I was late

Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Newlyweds,

I am writing this letter today to express my deepest sympathies and regret for being late in delivering your wedding dinner. I like most people, had the best of intentions, tried my best, and showed up an hour late with your food. Instead of having all the weeks and months of planning coming together like a well-oiled machine I stopped it like a nail in a tire. It doesn't ruin the car but it is inconvenient, annoying, problematic, and frustrating. 

I left the store with high hopes, little worries, and confidence I would be there on time. I punched in the address in google and started to make my way to play my small part in your big day.

The route Google took me was the back way. I had gone that way once before but not to your venue. The first time I was following a friend home so all I remembered of that trip was that it was a windy path.

As I listened to my audiobook Google would stop in to tell me to turn right or left here or there. I followed like an obedient child until it said that I had arrived at my destination to my bright but there was no one in sight. 

I had not passed any cars, nor balloons or arrows saying the venue name or the party's name. I was in the middle of nowhere and Google said I had arrived. I drove on a little bit further but the roads now all looked the same. I knew where I had come from but could not see where I needed to go.

I backed up to pull into the nearest house that could possibly host a wedding. There were no people, there were no cars. I feared to go further down the road for I did not know where it would take me and if I could get back. 

I got out of my truck and started to look frantically around to see if anyone was nearby. My phone suddenly dropped in battery life from straining to get a signal. I called your cell phones, but it went straight to voice mail. It makes sense since you would have been taking pictures and hugging all your guests. I called the store but my phone strained to connect but took it's last breath before we could talk. By this point, I was rushing around the house looking for a door or window to knock-on to see if anyone was home. As I bounced from one foot to the other I came to the conclusion no one was home and I need to find help. 

I ran back to my truck drove and back down the way I came. At this point I've hit full panic. I'm crying, while trying to stop crying, breathing in short shallow puffs. I'm talking to my self out loud for the next step I need to take.

What to do, what to do? 

The only thoughts I have in my head was to find a phone and that I am ruining your day. 

I stopped at the first house I saw and with shaking breaths and hands I knock on the door. I have to knock twice before I hear anything or anyone. Slowly the door is opened by an elderly gentleman. I quickly explain to him in near-hysterical breaths that I am trying to make a delivery for a wedding, I can't find the venue, I am lost and my phone has died may I use your phone.

Very shakily he lets me in his house and brings me his phone. He is wary and nervous of me as I keep breaking into small sobs while trying to pull myself together.  My crying is making him cry because he doesn't know what he can do help this mess of a person.

Now that I have a phone I call your phone numbers again and leave a message. I call the store back time after time after time but keep getting disconnected before I can talk to a person. My last hope is a friend that I have their number memorized. I call her and hear her answer and through tears and stifled sobs tell her what is happening, where I am at, and what I am trying to do. 

She tries to find me the correct address and point me in the right direction but the gentleman doesn't know his own address. I don't know if I have rattled him so much or if it's one of those I don't send myself mail type things. I look at the faded numbers on house and supply her with the information. She helps me the best she can and will call the store for me but in my panic hear a closer house number but ultimately not the right numbers for the venue.

I call the store back one more time and am able to reach a person. I tell them my problem and let them know what is happening. They tell me if the address I have provided is correct I am less than a mile from the venue. I say thank you and hang up the phone. Now that I have an idea of where I am going and know that I should be there soon. I thank the older gentleman and hop in my truck and am off.

While I pick the new direction I know that if I go more than a mile in any one direction now and don't see it then I've gone the wrong way. I zoom to the right nothing. I turn around, I zoom to the left nothing. The only way I have not tried is the direction I stopped going because it looked like more of the same. 

My leg is twitching, my hands are sweating, and tears randomly keep sliding down my cheeks. I want to make it to your wedding, I am trying to make it to your wedding but I cannot seem to find it.

I worry about my truck having problems. I worry about if it breaks down or runs out of gas between now and finding this event. I think about giving up and just going back to the store and putting this worrying on someone else's shoulders to carry. I did my best and it did not work. But then I think about how that would ruin your day and cause all your closets friends and family to go hungry with no local pizza place to supplement the food I have bouncing with me. 

As I fly around curves and places I see the numbers go down and then past the one I was looking for. 

Oh no! How did I miss it again! This cannot be happening. I didn't see anything!

It doesn't matter, I've got to find this place! I am now an hour late, everyone has to be starving. I back up and pull up the last driveway I had just passed. It opens to a huge house and two dogs hanging outside barking at me. 

I once again get out of the truck and walk towards the house. I go to knock on the door and see someone inside. Before I can knock on that door I hear a side door open. I go over to meet this new person. I quickly explain how I am lost, am so very late to this important event, I have no working phone or GPS and not sure where I need to go. Luckily, this person does know where your venue is located and quickly lets me know I am so close. I thank them profusely as they hold on to their dogs as I exit their driveway.

I ride down the road just a little further and I see your venue. I can see why you picked it. It is beautiful both the buildings and the grounds.

I see a lady with a walkie talkie and ask her where I need to go to drop off your food so I can finally go home and cry with relief instead of panic. She points me to the location. I jump out, use all the people that are looking to help's hands, and pull out and put your food out. We get it all set up and as I clean up I apologize for the 5th time to the owner and their helpers.

At this point, I had become numb and the tears thankfully stayed in my eyes as the owner told me in a very calm and professional way that this was unacceptable. People had expectations espcially on their big days and you cannot show up late for these types of events. 

I said yes sir, I agree sir, and you're right sir. If they call my manager he will make it right sir. I apologize sir from the bottom of my heart and am sorry.

I scribbled just such a note on the invoice that I hope you saw. 

It took me like an 8 point turn to get my truck out of the driveway so I could finally start back home.

I know it was your day, it was all about you, and I just wanted to let you know that I tried to make it all about you. I did everything in my power to make it there on time and just be a footnote in what I hope was overall a wonderful day. I feel like I became more of an active player and for that, I apologize and can only say one more time that I am sorry Mr. and Mrs. Newly Weds.

At this point, my letter has ended but I must follow up with the last part of my journey. I made it out of the driveway and made another wrong turn for home but the right turn in thanking the people who had helped me. The last house I stopped to point me to the venue were out walking. I was able to more clearly express my gratitude.

The older gentleman who was brave and kind enough to open his door to a near-hysterical woman was sitting outside his house. I pulled into his driveway and jumped out of my truck and give him a big hug and thanked him profusely for all his help. I also told him about if anyone else gets lost looking for a wedding venue to tell them to just keep going straight. We talked for just a few minutes before I had to part ways. 

I cried and thought about all the mistakes made and little things that added up to me being an hour late to this event. My tears kept falling as I told my co-workers, my boss, my friend, and my Husband.

I dinner was wine and brownies sprinkled with salty tears while I hope the newlyweds had cake. 

Beautiful day to sit on the side of the road

As I finished my race  10k race in Lynchburg I was excited to head back home. I had to go to work in a few hours so I was going to come home, shower, take a nap, before heading into work.

I was not 100% sure of the way home because my phone had died while I was running. I did have a car charger with me but apparently, there is a secret port according to Husband where I need to put it to get anything to charge. The most obvious one doesn't work? However, I didn't know that then nor do I know it now.

I follow one of the other races out of the neighborhood/park area and then start going down the road. Most of it looks familiar but I'm just not super confident since I don't visit this area very often.

I read all the signs, look for all the landmarks I saw on the way in and am doing okay until I think I go straight when I should have taken a right. It's okay because it all looks familiar from other trips so I keep going for a while. Until I hit the I don't think this is right at all and after taking a best guess end up on 460 West, which is exactly what I wanted. It took me longer than it should have to get pointed towards home but it's okay.

Traffic has picked up a little bit but not much, the sun is out, the sky is blue, the radio is on and I'm set on cruise control and looking forward to my shower and nap.

And then it happens.

While I'm heading up a hill I hear a noise, kind of like clunk, cruise control is disabled, and I feel the speed dropping, I hit the gas and hear the engine increase but do not feel any forward momentum.

Anyone who's been keeping up with some of my happenings in Her name is Abigail part 1, Her name is Abigail part 2, and Her name is Abigail part 3, knows I've been having a hard time with my car, so at this point, I'm thinking a few things very quickly.

1. I need to pull over to a safe spot
2. I cannot push this truck
3. I need to make sure I have the engine facing the road to help with jumps and tows.

That is exactly what I end up doing. Just at the top of the hill is some kind of shop or shop yard? There are no signs but there are some buildings and a road behind them that leads to some houses.

I pull into this area, point the truck towards the road, and turn it off and the on. It turns on and off super easily and like normal. The problem comes when I press the gas and the engine only revs and the truck stays unmoving.

Wonderful. Just. Wonderful.

What am I going to do? I need to call AAA and get some help with this truck. I don't see any moment tt around these shops but if I look up the road and to the other side I see some people. They have pop up tents and tables maybe I can borrow their charger for a little bit? Charge my phone enough to call for help?

I grab my bag and walk towards the tents.

They see me coming and I greet them with my best friendly, trying not to cry smile, and tell say hello, point to my truck stuck down on the other side of the road and explain my phone is dead and I was wondering if I could borrow some power to charge my phone.

They helped me find a plug and a USB charger and I plugged in and start to make the calls.

I first call AAA but I had misplaced my card since the last use and cannot seem to answer any of the questions right to identify myself. I say thanks and hang up and call the Broha to see if he can find the AAA card at home and send me a picture. While he is looking for the card I call my parents. They are the ones that give me the card each year and see if they can help me answer the questions I am failing. They also find an old card and give me the numbers off of that card at about the same time the Broha has found a copy. I write down the numbers and call triple AAA back.

This time I answer all their puzzles right and they tell me someone will be on their way shortly.

I thank all of the kind people, who I found out were out there for a yard sale, for all of their help.

I cross the road and go sit back in my truck.

By this time someone who must own the shop area I am in drives by and looks at me, leaves, and comes back and asks if I need help. I tell them thank you but no thank you a tow truck is on their way. They come back about 2 minutes later and give me a bottle of cold water. I say thank you very much.

As I sit in the truck, with the wind lightly blowing, the white clouds slowly chugging across the sky I really do think to myself, well, if you had to stop and get stuck somewhere, at least it is a very pretty day for it.

I call Husband, who is at work because it seems like he is almost always at work when things go sideways, to tell him of our newest adventures. He's like, I'm going to leave work and come get you. I tell him I appreciate it but AAA will be here soon and he cannot do anything and I'm in an okay spot. He's like okay, well, call me if you need anything.

AAA had said it would be about 30 minutes but it really turns in to be about an hour I am sitting on the side of the road as I panic and see my battery dying super fast but eventually the tow truck shows up.

I do seem to forget everyone's name but I can tell you that the good people at A&J Automotive Repair picked me up and made everything better. Okay, that's a lie, making everything better would have been them kicking the tires and my truck starting up and that didn't happen. However, they had my truck on their little bed and bring me back home in like less than 10 minutes.

The gentleman was super friendly, great at answering all my random automotive my questions, and brought me to our mechanics shop without any fuss.

I learned our drive that they are a new company less than a year old, at the time of this writing, based out of Lynchburg. They do all kinds of repairs and help poor souls like me stuck on the side of the road. I hope not to have to use their services again but if I'm in the Lynchburg area with problems I would give them a call.

A few minutes after A&J Automotive dropped the truck off at the repair shop Broha picked me up with all my bags of stuff to make it home. I didn't have time for a nap but I did get a shower before he brought me to work.

This, like most plans, did not go the way I had hoped, but if there was ever a day to stop and enjoy the Blue Ridge mountains, 9/1/2019 wasn't a bad day for it.

Anyone else get stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead phone? If so please leave me your tale of woe with a comment below!

Top 6 in a 10K

Despite all of this card madness happening I still continued to try and do things already planned in my life. One of the things planned in my life happened on 9/1/2019. I decided to run a 10k in Lynchburg, VA.

Honestly, the race was randomly picked for three reasons. The first was that it was in a city I have never run in, Lynchburg, second it was a 10k and third it was in September.

The race I chose was being hosted by Bishop Events in Peak Views Park, and it was benefiting Fallen Patriots- MSG George A Bannar Jr. Scholarship.

I get up really early, throw two different outfits in the car with me, lots of water, and all the things I need to run with like my inhaler, hydration pack, knee braces, and some food.

The ride up is pleasant and very chill. There is very little traffic on the road on a Sunday around 6am. I'm enjoying the drive while listening to an audiobook about Catherine the Great. By the way, she is a fascinating read, or in my case listen.

When I arrive for this race pull into the parking lot and I have a moment of okay.....

I figured this might be a small race but the parking lot is pretty much empty. The race does have their table set up for packet pick up and the timer but no people are milling around. I didn't see the one random person that is having their own personal yoga session. Or the teenage boys that are running around in the least amount of clothing humanly possible. Or the matching friends that are coordinated in shirts and pants. I'm not judging I've done it, I'm just saying there are people I normally see at races.

I picked up my bib and t-shirt, went to the restroom and then put on my gear and wandered to the start line. By now there are a few more people there but not many. We are all kind of looking around being like okay, this will be smaller than I thought.

Well fast forward about 5 minutes and the race event is like well, all 6 people running the 10k are here we can start early if you want? Everyone is like, "Alright?" They explain the route and pretty much do a one, two, three let's go and we were off.

In this race, there were 4 women and 2 men. Within the first 3 minutes, I knew what place I was going to be in, 6 out of 6.

By the first 15 minutes, there was absolutely no doubt about my mind. Which, honestly is slightly discouraging for a few reasons.

The first is that any race or event or game you play the first thought is always anything but dead last. Which I now was.

Second, since it was two laps out and back I could see them running and they could see me running and how big the gap was getting.

Third, I knew I had been lacking in my training but I normally don't feel it so obvious.

Fourth and not least I never pay attention to the racecourse because I always assume there will be people in front of me. The answer to this was yes, they still were but with lots of gaps in between. It was a pretty easy noncomplicated race there was very little fear of me getting lost but still that bummed me out.

As the other runners kept going at a good pace I kept to my slow and steady trot while listening to music and just trying to take in the day.

It was muggy and the scenery was on a greenway so it was rolly but paved which I appreciated.

I think the three things that made me last the most was that while I was running at one point I was going so fast I could purposely not step on a daddy long leg. As I moved my foot easily out of his path I screamed in my head, "I saved your life!"

I did this at least two more times with a caterpillar and worm.

They did have a 5k that had more people, from what I could tell show up and participate. However, because I was so slow they were all gone by the time I finished.

There was one water station that I passed four times. It was being manned by a younger dude and he was super friendly. Since it was longer than a 5k I wore my hydration pack and told him on my second lap out(thrid time passing him) feel free to break everything down I have my own water I'm okay. When I came back though he was still there. I took a cup and drank some water out of appreciation.

The only sad part of this race was about the last 20 minutes my phone which was mapping my run while also playing music and by that time also doing my interval timing randomly turned itself off. It just died for no reason at the end of this run. My phone can do that sometimes but normally it makes it through runs. Apparently not that day.

The good news with any race I've ever taken on so far is even if they suck from the first footfall after the start line is that they eventually end. I will eventually have the pleasure of turning off my watch and stop stressing over what time it is.

As I crossed the finish line, the event staff, rightly so, were starting to wrap some of their items up. The 5 other people who had finished were nicely waiting for me to cross the line so we could begin the awards ceremony.

The other ladies took first, second, and third place, but I didn't feel bad, I took first in my age group.

A win is a win. Some call these participation awards I call it well earned.

Has anyone else come in last yet first before? If so when, where, and what were you doing? Please lease a comment below!

Her name is Abigail part 3

Photo by Luigi Manga on Unsplash

As you have seen from, "Her name is Abigail part 1" and, "Her name is Abigail part 2" there had to be a part 3 because why would replacing an alternator, starter, and a battery fix my problems?

After what started out as super stressful and ended up wonderful night at my friend's house I departed the next day, in my car, and it worked fine. I kept the AC off when possible, I mostly drove during the day to avoid turning on lights, and my car was running fine. I was pretty nervous when driving it for fear that it could go out on me at any point but that was okay. I had used a date night with husband to have him teach me the proper way to push a light car like mine.

Just a few pieces of information on how to push a car by yourself.
1. Turn the car on enough to put the car in neutral(if that is an option)
2. Open the driver's side door. While standing between the open door and inside of the car you will push. What you will be pushing is the door and frame of the car. Why you ask, I asked this as well, because if you pushed the car with the door closed/ on the outside of the car and hit a downward hill you would not be able to quickly jump into the car and hit the break or pull the emergency brake.
3. Practice these skills and techniques, they might come in handy one day.

Does this little list seem like foreshadowing, well if it does, well it sure felt like it too.

Fast forward to a Friday night. I get off from work, hit the mall up for a little retail therapy, Husband is at work, and I need to swing by a friend's house to drop something off. I'm like hey, Teach likes rides let me go grab him and we'll chill together. I get out of my neighborhood, through a stoplight and am cruising just fine when it happens. All the lights come on the dash, all the gages needles fall straight down and the car loses power. I have just enough momentum to roll into a turning left lane.

I turn on the hazards, I keep the lights on and wait for a break in the traffic. Standing in the driver door I start to push my car across the street to a less busy road. I am doing okay until I reach a slight incline. I am pushing as hard as I can but the car is not moving.

Out of nowhere some lady pulls up and says, "Do you need some help?"

Honestly, my first reaction is always, "No, I am okay," but right now, like most times, it would be a lie and my car would still be in the way. I so instead I say, "Yes, please, if you could help me push it that would be great."

This nice lady is pushing from the back, Teach barking at her from inside the car,  and I am pushing from inside the driver door(see steps above as to why)  we are able to get it up the small hill and into a parking lot. I thank you profusely and then she rolls out. I told Teach that is not how we treat people that are helping us and he just looks at me. I then start to make the calls.

I luck out because Broha is actually close by and so he comes over to help. We figured if we can get the car jumped we can get it to nearby mechanic's shop and if we fail in between we'll just call AAA to get them to tow it.

After reading the directions on the jumper cables we are able to get enough juice to the battery to start my car. I pulled out of the little parking lot with only my hazards on and Broha driving behind me with his lights and hazards we make it less than a mile to the mechanics. Where my car promptly dies as it rolls into a parking spot.

I pull out all my stuff from the car, call Teach into Broha's car and head home. The next day I swing by the mechanic's drop box and leave them a set of keys and note of why the car is in their parking lot.

Honestly, I felt like something like that was going to happen. It was one of those moments where I was getting in the car my gut told me to use the truck, but NO, I didn't listen. Oh well.

The car was not at a mechanics and hopefully, they could now tell me what was going wrong with my car and end my pain and suffering.

Has anyone else had a time where they should have listen to their gut but ignored it instead? If so please leave a comment or story below!

Her name is Abigail part 2

Photo by Noah Kuhn on Unsplash

Please note, if you haven't read, "Her Name is Abigail part 1" things might not make sense.

Our story picks up about a week later.

I had planned to take a half-day in August to visit friends and have no real plans. We were just going to meet up at someone's house. Let the kiddos and puppies play. Eat food, drink whatever, and chill out.

I went to work, stopped to talk to the good people at AAA about what to do about my battery and then headed home to pick up Teach and head over to my friend's house.

It was a scorcher of a day and so Ia turned on my AC for Teach, had my lights on because I was driving on the interstate and then pulled off my friend's exit. Before I made it to her house I called to see if she wanted any Starbucks. A nice little indulgence to start off the rest of the chill day.

As I was in the left turning lane my car when all the lights on the dash flashed and then my car died. I, of course, was now stuck and could not move my car. It threw on my hazards, opened the windows for my dog, and then panic called my friend. She was like my husband will be on his way.

I then clogged traffic for a little bit not knowing what to do. Honestly, my brain went blank, I didn't know what to do with my car, how to push it, and or what to do with my dog. I got out, waited for my friend's husband and stood behind my car waving my hands to indicate pass me and mouthing, "Sorry! Please go around."

One guy in the truck did not stop to help BUT did tell me I should call the local police to let them know about my traffic hold up. As I called and then hung up the phone my friend's husband arrived. He started to push, I steered and another person jumped out to help him.

Why is it only once someone starts to push a car do others seem to stop? I assume that is because they know exactly what the person needs and what they can do to help.

We got the car pushed into a fast-food restaurant parking lot next to an auto repair store. While I called Husband, who was of course at work and unable to help, I told him about my current predicament as my friend's husband, let's call him G. went to talk to the auto parts people. A few machines later the result was my battery had died again and they tested the alternator and it needed to be replaced.

Wonderful. Just, wonderful.

I purchased said part, had the car jumped so it had enough power to get to my friend's house and I arrived.

In the midst of all of this my friend had slipped clearing her shower/bathtub and had landed so hard on the downspout she bent and broke the pipe. Her husband, G., saved me to come home and do some plumbing.

Once G. was done with the plumbing he proceeded to then start to fix my car. By the time he had a tire off, not sure that was necessary, Husband had come home from work and together they fixed it. I think this is the second time Husband has replaced the alternator, if not the third time.

Anywho, we proceeded to eat, drink, be merry and talk and drink way too late into the night. My friend's shower was fixed and my car was able to run again.

What can you do right?

Her name is Abigail part 1

Photo by Denin Lawley on Unsplash

This is the start of my tale of woe for our cars.

I, at the writing of this post, own a 2004 Acura TSX. I have owned it since 2013ish, and I have enjoyed it very much. It is by far the nicest car I have owned. I named her Abigail and she has a leather interior, heated seats, nice radio system, and a sunroof. She has been good to me getting me back and forth to Michigan a few times, back and forth across Virginia and all the way down to Georgia.

Since we've owned this car, and I am the second owner, we've replaced all the basics, tires, battery, ignition coils, the alternator twice, serpentine belt at least 3 times, and the power steering pump I think twice. Overall, since the car has been paid off, these bills, though not welcome were never killer until the last few weeks.

This story starts about a month ago at the end of a hot July when Husband and I went with his mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN. That trip was overall very enjoyable and I really need to write a post about it. I digress. Before we even left town, we had deicded to take my car because the AC is the best and it was going to be hot. However, earlier in the week it had had some starting issues. We came to the conclusion that it must be the starter. Husband, being the badass he is, replaced it after working a 12 hour night shift. This made it possible for us to leave on our trip. It acted fine all the way over to TN and all that weekend. All the way until we tried to leave.

We were leaving Pigeon Forge, Sunday, around 4:30pm and we gave everyone hugs and high fives and headed down the road so Husband could visit the Smokey Moutain Knife Works on our way home. It was about 20 minutes away from our last adventure and they closed at 6. It was going to be close but we were going to make it.

We got on the road about 5 minutes before all the lights on the dashboard flashed on, then all the gages needles dropped straight down and the car died. Like, shudder once and then die. We hit the hazard lights, and then Husband gets out to try and push our car out of the way. We had died in the third lane of a three-lane road. As he started to push, a guy pulls in front of us, gets out and as I steer and we slow down traffic we get rolled into a Days Inn. We thank the guy and Husband pops the hood. By this time I'm on the phone with AAA.

However, before we could get a claim going the car started again. Still trying to make it to Smokey Mountain Knife Works we said never mind, hopped in the car and while the car was still running, got gas, water, an energy drink and then continued down the road. We made it about 2 miles before the same thing happened.

All the lights on the engine dashboard turned on, gage needles went straight down before the car died. This time we were in the right lane and so as Husband got out to push us into a Speedway/Subway, another guy jumped out to help him push. We thanked him and then headed into Subway. We sat in the AC, ate some food and then started to figure out our next step.

I called AAA again and he called his folks and grandparents since they were still in town. They came by and while we waited the hour and a half quoted for us to get a tow to a local shop. Grandma and mama sat with me in Subway while I filled out postcards while papa, grandpa, and Husband all fiddled with the car. They came to the conclusion that it was the battery.

They hopped into the car, went over to Autozone, and bought a new battery and had it in the car before the tow truck got there. The weird thing about that battery was that it was less than 2 years old which is why we didn't think it was causing the issue at first. The tow truck guys said okay never mind, call us if you need us. We gave hugs and thanks again before heading down the road.

It was a very tense ride back to Southwest Virginia but we made it safe and sound. We both got about 5 hours of sleep before we rolled out of bed for a fun Monday morning.

Confidently Wrong

Photo by Anastasiia Ostapovych on Unsplash 

The other day everyone in my household received new debit cards. They came from the bank in unassuming white envelopes to replace debit cards that were about to expire. Since they wouldn't expire until September I left mine on the kitchen table unopened for about 2 weeks.

Then Husband and I were headed out of town to visit my old college roommate, her husband, and their wee one and I decided to take this new card with me. I'd be in the car for a few hours and have plenty of time to call the number on the sticker.

I didn't actually end up calling, I had Husband do it. Once activated this debit card went from the side of the door to the middle to the consul until it finally landed in my wallet.

Since we were traveling we actually put most things on our travel credit card so we could move travel funds to it once we got back home.

Fast-forwarding through a wonderful weekend we made it home late Sunday night, picked up our dog from our friends and went to bed.

Anytime you're out of town for a long weekend you always come home to two things that need to be done as soon as possible. Unpacking to start the laundry and going to the grocery store so there will be food in the house.

Monday after work and before I headed out the door to Krogers, I took out my debit card, cut it up, pulled off the sticker from the newly activated card, put it in my wallet and away we went.

That was my downfall.

The card I so confidently cut up was to MY checking account, not the JOINT checking account the new card was actually replacing. I hadn't even thought to double-check the cards, their numbers, or fully even read the note that came with the new card. I just assumed, without reason, that it was replacing my checking account. Suffice to say, when we tried to deposit a check into MY checking account it did not make it in.

The funny thing is just HOW confident I was when I cut up the card. There was no doubt in my mind I was cutting up the right card. Yet, there was absolutely no reason to assume it would be that card. Oh well right?

I've ordered a new debit card and I hope it arrives soon. Has anyone else done this before? Maybe not with a debit card but with something else? If so with what? Leave me a comment below! Thanks!

Spring Valley Farms Trail Ride For Two

August 15, 2019, marks the 4th anniversary for Husband and I. I don't know how but we made it. In that time we have visited about as many countries together, have bought a house, at least 3 trucks, (that is a story for another day), managed to keep our jobs, keep the dog alive, I've survived all the harassment from Lockness Monster, and all the other things in between that happens in life.

Like true us style we had to go celebrate with some kind of waver signing that if we die our family cannot sue XY and Z company. This time, it was a horseback trail ride for two at Spring Valley Farm located in Moneta, VA.

To sum up everything in one sentence I would have to state that our anniversary adventure was a wonderful time.

I left work early to pick to swing by the house and pick up Husband. We drove out to Moneta on a nice 89ish degree day with a breeze, blue skies and huge white clouds with just a tiny breeze.

With the help of the GPS and great signage, we were able to successfully locate Spring Valley Farms. Driving out into the middle of now where for things like farms, breweries, wineries, and distilleries are always fun but always make me a little nervous since I tend to get lost very easily.

We met our guide for the day as I write this to my chagrin, I cannot remember her name. I do remember that she was amazing the entire time. She was fun to talk to, super friendly, very laid back, great at helping us be reacquainted with riding horses and told us all about the farm. She was best described as wonderful.

We signed our waivers and then met our noble steads for the day. I had a lovely lady named Sprinkles and Husband had a lovely mare named something. Wow, I am really bad with names today.

We soon walked them over the ring, were soon in the saddle and going over basic handholds, commands, and how to make them move one way or the other. Soon after we were off.

The last time I rode was a horse was in 2015 when Husband and I were in Arizona for our Honeymoon. During that trip, one of the things we did was take a trail ride BY the Grand Canyon, not in it with donkeys.

This trail ride was very pleasant for us. It ended up just being Husband and the guide. We essentially just walked the fence line of their beautiful farm. We went up and down rolling hills talking and laughing the whole way.

The sky was so blue and the clouds so huge and fluffy. I love clouds, like not a little but for a while, I would give Husband a cloud rating of the day. That day would have been an 11. The scale, in general, is zero to ten. Zero being no clouds in the sky and ten being an amazing assortment of clouds. One of the coolest clouds we saw had a hole in it that was in the shape of a heart. Aww! And on our anniversary? How super lucky were we?

On the trail ride, we saw other horses in the other fields, cows, a zebra, a zebra horse hybrid, and I think a donkey. I told Husband and our guide that what could be better than wandering through a field, staring at clouds, no worries about bugs or ticks biting you, and without having to exert any energy? At this time in my life, I would say nothing is better. For about an hour we wandered this way and that way and over this hill and over that hill until returning to the barn. Our fun little adventure had ended.

The three things I did learn about this trail ride are as follows:
1. If it is 89 degrees you should wear the darkest jeans you have because you will sweat and make it look like you peed your pants.
2. Wear jeans or long pants. Why would you not I have no idea but according to our guide people show up in shorts. Your legs are going to stick to leather, why would you want that?
3. If you're wearing a smartwatch you'll earn steps that you didn't take. Thanks, Sprinkles for helping with my 10,000 step goal! Winning!
4. Listen to the guide. They know what is best because they do this all the time. If you have questions ask them and do what they tell you, not your friends or mom, do what the professional tells you to do!

Now walking funny from the ride both to the weird sweat ring and being the saddle for the first time in forever, we headed back to the car after a kiss.

Has anyone else taken a trail ride at Spring Valley Farms? What did you think? Do you suggest any other trail rides in Southwest Virginia? As always thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment below!

Nailed It - Mud Bath for Pigges

I am currently going through another baking phase in my life right now. As you know I love the show Nailed It on Netflix and I am currently now watching The Great British Bake Off also on Netflix. Well, this week I decided to have my own little competition with myself. I needed to bake a cake for Husband and I's 4th wedding anniversary and so why not make it harder than it needs to be with a timer?

Now, let me first start off by saying this was not exactly the same from the show and how their competition works and what I did. First, I don't have the cooking supplies they do in their kitchen. They have multiple mixers, and bowls, a freeze blaster chiller thing, a convection oven, and a huge pantry filled with all types of supplies. They don't care about cost they just get in there and bake a cake.

I only have one cake mixer and attachments, a regular oven, and a budget. Did you know fondant costs so much? I had no idea. 

I also had the pleasure of watching this specific episode Nailed It!  Season 1 Episode 3: "Head Under Water" multiple times. 

Since I didn't have the above items mentioned I also did a little prep work. I used fondant that was already colored to save myself from buying both white fondant and coloring. I had never made buttercream before so that recipe was also pulled up on my phone.  I bought a box cake mix, and I staged everything out on the counter. 

I then set my timer for 45 minutes and went for it. Now, this was the first time I have ever done something like this before. Yes, I've baked and made cakes but never with the items I was using. 

The first was the buttercream icing. I've seen it made on both baking shows but never have I ever made it before. When I was making it I tried to add powdered sugar to the mixer, hit the mixer paddle and threw powdered sugar all over the place. 

I had never made chocolate ganache before. Through this experience, I did learn that it is super tasty and super easy to make. You just heat up heavy cream and stir in chocolate pieces. Depending on what type of consistency you want out of your add or take away cream and chocolate. 

I had never played with fondant of any kind before that day. I had eaten it on cakes or pulled it off of cakes but never ever had I ever played with it. It tastes just like gummy sugar and feels like stickier playdough. It is as if playdough and silly putty had a baby that you could eat.

I, like most of the bakers on the shows, started off by forgetting something. I started off with making my cake batter and was like, why it is a big gray ball? It should be fluffy and nice by now? I checked the recipe and I had forgotten to add water. I fixed that and started to butter my cake pans, which was way messier than most shows let on. At one point I gave up on the butter stick and just used my fingers to get it the edges of the pan. 

I then did the classic mistake of overfilling my cake pans. In the show Nailed It! most of the time the cakes over flow and are raw. Mine did not do that. For mine, one cake finished before the second cake. I was able to take that one cake and put it on a cooling rack and in the freezer but the second one had to continue to cook for another like 8 minutes.

While my cakes were cooking and cooling I made the chocolate ganache with like 1 1/3 cups cream and a whole 8oz bag of dark chocolate. I made it and was like yeah look at me! But then it was like, now what do I do with it? Unsure what else to do I put it in the fridge to cool while I made my piggies and their parts. Once I made those parts I moved on to the Kit Kat bars. 

They were another fail because though I had bought 3 king-size bars, I lost about one half of the king-size bars worth because the pieces were cracked horizontally. During my assembly, I did end up needing to use like 5 of these broken ones but I had no choice. 

I don't know how or why but I also dropped an egg on the floor. I just remember thinking, "Are you kidding me?" 

So now I have like 6 minutes left, the second cake is in the freezer with the first one and it is time to assemble everything. Husband calls and wants to let me know he is on his way home. We talk for just a few moments and then I tell him I have to go I have less than 5 minutes left.

Now, this is the part where my heart for real starts to pound. I'm running around my kitchen pulling out knives to make the cakes even, putting on buttercream that is melting like crazy because the cakes are still too hot. I was adding the Kit Kats to the side of the cakes. Putting in the chocolate ganache in the top of the cake and my timer goes off. 

Beep Beep Beep! That's it, 45 minutes have passed in a blink of an eye. 

 Now what? Well, I finish up my cake, and it takes me about a full extra minute to add my piggy parts and put the bow around the thing. 

My sink is now filled to the brim, their powdered sugar still all over the place. However, I have a cake, it looks pretty cool even if some of the chocolate is leaking out. 

  

It took me 46 minutes to make the cake and 30 minutes to clean up after. While I cleaned up and waited for Husband to come home I put the cake in the freezer. 

Once Husband arrived home I told him what went right and what went wrong with the cake.I pulled it out and he was very impressed. We then sat down with a glass of milk each and had a slice. It was so sweet! Like, immediately turn your teeth fuzzy feeling sweet. You would only be able to eat a small piece. However, it did look good, I am super proud of it and would make this cake again. I would change somethings like my buttercream recipe and use milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate for the ganache oh, and not use a timer. 

Has anyone else tried to time themselves like this before? If so, how did you do? Did you make the timer? Let me know with a comment below!