It's the holidays and everything is glowy and lit up and beautiful... and then you venture out of your little holiday bubble to get groceries or put gas in your car and you realize that people are still totally idiotic.
Here are just a few things that are making me go sideways this week that I need to vent about:
1. Helpless People- I'm not talking about people that actually need help doing things, I'm really talking about people who are lazy and act all, "Woe is me, I cannot get my stuff done... what am I to do?" and then they look at you as if you are supposed to bail them out. Well, I've got stuff to do also and I have the same 24 hours in a day to do them so don't look at me. Organize yourself and get your shit together.
2. Bad Eyebrows- this one's for the ladies. It is totally true that a well-done eyebrow really frames your face and keeps you looking polished. But if eyebrows are NOT well done... it makes me want to give you a face-wipe and have you start over again before you embarrass yourself even more. This is for sure one of my OCD hang-ups. Mr and I were on the train into Portland one day (can't really remember what for... maybe a Timbers game?) and there was a young lady dressed really well, hair done very nicely and then the WORST EVER drawn on eyebrows. It was like she took a black chisel-tip marker and drew a thick straight line over each eye lid. I could not stop staring at her and for a good week that's all I could think about. And the epidemic seems to be growing as I've seen a few ladies while out and about this week that did the same thing. Either this is a new and terrible trend for make up, or no one showed these ladies how to do an eyebrow arch fill-in with the correct colored powder or pencil.
3. Waiting Until the Last Minute- this one is mostly work related... but this also happens in my personal life from time to time. I cannot stand it when people ask me to do stuff totally last minute, especially when they've known about it for a while. I totally understand that things come up that have to quickly be taken care of, but I'm not talking about those instances. I'm talking about when people have a meeting planned for MONTHS and then the day before the meeting run up and ask me to help them coordinate logistics (like food, room set up, etc). Like I don't already have things on my To Do list and have them scheduled out for the day... let me totally drop what I'm doing to help you because this wasn't something you could have asked me 2 months ago to help with, right?
4. People that baby-talk their children. Just stop! I hate how it sounds, and it makes me want to poke my eardrums out. It's not cute, no one enjoys listening to it, and you are contributing to your child's terrible grammar and incorrect pronunciation of the english language.
5. People that Don't Use Turn Signals While Driving- I cannot read your mind. I have no idea when you slow down what you are doing unless you use your turn signal to tell me that you are slowing down so you can turn left up at that street. I also will not make room for you to get over into my lane on the highway if you don't use your turn signal to tell me that you want over... why? Because I CAN'T READ YOUR MIND and I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU WANT OVER INTO MY LANE. So keep your hand gestures to yourself, ass, and instead use your hand to turn on your blinker.
6. People That Assume Things and Don't Ask- Just don't. Always ask. I'd rather be "bothered"* with a question about something rather than someone assuming they can 1) use something of mine 2) put things that aren't mine in my area and 3) assume I will do something that is not my responsibility. You planned a party? Awesome! You just left all of the party decorations at my desk and assumed I would bring them and set the party up for you? Not a chance in hell. Had you asked, probably. But you didn't. You are on your own. Also, see #3.
7. Chipped Nail Polish. This doesn't happen that often because of the invention of Shellac nail polish, however it's now not as easy to fix when it does. I totally admit that this is another one of my little OCD things because I cannot stop touching the chipped spot until it is fixed. Every nail must be smooth and perfect or I fixate on the imperfection. Does that make me crazy? Probably.
Ok, that's it for now... until next edition!
*Questions hardly ever bother me, so I'm saying that sarcastically.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
The Shortest Cold I've Ever Had
I probably did it to myself, but I caught the yucky cold thing that is going around right now. If you aren't familiar - most people in my office that have had it have had to take a few days off work to recuperate because it knocks them down so hard. Not fun.
Last week was totally amazing because it was a short week due to Thanksgiving (Yay, American Holidays!) and everyone was in a great mood, and Mr and I had tickets to see Anti Flag and Less Than Jake on Wednesday night. I was particularly excited because I LOVE Thanksgiving so much. There is not a better day in the whole year for me, and I don't even need to tell you that it's all because of the food. This year I was debating on whether I should allow myself to eat some of the traditional food of the day versus making gluten/wheat-free version and I thought oh to heck with it! I'm eating regular stuffing on Thanksgiving because it won't kill me and I love it so much. I'll just probably have a stomach ache or get a bit rashy, but WHO CARES?! (because I don't have Celiac's, so it really just makes me uncomfortable when I eat it and doesn't cause extreme reactions for me. I do not advocate eating things you have severe reactions to) So I ate gluten and wheat filled goodies with gusto on Thanksgiving and only suffered a very mild case of indigestion, and I said to myself TOTALLY WORTH IT!! At the end of the day I was super sleepy and had a bit of a tickle in my throat, but didn't pay it much mind since we'd been eating and talking and laughing all day long.
We headed home from our Thanksgiving dinner that my mother so awesomely prepared and got ready for bed since I had some serious Black Friday Shopping plans in mind... online. The sale I was waiting for was an online only thing for a shop that I absolutely adore and would go broke ordering things from Michelle if I wasn't careful. I needed to get up at 4:30am and get my computers up and running (yes, I used 2 computers so I could use Mr as a proxy to buy me some good stuff!) for her sale that started at 5:00am PST, then for another round at 8:00am PST, and a final round at 10:00am PST. When I got up I felt... well, like I had gotten up at 4:30am so I didn't really notice how bad my body felt until around 8:00am. I was bundled up on the couch doing my Black Friday online shopping spree and generally feeling icky- almost like I had a hangover - without having had the fun night before. My head was pounding and my body was all stiff and achey. After the last round of sales, I took a hot shower thinking it would relieve my symptoms, but it did not, so back to the couch I went in sweatpants with blanket burrito-ed around me and napping commenced for next few hours.
When I awoke from napping I realized that I was in trouble. My throat was sore and dry, my head was now throbbing incessantly, and every time I swallowed it felt like tiny knives were catching my throat on their way down. I made myself some tea, took some Occillococcinum (which I swear by, if I take it early enough), and then force-fed myself a tablespoon of raw honey with freshly ground cinnamon. My thought process was a little something like WE ARE NOT GETTING SICK. Use ALL of the natural and naturopathic remedies we know! ALL OF THEM!!! I spent the rest of the night wallowing on the couch waiting to feel better but not quite understanding that this probably wasn't going away as fast as I wanted it to.
Saturday morning came and I realized that I had it... I had caught that damned cold that everyone else around me had caught weeks before and were still suffering through. My entire body hurt, my throat was dry and sore, I had a headache from hell and I could feel the congestion starting to block up my nose. Most of the day was spent napping and drinking tea, in between spoonfuls of honey and doses of Occillo. I was pretty darn miserable and ravenously hungry every time I woke up from a nap. By the end of the night I had given up hope that I was going to beat this thing and made Mr drive me to Burgerville for a huge Tillamook Cheeseburger and Fries (on a GF bun, of course) with a NW Cherry Chocolate Shake to accompany it. I inhaled my meal, took my last doses of Occillo and honey and dragged myself to bed. I slept fitfully and woke frequently to blow my nose, and apparently I woke Mr up with my snotty snoring. Soooo sexy.
Sunday was more of the same- woke up, ate breakfast, medicated, made tea, took a nap until 2pm, ate lunch, medicated, made tea, et cetera, et cetera ad naseam. I may have watched a few movies in there. I did venture out to get groceries and herbal tea with Mr, and then came promptly back home and fell asleep for a few more hours. I went to bed Sunday night feeling pretty yucky still and decided to sleep with a Breathe-Right strip so as not to snore my husband awake and also put some Vick's on my chest and on my feet (hey, it totally works). I was convinced that I was going to have to call in sick in the morning and as a final measure, took some NyQuil in the hopes that I would be able to breathe long enough to get some real rest.
I woke up Monday morning feeling super well-rested and the only lasting cold symptom I had was a stuffed up nose. I went to work as usual, sounding a bit stuffy but feeling completely fine. By the end of the day my nose had somewhat cleared up.
It's now Thursday and the only issue I've had is a slight cough any time I do too much "active" stuff- like when I try to work out or when I walk too briskly outside. My nose is only stuffy when I first wake up, but goes away pretty quickly in the morning.
You guys, this is the FASTEST I've ever gotten over the majority of a cold. Usually the yucky stuff hangs around for a full week, and then as I start to feel better I still have a cough, a constant drippy or stuffed up nose and a bit of a sore throat for at least another week.
One thing I do still have is a rash on my feet and some red blotchy marks on my face from eating wheat and gluten on Thanksgiving... still totally worth it!!! But I probably won't be eating it for every holiday.
Saturday morning came and I realized that I had it... I had caught that damned cold that everyone else around me had caught weeks before and were still suffering through. My entire body hurt, my throat was dry and sore, I had a headache from hell and I could feel the congestion starting to block up my nose. Most of the day was spent napping and drinking tea, in between spoonfuls of honey and doses of Occillo. I was pretty darn miserable and ravenously hungry every time I woke up from a nap. By the end of the night I had given up hope that I was going to beat this thing and made Mr drive me to Burgerville for a huge Tillamook Cheeseburger and Fries (on a GF bun, of course) with a NW Cherry Chocolate Shake to accompany it. I inhaled my meal, took my last doses of Occillo and honey and dragged myself to bed. I slept fitfully and woke frequently to blow my nose, and apparently I woke Mr up with my snotty snoring. Soooo sexy.
Sunday was more of the same- woke up, ate breakfast, medicated, made tea, took a nap until 2pm, ate lunch, medicated, made tea, et cetera, et cetera ad naseam. I may have watched a few movies in there. I did venture out to get groceries and herbal tea with Mr, and then came promptly back home and fell asleep for a few more hours. I went to bed Sunday night feeling pretty yucky still and decided to sleep with a Breathe-Right strip so as not to snore my husband awake and also put some Vick's on my chest and on my feet (hey, it totally works). I was convinced that I was going to have to call in sick in the morning and as a final measure, took some NyQuil in the hopes that I would be able to breathe long enough to get some real rest.
I woke up Monday morning feeling super well-rested and the only lasting cold symptom I had was a stuffed up nose. I went to work as usual, sounding a bit stuffy but feeling completely fine. By the end of the day my nose had somewhat cleared up.
It's now Thursday and the only issue I've had is a slight cough any time I do too much "active" stuff- like when I try to work out or when I walk too briskly outside. My nose is only stuffy when I first wake up, but goes away pretty quickly in the morning.
You guys, this is the FASTEST I've ever gotten over the majority of a cold. Usually the yucky stuff hangs around for a full week, and then as I start to feel better I still have a cough, a constant drippy or stuffed up nose and a bit of a sore throat for at least another week.
One thing I do still have is a rash on my feet and some red blotchy marks on my face from eating wheat and gluten on Thanksgiving... still totally worth it!!! But I probably won't be eating it for every holiday.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
A Little of This, A Little of That
Oh man, it's 11am and I'm exhausted... partially because it's a Monday, partially because the soap holder in the bathroom fell off the shower wall in the middle of the night and startled me enough to completely wake me up and make it hard for me to fall back asleep quickly, and partially because I biked to work this morning. Oh yes, that is correct. I biked just under 10 miles to work today on my COMFORT BIKE. Now I get why they make commuter bikes... with more gears. I LOVE my bike, but I highly doubt I will be making this a regular routine. I might just ride to the MAX station and take the train, but unless I have a bike built more for long rides, I will happily just use mine to run quick errands and visit friends. What a workout, and I still have to bike home at the end of the day. I might make a few stops...
This week is supposed to be gorgeous! I'm very excited because the rain last week killed me just a tiny bit; I am excited that Fall is on it's way, though. Mr made it through his first week of school last week with minimal drama so that is always good and I'm just plugging away at work as per usual. I did just complete my second month of being gluten and wheat free and I feel amazing! I didn't make this change very willingly at first, but realizing you are putting something in your body that your body doesn't react well to is a huge motivator. And now that I'm saying this I realize that I haven't brought this up at all in any post, so I guess now's a good time to tell all.
It all started last winter (and if I really think about it, it started WAY before that) when I was traveling a bunch for work meetings and I started experiencing some not so fun GI issues. I asked my doctor about it and and she said it sounded like I had some mild IBS symptoms, which made sense to me at the time because my mom has a history with IBS. I avoided "trigger" foods for a few weeks and really didn't feel any better, but I was told that with diligence, time, and a diet change things would get better. Well they didn't, and my allergies were getting out of control bad. The last few years I'd been getting a rash on my hands and feet (and sometimes on my elbows and knees) in the spring and summer when my allergies to pollen would get bad- or so I thought. We always thought it was a reaction to touching grasses and green things (most of which I'm also allergic to) since I didn't have it or I had a very mild rash in the fall and winter. This year, I got the rashes so bad I couldn't wear regular shoes because it was so painful, so I was relegated to 1 pair of super-soft flip flops that didn't rub anywhere that was rashy. I was talking to a few friends that have Celiac's and/or gluten and wheat sensitivities and over time they told me that my symptoms all sounded like they had something to do with wheat or gluten. I looked it up online (because I'm sometimes skeptical of other people's ideas about medical issues) and found that my symptoms did closely match someone with a wheat or gluten sensitivity, so maybe they were on to something.
I called the advice nurse and told her what I thought and about my symptoms that I didn't think were connected before. She suggested I try an elimination diet (and gave me some good resources for that) to test myself- eat the basics, no processed foods and sugars and eliminate gluten and wheat. I did days and days of research before deciding on a good diet for me and then implemented my plan to take out wheat and gluten. After a few weeks of eating without those, I noticed my face was clearer (unexpected awesome effect!), my rashes were almost completely gone and my regular allergy symptoms were way more manageable than they had been for years. I also noticed that I felt much less bloated than usual and didn't really have any GI issues that had continued. I was supposed to "test" the elimination by eating wheat/gluten and then noting how I felt and if any symptoms returned, so I did and found that I felt bloated, tired and had some mild GI issues later that day. I was also supposed to get some bloodwork done after eating wheat/gluten, but it's spendy and by the time I got around to "testing" the elimination and adding wheat/gluten back in, I knew pretty immediately that it didn't matter because I felt so much better without them that I didn't need a concrete diagnosis. I did accidentally eat some wheat/gluten filled food last week at a dinner with family and didn't know it until 30 minutes after dinner when my stomach got super bloated and I got headachey... then we realized that the steak marinade that was used for dinner was not wheat/gluten free. Crazy how quickly your body reacts to things!
I really do need to go in and get an official "diagnosis", but I think that I have non-Celiac's gluten sensitivity and possibly some form of wheat allergy (but that is harder to find out about because apparently there are 27 different things in wheat that a person can have an allergic reaction to). That is just my speculation based off the research I've done and reading after the fact on symptoms/issues that I used to think were random, but now look like they actually were all connected. I really don't want to go back to eating wheat/gluten if I can help it but I feel like my Dr will order the bloodwork and I will feel icky for a few days. Oh well! I probably should be an adult and just go in.
So anyway, I've been experimenting with new foods which has been expanding Mr's diet to new things as well. It's been interesting, but also super frustrating. Sometimes I just want a quick snack, but I cannot just pick up any-old-thing. I have to seriously read labels at the store (which I think you should do anyway) but I have now realized how much we use wheat in our foods! I've increased my fresh fruit and vegetable intake substantially which feels pretty good. And by default, Mr is eating pretty much what I eat. He's also now reading some Michael Pollan books (ones that I was totally into about 1.5 year ago which got me into the whole food, organic kick in the first place). Now we are a little more aligned with our food strategy.
So that is what's new with us- what's new with you?
This week is supposed to be gorgeous! I'm very excited because the rain last week killed me just a tiny bit; I am excited that Fall is on it's way, though. Mr made it through his first week of school last week with minimal drama so that is always good and I'm just plugging away at work as per usual. I did just complete my second month of being gluten and wheat free and I feel amazing! I didn't make this change very willingly at first, but realizing you are putting something in your body that your body doesn't react well to is a huge motivator. And now that I'm saying this I realize that I haven't brought this up at all in any post, so I guess now's a good time to tell all.
It all started last winter (and if I really think about it, it started WAY before that) when I was traveling a bunch for work meetings and I started experiencing some not so fun GI issues. I asked my doctor about it and and she said it sounded like I had some mild IBS symptoms, which made sense to me at the time because my mom has a history with IBS. I avoided "trigger" foods for a few weeks and really didn't feel any better, but I was told that with diligence, time, and a diet change things would get better. Well they didn't, and my allergies were getting out of control bad. The last few years I'd been getting a rash on my hands and feet (and sometimes on my elbows and knees) in the spring and summer when my allergies to pollen would get bad- or so I thought. We always thought it was a reaction to touching grasses and green things (most of which I'm also allergic to) since I didn't have it or I had a very mild rash in the fall and winter. This year, I got the rashes so bad I couldn't wear regular shoes because it was so painful, so I was relegated to 1 pair of super-soft flip flops that didn't rub anywhere that was rashy. I was talking to a few friends that have Celiac's and/or gluten and wheat sensitivities and over time they told me that my symptoms all sounded like they had something to do with wheat or gluten. I looked it up online (because I'm sometimes skeptical of other people's ideas about medical issues) and found that my symptoms did closely match someone with a wheat or gluten sensitivity, so maybe they were on to something.
I called the advice nurse and told her what I thought and about my symptoms that I didn't think were connected before. She suggested I try an elimination diet (and gave me some good resources for that) to test myself- eat the basics, no processed foods and sugars and eliminate gluten and wheat. I did days and days of research before deciding on a good diet for me and then implemented my plan to take out wheat and gluten. After a few weeks of eating without those, I noticed my face was clearer (unexpected awesome effect!), my rashes were almost completely gone and my regular allergy symptoms were way more manageable than they had been for years. I also noticed that I felt much less bloated than usual and didn't really have any GI issues that had continued. I was supposed to "test" the elimination by eating wheat/gluten and then noting how I felt and if any symptoms returned, so I did and found that I felt bloated, tired and had some mild GI issues later that day. I was also supposed to get some bloodwork done after eating wheat/gluten, but it's spendy and by the time I got around to "testing" the elimination and adding wheat/gluten back in, I knew pretty immediately that it didn't matter because I felt so much better without them that I didn't need a concrete diagnosis. I did accidentally eat some wheat/gluten filled food last week at a dinner with family and didn't know it until 30 minutes after dinner when my stomach got super bloated and I got headachey... then we realized that the steak marinade that was used for dinner was not wheat/gluten free. Crazy how quickly your body reacts to things!
I really do need to go in and get an official "diagnosis", but I think that I have non-Celiac's gluten sensitivity and possibly some form of wheat allergy (but that is harder to find out about because apparently there are 27 different things in wheat that a person can have an allergic reaction to). That is just my speculation based off the research I've done and reading after the fact on symptoms/issues that I used to think were random, but now look like they actually were all connected. I really don't want to go back to eating wheat/gluten if I can help it but I feel like my Dr will order the bloodwork and I will feel icky for a few days. Oh well! I probably should be an adult and just go in.
So anyway, I've been experimenting with new foods which has been expanding Mr's diet to new things as well. It's been interesting, but also super frustrating. Sometimes I just want a quick snack, but I cannot just pick up any-old-thing. I have to seriously read labels at the store (which I think you should do anyway) but I have now realized how much we use wheat in our foods! I've increased my fresh fruit and vegetable intake substantially which feels pretty good. And by default, Mr is eating pretty much what I eat. He's also now reading some Michael Pollan books (ones that I was totally into about 1.5 year ago which got me into the whole food, organic kick in the first place). Now we are a little more aligned with our food strategy.
So that is what's new with us- what's new with you?
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Valuable Lessons Learned While Adventuring
Hey Guys! So Mr and I completed our first backpacking trip together and it was amazing! We drove up to the Mt Jefferson wilderness on a Sunday morning and boy was it pouring. Once we got to the Pamelia Lake trailhead, we decided to eat lunch in the dry car first, hoping that the rain would clear up by the time we were done and it was! We headed down the trail expecting a 5 mile hike, but only 2 miles in we were surprised to find the approved camp spaces and the lake. The hike in wasn't too strenuous either as it was a pretty gradual slope up and we didn't gain a ton of elevation. A great choice for a first time trip.
We looked at the camping spots and chose one we thought would work well and started unpacking the tent. I had just gotten everything laid out on the ground when we heard the thunder and looked across the lake at the quickly approaching thunder storm. About 30 seconds later we also heard a funny buzzing noise, and Mr looked around the camp and found a GIGANTIC wasp nest in a tree a few feet from where we were going to pitch our tent. With the impending storm we quickly grabbed our stuff and ran to the next site so we could set up before the rain started. We successfully got the tent and rainfly up and staked in and felt our first rain drop. We spent pretty much the rest of the first evening and night in the tent while it poured and thundered. It was actually really cool and we were nice and dry. Oddly, we were the only people camping there!
The second day we had a quick sprinkle after breakfast, but it cleared up very quickly and Mr and I decided to hike the trail around the lake and head towards Hunt's Creek. It was an easy beautiful hike with lots of little creeks to cross. The rest of our time at Pamelia Lake was fantastic as we just hung out by the lake or explored the woods around us. Our hike out was cake and we stopped in Detroit at a little diner for lunch. We are looking at planning a second trip soon! And we will continue our weekend day-hikes until the rain stops us.
While getting out and about more, Mr and I have learned a few fun things about what to bring, what not to bring, etc.
Things I've learned during our various hiking/backpacking adventures:
1. Bring Your Inhaler. This only applies to folks that have one and sometimes need to use it. I've been on two hikes recently where, for whatever reason, I completely spaced out and didn't grab my asthma inhaler. I don't have traditional asthma, my symptoms are largely related to allergy issues and I really only have troubles breathing when my allergies have been extremely bad (spring is when it's the worst). I think because I don't have to regularly use my inhaler the thought to bring it along just gets lost in my head. It's not until we are climbing a steep mountain on a humid day and my allergies start acting up and I get winded taking 25 steps that I stop and realize I don't have the darn thing to help me out. Then poor Mr has to stop and let me catch my breath every few minutes and our mountain hike takes way longer than it should and I feel like and out-of-shape idiot.
2. Bring a Hair Tie. We've talked about this before. If you've got long hair, remember to bring something (rubber band, hair clip, headband, bandana) you can use to get it out of your face. There is nothing more uncomfortable than constantly trying to keep the sweaty hair off of your sweaty face when you are hiking. There is also nothing more silly looking than using your button up shirt as a turban to keep your hair out of your face.
3. Bring your Trekking Poles! Or a walking stick or whathaveyou. Those babies really help to stabilize on uneven terrain and help take the strain off of your knees and other joints, especially going downhill. Someone once explained it to me like this: it's like having 4-wheel drive for your body. Now instead of 2 points of contact, you have 4.
4. Sometimes the extra weight is worth it. I know it sucks to have to carry everything you are going to need for a few days in 1 backpack and then hike with that loaded pack up into the mountains. But sometimes I am so glad I packed that extra packet of hot chocolate or the inflatable seat pad so I'm not sitting on cold, damp ground. I'm not saying pack everything and the kitchen sink, but pick a comfort or extra item that will make a difference to you. Mr says we need lightweight packable chairs because we are getting too old to sit on the ground. I think he's right.
5. Research EVERYTHING! If you don't know much about where you are going, look it up, buy a map, Google it, whatever. If you don't know how to backpack, look it up- there are so many resources out there and how-to's you could spend days reading it all. Knowledge costs nothing, weighs nothing and can save your life!
And now for some pics...
We looked at the camping spots and chose one we thought would work well and started unpacking the tent. I had just gotten everything laid out on the ground when we heard the thunder and looked across the lake at the quickly approaching thunder storm. About 30 seconds later we also heard a funny buzzing noise, and Mr looked around the camp and found a GIGANTIC wasp nest in a tree a few feet from where we were going to pitch our tent. With the impending storm we quickly grabbed our stuff and ran to the next site so we could set up before the rain started. We successfully got the tent and rainfly up and staked in and felt our first rain drop. We spent pretty much the rest of the first evening and night in the tent while it poured and thundered. It was actually really cool and we were nice and dry. Oddly, we were the only people camping there!
The second day we had a quick sprinkle after breakfast, but it cleared up very quickly and Mr and I decided to hike the trail around the lake and head towards Hunt's Creek. It was an easy beautiful hike with lots of little creeks to cross. The rest of our time at Pamelia Lake was fantastic as we just hung out by the lake or explored the woods around us. Our hike out was cake and we stopped in Detroit at a little diner for lunch. We are looking at planning a second trip soon! And we will continue our weekend day-hikes until the rain stops us.
While getting out and about more, Mr and I have learned a few fun things about what to bring, what not to bring, etc.
Things I've learned during our various hiking/backpacking adventures:
1. Bring Your Inhaler. This only applies to folks that have one and sometimes need to use it. I've been on two hikes recently where, for whatever reason, I completely spaced out and didn't grab my asthma inhaler. I don't have traditional asthma, my symptoms are largely related to allergy issues and I really only have troubles breathing when my allergies have been extremely bad (spring is when it's the worst). I think because I don't have to regularly use my inhaler the thought to bring it along just gets lost in my head. It's not until we are climbing a steep mountain on a humid day and my allergies start acting up and I get winded taking 25 steps that I stop and realize I don't have the darn thing to help me out. Then poor Mr has to stop and let me catch my breath every few minutes and our mountain hike takes way longer than it should and I feel like and out-of-shape idiot.
2. Bring a Hair Tie. We've talked about this before. If you've got long hair, remember to bring something (rubber band, hair clip, headband, bandana) you can use to get it out of your face. There is nothing more uncomfortable than constantly trying to keep the sweaty hair off of your sweaty face when you are hiking. There is also nothing more silly looking than using your button up shirt as a turban to keep your hair out of your face.
3. Bring your Trekking Poles! Or a walking stick or whathaveyou. Those babies really help to stabilize on uneven terrain and help take the strain off of your knees and other joints, especially going downhill. Someone once explained it to me like this: it's like having 4-wheel drive for your body. Now instead of 2 points of contact, you have 4.
4. Sometimes the extra weight is worth it. I know it sucks to have to carry everything you are going to need for a few days in 1 backpack and then hike with that loaded pack up into the mountains. But sometimes I am so glad I packed that extra packet of hot chocolate or the inflatable seat pad so I'm not sitting on cold, damp ground. I'm not saying pack everything and the kitchen sink, but pick a comfort or extra item that will make a difference to you. Mr says we need lightweight packable chairs because we are getting too old to sit on the ground. I think he's right.
5. Research EVERYTHING! If you don't know much about where you are going, look it up, buy a map, Google it, whatever. If you don't know how to backpack, look it up- there are so many resources out there and how-to's you could spend days reading it all. Knowledge costs nothing, weighs nothing and can save your life!
And now for some pics...
Monday, August 19, 2013
All the Fun I've Been Missing
I finally got a bike. I haven't had my own bike in YEARS and the last bike I had was "borrowed" by someone and then lost forever, but it was a cheap one so I wasn't super devastated. After a few months of looking and trying to decide on the type of bike I wanted, I found this vanilla Electra Townie and I'm in love! I also bought the quick release wire basket that mounts to the front because I'm mostly going to using it to get to friends' homes for BBQ's and to run down to the farmer's market on the weekends- all of which are within a 3 mile radius of my home.
And Mr. got a bike too! So the first thing we did on Friday night was ride around the neighborhood and then ride to a friend's house. Because why not?
 |
| Mr trying on MY bike helmet, for whatever reason. |
So now I'm going to see if I can ride my bike to the max station and take the train to work a few days a week instead of driving. Hopefully it'll work out and I can save a little on gas and get my dose of fresh air.
Yay bikes! Yay summer!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
The Ford Family Plans an Adventure
I cannot tell you how insanely excited I am for our upcoming vacation week at the end of August. Originally, Mr and I discussed taking a week off together so we had some downtime before he started the school year again. When we started planning what we were going to do with that week, we decided we really need to get outdoors and that our first ever backpacking trip together was in order. Actually, this will be Mr's first backpacking trip ever in his life!
About a week ago, Mr started looking up places in the NW that would be good for beginners and after researching a few, we've landed on the Pamelia Lake area in the Mt. Jefferson wilderness. A few permits are required (which thanks to the magic of the internet I've just purchased) and a little background research on the area and I feel ready to go! Our plan is to hike from the trailhead up towards the lake a find a good campsite on Day 1. Day 2 we will leave our camp and just venture out for the day further up the trail, but return to the same camp that evening. Day 3 we will pack up and hike back out. Short and sweet, but long enough for us to get a good feel for backpacking.
The prep for this trip is the hard part- trying to make sure we have everything we need without over packing and making our trek too heavy to enjoy. Right now I'm researching good food options, which I'm pleasantly surprised with the quality and variety that the freeze-dried meal companies now offer. I am a little nervous about not trying them out ahead of time, so this next week I might pick up a few just to taste test before we are stuck out in the wild without other options.
Also on our upcoming adventures is bicycles! We've both just recently placed orders for bikes so we can cruise around town and go to the markets without having to drive one of the cars. I have no idea where we are going to store them, but I guess we'll figure it out!
Here's to our upcoming adventures!
About a week ago, Mr started looking up places in the NW that would be good for beginners and after researching a few, we've landed on the Pamelia Lake area in the Mt. Jefferson wilderness. A few permits are required (which thanks to the magic of the internet I've just purchased) and a little background research on the area and I feel ready to go! Our plan is to hike from the trailhead up towards the lake a find a good campsite on Day 1. Day 2 we will leave our camp and just venture out for the day further up the trail, but return to the same camp that evening. Day 3 we will pack up and hike back out. Short and sweet, but long enough for us to get a good feel for backpacking.
The prep for this trip is the hard part- trying to make sure we have everything we need without over packing and making our trek too heavy to enjoy. Right now I'm researching good food options, which I'm pleasantly surprised with the quality and variety that the freeze-dried meal companies now offer. I am a little nervous about not trying them out ahead of time, so this next week I might pick up a few just to taste test before we are stuck out in the wild without other options.
Also on our upcoming adventures is bicycles! We've both just recently placed orders for bikes so we can cruise around town and go to the markets without having to drive one of the cars. I have no idea where we are going to store them, but I guess we'll figure it out!
Here's to our upcoming adventures!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
I Want to Go to There!!!
Check this out and then come back...
http://theowlmuseum.com/home.html
Because that is TOTALLY A PLACE I NEED TO VISIT. It has now made my bucket list. Malaysia was not on that list until now.
Ok, that was all!
http://theowlmuseum.com/home.html
Because that is TOTALLY A PLACE I NEED TO VISIT. It has now made my bucket list. Malaysia was not on that list until now.
Ok, that was all!
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