Too Much Fun

Some weekends are just too eventful. The plan for the weekend was to go camping at Westmoreland State Park, ride the Chesapeake Ramble, and kayak under the cliffs on the Potomac.

First, we left at approximately 11:00 Saturday morning. We weren't in any hurry. Plenty of daylight this time of year, and the Chesapeake Ramble is an easy bike ride, the kayak trip wasn't until Sunday, and it doesn't take that long to set up camp.

We arrived at the campsite at 3:00 in the afternoon. I'm sure you're thinking:

"Wow! Westmoreland Park must be hundreds of miles away from where you live!!"

Nope.

70 miles.

Yep.

Took us 4hrs to drive 70 miles. Actually, it took us nearly two hours to drive 11 miles. Boy, I sure do love living in Northern Virginia.

But, at last, we made it, got camp set up and headed down for our bike ride. We started our ride at The Tides Inn, which we did deliberately because we really enjoy kicking back for some drinks at this location when the ride is done. The atmosphere is spectacular here, with it sitting right on the bay - quite a lovely location. The ride went better than anticipated - there was a nice breeze and it was slightly overcast, so we didn't get roasted.

The scenery on this ride is very nice. We've ridden it before - you got to see my SigO's cute little rear end in the last blog about this ride - this time, you get a frontal shot of him at the maritime museum . Why is there a train engine at the maritime museum you ask. Beats me. Maybe it's not a train - maybe it's a steam boat? I don't know - too tired to go read the plaque - or even see if there was a plaque - and we were WAY too close to the end of our destination - with beer calling - to be bothered.

All went well until, after loading the bikes in the car, we closed the hatch back and...

voila.

Who knows why this happened. Nothing was poking up higher than it should be. The weight of the bike rack - being empty - shouldn't have caused this (empty because I wanted our bikes to be secured inside the car - ironic, huh?) I have no idea what caused it. All I know is I closed the hatch and the window shattered. We stood there, staring at our shattered window for a few minutes before deciding "Screw it. Let's go get a beer." At which point I locked the car (go ahead and laugh - so did I - rather hysterically at this point) and headed in to the Inn. We lounged around here until about sunset, when the view was its most spectacular.

We proceeded with our campout as planned - cooked our steaks in the dark, and laughed a little more hysterically each time another piece of glass inexplicably fell out of the window frame. I forgot to bring blankets and pillows, so we used the "emergency" blanket we keep in the car, and used our towels for pillows. The SigO didn't want to wake up in the morning. Isn't he just beyond adorable?

The longer time stretched, waiting for him to wake up, the more I didn't want to go on the kayak trip anymore. I didn't want to fool with crowds anymore (the park was packed), I didn't want to leave my bikes, plus all my camping gear in a car without a rear window - especially since the sky was menacing (it did rain on us a little bit, getting home), and I had simply had too much excitement for the week. So, we stopped at a cute little restaurant for breakfast, where they actually served our mimosas with little umbrellas, and then headed home, and had a nice, quiet afternoon in the basement. Watching movies. Sitting very still so we didn't break anything else.

Thirsty Thursday - Tea Lovers Unite

This morning, as I drink my Creme Brulee flavored black tea, I'd like to share some of my civilization with you.

1. Did you know Green and black teas have 10 times the amount of antioxidants found in fruits and veggies? (found on WebMD.com)

Image found on Wikipedia

2. The story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years ago. According to legend, Shen Nung, an early emperor was a skilled ruler, creative scientist and patron of the arts. His far-sighted edicts required, among other things, that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and the court stopped to rest. In accordance with his ruling, the servants began to boil water for the court to drink. Dried leaves from the near by bush fell into the boiling water, and a brown liquid was infused into the water. As a scientist, the Emperor was interested in the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing. And so, according to legend, tea was created. (This myth maintains such a practical narrative, that many mythologists believe it may relate closely to the actual events, now lost in ancient history.) (found on stashtea.com)

Image found on Google Images

and

3. According to a book the SigO's Mom gave me, the reason Americans drink more coffee than tea is because during WWII, tea was associated with the Japanese, and so it became out of fashion to drink it.

Image found on Google Images

So, if you're still on the dark side

Image found on Google Images

--- coffee --- come back to the light. Come back to civilization. Come back to tea!!

Image found on Google Images

Taosday - Non-Judgement Day

According to Michael Greghorn, Taoism makes no moral distinction between right and wrong and judges no one.

I really like the "judges no one" part. Imagine the world if we just accepted each other as they are. Actually - we'd be like little kids - before they start judging their peers by what TV, Mom & Dad, and dogma teach them. You've seen it - a kid sees another kid, runs up to him/her and says "Hi! Wanna Play?" without regard to sex, ethnicity, size or any other measuring stick we seem to have so readily available to us when we grow out of this wonderful age. These same kids are the ones running into other people because they are so fascinated with their surroundings. How fun would that be, as adults, to just walk right into someone else - and then you both start giggling, and then run outside to play tag.

Wicked Wednesday - Too Big to Fail

In yesterday's news report, I saw California is seeking a bail-out because they're too big to fail.

Apparently, that's the new buzz phrase, and is very reminiscent of "Help, I've fallen down and I can't get up".

Of course, the government is pushing back - after all -as soon as you give one child a piece of candy, they're all going to want some, right?

So, instead, let's think of ways California can get out of debt:

1. Make and sell soap out of all the lipo-suction fat in Hollywood.

2. Engineer treadmills such that they produce electricity. Then dangle a new pair of manolo shoes on a string at the end of the treadmill - line up all the valley girls - in this way we can make California self-sufficient in energy - a Huge money saver!

3. (My personal favorite) Humboldt's #1 selling product goes national

hmmm - I gotta go - I suddenly have a craving for Nintendo games and a pizza.

Taosday - Living in the Moment

Do you ever look back at old pictures of yourself and think "Hey, I looked pretty good in that picture!" You may even think "Wow, I wish I were that thin again."
Now, at the time the picture was taken, were you thinking "Man, I look good today." or "I sure am happy with my weight right now."

Never in my entire life have I been content with my self - as I was. I remember one time in my life, going for a run, and feeling exhiliarated that my muscles felt strong and powerful. And yet, now I look back on some of those times and wish I had them back. I wish for the pain-free days before I tore so many ligaments in my knees. I wish for this. I wish for that...

In other words, I'm doing it every day. Every day, I think "What if?" What if I were richer/thinner/smarter/faster/whatever. And how long before I'm looking back on today and thinking "Boy, I wish I had those days back"?

I know I don't usually go quite so deep on these blogs, but I think it's time I started enjoying the life I'm living - right now - instead of waiting for that "better life" that's right around the corner, just as soon as I...

So, here we go - living in the moment, right now. Except in traffic. And then, I'm sticking to "what if..."

Another Wet Weekend

Once again, I had another great trip with the Washington Women Outdoors.
This time, we met in Leesylvania State Park for a kayaking trip down the Potomac. Not to be confused with the kayaking trip the SigO and I took down the potomac - - the trip from Hell -- unlike that trip, this trip was the perfect duration and energy level.

The name of the trip is "Paddle to Lunch" and I could already see the lunch restauarant from the put-in and take-out point, so I knew it wasn't going to be a killer day. We headed down-stream, away from the restaurant, but towards some beautiful marsh lands. Before we had even been in the boats five minutes, a heron swooped down out of the sky and snagged a fish out of the middle of the river. A very rare sight as heron's usually fish in the shallows. That was just the beginning of a day of "new sights". Shortly after we were in the marshes, I saw my first-ever osprey. She was one unhappy lady since there were a few fishers camped out too close to her nest. She circled almost continually overhead, squawking at those pesky fishermen and all these strange women in their kayaks.

We rowed past a great deal of this plant - that I've already forgotten the name of - spatter - something or other. It blooms this little yellow ball that never - in its entire life - opens up. Kind of like some of the men I dated prior to meeting the SigO.

We rowed under this tree full of poison ivy - where I reinforced my belief that I'm not sensitive to it, since I never got so much as a single hive. Hopefully, neither did anyone else.

We dead-ended here, where the water got too shallow and so we turned back the way we came, ending at Tims Rivershore Crabshack and Restaurant - a place I've frequented by car, but this was my first time arriving by boat. We got quite a lot of stares as 15 women piled out of kayaks and started placing orders for fried pickles (another first for me - not as weird as I had expected).

It was quite a nice day, which I concluded with a manicure/pedicure and some knitting - that I had to completely rip out since I started it the night before - while drinking - too much! I have to admit, cutting back on my drinking not only helps me in the pocketbook, and with the weight-loss, but it really helps reduce the amount of tinking/frogging I have to do.

You would think that would make for a great weekend, and really - I'm not complaining - much. It would have been a stellar weekend had the SigO and I been able to go for our bike ride as planned - instead of spending the day fighting with an overflowing toilet, only to throw in the towel (a painful metaphor - as you'll see) and pay a plumber $850 to come out and auger the main-line for us - to discover a wad of paper-towels clogging things up. Since we don't use papertowels in the bathroom, I think it's time we had a talk with our cleaning service. *sigh* Seems like you can never get ahead. I'm ready to sell it all and drive away, but that conversation has to wait until Taosday.

Until then...

First Thirsty Thursday

OK, as predicted, I'm already tired of "Therapy Thursday" and have decided Thursdays will be Thirsty Thursday. On this topic, I can be thirsty for anything.

For example, this week, I'm thirsty for good stories.

In the Yarn Harlot's daily calendar entry today, she tells the story told to her by a Malaysian friend. In this story, all the snakes in the Garden of Eden were originally plain old white until Eve took up her needles and kit the pattern onto them from the tail, right up to the head.

I think this is a great story. I mean, you can see it now, right?

Eve: "Adam, look at this great pattern! Don't you think this will look much nicer than plain old white?"

Adam, never looking up from his newspaper titled "Heaven's Daily News": "Mmm hmmm. Yes dear. Very nice."

Eve: "Wouldn't you love to give it a try! It's very relaxing, and it gives you such a sense of fulfillment to have made something so beautiful!"

Adam: "Are you crazy? Knitting isn't macho! What's for dinner tonight anyway? Not more manna, I hope!"

Eve: "Dinner is whatever you go and pick off a tree! Don't bother me, I'm knitting."

And they lived happily ever after.
Or, at least the snakes did.

Wicked Wednesday

Top 5 Things I'd do today if I could get away with it:

5. Drive a Bulldozer down the highway and push everyone out of my way
4. Use my laptop as a frisbee
3. Replace the water in my water bottle with vodka - and THEN drive the bulldozer down the highway - woo hoo!
2. Replace the water in the office water cooler with vodka - and then invite the company CEO over for a open bitch session.
1. Rob a bank and retire from the working life so that #'s 2-5 are unnecessary

First Taosday

I thought it might be interesting to discuss "Going with the Flow" when it comes to DC traffic. This image was captured live from a traffic camera at 2PM in the DC metro area. 2 PM. NOT rush hour. You'll note it's somewhat heavy headed North, but almost stopped headed South. Again, this is NOT rush hour - although many who live in this area would claim there's really no such thing around here since traffic stinks all the time. But, that's not really my point today.
Here's the thing.
It's definitely less stressful to apply some taoist thinking to sitting in traffic and just "go with the flow".
No need to constantly shift lanes. It sux, no matter which lane you're in.
No need to try to get around the moron driving slowly in the fast lane. You'll only get stuck behind some other moron who can't read the sign that says Slower Traffic Keep Right. Yes, I know, all the traffic is slow, so why bother, but trust me, a great deal of our traffic problems around here come from people cruising in the passing lane with no regards for the fact that they're NOT PASSING ANYONE.
So, why stress over it, right? Just go with the flow. Take it easy. You'll get there when you get there.
And there is some seriously good advice in all that.
Here's my only problem.
If I do that, doesn't that just make me another head in the herd of cattle mooing along down the interstate?

What bothers me more?

Being stressed?


or

Being Cattle?

Therapy Thursday - Acupuncture

In an attempt to liven up my blog - and post more consistently, I've decided to have some fun with alliteration.

For now, that means the following:

Tuesday = Taosday

Wednesday = Wicked Wednesday

Thursday = Therapy Thursday

When I get sick of these alliterations, I'll switch to something else.

So, for my inaugural event, today we'll talk about Acupuncture.

According to Wikipedia, Acupuncture is a technique of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes.

According to my experience, it's a pretty vague discipline. When I went to an acupuncture clinic to see if it would help me lose weight, I asked the practitioner how it would work. Her answer was something along the lines of "Concentrating on your body will bring you more awareness of yourself and help in your weight loss efforts."

I don't need acupuncture to help me be more aware of my body as it relates to weight-loss. If that's all there is to it, I think we should all just eat in front of a mirror. Puts me off my feed every time!

Patrick Stewart on Sesame Street

Cpt Picard at his best!