2022 was a year

I entered 2022 excited because 22 is my lucky number. Not sure how lucky the year was. There were some definite lows but yet a couple of highs. 

On the last day of February, I had to call 911 for Dad. He was incoherent and couldn't really walk. It was VERY scary. Long medical story short, he has prostate cancer. He didn't think anything was "really wrong" so he didn't go to the doctor and now he sees one at least every 3 months, forever. The cancer is treatable but not curable so he'll be on fancy meds for the rest of his life, which will be a long long time. I took a leave of absence for the last quarter of the school year and Dad lived with me for about 2 months. All this time, Boo was with Kresse (God bless her!) and she was missed. This spurred Dad into getting well enough to move home. The unexpected benefit was that Boo got used to be around other dogs and now tolerates Slugger! It was a challenging several months but I am SO glad that I was close and able to be there for him. Dad turned 80 yesterday and is a little slower but good, considering. He comes over for dinner at least once a week and takes care of Slugger when needed. He still does search and rescue and radio and such. Moral of the story is go to the doctor!!

Read the previous blog post for the summer activities. They were pretty good! 

School started like normal and only a few teachers/students were out with Covid and it slowed down once we all got into the swing of things. I still mask every day. I finally succumbed to Covid the week before Christmas. Almost 3 years - not bad. I took on a major role as WASC Coordinator. This means I'm in charge of our accreditation which is up this year. I write a huge document and wow the folks who come to visit in April. Fingers crossed. 

In November, my Astros became champs again!! And today, New Year's Eve, I finally got my celebratory tattoo :) I'm ready for 2023. 

Goals accomplished: hiked Sugarloaf and ran a marathon; 300+ run miles, 100+ walk miles, 100+ hike miles. 50 books read. 

Several other goals were purposely not met like the whole-house generator and the fencing of the property - hopefully by this time next year, I'll own more of the property surrounding my home! I memorized a few Scripture verses, but not 10. And I don't know that I really memorized them but I know the gist and can recall it when I need it, which was kind of the point anyway. I think I'll keep that goal but make it more like 6. I'll be going to Houston for Opening Day and maybe NoTX in October for a wedding. We'll see. I also am planning Alaska again (this got derailed cuz of the Dad stuff). I may have to do the 50th state while I'm 50. Close enough.

In 2023, I'd like to get out more. I would like to build a few friendships into stronger relationships. I hope to get some landscaping things done at the front of the house. And run and hike and walk :)  

Summer 2022

 On this, my last day of summer break (basically), I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on a very good summer (this will be long - I should have blogged more of this individually!). It was an excellent mix of getting stuff done and sitting around doing nothing. Productive yet relaxing. I'd like another week or two of course. But I think I'm ready.

Where I went:

Started with an EXCELLENT girls weekend with Karie in Palm Springs. We sat by the pool for endless hours, chatting, laughing, being still. It was glorious. We ate good food, drank, and laughed and laughed. It was exactly what I needed without knowing I needed it!

Couple of weeks later, Slugger and I had a nice, short road trip to San Diego. He put his feet in the water and had lots of small walks. He was VERY good in the hotel. On the drive home we went the very long way and had several good walks and snacks. 

As has kind of become tradition, I spent the 4th of July weekend in Temecula with the Whites. As always, MUCH fun was had and memories were made. We had tea, discovered a great used book store, antiqued and laughed - that was day one. On Sunday Thomas and I had a breakfast outing and then he went with me to Walmart (such a trooper, my Godson!). Then Karie and Ben and I went to a speakeasy (yes!) so I could enjoy my first professional Bees Knees - SO good! That night we all went to the Lake Elsinore Storm game. They lost but the fireworks were nice. I went home the next day. SO MUCH FUN!!

My summer ends with another trip to San Diego tomorrow for an AVID conference. Not really vacation, but going to enjoy the swanky hotel!

What I did:

I gave myself a LONG to-do list and spent ALL summer slowly making my way through it. First, I dealt with the weeds and then I cleaned the house. Like really cleaned. Then it got fun :) I ordered 8 tons of gravel and ended up having to spend a LOT more time than I expected moving it to where I wanted it. But now I can park not in mud on the lower side of the house in the winter. I also am on the schedule to get the house painted and for the whole house generator to be installed. Oh, I stained the "new" buffet. I also re-adhered the cork in the she-cave after it all fell down. That wasn't planned! Plus a bunch of little things like shredding a bunch of old documents.

I FINALLY hiked up Sugarloaf Mountain! I was alone (saw one other person the whole trip) and hiked - poles, boots and all. It was difficult but I'd do it again!

I ran. And I ran. I FINALLY figured out the toe blister thing and so I was able to up my mileage quite quickly. Maybe too quickly at the end. BUT I accomplished an actual, literal bucket list item... I ran 26.2 miles - a marathon! From my house to Little Bear Springs, with Cougar Crest in the middle. (That was a stupid idea, btw). Ultras, here I come :)

I think that's about it. Slugger and I walked almost every day - he even got up to a 1.67 neighborhood outing! We hung out with Dad. We drove to the PO a lot. We watched a LOT of TV (Alias, Blossom, Bones). It was a VERY GOOD summer!!! 

2021 becomes 2022

I haven't done a year end reflection in years. The last couple year ends haven't been too exciting. Well, last year we bought a house so I guess that was worth writing about even though I didn't. 

2021 was, well, different. Started the year still on virtual school. Ending the year in real school but with masks. So I guess things are better. I've stayed healthy, as has Dad. Dave and Loni both got Covid in October. It was scary for Dave who had breathing issues but he's come out the other end and will be okay. Thank God. 

GOALS:

I had seven goals and met one of them. Well, I will by midnight tomorrow. I read the Bible! I have half of Revelations left and have no doubt I'll get done. As the last post discussed, I had planned the multi-night camping trip with Slugger but we didn't end up camping. 

I have finally taken "buy and use a paddle board" off of my list. Not that I don't want to paddle board but it just hasn't happened and I'm not sure it will. I keep saying i'm going to do Captain John's summer special thing so I can see how often I'll really go. 

I intended to hike Sugarloaf and had it on the schedule a couple times but it just never happened. It WILL happen in 2022!!!

For 2022, I've added memorizing Bible verses, going to TX, getting a generator and fencing my property. I have, of course, kept the losing weight goal. I really just want to be healthy and fit. And for my clothes to fit.

REFLECTIONS:

It doesn't seem like there's much to reflect on. I love living in Baldwin Lake, except right now with the muddy road. I am much happier in my job now that I have a better classroom and am a little more connected to the rest of the faculty. Slugger is awesome. Oh wait, we knew that. I love living in BB where it's almost always fabulous weather and beautiful. And I'm close to the Whites and the Floyds and can see them, in theory, whenever we want. 

LOOKING FORWARD:

22 is my lucky number. It's almost 2022. Regardless of the world's issues, I think this year will be good for me. Maybe not excellent, but that's okay. Maybe this is the year I actually accomplish all my goals!! And then some :) 

School's Out Road Trip 2021

 Because the world is only sort of opening up, and because I wanted Slugger to come too, I decided to take a little road trip as soon as school was out. The plan was to camp the first 3 nights and then motel the last night. As with any good road trip, plans changed. 

Slugs and I set out about noon on the Monday after school was out. 

I had run the HVTR 15 miler on Saturday and my toes HURT. I also had a weird foot pain that could've been a stress fracture (feels better but still not 100% so who knows). About 2 hours into the drive I started to realize that driving wasn't helping and I had no desire to set up camp. SO I got online and reserved a room in Bishop. This was a little further than we had been planning for the day. But without all the stops to hike/walk we got there about dinner time anyway. Once we were in Bishop, I changed up the rest of the trip too and it all worked out marvelously. 

Anyway, the trip: We stopped in Lone Pine at Gardners hardware which hasn't changed. I didn't shop long though because Slugs was in the hot car and my feet hurt. And it was crowded. 

After a decent night's sleep in Bishop, we went to a local bakery recommended by a friend who used to live there. We went to the local park to eat. We sat on a bench in the shade in front of a small pond, watching the ducks and enjoying the green grass. It was splendidly relaxing. 

From Bishop we drove North. We saw a lot of amazing scenery and sang a lot of good songs with the radio blaring. 

We stopped in Mammoth Lakes and had a little hike. Pretty sure Slugger thought we were back home - it smelled the same, looked a lot like it, and was finally almost not hot.

Next we stopped to look over Mono Lake.

The next stop was one of Slugger's favorites! A river!! I *think* it was the West Fork of the American River. I'm took lazy to look it up. 

THEN Slugger went to Nevada for the first time!!!

I decided that we should go over to Lake Tahoe and drive up the CA side. I forgot about all the casinos on the NV side. Weird. And two totally different places on each side of the state line. Once we were back in CA though, we got out so Slugger could swim again :)

Driving up to Truckee from Tahoe was a lot like driving at home. Slugger even thought so and kept getting excited. I was really tired of driving on foreign mountain roads though. Strange that I do it all the time here at home but there it made me nervous - I guess because I wasn't familiar with the terrain.

We spent Tuesday night in Auburn. I am familiar with Auburn due to Western States. I wanted to take Slugger to see some of the trails and sights. When Dad and I are there for the race, we don't usually see much more than our aid station. After driving into Forest Hill and talking to Dad, we drove back into Auburn and went to Robie Point. This is the VERY end of WSER. Where they come off the trail and hit the last mile of uphill on road. It was a very steep road, as advertised. 

We followed these footprints up the road to the high school track that they run around to the finish.

I don't remember the track being quite so fancy! That's TURF!!

After we left Auburn, we drove down I5 to Stockton to take a walk around University of the Pacific, my alma mater. I kinda felt like I was doing one of those trips where the parent drags their kids to all the places they lived growing up. Pacific was nice and quiet and beautiful as ever. Lots and lots of grass for puppy to roll in and even a well-watered tree! 

Then we had an excellent visit with Christy (freshman year roomie and forever bestie) at her house. Slugs got to meet Tobie (totally chill older lab/pug mix). 

Thursday we drove home. We were both done driving. And tired of the heat (hot at home but not THAT hot!)

Not the trip we set out on, but definitely an excellent trip!! 

It's been a while

 So life got busy. And boring. Pandemic and all. Slugger and I enjoyed walking and hiking and being together. I ran. Oh, he had another knee surgery. I taught some math. Online. Oh, we bought a house! So yeah it was a boring yet exciting 15 months of pandemic life. 

I feel like we're coming out of our cocoon. 

There are some things I hope don't change - space between you and me in line at the PO or grocery; masks when you're sick or in allergy season; people appreciating the outdoors and nature. 

And hopefully some more posts here :) 

Just In: I LIKE SNOW!!!

If you know me at all, you probably know that I have always hated snow and cold and winter in general. I don't want to go out in it, on foot or by car. When I decided to move to BB, I made Dad promise he'd drive me around when it snowed and I had to get somewhere. One of the reasons that the online job seemed perfect - I would't HAVE to go out in it. It took me 25 years to move back to BB because I didn't want to deal with snow.

I don't really remember hating it in DE but I also only remember one or two snow storms. It was in DE that I learned what an ice storm is all about. But I also had a 4WD truck so I guess I just dealt with driving in it when I needed to. My memories of DC snow are getting a day or two off here and there and that people would just abandon their cars in the middle of the street. Every year they acted like it had never snowed before even though we generally got at least one decent storm each winter. And Texas snow wasn't really snow. The few times it was, we got lots of days off school so I didn't have to deal with it. Same with the ice. Lots and lots of ice days over the years!! In fact, eight years ago I was in the middle of a week off due to ice - I went nowhere!

Fast forward to 2019. I now live in BB and own a 4WD truck again. And snowshoes. I have appropriate clothing for the cold (though not like the -40 polar vortex the midwest just experienced). And guess what? I LIKE SNOW!!! I was actually bummed yesterday because it rained all day instead of snowing!! It did finally snow once it got cold enough. Just an inch or so though.

I took off on my snowshoes this morning to see how much the woods got. Maybe two inches as I got a little higher. I'm sure it was a lot more even higher because that rain would've been snow up there. Anyway, as you know, my most favorite place on earth is in the woods. Today, I mostly was on the established trail but most of the time I was the only tracks. It was AWESOME!!! I'd show you how beautiful it was but I left my phone at home on accident. But I was kinda glad that it was just me and God, roaming through the snowy woods, the sun trying to peak through the clouds and trees. Seriously just amazing.

We are supposed to get even more snow tonight and the next TWO days. Hopefully it's snow!! We might even get a snow day but I hope not. I have plans for the day we'd give up in May!! Besides, I can drive in it so might as well go to work!! I do already have plans to take Slugs with me tomorrow afternoon, snowshoeing in the woods :)

Moral of the story: people CAN change!!

2018

Ah. 2018. The year that many, many dreams came true.

1. I moved to Big Bear! It was a whirlwind few weeks that ended with Slugger and I living in a cute and cozy log cabin in Big Bear, a block from the trails. The absolute BEST part of living in BB is that Dad and Tuck come over for dinner at least once a week, Slugs and I hang out at their house, and we get to do fun stuff together. Whenever we want!! For example, just last week, Dad and I went snowshoeing in the forest behind my house, then I made chicken pot pie, and we watched TV. DREAMS COME TRUE!!

2. I went to Hawaii!! I had an excellent 6 days on Oahu. First I did a bunch of sightseeing and touristy things like hiking Diamond Head and visiting Pearl Harbor. Then I spent several days exploring even more of the island with my good friend Torrey and his girlfriend. You can read all the details in my July 2018 posts (all 4 are from this trip!). DREAMS COME TRUE!!!!

3. In November, I left the online world to take a position teaching math at Big Bear High School. Twenty-five years ago, I graduated and never thought I'd be back! The school has changed and almost every teacher has left. But there are a couple still holding on. And a couple who I went to school with! It was a crazy 6 weeks leading up to semester finals and Winter Break but I think it went pretty well, considering. I'm excited to finish out the year and start fresh in August! DREAMS COME TRUE!!!

4. For Christmas, I bought myself a new truck! I had shopped for many months, made many decisions and then changed my mind again, and practically given up. But I needed a 4WD vehicle for snow and dirt. I LOVE the truck I ended up with and actually look forward to driving to school in bad weather (okay, not really). DREAMS COME TRUE!!!

Yup, 2018 was a GOOD year!!

Some goals for 2019 include running a whole lot more, travel (alaska?), time with family, and getting more involved with the Trails Foundation.

Hope your 2018 was all you wanted it to be and 2019 brings many more blessings. Dream big - you never know!!