Hiking, Climbing, and Dungeon Crawling

It’s been a long day, but for the most part, it was good. I usually like having Sundays to just chill, but we’re getting into a time of year when that’s not always going to be the case. I should clarify that my idea of “chill” could include walking, hiking, and anything that doesn’t include sitting around the house. But…it could also mean just that.

We were up early at the in-laws this morning, wanting to grab a few more geocaches before our weekend there ended.  The first three were “did not finds.” We were feeling pretty bummed. To be fair, we didn’t stay for long at any of them, partially due to muggles, partially due to just wanting to do some more exploring. After we couldn’t find the third one, I wasn’t sure if we should try to find a nano in a high muggle area, but Jon wanted to  check it out, so we did. He found it in a few minutes.

The next two were out in the country, which involved a bit of a drive and a turtle rescue.

It’s okay, little turtle. At least you won’t be a turtle pancake in the middle of the road!

The first “country” cache was a hike through some tall grass on the side of the road, and the other was a cemetery cache.  It was starting to get hot by that time, and Dad F was bringing us breakfast, so we headed back to house, ate, and watched some TV before heading back to MHK. I couldn’t resist, though, and found one more in Andover, a large that ended up being a hike across a field and an obstacle course through some trees.

We were on a time table to get back to MHK for a game, but we decided to take one last geocache detour (I know, it’s always “one last” with us). This one was about ten minutes off the beaten path, so we were definitely bumping up against our time. Once we finally found it, we weren’t sure if we were up for the challenge.  It was on what could be considered a hill but struck me more as a plateau, with the sides going almost straight up. The climb honestly looked like more of a challenge than I was up for. Jon managed to get to the top while I looked for a lower part to climb with no luck. I was going to let him find it on his own, but when I got back to where we parked, I figured all I needed was a little bit of courage.

Using the grass to help pull myself up and paying attention to my footing, I managed to get up the hill.  Out of breath and sweaty and gross, all I could think at that moment was “Holy cow, I just rocked my own world.” This was seriously another moment of pride for me.  The view was gorgeous and worth the climb, and shortly after I got up there, Jon made the find. Getting down the hill was a little less graceful. I literally had to sit on the ground and slide down because my knees and balance were not going to let me walk down that slope. Still, it was worth the dirt and the grass cuts I ended up with.

On the drive back to the highway, we came up on some uprooted trees that I thought were kind of haunting.

 

We made it back to town, and even being dirty and gross, we got to our game on time.

I’m easing back into RPG games after kind of losing my mojo for it. Jon and I were invited to play in a Pathfinder game, so I decided to give it a shot. I’m playing a human fighter and our first encounters were level one dungeon crawly type things where we killed a bunch of rats and skeletons. It was fun! I’m not used to Pathfinder, so I’ll probably have more questions as this progresses. I’m excited to see where the story goes and getting to know the other players who all seem like cool people.

After the game, we headed to the campus library to distribute con flyers at a movies on the grass event. Unfortunately, shortly after we got there, Jon started shaking and feeling sick. I think it was probably a mix of not eating and dehydration, but it freaked me out. We ended up leaving before it started, but they let me hand out some flyers and put some on a table for people to grab.  I had a touch of guilt, but  I wasn’t taking any chances.  Everything is okay now. Jon’s feeling better, though a little run down.

We decided to stay in MHK one last night since my friend offered the extra night to stay at her house. Once I got here, I took a shower and sat down to handle some emails and other projects. Jon has a test tomorrow night, so I’m going to be doing some con updates and correspondence at Hastings.

It was a good weekend overall. We didn’t get as much activity as we’d wanted, but what we did get was fun.  The goal this week is to get back into our routine. We made our gym goal this past week, but not our walking goal. Which is okay. Now we just try again for the coming week.

A.

Noodles, Sharks, and a Little TMI

I’m feeling much better today than I was last night. When we got home, I crashed hard. I had some really weird dreams, but I’m assuming that meant I slept well.  I’m having a little bit of pain tonight, but the day passed in relative comfort, so hopefully this will run its course. I think I’m at the mercy of a UTI/possible bladder infection. I get these every once in awhile. They don’t stick around long, but they’re pretty nasty when they hit. This one has gone on a little longer than usual, so if it’s not cleared up in a week, I’ll be seeing the doctor about it.

We slept in a little today, but not too late since Jon didn’t get the extra Friday off.  I took him to work and went to Hastings to work on some con stuff. They didn’t have regular coffee. I guess their brewer was down, which is to be expected. I like Hastings, I like the Hardback Cafe drinks and the baristas…but anymore, I pretty much just expect something to be broken.  However, I did have an Americano and liked that okay, so it was all good.  I managed to get some stuff accomplished, though I did sit underneath the TV and listened to the news, which was depressing.

I did two hours of work before heading over to my friend’s house.  She started her vacation yesterday but had reminded me that she was home today so we got to hang out. We went to Best Buy and to Noodles and Co. for lunch, then we went back to her house and watched Sharknado since she hadn’t seen it before. Most of the day was spent just chatting. It was really nice. I was surprised how fast the day went when I realized it was almost time to pick Jon up from work.

Today was supposed to be our C25K day, but we opted to go to the gym instead. One thing I’ll say for the walk training…it makes the gym seem that much easier. We’re still getting a good workout, but we did 45 minutes today and it didn’t seem as difficult as it used to. I watched Monsters on Netflix and may or may not finish it tonight. It’s okay.  Another thing we did today was buy the Zombies. Run! app which is on sale this weekend for two bucks. We’re not going to start it until our current program is over, but I’m really looking forward to doing it. I have eight weeks to come up with a playlist for it.

After the gym, we opted to just come home and relax for the evening. I played some Riptide and Jon did some css code. For fun. Which is why he’s the graphic designer. It’s been a nice, chill night. Going to end with a shower, some more water to keep flushing this infection out, and then either a movie or sleep, depending on how tired I am. Right now I’m sleepy, but sometimes that’s just a false alarm.  We’ll see.

A.

Social Weekend

As part of my “be more social in 2012” plan, I spent some time with friends this past weekend.

I don’t want people thinking I’m a complete recluse, but it’s often easier for me to be introverted than to deal with even the trace amounts of social anxiety I get. It’s also harder for me to be social when I’m not feeling well, and in hindsight, 2011 was not a feel good year for me, even when I started trying to get healthier.

The beginning of this year sees me feeling much better in general, physically, emotionally, and mentally…all factors that play into me being a more social person.

This past weekend brought Drunken DnD, where my fellow gamer friends and I got together for some gaming (incidentally, not DnD) and some drinks. My heavy party days are behind me, but I had enough to relax and have fun without doing anything embarrassing or having to take up couch space. Unfortunately, I tend to relax a little too much…I get sleepy and zone out really easily. However, I have some hilarious friends, so there was no way I was going to fall asleep.

There was a little bit of “fun” business on Sunday when I went to a local gaming convention meeting. I helped with the con a few years ago, then took a break for various reasons. I decided this year to get back into it and help out, and the first meeting was good. I’m still not sure what the dates are going to be, but we have some good ideas and I get to plan some discussion panels and seminars. Plus, I’ll probably get to run a game at the con itself, which will help me stretch my DM fingers again.

After watching several episode of “The IT Crowd” with a friend that afternoon, I attended the local SnB Knitting Group for the first time since it started. Like any new situation, it was slightly awkward, but the people were nice and I made some good progress on the blanket that I’m determined to have done by the end of February. I wasn’t overly thrilled with the local donut shop it was held at, but I’m not really a fan of donuts (I had one because I was hungry, but they’re never my first choice of snack). Or small chairs that are not made for a larger rear end, such as my own. Still, I’m probably going to go again, maybe even next Sunday after we get home from Wichita.

As with the other areas of my life I’m trying to balance, I want to find a good medium between friend time and alone time. I feel like I’ve been a little extreme on either end in the past, but like anything else, it doesn’t necessarily have to be an all or nothing issue.

Even in terms of balance, this past weekend was good.