It’s Mine, All Mine!

This week’s recommended reading: 

Today’s Exploit:

I get my house! They said yes!

I am so excited I can’t even put it into words. 

I have so many plans.

First I’ll take out the carpet and some tile.

Then we’ll work on the master bathroom, while I decide what in the world to do with the weirdo downstairs bathroom and laundry area.

Then I’ll deal with the extra tall counter/sink in the kitchen and get a beautiful gas cooktop, and take out the cabinets to put shelves on the wall. 

All the little cubbies need cleaned out and re-finished. As does the mini cellar-thing.

And I get to bring my piano down without forcing myself out of the house to provide space!

At some point we’ll deal with the not so fun tasks, like getting the bee nest out of a wall, and making sure the house is level and not rotting away. And waterproof in the rain. 

I can’t wait to finish the paperwork stuff so the fun part can start!

Racing Colors

I have been reading so many books lately. They are silly and not well written free books on my phone, but I can’t tear myself away. I don’t understand it. I have so many books for my Kindle that I consider it my own personal library, but I have been ignoring the good books available there for the silly ones I found. 

Today’s Exploit:

At the end of August I did a 5k with my sister. She chose it and signed up for it without my coercion, which is a minor miracle after the half marathon drama. But she wanted running motivation and to celebrate finishing her school. She’s now a real nurse, I don’t know if she’s taken her final test yet, but she’s looking for jobs. 

The race she chose was in San Antonio, in the hottest month of the year. I think she’s trying to get me back for that last race. But I agreed since I never thought she’d run with me again.

It was a color run, where they throw powdered paint at you to stain your clothes, underclothes, skin and hair. It was pretty fun, even though it was Texas hot. The people throwing paint though it was hilarious to throw it at my face and at Cupcake’s legs. 

Afterward we raced to New Braunfels to look at a house, covered in powder and sunscreen and sweat. The lady showing the house didn’t even blink when we got out of the car. However she did ask us several times if we were sure that we weren’t twins. 

We got many stares at IHOP, too, because Cupcake just HAD to have pancakes after the race. 

Also, I still have paint powder in my car from throwing water bottles in the back seat, and having to dig around for my money at the restaurant. 

Texas Style Adventure

My classes are feeling never-ending. I just want these last two weeks to be done. And then I’ll be finished, and no more worthless papers. 

Today’s Exploit:

I made a friend. 

And it wasn’t a tortoise or cow or fuzzy red ant, which, by the way, I have learned are actually wingless wasps and REALLY nasty. 

Ashley is from Florida. She is staying with the company man and she is going to run a marathon in November. 

We went walking because she forgot her running shoes.

On this walk we came across a bull in the road. On the other side of the fence was another, much younger bull. 

We slowed down and I yelled at them so that the one in the road would move. It did, about 10 feet further down the road.

After about 3.2 repeats of this process Ashley decided that the bull might charge us and wanted to be prepared. She found a large hunk of wood and carried it with her for the next half mile while we tried to convince the bull to leave the road long enough for us to walk by. I am not sure why this seemed like it would be a good idea. She claimed that her grandparents owned a ranch. But I didn’t think the bull was going to charge us, either. 

Eventually we made it to the gate and she thought it was safe to drop the hunk of wood. 

The bull decided to leave the road long enough for us to pass on the way back, but the cows on the other side of the fence thought it would be funny to run down the fence line just far enough ahead of us that we were in a dust cloud for half a mile. 

When we finally left the dust cloud behind, Ashley decided that her shoes hurt her feet and took them off. She walked 1.24 miles back to the rig in her socks. 

Thankfully she didn’t step on any of those nasty fuzzy red ants/wasps.

I Was Just Trying to be Healthy!

We finally had rain!

Today’s Exploit:

Last night I went for a walk. I was going to see if a two-track along a fence line met up with a road on the other side of the property. 

Turns out it did. I had to wade through cows a few times, but mostly they’re noisy and smelly and only dangerous if you get between them and their babies who are rarely more than 3.123 feet away. Therefore, not something that is likely to happen. 

I walked and walked, and talked on the phone a bit, and walked some more. Then I came back to our main road near the gate guards. I talked to them about weather, and maybe their granddaughter - the one that they bring up every time I talk to them. 

Then I decided, Hey I still have some light, I’ll do another loop on this new path I’ve found.

About halfway into another loop I realized that this thing is about 4 miles long, and then I have another mile to go to get back to the rig. That means that I have 40 minutes of light and 3 miles to go (I have a very hard time walking faster than a 20 minute mile pace). And I’ve already done nearly 5 miles. Also, my toes are starting to chafe, my back is aching from actually standing with my shoulders back and I am very aware of that place where my shorts are touching my skin. Thankfully that ant bite finally stopped hurting.

Oh well, what can you do? Turning around to go back will take just as long as continuing forward. 

I got to the main road and picked up the pace, because packed gravel and dirt is far easier than cow cratered mud and scrub. The wind was nice and cool and the bugs were out. In force. Naturally the wind was aiming straight into my face, and the bugs were small. 

I walked through about 15 swarms that I could not see until they were pelting into my face and making their way down my shirt. 

The last mile and a half was spent spluttering and waving at the air in front of my face in an effort to divert the bugs around me, when I wasn’t doing that I was trying to brush them off every surface that they could possibly land on. 

I somehow managed to make it back to the rig before all the daylight was gone, scaring a couple whitetail deer and a couple unknown ungulates that were a bit larger (not that this means much, the deer here are minuscule). They were about the size of normal deer, but I could only see legs, the rest of their bodies were against a dark backdrop and I didn’t have enough light. 

The bugs had a large role in getting me moving, and I walked a total of 21002 steps and approximately 8.898 miles. I don’t want to move today because I have sneaky little chafe areas that walking normally or awkwardly does not relieve. Also my blisters think it’s funny to give me a nice twinge every so often, to be sure I don’t forget them. Good thing my job requires very little movement, I suppose.

Working Hard

I went for a bike ride with my sister and her roommates the other day. 

I need to go for more bike rides.

Today’s Exploit:

I found a new workout. It is hard.

I have done it twice. And then I had to get ready to go back to work. 

It consists of 6 or 7 moves and lots of reps. And it is timed.

My favorite and least favorite one is the Knees to Elbows one.

You hang from a pull up bar and pull your knees up to touch your elbows. When they get there your back should be parallel to the floor.  

I have yet to do one properly.

I Feel Like This Makes Me a Big Kid

I had a long list of posts to write about last night. 

Naturally they are all gone because I didn’t have a piece of paper within arm’s reach at the time.

Today’s Exploit:

I was very brave today.

I did something that I have never done alone before.

It was a big step for me in my kitchen experimentationalism, or something.

Anyway.

The thing I did.

I did it by myself.

For the first time ever.

I canned!

They sealed and everything, on the first try!

That was somewhat less exciting than I had hoped.

But the canning was not.

Yesterday I stopped at a truck on the side of the road with H. to buy some strawberries.  I don’t know if I have mentioned it before, but I live rather near the strawberry capital of Texas, and they make sure you know it.  They have a water tower painted like a strawberry, a huge sign saying “Home of the Strawberry Festival” and everything is painted green and red.  Everything.

So I got a flat of Poteet strawberries.  That’s a lot of strawberries.

I helped Tammy make some jam once, and I helped my dad make some syrup a few times, but I never did it by myself, and I was never in charge. 

So I looked up a recipe for Strawberry Preserves, disregarded it, and looked up instructions on what to do with the jars to make them seal.  

Then I gave up on recipes and tried to remember what we did to make syrup.

I didn’t have any dish washing gloves, that was a major setback. But I got some cool silicone tongs to make up for it.

I hulled 4 pints of the strawberries with my spring-loaded-super-duper-strawberry-huller from Aunt Sarah, and then I sliced them with my extra-sharp-and-kinda-scary-strawberry-chopper/slicer from Cupcake.

It took me about 20.462 minutes to do a million strawberries.

Then I added some sugar and left it to sit overnight in the fridge. 

Today I got out my steamer to my BIG pot, that I magically saved, and put my jars in it, and put my strawberries in my other pot to simmer.

When the jars were hot and the strawberry juice was no longer opaque I used my antique ladle, because it’s the only one I have, to add the preserves to the jars.  I sealed them and turned them upside down on a white towel, because that’s what Tammy did, and because I only have white towels. 

I waited and waited for them to pop to mean that they were sealed, but they never did.  So I checked and they were sealed, they just didn’t do the fun part. 

And now I have 6 jars of home-grown strawberry preserves, that may turn out to be strawberry syrup, but that’s ok because I made it.

By myself.

Aren't they pretty strawberries? They were the small ones, and therefore less expensive, but it also meant I got more of them. Yay

411

Trees. 

"I spy something green."

Trees with snow. 

"I spy something tall."

Trees with road.

"I spy something with bark."

Today’s Exploit:

Fun fact: This is post # 411 and I have been going at this for more than 3 years. This is some kind of record for me. 

I am very impressed that I actually noticed that, and therefore this post will be dedicated to some very important life facts.

I ran in 4 races last year. Only one was at my normal pace.

I made marshmallow fluff with my sister. It took two tries because I misread the thermometer.

Last night someone drew horns, a tail, a pentagram and the note “I love satan” on my rear windshield. I think I know who it was, and I have to think of a retaliation, fast.

I just acquired a digital library of 5000+ books. The first series I read was amazing, the second ruined the story Sleeping Beauty for me, for life.

My sister lives in Texas with me, but 45.9 minutes away in good traffic. I see her now as much or more than I saw her when we were attending college in the same town.

My sister is starting a running/yoga/other workout program. She actually offered to run a half marathon with me. I thought she would never again run in a race after the trauma of our St. Patrick’s day race.

I want to do a mud run and the color run. You get to run, and roll in the mud and pretend to be 5.

I built some shelves, all by myself. Until my dad came and helped me finish them and fix a couple boo boos. Then he was more excited about finishing them than I was, and that’s saying something.

Myrtle is almost 2!

Myrtle now has 1 baby and 4 siblings.

I am designing plans for my nightstands, since I can’t find any that suit my liking on the internet. And also for a table that goes under my girl painting, to hold my girl statue, because they need to be together - they’re sisters.

I am in love with snow, and skating across the location in my super-slippery pink steel-toed boots.

I graduated from high school 10 years ago. I still act like I’m 13, or sometimes 5.

I am over half way done with an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration. I have learned that I could have passed the writing portion of this in grade 6, and that late papers don’t get docked points like the instructors claim, but that’s about all.

I have seen my house 32.06% of the days over the past 4 years, maybe.

Ok, I’m done. Have a nice day.

My New Year's Adventure

I am doing the Insanity workout. I am starting week 3 today. I don’t remember my feet cramping so much last time I did this. 

Ouch.

Today’s Exploit:

Some time last month I was told: “AAAHHHHHHH! WE ARE SHORT ON PEOPLE IN CANADA AND HAVE TO MANY PEOPLE HERE AND THEREFORE YOU MUST LEAVE IN TWO DAYS!”

And my reply was: “Um, two days? I don’t really have anything together.”

Then they said, “BUT WE NEED YOU THERE THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY AND NO ONE ELSE HAD THEIR PAPERWORK OR PASSPORT CRAP TOGETHER AND THEREFORE YOU ARE THE ONE THAT MUST LEAVE YESTERDAY!”

So I said: “Ok, I need to go home and pack, and maybe buy something warm to wear since Texas never sees temperatures below 98 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Then some plans changed and they told me: “OK YOU CAN HAVE 5 DAYS AT HOME BUT YOU MUST DO ALL THE TRAVEL ORGANIZATION AND CLASS REQUIREMENT SCHEDULING YOURSELF ON THIS REALLY CONFUSING WEBSITE!”

And I managed to get everything organized, through the company website, along with some plans for expense reports and got a call from the manager telling me to be at the shop the same time I was supposed to be taking Emergency First Aid. 

Yay for confusion.

Anyway, some Canadian pictures for your viewing pleasure.

My home for 2.1 days. I walked in and out the door 37 times the night I got there, I'm pretty sure the desk attendant hated me.

I thought my sister would like this. A nice little market place 3 or 4.3 blocks from my home. It's kinda like a mall with an imports grocery in the middle.

And then I found a river island and fell in love, because it has a running path, a skating rink and a coffee shop that was closed for New Year's holiday.

See how much I loved it? I even learned to use the settings on my camera for it.

And I loved it some more with picnic tables and a strange cowboy hat-swing in the background.

That was the bridge where I discovered the skating rink. It was on the river, on both sides of the bridge with chairs and cones for new skaters and people doing jumps and some kids playing illegal hockey and all sorts of fun stuff. I was sad I didn't have my skates with me.

Calgary has some really awesome street lamps also, I was in love with them too.

A Zoo Visit

I left my plants with my sister, hoping that she would water them. Since I was really nice and watered hers twice while she was in Wyoming.

She promptly tried to kill Myrtle, and I had to have her shaved.

Cupcake calls her a rebel now.

Today’s Exploit:

I went to the San Antonio Zoo with my sister. 

Cupcake likes flamingoes. 

She tried to be a butterfly. 

Butterfly and baby

Did you know butterflies like sweet tea and sunglasses?

She also thought it would be funny to take pictures of me with animal butts. 

Hippo Butt

Rhino But

There's a Zebra Butt hiding behind the fence and next to that charming hut

And we were stalked by the same three immature college boys, and no matter how we tried to get ahead, or behind, or take a different route, they were ALWAYS THERE!

Myrtle Has a Friend, And a Baby!

Today’s Exploit:

Myrtle has a friend, or step-sister, or something. I was wondering around Home Depot one day, working up the courage to talk to one of the “associates” about getting a washer/dryer. Not a washer and dryer, but a washer in a dryer, or dryer-in-a-washer. Something. 

Anyway, I was wandering through the plant section when I found Alison. Miss Alison (Aly) Aloe shouted at me that she needed to go home with me. And I was so shocked that I acquiesced. So now Myrtle has company.

Also, I took a cutting or two or three from Myrtle a few months ago. Probably March. Anyway, I put them in a glass with some water and promptly went to work. When I got back the cuttings had roots and were looking rather pale. 

I changed the water and put them outside for a while, since I was home to monitor water levels. They perked up and turned green again just in time for me to go back to work. When my parents and Cupcake arrived in May they were stringy and nearly white with lack of sunlight. My dad took care of them and I ignored them for another month or so.

On my last days off I finally opened the potting soil, since I needed to re-pot Ally into a pot that wouldn’t fall over from a nasty look. And I potted the babies and gave Myrtle some more dirt, since I keep dumping hers in the floor of my car on trips. I also planted some seeds in my big pots, but that’s another story. 

To complete my ramblings: Baby Maya perked up and turned green and sturdy in about 2.6 seconds. She withstands the heat better than Myrtle and doesn’t seem daunted by the wind. Also, she’s safe from the company man, David, because Myrtle offers a larger selection of leaves to eat.

Group Picture Time

A cookie:

Today’s Exploit:

So, after being goofy and taking lots of crazy pictures their mama came out and made them sit still so we could take group pictures.

I couldn't resist tickling, they set me up.

Oopsie

I just finished The Glass Blower of Murano. I am now fascinated by glass works and Italy. Amazing.

Today’s Exploit:

I had some awesome pictures of my buddies to post today. But then I let my camera battery die and the charger is trapped in the bedroom of the trailer. Maybe tomorrow?

PS Here’s proof that I ran, and ran, and ran up the horrible mountain.

And then I finished and couldn't sit down because I'd never ever get up again. Plus, Eli had something really important to tell me (Eli is hiding behind his mama).

The photos were taken by Yumay Chang for Evergreen Trail Runs.

We’re Twins, Three Years Apart

Time to go back to school.  

I’m terrified.  But I’m going to do it.  I’m going to try to get an Associates degree in Business Administration.  

That looks a lot more impressive in writing than it did in my head.

Today’s Exploit:

On the walk back from the Riverwalk with our lovely, GIANT cones of almond gelato, we came across a man taking a smoke break.  He watched us as we walked past, then we heard:

“Twins!  Cool!”

We looked at each other and then heard:

“LOVE YOUR SISTER!”

This was about the fifth time someone had asked if we were or assumed we were twins.  

I believe that was about the time Cupcake told me that we were going to start telling people that we are twins because it makes them feel like they’ve seen something special, or some such nonsense.

I think she just likes telling people that we are.  

She has been doing it since I was old enough to buy alcohol.