Mt Rogers, Virginia

Good friends of ours invited us to go camping over Labor Day weekend -

they're some of our favorite people,

and we've loved watching their children grow over the last five years. 

It's so fun to think of how different the kids were when we first met them: 

Their oldest was only six weeks old!!

While we were there,

Husband and I took a quick hike along a few miles of the Appalachian Trail to see the summit of Mt Rogers, the highest peak in Virginia.

The hike started off with beautiful views!

Wild ponies at Massey Gap.

Picking up the Appalachian Trail!

You can see the white blazes that mark the trail,

all 2,000 miles (give-or-take).

There were so many beautiful vistas,

and climbing up a few extra feet earned one an even better vantage point.

About 75% of my hikes with my husband have this view.

He turns around to check on me every half mile or so,

more frequently if we are headed uphill and he knows I'm going to have trouble breathing.

Made it!

The view from the summit may not be the most spectacular mountain top I've ever seen,

but it's nice to block-check a state's high point.

If you're keeping track, that's two high points for my husband - Mt Raininer and Mt Rogers - and one for me.

Still - I've summited three mountains now, which is a nice starting point.

Hey!

I ran a mile tonight!

First mile in two months... At this rate, I'm on track to have run twenty five miles by the end of the year.

: /

Small potatoes after logging 500 miles, a 10k, a half marathon, and a full marathon last year.

I need to get back to that.

Shark Week! (ooh-ha-ha!)

Shark Week has been one of my favorite television features for years, but since we don't have cable I don't get to watch it in real time.

Let's be honest, until they find a Megalodon, Shark Week is fairly predictable.

So these days, in order to get my fix, I'm binge-watching Shark Week episodes on Netflix -

in between watching all of Robin Williams' movies.

What a heartbreaking bit of news that was! 

I've always loved Robin Williams as an actor and as comedian.

He brought such life and vibrancy to each character he played, 

his movies made me laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time,

and he always seemed so genuine and human in his interviews.

I'm since quite close to people who have battled various addictions over time -

hearing the news of his death and how it occurred scared me.

It could have been someone I know.

Internal demons are terrifying, and sometimes we don't know how to overcome them.

I hope anyone and everyone I know who is having trouble battling their demons asks for help.

Robin Williams will be dearly, dearly missed,

and so would you if you were to disappear from my life.

-

It's been a week since my birthday.

This year doesn't feel much different from last year, aside from all of the ridiculously epic life changes that have gone on since then.

My first paycheck from my new job came in yesterday

so I went shopping : )

I've regained more weight than I care to admit since this time last year, which I suppose is only a natural side effect of going from running +30 miles per week to running zero miles per week. 

Most of it actually seems to be in the bust, I've only gone up a half size in pants (just enough to put me up a size when I go shopping now), but I'm up three cup sizes in my bras and I need(ed) more shirts that fit! 

It seems like all of my favorite stores are having very good additional discounts off sale items, and I've shopped at new-to-me stores for the first time lately, which brought in a grand total of seven new shirts for under $100. Woohoo!

Now I just need to get my butt out of bed when my alarm goes off at 0525 and get running again!

blogging? what?

no idea how so many people can work full time and blog simultaneously -

then again, maybe not everyone has a +60 minute commute?

i'm still getting used to work

the drive

the job itself

how different it is from Washington

I also seem to have developed a summer cold,

or my body is just being pissy as it adjusts to 0530 wake-up calls

and, since August 7 has passed,

I'm now a year older

wiser?

closer to being able to be a curmudgeonly cat lady.

It doesn't feel much different yet. 

work!

I am SO GLAD to be working again : )

The 75-ish minute commute isn't too bad; I've been listening to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring for the last week. Twelve hours in and guess what? They just got through the Doors of Durin and have entered the Mines of Moria. TWELVE HOURS of audiobook - two hours of movie. I suppose after I complete LOTR in full I'll have to go back and listen to The Hobbit.

I like my job, too, which is icing on the cake. 

: )

And I think I may be impressing my superiors by learning quickly, responding quickly, and not getting quite as flustered as my counterpart when being barraged with eight emails at a time about the same issue. (Don't get me wrong, I'm getting flustered, but I have mastered the Honey Badgerly art of making faces at my computer while I get work done.)

only the lonely

being an Army wife is very lonely sometimes.

we've moved twice since December - it's been almost eight months since I've had a friend in the same physical location.

aside from the moving,

most Army wives don't work, especially not full-time.

they have time for spouses' clubs

FRG meetings

hey, let's get together for lunch or work out together some time
it hurts to see all the other wives of the unit getting to hang out together,
without getting so much as a text message invitation.

and now almost all of my friends are pregnant or parents,

which seems to isolate me even further - 

let's get together for a play date

I met her in the OB/GYN clinic, we were due the same month

sorry we haven't been in touch, life with kids is so busy

at least I start work again tomorrow.

where is my mind?

... certainly not on blogging right now.
then again, if one has nothing to say, why say anything?

the last week(s) have been full of me doing pretty much nothing - settling everything in to the house, hanging pictures (finally), getting used to my new car, and impatiently waiting to start my new job on MONDAY!

today I did a trial run of my commute at the time I would be heading to work. this means that your favorite late riser had to drag herself out of bed at 0645 - which is still not that early, but when one is used to 0900 wake up calls, even the enthusiasm of a new job is not enough motivation to pop out of bed like a toaster pastry.
the drive was easy, but long (66.3 miles each way! I could take ten miles off that by going a different route, but it wouldn't have any affect on the commute time-wise); having a book on tape made the drive go by quickly enough. I am a bit anxious about becoming disenchanted with the drive, but at the same time, anything I would be likely to find in Fayetteville would take almost as long to get there due to traffic and lights. for example, tomorrow I have to go in to the dealer and pick up my North Carolina license plate (BOOO! HISSS!! Bring back the Washington plates!). the dealer is only 20 miles away, but it is going to take me at least 45 minutes to get down there, and it's still closer than a lot of businesses I initially applied at.

anyway. it's still weird to not be driving my Jeep any more. I'm surprised at how emotional I've been over the situation, because I've wanted a new car for months now. I miss having a 6 cylinder engine - I've had to readjust my expectations of how quickly the car accelerates and when the distance between oncoming vehicles is too short for me to pull out into traffic. I miss being up high, and having the ability to get out of blocked parking spots by going over the curb in front of me without worrying about damaging the trim. since I wanted something under $12,000 that we could get paid off in four years, even without my future income, I didn't hold out for any of the bells and whistles that I was hoping for besides a sunroof. it has been very nice to have my iPod again, though. and, without a doubt, the gas mileage is exceptional. ... but I still miss my Jeep. I hope I'll start to like my car soon.

and that's the news from Lake Wobegon.