Thread Drift

[Lise]

Aw, Jennifer/B3, fainting sucks big time. I am so sorry you can't ride outdoors. Is walking outside OK? I guess not if you're prone to becoming, well, prone at odd moments! Argh. I'd feel massively way much sorrier for myself than you are right now. I admire your attitude. Of course you'll have down moments. Even days. And you will get through this, and adjust, and find a way. That first triathlon will be so sweet. I agree--tell your doc. It's part of making your dream become reality.

MP, thanks so much for posting your TNT link. Great story and picture.

KN, I'm glad you got to go hang out at the library. Maybe it would help to do a clearing/cleansing ritual at your home, if you're into that. I can tell you what I've done in the past to spiritually "cleanse" a place if you want to PM me.

Nanci--great picture of Fagalo! (I'm still reading the Postal Bus book, BTW. You're right, it's not well written, but it's good for my 15 min of reading before falling asleep) How funny that a turtle "spins and runs away"! I got your package today, thanks! I'm looking forward to watching the Badwater DVD. What an incredible endeavor.

CC--how's the new house shaping up? I got the notice today that your package is here. I will go sign for it at the post office tomorrow. Thanks!
..................
I need some TD Gals input: When I signed up for TE, I signed up with my own name, just laziness, really. Now I'm worried that one of these guys I go out with might Google me and "read up" on my posts here. So I think about changing my handle here to be more anonymous. What do y'all think?

[DrBee]

Catching up on TD, so forgive me if I'm being redundant...

The Hognose is on my list of snakes I really want to see. I hear they can be converted, in captivity, to eating mice instead of toads.

Yes - they will eat mice. We had one a number of years ago when I was a grad student. The are awesomely cool snakes!

BMo3 - your snake in the water is likely a water snake. They're a bit feisty and will readily bite. I've been bitten by them a number of times (doing wetlands surveys and stupidly picking them up). They will also eat toads. I have also seen Queen snakes eat toads (in MD). They are pretty. Nanci - have you seen one of these?

[DrBee]

Fish-where are you??

c

I'm here CC. We were away for a couple of days doing a walk-through on the new house, me having a meeting at my new place of work, and .... da da da da.... Mr. Fish got a job! He's going to be working at LSU doing fish ecology research. Heh heh - we can now really call him Mr. Fish! The lab will pay for grad school for him after a year. Totally ideal situation!

Lise - Fantastic on the southern gent and Mr. Prof. You're on a roll! Just reading your posts about southern gent - you sound relaxed and at ease. Could be good!

Gotta run - dinner just showed up! Gourmet pizza! Yummmm! I'll finish catching up later.

[Lise]

.... da da da da.... Mr. Fish got a job! He's going to be working at LSU doing fish ecology research. Heh heh - we can now really call him Mr. Fish! The lab will pay for grad school for him after a year. Totally ideal situation!

What wonderful news! Great, now he's legitimately "Mr. Fish", but you're not a Fishdr anymore! Sheesh. Mixed marriage.

Lise -Just reading your posts about southern gent - you sound relaxed and at ease. Could be good!

How interesting that you noticed that in the post. I felt more relaxed meeting him than I have anyone else. And I'm feeling more relaxed (now. Of course it's Wed, not Sat yet...) about the second date than I have with anyone else. Interesting...

[Lise]

Here's the trailer for his latest, Ghost Rider.
http://us.video.aol.com/video.index....pmmsid=1731145

It looks creepy, but I think I could handle it. Try to ignore the fact that most of his movies have sucked. I love him anyway.

[Nanci]

If he's Mr. Fish, who's gonna be Mr. Mom???

You know what's totally relaxing- Choco, three or four glasses of wine, Grey's Anatomy.

[Nanci]

I _am_ going on a bike ride Saturday, I swear!! 200k! 9 of 12 needed for the Super Randonneur Award. Around Lake Okeechobee. A place I always wanted to see. I hope it's not as disappointing as my trip to Okeefenokee Swamp...

[chickwhorips]

i'm back! phew! you gals that live in the 'real world' i tip my hat to you. how stressful running around doing errands and appointments. then again it was compounded for me because i don't do it all the time. glad to be back home in a calm enviroment.

spent way to much money, but got some neat stuff. got a iPod nano the 8 GB. downloading software for it as i type! so excited to use it, though its so small i'm afraid to lose it! its my first iPod. *sniffle* also got a bunch of new clothes. no where to wear them, but still got them. makes me feel better about going out in public, the next time i have to.

well i'm off to finish unpacking and cleaning clothes. hope everyone is having a good week so far. i'll catch up on TD and TE in a bit.

cheers!

[maillotpois]

"Mixed marriage"! Tee hee! That's a good one.

Yeah, Fish, who will be Mr. Mom???

Nanci I am so impressed by the Super Rando award - you will get it and we will all be so excited for you!! Man you've accomplished a lot this year!

Thanks you guys so much for the encouragement and support on the marathon thing! Yeah, the TNT story is probably a good one. Jennifer if you've got specific questions, whatever, just PM me - no need to drift TD too far with a full on discussion of that!!

Thank heaven I knit!!! I am trying to set up my second bike (for the trainer), duplicating the measurements that the bike fit guy gave me for my lead bike, and it's in centimeters. Of course our tool kit measuring tape is all in inches. I remembered my knitting basket and dug out a tape measure that has metric also. Whew!

[DebW]

Yipee! Woohoo! It's done, complete, finished (well, I could always do it again). All 272 miles of the Long Trail in Vermont. Completed my last 41 miles Sun, Mon, Tue, though the whole hike was 48 miles road-to-road. I had a great time. Here's the synopsis:

Sunday - pouring rain, the trail was a river most of the way (but that's the norm). I didn't care. I was happy as a clam to be out there hiking. Did 12 miles and spent the night at Skylight Lodge, an enclosed cabin by Skylight Pond. dh decided at the last minute to come along, but he turned around Monday morning with blisters and leaky raingear.

Monday - overcast and socked in til about 3 pm. The trail was still very soggy, the boots were still sopping wet. Hiked 16 miles and saw no one (except that I crossed 2 roads and saw cars go by). Spent the night at Sunrise shelter. Slept well for 11 hours.

Tuesday - morning sunshine and warmer weather had me down to a T-shirt and shorts. Since I hadn't seen a soul on the trail in 2 days, I changed shirts right on the trail and stood there soaking up the sunshine while 1/2 naked for almost 10 minutes. Felt really good. I did pass one thru-hiker heading north later that day. The afternoon clouded up and drizzle became steady about 4 pm. I was considering pushing for 19 miles and the road but ran out of daylight and oompf, stopping at the Tucker Johnson shelter at 6 pm after only 17 miles. This shelter marked the completion of the trail for me (see pic #1). Rain stopped in the evening but very foggy at night.

Wednesday - short hike out, but the clearing weather caused me to take the uphill detour to Deep Leap Overlook for the only good views of the trip. See pic #2. Back to my car about 10 am. Due to the hour I finished, I didn't get to eat breakfast or lunch or drink Long Trail Ale at the Long Trail Inn.

Favorite food - turkey jerky
Wildlife - few dozen ruffed grouse (they flush at 30 ft), heard some ravens, one owl. Lots of moose prints in the trail, but no moose sightings. No bear either.
Foot report - hiking in wet socks and boots for 3 days is bound to take a toll, and I have sore spots on the top of a couple toes, but not bad at all.

[chickwhorips]

great job deb! beautiful pictures!

[SadieKate]

Ahhhhhh! That's one of the things I don't like about California. No hardwoods and therefore the fall colors just ain't the same.

[Brina]

Lise, i can certainly understand wanting to change your name. Even without using my real name i got discovered at another site. my psil (psycho sister in law) found me and read through months of posts - found one where I *****ed about her and family life was holy hell for awhile.

we will have to come up with an interesting handle for a hot triathlete baby catcher

[Bikingmomof3]

Nanci- Fagalo is adorable. Have a great ride on Saturday. Your riding inspires me to strive to do more.

Lise- If you feel at all uncomfortable, then definitely change your handle. I imagine the gals on TD could come up with some creative ones.

Fishdr- Congratulations to Mr. Fishdr!

CW- Welcome back.

Sarah- I too have indeed found knitting to have many uses.

Deb- Great hiking report and photos. The autumn leaves are gorgeous.

[annie]

In 24 hours, I am behind 4 entire pages of TD?? Wow, I am awed! And also can't remember everything.

A few pages back, someone asked about twins and what office my DH was in the running for. No twins here, that is BMo3, I believe. (And I can't imagine how she does it, either!) DH(mine) is running for local office of County (District)Attorney. He's been in the office for 25 years, as an assistant. Was going to run when the former CA retired. Then former CA died, unexpectedly, which threw the office into uproar. And now we're in the midst of a somewhat heated election. I will be most glad and grateful when November elections are over!! The stress right now is terrible. Riding my bike is so wonderful. I ride, and I don't think about much at all. Just pedaling along.

Interesting info about snakes, Nanci! My brothers had snakes as pets when we were growing up. They (the snakes, not my brothers) were very fine pets. I'd help catch crickets and caterpillars and such for them. As they got larger, we'd have to order what I think you call "pinks" for them. Until my Mom rebelled. Then they were released. Then they had chameleons and we had to catch flies, alive, for them! Not an easy task.

I still have my little lost cat. She is quickly finding her way into our hearts and home. If she's claimed, fine, I could never keep her from someone who loves her. If not, she has a new home. I've been taking photos, but until I know she can stay, I can't get too attached and share the photos.

Interesting dates, Lise, to say the least! Hang on to Mr. Southerner. Sounds like he's a possibility, at least. Be wary, but enjoy.

What absolutely gorgeous pics, DebW!! The fall colors are starting here in Iowa. This weekend, or next, might be the peak.

Had a lovely Frescabaldi Chianti with dinner tonight. Tried it for the first time. With chicken parmigiana. Very nice pairing.

Time to go. Have a good night, all.

annie