Camping Disaster

Jason and I tried to camp this past weekend at Padre Island National Seashore.  I say try because it seemed we had one disaster happen after another.  The drive down to Corpus Christi was great...no problems and we found cheap gas and finally a salsa we love.  Once we got there, it was after dark, so we couldn't see the water or any of the surroundings.  We drove into the park and tried to figure out where to set up our campsite.  At Padre Island National Seashore, you can drive on the beach up to five miles with a two-wheel drive car and lot further with a four-wheel drive vehicle.  Big mistake.  We got stuck in the soft sand.  Tried to dig ourselves out (without a shovel) with no luck.  After quite a few tries, a ranger drove up, making his usual rounds.  Thank goodness!  He pulled us out and we went straight to the actual campground.  Not gonna bother with primitive camping at this point.  So we pull into a campsite and walk around.  The sites were a little bumpy, so I walked around to another one.  I had on water shoes that were now totally filled with sand after digging the car out of the beach and my feet were burning like crazy.  Then my arm pits started itching.  I just tried to ignore it as we were setting up the tent.  Just as we were putting the final touches on the sides of the tent, Jason realized he stepped in an ant hill and was getting bit!  Hence, why my feet burned.  We found more piles of ants and just got in the tent immediately to get away from them.  It was HOT in there and of course I started sweating immediately.  I felt miserable, but I thought, "I'm just going to lay down and try to relax."  WRONG!  As soon as I laid down, my top lip swelled.  If you haven't experienced this, it's a VERY odd feeling.  I'm like, "we gotta get out of here!"  Jason wasn't feeling too hot either.  So I just drove.  I drove all the way back to Corpus Christi and thought I'd go to Walmart or something and get some sort of medication.  I wasn't really thinking clearly and ended up checking into a Motel 6 and took a shower.  By then, I had hives all over my body, mostly in spots where I sweat the most: arm pits, scalp, inner thighs, etc.  Not fun!  After that, I was worn out and just fell asleep, hearing in the background that the Heat won the NBA finals (boo).

The next morning, my hives were pretty much gone and my upper lip was just a little bit swollen.  We went a couple places and then headed back to our campsite.  We checked out the area a little better this time and decided to move our tent onto the beach.  No ants on the beach!! Yay!  Now we were sittin' in butter.  Got everything good to go and had a pretty good day.  We boogie boarded (not sure that is the correct verb) and enjoyed the beach.  We cooked a yummy dinner and walked on the beach after 11 p.m.  I've never been on the beach that late and been able to sleep right there!  We didn't walk far though b/c all the crabs come out at night and they are kinda creepy in the dark.  What if they got our toes?!  I doubt they'd do anything and they were a lot of fun to watch.  Their little legs go SO fast!  Some are teeny tiny and some are huge!

Saturday was decent except for our picnic table being under water 95% of the day.  This weekend Padre Island had the highest tide it's had in years and our tent was just spared.  The day was relaxing and just hanging out by the water, walking on the beach and more boogie boarding.  We started making dinner and it got really windy.  So windy that our tent wouldn't stay down.  At this point, we gave up.  We had planned to stay another night, but the wind was just too much and what if the tide was even higher?  I guess it was remnants of a tropical storm brewing in the gulf.  We packed up and got the heck outta there!

Sunday, we stopped in San Antonio and ate a picnic lunch right outside the zoo and I even got to stop at the Vera Bradley store.  Too hot and not enough money for shopping!  Unfortunately, there's a lot of work when you return from camping.  We are doing a little bit each day to get everything cleaned up and I hope to get organized a little better with my storage.  All in all, it was great to get away and be by the water and hey, at least we tried.

I can now say that the swelling has gone down in my left foot (one with the most ant bites) and it might not hurt to wear a shoe tomorrow.  I just have to not scratch!

Paul McCartney

I still can't believe that we saw Sir Paul McCartney in concert!!!  It was really amazing.  I'm ashamed to say that I have not been a die hard Beatles fan.  But I think I could be!  Actually, I went through a phase where I acted like they really weren't all that great.  My parents only listened to oldies music my entire life, so I got sick of it and was bitter I was missing out on all the current music of the 80s and 90s.  Now, I have come back around and I have learned to appreciate all those classic songs and groups I grew up listening too.  Too bad I'm still trying to catch up on what I missed in the later decades.  So back to Paul.  I just love the Beatles and their music and it's amazing how many hits they put out during the time they were together. 

A lot had been going on leading up to the concert, so it was kind of surreal even when we were on our way up to Detroit.  My dad found a station that was playing only his music and talking about the concert, getting us pumped up.  Here's how dumb I am, I didn't even realize that Paul McCartney had another group called Wings...I just knew it sounded like him, so I figured it was the Beatles.  We had seats in three different areas, so my sister and I sat by ourselves and Mom and Dad sat together.  I didn't mind sitting by myself b/c there was plenty to enjoy!  He came out and sang Hello Goodbye first.  Soooo good!  OK, so I'm going to say that most of the songs were so good, so here's the ones I remember him playing:
Hello Goodbye
Lady Madonna
Eleanor Rigby
Jet
Heltor Sketor
Yesterday
Hey Jude
Band on the Run
Live or Let Die
Get Back
Blackbird
Paperback Writer
Day Tripper
Imagine
Let it Be

Obviously, there were a lot more, it was a long concert and I'm sure Rachel can remember them all :).  The highlights were Band on the Run - love the tempo changes; Hey Jude - went on for a long time, whole crowd was singing the na na na's and swaying hands in the air (totally gave me goose bumps); Live or Let Die - fire bursts off the stage and fireworks behind during the big parts of it (SO EXCITING)!  It was just so neat to see him and hear him talk about different things.  He's a left handed guitarist and changed guitars about 1,000 times.  He used a ukulele that George Harrison gave him!  Oh it was just so good!  I loved it!!!  Rachel, I can't thank you enough for making this happen for our family!  It was something I won't forget and definitely in my top two concerts ever (other is Elton John).

*I'm still trying to upload pics from my phone.  Just so you know, they'll be poor quality if I can get them up here.

Back in Texas Y'all

I made it back after logging 3,000 miles.  There's a lot that I could share about my trip, so I might have more than one post on it.  Some events justify their own post!  I did end up having fun and it was good visiting people.  It was hard b/c I didn't have much time to visit as many people and places as I would have liked.  Of course I came to Ohio during their hottest week so far and it even hit 100 degrees.  My hope was that I could get a bit of relief from the 100 degree temperatures we've been experiencing in Austin since June 1st.  But no!  It wasn't too bad most of the time, but in Toledo, it was extremely humid and my parents don't have AC.  Luckily they have a pool, so I was in it quite a bit.  They have a window unit in their bedroom so one night I even slept on the floor in there.  Thank goodness for AC at most places!  Temperatures in Texas won't be going down anytime soon and we're still in extreme drought.

It was great to finally meet Rufus and hang out with my family.  Domino (Rachel's cat) seemed to like me; or at least like the fact that he had another person to hang out with.  He's a really sweet kitty.  Also, I got to meet her new chickens.  Unfortunately, I must be allergic to long haired cats maybe or something...b/c I was miserable part of the time.  Other highlights were seeing Rachel's band concert, my cousin's wedding, the Cincinnati Zoo, and....................WE GOT TO SEE PAUL MCCARTNEY IN DETROIT!!!  I still kind of don't believe that we saw him.  It was really really good.  It was a lot of driving, but it's so nice to have my car so that I can tour the state and see more people.  I'll put some pictures on here and more on Facebook probably.

Blah

Blah is how I feel about my upcoming trip to Ohio.  Usually before a trip I'm anxious to plan out my itinerary down to every detail.  This time, I can barely get myself to make any plans.  I guess I just feel like because I haven't made any positive progress in my life in the last year, I should be embarrassed to visit people.  Last year at this time, I had just been laid off and needed to find a job...and I was completely humiliated by that.  This year, I have a job that doesn't really pay me and has made me stressed, miserable and despressed.  In my mind, I've taken several steps back rather than forward.  I've needed to get away from home for a long time and now that I am, I feel indifferent about it.  Don't get me wrong, it will be great to get away from Austin.  But this isn't like a typical vacation.  I will have to watch my budget really closely and don't really have the freedom to do whatever I want while I'm away.

It's been a struggle to even attempt to make any arrangements.  I'm in the mindset where I just want to alienate myself from everyone that I don't feel comfortable around (which ends up being most people).  I can't help but compare myself to others and feel like a failure.  So many thoughts are going through my head that I don't know how to express.  My idea was that maybe writing down my thoughts would help me process it and put myself out there.  I understand that life is difficult for everyone and people are going through harder times than me and that I should have perspective.  But depression is hard and I have a harder time than what's normal in dealing with it, especially when I don't have the tools I'd like to have.  At least I'll have a lot of time alone in the car to think about things.  Well, that could be a good thing or a bad thing!  Be glad you aren't inside my head.

Things I am looking forward to though are seeing my family and meeting Rachel's newest family member, Rufus.  And on another positive note, I've been looking forward to my cousin's wedding since Christmas.  I always enjoy weddings...for the most part I can escape that dark place in my mind in reference to weddings.  I love everything about weddings!  I probably won't want to return to Austin and real life after being around my family since I really miss Ohio and having a support system.

Sorry for being such a downer all the time, but I have to be honest.  Things aren't good and I don't feel like I should have to be fake.

I know.

I know I really need to write something.  It seems there is a lot I could share, so I get overwhelmed and write nothing!

1. That eShakti dress is going back.  I did not like it.  At all.  The material is stiff and not comfortable and the skirt is just all wrong...too much material there.  It actually fit my upper body pretty well, maybe just a little too big.  Either I picked the wrong dress, don't know how to measure myself or just shouldn't buy dresses that I can't try on.  I guess it just means I need more practice shopping and trying on dresses! 

2.  I've decided, now that we are consistently at over 100 degrees here in Austin I'm going to mainly wear tank tops and skirts, capris and shorts.  It's just so HOT.  This meant I had to raid the clearance racks at Old Navy to get some fun brightly colored tanks that I feel comfortable enough wearing (not too tight).  Luckily for someone who is jobless, they had a sale where everything on clearance was an additional 50% off!

3.  Had a great road trip to Ohio for about a week and a half and put in just over 3300 miles!  It was so great to visit with some really great friends.  Some I talk to on a regular basis and some I haven't talked to or seen in a really really long time.  My friend's wedding was absolutely amazing and we had a good family gathering too.  You can check out the photos on my Facebook page. 

4.  Having been jobless for about a month now, I finally have some part time work coming my way!  Tomorrow, I'll be starting at a small sportswear company just minutes from my house and learning all about cutting fabrics, matching patterns and filling orders.  I'm also going to slowly start learning the creative side and use Adobe Illustrator to create mock ups for coaches and then printing the actual graphics on a large format printer so it can be sublimated onto the fabric.  Then all the pieces are matched together and sent to a sewer somewhere in California.  The whole process seems pretty complicated to me so far, but hopefully I can learn quickly and be a big help to the volume of production.  If I am, maybe it will turn into something more than part time!

5.  I'm still working out, though I have to be more choosy about the workouts I'm doing.  About three weeks ago I got a huge gash on the side of my heel and it hurts to wear shoes.  Then, I went walking with my dad when I was home...we walking about four miles at Wildwood Metro Park and I came home with some nasty bloody blisters on the backs of both ankles.  Yikes.  So, needless to say, I'm letting my feet heal and trying to just do some pilates, yoga and swimming until I can wear shoes again.  I got some new Asics (major discount at Kohl's), so hopefully I can wear them soon!

That's all for now folks!

Can we please be done with the funerals for awhile?

The past couple of weeks have been busy. More specifically, the last week was quite a whirlwind of shock, sadness, tiredness, love and lots of other emotions. The past three weekends, we've had football games in West Texas, so that was lots of long work days and travel. On Sunday, April 25, I was selling tickets at a game in Big Spring, TX and got a call from my mom.
1. She rarely calls me, I normally call her. 2. She knew I was working at a game at that moment. I knew she probably didn't have any good news when calling in a middle of a game. The shock was still immense. She told me that Uncle Chuck died and my heart might have skipped a beat. I didn't understand, I had just seen him a couple of months ago and he was fine. He's a really energetic guy, always busy with something and upbeat. For everything he's involved in and does, you'd never think he was 73. My parents had dinner with him and my other aunts and uncles just a week earlier and he was fine! She proceeded to tell me briefly what happened as I began crying hysterically. I had to put the phone down a couple of times to wait on customers and felt embarrassed and how I must look to the random strangers. A headache set in immediately and I finished the work day, not really remembering the details of what happened to my dad's brother.
I got the whole story on the way back to Austin and just can't believe it. A blood clot killed his intestines and then started to kill the rest of his organs and his heart was unable to compensate and he passed within about 15 hours of his initial symptoms of chills and body aches. Unbelievable.

Everything just happened so fast. I booked my flight Monday night (without second thought; it wasn't an option to not be there with my family) and was on a plane at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday. The visitation was Wednesday and Thursday, so our family was there the whole time. I know this is getting really long already, but I want to continue. Thursday was the Last Alarm ceremony with the Toledo Fire Department. It was a really nice way to pay tribute to Uncle Chuck as a retired firefighter and paramedic. Lots of retired and current firefighters were there and they all filed past the casket as one rang the bell until they all went by to pay their respects. The funeral home was packed.

Friday was the funeral, which began with bag pipes and time for everyone to pay their last respects to the body and a prayer with the family before the service began. Everyone was really emotional and touched by the music. I started to realize that this was harder than most of my grandparents' funerals b/c it was so sudden and he was healthy and not really that old. Uncle Chuck was one of my closest uncles out of all my dad's siblings and their spouses.
The funeral service was nice, a couple people read scriptures and shared some really nice memories and everyone who spoke was emotional. We sang hymns and listened to a touching sermon. After filing out of the church the bag pipes played again on the lawn and one of the tunes was Amazing Grace as they loaded the casket into the hearse. Heart-wrenching.
The final portion (excluding lunch) of the service was the processional past Fire Station #25 behind an antique fire truck. All the Toledo fire chiefs were standing outside saluting as the processional drove past. The drive concluded at the church where we enjoyed lunch and time with the extended family.
One kind of funny thing that happened was that my aunt and uncle who now live in California both thought that I was my mom. I guess it was good for me to laugh at them not knowing who I was right away rather than be highly offended that I was mistaken for someone over 60. At least they thought that I had lost weight and looked great, right? Apparently, I look just like my mom when she was my age. Yikes. Lol.
Anyway, I'm really going to miss Uncle Chuck and how he gave me a hug or two every time I saw him. Christmas is going to be really weird without him there. I feel blessed to know and be related to such a wonderful man and that he took the initiative for us becoming a closer family about 10 years ago. He touched many lives and we will always remember his stories, with the embellishments of course. My heart goes out to my aunt Bev and my dad and the other aunts and uncles who have lost two siblings in just two months.

Rachel described her grief about Uncle Chuck on her blog and it's a really good post.

Back to civilization

Unfortunately, I'm back to the real world and civilization. The peace and quiet of the desert, mountains and river was absolutely wonderful, just wish my trip hadn't been so short. I'm going to post my photos to Facebook soon and I'll show my itinerary below. Big Bend National Park is awesome, hopefully I'll get to go back sometime to explore it even further. I hadn't been camping in awhile and that was a lot of fun too. I love my new tent and camp stove and hope to do some more camping this spring, summer and fall.

Sunday, April 4
Depart Van Horn, TX – 220 miles to Big Bend National Park
Arrive @ Big Bend, setup campsite @ Chisos Basin
Visitor’s Center
Window View Trail – sunset

Monday, April 5
Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive
Santa Elena Canyon – 1.7 miles
Lost Mine Trail – 5 miles, 1,100 feet elevation
Ranger led program @ Chisos Basin campground

Tuesday, April 6
Boquillas Canyon Road, Boquillas Canyon Trail – 1.4 miles
Rio Grande Village Nature Trail (Ranger Hike)
Hot springs trail and relaxation – 1 mile
Ranger led program @ Rio Grande Village campground

Wednesday, April 7
Pack up campsite
Visitor’s Center
Dugout Wells, Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail (Ranger Hike)
Depart for Austin, TX
475 miles to home

Scratch that

OK, well change of plans to my trip this weekend/next week. I'm cutting out the Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns and Marfa parts of my trip and just going from Van Horn to Big Bend. I just found out that I only get 15 days of vacation and need to not use five of them next week. I know 15 sounds like quite a bit, but I used to get 22 days per year plus sick time and wouldn't have possibly ever been able to use them all. My boss said that the 15 days includes sick time, vacation and personal days. I've already used about three, one for a funeral and two when Rachel was here. I'll take three next week, but have to consider that I have a wedding to go to in Ohio in July and time off to go home at Christmas. Ugh. I know I shouldn't really be complaining, but working for a self-employer definitely has it's downsides. I miss working in a real office, like with people, office supplies and my own desk space. Now, my interaction with people consists of my boss (in the comfort of his own house) and maybe one other person. I have to travel daily with my own portable office. I wish I had the funds and ability to create my own home office and set up things for better efficiency and comfort. OK. I'll stop complaining and say that I'm glad to have a job with a lot of flexibility.

Lots going on lately

March has been a pretty active month for me, with still more fun stuff to look forward to. Spring is my favorite season and the weather is just about perfect here right now (don't even want to think about summer) and that seems to make everything a little bit more enjoyable.

My good friend, Marie visited in early March. Her sister, brother-in-law and niece live here in Austin and were expecting their second baby, so Marie came out in hopes to meet the little guy. Unfortunately, he had other ideas and waited until St. Patrick's Day. Selfishly though, I cherished the little bit of time I had with Marie, whom I miss dearly. We enjoyed great conversation, wine and shopping (as usual).

The next week, my sister visited and we explored lots of sites around Austin, San Antonio and Johnson City. We learned SO much about LBJ, Lady Bird and LBJ's presidency...it turned out to be much more interesting than I had imagined. Check out my Facebook page for the photos. We went to the LBJ Presidential Library, Capital Building, Zilker Park Kite Festival, Town Lake, Mount Bonnell, The Alamo, San Antonio Missions San Jose and Concepcion, River Walk, and the LBJ birth place, boyhood home, Texas White House and ranch. That was all in four days. Our dogs were barkin'! It was a great visit and I'm glad that we got to spend some time together and learn more about the history and the area.

As far as work, we've had about a month or so off from games and we're about to enter into another busy stretch of traveling and hosting games in West Texas. Next weekend, we are headed to Menard and Van Horn. Van Horn is pretty close to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, so I'm going to use my new birthday gifts and go camping for a week! I'm really excited to go on this adventure and explore even more of Texas. I'm still finalizing my itinerary, but I plan to see Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Marfa and Big Bend National Park. Big Bend is going to be the main attraction and I'm spending three days there. It's the biggest national park in the system but one of the least visited b/c it's so remote. It's along the bend of the Rio Grande River that forms the border of Texas and Mexico. It will be so much fun taking pictures, camping, hiking and checking out some ranger lead programs. I have a lot to do to prepare for that as well as make sure all my responsibilities for work are covered, since it's a busy time. It's not guaranteed that I'll even have cell phone coverage where I'm going let along Wi-Fi. I shouldn't even be blogging right now when my To Do List is a mile long! I will post again once I've finalized my itinerary for the upcoming journey. Off to run errands!