Great Falls Climbing

These are old, and some people may be tired of climbing pics. But next time I will probably be up on the wall! I have to take it slow and see how it affects my back. But ultimately, it should help strengthen the muscles and make life better. I'll just have to suffer some first. But, I have a harness and shoes now, so as soon as John gets me comfortable, I'll be on my way.

Anyway, we went climbing at Great Falls on Columbus Day. It was awesome outside. I sat on a tree and just watched leaves floating down the river. There was a snake in a crack in the rock. And wasps. John got poison ivy. There was 1 impossible climb. I ate a lot of hummus.

Dear Santa,

I would like a puppy for Christmas. But I really can't have one until I have a bigger yard. So, can you give me a house too? I don't mean to be greedy, but I've been very good this year. Also, I think it's about time I get that puppy. Wasn't the plan always to get a puppy, make sure I don't kill it, and then have babies? Yeah, so if I'm going to have babies someday, I need to start with the puppy thing. Sooner rather than later. You know how it is, right? I'm sure you and the wife got the reindeer (instead of puppies) to address the whole "how do we know we won't kill a baby" question. And the reindeer all seem to be very happy and well cared for. I need that chance with a puppy. So, I'm giving you some advanced notice on this Christmas wish so you have time to figure it all out.

Love,
Melissa

PS: If the brothers have sent you a list, please forward on the items you will be unable to obtain. I will take care of them as I have no clue what they want.

***

Dear Readers,

This is what happens when Melissa is bored at work. I almost just typed this and deleted it, but I figured I should share my insanity with someone. I am thinking about going home for the holidays and seeing the family's puppy (sure, the family too) and it's kind of making me crazy. It should be a pretty fantastic Christmas this year and I'm pretty excited. But then I get sad because as great as life is, there's no puppy. It will probably be next year or the year after before I actually get a puppy, but I really have puppy fever. It's probably because there are babies on FB. And puppy fever is like baby fever. But I know I don't have that baby fever thing. Yet. So it's all puppies. If you know of puppies that I can play with to get rid of the puppy fever, please send them my way.

Miscellaneous Thursday

I feel like there are many things I should be writing about today but I don't actually feel like anything is worth an entire blog post. Even though it is. Maybe I'm just not in the mood to share.

Like, I could write about all my kitchen adventures. Apple butter, apple jam, apple bread, pumpkin bread, pumpkin ravioli, jambalaya. I kicked John's butt in the jambalaya cook-off. No, actually, his was tasty. Mine was just tastier. And spicier. I also want to make a lot more jam now! And pumpkin everything.

Or I could write about how much I love my brother Matt. And how because of him I will probably need 1 suitcase just for beer when I go home at Christmas.

Or I could write about how annoying it is to have to plan my Christmas in St. Louis around the kids' visitation schedule.

Or I could write about my general excitement over the holiday. And how much I want to do Christmas shopping but don't know what to get most people. (Boys are tough) And how I want to be crafty and make ornaments and tie bows and the like. Oh, and the gumdrop cookies!

Or I could write about this: "When you get knocked up, I'm going to need you to have a cute little baby bump that I can rub for good luck."

Or I could write something like this: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-open-letter-to-pumpkin-flavored-seasonal-treats

Or I could write about the fire and how it made me realize every family has problems.

Or I could write about how I should be working on an article about Yosemite so I can actually attempt publication again. (It's ok to yell "slacker!" here).

Or I could write about the Cardinals status in the playoffs. And how I think my roommate is really sick of my monopolizing the T.V. And how if we do make it to the World Series I'll be out of town for games 3 and 4 (possible the winning game!) and I kind of want to not go camping because of that. But I will.

Or I could write about how the leaves are beginning to change, and the world wants me to all into fall, but it's like 80 degrees in my bedroom with the windows open and a fan on.

But those tidbits are all you get! Cause I just don't feel like writing any more.

Fact

Birdsboro, PA Round 2

Since we got rained out the first time went went climbing in Birdsboro, we decided to try again. Guess what. It rained! We all arrived on Friday, built a nice fire, at some food. Got up Sat morning and had to rally everyone to hit the grocery store and then the rocks. Of course John was sick - what started out as a tickle in the throat got worse all day, and I was starting to feel sick myself by the afternoon. So after he took a small fall and twisted his ankle (all better now), John didn't really climb. And I could tell he wasn't feeling well. But I could not convince him to go back to the campground and let the others climb on until dark. So I gave him hugs and let him be all sick. The next morning I was sick and he was doing better. For some reason everyone wanted to just stand around a crappy campfire and do nothing. So I went back into my sleeping bag where it was warm. At noon I finally just started packing up to go home. And yes, they were still around the campfire. I love my some fire time when camping, but when I'm sick, cold, and wet, not so much. Since it was too wet to climb I didn't know what we were waiting around for.

So, we did get a few hours of disease-free, dry climbing in, but we're pretty much never going back to Pennsylvania.

Yes, 5 Years!

5 years ago John and I had our first date. And look at us now! Sure, there were "the Dark Ages" but I am sure our 2006 selves would be pretty impressed. And the way we've been talking, the next 5 years should be just as entertaining/interesting.

Now you get to sit through the cute, the sappy, and the funny.

Ohiopyle, PA

Labor Day weekend seemed to sneak up on me this year and I was suddenly faced with a long weekend and no plans. So I quickly pulled something together and the boy just went along with it.

Then, while at work on Friday I pulled something in my neck and couldn't move my head without pain. I went to the doctor and got some muscle relaxants and rested until Saturday morning when we were set to leave. So, the trip was a little more subdued, but I was well enough to hike at least.

We drove out to Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, a big spot for white water rafting. I thought we would probably get out on the water, but with a sore neck it just didn't sound like a good idea.

When we arrived set set up camp, and made friends with a hillbilly that we named Zeek.

There was a festival going on, so John and I did some wandering and looked at pretty scares, scary confederate flag dream catchers, and ate a lot of food. We dipped our feet in the water and just hung out by the falls.

We saw a guy cooking a whole pig!!

On Sunday we did a simple hike, but it was incredibly humid and we felt like just being lazy by the water. We saw the Cascades and a lot of different colored mushrooms.

On the hike we were able to do some recon work and discovered some good climbing routes for a future trip.

After a short break we found a pretty lame waterfall, which was overrun with children. But climbing down into the little cavern and scrambling over the rocks was really fun.

Then we went back to the main falls where we watched some people white water kayaking. Only one person managed to go over the falls without flipping upside down. Luckily they all flipped themselves upright quite quickly. Having just done the white water kayak class, I know how hard it is to flip yourself back up. I can't really do it fully, so this was impressive. I will stick to flat water.

Of course around 4 it started raining so we spent a lot of time in the tent. It was still raining Monday morning so we just packed up and headed home.