KY adventures

When I was little, I had dreams where I was in a cave. There were tall, pokey things coming down from the ceiling and large, pokey things coming up from the ground. For the longest time, I believed this was all just my crazy sleep-induced imagination. Then when I got older, I found out caves really did have tall, pokey things coming down (stalactites) and large, pokey things coming up (stalagmites). Ever since my little girl dreams of being in a cave, I've wanted to go to a cave to be in one for real.

So, guess what? For Spring Break, Gabe and I are heading to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. This place was highly recommended by my grandma and supposedly everybody and their brother from Michigan has been to Mammoth Cave. except for me. So now we're going.

And not only are we going, but we're going spelunking through the cave on the Wild Cave Tour. This is where you literally get down and dirty in the cave, crawling through tiny spaces as tall as 9 inches high and squeezing through spaces that no man should have ever originally tried to go. I'm assured that there will be bat poop and lots of creepy crawlies.

light one up

Check this out:



This awesome light box was prescribed for me because apparently in the winter, I don't get enough sunlight and my body doesn't absorb iron like it should (supposedly sunlight helps you absorb iron).

I get to use this lovely machine every morning for a half hour. And let me tell you, I always have the ginormous bowl of fruit, a few wildflowers, two extra spoons, and a full glass of OJ on the table, in addition to my bowl of whatever that is--on an extra plate. AND I always talk on the phone while I'm doing my light therapy.

celebrity sighting

The guy is here, installing our new carpet as I write this. The cool thing? He looks JUST like Wilford Brimley!



Got diabeetus? Check your blood sugar. Check it often.

renovations

In December, I moved in with Ranger G... into his house. With all of his stuff. I brought some of my things, but honestly I gave most of my things to either my brother (who needed to furnish his new home) or to charity. But that's not the point of this story.

Prior to my moving in, Ranger G had done a ton of work on his house. He updated the whole kitchen. He laid floor in the livingroom, painted it, and got all new furniture. And he updated both bedrooms, including painting and furnishing.

Then I moved in. We're using all of his furniture, with a couple of my small additions. And a couple larger additions. Like my turtle tanks. This is the smaller of the two:


I also brought a couple of cats with me. This is Daisy. She used to be my mom's cat, but when my mom moved out west, I ended up with her cat.



And this is the carpet in the room with the smaller turtle tank:



Now check out what Daisy the Cat did to the carpet when she climbed on top of the turtle tank while Ranger G and I were at work, and knocked the heat lamp onto the floor:



Yeah, that was so NOT cool. And totally not the type of change I wanted to make to Ranger G's home 2 months after I moved in. Now I get to buy him some new carpet and hope the horrible stench of burned carpet/padding/floor boards comes out eventually.

blogging: making a comeback

Okay, so I really need to be better about updating my blog. Sure, facebook is fun, but let's be honest.. you can't really tell a story on there very well. And then my entire family gets to see it, including some of my nieces and nephews. Honestly, I don't think it'd be such a great idea for them to know everything about what goes on in my life.

So I'm going to get back to blogging.

meme-ing

A meme from Brightstar. Bold what you have done.

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world (both!)
8. Climbed a mountain (not all the way to the top, though)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea (if Lake Michigan counts as "at sea")
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (as part of a relay team)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Ridden an elephant

update on life

Hey, guess what!? I'm still alive!

I think pretty much everybody who reads this knows me on facebook, so you already knew that. And that means you probably know what I'm up to these days as well.

A quick recap of the past couple months:

Things are going really well! Ranger-G and I are still happily dating, and I'm moving in with him this month! I'm really excited about this and hope everything works out well!

Work is okay. Some days I want to pull my hair out, throw up my arms, and quit. And other days I just love it. It all really depends on the adults I'm working with that day--the parents, teachers, and administrators really either make or break my days.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I spent the day with Ranger-G and his family, eating a wonderfully delicious meal and playing games, and then we spent the day after Thanksgiving with my family, doing the same thing.

Also on Thanksgiving, I gave Ranger-G his Christmas present: a Wii! I also got him Guitar Hero, a couple guitars, and an extra controller and games. It's totally fun! We've played it almost every day since he got it. We've been taking it back and forth between my place and his until I'm fully moved into his/our house.

No matter how hard I've wished for a snow day, all I've really gotten was the snow. No days off from school. Just tons and tons of snow. And more snow.

Oh, speaking of snow, Ranger-G got me the most amazing down coat and it actually keeps me warm in the winter! So far, with his help, I haven't hated winter nearly as much as I always did when I was freezing cold. In fact, we also got me some snow pants, a good hat, and some ski gloves. And then we went cross-country skiing (it was my first time). I stayed warm in my new get-up and had a ton of fun! The weather was beautiful, the park was gorgeous, and the creek winding through the park was flowing. I really enjoyed it and actually am excited to try it again some time.



We already attended one work Christmas party and have 2 more to go to this week. That's the good thing about working in several buildings--several parties! At the first party, we had a gift exchange and I ended up with a lame cow ornament and a mini Nerf football. Whoop-dee-doo. I wasn't impressed. But the stupid cow ornament went on the Christmas tree that Ranger-G and I set up at "our" house. It has my ornaments, his ornaments, and now that cow ornament is ours. Awwwww, how cute.

So I think that's about it for now. Oh yeah, and we moved my Mom out of Michigan and out to the state of Washington, to live with my brother's family. She is doing well out there for the most part, but it depends on the day. Her depression gets to her no matter where she is, and she tends to see the negative in things, even when they are very good things. But that's what mental illness does to people when it's not properly treated.

Okay, now that's it! I'm spending the rest of this month moving out of my town house and into Ranger-G's house, and moving my mom's stuff out of her apartment and shipping it to Washington and selling it off.

Hope you're all doing well!

children left behind

A couple of moments from work this week:

- I finished testing a kid and mailed home my report describing my results. The boy has a learning disability and will qualify for extra support at school. What happened when the parents got the report in the mail? They immediately came into school, ripped the boy out of class and said he was never coming back. They are going to home-school him "because he's so far behind." Argh.

- I got an email saying that one of the seniors at our HS was having his last day at school--he would be going to adult ed after that. He also happens to be the brother of a student I really liked for the last couple of years and had taken under my wing, but hadn't seen at all this year. Then I find out their mother has been in a coma for months, and the little brother is living with another family and has transferred to another school district. Feeling for the kid, I called the other school district to find a way to contact my little friend. Turns out, he never enrolled in the other school district. He hasn't enrolled anywhere. Uh oh! I worry about what has become of this boy.

sunflowers

Finally, a picture of the sunflowers RangerG gave me!

Lake Michigan

This summer, at the beach by my house.

Happy birthday, Gramma!

This past weekend, we celebrated my grandma's 94th birthday with lunch, cake and ice cream at her retirement community. RangerG met my grandma, brother D-Man, his wife Mrs. Artsy, their little baby, my aunts, uncles, and oh yeah... my dad. And my dad's wife. RangerG survived and seemed to take it all very well. He even carried the flowers for my grandma and got flowers for my Mom. So, I guess he passed that test. Maybe I'll keep him for a while longer...

We then went over to my mom's house, but she wasn't feeling up to doing much. So RangerG and I went grocery shopping for her and then met up with Chi-Chi, D-Man and Mrs. Artsy back at my mom's house later on for a rousing night filled with chit-chat and laughter. And divvying up my mom's stuff since she's moving out of the state in a few weeks.

Monday night, I played volleyball and RangerG came with me! That was really fun, but my coordination seemed all wonky for my serves. Whatever, I laughed a lot and had a good time and that's what really matters.

Besides that, not much to report on. School is getting worse, as is to be expected as the school year begins and the demands on my shoulders become greater. Soon I'll be ripping my hair out and stabbing myself in the eyeballs, but for right now I'm managing to keep my head slightly free of war wounds. And I think that's a good thing.

New nephew!

Congratulations to my brother JPeg and his wife on the birth of their baby boy!!

When you help others...

Nothing really major has happened lately. I bought tickets for RangerG, me, and a couple friends to see Avenue Q when it's visiting NearbyBigCity, and that's pretty exciting because that musical is downright hilarious! It'll be my third time seeing it, and I'm sure I'll love it as much as I did the first and second times.

I had a jewelry show fundraiser for a girl I work with in SmallTown and that went pretty well, so that was a feel-good moment for me (and Chi-Chi, since she was running the show and did a fabulous job!). If you want to order anything, 10% of the sales go toward this needy but amazing girl--go to www.liasophia.com/chrys and look at the jewelry. Let me know by this Saturday if you see anything you like. The sale right now is buy your 2 cheapest items and up to 4 more items are half-off, and that's a sweet deal.

Besides that, I did some clothing shopping and had a great time with that, but I spent way too much money. I'm still waiting for my paychecks for the testing I did over the summer... that's going to pay for my shopping spree and pay off the rest of my credit card from my trip out west. After that, I think I'm okay financially, which is saying a lot in this economy, so I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Things with RangerG are pretty good. I'm really enjoying dating him, and he's by far the best guy I've ever dated. But there are times I question whether he's really "that into me." So, we'll see what happens. I'm really just taking things one day at a time and having fun.

All in all, I'd say life is good right now.

flowers

One of my favorite things about my trip out west was the wide variety of wildflowers. You can actually see some of them in my pictures I posted earlier, but what you didn't get to see was one of the things that made me smile while we were driving back to Michigan: field upon field of sunflowers!

Honestly, I had never really thought about the fact that there were fields devoted to just sunflowers before. I suppose I hadn't really considered that SOMEBODY has to harvest them for all those baseball players, right?

RangerG got to hear all about how much they made me smile on our trip, and guess what he did? He surprised me with a bouquet of beautiful, large sunflowers! Awwww, what a sweetheart I have. He makes me smile on the outside AND on the inside.

Mew

My kitten is so weird.

Instead of just drinking water out of her bowl, she sticks her paw in the water and shakes it off, making absolutely sure to splash water all over the floor, about 4 or 5 times in a row before finally going in for one or two slurps of water from the bowl. It's almost like she's trying to make sure there really IS water in the bowl before going in for a drink. Like 5 times in a row. And what's even funnier is that with every paw shake, she gets nearly 5 times as much water on the floor as she gets in her mouth after all that work.

What a weird-o.

Geocachers R Us

RangerG and I did some more geocaching while we were out west, too. In fact, we tried to go in every state between CO and here, but we missed Indiana. This picture is from one geocaching adventure in Iowa, and the top picture was taken in Denver. We had a great time, and now I think I've found over 30 geocaches!

Actually we went again last night, but I gotta be honest... it's hard to find anything at night when only one of us has a flashlight and neither one of us really knows what we're looking for. Next time we geocache in the dark, we'll write down some clues about what we're looking for and have 2 flashlights.

Geocaching is tons of fun, so I highly recommend it to others--especially during the daytime for beginners like me!