Mother Nature can suck it

So the weather has been crap lately. Absolute crap. And I'm a little bitter about it!

It's like Mother Nature realized it was nearing the end of March and that she hadn't yet met her quota on snow, hail, wind, and torrential rain, and decided to make up for in it a 72 hour period.

Monday the boys were outside replanting some of the spruces that had been knocked over in the wind, and yesterday not only did the spruces get knocked down again, but so did the red maple.

And our greenhouse.

Yes. Our greenhouse got flipped over on it's side like it was a dinner table in Jersey, taking the huge wooden shelves that were inside with it. Needless to say it's severely damaged, and I'm disgruntled about it. When the greenhouse flew it also knocked down and broke the big wooden T-stand that held our tomato and strawberry Topsy Turvy's, and crushed the kids' kiddie pool (which they haven't used in quite awhile, but I'm still annoyed it's smashed to smithereens). So yeah, our yard looks like a tornado swept through, hence my bitterness.

But there is one thing that is keeping me from going completely postal and divorcing nature altogether.

Spring is here.

Mother Nature may be in denial, but she's a fickle bitch anyway, so her opinion matters little. It is still technically spring whether she likes it or not.

And spring means hiking!!!!!

I love hiking. I love being out amongst the trees, in the mountains, smelling the fresh air and listening to the birds and taking in the beauty that is Western Washington. It's where I find my peace.

Now, I'm not one of those hard core hikers whose sole goal is to make it to the top of the mountain as quickly as humanly possible.

*cough*cough*Age*cough*cough*

I prefer to take it a little slower and enjoy my surroundings.

I also enjoy being able to breathe, and as I learned the hard way this past summer, hiking with *certain* people (Kotyks) is like asking to be punched in the gut and have the wind knocked out of you for three hours straight, all while struggling to keep up with their ridiculous pace and simultaneously not make it too obvious that you're wishing for the sweet hand of death to release you from this misery.

Love you guys!

It's just that, I'm not in terrible shape, and yet I was still having my ass kicked. Like, totally, mercilessly, unabashedly handed to me.

And I expect Age to literally run circles around me. As previously mentioned, she's kind of a fitness goddess.

But I also got shown up by her dad. Who had just had OPEN HEART SURGERY a few months prior.

Yeah, to say it was demoralizing would be an understatement.

And their perspective?

"That was a nice walk, eh?"

Dude, you just climbed a world-renowned black diamond ski mountain in what I'm pretty sure is record time, and you consider that a "nice walk"?

Dear god I hope I never witness what they consider challenging...

But I digress.

There are several hikes that I am wanting to do this spring and summer. Some that I've already done and just want to do again, and others that I haven't done yet and am dying to go do.

Since we have kids, not all the hikes we do are hard core. Two of our favorite kid-friendly hikes are Lime Kiln and Old Robe Trail.

Saw blade on Lime Kiln

Lime Kiln is a beautiful hike, and isn't terribly difficult, so kids are more than able to come along. The trail starts out in lush, beautiful forest (beware of horse and dog droppings, not everyone is as courteous as they should be). It then opens up to some four-wheeler paths, which aren't as pretty (and are private property, so stay on the path). After awhile you turn left back onto a trail (and back onto public lands) and follow the trail down along the Stillaguamish River. Along the way you'll find relics from the mining days- saw blades, pots, a rusted-out stove, bricks, and various other weather-worn scraps. About two and a half miles in you'll come to the lime kiln. It's pretty cool, I must say! After that you continue on another mile or so before dropping down to the river, which is a perfect place to have a snack and relax (or if you are the intrepid hippies we came across last time, it's the perfect place to start tubing down the river half-naked).

The only indication there is a hiking trail there.

Old Robe Trail is in the same park as Lime Kiln, on the opposite end. It is a historical town site, and after dropping down the switch backs (which are not as easy on the knees as the site claims) you meander through a pleasant trail and along the Stillaguamish River. Washouts in the last few years have made the trail more difficult, so I would recommend only bringing older kids past the washout marker. After that, you are following the old railroad tracks. You have to scramble over a couple pretty sketchy slide areas, but once you do, you can follow the tracks through old railroad tunnels. It's pretty neat. We've never gone past the second tunnel though, as apparently it gets a little more dicey further down, and we've never felt comfortable taking the kids out there just in case. But I've always seen families hiking out there every time we've gone, so maybe it isn't as scary as we've been told.

Two of my personal faves so far are Heather Lake and Mount Pilchuck. Heather Lake is challenging, but still kid friendly. Mount Pilchuck is not kid friendly at all!

Heather Lake

Heather Lake is gorgeous! You are deep in old growth woods the entire time, and it has some breathtaking views. Definitely bring a camera! There's a little bit of switchbacks at the beginning, but then it is a straight trail after that. It's fairly steep, but our kids were able to do it (with plenty of rests and drinks of water). Once you get closer to the top, you are likely to encounter some late season snow- which the kids thought was the greatest thing ever! Shortly after that you come to the boardwalk that encircles the lake. Stop, rest, and enjoy the subalpine views!

Lookout Cabin- Mt. Pilchuck

Mount Pilchuck is by far my favorite hike. It's brutal, but it's amazing. It's also the place where I managed to hike the entire thing without incident and then rolled my ankle in the parking lot (as mentioned in my post about my tendency towards clumsiness!) This hike is no joke, and as the warning sign at the trail entry states, Search and Rescue gets called up there multiple times a season. If you're hiking it in summer, you should be fine, just follow the yellow dots and arrows painted on the rocks. But if there is any snow still on the ground? Be careful, please.

Ladder of death

The hike starts out in the forest, but after awhile you come to a rock field. This is the first of many, and I believe the fourth one marks the halfway point. The rocks starts out smallish and more jagged (perfect for a sliced knee), but as you ascend the rocks turn into boulders the size of cars. Towards the top you start to feel like you're on another planet. It's very cool! The rock fields are interspersed with dense forest and scrubby alpine meadows, and there are a few points where it's good to be fairly loud as you are in 6-foot tall brush that could very easily hide a bear. At the top you come to the final rock field, on the top of which a lookout cabin is perched. For someone who hates heights, this was the worst part for me- climbing the ladder to the cabin. You are literally perched on the very tippy-top of a very tall, very pointy mountain. It was terrifying. And awesome. Side note: make sure you hike it on a sunny day, otherwise the killer views are wasted!

I am also looking forward to doing some new hikes this year. Friends of ours recommended Iron Goat. I'm dying to do Hoh River, since you're hiking through the rain forests of the peninsula. And apparently the Enchantments is an amazing hike as well, though that requires a bit more travel time from my neck of the woods.

There is also this hike (I forget the name) but it's up in the North Cascades. It's very long and fairly difficult, but you hike through alpine meadows and rim one of the main glaciers up there and I'm DYING to go, but apparently it suffered some serious damage a few years back and I think it's closed for now until the WTA gets up there and makes it, you know, not a death trap. But it's calling me, so I plan to keep a lookout until it pops back up on the site again!

D'oh!

So... hi!

Yeah, I know, I fell off the grid again. Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you.

(suddenly I find myself humming Alanis Morissette)

Anyway, I've been ridiculously busy the last several days, and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down in the next couple of weeks, so I'm just trying to squeak out a little time to update you all (you know, all... two of you...) about my goings on.

First of all, I finally got my hair cut, so I no longer look like a homeless hippie (no offense to homeless hippies, just seeing as how I'm not one, you probably don't want me representing you!)

Second, I got my treadmill, and it's been kicking my soon-to-be-firm ass. And I've been liking it.

But there is one thing I've learned the hard way. Rookie mistake, maybe. Or I'm an idiot. Either way.

Anyway, last night we were watching an episode of Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica (damn you Felix Gaeta!). I was running on the treadmill whilst watching TV (it's better for me to have a distraction, otherwise I get bored and give up too early), and I was running in socks. This would be the idiot move.

Apparently I was too lazy to walk across my house to put on my running shoes or something. Isn't irony great?

Anyway, between the socks and the show as a distraction, by the time the treadmill's program was done I hadn't realized that two of my toes on my right foot hurt. I didn't pay it much attention at first, assuming I was just a little worn out from running for so long. But after awhile I finally pulled my sock off and examined my foot.. to find a big ol' blister on my second toe...

*facepalm*

So yeah. Don't run for 30 minutes in socks, kids! Turns out, that isn't the greatest idea.

See, it's things like this that have given me the (totally deserved) reputation of being clumsy. I've even been given my own reference. When you do something random to hurt yourself, or you do (or fail to do) something incredibly obvious, it has now been dubbed "Pulling a Sarah".

You're welcome.

First World Problems

Okay, so not to be totally obnoxious or anything, but...

Who's got two thumbs and has a new iPhone?!?

This girl!!!!

Well fine then... party pooper.

Anyway, I got a new iPhone 5 last night, and I'm super jazzed because... well, I had the iPhone 2... and I've had it for about four+ years now... and it stopped working reliably several months ago...

So it's nice to have a phone that, you know, functions. And doesn't shut itself down randomly out of some sort of technological protest or something.

So that's the latest news in my life. Exciting stuff, eh?

Moving on!

I'm taking a break from schoolwork for a little bit, because my brain is about to protest in the same manner my old phone did. Just shut off and refuse to come back on for a few hours.

And that would be inconvenient, as I have a multitude of things to get done today.

So I'm taking a breather, drinking some tea, and, well, I guess complaining about First World Problems? God, I suck.

Sorry.

The weather has been crap lately, and while I usually don't get bummed out with Seattle's rain spells, this week it has been annoying me a bit. Mostly because I seem to keep finding the deepest puddles possible to accidentally step in, and I'm running out of clean socks because of it.

Plus, I haven't had a good hair day in what feels like forever.

Partially because of the stupid wind and rain (and hail, WTF has been up with the hail lately?!?) but also because I desperately need a hair cut.

But luckily I can control one of the above issues (and clearly that's not the weather, I've tried, my powers are not nearly strong enough yet), so I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow, and I'm probably a little TOO excited about it.

See, I have long hair.

And long hair tends to go from flowy and manageable to wild untamable mess remarkably fast.

And then it becomes difficult to brush. Or shampoo. Or just keep it contained in a somewhat presentable manner.

And my hair is wavy too, which adds a whole new level of pain-in-the-ass-ness.

Combined with the wind and rain and hail... and it's been a ponytail day for a couple of weeks straight.

All the blustery-ness of late winter/early spring has also left me pining for summer to come.

I love summer.

Summer is my lobster.

(please tell me you get the reference)

Summer means hiking and camping and bonfires and road trips and gardening and total blissed out relaxation. No school. No schedules. No restrictions.

Did I mention I love summer?

But summer does come with one issue.

One haunting, tormenting, uncomfortable issue.

Shorts weather...

All women have hangups over their body. Boobs too big, boobs too small, tummy too squishy, arms too wobbly, too big of a butt, not big enough of a butt. You name it, there are a million women worried about it.

For me, it's my legs. I've always been self-conscious about them. I have these spindly calves and itty-bitty ankles, so I feel like my legs look like upside-down triangles. And as with most women, I hate my thighs.

So shorts weather makes me... uncomfortable, to say the least.

But since I am of the mindset to understand the things I can change and accept the things I cannot, I get that I have my mother's legs (thanks, ma!), so the spindly calves and ankles thing? Not much I can do. Bone structure pretty much is what it is.

But!

I'm getting a treadmill today, and I'm going to do something about my muscle tone, so even though my legs aren't proportioned how I'd like, at least they can be more shapely, and then I will *hopefully* feel more confident when shorts weather rolls around.

Plus, that whole Couch-to-5k thing is hard to keep up on when the weather has been as crappy as it has been lately. Being able to run inside will greatly help that as well.

So bring it, summer! Muhahaha!

Procrastination set in...

I'm supposed to be studying for an HR midterm. But my brain got fuzzy and I'm getting a headache, so I'm taking a breather.

HR is... well, it's alright I guess. Not as dry as I'd expected, though I have a few insufferable brown-nosers in my class that make it slightly painful to deal with. It's a requirement for my degree, so I've just got to muddle through a few more weeks. Then it's on to a few quarters of electives and I'll finally have my Bachelor's! It's taken a bit longer than planned but, hey, at least it's happening.

SO I started the Couch-to-5k training this week!

I know! And my ass muscles are sore to prove it...

Hopefully I actually stick with it, because I think it'll pay off if I do. Bring it on, shorts weather!!!

It's a beautiful, sunny day in the Seattle area today, and I'm a little bitter that I'm stuck inside studying. But my goal is to have my midterm done by tonight and have all weekend to play. Hopefully the weather gets the memo and sticks around a few more days. I'm a little twitchy and could use a good hike. I feel Mt. Pilchuck beckoning me back, but it's way too snowy up there still and I don't want to be another search-and-rescue statistic for that mountain. I think I'll hold off on that one until further into spring. And Age, you're coming with me!

I also have plans to hike the peninsula this summer. I figure since my state has a rainforest, I should at least go and walk through it, eh? I have a lot of hiking plans for this summer. We'll see how many of them come to fruition.

As you can probably tell, I'm getting antsy for spring and summer to come. I want to get outside, work in the yard, play, hike, all that good stuff. Contrary to many people's assumptions of me, I'm not as big of a prissy chick as I appear to be. I love being outdoors.

And yes, you can actually enjoy outside even when you hate insects.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

Amen to that

Glad we cleared that up. Back to studying...

Couch to 5k

So I have this friend, Age. She's been my best friend since I was four (minus a brief spell where she chose to be friends with my arch-nemesis Amanda Dilling and the two would gang up on me and steal my shoes whenever I'd come over to play).

Inoright?!? Total douche move.

But we were, like, 11 or so? And all girls are douches at that age.

(Hence why I fear for when my daughter gets older...)

But I digress...

So this friend is kind of the ultimate badass. She's in denial about it, but it's totally true.

She has this platinum-blonde pixie cut (a look I could NEVER pull off), oodles of tattoos, an amazing personality, and drinks fancy-schmancy beer that no one has ever heard of but you feel cooler just because she's heard of it.

She's one of those people.

You know, people who are cool without obviously trying to be so.

People I simultaneously hate and want to be.

So anyway, this friend is also a huge health and fitness fanatic. I mean, it's literally her job, so it's probably good she subscribes to her own advice.

Her. The fitness queen.

She is the only person I know who has rock-hard abs. And I'm pretty sure her leg muscles could cripple me. She is in amazing shape, and she makes it look like it's nothing. (And she isn't one of those scary, overly-muscly, 'roided-out-looking chicks, either. She could break you in half and still look girlie doing it.)

She's also the classic over-acheiver, but again, without really trying.

Like, she works full time, is getting her Master's Degree, and oh yeah, I just totally went for a 30 km bike ride this morning before work, no biggie!

No, really, she does stuff like that. I swear she gets more done before I even get out of bed, than I even do in a day. It's ridiculous. I generally feel like a loser compared to her. Anyone should.

So this friend's one apparent weakness (and I mean, apparent only to her) is running. I guess she feels like it isn't her forte or something, which I don't understand, but whatevs.

So like anything else in her life, she sees a challenge, she overcomes it.

Well, not really overcomes it, more like kicks its sorry ass from here to next Tuesday.

So she is doing this Couch-to-5k training thing. And she wants me to do it with her. And I would love to, because mama needs to get in better shape. I don't really need to lose weight, per se, but I could certainly stand to tone up a bit, especially after three kids. I'd love to be a bad-ass before I turn 30.

But here's the thing.

I am the world's biggest procrastinator. Like, if it were an Olympic sport, I'd be the undefeated, world-record-holding, most medaled champion ever.

Me. The little turtle that could.

So clearly I'm having some troubles getting started. Right now I'm sick, so running isn't going to happen quite yet. Heck, walking is somewhat of a struggle right now. But once I'm better, I'd like to think that I'd start with the training. Because, really, it isn't even that hard of training, and I know that I am in better shape than I give myself credit for (not as good as my friend, but who is?!?).

But let's be realistic. I'm a slacker.

Well, maybe not a slacker, because I have three kids, am a full-time student, and still manage to run a tight ship and keep things somewhat orderly. But in my off time? Total slacker! (remember the Teen Mom 2 marathon...)

So I'll do my best, Age, but you'll need to kick my ass a little lot. Because only one of us can be the self-motivated awesome sauce. Me? I fill the role of the jaunty sidekick.