June in a nutshell

So June went by pretty fast – I can’t believe it is already July. I started out the month when a surprise get-together for my birthday. I thought I was just eating sushi with my friend P, but then we went down the street and there were my friends! I went to two Braves games in June. For the first game, about 20 of us rode down to the game on a converted school bus. The second time, it was just two of us, so we rode the train down to avoid the construction in the perimeter. For my birthday, I decided to pack up and head to the beach. Five of us drove down in a mini-van and stayed for four days. I think it was a much needed break for all of us. We enjoyed the sun, some good fun, a little dancing. Only one casualty of the trip: my phone fell off the twelfth story balcony! Luckily I had insurance. I ended the month with a rafting trip on the Ocoee River with a group of 15. We also stayed and camped out afterwards in North GA. The rain held off until after the rafting, but the tents were a bit wet! And July is starting off with a bang – the summer flu! But hopefully recovery will come soon enough for this weekend!

Too much, but still missing something.

Ok, so quick catch up…I really haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, just been… well quiet. I guess I needed a little regrouping lately. I still can’t figure out what I am looking for I guess (see Resolution post). I keep trying new things and hanging out with more people, but I just feel overwhelmed. This weekend, I turned off my phone and spent the weekend with Moxie. I think it was definitely the right thing to do, but still no direction. I have a clean house, a clean dog, a mowed yard, completed work, and now a new blog post, to show for this weekend though! Just to keep you updated for the past few weeks: I went to the lake with the triplets,-the normal summer spot, celebrated some birthdays, went to a funeral, caught up with mom when she passed through, went to Florida for a work conference, broke up with my boyfriend, had a new nephew, took scuba diving lessons, saw my goddaughter eat cake for her first birthday, lost a good friend, went to a club, bought some stuff at the fun Swedish furniture store, saw some fun creatures, worked, and well worked! I promise more to come soon… birthday adventures and another beach trip…

Urban Dare

I participated in my own mini Great Race! Everyone should check out the website (urbandare.com) and try it when it is in your city. Team Optimist did not win, but we had a blast… here are some samples of our clues: 1.This Georgian put his John Hancock on the Declaration of Independence. Get your picture with the building at Georgia Tech that bears his name. 2. Get your picture with the statue Emerging by Mark Smith. 3. Go to the park with the statue of Baron Pierre de Coubertin and get your picture with the brick that says Amanda Snyder God Bless All. 4. This animal travels the farthest of any land-based mammal. The North America one can travel as much as 5,000 kilometers a year. Go to the coffee shop of this name near Piedmont Park for your trivia dare.

Bonus. Get your picture with someone wearing a Varsity hat.….There were 13 clues in all, some just involved a picture and others “dares.” Due to the weather, however, some of the dares were replaced with only pictures. The rules included walking/running and public transportation (bus and train only). It took me and P about 4 hours to finish – not first but not last! I was exhausted when we were done, but I would definitely do it again!

Caving!

This past Saturday, I went caving with a group from a local outdoor club. We got up bright and early to drive to Chattanooga in the pouring rain and then geared up at Raccoon Mountain. It was actually nice to know that we were leaving a rainy day to go underground. If it had been pretty and sunny, I might have felt like we were wasting the day. We spent about three hours in the cave, descending to about 195 feet below the surface. It was fun and not too strenuous… And what trip would be complete without a good food afterward. My friend P and I stopped for lunch in downtown Chattanooga. It is hard to believe that only 20 years ago, Chattanooga was named the most polluted city in the US. Now the riverfront area is amazing. It is definitely a place to stop if you are in the area. We got ice cream at B&J’s. I haven’t been there in years but the smell when you walked in was unmistakable! Saturday night, I got back just in time for more good food with mom, dad, g-ma, Aunt K, and Rolan and his wife. It was a good visit, but I slept hard after such a long day!!

Whirlwind

How to tell that you are eating a healthy breakfast... ... and yes that does say Grease Only! I guess that's how you make good southern biscuits.

So I am falling behind in my posts, but hopefully I still have some fans. A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks, and sometimes I feel like I am barely keeping my head up. Right before my car accident, my friend needed an emergency place to stay, so I helped her move all of her things into my house. She settled in and Moxie loved having the extra attention. She decided, however, that she wanted to have her own place, so two weeks later I helped her pack everything back up and move into her apartment. I am happy that she is figuring things out on her own, but I was actually excited to have the company so she will be missed. I did get to have a fun break in the midst of all that moving. “The triplets” went to the Beach for a long weekend and enjoyed some perfect weather. I got to work on my tan and relax.

Of course when I got back, my desk was piled with work and things were pretty hectic. I have been trying to exercise more on top of learning to adjust to the dog, working, traveling, cleaning, commuting, etc. Some weeks are better than others. This week Moxie and I managed to take four 1.5-2 miles walk/runs, so this week was a little better. We also went to the lake Friday night, and she had fun meeting new people and being the center of attention. Besides walking, I have to get back to the gym. I am tentatively scheduled for a sprint triathlon in May, so if anyone has any training tips that would be great! Today I spent the entire day cleaning the house top to bottom and it looks great – I only wish it could stay that way. Having a dog and trying to sell my house at the same time is a lot of work, but I guess that’s what I signed up for when I brought Moxie home. And tomorrow it’s back to work!

Just add water...

And the people in the metro area forget about brakes, stop signs, turn signals, and traffic lights. But the good news is everyone was okay! I was rear-ended pretty hard on the way to work today about three miles from my house. It was quite a shock, I never even saw it coming, coins from my coin tray sprinkled all over me, my body is a little sore, my boots were covered in mud from talking to the police on the side of the road… what excitement!! The Camry doesn’t look so pretty, but nothing that my friends at the body shop can’t fix. Now I just have to remember to be careful in Mom’s driveway when I get it back!

Rocks, Foundue, and Octupi

Last Saturday, I spent a couple of hours at an indoor rock climbing facility. It was challenging – my arms definitely are not that strong – but a lot of fun. It was nice to do something a bit out of the ordinary, and I got a chance to meet more people. I joined an outdoor group that does a lot of activities in and around the city. I signed up for caving in a couple of weeks, so that is next!

Later in the weekend, I visited with mom’s visitor, see the pics on her page for all the good food we ate. In honor of JT, we had a choo-choo train at the sushi restaurant and then fondue at my house. Moxie enjoyed having people over just as much as me – and she was pretty well-behaved, too.

It is raining and cold here, so tonight Moxie and I had to forgo our walk and we played our favorite game: fetch with the orange rubber octopus! She seems pretty tired, but so am I!!