Date: 2008-11-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

First some chores to tend to, mainly questions I've been asked in my guestbook:1. The name of the piece of music with my summit video is a movement from a Edward Elgar's "Enigma Variations." The movement is "Nimrod." For all you non-music people, "Enigma Variations" has several movements or sections (think of a movement as a chapter in a book) and "Nimrod" is one of those sections. I performed this incredible piece of music back in my university wind ensemble and have always loved it.2. Did I try Moxie while in Maine? Um...yup. I have to admit, it tasted like Formula 44-D to me (the cold medicine), but then again, many people believe my favorite soft drink, Dr. Pepper, tastes like medicine too, so there ya go. 3. Do I plan on hiking the PCT? Well, I hadn't thought about it yet, but then again, I'd never thought about hiking the AT either...so who knows. It's not something I'm actively planning....that is...unless...um....Persistent is thinking about it?4. Am I going to write a book? Well, I think I'm going to give it a shot. However, I have a lot to learn about the process (like...everything), but today I got some resources to start the learning process. I'll keep everyone updated via my journal if/when progress is made on this front. 5. All of my pics are currently up and captioned finally. I do have additional pictures from Auntie Mame and Karen that I'll put up in time, but all of my own pictures are finally finished. Okie dokie...on to my thoughts.....So we had THE best time when Auntie Mame came down. She motivated us to actually get out up and do something for a change. It was almost bizarre combining my two worlds, A.M./hiking, and then my home in re-entry. It was exactly what both Karen and I needed though. The pic below is of all of us enjoying a fire and wine on Halloween night. Notice my most awesome red moose pajama pants?In 2 days, it will have been 1 month since Karen and I climbed Katahdin. After Auntie Mame left us, we had another few days of just laying around, feeling totally unmotivated, but after that, I've felt much more energetic and sort of excited to have "house" things to do. Of course, we are tentatively planning on going camping somewhere on the AT in the next week or two....so that's helping a lot.I've not had any more meltdowns, and going out in public with people around is bothering me less now too. Instead of overwhelming myself and saying I have to spend 10 hours a day applying for jobs, I'm trying to do at least one per day or every 2 days, depending on how lengthy the process is. I did hear back from the outdoor/troubled teen school, but after speaking to the director, it was obvious this wasn't going to work. They required you live on location and it paid horribly. I was disappointed, but instead of seeing it as a negative thing, I'm choosing to see it as one more thing I know I don't need to consider at this time. It also felt really good just to get a phone call, seeing as how we all end up applying for like a million jobs and you rarely ever hear anything.On a hilarious re-entry activity note...well, I'm sure I've shared before that I wanted to join weight watchers or a similar group upon my return, because I am determined to stay in this shape, and as you all know...I LOVE to eat. Well, Karen and I found a similar type of group, so let me be clear, this was not weight watchers, and so we went to a meeting. Um....I couldn't decide if we should get up and leave before or after the singing of the official song which was based upon the tune "This Land is My Land"! And after we were handed a coloring book page of a Christmas tree with ornaments that you color in when you've lost .2 of a lb did I know for sure this was NOT going to work for me. At this point, because Karen and I are so damn goofy and constantly laughing around each other, we knew we had to avoid eye contact at all cost or one of us was going to be THAT person...you know, the one who is sitting in church shaking while laughing silently over something so menial, but because it's so inappropriate to laugh, you can't stop laughing?   Luckily, we both held it together. We endured this "meeting" where everything BUT healthy eating habits was discussed, to include how many cupcakes to bring to the next group meal and because everyone decided 1 cupcake per person was enough, the woman making them said, "Well, if it's only 1 per person, then I'm not making the diet version." So let's say, I'm an advocate of exploring all of the options, but wow...some options are a really bad fit. After we walked out of that meeting, we got into my truck and with a totally straight face I said, "Wow, I really think this could work for us." Finally...moment of silence, then thunderous laughter that had been held in for an hour. Now I don't mean to be harsh here folks, but c'mon. It all had a frightening lack of "realness" which as we all know by now...is a total turn off for me.Besides THAT excursion, I've fixed the rear brakes on Skeeter (Karen's wonder car), fixed an electrical problem with the doorbell on our house, changed the in-line water filter, diagnosed yet ANOTHER busted pipe this time...outside in the yard, changed all the clocks over to the new time, and have begun the arduous process of copying/pasting all of my journal entries into a Word document for editing, and of course, I was glued to the television during the presidential election.Now I don't care who anyone voted for, what I care about is that we all recognize the great privilege it is that we have the right to vote, so all I care about is that people exercised it. But I'll tell ya folks....Virginia, my current home state, voted for a democratic president for the first time in 44 years. Even bigger than that, and to me this is a most amazing thing, this state was once home to the capital city of the Confederacy (Richmond) during the Civil War. And we know the Confederacy was pro-slavery. Who ever would have thought THIS state would have been the deciding state in electing the nation's first black president?I'm not bringing any of this up to start a fire fight, because my point is not about who was the better/worse candidate, my point is that seeing the world through a social justice and equality filter, this was quite encouraging to me and I got to witness a major historical event in our young country's history. Another re-entry task was checking with our local gym about membership plans. Well, first off...they won't give prices on-line, and the website tells you to call. I called and then was told they don't give quotes over the phone and that I needed to come in. Ok, what other business does this? It's ridiculous!! See people, I don't want to WASTE MY TIME "going in" (they think they're going to impress me so much that I'll lose all sensibility and go for the ultra super fancy premium membership....WRONG!), just to find out how much it costs to use the freakin pool and racquet ball courts. I mean geez..... I finally insisted that I just needed a ball park figure and finally got one. We couldn't see paying $140.00/month to swim some laps and play racquetball, so we've been going on walks almost everyday instead.So as you all can see, reading about re-entry is about like regurgitating your life I bet. Nothing that exciting, but I am addressing some of the things I had given some thought to out on the trail, so that's good. I do get to a point every single day when I feel completely lost still. The only remedy I've found is to either find something on my "Drudgery List" (my to do list), that I think I've got the energy to tackle....or there's always that next Netflix movie to watch. So far, my best advice is to allow yourself (if possible) at least 2 months to slowly get into a routine again. I think not having a job to come right back to has been sort of a good thing, in that I've still had that say in how my days are spent...sort of like hiking, and yet, I'm still dealing with real life again too.Today was probably harder than any in a while because I was looking at all of my final pictures while pasting the captions in. That made me really sad and happy at the same time. I miss it, but don't miss the stress of the hike, so I'm in a good place right now, and will hopefully enjoy a few days hanging on the AT again in the near near future. ~Certain