Date: 2009-09-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

The last few weeks, probably like everybody's, have had their ups and downs. Trying to remember what I did last week kinda gives me a headache - I have no idea. And no, I wasn't drinking. Much. It's just a cloudy haze of lack of motivation and couch surfing. Usually I'm the type of person who makes a list of things I want to get done, and then I happily tick them off one by one. Sure, I made the list last week. And then I laughed at it while I figured out the DVR. Labor day weekend was great - we headed up to Mt. Gilead, NC for the annual dove hunting weekend. Unlike English football teams, WAGS (wives and girlfriends) are welcome at this yearly event. We stayed with James's friend Mike's parents (get all that?), and had a nice, leisurely weekend together. I hung out with Anna and Nicole while the menfolk went to the fields for some dove hunting. Us girls took a nice hike in the woods, and we spent the time catching up with each other and swapping stories. The Georgia game wasn't on tv in NC, but it turns out that that was a blessing in disguise - we lost to the team who this weekend lost by 10 points to Houston. WHAT?! Anyway. On Monday I tagged along with James for the morning hunt. We brought Cash - last year he was too young to actively participate and instead was busy chewing poison ivy roots and digging holes. This year was drastically different. I predicted big things for my little fella, and I wasn't wrong. The first dove James got fell about 80 yards in front of us and Cash retrieved it like a seasoned pro. I was proud of both him and James. For his first hunt, Cash was awesome. It's amazing to watch your hunting dog work, and to see how well James trained him - it's a beautiful combination of instinct created by responsible breeding as well as discipline.The rest of the week went by without any events. Thursday was a hard day - I think I reached my low point in terms of post-trail blues. I didn't get out of my pjs all day, and the only way James got me out of the house was with the promise of an Arby's milkshake. Friday, however, I woke up motivated. By noon I had taken the dogs for a run, ran all my errands and come back home to clean up the mess that had been gathering. I'm not a neat freak, I just like the house to be....tidy.Friday: James suggested we go to dinner, so I picked my favorite (Blind Pig). As I was upstairs getting ready, he got a call. "Glenn's in town. He's gonna come to dinner with us," he said. "Great!" Glenn came over and had a drink and then we headed to dinner. On the way, I text Hayden, "I'm with your husband. I wish you were here!" Like the princess I am, I got my wish - we walked in Blind Pig and there she was - a surprise weekend visit! I flipped out and was super excited to see her! Much later that night (think 3am) we were all sound asleep when the doorbell rang. James went to answer it while I tried to rationalize who would be on our doorsteps in the middle of the night. It was none other than Adam, Boss and Adam's gal pal Jennifer! "We're here for your trail-i-bration Nev!" they yelled. WAAAH. Saturday morning we were busy in the kitchen when in walked Grey and her sister Tyson! I clutched my heart as this latest surprise nearly knocked me off of my feet. Finally, despite Hayden's best efforts I was determined to take a shower so I headed upstairs. The doorbell rang, again. "Nev, I think you should answer it. Really." Excited, I bounded down the stairs and flung open the door. Then I stopped dead in my tracks as I tried to put the pieces together. I screamed and wrapped my arms around Wags! Kerrie Anne had picked her up at the airport Saturday morning and drove her to Athens. And she came to visit for 4 days! James and everyone else involved managed to keep this shin-dig a secret for 6 weeks! I'm blessed to have such wonderful, amazing and mobile friends!We had a great time going to campus and checking out all the tailgates, watching the game at the house, laughing at the drunk folks, recovering yesterday, hiking on the AT today. That's right, Wags and I are official day hikers. We SOBOed from Unicoi Gap to Blue Mountain shelter. Within the first quarter mile, we stirred up some yellow jackets and I got stung at least 8 times. I figure it was payback for how everyone got stung by hornets in NH/ME and I didn't. By the way, the trail in Georgia is amazing. We didn't notice the first time we came through this year. It was surreal to be on the trail again, following Wags, talking about my wedding, swapping gossip and life stories. Weirder still that we were in Georgia and had summitted Katahdin 3 weeks prior.My transition is going, slowly but surely. I'm loving the comforts of home, being with my family again and watching Georgia football. I re-applied with the board of education and will hopefully be able to continue subbing sometime soon. I did notice, though, that this evening I once again became the goofy person I was while on the trail. I felt re-energized and purposeful again. A hard aspect of this transition is going from a life where you are quite literally accomplishing a life-changing goal one day at a time, one step at a time, one mountain at a time, one storm at a time, to being proud that you folded the laundry. I guess, though, "Life in San Fransico is just life."I did manage to do some work with my pictures. I've uploaded a few cool ones to my trail journal. I also uploaded almost all (I've misplaced the first 2 weeks of my hike) of my pictures to my shutterfly website: nevenamartin.shutterfly.comOne last thing - Georgia's defense makes me crazy.