Warrior Princess

I've always fancied myself a sort of warrior princess.  My friends and family actually in the military assure me that is complete nonsense -being stubborn isn't the same as being under fire. 

Well duh.  As I was explaining the stress of my former job to the firefighters moving me out of my house yesterday, they were polite enough to not roll their eyes.

I still find it auspicious that My Great Adventure is inadvertently beginning on the Feast Day of St. Joan of Arc, true Warrior and Official Badass.  (Also the same day my amazing niece Rachel won silver at her Tae Kwon Do competition! Another badass woman.)

This morning I woke up FULL OF IDEAS!!  The last few weeks have been so task-oriented, I have not been able to think more than a couple days into the future.  During my breakfast of Green Machine, I started mapping stuff out... Places to see, people to visit, ideas for my book, ideas for this blog, ideas for a great birthday gift for my nephew Christopher whose birthday I DID NOT FORGET but did not mange to send a gift for yet. So that has to be REALLY good, because he is one awesome young man, and I love him so big.

When I left (was kicked out) of the convent 11 years ago, one of the sisters said to me, "You need more freedom in order to thrive. You just do."  

I am not afraid. I was born to do this. - Joan of Arc

Climbing Mt Elden

For some reason I woke up this morning thinking about my Mt. Elden climb a few weeks ago.


Mt. Elden is part of the San Francisco Peaks, and considered a strong way to try out a hard climb before one tackles Mt. Humphreys, the tallest Peak.


Before I go farther, I must share this one fact:  The hike sucked.  Sucked Raw Eggs. Sucked Hard.  This isn't a "wander in the forest and see all the pretty trees" sort of hike.  It is rocky and sandy and my eyes were glued on the trail the entire time just to avoid death.  And it takes forever -took us 3 hours up and 3 hours down... the fact I have asthma played into the "suck" factor, but now you are fully informed.  I climbed Mt. Elden so you don't have to!


Why did I do it?  I felt it was something I ought to check off my "things to do before moving from Flagstaff" list.  The kindest man I know, Stephen Riggs, volunteered to go with me, as he had never climbed it either.  I rounded up a few other friends. It boded well for a lovely morning.


How did I finish it?  I finished only with the help of my friends.  My slowness going up AND down kept them from going as fast as they could have.  But they stuck with me.  Without them I would have quit 2 hours in.  Stephen walked behind me going down, making me feel safe, even though had I actually taken a tumble off the trail, the only thing he could have realistically done would be call 911 for a mountain rescue.  Gail occasionally burst into song which made me crack up -her specialty is rap.  I think. Sometimes it was hard to tell.


But we all got up and down the mountain safely.


Just. Like. Life.


SO MANY THINGS IN LIFE SUCK RAW EGGS.  But there our friends are, bursting into song, lending support, doing stuff like helping us pack when we get food poisoning and are projectile vomiting every time we move, or letting us couch surf while we figure out life, or reminding us that the race isn't about winning, but finishing strong.


That's what gets us safely over the mountain.

Day One

SoSoooo, two-and-a-half months after starting a Brand New Blog, here I am blogging again. sorry about that.

Wow, so much has happened!  Had some travel, my nieces came to visit, read some awesome books, participated in a nutrition study, climbed Mt Elden, and, oh, yeah, quit my job.

It's been a few weeks full of learning and growing.

As I sit here among the boxes and bubble wrap, my tummy hurting from that hamburger and French fries I ate somewhere between dropping my niece off at the airport and returning to Flagstaff, it occurred to me that part of the reason I quit my job was to be healthier. Building block one of being a healthy person is to eat clean.  No objections to the occasional fast food splurge, but come on, making an effort is probably a good thing.

Quitting this particular job means moving, btw.  Not because I live in company-owned housing like railroad workers in days of yore, but because this particular town is particularly far away from family and particularly expensive in which to live particularly if you are unemployed... So off to storage it goes! Hitting the road is such a quintessential American thing, I'm honored to participate!

People are naturally interested in my plans, so I wish I had some to share.  After all this stuff gets packed, I'm spending a few weeks traveling and volunteering and reassuring my dog that all this hustle and bustle is a GOOD thing.  Roxy seems worried she will get left in storage.  That could happen by accident, as she tends to blend in to her surroundings:

Which is why I sometimes do this:

It is for her own safety, really.

The future has begun, Day One.*

*Matthew West lyric