That Hurt

Duke and I went hiking. 

It was muddy,

There were squirrels.

He's attached to my waist.

Can you guess what happened? Yep, he chased and pulled, I slipped on the mud. We fell down an embankment. I'm bruised everywhere. Sore in lots of places. Lost my sunglasses. Broke my hiking pole in half.

Ended up on my back, head downhill, feet up the hill, Duke's leash caught in the underbrush. What a moment. 

Thank the lord above we weren't hurt more AND it's not spider season AND no one saw it hah!

The day went up from there ...

I hobbled off the trail and found this -- someone is trying to put back the snake rock AGAIN. I painted a rock to add to it tomorrow. I hope it takes. My snake rock will still be further up the trail so people don't toss the rocks in the stream, but I'm excited for this one too. Two snakes are even better!

Simple and effective.
I knew what it was immediately.

I had a volunteer training session that's relevant to what's happening with my case. Live zoom for 2 hours (while I worked on the rock). It was well worth my time.

Then I took my broken self for a test drive -- walked to return library books. One read, two unread. Grabbed lunch. My body is sore, cut, and bruised, but doesn't seem to be injured. 

Ended the day with another walk to a coffee shop that I thought was conservative because they're all Bible stuff -- nope, supporting the liberal, trans woman candidate for state house representative. I joined a campaign event with postcards I had written at home and got a yard sign. Met some good people supporting a good candidate. Wrote 50 cards -- took home another 75. Lots of writing ahead. I'm the first resident in district to put up a sign so it was a moment for the campaign -- very glad to be involved. 

As for today. It's another rainy morning -- not complaining (although we lost power for a few minutes and I DID complain lol). 

I have a hormone lab draw this afternoon and a stop to drop Monti's medications to a dog foster to give out. Boy, I miss that little guy. 

I need to figure out the grow room too. It's a wild jungle and I need a solution. I have zero ideas right now. I know I need more potting soil. Maybe it's a good problem to have or maybe it's the other side of a flop (too little vs too much). I hope not.  

Hope we all have a good, embankment-free day. Later gators. 

PRIDE at the Capital

What a day (!!)

It was incredible. Such community. Kindness. Inclusion for EVERYONE. The PRIDE community is so caring and loving. I can't even describe it. 

The event was well organized. The speakers were outstanding -- not one person read a speech. They spoke beautifully and passionately. 

People shared signs. 

I gave out PRIDE pins. 

People were so loving to each other. 

We learned which bills are currently up for voting and where to focus our attention.

We watched a couple of votes in the GA Senate. Eye opening. Nice to see a MAGA's amendment solidly voted down. It was interesting to see the process of talking to your representatives and you can see how important it is to call, email, go in person -- especially at the lower levels of government where numbers of constituents are smaller. It matters. 

MARTA couldn't have been easier. 

This was at the station.

A couple of pictures from the day.

Inside the House
(which wasn't in session)

Governor's Office

Capital with real gold

A Voting Truck

Signs for the rally

Spent the day with amazing people from our women's action group. Couldn't be more pleased to have gone. 9 hours went by in a flash. 

We had lunch at a Presbyterian church. They fed us as they were feeding the unhoused community too. THIS is what a church should do for people. We ate in the chapel that they opened so people had a chance to sit. A speaker from the event gave a moving talk about her faith -- where it helped, where the church fell short, where she found her path. In a church -- talking about prickly bits of religion. 

She talked about holding paradoxes -- as this moment was exactly a paradox. 

Rode MARTA home and sat near a woman traveling back from the airport. She clocked that I'd been to the event and she said she was queer and thankful people attended (she couldn't because of her work trip). She gave me a stack of vouchers for Waffle House (works in management). I'll give them to our unhoused population. 

See? Just a day of people being kind, being neighbors, acting in community.

And, sadly, I didn't go to the author talk. My back was tired and sore and I didn't want to push it. I'm disappointed and it was the right move. I suspected as much -- especially by lunchtime when everything already hurt.

P.S. Lunch was pizza. They offered GF and vegan too -- of course they did. Inclusion everywhere with this community. Be yourself echoed over and over. What a glorious message in a time when people want to stomp out anyone who isn't like them (cis, white, man, evil Christian).

Have a good day. Later gators.

Big Day

Good very early morning. 

Up at 4:30 which is fine, but it still feels like 3:30 AND I couldn't fall asleep on-time last night.

That ONE silly hour does such havoc (in this direction -- I LOVE fall back). 

The hike felt really good yesterday, but for some reason, I'm stiff this morning. It's not a hard hike. I guess it was just that little bit faster than I go with Duke. 

I ended up on the hike with a newly retired guy I was introduced to at a Christmas party. The party host is one of the Tuesday hiking friends and she knew of the hiking club because of me. Told him, and he loves it. I sent her a selfie of us and she reminded me of that story. You never know how connections form or how you affect people. I know I've had many experiences like that which have benefited me.

(Specifically an old neighbor I invited over once who told me why my ONE plant was dying -- I watered too frequently. Changed my ENTIRE plant life.)

I caught up on some social promises yesterday -- of course, I'm the driver on said plans/promises. It's the "after-the-holidays" stuff that's been REALLY after the holidays because I've been occupied and THEY haven't made any effort either.  

That sounded more bitter than I meant it. It's just funny that people love a backseat to actual plan execution. Most of this was initiated by them  -- "let's get together," but I have to be the one to execute. 

Nothing major, all fun. I guess being the driver is nice because I get to steer the plans. 

And, I made a couple of decisions to NOT reach out. They didn't follow up and I'm being more selective on who I spend time with -- letting some relationships fade. That doesn't feel easy, but it feels right. Nothing bad, just not worth my effort to keep things going. 

Today is a really, really big day.

City hall, Capitol, rally, legislative push. 

This is my first "protest" event in the city. 

I attended a zoom last night about what to expect, etc. It sounds like a great day.

MARTA is easy -- all set on that.

Don't know why that gave me worry.

Biggest issue? 

Carrying my crap.

Rain and drink ready.

I'll get wet (umbrella and/or jacket) and I'll need water (it's going to be in the 80s). 

I still need to figure out what bag to carry. 

I decided not to bring my sign because of the rain.

I don't expect to be home until early evening. Of course, I can leave at anytime so I really don't know. It's finished at 4 o'clock, but I don't expect to stay quite that late (I think the last part is a duplicate of the morning session). You can pick and choose which parts you attend. 

Then I have the author talk. 

I want to go. 

Will I go? 

That remains to be seen and depends on how tired I am. The talk is from 7-9 and that works in my favor with the time change so I might not have an issue being out. 

I hope I go -- which is strange to say because it's obviously my decision. I guess I should say, I hope I feel well enough to go. Standing all day, in the heat, might be too spent. The protest has "sag out" spots where you can go sit down because it's otherwise all standing. 

Standing is much harder than walking -- very hard on your lower back. Sitting on folding chairs for 2 hours is also hard on my back. Might not work out to do both. 

Okay, that's that for today. Wish me luck. Speaking of luck ... look what was in my grow room yesterday. She's the good kind.

Have a good one. Later gators.

Monnnday, Monnnday {*sung in my horrible singing voice*}

Here are some Monday rambling thoughts -- maybe a little rant, maybe a little mood. 

My cancel friend is at it again. Plans for Wednesday off the table, now she wants to move it to the following Tuesday -- St Patrick's Day. I think there's very little chance of those plans holding, but I said okay. It's really a last-strike kind of yes though (not so much a friendly, sure!!). This will be the 3rd scheduling of this particular plan. It involves her granddaughter too and I think the St. Patrick's Day date will be a conflict. Maybe, hopefully, I'm wrong. 

It's really going to rain tomorrow. Dang and double dang. I'm so disappointed that the day will probably be kind of miserable walking on the wet streets and it's going to be warm. Not a cool, wear-a-raincoat kind of day. The afternoon is sun and thunderstorms. Yuck. 

I have free tickets sponsored by my old library to see Liz Moore (of God of the Woods fame) speak tomorrow. It's not until 7 o'clock and it's about 45 minutes away. Should I cancel? I have 2 tickets, but no one to go with -- actually, my cancel friend was planning to come, but forgot she had company. I'll have had a long, wet day, but I bet it's interesting. I think this is a large venue though, so it won't be the same experience as the other author talks. Maybe I need to do a little research on the venue.

UPDATE: Looked it up -- bigger, not as nice, but okay. Plus it's a little closer than I thought. 

The week isn't particularly full -- yea me. Everyday is something, but not a crazy something (except Tuesday). That said, I need to be careful because I'm in a bit of a mood, a slump, a grump. I can't let my SPACE and free time be used for evil lol. 

Here are a couple of IG pulls -- both spoke to me.

The first one is interesting. Annoyances aside (like canceling), of course. Maybe it doesn't inform my relationships so much, but inform how I behave. Would I be okay showing up like them? Would I want to be more like them? Kind of a hero/anti-hero kind of evaluation. Easier to see and evaluate yourself in other people.

YES!!!

Garden drama -- I looked them up. Apparently FRIEND and not foe, but good lord, so many millipedes. They're often found in good soil because they digest dead matter and help the quality of the soil. Harmless to plants. 

The grow room is a drama too. The tomato plants are growing so fast and big that my grow space won't be able to accommodate soon. They don't get planted for another 5 weeks -- what am I going to do?? Garden google is probably the answer. Maybe a good problem to have??

So what's today?

First club hike in 3 months. 7 fast miles this afternoon. 18 creek crossings -- my feet will get wet after the rain. I'm happy to be back at it though.

The morning is thankfully homebound. I have a lot of office stuff to catch up on and with the dang hour lost, I can really use the extra long morning option. 

Hope your week is off to a good start. I'm going to try and rally this slump to get motivated and excited for a nicely balanced week ahead. 

Later gators.

S'Mores

 

Look at this masterpiece. 

Peanut butter cup, charred marshmallows, GF cinnamon graham cracker. 

I ate 2. 

We had a fun day. 

Laughed and chatted non-stop.

Shopped and shopped. 

Ate and ate.

PJ party around the fire.

It feels good to celebrate a good person. She knows how to live her life and it's contagious. 

To give you an idea of our day -- first store, going out of business, 60% off everything. The hens were clucking and shopping. We almost missed lunch hah!

I had a hiccup during our coffee break with the volunteer position -- emergency that needed help. Probably a point of no return. Hard and sad. I'm glad I saw the call. Fallout next week so I don't know how it will affect the week, but it's a priority. 

I am bushed today. Totally flattened. I didn't go to bed until 11 o'clock and I woke up at almost 8 o'clock (with time change). Wow. Sometimes I'm groggy from sleeping past my usual wakeup time, but it feels more than that today.

I'm happy for a rainy day with nothing on the calendar. I need to re-group for next week and JUST CHILL! I see books and TV guiding a lot of the day.

I don't need to water the garden (thanks, rain).

Day off from exercise (ran yesterday, big hike tomorrow). 

No company (sister ended up with pneumonia).

No chores (did them last week).

What I need to do is figure out plans for Tuesday. I meditated on a few questions. The answer surprised me -- what's holding me back from 100% going downtown is concern that I don't know what I'm doing or how to navigate. 

MARTA tickets.

MARTA route.

Bathrooms.

Umbrella in buildings (because possible storms).

Drinks (can't go all day with no water), but is it allowed in the buildings?

Good lord. I navigated the Paris metro myself and took it all over the city, changing lines, etc. Why am I suddenly up in arms over this? If it were local or I had a ride, it wouldn't even be a decision -- therefore, I'm going. UNFOUNDED fear is NEVER a reason. 

(As opposed to real fear -- something dangerous, risky, etc.)

And I'm bummed that the weather is factoring into the day. Dang. Another layer of figuring-it-out. 

Hubby got to spend the entire day with our son and grandson. They came over in the morning to drop my DIL for the day and then stayed until bedtime. Our grandson didn't want to leave -- wanted to stay the night. That's the best feeling in the world. 

Today's my youngest son and DIL's first anniversary. The year went so fast. They're away for the weekend celebrating. 

Okay, hubby just got up and I haven't seen much of him lately. Best get going. Have a good day. Later gators.

Celebration Day & A Decision

Girls' family day celebrating my aunt today. 

Making time for family and especially making time to be with women is something special. I'm lucky to have these ladies in my life and in my family.

I have a decision I'm contemplating-- I'm going to do a meditation for (hopefully) some clarity. It's not a big deal either way, but in the name of slowing down and seeing what feels important in a specific moment, I'm taking time to explore how it feels in my body.

A bit woo-woo ... yep, but it actually works. 

Tuesday is my normal hiking day and I haven't hiked with the group for almost 3 months -- eeek. This feels like a "should" since I haven't participated for so long with the foot injury. That said, I've been available with some parameters for the last several weeks and the group (specifically the group leader) chose what wouldn't work for me. Last week ... Hey, I need a local hike -- so she randomly picks a non-local hike when 75% of our hikes are local.

Tuesday is also an event in Atlanta supporting LGBTQ+ at the Capitol and City Hall. A few women from the action group are going. The event checks a few boxes for me. Obviously, supporting and learning about a subject that's important to me. And also, figuring out the MARTA transportation and how to get to these places. A lot of protests and events are held in this area and I've never managed going. I'll learn with a group and that'll make it easier in the future. It's a bit uncomfortable not knowing what to do.

I can always hike with the Tuesday group.

I can always figure out how to navigate MARTA to this area.

So the question becomes which is more important to me, right now, in this moment. Connection with the ladies I've barely seen in months, or supporting a cause that's important. 

And, if I'm really being honest, there's a part of me that wants to say "screw you" to the hike leader who could've done this week's hike last week and I would've been able to go. I feel it's a power move -- I know it is. When we first started hiking with the group, she did this with other people and told me that's why she did it. 

I want to keep the decision in the positive realm though. I don't want snarky-me to decide what I'm doing, but she's awfully loud. Time for a meditation to see if I can clear this up. 

Thanks for indulging me -- stay tuned for the decision. I think I'm leaning toward going into the city since this is a one time moment.

Have a good day. Later gators.

We Did It -- SURPRISE!!!

We did it -- full blown surprise and my aunt was thrilled. So much fun! AND, my cousin was on-time ... an actual first EVER. She left lunch early in a rush because she checked a camera and her dog was crying in its crate (she normally takes the dog everywhere), but she did what she needed to do.

Aunties and I hit up a few shops after lunch including a favorite consignment store. Got some goodies -- they were having a store-wide sale that day.

Vietri bowl

Farm basket, coasters,
picture frame

Pretty picture that goes
with my vintage purses

My sister called this morning and she's sick and not coming which is really disappointing, but it does take some things off my plate. 

Today should be a nice day and an easy day. Standing Friday coffee meeting, another plant pickup from the farm, pedicure. I haven't had one in about 6 months - best get the piggies ready for sandals. Hubby home in the afternoon. 

The hemorrhoid flare-up was short lived -- since you didn't ask lol. That's a relief. It's like a coldsore -- so much more painful than it should be for something that insignificant. I was worried running would aggravate it, but it didn't. 

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I need to be ready to get to the meeting. Garden season adds significant things to my morning.

Have a good end of the week. Later gators.