Hiking "Drama" Rambles

Tuesday is hiking day with my friend group and I'm mixing it up a bit -- in the name of doing what works for me. 

Here's the scoop.

There's a qualifier hike with extra mileage on for early this morning with my club. My friend chose the same mountain for our group hike with a 2 hour later start. One of the women has a hard time completing this hike (lots of elevation) and last time it took us so long that I had to miss lunch. She's giving it another go so I'm hiking with the club instead, driving home to let out dogs, and driving back to meet for lunch with my friends. It should time out well enough. I might even have time for a shower. 

I'm proud of myself for making a decision that worked for me. I didn't cancel, didn't complain, just chose something different. 

But, of course, with the proud feeling comes something else. The leader of our little friend group seems unhappy about my decision. I'm getting a bit of a cold shoulder and a couple of other zings that I think are in response to my choice. I have a distinct feeling she's trying to mess up me going to lunch with them -- or, at least, hope it's inconvenient. 

I was on a live coaching call yesterday and this type of situation was coached. I need to remember I'm not responsible for her feelings. I am responsible for my actions and my actions are clean. I privately explained the situation to her (she assumed the other women wouldn't hike -- and she still may cancel this morning). Because I can't leave my dogs without a potty break for too long, if I hiked with our group (and this extremely slow friend), I'd have to miss lunch. This way, I hike and lunch. I'm still making an effort to drive back to the area to have lunch with everyone. 

We used to plan the hikes together and then put it out to the group. Lately, she's decided she's the leader and she decides when and where -- without input (I talked to her about it and nothing changed). That's fine, but that means sometimes it's not going to work for me. She can't have it both ways. 

Yep, always friend issues. It's obvious this is what I need to work on right now. How to kindly choose myself from a place of ease and not have turmoil over the response. 

Anyway ...

Irrigation is set in the garden -- woo hoo!!

Ratatouille is delicious. I have no idea why it tastes so good. It looks like slop and shouldn't be this different than a bunch of cooked veggies. The recipes say it's about the technique and if you don't cook each component separately, it won't be the same. The French know. 

I finished this book yesterday and it was good. Moody, mysterious, twisty ending, emotional. Really enjoyed it. This is the 3rd book in a row that I've liked a lot. New pick today. I need to a book with me in case I'm having lunch by myself. Hah -- real possibility, but I never mind a solo lunch (just wouldn't choose the drive that far). We'll see.

Our carriage house was broken into in Asheville last evening. The alarm scared them off and a neighbor helped out. It's very strange how they were able to get the door open. No damage (it seems) and nothing taken (nothing valuable in the carriage house). We only have a freezer and furniture -- nothing to grab and go. No TV, just a few inexpensive pictures (mostly family photos). 

Back to today ...

I'm actually a little nervous about the hike. It'll be fast AND have extra mileage and about 700 extra feet of elevation. Last time I solo hiked without any of the extras, I about died I was so exhausted. I had such a hard time finishing and I slowed down a lot. The big hike on Sunday was fine so maybe this energy issue is over, but I won't know until I start the hike. Temps will be cool the entire morning so that's helpful. I hope I can finish and keep the pace. 

I guess all this was on my mind and I woke up in the night with one of the anxiety panic feelings. I haven't had that in a while and it's never fun. Took a while to get back to sleep.

Okay, that's enough rambling and I need to get ready for the hike. I'm looking forward to being home tonight (with no Asheville drama *knock wood*) and the hike/lunch behind me. It's causing unneeded angst. I'm planning a good attitude and a happy disposition. Intention is to ENJOY today and not just "get though" today. After all, this is fun and all my choice and no anxiety is necessary. Maybe hormones still?!?!

And I'm still rambling. Hah. Later gators.