Ack! I got five yesterday!

I just realized that I downed five full servings of fruits and veggies yesterday. I'm thinking this may be the first time ever. Or at least since infancy, when I had no choice in the matter. Let's see...there was the apple at breakfast, a double-helping of veggies at lunch, and dates for a snack, and then broccoli at Mom's for dinner...YUP! Five! Yay! I guess it's getting easier for my taste buds to accept natural, healthy foods. I also think I'm safe in claiming victory over one pound I've removed. It wasn't easy...first two pounds down in a week after starting my healthier eating -- yahoo! Then, they came back. Ick. Then I bounced around for another week. But I finally got two weigh-ins in a row that match (I only weigh twice a week, usually -- when I go over to Moms. One pound in three weeks? I know, not the best record, but given that one of those weeks was the week of Thanksgiving, and the fact that, to me, this indicates that I am sticking with my healthy food choices more often than not...I'm still going to call it a win. Or should I call it a loss (of a pound :)? Nah. I really prefer the term removal. If I lose something, like my keys, I go looking for them. I can pretty much guarantee I'm not going to be looking for my fat once it's gone!

Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, I was out at 5:30 this morning, picking up the local papers to see what deals there will be to be had tomorrow morning. Jeff has been planning a trip to Best Buy for their mega-deal laptop but...from what saw in the circulars this morning it looked at first like he may want to try Circuit City instead. A better laptop for just over half the price ($199 vs $379). Wow! I was thinking...they've really outdone themselves on that one. But then I read the fine print and realize that the laptop is actually $449, unless you sign up for a year's worth of AO Hell. Ah well...just goes to show that if it looks too good to be true, even on Black Friday, it probably is. So I guess it's Best Buy for us.

My shopping list includes a scanner capable of scanning negatives (so that I can preserve all the photos of my youth, regardless of whether or not I can find the prints, or the prints are in good condition, etc.), a wide format printer (12", so I can print on scrapbook pages -- not a burning desire, just one of those...if I can pick it up cheap, great! sort of things. Which is good, because I don't see any deals on these) and a large external hard drive so I can have a backup of all of those photos I scan (and of course those I take with my digicams). I'm also thinking of picking up a spare pair of Asics, since I've finally found a favorite model and Sports Authority has them for 25% off. Other, lesser wishes include an external flash for my D70, which would make shooting glare-free photos for eBay MUCH easier, and a thumb drive, if I can get one for free or a negligible amount. I always like the free stuff (after rebates, of course) on Black Friday. It's the hassle I hate. Quite honestly, given that my current laptop functions just fine and I don't actually NEED any of this crap, my first instinct is to hide in the warehouse tomorrow. But since I'll probably have to go with Jeff to pick up a laptop anyway (even if I don't want one, I'm sure he'll want a second one, if there are enough to be had, to resell), so I might as well do the rounds and take advantage of the sales that are out there. Thus I spend the day comparing sale prices to eBay, looking at some retailers' Thanksgiving Day online specials (usually a large load of crap, especially when compared to the Black Friday pricing), and wishing we had a CompUSA in the neighborhood. Sigh.

What I'm really looking forward to is getting over to Mom's place, so I can spread all these lovely, glossy tributes to our consumer culture out on the floor and go after them with Sharpies. Although I've looked them all over, I know I've missed stuff, so I have to look again. And its just a tradition of mine. Thanksgiving day doesn't feel the same unless I prey like a vulture on the big boxes' loss leaders. I used to do it on my own living room floor but, alas, not having a house does tend to make that difficult these days. Once I've marked them all to my heart's content, I can begin rubbing my hands together greedily and planning my route based upon the opening times and sale times and how great a deal is and how many I think they'll have in stock and how many other people will want the same item and...yeah, there's lots of moving parts to my planning process. Very different from my weekly garage sale route planning. But I love that kind of challenge! Speaking of garage sales...I wonder if anyone will even bother this week. Guess I'll go page through the classifieds & see.

Talk about the weather

Yep, haven't I just been the lazy one about updating my blogs lately? Yes I have. And no good excuse, either. Most of the time, I just forget that it needs doing, until I've already gone to bed. But here I am now, and I'll make a fine and powerful entry out of it just the same. OK, maybe not powerful. I was just paraphrasing one of my favorite authors there, Stuart Wilde.

The long-awaited Georgia trip turned into more of a long weekend during which I got my rear kicked by the trail. I did finally get my very own backpack though, so I no longer have to put up with the odd fit of any of Jeff's. It will undoubtedly make things easier if we ever decide to go backpacking together as well...two people & one backpack just doesn't sound possible. At any rate, I learned that I'm not quite up to hauling a 50-pound pack over rough trails just yet, although I did make it to my first camp site and there experienced a very bizarre weather occurrence. But first, a bit of background...

The night before I set out hiking I had stayed in a campground well south of the Pine Mountain Trail. The temperature there got down to 38 overnight. I spent most of that night in just my fleece top & bottom & a t-shirt, hunkered down under (not mummied into) my sleeping bag, atop my new Pro-Lite 4 Therm-a-Rest. It wasn't comfortable like sleeping in my bed at home, but I didn't have anything go numb or threaten to fall off. On towards morning, in order to ensure that I got at least some decent sleep, I put on another layer, and was comfortable. This helped me establish that I should probably go ahead and carry the extra layers of clothing I brought, "just in case," so that I wouldn't be stranded out on the trail with insufficient insulation.

So, the next morning, I packed everything up, including my extra layers, and drove to the trailhead for the Pine Mountain Trail. I contemplated investing in a warmer sleeping bag, but, it was Sunday, and in Georgia it seems almost nothing outside of Atlanta is open on Sunday, so it turned out to be a non-option. No biggie. According to the last check I had made before leaving, the weather was actually slated to warm up after one more night similar to the previous one, so I should be fine. I check in and pay for my backcountry and parking permits, decide which sites I'll be staying at what nights...yada yada yada. Drive to the trailhead, hike in with my pack, and make it to the Bumblebee Ridge camp site not much worse for wear, considering my pack weight.

Funny side note...as I'm approaching the camp site, there's a pretty tall rock outcrop I have to scale to get up to it. OK, not that tall (maybe 3 feet) but wayyy to high for me to scramble up with pack on back. Lucky for me there's a nice couple sitting atop it with their cute little dog. They've dayhiked in, and as it's getting on to dusk are getting ready to leave. But the gent of the couple sees me struggling with my pack as I take it off and try to heave it up onto the rock outcrop in preparation for climbing up there myself, and kindly offers to help me. I warn him that the pack is heavy. In fact, I believe I used the phrase "bloody heavy." He apparently didn't believe me, though, and nearly fell off the rock when I stopped supporting it. "Wow!" he says..."you carry that on your back?" Yep, and I warned ya...

So I make it up to the camp site, and pick out a suitable spot, pitch the tent, cook dinner, etc. etc. As I'm cleaning up after dinner & hanging my food bag, it starts getting chilly, so I start applying layers. Then I snuggle down in my tent to write in my journal. Pretty soon, though, it's too cold for me to want to be out of the bag enough to write, so I put on my remaining layers and hide under my bag. Still too cold. So I mummy up in my bag, and get pretty close to warm. Then of course the bladder kicks in. Great. So I go take care of that, blowing copious clouds of condensation from my nostrils, and take my time getting back into the bag, so as not to sweat in my clothes (amazing what a difference just getting up and walking a few yards in cold weather gear makes in your internal temperature). But once I get back in & mummied up, I'm still shivering cold. Thinking that there isn't much else I can do, I begin to worry. No matter how snug I snug the hood (and yes, I'm wearing a fleece hat under it), I can't seem to get warm enough to stop shivering. Great, I'm gonna die of hypothermia on my first solo backpacking trip. OK, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the mind does funny flip-flops when you're alone in the woods. As I start thinking less drastically, I realize, worst case, I'll have to just keep moving all night to stay warm. Not the end of the world, but it's gonna make hiking the next day a pretty bad prospect.

Eventually nature calls again. Me and my blasted water habit. Sheesh. Out of the bag, out of the tent, do my thing...notice that, oddly, there is very little water vapor in evidence when I exhale, hear wind beginning to rustle the trees...back in the tent, close down the one little open flap to keep the cold wind out. Ha! Not gonna get me, frostbite! Then I begin easing back into the bag...but no matter how long I wait, I can't seem to cool off enough to keep from sweating. Odd, but not entirely unwelcome. So I lie and wait for a while, just glad I'm not shivering any more. A long while. Long enough to work up yet another trip out of the tent (sheesh). When I emerge, I realize it is so warm, I could easily be walking around in only a t-shirt & shorts. What the?! I guess the wind was blowing from the South, although I never felt it directly enough to know for sure. Whatever the case though, it apparently blew in one of the most drastic temperature changes I've ever experienced. I would say it was no more than an hour and a half to two hours that elapsed between the time that I was shivering to stay alive (which, given my previous night's experience and known temperature of 38 degrees, I would have to say it must have been well below 38 to make me that cold) and the time I had to start removing clothing to keep from sweating (if I had to guess, 50-55 degrees or so).

Needless to say, I slept quite well the rest of the night, but dawn came way too soon for my lack of rest, and I have always had trouble sleeping when the sun is in the sky. Somewhere between my shaky legs from not having rested properly and my self-doubt over whether or not the weather might bring similar experiences the following four nights, I decided to pack out rather than further in. A couple of miles out sounded like more than I could manage, anyway, and I had had five plus planned had I been continuing on. Once I got going, of course, my legs felt less rubbery, but once I had committed to the trail out, I didn't have much interest in changing my mind.

So, I'm a big wimp, I guess. Meh. I returned with a newfound resolution to lose weight, so I view it as a positive experience, regardless. Actually, more than losing weight, I've just committed to eating better. Five or six small meals of whole grains, veggies & high-quality protein. More cheaply said than done, but hopefully worth it in the end. And I'm sort of dragging Jeff along with me. I'm not forcing him to eat it, but fortunately for both of us, he's not the sort to turn down any meal that's cooked for him (as long as it doesn't contain pumpkin or mushrooms), so he's eating a lot of the same stuff I am, and it seems to be agreeing with him well enough. Perhaps he'll lose a little too, although he's not exactly obese, so it's not much of a concern. Mostly I'm just trying to put off my weight training until I get really and truly stalled on my weight removal process. Till then, it's steady cardio and diet for me. I view weight training as my ace in the hole...OK body, you don't wanna lose any more? Take THAT! Ha! Can't argue with the fact that muscle burns more calories than fat, can ya?!