Goodbye to a loyal friend

I lost a loyal and trustworthy friend. A part of me that has been there since the beginning, or so it seems. A part of me that was along for the best and worst times, and seemed to grow with me.

This October, it was mortally wounded in the hike through a grand Canyon... Though it held on as long as it could, eventually, it could go no further, and, on Wednesday, as I stubbed my toe, it gave up the long fight...

I intended to put it in the Grand Canyon scrap book, but Scott had other plans...
Good bye my loyal 3rd toe nail on the left foot... You've been replaced, but I'll never forget your loyal service.

Above is a funeral photograph... blurry, however the best I could do on short notice

We have our reasons

and whatever they might be, we LIKE EM! Stony Brook Park... The three DUHmigo's...

E-A-G-L-E-S!

Oh yeah folks... GO EAGLES!

Scott and I spent Sunday in the craziness that is San Francisco... and crazy it was. Lucky for me, I have a very mellow other half. 49er fans are annoying drunks.

How much am I loved? Well, for those who do not know Scott, he is a DIE HARD Cowboys fan... seeing that the title of this post is 'EAGLES', and everyone knows who I think the greatest team ever is, Sunday football is interesting for Scott and I... especially at least twice a year. Regardless, Scott understands my obsessions, and loves me enough to be a great sport and don a tribute to Donovan McNabb... a No. 5 EAGLES jersey! For me!!!!

Check it out! and we came out victorious, well, at least until San Fran traffic conquered us. The normally 1 hour drive became 3... it was worth it!

Highpoints...

Alive and well and we made it back from the Grand Canyon... Here, for your viewing entertainment, visual highpoints. That about sums it up.... What else do you do when you start a 25 mile hike at 4:30 am in 30 degree weather??? You chug at least a bottle of wine... and channel your inner karate kid...

The Smoke Clears...

No, no, not the smoke you see when I'm desperately trying to formulate a thought...

I was asked to do something 'nice' for my manager's birthday. Her assistant asked that I bake her a special 'princess crown' cake (don't ask)

butter, water, vanilla, etc, in the mixer, in the pan, in the oven. Apparently I forgot that Dora was a messy endeavor, and forgot to check for leftovers. No need! It became obvious from the smoke pouring out of the oven that perhaps I need to invest in 'Easy Off'... that's right folks! FIRE!!!

It was messy, but I was able to take care of this little concern without the aid of the local firefighters, or any of the geriatric patrol (my neighbors) that nose into my business causing trouble.

The cake is safely baking, the bottom rack is lined appropriately, and I am icing my sore back with a bag of frozen edamame... Life is good.

2 weeks and counting...

nuff said?

2 weeks... Scott, Jill, Mom and Stu... and me... What's wrong with this picture? Well, let's see. They rode from Seattle to Portland, hiked all summer, bike all the time, play tennis like it's their job, and ... um... OH! Scott owns a TV that he might watch a movie on if he happens to be home for more than 10 minutes.

SO... where does that leave me? Well? Confession time - my profile on the site we met said that I like to hike. I've recently told Scott that perhaps, after Half Dome and some other 'real hikes', I should have clarified my love of 'hiking' with 'likes walks in the woods'.

There may not be enough Ibuprofen in Sacramento... but I'll get some phenomenal pictures. That will be my cover... yeah! I'm not huffing and puffing and needing to stop... I just really want to get a picture of that really pretty snake over there... great...

Trish and Stacy's CRAZY decision

Half Dome... for those of you that are not familiar, it's one of the popular hikes in Yosemite... it's also listed as an 'extremely strenuous' one day hike in the guide books... in fact, most sane people do it in 2 days. Not us... No sir... we are animals...
The highlights are to numerous for me to tell you about, but... here's some pictures from the day

Congrats AMY and NICK

Threesome anyone?

Cat came to visit... which I loved! It was a tough time for her, but I think we all had fun... check it out!

Birthday Fun

It's been a big year for some of us with birthdays...

I hit a major one... no comments please and thank you. August, especially Leo's seem to be very big in my life. Scott and his sister both had birthdays in August, and I and a little fun with them!

Scott, may the force be with him, is a HUGE Star Wars junkie... Jill loves her hikes and bikes... so Mom requested a um.. special theme. I did my best. For those of you with small children and recognize the um... hiker... no comments. It's a white girl this time

Lazy dayz

So I spent a lot of eh, er... um... RECOVERY time in Reno and Tahoe with Scott. This has evolved into quite an experience, and quite a love... for both of us. Check out my myspace and facebook pages for more pics!

Everyone else is doing it...

So why shouldn't we???

So Scotty will probably be surprised to see this, as I didn't really let him know I decided to do this (sorry honey!)
So many friends and family have started these to keep up, after everything I've done this summer, figured, why not?
So as you know, the Summer started with my surgery and recovery, and, as you may not know... Scott. There have been parties, weddings, babies (congrats Amy and Nick), loss of pets (sorry Cat), new pets (Amy and Cat), visitors, insane hiking trips through Yosemite, more regular hiking trips in Tahoe and the Sierra's, bike rides, and, coming soon, the Grand Canyon.

Wow that's a LOT... so here are some pics, and possibly some words, regarding some of these events. Enjoy, comment, and be happy for us, we are happier than ever together!