One thing I forgot to mention in my Reflections post - was the influx of aliases - that seemed to be no-shows for the event...
We are still trying to figure out who cyfer is... they haven't planted in a while and supposedly went back to their own alien planet - yet they signed up for the event... hmm. I wonder if all the spaceship shuttles were busy or if their trip planner stopped working. Any who - I never managed to exchange with them.
Then there's Mr. Big Foot. Seems he LOVES the salt marsh near our camping sites. He was once again 'caught in his tracks' by a few females that threw their logbooks up in the air and ran for their tents... upon returning to get their logbooks - a green footprint was added. Now I will say - I never had a visual - but I must have left my logbook unattended long enough for him to reach for it - as the front of mine has that very same foot print. He was kind enough to bring some stamps representing his extended family... and they were just hanging around - hope folks picked up on those clues : )
Let's see... Shhhhhh also signed up. But I didn't see that she made a splash either. Really too bad, as I was hoping to swap recipes with the old gal. Doesn't she just look like your mother cooking in the kitchen when you were growing up? But if I couldn't swap recipes - I would have loved to done an exchange!
And Mizer Brothers - they too seemed to have been a no-show. Probably the weather drove them away since it was neither one hundred below or hot like to desert... my guess is Mother Nature was busy with them - breaking up those fights that created all that darn rain and thunder/lightning. It would have been better if Heat Mizer showed up - Snow Mizer would have REALLY put a damper on a camping party!
But even with all those aliases slipping in and out - I WAS able to meet and exchange with some trying fabulous folks from all over the country! I'm always humbled that so many folks travel from so far away to attend our little party in Brunswick. And even though we had a fair amount of unpredictable weather - we had a great time! Wonder who will show up at the next event?
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
Reflections of MMCBBE12
So the event is over. Time to reflect on an event a year in the making... and it takes a whole year and some fabulous folks to pull of a BIG event. I could never do any of this on my own. As in years past - as soon as folks were packing up their gear last year - they were asking about this years event. It was listed - but we needed to start planning. After a few weeks of mental rest - we gathered and started to brain storm.
We started throwing ideas about activities, stamp themes, raffle items and other things around. Lists were created. And the delegation began! Having wonderful friends helping you - makes all the difference in the world... well that and letting them do what you ask them to without pestering them to death.
First on the list - we needed an event stamp. We enlisted Adventure Crafter and Aiphid with this task. I'll admit - when I first saw it - I didn't get it. But we warmed up to the image (after they explained it to us - lol) and started working with it.
Needed to get stamps for series - requested were sent out... A LTC tracker was created around the idea for campsite boxes... "Something You Don't Know About Me Is." Being part of the event - I felt like I probably should play along and join in... at least there were on 30. But we finally got them made.
We met again - and passed around more ideas. Messages were sent on regular basis through the committee board on AQ. Once you get creative minds going - oh my things start happening. Details were beginning to filter together. Stamps started to arrive from fabulous carvers. And after the weather (snow and mud) improved - planting started in force. Clues were sent off to Aiphid to start building the clue book. And since he has nothing but time on his hands - he started to build a bigger and better letter boxer cypher torture device! He showed us photos of the building process... you cannot believe the work he put into that box! Absolutely amazing!
My Dad carved buoys for the Buoy to You series... Christopher and I stood out in the snowy cold weather to base coat them all in white so that Teacup and I could have a painting party. Bright colored buoys blossomed on a Sunday afternoon... while it wasn't ink - we didn't walk away any cleaner than if we were boxing! Then we carved images for them and Teacup started to glue them together...
We were started to get everything in order. Final details were being pulled together. Listed for different activities were being tossed back and forth. We managed to get Mainekokopellian to help us with the Compass Reading class... and then started to hear from others that wanted to help. MedicGirl offered to help with Bind-It-All and littlmoon offered to get tye-dyed with the kids! These three were a great help and allowed committee members a bit of breathing room to do other things.
So a week before the event I started to watch the event weather forecast... ugh. It looked like lots of rain was heading our way. I shouldn't complain since this was the 5th year in a row for the event - and so far the only one with any measurable rain in the forecast. So I started to send out messages to make sure folks were prepared. Somewhere along the line I realized there was another small event happening during the event... it seems the Summer Olympics were taking place. So I whipped up a small event box so folks wouldn't feel like they were missing too much of the games.
Minor details were being put into place... maps being made for the Progressive Dinner, clue books printed, last minute stamps carved, quick trips to TPB to find out they had built a new Fairy Village (which meant a little more carving needed to be done.) Supplies were gathered, folks started to pack for the weekend and time was getting closer.
Knowing that the best weather for the weekend would be Wednesday and Thursday - as early arrivals made their way to the campground - Teacup and I headed over to TPB and started to pass out clue packets. We had spent lots of time and energy getting series off site put together and we WANTED people to get inky! Even better if they could do it without getting soaked.
Thursday arrived and I headed over to start to set up... The wonderful Wildcats had set up my tent in the morning before I arrived, but we were heading off to Event Central to set that up. We ended up with a glitch since muggles in a motor coach were still there and they were no where to be found. They finally made it back to camp around 3ish and moved their motor coach so we could set up. More folks checked in and we passed out clues. Teacup and I were bounded and determined to pass out clues to everyone - so many aliases signed up for the event and we wanted to try and crack who a couple of them were. As we were passing packets out we were greeted by Grumpy Grinch! Grumpy? Nah, just a wonderful teddy bear - hugs were exchanged and we chatted a bit. Then in rolled Celtic Roots and the whole scene was repeated!
So Thursday had folks arriving and settling in. Getting early ink. Traveling about to get in some sights and just visiting with friends. Unfortunately - it also brought in the first of the rain. Seems a small front was pushing in from the south... while the weather held off during the day, the over night was a bit wild. But the natives couldn't be tamed by a bit of unsettled weather. Angel Tread's Doug was celebrating a personal miles stone. So a small party was happening over at their campsite. Chocolate Cream Pie seems to go well with white wine. After the pie was gone - Jiffy and Nancy of Angel Treads were still giggling like school girls. I had my kids with me - so I had to try and get them settled down for some sleep. It was a rough night...
In the middle of the night Veronica wanted water (she was fighting an ear infection but insisted on camping.) and Christopher woke up crying saying he wanted to go home. Ashley - still mostly asleep offered to make him a sandwich and then immediately rolled over and back to sleep. Morning eventually arrived - but sleep had mostly eluded me. At 2:30 I watched the lightning dance across the salt marsh near our campsite. It poured for about 30 minutes and then I ventured off to the bath house in the drizzle trying to get sleepy...
Friday and more folks arrived and set up camp. More clues were passed out. Exchanges were made. Event boxes were stamped up. Raffle tickets were being sold and the weather had decided to agree with us for a bit. The Progressive Dinner was that evening - so folks started to head off to their campsites so they could get things going. When the dinner bell did ring, families with plates started to meander from site to site to taste friends offerings. We had a wide arrange of appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts for the offerings.
After the Progressive Dinner - folks started filtering towards Event Central for their slots in Night boxing. The early slots stayed relatively dry. Unfortunately - the weather quickly progressed to rain. So even though they were stamping up colorful images - they were getting wet and inky. With the rain once again taking hold of the campground - folks settled down pretty early. There were a few hold outs. Some diehards hovered around camp fires or continued to meander from site to site to get those boxes in the shadows of the night. And at some point, Mr. Big Foot managed to linger out of the marsh to make his presence known! I fell asleep to the sound of 'click, click' as our site boxes were being stamped in by yet another night owl boxer!
Saturday arrived. Not too many clues to pass out, so check in was kind of quiet. But event Central was still buzzing. Because of the rain - things started off a little slower than usual... but me being mud, thought I needed to get things rolling with a lovely face plant in the dirt! After brushing away the bulk of the dirt... the Wildcats decided I had opted for an 'organic' approach to a name tag... my shirt stayed muddy all day where a name tag would have been! Other than a few bruises - the biggest problem was my spilled Dunkin coffee : ( that Teacup had brought me.
So Teacup and I went off and planted a couple of temporary boxes... fairies down in Fairy Village, a fluttering butterfly that flew in from Oklahoma and something beach side. After planting - I headed off for another cup of coffee while Teacup went to Event Central to look for more aliases. We had a busy day planned and folks were busy getting inky. Out on the trails, at camp sites, collecting buoys and stamping up event boxes.
At eleven we were so excited that littlmoon was willing to help the kids tye-dye their shirts. Parents stayed around and helped tighten rubber bands, while Mainekokopellian was off helping some adults learn how to find out Which Way Truely Is North? A Bind-It-All demonstration was managed by MedicGirl and Aiphid was off helping folks figure out ciphers. His class was so popular that it ran two hours!
Dave of the Wildcats was desperately trying to scare up a game of softball. But it seems he couldn't get some hearty souls to swing a bat! Even with Wildcat Alice trying to call folks in to play with the bull horn! I think the humidity that had socked in at that point - had folks settling down to get inky at campsites! While Dave couldn't get anyone to run the bases - he did get a few hearty souls to swing the bat!
A few boxers popped over to play a round of BINGO with Angel Treads and Teacup. The first round went to Sandcastle! After a quick check of the numbers - we rolled into game two. The second winner was one of the Sprites... he was so darned cute covered in more ink than his BINGO card. One of the Spooky Group also won (well sort of. We skipped a game because we were running behind - and I saw his BINGO and awarded him on the sly!)
The next winner was Lego Boy - he actually was the first one to get the picture frame AND a coverall... but we played a bit longer. The coverall had a three way tie in kimmywtvl, terrapin and dash the stick man. We all stamped up daubers and headed off to the grandstand.
Trying to get everyone in the photo - someone in the group ran off to the family reunion being held nearby and grabbed a couple of souls willing to snap some photos. Nothing like 100 boxers yelling out which way north was! I'm sure our photographers were more than a little confused when we all pointed skyward!
Then we all ambled back to event central for the raffles. Because of lots of great donations and things assembled by committee members - we had lots of items to pick from. Larger items folks could only win once - and smaller items folks could win multiple times. We had a couple frequent winners - but mostly many folks were able to win something as momentoes of the weekend. And the money raised helped to offset the site costs and event supplies! So we REALLY appreciated all that participated int he raffles!
A few hours of quiet to get dinner and then our final night boxing event. Aiphid and Adventure Crafter were the night boxing geniuses this year. Folks signed up in advance in 15 minute blocks and everything went sooo smoothly! Only a few people milled around - and while they did, they stamped up event boxes in the area. We lasted a little bit longer before the rain came. But another successful evening of getting colorful images wrapped up.
Folks continued to stroll around getting boxes late into the night. Even in the drizzle, camp fires were set up, folks hung out and chatted. People seemed to have a nice quiet evening. While the rain did temper some of the noise - the quiet camaraderie that was shared around campsites was more special than in years past.
Sunday had folks breaking camp. We could hear thunder starting to roll in the distance. Cars were quickly being packed up - and all but a few souls managed to get everything tucked away before the deluge came. Teacup and I were breaking camp at Event Central when the rain started... we got soaked! But everything mostly stayed dry!
Another successful - if a bit wet - event has drawn to a close. And while we are taking a year off - we are hoping folks support Live and Breathe in our absence - you can bet that in 2014 things will once again get crazy at Thomas Point Beach! In the meantime - watch out for those aliases that seem to pop up everywhere! Keep your ladies close by as Mr. Big Foot seems to be a Ladies Man and here's hoping you all have happy dry inky trails until we gather again!
We started throwing ideas about activities, stamp themes, raffle items and other things around. Lists were created. And the delegation began! Having wonderful friends helping you - makes all the difference in the world... well that and letting them do what you ask them to without pestering them to death.
First on the list - we needed an event stamp. We enlisted Adventure Crafter and Aiphid with this task. I'll admit - when I first saw it - I didn't get it. But we warmed up to the image (after they explained it to us - lol) and started working with it.
Needed to get stamps for series - requested were sent out... A LTC tracker was created around the idea for campsite boxes... "Something You Don't Know About Me Is." Being part of the event - I felt like I probably should play along and join in... at least there were on 30. But we finally got them made.
We met again - and passed around more ideas. Messages were sent on regular basis through the committee board on AQ. Once you get creative minds going - oh my things start happening. Details were beginning to filter together. Stamps started to arrive from fabulous carvers. And after the weather (snow and mud) improved - planting started in force. Clues were sent off to Aiphid to start building the clue book. And since he has nothing but time on his hands - he started to build a bigger and better letter boxer cypher torture device! He showed us photos of the building process... you cannot believe the work he put into that box! Absolutely amazing!
My Dad carved buoys for the Buoy to You series... Christopher and I stood out in the snowy cold weather to base coat them all in white so that Teacup and I could have a painting party. Bright colored buoys blossomed on a Sunday afternoon... while it wasn't ink - we didn't walk away any cleaner than if we were boxing! Then we carved images for them and Teacup started to glue them together...
We were started to get everything in order. Final details were being pulled together. Listed for different activities were being tossed back and forth. We managed to get Mainekokopellian to help us with the Compass Reading class... and then started to hear from others that wanted to help. MedicGirl offered to help with Bind-It-All and littlmoon offered to get tye-dyed with the kids! These three were a great help and allowed committee members a bit of breathing room to do other things.
So a week before the event I started to watch the event weather forecast... ugh. It looked like lots of rain was heading our way. I shouldn't complain since this was the 5th year in a row for the event - and so far the only one with any measurable rain in the forecast. So I started to send out messages to make sure folks were prepared. Somewhere along the line I realized there was another small event happening during the event... it seems the Summer Olympics were taking place. So I whipped up a small event box so folks wouldn't feel like they were missing too much of the games.
Minor details were being put into place... maps being made for the Progressive Dinner, clue books printed, last minute stamps carved, quick trips to TPB to find out they had built a new Fairy Village (which meant a little more carving needed to be done.) Supplies were gathered, folks started to pack for the weekend and time was getting closer.
Knowing that the best weather for the weekend would be Wednesday and Thursday - as early arrivals made their way to the campground - Teacup and I headed over to TPB and started to pass out clue packets. We had spent lots of time and energy getting series off site put together and we WANTED people to get inky! Even better if they could do it without getting soaked.
Thursday arrived and I headed over to start to set up... The wonderful Wildcats had set up my tent in the morning before I arrived, but we were heading off to Event Central to set that up. We ended up with a glitch since muggles in a motor coach were still there and they were no where to be found. They finally made it back to camp around 3ish and moved their motor coach so we could set up. More folks checked in and we passed out clues. Teacup and I were bounded and determined to pass out clues to everyone - so many aliases signed up for the event and we wanted to try and crack who a couple of them were. As we were passing packets out we were greeted by Grumpy Grinch! Grumpy? Nah, just a wonderful teddy bear - hugs were exchanged and we chatted a bit. Then in rolled Celtic Roots and the whole scene was repeated!
So Thursday had folks arriving and settling in. Getting early ink. Traveling about to get in some sights and just visiting with friends. Unfortunately - it also brought in the first of the rain. Seems a small front was pushing in from the south... while the weather held off during the day, the over night was a bit wild. But the natives couldn't be tamed by a bit of unsettled weather. Angel Tread's Doug was celebrating a personal miles stone. So a small party was happening over at their campsite. Chocolate Cream Pie seems to go well with white wine. After the pie was gone - Jiffy and Nancy of Angel Treads were still giggling like school girls. I had my kids with me - so I had to try and get them settled down for some sleep. It was a rough night...
In the middle of the night Veronica wanted water (she was fighting an ear infection but insisted on camping.) and Christopher woke up crying saying he wanted to go home. Ashley - still mostly asleep offered to make him a sandwich and then immediately rolled over and back to sleep. Morning eventually arrived - but sleep had mostly eluded me. At 2:30 I watched the lightning dance across the salt marsh near our campsite. It poured for about 30 minutes and then I ventured off to the bath house in the drizzle trying to get sleepy...
Friday and more folks arrived and set up camp. More clues were passed out. Exchanges were made. Event boxes were stamped up. Raffle tickets were being sold and the weather had decided to agree with us for a bit. The Progressive Dinner was that evening - so folks started to head off to their campsites so they could get things going. When the dinner bell did ring, families with plates started to meander from site to site to taste friends offerings. We had a wide arrange of appetizers, entrees, side dishes and desserts for the offerings.
After the Progressive Dinner - folks started filtering towards Event Central for their slots in Night boxing. The early slots stayed relatively dry. Unfortunately - the weather quickly progressed to rain. So even though they were stamping up colorful images - they were getting wet and inky. With the rain once again taking hold of the campground - folks settled down pretty early. There were a few hold outs. Some diehards hovered around camp fires or continued to meander from site to site to get those boxes in the shadows of the night. And at some point, Mr. Big Foot managed to linger out of the marsh to make his presence known! I fell asleep to the sound of 'click, click' as our site boxes were being stamped in by yet another night owl boxer!
Saturday arrived. Not too many clues to pass out, so check in was kind of quiet. But event Central was still buzzing. Because of the rain - things started off a little slower than usual... but me being mud, thought I needed to get things rolling with a lovely face plant in the dirt! After brushing away the bulk of the dirt... the Wildcats decided I had opted for an 'organic' approach to a name tag... my shirt stayed muddy all day where a name tag would have been! Other than a few bruises - the biggest problem was my spilled Dunkin coffee : ( that Teacup had brought me.
So Teacup and I went off and planted a couple of temporary boxes... fairies down in Fairy Village, a fluttering butterfly that flew in from Oklahoma and something beach side. After planting - I headed off for another cup of coffee while Teacup went to Event Central to look for more aliases. We had a busy day planned and folks were busy getting inky. Out on the trails, at camp sites, collecting buoys and stamping up event boxes.
At eleven we were so excited that littlmoon was willing to help the kids tye-dye their shirts. Parents stayed around and helped tighten rubber bands, while Mainekokopellian was off helping some adults learn how to find out Which Way Truely Is North? A Bind-It-All demonstration was managed by MedicGirl and Aiphid was off helping folks figure out ciphers. His class was so popular that it ran two hours!
Dave of the Wildcats was desperately trying to scare up a game of softball. But it seems he couldn't get some hearty souls to swing a bat! Even with Wildcat Alice trying to call folks in to play with the bull horn! I think the humidity that had socked in at that point - had folks settling down to get inky at campsites! While Dave couldn't get anyone to run the bases - he did get a few hearty souls to swing the bat!
A few boxers popped over to play a round of BINGO with Angel Treads and Teacup. The first round went to Sandcastle! After a quick check of the numbers - we rolled into game two. The second winner was one of the Sprites... he was so darned cute covered in more ink than his BINGO card. One of the Spooky Group also won (well sort of. We skipped a game because we were running behind - and I saw his BINGO and awarded him on the sly!)
The next winner was Lego Boy - he actually was the first one to get the picture frame AND a coverall... but we played a bit longer. The coverall had a three way tie in kimmywtvl, terrapin and dash the stick man. We all stamped up daubers and headed off to the grandstand.
Trying to get everyone in the photo - someone in the group ran off to the family reunion being held nearby and grabbed a couple of souls willing to snap some photos. Nothing like 100 boxers yelling out which way north was! I'm sure our photographers were more than a little confused when we all pointed skyward!
Then we all ambled back to event central for the raffles. Because of lots of great donations and things assembled by committee members - we had lots of items to pick from. Larger items folks could only win once - and smaller items folks could win multiple times. We had a couple frequent winners - but mostly many folks were able to win something as momentoes of the weekend. And the money raised helped to offset the site costs and event supplies! So we REALLY appreciated all that participated int he raffles!
A few hours of quiet to get dinner and then our final night boxing event. Aiphid and Adventure Crafter were the night boxing geniuses this year. Folks signed up in advance in 15 minute blocks and everything went sooo smoothly! Only a few people milled around - and while they did, they stamped up event boxes in the area. We lasted a little bit longer before the rain came. But another successful evening of getting colorful images wrapped up.
Folks continued to stroll around getting boxes late into the night. Even in the drizzle, camp fires were set up, folks hung out and chatted. People seemed to have a nice quiet evening. While the rain did temper some of the noise - the quiet camaraderie that was shared around campsites was more special than in years past.
Sunday had folks breaking camp. We could hear thunder starting to roll in the distance. Cars were quickly being packed up - and all but a few souls managed to get everything tucked away before the deluge came. Teacup and I were breaking camp at Event Central when the rain started... we got soaked! But everything mostly stayed dry!
Another successful - if a bit wet - event has drawn to a close. And while we are taking a year off - we are hoping folks support Live and Breathe in our absence - you can bet that in 2014 things will once again get crazy at Thomas Point Beach! In the meantime - watch out for those aliases that seem to pop up everywhere! Keep your ladies close by as Mr. Big Foot seems to be a Ladies Man and here's hoping you all have happy dry inky trails until we gather again!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
My 45th Meltdown Bash
So - about a year ago I started plotting and planning to have a birthday party for myself - with friends, folks I wanted to be with on my birthday : ) I commandeered my sister's house, invited a few friends, and planned some stamps, a menu of foods I like and then waited for a year to pass. I carved a series and a few single stamps - but asked some friends from afar to send a stamp so they could attend my party in spirit if not in person.
I planted my series - a Ying and Yang series cause when you're turning 45 its all about balance - past and present, etc. - don't worry - that's as deep as I'll get in this blog : ) Ashley and I went out and planted the boxes... then I asked Amber to proof the directions since Ashley and my clues tend to be just slightly - off on occasion. Amber did - managed to find 3 out of 9 boxes but picked up 15 ticks for her troubles. So later in the week - Amber and I set off to find the rest of the boxes. Oops - missed a key direction to turn around and continue on the road you were on before... my bad.
We ended up calling Ashley 4 times for more help since I couldn't locate the boxes and I was with her when we planted them! But eventually - we found them all - tweeked a few words here and there, added a few sticks for clarity... you know - made the clues make sense! Any who... so those we fixed nice and neat. Had Amber check on a couple more - they seemed okay. So now to list them and start pulling together a menu...
What to have? Hmmm... some of my favorites of course. Old stand-bys like cheese and crackers, fruit and veggie trays to munch on and a variety of dips, chips, pretzels, and tortillas. I'd recently found a new Asian noodle salad that I made, plus a Spinach salad with strawberries, manadarin oranges and candied walnuts. Made chicken kabobs to be grilled and of course punch and cake! We were supposed to have shots to toast... but the weather turned out non-shot worthy, so only a couple folks did shots (my step-mother being one of them!)
I was supposed to plant a bonus series - but spent the week before my party pretty much sick or running ragged to other events. In case you didn't know it, my husband Ron and I share a birthday on June 1st. He's a few years older than me - but since we've been together - we've had a silly little tradition. We go to the movies because we can get in for free. Then we splurge on a decent dinner since the 2nd is our anniversary so its kind of like celebrating both on the same day. So the first rolled around and while I waited for Ron to get off work - I went with my son's second grade class to Scarborough Marsh.
The weather was picture perfect! There was just a slight breeze - just enough to keep the marshy bugs at bay. We learned about the marsh habitat and about the birds and other animals that live there. I will say - its been MANY years since I've ridden in a bus... I forgot how well excited kid's voices in a bus amplifies! But I survived the trip and then headed off to wait for Ron to get home. We saw Men in Black - a fun movie with less slime than in previous movies. After that - off to visit Ashley at her new job serving up soft serve to Lewiston's finest (YIKES!) Over the river to WalMArt in Auburn for fondant for my cake... another YIKES! Walmart on the first of the month... a Friday to boot. What WAS I thinking???
Off to dinner for some wonderful seafood... and en route driving there - my brakes decided to give out. Ron kept telling me I could speed up a little bit - but after I finally told him that my brakes were barely holding out - he agreed the EXTRA distance I was leaving was probably a smart thing to do. Home again (with Ron driving home from the restaurant) I was ready for bed. I had a whole list of things I needed to get done Saturday morning - starting with a 7am trip to the grocery store.
Saturday I managed to over sleep - so I ran off to the grocery store and flew through the aisles, gathering the food I needed. Upon arriving home - I pulled out the ingredients I needed for prep at my house and sent Christopher off to wake up Ashley. After putting all the various supplies back in my car - off I headed to Colleen's house. After driving across her lawn to unload - I sent my niece Emily off to plant a couple boxes outside.
Veronica and Ashley showed up - and with Emily's help - they set up the decorations. We planted a few boxes inside, made punch and then waited. I continued to prep food for salads and the fruit trays, while behind me Ashley managed to cut her finger to the bones with a bread knife. Colleen, a paramedic and a nurse steri-stripped her up and we shooed her from kitchen duty. But this put Colleen on KP duty. We finished putting out most of the food as Amber and a couple others started to arrive.
And as they arrived, so did the rain. Not just a little bit of rain... not a pesky drizzle that most can box through. Nope - we had a full fledged rain event. Thankfully - Colleen's house is large and we were able to hang out and party. Amber handed me that gift she gathered before she had to rush off as her husband was ill. I asked her if it was going to make me cry, and she said no. I lasted through 2 sentences before I started crying. Its such a heartfelt feeling to know you have friends both near and far. My gift was amazing. 46 stamps carved and gathered by Amber. Planted and clues assembled in a Gargoyle Girl logbook for me to head out and seek. 46 individual images from folks I've met in person and shared many good times with and from folks I've met and shared nothing more than internet exchanges, postals, LTCs and numerous e-mails with. All I had to do was go out and find them!
I managed to get through the rest of it and some folks went out and found some of the boxes in between the rain drops. We ate food, drank lots of punch and just sat around and had a wonderful chance to catch up. Other friends arrived a little later and we continued to catch-up some more. We talked about how we started in boxing, what some of our favorite finds were and when we first exchanged. It was fun to spend a relaxing day with such great friends, both in person and in spirit.
So today - Amber took me out to find a few of my gifts. We hiked Hedgehog Mountain and mud was certainly flingin! We hiked and stopped and got inky. I felt like a mud princess as Amber fetched muddy boxes, tapped the excessive mud off the outside and handed me the individual presents to stemp up! What a fun day. What a great start to filling those pages with incredible art sent to me by incredible friends. Of the 46 on the list - we plucked 17 off the list today. The others will have to wait for another day and another adventure.
I can't even begin to express my gratitude and my profound appreciation for the generosity of so many - it just proves once more what a wonderful community letterboxing and what great people letterboxers are. I'm so thrilled to be a part of this community every day.
Ironically - 11 years ago - the Friday and Saturday of our birthday and wedding had the exact same weather. I beautiful picture perfect Friday and nothing but pouring rain for our wedding. It just proves that great things come from many rain drops!
I planted my series - a Ying and Yang series cause when you're turning 45 its all about balance - past and present, etc. - don't worry - that's as deep as I'll get in this blog : ) Ashley and I went out and planted the boxes... then I asked Amber to proof the directions since Ashley and my clues tend to be just slightly - off on occasion. Amber did - managed to find 3 out of 9 boxes but picked up 15 ticks for her troubles. So later in the week - Amber and I set off to find the rest of the boxes. Oops - missed a key direction to turn around and continue on the road you were on before... my bad.
We ended up calling Ashley 4 times for more help since I couldn't locate the boxes and I was with her when we planted them! But eventually - we found them all - tweeked a few words here and there, added a few sticks for clarity... you know - made the clues make sense! Any who... so those we fixed nice and neat. Had Amber check on a couple more - they seemed okay. So now to list them and start pulling together a menu...
What to have? Hmmm... some of my favorites of course. Old stand-bys like cheese and crackers, fruit and veggie trays to munch on and a variety of dips, chips, pretzels, and tortillas. I'd recently found a new Asian noodle salad that I made, plus a Spinach salad with strawberries, manadarin oranges and candied walnuts. Made chicken kabobs to be grilled and of course punch and cake! We were supposed to have shots to toast... but the weather turned out non-shot worthy, so only a couple folks did shots (my step-mother being one of them!)
I was supposed to plant a bonus series - but spent the week before my party pretty much sick or running ragged to other events. In case you didn't know it, my husband Ron and I share a birthday on June 1st. He's a few years older than me - but since we've been together - we've had a silly little tradition. We go to the movies because we can get in for free. Then we splurge on a decent dinner since the 2nd is our anniversary so its kind of like celebrating both on the same day. So the first rolled around and while I waited for Ron to get off work - I went with my son's second grade class to Scarborough Marsh.
The weather was picture perfect! There was just a slight breeze - just enough to keep the marshy bugs at bay. We learned about the marsh habitat and about the birds and other animals that live there. I will say - its been MANY years since I've ridden in a bus... I forgot how well excited kid's voices in a bus amplifies! But I survived the trip and then headed off to wait for Ron to get home. We saw Men in Black - a fun movie with less slime than in previous movies. After that - off to visit Ashley at her new job serving up soft serve to Lewiston's finest (YIKES!) Over the river to WalMArt in Auburn for fondant for my cake... another YIKES! Walmart on the first of the month... a Friday to boot. What WAS I thinking???
Off to dinner for some wonderful seafood... and en route driving there - my brakes decided to give out. Ron kept telling me I could speed up a little bit - but after I finally told him that my brakes were barely holding out - he agreed the EXTRA distance I was leaving was probably a smart thing to do. Home again (with Ron driving home from the restaurant) I was ready for bed. I had a whole list of things I needed to get done Saturday morning - starting with a 7am trip to the grocery store.
Saturday I managed to over sleep - so I ran off to the grocery store and flew through the aisles, gathering the food I needed. Upon arriving home - I pulled out the ingredients I needed for prep at my house and sent Christopher off to wake up Ashley. After putting all the various supplies back in my car - off I headed to Colleen's house. After driving across her lawn to unload - I sent my niece Emily off to plant a couple boxes outside.
Veronica and Ashley showed up - and with Emily's help - they set up the decorations. We planted a few boxes inside, made punch and then waited. I continued to prep food for salads and the fruit trays, while behind me Ashley managed to cut her finger to the bones with a bread knife. Colleen, a paramedic and a nurse steri-stripped her up and we shooed her from kitchen duty. But this put Colleen on KP duty. We finished putting out most of the food as Amber and a couple others started to arrive.
And as they arrived, so did the rain. Not just a little bit of rain... not a pesky drizzle that most can box through. Nope - we had a full fledged rain event. Thankfully - Colleen's house is large and we were able to hang out and party. Amber handed me that gift she gathered before she had to rush off as her husband was ill. I asked her if it was going to make me cry, and she said no. I lasted through 2 sentences before I started crying. Its such a heartfelt feeling to know you have friends both near and far. My gift was amazing. 46 stamps carved and gathered by Amber. Planted and clues assembled in a Gargoyle Girl logbook for me to head out and seek. 46 individual images from folks I've met in person and shared many good times with and from folks I've met and shared nothing more than internet exchanges, postals, LTCs and numerous e-mails with. All I had to do was go out and find them!
I managed to get through the rest of it and some folks went out and found some of the boxes in between the rain drops. We ate food, drank lots of punch and just sat around and had a wonderful chance to catch up. Other friends arrived a little later and we continued to catch-up some more. We talked about how we started in boxing, what some of our favorite finds were and when we first exchanged. It was fun to spend a relaxing day with such great friends, both in person and in spirit.
So today - Amber took me out to find a few of my gifts. We hiked Hedgehog Mountain and mud was certainly flingin! We hiked and stopped and got inky. I felt like a mud princess as Amber fetched muddy boxes, tapped the excessive mud off the outside and handed me the individual presents to stemp up! What a fun day. What a great start to filling those pages with incredible art sent to me by incredible friends. Of the 46 on the list - we plucked 17 off the list today. The others will have to wait for another day and another adventure.
I can't even begin to express my gratitude and my profound appreciation for the generosity of so many - it just proves once more what a wonderful community letterboxing and what great people letterboxers are. I'm so thrilled to be a part of this community every day.
Ironically - 11 years ago - the Friday and Saturday of our birthday and wedding had the exact same weather. I beautiful picture perfect Friday and nothing but pouring rain for our wedding. It just proves that great things come from many rain drops!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Mentally drained...
Today was supposed to be a quiet day. But its turned into a mentally unproductive one. A shutdown day for work, I had a list of small projects I wanted to get done. Not to mention more laundry. But it seems none of that would get accomplished today.
It started yesterday. I got called out of work early - Christopher was sick. This was slightly surprising, Christopher never gets sick. So I left work early (we were getting out early anyways) by leaving at noon, rushing to get gas in the car so I wouldn't have to walk home and made it to the school in under 40 minutes.
Got Christopher in the car, yeah - he was marginally sick. Tummy ache and all that - but no fever. Settled him on the couch where he lasted about 20 minutes before he was up ditching his jeans and belt. Can't blame a kid for not wanting a belt around his tummy if it already hurt. He watched Chipmunks Chipwrecked and then started to put in the squeekqual when off he went to the bathroom. He was gone for a while so I yelled after him. Seems things were going okay, but slow.
A few more minutes - and here he comes back to the couch... wearing even less. Sometimes a mom just knows when to not ask questions, but listen to the unmistakable sounds instead. Things had worked themselves out. But since I brought him home from school - he was destined for the couch fpor the rest of the day. This did not impress him very much. By now he was getting antsy and wanted to go outside and play with his sister who had just gotten off the bus. "No can do, if you came home from school sick - inside is where you stay." "But Mom, I'm feeling better now." "That may be - but you're still in for the rest of the day. If you are feeling better tomorrow and can go back to school, you can play outside tomorrow." This bummed him out - but amazingly enough, there were no issues about getting him to go to school today.
Veronica on the other hand was different. My parents have two golden retrievers. Buddy and Lucky. These dogs are a long line of goldens that my dad has had over the years. He's always had goldens... Winchester, Abby, Martini, and the list goes on and on. While I'm not the animal freak that my other two sisters are, I can appreciate good animals. I would never want any of them hurt, but I also do not live a lifestyle that warrants owning a dog.
My motto is - if it cannot tell me its hungry - it doesn't eat. Probably also why I have no plants in my house - they do a perpetually poor job of verbalizing their needs as well. Cats - well that's a different story completely. Cats don't 'need' anything... they just 'are.' Therefore - in our house, the cats can stay. Actually Ron takes care of them... well feeds them. They have a cat door - so for the most part - they are independant.
So yesterday - after we settled the kids down, my mom comes over to tell me that they are putting Lucky down. This is a golden that they rescued from the side of the road. It was tied up in a bag, and was very ill when they found him. But he has never been 'all there,' if you understand my meaning. But he's was a good dog as dogs go. He had some serious issues that my parent's could not get him to break, running away and jumping on cars were the worst two. And when he jumped on a car - he practically clawed it to death. About a year ago, Lucky started to have seizures. And they started to get worse. My parents had Lucky in the vets office so many times to just be given another script to try to calm the dog's nerves.
To make matter wrose, every time my Dad would go for a long drive (he is a car driver for the local Ford dealerships and tends to hop in his car at the slightest notice and drive to... upstate NY, VT, MA, all over Maine, etc.) - Lucky would develop seperation anxiety. This would make the seizures even worse. And then he would end up getting multiples of them at a sitting. So after numerous medications that did not help, and lots of heart wrenching talks - they decided to put Lucky down. They told my kids last night.
Christopher was okay - Veronica, not so much. So this morning, after my parents left and I was trying to get the kids ready for the bus, Veronica fell apart. Sobbing and yelling that she wanted Lucky back. This lasted about 45 minutes. Finally - after lots of attempts to try and explain how it was better for the dog, I managed to get her to stop crying. Actually it was Christopher's offer to let her have the computer that finally ended the sobbing. We talked a little more about it, and she seemed resigned by the time she was getting onto the bus.
After they were gone - I headed out to pick up "Evil Laugh" and came home in time to see my parents digging a hole for Lucky. My parents are not young. 70 and 73 - and I do not think they should be digging holes in the ground for golden retrievers. So I helped them finish the task. I had to step away as my Dad put the dog down in the hole on the sheet and covered him up. I went back and helped return the soil over his limp body.
My mom commented "You're not an animal lover, bout you came back and helped us." There really wasn't anything I could say. My Dad is a huge animal lover. I know inside he was torn up. I know even though Lucky drove my Mom crazy with all of the stupid things he did, she was in no better shape. Animal lovers are animal lovers. While I'm not an animal lover - I am respectful of life, and death. Both are necessary - but sometimes both are so cruel.
So after doing my duty to help replace the soil over Lucky's limp body - I returned inside, lacking all of the ambition I had earlier. Gone was any desire to be creative. Gone was any desire to be productive. Gone was my desire to even eat. I finally finished carving a stamp - because I promised Veronica it would be finished for her by the time she came home from school. A Tiki man with surf boards and ALOHA! under it... maybe this would calm my daughters torn heart just a bit.
But for me...I'm feeling mentally drained. So here I sit - not being productive or energetic or even enthusiastic about much of anything... until Veronica brought me the mail.
Oh the joys a simple Priority box from Stampeaz can create. Thanks Diana for the lovely leopard frog!
It started yesterday. I got called out of work early - Christopher was sick. This was slightly surprising, Christopher never gets sick. So I left work early (we were getting out early anyways) by leaving at noon, rushing to get gas in the car so I wouldn't have to walk home and made it to the school in under 40 minutes.
Got Christopher in the car, yeah - he was marginally sick. Tummy ache and all that - but no fever. Settled him on the couch where he lasted about 20 minutes before he was up ditching his jeans and belt. Can't blame a kid for not wanting a belt around his tummy if it already hurt. He watched Chipmunks Chipwrecked and then started to put in the squeekqual when off he went to the bathroom. He was gone for a while so I yelled after him. Seems things were going okay, but slow.
A few more minutes - and here he comes back to the couch... wearing even less. Sometimes a mom just knows when to not ask questions, but listen to the unmistakable sounds instead. Things had worked themselves out. But since I brought him home from school - he was destined for the couch fpor the rest of the day. This did not impress him very much. By now he was getting antsy and wanted to go outside and play with his sister who had just gotten off the bus. "No can do, if you came home from school sick - inside is where you stay." "But Mom, I'm feeling better now." "That may be - but you're still in for the rest of the day. If you are feeling better tomorrow and can go back to school, you can play outside tomorrow." This bummed him out - but amazingly enough, there were no issues about getting him to go to school today.
Veronica on the other hand was different. My parents have two golden retrievers. Buddy and Lucky. These dogs are a long line of goldens that my dad has had over the years. He's always had goldens... Winchester, Abby, Martini, and the list goes on and on. While I'm not the animal freak that my other two sisters are, I can appreciate good animals. I would never want any of them hurt, but I also do not live a lifestyle that warrants owning a dog.
My motto is - if it cannot tell me its hungry - it doesn't eat. Probably also why I have no plants in my house - they do a perpetually poor job of verbalizing their needs as well. Cats - well that's a different story completely. Cats don't 'need' anything... they just 'are.' Therefore - in our house, the cats can stay. Actually Ron takes care of them... well feeds them. They have a cat door - so for the most part - they are independant.
So yesterday - after we settled the kids down, my mom comes over to tell me that they are putting Lucky down. This is a golden that they rescued from the side of the road. It was tied up in a bag, and was very ill when they found him. But he has never been 'all there,' if you understand my meaning. But he's was a good dog as dogs go. He had some serious issues that my parent's could not get him to break, running away and jumping on cars were the worst two. And when he jumped on a car - he practically clawed it to death. About a year ago, Lucky started to have seizures. And they started to get worse. My parents had Lucky in the vets office so many times to just be given another script to try to calm the dog's nerves.
To make matter wrose, every time my Dad would go for a long drive (he is a car driver for the local Ford dealerships and tends to hop in his car at the slightest notice and drive to... upstate NY, VT, MA, all over Maine, etc.) - Lucky would develop seperation anxiety. This would make the seizures even worse. And then he would end up getting multiples of them at a sitting. So after numerous medications that did not help, and lots of heart wrenching talks - they decided to put Lucky down. They told my kids last night.
Christopher was okay - Veronica, not so much. So this morning, after my parents left and I was trying to get the kids ready for the bus, Veronica fell apart. Sobbing and yelling that she wanted Lucky back. This lasted about 45 minutes. Finally - after lots of attempts to try and explain how it was better for the dog, I managed to get her to stop crying. Actually it was Christopher's offer to let her have the computer that finally ended the sobbing. We talked a little more about it, and she seemed resigned by the time she was getting onto the bus.
After they were gone - I headed out to pick up "Evil Laugh" and came home in time to see my parents digging a hole for Lucky. My parents are not young. 70 and 73 - and I do not think they should be digging holes in the ground for golden retrievers. So I helped them finish the task. I had to step away as my Dad put the dog down in the hole on the sheet and covered him up. I went back and helped return the soil over his limp body.
My mom commented "You're not an animal lover, bout you came back and helped us." There really wasn't anything I could say. My Dad is a huge animal lover. I know inside he was torn up. I know even though Lucky drove my Mom crazy with all of the stupid things he did, she was in no better shape. Animal lovers are animal lovers. While I'm not an animal lover - I am respectful of life, and death. Both are necessary - but sometimes both are so cruel.
So after doing my duty to help replace the soil over Lucky's limp body - I returned inside, lacking all of the ambition I had earlier. Gone was any desire to be creative. Gone was any desire to be productive. Gone was my desire to even eat. I finally finished carving a stamp - because I promised Veronica it would be finished for her by the time she came home from school. A Tiki man with surf boards and ALOHA! under it... maybe this would calm my daughters torn heart just a bit.
But for me...I'm feeling mentally drained. So here I sit - not being productive or energetic or even enthusiastic about much of anything... until Veronica brought me the mail.
Oh the joys a simple Priority box from Stampeaz can create. Thanks Diana for the lovely leopard frog!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Know your limits...
So... the warmer weather and a mid-week day off had Team MudCup off in search of the Rules of Zombieland. Now, this is a long series, 33 boxes. It's also a series that is labelled as 'extreme' - so we thought we knew what we were heading into. But the real issue - it was still on Teacup's list ; ) So attempting it had to be done! So armed with black ink, logbooks, backpacks, water, hiking stick, Bean boots, and clues we headed off south to Cape Neddick in search of zombieland rules.
There were a couple of straggling boxes that we hunted for first. We easily found one of them to tidy up one series, but when we went off in search of the last two boxes in the Zombie Parade - we came up empty. The sun was already heading high into the sky - and along the hay field it was getting warm. So we headed off into the woods with clues and ink in hand.
We found the 31st box earlier when seeking for a different box, so we traversed along further to start the series. Through the muddy tote road we headed, sluck, sluck... boots getting stuck in the thick mud as we headed off uphill. The first couple we found with ease. Then we turned right and headed off towards the river. Here we missed one box prior to trying to cross the rapids.
So down to the water we headed. The water was running pretty rapid, and where one should have been able to cross, the water was probably 3 inches above the rocks. Not to be defeated, we opted to bushwhack upriver to see if we could find an alternative location to cross. (We had to cross - we could see where the next box was located and could hear its zombie call.)
We bushwhacked, stepping through thorns and junipers, across a different path that traversed blueberry bushes to a location with downed trees. Okay - this looked sort of doable. More so for Teacup than me... but maybe doable. So Teacup hoisted herself onto the tree and started to scoot across the tree on her butt. Scoot, scoot. Dang - there goes her hiking stick! Don't move or you'll land in the drink! Stop making me laugh or I'll land in there anyways! Okay - I've got it! Scoot, scoot. One foot on the other side. Hoisting herself up - she made it. She even made it look easy. Okay - so here we go.
I sat on the log and then swung my other leg over so I was side-saddle. MISTAKE! I was suddenly perched precariously on the edge with no place but water in my future. Barely hanging onto a stub of the tree - I pulled my fanny pack off and tossed it to Teacup. I then wiggle, wiggle, wiggled a little further back onto the tree and swung my leg back over the tree and regained my balance. Okay - now I didn't really care if I got wet. But I was terrified of falling. Those slimy rocks looked dangerously intimidating just 2 feet below me!
There were a couple of straggling boxes that we hunted for first. We easily found one of them to tidy up one series, but when we went off in search of the last two boxes in the Zombie Parade - we came up empty. The sun was already heading high into the sky - and along the hay field it was getting warm. So we headed off into the woods with clues and ink in hand.
We found the 31st box earlier when seeking for a different box, so we traversed along further to start the series. Through the muddy tote road we headed, sluck, sluck... boots getting stuck in the thick mud as we headed off uphill. The first couple we found with ease. Then we turned right and headed off towards the river. Here we missed one box prior to trying to cross the rapids.
So down to the water we headed. The water was running pretty rapid, and where one should have been able to cross, the water was probably 3 inches above the rocks. Not to be defeated, we opted to bushwhack upriver to see if we could find an alternative location to cross. (We had to cross - we could see where the next box was located and could hear its zombie call.)
We bushwhacked, stepping through thorns and junipers, across a different path that traversed blueberry bushes to a location with downed trees. Okay - this looked sort of doable. More so for Teacup than me... but maybe doable. So Teacup hoisted herself onto the tree and started to scoot across the tree on her butt. Scoot, scoot. Dang - there goes her hiking stick! Don't move or you'll land in the drink! Stop making me laugh or I'll land in there anyways! Okay - I've got it! Scoot, scoot. One foot on the other side. Hoisting herself up - she made it. She even made it look easy. Okay - so here we go.
I sat on the log and then swung my other leg over so I was side-saddle. MISTAKE! I was suddenly perched precariously on the edge with no place but water in my future. Barely hanging onto a stub of the tree - I pulled my fanny pack off and tossed it to Teacup. I then wiggle, wiggle, wiggled a little further back onto the tree and swung my leg back over the tree and regained my balance. Okay - now I didn't really care if I got wet. But I was terrified of falling. Those slimy rocks looked dangerously intimidating just 2 feet below me!
So I started to shimmy, shimmy, shake, shake across the log. Now one wouldn't think 5" would be a big deal - but it can be a BIG deal when you're fighting clearance, balance and water. No to mention a mad adrenaline rush. So fighting a tree and my extra leg length - I finally managed to lift my leg up and over the downed log and was able to scoot the rest of the way to the edge and hoisted myself up to the other side of the river! Wow. I could feel my pulse pounding in my ears, so Teacup and I found a boulder and had a celebratory drink of water and waited for my pulse to settle down a bit before heading back to where we needed to be for that next box.
Back to bushwhacking. Up a hill, around the water's edge, through downed trees and thorns to get back to that darn stump. But there was the box! Woohoo! We continued along a bit longer and found more boxes. We knew we'd have to cross back over - but we were hoping it would be in a little better spot. Nope. Again we went a hunting for a more suitable place to cross. So further away from where we needed to be we headed until we found another friendly tree to cross.
This tree was wider and set lower in the water. Here the water was not as rapid, but one mis-step and one of us would be wet. So up on the log Teacup hopped. Side-stepping across the tree like on a balance beam. Now mind you - more than once we thought about turning back, but reality was, once we crossed the river - there was no turning back. We just kept trudging forward. It was getting warmer and warmer and our water was getting lower and lower. Teacup made it across with little trouble.
Now it was my turn. Now this didn't look nearly as intimidating as the first crossing, but my adrenaline immediately spiked. Taking a deep breath, up I went on the tree and positioned myself for balance. I started to side-step across. Step, step. Damn, was that stick there before? It must have been. But its such a big stick to step around. Okay - so it was only about 4 inches long, it seemed HUGE in my mind! Up-step and over that intimidating stick. Step, step. Yup - I made it to the other side. Now to just climb up and over to safety. Woohoo!
Back to bushwhacking to where we needed to be. The sun was now in our face and it was getting hot. Just plain HOT. And the bushwhacking was getting old. But we finally made it back to where we needed to be and found the next box. Up hill and there was some shade. A shot rest and a mis-reading of a clue had me getting beyond frustrated. Frankly - I was so ready to be done, but we had a few more boxes to go (ugh... 15 more.) and the only way was forward. Teacup was willing to just hike out - but honestly - if we were hiking out - we might as well stop for the boxes along the way.
The heat was really taking its toll on us, and then we started to do battle with ticks! Teacup came up from getting one box and had 10 on her. We were on the dryer side of the water. More sun, more often and the ticks were thriving. So a quick tick check and a spray down of deep woods off, and we continued on. Meandering along, we made it back to a tote road. Working our way through the clues, my brain came out of a fog long enough to realize that I was hearing water, again. Are you kidding me?
Something tells me - maybe I should be smarter and probably proof-read the clues before blindly following along - maybe we'd end up with a few less mis-adventures : ) Nah, that wouldn't be any fun. So, knowing the inevitable - we continued to our next crossing. Hitting the crossing I looked down into a small gorge and thought, what fresh hell have I gotten myself into? And if that wasn't the worst part... on the other side was a perfectly good bridge. Sitting safe and content on DRY GROUND! Are you freakin' serious?
Ugh. So let's stop and think how we're going to cross this one. Wait... Teacup is already on the other side! So she's waiting for me to take my first step. No honestly, can we trust our friends the beavers? Do they REALLY build strong dams? I'm about to find out. One step... okay. That was stable enough. Reaching forward I grab a branch sticking through for something to hold onto thinking its going to move and I'll be on my back wet and injured, but hey, all in the name of zombies. Nope - the branch stayed right in place. One more step. Yup - still good. Two more and I was across the dam. Next time I see a buck-tooth little guy I'll have to give him a five-high on fabulous dam construction.
But dam construction aside - my heart was still just a thumping. So I sat a spell on that damn bridge while Teacup went off and got the next box. Out of water at this point, I was close to conceding. But we still had a hill to climb. And I was relatively sure that my brain had stop functioning properly on the second river crossing. So slowly I trudged along, with Teacup mustering slightly more energy and brain power to try and find the next box. No luck. But at the top of the hill there was a great sitting stone in the shade. I sat, keeping the logbooks and backpacks company, trying to regain some composure, energy, brain power and enthusiasm while Teacup keep turning over rocks.
After about 15 minutes, I was feeling better and Teacup had given up hope at finding the box, we moved onto the next one. No luck there either. But we were now in a location that we knew was closer to home. So we continued along slowly picking up the last five boxes with relative ease. Logging into the logbook in the middle of the field in the sun was almost like claiming victory. We meandered back to the car, shed ourselves of boots and socks... rolled down the windows and headed off in search of salvation in a cup.
Our reward? Sweet Tea and Apple pies : ) Wanting to gather our respectability back again - we meandered around a cemetery, being stalked by a black truck and picked up a quick stretch and then headed north. Obviously, even though it was March and mid-week, making the choice to drive up Route One on a day that was happily sporting the 80's was not a smart decision. I blame the poor choice on the fact that the zombies had sucked my brain matter out of my ears!
we finally made it to our final destination of the day, The Prop Shop before pointing northward and homeward bound. Another relatively good day of boxing. The series was a test of our hiking, navigating and self-esteem, but we made it out alive. And another good reason for never boxing alone. One bad choice - had either of us been doing that series alone could have been tragic.
One a happier note - it is officially off the list... only a few more zombies to tackle northward. But that will be another day. For now - we're off to maintain boxes in known territory ; )
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Pondering
So this is going to be a relatively short post... and more of one to get clarity. I find myself in yet another sticky situation at work. I'm truly my own worst enemy sometimes. But it makes me wonder - what makes me so pivotal in how things happen? I consider myself just a simple person. Yet at work - if I'm having a good day - so is everyone around me. And likewise if I'm having a bad day. It irritates leadership when I'm in a bad day - and they tend to avoid me. So I even asked my manager - why? Why am I so influential in what happens on a daily basis? Why am I expected to always have good days? Others are allowed to have bad days and are left alone - but not me. If I'm having one - I'm the nemesis of the whole department.
Now granted I work in a small department - less than 50 people in total, with as few as 15 people in on any given day. So why do I impact people so easily? Honestly - I consider myself just another average soul. I have good points and probably more bad ones... so this is my cosmic question - why do I have the 'cosmic' energy to influence a whole group of people so easily?
Just wondering..........
Now granted I work in a small department - less than 50 people in total, with as few as 15 people in on any given day. So why do I impact people so easily? Honestly - I consider myself just another average soul. I have good points and probably more bad ones... so this is my cosmic question - why do I have the 'cosmic' energy to influence a whole group of people so easily?
Just wondering..........
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Sort of snow boxing...
So its the third week in February in Maine. Normally Team MudCup is holed up in our perspective abodes - spinning webs for the coming boxing season. But Mother Nature has been unseasonably kind to us this month... so with a weather forecast predicitng upper 40's - and with little snow cover outside our windows - we opted to head out and try some snow boxing.
Now with any adventure with us - we have our ground rules... mostly including bringing m,boots. (Oh yeah - and keep the trowel away from Mud.) So with clues in hand, Tea's trusty gazetteer in the back seat - we headed slightly downeast for our treasures. Our goal - "Banded Cows in the Snow" by Scarab. It had been on our short list for a while - but we were just now getting to it. So off we went, properly packing Sweet Tea and ink. The drive was quiet and the view - well frankly, kinda bland. Nothing was in bloom, but the sun was out and we chatted our way up the coast.
Making our way to our first quarry, we headed off to Warren. Knowing that with the early spring thaw, but the shorter days of sunlight were still our obstacles - we headed off for some rapids. Pulling up to our location, we were not surprised to find a winter chain blocking our access. But the road leading to our launching spot was relatively clear - we could see tar and brown grass below, we pulled off to the side of the road and parked.
Slipping into boots and grabbing the trusty trowel, down the hill we ventured. Checking our footing as we went for those slightly hidden icy spots, we ambled over the terrain and managed to not sink up to our knees in slushy snow. Through the playground toys of yesteryear, we managed to pass without hopping on the teeter totter and headed off to the bridge. Now the bridge was interesting in itself. Someone had placed old barn boards over the original boards - presumably to cover rotten spots. The interesting part was that the barn boards looked link a woodpeckers paradise. They were covered in tiny holes! It made for an interesting view as we crossed the 'rapids' below.
Over the St. George river we crossed, and while the river was running, and the water sparkled in the sunlight, I think it would be a stretch to say that it qualified as rapids. Making it to the far side of the bridge we traversed along a muddy mucky path that was rounded with icy, slushy piles of crusty snow. We followed the steps to a wooden slat bridge that crossed more of a muddy patch that a section of water. Then off following our next set of clues to a set of stairs that were abutting an old foundation base. Here lay wait our treasure.
We found the location and could see the box. The question was - would Mother Nature allow us access to it? That's why Teacup brings her trowel. Now after a previous episode with a trowel - I am no longer allowed to use the trowel. So Teacup crouched down and start to chip away the icy barrier that held the box captive. Chip, chip, wiggle, wiggle. The box we tucked snugly in place. Captive between rocks and icy - Teacup persevered. Finally - out it popped. And we had our first box of February 2012!
We pried open the icy lid and removed its contents. Sadly the logbook was soaked through, but the image was still viable and we quickly added it to our logbook! Happy, happy were we! Sadly - we were ill prepared to replace the logbook - so we tucked it back inside with the stamp and returned the box to its icy habitat. Our first success of the day! Back we ambled over the icy path, with a little more joyous bounce in our step! With a find under our belt, even the hill back to the car didn't seem as daunting. Shedding our coats, we hopped back into the car and headed further up the coast.
Our next adventure was Banded Cows. Now we are familiar enough with the area from previous excursions to make us truly dangerous. So when a reference to a local establishment was written in the clues - we knew we could circumvent the previous clues and work our way backwards. Not so. After circling the wrong side of the harbor, we opted to actually follow the clues from their beginning... novel idea - we know. But then again - this isn't the first time we've attempted to circumvent the clues thinking we knew where we were headed... and so far, no box has been harmed because of our follies.
So around the harbor we went, missing our first turn thus needing to backtrack a bit. (Come on - you know you'd be let down if we didn't have at least one u-turn in our day!) Back down to the intersection - we headed off in the correct direction towards banded cows... now the clue has the cows happily grazing on the left side of the road. It would seem in the dead of winter - the cows prefer to be closer to the barn... so we had to do a little more looking to find them. And once we did, oh the joy! T'would seem Miss Teacup had never seen an Oreo cow before. She was thoroughly fascinated by them. So we drove a bit farther and found our needed juncture.
Off again Tea went with trusty trowel in hand. This box wasn't trapped nearly as hard, and she was actually able to wangle the box out pretty easily. So we popped the lid - and yup, there they were, in all their glory. The banded cows! Or for the bovine snobs - more precisely - Belted Galloways. We stamped up the little critters and left them some company to be found by the next lucky souls to pick up this find. Returning the box to its hidey-hole - we were off so Tea could take some photos of her new found bovine friends. Frankly I was amused at just how amazed Tea was at seeing her first Oreo cows. Since they are raised all over Maine - I was shocked that she had never seen them before.
We finally headed off in the direction of our next quarry. Realizing it was further back than we were currently headed - we thought we take a chance at being able to drive to the top of Mount Battie. After all - with the relatively minimal snow cover - we thought our chances were good that the road to the top would be open. We pulled in - and quickly realized that the only way up was to hike it. And while we were thrilled to be out boxing - a climb up Mount Battie was no where on our daily bucket list... so a quick circle in the parking lot - passing by the six or so cars that sat waiting for their more adventurous owners to return - we returned to head back to Camden.
We were going to stop into a store to pick up some craft supplies (I'm trying to learn how to fold origami cranes for scouts but needed origami paper) only to realize that the store was no longer amongst those on the main drag in Camden. It saddened us - since there was a letterbox in the store - now another from an older boxer, sadly lost to the demise of small proprietors. So through town we continued. There were a couple of clues left on our list. One we knew we could find, the other two were more hunches we were chasing in hopes of finding hidden treasures.
Off to Beach Nut Tree House's parking lot. It is on a curvy road and we've been to this location before. The climb to the top is a gradual one on one side and shorter - but more steep on the other. Christopher hiked to the top with us on one very warm summer day a couple of years ago. Once to the top - he managed to woo a couple into thinking he was the cutest kid they had ever seen. The view in the summer is fabulous - and my guess - in the winter its probably pretty spectacular as well... but out thoughts were 'been there, done that.' so we opted to just pull in the icy parking lot and grab the box. Another spot where the trowel happily helped us retrieve our frozen booty from its location.
Sadly - once again we found a wet logbook inside the box - but it wasn't so soaked that we couldn't stamp into it. So we stamped up and returned the box to its hidden location. We had a couple of hours left - so off we went in search of a mystery location. Now these trips always prove to be interesting. With a quick stop for gas - and an agreement to head to Moody's Diner for pie for lunch - we headed back towards Rockland.
Well here's the catch. While Teacup was pumping gas - I was looking at the map. Seems we were heading towards Route 17. And guess where 17 goes? To Augusta. And what's in Augusta? Panera Bread... : ) In my book - 10 times better than pie! Well not always, but I wasn't completely sold on pie - so when Tea returned to the car I proposed a slight deviation in our plans... Its amazing how easily we can get side-tracked over something as simple as lunch! And honestly - who really thinks to head to Augusta when your driving in downtown Rockland? Well - maybe the locals do - but those of us that religiously take Route One to and fro - not us.
So we trolled around looking for that mystery location only to find some wicked cool cemeteries (sparkly objects for Team MudCup) and some very dangerous curves! We drove a bit longer, but realized the mystery - would remain one a bit longer as we needed more information that what we were going on. Back to Route 17 - we started to head inland. Now driving through many towns in Maine - we often wonder - where do these people work? Where do they shop? Because we tend to drive long expanses where there's lots of nuthin and then a lone house will pop up. The good side - no pesky neighbors. The bad-side, no helpful neighbors either.
So off through the hilly countryside of inland Maine we ventured - hopefully getting closer to Augusta. But knowing in the back of our minds that we'd been down the wrong roads before. Going through towns not often visited... Stickney Corner, Coopers Mills, Jefferson, Whitefield, all the while edging closer to Augusta. Our lucky day - where we arrived was at a 'Roundabout' - Teacup's favorite place to drive. And in Augusta they tend to be a bit busier than the ones we usually fight (in Buxton.) So finding our exit spot, Tea waited for the perfect moment to jump into the melee. We managed to make it to the other side and drove along over muddy bumpy city roads heading out towards Civic Center Drive.
Yeah! Mecca! Two soup combos later - we were revived and feeling ready to tackle something like real life. Well - first we needed a stop at Michaels as I was still in search of origami paper. Now Michaels is one of those 'bad' stores. Because you cannot just go in one and spend two dollars... fifty dollars later with origami paper and a birthday present for Veronica I was ready to meet the bus. Tea picked up an arrangement of silk butterflies and a whole stack of Hello Kitty goodies for a future play date with Cammie. So we grudgingly headed back to the car knowing our mental health day was almost over.
Home again - its amazing how even a single day out in nature, even for brief moments can change your whole state of mind. After two of the most stressful days at work that I've had in recent memory, a day spent with a good friend - out in the sun and snow, just enjoying quiet moments and a good lunch put my frantic mind at rest. I returned to work on Friday in a more functionable frame of mind. My thoughts less cluttered and my attitude less negative. So while we didn't have any fabulous misadventures - I for one felt rejuvenated and ready to tackle a few more days of work.
Now with any adventure with us - we have our ground rules... mostly including bringing m,boots. (Oh yeah - and keep the trowel away from Mud.) So with clues in hand, Tea's trusty gazetteer in the back seat - we headed slightly downeast for our treasures. Our goal - "Banded Cows in the Snow" by Scarab. It had been on our short list for a while - but we were just now getting to it. So off we went, properly packing Sweet Tea and ink. The drive was quiet and the view - well frankly, kinda bland. Nothing was in bloom, but the sun was out and we chatted our way up the coast.
Making our way to our first quarry, we headed off to Warren. Knowing that with the early spring thaw, but the shorter days of sunlight were still our obstacles - we headed off for some rapids. Pulling up to our location, we were not surprised to find a winter chain blocking our access. But the road leading to our launching spot was relatively clear - we could see tar and brown grass below, we pulled off to the side of the road and parked.
Slipping into boots and grabbing the trusty trowel, down the hill we ventured. Checking our footing as we went for those slightly hidden icy spots, we ambled over the terrain and managed to not sink up to our knees in slushy snow. Through the playground toys of yesteryear, we managed to pass without hopping on the teeter totter and headed off to the bridge. Now the bridge was interesting in itself. Someone had placed old barn boards over the original boards - presumably to cover rotten spots. The interesting part was that the barn boards looked link a woodpeckers paradise. They were covered in tiny holes! It made for an interesting view as we crossed the 'rapids' below.
Over the St. George river we crossed, and while the river was running, and the water sparkled in the sunlight, I think it would be a stretch to say that it qualified as rapids. Making it to the far side of the bridge we traversed along a muddy mucky path that was rounded with icy, slushy piles of crusty snow. We followed the steps to a wooden slat bridge that crossed more of a muddy patch that a section of water. Then off following our next set of clues to a set of stairs that were abutting an old foundation base. Here lay wait our treasure.
We found the location and could see the box. The question was - would Mother Nature allow us access to it? That's why Teacup brings her trowel. Now after a previous episode with a trowel - I am no longer allowed to use the trowel. So Teacup crouched down and start to chip away the icy barrier that held the box captive. Chip, chip, wiggle, wiggle. The box we tucked snugly in place. Captive between rocks and icy - Teacup persevered. Finally - out it popped. And we had our first box of February 2012!
We pried open the icy lid and removed its contents. Sadly the logbook was soaked through, but the image was still viable and we quickly added it to our logbook! Happy, happy were we! Sadly - we were ill prepared to replace the logbook - so we tucked it back inside with the stamp and returned the box to its icy habitat. Our first success of the day! Back we ambled over the icy path, with a little more joyous bounce in our step! With a find under our belt, even the hill back to the car didn't seem as daunting. Shedding our coats, we hopped back into the car and headed further up the coast.
Our next adventure was Banded Cows. Now we are familiar enough with the area from previous excursions to make us truly dangerous. So when a reference to a local establishment was written in the clues - we knew we could circumvent the previous clues and work our way backwards. Not so. After circling the wrong side of the harbor, we opted to actually follow the clues from their beginning... novel idea - we know. But then again - this isn't the first time we've attempted to circumvent the clues thinking we knew where we were headed... and so far, no box has been harmed because of our follies.
So around the harbor we went, missing our first turn thus needing to backtrack a bit. (Come on - you know you'd be let down if we didn't have at least one u-turn in our day!) Back down to the intersection - we headed off in the correct direction towards banded cows... now the clue has the cows happily grazing on the left side of the road. It would seem in the dead of winter - the cows prefer to be closer to the barn... so we had to do a little more looking to find them. And once we did, oh the joy! T'would seem Miss Teacup had never seen an Oreo cow before. She was thoroughly fascinated by them. So we drove a bit farther and found our needed juncture.
Off again Tea went with trusty trowel in hand. This box wasn't trapped nearly as hard, and she was actually able to wangle the box out pretty easily. So we popped the lid - and yup, there they were, in all their glory. The banded cows! Or for the bovine snobs - more precisely - Belted Galloways. We stamped up the little critters and left them some company to be found by the next lucky souls to pick up this find. Returning the box to its hidey-hole - we were off so Tea could take some photos of her new found bovine friends. Frankly I was amused at just how amazed Tea was at seeing her first Oreo cows. Since they are raised all over Maine - I was shocked that she had never seen them before.
We finally headed off in the direction of our next quarry. Realizing it was further back than we were currently headed - we thought we take a chance at being able to drive to the top of Mount Battie. After all - with the relatively minimal snow cover - we thought our chances were good that the road to the top would be open. We pulled in - and quickly realized that the only way up was to hike it. And while we were thrilled to be out boxing - a climb up Mount Battie was no where on our daily bucket list... so a quick circle in the parking lot - passing by the six or so cars that sat waiting for their more adventurous owners to return - we returned to head back to Camden.
We were going to stop into a store to pick up some craft supplies (I'm trying to learn how to fold origami cranes for scouts but needed origami paper) only to realize that the store was no longer amongst those on the main drag in Camden. It saddened us - since there was a letterbox in the store - now another from an older boxer, sadly lost to the demise of small proprietors. So through town we continued. There were a couple of clues left on our list. One we knew we could find, the other two were more hunches we were chasing in hopes of finding hidden treasures.
Off to Beach Nut Tree House's parking lot. It is on a curvy road and we've been to this location before. The climb to the top is a gradual one on one side and shorter - but more steep on the other. Christopher hiked to the top with us on one very warm summer day a couple of years ago. Once to the top - he managed to woo a couple into thinking he was the cutest kid they had ever seen. The view in the summer is fabulous - and my guess - in the winter its probably pretty spectacular as well... but out thoughts were 'been there, done that.' so we opted to just pull in the icy parking lot and grab the box. Another spot where the trowel happily helped us retrieve our frozen booty from its location.
Sadly - once again we found a wet logbook inside the box - but it wasn't so soaked that we couldn't stamp into it. So we stamped up and returned the box to its hidden location. We had a couple of hours left - so off we went in search of a mystery location. Now these trips always prove to be interesting. With a quick stop for gas - and an agreement to head to Moody's Diner for pie for lunch - we headed back towards Rockland.
Well here's the catch. While Teacup was pumping gas - I was looking at the map. Seems we were heading towards Route 17. And guess where 17 goes? To Augusta. And what's in Augusta? Panera Bread... : ) In my book - 10 times better than pie! Well not always, but I wasn't completely sold on pie - so when Tea returned to the car I proposed a slight deviation in our plans... Its amazing how easily we can get side-tracked over something as simple as lunch! And honestly - who really thinks to head to Augusta when your driving in downtown Rockland? Well - maybe the locals do - but those of us that religiously take Route One to and fro - not us.
So we trolled around looking for that mystery location only to find some wicked cool cemeteries (sparkly objects for Team MudCup) and some very dangerous curves! We drove a bit longer, but realized the mystery - would remain one a bit longer as we needed more information that what we were going on. Back to Route 17 - we started to head inland. Now driving through many towns in Maine - we often wonder - where do these people work? Where do they shop? Because we tend to drive long expanses where there's lots of nuthin and then a lone house will pop up. The good side - no pesky neighbors. The bad-side, no helpful neighbors either.
So off through the hilly countryside of inland Maine we ventured - hopefully getting closer to Augusta. But knowing in the back of our minds that we'd been down the wrong roads before. Going through towns not often visited... Stickney Corner, Coopers Mills, Jefferson, Whitefield, all the while edging closer to Augusta. Our lucky day - where we arrived was at a 'Roundabout' - Teacup's favorite place to drive. And in Augusta they tend to be a bit busier than the ones we usually fight (in Buxton.) So finding our exit spot, Tea waited for the perfect moment to jump into the melee. We managed to make it to the other side and drove along over muddy bumpy city roads heading out towards Civic Center Drive.
Yeah! Mecca! Two soup combos later - we were revived and feeling ready to tackle something like real life. Well - first we needed a stop at Michaels as I was still in search of origami paper. Now Michaels is one of those 'bad' stores. Because you cannot just go in one and spend two dollars... fifty dollars later with origami paper and a birthday present for Veronica I was ready to meet the bus. Tea picked up an arrangement of silk butterflies and a whole stack of Hello Kitty goodies for a future play date with Cammie. So we grudgingly headed back to the car knowing our mental health day was almost over.
Home again - its amazing how even a single day out in nature, even for brief moments can change your whole state of mind. After two of the most stressful days at work that I've had in recent memory, a day spent with a good friend - out in the sun and snow, just enjoying quiet moments and a good lunch put my frantic mind at rest. I returned to work on Friday in a more functionable frame of mind. My thoughts less cluttered and my attitude less negative. So while we didn't have any fabulous misadventures - I for one felt rejuvenated and ready to tackle a few more days of work.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
666
Okay - Aiphid's post has me actually back to my blog. I was perplexed at the thought that 665 other people besides Aiphid was actually reading my blog... honestly didn't think there were that many other people out there so incredibly bored that they'd want to read my foolishness. And honestly - the last time I checked I had about 50. So that leaves me wondering - who are you all and why did you subscribe?
I'm honored - don't get me wrong. But now I think I should actually start writing something in this blog again. Its been an incredibly LONG time since I last posted anything. Oh I've started blogs... but they are as of yet unfinished and unpublished. Life got in the way... my life tripped boring in my book. And frankly - I just didn't have the desire to write anything. For me - I have to be 'in the groove' to write. Otherwise I just - well that's it... I just... nuthin.
So to Aiphid... and to number 667 who signed up afterwards (my initial guess is Adventure Crafter) thanks for strolling through my blog. Some of my previous posts do wax somewhat witty... hopefully I can get back into the groove. But until I do - I'll work on getting the white spray paint off my fingers. (Which is another mystery in and of itself.)
Here's to more blogs in 2012 ; ) Hope this finds you all rolling in or waiting for mud season!
I'm honored - don't get me wrong. But now I think I should actually start writing something in this blog again. Its been an incredibly LONG time since I last posted anything. Oh I've started blogs... but they are as of yet unfinished and unpublished. Life got in the way... my life tripped boring in my book. And frankly - I just didn't have the desire to write anything. For me - I have to be 'in the groove' to write. Otherwise I just - well that's it... I just... nuthin.
So to Aiphid... and to number 667 who signed up afterwards (my initial guess is Adventure Crafter) thanks for strolling through my blog. Some of my previous posts do wax somewhat witty... hopefully I can get back into the groove. But until I do - I'll work on getting the white spray paint off my fingers. (Which is another mystery in and of itself.)
Here's to more blogs in 2012 ; ) Hope this finds you all rolling in or waiting for mud season!
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