Free Time

What is that you may ask? I feel like I haven't a clue myself.

Af.ter. a l.on.g day. st.ar.t.ng. with. .getting up ear.ly, drivin.g to Greensbor..o, worki.ng and attending meetings.., driving back h.om.e from Gr..eensboro, attemp.ti.ng to change cloth.es .with a toddl.er.......... hanging on my leg, fe.ed.ing said toddler and attemp.ti.ng to feed mysel.f, I AM WHOOPED. Ab.solutely and unequi.vocably who.oped. I am so tired I. feel delirious. I'm sur.e y..ou are saying to y.ourself then how in t.he world are you blogg.ing? Easy answer, Tan.ner. i.s s..itt.ing right h.ere w.ith m.e hi.tting. the .space .bar.. an.d random peri.ods...

Random Knuckle Pain

Over the past several months I have experienced this unbelievable pain in the lowest knuckle of my pointer finger on my left hand. For a long time it felt like it just needed to be cracked (I crack my knuckles all the time anyway) but cracking the knuckle never relieved the pain completely.

Just recently, this pain has become increasingly more painful until I almost feel like I need to take something to relieve the ache and tenderness. I have a very high tolerance for pain and over all body annoyances (headaches, cramps, etc) but this isn’t like any other pain I’ve experienced before.

The pain starts in the knuckle but radiates up my finger and almost across the top of my hand. This is worsened by the fact that I have a desk job and type like a mad man. Sometimes the pain is sharp and sometimes it’s a dull ache. It does feel better when I apply ice but the only time I can do this is at night once my day is slowed down considerably and Tanner is asleep.

No worries though. It will have to just about fall off before I see the doctor about it. Gotta love health insurance (or lack there of).

I could just kick myself...

Although this afternoon snack consisting of light fudge creme between two rich, dark chocolate cookies and a wave of fudge icing over the top may sound like it would be great, but the minute I finish the last bite, I regret it.

Almost instantly I feel like I am going to be sick or I need to lie down. I know this feeling is my own doing, or over doing of sugar, so I just have to suck it up and take the punishment. Hopefully it will pass soon.

I decided to blog in an attempt to get my mind off of how bad I feel. I guess I should have picked a different topic. Anyway, previously to eating this delicious afternoon treat, I loved them. The small ones are just enough sugar to give me a little boost without making me feel sick but the big ones...what a bad idea. I mean BAD IDEA. The big ones are for those of us who seem to lack self control around sweets I suppose.

Well, I’m starting to feel better and wake up a bit. That’s nice because I didn’t end up being sick after all. Hopefully I have learned my lesson and will stick to my current favorite snack of pretzel sticks that contain no sugar whatsoever.

Camping at Douthat, Part 2

We woke up again Saturday morning to a sprinkle of rain. Nothing major, just enough to slow down progress. Thank goodness it quickly tapered off and the sun came out.

Larry and I fixed breakfast for our camp since the rest of our group was still snoozing away and we enjoyed fabulous pancakes and sausage. I really do think we eat better when we are camping then when we are at home. By the time we were wrapping up breakfast, the rest of the gang was awake and moving. We piddled around the campsite for most of the morning and played more ladder golf.

Next thing you know it was lunch time. We knew we wanted to go for a long bike ride so we ate a quick sandwich lunch and then packed up the bikes for a 6 mile “flat” ride. When we got to the location where the trail started, we quickly realized that it was going to be a little wet, muddy, buggy, rocky in most places, and definitely not flat but we decided to go for it. (keep in mind, I am pulling Tanner in a trailer behind me). To say the least, it was a very bumpy ride. Every few seconds either Tanner or myself would let out a “huh” or “ow”. All in all, it was an adventure I don’t think I will attempt again with the trailer. By the time the ride was done, it felt more like 15 miles. We ride 8-10 miles several times a week but this ride kicked my butt. Seriously kicked my butt.

After the ride, we went back to the camp ground to chill. The guys decided to go fishing and I thought it would be a great time to give Tanner a clean diaper and a snack and put him down for a nap. Wrong. He wanted to play and I wanted him to nap. I would have loved a nap too. I could tell that he was tired and it was nap time so it became a power struggle. He kept peeping up over the pack and play or calling my name or flat out screaming to get out of the pack and play. Again, since I could tell he was tired, I was determined that he was going to sleep. Wrong again. After fighting with him for about 45 minutes, I gave up. I got him out of the pack and play and laid down on the couch and told him that I was going to sleep. All I could hear for the minutes preceeding me getting off the couch was “Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama” and “out ide Mama” and “baw baw Mama”. So we went outside and played ball.

Later that night Larry lost majorly in a game of ladder golf so he had to give Tanner a bath and get him ready for bed. I hear him yell for me from inside the camper so I take off running thinking something is wrong with Tanner (Side note: Tanner currently has his 3rd black eye, he’s just that rough and tumble and clumsy. He’s all boy.). When I get to the camper, there is water on the floor, the shower/tub is leaking and leaking bad. Anyone that knows Larry Gagnon knows that he did not handle this well. That ruined most of the night and set the mood for me to turn in by 9:30. It was actually ok though because I was exhausted.

Sunday morning we woke up to a torrential downpour. No joke. It was coming at us from all sides. Again, for those of you who know Larry Gagnon, he did not handle this well. Also, anyone who’s set up or taken down a tent in the rain knows it’s miserable. It takes us twice as long, we are both soaking wet and banged up. Everything is so slippery when it’s wet that everything you touch you end up either falling down or running into something on the camper. We also did all of this in shifts since Tanner was with us. He fussed most of the time because we couldn’t pay enough attention to him and he let us know it. Miserable. Just plain miserable. So, several hours later when we are finally packed up and ready to go, it’s time for Tanner to eat. Well, we forgot about the time thing so we had packed most of the food and Larry was ready to go. I had to feed Tanner a cereal bar and some crackers from the front seat. Talk about motion sickness. Pleugh.

Anyway, over all it was a good trip but I don’t think we will ever camp again with any significant chance of rain on the day we set up or take down. Oh yeah, on a good note, we ate breakfast at the camp restaurant in hopes that the rain would slow down or stop all together. Although neither of those things happened, I had some fabulous hot cakes and bacon!

Camping at Douthat, Part 1

Talk about a camping trip with some ups and downs.

We were on the road at a good time Thursday night, able to have time for a quick McDonalds in and out, and we still made it to Douthat in time to set up before the sun completely went down. So far so good right? Wrong. We woke up to Tanner screaming at 4 am. We figure he woke up and didn’t know where he was so he couldn’t just settle himself down and go back to sleep. I held him, changed him, wrapped him up, and rocked him until finally we broke our own cardinal rule and put him in the bed with us. He did however go back to sleep as soon as he snuggled up to Larry. It was cute. Just like when Tanner was a tiny baby asleep on Larry’s chest.

Ok, so we're back on a good note. We woke up to a little bit of rain Friday morning, nothing major, but enjoyed a little bit of chill time because of it. We read books, played with a new squishy ball, had a fabulous breakfast of bacon and eggs and then goofed off with Jason, Stormy and the kids when they finally woke up (of course we were up early, we have a 17 month old, remember?).

Later in the day Stormy and Kara went for a 3 miles + hike and the boys went fishing. Since Tanner and I couldn’t really do either, we did our own thing. I went for a bike ride with him behind me in the trailer. What an adventure that was. There are no bike trails in Douthat so you are riding on the main road and through other campgrounds. The main roads aren't traveled all that heavily but it did make me nervous so I felt like to rode that much harder and faster to get to the next campsite or turn off. Tanner and I eventually ended up at the lake/beach area where the guys were fishing. We watched them and played around that part for a bit then went on a little walk down on the beach part with our feet in the sand and water. Tanner really liked the sand beneath his toes. We found a little playground and played there for a long time. We continued our walk to the other side of the lake where he decided it was time for a snack by saying “cacka cacka” over and over and over and over and over again. I didn’t think we would be gone as long as we were so I left his backpack in the trailer but I did have the sense to bring $5 in my pocket and God bless the camp store for being close and for having crackers!

The rest of the day was rather uneventful but fun. Larry bought a ladder golf game that turned out to be awesome. It’s a simple game but we are a competitive bunch so we played it for a long time and everyone kept challenging each other (only 2 people can play at once).

Friday night was Jason and Stormy’s night for dinner and we had some great cheeseburgers, chips and dip, and fresh veggies. It was great. Later that night, Jason built a nice fire and we chilled and made smores. All in all, it was a great day.

Stay tuned for details from the rest of the trip and believe me, there’s more...