I lost my shoe today. How do you lose one shoe? I remember taking them off in my bedroom on Friday to put on my running shoes. This shoe has been sitting on the bedroom floor all weekend, but I've never seen the second. I figured it was hiding under the dirty laundry, but I washed and folded all of the laundry and there was no shoe anywhere. I ended up having to wear different shoes to work today, my old cross trainers from my aerobics class. The shoes were good for that, but I found them kind of tight for all day use, and they did not match my outfit at all.

Now that Jon's arm is doing better, he's back at planning the bathroom remodel. Today we are measuring and mapping and planning. He has some great ideas, like a stand-alone tub in front of the window and a fabulous walk-in shower with a rain-type shower head and body jets. We are a bit confused about what to do with the two remaining closets, and the alcove for the tub may be a little short. I guess we'll just have to go around trying out tubs to see what works. Unfortunately most places are closed on the weekend, because they cater to contractors, not the general public. Jon is planning on hiring a contractor for some stuff, but of course we will be doing a lot of work ourselves.

Jon had to work second shift tonight, so I made him dinner. I made shepard's pie, yummy warm comfort food. I used a recipe I hadn't tried before, but it came out really good. You have the meat mixture, then a layer of mashed carrots, then the layer of mashed potatoes sprinkled with grated cheese. I thought the mashed carrots might be weird, but no, it made sense when you were eating. And I made real mashed potatoes, not instant one, of course.

I was supposed to play softball tonight, but they cancelled the games because of rain. So Jon and I went for a run, and then to dinner at the Keg. Jon had a free birthday dinner coupon, but its not valid on Friday, but we had already decided Keg food would be good, and we earned our food with the run. We both had steaks. Jon will just have to return to the Keg next week to eat his birthday dinner.

I later found out that LMRA had changed their minds, and some teams did play. They played four of the eight games that were scheduled. How stupid is that, to tell people they canceled them all, then play half? My team ended up playing two games without me, but they won them both.

I couple of weeks ago I bought these golashes. I'm very glad I did, with all of the rain we've been getting. I love being able to walk in to work without trying to weave my way through all of the puddles in the parking lot. They're also fun :).

It has rained all day. Seriously. And its rained steadily too. All of the ditches and low areas are full of water. Its the most I've seen. Flash floods are a definate possiblity, so I'm glad I'm home and dry.

Life is slowly getting back to normal after vacation. We went to work, and to the 5k class tonight, and ran. A lot. I think I did 4.5 miles, if you add up all of the intervals. But I got lots of rest in between. I did go to the grocery store, so I have some food to pack in my lunches. The cafeteria is too expensive, and not that good, and I'm too lazy to leave work to go find lunch.

So I have some food in the house now, and I did a little bit of laundry, and put a few things away. Back to normal, slowly but surely.

Unpacking. Ugh. We flew back to Texas today, and unpacking is no fun. Lots of laundry, lots of stuff to put away, no food in the house. Boo. I do love my new luggage though. I bought it last spring and have used it a couple of times. I got 3 sizes of the Ricardo Beverly Hills roller bags, and I got nearly a 70% discount on them. I love Kohl's. The bags are great. Very durable, well designed pockets, good sizes, and they even come with extra bags for liquids or wet clothes or whatnot. They tend to tip forward when they're standing on end, but I can live with that.

Yes, that is snow on my boot! It snowed! Only up on Mount Rogers though, nowhere else, and its only an inch or so. Its still fun to see snow. Jon and I really want to go hiking, so we decided to not let the snow stop us. We did pick a short one mile trail rather than a long one though, and we walked fast. It was very windy, but only in the tree tops. In the forest, it was still. Enough sun filtered through to make it very nice.

We looked at the log cabin village, but it wasn't very exciting. There was a small cemetary there, from the Jones family. I love old cemetaries, and I think family cemetaries are especially cool. I like to read the names of the people buried there. I feel that if I see their name, even if I have no idea who they were, then in some way they are still remembered.

Just because we're on vacation doesn't mean Jon and I aren't running. I even signed up for a 5k in Galax. This is the 20th annual Autumn Days 5k. It starts in Felt's Park, goes to the New River Trail, and returns back to the park. It wasn't a bad course, and was pretty flat, which is hard to find around here.

It was 38 degrees at racetime. Not the coldest 5k I've done (the 2007 FW Turkey Trot was 32 degrees), but it was pretty fricken cold. I also had more cold weather clothes last time. (I did at least have pants though. Why were the people who live around here in shorts?) My racetime was 35:02, which is a bit faster than I have been going. So I seem to be making slow progress at getting faster. As I was approaching the one mile marker, I saw the winner running past the two mile marker. He was very fast.

Jon met me at the finish line with hot chocolate. It was awesome. Then we had lunch at the Galax Smokehouse. They have amazing bbq. Yum.

Today Jon and I did one of the funnest things we have ever done. It did not start out that way though. We woke up at 4:30 this morning, and drove two and a half hours before dawn to get to Beckley, West Virginia. We're going white water rafting on the New River! The New River is very old (either it or the Nile is the oldest in the world, one of the two), and in this section it is very deep, very rocky, and very rapid-y.

We checked in with the rafting company, and got some hot chocolate and breakfast. While we were eating, other people came in, and we realized they were base jumpers. Tomorrow is Bridge Day, where the highway across the New River Gorge Bridge is closed, and base jumping is allowed from the bridge, which is over 800 feet above the river. I thought the base jumpers were crazy, but as we were leaving breakfast I heard them saying that they couldn't believe anyone would go rafting today because the high for today is only 41 degrees, and that we must be the crazy ones.

Our group was the only one on the river today. There were three boats, and our boat only had five people plus a guide, including Jon and me. The New River has class I through class V rapids, but is suitable for beginners. The first rapid we encountered was a class IV, and I think it was more than some people were expecting. I remember the boat tipping and the woman who was sitting next to me fell towards me, pushing me over the side. Jon also fell out, and he went down deep under water. Our guide got flipped out as well, so that made me feel better. As I struggled to get back into the boat one of my shoes slipped off, not that it was keeping my foot warm anyway.

No one fell out of the boat anymore for the rest of the trip, although we had a great time spinning and tipping and riding the rapids. It was very cold, but that didn't make it any less fun. I don't know how far we went, but we spent about 3 hours on the river. Along the way we saw remnants of the pre-Depression mining towns, and even older structures. We got out just under the bridge, and took the bus back to the lodge for some hot showers and lunch. The trip was with River Expeditions (www.raftinginfo.com). Jon's boss has gone with them twice, and recommended them. It was worth getting up at 4:30 for. We've already made reservations for our next trip. Anyone want to join us?

At the lodge, the crazy bridge jumpers were packing their 'chutes. After we left, we drove over the New River Gorge bridge. Its very, very high, and has a great view. We didn't get out and walk though, just drove over. They were getting ready for Bridge Day, setting up porta-potties in the median and trash cans along the highway shoulder. Some of the people who live nearby had signs up, offering a parking spot in their yard for $10. If I lived there, I would totally do that. I would also grill hot dogs to sell, with coffee and sodas.

This morning I went to my high school and talked to the science classes about going to college and being an engineer. It was interesting. Some of the kids seemed interested and asked questions. None of my old teachers were still there. The new chemistry teacher drives tanks in the Army, and he says he always gets very happy when he sees the fighter jets coming in to provide him support.

It was still raining today, but we couldn't wait to get into the woods any longer. We went into Jefferson National Forest and hiked on the Iron Mountain trail east from Highway 21. Soon after entering the forest we saw an old steel car, it looked like a 1950's sedan or something. The only thing left was the metal, no glass, no upholstery, no paint. It was wrapped around a tree. It was very interesting, and I wonder how it got there. Its cool how old junk is fascinating, but if it had been new junk, like a 2000 Chevy or something, it just would have been trash.

We hiked up for quite a while, and then we went along the ridge line, up and down along the crest. This used to be part of the Appalachian Trail, but that has been relocated, and now this is just a trail for hikers and horses and mountain bikes. We saw some horse poo, but we never saw any other people on the trail. It rained a little, and there were patches of fog, but there were also patches of sun. The forest was very thick and quiet, and we couldn't see anything except more mountains and trees. We had no idea how long the trail was, or where it went, so after two hours we decided to turn around, so we would be back before the sun went down.

We wanted to go hiking today, but its foggy and rainy. Yuck. We drove around randomly for a while, looking at more cool houses and seeing what we could see. We drove out to the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower, which is supposed to be open until October 31, but it was closed for the season already. Boo. The shot tower is really cool. It was built in the late 1790's to manufacture ammo for the frontier settlers, and later for the Confederate army. There are only a few shot towers left in the world, and this one is unique because instead of building a super-tall tower, they built a moderately tall tower, and extended it with a moderately deep shaft into the hill below it, which ended right at the river side.

We saw the bowling alley in Galax, and thought it would be fun to go bowling. We walked in, and everyone stared at us. I guess its obvious we're tourists. It was also league night, and there were no lanes available. Boo again. We played a few games of pool and air hockey, which were fun. Then we shared a banana split from the Dairy House. :)

This is my mom and my brother, Phillip. We went to Blacksburg today, where Phillip lives, to visit him. On the way we stopped to visit my mom's friend in Hillsville, who has a giant kitty-enclosure in her backyard. She wanted to let her six cats outside, but was afraid they would get into the road. So she had a 20 foot x 30 foot "cage" built in her backyard. It is filled with perches and staircases and scratching posts. There is a little tunnel to the basement window, where a kitty door lets the cats in and out.

Last year Phillip introduced Jon and me to disc golf, and we wanted to play again. It was a beautiful, sunny, fall day, and we had tons of fun playing disc golf. The course (Golden Hills, I think was the name) is very difficult, heavily wooded, with steep slopes. It was very pretty, with the leaves all changing colors and falling.

There weren't very many other people playing, just the four of us. It was my mom's first time, but she did pretty good, and had loads of fun. Jon and I are much better than we were last year, I even made par on a couple of holes. Phillip plays a lot, and is quite good, although he says he is out of practice.

After the game, we had lunch, and drove around looking at the Virginia Tech campus. Phillip is in a pool (billiards) league, and had a match that night, but we had to drive back to Independence.

Today we went to frolic in Wytheville. We went to a park in town that used to be a minor league baseball field, but is now just a park. It has a trail around the perimeter, with several different species of trees planted along it. Each tree had a marker identifying it. One was a Red Delicious apple tree, with ripe apples. Not exactly a "lost" variety, but I've never picked a delicious apple off of a tree. I actually found a good one on the ground, I didn't pick one. It was very small, maybe twice the size of a golf ball, and very dark red. It tasted exactly like a Red Delicious though.

Wytheville has several historic homes from the 1800's and 1900's, and a walking path you can take to see each one. We did the tour last year, so this year we just went and looked at our favorites. We had lunch at the Log House, which is a nice restaurant in town in a log house that was built in 1776. It was added on to over the years, and the whole place is a crazy, mismatched maze. It even has rooms built around trees.

Tonight we are staying at the Davis Bourne Inn. Its a wonderful bed and breakfast in Independence in a fantastic old home. They also have dinner, and the food is always wonderful. The beef is from grass fed local cows, and the cheese from local goats. The kitchen scraps go to feed local pigs. The parlor rooms of the house are filled with art from local artists. When I was a little kid, the county owned the house and I remember having head start in the upstairs rooms, so I really enjoy staying in this place now.

This is the annual Sorghum Festival at Whitetop Mountain. There was a bluegrass band playing, and you have to admit that the music makes you want to move. Move how, I don't know, but move. They were making sorghum molasses (of course), but by the time we got there the boiling was done and they were scooping it into jars. They let everyone get a fingerfull of molasses out of the pot. It was very sweet, kind of like honey. Jon bought a jar. We also got some Bolt-style BBQ chicken, which is the yummiest BBQ chicken ever. Unfortunately, because we were late, they were running low on BBQ sauce so our chicken had more of a spicy rub on it than any sauce. It was still pretty tasty.

There were a few craft booths, but the booth I thought was the coolest was some guy showing off his hobby of finding "lost" apples. He travels around, visiting old, old homesteads and orchards looking for heritage varieties of apples that aren't grown anymore. He said he has 800 different varieties of apple trees for sale! His website is www.applesearch.org. Its pretty interesting.

This view is obviously not of Texas. Jon and I have gone to Virginia! (Actually, this photo is from a scenic overlook in North Carolina on the way to Virginia.) We're going to visit my hometown of Elk Creek, which is more forests and farmland than town. At the overlook was a girl who said "I hate nature and everything about it." I didn't ask her to elaborate, but Jon and I definately do not hate nature. We plan to enjoy the fall foliage and go hiking, biking, disc-golfing, white water rafting, and whatever other fun things we can think of.

Its the State Fair of Texas. I finally got to see the pig races tonight. It was adorable. Four pigs would race around the track to get the coveted prize--an Oreo cookie. I don't blame them, Oreos are tasty.

We also had to eat a lot of the fair fried food. We had chicken fried bacon, a deep fried peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwich, a deep fried s'more, deep fried cheesecake, and this picture, of deep fried peaches and cream. It was all good, but not spectacular. My favorite food was actually the hamburger I got at the Owens building. We chickend out of the deep fried butter.

We saw a few of the animals, but not many. We walked around the crafts a little, and around the Midway a little, but did not ride any rides or play any games. We did go see the world's smallest horse. He was a tiny horse. He looked kind of bored too. Oh, and I forgot the butter sculpture. There was a refridgerated room with a bar scene from the old west, life size, entirely out of butter. I don't know what its point was.

Tengo muchos libros traer a mi clase de espanol. Son pesados y dolan el brazo. Tengo dos cuadernos, un libro de texto, y un diccionario. Esta noche tengo mi bolsa y mi paragua tambien. Cree hay los tormentos, perro no.

My eyes get puffy when I'm tired. I suppose thats normal. I've just noticed that if I take my picture in the evening, I will have puffy eyes, but if I take the picture at another time of day I will not. I am sleepy tonight. I usually am at night.

I love taking hot, hot showers. I take long showers, just standing and enjoying the water flowing over me. I have some friends who take super short showers, because they see it as a chore they have to do everyday and not something to enjoy. They are crazy. I know the hot water dries out my skin, and cool showers are better for your muscles after working out, but I do not care. If my skin is really dry, or I have just worked out, I may take a warm shower, but not very often.

Archie has decided to curl up on me tonight. She must have missed me when I went to San Antonio. She is a bit of an attention whore. She likes to be petted and scratched, although she is particular about who she will let pet her. And she likes to bite.

Archie has also been sleeping in my bed at night. It must be because its getting cooler at night. She likes to curl up around feet. I just have to try to not kick her.

Its the Alamo! The Alamo is pretty unimpressive as far as national monuments go, but everyone knows that. Its still cool to have seen it. I saw the giant live oak that's pushing down the walls, and we walked around the shrine.

San Antonio has lots of other missions, so after the Alamo we went to Mission Concepcion. It was really cool. We couldn't go in the church because they are restoring it, but we went in some of the side buildings. You could still see some of the colorful frescoes on the walls and ceilings. In one room, there was a large shelf, probably for a bed, and there was a doodle of a ship above it.

After that we went to the Natural Bridge Caverns. It rained about 8 inches the night before, so the caves were dripping. We had to walk through a lot of "rainy" spots, and the water was flowing down the path. Our feet got really wet, but it was worth it. The caverns were really cool. This was just a walking tour, but they offer tours where you get to crawl and climb through the caves. I think that would be fun to do.

Jon and I are going to San Antonio for the weekend! No reason, we just thought it would be fun. His friend from grad school lives down there, and we have yet to see the Alamo. The drive wasn't too bad, around 5 hours. The only problem was the monsoon we had to drive through from Austin to Seguin. I couldn't see the lines on the road. There was a truck in front of me, so I just followed his tail lights.

When I was looking for a new car in January, I test drove one that had a trunk caddy in it. That car was too expensive, but I loved the pouches. So when I got this car, I had them throw in the pouches. They probably thought I was weird, making such a big deal over such a simple item, but I love organizational compartments. I can't wait to put stuff into them.

This car started out pretty expensive, but I talked them down. I got pretty mean too. Thier downfall was that we were negotiating in a cubicle, like at work. I get mean at work, and the cubicle environment brought it out in me. Also they offered me some pretty weak deals, and even suggested a lease. Please.

Happy Birthday, Jon!!

Today is Jon's birthday. He loves rocks and fossils, and when we go hiking he is always stopping to look at and pick up rocks. When we dug the pond in my backyard, we found lots of cool fossils that he took. He said his career choices came down to engineer or paleontologist, and he decided to be a professional engineer and amateur paleontologist, because you can't do the opposite.

So I decided to give him some geologist tools for his birthday. I got him a rock hammer, a belt holster, and a magnifier. He's very excited. Now we need to go hiking somewhere where he can use them.

Archie likes to dive into the laundry basket and pull out washcloths. She then carries them throughout the house, dropping them in random places. I came home from work once and found 7 washcloths in the living room. Her favorites are black dress socks though. It doens't matter how deep I bury them in the hamper, she will pull them out. She will sometimes put those in her waterdish, and then drag them through the house. Lovely. I tell her she doesn't have to do laundry, but she insists.

Oddly enough, I have never seen her carrying laundry thoughout the house. But who else is here to do it?

Jon is feeling better today. We went to the ER this morning and they checked his stitches, and they all look good. He doesn't have to take his pain meds any more, but he's still taking it kind of easy though. I don't blame him.

I went to 5k class today, and ran faster than I wanted to. For the past couple of years, ever since I started running, I've only been focusing on finishing the distance I want to do. Now for the first time I am working on getting faster. Its a very different mindset, and my body is not really enjoying it. Thats good. It will make me stronger.

I love Clean Sheet Day. The bed is so soft and smooth and fresh. I just want to burrow in and stay. I have a comfy bed anyway, so its usually really hard to leave. I have a king size pillow top mattress. I don't know why anyone would want a bed smaller than a king. The space is awesome.