Livin' the Life

It's been a long week full of, well, everything. Unfortuantely, my camera and I are fighting and it's currently winning, so this narration will be without illustration. I'll put up the photos as soon as I can figure out how to un-protect the disc.

Last week was a long week of work. I jumped back into it full swing and it's really busy right now. I took a half day off on Thursday to go to the dentist (where I found I had a cavity and was also encouraged to get my wisdom teeth removed) and still worked 45 hours last week. The sad thing is that it's not letting up any time soon--I put in 10 hours today.

Spent most of the week keeping busy. I bonded with Kristin, unpacked, built a dresser (took me 4 hours and then Kristin came home and told me it was put together incorrectly-there goes another hour dismantling and reconstructing), put together a TV stand--much easier. Pretty standard stuff. It was a little strange to be in a new place, but I've been settling in well. Rick had a vistor from the Mainland so I didn't hang out with him either--it was a strange week.

Saturday was an experience and I wish I could let the pictures help me tell the story. I worked nearly a full day and then went camping with the Salt Pond gang for Ben's birthday. We were going camping in Kokee State Park which is in the Waimea Canyon neighborhood in the mountains. I had noticed from the field that it had been raining in the mountains all day but I met some of the group at the museum and followed them on the dirt road into the camping area.

Notice I said dirt road and also rememeber I had said it had been raining all day. So the road was mud. My Jeep earned its keep that day (and the next). We drove in about 3.5 miles and it took us about 20 minutes. You do the math. The road was really windy (you'll have that with mountains, I guess) and near the end it was almost all downhill and I was fishtailing everywhere. Did I mention I have 4 mis-matched, low-tread tires? There was one point I was sliding down the hill sideways. Lovely. I was really glad I had all the training on ice so I could keep the whole situation under control.

The campsite was very near Sugi Grove and was basically a huge clearing in the middle of the forest. There were about a dozen of us and it seemed everyone had their own camping strategy. Jeremy set up a cot under a tarp, Rhian had a hammock with a mosquito net and rain fly, Bobby and Cindy slept under a tarp that was stretched from the picnic building, Ben slept in his truck, some had their tents under trees. I decided to set mine (I had borrowed Kristin's) up in the clearing. It was a shame to waste all that perfectly good camping space. Anyway, we sat around eating and drinking and swapping stories Saturday night--it was a great bonding experience. I went to bed hoping it would stay dry so my car would be able to make it out the next morning.

Even though I had worked a full day and hadn't slept well the night before, I didn't sleep well in my tent. The moon was near full and I kept thinking it was morning. Or rather, hoping it was. It started raining shortly after I went to bed and I woke up severl times during the night to find yet another thing wet. First it was the end of my sleeping bag. Then my pillow. Then my camera case (which subsequently led to me sleeping with my camera in the middle of the tent). By the time I gave in, the bottom half of the sleeping bag was wet (which made me mad since I had a cot in the car but thought that wasn't "roughing" it), my extra clothes and the bottom half of my sweats were all wet. I was not happy. And, to add to it all, the kids on the trip got up at 5 and were making lots of noise trying to get the fire going again.

I was miserable Sunday morning. I thought I might get hypothermia. My feet were wet, my pants were wet, I was cold in my sweatshirt (I don't have a coat). You can see your breath up there since it's so cold (seriously, it can dip down to the 40s) and humid there. Turns out our camp went about 50/50 on the night: the tarp Bobby adn Cindy were under got torn down in the wind and the ended up wiht the tarp on top of them, literally, and soaking wet. About half of the tents were drenched as well as the hammock. A few tents stayed dry and Jeremy in his cot and Ben in his truck were the dry, happy ones of the morning. Had breakfast--wild goat--and I went with Amanda to collect cala lilys from the river. Well, I watched. I was already wet and cold enough. Ended up leaving around 9:30 and miracously my car made the trip back out. Horray for 4-wheel drive! Spent much of the late morning/early afternoon warming up with a hot shower, hot apple cider, and my warm (and dry) bed. It was fun, a great expereince, but it would be better appreciated in the dry season. If there is one.

Sunday spent the day running around doing errands and catching up with Rick since his company had gone back home. If I remember correctly, Sunday was fairly uneventful. But you need days like that.

My boss from the Mainland, Mary, came out here for winter nursery and I thought it would be nice to invite her over for supper one night. We decided on Monday and then I realized I had to cook. Now for those of you not in the know, I claim to not be a cook. I bake, I don't cook. It's not that I don't have the time or means or guidance, I just don't do it. In recent evaluation, I feel that baking is far more rewarding because you eat a cake for days and you eat a meal once. Or at least that's my new theory. So I called up Grandma and decided on chicken supreme. In addition to the chicken I whipped up some mashed potatoes, a fruit plate, a chocolate sheet cake, and homemade hot fudge sauce. All from scratch. Except the ice cream. And then I realized I'd have too much food for 2 so I invited Kristin (obviously) and her boyfriend Josh and Rick. It went well despite the fact that we only have 2 kitchen chairs and I had to sit on a stool that was actually taller than the table. I was a little disappointed that in all the preparation I walked away satified but not completely full. If I wasn't full, chances are others weren't either. But the cooking was a success and we all chatted for a while. Good times.

Work is taking over between the busy nursery, my application process to a new job (the hiring scientist told me to apply--if that's not an invitation to a new job I don't know what is), and the upcmoing Learning Institute in Johnston. Tomorrow I have meetings which tears me away from the field which is nice but stressful at the same time. And I can't believe that this time next week I'll be back on the Mainland. Again. If only the flight were shorter...