Letterboxing....

Today, I went letterboxing with Russ, the guy that replied to my CL posting. After we went to Ben Franklin so he could buy a stamp (a totally masculine strawberry), we headed out to Pocahontas State Park, and looked for the Pocahontas letterboxes (5 total). On the way to the park, we got lost, and ended up driving around for about an hour. When we finally did find the park, we had to pay $4.00 to park.

Unfortunately, we didn't really pay attention to the clue before we set out, and after we got started on the trail, we realized that the first box was 1.5 miles down the trail. Please take note that this trail was steep, rocky, littered with tree debris, and seemed closer to 10 miles. We found box number one with little to no problems. Another .75 miles, and we looked for box number 2, which was missing.

After we finished hiking out of the woods (another .25 miles) we began the search for boxes 3,4 and 5, which were located on a different trail. After hiking another mile, we came to the trail path, and it was closed for construction and trespassing was prohibited. So, brilliant me suggested that we go to the END of the trail and hike in backwards in order to locate the clues. This also would have eliminated an extra 1.5 miles of hiking. So, we drove to the end of the trail, but found that they really weren't lying about the construction, as the entire area was barricaded.

We started off in search of 5 boxes, and only one was found. Although it was a bit disappointing to not have completed the clue, it was through no fault of our own. Besides, I got like, 4.5 miles of hiking exercise in, so that now I don't feel guilty about sleeping until 11 this morning and blowing the gym off!

Can I see your ID please?

So, tonight my boss and I went out to dinner at this Mexican place, where the prime topic of our conversation centered around Richmond. OK, mainly it centered around Richmond, how much we hate it, how stupid the people (as a general population) are, and how we both wished we were in real cities.

Anyways, having had a very long day at work, I ordered a strawberry margarita. And the waitress carded me. SHE carded ME! Yay! : ) I think that my boss was a bit jealous, but then again, he just turned 42. I am significantly younger than that, though I have been legally able to procure alcohol for 7 years now. NOTHING boosts the ego more than having someone think that you're younger than you really are.

So, I had an awesome post the other day...

But something happened to the system that supports this little piece of virtual land that I've staked out for myself, and it was lost, never to be recovered. I was disappointed. It was well thought out, funny, and yet, there was the underlying message that everyone would be able to relate to in some respect. Meh, too bad. You get to read this instead.

I would tell you about my Thursday, but I can't until I'm sure that the one co-worker that has seen this page doesn't continue to read this. If he does, then I may have to monitor my postings a bit more. If he has since forgotten about the one time he looked me up, then I may be able to resume. However, since I have no way of monitoring his internet usage, I think I should wait a few days.

Maybe I should do something like, "hey, Bryan..If you read this, turn around and say hi to me for no reason" or something. But Bryan's favorite word is "hello" so that may or may not be a viable option. Any suggestions?

Thank you

Thank you to the anonymous poster who pointed out the difference between cicadas and locusts. I looked both up at encyclopedia.com, and discovered that:

a. the 17 year locusts are actually cicadas
b. the cicada lays their eggs in tree branches, and their larva fall to the earth, burrow into the ground, and then grow into their full grown state
c. locusts actually lay their eggs in the ground

So, as you can see, it is easily explainable how one might confuse a cicada and a locust.

Anyways, this past Saturday found me wandering around Robius Landing Park in search of the "Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone" letterboxes. There were 6 total boxes, and I found all six! I was excited, though it was a pretty long hike. I arrived at the park around 4:15ish, and left at 6pm. If you go, wear sturdy shoes/boots, since most part of the trail is muddy and underwater at some points (well, it was for me since I went after it rained).

I'm hoping that this weekend will be cooperating weatherwise, so that I can go out again and look for hidden boxes.

Saturday (I know, it took a genius to figure that one out)

So, this morning I had an appointment with my trainer at the gym. Guess what? C'mon..just guess already....I've lost 7 inches and 4 pounds. Yay me! I'm so totally geeked right now! :D

I had grand plans to go letterboxing this afternoon, but the tempremental weather has me wary of venturing out into the great outdoors when sporadic thunderstorms alight. I did do some dishes, though, and am debating the merits of just heading to the laundrymat tonight. I need to wash my down comforter, and that thing takes like, 6 hours from wash to dry, along with about 10 bucks in quarters.

Meh, it's thundering, but it's not raining. I guess how this day ends will be a mystery!

laterness...

You screw with nature, and nature will screw with you...

Ok, I know I just published like, 2 minutes ago, but I have to comment on the state of television movies. THEY HAVE BECOME INCREASINGLY STUPID. First off, I don't watch thse cheesy made for tv movies, but the previews that they show incessantly are enough to tell the entire story.

For example--"Spring Break-Shark Attack!". Hello? Can anyone else derive, from the title of the movie, what the premise will be? Spring Break= skinny girls with huge boobs in bikinis at the beach. Shark Attack= skinny girls with huge boobs in bikinis at the beach being eaten by blood-thirsty sharks!

Second example for the most recent atrocity--"Locusts". Okay, aren't locusts one of those things that climb out of the ground every 7, or 10, or 17 years, swarm around eating trees, shedding their little exoskeletons, and then retreating back into the earth until they again rise up and repeat the process? what is scary about locusts? Sure, they are bugs (and few people are fond of bugs), but are they flesh-eating atrocities of nature that are devastating mankind? Last time I checked, they were still vegetarians.

Just a last minute thought for the night. And I need to stop biting my nails again. *sigh*

Laterz...

Another Saturday night, and I ain't got nobody...

Okay, okay, it's only Thursday, and I don't get paid again until next friday, but I just felt like saying that. The weather today was freakishly kewl. We had some kick-ass storms roll into town this afternoon, and within the span of 40 mins, the day went from partly cloudy and nice to dark, green, and forboding. It was so dark by 5pm that the lights in the parking lot at work came one. I loved every single minute of it! I especially loved throwing the T word into the conversation at work. Nothing invokes panic more than the thought of a tornado.

I tried to download this thing to allow me to post pictures on my site, but I come to find out that it is only windows compatible (evil windows). And not being html saavy, I guess that this will be a pictureless page for the time being. That's okay with me, since I seriously doubt that people I don't know will be reading my page.

I'm slowly but surely turning into a slug, and after the appointment with my trainer Saturday mornng, I think (as long as the weather cooperates to some degree) that I'll go in search of a letterbox somewhere. I have a beautiful journal to use now for my finds, but alas, I left my stamp in Michigan. I suppose that I'll have to find a temporary replacement until it arrives.

Anyways, I am SO glad that tomorrow is Friday, and thus, the beginning of a long awaited weekend. Until then....ciao!

playing catch-up!

Wow, long time--no post! It's been a crazy time since I flew back to Richmond. I went through a little bit of a depression/withdrawl when I got back. I didn't want to be in Richmond, not when I wanted to be in Michigan.

While I was hanging out with JoDee and Craig, we had so much fun! It was like old times again. We spent alot of time eating and watching tv, playing on our computers, and talking, shopping, and some more eating. Man, it was AWESOME! I suppose this visit could be called "ruthie's pig fest". We consumed, or at least tried to, all of my favorite Michigan foods. JoDee made her dad's sweet potatoes that he serves at Easter and Thanksgiving. I made my famous and ooey-gooey macaroni and cheese that I hadn't made since I was in Michigan for Thanksgiving. We ate Jet's pizza ( Virginia has no concept of a square deep dish pizza), we had sweet-n-sour chicken from my favorite little hole in the wall chinese place in Livonia, we had Panera (which, they have in Richmond, but it's not quite the same when you don't have meal buddies to share it with), we had Max and Ermas french onion soup and garlic breadsticks, and last, but not least, we had Frostyboy! :) Yummers!

While I was in Michigan, we also went Letterboxing, and I found my first one! It must be my innate sense of locating the impossible :).

Anyways, Ricmond is back to sucking again--I realized how much I don't like it, how much I feel alienated, how lonely I am for people who know me and actually LIKE me for me. I miss my friends, and I wish that there was a way to eliminate the states of Ohio and West Virginia so they could be closer to me. OOOOHHHH! If Sarah can figure out that matter transport thingy that she was talking about, then maybe she can figure out how to transport large portions of the contiguous US! Wouldn't that be GREAT? :)

I'm leaving, on a jetplane...

Ok, so in two days, I will take my inagural plane trip. I'm 28, went to college three states away from where I grew up, and I have never flown. I'm excited, a bit wary of missing my connecting flight in DC, afraid that some innocuous item in my luggage will prompt tackle and strip search by butch lesbionic airport security, but oddly enough, not afraid to die. Weird, huh? I guess it's all in the priorities.

For years, I've thought about flying. Every time I came home from college, someone would ask me if I was flying. Since it was only 8-10 hours drive time, and my parents live approximately 2 hours from the closest regional airport (I don't think that the small airport on top of the mountain that caters to small private puddle-jumper planes would have a commuter flight into it), I considered flying to be more of a hassle than driving. Besides, who wants to be dependent on their parents for transportation when you're home for spring break? The prohibitive cost also factored into the non-flying decisions.

Well, this time, the price was right, the time saved was right, and I'm also avoiding an extra 1800 miles of wear and tear on my car. So, wish me luck, keep your fingers crossed that I don't miss my connection, and that the predicted thunderstorms don't keep me from making a timely landing at Metro.