Posts Tagged ‘vacation’

• So many things – so little time

  Date: 2009.07.07 | Category: Life as we know it, work | Response: 0

  Jessica and I are constantly rearranging our schedules. Each week we find that more and more things are pushed to the wayside as we try to fit everything in. Our latest casualty might be going camping this year. I don’t think we have a free weekend available until Labor Day and I’m not even sure if that is going to be free.

  For people that are constantly bored – as we often say to each other – we are busy as hell.

  The things that aren’t even on the radar are piling up in droves – I wish we had more free time. Our work schedules don’t help as any free weekend I get is inevitably a standby weekend. There is a small break in September when my sister comes out for a week. We might try and cram in a camping trip then if she is up to the task (she very well might be).

  Ok – that’s all I’ve got the time for now – I’ve got to finish cooking lunch for tomorrow, do my workout, vacuum out my car, finish the laundry, sweep the kitchen floor, take the dogs to the park, eat dinner, and…. the list goes on

• What has happened?

  Date: 2009.05.17 | Category: Life as we know it | Response: 0

  There was a point in time where I would spend hours looking for something that interested me. I would spend days on the internet trying to stay entertained and I would share much of what I found here, at this blog. Lately, however, I’ve found that life outside the internet is far more fulfilling and entertaining.

  Work has kept me relatively busy but I still don’t find much job satisfaction. My job has seldom been mentally demanding and I spend much of my time putting out small fires (not literal fires as fires around explosives usually leads to blown up people). I know that I could be doing more but unfortunately there isn’t much more for me at my current job. Its a rinse, wash, and repeat job and its gotten tedious. I have been stationed here for two years and as of next January this will be my longest single assignment. I really like the area around the base and the base itself – I just don’t like my particular job function. It does keep me busy – so busy that I can’t get a chance to write on this blog – then again, the wonderful BlueCoat filters have been cranked up a notch so I can no longer access my blog from work. Huuzah!

  I’m on a bit of a health kick right now so I’ve been planning my meals in advance and have been cooking two meals at a time. The planning and preparation takes quite a bit of time. Its a structured diet so I can’t eat exactly what I want – most of what I eat is rather bland. If only I could find a repository of quick and healthy meals that fit in with my current diet plan. The plan restructures in another two weeks so by the time I get it all figured out it will be time to change gears again.

  I also have a new workout routine that I takes 6-7 hours out of my week. I workout at the end of my day and it drains me of all of my remaining energy. It’s quite demanding but I really like the change. There is some yoga in it and this brand of yoga is not for the faint of heart. This stuff is intense.

  I’m working on a math class – something I should be doing right now instead of writing but I’m putting it off for just a little longer. I’m behind the power curve and I need to knock it out this week. It’s nose to the grind stone time.

  Jessica has been working fewer hours this past month. She hasn’t been cut in hours, she is simply no longer working any overtime. Her work is broken down into a couple of different segments and this particular one is the slower part of the year.

  We’ve been trying to get out of the house more often and we did just that yesterday. My college roommate and his wife-to-be (a former neighbor from down the street) were making a swing through the Pacific NW while on vacation. We acted as tour guides on Saturday and took them around Seattle. We rarely go to Seattle so it was nice to see some of the sights. We went to the Crab Pot for dinner and they literally dumped a bucket of cooked ocean on our table. They invited one of their friends to join us – he was another one of my neighbors while I was growing up. I guess he had been living in the local area the entire time I had been here. Small world huh?

  So – if you come to this blog and are hoping for tidbits of my life I’ll try to get them here. I’ve got more pressing matters to deal with at the time – if you have Facebook you’re bound to see a little more from me there… but not much more. I’m a busy guy.

• Weekend Getaways

  Date: 2009.02.25 | Category: I was too lazy to organize these | Response: 1

  So this past weekend John and I received our tax refunds. After budgeting some money in for our cars, we decided to splurge on ourselves. Friday night John and I decided that we were going to go snowboarding at Steven’s Pass. We threw together our stuff and ended up having some friends over for drinks. After a long evening of drinking we made it to bed late and got up early. After John drug me from the bed ( I was not feeling so well after drinking) and after I got out of the shower John suggested that we just stay the night near the pass. He already had a few places in mind so we packed over night bags and headed out.

  We arrived at Stevens about 10 AM and hit the slopes about 10:45. I know I’m getting more confident in my snowboarding skills when I get on the ski lift and don’t feel like vomiting all over everyone down below. The snow was a lot better here and the runs are a lot more forgiving than they were at Snoqualmie. After we went down my good old safe “daisy” run John suggested that we go onto the run that we tried last time. I didn’t remember doing any other runs last time we were there but I just went with it. As we  rode up and up the lift I started to think that this wasn’t right. This looked WAY more advanced than I would ever try. Turns out I was right and I thought it was an attempt my on life by John. He started to remember OH YEAH I did this run by myself last time……

  All you need to know is that I did make it down by myself and on my board. John was very very apologetic the rest of the day. We took a break and got some lunch then we went back out for about 2.5 hours of fun then we headed towards Leavenworth. We had managed to get a signal and made quick reservations at the Pension Anna. They didn’t have any good rooms available so we said the hell with and got the Red Feather Suite. It was actually located a mile away from the main lodge. It was amazing. It was this cute little cottage and it had a fire place, king size bad and a jet tub. I was in heaven. We went and walked around the town which was a lot of fun. We got a Bavarian pretzel and some good beer and found dinner at a little German restaurant. As we were walking through the shops I found the chocolate mecca. It was a small shop in a shop and the man’s wife and sister in law hand make these chocolates. He asked what my favorite kind of chocolate was my favorite so I told him dark so he handed me a piece of this hand made dark chocolate and I was done for. I have NEVER tasted a better chocolate in my life. So we bought an assorted box of nine chocolates. One of these chocolates John and I got for Leanne because it was made with GoldSchlager Liquor ( her fav to shoot) (she loved it btw) The shop was called Schocolat and I will go there every time I get near Leavenworth.

  We stopped off at the local Safeway so I could get a bottle of wine and John could get some beer. We made it back to the cute cottage with an amazing view and I cracked my bottle of wine, had a bath in the jet tub, and then to proceeded to fall asleep on the couch and cuddle up with John at 7:45 pm at night. I was tired

  All in all it was a really good weekend. We had some relaxing time and play time and we both enjoyed it immensely.