infinite wisdom

a thermometer on the forehead. a clamp around each wrist to measure heart rate. a blood pressure cuff inflating at regular intervals. a monitor on the finger to measure oxygen levels. a brace locking my elbow in place. the i.v. slowly dripping. a tube shoved in my nose for more oxygen. a blurry doctor comes in, "so we're extracting your bottom right wisdom tooth today?" and he starts to pump in the anesthesia into the i.v. as he talks. just like that i was out.

i can probably count on one hand the amount of surgery i've had in my lifetime. i'm sure i had something done when i electrocuted myself when i was four (walking example why you should cover wall sockets), and i know i had oral surgery when i was in 6th grade to correct an upside-down tooth (which has since perished). this is the first time i can remember actually going under. or at least the whole process before and after. it's just crazy to me that i wake up jaw numb, tooth gone and absolutely no recollection of the whole event. there's no foggy memory. no residual feelings of pain from the operation. just 30 minutes of my life unaccounted for by my brain.

christmas in pictures

it's business time

so i'm a little behind the times. i'm making sure aaron's gets on his 4.5 hour delayed flight out of chicago. he just boarded and i'm passing time browsing the net. brian played this for me last night and i thought it was hilarious. i had to watch it again and share with everyone.

pretty dogs all in a row

the excitement of christmas is wearing these dogs out.

love lights

one thing i LOVE about christmas are the lights. the twinkle, the glow--there's just something about them that make me feel all giddy and childlike inside. disney feels the same way. and even though the weather didn't scream christmas the light displays did.

if i could get away with having them up year round i would. i just love seeing them on houses, especially way up on the mountainsides. aaron and i debate if we'd ever go crazy with yard art and inflatables. if there was a tactful way of doing it, i'd be all on it. but being a designer i think the idea is pretty much squashed. i'm just too anal when it comes to decor, and most light displays fall on the cheesy side. (no offense to those who have them) we've got our old-school lights up and even though they suck up tons of energy--i love em!

i'm such a tease

a christmas tease that is. two more days til family arrives. i can't wait!

biggest upset of 2007

of course i have to post this: biggest upset of 2007

AND appalachian state won the national championship for the third year in a row on friday. go mountaineers!

westphal does walt

disney in a day...impossible. especially when toting around four little ones. we did manage to hit up epcot and the magic kingdom. weather: couldn't ask for any better. i don't know how people do it in the dead of summer. lines were fairly fast. we got a fastpass for soarin seven hours later we were riding high. best attraction at epcot and super popular. we did a several more rides with all the kids. little shayna met all the height requirements so she was riding on every ride with the big kids! what a trooper. all in all i had a great time. can't really complain when it's all free. perks of having a disney employee in the family.

i had a great time seeing dana and her family. dana and i chatted into the wee hours every night. we had 12 years of catching up to do. she is a super momma. i must admit i was a bit overwhelmed. going from zero to four is quite an adjustment. even for someone like me. i love kids but i don't think i can manage four. how she does it on her own is beyond me. you go girl! we even got to squeeze in a short visit with oma alyce! exactly how i remembered her. must be the water over there. she looked and acted exactly the same.

i am glad to be home. as nice as the weather was down there, it didn't feel like christmas. i love to bundle up and snuggle under a warm blankets. love to see my breath in the crisp air. snow. and, of course, to see my babies again. although aaron is somewhere in the washington wilderness right now. this is the longest we've been apart since we've been together, 10 days in 10 years, crazy. i talked to him yesterday and he was four hours into his six hour drive from bellingham. then he had a six mile hike ahead of him. he was loving the scenery. hopefully he'll take plenty of photos and i'll make "sometimes aaron" post a blog about his trip upon his return.

making the lists

in case you missed it. an article was recently brought to my attention. thanks, aly. read more here: america’s 10 best outdoor towns

"the mountaineers are a win away from an unprecedented third straight national championship." aaron almost had a conflict of interest. it could have been siu vs. asu in the championship game. unfortunately siu lost to deleware last night. not much of a football fan but go mountaineers!!

"...these towns have not only back doors to some of the country’s best adventure terrain, but also lively, livable communities that are dedicated to playing in and preserving the great american playgrounds."

bad dog momma

lately i've been taking the dogs with me when running errands. we've got christmas decor everywhere and i'm paranoid they're gonna yank, pull, demolish something if left alone. yesterday i looked up from the computer to see bosco standing on our dining room table. so my concerns were well founded.

with it starting to get colder i decided to pack a blanket in the car and put the two in warm outfits, bosco in a smoking jacket and marley in her sweater. none of them bought by me. (i think i have brian and irina to thank for both.) ran my errands, got home and decided to leave them in their outfits. of course, aaron wanted to take them off as soon as he saw them and i told him to let them be. i think they like 'em i told him. a few hours later, marley was upstairs with aaron and didn't come down when he did. which was very unusual. we just thought she was very tired and decided to crash in her crate. then we heard a whimpering from her and we both shot up the stairs. there she sat, looking up at us from the top of the stairs. is she feeling sick? are her ears warm? aaron picks her up and says her paws feel wet. i grab her paws and they're ice cold. take the sweater off, i think it's cutting off her circulation. a few minutes later she's running around like nothing was wrong. problem solved! the price we pay for fashion!

how do you like my balls?

i'd bought some styrofoam balls to make some fabric ornaments i'd seen on craftster. after a futile attempt at making one, i came to the conclusion i was using the wrong type of styrofoam. this type would crush if i applied too much pressure to it. since i had five extra balls i decided to go in another direction. luckily i saw another post with these ornaments. who knew i'd find another use for my sequins stash! yes, i have an overabundance of sequins. over 2000 stickpins later and many hours of sorting sequins... here is the end result.

i'm going to disneyworld

this time next week i'll be in sunny florida enjoying the company of the mouse. disney in a day? is that even possible? aaron thinks it's unbelievable that we're even going to try. dana assures me it can be done. we'll see what the photos have to report.

busy weeks ahead. i leave wednesday for florida. aaron leaves next sunday for washington state while i return home, maybe we'll cross each others paths at the airport. brian and irina arrive the following friday. mom, dad and aaron arrive/return the 23rd. christmas, new year, oral surgery, academy...the list goes on.

yes, more teeth drama. yesterday i went in to see my orthodontist. after wearing my retainer for extended periods what i thought was my jaw was locking up. come to find out, it's the muscle around my jaw, kinda like a crook in your neck. culprit: my wisdom tooth. it's erupted and causing my teeth to misalign. he ground down the tooth and it was immediate relief. he recommends i get the tooth pulled, otherwise it'll continue to bother me. if it's not one thing it's another. so now i have to plan a tooth extraction sometime before the 18th of january. what a way to ring in the new year!

coming to a mailbox near you

i finally made some relocation notes to include in our christmas cards this year. here's the image i used. it's a portion of our tree skirt that aaron's mom made years ago. i would have modified it a bit, but aaron is insistent we get them out sooner than later. look for it in a mailbox near you soon!

criss-cross will make you...

it takes approximately six squares to make one coaster. 24 squares to make a set of four. 120 to make five sets. plus the additional square of fusible interfacing needed for each coaster. who knew such a little thing would take so much work and use so much fabric. here's one set i finished before we left on holiday last week. i should take a pic of the stack of squares sitting next to my sewing machine. we've been working solely on christmas decor that i haven't gotten a chance to finish. goal for today.

we got back sunday. a nine hour drive from cdale to boone. a venti, mocha frap and an ipod full of good tunes made the drive tolerable. good times in the dale. i have to remember, one night of too much fun early on can ruin the rest of the week.

we got to see everyone we wanted to see. how we did it in such a short span is still a mystery. next trip...maybe a short stint down to florida in a few weeks to see dana and the kids...and perhaps mickey. i'd be flying solo since aaron will be heading to washington state for his christmas hike with tom and crew. still have to look into a plane ticket.

this year we're hosting christmas in the carolinas for my family. we've been in holiday overdrive since returning from illinois. aaron dragged out box after box of christmas decor from the basement. who knew we'd accumulated so much. one of aaron's patients gave us an eight foot christmas tree that is now standing in our front foyer. a fraser fir, it looks awesome!! last night we trimmed it together. how quaint. i'd post pics but i wanna keep it a surprise for the family. i'll probably give a little teaser in an upcoming blog. i'm off to clean up a little...our house looks like it's been ransacked by little elves.

another felt creation

i gotta a little sidetracked on my way to making criss-cross coasters. yes, felt hair clips. 24 of them so far. i had bought a packet of snap clips a few weeks ago, knowing i'd eventually get around to making them. now is eventually. i first practiced using craft felt. quality isn't great, but served it's purpose. they're the neon looking ones with somewhat morbid designs. the pastel ones are made of wool felt. what a difference in quality. aaron convinced me to stick with cheery themes when making ones i want to sell. makes sense, a majority of the population would rather put cute than creepy on their child's head. i'll still do a few creepy quality ones, but unless there's a popular demand i'll stick with cutesy. now you'll know what will be occupying my time on our drive back to illinois monday/tuesday.

in action

i finally snagged a photo of carrie wearing my creation. yes, it's been "carrified," i mean sexified. it looks 100x better with the wider neckline. remember i didn't like the seam down the middle to begin with. i'm impressed she was able to make it work. damn, it looks good!

postsecret

postsecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

new site find today. interesting to see what secrets people keep. do i have any skeletons in my closet i'm dying to share? anonymously, of course. i'll have to dig deep.

every sunday it's updated with new postcards.

i make me laugh

what do you do with intimate items you know you'll never use?

for the last few months i've been taking said items over to jill and jerome's. when they were distracted, i'd duck into their bathroom and toss an item under the sink. after leaving about five items i started to wonder if they'd come across the stash. jill and jerome are clean freaks and i remember seeing cleaning supplies in there so i know someone's had to have seen it by now. finally after two months i couldn't hold my tongue, i asked jill. "what!?! you've been putting that stuff under there? i thought it was jerome trying to hint at something!" too funny.

what items am i referring to? everything i got at my bachlorette party last year. kama sutra body lotion, spanish fly, penis straws, jenna jameson bubble bath and...
after an evening of drinking, you know someone's gonna be wearing edible underwear. let's just say it wasn't someone of the female persuasion.

go bold, go home

seriously considering going bold with wallpaper this time around. where? still pondering that one. i know it's going to be too much for an entire room. but as an accent wall, i'm sure it won't be too overwhelming. only thing i'm worried about, applying the wallpaper. it'd be a first for me...and i can already anticipate frustration. it'd be a challenge but if i start fairly small, i think i can pull it off.

bookmarked

i received a small bag of bamboo tiles in a supply swap a few months ago. i honestly didn't have a clue what i was going to do with them. after some brainstorming, here's the end result. fashion bookmarks. supplies: bamboo tile, paper scraps, hemp cording and plastic beads. great stash-buster.

this was the first time i used a high-gloss varnish. it took longer than i expected to dry but it was well worth it in the end. i also made a few pin-up tiles that i couldn't bear making into bookmarks. i think they would better serve as some type of jewelry. what type...i have no clue. i'll have to ponder on that one a bit longer. next project: criss-cross coasters. i think i'll alternate between sewing, crafting and home improvement projects.

i just dropped aaron, jerome and patrick off at the asu football game. i really don't think it's gonna be much to see. they're playing the worst team in the conference. jerome and his buddy patrick came over a few hours beforehand, had a little tailgate at the house. i did have to drop off three very drunk football fans. maybe the alcohol will keep them warm cause it's a bit nippy. go asu!

pocket pouches

i'm gonna fudge here. i made these a few weeks ago for yet another swap. the sweat shoppe swap. you make five like items and swap them for five different items. in this swap i get to choose the items i want and if they're available i get them. i got most of what i asked for so all is good.

the pouches resemble the clutch i made a while ago, only smaller and with a wristlet. i tried to accommodate peoples likes and dislikes so there's a wide array of style. i'll revisit these in a few weeks as a daily craft.

i am working on a craft right now. bamboo tiles covered with various papers. most of them will eventually be made into bookmarks similar to the one i made angela in the last swap. i used varnish on them to give them a high gloss look and it's taking a while for them to dry. i made more than ten so i guess that counts for two days of crafting. i'll post pics tomorrow of the finished items.

one a day

they've come back to haunt. garden gnomes! when in asheville a few weeks ago, our lovely host had an abundance of these little devils sprinkled throughout her yard. i started snapping away, knowing i'd be doing something with them somewhere down the line. first project: gnome notes.

man, does it suck not having a desktop publishing program. quark, indesign, anything is better then using microsoft word. i was able to punch out 3 sets of cards before my printer went kaput. inkwell is now dry. i gave a set to jill for her birthday and am selling the other two in my swap shop. i'm not too happy with the colors...wanted them to pop. once i get the bugs ironed out i'll make some more. hopefully i'll be designing aaron's office website and i'll be able to afford creative suite. how to break down the difference between programs: creative suite is equivalent to a lexus where microsoft word is a fiat. dumb comparison, since i haven't ridden in either. but you get the gist.

my swap shop is basically a place for my practice projects. i've been trading practice projects for more materials, i.e. buttons, fabrics. it's kinda nice having that option. they'd be going to waste otherwise. i've gotten a few cool items, but i'm finding my style and everyone elses are very different as far as finished products go. so basically i've been sticking to supplies.

i've also found that i need to give myself goals. otherwise i push things off and they tend to never get done. i've decided to do a project a day. at least attempt to. five items. two for practice and three to sell. unless, of course, they are perfect from the get-go. i am finding i am a little OCD when it comes to setting up shop. the sewing needs to be perfect, the photos have to look great and the marketing materials have to shine. at this rate, i should be open....never! ;)

this time last year...

pretty much the phrase of the weekend. the whole phrase: "can you believe this time last year we were in jamaica getting married?" jamaica...oh how we miss thee! seriously, we do.

we've officially got a whole year of marriage under our belts.

we thought we'd try and take one of those "spur of the moments" vacations/weekends, but that didn't pan out too well. (i don't think those work unless you live in a city with a major airport.) we even considered reliving the moment in jamaica. poor planning on our part. two nights cost just as much as five days. so that was a bust. instead we decided to have a date weekend. friday night we went out to dinner at one of our favorite "fancy" restaurants, the artisanal. food was fabulous.

saturday we went to the movies and watched dan in real life. a cute, romantic comedy. yes, cute. we don't like spending $16.50 on a movie we know is going to be so-so. we bit the bullet and splurged.

on our official anniversary we went hiking. a big difference from last year. since this was going to be the last nice weekend of the year, we decided to take advantage. we climbed 1000 ft. in a little over a mile. elevation on elk knob: 5520 ft. i thought i was going to die. it was pretty much uphill the whole time. but when we made it to the top it was totally worth the climb! aaron slathered on the zinc sunscreen so his lips are stark white in the pic. but we wanted to commemorate the occasion with a photo. slightly resembles the photo we took last year this time!

it was pretty much a low key anniversary. we shared a few gifts, relaxed, and were probably a little more lovey-dovey than usual. i think we both agreed we'd plan a little better next year. this time next year, i can't believe we'll be in jamaica! ;)

i swap a lot

angela received her tin today so i can post photos of what i made. above is the top of the tin. i went with her asian/orient theme. i love the theme myself so i absolutely enjoyed making everything. i practiced a little more using polymer, both inside and out.

unfortunately the blossom pin didn't make it. one of the petals broke. boo! :( everything else arrived intact. also included: a large marble magnet, blossom bookmark, origami crane earrings, fortune cookie cell phone charm and 6 marble thumbtacks. it was a great swap, especially it being her first!! you go girl!

brother brian asked me to make steak and potatoes. i told him steak is "so not cute" but he insisted. here's my version...i even made the little plate it's sitting on. i may redo the steak, it's a little too rare for his taste. he wants grill marks, the works. everyone's a critic! i should have put a dime in there for scale. it's pretty small, it can fit in the palm of my hand (to give you reference).

take the tour

per request, here are photos of the interior of the house. it's still a work in progress.

swap gone good

since my last swap was a bit of a disappointment, i decided to do a personal swap this time around. angela and i basically followed the guidelines for the altoid tin swap from craftster. gave each other a list of interests and presto! we have a swap. i think this is the better way to go. i know her skill level and she knows mine. she did not disappoint! she went with my "day of the dead" theme and did an awesome job! pictures to prove it. thanks, angela!! i'm so ready for another one!

a tad OCD

aaron and i have discovered that marley is a little ocd. especially when it comes to this chew toy. it can no longer be put it in the bin with all the other toys, it has it's own spot on top of the television. when we get home she runs and sits, staring up at it, begging us to get it down. she's also a clever dog. she's figured out if she scratches to be let out it'll get us up and then she quickly runs over to the television for the toy.

the other day, after throwing it a countless number of times. i put it on top of my car for a break. forgetting it was there, aaron took my car to run some errands and the toy fell off somewhere along the way. i walked down the driveway...nothing. he got back, took his bike and rode down the gravel road...nothing. marley sat in front of the t.v. staring up at nothing. poor dog. i pulled out some other toys to spark her interest...no love. i decided to try and find something that would/could replace it. while i was out searching aaron called. he had seen it along the road on his way to work yesterday morning. thank goodness. he stopped on his way home, braved traffic and got marley her bone. she, of course, is thankful and has yet to put it down.

life...on a smaller scale

along with sewing i've started working with polymer clay. a little here, a little there. creating charms of little food items. here's the spoils from the past few evenings.

it's funny, in college i took a 3D design class and i absolutely hated it. i had a hard time visualizing things in the next dimension. look at me now, things have certainly changed. an evolution of the mind has taken place sometime between now and then. i'm amazed at how life-like they appear, good enough to eat. the picture doesn't do them justice. my favorites: the hostess cupcake, the moonpie and the blueberry slice.

i'm still learning techniques, perfecting the craft. i'll be selling them online soon. yes, the shop is still in the works. it's gonna be hard to part with them. they're like tiny works of art.

here's another picture with a dime to demonstrate the scale of the charms. suggestions on what'd you like to see?

today is a good day

although the weather is a bit dreary, today is a good day. as of 11:15 a.m. i am brace free. since, there has been a constant running the tongue over the teeth, huge smiles when i walk by a mirror, and the chopping and chewing of an ewwwy, gooey rice krispy treat. my orthodontist asked me what i was excited about eating when i got them off. i honestly couldn't think of anything. why? cause i've pretty much eaten everything i shouldn't. popcorn, caramel, ice chips. if it was on the list of don'ts, i did. then last night, i had a craving for rice krispy treats. i realized i hadn't had one in over 2 years.

after my appointment, i headed over to the grocery store bought a tray of sushi, a large bottled frappacino and a box of rice krispy treats. (i found out last week our grocery store started selling freshly made sushi.) weird combo, but it was oh so good.

and to top of the morning, i heard they're gonna build a target in boone.

this indeed has been a good day!

if you blog about it...it will come

my constant griping about my lack of a good camera has not gone unheard. my dad just got a new digital camera and asked if i'd be interested in his old one. my answer: of course i'll take it!

every so often

every so often my camera phone takes a crisp, clear photo. a very rare occasion.

three days and i'll be released from wire hell.

orbs and gnomes and truffles, oh my

saturday i headed down to asheville with jill and two of the nurses from aaron's office, kendall and michelle. first off, i got about an hour of sleep the night before. (yes, insomnia still plagues me) i did manage to function without being too cranky most of the day. we hit the downtown area for a little shopping. mostly window shopped and then grabbed a quick bite to eat.

we then headed to ox-ford (there's a hyphen, which was quickly pointed out to me) farm, where we would be residing that night. met dr. hapke...or i should say frau hapke. a former pulmonary doctor who now owns and operates the bed and breakfast. she sat waiting in her little golf cart by the entrance gate.

"did you tell her when we'd be arriving?"

"no!" we all glanced at each other, eyebrows lifted.

we followed her up the drive. past cows, sheep, peacocks and various other animals. including four large, white sheep dogs. we reached a tattered-looking little house nestled among some trees. how quaint. roosters crowed, sheep baaed. it was like stepping back to the old country. the house itself reminded me of anyones grandma's. outdated and packed full of knick-knacks. cranberry bread and tea sat waiting for us. quick tour of the rooms and history lesson on the house and farm. four rooms. we had two and four other women had the remaining two.

we had a few hours to kill before the concert. we sat out on the porch. sipped wine, relaxed and took in our surroundings. yes, i'm a little overdressed for the weather. it wasn't as cold as i make it look to be.

we headed downtown after a while. grabbed some drinks and appetizers then made our way to nickel creek show. by this time, sleep was calling. i sat most of the concert with my eyes closed. not sleeping, resting. bela fleck played first. mind you, i went to this concert not knowing any of the music. bela plays nothing but banjo i soon found out. wasn't too bad, but i'm not a fan of jammy type music, no matter what the genre. at least for me, bluegrass is a bit more tolerable then most. nickel creek, by far, the better of the two. found myself enjoying it more than i expected. already downloaded an album. stand-up bass, fiddle, mandolin and guitar. it's surprisingly good...i'm slowly becoming a mountain girl.

i was ready to crash when we got back to the farm. tea, coffee, cobbler and cranberry bread awaited us on our return. breakfast at 9:30 we were told. headed off to bed, no difficulty falling asleep. although jill and i chatted for about another hour before i dozed off.

9:07 i was up. didn't want to upset the frau by being late for breakfast. walked into the sitting room and met one of the four women also staying there. everyone else was out and about, checking out the farm. kendall and i sat and chatted with jane. the frau announces breakfast will be later than usual. we met up with the rest of our party and decide to take a hike up to the top of the property/hill.

it was a trek. dodging cow pies and avoiding electric fences. after documenting our accomplishment, we headed down. i went on a picture taking frenzy. mostly capturing my surroundings. orbs and gnomes...both deserve their own posts later.

got back to find a hearty breakfast waiting for us. we had worked up an appetite. bacon, eggs, applesauce, potatos, homemade bread/toast, grits. my first time eating grits. pretty good, not something to write home about. the frau told us stories while we ate. mostly of how medicine and nursing has changed over the last 50 years. three of the other four ladies were also nurses. new fact i learned: early nurses weren't allowed to be married if they wanted to make medicine a career. they had to be at the beackon call of doctors. my how things have changed.

after breakfast, we headed downtown again before leaving. we all decided we wanted to hit up the chocolate fetish before heading home. i splurged and bought 15 truffles. mostly for aaron, cause i know he loves chocolate. i did find i'm a bit of a dark chocolate fan. tried one made with cayenne pepper. sounds gross...but it was so yummy. mmmmm. i'm getting hungry smelling them.

shopped a little more. stopped at a pottery show on the way home. got home a few minutes after aaron got home from chicago. all and all, it was a good weekend. and i had to head back the following evening. this time to see family. what a busy week.

tomorrow aaron and jerome are going to the app. state game and then we're all headed to see big bad voodoo daddy on campus. another great weekend ahead of us.

----------------
Now playing: Nickel Creek - When In Rome

she shrugged

here's the photo of the shrug i completed for carrie last night. once again, shitty camera-phone photo. it's supposed to have a twisted knot on the front but after coming down to model it for aaron, the knot was soon history. hence the seam right down the middle. i would have made it into a jacket but she really wanted it to be a pullover. maybe she can add some flair to cover it up. hopefully she likes it and will be able to wear it. it's really hard to size for people sight unseen. but i think i managed. i even added a zipper along the side, yeah me!

it's a modified shirt pattern that's made for knit fabrics. next i'll have to make one with the appropriate fabric to see how it turns out. my mom will be happy about that. she's been begging me to make her some empire-waisted shirts. another project to add to the list.

i'll post about the weekend tomorrow. now back to sewing.

thrift store score

i hit up a few more thrift stores and consignment shops yesterday and spent a grand total of $5.81. $4 of that going towards a matching pair of elephant vases. it's funny cause i felt like i was spending entirely too much on them. are prices at thrift stores a little outrageous? or is it just me? i am buying used, very well worn objects so i feel i shouldn't have to pay $3.50 for a blouse or $5 for a pair of pants. i guess i'm grumbling over the trivial. maybe i'm spoiled by garage sales. paying a dime or quarter sounds more reasonable in my mind.

what did i spend the other $1.81 on? i went back to the salvation army and there's a rubbermaid tub full of upholstery samples. it was restocked recently and i found 5 different patterns for a quarter a piece. they're fairly small but i'm sure i can find something to make with them. 2 unused zippers and a terra cotta pot later, i was done. pretty satisfied with my finds. i may have to hit up garage sales next spring. i was going to say this weekend, but the temps have dropped and we're leaving early tomorrow to head down to asheville. so it'll have to wait til next year.

i did get my hair did today. i'm quite happy with the results. i'm glad i found someone here who can style my hair. i was a bit worried i'd have to travel far and wide to get a decent cut. he's literally just 2 minutes away. he even gave me a hug when i left, which caught me off guard. after three cuts...it's become that kind of relationship. ;)

cache nab

"not leaving the house" isn't an entirely true statement. sunday aaron and i spent 3 hours searching for caches in the area. six finds including two micros. a few park and grabs including one at the mall. we went searching for the mall one last week and didn't have any luck. i checked with the cache log online and noticed someone found it after we searched. so i went back on my own and looked again. the coordinates took me to a light pole in the middle of the parking lot. completely baffled, i got out and looked all around the pole. i finally lifted up the base and voila...an altoid tin. clever hide.

aaron and a micro find. this one was hanging from the cap on a chain link fence.

barrel of monkeys? one of the things you can do is leave a little calling card in the cache if it's big enough. this is ours. i was hoping to use them on our next hunt.

unfortunately our next expedition yielded nothing. yesterday we went out and searched for a few more. we weren't having much luck and neither one of us could figure out why. it was frustrating. we returned home and i got online and all the caches we were looking for had been removed. apparently the guy was one step ahead of us and decided yesterday he was gonna leave the game and remove all his hides. what a relief, we thought we were going crazy and suddenly got really bad at playing. good to know it's neither.

aaron leaves for chicago this evening. i'll be flying solo til sunday. i am heading down to asheville saturday with jill and a few of the nurses from the clinic for a concert. bela fleck and nickel creek. i have no idea if i'm gonna like it, but it should be fun to go out. we're staying the night and doing a little sight seeing. i'll report back with pics later.