Saturday, April 25, 2015

The Living Room

I needed a distraction today.

Sunflowers!
My favorite growing along the trail.
My dancing friend, the one whom I'd only recently found out was married, told me last night that he wanted to kiss me. Yep, you can read that again, but you read it right. He told me he wanted to kiss me. He said he wasn't going to, but still, he said it. There's no going back after saying that. A boundary has been crossed.

He sent me a text this morning saying thanks for dancing last night... friend.

Friend? Really? After last night? My response was that I felt like a boundary had been crossed and I wasn't comfortable. I needed some time and space to think about where things went from there because I wasn't sure. His response was basically to blame me, then tell me that he couldn't take me dancing anymore and basically have a nice life.

I deleted him. I'm moving on. But still, losing a friend isn't fun. I needed some cheering and distraction. So first I went to the gym to workout and then I contacted a friend to go hiking. The gym workout was tough. I was still doing the text conversation with the "friend." After it ended, I finished my workout and convinced my roommate to take me to Chik-fil-A for some comfort food.

Shortly after we got back from Chik-fil-A, my friend Sarah arrived for a hike. We decided to go to The Living Room, because it wasn't too far into the mountains (because it was still cool) and it wouldn't be a long hike (because rain was supposed to roll in around 5 pm).

Here's the fun part!

The views on the way up
were spectacular!
Sarah and I got a little turned around on our way to the trail head, but we quickly found the right place and hit the trail. It was cool out, but the skies looked fairly clear. We walked the path to what we thought was trail head and started up the path.  A little ways up the trail, Sarah comments that it doesn't seem quite right, but we continue on. About 10 minutes in, she thinks we may be on the steep trail instead of the main trail. We decide to keep going and hope that we'd cross the main trail along the way.

We encountered mud, lots of mud, but not the main trail, at least not until we've almost slipped down hill once or twice and were about 50 yards from the top. And boy, was it really steep. We had to keep stopping every three-tenths of a mile to catch our breath because we were breathing hard.

Ok, so we also stopped to enjoy the views behind us. It was pretty amazing just how much we could see from there. And we were only three-tenths of a mile up the trail. We kept going, slipping a bit here and grabbing onto dry tree branches to help steady ourselves. And, of course, wishing we'd taken the correct trail on the way up.

We slipped up the muddy hillside,
and finally found the main trail.
When we finally made it up the last slippery slope and joined the main trail we could breathe easier. And we enjoyed the view of the whole city and lake from up there. The last step was really slippery and steep; we both thought I might have to give Sarah a hand up, but she made it on her own.

Ahhh! Relaxing on the love seat in The Living Room.
As we walked down the main trail to the top of the hill, it started to rain. The storm was coming in sooner than anticipated. We got to The Living Room as the rain drops became bigger. We took a few pictures of each other and of the view, then decided it would be good time head back down.
Storms rolling in.

On the way down, the rain drops were mixed with hail. The rain had come in sooner than expected, an unpleasant surprise. It was cold and getting colder. We were going to get very wet. And cold.

We slipped and slid down the main trail, but stayed on the path. The rain and hail just came down harder and harder. We both pulled out of our hiking bags some long-sleeved shirts, but they were no match for the wetness. We still got soaked, but at least our skin wasn't getting directly pelted.
Those white flecks on my pants
are splattered hail balls.
Look at that hail come down!
The path became a stream as we continued down. Our shoes got wet and our feet got cold. We stopped a few times for pictures of the storm and to let a jogger run by. The deluge turned worse and we wished for cover but were enjoying our adventure.

This always seems to happen to me- something unexpected. But Sarah and I agreed that we had fun and though the steep trail was tough, it was a good workout. But we were NOT going to take it back down the hillside in the rain and hail! The main path was bad enough, the steep trail would've been worse. We sloshed our way back to her car, thoroughly soaked, but having enjoyed our time together.

And by the end, all I could think about was the good time I'd had on an adventure with my friend and had forgotten all about the trouble with my "friend"...

The stream, aka trail,
we took back down.




Sunday, April 12, 2015

(Cadbury) Eggs for Breakfast

Breakfast of Champions
If this is the real world again, I want vacation back.

Two hours after I got home, my roommates cat peed on my comforter.
I discovered a friend lied to me by not telling me he was married.
The cat sat on my computer and messed up settings.
I gained 3.5 pounds.
I finally deleted my ex from my phone contacts.

I woke up this morning still mad at the cat for peeing on my comforter last night and angry at my friend for not having told me that he was married. The cat is getting fixed later this month, so hopefully her hormones will calm down and she'll stop peeing on my stuff. But for my guy friend to not tell me he was married? I'm still miffed about that.

To be clear, we have both agreed from the start that we are not going to date- we are just friends. I've known he has kids and I asked him how many times he's been married. He said twice. He never bothered to tell me he was currently married.

We had a long heart-to-heart conversation last night about some rough stuff he's been going through with his first wife. During that conversation he finally came out and said that he was currently married. He says he's tried to tell me before but that I didn't get it. Ummmm.... hello, you either do or do not tell someone you are married. You don't try. It's like sort-of being pregnant; there's no sort-of, you either are or are not pregnant. There's no in-between.

I'm not mad because I'm upset at the loss of a potential dating partner. Like I said, we've been clear with each other from the start that we are just going to be friends. We've repeated it to each other over and over and over. We are just friends. But maybe the reason that he can't date me because he's already married, maybe that should have come up as one of his reasons. Maybe?

I was so stressed and angry this morning, and having just returned from vacation there was no food in the house. Nothing except some Easter candy my roommate had given me- mini Cadbury eggs. In my stressed state and being very hungry, I ate almost a dozen mini Cadbury eggs for breakfast.

Great.

So, now I'm not only angry, hurt, and hungry, I'm now feeling crappy from eating crappy food.

I vent to a friend via texting, only to realize that some coworker friends will be arriving in 30 minutes to go to lunch and hiking. And I've got all these feelings swirling and thoughts swirling around that I need to get out (and onto my blog?). I open my laptop to get it ready and then hit the shower.

As soon as I get dressed I come back to my laptop to find the cat sitting on my laptop. She's magically walked across all the right buttons to really mess up the settings and do who-knows-what, but I don't know how to fix it except to try to restart the computer. I'm pissed.

And then the doorbell rings.

Great.

My coworkers are here to go hiking, my computer is messed up, I feel like crap from eating candy for breakfast, my friend lied to me, I just deleted my ex from my contacts, and the cat peed on my comforter. I answer the door with tears in my eyes threatening to spill over.

Amen.
I contemplate cancelling going hiking with them because of the horrible mood I'm in, but quickly change my mind. I don't want to be in the apartment all day, alone, with the cat who pees on everything and messes up my computer. It's a beautiful day. I need to be around people and out in the sunshine. I opt for the distraction, dry my eyes, and go.

Now, at the end of the day, I'm glad I didn't skip out on the hike. I had a good time at lunch and in the mountains, and they ended up staying for pizza with me (which was free because I'd used bonus points!). The day ended much better than it started.

I don't think I'll kill the cat today. My computer is working again. The comforter will get cleaned. My friend... well... we'll have to have another heart-to-heart. Life will go on. This, too, shall pass.



Sunday, April 5, 2015

He is Risen, Alleluia!

Happy Easter from Denver, Colorado!

This evening I did some rural hiking. Enjoy the pictures.