Treasure Hunting for Adults..

Remember when you were little and you would spend sun-up to sun-down (or at least until the street lights came on); hiking through the woods, splashing through creeks, climbing up trees, walking on train tracks, building tree forts, and playing games, such as hide-and-seek, ghost in the graveyard, red light-green light, simon says?

Remember when your imagination would keep you occupied for hours and hours, while you were skipping through secret gardens, swinging from rope vines in tropical jungles, or racing through obstacle courses? Even the occasional hot/cold game would keep you entertained. “You’re getting hotter! Oh, now you’re getting colder. Ah, you’re on fire! You found it”!

Well now, you can bring your childhood back! Or you can give your own children a completely new set of mysteries for their imaginations to discover.

What am I talking about? READ ON my friends..

Geocaching! If you don’t know what it is, but you have a love for adventure, enjoy being outside, and have a passion for sightseeing….

YOU SHOULD TOTALLY CHECK IT OUT!!

It’s much easier if you use the phone application (costs 10 bucks), but that’s really the only expense you’ll have for hours and hours of fun. 

Ok here’s what it is:  Officially from www.geocaching.com, Geocaching is a treasure hunting game where you use a GPS to hide and seek containers with other participants in the activity. 

There are millions of caches all around THE WORLD! 

In fact, my roomie and I just found one a couple of days ago. Don’t mind my disheveled appearance please. =)

To begin our treasure hunt, we first had to find a secret park, located only 2 minutes away from the city (Pittsburgh)!  How cool is that?  Woods all around you, and the city is right there!   Most yinzers (Pittsburgh slang… gotta love it) don’t even know it exists. 

Once we found the park we had to go thuough a short dark tunnel–this is when the adventure begins!  My cellphone was our GPS and helped track the coordinates provided.

The cache was buried inside a hollow tree about half a mile from our starting point and on top of a large hill.  Our treasure was really a large plastic supplement jar, but inside we found a Travel Bug attached to a hocky puck! 

“What’s a TravellBug?” you say…

Well, www.geocaching.com states that a Travel Bug is a Trackable that moves from place to place, picking up stories along the way. 

Our travel bug that we encountered came from a 10-year-old hockey fan who lives in Germany. The Current Goal is for the hockey puck “to meet ice-hockey friends all over the world”. My roomie and I have to find jerseys so we can take a picture with it and upload it for the kid to see it’s made its way to Pittsburgh. I’ll update once we get the picture taken.

Cool little FYI, the “Travel Puck”, as it’s been dubbed has already traveled 5326.6 miles!

So far, I have 6 caches under my belt, but I am expecting more to come this weekend!

I’ve kept my geocaching hikes from this past week a secret from my boyfriend so I can take him out on a surprise geocaching date on Sunday. I don’t think he’s ever really even heard of it. What a Muggle! (That’s a term of endearment for people who don’t know what geocaching is). I’ll let you know how that goes.. LOL!

Took a vacation from the blogging world, but I’mmmm Baaack!

So I know it’s been awhile since I’ve last blogged… (SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED!) And thanks to a co-blogger Eliza Shane ~ Finding myself at 40(ish) I realized I missed reading about others daily lives/musings, as well as sharing mine.  So, thanks Eliza Shane!  😀

So a real quick download of what’s happened since my last post on December 1, 2011 Hello my blogging friends.

I finally bought a computer and received it Mid-December.

Then I went to Cherokee, North Carolina to surprise my daddy for his birthday!

I held my annual Naughty Or Nice Party.  It was awesome.  It’s basically a gift exchange where people bring a naughty or nice gift (most of my friends prefer naughty…hmmm?) and we put them in one big pile.  I draw one of their names from a jar and that person then gets to pick from the pile of bagged/wrapped/bowed vibrators, dildos, and sex games and the rest of us oooh and ahh, or just laugh at the absurdity of some of the gifts.

My beautiful and incredibly smart cousins came, which is awesome because we don’t get to see each other too often.

These are some cute pics of Brian and I that my cousin took.

Speaking of which, Brian and I won boob and penis coffee mugs, as well as this awesome little toy that has rows and rows of buttons.  Each button that’s pressed screams out some horribly entertaining insult followed by every dirty word known to man.  I think even sailors would blush at these obscenities.  My favorite is, “SWALLOW MY BABY BATTER!” I guess….. maybe (just maybe) you have to hear for yourself to get the full effect.

Brian came home with me for Christmas; after a tug-of-war battle between the mothers–his and mine (Scary future wedding planning pops into my head and causes occasional nightmares and cold sweats).   We ended up giving in to both of them and had to rush around all weekend, driving from one family to the next–or should I say from one state to the next.  It was one of my most favorable Christmas’s though.  ANNND. I must have been a VVVERRRRRRRY good girl..  Just saying.  My moms living room was filled with presents (took up half the room!)

New Years Eve was just as wonderful!  Brian and I spent it with his friends and family.  His sister-in-law’s parents own a Condo at Seven Springs Ski Resort; absolutely beautiful place!  The theme for the evening was bow ties and cummberbunds, which then turned in to moustaches (the White Elephant gift exchange revealed a party pack of assorted ‘staches, which everyone needed to utilize ASAP of course) and dirty blow-up doll pictures.  What’s a party without those things..?

On January 19th, I had surgery on my shoulder.  The doc originally thought I had a S.L.A.P. tear, which is a fun little acronym for a tear in my labrum.  So surgery came and went.  Found out my labrum was stretched, and I had bone spurs and bursitis.  So instead of stitching; shaving, and smoothing were the course of action.  My mom came up for a whole 8 days (and yes, she actually went home–alive and healthy).  She was a great caregiver and I couldn’t have done it without her.  It didn’t help that I had surgery on my right shoulder, so it was about 2 weeks before I could even really use my right arm/hand for everything.  And seeing that I use my right hand for pretty much everything.. it was a struggle.  Hey! Try wiping your butt with your left hand–you’ll see!  No, seriously!  Try it.Not an easy feat, I’m tellin ya.

I’m doing okay now, back to work after being off 45 glorious days… Just started on light duty a couple of weeks ago and will be heading back to full duty April 2. Boo!  It’s still probably too early to go back to full duty–for those of you just starting to read my blog, I am an active duty military cop, but our manning is down and my shift is really hurting for people.  So back to work I will go.

My birthday was on February 8th.  Brian planned (all by himself!) a romantic birthday weekend in Deep
Creek, Maryland.  It was so amazing.  He done good, folks!  The condo we stayed in had a view of a partially frozen lake, and beautifully lit ski slopes.  To include a fireplace and a ginormous jacuzzi tub.  We made a delicious seafood dinner (lobster, crabs, scallops) our first night, and some incredibly tasty jalapeno and cheddar burgers the second night.  We did nothing but eat, drink, and… well, yeah I think you know the rest, shop!  We found these awesome little shops that had a bunch of touristy inventory and explored pretty much all of them within a mile from the condo.  Really an awesome weekend.

While I was off from work, I received a phone call from my supervisor telling me that the Air Force wants to shut the base down because of budget cuts, and blah, blah, blah.  Now, that I’m back to work, and we’ve had meetings upon meetings about the base closing, and dream sheets for our future job assignments have been requested of us approximately a dozen times, my future that I had planned out until retirement is slowly starting to disappear.  I thought I was going to stay here, get my twenty, achieve my Ph.D, become a professor at some local university, and live a boring, yet, secure and successful life.  Yeah, once again, life throws a curve ball.

But I still see light at the end of the tunnel; it’s not completely over yet.  Congress has to approve the budget cut first.  Then, and only then will the base close.  My commander is pretty dead set on the fact that the base is closing and that they’re only keeping up the perception of waiting for Congress to decide.  I’m going to write more in my next post about this.  Otherwise my “quick download” that has slowly morphed into a novel, will then become an epic.>

So I’ve had to deal with the stress of figuring out what I’m going to do with my life, IF the base closes.  Big choices and changes coming up boys and girls.

And that is pretty much the extent of what happened since December.  I’m looking forward to writing more frequently now that I do have a computer, the holidays are over, and I have full use of my right arm again.  I’m excited to start reading the blogs I used to follow and all the new ones I encounter on the way!

Hello my blogging friends

So many things have been happening! And it’s not that I haven’t felt like writing it’s just that I have not had a computer! I still don’t have one, but I am able to use my work’s computer to write this out. So shhh.. It’ll be our secret.

First of all I would like to say I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving.

My Turkey Day was probably one of the best I’ve ever had. I hosted dinner this year AND made my first turkey ever. And guess what? It came out wonderfully! Really! It was delicious. One of the guys I work with used to be a professional chef, so he gave me some good hints. What was really nice about this whole experience is that a good friend of mine, Sammy, helped me make pretty much everything. It was so fun working in the kitchen with one another while our guys sat in the living room watching football. I kinda liked the feeling of cooking for others… ahh growing up, what a feeling.

To make our wonderful turkey we did two things (after taking the nasty organs out and washing it-that was quite an experience by the way). We first stuffed the turkey with oranges, apples, and garlic cloves. Then we took a cheese cloth, soaked it in butter and white wine, and draped it over the turkey. Every 30 minutes we would baste the turkey and cheese cloth. We did this for the first 3 hours. We then took the cheese cloth off (it was starting to get too brown) and we covered the turkey with foil and continued basting, but only every hour after that.

We made stuffing, which I’m not a big fan of, but I made it the way my mom makes it (with sausage, craisins, and slivered almonds) so I knew I wouldn’t mind it too much. I also made my delicious candied yams. We had green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and corn also. Oh! And can’t forget the crescent rolls!

What made this holiday more special was the fact that this was Sammy’s first American Thanksgiving. She’s Lebanese and normally does her own culture’s way of Thanksgiving with her family, but it’s normally with Arabic food.

It was so nice being surrounded by people I love and just enjoying some awesome food and good times.

My mother did get upset with me that I didn’t come home for Thanksgiving. She will swear up and down that she thinks I’m lying or as she put it “fudging” the truth. I told her over a month ago that I had to work on Thanksgiving day, which I was scheduled to do. So my friends and I made plans to do something later on Thanksgiving night so I could still have a turkey day. Well later on, I found out that we had enough people working, so I could take off work if I wanted to, and because I had so much cooking to do, I decided I would take it off. And since I already made plans with my friends, bought the turkey, and all the food since Thanksgiving was only a few days away at this point, it’s not like I could cancel with all my friends, waste the food, and go home to see her. So this created her calling me, yelling at me every day, putting the guilt trip on me about how we don’t spend enough time with each other and it’s all my fault, blah, blah, frickin blah de dahhh. Then the icing on the cake, is yesterday I get an email on facebook from her going on and on about how she was so hurt that I lied to her. I love you mom, but please drop it, you’re making me sound like a broken record apologizing over and over and over AND over again. There’s nothing that can do be done about it now.

Pissed Off at Selfish People

I know it’s been a few days since I’ve put any posts up.. THAT is because my computer is shot.  So now I have to wait until Black Friday and (fingers crossed) can find an awesome deal on a laptop.

Before I go on.. I just want to give you readers a warning..

I’M ABOUT TO GO ON A RANT.  ABOUT HOW OUR SOCIETY IS GOING DOWN THE DRAIN. 

Ok, if you’ve been following my blog, you may have read my post titled, “Court Subpoena”. 

And if you haven’t and are too lazy (don’t blame ya, cuz I’m pretty lazy myself) to click the link to see what it’s all about.. I’ll give you a short summary.  Basically I came upon an accident with a bunch of kids in the middle of the night and I stopped.  Turned out I stopped and got myself involved right into a crime scene, where I became a witness.  Now after going through the PAIN in the ass process of being a witness (read, “Dear City of Pittsburgh” ) I understand why most people don’t stop to help others, but COME THE FUCK ON PEOPLE. 

Get over your selfish and tiny pathetic selves and realize the world is so much bigger than you.  And if you see someone hurt, or in trouble, then FUCKING help.  Atleast call the cops.  No one’s asking you to be a super hero, but to be a good citizen, or just a decent FUCKING person, you could ask if they’re ok.  Just showing that someone else is there and cares, helps. 

What’s bringing this on is this:

 I’m on my way home from the gym, going downhill around a bend, the sun has already set.  Pieces of glass shine off my headlights in the middle of the road, I hear the crunch under my tires, and see a dark figure standing off to the side of the road next to a car that has been completely smashed in from the back.  Seriously, tail lights gone; bumper is now an innie.  I pull up and see it’s a woman around my mom’s age.  You can tell she’s in shock.  I ask if she’s ok and if she’s called the police.  She says she’s just shook up and that she doesn’t have a phone.  

I pull over to the side of the road, call the police, and get out to make sure she’s ok.  As we’re waiting for the police, 35 cars pass, and only three!, THREE!!, 3!!! cars stop to see if we’re ok.  It’s pretty fucking obvious there’s been an accident and only 3 people stop to see if help is needed.  Plus, it doesn’t help that it took the cops twenty minutes to respond.  I had to call back and mention that it was a hit and run and that we were in a perfect position to cause another accident (the ladies car wouldn’t start to move it out of the way).

Finally, the cops arrived.  I made sure the lady was ok, she asked for a hug; made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and then I left.

It just makes me so upset thinking that all those people drove by and less than 10% stopped.  I keep thinking, what if that was my mom?  I just hope that if that were to ever happen to me (I pray it doesn’t obviously), SOMEONE would stop. 

Not gonna lie.  If they do find the guy who hit this lady and drove off, and it now becomes a crime, I REALLY, REALLY hope I don’t have to be a witness again.  I would rather get punched in the face, or pee my pants in public, or get hot sauce in my eyes…. you get the picture..

Well thanks for listening to my rant.

I feel much better.

Just a Blah Kind of Day

Gray skies, cold weather, frost on my car! 

Wake up, worked early, on my feet all day. 

Plans canceled, disappointed, no haunted prison. 

Letter in mail, taxes raised, higher mortgage now.

Belly empty, eyes burn, my toes are cold.   

I get to do it all over again tomorrow. 

Blahhhh

Train Insane or Remain the Same

Walking down the street, I noticed a local gym with this slogan painted on their front window..

Catchy. 

I immediately pictured a big Arnold Schwarzenegger body builder screaming TRAIN. IN-SANE. OR. RE-MAIN. THE. SAME.  ARGGHH. every time his muscles tore a little more…

But I realize after trying  countless diets and going through numerous on again off again periods of working out where the results are ALWAYS temporary–maybe, just maybe, THIS is the right mentality to have; to become “insane” about getting fit.

This post is my beginning attempt to retrain my brain to “train insane” so I do not “remain the same”.