I’m trying to tackle re-entry by staying active…it’s not working very well. I really miss living outside & hiking every day! Our woods are still infested with ticks…so no hiking there. I’ve managed to get out & kayak with a friend once & it was nice to catch up with her & be paddling again. And, I washed off the bike & pumped up the tires after it had be stuck in my garage for almost a year! So, I’ve ridden the levy trail a couple of times on the bike. I’ve also started hooping more regularly. And the books are flying in at a super fast rate! When I left in April, I put all the books that I was waitlisted for on hold until I returned. Then I staggered them to come in…so, I’ve been reading a ton!
Here’s the best of what I’ve been reading:
The Impossible Climb: Alex Honnold, El Capitan & the Climbing Life by Mark Synnott
Run Away by Harlan Coben
The Library of Lost & Found by Phaedra Patrick
It’s Great to Suck at Something by Karen Rinaldi
Brown water & corn fields…I’m so underwhelmed with these views (I know…I’m a snarky girl when it comes to the state I live in).
The other project that has captured my creativity & attention are costumes…4 of them. Last January, Jill signed us up for a Sisters on the Fly Event that takes place in Gonzales, TX at the end of September. It’s a 20th anniversary event with around 600 Sisters camping together. It’s a week long party with tours, themed evenings, kayaking, biking & lots of fun in between! Since this is my first Sisters-only event, I decided to go all in! Not sure if I’ll stay in this group or not…most all the events are in campgrounds, there’s event fees, & then costumes (with some events), food, drink, etc, & I’m just not sure I can afford it. But, for this event, I'm going to “have more fun than anyone” (the SOTF tag line) & see how it goes. The costumes are all done (I’m also set for Halloween for a couple of years now) & I liked how they all turned out!
There’s Hippy Night in celebration of Woodstock’s 50th year (this one is my favorite!)
I’m participating in the city parade….I’ll be dancing for 13 blocks through town. I’ve always wanted to make Steampunk costume & I like how it turned out!
My least fave is Rosie the Riveter “Texas Style”…since I don’t own a cowboy hat or boots, I wasn’t sure what that looked like. But, I thought I could use a polka dot skirt in my future, so it lead me to this outfit.
Then there’s prom night. I already had this giant pumpkin dress I’ve worn to a previous gala. I love the dress & bought it for $5 several years ago at a Goodwill store. I went through all my Mothers & Grandmothers costume jewelry & picked out pieces for this outfit & also for the steampunk costume. That was fun going through their jewelry…unlike me, they were fashionistas & always dressed nice & in style (as a testament to that fact, I’m wearing my Chaco sandals with this dress).
I also took some stickers & made the new cooler (the one Sherry Ott gave me) mine! Now it looks like it fits more with my ‘style’ (ha ha).
So that about sums up my time back at home. I was scheduled to be here for the first 3 weeks of September to take my mother in law to some medical appointments, but one of her kids decided to pop into town, so those came off my calendar. Soooo, I’m looking at leaving a bit earlier & maybe do some exploring along the Gulf…that part of the trip is still undecided. I also need to figure out a new way to pack my 4Runner since I’m taking the bike with me on this trip. And the whole food thing will be different too.
And last, on a super exciting note…I was asked to be a Contributing Editor for the Girl Camper website. Specifically, I’ll be writing an article a month on car camping. I’m thrilled Janine Pettit is including me in her mission to help women find the confidence, information & support to camp…as she says, “there’s no wrong way to camp!”.