New camera fun

I just got a Nikon D90, so I am working on the transition from point-and-shoot digital to dSLR.  It’s amazing what this camera can do.  I plan on jumping into a photography course ideally next week.  The header is a picture I took today at the Farmer’s Market. And yes, those really are massive zucchini.  I bought a foot and a half long parsnip today.  MASSIVE!!  It’s like a mini-scepter. It will find itself in some mashed potatoes soon enough.

In other news, Percy now goes outside as she was talking too much at night and we couldn’t sleep.  It was a cheaper and saner alternative to getting a second cat. She now cuddles A LOT more and zonks out at night.  It’s wonderful.  She did pick up some bacterial infection out there, but I can handle that.  It stinks like crazy and she gets a bit bloated, but after a few days of meds she is acting normal if not shredding my hands any time I try to put a pill down her throat.  I’ve learned a few tricks, so thankfully my hands are healing. At first it was NOT good.

Grant is trail running like crazy.  I’ve tried it, and need to shove myself out the door WAY more often.  It’s not so warm, so I need to actually purchase some tights and then shove myself out the door some more.  I merely jog, but it’s still for at least 45 minutes.

On the note of running, Grant ran the Portland Marathon the first weekend of October and he did REALLY well for himself.  Nowhere near the top of his age class, but better than he thought he would.  Street pounding is not his idea of fun, trails are the good stuff.  I can only agree.  Watched a guy running today and thought it looked like he was ramming his feet into the asphalt, not good.

Not much has changed since July.  I’m still digitizing and losing my mind.  I’m hoping to get to do more data analyses and possibly field work once summer hits, but who knows.  We shall see. . . *thunk*  I would love to get to do more than just mapping, but it seems to come and go for everyone.  Being the quiet and not super social one at work means I spend a lot of time with my radio and hearing other people talk to other people while I sit in my invisible corner.  Not too bad, but sometimes I feel a tad left out.  It happens.  I do not have the social graces of a lot of people, and that’s been apparent since I was VERY young.  Quite content as a wallflower because I have no conversation topics in my head.  Photography does work well with me in that instance.

Until later, when the snow is back for more than a day.  Haha!

Montana does have summer

In April it snowed (10 inches over 2 days in  the last week); in May, it snowed; the first part of June had flurries.  But then, true to the stories from my mom’s childhood, June 14th rolled around and the yellow roses bloomed and POW, it was summer.  It has been in the 80s for the past few days, even hitting 90/91.  Okay, right now it is 78.   At night it drops down to a nice and comfy temperature so Grant and I don’t swelter.  SO NICE!!  We don’t need AC, we just need ceiling fans.  My room/office/Percy’s new play-room has no such fan, and a window screen that doesn’t even fit the window.  No air flow in here. Ew.

Anyways, as for going’s on, work has been work.  I’ve digitized a ton of areas in Southern Montana, Grant has started running with our Helena Running Club and doing a few trail races.  I’ve attempted to start jogging, and am getting into it.  Trails FTW, sidewalk running = B.O.R.I.N.G.

Last weekend we went to the Helena Airshow, also called the Gateway to Freedom Airshow.  I’ll put up pictures on Flickr at some point.  The Air Force Thunderbirds were there as were the Army Golden Knights (parachuters).  It was AWESOME. Food cost way too much, but it was a good time.  I’d never been to an airshow before, so this was just the best thing ever for me.  Grant was not nearly as happy as I was.  The weather was a stunning 78 or so with a steady wind so you didn’t sweat buckets.

Two weekends ago Grant ran the Wulfman Trail Run outside of Butte along the continental divide.  It was raining steadily and about 53 F.  I found out a friend of mine is pregnant (YAY!!) and had a long chat with my mom.  There was a cell phone tower across the road from where I was standing, so there’s no wonder I had reception.  The finish line (where I had to wait) was right off of I-90, just east of Butte before the Hodgeman Pass.  So the temperature shift from 53 to 83 during the day has been a welcome reprieve.

I’ve even taken to occasionally wearing skirts.  Oh yes, that’s right.  Some days I just go for girly.  Shocking.  I’m also getting my chaco tan back.  I got the ones with the thin double-straps so I don’t QUITE have the Zorro Tan from my last year in Boston.

Percy, the little spastic ball of fur, is growing up.  She’s a full sized cat now, but is just as cute as ever.  She no longer fits comfortably in my lap.  She has also stopped digging her claws into people’s legs to just look at them.  She does it to chairs though.  The past few nights she has been BLISSFULLY quiet and we’ve been able to sleep, but for the past few months she has been a right nightmare and Grant and I have had to contemplate various things to do with her overnight.  As long as she is good (i.e. we play with the laser pointer, chase her around and make sure she has food and water) we’re alright. . hopefully.  We just need to put in some evening effort to keep her wired up so she’ll calm down by 10 pm.

People are coming to visit us too!!!  These will be our first non-family guests!!  My cousins came for a visit in March, which ended in finding out our Grandfather had died (they drove over to Missoula to see people and him and on their way to the nursing home got the call he had just passed away that morning).  But on a happier note, Grant’s friends will be here . . NEXT WEEKEND and then they are off to Glacier and other sites to explore and hang out with us in short doses.  Then my friends will be here from Baltimore with their mom.  WOOHOO!!  So yeah, we are super excited about this.

My Aunt and Uncle will actually come over tomorrow for a late morning-early afternoon visit (they’re in Missoula seeing my grandmother).  It’s a good thing we cleaned today!!  Our apartment was looking like a pig sty and in the course of several hours it looks like a clean-ish place.  We’ve washed A LOT of dishes, and broken down a TON of cardboard.   We still have more to do, but it looks 10x’s better than it did.
Now for that mountain of laundry we have to do. . .

Owie, I’m sore

Yesterday I attempted a Step Aerobics/Sprint class.  I nearly didn’t finish.  Today my calves are DYING.  I had this great Frankenstein lurch going on.  I was all keyed up to do the Ab Blasts class, but dinner came first.  FOOOOOOD!!!!   So I passed on that. .  and the Infusion Circuit.  Instead I went to Pilates.

I’ve never done pilates before and I now have a happy “between hell days” class to go to.  It’s at 7:15 pm, so that’s a bit later than I would like, but at least it’s only for about 30 minutes.  It was just 2 others in the class, even though it says a max of 14.  Boooo  we need more people.
Anyways, the class was pretty great.  I have to work on my leg flexibility and well, just general flexibility.  I’m going to get there though.  Right now my goal is endurance and toning.  I have crap endurance, so this is really going to push me.  Hopefully by the time field work season comes around (i.e. in 2 months) I’ll be doing reasonably okay.  I have to work on strength too, so I need to work at mixing it up and basing my days around the classes I want to take.

KICKBOXING?!!? Am I nuts?  Should I just take the Yoga at 7:15 instead?  Sweat-relax-sweat-relax right?  *whimper*

Anyways, off to bed and I will hopefully be alive after tomorrow’s workout.  Maybe my lovely raspy voice will come back.

On another note: my cousins are coming to visit this weekend.  It will be fun figuring out where they can sleep. I hope Percy doesn’t go too spastic.  Mwahahahahaha crazy kitten can be played with while Grant and I get some shut-eye.

*ZONK*

Sore much?

I’ve even been getting up around 7ish (okay this morning I got up at 8:30).  Why?  So I can go to the gym and workout and turn my scrawny self into something reasonably toned.  It’s nice be a strong skinny person. *evil laugh*   Right now I’m a weakling, but hopefully this will change.

What has caused this change in my routine?  New Years Resolution? Hardly.  It’s called: I want to work out, and now I have the time to get a routine started. I despise the “weight loss/go to the gym” Resolution.  Very few people stick with it.  I’m going because the wonderful boyfriend goes all the time and who better to go with than Mr. Gym-holic.  Seriously.  I love going with him because it means I have someone who can show me how to use the free weights, and also knows machines and workout routines very well.

I’ll admit, I’m pushing myself to go a bit more than perhaps I should.  Sundays and Wednesdays are my days off.  Possibly not even then.  At least four days a week I shall be working on weights.  Other times I’ll do cardio.  If I have to go to the gym and do these workouts, then Grant will have to learn proper stretching.  That’s my deal.  So far, we’re doing well.

My back is stiff.  My thighs feel like something is stabbity stabbing some tendons when I go up and down stairs.  I’m STARVING.

I’ve forgotten how much working out makes me want to eat eat eat eat eat.  So I’m eating a snack here and there and drinking a crapton of water.

I’m also still getting over a cold (i.e. it’s not as bad as it was, but it’s not gone), so I’m taking things WAY lighter than I could.  No sense in straining myself.

Okay, I have a Case Study to write up and I can’t even start to think about it. Time to get crackin!

I wonder how well this routine will work once classes start on the 28th!  EEK!