Ahhh, more climbing....

I know, that's a little less than exciting, to keep talking about climbing.  I could talk a bit about the weekend.  We had a nice time, saw Sean's Lemons race, hung out with some friends, got a nice hike in at the dog park, had a lovely dinner by the creek, saw elk and deer and yes, it was a great weekend.  I don't think I am taking my weekends for granted, I just know that I have written about those things and I have to try to keep things a little exciting.

Ha, which is why I am writing about climbing.  I am excited about climbing again, I love it.  I can't believe how much I missed it.  Even as my forearms burn as I type this, it's totally worth it.  The feeling of making a move that you couldn't make last time, or making it almost to the top of the 5.9 that you weren't even close to last time, those feelings can't be summed up in anything other than awesome.  Ugh, and I can't stop thinking about this one route today for some reason, a 5.9, that I think I tried before, but didn't make it as far as I did this time and duh, the hold I needed was right in front of me, but I missed it.

Anyways, lessons from climbing today - my grip strength is improving quickly and dramatically, which is why I made it as far as I did today up my 5.9.  My technique, while it is still pretty crappy is getting me to the top of some pretty tough routes and getting me past some cruxes that I didn't think I'd get past.  And to be honest, right now, my technique is the least of my concern.  I laughed about it the other day...the last time I climbed regularly was when I was super pregnant, you know past pregnant.  So my technique changed, it's hard to stay close to wall when the last time you climbed serious you had a belly bigger than a whale - and a cow, I think I was a cow-whale at that stage.  So, anyways, I am working on keeping my hips in, but mostly I am working on building my endurance and strength.  I have plenty of time until next summer, until I can work hard and get myself ready for our serious summer of climbing.  And I am going to laugh at my poor fake belly technique and be a little pissed when I miss that hold right in front of me, and be thrilled when I leave the gym, sweaty with my arms throbbing so much it is a challenge to hold the steering wheel, ah, yes, climbing...what a wonderful way to get my body moving.

Ooh, and I just realized, I'll have calluses again in no time!  :)

Climbing

Ah yes, climbing, the pain I feel from typing right now after a great quick lunch time climb.  The forearms that are bulging right now due to my terrible form and lack of my use of legs and technique.  But ah, it feels so good, it feels right to be back on the wall.  I decided our next summer was going to be our year of climbing.  We would find people to take with us, we would take Liam and hit the wall.  He will be older, hopefully want to do it as well and we can get better and more accustomed to the outdoors.  I was going to say again, but then I realized we have only climbed outside a handful of times, meaning counting on one hand.  And I'd like to change that.

It's tough here sometimes, to decide what to do, to make the choice and focus on one thing and have it take up most of your time.  There are so many things we want to do, climb, hike, bike, off-road, you name, we want to do it.  So, how do you get good at all the things you want to do?  I decided we need to devote each season to something, pick one thing to really focus on.  It will be able to get us more in shape overall and we will still do other things, but the majority of our focus will be on that one thing.  And for me, next year, it's climbing.  Camping of course goes with that, which is even more exciting.  After all, I am a little upset we haven't been out camping, even just in our own backyard.

I remember we had a busy spring and summer and I am reminded it will tend to always be busy.  I think we will make a few more choices about our trips back to IL, to try and consolodate them a bit more than we did this year.  That'll give us a little more time out here to get a few more things done.  Anyways, back to climbing, ah, I just love it.  It is so much fun to be on the wall, trying to figure out what to do, trying to make a move that just shouldn't happen, tackling the crux.  It always feels so great to make that move, but I tend to learn a great deal more when I miss that move.  I did that today, on a route I had done at least a few times before.  It was frustrating a little disappointing to not complete the route I knew I could complete, but I just didn't have it in me.  I had more climbs under my belt and my arms were a bit more tired.  I slipped off the wall.  I looked at the route from the ground, was sure I could nail it the second time, but nope, just slipped off at the same spot, lacking a wee bit of strength.  And I called it for the day, I huslted up 3 climbs, all right after the other, and tackled a few more out of my league.  I feel it and it feels great.  It just makes me smile to watch my arms tremble with tiredness.  And I can't wait to go back.  I forgot just how addicted to climbing I was for a while and how great it felt.  And how great it will be to be back like that, going at least once a week, maybe more, knowing the more I go, the better and stronger I get, the more I will get out of my workouts.  Ah yes, the pain, the pain is great and I'l thrilled, time to stretch and get some feeling back in my hands, but don't expect this to be my last post about climbing, I have a feeling this is only the beginning!

Party

This past weekend, we had our first official party in Colorado.  We did have our usual Spring Shake Down, but we only had a few guests, so it was much less work, but still so much fun.  So, this past weekend was it, it was a chance to invite new people, make new friends and show off our house.  Of course, in tyipcal Foege fashuion, we weren't totally prepared to host a party, I would have loved to have done a million more things, but well, that's how our parties typically go.  I'm pretty sure I remember installing a bathroom vanity the morning of one of our parties and painting the kitchen the morning of another.  By those standards, we were in pretty good shape.  Sure, not every tree was trimmed and not every corner was cleaned, but the party was going to happen nonetheless!

And it was odd getting ready for it, not having the usual suspects.  I joked with my mom on Friday about how we might not have any plates, napkins or silverware at the party since they weren't coming.  She typically just showed up with those items, without question.  Thankfully the party box was located and I found most of what we needed.  It was still different, it was a whole different crew of people.  I think Erik and Bethany were the only people that were a party repeater for us, everyone else was new to our party scene, so we knew we had to make it a succcess.

We started the day at the dogpark, a nice refreshing hike to get us going, get Burton some energy and get me some much needed mountain time.  We headed home and started to prepare.  I will admit that I was a little out of party practice.  Typically I do a pretty good job of getting everything set beforehand so I have time to hang out and talk to people.  I wasn't so good at this part.  I'm not sure if I had too many things going on, or just too many places to be, but I failed at socializing very much.  I was either in the kitchen prepping something, or chasing Liam up the stairs, or making him share his toys...who knows, just wasn't the best hostess.  I thought I had things ready so I could just relax, but alas, I was cooking this or that, or the other thing, or Sean was getting food on the grill.

But in the end, it was a party, it was a pretty good party.  I am used to my party review committee telling me how things really went, so I'll have to form a new one of those as well.  We met new people, had people come that we didn't expect and boy, I can't wait until Liam is just a little older to go and play in the woods with the other kids.  He was so sad he couldn't.  Maybe mommy should just ligthen up, or maybe he should just grow a bit more and then we will be good.  But I already think he is growing up too fast - not sure how to slow that down or keep him how he is.  Guess that is another topic for another blog.  For now, I'll call it a successful party, the dishes are finally washed and mostly put away.  The house is back in order, ready to settle in and just relax for a while.  Of course, not this weekend, this weekend is Sean's 24 Hours of Lemons racing.  Maybe soon we will get to calm down a little bit!  But probably not! :)

California

It was a wonderful weekend we got to spend with Grandma Gamache out in California.  Aaron, Stephanie and the clan were in town as well.  We had such a great time.  Of course, it started out with Sean working the night before and not sleeping.  I was able to get everything pretty much ready to go, so not long after he got home we hit the road for the airport.  We timed it all perfectly, or rather, got extremely lucky we made it on time.  We had to park and get shuttled to the airport and the line to check in was quite long.  We hoped we would be able to breeze through security and thankfully, we mostly did.  We ended up splitting up, Sean took Liam to the plane and I stopped to get some food.  Glad we split up since I missed the family boarding and had to wait for my seat assignment.  It looked like we were going to luck out and get an extra seat, however, we were holding up the plane for 2 more people...and yep, one of them sat right next to me, not only next to me, but his legs moved over onto me.  I get it, the seats are small, but I'm in the middle here with not much room, so a little help would have been nice.

Anyways, we got to San Jose and Grandma picked us up from the airport.  We then headed home and decided it was a good time to go swimming.  Liam put on his water wings and had so much fun jumping in, even went off the diving board.  Aunt Clare came over with her new puppy, Ella.  Liam loved her, running around and having fun.  Grandma had everything planned out for us, meals, and such.  It was so nice.  On Friday, we decided to go to Kelley Park, which was also a zoo.  It had little rides for kids, perfect for Liam.  I think the cars were his favorite.

It was time to hit the road and get this kid a nap, but not before feeding the goats!  

It was off to In-N-Out Burger for the traditional burger.  By this time, Aaron and the family had arrived and were already swimming.  Liam was ready for more pool action and enjoyed playing with his cousins.  The next day we went to the beach near Montery.  It was great, and we even saw dolphins swimming in the ocean.

On Sunday, we went on Jeri and Jay's boat.  It was a 50 foot sailboat that took us around South San Francisco.  Liam loved it - in case you can't tell from this!  He was helping with the sails, too!

We ended up with a great BBQ in the evening and just hanging out, playing games and talking.  It was such a fun weekend, it ended too soon.  Here are a few pictures of the kids and Grandma!  

Jack Johnson

It had been far too long since I went to a concert.  Yes, I did see Xavier Rudd earlier this year, so I guess that counts, but well, I am talking a big concert and one where I don't have my little man with me.  So, it turned out to be another date with Sean.  We had just gotten back from California, stocked up on some groceries and headed home to get Liam dinner and bathed before the babysitter came over.  Yes, the babysitter.  It was the first time we were leaving Liam with a babysitter.  Things seemed to be all set, minus the fact that our house was a bit of a mess due to just getting back.  We had dinner, Liam got a nice bath and was ready to hang out, play and do whatever he planned on doing, until whenever.  The babysitter arrived and we went over what I thought was important, where his room was, how we do bedtime, food, how to work the tv and the rest of those seemingly important items.  We kissed our little man and flew out the door, no quicker than we arrived.  We had to stop and get some beer before we headed to the show.  We were quite excited to see a show at Red Rocks and I was beyond thrilled to get tickets to the show, after all, it was sold out and tickets were going for crazy high prices.  We snuck in our back way and we were able to score one of the last parking spaces in our secret spot.  We decided it would be a great place to drink our beers and cheers the show.

This was the first and last picture we took for the night.  I didn't want to be obsessed with my phone all night, letting the world know what we were doing, instead, I just wanted to enjoy the moment we were in.  It was an amazing night, we did have quite the hike up to the venue, then back down to the box office, then back up to the venue.  We met a few nice people on the way back up, as I was mostly running to be sure to get to the show on time.  We got in to Red Rocks, stopped for a beer along the way and made way to find our seats.  We had pretty great seats, in the middle, up high enough to be able to see everything, but still close enough to feel like we were a part of things.   We sat down and hung out for a bit, I was excited to see Jack, but was also excited that Sean was going to get to see a show at Red Rocks - it really is something you can't put into words in my opinion.  So, we sat and waitied and when Jack came out, everyone stood up, and of course, got our cell phones and started taking pictures.  I'm not sure why that bothered me as much as it did, perhaps it was the 500 selfies the people in front of me took, with me in the background.  But mostly, I just wanted to be in the moment, get lost in the music and move and groove the way I like to.  

So, the show went on, and as usual, it was amazing, Jack always delivers such a great show, such good feelings and positive energy, just makes me smile thinking about it again.  The night ended far too soon, but we also knew we had to get home to that little man.  We were considering bringing him, and while I missed him and think he would have had fun, I am glad we got to just be with each other, and enjoy the show.  We headed out of our seats and found a great spot to stand to enjoy his encore, in hopes of not getting stuck in long lines on the way out.  We stopped and I got a shirt, it was teal, of course and headed on our way.  We were told we couldn't use the trail on the way back, so we continued down the parking lot until we found our trail come in at a place where people couldn't yell at us.  We had our flashlights (on our phones) and walked all the way back down our secret trail to our car, where we hopped in and sped home, not sitting in any traffic.  It was such a great night with Sean and the music and the place, just awesome.  Time to get back to reality and get to work, huge event this weekend, hoping enough time to get everything done!    

Date day - climbing

Yes, this was yet another odd date for Sean and I.  See, our last date was a few hours of some awesome sailing in 60 degree weather, with a few rain showers.  And yes, I do think that is fun.  I think that defines us and makes us the couple we are, and I love it.  Every now and then I forget that our dates are not like other dates.  We don't go out for dinner or drinks, or a movie - we go out and do stuff.  As we looked at our schedules, we realized we needed a date in Colorado soon - to go do something here, in nature and with some adventure.  So, we took Liam to day care, which I felt a bit bad about, since we were home, but there was no way we could have gone climbing with him.

We prepared out our items the night before, laid everything out we needed and found a spot to go that was about 30 minutes from  our house.  We left nice and early and enjoyed a nice little drive to our destination.  It was a little tricky to find the trail, but once we did, we knew we were headed for some fun.  I was so excited to climb.  We hadn't been in so long, so long that I think Liam was still in a carseat watching the last time we went.  We got to our spot, found where we planned on climbing, laid everything out and got going.  Sean was going to lead climb to set the top rope, so there was some learning to do for me, and remembering for him.  It was fun, to learn something new, to be outside, to see the river, to watch rafts go by, just so much fun.  Sean made it to the top and set his ropes so I can climb top rope, which is what I am used it.  We finished the climb, Sean ran up it again to bring the rope back down and we found a new spot to climb.

The next section over was much easier, so Sean decided that I should take my first attempt at lead climbing, something I have not done before, something that scared me just a little bit, but something that I also didn't think about long enough to be really scared.  It was a great day climbing, we had so much fun, just being out there, doing something we loved again.  We finished up just as it was getting crowded, so we took our PB and J's and drove a bit down the road to a nice pull out on the river.  We found some rocks, sat and just enjoyed our time in the fresh air and sunshine.

It was a great day that reminded me how important it is for Sean and I to get away if we can, just the 2 of us to do whatever it might be.  I was also reminded how much I love climbing, which will get me to join a gym not far from work to climb at.  It was always great for me and will continue to be great for me.  It was a great day, with many great moments, but most of all, was so great because we got to be together.  

Peace

I was outside yesterday, rushing around, getting a few things done before Liam woke up from his nap.  As soon as I started the second paint coat on our letters for our adventure wall, the monitor beeped.  Sean and I both knew that he didn't get enough sleep and we didn't get enough done in that time.  So, I sprinted inside and up the stairs, which made my heart race and made me quite out of breath.  And when I got there, the little guy was sitting up in bed, crying for mama.  I pictured myself more as a mommy, but mama has grown on me.  I crawled into be with him, asked if he wanted to cuddle with mama and he curled into me.  At that moment, I took a minute to realize what I felt.

My body was covered with a rush, a rush that I had to slow down and absorb.  After a few seconds of trying to figure out what was going on, I felt it, peace.  I felt a sense of peace over me from head to toe.  My head was in the moment and my heart was settled.  And it felt so good.  It felt so good to have that moment with Liam, the moment of peace.  I mean, anyone that knows Liam, knows those moments don't exist that often.  But he fell back asleep in my arms and instead of sneaking out right away to get back to some chores, I decided to stay.  I closed my eyes and smiled.  I looked at what I have and where I am in life.  And it felt good to be me, it felt good to be at peace with everything I was doing.  I did decide to sneak away, I knew Sean needed help with a few things.

I found Sean and hugged him and told him everything that happened, another feeling to know our move was right and this is where we belong.

We concluded the day playing in Bear Creek at a swimming hole we found about 10 minutes from our house.  It was a wonderful day to play in the water.  Liam got to throw rocks in the creek and bang up his knees a bit.  He had a blast and those little moments are just another example of the peace I feel, when being outside, with my family.