The Trail showed up at my house today

This is how my day went.  I didn't notice that I was wearing one boot, one running shoe, until I got to work.  I stopped at the vet's office on the way.  I figure I was wearing the footwear for an hour before I noticed.

I would like to be a morning person.  I've tried.  I'm just not.  I can get up, but I can't be alert.  OBVIOUSLY.  There is a very good chance that any decisions I make before about 10 am (having been up 2-3 hours) will be wrong.   If at all possible, nobody should ask me any questions until after lunch.  Ideally nobody will talk to me at all until my brain has gotten up to speed.  Some kind of minimum coasting is required for conversation.

I am so grateful that today is Friday.  I'm planning to go to bed early and get up late.  And then, if I have somehow recovered from today's somnolence, I'm going to try to get in two complete perimeter loops around the park.  I need a huge calorie deficit so I can go out for dim sum on Sunday without adding a spare tire.

I received two awesome things in the mail today:  My own personal white blaze

Made personally and gifted to me by the creative genius that is Just Blue Skies

And my new tent, a Zpacks Hexamid Plus.  I hope to set it up and seamseal it this weekend so it's ready, but I don't intend to use it on my camping trip next weekend, as I want to use a warmer tent.

When it's set up, the Hexamid will look like this:

Very open, very airy, very LIGHT

Whereas next weekend's tent will look like this (unless the forecast changes a lot)

Much more enclosed, although of dubious seamsealing now that I think of it.

And that's all my scattered brain is holding right now.  G'night.

I don't have a catchy title

Today was pretty stressful.  I was fine until I got the dog to the hospital and then had to leave her there.  It brought back bad memories of leaving Paige for surgery and never seeing her again.  (However Beauty is now home safe and sound.)  Poochie had an ultrasound today.  The results were, of course, inconclusive.  She has thickening of intestinal walls but they don't know why.  So next week she gets to go back for endoscopy and biopsies.  If that is also inconclusive I am going to have a small but vigorous hissy fit.

Those hours when I was home and there was no dog in the house were not happy hours. 

Also, Mom is still in the hospital.  She is having unexpected complications.  Today's was hallucinations caused by Percoset.  Note to self:  no Percoset for Mom.  So now she's on a different drug but until she's basically stable she stays at the hospital.  Dad went out to get her something worth eating, as the hospital food is predictably horrible.  I must say that she sounded a ton better on the phone today, though.  It was good to hear her sound like herself.

So anyway JD and I are both looking forward to the weekend very much. Sleeping in sounds good, for one thing.  And maybe a non-vomiting doggie (we think today was her bad day so we should have a couple of good ones ahead of us.)  Of course, this is also "try to get neighbors to sign the speed hump petition" weekend.  But a couple of hours should take care of covering the block.  I hope.  I've never tried getting someone to sign a petition before.  Does it take long?

After that there's hiking near Harper's Ferry, and finally the afterwards:  Fondue Hut!  Or the Melting Pot, as some people call it.  I can really only justify a visit to that place after an activity like hiking.  There's no really good way to go low calorie at a fondue place.  :)

If the weather isn't too horrible I might even get to ride my horse.  Make that "if the weather and the horse aren't too horrible".  He may still be punishing me for not paying enough attention to him over the winter.  He does that.  He has too much character, especially in the jerk department.  So wish me luck.  Think forgiving horse thoughts for me.