my life 2007

Trying to squeeze in everything at once.

I do love summertime. I suppose I love all the seasons, because each has something wonderful to offer. In the summer, I can see my friends and work far less; autumn, the excitement of a new school year and enjoyable new students, new challenges. Winter, the holidays and the possibility of an unprecedented day off work because it may, you know, blizzard or something. And by the time spring rolls around here, it is its own reward, and I can spend my "leisure time" compiling the summer to-do list in my mind, only a small fraction of which I will actually complete.

So far, I'm doing very well spending time with friends this summer, because I neglect them almost entirely during the school year. I'm working on a couple of projects and regularly leaving the house to ride my bike or go for a hike. All in all, I'm a very happy woman these days. When I'm at work or simply reading in my living room, I'm thinking about more interactive ways to approach my classes next semester, but without the pressure to PRODUCE TODAY like I experience during the semester.

I'm about to begin a tiling job on my master bath. It's needed re-grouting since I got here, and I didn't have the time to scrape and trowel. For months, I've been using one of the other bathrooms (one of the perks of having several toilets, I suppose). I've visited a couple of friends who had their bathrooms remodeled, and I've decided I like the look of larger ceramic tile in, perhaps, earth tones instead of the usual polished 3" square ones. I also want to lose the sliding door shower enclosure and make the shower itself a comfortable tiled situation with a curtain.

As I am (surprise!) a Type A individual, I began by procuring the Stanley book covering everything I need to know about tile installation and have been reading it carefully.

It looks easy enough. :D

I know, I know. But I like meticulous jobs. Whether you call it nature or nurture, I'm sure I get this from my mother. I'll be prepping the room this week.

I also recently discovered a massage therapy place downtown. A friend recommended it to me several months ago, and I finally went. I'm hooked. For about $60, I can get an hour-long massage and an entire afternoon of hot tub, sauna, and steam shower, if such is my desire. I think I would benefit from such treatment regularly--roughly once a month, perhaps. I was sore when I left, as though I'd had a really rough workout. Apparently, I "carry" stress in lots of odd places.

The next day, I did a day hike up Eagle Peak. It's a roughly 9200' peak just off the Air Force Academy. You have to access it via the Academy, as a matter of fact, but it is public access. About 100 feet up the trail, you pass a sign that says you're now entering Pike National Forest. The hike is anywhere from 1.25 to 1.75 miles (depending on where you park). I parked at the Academy Visitor's Center, so I did the full 1.75. Most of the hike is literally a 30-40 degree incline, scrambling over rocks and hauling yourself up by saplings and tree roots. I think this is not what most people envision when they say they'd like to "go for a hike." It was a nice little workout. And as with most peak climbs of any sort, the roughest part is coming back down.

Meanwhile, I've been furiously making arrangements to visit the UK because an old friend emailed me a couple of years ago and demanded I attend his wedding. I told him I needed enough advance notice and I would make it happen. He replied that this was the advance notice; he was getting married in two years, and I'd better be there.

So...now it's next week. I'm sure he's mentioned where he's tying the knot, but I forget. It's somewhere in the UK and he told me to fly into Manchester. After about three days with him and his fiancee/bride, he'll drop me in London while they leave for their honeymoon. While I've spent a lot of time in Europe (for someone who's never been stationed there), I've never taken the time to sightsee in London, so I thought I'd stick around a few days and see stuff. I understand they have some stuff worth seeing.

I looked around a bit and reserved a London B&B instead of a hotel for a couple of reasons. The main one is price. London accommodations (and probably just about everything else) are phenomenally expensive. I am eligible to stay at the Union Jack, which caters to military (and they have a reciprocal agreement with the US), and at 93 pounds per evening, I'd be getting one heck of a deal for what I'd receive in return. However, I fancy the idea of spending at least some time with the natives. To me, this is part of visiting any foreign country: you can't get the flavor of the thing staying in hotels and eating American foods, etc. At best, you get the cursory touristy feel.

The difficult part of my plans are arranging transport back out of the country from London. Much use of public transport of various types will be necessary, and I'm a country girl. While I have used public transport from time to time and have generally enjoyed the experience (sit and read while someone else drives? Brilliant!), I'm behind the curve when it comes to figuring out the intricacies of the London Tube.

That's the "Underground," for those of you who are North American bound. On top of the problems of figuring out which trains to take where and when, one also has buses at one's disposal (particularly the night bus, which I'll must needs take at the outset of my departure from the city, as well as the national train system (British Rail, which does NOT have a good reputation for price, speed or convenience).

Thus. I've spent some time studying the tube maps and I think I'm getting the hang of them. I understand the basic notion of zones (zone one is central London, and each zone is a successive concentric ring), but the prices of tickets for time of day, number of stops and zones desired are, I confess, still a mystery to me. I've been told to get an Oyster card. I'll have to take some time and read the literature on it so I can understand how to use it once I spend the quid. (That's Brit slang for "pounds," rather like we say "bucks" for "dollars.")

Just yesterday, I figured out a good way to get from London to Manchester for my flight home, and it involves (surprisingly), a flight from Heathrow to Manchester International the morning of. (I'd been expecting, for some reason, British Rail to be much cheaper, dependable, and thus a possible enjoyable experience, but too many Brits and vacationers to Britain have told me horror stories, so I won't chance it. Besides, as I mentioned...the flight is actually cheaper than the rail ticket.) So I contacted my B&B agency and asked to extend my stay one night.

It seems there's something called a "Wimbledon Tennis Tournament" going on in London right now and when I'll be there. My B&B could not accommodate my request and, as a matter of fact, actually had to cancel my reservation altogether. The agency has promised to scramble to find me suitable accommodations, if I would just send another list of places I'd be interested in staying. I responded that I'd like them to select a place that meets certain criteria. I don't have time to play with it and I'm afraid while I select nice places and send them to the agency (considering the time lag between London and Colorado), all places will be taken by those tennis freaks.

So...this will be an adventure. I'm very much looking forward to it. :) I probably should go run then go to work now. They do appreciate it if I show up on duty days....

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