Climb Every Mountain!

     I am still sore from this past weekend. It is Thursday. And I am still sore from this past weekend.
 
     Which has made me think that I might not make it through the planned and booked trip to the Adirondacks this Fall, to hike up 2 mountain peaks. Why the heck do I DO these things? I would be so happy if I could just lie in my recliner and read books while eating chocolate and drinking wine. Since that will never ever happen due to time constraints and constant interruptions, I may as well train for things that sound much better 10 months before I actually have to present myself for the tortures I pay to put myself through.

     Anyhow, back to this past weekend, and my latest self torture idea at work. This past weekend, we were pretty booked for Saturday. I had to go pick up my van, Huckleberry, from my sister's. I love my little sister so so so much. Honestly, I laugh the hardest when I am with her, and we have become closer as adults, than we ever could have been as kids. I have so much respect for my single mom little sister, who manages to do it all, work harder than most people, keep a SPOTLESS house, and make sure her kids are never without. All while looking gorgeous and perfect at all times.  So, when she asked to borrow my van to take her kids and her son's friends to Chucky  Cheese for her son's birthday, I didn't hesitate. I said SURE! And even dropped it off to her.
     The next day, I received a call at work from said little sister.

     "Ri. There has been an incident." were the first words out of her mouth,

     Deeeeeeep breath. "Okay."

     "There was this POS Truck in front of me, and this HUGE part just FLEW off, and BAM!"

     "...... Is everyone okay?"

     "YES! I am waiting for the police to catch up to us!"

     "Catch -? Never mind. Is my van okay?"

     "YES! NO! I DON'T KNOW! I CAN'T GET OUT!"

     "You can't get out?"

     "Not till the police get here! There was a chase!"
     "A chase? What?"

     "I HAD TO CHASE THEM DOWN, RI!!! THEY WOULDN'T STOP!!!!"

     "Ummmm. But you're okay? Kids are all okay?"

     "YES! We're all fine! The kids were writing down the license plate number while I chased them and called 911! OH! Police are here! Gotta go! Call you back later!" *Click*

Awhile later....

     "Ri. Okay. So, the police are gone. I think your van is okay. There were police EVERYWHERE! Like, there were SO MANY of them! OMG. Anyway, the other truck got towed and the driver got arrested and EVERYTHING! They got under the van and said it all looked okay. I have all the report information though, in case you need it."

     "How is the rest of the van?"

     "It's all good. There was this HUGE part that fell off the truck in front of me - that truck had a BROKEN FRAME, RI! - and bounced down the road and just EXPLODED under the van. It all seems to be okay though."

     "Brianna. Is it even POSSIBLE for you to do anything without police involvement?" (Things like this seem to happen every time my sister leaves her house.)

     "No. I don't think so. Gotta go, Ri! We're on our way to Chucky Cheese now!"

Anyhow, I offered to go pick up poor Huckleberry the next day, as I had to head that way anyhow. No lie. We cleaned TWO bags of garbage left by various children out of my vehicle before I left. It was crazy.

     "So.... what did you think about driving the van, Bri? Did you like it?"

     "Yes. No. Ye - noYes. I don't know. I felt like it was so BIG. Like, I was driving a bus. Also, it's a lot harder to get to kids when they aren't behaving, when they aren't right behind you... OH! Don't forget your card with the accident information on it!"

Anyhow, Saturday was pretty much a non chore day. Sunday though, I spent the day in my gardens. They needed some much needed weeding and mulching, and pretty much the entire day was spent trying to get them into decent shape.
By Monday, I was one sore Mama. Who had promised the kids we would do something fun for the holiday. It was decided that Lechworth State Park was just the ticket. Three different sets of waterfalls, lots of exercise and hiking and stairs involved - perfect.

After the first waterfall, Bearded Man looked at me and inquired if I was able to climb up and down all 4 million stairs to the lower falls. I was seriously insulted. I am planning on hauling myself up TWO mountain peaks in 4 months! I can HANDLE a few hundred stairs, thank you very much!

It is now Thursday, and my legs continue to hurt. NOT because of the stairs, but, because of the gardening AND the stairs. AND the Step Challenge Club.

The what? It's this brilliant idea I had at work, after I lost my pre dawn walking partner to her children's morning shower schedules. I needed the inspiration to walk again. So, I started a Step Challenge Club at work. And now, I must walk several miles every day on my lunch break, including as many hills as possible. Thus, it is Thursday, and my legs are killing me.

Anyhow. My first 5k of the season is next Saturday. I am taking Kaila and Lexi to 6 Flags Darien Lake for Kaila's 14th birthday next weekend, and we are doing the "Color Me Rad" 5k, and then spending the day at the amusement park. I honestly cannot wait.