I Moved.

My arms and shoulders hurt. But it's not from climbing. Sad times. If I have to lift one more heavy box full of my belongings, I'm going to drop it on my toe. Four car loads, a bike ride, locking myself out, pushing on a pull door, pinching a few fingers, and not fitting through the doorway, I have finally moved my stuff into my new apartment! But that does not mean anything is put away. I took the last two days off from research so I could unpack. Hah, yeah right. Mother Nature was conspiring against me I swear! Before you choose sides, listen to my side of the story.

Giant hueco at The New!! Lots of spider guys in there :(

"Big colorful hueco" If y'all haven't figured it out - I was at the New for the Fourth of July weekend with my friend David.

So I was at the New for climbing but I thought the basidiomycota were pretty sweet.

Whenever you're overwhelmed or things aren't going your way, look up into the sky. Know that beyond the walls of your house, the limits of your city, the state line, country borders, continents, atmosphere, or galaxy, there is another living being suffering too. The sky may look big an empty but try to see it as a window into another living being's soul/spirit/consciousness. After all, we are all made of the same stuff as trees, snails, humans, and other life forms; we just look different. So why should we think our suffering is worse than another's suffering? 

Did you know that smiling makes you happier? I want y'all to try something - I tried it this morning and it totally worked. Take a few moments and turn your awareness from the outside world and into your body. Feel which emotion is the strongest. Are you holding tension in your shoulders? Are your uncomfortable or have an knuckle you want to crack. Now that your awareness is inside yourself, smile. A genuine smile, not a fake or half smile. Like really smile. If you're with someone, smile at them. If you're by yourself, you can look in a mirror and smile. Did you notice a slight change in your happiness? Do you feel happier seeing someone else smile and did you smile bigger as a result?  Spread some happiness - all you have to do is smile! :D

The first day I was moving my stuff was 99 with a heat index of 111. I'm pretty sure the relative humidity was the same because I was breathing in water outside. I think I drank like 20 gallons of water and sweated 19. I blasted the air conditioning for the whole 2 mile drive between apartments. The second day was a torrential downpour. WHY? I'm already cranky from hauling my stuff around; what makes you think I want to take a shower with my clothes on and feel the heat from the blacktop like a sauna? I just wanted to move my stuff in peace! Hey Mom, does this ring a bell? Remember moving into the A-frame and Mother Nature thought we would have tons of fun moving our stuff during a thunderstorm? Apparently she remembered how much of a blast that was and didn't want me to forget.

So here's the shortened version of moving. Packed stuff into boxes. Placed in living room. Stubbed my toe on the bedframe. Took nails out of the wall. Tossed more stuff in boxes. Shoved boxes into car. Locked keys in car. Got back into car. Drove to new apartment. Heaved boxes from my car the front entry. Set it down. Open door. Pick it up and drop it in front of apartment door. Open door. Drag box inside. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. You get it. Anyways, I didn't realize the entry door could be unlocked from the floor and stay open. For being a scientist, my investigation skills are poor. I had that ground breaking discovery on my VERY LAST trip from my car. Are you serious? Oh, and a bunch of strong, healthy human beings watched me lug boxes while they had a beer. Geez thanks for grabbing the door. Lesson learned - don't show off climbing muscles by wearing a tank top when you're moving. You will receive no help. Only the sweet, darling, Emma helped me carry a few loads from my car. 

I think they meant climbing gear!

As of now, I am waiting for my bed to be shipped to me. My camping gear is doing the trick. Thank goodness for the REI garage sale where I got a thermarest air sleeping pad thing for $5. I can actually roll out of bed, so that's pretty cool. I assembled a dresser, decided I liked something else better, dissembled it, brought it back, and assembled a new shelving unit. I had a few left over parts. As Dad always says, "You're not doing it right unless you have some extra parts at the end." Well, it seems to be standing and hasn't fallen apart yet so I ought to be good! I still need to get a desk or something along that nature. I also realized I don't have that much stuff (excluding my climbing and camping gear). I have a much smaller closet and I still don't fill it up!! Maybe that means I should go buy more climbing gear. Like a ball nut.

Anyways, I'm going to go for a run around the lake, bike around the lake, have some coffee and finish fixing my room up! Then, go climbing. Speaking of - TRC is opening their expansion tomorrow!! We had members only night last night so of course I went! 55 ft lead & top rope walls, a lead cave, a bouldering cave, mezzanine, slab wall, program wall, cardio and yoga - I'm in love. I on-sighted my first John Provetero 10 lead! I specify this route setter because our climbing styles differ greatly so I find his routes more challenging. I had a pure panic clip half way up. The hold to the left of the draw was good but the one on the right was not so good. Unfortunately my left wrist is still healing so I have to baby it a bit. So I had to have my right hand on the left hold and clip the rope with my left. I pulled up slack, bit the rope, hauled up more slack. During this time, my right hand is starting to slide off the hold so I drop the slack to save myself from falling. **I DIDNT HAVE CHALK EITHER. Super sad face.** So I got resituated and went for the clip again. My right hand is still sliding off the hold (sweaty palms are no good) as I pull up slack again. Here comes the extra panicy part: I fumble with the draw and can't get the rope in. I try again and bump my right arm which causes it to slide further off the hold. Just as my hand is about to slip off, I clip the rope and get my left hand on a hold. Thankfully I had solid feet so I was okay. I made this sound like it lasted minutes but it was only like 10 seconds.

EXPANSION MANSION

I just want to shout out a huge thank you to all the route setters at TRC who set some of the best routes yet at the expansion!! Rami, Scott Gilliam, Patrick, Tyler, Taylor, Andrew Schmidt, and John Provetero - you guys are awesome and I love climbing your routes. And of course, huge shout out to Skinny for being an all-around get-shit-done man. Everyone should go check the expansion out tomorrow! Oh, and Aaron, bring your harness when you come visit me :)