Planting the seed

I got a text around mid-October regarding a trip to India with my friend and boss, Denise. She and I were to go to India the first part of the year 2010 to do some dental work in a clinic at an Ashram in the northern part of India. She got sick with a bad kidney infection and we had to cancel the trip. We had a credit on the airline, so she decided she'd use hers. Texted me about the trip. Told her I'd think about it. Talked in person in November and decided to go for it. I would not have used the credit on my own, and she had signed up for a jungle retreat so that committed her to going. Gloria, Denise's 12-year-old daughter, was also signed up. The retreat was full by the time I came aboard, so I was going to hang out in town and do my own sight seeing. My visa application turned around quickly, and we were all set to depart the day after Christmas.

Back home and getting ready to leave again!

The bike tour was a blur. I met some amazing kids during the ride, and surprisingly was not too beat up after about 550 miles in 7 or 8 days (I can't remember now)! I will remain in contact with the kids through our Facebook connection. They finished in Point Pleasant, NJ on August 27th. I got a call from them when they finished -- letting me know they were thinking of me. That touched me!! I just learned the day before that a close friend died after a 16 month battle with gastric cancer and I was pretty emotional. Their call really made my day.

Between the bike tour and now, Rob and I took a group of scouts and their dads on a hike in the Sangre de Cristo mountains near us. It was challenging and fun, and the boys really enjoyed it. We're really proud of them for their hard work! We're already planning next year's adventure.

After that I was miraculously home for like 10 days in a row. It was wonderful.

I just returned from a 5 day work week in Creede at Humphrey's Lodge -- a magical place on the Roaring Fork River, at Wagon Wheel Gap. Just outside of Creede. I clean and help in the kitchen. It's fatiguing work - lots of standing, but fun and the guests (all family) are very nice people. That was my last week to work there - I will miss the hubbub and might work there on a more regular basis next year. Stay tuned.

Tomorrow Rob and I leave for our next trip -- a hike on the CDT from Berthoud Pass to Rawlins, WY. Rougly 315 miles, depending on if we get lost or take some "scenic detour" that Ley or Wolfe suggest... (those are the guys who make maps of the trail) I am leary... Better go check our food drops and gather gear!!! Luckily, Rob's done most of the planning (and training) for the hike. I just get to swoop in and go. Aiming to finish on or near my birthday -- Sept 22.

Summertime and the livin's easy....

Well, not so much easy as somewhat hectic. We're hiking a lot this summer - more so than other summers since we moved here four years ago. With Rob's 7 days on and 7 days off work schedule, it frees up a lot of time for him to get out and about. It's harder for me to hold a steady job and also hard for me to do my own job (that seems to be the theme of this blog - me working, or hardly working...) But, we're living our lives while we can, and while I am having a tinge of regret and feeling like a big loafer, I will have to remind myself to look back on my life when I am in the nursing home wheelchair bound.

I have been asked to join a bike group that is cycling across the country to raise money and awareness for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy -- an illness that affects mostly young boys. There will be (I think mostly)young women on this ride and so I was asked by a friend we met hiking two years ago if I would be a ride leader. Have I been riding my bike a lot? No. Will it be hot at the end of July/first part of August? Yes. Did I agree to do it? Of course. I'll be meeting up with the group in Denver and riding with them to Kansas City from July 24-August 2. 600 miles. I'm a lunatic. The ride started in San Francisco on June 24 and they are headed east, chugging along old two-lane highways and back roads through some pretty magestic areas of our country. I am looking forward to the "breadbasket of america" section.

Career change

When you live in a small town, the pool of viable candidates for certain professions is somewhat shallow. That's where I come in. I'm not a good swimmer, but am able to wade in any pool. When the call came in for me to "fill in" at this office, I was more than happy to help out. Here's how the call played out:

RING
Me: "Hello?"
Deb: "Hi Donna, it's Deb."
Me: "Oh Hi Deb. What's up?"
Deb: "I was wondering if you had time later this month to help out at the office."
Me: "Sure. What do you need? Answer phones? Scrub toilets?"
Deb: "No, we need you to assist the dentist. You'll be rinsing and suctioning patients' mouths."
Me:
Deb: "Think you could do that?"
Me: "heh, heh. Uh, I've never done THAT before but I guess I could do it."
Deb: "Good. Why don't you come in next week and we'll show you around?"
Me: " 'k"
CLICK

And there it was. Just like that. The beginning of a new career. Turns out that assisting is something I'm adept at! I think with my innate love of tidying and neatening, suctioning spit and blood out of and around people's mouths is a natural transition.

I'm assisting next week. My first patient is a friend who is in dire need of a root canal. She's jazzed I'll be getting to know her a little more intimately. Not really, but she's a hiker friend and she's not exactly jazzed, but is pretty much indifferent as to who is on the other end of the suction tube. That's a good thing, because I'm out of practice and whatever gets in the way of the business end of that tube is fair game: tongue, cheek, doctor's glove. It gets a little dicey at times. Luckily, I've been blessed with patient patients.

A Blank Slate

I've decided to join the rest of the universe. I'm on the highway. Not sure how this will play out since it is a little different writing every day for your everyday life. The trail journal from the PCT was a lot different. It was recording a journey. A fabulous adventure afoot. This is from small town USA. hmm. Enthralling? hmm. I'll have to dream up some interesting stories.