A More Permanent Hell

or, this is what we get for being spontaneous.

strangevisitor7 was flying in to L.A. on business, and since it was only a 6 hour drive, we decided to head down after work on Friday. And ninjababe was just two days out from her birthday, so we decoded to go to Disneyland on Saturday. We were pooped, but still, we were having a grand time. And it had rained throughout the morning, and once it cleared up, it was cold - cold for SoCal. But that did a lovely job of clearing out some of the crowds. About 8pm, Nin started feeling unwell, by 9pm, the poor thing had lost the contents of her stomach. We will never look at A Small World the same way again. Our first thought was food poisoning, which would have been bad, since all three of us shared appetizers for dinner. But after getting Nin cleaned up, and waiting around till she felt she could travel (we were 45 minutes from our hotel), Casey and I were both still feeling fine. So we figured she had gastroenteritis aka 'stomach flu'. Of course, that brought up my next worry - it's highly contagious, and I'd drunk from her water bottle, soda, etc.. Not to mention we had to share a bed this trip. Anyway, we get ready to leave L.A. on Sunday, and I start getting texts from my assistant, telling me that the gorge was closed between Mesquite and St. George, that most of the streets in St. George were closed, and that there were people stranded in the gorge overnight due to the snowstorm we'd had on Saturday. I know if you live in an area that gets snow all the time, 6-11 inches isn't a big deal, but our cities don't even own snowplows! And we live in a rural area, which makes it worse. So we don't know if we can get home, and Nin's still not feeling great, so we decide to book a room in Vegas, and for Nin to go see a doctor Monday morning before we head home. Last night, we finally make it home. And guess what? Gastroenteritis really DOES have a 48 hour incubation period! I am so sick right now, I want to pull a rock over me. And it's been so cold -- makes it hard to remember that a few months ago it was 105 on a daily basis. It's been down to 5 at night. Our chickens are very unhappy, poor things. Though I must say, it's so pretty outside! I'm pretty sure this will be one Dland trip we won't forget.

So that good feeling I was having about events was quickly shattered, and I was so stressed out we decided to take a very last minute trip the Grand Canyon. We left Friday, came back last night - in a record time of 4 hours! I suggested to Nin we take a below the rim hike, as opposed to our usual meandering along the paved rim paths; after tackling Balcony House at Mesa Verde, I've been feeling quite adventurous. So we did 3 miles round trip -- 1.5 straight down, then back up again. We took our time, stopped at the first rest house for lunch, then started back. Took us three hours, not counting the lunch break. Did I mention I fell at the first tunnel, 1/2 hour in? You should see the bruise on my hip and my right arm. I think I twisted something in my arm. Fortunately, it was my right arm, and you don't need your arm to walk. Nin and I have a goal to make it as far as Indian Garden in the next two years, which is 4.8 miles below the rim, and who knows? Maybe we'll get to Phantom Ranch before my bones are too old to move!

Nin and I need to look into buying an old Jeep. Too many places around here we want to explore and need a high clearance of 4WD vehicle. We started down to here today, but it wasn't doable in a car. And it's not the first time we've been thwarted in our explorations! Our ultiame goal is to be able to do the Toroweap road which leads to this:


Somewhere along the way, Nin and I have become adventure girls. I blame Utah :D

I've written 2000 words of my gift exchange fic, which surprises me. And I'm still not done.

Article here on season 4 of Covert Affairs: 'Covert Affairs' season finale postmortem: Creators talk show-changing moment.

Over the last few days, I've rewatched The Lord of the Rings (Extended versions, of course I don't even own the theatrical versions anymore.). I finished Return of the King about 1AM this morning, and, as per usual, I started tearing up just before the eagles rescue Sam and Frodo and cried pretty much non stop till the credits.

ninjababe's birthday is coming up, and she's decided that instead of a thing to open, she'd rather go see The Hobbit in Vegas in a high frame rate theater, which they have down there. We'll spend the night, come back Monday morning and head to work.

Speaking of Nin, I totally got her to write this. It's a Firefly/A Team crossover. She hates me LOL

ninjababe found these on YouTube, and yes, I've hear her tell me these stories dozens of times over the years. Funny because it's true.

I got ninjababe Dance Central 2 for her Kinect for Xmas, and we decided it would be a good way to get in shape, as I'm totally out of said LOL. We started using it last week, and so far, have been using it at least every other day. I don't have quite enough floor space in my bedroom for both of us to be in the sensor, so we trade off, one of use using the sensor, and the other on the opposite side of the bed, just doing the dance. It's a lot of fun, but boy, do I feel uncoordinated doing some of those dance moves! We're going to get a Zumba game next, which should be fun, since I love Latin music. Next time I go to Vegas, I'm really be busting a move if we go out clubbing again like we did last spring with strangevisitor7.

I got ninjababe Dance Central 2 for her Kinect for Xmas, and we decided it would be a good way to get in shape, as I'm totally out of said LOL. We started using it last week, and so far, have been using it at least every other day. I don't have quite enough floor space in my bedroom for both of us to be in the sensor, so we trade off, one of use using the sensor, and the other on the opposite side of the bed, just doing the dance. It's a lot of fun, but boy, do I feel uncoordinated doing some of those dance moves! We're going to get a Zumba game next, which should be fun, since I love Latin music. Next time I go to Vegas, I'm really be busting a move if we go out clubbing again like we did last spring with strangevisitor7.

otherwise known as Nin's birthday. She tells you all about it here.

Happy birthday, sweetie!

I offered.

ninjababe is a huge X Men fan, in fact, it was how we 'met' - she asked me to beta an XM/Forever Knight fic of hers. At that point, I knew nothing abut XM, but sure, why not? Fast forward to today, we never went to see the latest movie, and I noticed it was on PPV last night, so asked if she's like to watch it, and she said no, not right now, maybe some other day. Even with the added bonus of the guy from HEX being in it. I was even going to watch it without a trade!

I offered.

ninjababe is a huge X Men fan, in fact, it was how we 'met' - she asked me to beta an XM/Forever Knight fic of hers. At that point, I knew nothing abut XM, but sure, why not? Fast forward to today, we never went to see the latest movie, and I noticed it was on PPV last night, so asked if she's like to watch it, and she said no, not right now, maybe some other day. Even with the added bonus of the guy from HEX being in it. I was even going to watch it without a trade!