Okay, I had a good Christmas. Holly and I went down to visit with her family in Scottsdale, AZ and it was pretty nice. I almost took the motorcycle but decided against it in the last few hours before we left. It was warm enough to ride but I don't think I would have had many opportunities to do so while we were there. So, I guess it was good that I didn't take it. The drive down was fairly uneventful. We hit a little snow south of Orem/Provo area but, once we got past that it was smooth sailing... until we hit Virgin River Canyon. Due to some construction, it took us over an hour just to get through the canyon. Normally, it takes about 20-30 minutes. I did get to see a lot more of the canyon area, like being on a motorcycle, able to swivle my head and look at bit harder. When that got boring, I read a complete chapter out of my book. BTW, I was driving. LOL! When you are doing hte stop and go thing for several miles and the goes are only 5 mph, its pretty easy to do other things.
The actual visit was pretty good, too. Spent a lot of time with Holly's family and her neice and nephews who are a getting big and are a lot of fun. They are heavily into trains and I've been known to dabble so I helped out on the construciton of some tracks. Holly continually surprises me with her resourcefulness and over-spending our limits on gifts. See, before we left, we went to Harbor Freight and got a lot of tools for me, slightly exceding the $400 limit we put on Christmas presents. So, when I got an e-mail saying that something from National Ski Patrol was on it's way to Scottsdale, I was a bit miffed. I was hoping it was something small. No dice. I had shown her a sweater that I really liked that is created by Dale of Norway just for the NSP. This design is only sold through NSP. She, apparently, got on the website, e-mailed someone for contact info, and then got the sweater ordered. This sweater is like $160. She had, also, managed to purchase a framed photograph of a wold at a shop in Park City while we were up there and I never knew. Its smalled but probably still cost about $40 or more. I mean, it IS Park City. I had gotten her a few things while we were in town that I wanted to get her opinion on. Sometimes she is hard to shop for but I got her a roll-around carryon bag that she could put her computer and binders for work into for her day trips. This bag, also, has backpack straps to make it easier to haul around. The other item I got for her was a set of snow shoes. We are both trying to get back into shape and I already have a set so I thought it would be something we could do together as there are trails just up the road from our house. Maybe we can try it out this weekend. We'll see. The other items I got for her were SCA related. She has been wanting a belt and pouch for a while so I grabbed some pics of the net and gave those to her. She can, now, pick out her own fittings and then I'll build the stuff for her. I did bring along the stuff I bought for her and "wrapped" them up so she would have somethign from me to open for Christmas. After all was said and done, we had a good visit. The trip home wasn't as easy as the one in. I had gotten back used to being a dayshifter so I couldn't sleep during her leg of the drive and then started falling asleep a few hours into my own leg. We took turns napping and then driving until we got home. The drive took a lot longer than it should have but we got home safely.
Holly's birthday is two days after Christmas. She really hates having to celebrate her birthday and Christmas at the same time. I kind of broke her rule last year by buying her skis which took up most of her Christmas and Birthday allotment. She got a helmet and ski poles for her Birthday then. This year, though, I had found the perfect gift for her. I saw it in a jewelry store when my sis, Sara, neice, Kory, and Sara's boyfriend, Jason, were in town. I kept trying to get back up to get it for her so she would have it on her Birthday but I knew I wouldn't be able to actually wait for the actual day so its probably best that we waited. We went up to Park City once we got back and I tok her into the shop. I made her wait by the door while the pulled out the ear rings. I was fortunate that they still had them. They are sort of tear drop shaped with a piece of amber at the bottom and a blue tanzanite stone at the top all set into gold. They really look awesome. Once they were out and on the counter, I called Holly over and she just gushed over them so I handed the clerk my card and Holly went to put them on. I could tell she was very happy with them then but even more so on New Year's Eve when she kept coming over to me to kiss on me whenever she saw them in a mirror. Guess I done good.
New Year's was pretty fun. We went to Rich and Kari's and got to socialize with a lot of our friends. There was a lot of drinking going on which makes this crew pretty rowdy. It was fun rowdy, though. No arguing or anything. We had a good time and ended up staying for a while after about everyone else had left. I played some superheroes game with Kari for a bit on their new X-Box 360. Oh, I could see me getting SO addicted to that machine. I went back over a few days later to build the hnefetafl board for the event we were hosting and, when that was done, all of us took a break from our labors and played some more. REALLY ADDICTIVE MACHINE! I don't see me getting one until I'm done with school.
We hosted 12th Night, again, this year. Last year, I was feast-o-crat and Holly ran the event. This year, we let someone else handle feast and we ran the event together. Holly, being better at that kinda thing, handled a lot of the logistics and I just got some merchants together and put together a few things for entertainment. One was the hnefetafl, which is a Viking form of chess, and he other was bells and boffers. Unfortunately, some of the council things ran a bit long and I didn't get to hold my hnefetafl tourney but people still played and I ran the bells and boffers for the kids. They had fun but next time I will get some adults involved and try to keep things a little less chaotic. The feast was very good and went off without a hitch. Lots of great ideas and good Viking fare. Clean up went pretty well and we got outta there RIGHT on time. So, we were home and in bed buy 1am.
So, for that stuff, things have been going well. Unfortunately, my health hasn't been what it should be during a lot of this time. I've been getting a lot of cramps lately. Almost feels like gas but worse than I've ever had it. Finally, I began to narrow it down and it seems that I am developing an intolerance for high fructose corn syrup(HFCS). If you look at the ingredients for most things sweet these days, you will find HFCS. Some foods have more than others. Some, like fruit juices, have high amounts and, with the acidity, give me heart burn and cramps all that the same time. Oh, joy of joys. So, this just reaffirms what I have been thinking of doing anyway. Time to get right with me. Not mentally or emotionally but physically and physiologically. I've never really had to diet my whole life having a high metabolism. That ended while I was over in Saudi Arabia. While there, I developed a bit of IBS or irritable bowel syndrome. Its like all of this shit just popped up one day and I have been struggling through it ever since. In just the little research I have been doing today, though, it seems that everything healthwise I have been sufferend from over the past 10 years has been diet related. So, I'm going to trying to get on a diet. Its not specifically to lose weight as 180-185 is a good weight for me. It is more to promote health and well-being and to get back into shape. Getting back into shape will mean that I'm going to have to make time to work out in all the free time I have between working full time and going to school full time. I have a simple half hour workout routine from Men's Journal that I will probably start off with. I'm really tempted to try out the P90X workout and diet routine, though. We'll see.
Men's Journal... if you haven't checked it out, you should. I love this magazine! It does seem to be written primarliy for the yuppy, armchair adventurer but it is still pretty damned good. It has damned good articles, lots of nifty tech gear in every issue, and stuff like the best cuts of meat, how to grill a steak to perfection, different ideas for food, workouts for specific things, and all kinds of other little interesting blurbs. The most recent one had an article that I guess should be termed an environmental or Save the Whales/Dolphins piece in it. From that statement, you'd probably think me anti-eco. I'm not. Far from it. I just don't see the way a lot of people look at the environment and the problems as being very helpful in the short term or mattering overmuch in the long term.
Take, for example, global warming. You hear how this and that and the other is the major casue of global warming. From cow farts to big business' industrial plants and on and on and on. I think I may have mentioned this in an earlier rant but, to me, turning down the A/C or the heater might help a lot. Think about this. We, as a species, have pretty much begun to enhabit MOST of the planet's surface. In the more developed countries, we crank up the heat to a balmy 70+ degress in the winter and crank the A/C down to a chilly 60 degrees or so in the summer. The more we spread into areas with harsher climates and environments, the more energy it takes to keep us comfortable. Then, with the housing practices being what they are, how much heat escapes from our homes during the winter? Ever paid attention to the cold drafts blowing through your house or how often your heater comes on in a one hour time frame? Now, besides the energy consumption, no one ever mentions what happens to all that heat. I wonder how much heat escapes from the average home and leaks into the environment. Now, multiply that amount by the number of homes on your street, your block, your community, your city, your state, you get the point. How much heat do we put out into the environment that might be assisting the global warming trend? In my studies of the pre-Columbian exploration of the Americas, I read something that suprised me. Even a change of a few degrees in the ocean temps and the air temps could cause VAST changes in the habitablitiy of the northen climes. About 1000 years ago, there was a pretty drastic change in the climate and the earth went through a period of warmth that we haven't seen until recently. Perhaps this is a cyclic action? Mind you, I'm sure that we are having SOME impact on what is going on. We have to be. But maybe there are other answers that are small scale that can have a big effect in the long run.
The answer might make us a little uncomfortable but our bodies have had years to adapt and, I'm sure, in know time, your body will have adapted, as well. Hell, maybe you'll find that winter isn't quite as cold or summer quite as hot if you are living in an environment that is just a few degrees closer to the ambient temp. Maybe turn the heater or A/C just 5 degrees away from your comfort zone and put on a sweat shirt and slippers indoors during the winter. Maybe open the windows and encourage some regular air flow through the house on days when the temps won't kill you. Maybe you can take a two part initiative and plant some trees around your house that, once they are mature, will shade your home from teh sun a bit more AND cycle more carbon dioxide into oxygen. Maybe find out ways to install solar panels or wind turbines so that you can decrease your personal consumption of energy. There are lots of little things you can do to help make changes. Mind you, I'm not on a soap box. I haven't done much, yet. I let the shower run too long. I leave lights and computers on that don't need to be. I do a lot of things wrong but I'm hoping to start making some changed once we get into our own place. Some of these things are stuff that you could do with your family on a weekend. Look at greener alternatives to everything that you do. Share your experiences. You don't have to be some pot-smoking, hacky-sack kicking, frisby throwing, dreadlocked, patchouli wearing hippy to make a difference. Its actually the more analytically minded people that, once they start down the right road, that make the biggest difference.
