I Did It! Kind of...

Yay! I went long boarding again last night with J. and I am proud to say no one was hurt! This is like a first for us. But, really, for the sake of honest reporting and all I went down the entire canyon length riding the board on my butt. It's a lot easier and the falling distance is quite a bit less. I figure I'm still getting better, I'm just learning the trail and then I'll be braver about standing up and going down. Either way it was a good time all around. I think I need to invest in a pair of skater shoes so I can drag my feet a little bit better with out them bumping and skiping along and knocking me off balance. On a different note, I had the cutest little joy happen. We had gone to J. house to pick up his daughter E. and as we walked in to the house (I came in behind him) E. looks up from the kitchen, yells my name, throws her arms out and runs straight in to mine. Right past dear ol' Daddy. Yeah! I loved it. She's such a tender little thing and it's been so much fun to have her growing and learning and remembering my name! I just laughed silently to myself the whole way down the canyon. Ha! Take that J.! Sweetie little thing. On another different note, I just got another call from P. (I know, suprise, suprise, it's not a J. name) who was our waiter on the cruise ship from May. He has been calling me pretty regularly. He has invited me to come out to India next fall to visit him and I'm planning on it, set in concrete and cement, absolutly for sure. I've only just needed a catalyst to get there, the desire has been forever.

Maija's On a Roll...

So, it's been satisfactor-ily decided that the creature that came from the very depths of H-E-LL to growl at us was indeed a Mtn. Lion. I was talking to C. and he said that he saw one up there at that same point not even two weeks prior, so that seals the deal.It was a Mtn. Lion. Any one who wants to argue - I challenge them to physical combate. But not until I've healed from my most recent adventure. I went long boarding in the Canyon with J. Monday night after work. About 10pm with our headlamps and helmets in tow we set out. Now, I had bought a long board about two weeks ago and that was the very first time I'd ever been on one in my ENTIRE LIFE! I think everyone had more faith in my capabilities then was warrented but regardless - So, I'm starting slow, building confidence when all of a sudden I hit a hill and start picking up speed and then I'm zooming around corners, faster then a speeding bullet and I go into a dark corner under a bridge... the corner is tighter then I had anticipated and I didn't start my turn soon enough and OH MY GOSH I'M GOING TO DIE!! And so I try to correct myself, over correct, and end up flying off my board, landing on my butt, bouncing a couple of times, rolling on my knee and elbow and sliding a bit on my back. I've got road rash down my elbow, lower back, and knee. I conked my head really bad (cracked my helmet that I was SO glad to have on) and have some sweet whiplash action going on. I feel like I was thrown from a car. But OH BOY did I love it. It was such a great time. I felt like I was flying in absolute freedom. I'm excited to keep practicing, getting better and showing S. up. Buwahaha! -Don't worry Mom, I was safe the whole time. It's really no big deal. And I'm healing very nicely.

Not for the Faint of Heart

So, Mom... Don't read this one if you're going to be scared. I have a very scary story to relate to all of you tonight. Once my heart starts pounding of course. Okay, deep breath. Here we go... So, tonight my friend R. and I decided to go for a late night hike up Rock Canyon to enjoy the moon and the ambiance. Now, R. is a cute little thing and one of my favorite girlfriends (we'd earlier spent the day with another favorite girlfriend E. at 7 Peaks. On a scary side note, I wore a BIKINI!! A real one. No middle. In public. In front of people. Real people. And I LOVED it!) Okay, so R. and I are hiking up the canyon and it's getting nice and dark and kind of creepy but we keep going. We've been hiking up for about 45 minutes when we get to our regular turn around point. We choose this point because from there the road splits into three and you can go off in different directions. We debated at this point whether to go a minute or more further. I whispered to R. that I didn't want to go much further because I'm really afraid of the dark but we decided to go just a minute or more further. We hadn't gone more then 20 steps up the trail to the right when WE GOT GROWLED AT!! I mean, I'm talking a real, low, gutteral warning growl. It sounded like a motorcross engine. Only with a vertebrae. And teeth. And claws. I was SCARED! We both heard it and without a word just turned around and RAN back down the trail until we almost lost our balance in the loose rock and scree and we stopped for a minute to assess the situation. We didn't feel any thing or hear anything following us so we then just hot footed back down the canyon by the light of the moon. At one other point on the trail R. heard a rustleing in the bushes off to her right and once again we found ourself racing down the mountain. OH. MY. GOSH. I was very, very scared. So, there is only one thing to do. Go back tomorrow and look for tracks! Yeah! I'll keep you posted whether it was lion, tiger or bear.