Into the wild blue yonder...

John left this morning for his great wilderness adventure, and he's somewhere over the midwest at the moment. I'm not sure how much net access or free time he'll have over the next week, but I'll be posting when I hear from him.

Later for now!

Great Sunday

John & I had an awesome weekend!

Yesterday BJen (for those who dont know, that's Ben & Jen, two of John's friend from high school who're just under 300 days until their wedding...anyway) came to visit so we could go see Watchmen; and it's AWESOME! We went out for pie after and got home very late, and unfortunately BJen had to head out early - so what to do with a sunny Sunday in early March?

John knows! Go climbing!

We headed out into the kinda-cold to see if the snow had melted and the recent good weather had dried the rock enough. Though I may have disagreed, John thought it was good enough...and honestly, who am I to say?

So we had a great day of awesome climbs - first thing of note: I finished an outdoor route for the first time, and was so pleased I did it again! We didn't get a pic of my first top out, so we had to have a reenactment:

I was pleased to say the least.











Moving on, John tried something not discussed in the book, which was climbing the "scratches" on the route named Cat Scratch. He did a GREAT job...so much so that I turned this climb into a slideshow for your enjoyment:

Most notable to me was the way he did most of this climb on just the tips of his toes. Great job :D

We just got home a little while ago and I'm making my first quiche. While it was baking he's passed out on the couch; so good luck with that I guess! He's heading out to Yosemite in two days, so hopefully I can wake him for one of our last nights of QT before he goes.

Travel - & lots of it

There's a fair bit goin' on in the McCullough-verse - plans being laid for John's graduation and beyond and people coming and going.

My mom and step dad came down yesterday for a visit. We went out last night and took quite the tour of New Haven - they met some Higher One peeps, my mom tried Thai food for the first time (she liked it), and then met up with some Drama School kids at Beers. We had breakfast this morning at Copper Kitchen, one of my favorites, and then they headed back to smAlbany for a basketball game. We've got a crazy bit coming up in March:

• in 11 days John leaves for Yosemite to go camping and rock climbing with our friend Maura. He just got his cold weather gear in yesterday, and while I was bummed for a minute that I can't go due to a conflict at work I'm ultimately glad I'm not going to be camping in the bitter cold for a week (ssshhh, dont tell)
• John'll be back early on Monday the 16th - and leaves again on the 17th! We'll probably see e/o about 4 hours in between trips and he's going to be EXHAUSTED
• On 3/18 John heads for USITT in Cincinnati. He'll be riding with our friends Nora and Amanda, and receiving the Golden Hammer award on 3/19. Unfortunately, I wont be going to this due to another work conflict.
• John will return for good on the 21st or 22nd...and then it's my turn.
• On 3/28 I'll be headed to LA for my first solo trip since we've been together. I'm off to stay with my friend Nikki, and visit Vegas for the first time. While in Vegas I'll see Willis and Amy and I can't wait :D After a week of fun and sun I'l be back on 4/4.

We're both excited and prepping - we only just made formal plans this week and John leaves in a week and a half. Ya - we'll see each other in April!

Stained Glass

Stained Glass
Originally uploaded by leneyloo

I wanted to share what I spent my spare Sunday doing this week. My friend Danielle has been working glass since she was in high school - she didn't have any plans yesterday and was working on a project. She thought I'd enjoy it and so insisted I give it a try. It was awesome, and I'll likely do it again :D

Sacramento?

Following the example of my friend Stephen and his family blog, I installed Google Analytics for my blogs. I like it a LOT better than my old stat tracker website; it has much cooler tools and I'm not constantly being hit up to subscribe for their "professional" service. They have a nifty map feature...but I have to ask...

Who do we know in Sacramento?

Are you out there mystery Cali person?

Wish List

OK - so I feel like a giant nerd, and a bit self-serving, but I went ahead and made an Amazon Wish List. A few of my friends have them and I think they're a cute idea. 'nuf said.

Some big doin's going on for the New Haven branch of Clan McCullough - but nothing set in stone yet. I guess you'll have to keep waiting with baited breath until all plans have been laid so I can share. In the mean time, just keep your collective fingers crossed and all will be revealed in due time.

What I can tell you is that we're off to see Revolutionary Road this afternoon so I can see if I got cut or not. I'll let you all know...

Happy Birthday A-Man

Today is Adam's birthday - but he's back at school so we can't call him just yet. We're being patient until tonight when he'll be home to call. But just in case he checks this first:

Happy Birthday ADAM!