Belay on!

I went indoor rock climbing with Bill and Julie yesterday. In all fairness, I had to take a belay (to belay is to control the the rope fed out to the climber) lesson first, so it wasn't all about me climbing, but also supporting fellow climbers. In the lesson, I learned about harnessing, how to tie climbing knots, how to work the grigri (A grigri is a hand-sized belay device designed to help secure rock-climbing. Also a talisman that protects the wearer from evil or brings good luck. Appropriate, don't you think?!), and how to stop a climber from falling too quickly.

This is Bill belaying Julie.

Julie climbing. Yes, this climb is as high as it looks. One of the highest in the rock climbing gym. If Wikipedia is correct, there is a grading system to rank the difficulty of the climb. This one is a 5.7. "Class 5 is considered true rock climbing, predominantly on vertical or near vertical rock, and requires skill and a rope to proceed safely. Un-roped falls would result in severe injury or death." Probably not in the gym tho', there's a lot of padding under the floor. Plus, there is always someone belaying you.


I attempted the same 5.7 at the end of the day. My arms were really tired and sore after the belay class and trying easier climbs. I could only make it about 2/3rds of the way up, arms screaming in pain, but mostly paralyzed by fear. Bill sez that rock climbing is a confidence builder. Yeah.

Really, I wasn't rocketing uncontrollably to the floor, really I wasn't! This expression is all for effect. Besides, Julie was belaying me, so everything was copasetic : .)

A Rhetorical Question

So annoying little moments...you know the ones, those where you get stuck with a service charge for your parking decal because you had to add a class after the registration period, the salad that caused your stomach to be distressed after lunch, the website that crashes (twice) while you are trying to get hotel reservations for Disneyland, as well as no confirmation of the reservation so you have to call to confirm, the cost for class supplies and registration (being forced to buy 100 sheets of construction paper instead of the 50 you need and the health service fee paid for the health service you won't use), the pie crust that isn't flaky because you had to put it in the fridge last night, the glass of wine that is just a little bit "off" because its probably been sitting around too long...are all to balance out the fact that your life really is great and these are minor speed bumps in your otherwise perfect existence, right?

Oh How I LOVE Starbucks!

I managed to sleep in until 9:14 this morning!!! Making up for those late nights last week.

Made a jaunt over to Starbucks to have a chai tea latte, grande, non-fat, xtra hot, please, and work on the reading and exercises in the Artist's Way. Week three has touched on one of my favorite subjects, synchronicity. Jung's loose definition of synchronicity is "a fortuitous intermeshing of events." I equate synchronicity to asking and receiving. I think we often don't recognize the magical occurrence of synchronicity in our lives, we don't notice that some thoughts and events are interrelated. You're thinking of a friend you haven't seen in awhile and a couple of days later, the phone rings and its that very same person! You want to visit the Grand Canyon and you receive a email about a fund raising organization who sponsors hiking events there, combining your love for the outdoors with your zeal for community service. What delight we find in paying attention!

Afterwards, I went to Andy's Pet Store, which has stood on the very same corner for the past 56 years. I've lived in the Silicon Valley for almost 17 years and have never been there, so I thot I'd go in for a peek. I met a lovely Macaw named Ruby who greeted me with a clear "Hello" and admired the paw size of a beautiful Akita who was just 9 weeks old.

Arrived home, cooked lunch and completed scrapbooking challenge #2. I'd share it, but its a bit personal and embarrassing. Its about my crush on my favorite Sharks hockey player.

Right now I'm chilling some dough for my first experiment in making pie crust from scratch. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I hope you had a good weekend!!! I know I did!!! : .)