Giving Thanks

Last Thanksgiving I cooked dinner for my parents at my apartment in Farmville. I spent about a week shopping, going over recipes and putting together a cooking schedule. It was a pretty big meal, but my favorite part was making bread from scratch and having it with apple butter from the Amish at the farmers market.

Last year I spent 4 hours cooking... this year I spent 4 hours driving. Due to a schedule change I had to work from 6pm-2am last night, so as soon as I finished my shift I drove straight up to New Jersey. I got home around 6am and went straight to the Turkey Row to watch my mom race. By the time I squeezed in a nap I had been awake for 24 hours! It was definitely worth the drive to get to come home and relax for a few days. At first I was pretty bummed about having to work the extra day, but really I'm thankful for the opportunity to work, especially in this economy.

Fashion Rewind

A few weeks ago Regina and I had the brilliant idea to pay tribute to the fabulous climbing styles of the 80s/early 90s, so we hit up the local thrift shop for some bargain hunting. Our goal was to put together the craziest outfits we could find and then proudly display them on a crowded day at Carderock. After weeks of weather watching and mental preparation we finally debuted our new style, affectionately referred to as "the get-up," and we even got Scott to play along. I couldn't find any lycra, but I still managed to put together the brightest outfit known to man.

I've got FRIENDS...

...and camalots and hexes and stoppers, OH MY!

I know I moved down here to try and make/save a little money before the Peace Corps, but when I saw 2 trad racks and some ice climbing gear come up on craigslist it was too good of a deal to turn down.

Here's just a sampling of the new goodies I have to play with:

2 - Grivel Rambo Ice tools with Hammer & Adze (1 bent & 1 straight shafts)
2 - Stubai Ice Ice tools with Hammer & Adze (+ spares)
1 - Pair Black Diamond Saber Tooth Dual Front Point adjustable Crampons
1 - Pair Grivel Rambo Dual Front Point adjustable Crampons
1 - Black Diamond (BD) Spectra Quick Place Ice Piton

12 - Black Diamond Quick Draws

2 - Trad Racks, w/ 2 sets BD Wire Stoppers, 8 SMC Friends / Camming devices, 8 Wild Things Hex Chocks, 6 Nautilus Chock Stoppers, 1 BD ATC & 1 Stitch Plate Belay Devices
12 - Assorthed Ice Screws & Ice Pitons

On top of that I've got 3 ropes, 2 pairs of shoes, some harnesses, a helmet and a whole bunch of biners and runners. A couple of the stoppers and one of the cams need to be retired, and the hexes need new cord, but other than that everything is in good working order. I had it checked out buy a guy at REI just for peace of mind and he agreed that it was a great find. Now, if only the weather would stay warm long enough for me to get some good use out of this stuff before the winter that would be splendid.

This is my intimidating face

Ok, so it needs a bit of work. Thankfully I haven't needed to intimidate anyone so far on this job...mostly I just patrol around or sit in my car at the entrance. I'm almost halfway through a 12 hour shift right now and the sunny 60 degree weather is torturing me with the temptation to run away and go climbing. Must. be. responsible! Since I can't be on the rock today I'm getting my climbing fix watching The Sharp End in between patrols.

A Great Experiment

I hate money. Let me rephrase that…I hate the way money (or lack thereof) affects almost every aspect of your life. I don’t ever want to be a slave to the almighty dollar, but it’s a struggle for me to keep it off the top of my priority list in life. The Saturday I moved back down to Virginia Pastor Mark preached a sermon on tithing that was unlike anything else I had ever heard on that topic. Typically I check out mentally when the church starts talking about money, because it always seems like those sermons come around just before some frivolous new stained glass window shows up in the building. One thing about the messages at National Community Church is they're anything but typical. For once tithing was presented as an opportunity, not an obligation. God sure as heck doesn't need my money, but I need his blessing. God says "Bring the whole tithe into my storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (Malachai 3:10).

I've been supporting a compassion child for the past three years, and since I didn't really have a home church I was content to consider that my financial sacrifice. Sure, I would drop a few dollars into the plate on occasion, perhaps a few more if the offering was specifically for missions, but actually tithing 10% of my income just didn't cross my mind. God said to call Him out on his promise, so I figured I would commit to giving the full tithe while I'm living down here and see what happens. Two weeks into this experiment I'm already seeing big returns. Money hasn't fallen from the sky, strangers haven't handed me $20 bills for no reason, and I haven't become an instant millionaire...but God sure has been providing.

Right after I moved here I put an ad on NCC's message board offering to do peoples undesirable odd jobs. You know...cleaning toilets, raking leaves, painting houses. I didn't think much would come of it, but two days later I was asked to clean out an overgrown backyard. That one job (which paid a very respectable sum in itself) led to me being recommended to someone else, which led to three more days of well-paid housekeeping work. During the same time I was also offered a part-time babysitting position. All this on top of my security job, which also gave me 8 more hours of work last week than I was originally promised. I never feel comfortable taking hand outs, so opportunities to make money through an honest days work are right up my alley as far as blessings are concerned. I can't wait to see what happens next week!

Decision Confirmed

Apparently making decisions in haste isn't always a bad thing. I just found out that the New York Sports Clubs I was working for is going out of business in December, so I would have been left without a job anyway. I guess life rewards those who chase their passions...that or I just got incredibly lucky...

Back to the New

The New River Gorge holds a lot of firsts for me. It is the first place I ever went climbing outdoors, the first place I ever climbed on lead, the first climbing festival I ever went to, and after this weekend the first place I flashed a 10a outdoors. When we woke up Friday morning the forecast had taken a turn for the worst, so we didn't get in quite as much climbing as I had hoped, but it was still a fantastic weekend.
Thanks to Chipotle and a detour to some non-existent hot springs we didn't get to Rogers until sunset on Friday, so even though the weather was beautiful the only climbing we got in was a tree at the visitors center. Saturday we headed out to Summersville lake and we were each able to get one climb in before the rain really started to come down. We climbed two more routes in the rain and then scrambled around near the water until we were thoroughly soaked through and ready for some Pies and Pints.The rain continued to pour all Saturday night so we took our time getting started on Sunday, figuring everything was going to be wet anyway. After consulting Roger we abandoned our plan to go to Bubba City and decided to make for Rico Suave instead since it was the most likely to be dry. We lounged around while we spoiled some stray kittens with a can of tuna and fried up some pancakes with our leftover Halloween candy, then packed up most of our stuff and hiked out along with a group of people from Ohio.
This was definitely one of the best days climbing I've had in a while as far as performance goes. We "warmed up" on Grit & Bear it, a 5.11a with a heinous run out at the top. I had played around on this route last time I was at the new with Kevin and Jen and I was only able to get up to just below the third bolt. I didn't finish it this time, but I got up to the 5th bolt on my first and only try, and I think if I had done it again I would have been able to get to the anchors. It definitely felt good to see some proof of progress and I'm stoked to get back down there and try it again. After a while we switched ropes with our friends from Ohio and we worked Rico Suave, a classic 5.10a, on top rope. By this point the sun had gone past the mountain and we were getting pretty chilly. I struggled a little with cold hands, but managed to flash the route no problem first try and I feel pretty confident that in warmer conditions I could flash it on lead. I finished up the day by running up Cuddle Monkey (5.7) to have a little fun and switch out our anchors. By the end of the day I was feeling pretty stoked, and more than a little sad that we would be leaving that night.
Turns out the climbing gods weren't too happy about us leaving either. We ended up with a flat tire that took 2 hours to change, then we missed our turn and had to go home through Seneca which added another 2.5 hours to our drive. To top it all off we stopped at a Chinese Buffet for dinner that only succeeded in making us all slightly ill. Definitely an epic ride home if there ever was one.