Oxford Goes to DC

This weekend I went down to DC to help move everything out of the apartment. It's so sad to think that I won't have a home there anymore...now I really feel stuck in New Jersey. We went down Saturday morning I took Oxford into town to swim in the fountains and walk on the Mall. It's nearly impossible to take 10 steps with a duck in a city full of tourists and not be stopped by someone wanting a picture. Its strange to think that there are about 50 complete strangers out there with my picture on their camera. I can just imagine them showing their vacation pictures to their friends...."and this is the duck lady we met on the mall..."
Saturday night I went to dinner with my parents and my mom's cousins Tom and Ruth and we visited the WWII memorial and the Pentagon memorial. It's interesting to think that the people down there had a completely different 9/11 experience than those of us closer to New York. I'm sure our media was much more focused on the World Trade Center and theirs more on the Pentagon. It's hard to believe I was only a freshman in high school when it happened...it doesn't seem like that long ago.

Sunday I went to church at NCC for the last time in a long time. I think that was the hardest thing about leaving DC, because this was the first church I'd ever been to where I would actually count down the days until the next service. Oxford came with me to church in my purse and was really well behaved. I took him down to the Lincoln memorial after the service to swim in the reflecting pool, and it took us nearly 4 hours to get there and back because so many people wanted to stop and pet him. Mom and I topped off the weekend by seeing Night at the Museum in the IMAX at the Smithsonian. Pretty cool to watch a movie in the place it was set.

I Have a Job!

A few weeks ago I was searching online for gyms in my area when I ran across New York Sports Clubs in Freehold. I didn't know if they were hiring, but I went through with the online application just in case. Turns out I applied just as their previous Fitness Services Manager was leaving and I was encouraged to go ahead and interview for that position, which I did. I had a feeling I wasn't quite qualified for it being just out of college, but Dr. Roy told us all to apply for at least one job we thought was unattainable so I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I didn't end up getting the position (which was expected), but they did offer me a personal training job which is what I was originally hoping for anyway.

To be honest I'm glad things worked out the way they did...I don't know if I would be quite comfortable being in a management position at this point in my career. I've got orientation on the 16th and I'll start working shortly after that. I've changed my volunteer times with Rein Dancer to Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings so hopefully the two schedules won't conflict. I'm really excited to get back into the fitness world and start personal training again. Working for NYSC is going to be a bit different than training for Longwood...I've got a certain amount of floor hours and I've got to recruit my own clients and do a certain amount of training sessions each quarter. I think I might even get to teach some group fitness classes, which will be great! I'm looking forward to getting some really good experience out of this position as well as making some much needed income. Wish me luck!

The Graduated Life

After graduation I did something I swore I would never do...I swallowed my pride and moved back in with my parents. Honestly its a bit embarrassing and makes me feel like a bit of a failure, especially considering I've been working and saving very hard these past four years and I could afford to be living on my own. Not the easiest decision, but the most sensible since I don't know when I'll be leaving with the Peace Corps and therefore cannot commit to leasing an apartment. Hopefully I will hear something soon, as I finished my physical exam and mailed everything in the week before graduation. So far my dental and legal records have been cleared, but my physical exam is still waiting to be reviewed.In the mean time I'm on a temporary job search.

I heard a report on CNN the other day that said only 20% of 2009 college graduates will find a job in their chosen career field within the next year. Depressing, but I suppose McDonald's is always hiring. Its tough finding a position in the fitness industry in New Egypt when the closest gym is 45 minutes away from home...still, things aren't too bad yet. I've had several interviews so far and was even offered a personal training position. Unfortunately I had to turn it down after I was told I would have to work 70 hours a week to meet my sales quota, but I would only be paid for 25. I know, I know...I should just take what I can get...but there come's a point where your own personal sanity is worth more than $350 a week. I've got two more prospects within reasonable commuting distance and if that doesn't work out I might have to think about moving someplace else and perhaps renting a room from a friend.

To the gainfully employed it might seem like a pretty sweet gig laying around all day with not much to do, but I can assure you it's absolute torture. Still I've been managing to keep fairly busy. I'm volunteering twice a week with the Rein Dancer therapeutic riding program walking horses for disabled children. So far its been really rewarding, although I was disappointed to find that I'm still hopelessly allergic to horses. I've also been taking Oxford down to Prospertown or Colliers Mill lakes almost every day for a bit of exercise. Today we spent a couple of hours with a retired gentleman who shared his sandwich with Oxford and took us for a ride in his rowboat. Ox swam along side for a while, but was really more interested in sitting in the boat than the water.

My limit for watching TV is about 2 hours before I start going nuts, so I've been doing a lot of reading. One of these days I'll go down and get myself a library card, but for now I'm enjoying re-reading some of the books I left at home while I was in college. I would say I'm averaging about 6 hours a day of reading. C.S. Lewis once said "If a book isn't worth reading multiple times then it was not worth reading even once." Here's a list of what I've read since graduation...and of course I would recommend them all, but the ones with the stars are seriously worth going out and buying:

Watership Down (Adams)*- the pages are falling out of this one I've read it so many times
The Silmarillion (Tolkien)
Ahab's Wife (Naslund)*- beautifully written, and no need to read Moby Dick to understand it...still Ahab's character is richer if you have...
Infidel (Ayaan hirsi Ali)*- memoir of an unbelievably inspiring Somali woman
Harry Potter 1-4 (working on 5 now...)
The Hiding Place (Ten Boom)
The Bookseller of Kabul (Seierstad)*-portrait of an Afghan household written by a journalist who lived with the family
Three Cups of Tea (Mortenson)*- serious inspiration for the way we should be going about this so-called "war on terror"
Redeeming Love (Rivers)
The Shia Revival (Nasr)
What is the What (Eggers)
The Zanzibar Chest (Hartley)
There are Mountains to Climb (Deeds)
A Long Way Gone (Beah)*- memoirs of a child soldier (stock up on tissues)

Adventures at Colliers Mills Lake

I've been taking Oxford to the lake every day to do a little swimming and he's been having a blast running through the grass and eating all the tadpoles he can fit in his little belly.

There is another female duck that lives at the lake that doesn't get on with Ox very well. She follows us everywhere and pinches his butt if he gets too close. There's also a black snake living in the reeds near the shore but so far he hasn't caused us any trouble.

New River Rendezvous

I took a road trip down to West Virginia Thursday to do some climbing and drink some beer at the New River Rendezvous. Ox made the trip with me so everyone knew me as "the person with the duck" all weekend. It stayed pretty dry during the day, but it rained late in the afternoon every day so some of the climbs we wanted to get on were a bit too wet.

Friday I went down to the Bridge Area with some guys who climbed Trad. We walked nearly the entire length of the cliff from North Bridge to Overlook Buttress, but most of the climbs we had in mind were pretty wet from the night before. Still, we got on three really fun climbs and i got a lot of exercise

Midnight Moonlight 5.7 (Central Bridge Wall)
Easily Flaky 5.6R (Bridge Buttress)
Out to Lunch 5.8 (Overlook Buttress)

Saturday I took a sport climbing clinic with Chris Lindner out at Summersville Lake. I learned a lot of little tricks and got some solid instruction on how to clean a climb...something I never learned sport climbing in the gym.

Hippie Dreams 5.7
Souled Out 5.9
Baby Has a Bolt Gun 5.10c (only got half way up this one)

Saturday night the skies really opened up, so Sunday morning Jen and I make a fire and roasted some marshmellows while we waited for everything to dry out. We headed out to Sandstonia around noon and I got to put what I'd learned in the clinic into practice. I lead the routes and set up the top rope for Jen, then I climbed it again to clean it. Since we had already packed up the campsite I had to bring Oxford with me. I thought he would wander all over the place, but he stayed really close by and even tried to follow me up the first climb.

My favorite climb of the day was Butterfly Flake. Last year David clipped the first bolt for me and it was actually the first climb I ever lead. It's a huge right-facing flake that's great to lay-back and just walk your hands all the way up.

Five-Five My Ass 5.6
Bobby D's Bunny 5.6
Butterfly Flake 5.7
Shady Lady 5.7

Overall it was an awesome weekend. I met some great people, ate some great food and did some great climbing. Ox has a blast meeting new people and hanging out at the cliffs, and he made great company on the 9 hour drive and sleeping for a night in a sketchball Walmart parking lot.


Update: (2 weeks later) See if you can catch the Oxford references in this description of the Rendezvous on Climbing Magazine's website:

On May 14-17, 2009, climbers from all over the country, a few dogs, and even a duck descended upon the bullet sandstone of the New River Gorge to raise funds for New River Alliance of Climbers. Perfect, sunny weather held for several days of great climbing and even when Saturday night's rain did come, the crowd's enthusiasm and high spirits were not to be subdued. Shown in this gallery is climbing action at the Kaymoor and Bridge crags, as well as festivities at the Burnwood campground: slack-lines, dyno competition, tug-o-war, and hula-hoop.

I Graduated!

And I wasn't last...I was second to last! Four years of long days and late nights end in a 10 second walk across the stage. I managed a 3.7 and ended up finishing all of my honors requirements so I graduated with honors as well. I'm definitely ready to move on, but it was still a bittersweet moment. It's been a great four years and I'm really going to miss Farmville and everyone I've met there. Some people say college flies by; I think senior year flew by, but freshman year seems like a lifetime ago. Here are a few highlights of the last four years:

* Playing my first division 1 field hockey game
* Exploring San Francisco with Ava
* Casting Crowns concert
* Late night study sessions in the cafe
* Bible study at Jon's house
* Sneaking down the Chi tunnel
* Meeting my Twin
* Living with the Tuareg in Niger
* Dr. Roy's classes
* Midnight hockey with Erin
* Swim practices with Patsy
* Working at the climbing wall
* Sunset on Willis mountain
* Walking down Brock Commons at 2am

Its ALIVE!

So after a little over 12 hours of blood, sweat and tears (of frustration)....Frankenbike lives! I see now why somebody left it in a ditch...pretty much everything that could have gone wrong with this bike did. Fortunately between Ava's ingenuity and my determination we ended up getting the job done. I even managed to sand it down and apply a shiny new coat of paint.


I know this looks a whole heck of a lot like the last picture I posted...so here's a list of what's changed:

-Removed broken front and rear derailleurs
-Shortened chain to turn it into a single speed
-New brake cables
-New front brake
-Refurbished rear brake
-New seat
-Fresh paint
-Sweet new name!

I brought it down to the lumber yard today but the guy I was fixing it up for only works nights, so I left it in the office for him. Giving this bike away feels like I'm leaving a little bit of myself here in Farmville. Pretty cool