This morning I went Orienteering at Seward Park. It was a pretty short and simple course, and I actually didn't do that bad. For one of the first times ever, I had not a lick of trouble finding any of the controls, and my only "errors" were minor navigational snafus. My only excuse is that I am slow and out of shape, but with the short course, that didn't make as big a difference. It was the first time I got to use the "e-punch" system, which is pretty slick and eliminates the need for a stupid punchcard and then having someone check it, so you get a elapsed time, and even your "splits" between controls, within a minute. I'm hoping I see more of this in the not-too-distant future!

Well, I got a piece of mail from the US Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, District Ranger, Leavenworth WA, today. Quickly realizing it was probably pertaining to my Enchantments permit application, I anxiously tore in open to find I Got My Permit!!!! Woo Hoo!

So, they took me to heart when I filled out "any four days after July 15" and gave me July 15 - 18, a Tuesday through Friday. It is for the "normal" Snow Lakes approach, rather than my weird "alternative" plan through the Colchuk area (which I really didnt want anyway, i was just trying to cover my ass).

The good news is my "early season gamble" got me the permit, the bad news is I may have set myself up for there still being a lot of snow up there when I go. So, I need you all with me; we are officially rooting for a very light snowpack this winter! This latest storm isn't helping, but my understanding is that the snowpack is lighter than normal so far this winter, so that's good. As far as I'm concerned, Seattle can stand to be a little more Brown than normal this summer, if it gets me my hike.

I haven't been Blogging enough.......

My indoor team seems to be officially Off The Schneid (sp? how do you spell that word?). For the second straight week, we trounced a team that came in ahead of us in the standings, this after a three-game losing streak (including two crushing 1-goal defeats) that had us all wondering.

Personally, I'm not really sure if I'm out of my "slump of mediocrity," except that medicocrity when your team is losing definitely feels like a slump, but when you're winning, you feel okay about it. Last week I felt like I had an "above average" game, but tonight I honestly don't feel like I was doing much. I was "hustling" and "giving a good effort" for the most part, and I did get a nice assist, but I mostly felt like I was running in circles. Sometimes, though, on a talented team, you need guys who "hustle" and run around in circles like crazy. That's where your "role players" and "grinders" come into the equation. I'm happy to do it, as long as we're winning. Sometimes, on less talented teams that don't seem to win, guys who "give the effort" and huslte just end up running around in cirlces not contributing anything. There's an oh-so-fine line in there somewhere.

Hey, everybody! Its 03-03-03!!!

I'm feeling pretty worn out from my soccer doubleheader today, and I might just go to bed after The Simpsons. As tired as my legs feel right now, I'm worried about even being able to walk tomorrow morning.

My first game was at 10:00, and my original plan was to "behave myself" last night, and go to bed early. Instead, Greg and I went to Hale's for a couple pints and to play some darts. For some stupid reason, I had a third pint, but I made up for it by drinking a lot of water, and I was in bed by midnight. Of course, that meant I was awake at about 3:15 to take the mother of all pisses.

Oddly and frustratingly enough, I didn't fall right back asleep, instead annoyingly tossing and turning for a couple hours. I'm sure the lack of sleep didn't help.

The first game went well enough, but I just couldn't quite completely loosen up for the second game, at 1:00 up on the fields near GreenLake. The crappy, uneven sand field surface didn't help my gimpy left knee, either, and I was Really wondering if this concept of double headers is really such a good idea. I just didn't have any quickness, and, as a result, had a very lackluster game.

Friday I was going to go do my Howe St. stair workout, but I never quite made it. Okay, the reality is, by about noon on Friday I just decided I wasn't going to do it, even though I had been convincing myself for a week to do so. I even decided to lift weights Thursday night, instead fo the usual Friday, to clear myself more time, because of the plan to go to Chang's for dinner for Julie's b-day.

The Truth is, I was working for the Man again in the storage area/workshop next door, and Greg's Dad (aka Steve) and I were going through the rather unglamorous of cleaning it out -- which means throwing stuff away. We're about done with the "box stuff up and/or throw it away" portion and ready to start drywalling the walls, and mudding. There is still a bunch of stuff in there, but we will have to "work around it."

Anyway, to the point. I suppose I Could have torn myself away from what I was doing a little earlier and given myself a good couple hour block of time to do my stair workout, but I didn't. I decided it was best to keep working on the "project," and get one last dump run in. By the time we called it a day, I Maybe had time for a quick run around the Lake, but I didn't even do that because I was feeling tired.

So, I gorged myself at Chang's, to the point I just wasn't feeling like eating much all day Sat (mostly psychological, I'm sure) -- damn you all you can eat!!! It's good stuff, and I'm shocked I haven't been there before. After that, we retired back to the House for some cake, and those of us so inclined enjoyed some Senor Hothead Amber Ale.

...well, I've only got a couple minutes before the Simpsons, so that's 'bout it...