The Pancake Pantry

Last week, Dad got to come home for a few days for some mid-tour rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, my schedule would not let me break away for too long, however we were able to gather as a family at The Pancake Pantry.

My brother flew in, my sister and her husband [the awesomest-brother-in-law-ever] drove up, and so hey-ho! the gang was all there! 

Service member family members! 

It was so much fun to see everybody, even if it were just an hour's-worth of time (my brother had to catch an airplane!). The past few weeks have seen me incredibly busy and sometimes I forget what day it is, as they seem to fly by so fast. But I will remember (and treasure) those family times complimented by syrup and butter. Short and sweet (literally). 

I love this picture because 1) my dad is smiling big and
2) my sister is creeping in the back.

We've Arrived

I was about nine years of age when I saw many of the folks from this family reunion. It is as if I never left. 

I think it is time to eat now. With my family.

Whirlwind of Activity

I thought I had posted more this weekend, although now I see a few drafts that never completed posting. Sorry. I will blame the internet of the wild (here in the Poconos). In the past three days, I have ate a massive amount of food, talked, laughed, played games, ate some more, bowled, kayaked, played some more games, helped make food, talked, ran, sat in a hot tub, played more games, and then ate dessert. This family loves with food, lots and lots of food.

There always seemed a mix of a family, some here and some there- everybody enjoying doing things with others. It was fun. I am exhausted from all the fun and glad I had a chance to spend time with these folks. Blood-relatives or not, a warm and accepting group of people who love (in this case, my family) help make the world mo' better.

Breakfast Confession

If you knew me while I was a teenager or young adult, you'd know I did not eat at McDonald's. Ever. In part because the smell reminded me of car sickness and in part because gross. I went a solid 13 years with only a few fruit and yogurt parfaits during family road trips.

I especially don't eat fast food now. Overall, I generally follow a diet that doesn't allow me to eat processed foods, or dairy, or grains/gluten... So no McDonald's, right?

Wrong. What makes me sacrifice clean eating and face potential gastrointestinal distress? A combination of the Monopoly game and my compulsion to complete collections of things.

Look at the grease on that bag! That delicious, savory, heart-stopping grease! So far, I "won" a free breakfast sandwich, am 2/3rds of my way to "winning" $20,000, and have had several days shaved from the end of my adventure-filled life.

Moonshine Country

We completed Day 1 of our travels, rolling through east Tennessee, Virginia, a brief stretch in West Virginia, and stopping in Maryland. After having just finished watching a movie about moonshining in West Virginia during the Prohibition, all I could think as we passed through that countryside was "where do they keep the stills?" We didn't encounter any moonshiners, but we did see an Appalachian Mountain icon:

You never know who you might run into at rest stops! 

We found a Motel 6 that kept the light on for us as we pulled in about 11:30 local time last night. Zzz. I believe we all passed out within seconds of our heads hitting out respective pillows. 

We grabbed some of the complimentary coffee from the motel lobby and rolled out about 7AM. What did I say to convince my beautiful, non-morning-person of a sister to get up so early? That a brief visit to Gettysburg before our final destination at the Poconos would be awesome. She and her awesome husband agreed. I know, I know. You thought I was the only nerd. Turns out I have cool siblings, too.

Pennsylvania, here we come!

Road tripping and Family Reunioning

And we are off!

My dad's family is having a reunion this weekend, so my sister and her husband and I are trekking from Tennessee to Pennsylvania to re-un (or to union since "re" indicates we have done this before?). Sadly, my husband and mother can't make it (and Dad is still in Afghanistan), so we are going to represent. I love road tripping and hanging with family, so I am looking forward to this weekend. I haven't seen many of these family members since I was in the third grade. Maybe I'll put a question mark on my name tag and see if anybody can guess who I am...

Anyways, I will attempt to document the weekend here the best I can, especially for the long distancing family members (this means you, Dad). Bring on the next 11.5 hours in the car! Mom made a batch of chocolate cookies for sustenance and I have a sock monkey travel cup filled with coffee for additional fuel.

Woop!!

- Posted from my iPhone

To Dad

Dear Dad,

Yet again, I am belated. It continues to happen more and more as I age (certainly more than I'd like to admit). This time, I even thought ahead and bought a card a few weeks ago, knowing it takes time to send things to Afghanistan. I almost beat the clock! But then I left the card at my apartment before my travels. Dang it.

As much as I thought the card was quality and fitting, I still felt it was not enough. How do I convey how I think you are the most stellarest dad on this planet (and yes, stellarest is a word when talking about stellar dads)? How do I share that I think you are amazing? I'll write about it.

I can't really think of my first memory of you, mostly because I can only remember life with you in it. I remember you explaining to me that trees do no make wind, rather that they only move because the wind was blowing (I had it backward). I remember you explaining how to measure the distance of a storm based on the number of seconds counted. The storms still felt terrifying, but you made them seem almost fun. I remember you telling us that you were a super secret spy so you couldn't tell us your job and how I felt like I wore a super hero cape when I told neighborhood kids at the playground of your job. I remember you taking us to a local baseball field to fly kites one day. On that day, you also left your coffee mug on top of the van and it spilt down the windshield as we drove away- you just said " ooooh! man!" That was a first time I had an inkling that you were human.

I still have an inkling of your humanity, but now I have a simultaneous appreciation of you as human. You are so patient! You are so understanding! You are kind and thoughtful. And goofy and relatable. Whether you are telling stories of exploding watermelons or listening to my own stories, you remain the best dad I can imagine. It is hard for me not to brag.

I miss you a lot while remaining insanely proud of your service. Only a short time before your leave and then a few months again before you are home for good! We (your whole family) is super excited about that. And I look forward to my dad being physically close again. In the meantime, know I consider you close even though you are far away. And that I am proud of you. And that I miss you.

I am sorry I couldn't spend Father's Day with you. I am even more sorry that I did not send that card in time (and by the time you get it, we will be shooting fireworks for Independence Day). But I do love you and want you to know I think you are awesome. I pray for you daily and can't wait to see you again!

Happy Father's Day to the best dad.

Love,
One of your three kids who love you and can't imagine life without you.
~ekg








- Posted from my iPhone

running with raccoons

Yesterday, I ran through where I thought was my favorite place to run, along the Cumberland River at Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge. But then I encountered wildlife. This was not the first time I've encountered wildlife there. I've seen a dead timber rattlesnake before. Yuck. 

The first "encounter"was just the "plunk" sound of turtles dropping from their logs into the water. "Ah, nature," I thought, "it adds to the experience." As I continued down the trail, I remembered that snake. In the distance, I thought I saw what could have been one, so I edged to the other side of the road. By doing that, I scared the snot out of a tortoise who ambled as quickly as a tortoise could to the water side. Watching a tortoise move as quickly as possible was mildly entertaining- after my heart rate came back down from being startled myself. (It turns out when you get startled, that whole breathing-heavy thing complicates running form). The "snake" I saw was only a log, and I tried to keep my cool.

As I worked my way back, I saw a raccoon cross the road ahead of me. "Hmm," I thought. "What do I know of raccoons? Are they vicious? Will it attack if startled? Should I slow down or speed up?" Seriously, this is the only think I could think of:

As soon as I passed through the area I where I thought he might still be, I picked up my pace and remained especially on guard. So when I passed the six inch turtle that I thought was a rock until he pulled his head into his shell, I nearly lost it. The turtle startled me enough to take a breather and think ahead to future runs (and alternative locations). 

I need a desk outside

I find that I feel mentally at my best when I trail run. I think it might be my body shifting into survival mode. Or maybe it is just my paranoias that become more vivid (I am always mindful of the fast zombies that seemingly pop out of nowhere anytime somebody is in the woods during "The Walking Dead"). Either way, my senses sharpen and my thoughts quicken. I have to keep an eye on the path in front of my and what is upcoming. I have to be mindful of my footfall and how (and where) my feet land. I have to be ready to bend or duck or leap, depending on the obstacles.

As my body finds its way through the woods, my mind feels just as agile. I think clearly and orderly about what I need to do as I step to the left to avoid poison ivy. I process through problems as I meander over the little streams. I discover "a-ha!" moments as I feel the sun filter through the leafy canopy.

The only drawback to my clear thinking during trail runs? My lack of desk space in the woods. I have nowhere to write, type, or record my moments of brilliance. Sometimes I remember to go home and write these things down. But sometimes those thoughts have to stay along the trail, entangled among the briars and vines, waiting for my next dash through the woods to pick them up and sort them out again.


PS. Today is Day 3 of my writing challenge. So far, so good.



- Posted from my iPhone

30-Day Writing Challenge

Starting tomorrow, I am joining a friend for a "30-Day Writing Challenge." The challenge is whatever you make of it- you could write for a certain amount of time every day, a page-a-day, or work towards a goal. I have many things I think I want to write about, so I opened up a suggestion post on Facebook. Some suggestions were good (I had contemplated before), some were funny, and then there is always my go-to : "Pirates. Please write about pirates." I love that my friends know me so well.

Now, you may be thinking "she never writes on here anymore, so there's an idea." I had that idea, too. I contemplated writing for my blog(s) for 30 days. I might do that. However, one of the things I realized while I have been processing my many writing-challenge-ideas is that my personal purpose(s) of the blogs have been met. Granted, one of the purposes for this blog was to keep family up-to-date with going-ons in my life. I feel a little guilty about that, especially for my long-distance family. But my need for a place to organize and post my thoughts has waned. I am not in a place where I feel like I am floundering (like I was when I was in Louisiana and much of graduate school). I still have struggles, yes, but they are entirely different in nature. I am not looking for a way to make me look busy typing like I was in grad school. I don't document trips and I don't feel like I live in a foreign country anymore. So what do I post? Better question: why do I post?

I also sense that I want to start directing my focused writing on things I would like to actually get published. Crazy, right? When I direct so much attention to keeping up my blog(s), all I am doing is diverting my energies into, well, space. "The Interwebz." I am not saying I am giving up blogging entirely. In fact, I have a feeling blogging will one day again serve as a method for me to rev my writing engines when I have mental blocks. It may also serve as a sounding board (a reading board?) for portions of my works. I'm not done, yet.

And as far as what I think I will focus on: set times and amounts of sitting and writing. I think I am going to use this time to build better focus habits. I let day-to-day happenings interfere with my intentions. If I can make time to train and workout, I can make time to write. If I want to be serious about this, I need to make the deliberate decisions that move me in that direction.

And maybe one day I'll have a novel about pirates, too.



- Posted from my iPhone