Almost a year after I actively started pursuing this goal, I can now say my geo-calendar is complete. This means that I have found (at least) one geocache during every calendar day of the year, including February 29. (Thanks to my muggle mom for driving us to see the manatees that day in 2008 when we were visiting her in Florida!)
There were some struggles to get a few of the days I hadn't filled in five years of caching. The holidays come to mind - I still had to find caches on Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and a few other special days. I managed. Also had a struggle on February 2. That was the day of the big blizzard of 2011. A geocaching friend came through and picked me up in his 4WD Jeep and took me to find a cache.
I thought my last day might be a pretty big struggle, though. Today was the first day of our semi-annual staff development at work. I had to be there at 8 a.m. - then report to a local hotel (the Amway Grand Plaza) after the kids were picked up by their dads; dinner together with the staff; then free at about 8:30 p.m., with no easy caches within walking distance of the hotel. So the only solution - leave early for work!
Had been saving the State Search Challenge caches for a geo-calendar day, so went to the 15 state challenge first - and made the find, completing the geo-calendar, at 7:15 a.m. Since I had time to spare, ended up getting the 10 and 5 state challenges as well and still got to work with time to spare. I have found geocaches in 17 states all together so those three challenges are all I qualify for in the series for now.
Am now at the Amway, enjoying the nice room with the (for once) beautiful view of the rivers in downtown Grand Rapids; and also enjoyed a nice meal with my co-workers. After breakfast together, they get to go do more staff development and I get to go back and spend another day at the clubhouse with the kids. Hard to remember sometimes that I'm part of the team. (wistful thinking, but would love to be with the rest as I know it's not all work.)bu
Monday, June 27, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Goodbye, air miles!
and for a very good reason. Part of the arrangements for our own trip to Germany in May was having our younger son, Eric, become dog/house sitter for us, and watching over Grandpa as well. Grandpa did move to the nursing home before we left, of course, so that became less complicated. Our "carrot" for Eric when we asked him in January was using my air miles for a ticket to have him go visit Scott himself later in the year.
Well, it's a done deal now. He leaves on August 5 and returns on August 24. When I first started looking into flights and such for him, I had a real challenge. Nothing for less than 60,000 miles each way from Grand Rapids. And I only have 60K miles total. Finally found Chicago to Frankfurt which would have been a 90K mile trip (on air miles.) How much to buy extra miles? Would have been another $500. So no go there.
Gave Eric the "assignment" to figure out what East Coast cities had direct flight to Frankfurt. See, the ace up my sleeve was my Citicard AirMiles. I'd been accumulating those for a long time on my original Citibank card. We'd used them to go visit my sister Judy in 2001, and those miles also got Eric out to the Naval Academy and back in 2004. The program has been discontinued, though, and the miles will expire in October. So they had to be used this summer...
Eric gave me some cities to check out on AA.com. Still nothing for less than 60K each way. In desperation, I just started entering cities. Finally found 60K total trip from Richmond, Virginia. Started looking into that and realized that the Richmond flight would go first to Dallas then to Frankfurt. Hmmm...how many miles would we need from Dallas? Sure enough, I found just a few dates that had 30K each way flights. Bingo! Put a 5 day hold on a reservation, 60K miles total. Now to clear it with Scott.
Took Scott a few days to find out for sure, but yesterday he finally got clearance to take whatever leave he wanted to within that time frame. (Not necessarily the whole time. Eric will be ok with just hanging out at Scott's some of the time.) So this morning, I finally called Citibank AirMiles to see about tickets from Grand Rapids to Dallas.
After a lot of waiting, they determined (so they said) that there was ONE seat left from Dallas to GR on the return flight, and the outbound flight was ok, too. So that was set. Then back to AA.com to confirm the reservation. All ok, other than excruciatingly slow on dialup (on dialup so I could print out anything I needed to) until I got to the purchase screen. It then informed me that there had been a price change. I knew there would be a $135 tax charge but this screen said the FARE would be $134.20. That seemed to be a new charge so I did as the screen suggested and called American Airlines directly to "get the original rate." After being transferred about four times, we finally determined that it was the TAX that was changing, not any additional charge. So then I went through the rest of the process and Eric now has tickets to Frankfurt and back.
I sigh because that 60K miles would have probably bought me a round trip ticket to Paris at the right time. Someday I will return there! I am happy, though, that my boys will get to spend a couple of weeks together. Sounds like London and Paris are in their plans.
This will be just the boost Eric needs. He found out last night that his appeal has been denied. He's going to talk to them again today but looks like his chances of getting into GVSU's School of Nursing are getting smaller each day. Basically the advisor lied to the board - she had told Eric that there were no notes from the meeting, then apparently produced full notes for the board that showed she had told him he couldn't take the Psychology class a third time. It's really hard not to get involved personally in this, but I do recognize it's Eric's battle for now. If he exhausts all possibilities, though...
Well, it's a done deal now. He leaves on August 5 and returns on August 24. When I first started looking into flights and such for him, I had a real challenge. Nothing for less than 60,000 miles each way from Grand Rapids. And I only have 60K miles total. Finally found Chicago to Frankfurt which would have been a 90K mile trip (on air miles.) How much to buy extra miles? Would have been another $500. So no go there.
Gave Eric the "assignment" to figure out what East Coast cities had direct flight to Frankfurt. See, the ace up my sleeve was my Citicard AirMiles. I'd been accumulating those for a long time on my original Citibank card. We'd used them to go visit my sister Judy in 2001, and those miles also got Eric out to the Naval Academy and back in 2004. The program has been discontinued, though, and the miles will expire in October. So they had to be used this summer...
Eric gave me some cities to check out on AA.com. Still nothing for less than 60K each way. In desperation, I just started entering cities. Finally found 60K total trip from Richmond, Virginia. Started looking into that and realized that the Richmond flight would go first to Dallas then to Frankfurt. Hmmm...how many miles would we need from Dallas? Sure enough, I found just a few dates that had 30K each way flights. Bingo! Put a 5 day hold on a reservation, 60K miles total. Now to clear it with Scott.
Took Scott a few days to find out for sure, but yesterday he finally got clearance to take whatever leave he wanted to within that time frame. (Not necessarily the whole time. Eric will be ok with just hanging out at Scott's some of the time.) So this morning, I finally called Citibank AirMiles to see about tickets from Grand Rapids to Dallas.
After a lot of waiting, they determined (so they said) that there was ONE seat left from Dallas to GR on the return flight, and the outbound flight was ok, too. So that was set. Then back to AA.com to confirm the reservation. All ok, other than excruciatingly slow on dialup (on dialup so I could print out anything I needed to) until I got to the purchase screen. It then informed me that there had been a price change. I knew there would be a $135 tax charge but this screen said the FARE would be $134.20. That seemed to be a new charge so I did as the screen suggested and called American Airlines directly to "get the original rate." After being transferred about four times, we finally determined that it was the TAX that was changing, not any additional charge. So then I went through the rest of the process and Eric now has tickets to Frankfurt and back.
I sigh because that 60K miles would have probably bought me a round trip ticket to Paris at the right time. Someday I will return there! I am happy, though, that my boys will get to spend a couple of weeks together. Sounds like London and Paris are in their plans.
This will be just the boost Eric needs. He found out last night that his appeal has been denied. He's going to talk to them again today but looks like his chances of getting into GVSU's School of Nursing are getting smaller each day. Basically the advisor lied to the board - she had told Eric that there were no notes from the meeting, then apparently produced full notes for the board that showed she had told him he couldn't take the Psychology class a third time. It's really hard not to get involved personally in this, but I do recognize it's Eric's battle for now. If he exhausts all possibilities, though...
Sunday, June 19, 2011
My niece's bucket list
My 17 year old niece recently posted her bucket list. Oh, to be young again and on the brink of making all those decisions about where your life will take you! Thought this would make a good blog post.
1. Make a positive impact on the planet. She will have all kinds of opportunity to do this. Hope I have done so myself.
2. Love every single thing about myself. I can't see where that would be hard - she has beauty & brains - a winning combination! Still working on this for myself. Overall satisfied but if I could just get rid of this addiction to food, especially sweets...
3. Meet Robert Downey, Jr. Ok for her. Doesn't matter to me.
4. Go on a cross country road trip. I hope she gets that opportunity, it's a great way to see the country. I've seen most of the country, still want to get to the Pacific Northwest and New England. Will there be geocaching involved - I'll go with her! : )
5. See ADTR live. Seeing as I don't have a clue as to who or what ADTR is/are, I'll pass on commenting here.
6. Intern for TOMS Shoes. I think I know (sorta) what these are. Internships are a great way to learn about a company and/or a career. Go for it.
7. Backpack in Europe. Oooh, another one I'll gladly accompany her on. Having two trips to Europe under my belt doesn't satisfy the urge, it just intensifies it.
8. Go to a City and Colour concert. Again, my age shows here. No idea about this one.
9. Design an environmentally-friendly house and then live in it. A tall order but why not? I'm trying to be more environmentally friendly, getting away from disposables and more recycling.
10. Fly in a hot air balloon. Nope. Nada. Too high up. I think you'd have to sedate me first. But in the spirit of adventure - go for it, Alex!
11. Speak fluent French. Didn't know until talking to Grandma last night that you've been taking French online as they don't offer it at your school. This will come in quite handy on that backpacking tour! I don't regret a moment of the time I've spent learning other languages. They do come in handy from time to time.
12. Travel to Thailand. I'm guessing a visit to Yui would be involved here. Other lands, other cultures, are so cool. Wouldn't mind visiting here, either, but there are other places above this on my bucket list.
13. Own my own cafe that sells delicious pastries. I'm with you on the delicious pastries part. You own it, I will come. Hear you're turning into a great cook.
14. Sleep in a hammock under the stars. I've come close with all my Boy Scout experiences. Wonderful to be out enjoying nature. Just make sure it's not 20 below zero at the time you do this one...
15. Meet Dallas Green. Who?
16. Learn how to play acoustic guitar. Music, as Alex well knows, is wonderful. It has helped bring her to the place she is in her life now, I daresay. I enjoy music but it just hasn't been my gift.
17. Have a pet hedgehog. And you'll name him Sonic, right? Not sure what the attraction to a hedgehog is per say, but pets are wonderful companions. Go for it.
18. Live sustainably. A good goal. Hard for me to meet it, but never say never.
19. March in a drum corps. Not gonna happen for me. Hope it does for you.
20. Learn how to play cello. See #16 above.
21. Travel to Switzerland. Say hi to Nora for me. I can highly recommend this one but bring lots of money.
My own (mental) bucket list isn't nearly so long, or profound. I found my niece's to be excellent!
1. Make a positive impact on the planet. She will have all kinds of opportunity to do this. Hope I have done so myself.
2. Love every single thing about myself. I can't see where that would be hard - she has beauty & brains - a winning combination! Still working on this for myself. Overall satisfied but if I could just get rid of this addiction to food, especially sweets...
3. Meet Robert Downey, Jr. Ok for her. Doesn't matter to me.
4. Go on a cross country road trip. I hope she gets that opportunity, it's a great way to see the country. I've seen most of the country, still want to get to the Pacific Northwest and New England. Will there be geocaching involved - I'll go with her! : )
5. See ADTR live. Seeing as I don't have a clue as to who or what ADTR is/are, I'll pass on commenting here.
6. Intern for TOMS Shoes. I think I know (sorta) what these are. Internships are a great way to learn about a company and/or a career. Go for it.
7. Backpack in Europe. Oooh, another one I'll gladly accompany her on. Having two trips to Europe under my belt doesn't satisfy the urge, it just intensifies it.
8. Go to a City and Colour concert. Again, my age shows here. No idea about this one.
9. Design an environmentally-friendly house and then live in it. A tall order but why not? I'm trying to be more environmentally friendly, getting away from disposables and more recycling.
10. Fly in a hot air balloon. Nope. Nada. Too high up. I think you'd have to sedate me first. But in the spirit of adventure - go for it, Alex!
11. Speak fluent French. Didn't know until talking to Grandma last night that you've been taking French online as they don't offer it at your school. This will come in quite handy on that backpacking tour! I don't regret a moment of the time I've spent learning other languages. They do come in handy from time to time.
12. Travel to Thailand. I'm guessing a visit to Yui would be involved here. Other lands, other cultures, are so cool. Wouldn't mind visiting here, either, but there are other places above this on my bucket list.
13. Own my own cafe that sells delicious pastries. I'm with you on the delicious pastries part. You own it, I will come. Hear you're turning into a great cook.
14. Sleep in a hammock under the stars. I've come close with all my Boy Scout experiences. Wonderful to be out enjoying nature. Just make sure it's not 20 below zero at the time you do this one...
15. Meet Dallas Green. Who?
16. Learn how to play acoustic guitar. Music, as Alex well knows, is wonderful. It has helped bring her to the place she is in her life now, I daresay. I enjoy music but it just hasn't been my gift.
17. Have a pet hedgehog. And you'll name him Sonic, right? Not sure what the attraction to a hedgehog is per say, but pets are wonderful companions. Go for it.
18. Live sustainably. A good goal. Hard for me to meet it, but never say never.
19. March in a drum corps. Not gonna happen for me. Hope it does for you.
20. Learn how to play cello. See #16 above.
21. Travel to Switzerland. Say hi to Nora for me. I can highly recommend this one but bring lots of money.
My own (mental) bucket list isn't nearly so long, or profound. I found my niece's to be excellent!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Back to Gilwell, almost
As I just mentioned in my last post, this last weekend was Wood Badge Staff development weekend at Camp Gerber. We are preparing for our course which will be held in August and September.
Friday morning brought a few extra errands but I was finally packed and ready to roll by about 12:15. One last stop at the post office to drop off a package for Scott, and then headed northwest. My plan was to stop at the Muskatewa Trail where a whole slew of new caches had been placed. Best would have been to bike it, but when I tried to get my bike out it was blocked pretty well, plus had at least one flat tire. So not this time. Hiked a mile down the trail (then of course a mile back) and got five caches. Then moved on to Coopersville and got three more caches which made a nice eight cache day for one of my few remaining geo-calendar days.
Made it to camp and got some time to spend with others on staff, then we started our evening promptly at 6 p.m. My last two troop guides gave their individual presentations, then our Sr. Patrol Leader gave his. Then we discussed our campfire while down at the firebowl area. Cracker Barrel and one last practice for my own presentation, then shower and bed.
Saturday morning brought a good breakfast, then MY presentation. I was a bit nervous but it went well, so I was told. I have to polish it up but it's getting there. Another presentation, then we walked over to cub camp and walked through our entire first day of the course and got all the kinks ironed out. Hot and sweaty! Lunch was great, then we did some walking through days 2 and 3.
Afternoon brought some team building at the COPE course. We worked on getting our team across a moving swinging log. Actually got 'er done! Then another exercise where we had to move across five different stumps connected with boards. Sounds easy but it wasn't. I was just glad we didn't have to do the high ropes course.
Fantastic dinner - dutch oven cooked cornish game hens, potatoes, green beans, and key lime pie. Needless to say, between the vacation and the weekend, I started back on the strict week of my diet today!
Then staff pictures, both formal and informal, and more working out details of the weekend.
Sunday morning brought chapel service, a few more details to be worked out, then we were dismissed about 11:30 a.m. Did some more geocaching on the way home as it was another geocalendar day. Only three left! Also stopped at a graduation open house for the son of a scouting friend of mine.
Then home to discover that Steve had taken several rides with friends this weekend. I can't really complain because I was off having fun myself! 19 days together so it was good to have some separate time as well. Only thing was, the lawn still hadn't been mowed, and my new refrigerator is still in pieces over the house (from bringing it inside through the slider) and the plants are scattered as well because the refrigerator is taking up their room. Hope both these situations are resolved soon!
not quite a recap
because I really want to include some more pictures in the recap and I haven't had time to pick out the best ones yet.
I forgot to add to my last post that we had to go through an agricultural inspection at customs in Dallas. Being honest, I wrote our beef jerky down on the customs form. Yep, they took it away. American beef jerky, bought on an American military base, but you can't bring it into the US unless it's sealed. Which of course it wasn't. Only about a $3 loss, oh well.
Flight to GR from Dallas was not the best. Mostly due to how tired we were, and how stuffy and hot the plane was. We survived, though - I even slept about half the flight I think. Got in just before midnight and it was sure nice to see Eric waiting for us! Luggage all came through ok, too. Home to Max who was very glad to see us!
Eric stayed through the next evening, as he had arranged for the Samsung repair person to come and look at the new TV as it was turning off randomly. That got fixed, he ate dinner, then headed back to Allendale.
The rest of the week was spent getting ready for Wood Badge staff development weekend. Some unpacking was done, other stuff still needs to be gone through. Plus we still have to deal with all of Steve's dad's stuff from before we left...
So a full recap will come soon, I hope. It's a short week at work for me as two of my kids are on vacation. So full day today and tomorrow, then off Wed, Thurs, Fri. Time to get some stuff done I hope.
I forgot to add to my last post that we had to go through an agricultural inspection at customs in Dallas. Being honest, I wrote our beef jerky down on the customs form. Yep, they took it away. American beef jerky, bought on an American military base, but you can't bring it into the US unless it's sealed. Which of course it wasn't. Only about a $3 loss, oh well.
Flight to GR from Dallas was not the best. Mostly due to how tired we were, and how stuffy and hot the plane was. We survived, though - I even slept about half the flight I think. Got in just before midnight and it was sure nice to see Eric waiting for us! Luggage all came through ok, too. Home to Max who was very glad to see us!
Eric stayed through the next evening, as he had arranged for the Samsung repair person to come and look at the new TV as it was turning off randomly. That got fixed, he ate dinner, then headed back to Allendale.
The rest of the week was spent getting ready for Wood Badge staff development weekend. Some unpacking was done, other stuff still needs to be gone through. Plus we still have to deal with all of Steve's dad's stuff from before we left...
So a full recap will come soon, I hope. It's a short week at work for me as two of my kids are on vacation. So full day today and tomorrow, then off Wed, Thurs, Fri. Time to get some stuff done I hope.
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