I’m a content marketing and copy editor who also dabbles in photography. Also an enthusiastic hiker, avid reader, cook, wine lover, coffee addict, dog mommy, wife, native Ohioan, and diehard Buckeyes fan. Not necessarily in that order.
It’s October, which means my wedding anniversary, my parents’ wedding anniversary, a wedding (+ a road trip), a pathology appointment, my first gastro appointment at Ohio State, and various other things on my calendar. This also happens to be one of my favorite months. While I don’t like that the days are getting shorter, I love the fall colors, sweater weather, simmering a big pot of chili on the stove, and college football. All too soon, my seasonal depression will come back, though, which is also a sad thing about October.
The weather has been gorgeous, with cool, crisp mornings and sunny, warm afternoons. I completed hike 88 yesterday of the Hikerbabes 100 Hike Challenge — my personal goal is to finish the challenge by the end of the year.
Mist on Darby CreekThe old railroad tracks
The leaves are just starting to change. In just a little over two weeks, I’ll be driving to Minnesota with my mom to attend my cousin’s wedding. I’m hoping we’ll have some really nice color then, but I suppose it will be past peak in late October.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing my cousins again. We used to get together at Thanksgiving every year when my grandparents were still alive. It’s now been years since I’ve seen them. But that’s the thing about life. We all grew up and got pulled in different directions with our adult responsibilities. And it’s harder when we live in different states.
October 9th is the anniversary of my friend Sherry’s passing. It will be 37 years. She was 14 and on the list waiting for a heart and lung transplant but never got a donor. She left school for a long time and stopped contact with her friends, though I kept writing her letters. I always wondered why she went no contact, but she was probably too sick. I guess I never realized at that age how life threatening her illness was. How can we possibly imagine someone dying at age 14?
I remember being at my locker on October 10, getting ready to go to homeroom, when one of my friends told me that Sherry died the previous night. I stayed at school that day despite being offered the chance to go home, but I was in a state of shock. She was one of my best friends.
The only way I’ve been able to honor her is by signing up to be an organ donor. That was the first thing I did when I got my driver’s license, and I encourage as many people as possible to become organ donors. I also donate blood regularly. That’s the impact Sherry made on my life.
So that’s how I’m going to end this post. If you’re not currently an organ donor, I urge you to consider it. Do your research (there are a lot of myths surrounding organ donation) and make the best choice for you, of course. But if you feel this is something you can do, please sign up. You can make a huge difference in at least one person’s life.
I promised myself I’d write more, but it’s just so darn difficult when my full-time job is copywriting. I kind of miss the days when I’d spend hours scribbling away in notebooks — plays I started but never finished, a few lines of poetry, a short story. I just couldn’t write the words as fast as they would pour out of my brain.
It might help if I get back to writing in notebooks. But then there’s my carpal tunnel…
Anyway, I’m here. So I guess I’ll write.
Early fall is one of my favorite times of the year. It also happens to be my favorite time to hike.
My next scheduled group hike is in 2 weeks at Buzzard’s Roost Nature Preserve — a repeat of last October’s hike. I hope we’ll have some spectacular foliage this year. We’ve had an excessive amount of rain and that helps, or so I’ve heard.
I can probably plan November’s hike, too. Beyond that, I’m not sure. Since I don’t see OSU about my esophagus disorders until October 30, I don’t know yet what the next steps are in my treatment. Will they schedule me for surgery? Will they make me do more tests first? I honestly don’t know.
Last Sunday, I completed a 5k (walking) on OSU campus. Part of our route went around the Oval (what most colleges refer to as a quad), which brought back a lot of memories of my own time as a student there. So many things changed on campus, but so many of the buildings look exactly the same.
Since I work at a college admissions consultancy, I think about college a lot as it is.
In fact, my husband and I were just talking about that this morning. It is insane to me what college admissions is like now versus 30 years ago. Not just the college application itself, but spending the entire four years of high school curating a profile that shows academic and extracurricular depth. Carefully choosing what to get involved in and how to deepen your involvement over time.
That wasn’t really a thing when we applied to college. In fact, a lot of us didn’t even think about college until maybe junior year. At my school, that’s when you had to decide whether you were going to take college-prep courses or not. Kids now are applying to 10-15 schools. Sometimes more. We didn’t apply to nearly as many.
Nowadays, even the students with perfect GPAs, perfect test scores, and sustained involvement in just a few activities don’t have any guarantee that they’ll be accepted. There’s just too much competition.
College-bound students now seem to be so much more accomplished than I ever was at that age. Oh sure, I wrote for the school newspaper because I planned to major in journalism. But I was also in the choir, dance team, French Club, Key Club, and I don’t even remember what else. Most of my activities were not chosen with the intention of leveraging them to get into college. (Though why didn’t I get into choir once I was in college? It was a huge part of my life in high school.)
I started out as a journalism major. Then switched to creative writing. Then switched to English literature. I left college. I came back. I transferred. Twice. My third school being Ohio State.
Here are a couple of pics from my senior year at OSU. These were taken during my study abroad trip to Bath, England, where we studied, you guessed it, English literature. (And a bit of Irish literature, too. We spent a few days in Dublin.)
Despite majoring in a humanities discipline, I still turned out fine. I have a job that pays well and I get to write and correct other people’s writing, and honestly, that’s my strongest skill set.
Anyway, it’s fall, and high school seniors are currently applying to college. It’s our busy season at work, and the content I’ve been working on by and large is to help seniors with various aspects of their applications. How to write their essays. How to prepare for interviews. What deadlines they need to be aware of. How to not go insane when balancing college applications and senior year coursework. What previous admissions data can tell them about their chances for getting accepted. This is my life day in and day out.
And oh, when the students we work with get accepted? I watch their acceptance reaction videos and cry. EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.
So I’m furiously updating all of our content that needs updated annually –there is A LOT — while also trying to publish new content. And when the early round decisions roll out in December, I’ll be checking all hours of the day (and night) for decision release dates. I’ve been known to update our decision release dates blog post at 3 am.
Oh yeah, there’s another big difference. We didn’t have all these decision rounds when I applied to college. Now you have Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision and sometimes Early Decision 2 and Early Action 2. I don’t know how these kids do it.
I just started my professional development for this year, which is how to use AI in copywriting. This is something I already do for work (I mean, you pretty much have to at this point whether you like it or not), but at least I can get a credential for it.
The call went out at work last week for volunteers to go to Guatemala for School the World next year. We’re a small enough company that anyone can go, even if you’ve already been multiple times. It breaks my heart that I had to say no. I just don’t know where this medical journey is going or the timeline. And honestly, it gets harder to raise the money each time. But I loved this year’s trip so much and I really wish I could go.
Until next time. (I hope this posts okay. At the moment, our firewall is blocking my own blog. HAHAHA. So I can’t even see what I’m posting.)
I haven’t posted since shortly after my return from Guatemala, and I’m not exactly sure why. Writing has always been therapy for me, but I find it more difficult to do as a leisure activity now since copywriting is what I do for a living. I don’t even want to look at a computer after I log off work for the day.
Anyway, I digress…
I’m here with an update on my health.
I noticed some unusual symptoms during my trip to Guatemala, which I initially dismissed due to the higher elevation and the fact that we were eating different food than I’m used to. But the symptoms persisted after I returned. In fact, they got worse.
A burning feeling in my stomach. Nausea. Bloating. I felt sick almost constantly.
I contacted my doctor and she ordered a parasite test. That came back negative. My next step was to ask her to refer me to a gastroenterologist. So she did, but I had to wait two months to even get the appointment.
I saw him in mid-June. He ordered an endoscopy, which I had on July 8. The endoscopy showed that I had a hiatal hernia, and the hernia caused another condition called Barrett’s Esophagus. The next step was an esophageal manometry or, in layman’s terms, a swallow test.
That’s when things started clicking. I have had trouble swallowing for months, usually when I’m lying down. I dug into the research and also learned that these esophagus disorders are the reason I cough all the time.
I was told I would be having surgery, so my case was referred to a surgeon who specializes in hiatal hernias. But first, I had to do the swallow test. This took place at the end of July, and this “mildly uncomfortable” procedure was honestly pretty traumatic for me. Having a catheter inserted up your nose and into your throat while you’re conscious is not something I recommend.
Anyway, the swallow test revealed a third problem: a rare blockage disorder that was beyond the skills of the surgeon to fix. So he referred me to The Ohio State University Medical Center, and my first appointment with them (gastroenterology) is October 30.
So, I have three esophagus disorders, and doing the surgery we originally planned could actually make the third problem worse.
I’m not sure what happens from here. Assuming I will still have surgery, it will be a different type of surgery than the one I was planning for. And if it happens, it will likely be next year at this point. I will have a long recovery period, so I suppose it’s ideal if we do this in the winter when I’m more inclined to be indoors anyway.
In the meantime, I’m still living with symptoms that are more annoying than painful. I still have trouble swallowing. I’m still coughing. I’m still bloated. I have excess saliva because of all this, so I have to dab at my mouth constantly and the corners of my mouth are getting dry and cracked. I also have what’s called burning mouth syndrome, which is completely harmess and mildly affects my sense of taste. Until all of this happened, I had no idea what was causing it — but I think there might be a connection and I will ask my pathologist when I see her in October. Anyway, my tongue feels fuzzy all the time.
Oh, and now my risk of esophageal cancer is higher, so I love that for me.
At the time of my diagnosis, I was just ramping up my training for MammothMarch Cuyahoga Valley, which takes place three weeks from tomorrow. But this really threw me for a loop and I couldn’t get back into the mindset I need to train. So I sold my ticket to a friend. I’m a bit sad about that, but I’m now focused on doing more core work in hopes that I can recover faster when this is all over — again, assuming I’m having surgery. (I registered for a 5K at Ohio State on what would have been MammothMarch day, but I’m going to walk instead of run.)
I’m still hiking, but the hikes I’m doing are shorter distances and less intense. I just celebrated my first anniversary as a Hikerbabes ambassador, and I was even named Ambassador of the Week this week!
Will I do MammothMarch again? We shall see. As the training intensified, it was starting to take up the whole weekend — hike 10+ miles on Saturday and spend Sunday recovering. It left me little time to spend with Lance or get any work done around the house.
Speaking of which, I have some bushwhacking to do today in the yard. Hopefully I won’t neglect this blog for so long going forward. I already feel a little better now that I’ve written an update.
I returned from Guatemala two weeks ago – my second corporate service trip with School the World. If you’ve been reading my blog long enough, then you might remember that I went to Panama in 2024 for my first corporate service trip and came home with a broken foot. I’m happy to say that I did not bring home any unwanted souvenirs this time.
School the World asked me to write a guest blog for them this time, and I’m still trying to find the words I want to say. I’m hoping that recapping my week here on my own blog might get the creative juices flowing, so here goes…
This year, it was just me and one other co-worker (Kevin – this was his third School the World trip) representing our company. Thankfully, we were on the same flight to Guatemala City. We met up at the Dallas airport. Our flight to Guatemala City was less than three hours and uneventful. The problem was that we ended up waiting at the airport for almost four hours for the van to arrive to pick us up. A religious festival was going on in Guatemala City that caused a significant traffic jam. But the van eventually arrived, and we were on our way to Antigua… slowly.
Antigua, it seemed, was also having a religious festival, so we were stuck in traffic there, too. What was supposed to be an hour ride from the airport took much longer, and we missed our scheduled dinnertime. I was a bit cranky – this was not a great way to start things off. But we got to the hotel, quickly changed clothes, and made our way to the restaurant. By the time we got there, everyone else had finished eating. But we were able to order dinner. Good thing because every one of us on that shuttle was hangry, I think.
It was all uphill from there, at least. We spent the night in Antigua at Casa de la Fuentes, a Spanish colonial hotel with a gorgeous courtyard full of lush plants.
The next day (Monday, March 2), we got in our assigned vans and made the 4-hour drive to Quiché. This is where we would spend most of the week. On the way there, we stopped at a restaurant in Tecpán for breakfast. The breakfast was Guatemalan-style: eggs over a scratch-made tortilla, refried black beans, fruit, and sausage. We also had some rice porridge, which was very good. Baskets of hot, fresh tortillas were placed around the table. In the center of the restaurant was a griddle station where you could watch them make the tortillas, so that was pretty cool.
We arrived at the community of Tululché 1 around noon, I think? And they were ready to greet us. We enjoyed a fun welcome ceremony with games and dancing, and then we were put to work.
The objective for the week: help finish the new building (two classrooms), install a playground, and plant trees. We ended Monday with painting and left the community late in the afternoon to check into our hotel in Santa Cruz del Quiché. Dinner was up on the hotel roof – and to my great delight – it actually was Guatemalan. (In Panama, we were served American food every night, which is so boring.)
A word about the hotel, since I inevitably will compare it to the hotel in Panama: While the food was authentic at this hotel, the accommodations were bare bones and definitely paled in comparison to the beach resort we stayed in during the Panama trip. The main thing I struggled with in Quiché was remembering to throw toilet paper in the trash (despite the signs everywhere reminding me) because they didn’t have plumbing that could handle it. And it was great how the water in the shower turned from scalding hot to ice cold, and the water pressure would constantly change, but I digress…
I won’t bore you with the details of our day-to-day. We mixed concrete by hand, shoveled it into buckets, and formed assembly lines to pass the buckets to the workers who were laying the floors. We painted exterior and interior walls, planned out mural designs, and painted playground equipment. (I didn’t. The playground is where I broke my foot the last time, so I steered clear until it was done.) We played with the kids at recess, taught classes, and helped with chores on our home visit. And we hugged a lot of children, gave a lot of high fives and fist bumps, and laughed a lot. We came back to the hotel every night exhausted and dirty, but we were always be happy.
Passing buckets of concrete down the lineThe building in progressGrinding corn for tortillas during my home visitTeaching a 4th grade classMe and my little helpers planting a tree
Tuesday evening after we got back to the hotel, a small group of us went out for a little shopping. We went to Dollar City, which is similar to Dollar Tree here in the States, but much better. And then to a grocery store (which gave out Walmart bags but wasn’t called Walmart) to get Guatemalan coffee and other treats.
Thursday, we stopped in Chichicastenango after our day in the community. It’s a market town about 30 minutes outside of Santa Cruz del Quiché. We got about an hour or so to wander through the market stalls and shop before we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner out. I would have enjoyed the market a lot more if we hadn’t been harassed constantly by women and children trying to coerce us into buying their trinkets. I couldn’t escape them, and they don’t take no for an answer. Fair warning if you ever go there: They will follow you for blocks, no matter how many times you say “No gracias.” Despite that, I still managed to get some souvenirs and a pretty handmade top for myself.
The stunning courtyard in the Hotel Santo Tomas in Chichi
Friday was the dedication ceremony in the community. It was fun until it wasn’t. Similar to the welcome ceremony, we had dancing and music. And then the mayor showed up and gave a never-ending speech that drove a lot of people away. (From my understanding, he was giving a political speech, accusing his opponents of being liars, and taking credit for all the work we did. Okay, bro.) I got up and left at one point and just hung out in the classroom we were using all week until the coast was clear.
My chaperone for our procession into the dedication ceremonyGetting my certificate of appreciationMy favorite photo. She was so cute!We made quite a team!My name on the school building. Forever linked to this community. I helped paint this mural.
After the speech, we had the plaque unveiling and ribbon cutting at the classrooms and playground. We took a lot of photos. The community served us lunch, after which we said goodbye to Tululché 1 for good and made the 4-hour trip back to Antigua for our final night.
We went back to the hotel where we stayed the first night. I had to wait for my luggage to arrive, since that came in a separate vehicle. But I got it in enough time to dress for dinner. And La Fonda de la Calle Real is where I had the best meal on the trip: peppers stuffed with beef and topped with picante sauce, rice, black beans, farmer’s cheese, and guacamole. With tortillas, obviously. (They are, after all, served with every meal.) And the sangria. Oh my God. Out of this world.
Saturday was departure day. I had a little time before I needed to get on the van to go to the airport. So I went out for an early morning walk to get a good view of the volcano and the market square. (There are actually three volcanoes near Antigua, and one erupted Tuesday of that week. We missed it, of course.)
Volcán de AguaIglesia de la Merced
It was during breakfast that I started getting notifications about my flight being delayed. It kept getting more and more delayed. And when I was on the van heading toward the airport, I found out it was delayed again to the point where I would miss my connecting flight. My plan was to go immediately to the American Airlines counter to try to resolve this, but my flight got rebooked automatically while I was still in the van. Suddenly, my layover was in Miami instead of Chicago O’Hare.
So, I got to the airport 5 hours early. Though I did spend some time in the airport lounge and then went shopping to spend what was left of my quetzales. It wasn’t a bad way to kill the time but I would have preferred to have more time in Antigua. Oh well. These things can’t be helped.
Overall, this was an incredible trip. While I enjoyed the Panama trip (broken foot notwithstanding), I didn’t interact as much with the kids. I felt more like an observer than a participant. I was certainly less physically fit, which made the work a lot harder. And it was much hotter there. This year, I leaned in. Hard. And I was richly rewarded for it. This was one of the best experiences of my life, and it’s no small thing for me to say that.
Random thoughts:
It will be a long time before I’ll want to eat another tortilla.
I was the only non-Latino assigned to our van and also the only one who didn’t speak Spanish. They sometimes had conversations in Spanish, but that’s fine. Though I appreciate that Kevin would occasionally tell me what they were talking about. What’s funny to me is that we were pulled over on the way back to Antigua on that Friday for a routine traffic stop. Everyone else in the van started teasing me that I was the reason we got pulled over. And then the officer opened the van door, poked his head in, looked right at me, closed the door, and told us we were good to go.
The feral dogs break my heart. Many of them were malnourished and/or injured but terrified of people (for good reason). I fed my snacks to one dog at our gas station stop because it was limping badly from a very serious injury on one foot. I gained its trust enough for it to eat out of my hand, but then the other dogs found us.
I don’t like rooster meat. Yes, it “tastes like chicken” but it’s tough and greasy.
Never ever buy these cookies unless that’s all you want to eat until they’re all gone and then you’ll be sad that you don’t have any left. (Can I get them here? Yes. Are they more expensive? Yes. Do I need them? No.)
Andrew, if you’re reading this: Every time I do squats, I’ll think of you.
Angi and Liz: I will never forget our conversation that night on the rooftop while I was drinking my sad little bottle of imported American wine (which is cheap to buy in the States and more then double the price in Guatamala but the hotel shop didn’t have much in the way of wine.) LOL. That was the hardest I’ve laughed in ages and I swear it wasn’t the moscato. It’s because we’re hilarious.
Lainee: I still get chills when I think about your singing voice. Not only are you an amazing nurse, but that voice! Your talent is insane.
Autumn: Thanks for joining me at 6am to go sightseeing in Antigua.
Crissy: I miss your energy. I love how much you love dogs. And I loved dancing with you.
Kev 4-Ev: Our second STW trip together, and it was so much fun! Thanks so much for all your translation help and for just being you. And for inviting me to be your guest in the airport lounge.
I really do miss you all.
Why didn’t we go to that ridiculous dinosaur show? It would have been good for laughs.
It’s been a long time since my last post. I debated whether to even keep this blog, and I let the paid account expire. I just haven’t been in the proper mindset to regularly update.
But I’m here now. So let me see if I can catch you up.
Shortly after my last post, I became an ambassador for Hikerbabes. I’ve been leading group hikes since then, and I love it.
My first ambassador-led hike in August — I had a good turnout!
In late September, I traveled to PA/NY/NJ to attend a co-worker’s wedding (near Philadelphia) and then spend a few days in New York City. It was actually my first time in the Big Apple, not counting layovers at Newark and JFK.
On the observation deck at One World Trade Center
I initially booked an Airbnb in Midtown, which was a far cheaper option than a hotel, but my boss went with me to check in (the company I work for is based in NYC so most of my co-workers live there), decided that the Airbnb looked sketchy, and took me next door to the Hyatt to get a room instead.
I was able to do a walking tour that covered a lot of the main tourist attractions. I added on a visit to the top of One World Trade Center. I attended a Broadway show (Six — it was a lot of fun!), and I spent a day exploring Central Park. That was really all I had time for.
In November, my parents were in a serious car crash. Both were injured and taken to the hospital. Mom had 2 broken ribs. Rob had a broken rib, several lumbar fractures, and a cracked sternum, I think? Mom was released the same night. Rob had to be transported to OSU Medical Center, where he stayed for several days. There was a lot of back and forth for me between my house, the hospital, and their house (an hour away) to take care of their needs. They were not at fault, so we also had to initiate a personal injury suit, which is still ongoing. Rob is not yet fully healed and wearing a back brace — he may need surgery. And we don’t know if he will ever fully recover.
Due to quite a bit of red tape, they couldn’t even get a replacement vehicle until last month. But they’re in an SUV now (the totaled car was a sedan) and they like it much better. So at least that part of this ordeal is resolved.
I leave for Guatemala a week from today. I will be making my second School the World trip to help build classrooms near Santa Cruz del Quiché.
After I get back from that trip, I need to start focusing on training for my two upcoming endurance events. I’m registered for the Twin Valley Trail Challenge in June. It’s a choose your own adventure event, so I selected the 18 miler (I did 16.5 last year). I am also signed up for MammothMarch at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in September.
So that covers the major highs and lows of my life in recent months.
As for Randi: We were doing basic obedience training with her but it wasn’t going well. It’s hard to do obedience training on a dog that is highly reactive. That issue needs to be fixed first. She was supposed to repeat obedience training, but we pulled her out instead and enrolled her in behavioral training. Our trainer has been great. Randi is getting the tough love she needs instead of the positive reinforcement we got in the other training, which absolutely was not working for her. Turns out, her bad behavior actually needs correction and not redirection.
We still have a long way to go, but she is making some progress. She really is so sweet and tries so hard to be good, but she’s very protective of me and gets aggressive toward Lance because of it.
She is a cute little stinker, though.
That’s it from my little corner of the world for now.
August 2, 2025: This was the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically. I was in so much pain at the end that I cried when I crossed the finish line.
Waiting to startAround mile 8Actual mileage was more than 20
I’m not sorry I did it. I learned so much about myself in the nine months I trained for this. And I had a few setbacks. I dislocated my shoulder on July 17. (Actually, Randi dislocated it. LOL.) So that definitely set me back with strength training and hiking both. I’m in physical therapy now for that.
We were supposed to camp at Burr Oak State Park that weekend but ultimately decided not to because Randi is too reactive to everything and it would have been super stressful. I booked an Airbnb instead and my mom came with me. We had a good time. The Airbnb was nice, and we ordered pizza delivery and had wine after I finished Mammoth.
Would I do it again? I honestly don’t know. If I do, it won’t be the one at Burr Oak again. I’d love to try a different location.
Less than a week after we lost Blitz, we brought Randi home.
Randi (Miranda at the shelter) is just over 50% Labrador Retriever and the rest is a smattering of many different breeds (coonhound, pitbull, German shepherd, rottweiler, beagle, poodle, terrier…). She’s about a year and a half old and still in that puppyish phase where she thinks biting people is a game. (I have the bruises and broken skin on my arms and legs to prove it.)
We started her on training and she’s getting more comfortable by the day. She has various neuroses from her life before us. Fortunately, we aren’t new to dealing with this. Blitz had a lot of social problems and anxiety for YEARS before he mellowed out (which, incidentally, happened after our dog, Reece, died. He was meant to be in a one-dog household). It just takes patience and care.
Anyway, despite her issues, she is a joy to us and we love her so much already. She will never replace Blitz, of course. And she reminds us so much of Reece that we have actually called her that a few times. But Randi is undoubtedly 100% Randi.
As for my training.
Three weeks until MammothMarch. At this time on August 2, I will be almost 2 hours into it.
My training has slipped in the past month. Between celebrating birthdays, Blitz’s death, and Randi’s adoption… it’s been a lot to deal with. I haven’t done a hike above 10 miles in over a month. Though I have combined hikes over a weekend to get double-digit mileage.
I’m trying so hard to get back on track. I don’t have much time.
Some photos from recent hikes.
Fire tower at Scioto Grove Metro ParkView from the fire towerBee on wild rose — Scioto GroveFeather on the Hargus Lake Loop trailHargus LakeWhite Falls in Hocking State ForestJelly fungus at Slate Run Metro ParkSlate Run Metro Park – Five Oaks trailJewelweed at Slate Run
And a random photo of me with the tallest Brutus Buckeye in history. Just because.
I wish I had updated a week ago. My world felt much lighter then.
I completed my first endurance hiking event on June 7 — the Twin Valley Trail Challenge in Germantown, Ohio. 16.5 miles in just over 6 hours (in sloppy conditions, and I twisted my ankle).
The following day, we celebrated Blitz’s birthday/gotcha day. He turned 16 (more or less… we didn’t know his actual age when we adopted him), and we celebrated the 15th anniversary of adopting him.
I turned 50 on June 11 and celebrated by kayaking on Deer Creek Lake with Lance, having dinner with my family at Hofbrauhaus, and having cake and ice cream at home.
The day after my birthday — just one week ago — my mom and I went to Coschocton for a Sip and Stay. We enjoyed a tour of four wineries with Cork & Tap Excursions and stayed at the Coshocton Village Inn and Suites.
A week ago, my heart was lighter.
Saturday night, Blitz’s health took a turn. He wasn’t himself. He had difficulty standing up. He had no interest in participating in our daily routines. I hoped he would feel better in the morning.
He didn’t. If anything, he was worse.
He needed to be carried because he couldn’t stand without almost falling down. He refused to eat his breakfast. Because he had an enlarged spleen/mass, I always feared that that’s what would ultimately kill him. A big sign of spleen rupture is pale gums. So I checked. His gums were practically white.
We made the call to take him to the emergency vet. She confirmed our worst suspicions. Not only were his symptoms consistent with a spleen rupture, but he had signs of fluid around his heart. She started the “quality of life” discussion.
I knew. Knew in my bones on the way to the vet that we weren’t bringing him home.
So we made the hard choice. Really the only choice for him. We chose to say goodbye. They moved us into a less clinical room — a room with a comfy couch, lots of tissues, and a jar of “goodbye kisses.” I opened that jar to find Hershey Kisses because “no dog should go to Heaven without tasting chocolate.” I took one. Unwrapped it.
They brought Blitz in and left us alone with him. There was a doorbell in the room that we could ring when we were ready. I gave him the chocolate, and he gobbled it down. We snuggled. He gave me kisses. We gave him kisses. We cried. We said goodbye. We told him we loved him. We told him he was the best boy. We told him to go find Reece. I didn’t want to prolong the agony, so within five minutes, I rang the doorbell.
A few minutes later, the vet came in with the syringes. She explained the procedure (but we already knew about it, having gone through it before). The first shot, and he was asleep within seconds. The second shot, and I placed my hand over his heart. I felt the beat, beat, b e a t , b e a t . Stillness.
She placed her stethoscope over his heart and nodded.
Lance and I both kissed him on the head and then we were directed to a private exit that took us to the parking lot. I fell apart as soon as we were outside. I collapsed into Lance, shaking and sobbing.
We pick up his ashes today.
My world is not the same as it was a week ago. My heart is heavy. For the briefest of seconds, I think I hear him sigh. Or I think I hear the tap of his claws on the kitchen floor. Or I look at the clock and think it’s time for his treat. Or I wake up in the middle of the night, expecting to feel him curled up beside me.
Instead, silence. Emptiness.
I am gutted. After 15 years with this dog in my life, I don’t know how to live without him. But I have to learn, don’t I? Life does go on, after all.
I find myself up earlier than I want to be and with some time to kill before we go out for breakfast, so I figured it was time for an update.
I’m now less than 3 weeks away from turning 50. I’m finalizing my plans — after all, it’s a pretty big milestone year. My birthday falls on a Wednesday (which, incidentally, is the same day of the week that I was born), and I took Wednesday-Friday off work. So I’m trying to plan a 5-day weekend. My actual birthday is pretty much planned. I want to get cinnamon rolls for breakfast at our favorite coffee shop (and cook eggs on our outdoor griddle), rent a kayak at Trapper John’s, get a massage, have dinner at Hofbrauhaus, and get dessert at the Chocolate Cafe. Maybe I’ll squeeze in some hiking, too, if there’s time.
The following day, my mom and I are booked on an overnight “Sip & Stay” tour, which involves a shuttle bus to four wineries, an overnight stay at a hotel, and a dinner voucher. So that takes care of Thursday and some of Friday.
Saturday and Sunday are still a question mark, but I am definitely doing a longer hike on one of those days. I’m still training, after all, and MammothMarch is getting closer.
Speaking of training, it’s going well. I did the hardest hike of my life in April at Great Seal State Park. That was roughly 13 miles, and the elevation gain was significantly more than what I’m doing at Mammoth. So I think I’m mostly ready. I still get pretty winded on steep climbs because of my asthma, so I’m working on that. I got the pacing down, I think. I’m doing more strength training and higher intensity cardio on the days I’m not hiking. I may just be in the best shape of my life and only getting better.
And I am getting closer to finding a way to manage the hallux rigidus pain that always flares up on my hikes. I tried a spica taping method and some new Morton’s extension inserts on my last hike, and my feet hurt quite a bit less as a result. We had the option of adding another 3-mile loop to the 13 miles we did, and I wanted to — my feet felt good enough. But I opted not to because I ended up stepping in mud up to my ankle about 2 miles from finishing the 13-mile loop, and my left shoe and sock were soaked. (It is miserable hiking in squishy shoes.)
I hike in trail runners and I’m still trying to find some hiking shoes that work for me. I think I’ve bought and returned at least 6 pairs in the past 2 months. Though I just realized a few days ago that the non-returnable Merrells I bought in November, which were killing my feet about 5 miles in, might now actually work fine for me if I try the taping/orthotic. I have been wearing them for yard work and they are actually more comfortable than all the hiking shoes I’ve bought recently. The toe box seems roomy enough — I need a wide toe box — but I actually need more room at the top of my foot so the shoe doesn’t rub against my bone spurs. And the Merrells actually have the room I need.
Anyway, I’m in a hallux rigidus support group, and this seems to be a common problem among those with HR. We all seem to be spending ungodly amounts of money on shoes that end up not working for us. Thankfully, I can actually test shoes out on the trail and still return them. REI allows it (I’m a member), as does some of the shoe companies if I order from them directly (like Hoka and Topo).
In non-hiking news, I’m planning a trip to New York City in September. I’ve had layovers at Newark and JFK, but I’ve never gone into the city. A co-worker is getting married in late September. She’s inviting me to her wedding. And it’s in Pennsylvania near enough to NYC that I’m extending my trip and spending a few days in the Big Apple. My employer is based there, so I have co-workers in NYC I can hang out with, including my boss.
I haven’t booked anything yet, but I’m trying to decide which Broadway show to see. I only plan to see one, since my time is limited and there are a lot of other things I want to see and do. Honestly, I’m kind of interested in & Juliet since I’m always down for Shakespeare interpretations.
Oh, and since I just mentioned work, it’s probably worth noting that I recently received a promotion. I’m now a content manager, which is more of a project management role since I don’t have direct reports. And that suits me just fine.
And now, without further ado, recent photos from my spring hikes.
March – Mohican State ParkApril – deer in the wildflowers at Scioto Grove Metro ParkApril – the yellow springs at Glen Helen Nature PreserveApril – Virginia bluebells at Three Creeks Metro ParkApril – sandhill cranes at Slate Run Metro ParkApril – trillium at Battelle Darby Creek Metro ParkMay – Buck Creek State ParkMay – Caesar Creek State Park
Hopefully I won’t go more than 2 months until the next post.
It’s felt very much like spring this past week, and I’m seeing signs of Mother Nature waking up from her winter slumber.
While I’m still angry, sad, and frustrated on a daily basis at the state of things in the U.S., I am trying very hard to focus on what’s still good in the world. Hiking helps a lot — there is no better balm for the soul than being out in nature.
I had my hardest hike to date last weekend — 9.5 miles at Tar Hollow State Forest. This trail was brutal. It’s not maintained, so there were dozens of fallen trees we had to climb over, crawl under, or go off trail to get around. We also had about 1,600 feet of elevation on this hike — pretty much all at once. Despite the obstacle course and elevation, I finished… barely.
My biggest lesson learned is to eat more than I think I need to eat on long, arduous hikes. We had two snack breaks during this hike. I only had two homemade protein cookies with me, and I ate them both on the first snack break after we crested the highest hill. (I was unaware that we would have a second break or I would have saved one of my cookies.) The result of this is that I nearly threw up right at the very end of the hike because I needed more calories. (Thankfully, another hiker in our group gave me a packet of fruit snacks and some electrolyte mix.)
Another lesson learned is that I wasn’t ready for a hike of that intensity. I still have several months before MammothMarch. I can do 8-9 miles on more moderate trails than the one I did last week, so I can continue to build from there.
Some recent photos from my hikes:
Millikin Falls – Quarry Trails Metro ParkFungi at Stage’s Pond State Nature PreserveHargus Lake at A.W. Marion State ParkFire tower at Tar Hollow State ForestFire tower at Scioto Grove Metro ParkPainted turtle I encountered on the trailWater crossing (Scioto River) at Scioto Grove Metro Park
I was diagnosed with hallux rigidus last month — arthritis of the big toe (complete with bone spurs). I have it in both feet, but it’s worse in the right foot and can get really painful during hikes. The ortho recommended Morton’s extension orthotics for my hiking shoes and to wear shoes with rocker soles. He specifically recommended Hoka, so I probably need to get a proper pair of Hoka hiking shoes before MammothMarch. The Topo trail runners I have now are fine for the moment — not to mention expensive. The Merrells I bought in November will now become my backyard work shoes. I can’t go more than 5 miles in those without a bad flare.
Anyway, I’ve now hiked twice with the Morton’s extension and I find that it actually hurts my feet more than hiking without it. Though maybe they just take some getting used to? I am now also trying taping to stabilize the joint and limit flexion. There is no real treatment for this issue. My ortho is against steroid shots because he says in the long run they do more harm than good. Surgery is the only way to fix the problem, and that involves fusing the joint so you can’t flex it at all. Oh, and I started taking turmeric supplements to help decrease inflammation.
So, that’s been my life lately. Aside from work, I go hiking as much as possible. But I’m also enjoying yoga classes at the YMCA, and I am doing weight training as well as part of my preparation for MammothMarch. I’ve lost 25 pounds since I started this journey in October and I’m feeling good overall.
Looking forward to the start of gardening season. I wanted to sow spinach and lettuce this weekend, along with my seed potatoes. But we’re getting a lot of rain right now and possible flooding. Maybe next weekend.
