What I've been up to:

-Still not boxing a whole lot because of my stinkin knee. I finally saw an orthopod last week who said I need an MRI. YAY! That will get me closer to knowing what's wrong. And the closer I am to knowing what's wrong, the closer I am to being back on the REAL trails. Seriously, the drive-bys are KILLING me. Give me some vertical hills and glacial boulders and deep running streams I need to jump across. This easy boxing is for the birds.

-In spite of that I am 11 boxes away from hitting 500. 11! Such a big number yet I can remember almost every box. It's been an amazing year and a half since I started this crazy hobby. AMAZING.

-Went out with Katchick and Redbarnphotos to plant a series near Katchick's work which was fun. Today was absolutely perfect. Not too hot, not too cold, the scent of the leaves intoxicating and the company captivating. I will never forget this day as long as I live, the sights and smells and friends. Although neither one was into my one-woman dance party. I even busted out my own rendition of Jump Jump but neither of them were having it. Party poopers. I found a geocache when we were planting a box in a sweet outcropping on the side of a hill. I stole a blinky shamrock shaped Bailey's light from it as retaliation for a geocacher stealing the stamp out of the birthday box Katee planted for me. Juvenile but I don't care, it's a sweet blinky light.

-I've fallen a bit off the LTC bandwagon. They're just so much work and I've got so much going on right now. I think I'm going to finish up the swaps I'm committed to and then go on hiatus. I don't know, I say that all the time and then sign up for another swap. Guess I'll wait and see.

-Oh, did I mention that Redbarnphotos (aka Maryann) bought me the GREATEST PRESENT of all time??? It's a journal made out of a vintage Trixie Belden book. Seriously, I cried when she gave it to me. My wonderful kitty girl, Miss Trixie, was named after none other than Trixie Belden herself. She's similar to Nancy Drew but not as well known. My grandma gave me my mom's books when I was little and I fell in love with her, she was so strong and independant and solved all her own mysteries herself. I told Maryann that that's who Trix is named after and then she surprised me with that journal. I am going to make it into a Trixie themed scrapbook because it's perfect for it. To think, I never would have met such an amazing, thoughtful caring person like maryann had it not been for boxing. Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it? :P

I was just wandering through my profile when I noticed that I need 2 more exchanges to reach 100 people that's I've met through letterboxing. That's just amazing to me. A little over a year ago I attended my first gathering (WNY) and was scared to be in a group of people I only knew by a stamped image. I remember sitting in the car and telling Katchick that even though we drove 2 hours to get there, there was NO WAY I was walking into that pavilion (little known fact: I'm horribly shy. I cover it up by incessant talking :P).

So a little over a year ago I had no idea that Red Barn Photos would become such a good friend that would help me buy luggage and who my cat actually approved of. I had no idea that Craftymouse was obsessed with crafting (and Twilight!) as I am or that Dandelion was more addicted to feathers than his cat. I didn't know that Aceohearts boys would cuddle with any person around or that Fuchsia Fairydust and Camper Dude were some of the most articulate children I'd ever meet. I had no idea that Walker63 was a man you could trust to stick his hand in the grimy hidey hole as the sole hero in a group of women or that The Point was so sweet and nice.

I didn't know that JackBear could carve stamps and put them on a beer bottle (and therefore becoming Brentaroni's favorite boxer) or that Kitten without mittens could carve images so tiny that I had trouble believing they weren't magic. I didn't know that 3 Blind Mice had such beautiful little girls or that I could meet Infinity out on the trail at 8am on a Sunday morning and talk about our love of Get Fuzzy. I didn't know that Jiggs had such AWESOME and wonderful kids or that he was one of the jolliest guys I'd ever meet. I didn't know that 1/2 of The Doctors B was the only person I'd ever meet outside of college that I could talk Devonian invertebrates with or that Lock Wench was just as short as I am :P I was completely unaware that Party Pig and Wes would drive across a high school lawn to try and find a trailhead to get to a box or that I could exchange with Green Tortuga without even knowing who he was.

A year ago I had no idea that the 98 people I have met even existed and now I call some of them my good friends. Katchick is leaving me soon and I'm sad to lose my letterboxing partner but I know that finding someone to go with me is only an AQMail away. So thanks for the last year, New York. I can't wait for the next one :)

Long time....

*sigh* Long time, no boxing for me. My MRI for my knee is next Tuesday. My GP isn't sure what's going on with it so I'm going to an orthopod. I have fears that they'll find nothing. I have fears that they'll find something serious. I have fears that I'll go through this whole summer without hiking (which is probably true).

Still not boxing much because of it all, which stinks. Katee's creeping up on my F count, which is just unacceptable. I went to a great gathering yesterday here in Syracuse and then came home and cried because other than the gathering I am throwing for her as a going away party, this was probably our last one together for a long time. Katee moving to Boston is going to be hard for me, but so good for her and Eric. I'll be ok, it was just a happy and sad day.

I'm working on a box for the NYS Fair. Brent wants an F-count of 100 on it because he's freaked out his coworkers will find out I put it on the trailer. It'll be fine. Maybe I'll make it WOM so only certain people can find it, but I hate that idea. Maybe an F-count of 30 will be good. Stay tuned for clues ;)

Boo :(

I fell at work last week. It wasn't my fault, I maintain that, despite what management says. The floor crew was there and they were stripping the floor and I didn't know they had reached that part of the hospital yet. I pushed open the door and the very first step I took I was down in a painful pretzel position and covered in floor stripper.

I'll spare you the gorey details (I promise, it hasn't been pretty) but it's been a long week and a half. After 6 hours in the ER the night I did it, they said I had a sprained knee and sent me home with crutches and Vicodin. Healing wasn't progressing as well as I'd like and when my foot spent this weekend trying to swell as much as it could without exploding I scheduled an appointment with my doctor. He thinks I tore my meniscus, which just sucks out loud. My vacation starts on Saturday and with my car back in action I was looking forward to 10 glorious days of boxing. Instead I'm grounded in my apartment in an elevated position and full of 1000mg of Naproxen.

I don't know what the future of my summer holds for boxing. I don't know what I'll be capable of and we're so short staffed at work and I can't afford to be out on disability so I need to focus on resting my knee and encouraging it to get better soon. It just stinks. Like a fresh skunk spray.

It's too stinkin hot.

Yesterday Katee and I went to a gathering in Binghamton. I was excited about it all week because we haven't made it out there to get any boxes (and there are TONS) yet apprehensive because the forecast called for 95 degree temps. I don't have the best track record with hot weather and doing anything physical (in high school I had 2 particularly embarrassing episodes. One was after I sang in Disney World. I was fine for the half hour I was on stage but as soon as I got off stage and sat down, I launched into a massive asthma attack. I can tell you that their medical team is really great although there are no Mickey's on the ambulance :( I had a similar attack a year later after marching in a parade in July. I was a drum major and had to lead the whole drum and bugle corps and was again fine during the parade but had an asthma attack as soon as I sat down afterwards. The list goes on and on but those two stick in my mind). None of them have ended in anything less than a trip in an ambulance and I really wanted to avoid this at all costs.

Anyway, I was excited yet nervous and rightfully so, it seems. We got there and the people running the gathering we SO nice! Somehow they knew who I was before I even said my name! We made name tags, dropped off our massive fruit salads and then set out to find a place to hide my stamps. I took a set of Mario 3 stamps I had carved for an LTC and loved too much to let them sit in a box at home (I ended up hiding them in a fridge since I felt it was appropriate for the weather). Then I wanted to get on the trail and get some boxes. I was all ready to go and had water and even a tank top on (something I NEVER wear in public but I wanted boxes!) and we set out. I am not kidding when I say we got 2 boxes and were on our way to the third when I just knew I wasn't going to make it. I was getting dizzy and lightheaded and my breathing was really shallow and I begged Katee to turn around. I didn't want to but I knew I had to or else a whole bunch of people I barely knew were going to see me loaded into an ambulance in the middle of nowhere. On the way back to the lodge I had to stop and try to breathe. Katee was telling me a story the whole time and I'm sorry to say I have no idea what she was talking about because I couldn't focus at all. We got back to the lodge and I put cold water on my face and sat on the floor of the bathroom for a while before I was able to get it together. It also didn't help that I hadn't had any dinner the night before or breakfast that day so Katee brought me some fruit and I started to feel better. I am happy to say I avoided a scene, albeit narrowly, and sad to say I spend the entire gathering in the lodge with all those wonderful boxes outside just taunting me. Boo :(

We had fun inside, though. We got to exchange and talk with a lot of people who we hadn't previously met and because there were a lot of diehard people out on the trail, it was at a slower pace than normal. We also became babysitters of sorts when we had several children attach to us but both Katee and I love kids so it was fine. I got to talk extensively with Red Barn Photos which was great because I've only met her at one other gathering and I feel like we've been friends forever. I think that that really has become my favorite part of letterboxing, the built in friends that you never knew you had.

We were able to get a few boxes on our way out that were close but sadly we did not come home with the same impressive count as we did after the Rochester gathering. It was fine though, I honestly don't think finding boxes is more important than my health. I KNOW we'll be back out there this summer sometime so we can get more then. We thought about going to the dinner afterward that everyone was meeting at but I felt wretched and we came home instead. I know I wasn't feeling well when I slept until 11am this morning! This is absolutely unheard of from me because I am up at 6am every day whether I want to be or not.

All in all it was a fun gathering and we got to talk with lots of great people. I'm now trying to come up with the energy to leave my air conditioned bedroom and go out to the living room to work on some LTC's. I had a bit of a panic attack yesterday when I realized I have 3 cards due at the beginning of July. I honestly don't know what I was thinking signing up for them all. It takes me a while to figure out what I want to do and then implement it because I am such a perfectionist. Brent says it's like I have letterboxing homework. It's a little frustrating because there's so many stamps I want to carve to plant and I feel like I need to get my LTC's done first. This will be a lesson to me in the future though: LTC's are for fall and winter, not spring and summer.

I swear, if she wasn't so cute....

Brent has a friend who geocaches. He's relocationg to Colorado this summer and most of his caching has been done out there. He knows I letterbox, he's talked to me before about it, and mentioned to Brent that a lot of the caches he finds have people that use a signature stamp in the logbook. Brent, being Brent, told him I could carve him a stamp. Oh yay :P So I carved it yesterday over my lunch at work and it came out pretty good, I think he'll like it. So I was looking at the stamp again this morning and went to put it back on my coffee table but instead dropped it UNDER the table. I was too lazy to pick it up (my coffee table is huge and would have had to be moved to get to it) and I'm going to vacuum later anyway so I left it. A few minutes ago I was on the phone with Brent when I noticed Trixie attacking something under the table. It took a second to sink in but I realized she was chewing on the stamp! I got it away from her but there's little kitty teeth marks all over the back and a tiny piece of the front of the stamp is missing. *sigh* I swear, if she wasn't the cutest kitty ever...she'd be made into mittens. Hopefully Brent's friend won't notice.

In the good news front, I finally finished Trixie's card after re-doing the whole thing and it came out pretty good. I have some beef with Snapfish over some lost pictures that made me late in finishing the cards so I've gotta email them today. I STILL haven't gotten them and it's been over 2 weeks. I am also pleased to report that I am almost finished with my cards for the Princess bride swap which means they will be sent in way before the deadline. The stamp came out really good and I was able to carve tiiiiiny Craftymouse-like letters successfully! Yay! AND I did some paper "manipulation" to put the image on and came up with some of the best paper I've ever made. Katee says it looks very Pirates of the Carribean-like and I'm cool with that. I'm pretty happy how this card came out so trade with me! :)

Spring Training Letterbox Style: A (long) Synopsis

Saturday, Katee (katchick) and I headed to Rochester for the Spring Training gathering. I was exhausted from a really long week at work but still managed to get up at 5:30am to make cupcakes to bring (which made some young boxers VERY happy). Katee couldn't handle the smell of the cupcakes in the back seat of the car and ate a cupcake around 9:30 while on our way there. Oh, that girl, spouting about eating healthy and then eating cupcakes in the morning ;) We made it there much earlier than we had anticipated and, true to form, failed to look at WHICH pavilion we were to meet at at the park. We drove around looking for some WiFi to steal and then discovered that that exact pavilion we had stopped at to regroup before going into town was the pavilion we were supposed to meet at. Imagine that!

So we got there and normal event stamping/exchanges/greetings/meetings ensued. It was by far the smallest of the 3 gatherings we have been to and we knew a lot of the people there already which was really great. It's cool that people are starting to remember us and we're remembering other people. It's like we're finally becoming part of the LB'ing community and it's awesome. We met some really nice new people, too. Bikers and hikers were so nice and their kids were so cute. And Jigglet #2...what a fun little girl! I want to rent a kid to take to a gathering just because they're so fun to watch :) I also can't wait for the day that I can finally get Brent to a gathering. I talk about him so much when he's not there because he's always boxing with Katee and I and it seems weird to be doing it without him. I know I wouldn't be able to get him to exchange with people but I think he would still enjoy going. I'm going to my first VW show this summer so I think it's only fair he goes to a gathering!

It seemed like a lot of people broke apart early to go boxing, maybe because it was such a small gathering so they weren't tied to a table exchanging and doing event stamps. Katee and I ended up going out boxing with Craftymouse and Dandelion which was so much fun! We've never really gone boxing with someone else before and it was neat to see how other people box. When you have a normal boxing partner or group then it seems you have a rhythm and way of doing it. For instance, Katee gets us to the location and then I handle the clues and get us to the right spot. Then we both usually look for the box (but I inevitably end up finding it). Then Katee usually inks while I stamp in and write in the logbook. Brent's job is to reach into all the stuff we don't want to put our hands in and he's an awesome re-hider. I had to practice some major self restraint while out with Craftymouse and Dandelion to not grab the clues and then bound ahead to get the box but I did well :) We got several boxes but then the clouds became ominous and we headed for the pavilion. Not too soon, either because it started to downpour! And from my previous posts, you should all know how I feel about rain. BOO HISS! Oh, and I forgot to mention that they gnats were insane! We battled them the whole weekend!

A little heart on a bridge I saw while boxing with Craftymouse and Dandelion


After we left the gathering we headed to our motel. Katee chose it because it was fairly cheap but it was set up so funny! There was a little bathroom with a stand up shower and one large room with a double bed, a table, cupboards with a little sink and a microwave and mini fridge, a dresser with a little tv and...oh....a HUGE whirlpool tub with mirrors on 3 sides! Right in the middle of the room! It was so funny, Katee thought the motel seemed like something that construction workers could rent while staying for a job but what would they need with that huge tub in the middle of the room? Wait, nevermind, I prefer not to think about it...





After we checked in we drove around town a little, ate some dinner and then went to the movies. Katee can't have a trip without a movie :) We saw Baby Mama and it was hilarious! Although I think that the funniest part was when we were leaving. I reached over to get my fleece to put on and accidentally tipped my purse onto the floor. My bag is huge and Trixie likes to dig in it and play in it so about 4 or 5 bouncy balls that she put in there went rolling all over the theater! Katee and I were running around in the dark trying to catch them all. We can't even have a normal trip to the movies ;)

The next day we got up pretty early, got some breakfast and then headed back to Webster park to get the boxes the rain stopped us from getting the day before. We did a really great series by Bikers and hikers and it was a beautiful day but the mud was INSANE! Katee has some pictures of me wading through the mud up to my ankles. I had my pants rolled up to my knees and they still got muddy. What the heck. Mud is now ranked right up there with rain in "Conditions I will not Letterbox in". Yes, I whined, yes, I fought it, but I soldiered through and with a good outcome. I loved how the stamps all fit together like a puzzle and it really was a pretty trail.



The next box we got allowed me to take a picture of Katee demonstrating why I need her to box with me:


Look at that height! There's no way I could have gotten that box without her. She's the best :)

Next we got some boxes around town. One was at the shopping center that took us 15 minutes to get. There was this crazy kid jumping off the lamp post benches and we sat in the car laughing at him without him having a clue! There was also a guy in his car watching us so it took a while to get the box but it was hidden so well. Then we got another 3 box series by Bikers and Hikers that their daughter carved. They were really cute and it was a lovely park but again with the mud! And gnats! But the park was so pretty so it made up for it. It also gave me a chance to harass Katee into taking some pictures. She's been slacking! I, of course, had to take some pictures too (although they're no where near as good as hers).





This tree looked like a weary man to me...


After that we got a box that was at a pond with lots of geese and we could barely find a place to sit without poop around. Who knew they pooped so much? It was stinky too, dirty geese. Getting this box was a chance for us to practice being stealth because there were muggles everywhere. I took a lot of pictures of Katee as our "cover".

Katee doing what she does best:


Geese! Ducks! Assorted birds, oh my!


After that box is when our craziness kicked in. It was about 2:00 or 3:00 and Katee really wanted to try Crazyolis' 26 box alphabet series. I was a little skeptical that we could do it in time but we figured we'd give it a try anyway. I'm really glad that we did because they were all so cute! My favorite was Frank Flamingo, of course, given my flamingo love. We found a geocache in the same spot as the very first box and it was the cutest one we've seen yet. It was a rubber chicken with a hole cut in the bottom and stuff inside. It even had one of the geocaching coins (or whatever they're called) in it that I read about a few weeks ago. I'm not a huge fan of geocaching but the chicken was a good idea.



After that my camera ran out of room for pictures. It's a common problem for me since I feel the need to take pictures of EVERYTHING so sadly, there are no more pictues.

We continued on to the other boxes (through minimal mud and no gnats because we remembered bug spray) and the first 10 were fun and the park was great. I loved the dog park section the best and of course Katee and I had to stop for a while to watch all the happy dogs playing and running in and out of the water. They were having a blast and it was a great day for it! After the first 10 or so boxes the clues took us back to the parking lot. We stopped for some apples and water and I started to wind down a lot. I really didn't know if I would make it the rest of the way because I was so tired and being a weenie. I hadn't had a lot of sleep the previous days and almost none the night before and I had an overwhelming urge to lay down and take a nap. I didn't want to give up though because I wanted the whole set of boxes! So we continued on and we made it to a point where there were only 9 boxes left and it was 6pm. We were both worried that we wouldn't be able to find them all before the sun went down and we knew the chances of us going back to finish the series was small so we kicked into "Extreme fast boxing" mode. We dropped off our stuff and took off running in different directions, racing around this cool gully in the woods. We'd bring the boxes back to our spot, stamp in quick and then run off again to replant and find more. Our stamping quality went downhill pretty fast but it worked because we were able to get all of the boxes in time! We were so pumped when we were done that we did it and we beat our personal record for most boxes in a day! I also had my phone in my pack and it has a pedometer on it. I thought that we had hiked about 4 miles that day but we actually did almost 10! (Saturday we hiked 3.3 miles). It was a great series and a great trail and we were both so happy that we finished it. Thanks, Crazyolis!

After that we headed home and got back around 9:30pm. We were so exhausted at that point that we didn't even stop and get ice cream which is something we do on every trip. It was a great weekend though and I can't believe we were able to find all that we did. We found great boxes, met and hung out with great people, and overall just had a wonderful time--which is exactly why I love letterboxing so much :)

One last picture for you, after reading through this mega post...



How can you not love that? :P