Fiesta Parade

Last night Luke and I went to San Antonio with his parents to see the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. http://www.fiesta-sa.org/

Crazy!

New Pics

These were taken by Rebecca Sikes... Her website at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsikesphotography/

My new Truck

So, I bought a truck last weekend.... It's adorable! It's a 1971 Chevy c10 stepside, with an oak strip bed and curvy wheelwells, just like I've always wanted.


It's almost entirely stock, including the original 250 inline 6 engine. Most of the parts are new/rebuilt. There are only two spots of rust I need to worry about, and the entire panel one of them is on can be replaced for $17.99.








I replaced an exhaust flange gasket the other day. It cost $2.18 and fit all Chevy/GMC models from 1937-1987.

The only thing wrong with it that I know of is the throwout bearing in the clutch. While I'm under there with the transmission and driveshaft dropped to fix it, I'll just replace the whole clutch. (It'll need it sooner rather than later). A complete clutch kit cost $155. The shop down the road had two of them in stock.


My van was a big hit with women and small children. Now that I have this truck, I'm a huge hit with the men, especially guys who are old enough to have driven a 70's era truck back in the day.

I'm going to paint and reupholster, and redo the wood in the bed. I'm hoping for enough leftover massaranduba from the jobsite to use for the bed. Nothing like Brazilian hardwood to make it look pretty. :-)

Climbing

It's been gorgeous lately, with lots of good rock climbing opportunities! This weekend is supposed to just be totally yucky though, with highs in the 30's. What are we going to do for fun and excitement?

I only have my closet left to do, then the floor is finished! Then it's time to paint and attach baseboards.... :-)

While taking a break from the flooring, I found an interesting blog:   http://www.foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com

Climbing

We went rock climbing at a local ranch this weekend, and poked around this interesting cave. 

I managed to get up a 5.10D rated climb, my hardest yet. Woo!

This picture is from our hallway. I've been busy installing bamboo flooring throughout the entire house...

What I did on the weekend

Port Aransas

A recent still life we stumbled upon...

My job

My jobsite.

Raising the structural insulated panel (SIP) walls into place on the 2nd story.

Making adjustments to the wall before stapling it into place.

Luke and Tommy

Luke gives Tommy a little aid on a tough bouldering problem... :-)

This is the climb (Called Motorboat) that ate my ankle on Saturday. This photo was taken by Merrick Ales, website at: http://www.merrickales.com/

I took today off of work to let my foot more fully recover. It's driving me up a wall to sit at home! I've been being a good patient though, keeping my foot elevated, my ankle wrapped up, and a steady stream of ibuprofen running through me.

Today would have been sucky to work anyway - a cold front blew in last night. It's in the low 50's, raining, and the wind is gusting to 40mph.

I'm excited to work tomorrow - I'll finally be able to wear pants!

Granite Gripper

I came home from work one day to find that Luke had entered me into the Granite Gripper, a local climbing competition. The comp is at Enchanted Rock, a park about 1 1/2 hours from here.

We went out this Saturday to compete, and I had a blast! I was climbing with a 9 year old girl who had been climbing twice before. (I've only been climbing for three months, about one day a week.)

We did a few 5.9's and one 5.10, before I got my foot stuck in a crack and tweaked it a little too much. I ended hobbling out, one route shy of making the minimum number of routes required for the comp. The trip out took 1 1/2 hours, the trip in had only taken 30 minutes or so. OWIE!

The 9 year old did one more 5.9 route, and ended up with 2nd place in the women's beginner division. Yay! Though I was one route (about 10 points) shy of getting in my minimum routes required, I wsa only 2 points behind the 3rd place winner. Next year....

And so I'm spending this Sunday with my ankle wrapped up and elevated, sitting around at home. I just finished reading The Sex Lives Of Cannibals , and started reading World Without End. Hopefully my foot feels better by tomorrow, so I can go back to work.

My life this week

I have a job as a carpenter again, woohooooo!!! My last day at the bakery was on Friday, and the first day at my new job was Monday. Today marks a week at my new job. I really love it. :-)

The rest of my life is going pretty swimmingly, too. I've been rock climbing/swimming/doing housey things on the weekends. The garden I planted out back is doing really well.

Luke and I have been painting the house lately. The bedroom is a deep blue, the hallways a chocolate brown, and the living room is a sage green. We haven't figured out what color to do the bathrooms yet...

Mormons

Mormons...Exposed! In a good way, :-)

http://www.mormonsexposed.com/

What's new

So, I gave my 2 week notice at the bakery today. I don't have a job lined up yet, but something should come down the pike soon.

Every week for a long time now, I kept telling myself that I'd quit next week, when I was in a better position to do so. Being in a better position hadn't happened yet, so I decided to jump now rather than wait for the perfect time that will never come.

I want to get back into carpentry again, preferably as the apprentice to some sweet but meticulous old guy who's been a carpenter for years and wants to impart all of his knowledge on a young whippersnapper like me.

If you know of this mythical guy, or any other interesting carpentry opportunities in the Austin, TX area, drop me a line at Heather.Martin@gmail.com

Labor Day

Luke and I went to his parent's ranch for Labor day weekend. His mom took some pictures of us. Awwww, how cute!

Pics from the weekend

Luke and I at Enchanted Rock


Sketch cooling off after a hike


Luke and Suerte

Luke and Suerte again

Roger and Sketch

Alternate reality

So, I haven't been able to drive my van since 6-29, when I was run into by that idiot. I've been slowly fixing the things that need fixing as I earn the money, and wait for the police/insurance to get their act together.



Today I sawed off my exhaust system in preparation for bolting an entirely new one on. I'll get the new one in the mail later this week.



I've got the bolts soaking in PB Blaster, so hopefully I can finish taking everything off tomorrow.



I'm glad I have a surrogate mom here in Austin. It's been sad ever since my real one went off the deep end last year.

The worst part about it is that my mom experiences occasional moments of lucidity, where she tells me and other people that she realizes her behavior isn't the healthiest or smartest....and then the next phone call, she appears brainwashed again.

I actually hung up on her the other day. When I pointed out to her that she admits to herself and others that she realizes her behavior isn't the smartest or healthiest, her reponse was, "Well, I guess I shouldn't have been that honest." ...... And now she's running away from her problems, literally and figuratively, to "visit" MO.

I read her blog today, and it sounds like she's traveling with Rhett again. Rhett is the man who treats her like crap, who doesn't do anything to help himself, and offers nothing to her except a chance for her to nurture her savior/matyr complex. And this is from her own blog. (http://journals.aol.com/wsm311/WendyUsuallyWanders/entries/2007/06/05/epiphany.../3951 )
http://journals.aol.com/wsm311/WendyUsuallyWanders/entries/2007/06/03/got-a-good-talking-to...../3948

This is a man that she alternately can't stand, and then considers marrying. Her bishop called her into his office and told her he thinks they should get married. And she's considered it. She'll pretty much do anything a church official tells her.

In the past, my mom has told me she wouldn't marry him if I would just become a Mormon. Way to go with the emotional black mail, mom.

There's nothing I can do to change her behavior. It would be a lot easier to deal if she would stay brainwashed and not experience those "AHA!" moments where she switches back into the mom I grew up with, and seems perfectly sensible.

She's hiding behind Mormonism as a way to sacrifice her own health/well being/interests under the umbrella of good christian behavior. It sucks.

But it would make great book material!

Oh, and this Possum guy is a creep. He applied (seriously) on my boyfriend application a long while back. Then he met mom in person, and was hitting on her. I've never met him, but with what he says and does on the internet, he oozes creepy user vibes. And mom has seen the light before, yet keeps going back to these men who are scum. Her blog on him: http://journals.aol.com/wsm311/WendyUsuallyWanders/entries/2007/06/21/tired-depressed-hopeful-and-and-pondering.../3965


Yuck.

New Pics

We went rock climbing today. Yay! I think I'm officially addicted now. To the man and the rock...





Luke and Tommy

Fun on Saturday

So, I haven't really written anything about my personal life in a really long time....One of these days I'll get around to writing about what has happened in the past year+ in more detail. It really was a fascinating time. It was good to take a break. Now I'm ready to go at it again.

Now back to the regularly scheduled blog.

Today we went out to lake Travis to do some water bouldering and floating. "We" was me, 3 friends, and Luke, the really sweet and adorable guy in the left hand photo. Luke is the man I've been dating for awhile.

More pictures to come...