I’m sure if anyone was watching through the window they got a good laugh. As we finished up our hour and dropped the rackets at the front desk the guy tells us he has instructions if we want them! hahahah So we reserved the court for tonight and will be making a repeat with rules this time lol.

Weight loss is still on track, i’m less than 10lbs away from my target of 175. Still gotta get rid of this damned birch belly, but I’m working on it!

Skydiving has taken center stage during my weekends (and some week days, hehe). I got cleared to coach jumps so I get to jump with Darin, can’t wait should be a blast! I hope we get to jump together before the season winds down completely I’ve made 2 jumps out of the cessna, much better exit the 2nd time! My right of passage was completely fullfilled on my first cessna exit, completely screwing up the exit putting myself into a spin that my instructor had to fix, d’oh! Much happier with my 2nd cessna exit, but I was still nervous as hell in the door as a fellow skydiver noted that was on that load with me hahaha.

We are putting together a tandem day for “Coworkers & Friends” for next season! A few people I work with are actually very interested in at least a tandem skydive! I’m shocked at who stepped up to the plate with little to no coercion. I think we’ve got 4 people lined up and possibly more on the way. It would probably be late May or early June. If you want to come share the sky with us let me know! Even if you don’t want to jump you are more than welcome to hang out on the ground and enjoy the fun!

So I’m down to 190 lbs, 53 total pounds have been shed. I am very happy with the progress. I haven’t been getting to the gym as much lately because of either skydiving or work. My goal is to get somewhere around 175, so I’m almost there.

People at work who haven’t seen me since I started loosing weight are taken by complete surprise, almost not recognizing me, hehe. Having to get all new clothes and actually dress somewhat nice probably didn’t help either.

Here’s hoping for blue skies for as long as possible this season!

So how did I get this crazy idea to jump out of airplanes? Well anybody who’s known me for a long time knows that I have always wanted to “fly like the birds”, flight has always intrigued me but since I can’t even go on roller coasters without getting motion sickness I never really pursued anything in the air except as a passenger on commercial flights.

I’ve always been the quiet person just having fun not doing anything crazy. I’ve never been an ‘out there’ type of person. Since I’ve started loosing weight and getting into shape I’ve moved myself out from behind the TV and getting more active outside. I started hiking again and that was a blast. Then I saw my Dad do his first skydiving tandem. He had a great time and it looked really fun.

After spending some time at the dropzone taking pictures and getting to know the people I started to get more and more interested. Human nature is to fear what they do not understand. And skydiving is no exception to that rule. There is a lot about the sport that the general public just doesn’t know, and neither did I at the time. All you can think of is what if the parachute doesn’t open?!?! So one night while I was drugged up on migraine pain killers and awake until 4am I started doing my research and “thinking”. I was looking for an active outdoor hobby that I could sink my teeth into that would force me to get into shape and keep me on track to stay in shape. Sure there are lots of outdoor activities that I could have chosen that are really fun. I enjoy hiking - when I want a calm peaceful getaway from society it’s perfect, nice and quite slow paced outdoor fun. But it was time to add some excitement, and skydiving looked really fun!

I have a very analytical mind, I’m sure my parents and sisters can remember from a very early age I always wanted to know how things worked. Taking apart a typewriter just to see what made it tick, then attempting to put it back together and forgetting all the springs hahahaha. Anything I could get my hands on I disassembled to learn from it.

First things first - skydiving is a dangerous extreme sport. I had to come to terms with that, I could seriously hurt myself or die, every single jump. I am the only one who can save my life every single jump. Ok let’s get grounded here (no pun intended), can I scare the shit out of myself enough to prevent me from trying it? I spent a lot of time on youtube/google searching for skydiving gone wrong, exposing myself to the bad side of the sport. There were a lot of accidents that were caused because someone did something stupid for whatever reason. Ok I can handle that reality, it is not a forgiving sport, do something stupid and I’ll pay for it with broken bones or my life. But there are also things that went wrong even if the jumper did everything right. Shit happens… Hmm I felt like Number 5 “need input, more input Stephanie!” Can I learn enough about the sport to feel reasonable comfortable that I can get my ass out of a jam when the shit hits the fan while I’m falling to earth at terminal velocity?

Even before getting into training I started reading the SIM (Skydiver’s Information Manual) and looking over the training material available online. Bit by bit I started learning about the gear and the procedures for fixing/dealing with the problems that can happen.

I had it set in my mind that I wouldn’t be at a target weight to start skydiving until next season, maybe I would be able to get into the wind tunnel during the winter. Well to my surprise the weight came off way ahead of schedule, my upper back was feeling the best it has in years, and as my sister said it “there’s nothing preventing you from going NOW”. So we scheduled my tandem a few weeks out and I was on my way!

Unless something went terribly wrong either with the jump or with my motion sickness or back I would have called it quits after the tandem. It was the test to see if I could take it. Well if you’ve seen the pictures and video you know from the thumbs up and grin from ear to ear that I was hooked!

You’re making love to your partner and they whisper “I’ve never done this before” and you yell out “THAT’S a case of beer!”.

On cloudy/windy days you go to the drop zone anyway and bitch about the weather.

On cloudy/windy days you pull out your parachute and pack it just to say that you’ve done something skydiving-related.

You “dirt-dive”, “post-dive” and critique your love-making sessions.

The smell of bug spray makes you think of skydiving.

Whenever a passenger in a fast-moving car, you stick your head out the window and yell “FIVE LEFT” to the driver.

Whenever leaving an establishment you yell “DOOR” to all the patrons before opening the door.

You don’t own any clothing that you didn’t get at a boogie.

Every single one of your whuffo friends is to the point of wanting to kill you every time you mention skydiving.

You think of Jack Jeffries, Tamara Koyn and Norm Kent as “famous”.

You analyze every flag you see in terms of it’s too windy/not too windy to jump.

You analyze every flag you see in terms of which direction you’d face to land.

It’s a dark sky with low clouds and you’re thinking “Hop -n- Pops!”.

It’s so windy that trees are bending over and you’re thinking “Cross country!”.

You allow a maximum 55 seconds of “working time” when making love.

You can’t think of a good reason to pick up your mail for three weeks after your issues of “Skydiving” and “Parachutist” arrive.

You feel naked without at least one jump ticket in your wallet.

You sign your checks with your name and USPA number.

You know to the tenth of a mile how far it is from your driveway to the drop zone’s driveway.

Every time someone’s beeper goes off you look at your watch to see if it’s break-off altitude.

You don’t remember your anniversary or your mother’s birthday, but you know down to the second how much accumulated freefall time you have.

You analyze sessions of love-making in terms of “points turned”.

You refer to your recent break-up as an “intentional cut-away”.

You can’t remember the true meanings of the words “Stilletto” “Javelin” “Talon” “Racer” …..

You walk everywhere watching the sky.

You show up at the dz even on the worst-weather days because at least you can sit around drinking beer.

You can’t mention the word “first” in casual conversation, at work, or ever in reference to yourself.

You have your paycheck direct-deposited into the dz account.

You plan your vacations around skydiving boogies.

On a full moon night, you look up and think “Night jumps!”

You know the dz phone number while you don’t even know your own.

Anytime you have sex with someone for the first time you think “Beer!”

You’ve kissed more people in freefall than you have on the ground.

Your whuffo friends just don’t understand why you would want to “do” a horny gorilla.

You drive a beaten-up car because you really need that new canopy more.

You have no idea what is happening on the weekends in your town.

You have more pairs of Tevas than you do sneakers.

You catch yourself flaking the bed instead of making it

The term “PC” makes you think of pilot chutes, not personal computers

You name your dog “Toggles”

You wonder what whuffos _DO_ with themselves on gorgeous summer weekends

You look at your VCR and think, “Hmm, that’s gotta be worth a few jumps.

You forget to lower your voice when talking to your jumper friends in a restaurant about the weekend’s lost dildos, loose legstraps and lack of penetration

You refer to Weddings, Funerals, Birthdays, etc. as ‘Relative Work’

You wish for wind, rain, snow, earthquakes, locusts, tornados, etc. on days you have to work or have other ‘Relative Work’ to do.

You can’t imagine how anyone can go on vacation without a parachute.

Your rig costs more than your trailer.

You love the smell of ‘Jet A’ in the morning!

Losing your job is a reason for celebration!

Your ‘work’ clothes have grippers.

You ware a Skydiving T-shirt and bring a six pack to a job interview.

You try to convince the State Trooper that your “D” license allows you to do ANYTHING!

Your log book is thicker than any book you’ve ever read.

You stop by the New River Bridge and take a look. All the others are saying ‘damn, look how high it is’ and you’re saying ‘damn, look how low it is’.

When you buy anything you calculate how many skydives it will cost.

When you wear your rig on commercial passenger flights, just in case.

When seeing seats in a twin otter gives you the willies.

When you go to divorce court and give your ex everything as long as you can keep all your skydiving gear.

When buying a house seems like a terrible waste of jump money.

When you own three rigs, three altimeters, three dytters….

When you log a jump on December 25 and the fact it is Christmas doesn’t enter your mind.

Your six year old son can teach the first jump course.

You put your arms down and back in a full track when running down stairs.

You estimate your chances of pulling off a hard front riser turn when looking out any window above four stories.

When you wake up with a mean hangover in a tent, the first thing you check is your rig. Then the person sleeping next to you.

You find yourself mentally telling the pilot when to flare while landing on a commercial flight.

Your christmas tree has more skydivers on it that an Otter can carry.

Your thinking about taking all the but the driver’s seats out of your car.

Everytime you get pulled over for speeding you tell the cop you just made your first skydive in the hopes that he will let you go.

Your favorite movie in the world is just over sixty seconds long.

Your whuffo friends only call if the weather man says the weekend will be shitty.

Your friends look at the sky and say, “look at all those clouds”, and you say, “look at all those holes!”.

You wake up in the morning feeling like death warmed over, after having a few too many beers the night before, and your solution to this consists of riding in an extremely loud vehicle for about twenty minutes, throwing yourself out the door and NOT! killing yourself.

You can’t think of a better way to relax other than falling 10,000 feet.

You fill out your packing data card in braille and try to convince the drop zone owner it’s legal.

You consider sleeping in a slanted plane as comfortable.

You see an incredibly beautiful woman and you think, “hmm, I wonder if I can talk her into……skydiving!”.

Your girlfriend holds out her left hand and says the word diamond.You picture a fourway formation, look at your girlfriends hand realize the diamond she’s talking about is going to cost over 200 jumps, and then, with a smile, picture your girlfriends suitcases on the porch.

Your friend says “let’s go to the beach”, and you grab your rig.

You try to convince the flight attendant on a commercial flight that you really! would be much more comfortable sitting on the floor.

Your friends think it’s funny to, when you are sleeping, blow a fan in your face and set a beeper off near your ear.

When someone asks you where you’re from, you reply with the name of your dz, not your hometown.

Just one of those days where I felt completely drained, just enough energy to still force myself to get my ass to the gym. It was also the first day since the beginning of the diet where I found myself saying “wow, Wendy’s sounds great right about now”. I guess not so much because of the actual taste of the food but the convenience. I just didn’t feel like cooking last night.

After we hit the gym I felt a little better and decided to get that top sirloin grilled up, but damn it the LP tank ran out a few seconds after turning the grill on. Son of a B!

So I decided to treat myself to tacos last night. I found an awesome low carb soft shell from Creek I think. 5 net carbs. Heated up in the microwave it tastes like a warm wheat dinner roll, will definitely buy them again! Cooked up some of our awesome cow ground beef, added a low carb taco seasoning, sprinkled some mix cheese and had a great dinner. They tasted awesome and was the most ‘back-to-normal’ food I’ve had on the diet. Hit the spot and I forgot all about Wendy’s.

So ya you could say I’ve had to deal with some cravings, like passing those fresh whoopie pies in stop ‘n shop (damn they looked f’ing delicious). But I think I’m still doing good, slowly adding carbs back into my routine is the name of the game now.

I’ve missed a day here or there at the gym, but nothing too bad. We missed a fair amount of walking days but got back on that horse. We played tennis yesterday morning. It was a blast but I don’t think going to the high school courts is a good idea in the morning. Way too much traffic and they have gym class early in the morning, what gives with that! It was ok though, we got enough time in to have fun, and besides they need the practice more than us hahaha!

I’ve been spending more time at the DZ, taking lots of pics, having a blast! It’s great spending time outside away from computers and mindless TV. Just gotta remember the sun block next time hehe

I set out to accomplish one of my goals last weekend - reclaim the summit of Mount Ascutney. Check out the previous post for details, great time.

Recovery from the hike is coming along. My calf muscles are still a little tight but I got back to the gym last night and was able to run around the basketball court a little. Got back out walking again today also, but I couldn’t do my last section speed up like I normally do. It’s going uphill and my calves were not quite ready for that yet. The sore spots on my palms from the trekking poles are still visable but don’t hurt anymore, next time gotta pick up some gloves for the descent.

Good news… my right knee is almost back to normal, very happy not to see any swelling or bruising so I don’t think I damaged anything.

Surprisingly my back doesn’t hurt at all, and my knees and thighs aren’t bad either. Trekking poles did their job!

This weekend have some activities planned including a huge party at an old co-workers house. Will be nice seeing a lot of faces I haven’t seen for some time. Just gotta watch what I eat

Also was hiking with a new backpack the Osprey Stratos 24 with a 100oz bladder insert. First time I have ever used a bladder hydration system. Works pretty darn well, the night before fill it half way and freeze it, on the way to the entry once it thaws a little fill it up the rest of the way with water. Gives you nice cold water for a long time as it melts. I think next time I need to lighten the load, without water it was a 18lb pack job. With full water it was 25lbs. My shoulders felt that a little at the end of the day. But overall a very comfy backpack with great support and a cool ‘air’ chamber to help ventilate your back. I never felt like my back was really sweaty and overheating.

Met a bunch of nice people on the trail, a few families hiking with kids, lots of dogs and owners. And a couple of very elderly couples (had to be pushing late 60’s), good for them!

There were three types of people hiking, the regulars that basically jog up and down the mountain, the amateurs well prepared but a little out of practice (me), and for lack of a better term the city-folk. What are these people thinking?! They show up to a pretty aggressive trail with absolutely no gear, a single 32 oz bottle of water for 2 to share, and sneakers. That is how NOT to hike. A little more than 1/4 the way up the mountain as I am taking a breather this couple passes me, they turn around and ask… “we’ve never hiked this before, do you know how much further to the lookout?” I had to bite my lip, I almost blurted out “It’s like shopping for a car man, if you have to ask you can’t afford it!”. I informed them they just past the 1/4 mark, they sighed and continued on a little. They talk to another hiker and get pretty much the same answer. At this point they are resting and I pass them by. I never saw them again. I hope they turned around, they were only inviting disaster by climbing so ill-equipped.

I grew up near Mt. Ascutney, and have hiked it in the past, the last time I attempted to take it on I was defeated, having to stop at the log cabin to rest before turning around. I was well beyond my limits that time and paid for it dearly the next day. This time I was determined to make the summit. I had to find a nice slow steady pace, the first part of the hike was starting to kick my ass, my heart rate was too high. I had to stop and rest plenty of times on the way up and made sure I kept drinking water often. I was also stopping to take lots of pictures so that extended my ascent time a good amount.

The view from the observation tower was awesome. All the times I have hiked Mt. Ascutney I had never been to the observation tower, I just did blood rock and brownsville rock viewings in the past. That was my treat to myself for making it, to enjoy the awesome view and snap a lot of great photos (hopefully). I was about 1/2 mile from the summit when I looked at the sun in the sky, turned around and said to myself “sun is dropping, I have to head down”. F’ THAT! .5 miles was not going to get in my way, hunker down and push to the top darn it! “I will WIN at HIKING!”

The smart thing would have been to turn around, but there was no way I was going to be defeated again. Birch stubborness showing it’s true colors hahaha

I had to sacrifice all other vista viewings and the summit plaque. I also had to skimp on my meal time. Safety has to come first, and I knew I had less than two hours of sunlight left. A mental “sh*t” went off as I was on the observation tower and turned to see how low the sun was. I knew there was no hope for making it to the exit point before sundown. Then I remembered how well I prepared and calmed my nerves down. I was plenty prepared for a dusk/night descent. By all means it isn’t a desired option, but I was prepared for it and glad I was.

By the time I made it to the exit point under tree cover the trail was very dark, well past dusk. Me being the boyscout I am I had a head lamp ready to roll, and a backup flashlight on standby to help guide me down. I made pretty good time down, but darn it a little less then 3/4 the way down a rock shifted under my right foot and it started to buckle my ankle and twist my leg. Quick catch with the trekking pole and I caught myself quickly, but not before the damage was done, I had twisted my right knee enough that it hurt, and hurt enough that if I wouldn’t have had the trekking pole to supplement my right leg for the rest of the descent I would not have made it off the mountain tonight. I would have bunkered down with the emergency supplies I had and waited it out until sunrise. I had everything I needed to make it through a cold and wet night and extra food in tow. Again not a great option, but I was prepared for it baby!

My friends may give me weird looks while I snatch up a bunch of emergency supplies for “just a day hike” but look who was prepared for what mother nature threw at them. I would rather spend the money to be prepared then skimp and be caught with my shorts down

All in all a successful journey, had a great time, made my target, and met some great folks on the way! Pics to come later, time to sleep and heal now

And no I will never push leg day so hard that I have to puke, no matter who or how many people say that is the goal. I do not subscribe to the philosophy of any action that results in that reaction, period.

We gave tennis a shot a few days ago and discovered a few things… 1) it is a great cardio workout without it feeling like a workout, 2) we both really suck at tennis, and 3) we had at blast! We’ve got to start adding that to the rotation of activities hehe

Last 2 days my back has started to act up a little, it’s the first time since I started exercising. It doesn’t ‘hurt’ it just has a slight ache to it, like it needs to be cracked and just won’t. It didn’t stop me from exercising last night, I just had to take it a little easy and make sure I didn’t push it to hard. That and being exhausted from a little sleep deprivation didn’t help the matter.

Diets still going great, having a half a cow in the freezer helps! We’ve had some of the lower quality cuts recently. These are cuts I usually wouldn’t buy from the store, but fresh from our cow they still taste fine.

Gyming continues daily, I had to skip a day this week so I could get my car serviced. I am getting better at squats lol, for some reason that was the hardest thing so far to learn for me. And my right arm/chest is much weaker than my left side. Very strange since I’m a righty, and annoying when I’m trying to keep the bar level benching.

We tried doing our walk at night yesterday, let’s just say we’ll be doing that at the track from now on.

Oh how can I forget to mention Heinz one carb ketchup!! When asked by Jay last week what I missed most I had to say ketchup because it was something I used a lot and had to cut. Low and behold we found my savior at the grocery store. I was afraid I would stop eating hamburgers because they were just too bland with no bun or sauce. I am very happy to squeeze a carb into my rations for this. And it tastes exactly like normal ketchup. No reason to be eating all that sugar in the normal stuff for anybody out there
Well off to the gym for me…