in between laundry

Ahh Saturdays. Although I got back from Tumbler Ridge on Tuesday, I just didn't have the heart to tackle the laundry pile the next day. (No matter what, we have to take the day after we get back off, or sometimes two in a row - pretty nice eh? definietly a policy I support) So, today Jeff is off for a 4 or 5 hour ride around some mountains leaving me to the adult responsibility of cleaning up after myself.

To distract myself in the 45 minute increments between loads, I've been researching a new climbing harness. Am I really so addicted to gear?!? You see, I have found that in Calgary the ladies who use their legs all summer, use their arms all winter. More specifically, when I'm in town I've started climbing on Wednesdays with some friends from the SpinSisters mountain bike club. It's awsome. I think I went climbing 3 times in 2004, maybe twice in 2003. I used to go more often but it just seemed to slip away from me. Having a group to go with certainly helps the motivation. Last week I was working on clearing shallow overhangs. I'm no pro, but getting back into something that I know deep down my body remembers how to do, has a very steep and satisfying learning curve. I realise I should keep my field bonus for unexpected expenses associated with the house, but keeping with my long tradition of fiscal irresponsibility, I'm going to spend it on toys! Thank god climbing is cheaper than biking..... :)

This last time in the field I was training my new co-worker Niels, so I didn't get as much reading done. However, I did get to a Soho Press murder mystery, Thirty Three Teeth written by Colin Cotterill, a british author based in Laos. I really like the fiction coming out of Soho Press, as it's mostly international authors writing mystery novels - now that's a good combination! I'm now just finishing Empires of the Plain, by Lesley Adkins, about the life of Henry Rawlinson, the interpretation of cuniform writting and the discovery of the early history of Babylon and Persia. Gripping stuff! The Greeks had nothing on these civilizations. Although they are both very different, I recommend them both.

Well, I'm off to switch the loads!