Best to be the Changing Water

And here it is again, time for me to leave for Burning Man, for my second year. It's almost hard to believe it's happening, and I'm certain I'm going to leave something important behind, but at least I know what the heck I'm doing this year. :D

It's time for all the last-minute packing, the scramble and the excitement ramping slowly up. I've been looking forward to Burning Man for months, it seems like I won't really be excited for it until I'm well on the road, well on my way there, and it kicks in: "I'm going to Burning Man! I'm going Home!" I'm looking forward to breathing, eating, drinking, and wearing the lovely dust of the playa again.

There's the excitement. Slowly building. Yessssss.

I'll be twittering my progress again this year on the drive, so everyone knows I made it safely into the dust. aWildDreamer is my Twitter username, for anyone who doesn't know; I think it should be posting to my journal regularly and I know for sure it's hooked to my facebook, but you can read the feed directly here at any time.

I'm going to Burning Man! :D

Time to go finish packing so I can leave on time. *grin*

A series of random things I wanted to say, some related to Burning Man, some not.

And some reiterating the same thing I have said on Twitter and FB already this morning, which begins with: Fucking ow, my whole body hurts. Muscles I didn't know existed hurt. When I breathed my tea this morning, coughing made me think I was gonna pull something important and then die, it hurt so bad. I love my self-defense class. And I am so fucking out of shape it isn't funny, BUT I AM GLAD THIS IS ALL AFTER MY BURNING MAN TRIP AND NOT BEFORE.

Before I left, I was coming off a year of couch-sitting. Very different from baby-sitting, as you actually do sit on the couch for it, and you definitely do not sit on the babies. Before I left, I was making faces at myself in the mirror nearly every morning, thinking "geez, this last year has been too happy. I'm getting complacent, and a little chunky in the midsection, there." Everyone else says "you look good! Stop fussing," but I don't feel comfortable in my body, and that is, of course, the most important thing. I feel heavy, I feel weighted down, I feel mildly unhappy with myself.

By the time I get back, I'm feeling amazing. Between all the walking and dancing I did and what they call the 'Desert Diet', I have probably lost most of the ten pounds I put on in the last year, and I'm feeling GREAT. Looking good, too, happy about it. Checking myself out in mirrors and saying "yeah, I'm looking amazing again. ;D" and the like.

Now, you're going to be wondering. ( What is the 'Desert Diet'? )

So with the walking across a city that was two or three miles across and ten or more miles in diameter, all of the dancing, the strange eating habits, and the returning to Colorado to a similarly active event (I didn't spend much time sitting at NDK, I never do), I was in much better shape than before I left. Not to mention that I went hiking with my friend Rudy while I was in Portland on my way home. LOTS OF EXERCISE.

I'm pretty sure this is the only reason I didn't DIE HORRIBLY during my self-defense class, and only had one moment where I had to slow myself down and remind myself to breathe slow and deep. But I made it through class, had a fabulous time, and probably didn't walk it out as much as I should have, didn't cool down well enough. Hence, being stiff and sore now.

You know what they say. The best thing for sore muscles is whatever made them sore in the first place. And a hot bath. ;)

I think that was actually it for right now. Oh, and my ceramics instructor is totally the Bob Ross of pottery. I kept expecting him to start talking about the 'happy little pottery' or something while he was showing us how to work the wheel yesterday. XD

That was all. ♥

So many things. Apparently LoudTwitter isn't updating my twitters to my journal (AGAIN) so if you want to keep up with me on this trip, you might want to actually go and check out my Twitter page: http://twitter.com/aWildDreamer

In the meanwhile, some updates!

Turns out my friend from school will not be joining me after all. She got offered a gig at Bumbershoot, which is really big and happens to be the same week as Burning Man. Oh well. She also won't be contributing the money she promised me towards gas and the hotel room for NDK, despite telling me that she'd be able to give me that money even if she wasn't going, to make it as easy as possible on me. Nice attempt at compromise, too bad she failed to follow through on it. No more serious plans with her until she does some growing up (she is young, there's a certain amount of leniency I will grant her) and proves to me that she can actually follow through on plans and her word.

Gear is packed up! Food is packed up! Clothing is.... Not packed up! Here I am, planning to leave tomorrow afternoon, and I'm going off half-cocked. WHEE.

I still have so much to do today. So many, many things to do before I can go anywhere. I registered for classes yesterday, have to run down and pay my tuition today sometime (probably when I go to pick up @Binjali from the ferry terminal). I have to finish my grey water evaporation frame and get it strapped down to my car. I have to make sure all my gear is organized and I have room for it all in my car and silly things like that. (I'll have room, just need to play Tetris to get everything comfortable.) I have to take a bunch of blankets to the laundromat, for reasons which I will get to momentarily. I have to wash out the 5-gallon water cooler from the Future In-laws, because it was moldy inside.

And on top of all this to-do? The cats have fleas. I spent all day yesterday running laundry, washing bedding, vacuuming floors, washing cats, and applying medicine. This morning? Little bastards are back, medicine or no medicine. I'm considering this holistic garlic treatment idea, if I can get the cats to eat a little bit of garlic daily. They are unimpressed with the apple cider vinegar in a dish of water. I am at my wits' end. Beloved will have to keep up on the vacuuming and keeping everything really clean while I'm gone, and hopefully by the time I'm back it'll be well under control.

Now it's time to go finish organizing my gear and putting away my clothing and figuring out what I'm going to want to wear on the trip. And then running a bajillion errands. Love and kisses!