Sam - The Dog that Broke the Mold, Ate It, Barfed It Up, and Ate It Again

The blog I never wanted to write. Though, I knew it was coming. I am home alone right now and feeling sad, maybe writing this will help.

We put Sammy down two days ago at the old age of 14. 

His arthritis got the best of him. Sometimes he'd eat, sometimes not - which isn't typical of Sam. That dog lived to eat. Then he fell down the stairs last week. I am not one to watch anyone or anything suffer, so we made the tough decision to put him down. 

If you have never had to euthanize a pet, let me tell you it REALLY sucks. I am still traumatized. Dave came with me to the vet (thank god) and was a mess too. 

We were hoping he'd just die in his sleep the night before so we wouldn't have to go through with it. Instead, he barfed on the couch and wouldn't eat breakfast (perhaps that was a sign).

He hated shows of affection.

Anyway, there isn't much more to say here. The house is a bit lonelier without his clacking down the stairs when I make coffee in the morning. I have to pick up food off the floor when I drop it. The cadence of the day is slightly off without his notifying me when it is time for a meal (that dog knew when it was 5:30 p.m., you could set your watch to his begging for dinner).

Favorite spot - under the dining room table

Our brave travel companion!

Ears flapping in the wind

Patiently waiting for a treat at the office

Guess who isn't allowed on the couch........

He did nothing but love us and clean up the kitchen floor. His enthusiasm for a walk, soft velvety ears, and Beagle-howl will be missed.

Career Break/Sabbatical - So What's it REALLY Like?

It has been just over 4 months since we quit our jobs, rented the house, packed our essentials into the Subaru, and took off for the Radical Sabbatical. So far it has been pretty amazing. Ten states and 10,000 miles later, there are no regrets - only great memories. 

We are relaxing here in South Lake Tahoe for about a month before taking off for summer adventures in our gorgeous national parks, including Bryce, Zion, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, as well as several other state and regional parks.

So what's it like to take a sabbatical? As is the case with everything in life - there are cool things and not so cool things.

Time - Just Time
There is nothing better than a morning spent drinking coffee while listening to NPR and knowing that you have nowhere to rush off to, nowhere to be, and no one waiting for some meaningless PowerPoint presentation that you just spent three days of your very short life working on. It is good for the soul to just hang like this. Americans are particularly bad relaxers, after all. We could all benefit from a daily siesta, a la Italy and Spain.

Also, this happens a lot: hey, it's Tuesday - wanna go to Napa/Mono Lake/Bodie (amazing ghost-town by the way)/Truckee/Yosemite/see friends or family/whatever. And guess what, we go and there are no crowds on a Tuesday anywhere - I really hate crowds.

Bodie, California - Dave really likes ghost towns and mines, he was giddy.

Lots of Learning
In addition to learning to ski pretty much anything put in front of me this winter, I have also learned to rock climb; golf like I am not a complete hack; backcountry ski whilst avoiding avalanches; make a perfectly thin Neapolitan pizza crust; milk goats; and make homemade yogurt and cheese. I am also brushing up on my German, Italian, and Spanish in anticipation of the 6 weeks we will be spending in Europe this fall. While not quite as productive as work, it is one hell of a lot more fun.

Feeling Good
So we skied all winter. Now we are mountain biking and hiking every day.....for hours.....it is awesome. We are also eating well because we have plenty of time to cook all those recipes I have been bookmarking for the last 5 years but never got around to trying. I feel so relaxed and healthy. For those that didn't know, Dave started going blind a few years ago because of work STRESS. Seriously, it was scary making plans for my husband to be blind in a few years. This break has definitely opened my eyes to how unnecessary and unhealthy all that is.

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Please note that it isn't all complete rosy happiness and bliss. I am still the same Nervous-Nellie I always was. I can FIND something to worry about even during the most perfect blissful moments. That is just how I roll. So for your information, here are a few things to think about for your own Radial Sabbatical.

You Had Better Like Your Partner

I may look cute but I am a real pain in the arse.

Oh man there is a good bit of Amie+Dave time, which isn't always great. Spending the day apart  at our separate offices and hanging out after work (as is was for us before the Radical Sabbatical) makes for probably the right amount of time to spend with a spouse. Given that the rest of the world is working during the day, we are each other's besties right now - let's hope we don't kill each other.

I believe we got into a fight at the grocery store the other day because Dave wanted to buy packaged shredded breakfast potatoes (disgustingly processed) and I thought is was a bad idea because he'd never actually eat them. I was called a shopping-cart Nazi then I told Dave to just finish GD shopping by himself then......you can imagine what this looked like in the middle of Ralph's Supermarket at 10:00 a.m. on a Thursday. Jeez.

But otherwise, the lesson here is to keep your mouth shut on occasion and don't freak out about the lame stuff like preservative-filled refrigerated shredded potatoes. Also, take time to do things on your own and don't spend all your time doing activities with your partner because you will kill each other.

Schedule Your Time Off
It has really helped that we have three phases for our time off: skiing, then camping, then Europe. When not actually skiing/hiking/biking/traveling, a good chunk of our time has been spent preparing for and planning these phases, which I love. It keeps us (me) busy researching and learning about all the places we want to go. Not to mention, it is SO HARD to get camping permits at a few of the national parks we are planning to go to. You have to be online the second the permits become available, or you are screwed. You would not believe my Google Calendar right now.

Don't Get Wrapped Up in Your Head
Like I said, I am a worrier. I have recently found that the 80% of my worry capacity that I used to dedicate to work, has been dedicated to worrying about global warming, trash in the oceans, trash at Mount Everest,  air pollution, overfishing, etc. It is not healthy and it takes serious mental effort (and a fair amount of drinking) to not worry about that stuff. I have to work on that.

Approximately 10% of my worry budget is spent on friends and family. Then 10% is dedicated to worrying about all the certifications and professional development I am not completing and how that will impact my finding gainful employment post-sabbatical.

Aggghhhhhh - stop. It is a few months off. I have the next 40 years of my life for work. For now, I am going to (try to) relax and enjoy as best I can, like that mellow guy there on the right.

It's All About the Goats!

That's right people. We are farm-sitting in Valley Center, California. It is an absolute blast. This is exactly the type of thing I wanted to do while on sabbatical. We are giving a friend a vacation from her farm chores, learning new skills, and generally chilling the eff out - something we haven't been very good at for the last few months (must ski ALL day). 

Here is a typical day at the Z Farm (how far we have come from staring at a computer screen for 10 plus hours each day):

• Feed goats (3 adults and 2 babies)
• Milk goat
• Filter and prep milk for use
• Check for eggs
• Pick veggies from garden for eating that day
• Enjoy the day at the beach, hiking, seeing friends, etc.
• Feed dog, cats, chickens, and goats
• Milk again
• Sleep

Though we had a bit of trouble our first day of milking (involving yelling, panic, goats kicking, and the milk being ruined by a hoof in the bucket), it is pretty awesome now that we have the hang of it. And the goats don't seem to hate us anymore, which is nice.

Gratuitous goat udders

I had never milked an animal until last week, ever. It is definitely a two-person job (for us). We try our best to keep the goat (Shyly) happy while milking. We also have to ensure that we complete all the sterilization steps so that our raw goat milk is tasty and the goat stays healthy. 

So let me tell you that your arms get TIRED. Our division of labor is such that Dave feeds the goat while talking romantically her. I milk as quickly as possible while listening to Dave tell the goat how beautiful she is.......I am serious here. Sort of weird, but whatever - it works and everyone is happy!

Dave - king of all goats

There are also six hens. We feed these animals ALL our leftover food and they inhale it and make tasty eggs. It is really amazing how little waste there is on this farm. Any scraps or peels we don't eat are fed to the animals who in turn make us eggs and milk. Very circle of life-ish.

That is the chicken coop back there.

My friend has a gorgeous garden too. We are sort of at the end of the winter season and the beginning of the summer season. Thus, we are eating loads of lettuce, rocket, chard (my fav), carrots, and cabbage. Can you say glorious salads, Dave has never been so regular.

Sammy watching over the garden

Dave has garden envy.

We made today Farm Day. Instead of driving somewhere and doing an "activity", we just enjoyed the day at the farm doing our little chores, talking to the goats (Dave), and relaxing (me). Oh and there was lunch.......heavenly with a salad, two kinds of homemade goat cheese, and a bottle of Sancerre - because why not.

Sam is especially good at chilling.

Well the goats are calling us. Time for the p.m. milking. I will leave you with some more food porn (sorry, we've not been doing much here) from our pizza dinner last night. Tonight we are making osso buco with some of my friend's beef shanks from her beef share. This is redic. I am pretty sure the secret to happiness can be found in a garden/farm/kitchen like this.

Chevre and chard pizza - yes, please

Coachella - Fringe, Flowers, and Fannies

Music

So we went to the Coachella Music Festival last week. It was warm and beautiful, a far cry from this, our last serious music festival. 

I freaking hate crowds. Why then would you go to a music festival with 85,000 other people, you ask? Well, the line up was rather compelling. You get a lot of British acts there because festival season doesn't start until summer in the UK and Europe, and I am still addicted to listening to BBC 1 after my time in London. Also, what the hell else do we have to do while on sabbatical? 

You can Google the bands that were there so I won't belabor that. Everyone we saw kicked ass, and we were especially (happily) surprised by the performances we accidentally caught or didn't expect much of, such as Bad Religion, Clean Bandit, Royal Blood, Gorgon City with Jess Glynne, Fitz and the Tantrums, and Marina and the Diamonds. 

Then we were audially flogged by Flosstradamus, it was uhm - interesting.

Oh man was there ever some bad fashion. While entertaining, it was a tasteless mismash of Glastonbury from 5 years ago (the one year it was actually sunny), some weird hippie event, and an exhibitionist convention. Here are some of the worst of the worst trends we saw.

Fringe
Even the fringe was fringed. If you are worried about getting tangled up while dancing, you are over-fringed. 

Macrame everywhere, make it stop

People were calling themselves gypsters, which was just annoying. No really, folks had t-shirts that said "Gypster". I call that an insult to hipsters and Gypsies. Urban Dictionary defines a gypster as: 

"A hybrid of hipster and gypsy. The gypster dresses like a gypsy and is nomadic, frequently unemployed, may use drugs, but in reality probably has wealthy parents, owns a car, and has everything handed to them in life. This person is a hipster in most senses (crappy music taste, elitism, likes things that are obscure just because they are obscure) but dresses in gypsy fashion. The gypster's gross appearance and nature makes them appear impoverished but they likely visit their loving home and are more than willing to spend their inheritance on the latest Tegan and Sara EP.

Weird Fake Flowered Headbands
I am not sure what it is all about, but it looks weird and you are not unique when everyone else has one. Perhaps I am being too harsh but seriously 80 percent of the women had these.

Reminds me of those giant baby headbands

Butt Cheeks
I am sure I was likely guilty of this sin in high school, oh man - a little underbutt. But now that I am 40, I can judge. I don't care how rocking your bod is, I don't want to see your butt cheeks. And I really don't want to see the awful camel toe you also get from jacking your shorts way up in there so your butt hangs out.

I am in physical pain looking at this.

Is anyone else worried about a possible yeast infection?

Wow, I can't un-see that - guys are guilty too.

Bandanas
This look was big: bandanas and sunglasses - even at night. Maybe it was really dusty last year or something, or people are really high and think they are at Burninng Man. I would say they were being gangsta, but Coachella is an expensive hipster festival. Maybe they are just being sun-savvy (no one wants skin cancer), but then their butt cheeks are hanging out in the back of this picture. No idea.

Wha?

Hey you sexist a-hole (internal voice) why aren't you commenting on the dudes? Well, because 80 percent of guys were shirts and shorts and weren't being douchebags. OK there were a few bad ones.

In short, I am going back next year:).

Coming Soon
In case you are wondering what is next for the Flying Monkeys......

This would make an interesting caption contest.

The End of a Ski Era - Almost

In the past three weeks we have traveled from Colorado to North Carolina, then back to Colorado, then to Utah, and then to British Columbia (not kidding, 16 hours in the car to ski a few inches at Whistler). Now we are back in Tahoe. Woosh!

Our 2008 Subaru Outback has been a trooper, so has the dog - and man that dog hates the car.

Our ski odyssey is almost over for the winter  and I am feeling melancholy about the whole thing - everyone cry me a river. Despite the relatively dry winter throughout the entire western United States, it was a blast!

So what to write about?

I am at a bit of a loss. In this case, I will follow our brilliant friend S.J.'s example and keep it simple with a report card summary of the last few weeks.

• Surprising the J.M. family in Charlotte, North Carolina with a St. Patrick's Day visit. A+

• Our trip to the local Charlotte Walmart for a green shirt for Dave for the J.M. and K.M. St. Patrick's Day party spectacular. He ended up with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle t-shirt with a cape (for $7.95). C
• Dave's weird green-colored party beard, just not OK. D
• Amie drinking Irish whiskey all night at the St. Patrick's Day party. D-
• Amie taking a 10:00 p.m. nap and rallying the rest of the night. A

• The beard, fear the beard. B-

• Having to leave Utah early because there was NO SNOW. C-

• Hiking with Dave's dad instead of skiing. B+

• Uncle S.M. giving us his old ski, which we fashioned into the official house shot-ski. A

• Eat, drink, sleep, ski, repeat......for days. A+++++

• Arriving after a 16 hour drive in Whistler and seeing almost no snow at the base, I almost cried. D-
• Making the best of it with a local Okanagan Valley Gamay (good) and Pinot Gris (a bit sweet for me). B

•  Mountain biking around Lost Lake on the days we didn't ski in Whistler. C+

•  Being back in Tahoe and getting warmly welcomed by 4 new inches of snow at Heavenly - YAY. B+

•  The beard. B-
• The ceremonial shaving of the beard this afternoon. I sort of miss it. B

Next up is Coachella (I have NOTHING cool to wear) then a week in San Diego goat-sitting at J.Z.'s house in Valley Center, California.

I posted our future plans at this site on the right-hand side. Email me if you want to join us anywhere along the way or will be in the area at the same time. We have extra reservations at most of our campsites along the way. Miss you all!

Crested Butte - I Hardly Knew You

We have been meeting the dual Radical Sabbatical goals of skiing a lot and not becoming alcoholics. That second one is a toughie.

Our most recent ski escapade involved a trip to Crested Butte in central Colorado. Why Crested Butte, well - everywhere we went people told us we HAD to go there. OK, why not. 

Despite the fact that 2014/2015 has been one of the driest years in history in many states throughout the west, we got lucky......really lucky. It snowed about 3 feet just before and during the days we skied. We rented the most adorable place in downtown Crested Butte, the tiny Love Shack. It had everything you need and nothing you don't. I especially loved the 2-foot-tall sleeping loft. 

Our faithful travel companion!

Did I mention it snowed?

Downtown Crested Butte is freakin adorable with an assortment of bars and restaurants in old-timey, gold-mining era buildings, which I love. I could almost live there if it weren't so damn far from a major airport or another town...... The place needs a decent brewery though. Hmmmmm, business idea?

I mentioned the snow, right?

After Crested Butte, we took a short (mother effing 13-hour) drive to Scottsdale, Arizona for Giants spring training. Because again - why not, what the heck else do we have to do? So we drove through the San Juan Mountains, past Telluride (it was so hard not to stop there to ski but we had no time), and met JP, JS, and AC in Arizona. The San Juans are insanely beautiful, photos cannot capture it. We will be back!

It was good to see friends and check out the Giant's games, but AZ is a weird place - I can't quite put my finger on it. We had perfect weather, it isn't too expensive there, we fit in with all the older retired folks doing their morning power-walks; but still it is an odd place. It reminds me of Vegas. The town feels fake and fragile, especially with all the irrigated grass everywhere. Seriously folks, aren't we in a drought?

Beers and peeps

Gorgeous day, baseball is meant to be watched while sitting in the grass

We are in Pagosa Springs, Colorado today. Next week we are going back to Vail. I am not sure if you all are paying attention to the weather, but it sadly appears that winter wants to be over. Our upcoming week in Vail will likely be spent on the groomers in spring-like conditions. We'll make the best of to and look forward to Part II of Radical Sabbatical, which will include loads of camping!