11 May 2010
by Worth Itin Uncategorized
Last Summer, under the guise of challenging myself, I climbed Long’s Peak with my boyfriend and his friend. It was awesome, amazing and scary as HELL. The first day we went to go test our altitude tolerance and put in a good hike. We did an 8 hour hike, to the most amazing place on earth.
I would do this hike any hour of any day…it was perfect.
The next two days, we spent venturing leisurely around Estes Park.
And then came D day. Not only were we going to climb a 14,ooo ft mountain, but also my period started. God help the men that were going to force accompany me on this journey. We woke up at 1:30 in the morning to get started early. It’s important, after all, to up and back below tree line before the afternoon thunderstorms roll through. As we were pulling up to the trailhead, in the road were three huge elk. It was a beautiful start. The early part of the hike was gorgeous. The temperature was cool, the moon was full, and the view was amazing. When we turned to wrap around the back of the mountain, we were above the clouds as the sun was rising. It was a completely surreal moment.
After this, the positive surreal moments are few and far between. I should have mentioned that I have a rather severe fear of heights…the moment that we crossed over the boulder field and through the keyhole, my fun ended. We went across the ledges, through the narrows and made it to the home stretch. I cried frequently, real tears. My uterus, in it’s angry state reminded me repeatedly that I had babies at home that did not want to grow up without a mother. It was HARD. It was painful. I wanted to quit no fewer than 10 times.
I lived through this…
And this…
And this…
I don’t think I’d ever do it again…because I was truly afraid. Significantly afraid. But, my boyfriend has told me time and time again, how proud he was of my courage and my determination to follow through a 13 hour hike, better than half of which was WAY outside my comfort zone, because I wanted to push myself. Every inch of us hurt by the time we got back down that mountain, we were exhausted, and we were STARVING. It was a trek, a trial and a complete triumph. Stupidity or courage, either way, I’ll never forget.
06 May 2010
by Worth Itin Uncategorized
A four dog morning…..
I was at work about 30 minutes, in a deep conversation with a coworker, when my cell phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, so I let it go to voicemail and continued my conversation. In the next 10 minutes my phone rang two more times, one more number I didn’t recognize and then the first phone number again….something is certainly not right. So I answer the phone.
ME: “Hello?”
Her: “Hi, This is Jill*. I have your dog.”
(This is where I should pause and tell you that my house is the Brady Bunch house of dogs… I had two and Mike had two…so we have FOUR dogs, LAWD help us!)
Me:”Which one? Where are you?”
Her:”Her tag says, Sully. There were four dogs that ran past here, but this is the only one I could get. She appears to be dragging her back leg like she’s been hurt, but I don’t see any blood.”
ME: “She’s 14, and arthritic. She always drags that leg. Where are you?”
Her: “153rd and Pacific”
Me: “Oh gosh, let me get help and I’ll call you right back”
Me: *head desk*
Four dogs on the loose? CRAP! I call Mike to see if MAYBE he’s still near the house…no luck, he’s already at work downtown. So I grab my purse and my keys and I head out to my car. It’s a 20 minute drive back into the city from my office. I was wearing heels and a short skirt. I was not in proper dog chasing attire…but I was going to brave it. As I drove into the neighborhood, I looked all around hoping I’d just happen up on them on my way to get the old dog. No luck. I stop at Jill’s house to pick up my crippled old dog. She says to me that someone may have called the Humane Society as there were people walking in the park in the neighborhood. I dejectedly put Sullly in the car and took her to the house. At this point it’s 9 am and I realize that I have my very important conference call. So I put on my headset, dial into the call and put the phone on mute. Hoping the call goes quickly and I don’t have to say anything…because how will I chase dogs and conduct business???
I returned out to the neighborhood, walking through grass that was still dewey in my satin pumps. I whistled for the dogs, called their names and searched. I was constantly checking and rechecking my phone to make sure it was on mute….as I wasn’t sure how I would explain the whistling…or the loud calls of various names, “Brutus…Brody…Brianna” (I was also cursing the fact that all our dogs names were so similar, it was easy to get tongue tied and yell for Broooty, which just made me sound idiotic.) As I turned the corner, I happened upon Brutus and Brianna…they were together and they were ecstatic to see me. I was happy to have found them relatively quickly and even happier that they followed me home.
At this point, I was pretty proud of myself, I’d been away from work for 40 minutes and had 3 dogs back in the house. I closed the gate and set out to find the little dog, Brody.
Maybe I should explain the little dog. He’s half Jack Russel Terrior/ half Daschund and ALL energy. If he spots an open door, he runs. He preys on the weak and slow, frequently. We take him to the dog park to run out energy and he tires out ALL the dogs there. This running is a B-A-D thing when he gets out in the open air. (This *may* happen often)
So I was heading out prepared. I’d look for other dogs, open garages or people walking, because those are the things that Brody will go up to…and I’d stand a chance. For 30 minutes, I searched…well I mean the damn dog was in my sights the WHOLE time, but I couldn’t find any of those things that would trap him. I walked through damp yards, ruining my satin shoes. I tried to look under bushes and trees, which was not easy in my short dress. I stopped once, because the conference call was getting a little intense and my input required more than one or two words at a time. I didn’t want to have to explain, heavy breathing, whistling or any of the other strange sounds that may have been coming out of me, in my attempt to wrangle this damn little dog. In my haste to leave, I did not grab a coat and I was getting chilled. It was a nightmare. I’d lunge to grab him and pray not to fall into the wet grass or moist dirt. More importantly, when I was behind the wheel of my car and he was running along side, I tried desperately to keep from gunning it and running the little turd over. Finally, I saw that he was getting tired, so I pushed him back to the house. Then I opened the gate back up and I waited…sure enough, within 3 minutes he wandered into the backyard and lay down under the tree. I closed the gate, feeling worn out but victorious.
I returned to work, still on my conference call only one hour and 20 minutes after having left….and 40 minutes of it was drive time.
The morale of the story is to make sure the side gate is closed before opening the dog door for the day. And if you don’t, be prepared to buy your girlfriend new shoes when she runs home to save the day.
*Jill’s name has been changed because I don’t actually remember what she said.
26 Mar 2010
by Worth Itin Uncategorized Tags: Sandi
I’ve tried to write this post 100 times since January 9th of this year. One of my best friends died. She was a strong and amazing woman. She embraced life. She dominated the room, regardless of who else was there. She found a way to ALWAYS get what she wanted. She had no fear. But, she had a weakness. As strong as she was with everyone else, she was weak when it came to men. Very weak. She morphed herself into what they wanted when she found one that interested her. Unfortunately, the last one she found was a master manipulator, who changed her, forever. Some day I hope to be able to tell her story.
In the meantime, I struggle everyday with how to go do those things that were so important to us. Not only was she my best friend, she was my life line at work. Together we were going to take over the world. Together, we were going to get our division under control, operating the way WE thought it should. Together, we were going to teach our youngest kids to swim…confidently. Together, we were going to see every concert we could afford. Together, we would celebrate my engagement. Together, we would plan this wedding. Together, we laughed. Together, we cried. Together…
I just walked past her empty cube today. It still doesn’t seem possible. I have to remind myself that it’s real, far too often. It’s tough to find the way to do all of these things without her. She held the key to world domination. And yet, days like today, where I know we should be plotting away to get out of work early, head to the bar and sit outside to enjoy one of the first real days of spring, my heart is heavy. But, as I returned to my office from this lonely walk, the first thing my eye was drawn to was this…
She gave this to me a week before she died. I don’t think that either one of us could have imagined the angel by my side would be her….
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