This weekend I was able to par take in one of our favorite races of the season. It was the 14h Annual Chemult Sled Dog Race. It’s has been a long time since I have been on a sled by myself so this was an event for me. When my parents made the offer for me to go with this year I was very excited. It was going to be my dad running in the 8 dog class, my  mom in the 4 dog, and I was going to borrow 4 dogs from a friend and run in the novice class.  Unfortunately, my mom had too much work do get done with the business and so I agreed to run her team for her since the entry fee had already been paid. Bad idea.

 Incase you’ve never heard the story, the last time I ran my mother’s 4 dog team I crashed and was drug behind the sled for about a mile. I know that these are different dogs and all but history seems to repeat itself.

The whole day was just stress for me. As every minute passed I felt the sinking feeling in my stomach get worse. About 20 minutes before my class started I was convince that I needed to go and vomit up blood. There were 12 teams total and I was going out 11th. As my dad brought me to the line the intense sick feeling became, if possible, even worse. Before I knew it I took one deep breath and it was count down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, you’re off. We flew out of the chute. As we got past the spectators and further on the trail I started to loosen up a bit. This was not as scary as I remembered ( running the sled has never really been my forte) The trail was beautiful, hard and fast. I was good until I got to the curves. This trail is probably one of the most fun trails, for someone who is a bit more confident in their skills and team, not so much for me. I was way too worried about how fast I was going. I rode the break a lot and wasn’t concentrated on my dogs or where my hands, legs, and feet were. This resulted in Jessica falling off the sled and into the snow many times. I was doing good and I even passed a team but then fell over and it was all down hill from there. Rollo(my leader) kept looking at me like I was nuts.  When I came back in, I was covered in snow and sick again because I knew I had one more team to take out.

 I ended up using the old and crusty dogs of the friend of ours. I didn’t matter to me really at all. I loved these dogs and they wanted to run, they just weren’t very fast, at all. I took them out ( it was the same course) and I did a whole lot better. I was able to figure out my sled a little more and not be suck a wussy on the corners. It was the confidence builder I needed and came in with a big grin. I had a great time running the older dogs. After I made it back to the truck, Polly ( one of the many mothers I had growing up) came up to me and said there was blood on the side of my head, but I didn’t feel anything. She looked at it for me and it turned out I split my ear open. She told me it wasn’t bad so I was mildly concerned but went about my business, taking care of my team. As I walked around people kept coming up to me and asking if I was sure I was alright but I didn’t see what the fuss was about until I looked in the mirror. Turns out I had blood down the side of my head. That’s when it started to hurt. It really wasn’t bad at all just a little shocking to see.

 The second  day was much better. It had snowed quite a bit before and during my class which made the trail a little slower and easier for me to navigate. I didn’t fall at all though which was a big relief. I finished 10th out of 12 in 4 dog which was good because I was NOT last and I finished 1st out of 2 in novice.

 All in all it was a fun weekend. I got to see people I haven’t seen in ages and got to race again.  The worst part about it is that I know when I was younger I’d fall a lot too but I don’t ever remember it hurting this bad. My muscles feel like they’ve been hit by a large truck. Anyway, here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

Mom’s 4 Dog Team 

My Novice Team 

It has been brought to my attention that my readers were growing old of my once in a while posts and need more of me. Well, who doesn’t want more of me? I’m fabulous. Anyway, the reason I have been lack on the writing is that there is not much going on in my little world.

I’ve gotten back onto the whole I’m fat so I need to diet and exercise thing. Meh, it’s doing alright. I have a hard time making myself going to the gym after driving from home to school to Weyerhaeuser and then to Lakewood (where the gym is). I am eating a whole lot better though. It not only makes me less fat but it makes my body feel better too. I am really mostly trying to go in shape for Vegas so I don’t feel like a total cow.

I’m getting things together in school. I’ve started on my Microbiology tests and am getting my media and bug bank worked on too. I’m also taking math this quarter, just pre-algebra but I’m doing real well at it ( so far). I will also be doing Tissue Culture. Ah, Cell Tissue Culture. Let me share a little more with you about this subject.

“Tissue culture is the growth of tissues and/or cells separate from the organism. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth media, such as broth or agar. Tissue culture commonly refers to the culture of animal cells and tissues, while the more specific term plant tissue culture is used for plants” — Wikipedia

Plant Tissue Culture was neat. I did all that work at Weyerhaeuser and received credit for it at school. I didn’t mind that at all. For Tissue Culture, though, we will being using fertilized and incubated chicken eggs. I get to incubate my little eggies for 10-12 days until they get to the right stage and then I get to open up the shell, pull out my little chicken that I’ve grown for 10 days, decapitate him, cut off his limbs, and rinse and mince him up into a beaker and then play with his cells. Oh yes I just can’t wait, can’t wait to vomit. Doing this will be a BIG challenge for me. 

Other than that, life is pretty simple. I am going to a race this weekend with my parents. I hope to have some pictures to show when I get back.

    Leaving him at that airport was one of the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. It’s amazing how attached you become to someone so quickly. When you spend an average of 16hrs a day with someone you seem to expect them to be around all the time. John and I have been dating for 9 months and “living” together for a while too so not having him around is the weirdest thing.

Right now he is in a hotel room in Baltimore, waiting for his plane to take him to Germany and then to Iraq. He will be there for four months. Doesn’t really seem like a lot because well, it’s not a lot in terms of deployments. 120 days he will be in Balaad, Iraq making and sending bombs that are protecting the men on the ground. He will not leave the base and it is in a safer place so I am not too worried about his safety. I am more worried that he just isn’t here. I have no one to watch Family Guy with. No one to rub my feet when they are tired, and no one to cook me weird but yummy dishes. When he gets back we will see what we can do money wise about an apartment together. It will really depend on where I am with school and if I can get a job right out of school or not. Either way, we do plan to spend more time together when he gets back.

I guess it’s just really going to suck not having me best friend around for a while. I will live through it I’m sure. I am planning on staying busy with school, work, the gym, and some extra book keeping for my mom. It’s going to be hard but, I think I can handle it.