A non-fibery post.... sorry!

Last Thursday I started working again. This is partially the reason why I haven't blogged in awhile. Anyway, I started work and Thursday night I had to learn a new computer system an hour before I was going to be on the floor waiting on people.... That was a little scary going into it, but it turned out to be just fine. No problems, I even made a decent amount of money. However, having been out of work for about three weeks, my feet were not used to standing that long and my energy level was pretty low by the time I got home.

But I can tell you, these things pick up the energy level real quick when they're waiting for you when you walk in the door...

Gabe bought me flowers for my first day back at work. Is he not the sweetest? Slap me and tell me I'm an idiot if I ever think about letting him go! Flowers were the last things I was expecting when I got home. And not only were flowers waiting for me, but so was dinner! It wasn't a fancy dinner or anything, but the fact that I didn't have to go and make anything after working some long hours was definitely appreciated!

So I've pretty much been working this whole time since Thursday, except yesterday started my four day "weekend" (you gotta love that about being a waitress, short(ish) shifts, long weekends and plenty of money!). Gabe asked me if I wanted to go climbing again, so we went. This time was definitely interesting. Before I tell you the story, here's a picture, lest you disbelieve that I actually climbed up the side of a mountain!

We went to this one spot that had several climbs to it. The easier climbs were being used by some other people, so Gabe and his roommate, Chris, started on a harder climb. Once Gabe got the rope up to the top and came back down they had me try it. I could tell, sitting down at the bottom, that this climb was too hard for me. I've really only done a few climbs, my last one being the one where I fell, so I was a little wary of trying this one. Gabe and Chris assured me I could do it.

Their faith in my abilities was much stronger than my own. The first 7 or 8 feet I actually needed Gabe to pull me up on the rope, it was impossible for me. Then I managed to get up about 20 feet or so, with about 10 breaks so I could rest. I maybe got up a little farther before there was this slight overhang and I just knew I couldn't do it. The guys were trying to encourage me at the bottom, but I just knew and I was totally scared. I made them lower me down where I started crying. Isnt' that awful? It was such a strange mixture of emotions. I was crying because I was scared, I was crying because I felt like I couldn't do it, that I just wasn't cut out for it, I was crying because I felt like I had let Gabe down for some reason and I was probably crying because I was relieved that I wasn't up there anymore.

Gabe and I talked about it a little bit. I'm the type of person who needs to gradually ease into something like this. I really need to start on the easier climbs and not be challenged right away. Here I don't even know what my abilities are because I haven't climbed nearly enough to know and I'm being tested on climbs that are hard even for intermmediate climbers. It just wasn't really all that conducive to me liking climbing.

After I had calmed down a bit, the easier climb opened up and Gabe put the rope up at the top. He told me I could do it only if I wanted to and only as high as I wanted to go. That picture is from the easier climb and you know what? I actually had fun. The whole time I was whistling a tune in my head and it seemed like much more of a climb that I would enjoy. I need more like that before I can move on to the harder things. I just don't feel like challenging myself yet when I don't even know what I can and can't do.

Sorry there's no fibery-related subjects in this post, but there will be soon enough... and by fibery, mean cotton DMC floss and some cross stitch.... sigh... I'm a little hooked...