Else what's a heaven for?

I went to the gyno on Thurs for my post-procedure follow-up. Good: She said she's pretty sure she got all the rebellious cells; I don't have to see her again until December; and she LOL'd when I said my boyfriend is very interested in the timelne. Bad: It's going to be a full 3 weeks before I can resume *ahem* as I am not actually Wolverine. Ah well.

To celebrate, Julian took me for birthday lunch at the Palm. The most exciting part of my senior prom was the table-side shelled lobster at The Water Club and the Palm does it too. Not only that, but he picked delicious accompaniments and wine. I totally need to be on his good side whenever he has a birthday.

Then I went to the gym and alternated box jumps with pushups. I've gotten much better at the former than the latter *pout* I was so cranky pants, I did the deadlift quest on Fitocracy and racked up another achievement, the 1.4x bw deadlift. w00t. While doing some of my back exercises, an old dude chatted me up argh.

Pongo was already at Marie's Crisis when I got there, but he wasn't making out with guys or ANYTHING. It was kind of a weird night: Jim, who flirted with Pongo last time we were there, was playing. He generally plays more obscure stuff. The bar was empty though and stayed fairly empty and the energy was so low, he asked Pongo and I if we were on a first date. Still, a night with show tunes is better than a quiet night so.

...well, it would also have been nice if I hadn't had to get up at 5:30. Or if there hadn't been thunder and lightning just before that. I was so sure we'd be rained out of climbing, but the cliffs were completely dry.

I've been feeling pretty "spanky" at the climbing gym lately, so I was eager for my first day of outdoor climbing since Nepal. I think Andrew (**) was a bit of bait and switch: it's a 5.4 climb, but GMac used the first half-pitch of the climb next to it, which was rated 5.7+. It threw me bc I kept wondering why I was having so much trouble on such an easy climb. The actual climb was scrambling up a gully, but still.

Next we went to climb Airy Aria (5.8), which was one of my five fave climbs at the Gunks after climbing it my first season. Silly me, thinking that I'd improved in the last 7 years. When I climbed it in 2005, it was my first 5.8 and I fell and struggled with it. This time, I weighted the rope three times; when I finally got it, it was bc there was a particular foothold I needed to reach. I once more tried Carbs & Caffeine and once more got halfway before giving up. I tried Airy Aria again -- and couldn't get up it the second time, which ISN'T THE WAY IT WORKS. I was pretty disgruntled with myself by the end.

Worse, Airy Aria was the first time I've ever climbed with GMac where he struggled with the lead, such that I tightened the belay and checked my anchor, bracing for a leader fall. In the end, he hung the rope, for the first time since I've followed him. Scary.

It was getting late and I was ready to pack it in, but he suggested we go for Casa Emilio (**). It's supposed to be THE best 5.2 at the Gunks according to the guidebook. It's also almost at the end of the cliffs, and we were pretty far out, which I suspect is why GMac wanted to climb it. I was mentally preparing for a hairy evening and tossed my super duper flashlight in my pocket before the climb. It turned out to be a really nice climb. The first belay is scary-in-the-good-way, bc you're sitting atop a detached block, looking into a 70' chasm that you have to cross for the first move. There were some interesting moves on the second pitch and overall, I'm glad we did it. We were packed and back on the carriage road before it was too dark.

When we'd been unloading the car in the morning, I made the mistake of commenting, "Wow, my bag feels empty." I'd been worrying I forgot something, but GMac decided to hand me an extra 50' static line, bringing my day pack to roughly 25lbs. As we walked down the "stair master" to the parking lot, I was telling GMac that my goal for the next 4 months is not to twist my ankle. A minute later, BAM! I fell to my knees. I bounced up, saying it was just some scrapes and bruises, but I spent the rest of the weekend babying my ankle and fretting.

I was wrecked by the time I got home at 11:30 that night and I don't think Pongo ever expected to hear me ask if we could turn up the a/c. Sat became a very restful day: Pongo made his magnificent French toast and I had an unexpected siesta after sex. Which meant the tidying I needed to do before the cleaning lady arrived got pushed into Sunday. Fortunately, Pongo has a 7yo so he knows how to cajole the unwilling into doing things, as well as knowing how to cook meals for the helpless. He also has a Sirius XM Radio subscription, so we listened to showtuns all day YAAY! After the cleaning lady arrived, we ran to Tavern on the Green and rented bikes for a loop around the Park, thereby earning Fitocracy quests. We were even almost on time for dinner with J&J at the new Ethiopian place in Pongo's old nabe. Babeland summer sex trivia turned out to be more summer than sex, alas, so my team of ringers came in "honorable mention". Worse, the whole time, I had to restrain myself from checking my iPhone every time I was stumped, bc in the years since my last trivia experience, I've learned this is the appropriate response to not knowing a fact. The four of us hung out at the bar after and then Pongo and I walked back to his place, glad to be together.