the show was awesome.

asheville is awesome.

i'm ready to move. :)

had a great time driving there (the colors! so gorgeous! looked like a quilt of different colors. tried to take some pictures from the car window...i know, the probably didn't turn out, but, maybe they will...) met amy (from nancies) for lunch. after getting 'lost' for 30 minutes - i was in downtown asheville, the hotel i was meeting amy at (that i was staying at) was in downtown asheville, amy was in downtown asheville. but i couldn't seem to get from wherever i was downtown to the hotel. after calling amy 3 times and making many wrong turns, i ended up on the freeway. got off the freeway. back on the freeway. and finally found the hotel (and amy!)...what is it with me and east coast roads? geez.

after lunch i bummed around town, got coffee (great coffee shop, soymilk! delicious coffee cake), tried to rest...walked to the show. it was the first time i had gone to a show 'alone' - not meeting up with anyone i knew. i had a great time - danced like crazy, talked to some cool people (one who said phish was touring the west coast in february. woo! not that he knows, but just maybe...)

i have the worst head cold. ick. ick. ick. my ears, my throat, my head, coughing, sneezing...ok, i'm done complaining. :)

oh! the story...

at the center we have an element on the ropes course called the 'zip line'. it's a cable suspended from the treetops about 30 feet off the ground, about the length of a football field. the kid, in a harness, is attached to a pulley which is attached to the cable and the kid gets to 'zip' down the line.

there is a wooden block on the cable attached to a giant bungee cord which the 'catcher' uses to stop the kid. the kid then heads back up the cable (bounces kinda), the catcher then runs to the top of a wooden platform under the cable which is about 4 feet off the ground, pulls up a 6 foot metal ladder on top of the platform, grabs a carabiner attached to a rope, stops the kid, has them sit on the top step (yes, the one that says 'DO NOT SIT OR STAND' :) ), climb the ladder, unhook the two carabiners attaching the pulley to the kid, hook the other carabiner with the 'tow' rope attached to the pulley, tell the kid to climb 'carefully' down the ladder, then down the steps that lead up to the platform, take the end of the tow rope and run it back up to the beginning of the zip line, so the process can begin all over again.

whew. and, all of this happens in about a 2 minute time frame.

every other time i've worked the zip line, it's been with 5th graders. last week i had 8th graders.

160 pound 8th grade boys move A LOT faster then 80 pound 5th graders...the kid went by. i stopped him with the bungee cord. he bounced back up the line. i ran up on the platform, glanced up the cable and saw he went WAY back up and figured i had plenty of time to get the ladder up. as i was setting up the ladder, my back to the kid, i heard him yell. turned around in time for him to kick the ladder, kick me, sending the ladder flying off the platform and me flying in the air and landing in the mud puddle that was on the top of the platform.

the ladder broke in half. i feel like i am broken in half. poor kid had to hang on the line for 20 minutes while they got a new ladder. i thought my boss was going to kill me. fortunately, he apologized because he didn't tell me that with bigger kids you have to stop them THEN get the ladder.

oh.

so, i had to catch 11 more kids in sopping wet pants in 45 degree weather. i hurt. but, i laughed. becuase in a way it WAS comical - i would love to see a video of it. and i wasn't *really* hurt...and now i have a good story to tell. :)

i think i am going to hit the dmb show in atlanta. woo! but, i need a ticket, and the best i can do on ticketmaster is section 308. ugh! anyone know of someone with an extra a *little* closer??