o.O

i slept in the backyard last night. in my tent. and in my 20* bag in 60* weather. it was unzipped, though. swayze slept out there with me on her little ridgerest pad. i figured out that i need a better sleeping pad. i don't have a very good one right now, anyways. the stars were awesome. i watched a lot of csi-type showed before i went outside. it was probably a mistake. i had weird dreams in the middle of the night and dreamed that i got scared enough to go inside, but i ran through a huuuuge spiderweb on my back inside to the house. it was all a dream, though. weird. the neighbor's dog kept barking last night. all in all, i slept well, i just need a better pad. i wish i were on the trail. =/ if i don't sell my truck soon, this will all have to wait until next year. i overdrew my account the other day. i have money in savings that covered the overdrafts, but now i'm eating into my AT savings. i get paid tomorrow, but i still need to sell my truck. sigh.

3 outta 3

i just ordered my sleeping bag. :) i bought the campmor +20 down bag in the long length because it was on sale for $10 cheaper than the regular length, and i read that the regular length was only good if you're 5'6" and not a centimeter taller. i figure since i'm 5'6", i'll give myself some extra room for the next day's clothes at the bottom of my bag. so now i've got my big three... my bag, my pack, and my shelter. for some reason, i guess i feel like the more i buy, the closer i'll be to leaving when i want to.

i'm still pretty apprehensive and antsy about getting on the trail, but i'm trying to look at things the way my friend jessica put them the other day. i'm trying to trust in the fact that i'll get on the trail when God wants me on the trail and that He has good things in store for me.

there's a full moon out tonight. i sure wish i was cowboy campin' underneath it somewhere in georgia. 

thus far, i've spent $72 on my pack, $225 on my tent, and now $110 on my bag. $407ish. technically, i overspent $20 on the tent because i bought the footprint separately and it came with a footprint, so when i take my stuff back to jackson, i'll stop and exchange it for $20 in some sort of gear at the rei store in atlanta.  so $387 for gear so far. not too bad, right?

my ad starts in the paper for my truck tomorrow. hopefully, this weekend will be a successful turnout for the selling of my truck. fingers crossed and praying, praying. 

to organize my mind, just a brief list of things that i'll need to take care of/get before i head out: 

build and test an alcohol coke can stove

get swayze to the vet to update her bordatella

register her microchip

buy her pack

get a set of trekking poles

get a sleeping pad

figure out her gsmnp boarding situation

figure out how much food she'll eat each day

figure out my layering situation
make an eye doctor appointment and order more contacts

call the student loan people!! tomorrow!! (i've forgotten about this one)