Where Have You Been

When I return to blog after being MIA (again) I'm always reminded of my grandmother mother, hands on her hips, demanding to know "Where in the world have you been?!" back in the days of my youth.  Sometimes the explanations ran to the creative side.  This time I have the photo to prove I was actually stranded on an island of dinosaurs after a hurricane destroyed power on the island and I missed the last boat to the mainland. 
So really, I was on vacation (the photo is from the Virginia Living Museum, who knew Velociraptors were indigenous to Virginia).  So far I haven't been able to do much of anything that has any thing to do with hiking or backpacking.  There was a scout camping trip to Luray Caverns, but that's as close as I've come in some time.  Between weekend trips to the beach, scouting events, work and stresses of life, I haven't had time for much of anything, including working on that ghost book.  There was a weekend trip to REI in the works, but that had to be canceled because of a funeral.  I know I should get out there and start hiking and go be in nature where the stress is usually a little less, but the stress is so great it's actually keeping me from being able to motivate myself to get out there.  I'm going on my first backpacking trip in a little over 2 months and so far I have a pack, a pair of boots I'm still not 100% convinced fit me right, hiking poles, a map, a data book and a headband.  Oh, and a pocket knife. I'm not in shape and not very confident that my back will be strong enough for 30 pounds and my biggest worry: I'm not confident that I'm going to manage to make it 40 miles on a bum butt.
So, I guess it's time for some stress management, time management and preparation.  I'm a procrastinator and I seem to do my best work under pressure.  Here's hoping that applies to the AT.