Where I return with stories of changes, running, and of course, random

It hasn’t been my choice to disappear . . . I’ve written before, about “not making a priority” for key things in my life. And, as loathe as I am to say it, blogging has not been a priority as of late. Part of the story of why I haven’t been around here is quite good. And, of course, part of it isn’t. But, as is my fashion, here are all the deets¹ in the laziest possible fashion my favorite conveyance, bullet points.

• I recently switched jobs. A few months ago, I got a message, out of the blue, from an old boss, about my possible interest. I was quite interested . . . time passed the position changed even more to my liking, I interviewed, and *poof*, now I have a new job. Mostly, I’m doing the same stuff – syntax is a bit different (technically, I’ve gone from an environment which was primarily J2EE with an Oracle backend to one that’s primarily .Net oriented with a SQL Server backend), but the crux of the job is the same. And maybe it’s just a good honeymoon, but while the job isn’t exactly stressless, the major gripes I had from my last position are an item of the past. Professionally, I’m a good bit happier.
• My son celebrated his 100 day celebration of kindergarten. This whole idea is something I did not have in school in the days where we walked uphill both ways as I went through — and from the sounds of it, the “100 days smarter” is a relatively new thing. But I loved it. It happens just as the kids are in the rut of the “post-Christmas” pit, the weather is crappy . . . and they get to have a great bit celebration. About learning. It’s just about perfect.
• One of the perks of the new job is a fitness center on premises. Which means I have a shower available to me. Which means that heading out for a run over lunch is a very real possibility. So I’ve been running a bit more.
• A few weeks ago, I ran the Garden Spot Village Half Marathon. I have a bit of a history with this course . . . over the last two years, I’ve run the full marathon. Two years ago, I was doing great, then my hamstring started spasming and I ended up limping for a bit before it calmed down right around mile marker 25 and I ended up running to the finish. Last year, the race just about ruined running for me. So, I decided, this year, to “just” run the half marathon² . . . so I should have been prepared for a curveball. I’m someone who will skip a training run because it’s “too cold” or “it might rain.” I ran this half marathon in freezing temperatures and what I can only call a white-out (though, thankfully, the snow wasn’t accumulating on the road). These were, honestly, the most miserable conditions I’ve ever run through . . . and because you know me, yeah, I’m kind of disappointed at myself for not running the full (though I was downright giddy at the half-marathon turnround, knowing that I “only” had to run another 6 miles, and not another 18).
• For the most part, the lack of writing has actually been good for me — see, there are three things that I do to “keep the crazy at bay:” run, play music, and write. In each of them, there are moments where I will, simply get lost. When running, I’ll commonly look at my distance flabbergasted because I figured I had gone a mile or two . . . and the reality was closer to 10. When writing, hundreds of words turn into thousands, magically. When playing music . . . well, the moments that I’ve actually lost myself are few & far between . . . but when they happen, when playing becomes entirely reactive and there is nothing between my thoughts & the music that I’m making . . . well, that’s magical. Fortunately, the need to simply lose myself has diminished in my life as of late. But, on that topic, I was chatting with a priest at my church (a man who has recently taken up running, himself) and we talked about getting into that “lost time” feeling in regards to prayer – how it should be the aim of any person’s prayers. Well, I’m not so sure prayer is for me (I’m truly dubious as to whether anyone is listening) but if I could turn this “losing myself” feeling toward something truly good — lose myself in playing with my kids, in reading books to my kids, in volunteering in the community . . . well, I’d be a better person.
• As the weather turns nicer, I’m getting more & more excited about this year’s version of my garden: cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapenos, squash, and green beans.
• Between my last day at my previous job & my first day at my new job, I had a daddy/daughter day . . . we went out to breakfast, she got a manicure . . . it was truly a wonderful morning. And made me wish I had the ability to do more stuff with either child, individually.
• Every few years, I re-listen to some of my favorite audiobooks. So I just started Stephen King’s The Stand. And then Prince died with seemingly the only thing wrong being that he had the flu. I feel like I brought this on.
• I keep telling myself “once I get through this” or “once that is over,” my life will be far less overly-scheduled. But shit always seems to come in & pile up, and what I once through would be a “relaxed weekend” has me running from place to place on end. But with that said, I’ve actually said “no” to several community theatre productions³ lately because I’m far more interested in riding this “not as stressed” wave as long as I can.