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.

1 Apparently, the lingo all the cool kids are using for “details”.
2 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know saying “just a half-marathon” is the mark of an asshole but I keep myself in *just* enough running shape that I’m able to run 13.1 miles without training.
3 I know! I’m as surprised as you are!

3 comments

  1. I always love your bullet points. However, the for the first one all I read was “I have a new job. Something about dots and yadda yadda technical stuff.” I am so not computer savvy. BUT you have a new job, ran in a snow storm, AND took your daughter for a mani. Best. Dad. Ever.

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