Busy, Busy

The last month has passed in a whirlwind, one which is not to let up anytime soon. I have been a busy girl, with a lot going on in my little world. We have had a wonderful visit with my Dad spending about a week with us, a few days at home and at the bass lake cabin, and then a trip to San Diego with my dad and husband to visit my Grandma. How heavenly that time with my husband, Dad and Grandmother was! We got caught up and bonded so strongly as a family, I feel really connected to my whole family now, which is an indescribably wonderful feeling. You can see how happy both Chris and I are in the picture above, taken just after hopping off the plane back to San Francisco.

We also went up to Bass Lake again for the 4th of July weekend with a bunch of Chris's family (mom, dad, brother, girlfriend, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, cousin). With 11 of us, the Cabin was full capacity. The weekend was so great, everyone got along wonderfully, Chris and his dad & brother went on a long motorcycle ride, we ate and cooked and swam and talked and watched amazing fireworks off the dock and had a grand old time with everyone. It was glorious. Oh, and did I mention the campfire and s'mores every night? It was amazing and such an great and happy time with everyone.

Work has been a craze - half of my department is prepping for a trip out to Little Rock, AR for the international AER Orientation and Mobility Conference next week. I am presenting on a panel of my peers from work and have been frantically taking pictures and creating a powerpoint. I am a little freaked out, but am starting to feel a little better about the whole thing now that everything seems to be pulling together. I have still a couple errands to run for prep, but am finally starting to feel excited about the trip. We are leaving en-mass on Tuesday morning, returning scattered on Sunday and Monday of next week.

Also new on our table, I have decided to run a 5k and it is fast approaching Aug 22nd. As a non-runner for several years I have been yearning to get back into it - but avoiding the challenge of starting all over again to re-train myself. I ran quite a bit during graduate school and loved it, but dating long-distance my now husband put a dagger into the routine, as I wanted to spend several hours a day on the phone with him. He also is a former runner from his army years (running through the black forest in Germany on a regular basis *jealous a little here*) but had suffered knee injury. He recently finished an intensive jaunt in Physical Therapy - 17 2 hour sessions in about 6 weeks - and was discharged with much stronger pain free knees. He has been a great cheerleader for this 5K idea and has helped me complete my first 2 weeks of a 7 week training schedule - running with me pain free - and has now decided to complete the 5K with me. This is a very exciting time for us as we are now being as active a we have been dreaming about for the past few years (I guess having an event with a deadline has finally jolted both of us into action). I am feeling good and enjoying feeling stronger and am looking forward to my next run now, instead of being a little afraid of it.

It is busy but good times here with more coming up, including:

- Flying out to Little Rock for 5 days for the O&M conference, please think of me and send calming vibes my way friday morning at about 9am ET.
- Our 6 year wedding anniversary on August 14th, love you babe!
- Training for and running the 5K on August 22nd.
- Flying up to visit Seattle and Portland for a very good friend's wedding in early September.
- Attending another wedding of 2 great friends of ours in October (10 years in the making).
- Flying to Tucson to visit my mom and her hubby - to celebrate her 60th birthday.
- and much more I'm sure to be added in between.