My site has become heavily weighted towards photos, quotes and links lately – sorry to all of you who prefer actual words and stories. I’ve been inspired, though, by people like Charlie Parr and projects like Scintilla and Reverb, where people like Kat and Meredith (whom I’ve never met in real life) write fascinating stories that I love to read. I’m also inspired by other runner/writers like Susan, Jean and Courtenay (one of whom I have actually met), who write posts that help me set new running goals, find new places to eat and visit and provide perspective on life in general.
Words have this nasty habit of getting me in trouble, but I need to write to organize my thoughts, share with others and stay sane. While I have no trouble speaking face to face now (not always the case), writing is something that I can massage, edit and tweak until I feel it’s just right. So let’s see where this goes…
I almost feel a bit like Garrison Keillor talking about last week in Lake Wobegon – it’s been a long winter on Lake Vermilion and I get the impression that even the snowmobilers are ready for it to end. Yesterday’s low was -26F, however, and my commute today from the Twin Cities was foiled by 6-10 inches of new, (nearly) Spring snow. I would positively be insane by now if not for the business trip I have booked for next week in Phoenix (conference here, hotel here and golf here).
Work has been terribly stressful the past few weeks – lots of drama, political intrique and a big system upgrade scheduled for later this week that I’m hoping doesn’t go sideways. The trade show next week looks to have a number of good presentations scheduled and I’ll be playing in a golf tournament with our tribal chairman and CEO on Sunday at one of the best courses in Arizona. All that, plus free drinks – what could possibly go wrong?
I’ve not done a great job managing email or personal projects lately – the work inbox sits at 351 messages and my personal email is at 32. Add in the move to the new townhouse and a looming tax deadline and you have the recipe for stress overload. Unpacking, web projects for friends (TM, BSP, BK, DS – haven’t forgot about you all, promise!) and trying to keep up with a haphazard training schedule while not getting sick has been a challenge.
Speaking of training, I now have three official races lined up: Get in Gear 10K, TC 1 Mile and the Twin Cities Marathon. With New York likely out of the picture, I’d still like to add another long race, but I’ll have to see how the money goes. Deadwood and the Goofy Challenge are high on the list, but both come with large price tags.
On the advice of Jake, I registered for my first MinneBar today. It’s free and I was informed Mr. Edge will be there, so it must be good. I have an idea for a new project, so maybe if I listen to people way smarter than me, it will give me a little push in the right direction.
Until next time…
Update: looks like I will be golfing here instead of We-Ko-Pa.
