Catching Up (or hanging on by a coat tail): 2008

I have been away from home for 4 out of the past 7 weeks.
This means that I've been living out of a suitcase, re-wearing the same clothes (mostly clean, of course), and eating a compendium of foods that I would never consider from my own dining room table.
In fact, if you are what you eat, than I am currently 58% white flour, white rice, morning breakfast pastries, insipid coffee with remarkably over-flavored hazelnut and french vanilla creamer, too-ripe bananas, and frozen this 'n thats.

4 out of 7 is just too many weeks.

I certainly hope this is NOT a prelude of things to come as a mimicry of the amount of travel that T and I did last year. (Hows that for future-past?)

In 2008 I kept wondering why I wasn't getting anything done.
I had "to do" lists that grew continuously--to the point where items came off merely by receding into the distant past,
house projects that received a little brain attention, but nothing actually hands on,
social contacts, work "extras," future planning--but that was just it--it was all planning, and that was as far as it went.

Then I did my year-end year-in-review.
Well, no wonder.

I went on 13 trips last year. T did 11.
California (3 times for me, twice for T)
Alabama (T for collegiate nationals)
Idaho (Idaho 70.3)
Florida (twice for me--work and play; once for T)
Washington DC (twice for me, an entire summer for T)
Rhode Island (T for the RI 70.3)
Texas (Austin twice for me--work and play, once for T; once each for Lubbuck)
Colorado
Arizona (three times for each of us--spring training, rock climbing and the Bisbee 1000)
and, of course, our '08 opener of spending a week on a beach in Baja, Mexico.

Interspersed with flying and driving across the states, T and I spent our "down time" participating in sprint races around the state for the SW Challenge Tri and Du series, triathlon training, working full time (me), and being a full time law student (T).

Some of this we made happen by doing silly things like returning home from Boise at 6 pm one evening, only to do an immediate turn-around and take T to the airport at 5 am the next day for his summer-time move to Washington DC.
Or, going to DC twice, California, then Austin--all in the space of 6 weeks.
Whew.

We made various high points and memories:
My birthday on Catalina island in California
Catching up with Katrina and Ben in San Diego.
Bioness L300 certification.
The Marathon Movie with the Outlaws in January.
Levi on the bike path.
2nd overall female at the Stermer Du
Sick X 10 days in February.
Sitting through that darn CPR certification
Stealth Du
Spring Training in Arizona
The Banff Film Festival at the Kimo.
AC separation March 29th with a long trip to the ER
MVTC
T's April highlights: Being able to compete in the Collegiate Triathlon Nationals after separating his shoulder and 3 weeks of physical therapy
and
being offered an internship in DC on April 25th.
Run 4 the Zoo.
Buffman & Squeaky.
End of school year BBQ with T's law school peeps.
Driving through a very green Utah to Idaho for the 70.3 June 1st.
Marketing, speaking, and spasticity clinic work.
DC fireworks for 4th of July.
Sailing on San Francisco bay in August,
Socorro Sprint,
Karaoke with the work peeps.
T came home on August 11th,
and I left the next day for a movement disorder and spasticity conference in Austin.
The F1 tri,
then the Record Challenge 40k on a miserable day.
September's weekends were Yucca Tri, Patriot Tri, Cotton Country sprint, then community outreach for a balance health fair.
October brought the Longhorn 70.3
a resumption of rock climbing and Jack's desert canyon solitude,
Yoko and Lenin,
and the start of the cyclocross season.
November we did the Bisbee 1000,
started yoga,
hit the climbing gym,
went to cyclocross races around the state,
had a coastal Thanksgiving,
then drove home in a new car.
We wound up the year with the Polar Bear Tri,
I won the SW Challenge Series for my AG,
T persevered through high-stakes final exams--one test determines your entire grade,
and then packed it up for Christmas in Colorado where we ate chlebicky and lots of other good food and I followed the conversations by immersing myself in the few Czech words I already knew...Ahoj! Jak se máš? (how are you?) Dobrý den (hello or good day). Dobrě ráno (good morning). Prosím (please). Babička (nana). Děkuji (thank you)--which, BTW, looks nothing like my mnemonic of "gecko-you."
We finished 2008 in the same way we started it--by traveling--and celebrated the New Year with dinner at Roys Hawaiian Fusion cuisine in Florida--now that was good food.

Through it all, and as always, my work was by turns unpredictable, consuming, and rewarding.

So, like I said, no wonder.

I am still recovering from 2008.

And looking forward to getting back home again...