What's New....

In June I flew to Atlanta expecting to bring home a very cute kitten, a friend took in a pregnant stray. Sadly, the Atlanta kitten didn't survive a run-in with a dog. Much sadness on my part. However, the morning I was leaving, some kittens were seen outside my apartment. Argh, between the adult feral cats I already knew about this was overwhelming. Fast forward two months and I actually managed to catch the one kitten that didn't get taken in by a shelter. What a story....

I had been feeding the kitten along with the momma and some other feral cats since June. I was also going out and trying to interact with the kitten over the last two months with no luck. Last Thursday I noticed that the kitten had kind of been shunned by the adult cats and the momma seemed to have gotten less involved as well. I spent 45 minutes or so hanging out trying to catch her while she played under my car. (and I have a good 75+ mosquito bites to prove it) No dice. So on to my next plan, I sat in the entryway with the food, since the adult cats won't really come near the food I leave for them, I was hoping the kitten would come up. Yuppers, the kitten did and I moved the food up into my entryway. The kitten was pretty much in my entryway and engrossed in the food so I slowly moved my hand over the kitten and I was able to grab it. The kitten did fight back, I got bit on my hand and my leg but nothing to major. I took the kitten into the bathroom, got the kitty litter situated, dry food, and water. Then I hopped in my car and ran to Pet Supermarket to get some other essentials and walked in one minute before they closed. They were so helpful!

Then on to Tarzhay for some neosporin and some other kitty essentials. I left some wet food out for the kitten and applied some flea treatment (fingers crossed that it works). Friday night we hung out in the bathroom for a while, I talked and let her get used to my voice. Saturday morning I spent some more time with the kitten and fed some tuna to the kitten. By the end of the morning, the kitten was letting me pet it. The kitten is very friendly and hanging out on my lap regularly. I'm not sure if it's a boy or girl kitten, I plan on heading to the vet this week. I believe the name is going to be PK (pretty kitty).

I also bought a new bike this weekend and got a couple of rides in for 16+ miles.

Personally, I also had to get a new therapist as mine has moved away. I also started some medication for anxiety, things are getting a bit better from that perspective. What's new with you?

Wondering

I had a not so pretty 4th of July. The weekends here are so depressing right now. I sure don't feel like going out and meeting people, I don't really feel likeable at the moment and as I hesitate about where I will be at the end of this year in Florida... Well, it leaves me a little lost at the moment. I am definitely thinking about where this job can take me, unfortunately it feels very finite right now. I need to really think about what I want in my career and where I want to go. Are there steps I can take to make that path easier? Is that an MBA? Classes? It's things like this that drive my anxiety through the roof and considering I haven't seen the roof below me in the last two weeks, I don't even know where to begin.

In other news, my weight is going down, I really need my appetite to get all the workouts in I need for marathon training. I pretty much bonked with the trainer tonight and skipped my planned second workout. I guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow night.

Swap Irony

So, as I mentioned previously I kind of flaked on the swap, however now that my side of the bargain has been fulfilled and the packaged received I opened my swap. I laughed out loud to see a magnet with ADK on it, because I immediately recognized the initials. I swapped with a girl in Upstate NY (the real Upstate, not that Albany crap downstaters claim is Upstate). Little did she know that I grew up on the west side of the Adirondacks. About 115 miles from where I grew up to where she lives. That made me laugh. As did the nail polish since I also sent her some polish. I love the polka dot flip flops I got. I'll try to get a picture up soon but right now I need to find me a flight home, I'm a bit homesick now.

Life Gets in the Way...

So, it's been a while. I got out of balance and am still pretty out of balance. Life threw some major curveballs at me. A last minute business trip going haywire, the kitten I was adopting was killed by a stupid dog the day I was going to pick her up, and my heart got broken. All in the space of a week. Oh yeah, and work is still very up in the air. Right now, I am just wishing I was in Georgia with my friends around. It's hard to say where I will be in a year, at the moment I am not convinced I am in the right place for me.

I kind of flaked on the swap I participated in, sending the package much later than I should have, sorry about that Amber. I hope your package came today. I have your package but I wasn't going to open it until you had yours. I'm looking forward to opening it when I get home from this business trip.

So, I am starting another 30 days of balance. More posting forthcoming hopefully although marathon training will gear up and I have lots of travel plans since I am disliking the weekends alone right now. I am also trying to convince the feral kitten living under my back stairs to live with me. Baby steps.

My friend Janna, pointed me to a swap, her friend Becca is hosting a kick butt flip flop swap...head over and join in!

The Rules:

Bloggy Flip Flop Exchange

One. If you would like to participate, send Becca an email that includes your full mailing address, blog address, and flip flop size by Sunday, June 12, 2011.

Click here to send her an email

Two. On Monday, June 14, you will receive an email with your BFFE partner's information. Please take the time to visit their blog and learn more about them.

Three. By Friday, June 17, mail your flip flops to your BFFE partner along with mementos from your home state (so they can learn more about you as well). Some ideas include a postcard, local delicacy (someone got homemade fudge sauce last year- jealous!), key chain, etc. Don't spend more than $20 total for your package.

Four. Blog about the flips you have received - show us some pictures!! Bonus points for the most creative shot of you in your flip flops!!!

So there you go...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Where Does the Time Go?

I don't know how my blog friends find time to post, some post several times a day and I can barely get one every other week. Maybe it's because I spend so much time reading other blogs that I don't have time. Regardless, those bloggers impress me regularly.

Some FB friends and I are having a bit of an exercise challenge and my competitive sprit has come out. Yesterday after finishing a 45 minute strength training session with my trainer I got home, hopped out of my car and went on a 4 mile run. Marathon training has commenced. I doubt I would have done the run if one of my friends hadn't stated she was going to get a second workout in as well. So, that was actually pretty helpful. Finding 4 days a week to have the desire to run is pretty tough lately.

Looking forward to the weekend, I'm headed to Savannah, GA to hang out with my BFF. This moving to a new state kind of sucks for hanging out with friends. I especially miss my running friends as they always motivated me to get my runs in, whereas running alone tends to high light the fact that I am alone.

Day 30 - 30 Days of Balance

30 days ago, my friend Janna posted the following note on her blog:

Dear Self,

STOP IT! STOP beating yourself up.
STOP feeling sorry for yourself.
STOP making excuses.
STOP saying you will get it together tomorrow.
STOP quitting just because you make a bad choice or SEVERAL bad choices.
STOP making bad choices.

Instead…START putting yourself first!
START by making a plan!
START taking it one bite at a time!
START by taking it ONE DAY AT A TIME!
START by doing SOMETHING.

STOP the madness.
START living the life you want.
START BY LOVING YOURSELF.

Love,Me

Therapy is going well and helping me find more balance in my life. I am really enjoying the personal training, while expensive I think it will be a good thing overall. I don't think it will go beyond the three months I signed up for. Work is coming along.

On a scary note, I realized that training for the Marine Corps Marathon starts next Monday. Uh oh, it looks like I might have to run in the morning.

Day 23 - where does the time go?

I managed 2 more training sessions last week, therapy, laundry, packing for a weekend in Atlanta, and a night at trivia. Pretty impressive even if I am saying so myself. I've laid off the running which I miss but I miss my running friends more. I came to the conclusion today in therapy that part of the reason I am not running is because I am running by myself and I got into running because I joined a fantastic running group back in Atlanta. Running by myself is the epitome of what I dislike about living in a new state, I am not good at it and it makes me sad and lonely. I need to work on that or the marathon in October isn't going to happen. Two days of training down for this week, 1 to go. Hopefully, I can manage a run in there somewhere, the weather's perfect right now, if only the attitude was.