Ouch. I hurt. I moved at a half-pace all morning at work because I’m so sore. Why? I ran twelve miles yesterday (!!!!!) Back in November, I decided to run a half marathon in May. I wanted to commit to something and follow through, wanted to feel proud of an accomplishment, just in case everything I was supposed to accomplish at work fell through. Well, I have accomplished the running bit and the work bit, and this Sunday I’ll be running through the streets of Portland (13.1 miles to be exact), cheered on by my awesome friends and maybe a few athletic hipsters (do those exist?).
I haven’t written in a very long time and I apologize. Anyone who was reading this has probably given up on me at this point, but just in case you have the random urge to check on my blog, here’s a surprise! So why haven’t I written? Well, it could be any number of things…
1. I got bored with Roseburg. I’ve given up complaining about the blind spots and accepted them (and the five lane highways all over the place) as part of life. When I run, I run the same path, more or less. I love the path along the river that I mentioned before and it never gets old. Usually I can’t run the same route more than a couple times in a row, but I run this one religiously. It reminds me that despite all of the poverty and depressing weather here, I’m living in a beautiful place.
2. I got bored with work. During the winter months, I ran out of garden food to preserve and play with, and got stuck in the doldrums of less work. I find that I’m much happier if I have too much to do than if I don’t have enough to do. My guilty conscious gets the better of me if I watch Youtube videos instead of work. But I’m working on that. No need to feel guilty for giving myself a break once in a while.
3. I got bored with my social life. I love, love my friends here. They are super supportive and fun and non-judgmental. Some of the coolest people I’ve befriended in my life. And we have a lot of fun together. We’ve gone on lots of hiking excursions to find more waterfalls, danced our feet off at the Zoo, made homemade beer, held potlucks brimming with tasty food, gone skiing, hung out, gone camping, and many other things. I should have written about these fun activities, but they seemed so normal that I didn’t have the heart to write the experiences down. And despite being surrounded by great people, I’ve felt a little lonely so far from home. I miss my family and old friends and can’t wait to see them in August.
4. I got bored with the weather. Which is not hard to do. All winter it either rained and stayed grey and depressing, or got really sunny. I kept saying, “what? There’s no rain. It’s just a mist. Where’s the thunder and lightning and downpours?” The rain only occasionally got heavy (and when it did, it flooded my running/bike path) but it wasn’t enough to make me love the sunny days. And there seemed to be a lot of sunny days despite the Roseburgers’ insistence that it is never sunny here in the winter. Now, the weather is hot and sunny and cloudless. Which is great, and I love nice weather. But I can’t remember a spring ever happening. It just got nice all of a sudden. And I love my seasons. I’ve realized that I need definite seasonal weather changes to keep myself on track. If the leaves don’t fall in October and the ground isn’t muddy in March, my body and mind don’t know what to do!
So basically, life has been good here, and I’m really glad I’m here. I love my job and I love my friends. I love the area I live in. But I haven’t written because I feel bored. And when I’m bored I don’t like to write. But the fact that I’m writing right now means that things are looking up and I’m excited about something. Maybe all the fun things I’ll get to do with elementary students this summer, or my half marathon on Sunday, or the concert in Portland I’m going to in a couple weeks, or more camping trips, or swimming in the river this summer, or going to the coast, or going home (I really like that one).
I’ll write more this summer, I promise.
Can’t wait to see you all again, whoever and wherever you are!
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