The past few weeks have been a bit blue. Just a week after my last entry, our family friend passed away. It was just a few weeks from diagnosis to death, and that’s so not okay. My father spoke at the memorial, and it was hard to watch. They were such good friends. And my mother had known him since they were children (his mother and her mother were in church daycare together as babies in the 20s!). All of our summers involved him and his families, and I know that my parents planned for the rest of their summers to involve them as well. His wife will still be a part of their lives, and hopefully she knows how much we all care for her, and their children (one of whom used to stay with me and my sister when our folks went out of town). It’s one of the hardest passings I’ve experienced. It’s weird and really sad.

The training for the half marathon is going quite well. I’ve not missed a day of training, and feel like my times are good for what I’m looking to accomplish. And I’m getting close to my fundraising goal. However, my nutrition isn’t anywhere close to where it should be. I’m just not eating as well as I should be. I’ve got two weeks to go, and am seeing a sports nutritionist on Monday. Hopefully she can help with these last two weeks, but also for the training for the marathon. A couple of us have signed up for the Philadelphia marathon in November, so training will start in July. 

I’ve been having successes at work – I’m enjoying it, but still find myself distracted. Distracted by the idea of living in the UK, or by finding work back in Seattle. I love NYC, and Seattle, and feel as though I’ll probably spend most of my life missing one place or another, which just won’t due. I think a refocus on trying harder to enjoy where I am is in order.

The best thing (as always) are my friends. Herman and Kathleen are so dear, and I see them most weekends, sometimes multiple times. We just have fun together, and I appreciate that I don’t have to worry about being a third wheel. And throughout this past month, which overall has felt more crappy than good (while acknowledging that even my ‘crappy’ is still pretty darn lucky, as I still have a home, a job, a great family and awesome friends), my friends have put up with more moping and whining than they should have to. Hopefully whether things are getting better or not will be irrelevant; it’s my attitude and perspective that needs the adjustment, and I’m working on it.

To that end, I’ve read a couple of good books on Buddhism – one by the Dali Lama. Very interesting, and a good way to look at the world, and our roles in it.

Unrelated – has anyone seen “The Tudors”? I don’t get Showtime, so I’m only about mid-way through season one (and please don’t tell me how it works out!). I love it. Luckily my understanding of English history is woefully inadequate (yay California public schools and a college major focused on the US), so much of it is new to me. I don’t even remember how the whole Katherine of Aragon thing turns out, so I am enthralled. Good diversion on a Sunday afternoon!