combating boredom

I've been feeling bored and stuck lately. In retaliation, I'm trying to mix up my schedule as much as I can. Today I ran with a woman who volunteered with my program last year. She invited me out on these weekly runs she's going on to train for a triathlon. She did the NY marathon last year. It was really fun to run with a new person, run on a new route, and just run without thinking of mileage or time. It was also fun because we ran into Iowa, over a really cool bridge, along a river, and we turned around at a casino. It was drizzling out, but that was alright.

I went into work early today, just for kicks, to mix up my work schedule. And also, because I knew I HAD to leave work on time to go run today, and I wanted to give myself as much time as I could to get the stuff done for the day. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a different route to work.

These days I really feel my 7 wing:
Key Motivations: Want to maintain their freedom and happiness, to avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, to keep themselves excited and occupied, to avoid and discharge pain.

quote

I came across this quote today and found it very interesting:

"As I considered the many possessions I owned and couldn’t let go of, I came to realize the inertia was all about grief. I don’t think grief has a half-life. I think it is always there, undiminished, and it merely gets covered over by other experiences."


From a NYT article by Avery Corman. 

aunt/niece

I haven't blogged since I met my niece about 2 weeks ago. She was cute, just a little alien-looking, but not too bad. I got to help my sister and brother-in-law a little bit. I loved holding my niece and probably spoiled her a little bit. My favorite moment was right before I left. She had been trying to suck on her hand, but eventually gave up, but left it halfway in her mouth. I was holding her up and rubbing the back of her neck with my finger and I thought she was asleep, but I looked and she was wide awake and still and relaxed and comforted.

At work, it's pretty much a rule that if a young adult comes and they lost their parents, or they leave their parents behind, their aunts and/or uncles will insist that their niece or nephew lives with them. I have seen aunts and uncles act like parents to them. I get that now. :0)

The whole trip was generally a lot of fun. I saw many friends and family members, some that I hadn't seen in quite some time, including my pool league team. Man, I miss Thursday nights with those guys. There were many other people I would have liked to see, but my time was limited.

Work has been busy. Sometimes I feel like my identity lies primarily in my work, and that kinda bugs me. I mean, it's fulfilling and rewarding most days, but I want to be more than just my job. I want to be able to talk about more than just my job.

I have been training pretty hard for my half-marathon in May. I joined another one of those weight loss competitions at my gym, but this time I'm doing it in conjunction with my half-marathon training, so that should be fun to see what I can do in this time. I'm having some fun fiddling around with nutrition, trying some new foods in my diet, cutting out really bad foods, seeing if I notice any difference in energy levels or how my body feels and operates. Also, I am waiting endlessly for a certain phone call...