Thankful.

I’m finding myself a little out of sorts this week. I stayed up WAYYYY too late on Saturday, and ended up spending Sunday completely in bed and on the couch, sleeping through most of it.  Yesterday and today, I’ve felt very lethargic and unenthused.

I might have looked cute, but still, feeling kind of meh.

I can explain all of it away with two things: allergies are wicked bad this year (usually it doesn’t start until January but I’ve been on and off the green pills all year), and work is MEGA stressful right now.  However, it doesn’t mean that I’m not a little unsettled by how it’s 5 days until the marathon and I’d really rather just crawl into a ball and sleep for the next month.

All the reasons that I’m glad that I’m doing a training run this weekend and not a race that I’m OMG about.  Until my situation and schedule changes, racing at this time of year in Florida is never going to set me up for an easily successful day.  I’m open to the possibility and going to run smartly and with passion, but the one I really want to count is in March.  So I’m ok with however I end up getting to the finish line.

I’m sure everything will start to fall into place as I leave work for a week tomorrow afternoon and actually get out and run and see that my legs are ready even if the cedar/pollen/mold is literally trying to kill me.  But for now, I’m going to focus on the theme of the week.

While I may have “woe is me” moments when things get crazy around here, I do my best not to lose perspective that my life is pretty dang awesome.

So, here is my list of thankfulness:

Family.  I’m pretty sure I don’t sing the praises of Zliten enough but he is seriously the bestest guy in the whole world.  Sorry ladies and gents.  But it’s true.  Both sets of our parents now live within about an hour of us, and of course your parents can get on your nerves from time to time, they’re all an amazing support crew for our lives and it’s fantastic to be able to see them more often than when we lived 1000s of miles away.

Friends.  I remember feeling a wee bit isolated at some points in my life, but here in Austin, I’ve never had such a large variety of friends.  We game together, we watch movies and share meals, we throw parties and share our homes for an evening, we drink beer together, we triathlon and run together.  Even though we might see each other less than we did years ago because our lives just don’t permit us to be that social all the time, we just pick up right where we left off when we DO get together.

Sport.  There was a point about 6 years ago when I started getting bored with the gym and I realized I would need a higher goal to stick with it.  I ran a 5k, and was hooked.  Now I’m coming up on my 87-ish race since February 2009.  I may have gained a bit of weight since then, but I’m pretty sure I’m wayyyy healthier (and happier) than I was when I toed that first start line.  And, I’m pretty sure I would have gained a lot more if I wouldn’t have discovered the awesome world of racing.

My health.  This year, I’ve stayed relatively injury free and sickness free (knock on wood).  I’m working through some dietary stuff right now, but I have the knowledge and the ability and the means to eat healthy, good, homecooked food.  Or sometimes not-healthy, not-homecooked food.  And I don’t obsess over it (too much).  It’s about balance.

My job.  It’s funny to say it right now because it’s stressing me out, but when things are going well, it’s my favorite thing in the world because I love what I do, I work with amazing people, and I feel like I’m pretty good at it.

Being comfortable.  While we’re not at the “make it rain” level of financial independence (yet?), and the vacation house in Bonaire is still a dream without a date, we’ve got a lot going for us.  We own our cars.  We are still paying mortgage on a nice house in a nice neighborhood, but we’ll own it within 10 years and if we sold it, we’d make a pretty nice profit on our investment.  Someone comes to clean it twice a month.  Pest people make sure it’s bug free.  We have an alarm system to keep it safe.  We have enough savings that something REALLY catastrophic would have to happen to take us down.  I only go through the motions on agonizing about spending money.

Living in the future.  I have a pocket sized device that does just about ANYTHING I could imagine.  Oh, and it also makes phone calls.  Who does that anymore?  I have a house robot that will answer my questions, play me music, read me the news, or tell me a joke by just asking.  Hopefully, my next car will drive itself (but if not, the one after, and my next one will run on electricity).

I am also thankful for YOU!  If you’re reading this, I appreciate you taking the time to come to my corner of the internets and read my ramblings and look at my ridiculous selfies.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  Eat lots of turkey, or tofurkey, or whatever floats your boat, and enjoy the company of your family, friends, pets, or yourself (again, with the boat floating).

If you’re interested in the outcome of the marathon on Sunday, catch me on twitter or Instagram.  Or just wait and I’m sure I’ll blab about it here soon-ish.