End of February Update

February has been a difficult month for me with the passing of my mother. Though I know that this feeling of emptiness won’t be going away for a  long time, I am slowly finding my equilibrium.

First and foremost, I have started my “official” training for the Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon with the Saturday ladies and Coach Beth, Running Evolution. Our training started earlier than in the past years which has resulted with shorter runs to start with. My runs have been averaging between 12 minute miles and 13 minute miles. My best runs happen when I ran with the “fast” ladies. Unfortunately after two miles, they leave me in their dust.

My IT Band is still bothering me. My doctor calls it chronic IT Band. I can ease it by doing strength exercises twice a day and stretching before and after every run. Unfortunately, this past month hasn’t been conducive to doing that.

On March 19th, I will be learning how to blow glass using my Uptown Glassworks’ Groupon. I have to make a decision on what type of blown glass item I want to create. I have a choice of an egg, a chill pepper, an apple, an ornament, or a plate. I am currently leaning towards a plate. That is number 43 on my list.

Again, thanks to Groupon, this week they had a deal for a one night stay right near the Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic Peninsula plus a free tour of the rain forest. I’ll be exploring this rain forest once it warms up a bit more. This temperate rain forest  is one of the few and the largest in the US. It’s 39 on my list. On this trip, I will bring my camera to start trying to learn how to take great pictures. Number 45, taking great pictures, will be an ongoing process.

I have re-adjusted the length of my trip to see the orangutans, Number 18. I will update when my plans are firm.

Number 21 is to read a book on Zen. I wanted a book that would make me dig a bit deeper each day with a thought about life and expand my own thought process. Though the book I found isn’t exactly on Zen, I feel that Mark Nepo’s The Book of Awakening is exactly what I was looking for. Each day is a chapter started with a quote or thought followed by Nepo’s interpretation of the meaning. Then there are exercises that challenges the reader to explore and meditate on how the quote and lesson can shift their own lives for the better thoughout the day and beyond. 

As for Number 53 and 54, I was hoping to write on February 17th that I had faithfully written in my journal about my thoughts on the day’s events and on five people/things I’m grateful for each day for the last three months. I had a good run of it but fell short by two weeks. I am slowly getting back into writing down the five things I’m grateful for as I have found it adds a brighter sheen to my overall day. As for the journaling, I am still finding it hard to get back into.

I am still downsizing my possessions, Number 4. At the end of January, I took about 14 boxes of personal papers to a Windermere Real Estate shredding event.  I have also been slowly going through items in the basement to either take to Goodwill or to sell. I have managed to rid the basement of a lot of stuff. But I have now taken in several boxes of items, and will probably have more, that had belonged to my mother.  I am finding that with her passing, I can’t part with certain items especially the ones that I have a memory of from my childhood. I think this has to do with no longer having a parent alive and that strong mother-to-daughter connection I don’t want to ever sever.  

The silent retreat, Number 12, I’m still researching. I’m not exactly sure where I want to do this in the Washington area. I’ve researched several places but as of yet, none have really felt right. So the research goes on.

I’ll keep updating each month as well as writing posts when I actually cross items off my list.