New Year, New Challenge

It was shortly after midnight on New Year's that I agreed to face the challenge of training for a marathon with a friend via a phone call. When I woke up later that day I recalled the conversation in my head and laughed a little thinking, thank goodness Steve will never remember our chat. Little did I know that he was going follow-up with the promise a few days later. After being reminded that I was going to train for a marathon last year and that I will be 25 years old this September (completing a marathon is on my list of things to do before I turn 25), I agreed.

So it is I find myself adding two challenges to my 2010 : first, the stated marathon training and second blogging more consistently! And why not try to complete these tasks hand-in-hand?! I will be blogging about my marathon training - and from all of the books I have read about training for a marathon I can assume it will not always be an upbeat and sunny blog. But I will do my best not to complain everyday and to spare the icky details of pain and agony. I am hoping this is the key to my successful completion.

Here we go.......

A new week, new oppertunities

It has been an entire week since my last post and it is raining once again. But the rain stands no chance against my smile today! Just two weeks ago I was in an anxious state of exploring career opportunities, new cities, and dreading the fact that I had no idea what was coming next...

Today the anxiety is gone (well the bad anxiety, I will let the exciting anxiety stick around)! Five minutes ago I officially accepted a job with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, I will be their newest Development Coordinator! It is a wonderful chance for me to expand my professional development with a great organization. As my current boss put it, VYCC is considered the premier youth program in the state of Vermont. They have had development staff go onto some of the most well known foundations and become EDs with some of the largest non-profits. I will have greater responsibilities and the chance to strategically plan for the organization as a member of the development team. And did I mention that I will be working in one of the most beautiful barns on a georgous piece of land?! Through all of the whirl wind excitement I have barely had the chance to catch my breath and think about how I am going to wrap up my work here at DREAM in the next two weeks. But it will all work out fine.

So I have a new job, I can stay in my apartment in this fabulous city and I have more adventures heading my way. This is all very exciting! And I am ready!

And it is back to work on this gray Monday. I should say it was back to work now that the day is coming to an end, well the office day is coming to an end. Life seems to be slowing to an extent...yet I am still searching for a job and trying to make a decision on where I want to live. Each day I seem to get closer and closer to making a decision to move to Boston. The only thing that keeps me on my toes is the job search. I keep thinking about how much easier it may have been to find a job two years ago. Just my luck that I am find myself transitioning out of a great job at a horrible time in the job market. Hmm......this is all so boring to talk/think about.

This weekend was great, I finally got a chance to relax and enjoy Burlington. I have missed it for the past few months, all of the traveling and running around gets tiring. And I am ready for the week to continue and for the weekend to arrive sooner rather than later. Here is to hoping this week flies by!

And to think I have the chance to see this every evening. It is beautiful! How lucky am I?

Craziness

It is amazing how life can remain utterly insane for such an extended length of time. For the past few months I have been fighting to catch my breath and a break. But they do always say that when it rains it pours. Well it has been pouring for about 39 days and I want to know....where is the damn sun?

The insanity this week all started when after a weekend filled with coughing I decided to go to the doctors on Monday morning. Little did I know I was be sitting in an emergency room for almost 8 hours! After receiving a breathing treatment that did not appear to clear anything up, the doctor ordered an x-ray to make sure nothing looked abnormal. So imagine my surprise when Dr. Jessica returned about a half hour after the x-ray was taken and she told me that there appears to be a mass behind my right lung. Not knowing much about the chest area or medical terms I asked, well what does that mean? Well it could be nothing or it could be a tumor. WHAT?! Sitting in the emergency room without cell phone service and by myself I was a bit disoriented and worried. To make a long story short, after a painful run in with a nurse who could not find a large enough vein for an IV, my first experience with a cat scan machine (it is a bit odd how the fluid they inject for dye can make you feel like you peed your pants!), another 2 hours of waiting, and my father and uncle in Rhode Island managing to call the radiologist and doctor, I was told it was nothing. Probably just my hair, which was in a low bun at the back of my neck that cause what looked like a mass behind my lungs. AHHHHH!

I don't think I will be returning to Fanny Allen for a while - should have gotten the hint when I was at SMC and they mixed my mono test up with someone else's and I went three weeks not knowing I actually had mono. Why is it that doctors and hospitals can make such drastic mistakes?! It is there job to get things right!!!!!!!

Here is to another hope that life might calm down....soon!

New Adventure?!

As I find myself in dire need of a new adventure (maybe this is why I decided to start a blog) I have begun googling exciting places to visit. And each day I add a new location to my list of "Places to see once I have the money to travel!" Today I came across the magnificent metropolis of Chichén Itzá which is said to be one place you must see before you die. According to Schultz's 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List, "If you are lucky enough to be here on the spring or autumnal equinox (March 21 or September 21), you will marvel at the mastermind who positioned the temple of El Castillo de Kulkulcán: The play of late-afternoon light and shadow creates a moving serpent (representing the ancient leader-turned-deity Kulkulcán) that, over the course of thirty-four minutes, slithers down 365 steps to the giant’s head at the base of the pyramid’s principal facade before disappearing into the earth." While it does sound incredible, it makes me wonder how many people read this and immediately book tickets?! And who is qualified to make the list of 1,000 places to see? Through all of my traveling I have often discovered my favorites by getting lost. Now I wonder where and when I will next lose myself...