hey hoooooooooo

Hey peeps!

Things are great(sort of). So letsssseeeeeeeeeheeerrrreee....lemme catch you up.

Last year this time(11/15)....lost my job. Freeeked out then calmed down....

Biggest thing about losing my job...i thought i was gonna get kicked out of my place and kicked to the curb....not true.....after much pants shitting i realized i just needed to get a plan in place. I sold off my 401k from the temporary job and cut a deal with my landlord. Then i figured since nothing would happen work wise till the next year I would go on a road trip. It was awesome. Went to DC for Turkey day, then hiked in shenendoah national park, then headed to knoxville,TN and hiked the great smokey mtns.....then drove to Florida. What a trip.....Something i will never forget. I can honestly say i never felt so free and it was great. So got back and then went to brazil for 2 weeks(Paid before losing job) and got to spend xmas and newyears with Lena...the love of my life. She is amazing.

January and Feb proved to be tough months. I learned alot about myself during this time. I realized that the only person that holds me back is me. And i bring me nomatter where i go......and my crazy head. But that was a gift. I always blamed my circumstances on my job or someone i would vilify. Its simply not true. Its me who needed to change. It was my vision and my perspective that needed to change. I also worked some humbling jobs and found humility..I got to Project manage building a hooters..there i learned that i am capable of far more than i think...nooone there even knew i never really worked in construction(cept home depot)...and then worked as a laborer at a plastics factory(fucking humbling part)..I also learned that its ok to accept and even ask for help from time to time. That was a tough one. But i took it knowing i would pay back or pay it forward.

March was interesting. My buddies at Thomson were trying to get me back in the door. I was interviewing. And my friend mike got married and i went to costa rica. Interesting trip considering it was for a weekend. Mike and Andrea are great. I took photos of the wedding and gave them a beautiful album as a gift. Between this trip to costa rica, i went on a 2nd interview and expected an offer...the offer never came through but i got on a TR. What a gift. its almost as if i was given a 2nd chance to right some of the wrongs i did there...not really wrongs but maybe just mend some fences and to the right thing by people. I am still there today. I am still a consultant and still take it one day at a time.

So triathlon.....things have been crazy but good. I am down very close to the 100lb mark in my weight loss and feel pretty good. This past summer i did a bunch of 5k's and even my first 10k. The 10k was humbling...finished last..literally....lol...but i finished beotches...stopped swimming for a while cause of my shoulder but soon i will jump back in the pool. I am going to take total immersion swimming lessons and work wth my chriopractor to see if we can work through the shoulder issue. So this week came another issue....i found out i have a torm meniscus....knee has been swelling and painful after running and getting worse...finally got an MRI and i will get surgery soon....hopefully before the end of the year. I plan on re-entering the tri world this spring....pending shoulder and knee outcomes....either way i will find some way to work around these issues.

Lena....i met lena a while ago.....at first she was just some chick who asked me english usage questions on the internet......and we always would chat here and there but nothing serious...just answer english questions and small talk.....well i got divorced last spring and she happened to be exiting a relationship. I invited her to come visit and sleep on my couch. She did for a few days and over that week we got close.....it was amazing...and still is.....I went there for xmas and new years....then we decided that maybe she would come for and extended stay...try things out so to speak.....well she is here and is not going home...i am so blessed to have her in my life.....she is amazing, kind, caring...and a crazy brazilian....oh and she cooks great....lol I love her and hope to marry her soon....

I turned 40 this week. I realized something pretty big...We (i) make our world...our reality. Our perceptions and expecttions change how we see this world....mine thankfully have changed for the better......i am grateful for my simple life..