I'm Back!

I didn't realize it, but I needed a break from blogging. I'm just sorry I abandoned it for so long without a word. I hope I haven't lost all my readers. This blog is supposed to be a fun way for me to share my adventures in the Pacific Northwest. But for some reason every time something blog-worthy has happened to me in the past few months, I've dreaded blogging about it. It takes a fair amount of work to upload the pictures in the proper order, and the thought some days of posting all the pictures I want to is just exhausting. But I'm ready to start again. It's a new year and a time for renewal.

Before I get into the fun stuff, here's the basic update on everyday life. I started working again at Panera. I randomly ran into my old boss in September and he asked if I would come back to Panera, working once a week. I decided that I might as well. As I've said before, it's a pretty easy job. It's a nice way to make a little extra money. And, with Robb working most weekends, it's not like I have anything else to do with my time. Plus, they're being pretty flexible with my schedule, so if I have something else to do on a Saturday morning, I can change my work-day to Sunday. So I'm back to working 6 days a week. Might as well do it when I'm young, have the time, and have the energy.

We found out in November that the grocery store that Robb works at would be closing at the end of December. The company promised to transfer everyone to another store in Seattle, Kirkland, or Tacoma. So starting in January Robb started commuting to Seattle. It has been quite the difference, commuting 0.3 miles versus a 20+ mile commute in traffic. While his position and pay is technically the same, he has to pay quite a bit for gas and a parking pass now. Also, these first few weeks at the new store he's not managing as much as he'd like. He has to learn how the new store operates, which means he's had several shifts that have started at 5:00 am. My dear husband is NOT a morning person. And he's definitely not a morning person when he has to get up before 4:00 am just so he can commute to work. So he's still in an adjustment phase with the whole work and commuting thing. It's odd, in 2009 both of us lost our jobs because of the economy, but we were both lucky enough to be employed with the same organizations, just in slightly different roles. While we may not be happy with the changes, we're grateful to be employed.

I'm still running quite a bit. I have to decide on my next big race. I'm thinking about doing another half-marathon in the early summer. And I'm gearing up mentally to train for my first marathon in October. I always promised myself I would never run a marathon. But now that I've run a half-marathon, a full 26.2 miles doesn't seem that daunting. I've become one of those crazy runner people; I've even become the president of my running club. I don't know what happened to the girl who used to hate running and celebrated running just 2 miles.

Robb has been working out quite a bit too. For his birthday he wanted a gym membership, and I decided to go ahead and get that for him. So he goes to the gym usually 4-5 times a week for several hours. He wants to continue running, but has had a little difficulty. He was finally diagnosed with a torn meniscus. The guess is that the injury occurred in elementary school, but it is now causing him pain in his knee when he runs. While he doesn't technically need the surgery, in order for him to be able to run long-term, he will need the surgery. So we may be scheduling a surgery later this year. As far as the rest of his health is concerned (you know, that whole thyroid cancer diagnosis thing), he's doing pretty well. They're still trying to find a right dosage for his thyroid replacement medication. So he still has occasional blood tests, but otherwise is doing well.

So that's the latest. I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks to get completely caught up since October. Be on the lookout for posts about Robb's 30th birthday and our visit to Oregon, my family coming to visit for the Thanksgiving holiday, and our low-key Christmas.

I'm back, with a shorter haircut again!