fillin in...

i've been suffering from writers block the past few months. I begin to write, rethink, reorganize and can't quite seem to get thoughts organized in a way that's worthy of hitting "publish". I was going to write about the turkey apocalypse and black friday, but really why bother? i'm not one for turkey and hate shopping. It would be an all out bitch session really.

the past few months have been filled with life's ups and downs. for instance, on a sad note, two people i knew died in october. both before their time. it was a sad and difficult month to say the least coupled with family chaos. I was happy to start over in November.

I've been working hard - and playing even harder. On the work front, I dove into my dissertation proposal full force managing to push out a full draft of my proposal - 26 pages and 3 objectives worth. Killer. I hope I'm finally on the right path -- we'll see what the committee (just about formed) has to say. And on the play front, i've taken up a new sport -- rock climbing. Really, there's no better way to conquer your fear of heights than to go out and climb a rock. Admittedly I'm equally bad at rock climbing as I am mountain biking but I have a hell of a time trying - especially the part where your suspended 50 or more feet above the ground placing your life in the hands of your belayer. the rush of fear is surprisingly cool. plus i have a pretty awesome climbing partner who kicks my ass putting me on hard routes. good times.

Climbing has exposed me to a group of awesome new, non-judgemental people. The sport challenges in a seemingly non-competitive way. On the rock, it's just you, and it. And with a partner, you build trust as really your safety is in their hands conversely theirs is in yours. it's badass. and perhaps worthy of another blog in and of itself. not so badass is the fact that my knees are bruised to hell and in the midst of it all i managed to somehow bruise my ribs which apparently take weeks to heal. For the past week and a half it's hurt to run, do pull-ups, walk, breath, lay on my side, laugh, sneeze... you get the idea. it got so painful i started popping ibuprofen like popcorn - ok not really. i've taken atleast 4 doses though and given the fact that i hate taking medicine you can imagine why i'm not psyched about that. I figured this remedy was better than exposing the world to a generally grumpy person given the discomfort. I'm convinced it's on the mend now.

after a much needed hiatus from the summers mad miles, i'm also back on the bike - in a painfully slow way. only 1-2 times a week for now but i've started running during the week with my little girl given it's dark by the time i get home from work these days. I used to hate running but it is growing on me. Chaya and I are slowly building miles and getting into shape.

in a nutshell that about sums up the past few weeks. perhaps this post will deflate the writers block a bit... i guess if nothing else, it provides good fill in on happenings past. to be continued...