And Sometimes, the Break Takes You!!

You know how John Lennon said "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"?  I think really the first 4 words of that is all that's necessary.  You see, a lot people think that the things that they plan out and the words that they write constitute "life", but really, your life is what goes on in your sphere of existence from day to day.  Sometimes, we can forget this.  Sometimes we'll make plans, set goals, and then get sidetracked by big happenings, but feel bad that we didn't get to do what we had planned.  We also may mislead ourselves to think that the book we're writing, the round-the-world trip we're planning, or the blog we intended to update regularly are what constitutes our lives.  But we'd be wrong.  So that is why I don't feel bad for failing to update my blog.  Because when I look back at what happened since I wrote my last blog entry, it's not distractions, it's life stuff--the real meat-and-potatoes of adulthood.  So let's go down the list:

1) My lady and I bought a house and moved in.
2) I started working full time during some brutal hours.

3) I decorated our house for Christmas.
4) I proposed to my lady.
5) My lady and I cleaned out our old apartment.
6) We acquired a washer and dryer, and moved them in.
7)  My car broke down, several times, and is now ready to be proclaimed dead.
8) I appealed for and was permitted to resume my Assistantship at the University I am attending.
9) I assumed a full courseload of graduate classes.
10) I switched from Windows to Linux, permanently.
11) My lady and I finished painting our living and dining rooms.
12) We purchased new furniture.
13) We fully decorated our home.
14) We visited 3 different families in a 24 hour period from Christmas Eve night to Christmas Day.

And most importantly, I prepare almost every meal that we eat, every night, with few exceptions.

Now, the content of the above list is not as important as the sheer number of events, which excludes many things that are quite time-consuming.  But suffice it to say, those things are life.  So when I ask myself "why wasn't I blogging?", I remember that list, and all the time that it entailed, and I say "oh yeah!  I was f*&#ing busy!"

But things have calmed down a bit for me, and I do feel bad that in my time of doing the above listed things, I didn't keep running.  Now, I don't feel bad because I feel lazy, I ran right up until the snow fell (in metric tons, mind you!).  But I feel bad because I know that some time next week, when the ice on the sidewalks has melted enough to allow me to run again, it will be hell on earth.  But I think that, in the meantime, I'm at peace with being slowed down.  Perhaps my mind will be more tuned to the task at hand when I start up again.  But even if it isn't, life is still happening; after all, it can't do anything else.