Update

Where to even begin here... well, let's start with the good:

- On June 5th, Lauren and I participated in the Sunburst 10K. I say participated, because we only ran about 6K of it - but we traversed a distance of 10K in total. And while we very quickly learned that not training for the 2-3 months before a 10K is a bad thing (who knew?), and our bodies paid for that for a week or so, it's given us a new dedication towards making this something we do. We've started a 2-3 times a week training program, with the goal of running in a few 5K's, a 6K, and eventually running an entire 10K either at next year's Sunburst or before then if we find one we want to do and are ready for it. We've got three races in particular we are planning on signing up for in August, October and December - so we're hoping that our new-found dedication will keep us on track to run these and run each one a little bit better than the previous one.

- We're happy with our house. It turns out, what we thought would take at least six months to make us even begin to see happiness only took about three. Sure, we still need to deal with our laundry room, and we would like to paint the kitchen cabinets, and put up a few hooks in the garage to create a little more room in there. But, we aren't sitting around in our house constantly feeling like we are surrounded by things that make us unhappy and feel uncomfortable at home. We don't feel like we have out of control clutter, and we even have space in which we could store things now if we chose to do such. It's been an amazing transformation - one which will assuredly continue - but we are so much closer to our goal than where we started at this point, it feels amazing.

- I've started teaching again. I got offered a math class at Ivy Tech, and started last week. I love that feeling of helping someone understand something that they previously just could not wrap their head around. It's nice to find a different kind of fulfillment in work.

And now, the bad:

- This class, though a great opportunity and something we decided together was the right thing to do, is making our schedules Mon-Thurs. even more hectic, such that simply keeping up with the dishes and laundry and maintenance cleaning is taking up most of the time we are able to edge out in between dinner and running or walking each evening and also trying to have a little time at the end of the night to just sit and relax....which means we are struggling to complete little blogworthy projects on a regular basis. So, it may be a while (say, 7 more weeks), until our next legit project blog....unless we surprise ourselves and manage a little project here or there before this class is over :)

Hey... There's a desk under there (parts 2 & 3)

Things are just getting crazy - first we find a desk under our paper stacks at home, now I find two desks in my office this afternoon. Here I thought lo these many years that I had simply been setting my monitor, mouse and keyboard on stacks of notes, design ideas, and unfinished projects from years of having to stop working on one thing to start and finish the next "super important new #1 priority" (that would then be replaced by the next project of the same status by the next grant or managerial whim). But, as it turns out, under all this stuff:

Were these desks:

If only I had known about these desks! Think of all the elbow room I could have been enjoying. Think of all the times I could have set things temporarily on my desk instead of setting them on the floor and having to tenuously step over them for a day or two. Think of all the paper, books, and wires I could have stacked all over each other... oh, wait - that's what got me into this mess in the beginning. But now, with these desks clear (and even more so when I clean off the other desk and file cabinet in my office), I plan on turning over a new leaf. I am determined to find new ways to be more efficient and organized to be more efficient at work. Any ideas, anyone? Got an item on your desk that you just can't live/work without? As you may have noticed, a knowledge of organizational tools is something I don't possess - so I'm open to any and all help out there. Cause I gotta say, it feels a whole lot less claustrophobic and a whole lot more comfortable in my office - and I'd kinda like to keep it that way.