New year ...

When I walked in to work this morning I faced a startling revelation ... just because it's a new year doesn't mean anything at work has changed magically. I think part of my problem is that I woke up with a raging sinus headache that really hasn't subsided throughout the day. It's a bit frustrating actually. I'm actually considering giving the Neti Pot a try, which is a big step as I've resisted the idea of sniffing water up my nose for a very long time. I seriously hate that sensation. But ... this headache sucks. But I'm hoping it's just sinuses and not a full on cold, which I fear it could be.

The giving ... it continues.

Day 19: New Year's Eve. Got out of work early a bit and spent some time with Sarah who is in town from LA and agreed to be my date for the evening. Got home and found a really nice note from someone I thought I'd lost touch with ... made me feel pretty good to know that I have her support even when I thought I might not given the breakup. Had a great time having dinner with friends and managed not to feel at all bad that I'd found myself single on New Year's Eve once again. Honestly, that's been the case most of my life so why start being really upset about it now. My gift for the day was a small donation to www.dinnergarden.org, which provides seeds to families so they can grow their own food. I really like the idea of it and thought it would be a good hopeful way to end the year thinking that maybe we could have fewer Americans going hungry this year.

Day 20: Friday -- Kept myself really busy this weekend. Went to brunch at a friends and saw two movies on Friday. My gift for the day was snacks for the Lusters when we went to see Invictus. Linda and Bill have been hugely helpful to me and always manage to be there to support me when I'm going through the good and bad times. It was just a small gesture that can't express how I really feel about them.

Day 21: Went for my first training run with TEAM in Training. Got a call at 7 a.m. that it was only 14 degrees and my other running partners didn't want to be out in that brutal of a chill. But for myself, I decided I needed to go. I couldn't miss the first training. So, I went and met Jere and we did just 4 miles. I tested out the new Garmin GPS watch my dad got me for Christmas and it was totally awesome. I do look kind of hard core sporting two watches and beeping constantly to keep up with my intervals. My lungs were burning with the cold air, but it felt really good. I'm going to get the whole training regimen sketched out here soon and will feel good to have a goal and hope the endorphins will help me out.

Denise and I went in search of a guitar for my brand new Wii ... and we found one and a set of drums which I got for a steal. And then we headed to Swag's to check out running gear. I was able to buy my gift of the day for Denise -- a 26.2 sticker for her car. Denise and I trained together for fall marathons and now she is joining Team in training to support me and may dad. And she plans to run the Louisville Derby marathon and Chicago (which I'm also planning on.) She gives me a lot of inspiration -- but I"m not jumping on the Derby marathon bandwagon. Two in one year is going to be enough for me.

Also had a great gathering at my house Saturday night and got to see a lot of friends and start the new year off with a little joy in my house. It was a lot of fun.

Day 22: Sunday. So, I started feeling the post-holiday blues a bit on Sunday. I don't know why but I think all the holiday activity started to catch up with me ... and the emotions too. I tried really hard to keep myself busy all day ... probably too busy. I'm going to have to find a way to slow it down and relax a little too.

The highlight of my day also was my gift for the day -- I picked up Elise and we headed to the movies to see the Princess and the Frog. She was pretty doggone excited. It was great to see that kind of 7-year-old enthusiasm. And it was a good movie too. And I was able to give her the Christmas presents I got her, which were well received. But the biggest gift was just the time together which to be fair was as big a gift for me as for her.

Day 23: Today ... not sure what today's gift is yet. But I'm on the hunt. Only a few more days to go and I want to try to be more mindful about them.

And an update on my dad ... he's officially considered to be in remission. Which is good. But probably his best chance is a bone marrow transplant and he doesn't have a donor yet. So, that's a bit nerve wracking. He's back in the hospital today for some new chemo. It's called consolidation therapy. It's pretty hard for me to wrap my head around and I think that's contributing to my general sense of the blues for the past couple days. So, send prayers and good karma to him this week while he's getting what he calls his "electric kool-aid."