here we go!

In less than an hour I will be on my way to the airport. This is a photo of Managua the part of Nicaragua that I am flying into. I am completely anxious/nervous/excited/worried and a million other things. Thank goodness for an extra long acupuncture appointment this morning! I guess I'd better pack!

While driving between clients today I started thinking about all the different languages that I hear in a week. Not sure what made me think about it, but I was almost surprised at the answer. I have families that speak one or more of the following languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, Bengali, Russian, German, Serbian, and Mandarin. Quite a list! I am proud to say that I know a few words in a few of those languages. So much for my 4 years of high school French.

Pride 2012

Here are some photos of the massive parade that was yesterday. It was really amazing to see how many people were there. I feel very lucky that I live in a place where this event was so welcome and embraced by the city. It made me think about the people who don't have that. I try never to forget how lucky I am that I can walk down the street holding hands with a girl and no one pays any attention. I even have the right to get legally married. Pretty awesome. And as your can see from the photos, there was a lot of celebrating of all of that.

About 6 months ago I decided that I needed to add exercise to my life. Did I want to? No way. Do I enjoy it? Well, I do after I'm done. I've never been any bit athletic and people throughout my life have consistently reminded me of that. Six months ago I walked into the gym for the first time in a really long time. I logged 5 miles on the elliptical. It took just over an hour. Over time I have shaved off quite a bit of time and have done it in as little as 51 mins and 44 seconds. Two weeks ago I faced a new challenge: running outside. A friend asked me to go with her and while completely sure I couldn't handle it, I went. We ran about 4.5 miles. I only walked for about 50 yards. When we made it back to her house I was exhausted but so proud of myself...and a bit shocked! Two days later I did 3 miles. Yesterday I returned to the scene of the crime. I decided to do the loop that I did with my friend. It was rough, but I did it with about the same amount of walking. I was almost back to my starting point and realized I was just shy of 5 miles. So, I circle the block and made it 5 miles! Unfortunately, the running has left me with an injury. I see my acupuncturist tomorrow to assess it. If you live anywhere near Boston and hear screaming tomorrow night, it will be me as she works on me. She's amazing, but the body work is incredibly painful. The photo was as I was running back across the bridge into Boston.