May fun

I've mentioned before that one of my goals is to run a marathon in every state.  My best friend, who also runs marathons, has agreed to run marathons in some states with me.  She will not commit to all 50!  So, earlier this year, we ran a marathon in Michigan, and then in May, we went to Ohio to run the Flying Pig Marathon.  So much fun!

I didn't really have friends before, so one of the best parts of my new beginning is all of the friendships that I've made.  I had known my best friend for about 8 years, in that we'd train for a marathon every summer.  However, we'd see each other on Saturday mornings for 13 weeks, and then not talk again until the following July.  Now, I bought a house 5 blocks from her and we see each other several times a week.

Here is a view of the bridge that will take us over to Cincinnati from Kentucky, where our hotel was:

So clever -- here are past years' posters.  This year was Pigcasso.  I love it!

We went to a baseball game, since the Reds were in town.

The guy in front of us at the ticket line really loved the Reds!

Because we had run a marathon, we got to eat a lot of delicious food:

Back home, another one of my new friends is the lead singer in a local band.  He was shockingly good!  Several of us (I brought the guy I was dating at the time) went to hear him -- there was lots of dancing and laughter!

 

Later in the month, my department was having a mini golf tournament.  I had to build a golf hole, and did so with the help of the guy I was dating at the time.  We won the prize of "Hardest Hole" which included gift certificates to a coffee shop.  I think it took me about 30 strokes to get the ball in the hole, and even that might have involved a bit of cheating (such as guiding the ball a bit more than I think is legal...)

One day, I came home and my neighbors were staring over the fence.  She said that there was a turkey who had been hanging out in my yard for hours!  You can see him at the end of my driveway -- he left once I arrived.

One of the things I do a lot now is go to concerts.  Another one of my very good friends works for a concert venue in town, so she'll invite me to see shows when she has extra tickets.

However, my boss (who is absolutely amazing) invited me to see The Indigo Girls with her since she had an extra ticket.  We had a great time and though I didn't really know their music, wound up buying their Greatest Hits CD and listen to it frequently now.

Now, to upload pictures from the rest of the summer and get up to date so I can hopefully maintain this blog more faithfully going forward.

I am sad that I didn't keep a record of what I was going through when things were so terrible for me.  However, the pain was so raw and so intense that I'm not sure I'd want to have that down in print or to ever revisit it.  Now, with distance from an abusive relationship, all I can think is how lucky I was to get out in my mid-30s.  That I still had time to find the life that I should have been living -- to experience things like friends, laughter, honest people, good sex, and so much more.  To live instead of to just exist.

More soon!

Sad news - RIP Beeps

I'm still alive.  Still taking pictures of the parrots, though not as frequently as before.  I need to take some time to update with what's been going on.

The biggest, and saddest news is that I had to euthanize Beeps in June.  I'll upload some pictures of him -- we had a great last few months as I knew he was ailing.  Unfortunately, he progressed to the point where I was torturing him by keeping him alive.  It was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make, but I know that it was the right decision, even though I still miss him.  I haven't uploaded pictures to my computer since May, so here's a placeholder picture:

I'll post more later about him, as well as about other things that have been going on in my life.

In general, things are great!  My job is amazing, I love my house, friends/family are wonderful, my animals love me, I live in what I consider to be one of the best neighborhoods in a fantastic city -- everything is great except for the dating scene.  Although, I have so many funny stories, and keep accumulating them, that my friends are begging me to write a book about it.  I'll see!

More shortly -- I don't want to clutter this post with too much other than Beeps.  He suffered so much before he came to me.  I had him for nearly 8 years (not long enough, as he was only 16 so should have lived another decade or two.)  He found happiness here, and he made me laugh nearly every day.  I miss hearing his distinctive whistle, and his "Pretty baby!"

He's buried in my backyard, under an appropriate marker.  I am glad to know that he's no longer in any pain, mental or physical.  I miss him every day, but am glad I had the chance to get to know him.