So that pity party thing – just wanted to let you know – it is over and done with.  I realized (thanks in no small part to you) that I have no reason to feel defeated and sorry for myself. In fact, I’ve got it pretty darn good. The new medicine (Remicade) is working (knock on wood). In fact I’m a “normal” person these days – I can eat pretty much whatever I want, I can go out without stressing over bathroom access, and I generally feel darn good.

These past few weeks have been really good. I’ve been getting in a lot of time on my snowshoes and have started to get the groove with the ski lessons. I haven’t been skiing as much as I would like but there is lots of time to get out on the skis. The Monday night ski lessons are going well – I even went out last week in the crazy cold… (Though I’ll never go out in that kind of cold again….) I find that getting out for one hour walks/hikes on the snowshoes in the deep snow is a darn good work-out – breaking trail and walking through deep snow is a good way to get in a good work-out without feeling super exhausted. I did try running in the knee deep snow… can’t do this yet (makes me super impressed with the guys who are running at the front of the snowshoe group on Wednesday nights…).

As you can tell, I’m a big fan of snowshoes. I even signed up for the next three Mad Trapper Snowshoe Races. Now don’t worry – I’m not going to get all stressed out and crazy brain before these. These are really just participation events for me – the fast runners take off and then it is like a Wednesday night snowshoe. So if you’re thinking of signing up and coming out to the Mad Trapper races but are feeling nervous – don’t be. (Besides I’ll be there so you can always run slowly with me!)

That’s really the news from here. Just plugging along and I’ve finally got my head on straight. Maybe it’s the time of the year but I’ve finally realized that I need to be thankful for how I am feeling right now and not fret over how I used to feel when out running or skiing (because honestly even then I always wanted to be faster…).

I hope you’re ready for the holidays and are going to spend it with your loved ones. I’ll be hanging out with my family – my favourite guy won’t be there (he’s in Belgium racing his cyclo-cross bike). Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing over the holidays, be sure to take a moment to sit down and take a deep breath and enjoy all that you have. Merry Christmas and if we don’t chat before the New Year – Happy New Year!