Life right now

R.I.P

I haven’t been around in several months. I wasn’t baking and I wasn’t cooking and I wasn’t much inspired. I took a few continuing education classes abroad and locally. All of which were amazing. I moved across town. I trained for my MS bike ride. I rode my MS bike ride on June 21 and 22 atop my new 2007 Trek 1600. I had quite the time adjusting to a road bike … I didn’t figure out the gears until minutes before I took off from the starting line! Hey, it’s Chicago, there are no hills and no need to shift!

The ride took place in DeKalb, IL. I did some acupuncture and Elemental Oil fundraisers and along with outright contributions I raised about $1200 and our team raised at last count $13,600! We’re still working on raising our contribution.

Two days or so BEFORE the ride, I broke my toe. MmHmm. I moved to a new apartment and early one morning, before my Alterra or Metropolis coffee and before putting on my glasses, dragged a wood hutch from the bedroom to the kitchen. The beast got stuck on a bump in the wood flooring, I lost my grip and heard a crunch…it was my toe. I hopped around my kitchen, found I had no ice or ice packs in my freezer, laughed. I just moved in, of course, there was nothing in the fridge! I laid on my couch, held my toe, my cat mustered her healing abilities and laid across my foot, I got up, went outside, walked around thinking I could “walk it off”. I found a pair of old mary jane Keens that had a wide enough toe to accomodate my throbbing foot for the ride. Needless to say it really didn’t “make” my biking ensemble.

But I rode 120 of the 175 miles! Headwinds in the rolling countryside are something to contend with. When the traffic directors and police are having difficulty standing, imagine us on super lightweight road bikes!

The saddest thing is

my bike is gone.

Yes, today I rode over to the Metra station, attached 3, yes THREE, locks in, around, and through the tires, frame and bike rack. I returned 2.5 hours later and she was gone. The other 80 bikes were still there, but my baby is right now being stripped, painted, torn apart for the amazing Shimano components, or sold to someone who has no idea of the GOOD that bike did in 2 days on the MS ride through DeKalb.

In addition to that, I am in the throes of making the difficult decision to ease off from life as an acupuncturist. It has been a rewarding, educational and relationship-building experience but a slim financial existence for three years. I am beginning the new experience of reworking my dusty resume, networking and looking for a rewarding and sustainable position to supplement a part time pursuit in healing with Chinese medicine.

Wish me luck.

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