The "This Is Not About Italy" post

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Although you'd never know it from my Facebook page and this blog, there are other happenings in life versus reliving the Italy trip. A quick recap to bring us all up to date: 

  • This Saturday is the 24-hour run at Hinson Lake. You know, there's a fine line between "bad ass" and "dumb ass" and 24-hour runs are a balancing act.  Last year I ran 54 miles in 11 hours. This year I'm aiming for 70 miles and lasting until midnight. Bored Saturday and looking for something to fill the hours? Come run with me. And bring chocolate. 
  • THE BOOK. Does This Collar Make My Butt Look Big? A Diet Book For Cats is due to my editor October 1st. My writer's group has been handing me feedback all week and I'm in a mad scramble to rip the book apart, incorpurrate (sorry, job hazard) their suggestions and get it out on time. Stress level = 8, but I'm having fun. I do my best work when I can see the finish line. 
  • New Clients. Sensing my absence from the country, several new clients popped up while I was away.
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The Italy Diaries: Random Encounters Maybe Aren't So Random

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Buongiorno! Ciao! Grazie! Gelato!

This concludes my study of the Italian language, undertaken during our recent 10-day foray to the land of pasta, wine, and really expensive leather shoes. 

I've got a lot to say about the trip. While any trip to Italy is of course fabulous, this trip was also fraught with landmines - tour buses almost overturning on hairpin turns in Tuscan hills, being trapped on a ferry during a storm with passengers tossing their cookies right and left, lost luggage, misplaced passports, fevers, sickness, and much more. But for all of that, I'd do the trip again in a minute. I fell in love with Italy and the people we traveled there with.

But all that is for a later blog. Today I want to write about the "random" encounters of the trip. (And yes, photos are coming. We just haven't had a chance to go through them yet. Soon, I promise.)

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The "Are You F'ing KIDDING ME" Blog Post

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So apparently when I said in my blog post earlier this morning that I would "handle" whatever was thrown at me today, God took that as a challenge and threw down. 

I am about 20 seconds away from losing it, big time. I have a sign taped above my computer that says, "BE THE TYPE OF PERSON YOU WANT TO MEET." I'm looking at it, trying to remind myself that I don't want to meet a hysterical, sobbing woman ready to bury her head in the sand, but it's a challenge. 

Deep breath. So here's where things stand. 

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Dealing With Curveballs

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Sometimes life doesn't flow the way you want it to. This week, for example, is a train wreck.

Blair and I leave soon for Italy. Poor guy came down with a horrible cold on Monday. Bad, but as the eternal optimists our thoughts were, "Yea! At least he's getting it out of the way before we leave on our trip." As I type these words, I'm listening to him in the bathroom, gagging. Not better. Worse. And facing a 24-hour travel day in the very near future. 

My throat has started tickling and I'm just praying the excitement over the trip will stave off any impending illness. That, and I think I may drink a lot in the next 24-hours to kill off any germs. ;)

Then there's Snowball, our newly adopted cat. I arrived home yesterday to find his left eye practically sealed shut. No idea what's going on there, except now I have to find time in an already frantic day to get him to the vet and then, more then likely, explain to our house sitter that not only will she be feeding our cats for the week, but she'll also more than likely be required to catch and sit on a cat while attempting to administer eye drops. 

My speech for Ignite Charlotte is written, but today must must MUST be devoted to pulling the slides together. I'm having a panic attack just thinking about it. 

Then there are the last minute details to attend to - visits to the bank and post office, return library books, write up instructions for the house sitter, last minute cleaning and laundry and--oh yeah--I haven't PACKED anything yet. 

But I can't think about any of that right now. I'm leaving in a few minutes to meet friends for a 20-mile run and I'm grateful. I'm feeling edgy and scattered and I know a long run, where I have no choice but to put one foot in front of the other for hour after hour, is going to calm and center me. Exhaust me as well, but calm and center me. 

I'll get everything done because you know what? I always do. Blair will rally, I won't get sick, we'll get medicine in Snowball and we will have a glorious time roaming all over Italy. 

I'm going to knock these curveballs out of the park. 

Cheers,

Dena