It's Only A Paper Rose

I'm sorry. I really want to do a proper writeup of how the Bike MS ride went down, and my trip to Jersey, and thoughts on my new job (did I mention I was taking a new job?), but between travel and work and new employee orientation and financial stress and job change stress and dealing with a sick cat and dealing with the various emotions surrounding the sick cat I frankly don't have a lot in me right now. This week has literally been:

--drive for seven hours, stay in hotel
--drive for five and a half hours (and get snipped at by a hotel manager while on the turnpike for 'destroying' their towel because apparently they're incapable of washing out a little hair-dye rub-off, despite my home washer and literally every other hotel's doing it just fine?)
--unpack and go to guitar lesson that evening, then try to get some sleep because next morning is
--new employee orientation and headshot photos for the gym I'll be working at
--new private client in the evening (who was lovely)
--two hour callout next morning that turns into three; I'm not sad about the extra money but it means
--biking home in a thunderstorm, grabbing the car, and probably getting a ticket from a red light camera rushing to my next appointment (so much for the extra money)
--second new private client (who was also lovely)

which brings us to this morning, when I have another callout (woo for hauling my table down four floors of stairs!).

Interspersed with all of this has been trying to keep up with paperwork for the new job and the new clients, trying to get antibiotics and food into a cat who's increasingly hostile towards both, as well as two separate arguments with Brian in two days. (He's facing down some stress at work as well as (bless his Japanese heart) taking on basically all the mental responsibility for increased expenses, and he's never been good with the prospect of loss (but then, who is?). We're working through it, but given how rarely we usually argue it's been a distinct sign of how Much everything is getting to be.)

It's also occurred to me that, since I've quit CorePower for real, one of my primary coping mechanisms is gone. So that's rough.

Obviously this is all temporary. I'll start and settle into the new job and be bringing in some extra cash. Brian's work stress and Dexter's eating disorder will eventually shake out one way or another. Pretty soon my complimentary gym membership should kick in and I'll get back to working out regularly. And for all that Brian and I are arguing, we're still communicating, which is the important thing in the long term.

Just, if I seem a little more absent/stressed out than usual, this is what's up, and I'm sorry.

(On the upside, I at least posted some pictures from the ride to Tumblr. It was a beautiful day and I had an amazing time. Thank you again to everyone for your support.)

...I may or may not have signed up for a Bike MS ride this year to support the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.

(I did.)

Sources cannot confirm or deny whether this may have been because I have a giant crush on someone who has MS and is captaining a team for this ride.

(I do.)

But hey! Good causes are good causes, regardless of the motivator...or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Although, really, this is for me as much as it is for the cause. Initially I figured it'd be a nice motivation to get out and about on my bike more this summer, but even just a few days in, I'm finding that having a concrete goal to work toward is helping me in multiple ways. There are several bike trips I've been thinking about doing but haven't gotten around to that I'm now actively planning for. Since my crush team captain lives in New Jersey, I'm reaching out in hopes of finding a local training buddy, and have one promising candidate lined up for lunch next week. And that's above and beyond day-to-day things like "motivate myself to bike to work even when it's raining and driving or taking transit would be easier".

Perhaps most strikingly, I've been in a bit of a funk the past few months, and this has done wonders to snap me out of it. I suddenly have so much more enthusiasm day to day! I'm not sure if it's having a goal to work for, or feeling like I'm contributing to something bigger than myself, or what...but it's good to feel inspired again.

As with any major undertaking, I need support in multiple forms. Most obvious is monetary—I've set a pretty ambitious fundraising goal, so if you feel inspired (and are able) to contribute, that'd be amazing! I could also use some advice—I'm going to be riding in the rain a lot more, so suggestions for waterproof gear would be super helpful. Encouraging comments are great too! Other than that...I'm not even sure what to ask? I've never done a major sporting event before, what do I need to know?