Back to the drawing board.

I haven’t had a chance to write on here in far too long – I like having somewhere that I can write whatever I want, and somewhere that encourages me to write about what’s going on in my life, however insignificant it seems at the time. It doesn’t matter what I write about, as long as I’m writing.

I’ve been working a lot for Fernwood these days, as my parents were in Cuba for two weeks and I had to hold down the fort until my Dad returned. I managed to keep the business from crumbling around my feet (high five), but now I’m pretty much down to the wire on my thesis. I’ve arranged to take this week off, as well as the month of June, to complete my thesis. 90 pages in a month? Sure thing. Let’s do it up. I work much better under pressure, and I now have a helluva lot of pressure on me to finish this thing, so I’m hoping that will do the trick.

Last weekend Matt, Meghan, and I did end up going to Shaun’s memorial service. We got there much later – around 8:00pm – since Matt and I both had to work. It was at the Northern Sun Farm, which is a breathtaking piece of land. It was a sunny, crisp day, and when we got there a group of Shaun’s friends and family were sitting around a huge fire sharing stories about him. As soon as we walked up to the fire, everything hit me at once – the whole thing became incredibly real, after having felt so surreal since I had heard the news. We saw the grave site, which was a short walk from the fire through some trees in a small clearing. We stood by the fire and listened to the stories until about 9:30 that night. I was so glad that we had the chance to go, if only to show our support by our presence. I stayed silent most of the night for fear of bursting into tears. It was heartbreaking to listen to Shaun’s friends, especially Becky, and it amazed me how strong she is. It is chilling to think that Becky and Shaun had gotten together only a few months before Matt and I – I don’t know that I could remain so strong if something like this had happened to my partner.

My fitness has taken a hit since I’ve been back from Montreal – the need expressed in my last post to get BACK ON TRACK fell on deaf ears, it seems. I haven’t gone for a run outside once (the treadmill is a different story…it seems much easier on the treadmill than outside in the elements), and have hardly done any weight training on my own (outside of my training appointments). Yesterday morning I had training and we did some boxing exercises – one of my Caine’s clients is a boxer, so he borrowed some wraps and gloves – and today my arms and shoulders are sore as hell. It was surprising how sore I was after just one round of punching (sparring? jabbing? hitting those flat pad things that the trainers in boxing movies wear? no clue). I’m still considering the boxing route, and mentioned it to my parents as a possible birthday present. It would be nice if I had someone to go with, though – you know, to deflect some of the shame and embarrassment of swinging away like a drunken fool.

Matt and I had discussed with my parents the idea of buying a duplex, half of which would be for us, the other half of which would be for Fernwood. My parents are down, but decided that they want to wait until the fall, when the real estate market is supposed to level out (don’t ask, I barely understand how to buy a house, let alone the intricacies of the housing market). Matt found a house on Sherbrook, about two blocks from our apartment, however, which is huge, houses a hair styling business on the main floor, and – most importantly – is for sale. It’s been up for sale for a year, which could indicate that there’s something wrong with it – shoddy foundation? ghosts in the attic? – or it could indicate that nobody wants to buy a half house/half hair salon. But to convert the main floor to an office wouldn’t be that difficult, so Matt and I are going to check it out on Wednesday morning. We’re both ecstatic at the prospect of living in a house, despite the fact that this particular house is in a less-than-desirable area of the city. It’s on a huge lot, though, so we’ve walked by a few times and talked about what we would do with the back (which is just a gravel parking lot right now). Fun times. I can’t wait to check it out. We took some photos the last time we were there:

Check out the original landscaping:

And the back…potential!

Today is a holiday according to my Fernwood schedule, but I really should be doing thesis stuff today. So far Matt and I have enjoyed some of his delicious banana pancakes and a huge pot of coffee. I think today may consist of cleaning and dicking around. Ahh god. I forsee myself writing my thesis in a week, around August 7th. Go team.