Thursday, October 11, 2012

Short Hiatus (in case that wasn't obvious...)

Hello, gentle reader! I think of you all the time, and I think of so many things I'd like to share with you. Here's a brief update from the land of Kate...
I learned to love to climb on my bike this summer!

On the last day of the biking season, I was ripping around with a bunch of my friends, riding fast and having fun, and I wiped out on the in run to a jump (I wasn't even on the jump yet), and I broke three ribs in six places.

Because of that, I didn't go to Whistler as planned. Second year in a row that a fall trip has been cancelled! Last year, Kurt and I were to go to Ushuia to train and I got neck surgery instead.

I'm six weeks out from breaking myself, and I'm healing nicely. Ribs take a long time, those of you who have been reading for a while may recall about four years ago when I broke a bunch of ribs skateboarding with my favorite 13 year old at the time. (Can he really be 16 now?? Unreal. Driving.)

In the meantime, it has been a very tough six weeks. There are some things that I can not share with you that have been difficult to go through. The result of facing these things, and facing them alone, was that I was not very kind to myself. It is in those moments, when I am fighting for myself, for my sanity, for some grace, that I want to share with you.

Those moments are so hard, and I know that we all experience them. Its the reality of our human struggle that is interesting to me, the small triumphs that make me believe there is a future worth having.

HOWEVER, I haven't been writing my blog because I have been writing furiously almost every day, and my novel is almost finished!!

I picked up an agent at Aspen's Summer Words festival, and I'm very excited to deliver the manuscript to her in the next two weeks.

SO. My blog is on hiatus until I finish this draft of the novel, and I make a little cash. Being out of work for six weeks was BRUTAL on my bank account, but huzzah huzzah, I had saved up enough that I came through it okay with a little help from my sister.

(Whom I will, one day, take to Fiji on a glorious Stella Got Her Groove back vacation. She deserves it.)

In the mean time, my younger sister has been traveling all over, from California, to Israel, to Argentina this summer, and we all miss her terribly, but she is doing amazing things as well. She has become my model for project planning and execution. This girl has got her shit together, let me tell you.

When she gets back, we are going to sit down and look at how to organize my writing better so that I can stay in touch with you all on a more regular basis, and our conversations (which happen mostly by email or Facebook) can be more open to the general public.

My older sister, Beth, wrapped a movie and went back to her beautiful little nest in Topanga canyon. I'm going to visit her on on the 27th, and we are going to see the Book of Mormon, which I'm really excited about!

The boys are doing well, they were both horribly sick, the worst I've seen them, but they are hale and hardy again. They are devouring the Rick Riorden stories voraciously, reading and re-reading the series over and over. The books are falling apart. Ethan is in Arches with his Fifth grade class, and Bodhi is swimming his way back through a mountain of make up work.

I was accepted to study at the Ashtanga Institue in Mysore, India, for yoga, and I had been planning on going in November. Because of my broken ribs, I am unable to go (the practice is incredibly demanding), so I have rescheduled that trip for April of 2013. I hope to take Bodhi out of school and bring him with me. We will be in India from April through June, where Bodhi will attend a local school.

So. In the meantime, ski season is fast approaching, plans are being made, Christmas dates are being vied for, and I have started working in the training department helping make some whiteboard animations.

Once again, I'm fairly frustrated at my lack of traction, I'm tired of being on such a tight budget in the off season. Breaking my ribs didn't help, and I did better this time than in the past, but I'm ready for a change. Its been a long time coming.

Having no "Big Goal" like the tryouts imminently looming ahead has left me without my compass, which isn't a bad thing. People have asked me if I'm going to try out again, and I'm not sure. I'm open to the idea. But this year I think is a year of recovery, it was such an intense journey. I'm looking forward to going to Japan with a client and friend of mine, I'm looking forward to working hard in the training department, helping others develop their journey.

I wish I could have gone to India first before this season, and come back ripped and ready to rock. But, again, breaking my ribs gave me a couple of gifts, time to write, time to face the difficulties I was going through without running away from them, time to think, time to be with my kids.

Its time to stick my paddle in the water and steer this boat... Thanks for your patience, and for sticking with me through spotty posting. You are in my heart, gentle reader, and I'll stay in touch. As soon as I finish the book, this month, I'll begin posting regularly again.

Much love and grace on YOUR journey!

Kate