Going Stag

Luckily I managed to have a date each year to prom. However, for the next 8 months, I'll be flying solo. My crime partner, husband unit, tandem driver, sherpa (and so much more) has left me for the big blue ocean. And I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. After Monday, my head is still spinning. But before I get there, here's a little update (or big) of what I've been up to prior to Kyle's departure:

Vegas: Had a blast in Vegas for our last real vacation before the deployment. Stayed at the Encore and the Cosmopolitan. Enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and yes, we even got 2 days of climbing in at the beautiful Red Rock National Park.

Halloween: Kyle and I had a last minute idea inspired by the bright pink vest I found that day while moving. Chris had a bright blue vest, and the "ice climbers" were born. Think super old NES game. Except we aren't brother and sister, and we actually had ice axes, not wooden hammer majoberinos. We went out in PB and then to another house party in Point Loma before I had to get to bed before my race the next morning.

Fearless Triathlon: got a comp entry from work because we sponsor the event. I was in week 3 of training and had done NOTHING the week before since we were in Vegas [taper right?] and went out the night before for Halloween [read: hungover]. Fearless is a double mini-sprint. [200yard swim, 10k bike, 2.5k run] x2.  Five transitions. Good times. It's kind of like a heart attack [not speaking from experience here] but it gets the heart rate pumping. Second swim is wetsuit-less, and man was it hard. My tri top, although it looks tight, it wasn't tight enough. I ballooned up like a marshmallow during that second swim. I was laughing at myself underwater at how much slower I was going to be on that swim. [It was like 1:30 slower - but for 200 yards - that's ALOT.] Bike and run splits were almost exactly the same. So I suppose that was a good thing. Run course ended up short according to my garmin, but I ended up running my fastest race pace, so that was cool, and the AG win [by 10 min] isn't too shabby either. It's a well run event, and fun because it's different. Try it out next year!

New House: We moved! I know, right before he deploys and right before our Vegas trip. It was crazy timing, but we found a place we love in OB. Sadly Kyle didn't get to enjoy it for very long before he had to leave. I still live with roommate Chris, which has been nice, since I can't imagine living alone right now. But I'm back in OB - after a 3 year hiatus in Point Loma - man the crap a house can accumulate after living in a place for three years. And 10 different roommates later [all in and out and left a ton of CRAP!] Fun times. Pictures of new place to come soon.

Joshua Tree: Got to head up to J-tree for a night and a half day of climbing [before we were rained out - sad]. It was great to be able to be in Kyle's favorite place with him before he left. He even got to sneak up there again on Veterans Day [I had to work].

Saturday was his last day here, since he had duty on Sunday and Monday they left. [duty is every 6 days and requires him to sleep on the boat.] It was a super busy day, dealing with getting his car put in storage, last minute shopping and errand trips, and packing/organizing. Not fun. Oh yeah, did I mention it rained all day? Anyway, after a stressful day, we had a very nice, relaxing, DELICIOUS dinner at a restaurant in OB called 3rd Corner. It's a wine place with yummy food. 

So that's it. Monday was probably one of the worst days I've had. I got in a car accident on the way to go say goodbye. Luckily I have some of the best friends ever. Thank you Dave, Erin, Chris, Chad, Frank, and my Mom and Dad for helping me get through that horrible day with a smile on my face by the end. I didn't think I'd be emotional over him leaving. I'm a pretty level headed person at this point in my life. But the stress of that accident and the fear that I'd not get to say goodbye was simply overwhelming. I did manage to get on the base, and I got that last big kiss and hug. I let out a good cry on Coronado as I watched his boat sail under the bridge and past me - into that big blue ocean. So I did what every dependasauras does and I went for a run and then a swim. 

Tuesday was the first full day. One day closer to his return. Tuesday was get car crap figured out, ride my bike, swim, and organize! I think I'm going to run out of things to clean and organize pretty quickly here. And today, I was back to work. I left my house at 6:30am and didn't get back until 9:30pm, which becomes a typical day for me:

Teach a swim lesson

Get my workout in

Work

Volunteer swim coach for the Tri Club of San Diego

Somehow, all of that adds up to not a lot of free time. But I love what I do and I guess I have to keep telling myself that. Doing my best at keeping busy. 

I love you Kyle. Hurry back.