Its 5:00 on this Saturday morning and I am wide awake.  I feel rested, refreshed, reawakened.  The past few weeks have been busy to say the least. So much has changed in the past two months which is a part of why I haven’t written. I started two jobs at the end of October, working 10-12 hour shifts overnight Sunday through Thursday, then a second part time job working Friday nights as well as full days on Saturday and Sunday.

As a matter of fact my week looks like this, work Friday night, beers with Aaron and Kristyna before bed. Saturday all day, Sunday 9am to 5 then an hour drive to the next job till 7am.  Sunday is literally 22 hours of work before I pass out when I get home.  Exhausted, drained, one foot in front of the other I pull myself back to work for the rest of the week.  Friday when I arrive home at 7 to 8 in the morning I sleep for just two hours before trying to retain some of the time for the day before work again.

So this goes day in day out.  My main job is hard work.  For 12 hours I move, turn, pivot, lift, bend, reach and repeat.  This job is so physical that no matter what I’ve chosen to eat I have lost between 15 and 20 lbs.  Combining this with my grueling schedule I find that time is not on my side.  It is funny how my rest days are spent walking a retail store helping customers before going back to the grind again, there is no downtime.

I have started to look at work as training for me.  The constant moving and straining day to day has gone from soreness to mild discomfort.  Nights where I crawled into the house, limping and stiff are now walked in with accomplishment and pride.  Everyday I get better and stronger.  Through all this I feel my ankles getting stronger as I use muscles long atrophied from my break last August.

Amongst all this, I have moved out of my sisters house.  My Sister and Brother in law are two of the warmest, understanding, compassionate and down right giving people I know.  Since March they have fed me, kept me safe and housed me as I scraped, crawled, fell, climbed back to my feet.  Pushing me forward and encouraging me that I can get back to where I once was.  through all of this they let me stay only to take in Aaron’s grandmother two days after I moved out.  Without a day to themselves they turned their house over to another family member.  Someday I hope to be able to repay their kindness.

My new place is just a room in a wonderful persons house.  Kevin, my brother, found an add on the web and set a meeting up for us.  This couldn’t have worked out better for the both of us.  Her family is going through some things right now and having someone in the house eases the pain and tension, distracting them as they heal and grieve.  I can’t say that Roland my dog is not a part of that as well.  Who wouldn’t love that fur-ball of charm and character.  Having Roland back with me is a big thing.  I feel complete and he definitely doesn’t feel abandoned any more.

I have able to pay for my room through April upfront, allowing me to put every cent afterwards to this journey and commitment.  I hope that I am kept on after this holiday season at my full time job.  I could easily pay for this trip and the next in one shot.  If I am kept on, I know my schedule free up a bit to spend more time at home and get out hiking again.  Fortunately my little downtime allows me to focus on my pack weight.  I have managed to drop my base weight from over 22 pounds to 17 and a half, 15 pounds is within reach if I can get a better pack.  The lower my base weight the better my chances are in the long run.

April is fast approaching and before long It will be the first day of the rest of my life. Getting here has been hard and it is only the halfway point.  There have been bleak moments and falls, there have also been accomplishments and moments of strength.  As I move forward I am not daunted by the lack of donations for our Cancer team, I accept that this is the holiday season and it will pick up the closer we get to leaving.  Halfway there and almost home.

It is kinda funny, when I used to run the dogs on the sled and scooter, as we would approach the end of the trail the end not in sight but knowing it was right around the corner I would tell them we are almost home.  With just those words they would pick up speed, new life, vigor and rocket forward to the finish line.  In saying it to myself I feel the same way.  Almost Home!!!