It has been an unusual week. I don’t know when the professional karma pendulum swung my way, but I received more requests for proposals in the past week than I did in the six months prior. And these aren’t just returning clients; a full two-thirds of them are new clients referred by existing clients. I’m grateful to those who have referred me, and humbled by their faith in me.
Aside from writing proposals, I went to kickboxing twice. The second time was with the owner of the place, substituting for his regular instructor. This was a completely different experience. Not only did it run longer — 75 minutes instead of 60 — it was decidedly more martial arts based than aerobic/cardio based. Don’t get me wrong, it was very cool, but I’d finally gotten the hang of doing everything to the beat of the music; to be in a position of hauling off on the bag was a little bit disorienting. There was a definite power to the workout that the other instructor doesn’t have. And not surprisingly, I’m very, very sore once again.
In the wake of the funeral on Monday, I’ve given some thought to signing up for a half marathon through Team in Training. Lymphoma doesn’t have a celebrity advocate, and doesn’t get nearly the same attention as other diseases, yet the results are devastating. But Team in Training is a steep fundraising commitment, which is the reason why I’m hesitating. It’s kind of sad to think that fear of the financial commitment is trumping the fear of the physical commitment required to pull this off.
I’m traveling again for another conference, leaving Saturday morning. On one level, I’m thrilled to have some time to myself, time where I can work quietly without worrying about preschool pickup, cooking dinner or doing any one of a dozen other household things that need to be done every day. On the other hand, I get no hugs, no funny preschool songs and no backyard baseball. Suddenly the trip seems less interesting than it did when I booked it.