What better day to start writing again than Valentine’s Day?!

OK. I know you’re all disappointed in my apparent lack of effort in journal writing. But I assure you that it has been 100% unintentional. My life has just been a whirlwind since being back in real life.

Just to give you an idea of what has been happening, here’s a quick run-down:

When I returned to work in October, my job was not solidified. I knew before I began this journey that although my company was supporting my decision to embark on this adventure, they could not guarantee that they could hold my position for when I returned. I appreciated their honesty and accepted their terms. So I was happy when they offered to bring me back. However, when I returned, I was put back on a 3 month temporary contract. Since I had left, they had begun training a new employee for my position. But the company had big expectations for growth. So they decided to welcome me back in anticipation that my department would need the extra manpower. From October to January a decision would be made if the company still needs the extra hands. As January approached, my nerves were growing anxious. I was confident that I was performing well, but you never know what the top dogs are thinking! I’m happy to announce that the 3 month temporary contract has now resulted into permanent employment once again! It would be great if I could focus 100% of my time and effort on SeeTheEnd, but realistically I have to earn a living somehow.

In the late Fall, many people contacted me with a common question…. “Do you still rollerblade everyday?” The short answer is No. Not because I don’t enjoy it. But because I don’t enjoy skating in the rain if I don’t have to. And for those of you who know Vancouver, we see plenty of rain!

So what am I doing to stay in shape? Well, my indoor soccer team was happy to see me return to action this past Fall. Sure, it’s only once a week, but the cardio workout I get is incredible! It also helps that I walk to work everyday. That’s about 5km a day!

For those of you who know me well, I’m one of the easiest going, relaxed guys you’ll ever meet. So to keep me on my toes, I have an unusual tendency to introduce various stresses in my everyday life just to see if I can handle them. As November marched on, I started to feel like I was getting to comfortable with everyday life. I needed a new spark. And there was only one thing that made sense. But the thing that was on my mind had been brewing for quite some time. And to make it more stressful on myself, it was something I had to keep a secret until just the right moment. On the morning of my Mom’s birthday (Novemeber 23), I unveiled my master plan to the world. Just before heading to work for the day, I pulled Crystal aside and asked her to be my wife! And so the next chapter in my life begins! What could be more stressfull than planning a wedding?! Oh wait…I know. How about trying to plan a wedding in Toronto from Vancouver! I’ve really out done myself this time! I caught Crystal (and everyone else) completely off guard because we were all focussed on my Mom’s birthday. Within a matter of weeks, we were on a flight back to Toronto to begin the wedding planning. Now were back in Vancouver working on the remaining details from the opposite side of the country. I never seem to do anything the easy way!

On top of everything else, I’ve also been working to find the cause of some ankle pain I’ve been having. I can’t recall if I mentioned this before, but before I began my skate last May, I hurt my ankle playing soccer. It never really healed completely, but I made the decision to go ahead with the journey regardless. I didn’t want to worry anyone, so I kept it to myself. And honestly, skating didn’t seem to aggravate it. But now that I’m back playing soccer and walking everyday, I seem to have a lot of discomfort again. So I’ve been to see doctors, physiotherapists, acupuncturists and specialists. I’ve been in for x-rays, bone scans and CT scans. So far there has been no official diagnosis, but I will be getting the results of a CT scan in the next few days. To make matters more complicated, I was just recently involved in a knee-on-knee collision during my last soccer match. I’m hoping I don’t have any ACL damage. Form what I’ve been told, you usually hear a ‘pop’ if you do serious damage to the ACL. So I’m crossing my fingers on this one.

The most recent project I have taken on to keep occupied has been to rebuild a great website. My friend, Christine, started the website www.CancerGrief.com. Since I work in the industry, I offered to help her out and make some changes and upgrades. Hopefully the changes will save her some time and money so she can put more effort into pursuing the motivation behind the site! It’s a wonderful site helping everyone and anyone who has been affected by cancer. Stop by her site and drop her an e-mail if you have a minute.

At any rate, you can see that I’ve been keeping myself busy. There’s still a lot of details I’ve left out, too.

I’m still hoping I can develop the Skate For Hope into some sort of annual event. If anyone in or near Vancouver is interested in helping to organize a rollerblading event for cancer research, please contact me directly.