Reconnecting...

2010 holds promise to be a year of significant changes for me/and K. Not only change, but reconnection.

Obviously one of the biggest changes thus far and moving forward will be developing my own practice and reconnecting with my professional goals. I have strayed so far from what I set out to do in terms of my career in recent years. I have been so fortunate to receive great training and experiences since I embarked on this journey to become a psychologist 12 1/2 years (wow, really?) ago. I am confident in my clinical skills, and I need to use them to make a difference in the lives of children and families, not to manage others. My last day at work was on Monday, and it still hasn't really hit me yet that I'm not going back. So far it just feels like I am taking a couple of days off. We spent much of the past weekend getting my office set up, and it turned out to be so much better than I could have hoped for. We have a few finishing touches to take care of, but otherwise I am open for business. So, I will be networking a lot in the upcoming weeks to (hopefully) start getting referrals (if you have any connections with schools, pediatric docs, attorneys, daycare providers, or anyone else who works with kids, please send me an email or leave me a note). There's a lot of unknown ahead, and I generally don't do well with that, but this is a risk that I had to take for my professional growth and personal happiness. So, I'm moving forward and not looking back.

In light of that unknown though, it's certainly not the best time to consider another major change, particularly one that requires an element of financial security and stability. But, after our house was broken into a couple of days before Christmas, we've decided that we need to accelerate our plan to buy a house (in another neighborhood!). We've scouted out a few neighborhoods in the West and Southwest areas, and are actively starting the process of finding/buying a house. It makes the most sense for us to live Southwest since that is where we both work now, although K is fighting the move to the 'burbs. We'll try to take advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit by April so this will be another big project we're undertaking in the next couple of months.

With the increased flexibility in my schedule, I'm ready to start training again. After my injury late last summer, I took some time off to heal which then turned into an extended hiatus from running, mostly because of the stress of dealing with other things in life (namely work) at the time and then the holidays. I haven't really set any major goals for the year yet (in part because my goals for last year were shot to hell due to illness and injury), but some short-term plans are already starting to take shape (which is good so that I'll get off my expanding butt and start running again). My first race of the year will likely be the NYC Half in March. We had such a great time during our trip there last month that we are looking forward to going back. I also want K to have the experience of running in NYC since he'll probably never do the NYC Marathon with me. The next big event will be the Pocatello 50 in May. I am running the relay with some of our trail running buddies, and I'm looking forward to getting back out on the trails in the next few weeks. With these events in place, I'll probably build toward a fall marathon and/or ultra in the latter part of the year. But, first, I need to get my butt moving so that my running shorts will fit again.

2009 was a big year of travel for us. With my job change, we are likely going to have to cut back on that this year until my practice takes off. But, somehow, we already seem to have a travel schedule developing. We're heading to CO for a ski trip at Breckenridge next weekend, NYC to run in March, NCAA Regionals also in March, a wedding in Ohio in April, trail race in Idaho in May, and our trip to France for the Tour in July. And, that's just the things that are already in place for the first half of the year!

I also hope that 2010 is a year of reconnecting with my social side. I really think that the job change will have a huge (positive) impact on that. I need to nurture those relationships that are meaningful and satisfying, and accept those that have become distant due to different priorities or other changes.

So, 2010 holds much potential and the opportunity to reconnect with myself as a psychologist, runner, and friend. I want to enjoy life again. And, I hope to share that with you again by blogging more often.