running & life plans

in this nice spring weather, i've gotten back into running. (it's 67 degrees here, right this moment, which is totally unbelievable.)

i feel absolutely great. this is also confirming my notion that it would be hard--exceedingly hard--to move back to the bitter north. where my parents live, it dropped to -40 yesterday. where i am, it's 67 degrees. that's a difference of over 100 degrees. absolutely insane. plus, it's sunny here something like 300 days a year.

anyway, i'm enjoying it while i can & doing my best to get outside as much as i can. i was planning to go snowshoeing today, but am guessing all the snow will just be a sloppy mess, so i'm thinking a hike, instead, will do the trick.

in life plans, i'm almost done with my grad program here. i'll either finish this spring or this summer. either way, it's gone really really fast. and what will i do after this? no idea... i applied for a few phd programs, mostly in warmish places (but one in illinois & one in michigan). so, that's a possibility. but, otherwise, strangely, i have no idea what i'll do. it's kind of nice and freeing--all the possibilities.

i've decided to wait until the end of march before i really start thinking about what to do next year. that will give me time to see if a phd pans out & also will give me time to just enjoy my life here, without wondering what's next. i'm finding, especially recently, that's a better way to live.

(okay, in all honesty, that image is not me in wyoming, currently--it's actually central park in august: but that's how i feel. gloriously warm.)