Motivational Mondays (Aug. 10)

I couldn't have asked for a greater weekend. Well, almost a flawless weekend...

Saturday, I went running with our Ragnar team, the Desert Tortoises and we laid down a lot the info for the race, which is now starting to feel real.

That night, I met up with family and friends to celebrate my birthday... and sing karaoke.

Sunday, I went running with the Lopers. Took a nap. Went to Disneyland Resort. I also bought me a new pair of shoes.

The only blemish was getting hit by another car. I'm fine and neither the other car nor myself were going very fast but the driver and passenger door on the left side of the car don't look very good. Icky mess now trying to fix it.

Aside from that, my weekend was grand.

Today, though, it's a whole new world. Literally. I'm leaving behind friends and family to go to Mexico City for work. I'll be there until Friday.

In some ways, it's nice to travel once more and visit a place I've never been too (I've been to a lot of Mexico, just not the capital). It's nice to have the chance to go somewhere like that, as it was nice to have gone to Costa Rica.

However, it's difficult because I'm heading into the unknown. And, worst of all, I'm leaving my family once more. It always makes things hard, to say goodbye to the ones I love and cherish most, knowing that our contact for the next five days will be minimal.

But what I do when I go into tough situations like this is to remember the good things and keep those fresh in my mind. Yvie drew me a family portrait and a note that I'll keep handy, and it'll be a reminder of what I'll have waiting for me on Friday. Having had a weekend like the one I had, when I saw so many of the people I care about the most, was about as good of a send-off as I could have asked for.