Today is a good day

Here are some fun photos of a ladies night I organized at the Shakespeare Festival.







Today was the best day i have had in a week, physically. My ankles finally stopped hurting, and I even felt reasonably energized. Yay!
I did have a nice week last week with my cousin, Maya, who visited me after her 2-month climbing road trip. We spent a lot of evenings just talking, went out with my brother Friday night, went to Rockygrass Festival on Saturday (and saw Doc Watson!) and went climbing Sunday. It was a really great week, though I pushed myself too much and then suffered the last four days. However, I have been working diligently to heal this past week, sleeping more, eating better, stretching and exercising, and meditating. Plus, I now can work from home on Thursdays, which really made a big difference today. I think I wil be able to go to work tomorrow and not feel terrible. Still, it has been a bit of a struggle... I have had to really focus on not being irritated despite being exhausted. It is a daily practice, to be where I am, and even if that place is not ideal, to be OK with wherever I am. I am OK.
Life is good. I appreciate every moment.

I feel better!

Finally, I feel better. I hiked yesterday for a few miles and climbed all day. My ankles hurt a bit, but they feel so much better. My doctors have not come to any hard conclusions yet, but they think that I don't have any diseases other than the HLA-B27 gene, which causes inflammation in the small intestines and reactive arthritis. They say the pain in my ankles should pass in a few more months and that as long as I'm strict/careful with my diet, the inflammation in my digestive system should be easily controllable and not lead to further negative reactions. Good news all around.

In other news, this past weekend was wonderful. I worked the MERGE: Metro State Alumni Exhibition 2010, which had some fantastic art. I talked with many of the artists and got some fun, short videos (I'll post one I did with this half-Portugese/half-Japanese alumna Luzia Ornelas). Saturday I went tubing (sort of--one of our tubes popped within five minutes of getting in the water), but it was still fun. And, we did a ladies night at Shakespeare, which was just fantastic. I'll post photos later! Sunday, I climbed all day with my dear friend Marc. We went to the Wizard's Den up at the Crags, and it was cold! I went from 100 degree temps in Boulder proper to not having enough clothing and shivering all day in the shade at 8,000+-feet. Yay! Wonderful weekend. And, last night, my cousin Maya showed up at The Marpa House and will be there for a week or two. Fun stuff. Life is good. I'm feeling very relaxed and joyful right now.

Things to look forward to: training to climb 5.12 with Jimmy Redo in the upcoming months; RockyGrass next Saturday; more climbing; hanging with family and friends; and my retreat with Pema Chodron at the end of August; visiting my mom over Labor Day. There are other joyful things in my life as well!