A Room with a View

The first year of living in Boulder has passed like a quiet wind. I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone by. And now I have another benchmark to celebrate: the first two weeks at my new job.In the last year, it has been a rocky road to finding a "day job" that would bring me both the kind of satisfaction and salary I need to replace the thrills and chills that I get from my "night job" and true love, which is of course, writing. I've been in that awkward limbo of having the time to do what I want, but the fun of it being tempered by the uncertainty and instability that comes from having less income. I have to confess that I have not explored the east side of the Rockies to any great extent in the last year, despite the time that I've had. Mostly because I'm a slave to my brain and spend so many hours writing, or researching what I plan to be writing. But it's also because I lived on the western slope for a couple of years and did gads of exploring there. The beauty and majesty of western Colorado and eastern Utah still linger with me and I have a nostalgia about that area that I'm afraid to ruin. Silly, I know, but there it is.So anyway, the job thing. I've begun working for the Institute of Behavioral Science at CU and loving it. Of course, I mourn the lost hours of the day where I was previously writing, but there is definitely something to be said for having a healthy salary and, get this, my own office! Yeah, I know it's kind of a shallow thing to be enthused about, but I've never had my own office. And one with a view overlooking Boulder at that, so I'm a little titillated about it. The CU campus is incredibly lovely and such a pleasant place to work. Boulder has been really, really good to me, and I'm still on that gratitude kick I wrote about a few weeks ago.Here are a few pictures I took with my iPhone while walking around campus. Sorry, I don't know the names of the buildings yet...

I walk through here everyday to work. There are turtles!

My office, pre-decoration. The only complaint I have is I'm stuck using PCs again. Oh well.

Yes, that's the office's espresso machine. Oh yeah!

One of the new IBS building's gathering spots. It's a great place to work.

My view.

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

Thoughts on Gratitude

Finn: Grateful for a Good Nap

Hi folks. I’ve let the blog languish for the usual couple of weeks without any new posts, which is becoming a trend. I’m a person that has to ruminate on a thought for a great amount of time before I’m ready to put it out for the rest of the world, so that kind of explains it. And of course the other reason I haven’t posted anything in so long is because I’m just constantly, inevitably, overwhelmingly busy. Maybe if I was faster and could run more than 12 or so miles in two hours, I’d have more time write. I’ll work on that.

There’s a little topic that’s been whirling around my brain for about the last three months, and I think it’s finally time to let it out. That topic is a simple emotion that many of us often feel, but maybe you, like me, have a hard time knowing how to express it. That feeling is gratitude. Make that Gratitude, with a capital G.

I admit that when Mr. Universally Talented proposed the idea of moving to Boulder a little over a year ago that I was both reticent and skeptical of the idea. Eugene is / was home, is / was comfortable, and is / was rather dull (after almost twenty years). The idea of moving to a new place, with a reputation such as Boulder has, was hard to swallow due to the myriad unknowns. Where would we live? What would job prospects look like? How would we adjust with the leaving behind of so many friends? You know, just those little things.

But I have to say, moving here has been like stepping through a doorway into a party where you’re the guest of honor. I have met some of the most warm and caring people in the world, been welcomed by some truly amazing opportunities, and yes, even have had some of the most gratifying writing experiences a girl could wish for. In the eleven months since moving to Boulder, I’ve gone from having one finished novel, to two, and from being an unpublished writer, to a published one. This has been a dream of mine for years, and it’s finally come true. It has been absolutely grand.

For all of these things, I am utterly grateful. There is something particularly sweet about jumping off a ledge, giving up all comforts and stability, and letting the universe decide whether to let you fall or to catch you. When it catches you, it makes you realize how very, very lucky and privileged you are. And it also makes you want to share what it’s like to feel that good.

If gratitude were a color it would be mint green. If it were a flavor it would be praline ice cream. If it were a smell, it would be peaty Islay scotch. It’s one of those emotions that is totally freeing, that makes you feel as if you could run a marathon with winged feet and carry everyone you love along with you. Gratitude is encompassing, warm, sweet and wonderful. It is a joy so compelling that you want to spread it around and do good things for others so they can experience the same happiness. Gratitude is something to share.

So, forgive the sappy post, but I wanted to let everyone know what’s been going on out here in these yonder parts. I hope that maybe sharing some of my good news will be an invitation to everyone to share some of their own. Tell me about the good things in your lives, from joys experienced with friends and loved ones, to even the simple comforts, like chocolate and a tasty bottle of wine.

Speaking of chocolate and wine--I think it's time for some Lindt Chili Chocolate bar (which really compliments a good Merlot).

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

Road Ride

Had a great road ride yesterday with Mr. Universally Talented. Winds were gusting up to 30mph, but it was in the mid-80s and, WTF, we're on the Front Range. If we can't handle a little wind we may as well go back to Oregon, right? We did about 26 miles with 1700ft elevation gain. That may not sound like much, but 1200ft were in the span of about 4 miles, so it felt like ALOT! I was just grateful not to have another viewing of the breakfast burrito I had eaten earlier in the morning. The great thing about this part of the mountains is that the wind is always blowing from the west, and sometimes also from the south. So, as long as you start your ride heading into the mountains and end it heading towards the flats, you'll have a kickass tailwind. Which we did. We managed a span of about 8 miles doing between 30-35 mph. It was suh-weet!

Training to run, running to...well...run

Evil Coach Husband and I have started a marathon training plan called FIRST which requires just three days of running per week: intervals, tempo, and long. It's a 16 week program, but we're extending it a little longer than that because neither of us have been running much since last year--I've been fighting a peroneus brevis strain in my left ankle and something weird, possibly a subluxated fibula, in my right knee, and Coach has just been lazy (only kidding). In addition, the run we're training for isn't actually a marathon, but a 17+ mile trail run from Ouray to Telluride, some of the most gorgeous mountain scenery known to the Rockies. The run is called the Imogene Pass Run and is known for its brutality. Sweet. The best part of the training is the amazing trails around Boulder and their seeming limitlessness. Finnegan, our Irish Potato Hound, is happy about the whole deal as well.We're lucky enough to live a stone's throw from an artery of Boulder's massive inner-city bike trail system. Exactly one mile from our condo are a couple of man made "lakes" (really just ponds) that are encircled by trail. One of them is also fenced and allows dogs off leash. It's a kilometer in distance, and perfect for doing intervals with the dog splashing and sprinting around like a mad hatter. He truly is a nut, but it's pretty cute. Little does he know that this lake will be where he truly learns to swim. When it gets a little warmer, we'll truss him up in our dog PFD and take the kayaks out on the lake. I'm sure he'll figure out how the whole swimming thing works if he gets desperate enough.One of the other perks of this lake is the variety of bird life around there. It's always just teeming with birds singing a symphony, which just wanted something I heard a lot of in Eugene. All in all, life is pretty good here.

First (new) Post and Boulder First Impressions

Ack! I’ve been meaning to start (ok, re-start) this blog since I moved to Boulder, and just keep finding other things to do. But, dear reader, it is Your Lucky Day! My brain is beginning its countdown to droolius abomicus status due to a very interesting, yet somewhat frazzling, day and I need a break from my book. In the category of good news, the novel is at a little over 70,000 words right now (this is the second novel, those who know me already know that I’ve also written another one. This is the sequel.), and have very good hopes that it will be done, at least the first draft, no later than the end of May. Woohoo! It took me about four years to write the first one, and this one’s come along in less than one year. Either I’m getting better, or I’m getting boring-er. I know, not a word, but I like the alliterative quality. OK, let me just keep this short. Here’s what’s been on my mind since I moved to Boulder.First impressions:It’s as warm as shit here! Uh, sorry, maybe not the best simile, but you get the idea. Even though the temp says 46 F, it usually feels like it’s in the mid-sixties thanks to the dry and the sun. Awesome!The traffic lights believe in pain. I’m not sure if they’re endowed with human-like sadistic tendencies, or the city engineers who decided on the timing, but the results are the same. They’re so short that you have to floor it to get through. The idea of traffic control here is to make it too frustrating to drive a car. Lights are only green for approximately 4 seconds, so if you’re the fourth car back, you get to wait twice. If you’re beyond that, you may get through by dinnertime. Eugene drivers would barely make it into the intersection before that light went from green to red.I’m beginning to regard rain as a strange wet substance that occasionally, for no apparent reason, falls from the sky. And I don’t mind this at all.That’s all for now!