Stress Relief

Egads, it's December!

...but chances are you knew that already.

I am feeling good right now, the sort of sore looseness that only comes after a good workout.  It is a much needed looseness, coming as it does after the Thanksgiving holiday which, while wonderful and full of family, was also full of Stress (capital S).  Not even Thanksgiving per se (or, as I prefer to call it, Turkey Liberation Day), but the following Tuesday.  That was the day my mom and stepdad headed back home, which came on top of a couple of other (non-related) Emotional Low Blows.  As such I did not go to work that day, but instead engaged in two sure-fire stress relievers: I made lists, and I cleaned house.

That was not enough, and so last night I baked.

I was still feeling like Blah this morning, but that was okay because I knew what adventure this evening held: my brush-up climbing class at Vancouver's new rock gym.  Although to be perfectly candid, as the hour drew near I found it was adding to my stress rather than relieving it.  I started to feel really nervous, and vomitty, and all-around I-don't-want-to-go-ish (because what if I look like a fool??).  But I did go, and I had a really excellent time.  I found that I hadn't forgotten nearly as much as I'd thought I had in the three years since I last put on a harness, and moreover that it's really every bit as fun as I remembered.  After warming up on a couple of routes, I pushed myself by doing a 5.8, and although I took a fall on that one my partner (brand new to belaying) caught me and all was well (and then I finished it, which was even more well).  By the time I finished my last climb of the night (a 5.7 with the teensiest bit of overhang that my triceps are currently making much of) I'd worked up a happy, healthy sweat, and a determination to make it out there at least three times a week.  Not to mention the happy sore looseness.

And now?  Now we sleep the sleep of the (stress-free) righteous.