That Grin

No, I haven't been offered a teaching job for the fall (thanks for asking). I haven't finished my state teaching license. A lot of my friends are moving out of town or just gone for parts of the summer. It's been hitting 100 degrees most days and, if I'm lucky, I can keep my house under 75. I've been doing Crossfit for nearly 2 1/2 years but my body fat percentage is in the low 30s, I can't do a handstand pushup or muscle up, and I still haven't totally figured out my nutrition.

And yet, sometimes I find myself walking around the house with a big goofy grin on my face. And when I say walking, I mean jumping. Maybe it's because I just got a Magic Bullet blender and am having so much fun finding new ways to get delicious nutrition. Maybe I'm proud to to be done with my master's degree after 18 months of work and to have recently set personal records (PRs) of 273 pounds on my deadlift and 103 pounds on my snatch. Perhaps I'm reminiscing sleeping in Israel's Negev Desert or snorkeling in Eilat last December, remembering how challenging and exhilarating it was to meet up with 40+ strangers at EWR one afternoon and spend the next 10 days exploring a foreign country with them. Some days it's because I just got back from a difficult workout at the gym or a long walk with my 3-year-old puppy Kona. Or maybe I just caught a glimpse of Kona peeking out from under the couch where she likes to relax.

What am I going to do this fall? Who is going to hire me? Where am I going to live? Am I going to pass my last two licensure tests on the first try? How long is it going to take to get my body fat percentage under 25? Am I doing everything right with my nutrition? Am I going to keep in touch with the friends who are moving? Am I going to make new friends? I don't know, but I'm still grinning.