Firstly, a couple of weeks ago I decided to splurge and take a trip to Hawaii. Since I had the miles and someone was willing to host me there, I figured I’d go before work got crazy. Let me tell you, it was one of the best ideas ever. I spent most of the time laying on the beach and lounging around. It was amazing. I didn’t make it to see any of the famous sites, but I figure I’ll go back and do that again later.

Beyond the trip to Hawaii, my life has pretty much come down to a few basic activites: training for Ragnar, working, and climbing.

As is normal for the month of July, I’m completely deep into my training for the Ragnar relay. As has been the case in previous years, I’m in a good regimen of running, lifting, and abstaining from drinking in any way. This year, I’m actually pushing myself a bit more in my runs, and I’ve decided not to ease off the lifting. As it turns out, I’m seeing great benefits over my training in my previous years and I’m really excited to see how things go with this years race. I’ve also been training in Vibrams, which I feel have helped me a great deal. As the relay is less than two weeks away, expect to hear more from me about the whole thing soon.

The next big thing in my life has been work. With the upcoming of release of Windows Phone 7, my team has been ramping up for the last push. As it often goes with software, this final push is where it all falls into place. Unfortunately, this also means a lot of work, some long hours, and a bit of a toll on me physically is all in store. I am, however, really loving what I’m doing. I’ve always been a bit of a phone freak, so getting the opportunity to work in this technology space is a real treat. It’s very much akin to my time at Zune. Although we aren’t quite marching like we did there.

The last big thing I’ve gotten even more into has been climbing. Since November, I’ve gotten into a pretty good rhythm of climbing with my friend Shawn. We’ve been climbing generally at least once a week, and life permitting, even more. Given that Shawn is quite a bit better than I am, I’ve actually improved a great deal, which has been rather awesome. I’ve also started climbing outdoors and leading, which is something I never thought I’d be up to doing.

So yeah, that’s kind of the life I’m living right now. I’m really happy with everything. As I told my friend Josh today as we were walking to dinner, “Life is good.”

Honestly, this is such a truism in my life it’s hard to explain. I always do my best working on projects I find have a purpose and I am deeply interested in. Microsoft.com, Zune, and now Windows Phone have all provided me with an opportunity to work on projects around my interests. My work is always better and I’m always more satisfied.

I also know I’m not the only one, which makes me often wonder about re-orgs. Is reorganizing a group of people to do something they didn’t initially sign up to do really a productive move? Just something to think about.

Firstly, there’s been work. It’s really ramped up and yeah…That’s really it. I’m trying to keep everything balanced in terms of work and life, and I’m doing an ok job at it. Still, I occasionally find myself working late, but nothing too insane.

The next big thing has been class. It’s going ok. It’s hard, but I’m hanging in there. Unfortunately, the homework eats into my life a bit. ::shrugs::

The other big thing that just eats my time is Sakura-con. As you know, I’m an assistant director for the con, and right now, there’s just a shit ton to do. I’m not going to go into specifics because, well, just don’t need to. Needless to say, it’s what I spend my weekends doing. Well, at least the days. I usually get Friday and Saturday night to do whatever. ^_^

So those are the big recurring themes of my of what have me so busy.

There was also a trip to Whistler a couple of weeks ago. Maybe I’ll get around to writing that. But yes, I’m still alive, I just have a lot going on. Alright, time for bed, I need to get up and work out tomorrow.