Hi Everyone,

Time for my tri-monthly update! I’d hoped to update more regularly, but the past few months have been a little bumpy. Some good, some better, some not-so-great.

The main obstacle du jour is having been diagnosed with sleep apnea. While it’s always difficult to get diagnosed with a “disorder,” the treatment is simple and effective. (For those of you who don’t know, sleep apnea is a sleep disorder where one—specifically, me—stops breathing several times during the night.) Before, I had been snoring (a lot!) and not feeling rested after I wake up. Now, with the use of a C-PAP machine (a device which simply pumps enough air through my nose to keep my throat from closing off), I think I’ve been sleeping better. And I’ve been told my snoring has stopped almost entirely. The down side is that I wear a face mask at night, which can sometimes get a little uncomfortable, and wearing it makes cuddling difficult. But for the moment, that’s not an issue, and the pros seem to outweigh the cons right now.

Also, the ADD (argh, another disorder!) has been acting up again, although I think it was mostly exacerbated by the apnea. Things have calmed down a bit for the past few months, but I’ve decided to go in to see what my options are. Perhaps I’ll try meds again (third time’s a charm) or maybe even some behavioral techniques. The frustrating part is that I called for an appointment in January when things were rough, but the earliest I could see a doctor is next week. (It’s like having a hole in your roof and calling the repairman—pardon me, repairperson—when it’s snowing, only to find that the earliest someone can come out to repair the hole is in the summertime.) So although things have settled down a lot, I figure it can’t hurt to see what my options are now. And besides, I need to use my benefits while I can!

But all has not just been “disorderly” lately. Plans to get certified to teach English are starting to come together. I’d hoped to be en route to Australia by late April to attend a specific course I think would be the best option for me, but it looks like that may be postponed until July or even some time in the fall. I may choose to get certified elsewhere; the same program takes place all over the world but only in 4 U.S. cities. Denver and San Francisco are the only viable options. (But it might be cheaper overall to take the course in Australia or Thailand!) Anyway, there’s a lot of researching to be done, but it’s exciting to see what my options are and to know that they aren’t so out-of-reach.

I’ve been writing sporadically, but there’s a good chance a piece I wrote for a magazine will be accepted and published. I don’t want to jinx it, and I don’t want to announce anything until it’s definite (there’s a chance it might not make the expected issue due to last-minute decisions, space constraints, etc.). Once it’s a done deal, I’ll make a big announcement, believe me. In the meantime, there are a few more places asking for submissions, so I’ll have 2 more stories submitted by month’s end. The tricky part is to keep the momentum going, esp. when the real world takes up so much time. (Being an adult kind of sucks sometimes…)

So this weekend I’m off to Phoenix to see some friends, and when I come back, it’ll be time to pinpoint a plan for the summer. I’ve been getting a little too wanderlusty to stay put much longer.

OK, back to the grind. More next month (if not sooner)!

Love, laughter, and travel,
dave