I can't believe that March is already here. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was celebrating New Year's with Marvin? Or attending my graduate school orientation? It doesn't feel like we should be a quarter into the year, feeling the effects of spring, and planning summer vacations.

This March is filling up fast. I have a trip home scheduled. I'm moving to my new apartment. Work events are piling up quickly. And there's a conference that I plan to attend as well.

Despite all that, I'm hoping to get a few other things accomplished as well. I began making my list last night and realized that it might take a little longer than I planned. It seems to never end.

For the past year, I've worked on a "101 Things in 1001 Days" list. I've marked off quite a few things like taking that Vegas trip, cruising through Europe, and a lot of organization. But there are still plenty of "to dos" left on the list. One of them is to train for a marathon.

So I've scheduled a 5k, a 10k, and a half marathon for this year in hopes to run a marathon next year around this time. I'm dropping my gym membership anyway and really enjoying the feel of running outdoors so I'm hopeful that the scheduled runs will keep me in shape without breaking my budget. In March, I plan to dedicate myself to two runs per week to increase my endurance with each run. My hopes are to slowly build myself up to that half marathon mark in November.

The other thing that I want to work on in March is getting back into the diabetes habit. I was doing well for a short time with checking at least three times per day, taking the Metformin, and sticking to some sort of diet. The running probably didn't hurt either. My March goal is to check at least three times per day for the month and drop those averages below 200 again by increasing the Metformin (slowly).

Another big March "to do" is to formulate some scenarios for school. I've consulted with other students, teachers, and grads who tell me that most graduate programs are just built this way. They are not necessarily as challenging as you assume they will be. Time consuming, but not a struggle. At least for those of us with a good head on our shoulders and a strong academic background.

My agenda is to compare different options if I slow the program down for myself, add in another graduate degree, or stop for a certain period of time. I also want to look into some different aspects of how this degree would help me if I don't pursue a career in counseling.

Work is about to pick up a good deal as we are adding volunteers for a different city in Texas that I will be responsible for. We are also increasing our volunteer census in great numbers which means that I have less time to recruit and continue to build the program (which means that we will stop growing which will be detrimental). I need to evaluate what kind of time increase I might need in order to handle all of this and may even consider asking for an increase in hours once this semester is over. March will be a trial run.

There are also some personal agendas that I have for myself regarding my communication and coping skills when it comes to Marvin and I. I'd like to start working on these things to create less stress over all in my life. If I can stop the massive upsets from happening, perhaps steady ground might make everything seem less overwhelming. Or maybe it's just the other way around.

At least there is lots to look forward to for the month of March.