State of the Schafer: All work and no writing, but planning to reverse that soon

 Right, so, here I am realizing again that it's been many months since I last updated this little blog, and I should probably at least tell people I'm alive! I'm much better about updating and posting pictures on Facebook, mostly because everything in our area of New Zealand runs off of Facebook & Messenger, from local businesses to hobby groups to school notifications to friends talking to each other. (I don't necessarily think this is a good thing, but it's definitely a thing.)

So, for those of you not on Facebook (oh blessed souls), here's the deal - I am indeed alive and almost fully recovered from last year's big mastectomy + DIEP flap reconstruction surgery. I say "almost" because I'm still working on regaining some flexibility, but other than that, I'm pretty much back to where I was before in terms of fitness and core strength, hooray. 

First major proof of recovery: going powder skiing in Japan. I was more cautious than normal, and occasionally needed a hand up after falling in deep powder, but Japan's terrain is relatively gentle so I could still charge pretty hard through the trees. 

Another major step in recovery: climbing a very steep trail to Liverpool Hut in Mt Aspiring National Park

So happy to be out in the mountains again

I had a little scare recently at my first follow-up surveillance scan, when ultrasound picked up a new cyst in my remaining "normal" breast, and but happily that proved to be benign (to my great relief). I do have one more small surgery coming up in early June - this is the "phase 2" of my reconstruction, where the surgeon will smooth out the scar around the flap - but it's supposed to be a much easier recovery, only a week off work instead of months. 

Speaking of work, running both the data science and atmospheric science teams at MetService has kept me extremely busy since last year's surgery - too busy to do much with writing or publishing. But! Going through major surgery and recovery has made me realize there are a bunch of things I've been putting off for "some day" that I had better hurry up and do while I am healthy and energetic enough to do them. None of us are guaranteed a future, and I feel that all the more keenly now. 

I've decided to leave MetService and focus for a time on all the things that have had to get pushed aside in recent years in favor of work. Writing is in this category, along with a whole passel of active adventures. I've still got several weeks of work to go, since I'll be finishing out the NZ fiscal year, which ends 30 June, to make the transition easier on my teams. But soon, I'll be shifting focus in a big way. I'm really excited about diving into creative endeavors again. 

We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary recently, and are hoping to have many more adventures together during the year ahead