And so it begins

Recap: the final chapter

2010-06-29T13:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday was an easy-does-it day. After Wednesday's epic 4-hour bike ride to Captiva and back, I was done with the bike. I had probably been more active, as far as biking and running, than I would have been at home. Granted I had more free time on my hands, but still.

Once everyone was up and about, we made plans to visit a local mall that I had heard about, Coconut Point in nearby Estero. This mall had just about every store my kids love. It took us a while to find it. I checked out a map to the place, but it was a little off, so we ended up driving around a little before I eventually had to stop and ask a local where it was. Turns out we had given up and turned around less than a half-mile from the mall!

The massive Coconut Point Mall. There's so much more than this picture shows.

When we got there, we were overwhelmed by how sprawling this place is. 110 stores, 27 restaurants, a movie theater, over a million square feet of retail space. Huge. We stopped at Aero, Am Eagle, Hollister, Barnes and Noble, Disney store, Claire's, and a few other shops. We were also there on iPhone 4 day. We could have easily spent an entire day there, and we may do just that the next time we visit SW Florida. There are still about 100 stores we didn't visit!

Me and my vacation beard. Didn't shave once on this trip. I don't know how you bearded guys do it.

Friday was our last full day in Florida, and so we decided to make it another beach day. We got packed up and headed back to Sanibel. We went back to our new favorite beach, Gulfside. The water wasn't quite as clear as before, and the waves were rolling that afternoon. Once again, we got lucky and had a beautiful afternoon. No sunburns this time either!

The girls, the beach. Good times.

On Saturday we packed up, cleaned up, and headed home. Uneventful, as far as road trips go.
So now, life gets back to normal. Booooo!

Recap, part two

2010-06-24T04:53:00.000-07:00

Monday got started with a run. I stupidly waited until after sunrise to go out. It got hot and muggy pretty quickly. I ended up with between 5 and 5 1/2 miles in about 50 minutes. I also drank half of a big bottle of gatorade during that run!

Like I mentioned in my last post, we went to see Toy Story 3 that afternoon. Afterward, we looked around in a few shops in the Bell Tower mall, where the theater is. We got in just in time, because the skies opened up and poured. The mall even lost power for a while. The same thing happened the day before when we were at Sam's Club. The afternoon showers have been kind of intense. Still, this place is awesome!

The girls had been wanting to check out the outlet mall that is just about a mile from the house, so we went there Monday night too. We only had about an hour to shop, so we couldn't even come close to seeing everything they wanted to see. I bet we go back for a few hours today.

Tuesday was a lazy day. We went to the pool for a few hours, went to Fort Myers Beach for a little shopping and people watching. FYI, there is a red tide rising there. By that, I mean the word has gotten out to the rednecks. We saw some trashy, redneck idiots everywhere we went. And I think my heart broke a little every time.

We had dinner at a restaurant on the beach. It was okay, nothing great. The view was nice, the food was fine. After that, we stopped at a place called Rita's Frozen Custard, or something like that. It looks like a regional, maybe even national chain. It was awesome! They serve custard, Italian ice, and an ass-kicking combo of the two called a Blendini. Really good stuff.

Wednesday, I went for a bike ride to Captiva. I was out for almost 4 hours. Needless to say, I was a little saddle-sore. After I got back, we watched the USA soccer team win and advance in the World Cup. That was a nail-biter! Afterward, we headed to Sanibel for another beach day. The water was, in my opinion, a little funky. I know its a habitat for all kinds of creatures, but not every beach has this stuff floating around in it. Maybe it has something to do with the location. I also noticed that the waves were a lot more active there.

While we were there, we scattered some of my mother-in-law's ashes. She really loved that beach, so it seemed like a fitting place.

Still not done, but you are going to have to wait for the rest of the recap. My battery is getting low!

Summer Vacation recap, part one

2010-06-22T04:43:00.000-07:00

Seems like a good place to start!

This will be my attempt to share the highlights of our vacation to Fort Myers, FL. I will try not to go into too much detail, and instead let some pictures help tell the story. What's a vacation recap without pictures anyway?

We loaded up the car and headed out, but 5 hours into the drive we had to make an unscheduled visit to a hospital in Dalton, GA. My father-in-law was having some issues, similar to the symptoms of a heart attack. Heather was at the wheel, and her driving then would have impressed Bo and Luke Duke. Fortunately, we were very close to a hospital. We checked him in, the docs checked him out, and we are happy to report that it was not a heart attack, but a bit of an anxiety attack. So, 4 hours later, we were back on the road.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, at least in comparison. We arrived in Fort Myers around 5:30, 21 1/2 hours after we left home. Needless to say, we were glad to see the place. Shortly after we arrived, it stormed. Big time. But afterward, we were treated to a rainbow.

Ain't that pretty?

Next morning, I had a 5k scheduled. Blame my early wake-up on being a 3rd-shifter. I was up before the sun. My element, I guess. I went out on the bike for a little over an hour, to see what's changed since our last visit (not much), and to keep from waking anyone else. Afterward, I headed to Cape Coral for the run. I had a good run, 23:04, and stuck around for age group awards (not me!) and door prizes (nope, not me either!).

That afternoon, we went to Sanibel for a little beach time! We had a lot of fun playing in the Gulf, and I'm happy to report that the oil spill has not affected the area. It would be a shame, since most of this area is home to so many species of wildlife, and Sanibel remains mostly an unspoiled slice of paradise.

BTW, we all got varying degrees of sunburn that day, so the next few days were spent hiding from the sun. We did a little beach-shop shopping, took in a movie (Toy Story 3, which was great!), and did the lazy thing.

I did get out for another bike ride early on Sunday. I was out for 2 1/2 hrs, and I biked over to Sanibel. There was a beach I wanted to check out. I think we may have gone there before, but I couldn't recall. While I was there, I also checked out Lighthouse Beach.

Some sights from Lighthouse Beach.

Stay tuned for the next installment!

Guess what?

2010-04-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

I ran my first half-marathon on Saturday! It kicked my butt, but the feeling of accomplishment was more than enough to make it all worthwhile.

If you would like to read a more detailed recap of the day, check out my running blog here.

Catching up

2010-02-25T05:02:00.000-08:00

Here it is, nearly the end of February, and we are still dealing with snow. The last bout dumped several inches of snow on the metro, which finally melted by the 50 degree weather and washed away by the rain last weekend. But not so fast! More snow hit the area last night, giving us a dusting, and giving one of the kids a 2-hr delay. That means a 2.5 hr delay for my bedtime, which more than likely means one grumpy dude later today. I feel sorry for my kids.

On a cheerier note, last night the wife and I were lucky enough to attend a 30 minute concert by the Barenaked Ladies. Faithful friends and readers will know that BNL is our absolute favorite, so this was a Very Big Deal. The show was at the Hard Rock Cafe in Louisville and was only for about 100 people who won a random drawing held by a local radio station (102.3 The Max!).

We got there about 45 minutes before the guys were scheduled to perform and had a drink and an appetizer (Blue Moon and a most excellent Grilled Chicken Quesadilla!), then waited for the show to start. It isn't often that my wife and I get any time for just the two of us, so this made for even more of a treat. Just us, out of the house, seeing BNL!!

The guys took the stage (actually, 3 of the 4 guys: Tyler was back in Vancouver doing his patriotic duty, entertaining Olympians. At least, that's what the other guys said.) and launched into For You, from Everything to Everyone. I've seen them a few times, and I never get tired of hearing them do stripped down performances of their songs. I believe they followed that up with Pinch Me, then Testing 1,2,3. Ed sounded great, and Kevin and Jim, as usual, sounded great backing him up.

The guys also played three new songs. I'm not sure of the titles, but all three were very good. I'm not sure how the studio versions of the songs will turn out, but I definitely enjoyed what we heard last night, just a few guitars, a bass and some vocals.

In between songs, the band joked with one another and with the crowd, and were pretty funny. Anyone who has been to a BNL show will know what I'm talking about. They are just some funny guys who really enjoy what they do.

Finally, the band closed with One Week. Kevin sang Steven's part, and sounded good. Didn't make me forget the original, but that would be asking too much. No way you are going to replace that voice. Having said that, it wasn't like I was cringing through the song. As a matter of fact, I think I'm starting to appreciate Kevin's voice and his style. He seems a little more comfortable singing Steven's parts, which definitely made it easier to listen to.

BNL will back in Louisville in May, and my wife and I are thinking of going. Tickets are available today, and although they are a little more than we would like to spend, I can see it happening.

Long time, no posts

2010-01-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure how to begin this one. Like so many other things in my life, I started off very eager, then cooled down. I am still blogging, but just about my running. That's a lot easier for me. When I run, I blog about it. Maintaining this blog requires a little more work.

In a nutshell, there isn't a whole lot going on right now. Aside from running and training for my first half-marathon. But that's being covered over at www.runyetirun.blogspot.com, so why retread the same territory?

The holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year) were great. We are all happy and healthy, so no complaints. The kids got lots of stuff for Christmas, and we had a nice bit of time off from work to enjoy with them.

Lately, it's been quite cold here. Lows in the single digits for the last couple of days. Today we got snow, and the kids got the day off from school. Cassidsy's school has already been canceled for tomorrow, but we're still waiting to hear about Kendall's. Hope hers is too, so Cass will have some company while I'm sleeping.

I hate to shortchange all of these events, but since they've already passed, I feel I need to move forward and try to do my best to keep up with the day-to-day stuff. And that's what I'm going to do.

Honors and awards

2009-10-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the flip-flop costume was a big hit! The girls had a lot of pictures taken yesterday at the school Halloween parade. One was by a photographer from our local newspaper, and it ended up making today's front-page! Awesome!

Also, the girls won the Team award at their school for the costume. I felt they could have also taken most creative, most effort, or funniest, but that's probably just my biased opinion.

Tonight we will trick-or-treat and see lots more costumes (and be seen, of course!). Unfortunately, the two flip-flops won't be trick-or-treating together. No big deal, though. They look pretty good individually, I think.

Happy Halloween everybody!

Halloween '09

2009-10-29T04:34:00.000-07:00

Halloween is almost here, and for the first time in years, the kids' costumes are done with a few days to spare. Not entirely sure how that happened, but I'm pretty excited about it!

My oldest and two of her friends will be the Three Little Pigs with Swine Flu. They have pink sweats, pig noses, surgical masks and rubber gloves. It looks great, and they did it all themselves. Nice work, girls!

My youngest is teaming up with a classmate, and they are a pair of flip-flops. I worked on her flip (or is it flop?) with the other dad, and we basically finished up the shell of the costume. Only took three hours. We also got some material to cover the shell and make it pretty! I finished ours last night, and I am really looking forward to seeing the two of them together. Altogether, about 8, maybe 10 hours working on it.

The flip-flop is nearly 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. When it is being worn, it is over 6 feet tall! Trick-or-treating in that monstrosity may be exhausting, and a little treacherous, so I think we may need a plan B for Saturday. But the flip-flops will definitely kick some butt at the school parade and costume contest!

I'll update this weekend.

Halloween costume

2009-10-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

I worked on the flip-flop costume yesterday. We managed to get the shell of it nearly done. We also picked up everything else we need to finish it. Now all that is left is the cosmetic work, you know, making it look pretty! So far I think it is looking pretty good, and I can't wait to see it when it is finished!

Nearly November

2009-10-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

Simply put, I've been kinda busy. Both of my girls played volleyball this fall, and I shared coaching duties for both of their teams. Practice four days a week, and games on the weekends, since the start of the school year. Add to that everything else (homework checks, picking the kids up from school, WORK! You get the picture.), and this blog gets lost in the shuffle.

I have been keeping the running blog up to date, mainly because I like to have a record of my running, and also because I pretty much always have something to say when I check in with that one. Much easier to pop in, type in a distance and time and be done.

So, as I said at the top, it is nearly November, and Halloween is almost here. My oldest daughter is 13 now, and she hasn't asked for any help with a costume this year. She is dressing up with 2 of her classmates for a "Three Little Pigs/ Swine Flu" costume, and they are working on it themselves. Nice, but I kind of miss the process of getting an idea for a costume, figuring out how to put it together, and the actual construction, if need be, of the costume.

Luckily, my 9-year-old needs some help this year. She is also partnering with a classmate. They are going as a pair of flip-flops. I talked with the other girl's mom today, and she told me to check a website for instructions, which I did. Looks pretty easy, and cute too. Now I need to talk to the dad and find out if he wants to work on these together (seems like a good idea to me).

Like last year, I will post pictures of the costumes once we get them done.

July 4, 2009

2009-07-06T16:52:00.001-07:00

The day started early for me, around 5:30, so I could get up and get ready for an 8am 5k in Louisville. Brian and I met up around 6:45 to head over there together. Due to a bit of miscommunication, we actually passed one another on the way to the other's house. I saw him drive by, so I called him and headed back to my house. After that mix-up, we headed to the Peterson-Dumesnil House, the starting point for the run.

We arrived early, since we hadn't signed up for the run yet. Once we signed in, we waited around by the starting line, watching the runners arrive and getting a little bit of a stretch, discussing the plan for the run (which was nice and easy), and basically just hanging out.

The weather was better than you could ask for. Temperatures were in the mid to high 60s. It was a little overcast, so no early morning glare. About as good as it gets around here on the 4th of July.

I think we ran a good run. The pace was pretty even from start to finish. There were times when I wanted to kick it up a little, but I resisted, and we ended up finishing the 5k in 26:40. We had expected to do it in under 30, so we managed to meet that goal.

The only thing I found disappointing was the lack of any kind of post-race activity. It was a run-and-done event. I guess I'm spoiled from the other runs we've done.

So, after the 5k, I went home, had a shower, then we went out to get Cassidy's birthday present. Yep, she's a 4th of July baby! She had been wanting a digital camera, so we went to look at a few places. She had her eye on one, mainly because of the color of the camera, but we convinced her to look around a bit before settling on that one. And I am glad we did. We found a Nikon Coolpix L19 for $110, in a color she liked, and bought it. She hasn't set it down for longer than a few minutes since she got it out of the box. Its a nice camera with some cool features, and I am glad she looked around for a bit before making her final decision. This way we are both happy with it.

After that, we grabbed a snack from Panera and headed home for a bit before going over to Brian's house for the First Annual Yeti Independence Day Festival. Brian, Gibby, Dustin and all of their familes were there. It was nice to hang with everyone outside of a work setting. Not like that bothers us too much when we are at work, but we can't eat burgers and drink beer at work. Plus it was nice to get all of our families together. I think everyone had a great time.

Unfortunately, we had to cut our visit short, since we were also going to my wife's aunt and uncle's house for more food and fireworks. It was an even louder and rowdier event than usual, and by the time the fireworks died down, we were ready to head home and get some rest. It was nice to see everyone there too, but most of her family left early, so we didn't get as much time with them as we would have liked.

All in all, a very good holiday.

Gatlinburg 09: a preview

2009-07-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Recently got home from Gatlinburg, where my brother-in-law got married. I'll have more time for an in-depth report this weekend. Until then, I'll leave you with a picture from our adventures.

BOOM!

2009-06-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

A little after 3:30 this afternoon, I heard a loud boom. I didn't think too much of it, seems like its always noisy near our house. Could have been any number of things. Once I got up to investigate, I saw that it was our brick mailbox, all over my front yard. Someone had been leaving one of our neighbors' houses, and while setting something in his floorboard, veered right into our mailbox. BOOM!

I walked out to investigate, and talked to the guy. He was pretty nice about the whole thing, cleaned it up and hauled it away. His truck was a mess, too. Left a nice stain in the road from some fluid leak. Needless to say, he's going to replace it.

The funny thing is, that was our second brick mailbox. The first one was demolished by an intoxicated driver late one evening. Luckily for us, one of our neighbors saw the whole thing and was able to run the kid down. His car had come to rest on an electrical box two doors down and he tried to get away on foot.

So now we have to have another one built. I wish I could remember the name of the guy who built our last one. It'll come to me soon, I'm sure.

A monkey? At a yard sale?

2009-06-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was our neighborhood yard sale. For the most part, pretty uneventful. Until the monkey lady showed up.

The kids and I were at one of our neighbor's house, and their kids were selling food and drinks to the yard-salers. Out of the blue, a lady walks up with a monkey on her shoulder. Apparently the monkey told her to pull over and get some kool-aid. So she handed over the monkey's sippy cup and got something for it to drink.

Saw a monkey drink kool-aid from a sippy cup. I guess I can check that one off of the list.

Thanks to Bryan and Tammy for the picture.

Nearly June

2009-05-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

Somehow, its already the end of May. I seem to recall a few things going on over the last few months, but Dang! This year is cruising by!

The last few weeks, I have been occupied by the work and the extra-curricular interests of my kids. Soccer was great, we had an enjoyable season. The kids were great, the parents were better than I had hoped they would be, our record was... well, the kids were great.

The month of May also had me busy with three slide shows. Two for the kids' school, and one for a graduate we know. Everyone said they turned out great, and I agree. The last one, for my 6th grader's graduating class, nearly did me in. I was working on it right up to the wire. I finished it, and made about 50 dvds of it, during an all-nighter. If there ever is a next time, I swear to have it done a few days early.

Looking ahead to the summer, we have volleyball camps, a few birthdays, a wedding which our whole family will be in, and probably a few long weekends spent not-too-far-away from home.

I'm sure it will pass even more quickly than the last few months.

Soccer Season Update

2009-05-02T03:26:00.000-07:00

I knew this was going to be a hectic few weeks, but I didn't intend for it to affect the blog. My apologies. Now let's get down to some recaps.

Two weeks ago we faced a tough, tall and talented team from Holy Family. It was a hard fought battle, which, according to one ref, ended as a 2-1 loss for us. But according to most everyone else, it was a 1-1 tie. The questionable goal was a result of a shot from the opposite side of the field striking the side netting of the goal. There was no celebration by the other team, everyone just got back to business. But when our goalie picked up the ball to place it on the ground for a goal kick, the ref blew her whistle and declared the shot a goal. The other coach couldn't believe it either, but he took it. But whatever, its a recreational/learning league of parochial school teams, right?

Last week was a bit more lopsided. We faced an OLPH team that has a few dominant players. One of them lit us up for at least 4 goals. We just couldn't contain her. She was everywhere. We ended up getting a few goals in the second half, but it was too little, too late. I think the score was 6-2. The less said, the better.

Last night, we had a double-header. Due to the odd number of teams in our division, each team will have a week off, and a week with two games. This was our week for two. Luckily for us, we had just moved into the softer half of our season.

The weather forecasts all week had been talking rain. Every day was a stronger chance than the day before. I think last night's chance was 70 percent by game time. And it delivered for our second game, but the first was played with no precipitation. Just a little domination. And from us this time!

Our early game was against St. Anthony's, and I spoke on the sideline with the other coach (who I actually recall from YMCA days, and not favorably) about his team. A lot of the kids had never played before, and after making an announcement at school about possibly not having enough kids to field a team, some newbies signed up. Its been a tough season for them, but they played hard.

Now, for our kids, it was a great game. They got a lot of opportunities to score, and managed to get 4 goals. They played great, they were following shots, staying aggressive, all the things you want them to do, but don't always do. As bad as I felt for the other team, I felt so much better for ours. This was the game we needed. It probably helped them in our second game too, a nice shot of confidence.

After a one hour rest between games (during which our other St. Paul team played the OLPH team that steamrolled us last week, and the rain started falling), we took the field for 2 shortened halves of soccer. The first half was halted after one of the refs saw lightning. After a brief delay, we agreed to finish the half, then switch sides and continue play, foregoing a traditional halftime break. The kids were ready, and we were soaked and shivering and ready to get it over with. So we played on, and managed to get two goals (one of them courtesy of LC's left foot! Sweet!), which ended up being the only goals of the game. To their credit, they really stepped it up in the second half. They were after every loose ball, especially in our attacking end. And they were getting second and third shots. Plus our goalie played great. He was putting on a show for his guests. More on that in a minute.

Despite the weather, it was a great night for our team. As much as I hated being out there in the rain, I loved almost every minute of it.

Now, back to our goalie's guests. His family was hosting a few former NFL players who were in town for the Derby. They were part of a football mini-camp that was hosted by current NFLers and former U of L football players Kerry Rhodes and Amobi Okoye. They joked with the kids, watched our game, and were a real inspiration for the kids. Afterward, they sat the kids down and gave them a pep-talk, and a bit of inspirational speaking. It was really nice of them to do that for our team, and I can't thank them enough. It's something our kids will remember for a long time.

Next week is our week off, so we will practice, but not play. Our season ends on May 15, and I'm starting to wish we had a few more games. Couldn't say that around week two!

Coach out!

Must.........read...........brains!

2009-04-08T05:18:00.000-07:00

Looking through a recent Entertainment Weekly, I stumbled upon a review of a new book that I have to read.

Amazon's got it.

EW gave it an A-. What more do you need to know, right?

First game of the season

2009-04-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight was my oldest daughter's first soccer game for this school year. I am coaching the team, which is made up of 4th, 5th and 6th graders from her school.

The game started out pretty well. We looked to be evenly matched. We gave up a few opportunities early in the half, but by midway through, we were getting some shots too. Then in the second half, the team sort of fell apart. The things they were doing right in the first half were now being done wrong. Spacing broke down. Communication wasn't happening. Defenders were drifting wayyyyyyyyy too far out of position, stranding the goalie. Our goalie in the second half did a great job. He faced at least 5 shots, and stopped all but one. He just couldn't corral the ball, and the other guy made the most of his second chance, putting right under his outstretched arm.

That ended up being the only goal of the game. We had a few opportunities to score, but it just didn't happen. It was a fun game to watch, even if it was a little frustrating at times. But I think we all had fun.

Our next game is in two weeks, and we have some things to work on before then. Hopefully, we can come out and play solid for an entire game, get a few goals and have some more fun!

Rockstar: BnL?

2009-03-22T04:51:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, Barenaked Ladies and singer Steven Page parted company. Being a huge fan, I was disappointed. That may be an understatement. I was concerned for the future of all of the guys. Will Steven get his act together (literally and figuratively)? Will the remaining Ladies be able to continue without Page's sometimes larger-than-life presence? But most importantly, to me anyway, will they continue to tour and perform for the masses? Actually,they will, and already have.

The new lineup did a show at Universal Studios Orlando earlier this month, and have made audio from the show available as a free download. The entire show, not just a song or two. Its available until March 27 (my sweetie's birthday), and was announced earlier this week. If you are interested, I copied the link from their MySpace blog.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=7089061&blogId=477741110

I must admit, I was a little hesitant to hear someone else sing the songs I'm used to hearing Steven sing. How on earth do you fill those shoes? The band's approach was to mix it up, and share the load. Jim, Kevin and Ed took turns singing Page's parts. Obviously it wasn't the same. At times it was even a little uncomfortable to hear. They aren't going to make anyone forget the original. But you've got to love the fact that they are out there, keeping the fans happy! Thanks, guys!

This seems like as good a time as any to pitch the Rockstar idea. My wife and I were talking about the show yesterday. Loved it! Wish it was still on tv! But it wasn't until this morning, while I was trying to get back to sleep,that I thought, why not BnL? After listening to the live show, I miss Steven's singing. And even though the guys did fine covering for him, I think it might benefit them to have another singer to shoulder the load.

No one will replace Steven Page, just like no one could replace Michael Hutchence (INXS). But that didn't stop them from holding auditions on tv! Plus, the Ladies would make for much more entertaining television. Get me Mark Burnett! We'll make this happen!

Gettin' Busy!

2009-03-13T03:55:00.000-07:00

Not in the way you are probably thinking,though.

Its March already, and the kids will (too)soon be finishing up another school year. It seems to gain speed with each passing year. This year, I volunteered to coach my 3rd grader's volleyball team. That was last fall, and the kids did an outstanding job. They were undefeated, and seemed to learn a lot. Also, I volunteered to coach my 6th grader's soccer team. That is just getting started, and it should be another fun season, once we get past the initial bumps in the road we seem to start every season with. This year, we had more 6th graders than ever sign up. Unfortunately, there were so many that we had to split them up. I can tell you that we have already had some bruised feelings from this, but I would rather not tell you who. Seems like every year we have to have something to get over before we even get started. I am confident that once things get rolling, most everyone will have a great time. At least, I hope so.

Also this year, I agreed to do the slide show to honor the student athletes at the kids' school. I did this last year, and was floored by how much everyone enjoyed it. I started working on it a few months ago, once volleyball was done, and have continued working on it as each season comes to an end. Its shaping up nicely.

On the heels of last year's slide show success, I agreed to create the slide show that the school puts together for the graduating 6th grade class. The guy that had done the last few was ready to move on (his kids aren't even at the school anymore!), and I was excited about having the chance to take over. That was nearly a year ago, and I am starting to realize how intimidating this project is. I guess there isn't any reason to be. I'm just realizing that the deadline keeps getting nearer, and I don't have an outline for this show. The athletics show is a piece of cake. Sections, set up by sport and class, set to music. Easy peasey. But I've loaded a lot of expectations, some really, some probably not, onto what this show should be.

I'm sure it will turn out fine. Actually, I did one segment already. I was inspired by a song from Camp Rock, called Too Cool. The video turned out great. Now, I just need a few more bolts of inspiration to get this thing done!

Wish me luck.

Mighty B

2009-03-06T15:44:00.001-08:00

There is a cartoon on Nickelodeon by Amy Poehler, and it has a weird cast of characters. I was trying to tell a story to the guys at work, but its just not the same as watching it. So I went to youtube and found a vid that tells part of the story.

Enjoy!

Duplicate post from my Running blog

2009-03-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

I wrote this on my Running blog, but felt like it fit better here (TWSS!)

Let me preface this post with my usual Friday routine.

I get home from work a little before 7, see the wife and kids out of the house around 7:30, then by 8 or 8:30, I am snoozing. Up in the early afternoon to get the kids from school, then try to resume a "normal" schedule with the family for the remainder of the weekend.

Today, not so much.

Local radio morning show, The Lambert and Lindsey Show was doing a remote from the McDonald's very close to my house, so after the wife and kids left, I biked over to check it out. Nothing major, a prize wheel (where I won an extremely ugly t-shirt, see below) and the folks from the station just meeting and greeting. I ran into a co-worker and her kids, who were having breakfast there, and another co-worker who I hadn't seen in quite a while. After I got my food, I joined him and got caught up. Nice.

So, by this point its almost 9, and I should be asleep, but I have had sugar and coffee (if you can call it that), so sleep ain't in the cards just yet. So I check my email. I had written Brian to see if he wanted to join me for the McD's run, but he had slept in, and hadn't seen the email until I was already gone. I read his reply, then wrote back, then decided to just call him. He asked if I still wanted to run today, what time (I said 2, he heard 10, I said why not?), so he came over around 10.

I intended to do 2 loops of 2 miles, but the biking I had already done kinda ruined that for me, so instead I did about 2.4 miles in 24 minutes. I had started to notice my legs cramping, so I split off from Brian and headed home to try to work that whole cramping issue out. Luckily, it resolved itself with just a little walking. Brian finished out the 4 miles in about 35 minutes. Guess I was slowing him down. Darn nice of him to hang back with me for as long as he did, though.

So, long story short, 2.4 miles in 24 minutes. BUT I also biked a few miles AND did all of this instead of sleeping. I love rationalizations. They make my life and accomplishments (ha!) seem so much better.

March 6, 2009
2.4 miles
24 minutes
1 ugly, but free, t-shirt
52 free coffees
1 sleep deprived blogger

Nighty night!

Snow Tubing

2009-03-02T12:43:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a fun day for me and the family. We finally made our way to Paoli Peaks for a little snow tubing, and it was so much fun! The wife and kids and I picked up our oldest daughter's friend on the way, and met up with our friend Lynette and her daughter, who is also a good friend of our oldest.

The drive up there seemed endless. When we got there, Lynette asked, "Did I see a sign that said BFE?" She is so funny. Anyway, two of the girls weren't sure if they wanted to hit the hills, so the rest of us paid and got our tubes and took off, while Heather worked on getting them to go tubing. It finally worked and they joined us about 15 minutes later.

The setup at Paoli is pretty cool. They have about 8 individual lanes to ride down, and 5 were open. Some were faster than others, and some had bigger bumps in the way. But at the bottom of all of them were a series of rubber mats to slow you to a stop. We all agreed that the mistake of dropping your butt into the bottom of the tube is one you only make once.

I'm not exactly sure how tall the hill is, but it takes about 20 seconds to get to the bottom, and it is pretty fast. Once you get to the bottom, you ride a belt, or you can walk, back to the top. Sweet!

We were there for a little over two hours, and it was fantastic! Heather talked to someone there who told her that they would be open for at least one more weekend, maybe two depending on the weather. I think Lynette and Heather have already started making plans for a grown-ups only trip next winter.

How about some pictures?

Thnks fr th mmrs

2009-02-28T12:57:00.000-08:00

Today, I woke with the chorus of Fall Out Boy's Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" looping through my head. It may have had something to do with the parcel of photographs and cds of digital images I received for the school slideshow I am working on. Sounds reasonable.

Songs in my head

2009-02-25T15:22:00.000-08:00

I woke up today with a song in my head. This is nothing new. Most days, there will be a song playing on a loop that won't allow me to get back to sleep.

Today's song was "Around the Bend" by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. You've probably heard it on the iPod commercial. I hear it in my head while I'm trying to sleep, but whatever.

Start your day with a kick in the teeth

2009-02-25T11:14:00.000-08:00

Or maybe with a punch in the gut. That's how I felt after reading the news regarding Steven Page's decision to leave Barenaked Ladies. Not sure what's gotten into our boy, midlife crisis, perhaps? Or maybe he's just becoming a selfish egotist. Seems like the only news I hear about (pronounced ah-boat) him lately kinda confirms that hunch. Leave your wife, get busted for drugs (with new, younger GF), and quit the band that you have been with for over 20 years so that you can pursue other solo endeavors. Whatever.

Wow, what state of grief follows anger? Cause I'm moving through these at a pretty good clip.

Anyhoo, Canadian coverage of this story is a little more detailed. You can read one account here.

Waking

2009-02-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

I would like to know why every day when I awaken, I have a song stuck in my head, playing on a loop. And most of the time, it isn't even a song I have heard recently.

I can't recall what it was today (even though I made a mental note- must have misplaced that post-it), or any other recent tunes. But I can tell you that right now, I have the chorus of "Somebody's Watching Me" playing over and over in my head. Yay!

This past weekend

2009-02-09T04:29:00.000-08:00

It was a busy Saturday for us. We got an early start Saturday morning because the 5th and 6th grade basketball teams from our kids' school were in the finals of their Deanery league. Five out of the six teams made it to the finals, and actually, two of the teams played each other for the title. It was a big day for the school.

We arrived at the games around 9:30, and stayed until almost 2. After that, a few of the parents had arranged a get-together for the 6th grade class, with pizza and snacks, which turned out to be a lot of fun. We left from there around 6:30, and basically just moved the remaining families that had stuck around to one of the other family's house. We played cards and hung out, just had a fun time.

For my wife and I, it was a chance to get to know some of the boys' parents better. We have two girls, so most of our parent-to-parent interaction is usually with the parents of other girls, either from Girl Scouts or sports. So that was nice. They taught us euchre, or I should say, re-taught us. Like I said, we had a lot of fun. But we didn't get home until after midnight. And we were wiped out by then.

Good times, hope there are more to come before this group of kids gets broken up between two schools.

Smoke and a pancake

2009-02-03T09:59:00.000-08:00

For whatever reason, the good folks at Denny's decided to treat America to breakfast. A Grand Slam breakfast. So, of course, Brian, Gibby, DD and myself headed over after work this morning. Party Marty was supposed to join us, but for reasons unknown to us, he didn't show.

DD arrived before the rest of us, so he got us on the wait list. He was told the wait would be 1 1/2 hrs. It ended up being less than 1/2 hr. He had put us down for first available, which got us a lovely table in the smoking section. Their smoking section is an enclosed room in the back of the restaurant. If we had it to do-over, I think we would have waited for the non-smoking seating. There weren't too many folks in there, and not all of them were smoking, but that smell really sticks to anyone and anything they are wearing.

Anyhow, we were in and out of Denny's in about an hour, about $5 lighter after drinks and a tip. Not a bad deal, I think.

Facebook Update

2009-01-31T02:33:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it got me. Facebook hijacked my life for a brief period, and I am slowly setting limits as to how much time I spend/waste there. I had no idea so many people missed me. Facebook=big hug. Awwwwwwwwwwww.

-2 degrees

2009-01-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

That is what the thermometer in my car said this morning as I drove home from work. Today's high is somewhere short of 20 degrees. And that is with bright sunshine.

I know its only been a few days of these very cold temperatures, but I am really hating it. Feels like chocolate chip cookie weather. Or hot cocoa weather. Or under a pile of blankets weather.

I recently joined Facebook, after a little coaxing from my friend Joe. It has eaten up a lot of my free time this week. I've been playing games mostly, and updating my profile and chatting with people I normally do. For me, its kind of awkward to be "friends" with people I haven't spoken with or seen in years, so I'm not letting my staggering friend count (19, jealous?)go to my head.

Anyway, brrrrrrrrr, and I think I hear my blanket calling me.

Later

I borrowed Double D's Digital SLR

2009-01-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

He was gracious enough to let me borrow his camera to shoot some pictures at my kids' school, for a few basketball games. It was tougher than I expected. I thought I was doing pretty well, but catching a moving target, let alone getting it in focus, is a little bit beyond my abilities right now. Until now, I had only used cameras with auto-zoom and auto-focus, so this was new territory for me. I shot a lot of pictures during the games, and I figured they would all be good. Not the case. A lot of them were slightly out of focus, which sucked. I did get some good pics, which I will use in the slide show I am putting together for the school's Athletic Awards in May.

Thanks, DD.

Here are a few of the pics I shot.

Christmas, at last

2008-12-25T05:22:00.000-08:00

It is Christmas morning, approx 8:30 am, and we are most of the way through the gifting part of the holiday. One more stop this afternoon, at my wife's grandmother's house to visit with my mother-in-law's side of the family. That should be fun. There are 8 kids, 13 and under, waiting to open gifts. It may get kind of crazy. In a good way.

As I mentioned in my last blog, we started the Christmas frenzy last weekend, with a get-together with my father-in-law's family, and my girls got clothes and a few cute little items. And we all had an excellent meal, which is always the case. It was a great start of the season of getting, I mean giving.

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, was somewhat busy. My mom came over around noon, and she brought gifts in the form of cash, and a delicious rum cake! We had lunch, and before long, she had to head home to prepare a dish to take to my brother's house. She traditionally spends Christmas eve and day with his family. I was glad she came over and got to spend some time with the girls. They always have so much fun together.

After Mom's visit, we had to get ready for mass. My youngest had a reading part, which she nailed, thank you very much, and my oldest was a side server. We got there early enough to get a decent seat-it tends to fill up early, and gets really crowded. By the time we said our Merry Christmases and goodbyes, we had been there for 2 1/2 hrs. And it kinda felt like it too. I was feeling really hungry, and ready to head to our next stop for dinner.

The next stop was my in-law's house. My wife's mom and dad were there, and so was her brother and his fiance, and my brother-in-law's daughter. And the food smelled so good when we walked in. We had a honeybaked ham that my wife had gotten from a client, hashbrown casserole, shrimp, rolls, fresh fruit, and some cake. My wife had gotten a bottle of Spanish champagne from another client, and I think I drank most of that myself. It was bubbly and sweet, but not too dry. Basically, the food was fantastic. And I ate a lot of it.

Then it was time for gifts. My oldest got a purse, some makeup, some clothes, the typical tween stuff. My youngest got Guitar Hero for her DS, with On Tour and Decades, and she has been playing that a lot. She also got an iPod, so she was quite happy. My wife and I got a Foreman grill, which should get quite a workout.

Afterward, we dragged our butts home and waited for Santa. And he didn't disappoint. We woke (around 5:30) to find an art set for the little one, and a Wii game and some Jon and Kate stuff for the big one. They were thrilled. From us they got clothes, books, magnetix, and a few little things.

It was fun, but now, a little over 3 hours later, I am feeling a little tired. My wife and one of the kids are already asleep again, and I don't think I will be far behind. Just wanted to update and say Merry Christmas.

Oh, and I almost forgot! I got two boxes of Samoas from a friend of ours. I don't know how they lasted this long, but I am glad they did. Merry Christmas to me!

It's almost Christmas!

2008-12-23T13:22:00.001-08:00

Here we are, December 23rd, and I am ready to get the holiday rolling! I am done with work for this week, which is good. The kids are home from school, which is also good. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, which is fantastic!

Traditionally, on Christmas Eve, we go to the evening mass at church, then have dinner with my in-laws and exchange gifts with them. This year is no exception. Both of the girls have parts in the mass. The oldest is serving, and the youngest has a reading. She has been practicing her part for the last few weeks, and she has it down. Any Christmas mass is crowded, but this one, with the little kids participating, seems to be even more so. We plan on getting there a little earlier than we normally do, and maybe getting a seat near the front.

After mass, its dinner time! I have been looking forward to that for a little over a week. My wife got a Honeybaked Ham as a gift, and it has been taunting me. Your time is coming, little piggy, just you wait. After dinner, the girls will get gifts, and the whole Christmas present marathon will begin. Come to think of it, it actually got started last weekend, when we had Christmas with my Father-in-law's side of the family. But the big stuff is still ahead. I can't wait. I mean, they can't wait.

Despite the economy taking a dive, our girls are going to have a pretty good Christmas. Or maybe because of it. A lot of stores were slashing prices, and lots of E-tailers were shipping for free, which was great for us. We ended up doing more for them than we would have otherwise. We just trimmed a few other people from our shopping lists, mostly mutually agreed upon. It just made sense for us to do it that way. Its about the kids, anyway, not the grown-ups.

So, have a happy holiday! I will return in a few days to share stories and lists of goodies!

An Older Post of a BNL concert review

2008-11-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

I was checking my MySpace page today, which is something I don't do as often as I did before blogger.com. Anyway, I had posted a review of a concert I went to over the summer with my wife, and thought I would re-post it here. I'll even spice it up with some pictures from the show.

So, this won't exactly be a review, more of a recap. And I will probably add things that I might forget in another blog.

The evening started out pretty great. My wife and I arrived at Horseshoe a little before 7, but since we didn't know exactly where the venue was on the casino property, we went to the hotel to ask someone. We got inside, started walking, realized we were going the wrong way, did a 180, and run into Kevin and Tyler, who were heading toward us. We were kind of caught off guard, and even though I had a camera with me, I didn't even think to ask for a picture. I did ask where the venue was, they said behind the hotel, and a friendly hotel employee gave us directions.

We had general admission seats, so we set up about midway back on the right side, which gave us a pretty full view of the stage. A little after 8, the band hit the stage, leading off with "One Week". After that, I forget the order, but remember most of the songs. In no particular order: Hello City, Brian Wilson, King of Bedside Manor (Encore2), $1,000,000 (Encore 1), Jane, Old Apartment, Its All Been Done, Light Up My Room, Never Do Anything, Pinch Me, Wizard of Magicland, Get In Line (and "Get It Live"-due to a typo on their setlist, should have been get in line, so they made up a song called get it live), Maybe Katie, For You, Sound of Your Voice, Wind It Up, Angry People, and I think they may have played What a Good Boy, but I'm not 100% sure.

They told amusing stories, made up songs (Get it Live!, and another song using the name and phone on the portable toilets at the venue--"Anytime Portables! Anytime Portables! 637-3747!") Ed talked about flying himself here to Indiana, Kevin talked about being on safari up until the day before the show, and was mocked by the band when he couldn't remember where he was (...here), and Ed thanked the good people of Cincinnapolis Pennsyltucky as they left the stage. Oh, and Steven put on a green dress someone threw to him during Million Dollars, and he sang the chorus of "Don't Cry Out Loud" at the end of the song, then ripped the dress off.

Another great show. Can't wait to see them again.

Election Day

2008-11-04T04:03:00.000-08:00

As I type, it is early morning on Election Day, approximately one hour into voting. I drove past my polling place, and it was packed. Cars were lined up along the road and the parking lot was full of cars and people. So, I will be voting a bit later today.

Things in my world have been busy. A good kind of busy, but busy no less. Halloween was last week, and I made a costume for my oldest child, and helped to create the look for my youngest's costume. They were a treasure chest and the Travelocity Roaming Gnome. Both of them turned out great, even better than I hoped they would. And our local government decided to trick-or-treat on the 30th (Thursday), instead of the 31st (Friday!). Some areas near us decided that they would trick-or-treat on Friday anyway, so we actually went out both nights. Their costumes were pretty well received, and they ended up with an obscene amount of candy. Since I did so much work on the costumes, I feel I am entitled to at least half of their haul. They, however, disagree.

We also attended a volleyball game at U of L. My wife's partner at work has a daughter that plays for USF, and they were in town, so he got a lot of tickets. The match went U of L's way. They won in three straight games. They have two girls that are 6-3 and 6-6, and not much got past them. Apart from the USF loss, it was fun to see the teams play at such a high level.

Brian and I may run a 5k this weekend. I'll post the results if we do.

Chris

Family trip to Madison and Clifty Falls

2008-10-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Fridays for me usually consist of coming home from work, and going to sleep while the rest of the household heads to work and school. This Friday, however, was different, since my wife took the day off and the kids were out of school.

A few days ago, my wife thought it would be nice to drive to Madison, which is about an hour from our house, and visit Clifty Falls State Park. It is a nice park, with some great trails and amazing views, especially this time of year, with the leaves changing color. And a few days ago it sounded like a good idea. But today, after maybe three hours of sleep, it was time for me to drag my butt out of bed and get ready for this adventure. Didn't sound so good then.

I am happy to say that today turned out to be fantastic. The drive was scenic(we even drove past Double or Nothing Rd.!), and the weather was crisp and sunny. It was a pretty good day for as little sleep as I had.

Our first stop was Clifty. We arrived a little after 3, walked some trails, took some pics, and my 8 year-old and I even walked through a long, dark, twisted tunnel! Apart from getting our feet wet, it was an excellent adventure. After we had had enough of the trails, we stopped by a playground, where the girls could stretch and goof off for a while.

It was getting late by then, so we drove to Madison to see what was going on in the downtown district. As it turns out, not much goes on after 6pm. Most of the shops were closed, but we did visit an interesting craft shop, and had an excellent dinner at the Downtowner. Chicken Alfredo Pizza for me, pepperoni pizza and a BLT for the kids, and a Hot Brown for the wife. We split a dessert of 2 cookies and a slice of cake. It was really good.

During our walk around downtown, I saw several posters in shop windows that let me know we had made our trip one day too early. Sometimes I have the absolute worst timing. This may be the only thing that could have made this day better than it already was (Yeah, not really. But it would have been freaky cool.).

Chris

Harvest Fast 5k

2008-10-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hello Internet!

Another Saturday, another 5k. This has got to stop. Okay, I don't mind the 5ks that much. But I am ready for a break.

Today, Brian, Gibby and myself headed to New Albany for the Harvest Fast 5k, held very close to where we work and run. You would think home court advantage, right? Not so much. This run was part of a local running store's Runner of the Year series, so some serious local runners were there. But right across the river, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure was being held, so not all of the serious runners from the area were running with us.

The race was a nice course, which took us to a residential area I didn't even know was there. I didn't feel great today, I slept poorly and had a tight schedule to work with, so I think the mental part was working against me. And the physical part was kicking me too. Around 2 1/4 miles, the middle of my back just started aching. It was an unusual and unwelcome sensation. And the heavy breathing was making it a bit worse. So I slowed to a walk for a short while. Then I started running, only to slow to a walk once more. I thought I was done. But then, I got a "don't give up now" from a young runner on the course, and I finished the race running. I even sprinted to the chute to hold off another runner who had started closing in on me. My time was 24:10. I was surprised by the time. I figured it would be at least 25 or 26 minutes.

So, after a few cups of water (which they didn't have on the course, by the way), I had to scram. I had to get home and back out the door by 10 in order to get my youngest daughter to her volleyball game. So, with my medal in hand, I knuckle-bumped Brian and made my exit.

Volleyball went well. The team won 2 out of 3, and we headed to a local pizza place for a treat for the team. They have gone undefeated this season (their first), and we felt they deserved it. Then it was home for a nap.

I read Brian's post just before posting this, and he and Gibby also got medals. They had 100 to hand out, and the field was somewhere around 100 runners total. Brian's time was about a minute under mine, and Gibby finished at around 35 minutes.

Gotta run, more stuff to do.

Chris

After the Buddy Run

2008-10-04T08:28:00.001-07:00

It was a great morning for a 5k. Cool temps, clear skies, and a few friends to run with. Who could ask for anything more?

Brian and I arrived a little after 8am, and ran into DD and Sam while we were on our way to registration/packet pick-up. Due to some mix-up, our info was lost or misplaced, so we filled out the registration info, grabbed our bibs and caught up with the guys. Along the way, Scott Z joined us. We still had some time to kill, so we walked around a bit, I got a small bottle of water, made use of the portie, and then we made our way to the starting line.

Over near the starting area, we spotted Tweety Bird, so we had Sam take a picture with him/her/it (what is Tweety, anyway?). There were several mascots walking around, and we considered having Sam get his picture with as many as we could manage to get. We let a few opportunities pass, but when the UofL cheerleaders walked by, I asked them to stop for a picture with Sam. I don't think he had any idea of what he got himself into by going somewhere with us, but I sure am glad he decided to run this one.

By then it was nearly race time. We were right in the middle of the pack, elbow to elbow, with DD in the front of our group for some unknown reason. Once I pushed him out of the way, Brian and I found some breathing room a little further ahead. We got out to a quick start, which was totally my fault. Like I've mentioned in other posts, I get a bit competitive out there. I'm not a fast runner, but I do enjoy passing people, and this time, we could see the leaders for almost the entire race. That was a little unusual.

Like I said, we were running at a pretty quick pace, for us anyway. I think we hit mile 1 in under 7 minutes. That is insane. From there, we must have slowed a little, or, according to at least one person running near us, the course was longer than a 5k. I like that answer, because Brian and I were killing it and finished around 24:30. That is more than a minute slower than our last race. Sidebar: I thought the time was off in the Race Against ALS, but maybe their course was a bit shorter than a 5k, and that would explain our ridiculous time.

After Brian and I finished the run, I needed water, so we walked over and grabbed a few bottles and returned to the finish line to cheer on DD, Sam and Scott. I didn't notice DD's time, I think he said something like 26 something, but I did get Sam and Scott's times. Sam was just under 30 minutes, and Scott was about 25 seconds behind him. This was Sam's first 5k, and I believe it may have been Scott's first too. They did great, and I was really proud of our crew.

After we had all finished the 5k, Brian called his wife, who had driven over with Gibby and Mrs. Gibby, and we met up with them. DD's wife and kids were there with them, and she had made buttons for everyone to wear on the walk. We chit chatted a bit, and before we knew it, it was time to walk. We got the entire team together for a picture, and then we started our 1.6 mile walk. It was a nice, relaxing walk around Waterfront Park.

Once we finished the walk, I had to leave. I made a quick pass through the sponsor's tables, had a brownie and some sweet tea, and grabbed a bottle of juice before driving home.

Brian also had his camera, so hopefully he made Sam pose with a few other mascots (please, please let there be a picture of him with the slice of pizza! or the cow!).

Another good run for Team Sweaty Yeti, and another bib and t-shirt for me!

Chris

Pre-Buddy Walk Post

2008-10-04T03:23:00.000-07:00

Hello internet!

It is early on Saturday morning as I type this, and I am getting prepared for today's 5k. No road trip this time. Today the Yetis and friends are running in Down Syndrome of Louisville's annual Buddy Run, part of their Buddy Walk fundraiser. We are running as part of a team for DD's daughter.

Brian and I are driving over together and meeting up with our fellow runners, DD, Sam the newbie, and perhaps Scott Z., if his knees are feeling better. It should be a fun run. The weather forecast looks great. Current temps are cool, but not as cold as it has been for our overnight runs this week, and it will be getting warmer. I believe I saw temps hitting the high 50s by the end of the run.

I'll take the camera and try to get some pics of the team for the post-run blog.

Chris

Expedition Everest Challenge: We did it!

2008-09-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

Team Sweaty Yeti is home from their weekend trip to Disney for the EEC. As fun as it was, I am glad to be home. I doubt my wife and kids realize how much I missed them while I was away (I was at Disney, after all), but it was weird for me, being away from them for a few days.

So, Brian, Gibby and I got on the road Thursday night, around 9pm. It was pretty uneventful, except for the gas shortages in parts of TN and GA. But, there was still regular unleaded at most stations, just not the higher grades.

We arrived in Orlando Friday morning, and thanks to an error on my part with the gps, we drove around the business district of Orlando, instead of heading directly to Disney. Once that was corrected, it was on to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It looks like what I imagine an African lodge would.

After we got unpacked, we made our way to Magic Kingdom to pick up our hopper tickets. Unfortunately, Brian forgot his ID, which he needed to pick up his ticket, so he had to go back to the room to get it. While he was gone, Gibby and I took some pics of the Fall decorations, then had lunch at Casey's Corner and looked for Disney Pins for our families. Brian arrived a little later, and we rode Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain. Then, it was off to Disney Hollywood Studios.

Our number one goal at Hollywood was to ride their newest attraction, Toy Story Mania. In case you don't know, it is what Disney calls a "4-D Adventure". It is a lot like the Buzz Lightyear ride, only with animation and 3-D glasses. Your car moves from game to game, and you have to fire at the screens. Sometimes it is suction cup darts, other times you are breaking plates. It was a lot of fun, and although it took nearly 45 minutes to get through the line, there was plenty to see. And we were also entertained by a large, talking Mr. Potato Head.

Also at Hollywood, we rode Rock n Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror. We rode ToT twice, once before dark and once after. The ride we took after dark was crazy! As soon as the doors closed and the car went dark, a young girl started screaming, and then we started going up. The ride seemed longer than it did the first time we rode it, and it stopped on one floor with some creepy little doll or ghost-child, then shot up for one last peek out over the park. Brian had brought an inflatable birthday cake and party hats, because we had planned on using them for the picture they take on the ride. Well, we forgot to bring them into the park with us. That would have been a great group picture, and I believe that group would have gladly gone along with it. Next up, Epcot.

They were having extra magic hours at Epcot, so they were open until midnight. We were able to ride Soarin', The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Mission Space and Test Track. I was feeling tired and a little hungry when we got in line for Mission Space, and I felt like I was going to hurl right all over the ride and my fellow Yetis, but I didn't. After that adventure, we grabbed something to eat and returned to the lodge for some sleep.

Saturday morning, we had to pick up our packets for the race, so we went to Disney's Wide World of Sports complex for that. They had a neat setup, some photo opportunities by a campsite and a course talk. They mentioned during the course overview that if anyone thought they couldn't make it over the obstacles, to just walk around them. I had no intention of doing that, and was a little surprised that they would encourage that. But there were so many people there, from young to old, and of different fitness levels and abilities, that they almost had to do that. But that didn't mean the Sweaty Yetis were going to skip the obstacles!

After that, we dropped the car off at Animal Kingdom, so we could stash a change of clothes and a cooler at the race site for after the Challenge. Then, we went to Downtown Disney for some lunch and a little shopping. We ate at The Earl of Sandwich, and it was really good. We killed a lot of time in the World of Disney Store, and noticed it was getting a little late in the afternoon. We decided that we would skip the parks and get some dessert at Beaches and Cream and then relax a bit before we had to leave for the race.

Once we got the Animal Kingdom, we found out which waves we would be starting from. I was in the first, Brian and Gibby were in the second. We ended up starting together in the second wave and running it together. Before the race started, they had a few props to have your picture taken with, so of course we did.

We still had some time before the race, and I noticed a group of people from WISH (We're Inspired to Stay Healthy- from the disBoards) nearby, so I stopped by to make a personal intro. They are a great, supportive and friendly group of people. It was very nice to make contact with people I had been reading about and posting with. Keep it up WISHers!

At last, 7pm arrived, and we watched the first group depart. We started 5 minutes behind them. We ended up finishing the 5k in around 29 minutes, then caught our breath before moving on to the obstacles. The first obstacle was Marine Hurdles, 4 feet high, then we had to climb up and down a cargo net, then over a balance beam, and lastly, crawl through sand under a net. After a quick drink, we got our passports and started looking for clues in the park. We had two different clue books, so we had to find 8 clues. It was easier once Brian pointed out that there were crowds of people where the clues were. Due to a bit of miscommunication, I missed one answer on my passport. Then we ran to the finish and received our medals. It was great!

After a snack and a cool down, we went out to the car to get on some dry clothes and have a post-race toast of Coors Light. We all checked in with the families back home, then made our way back into the park for the post-race party, which for us meant riding the crap out of Everest. It was also our chance to get a photo of me striking a Michael Phelps pose. Let me explain. My wife and kids, but mostly my wife, were fascinated by Michael Phelps' performance in the Olympics this summer. So Brian had the idea to get a photo of me wearing 8 EEC medals, like the Phelps Sports Illustrated cover. And to our surprise, it was very easy to get people to help out with this. It was almost effortless. Brian and Gibby had mentioned the idea to a team while they were lined up for photos before the race, and they were very eager to help out. They saw us in the park after the race and asked if we had gotten the picture yet. We hadn't, so we found 3 more people and asked for their help, which they gladly gave, and that was it! And if you guys happen to read this, thanks again!

So, we made our way to Expedition Everest. The first time, it took a while to get through the line. But the lines got shorter, until eventually, we were walking off the ride, and turning around and walking right back onto it. I think we rode it 8 times that night. It was so great! We also rode Dinosaur twice, but EE was the big attraction for me.

The park closed at midnight, and we made our way back to AKL, by way of McDonald's, to get a few hours of sleep. Like four or five hours of sleep. Then we were out the door and on the road for a little over 12 hours. I was so tired that if I wasn't driving, I was lying down in the backseat trying to sleep. Once I got home, I felt so much better. It is great to be back with the family.

Not sure what is next for this Yeti. I haven't signed up for the Buddy Walk yet. It is next weekend, and I know my EEC partners and DD will be there.

My fingers are sore from typing, so I will close this blog down for now.

Bye!

Chris

Wind Storm 08 Coverage

2008-09-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

It has been one of the strangest stretch of days in recent memory. For those of you out there who haven't heard, the Louisville area had some bizarre and intense weather Sunday. I read an explanation of what brought on the 3 hour wind storm, but all I retained was Low Pressure draws air from High Pressure, or maybe vice-versa. It felt like the jetstream was whipping around right on the ground, instead of far above us.
There was extensive damage around town, as well as widespread power outages. I was without power for 25 hours, which wasn't bad, considering several people I work with, including the Incredible-Shrinking-Yeti, are still without power. Many businesses in the area are still closed, two days later, and the local school systems are closed, some for the entire week. I haven't taken a grand tour of the area, but the parts I have seen seem okay. We only lost one shingle from our roof, and all of the trees in our yard are still standing. I can't say the same for many of my neighbors, though. There are many trees down, and a lot of roof damage in my neighborhood, and even more community-wide. Locally, it may take up to a week to get power restored to everyone. Gibby just called to tell me that he heard that our local water will be turned off in about a half an hour. I sure hope not, since I need a shower, but we have bottled water to drink. We may just have to skip a shower until things get straightened out.
Hopefully, things will be back to normal by the weekend. All in all, we were very lucky to have hardly any damage at all and the relatively brief power outage. Some locals have it worse than us.

On a lighter note, before the wind storm broke loose Sunday morning, Brian, DD and myself did a 5-mile run at sunrise. We didn't set any speed records, but we did run the full 5-miles. I hadn't run that distance before, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. We had DD pace the run, around a 10-minute mile pace, and that was probably the reason I was able to finish. There is no way I could run that distance at a 7 or 8-minute pace. Not yet, anyway.

That should do it for now.

Chris

An Overdue Update

2008-09-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hello faithful readers. I'm so sorry to keep you waiting between posts. But, I haven't just been not posting, I've been doing a little living.

The kids are back in school, things are settling into a nice, familiar rhythm, and hopefully the heat of summer is coming to an end. And with the last holiday of the summer behind us, so, it seems, are those long and winding days.

The Race Against ALS was two weeks ago, and I set a time which I can't imagine improving on (23:41.21, in case you have forgotten). Since then, sore knees have been slowing me down, especially last week. I haven't been running every night at work, and I tell myself to rest the knees, don't screw around and hurt yourself before the Everest 5k. But I want to run. I feel better after I run. I may not enjoy it while I am out there, but its awful good for me. I may use the elliptical on nights when I don't run, but man, is that boring. Even with the tv on, it is really dull. But it is a low-impact activity, that gets the heart rate up and doesn't kill my knees. But did I mention how dull it is?

On to other things.

Labor Day Weekend was chock full of activities for the family. First off, we visited some friends of ours who have a place at Bushman's, which sits on the banks of the Mighty Ohio River, and gets a little rocking on the weekends, particularly holiday weekends. Two other families joined us for the day on Saturday, but left sometime after dark. We stayed the night, and left some time before noon on Sunday. As usual, we had a very good time. The kids swam in the river, we had burgers and dogs for dinner, there was a campfire after dark (complete with s'mores), and we enjoyed being able to relax with friends and not have to worry about getting the kids to practice or games or pool parties or sleepovers for a change. I'm not complaining about my kids' schedules, but it was nice to get a break from the go-go-go.

Sunday, we had another get-together lined up, this time with some other friends of ours. Our kids are the same ages and go to school together. And they are pretty awesome, to boot. Although it was actually the host's birthday, he was having the party as a celebration of life. Recently, his brother found out he had testicular cancer. Things had been a little scary for them lately, and this was a good way to get together with a bunch of friends and really appreciate what you have. We had plenty to eat and drink, even played a little cornhole, and had a great time.

Monday was a day to relax and recover, before life got back on schedule.

This weekend, my wife and I went to a fundraising dance for our kids' school. We went with two other couples, and we had decided a while ago that we would be dressing up for the night. Originally, the ladies thought a prom theme would be funny, but ended up going with an 80's theme. Keep in mind, just the six of us dressed up for this. Everyone else was dressed anywhere from casual (shorts and hawaiian shirts) to a little more dressed up, AKA normal. We got plenty of confused looks from the folks there, but we had a great time. They had a live band, See Emily Play, and they sounded pretty good. They had a nice mix of music in their sets, and I would definitely recommend catching their show sometime.

So, here it is, Sunday evening, and its time to start getting ready for the week ahead. Both girls have volleyball this week- a few games and practices. Also, a full week of work. Yuck.

Not sure if we will run another 5k before Disney, but if we do, you will read about it here. I think Brian has us lined up for two more on the two weekends following Disney. Three 5ks in three consecutive weekends. Yikes.

That's plenty for now. Maybe I should take the time to update weekly.

Chris

Race Results are in

2008-08-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

It is one day after the 4-Yeti Wrecking Crew hit the streets of Louisville for the 1st Annual Shirley Stufflebeam Memorial Race Against ALS 5k/10k, and the results are up on Active.com. I waited until the times were official, mainly because I still can't believe how quickly Brian and I finished the 5k.

The times for the four of us were 23:41.21 (me, 23rd overall), 23:42.09 (Brian, 24th), 27:30.56 (DD, 39th), and 29:11.55 (Gibby, 52nd). Everyone of us met our goals for the race. If I may say so, we were pretty awesome.

Let me recap the morning of the race. I met Brian and DD, and we biked over to Slugger Field, site of the race. Halfway across the Ohio River, Gibby drove up next to us (he had a coaches meeting to attend after the race, so he drove), and we met up at the Field. Gibby let us stow some stuff in his car (helmets, backpacks, etc.), and we got our registration packets. After that, we had to take our race shirts and packets back over to the car, which was fine since we still had plenty of time before the race started.

Slugger Field was open, and they had fruit, bagels and powerbars to eat, and also bottled water. Brian and I each had a powerbar that wasn't much to look at, but actually tasted okay. After a half-ass stretch, we listened to the dj spin some tunes. Then it was off to the starting line.

The organizers got the 10k runners started first, and then it was time for our group, the 5k crowd. We took a spot near the front of the pack, and we were off. This run felt more like work than the last one we did. My feet felt like fire, my arms were sore, and for some reason, I decided to bring a camera with me on the run. It took me a while to find a comfortable way to carry it, but it was a way bigger inconvenience than I thought it would be. But then again, without it I wouldn't have the wonderful pictures to accompany this blog.

Like last time, I found a "target" at the start of the run that I set out to finish ahead of. He pulled ahead of us by a decent margin, but never out of sight. At one point, he started walking, but we didn't overtake him until the last 1/10th of a mile. Brian and I saw the finish line and the clock, and we couldn't believe it had only been 23 minutes. Actually, I still can't believe it. But, anyway, he said it was now or never if I was going to pass the target, so I reached a little deeper and we finished almost 5 seconds ahead of him (at least I guess so; the next person after Brian was over 4 1/2 seconds back). That felt great. My lungs, legs and nearly everything else, however, didn't. But, one bottle of water later, I was feeling good to go.

Brian and I were then on Lookout detail. We spotted DD less than 3 minutes behind us, and then Gibby about a minute and a half after that. We all finished in under 30 minutes! I was really proud of our little team.

After a little cool down, we went into the ballfield for some bagels and fruit. It was a nice treat after our efforts. We stuck around for a bit, waited to see what the winning times were, then got our stuff from Gibby's car before he had to leave. Brian, DD and I stayed a bit longer, then decided we had had enough.

The bike ride home was all right, except, of course for that dreaded hill along Walnut Ridge cemetery. I don't think I will ever get used to that.

That will most likely be the last tune-up for Team Sweaty Yeti before the EEC. We will keep on running at lunch time, but most likely no more 5ks until the big one. If so, it was a good one to go out on.

Stay tuned for more Yeti updates.

Chris

Early on the 23rd

2008-08-23T02:58:00.000-07:00

Hello Faithful Readers,

It is around 6 a.m., and I have been awake for over an hour already. There is just something magical about trying to adjust to a first-shift schedule after working the graveyard shift through the week.

Of course, part of the reason I couldn't sleep is because the Yetis are running a 5k across the river. I would hate to oversleep and miss out on that! Brian, DD and myself are biking over, and Gibby will be joining us after driving over.

The run training was a little rough this week. I felt like a bit of a sluggish fat-ass most of this week. I was slower, winded and my knees were almost always aching. So, I took a day off from work on Thursday, and tried to acclimate to the family's schedule, which is a normal, wake-in-the-morning and go-to-bed-at-night schedule one day earlier than usual. I was also going to use the time to rest my legs.

So, I catch a few hours of sleep Thurs morning after work, get up, go pick up the kids from school, and coach my 3rd grader's volleyball practice. I was feeling good, knowing that I could sleep all night instead of go to work. I must say, that is a very nice feeling.

Anyway, Friday, I rise and shine with the family, see them out the door, do a little light housework, and get on the elliptical trainer with the intention of putting in an hour of cardio. My knees felt fine, legs felt great, all was well. However, I must have mentally checked out early, because I was done after 30 minutes. I know I could have gone longer, but I also wanted to be somewhat fresh for the run this morning. It was a pretty good workout. Nothing like actual road work, but it was good for the heart and lungs.

Other than that, it was an easy-does-it day for me.

I will have a race report, along with pictures, later today if time allows.

Good luck to my fellow Yetis! Stay tuned for more updates.

Chris

Today's Secret Ingredient: Hills!

2008-08-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, I went for a bike ride with a few of my friends. It was the same group as last week, with the exception of new-to-the-group rider Scott Z.

I met Z around 6:25, and we waited for the rest of our crew (Brian, Gibby and Double D). And we waited some more. Apparently, Double D was running late, and nearly got left behind. However, he made it in the nick of time, and showed up with Brian and Gibby around 6:40 or so.

We didn't have a destination in mind (DD had mentioned biking to Henryville, but that was a 35 mile round trip, and our schedule probably wouldn't have accomodated that), so Gibby led us to Utica. We ended up biking out to Quarry Bluff, which was interesting. It is a residential area inside of an old limestone quarry. That was the site of our first set of hills. One rather steep hill just to get to the quarry, then another one on the inside of the quarry. Yay!

After making our way out of there, we continued our eastward journey along the river, eventually making it to Longview Beach Rd., where we came to a dead end, and turned back. No hills there, but we thought we may have to rumble with pack of elders who were heading our way on foot. Luckily for them, they were a friendly bunch, and no blood was shed. Oh, except for when DD fell off of his bike AGAIN. No picture this time, since he was right back up on it in the blink of an eye. He also had a severe case of helmet head, but I am afraid my picture didn't do it justice. It was kind of a Dennis Rodman look.

So, after we passed Quarry Bluff on the return trip, we looked back for DD, but didn't see him. So we waited, and when he caught up, he said his chain had come off. Which was weird, since a little later Gibby's chain malfunctioned too. Voodoo, perhaps? Curse of the Yeti? Not sure.

Once we hit the Clark Maritime area, DD gave it all he had, and left us behind. We met him at Spring Street, and decided it was probably time to make our way home. Which brings us to the biggest and baddest hill of the day.

The climb started slowly, at Spring and 10th, and got brutal just past Walnut Ridge. The hill by the cemetary was long and hard (TWSS), and after that, we still had another mile or more of ups and downs before the road leveled off. Scott had left the pack, and headed to where his truck was parked, while the rest of us biked to Brian's house. I went so I could pick up my t-shirt from our West Louisville 5-k and a couple of DVDs.

After leaving Brian's house, Gibby and I rode out toward his house, and I took a shortcut back to my neighborhood from there.

Another good ride on a great morning. The weather was a little cool, but it got much nicer as the day went along.

Next weekend, faithful readers, is the ALS 5k, and DD, Gibby, Brian and myself will be there to run wild through the streets of downtown Louisville. I am thinking about taking my camera to add some pictures to the post-race blog. If so, you will definitely see and hear about our morning next week. Wish us luck.

Until next post,

Chris

Yetis Ride at Dawn

2008-08-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Early this morning, around 6:30 am, I met up with Brian, Double D, and special guest Gibby for our Saturday morning bike ride. We met at Ice Cream Willie's, then rode out past CCSA, and on to Highway 62. The plan was to hit Patrol Rd., which circles the old Ammo Plant, but every entrance to the road was gated and locked. So, like we usually do, we improvised a route.

We ended up riding to Charlestown, then took a left onto Highway 3, then a right onto 403. From there, we biked to Sellersburg. We hung a left at Silver Creek schools, then another onto Utica St., and then out onto 31.

I got the bright idea to ride out to Covered Bridge, but came to my senses early enough to change our course. From there we cruised into Clarksville, down Lewis and Clark to the end, past William's Bakery (where I wish I had stopped in for something, but didn't) through old Clarksville. Actually, we were kind of all over the place, and this post is boring enough without turn-by-turn directions. I bet Brian will map it out and post it to his blog, if my faithful reader(s) want to see where we went.

The weather for the ride was great. It was a little cooler than I like it when we started out. I actually doubled back to the house for a knit hat and gloves so I wouldn't be shivering for the first hour or so. I am very glad I did. I ended up peeling off that layer around the time we hit Charlestown.

We saw at least a dozen yard sales, and enough roadkill to fill a bathtub. Other than that, there wasn't much to see. Unless you count the four Yetis on bikes, that is. We looked good. See for yourself.

We were out for about 3 hours, so I am going to guess we covered somewhere between 25-30 miles. It was a nice ride, but we should probably have a plan and a backup plan for the next ride, so we don't have to make it up as we go along. It worked out okay, but like I said earlier, it wasn't very scenic, apart from that stretch of 403.

On an unrelated note, all four of us will be running the ALS run in two weeks. Its the 5k that starts/ends at Slugger Field in Louisville that I mentioned in a previous post. So we got that going for us, which is nice. We'll probably bike over to that one.

That's all for now. Will post with any updates to the training.

Chris

Saturday Morning Bike Ride

2008-08-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a 3-hour tour, which took us over the river, through the woods, but nowhere near grandmother's house. Along for the ride were Double D and Brian (aka The Shrinking Yeti).

We met halfway between mine and Brian's house (Double D had driven over, with his bike in the Rendezvous), and started out for our first, and only clear objective, which was Louisville Slugger Field. We had to cross the Mighty Ohio River, and from there it was an easy ride. Total of about 35 minutes. We are running a 5k next month which starts and ends there, so we thought we would see how long it would take to bike over. Now we know.

After that, we rode out to the Cherokee Triangle area, then back up Bardstown Rd., back through downtown, and back across the river toward home. It was still early into the ride, so we decided to bike along the river, up Utica Pike, where Double D got a little off balance and took a spill.

It really freaked out the guy in the truck that had just passed us. He backed up, and Brian said he was shaken up, thinking he might have caused it. Nope, that was just our pal on his new bike. He said it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. Looks painful, though. Luckily, Brian reminded me that I had the camera, so I can share.

So, after we had a brief break for water and to regroup, and Double D got his chain back on, we proceeded to bike the Pike.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful in comparison to the first half, but it was a nice ride.

I had borrowed my brother-in-law's Trek, and MAN that is a sweet ride. He told me that I would hate my bike after I rode that, and I hate to admit it, but he may be right.

Not sure how many miles we rode, but I estimate somewhere between 20 and 30. Not bad for 3 hours out and about.

Blog later.

Chris

I got my bike back!

2008-07-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

Its been a few days, so let me bring my loyal readers (both of you) up to speed.

My in-laws are both home from the hospital and doing well, although we found out today that the blood thinner my mother-in-law was put on has thinned her blood too much, so she has to stay off of that for a few days. Other than that, all seems to be well.

After our 5k, Brian dropped me off at the hospital. So my bike has been at Brian's house since then. Well, not anymore! I got the idea that, since our houses are only 2 1/2 miles apart, I would just run over there and get it. And since my wife and kids weren't home to tell me that I was crazy for even thinking about doing that, I did it. Well, nearly. I ran about 2 miles, and walked the last 1/2. But still, it was pretty hot and muggy outside. After talking to Brian for a few minutes, I felt like I was melting, so I shoved off. Or tried to. The first push on the pedal popped the chain off, sending the pedal into my right calf. It kinda hurt. That had to make a good impression on his daughter, who had showed up in the middle of all of this.

So I biked home at a leisurely pace, and now I am sitting here, still sweaty and stinky, recounting this adventure for all the world to read. Huzzah!

BTW, I bet you want to see my sweet, customized bike helmet, don't you? Well, here it is, in all of its glory.

Blog later

Saturday, the recap

2008-07-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday started with a 5k, but ended up feeling more like a marathon. Let me explain.

The day started off very promising. I woke up a little after 5am, laid around until 5:45, then got up, dressed and ate a little something, and hopped on my bike and rode over to Brian's house. We set off for Shawnee Park, the site of the West Louisville Appreciation Days 5k. We had to drive around a bit to find the registration area, and we ended up parking near the breakfast setup. Yum! It was a short walk from where we parked to the starting line, so we hoofed it over and signed in.

As we got in position to start, Brian said he had a goal, which was to finish ahead of a woman at least 20 years older than us. I followed suit by selecting a rather stout gray-haired man. Those didn't turn out to be too hard to pass (we passed both of them in the first mile), so we chose another target, passed them, and then another who was moving at about our pace and was about 10 yards ahead of us. We got around that one in the 3rd mile, then fell behind, then overtook her again about a half mile from the finish. As we came over the little hill at the 3 mile mark, Brian said to kick it in for the final 1/10th, and somehow I dug a little deeper and was able to finish strong. We ended up finishing 56th and 57th overall, with times just under 25 minutes and 23 seconds. Brian, who finished a split-second ahead of me, finished 3rd in our age division and got a little trophy.

The post-race breakfast was really good too. They had french toast, pancakes, ham, bacon, sausage, eggs and grits. Plus orange juice and coffee, and plenty of cold drinks like water, soft drinks, green tea, etc in big tubs all around the breakfast tent.

I felt pretty good about our finish time. There were a few moments during the race when I felt like quitting, but I stuck with it, and I'm pretty proud of that. Even though I was exhausted and felt like I was going to puke right after the race, I really had a great experience.

Next month, we are doing a 5k in downtown Louisville. I said after I finished this race that I wouldn't run at that pace (8:10/mile) for the next one, but I think I might want to improve on my time. And I need to finish ahead of Brian. I want a trophy!

The rest of my day wasn't as great. On the way home, my wife called to tell me that her dad was headed to the hospital. He had a heart attack 4 weeks ago while we were all on vacation in Florida, and thought he may be having another one. To make things even more interesting, my mother-in-law was already IN the hospital, and was due to be discharged that day. How's that for timing?

Long story short, he didn't have a heart attack, more likely an anxiety attack, and he is being discharged today. He just needs to seriously take it easy and recover. Hopefully he gets that now.

I was supposed to go the see the Black Crowes with Brian, but after 6 hours waiting around the hospital in my stinky running clothes, what I really needed was a shower and a nap. So I sat that one out.

This post was longer than I intended, but then again, so was my day, so I think that makes it right somehow.

Chris

Saturday's 5k

2008-07-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

When I woke up today, I decided to check the weather forecast for Saturday. Not looking very good. After a few weeks with little or no rain, now we are getting a daily dose of heavy clouds and higher chances of rain and storms. So, I check the hour by hour forecast, and the humidity % keeps going up and up, and the chance of rain keeps rising as well. Perhaps there will be a shift in the pattern and we will get enough of a clearing that we can run in dry conditions. Brian has already said he will not run in the rain, and I can't imagine they will even hold the event if there are storms in the area. So I am keeping my fingers crossed for a window of about 2 hours with no rain on Saturday morning.

As far as training goes, we ran 3 miles last night, and I didn't feel all that bad afterward. Even had a time of just under 28 minutes. Not too shabby for a couple of 38 year olds.

That's all for now, more soon.

And so it begins

2008-07-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

I don't think I am the only person on earth who isn't blogging, but it kinda feels like it. As of late, two of my friends have joined the blogosphere with their adventures, and so it seemed like as good a time as any to get the ball rolling.

So, this may be a bit random and unfocused, but I am still getting my bearings, so bear with.

Started training for a 5k a few months ago with two of my friends. We signed up in February for a run through Animal Kingdom in Disney World during the last weekend in September, and since then we have been getting our run on. Two of the three of us will be running a 5k this weekend. It will be my first, and I am curious to see how well I hold up. Also curious to check out the whole race experience. I don't think we will smoke the course, but as long as I run the whole way, I will finish it a happy man. If this goes well, we will probably run another local 5k before our Disney run.

I'll regroup and post a more focused blog the next time around. Until then, happy blogging.

Chris