fun in the sun

it figures. today's probably the nastiest day we've had since march or so. it's rainy and in the low 50s. and, since i can actually sleep in tomorrow, i'm going to do a longer-ish(?) run tonite. something in the 6-mile range, maybe. longer-ish for me, anyway... despite being wet and cold, it'll be fun i'm sure. i'm gonna try to convince darrin to join me. i haven't talked to him yet, but i'll guilt him into it.
but, there is some temporary light at the end of the tunnel. see, i'm going to florida for two days next week! (that is, if hurricane wilma doesn't take florida with her - hang in there, oldman!) fun in the sun! well, not exactly... i'm going to Shand's hospital in Gainesville for some medical testing. you see, my 29-year old sister, who lives in orlando, is in total renal failure and needs a kidney transplant. as the only full blood sibling, i'm medically the best choice as a donor. besides, she and i have always been extremely close, and as soon as her doctors realized she needed a transplant, i wanted to be the one to donate. we've already done the blood and tissue tests, and i'll be going there for two days of CT scans, MRIs, more blood tests, and even a psychological evaluation. assuming everything goes fine, the actual transplant will take place sometime before the end of the year. since she became ill way back in may, it'll be nice to get this all over with so that she can resume her "normal" life. the doctors say that i really won't have any restrictions after the procedure, and that i can live a perfectly normal life with a single kidney. cool!
in other news, my twin sons, andrew and nathan, tried out for and were selected for their middle school basketball team. now, what you have to understand is that they are the 2 shortest 6th graders in the entire school. since their practices are not open to parents, i haven't really seen the rest of the team, but i hope they're not expecting alot of rebounding from the guard position. kudos for them to make the team, though, as well over half of the kids who tried out did not.
have a great weekend, everyone!

no sleep for the weary

what a fun week it's been here at work. thank you Enron, thank you Adelphia, and all the other greedy bastards and corrupt a-holes whose deceptive practices necessitated the government to develop an auditing standard designed to eliminate such activities. many of you probably know what i'm talking about - the Sarbanes-Oxley Act - or SOX, as we affectionately call it. anyway, my week has been spent hanging out with 3 auditors from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who have requested documentation regarding every little aspect of what my department does, from windows server security to emergency lighting inspections in the ladies' room. fun fun fun..
this weekend andrew and nathan are playing in a soccer tournament in indy. so, we're leaving at about 6:30AM tomorrow to play two games, then, as we have a game at 8:30AM sunday, we'll leave even earlier. oh well, at least the weather looks to be wonderful for both days - sunny in the low 70s.
i've run just a couple of times this week. my nighttime runs have been interrupted lately by this pesky database management class i'm taking. man, these classes have become a big pain in the ass.


** note to all high school students who think that taking time off before starting college is a good idea or that not finishing college is ok:
get that dumbass idea our of your head now! get your freakin' college done before your life really begins. you'll appreciate it later - trust me.

sincerely,
former high school dumbass who is now 37 and is forced to juggle kids, a wife, bills, and a full time job, instead of just school


ok. i feel better now.

hey, i wanted to wish a special good luck here to shelley, who will be sprinting down the magical Alii drive this weekend in her kona debut. i know she'll kick some serious butt.

anyway, i hope everyone has a great weekend. i actually have some interesting news that i'll announce next week. so stay tuned!

chugging along

not too much interesting going on. i ran tuesday nite in the relative warmth, then ran last nite in the coolness that is the fall. currently, it's only 61 degrees here, and it was probably about 45 when i ran last nite. the cool crisp air actually felt pretty good.
since my weekend will be unusually devoid of kids' activities, hopefully darrin and i can get in a long-ish run or bike on sunday. i haven't done a long bike ride in quite a while, and this may be one of the last weekends with good enough weather to do that.
i wanted to wish good luck to those racing late year events this weekend. wil and kahuna come to mind. also to shelley, who's in kona getting ready for her big day.
have a great weekend, everyone!

down but not out

deep down, i knew it was only a matter of time. but it still bothered me. you see, last thursday darrin and i agreed to go run at 10PM. i got my running stuff on, put on my shoes, and stepped outside. and then it happened. on the very first exhale.
i could see my breath. and it was cold.
i knew this meant the demise of summer. plunging temperatures, sweaters, coats, and the next ice age are right around the corner.
ahh - but wait. we hit 80s this weekend. could possibly nip 90 today or tomorrow. summer is fighting back. you go, girl!

yeah, i'm hoping this summer hangs on. thursday's run with darrin wasn't actually "cold", but it did kinda suck to walk outside and see my breath. the run itself was fine. 3 dark and relatively uneventful miles. on saturday, my kids and i participated in a 1-mile children's race, for kids in grades K-8 and their parents. justin, my 9-year old, and i ran together and finished in about 9 minutes. he did great, even on the uphill section that finished the course. andrew got nipped at the line by an 8th grader and finished second overall, but he busted through the 6 minute barrier with a time of 5:59. nathan finished 4th overall in 6:12. my 6-year old daughter sara tore up the course, finishing in a little over 12 minutes. she was not originally going to run, but when we got there, she realized that the racers all got these cool t-shirts. being female, she can't pass up clothes. she was even more excited after she finished when she was handed a goodie-bag with an apple, a banana and other stuff inside. she thought she was hot stuff... and she was right!
anyway, darrin and haven't made any formal plans yet, but i'm sure we'll get out for a few miles tonite and enjoy the waning moments of nice weather. by thursday, the low temperature is supposed to be in the low 30s. eek. i'm not looking forward to that. is it almost spring yet?!