Thoughts from my brain

Mikey's gota brand new blog

2009-02-25T20:40:00.001-05:00

MOOOO. BAAAA. yep, i'm falling in line and following Angelle to wordpress:

http://www.g-ratedlife.com/mike

people are still nice (but some are crazy)

2009-02-23T08:27:00.002-05:00

Nice People

So i got to work, found that my 2 drink bottles in my lunch bag had leaked. Not a huge deal, but annoying. Then realized i left my bagel on my counter at home. I brought the butter, cheese, and juice, but no bagel. Then a kind person at work heard me grumbling and offered me one of her bagels! I said, "no, i dont need to eat your food". she said "really its no big deal. i have a whole bag and usually end up throwing away 1 or 2 at the end of the week." so i accepted. so, thanks Danielle!

The crazy people

Visitors to IKEA. OI VEY! seriously, if a store needs traffic cops and attendants directing you to a spot like its Disney World, I probably should not be shopping there. Then you get inside and theres a place to drop your kid off while you shop! kinda cool, but also kinda creepy at the same time. Then you are shepherded around the store on a one way path. MOO. BAAA.

The stuff was kinda neat design-wise, but definitely not worth all the hullabaloo that everyone is making. (good word huh?) I will say it was clean design. not overly ornate, and not Sauder from walmart.

But swimming with Leah yesterday afternoon, definitely made up for the sillyness at IKEA. I took a bunch of pictures of the awesome Swedish words, so those will show up soon.

Leah's new tricks

2009-02-22T19:38:00.002-05:00

I took Leah to the pool today, and shes getting great at swimming when she has her goggles. Its so awesome to see her like the water and not be afraid to go under. She actually swam under my legs today! Also, she stood on the side and jumped in with a life jacket on. Shes never done that on her own. I didnt even ask her to do it. she just got out and did it! then she did it about 5 more times. I know this may not seem like much for all you parents of frogs, but for Leah its a huge step. I was shocked. Shes really a lot of fun to swim with now.

Also, we were playing with Paint on the computer before bed, and i wrote a few 3 letter words, and asked Leah if she could sound them out to see what they said, and she did!! She sounded out Cat, Dog, Hat, Pig, and Frog (with some help). I guess word world is helping! I think she might be reading beginner books by the end of the year! i called angelle in to show her and she was amazed. Yay! I got Leah to do something before her teacher mom. :)

We also had shrimp and corn bisque for dinner. SO delicious! Thanks Gee and Myrn for visiting, cooking, and then leaving us with food!

now another week of hoping its not my last with Wells Fargo/Wachovia. :)

Hope Keith is having fun in Park City. while i'm not there, i still had fun with my girls this weekend.

Comments about SNL last week

2009-02-19T20:47:00.002-05:00

1. The Jonas Brothers are HORRIBLE. Horrible songs, horrible singing, horrible everything. Britney Spears was seriously better. and she wasnt that good. I really hope Megan doesnt like them. They are probably worse for this country than GM, Wamu, and the stimulus bill combined.

2. The Wii Wario skit was pretty good. If you havent seen it, here ya go.

3. The return of Edible Pampers. Still funny! Tasty flavors like Harvest Cheddar! MMM!

4. Sadly, no Shweaty Balls.

5. Seriously, Jonas Brothers = AWFUL. Complete Garbage. Yeah i'm jealous that no talent losers can make money and be famous. Aren't you?!?

RENT was awesome.

2009-01-29T09:03:00.003-05:00

We saw it 8 years ago, but it was SO much better this time. Cast was amazing. Mark and Roger had awesome performances.

Oh yeah, and the Spiedino di Mare at Carrabbas beforehand was also awesome. :)

Forgotten tidbit from Daddy Daughter Daughter weekend

2009-01-28T23:17:00.002-05:00

I forgot to tell y'all, that over the weekend (i think Saturday) we were playing outside and Leah was flailing and jumping (per usual) and almost kicked Erin in the head and almost kicked Chase in the head. I told her to cut it out and go play away from the babies. She took that as "yelling at her" so she starts crying and walks slowly to the house. I let her go but then follow after I realize she went into the house. I came to find her sitting on the floor, holding a framed picture of Angelle, sobbing and saying "I miss Mommy....I miss Mommy...."

It was the cutest, saddest, most dramatic thing I've ever seen. That's my Leah.

To: All my friends.

2009-01-28T08:44:00.003-05:00

You're the best! Around.

Just like this guy:

Angry Lunch

2009-01-27T15:13:00.006-05:00

I don't recall if I blogged about the BK Whopper Sacrifice, but I thought it was hilarious so i tried it.

You sacrifice 10 of your facebook friends and you get mailed a coupon for a free whopper. Sounds awesome right? Just get rid of some peeps who you thought were cool, but after reading their status updates (or lack thereof) realized they are worth less than 1/10th of a whopper.

So I got my coupon a few days ago, and was happy thinking about my free whopper i was going to enjoy today. BUT apparently the Burger King in uptown charlotte does NOT participate in coupon programs. WHAT?!? I know it says participation may vary, but i thought that was legal nonsense. What kinda crap is that? I was so angry, that I took off my yamaka, and flung it at the lady like a frisbee, slicing her head off (oddjob style).

Well okay, that last part wasnt true (i only wear my yamaka on Shabbat), but I was angry. I told her she just lost my business for life. She of course said something in some language that may or may not have been a local dialect of english (i'm not racist, its the troof), and i stormed off.

I ended up getting a couple snack wraps from McD's on my way back to my office.

So, be wary of this coupon! Maybe normal restaurants take it, but Charlotte CATS BK sure doesnt! BOOOOOOOOOOO!

Daddy Daughter Daughter weekend

2009-01-25T07:12:00.002-05:00

Well, its only half over, but so far its going well. If you read my blog, I'm sure you read Angelle's and know she's in Savannah this weekend with Mandi/Stacy for a girls trip. I talked to her last night and sounds like they're having a blast! Food, Pedicures and Ghost Tours oh my!

The kids have been really good, so it has been great. Well, except for mornings...

Saturday Morning

Leah walks in at 6:25 whimpering cuz she had a pee-pee accident in her jammies, in her bed. WHEEE! I clean her up, and we get back in our bed and lay for about a half hour till Erin wakes up.

Sunday Morning

Erin starts talking at 5:25. (what is it with the :25's?). When she does this, typicall we just turn down the monitor some and go back to sleep cuz she often puts herself back to sleep. Well, she didnt. I waited till 7, since she was just talking, and not crying, but finally got her. 7 is my 'wait till' time. I still am surprised (and angry) that she didnt go back to sleep. I was hoping she would fall back asleep at like 6, then sleep till 8. wishful thinking.

Besides the mornings...

Other than the mornings, its been good. We've played with the Maddexes a bunch, and Laurie cooked us dinner Friday night, and made us lunch Saturday. We've also done puzzles, ridden bikes, drew chalk, played chase, rolled around in the grass, played stickers, played at McDonalds playplace, played at Target, played at WalMart, watched Tinkerbell,and eaten pizza. (I bet verb tense changed a few times in there. i dont care. been up for almost 2 hours).

I think I get it now

I always thought it was funny that Angelle blogged so much, but I think i get it. I have been on the computer more this weekend than normal. Even if its just for a few moments, I have gone on facebook or gmail to see if there are other people i can say hi to! You just need some non-kid contact. I guess I don't really HOW valuable that is for me during the day. So blogging and being online is a sort of break from kid-world, even if just for a few moments.

Also, yesterday, I felt the pull of Target!! It's like some weird parenting magnetic force! it was overcast and kinda 'eh' weather-wise all day, so at about 4, I just wanted to get out, and for some reason, the first place i thought of was to just go mess around at Target. YIKES!!! I think there needs to be some other places in Monroe that are non-shopping related. Even if you go to 'mess around' and dont plan on buying anything, its all right there in your face.

So yeah, the 2 thinks that I laugh (or Angelle might say 'harp') about with Angelle being a stay at home mom, I think I sorta get now. And it only took 1.5 days! I'm a fast learner, huh?

Denouement

Its been fun hanging out with the girls, but Angelle, we miss you! At least i've been able to play some adult games with Bryan, Laurie, Tiff, and Brandon.

Random Shout Out: MIN! Wazzup?!

There's No Business like Snow Business!

2009-01-20T11:06:00.007-05:00

SO FRIGGIN AWESOME! thats all I can say. I woke up about 5:45 to pee, and then looked out the window, and saw snow everywhere and of course couldn't go back to sleep. I ran downstairs and opened the door and it was awesome! I was SO anxious for the kids to wake up, and of course they slept until like 7:15.

We probably had about 4 inches from overnight accumulation, and then another inch or so as the morning progressed. Our offices in Charlotte were on a delayed opening till 10am, so that was sweet. I am working from home though, cuz the roads are, i'm sure, a mess.

We finally got to sled on the hill in our backyard! and use the sled we got last year. Andy, Makenna, Porter, Ian, and Chase all came over to play and sled. The kids all had a great time. Erin had a little trouble walking through the snow since it came up to her knees.

We headed inside for a little break of hot cocoa! MMM! well, MMM after i burned my mouth, the put an ice cube in it and marshmallows. I headed back out for a little more fun before work started (10am) with Erin and Ian and Bryan. Bryan ended up heading into work. Poor Brandon left at 6:15 to go to work.

Gotta say, having the option to work from home is SO NICE on days like this! I am sitting in my home office just looking out the window at all the snow blowing! All the trees and houses are covered in snow too. NC is great. :) sorry all you florida peeps. Yay for NC snow days! There is actually more snow here in Union County than there was on Beech mountain new years! Can you tell i'm excited? :)

ITS SNOWING!!

2009-01-20T06:55:00.001-05:00

WOOOHOO!!!

Pics to come later!

Bus Crash

2009-01-16T08:35:00.004-05:00

So, I just got to work, and wouldn't normally be blogging from work, but being that the bus I was just on, got in an accident, it seemed worth blogging about while it was fresh.

So, we're driving along, almost to the city, and WHAM! A car pulled out in front of us, apparently not seeing us, and hit the front right corner of the bus.

Being that the bus is large, heavy, has lots of momentum, inertia prevents us from stopping in time and her car basically gets hit, spins a bit, then gets T-Boned by the bus, then spins back out into Independence (4 lane small highway). Luckily no other cars got hit, and she popped out of her car, so it appeared she wasn't seriously hurt.

It was pretty crazy though, to see the bus pushing a car out of the front windshield.

Here is where it happened (A):

And here is a pic of her car from my spot in the bus:

Hard to tell, but a good part of her front end was smashed and her front bumper came off.

Friday starts off with a BANG!

Some people are ridiculous...

2009-01-12T21:05:00.002-05:00

Utah Lover

Take this guy for instance: Rick Reilly. His latest article on ESPN.com is about how Utah is the College Football National Champions.

Putting aside the fact that I'm obviously a Gator fan, I think this guy's argument is ridiculous. Lets analyze his claim: Utah is the best team in division I college football. He is basing this basically on the fact that they did not get defeated this year.

Before I tear down his argument, I will agree that the current BCS system is ridiculous and we should have playoffs. I've discussed that before and will reiterate later.

Argument Tear Down

Now, his claim. Yes, Utah was undefeated, and did beat Alabama, who held the #1 spot a good part of the year. They looked great in that game. I won't make excuses for Alabama, but obviously Alabama didn't come to play and played a horrible game.

Now, who did Utah really beat during the season? Michigan seems like a quality win, although they won by 2 points and Michigan ended up being HORRIBLE this year.

I suppose Oregon State is a decent win, since they ended up beating USC, although I think this says more about how weak the Pac10 is.

The ranked opponents they beat? TCU and BYU. TCU they beat by 3 points (13-10). How good is TCU? They got creamed by Oklahoma (who Texas and Florida beat) and they beat BYU (who we'll discuss next). Oh yeah. they beat Boise State by a point.

BYU. They didn't really beat anyone this year.

In Summary

So, I honestly believe if you were to put Utah, Boise State, TCU and BYU in either the SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac10 or even the ACC, they they'd all have 2, 3, or 4 losses. Being biased, i'd definitely say thats true in the SEC or Big12 (the best 2 conferences in Div I football).

So Rick Reilly, you can claim that Utah as your own personal champions, but its a pile of horse poo. You probably are rewatching the Sugar Bowl right now while listening to Rick Astley, not only because he is your namesake, but you honestly like his music.

I sort of feel bad picking on Utah, for obvious reasons being Urban Meyer....and i'm not really picking on them, i'm picking on Rick Reilly. All the props in the world to Utah for beating Alabama (ha ha to Keith and Keri).

Anyway, this all boils down to once again, there is controversy, which means we need a playoff. DUH! I'm super amped that Florida is crowned the national champions, but I honestly think they could have beaten Utah, and USC vs Florida would have been another great game. It could have been settled on the field.

Denouement: Reiteration of Playoffs

There are 11 conferences. Give all the winners a chance. But they must have a bonified conference championship so that all teams play the same number of games. Either do away with an extra game for some, or add it for others. If you don't have enough teams, combine some conferences. But lets assume they stay as is (with the exception of the Independents who will have to join one to compete for a national title)

So we take the 11 conference champions, and rank them by win-loss. Since there are playoffs, voting shouldnt matter right? If you think it does, you can still use the current voting system to rank them. I dont think the rankings matter as much since all champions get to play for the title. You take the bottom 6 teams (which more often than not I think will be MAC, WAC, Mtn West, Conf USA, Sun Belt, and Big East):

11 vs 6 = A
10 vs 7 = B
9 vs 8 = C

Then you take those winners and they play the remaining top 5 teams (example shown):

1 vs A = X
2 vs B = Y
3 vs C = Z
4 vs 5 = Q

I think you can do the rest of the Math:

X vs Y = P
Z vs Q = N

N vs P for National Championship.

So thats a 10 game playoff. When do bowls start now? like mid December? You can play the opening 3 games 1 weekend. The next round next weekend, final four new years day (wouldnt that be exciting?!) then Jan 8, national championship.

Seriously, i think EVERY college football fan would watch every playoff (bowl game) instead of now, where people watch the big 5 (although most people probably only watch about 2 or 3).

Flaw?

The only downside to this are all the other meaningless bowls that are just extra games for the school and the sponsors to make money. I know the world runs on money, so i don't think money is a bad thing, and if they want to continue to have these other 1 off 'bowls' for maybe the conference runner ups (like the basketball NIT) thats fine.

So there you have it. Problem solved. National Champion is crowned on the field, and I would hopefully not have to see flimsy arguments by people named Rick on the homepage of ESPN.com.

Still reading? WOW! You are cooler than I thought. If blogs had a 'handshake' or 'high-five' feature, you would be receiving both right now.

GO GATORS! NATIONAL CHAMPS!

2009-01-09T00:29:00.002-05:00

GO PANTHERS!

2008-12-29T01:47:00.002-05:00

Since all the teams I was rooting for didn't make the playoffs (in the last week) I might as well root for the Panthers! Sure they are rivals of the Bucs, but since the cowboys played like a peewee football team, and the Bucs blew it, i figured i'd root for the Broncos who also could make the playoffs by beating a division rival on the road. While they scored more than the cowboys did, they looked about as bad.

So, one of the crappies football weekends ever for the pro teams i watch.

At least i still have the Gators...ahhhh gators dont let me down!!

Erin is freakin adorable lately. She brought a Gator counting book over to, I think G or Myrn and said "Go Go Go Tebow". :) gotta love it!!

Leah is like totally in love with disney princesses. She loves Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle. Oh and Tinkerbell (she got a figure from Erin for xmas, and the movie from Santa). I guess some girls are just girly girls. Meanwhile i get the impression that Erin is going to be more Xgames or Sports oriented. She seems to have a stockier build and likes things like kicking soccer balls and climbing up things too high/big for her. ANd she likes riding around on bikes more than it seemed like Leah did at her age. I could just be misremembering though.

I hope i'm not influencing Erin by treating her more like a boy. :)

Ah well, off we head to the mountains tomorrow. Pray for cold weather and snow!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T12:14:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy Birthday, La de da!

Hope everyone had (is having) a great holiday season!

Leah and Erin loved their presents of course. Santa was so nice to them this year! A jumpoline and a train table and games and movies and toys. Oh boy!

We got Wii Rabids and Wii Music. Played them briefly but they are fun so far!

The girls also got a wagon from grammy and Leah got a digital camera of her very own from Grammy.

Lauren, Carly, and Grammy came to visit for the week. Its been fun hanging out with them. Now to relax, clean for G and Mimi, and then Angelle's birthday.

Phew, the season never ends!

Does everyone feel the anticipation building for the National Championship Game?!?!? Go GATORS!

Chocolate News

2008-12-10T22:37:00.002-05:00

I highly recommend you check out "Chocolate News" on Comedy Central. I am watching it now for the first time. Its friggin hilarious! David Alan Grier is the host. Its like a version of The Daily Show, but for white people who like to think they are culturally diverse. And probably some black people watch it too.

The first report was about "Blomicon" which is Black Comicon. Comicon for black comic books, black super heroes, and creators of black super heroes.

Coming up next? A report on the hottest new BET show: "America's next top black preacher"

While this post may appear racist on the surface, its an accurate report of the show and all its hilarity.

I just killed it at the gym

2008-12-10T21:48:00.002-05:00

Domination. thats what it was. at least for me.

Triathlon Training Update #23

Total workout time: 1:28:37 h:m:s

Swim: 550 yards - 13:00 m:s

Transition 1: 5:00 m:s

Bike: 13 miles - 45:34 m:s

Transition 2: 3:00 m:s

Run: 2.1 miles - 22:34 m:s

I would have done the last mile but the gym was closing and they were throwing me out! But i was on pace to do the last mile in about 11 minutes. So i could have done the full triathlon (in the gym of course) in just under 1 hour 40 minutes.

I'm super amped about that, even if its just a gym time! My goal is to complete in under 2 hours, so i definitely feel good about that, especially since i still have over 3 months left to train!

Yeah Boy!

Mom Update #5

Shes home, doing well, walking without the walker, obviously hasnt smoked in like 2 months....WOOHOO! GO MOM!

Erin UPdate #1

Pink Eye. UGGH!

Leah Update #1

Cute and smart as always

Job Update #2

GMAC isn't looking so good as a company. The debate rages...Wellschovia or GMAC...

Thats all folks. For now.

Gators in the Championship Game!!

2008-12-07T21:14:00.007-05:00

So, who wants to meet in Miami January 8th?!? even if we dont get tix, it'll be one HECKUVA tailgate party!

GO GATORS! SEC CHAMPS!!

2008-12-06T20:54:00.003-05:00

WOOOHOO!!! GATORS ARE SEC CHAMPS!!! In your face Keith and Keri! Gators sure ROLLED over the tide! GATOR BAIT!

ALso, mom is home! yay mom!

Here is Tebow's biggest fan:

Happy Thanksgiving Charlie Brown!

2008-11-28T20:59:00.002-05:00

and to the rest of you too! I am thankful for my wonderful wife, my 2 awesome kids, my sister, my nephew, my parents, my great inlaws (all million of them, counting parents, brothers, sisters, cousins and aunts and uncles and what not), my friends, having a great house, the wonderful weather in north carolina, living next door to friends, having a job i like going to...pretty much everything in my life. Not to sound like i'm bragging, but its pretty darn great to be me! :) I'm sure all of you feel the same way.

Anything you're thankful for that you'd like to share?

Having a good time in SoFla. got to see my mom at her rehab place. shes doing A TON better than when i saw her last. Thank you so much everyone for all your prayers. Greatly appreciated are they. We took the girls to visit. they couldnt go in her room, but she has a window that leads to an outdoor patio, so Leah and Erin go to see Nana through the window and say hi. My mom loved it.

Went to the metro zoo today with CHristina, Joe, zack and Caitlyn and Joe's parents and my dad. Good times were had by everyone except angelle who got sick while we were there. Yuck. literally sick in the bushes. we walked away and i left a note that said "This is because we didnt get turkey on thanksgiving. Sincerely, the gorillas"

Thursday was normal. ANgelle cooked awesome food and we ate and watched football and watched Charlie brown thanksgiving. Ever since Great pumpkin charlie brown, Leah is excited about the holidays now. :)

Erin is talking up a storm lately!! its SOOOOOOOOOO friggin adorable. she nods her head yes too, and shakes it no. she says mama, dada, nana, papa, eeeuh (leah), du[ck], pi[g], beep beep, pup pup, ca[t] (not sure why she says so many first sounds of words.) she also gives me the CUTEST looks! and shes shrieks "DADA" when i come home. she loves to play peek (around corners) and she loves to snuggle (except at bedtime ironically). i just love that kid. Its so cool to be able to love 2 kids so differently but so much!! i really was worried about that. Just loving Leah so much, wasnt sure how to love another kid too. but it happens! having kids (plural) ROCKS. i love it. and it makes me excited about the possibility of a third! (i know, i'm crazy)

Heading up to orlando tomorrow to celebrate with Nikki! Happy Birthday Nik!!

Not sure i said it publicly, but big congrats to Britt and Jimmy for passing the Bar! Wait, did i blog about that already? hmm. i dunno. All the turkey and yams has made me a bit loopy in the head.

Its been a great year. i'm thankful for it all, and i cant wait to see what the next year brings! lots of babies, thats for sure! and hopefully a Gator National championship, and a Cowboys super bowl!! (Giants are going down this year Konicks!)

It's been awhile...

2008-11-14T22:57:00.002-05:00

since i wrote in this blog..blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Hmm lets see...the past 3 weeks. Went to Florida to see my mom who was in the hospital for pneumonia. Shes doing much better now. Just needs some physical therapy after being in the hospital 2 weeks. Not gonna post all the details here, but email me if you want to know more. LOVE YOU MOM!!

Training is still going well. I swam 1000 yards the other night (in about 25 minutes) and last night swam 600 yards, biked 8 miles, and jogged 1 mile. that took just about an hour.

Volleyball is also sill fun. playing usually Tuesday and Friday rec pickup games. I might look into an indoor league next spring.

Girls are awesome. They are playing a lot lately. SO freakin cute. If you have one kid, and are considering not having another, my opinion is that its awesome. Yeah sure its more work, but its SO worth it. not only for me, but definitely for Leah.

I guess thats really it. Exciting huh? 3+ weeks and all its been was visiting mom, work, girls, working out, volleyball, tv....

We did take the girls bike riding on some mountain bike trails last weekend. They were very mellow, but still really fun. Through the woods, with leaves everywhere. Really awesome ride.

Currently watching some weird Barbara Walters specials about a guy who had a baby. I dont think its a guy honestly. He/she is a transgender who was born a woman, felt like a man, got her breasts removed, testosterone injected, and got his/her birth certificate changed from female to male. Then he got married to a woman, and she had a hysterectomy previously so she couldnt have a child. So since the guy still had a uterus and other parts, he carried and had the baby. It was his egg, and they got a donor sperm. So they had issues with their child's birth certificate. Who was the mom, who was the dad?

I totally dont have a problem with them having a kid, or a homosexual couple having a kid (men or women). My only issue is with this person (Tracy to Thomas) becoming a "man". To me, male and female refer to biology. How you think or what your actions are define your personality, so if you are a female but you like to play football and drink beer or are a male and like to wear dresses and do ballet (i'm sure i just offended a million people with my gender stereotypes, but have to make the point somehow) to me thats fine. I just dont understand this person who claims she felt like a man, but wanted to keep her uterus, ovaries and all. If she didnt like all the fru-fru stuff, why wouldnt she just be a girl who likes to do 'manly' stuff. Obviously i dont understand, so thats why i'm writing. curious what other people think. This person seemed to not like the gender stereotypes, but wanted to be one. Just not the one she was. Seems odd to me, thats all.

In any case, he/she had a baby, they seem to love it, and ultimately thats all that matters. A MUCH MUCH MUCH better home than tons of homes out there, so more power to them.

Good workout

2008-10-27T22:23:00.002-04:00

Kicked some A tonight. Swam 850 yards, transitioned to bike in about 4 minutes (about a minute faster than last time), biked 6.5 miles (half the tri distance) then jogged 1.5 miles (half the tri distance). So i basically did half the triathlon, but did a longer swim. Woo.

Super happy with it. Now if the markets will only go up, i'll be one happy camper. :) maybe after the election? here's hoping..

home and bored

2008-10-25T20:53:00.002-04:00

ANgelle is in Asheville with her mom at the Biltmore. I just put the girls to bed. And i'm bored. Well, I do have college football to watch, so its not all bad. :)

Triathlon Training update

Had a kick azz workout this morning. Totally did not feel like going to the gym, but Angelle was going, so i did. Did my 500 yard swim in my record time of 12:54. Then had a shorter transition. still 5 minutes, but was 6:30 last time. Then biked 9 miles in 30 minutes. Wanted to try and do some jogging after that, but Angelle had to go so she could leave for Asheville.

Definitely am feeling good about the training. Angelle says i'm doing too much too soon, but I cant hold back. She is probably right, and her training is increasing by little bits each time, but I just want to try and do as much as i can each workout, then increase till i can do the triathlon in my sleep. Then just try and decrease my time. Or do longer legs of each, so the triathlon will seem shorter. Eh, just how i roll. She said she'll be pissed if i get injured by pushing it though.

Want to give a shoutout to the other peeps who are planning on doing it also: Mandi, Barry, Laurie, of course Angelle, and possibly Bryan? He whines that he doesnt have time to go to the gym, but we have the exact same schedule, so....yeah. I think hes just whiny and lazy. I have made the time. :) AND i still play volleyball sometimes twice a week. gotta have fun sometimes, not just workout all the time.

Time with the girls

In Angelle's absence I got to have some quality daddy/daughter time today. Played outside a bit, went to the mall so Leah and ERin could run around the playplace (cuz it was kinda overcast and kept threatening rain although it never did), then got some snacks at the foodcourt. I asked Leah if she wanted a cookie, or a pretzel, or fruit, and she said fruit!! i was shocked and pleased. So i got her a fruit cup from chickfila. but then she also wanted ice cream. so i got her a dollar cone from McD's. I figured, she made a good choice with the fruit so she could have a treat.

Then we went to Toys R Us just to walk around and waste time, and maybe look for some ideas for channukah/christmas. Leah of course wanted everything she saw. A train set, games, jewelry making kit, a newer bigger kitchen, a big car that plays music like Halle has (power wheel), a tinkerbell chair...ummm..i'm sure some other stuff i forgot. [You listening grandparents? :) ] Leah was again good and didnt spend her money! she had $5 but nothing really grabbed her i guess (or everything did) so she decided to save it for next time.

Okay. end of long blog post.

Training update

2008-10-23T14:04:00.002-04:00

Training is going fairly well for the triathlon. nothing hardcore yet. doing some swims and bikes. Can do 600 yard swim without too much trouble. Tried a transition at the gym the other day. Swam then biked. took about 6 minutes to towel off and get my shoes on, then get to the bike. longer than i thought.

BIked 6 miles today in about 25 minutes. a little slower than i'd like, but it was pretty windy today, and i havent gotten street tires yet. but if i can finish the bike in under an hour, i'll be happy. i'm pretty sure i can do the swim in 15 minutes, so that would leave an hour to bike, and an hour to run. i'd really like to finish the whole thing in under 2 hours, but i'd be happy at least finishing at all without collapsing. :)

Its obviously such a difference riding the stationary bike in the gym, vs a real bike in wind with real hills and friction.

glad we still have like 4 months to train!