Monday, November 24, 2008

For those who follow...

It was cold yesterday for the race- very cold. But, I went, finished, and finished without walking. I finished around 31:30 which, given the cold and the hills, I'm pretty OK with. I think I'm finally OK with the fact that I am no longer a fast runner or even a slow runner- just a kind of fast jogger.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Setting goals...

So, I'm actually making it public. I'm trying to get running again. My goal is to be out there 3 days a week. Haven't quite made it there yet but I'm getting there.
I'm running my first 5K in awhile on Sunday. In fact, I think it's the first race since the half marathon a few years ago.
So here are my goals for Sunday in order of achievability:
1) Showing up (it's supposed to be 30 degrees and windy so I could very well convince myself not to go)
2) Get to the finish line
3) Finish without walking (I've been running 3+ miles lately so it shouldn't be too big of an issue, barring major hills)
4) Finishing in less than 30 minutes (probably THE goal of the weekend and the one that is most within my reach but I'm not sure I'm there yet)
5) Finishing in less than 27 minutes (this one will most likely have to wait for the spring)
Well, here goes nothing...

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

No longer head of the household...

Jack and I went skating at the public skate today at Taunton. To make a long story short, I got completely schooled today by a 4 year old. He out-skated me, out-turned me, out-stopped me.
Tonight at dinner, Jack informed the family that he was now the boss of me since his skating skills are better. He also let Jim know that once he gets him on the ice, Jack will be the boss of the entire family.
Ah, the world according to Jack, the hockey-archy.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

One of these days...

One of these days I'll figure out how to actually manipulate the folders in Picasa but, for now, you'll have to weed through the good and bad pictures in the new folder Fall 08 in the Picasa link. There are Em bball, Jack hockey, and Halloween. Jack is Jason Varitek (catcher from the Red Sox) and Em is Demi Lovato (the actress/singer from Camp Rock).

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Quite possibly...




This is quite possibly going to be the least politically correct blog post ever but I just had to do it. I was looking through the Oriental Trading Post catalog yesterday and saw this. For those of you not familiar with the catalog, it is home of extraordinarly cheap, made in China, theme based party supplies (aka crap that I never want to enter my house). As I was browsing, I came across supplies for an entire party based on the "Happy Birthday Jesus" theme. Not just plates and napkins mind you, but cups, yoyos, frisbees, beachballs, keychains, bouncing balls, sliding puzzles, tote bags, pens on a rope, metallic banner, ornaments, coloring mats, balloons, friendship bracelets, bubbles, kaleidoscopes, pencils, fun/game books, stampers, slap bracelets, coloring sets, tattoos, slide flutes, party hats (and that's not even everything). Seriously?? I get that many of us forget that Christmas celebrates the birthday of Christ. As a non-Christian, I don't forget that that often but sometimes I can get lost in the commercialism of the whole thing. But, I think if I really wanted everybody to remember that Christmas was in celebration of something so much more, I would be really offended by this stuff. But since Christmas for me is just a fun time to spend with Jim's family, eat good food, and get and give presents, I just find this whole line of products absolutely hysterical.

Oh, and while you're at it, check out these too.













You miss some of the humor of the last two without actually seeing it in the catalog with the name next to it. Seeing the words "Smile! Jesus Loves You" Punch balls and "Smile! Jesus Loves You" kick balls all together made me giggle.

Friday, November 7, 2008

She's won the role of Queen of Nascar...

I heard this quote this morning on the way in to work talking about Sarah Palin. What seems to be flying under the radar these days, is that she might actually become a US Senator in the upcoming months. Don't get me wrong... the woman deserves a little respect- she just went through a grueling campaign, travelling all across the country, where she was getting made fun of on every level on a national stage for 10 straight weeks. But here's the thing. When I go to pick a doctor, I don't want them to be like me or dress like me or talk like me, I want them to be smarter medically than me and make the right decisions about my healthcare. Same with a lawyer- I want them to be able to represent me better, write a will without loopholes- I don't care what hobbies they have or what gender they are. So, with an elected official, I want them to know more about civics then I do, be able to name some Supreme Court cases, a few newspapers, maybe the countries in North America. Now, I'm not sure what percentage of senators can't do these things (probably higher than I would like to know) but you would be darn sure (just like if I went on Amazing Race, I would start running 10 miles a day and know how to say drive faster in 50 different languages), if I ever run for nationwide office, I would at least open up my kid's civics and geography books and learn a little something before Katie Couric interviews me. I think if I were a Republican or an Alaskan, I would be offended that the Republic party couldn't find a better candidate that was "like me".
Sorry, just had to get this off my chest before the day began.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Quote o' the week...




Actually, it's from Em this time.
Emma was very inspired by this week's election and was hoping that Obama would win (I'm sure it had nothing to do with Jim and my brainwashing skills, working on her infinitely caring heart, telling her that Obama cares about education and the Earth and McCain only cares about money). She was a little upset that Jack would get to go to the polls with me and she wouldn't, so I decided to go with both of them before school started.
As we were going in, one of our neighbors was leaving...
Emma: "I'm so glad that he came here to vote for Obama too"
Me: "Actually, Em, I'm not so sure that he voted for Obama"
Em: "Why would someone not vote for Obama?"
Exactly...

Overall, I'm excited and inspired by the events of the past week. I only hope that this inspiration and excitement continues and that Obama stays safe.

The most inspirational part of the whole week was seeing the quote that 78% of Americans feel that it's time for change and they don't like the direction that the country is going in. Now, I'm sure that most of the 78% don't feel that way for the same reasons that I do, but it's nice to know that I'm not alone thinking that it's time for change.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Few things make a weekend call worthwhile...

There aren't many things that make a weekend of call worthwhile. Sometimes I get so much accomplished that it feels like a big weight is lifted off my shoulders. Sometimes, I help someone or someone's family through a very difficult time. Sometimes, I make some crazy diagnosis that no one else had come up with in the weeks that they were in the hospital. But, honestly, those are few and far between. This weekend a new experience made it all OK- it was a conversation overheard.

Young guy on the phone in the hallway as I walked by: "Dude, you gotta hold on a second"... pause... "Damn, how come my doctor doesn't look like that? If she did, I would be at the doctor every day."

I looked around, made sure none of the cute Grey's Anatomy like interns were around, and smiled to myself.