Home, finally!

We are finally home. We closed on the house Thursday at the lawyer’s office. It is always stressful knowing that you are signing away where much of your money is going for the foreseeable future, but comforting in knowing that you have signed away your money in a relatively safe investment. Well, that and you get to actually live there with your loved ones!

Early on Friday, KT and I headed to drop off Brewster at the groomer’s place so he could be out of the way, then to the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts to get coffee and donuts for the movers. The same crew arrived that packed and drove from Virginia, and the good news is that our items never even left the trailer, significantly reducing the breakage that we expected. Bob and gang were spectacular, considering we didn’t know where much of the stuff was headed. Our home in Richmond was very different from the Connecticut home, so we had tons more space, yet far less out of sight storage space.

We are still working on where to put everything, but have the basics down. We’ve cooked dinner almost every night, and I have slept in my own bed every night since Friday. After more than three months, I was finally able to get a good night’s sleep and my back didn’t hurt in the morning. The fact that my wife was next to me, and my kids were down the hall was just icing on the cake.

Saturday, in the park (on the pond)

On Saturday, Sue and I headed into South Windsor to take care of some errands. We are still living in the hotel, but only for this weekend and part of next week. Then, we will be actually living in South Windsor, CT. So, we headed to Evergreen Walk, the smaller but more enjoyable of the two malls in the area. It is an outdoor shopping mall, very similar to the Short Pump mall in the West End of Richmond. Mostly high end stores, but enough diversity to make walking around fun.

So, after the bank to get my signatures on new accounts, and the post office to pick up our forwarded mail, we headed to Evergreen Walk. Eventually, we made our way into the LL Bean store. Sue had been there with the kids, but I had never actually been at the mall. Outside of the store, they were having a good many activities to celebrate their one-year anniversary of being open in South Windsor. One of the things they were doing was giving shorter versions of their walk-on adventure classes for free. This included GPS Techno Treasure Hunt, flycasting, and kayaking. After talking with the kids, we signed up for the kayaking class. This was a somewhat shortened class, with about 50 minutes on the water after some basic instruction and transportation to the pond. They normally charge $15 per person for each of these adventures, a nominal fee for some good instruction, all equipment, etc.

The driver pulled up to drop off the previous class, then took the 14 of us to the pond. We were given safety instructions, PFDs, paddles, and sent off to our kayaks (instruction was good, stressing safety, how to paddle, and some warm up exercises). I was in a 14’ kayak, as was Jake. Sue and KT were in 12’ ones. We all had a great time paddling, getting to know how to turn, and trying to keep from running into each other much. Both Sue and I got some solo time with the kids to talk about the experience, if they would do it again, and if they would eventually kayak together. We have so much water around us, both flat and running, that we would be silly not to purchase two kayaks and start to explore the area.

I can’t say enough about the LL Bean crew. They ensured that we had a great time, and kept it very low key, the way kayaking is supposed to be.

http://www.llbean.com/outdoorsOnline/odp/walkon/odsSouthWindsor.html

A CD to remember

Over each of the past six or seven years, each momentous occasion has been celebrated with a carefully selected collection of music. Each CD is picked by the celebration crew (whomever that is at the time), and presented to some or all of the participants. There are only a few people that mix the music, and it is always difficult to find the right order to keep the mood right. The CDs are cherished by all recipients, memories of the event, person, place, or time in their lives. Oh yes... listened to over and over again.

The CD entitled “Tiara Tunes for Sue” was lovingly created by her friends, and presented on her way out the door of Virginia for our new life in Connecticut:

Say - John Mayer
Game of Love - Santana
Whenever I Call You "Friend" - Kenny Loggins
All the World - Point of Grace
Eagle When She Flies - Dolly Parton
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett
Goodbye - Night Ranger
I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack
We Are Family - Sister Sledge
Little Wonders - Rob Thomas
You've Got a Friend - James Taylor
Stay Beautiful - The Last Goodnight
Circle - Edie Brickell
Friends - Jump5
My Wish - Rascal Flatts
Something's Broken - Tim McGraw
Stop! In The Name Of Love - The Supremes
Find Out Who Your Friends Are - Tracy Lawrence

Fun at the Bark Park

Today we took our dog Brewster to a dog park. This park is less than a mile from our new home in South Windsor, CT. Brew was a bit hesitant to explore, sniffing at all of the fences, fire hydrants, and trees. He finally let loose and ran a bit. This was about as much excitement as the boy could stand as his little brain tried to take it all in. Hopefully, we will be able to take advantage of this free park many times while living in CT.

Driving to Vermont

I took about an hour to drive around this morning since I will be moving south tomorrow. I headed up I-91 to just over the Vermont state line. We’ll be heading back there when my Mom is in town in another week or two, but wanted to get the lay of the land. It was so green and full of mountains. It was easy to see why they call it the green mountain state.

At the rest area, there were many different activities shown from the state in a small museum. I have always thought that having a showcase for a state on a major highway, just as you enter the state is a great idea.

The most confusing event of my life

This week has been among the most confusing of my life. I have been dealing with, among other things, living by myself, assisting my wife with Richmond home sale activities, to the best of my ability from afar, managing a home inspection, well inspection, termite inspection, down payments, credit union communications issues, post office challenges, transferring funds, HUD settlements, and an ever increasing work load. It’s really too much. However, I am by myself again this week to deal with this. I’ve not been sleeping well, not eating well, and now am sitting in the dark. What a way to end the most confusing week of my life.

When I went to have the bank check written for the 2nd portion of the down payment on the CT home on Thursday, the bank’s network was down. Of course. It hadn’t been down for over a year. However, I will give all credit due to the credit union. They had every person possible jumping on the situation, trying to figure it out for me. The VP of Operations for the Credit Union walked the process through, wiring the money to the brokerage firm that is managing the sale in CT. No charge for the wire, of course, and everyone babysat the process to get it through. This is the reason why I have been, and will remain, a loyal credit union customer. The fact that my current credit union is literally 3 floors below where I sit helps make it so convenient. We are using them for our mortgage, even if we refinance when the market corrects itself.

It feels like I have worked little this week, when I have actually worked a great deal. One of my main co-workers left last Friday after several years on the job. I took over all of her open projects -- close to 25 of them. That, in addition to the 18 or so of my own, makes for a really big workload. It’s not that I can’t handle it, but it’s tough right now with all of the things going on (see the first paragraph). Tomorrow, I need to find a place to do some laundry, spend a few hours doing at least the basic laundry, drive 40 minutes to work so I can spend 4 hours or so catching up on my open projects, and spend at least an hour charging my work to various projects. Sunday, I need to pack what I am taking for a few days since my family will be in CT late on Monday, so I will have to get ready for work Tuesday in a hotel in CT. Tomorrow, I need to at least do enough laundry that I can make it through Wednesday or Thursday.

One additional factor is that the laundry service that we have in the office has been closed all week, so I have only a few things left to wear for work without ironing. This will be tough, considering I don’t have an iron! I found a local cleaner this week that has a few items of mine now, so will pick them up tomorrow (hoping that they are ready when promised).

To top it all off, about 3 hours ago, we had a storm rip through Amherst, taking down a tree that landed across all three of the power lines running on my street. So, I am sitting in the dark, with 46% battery, figuring out what I can do until the power comes back on. The rain brought some cooling, but without fans, this is going to be a long, hot night. I think I will conserve energy soon and hit the hay, getting up early enough to start the wealth of tasks ahead of me tomorrow. At least I have an iPod with a few hours of battery remaining!

thinking

thought for the day

The dollars spent smoking

I ran across an interesting calculator today. This calculator (http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi) lets you figure out how much you spend annually on cigarettes. You put in how many cigarettes you smoke each day, how many are in a pack, and how much they cost. At a 2-pack per day habit, with $6.79 per pack cigarettes, the net cost is just under $5000 per year. If you figure the cost goes up to $6.85 per pack, just a 6 cents per pack increase, you hit that magical $5000 per year cost. Of course, that is just for the cigarettes and not the $4 or higher gas spent picking them up!

I know that you know that smoking is bad for you, but it’s pretty staggering to look at this from a purely financial perspective. Calculating how much money one person can spend on smoking when the price is so high is an interesting financial study.

Maybe that is the scare tactic we ought to use with kids today: food or cigarettes - your choice!

Fate or faith, call it what you will

After two months of searching, we finally found a home. We had crossed the “more than 50 homes visited” without success until this week. Finally, we knew that we had to change gears, look south of Amherst into Connecticut and start the search again. We had a few locations in CT that we had looked at previously, but the feel of the community and, more importantly, the feel of the homes was not right. Of course, high school selection meant that we were not just looking anywhere, but in a limited number of locations. Finally on Tuesday, Sue was ticked off enough that she decided that she needed to head north and execute a plan herself. The Realtor that we were using in CT was on vacation and the back up was simply not able to execute within our ever constricting time frame.

Sue made reservations late Tuesday night, was on a plane headed for Boston at 6 AM, and took the bus to Springfield to arrive by noon. She had made a few calls on Tuesday evening, and received one from Donna on Wednesday morning, shortly after arrival in Boston. Donna found out the details, came up with an aggressive plan, and she and Sue hit 6 homes before the day was out on Wednesday. The extension of that plan was to visit as many homes as possible on Thursday since Sue had to leave first thing Friday morning. Six homes later on Thursday, and they hit pay dirt! The home is spectacular, has been owned and cared for by a lovely couple, and will make our family a warm home. Details to follow in a future post. I am so proud of Sue and how she took this into her own hands to fix. Oh yes, our wonderful new Realtor helped!

So fate or faith, whatever you want to call it... paid off. We didn’t find a home in Amherst because we weren’t supposed to find a home in Amherst -- not even with a fantastic realtor there. We found a home -- the home -- that we were supposed to and will be very happy there for years to come.

What you do when you can't run

Life in the hotel continues on. I found a room to rent in Amherst for the months of July and August. The landlords are students at U Mass., Amherst. I did look at another home but it just wasn’t a good fit for me. This week or weekend, I’ll need to purchase sheets, some sort of blanket, pillows, and towels so that I can wash them this weekend and leave the hotel next weekend with clean stuff.

The job is keeping me busier than I care at this point, and it’ll get busier as time goes on. I have not been exercising as much as I should, but laundry is getting in the way. I have just two pair of running shorts, and they are awful when I’m done. Definitely a 1-workout pair of clothes. So, without spend $2.50 on a load of laundry for just workout clothes (and an hour of my time), they just don’t get done as often as I’d like. So, I have a new effort that I am considering. In case you want to try it on your own, you can find the link here:
http://hundredpushups.com
In just 6 weeks, maybe a few more weeks if you need to repeat a couple of weeks, and you can do 100 consecutive pushups. I think that would be a cool goal. For some reason, I think that I’d be really sore for the first two - three weeks, and would be quite tempted to give up since I actually need to be able to type all day long to do my job.

At least my reading is back to something healthy:
click here
I am ready to get back out there and start running again. My goal is to restart, in earnest, when I move to Amherst. The streets are flat, with sidewalks or paths, and lots of others doing the same. The thing that I love about living in a college town is that there are so many more people that are athletically minded. I drove past a 60 year old the other day, biking down a street. His calves were amazing — so muscular! My guess is that he probably bikes everywhere for about 5 months out of the year.

Another night in the hotel

So it’s another night in the hotel, by myself. I really miss my family, and long for the day we can be together again. In a short three weeks, I need to be in a different place, or paying for this one on my own. The $90 per night will eat into savings quickly, so I really need to find a home to buy or a room to rent.

US Sometimes There (AKA US Air)

Once again, I am trying to make my way out of a hell hole otherwise known as an airport. While the first leg of my flight was very uneventful, I now sit in the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina waiting for another US Air “issue” to be resolved. Today, the issue is a “maintenance issue” so has tacked a full 65 minutes onto my layover. Now I need to conserve batteries or find a plug to make the time last. What I don’t get is the fact that the originating flight left Jamaica on time, but there is a maintenance issue here. The funny thing is that since the plane has not landed, you have to wonder what that delay really is. If it was really a maintenance issue, would the plane have really taken off in the first place, or would it have returned to Jamaica to take care of the issue before endangering the passengers?

Personally, I think that this is the excuse de jour, equating to some miscellaneous issue that they didn’t want to explain.

The last trip, I had my originating leg canceled, then rerouted through Philadelphia, landing 3 hours late. The trip before that, my 30 minute layover at Dulles turned into a 4 hour delay, capping a 22 hour day. Every trip, I just need to expect pain and aggravation and add hours onto my expected trip. Good thing the people picking me up have cell phones...

Remembering why coming home is good

Friday, I got the chance to see many of my good friends, both the guys and the gals. Some of us were together at the middle school ceremony Friday morning, then later at the pool. We also got together on Saturday, although for less time than Friday. Four of the couples went to eat at El Chaparal, a very authentic Mexican restaurant. Later, back to our house to chat, have a few beers, and just hang. This is why coming home is good.

A trip back home

I am in the Philadelphia International Airport right now, heading home. I have been pushing very hard lately, trying to see home after home, trying to get the laundry done, pay the bills, feed myself in a somewhat healthy manner, and trying to get sleep. The sleep has taken a back seat to everything else. I would give anything to have someone else helping with some of it, but it is the path that we have to take right now. Last night, I got about four hours of sleep before heading to the office. That allowed me to leave early to make my flight without taking any time off. It’s the advantage of flex time.

My children don’t know I’m coming, so I expect that it will be a good homecoming. Neither does my dog! I miss him since I haven’t seen him at all in almost 5 weeks. Certainly not as much as I miss the normalcy of life, but he is part of that normal life. Brewster never fails to make me smile, so I expect to spend a good bit of time with him this weekend. Tomorrow night is a party at our local pool. While we didn’t join the pool, we were extended a free membership for the part of the year we were still in town. This was for several reasons, but mostly due to my contribution of time and effort with the web site, the stereo, etc. That took a good bit of time, although has been turned over to someone else to maintain.

Back to the fortune. Last night, after seeing all of the homes in the Connecticut town that I could, I headed back to wash the car (dirty, dirty, dirty), then to get some dinner. Obviously, my choice was Chinese food and the above fortune was in the cookie I received. I laughed when I opened the cookie, knowing that I would be home in about 24 hours. Maybe I need to play the lottery with these numbers.

Mycelium

Mushrooms are members of the mycelium family, at least that’s what I say to sound smart.

I heard a TED speaker (Paul Stamets) speak about mycelium (fungi) and how they are being studied for ways to help the environment. If you don’t subscribe to the TEDtalks podcast in iTunes, you are doing yourself a disservice. While a few of the talks are really “out there,” most have a good speaker talking about something (event, person, happening) that is evoking change in the world. The premise behind TED is to evoke thought, and this talk certainly did! Here is a link to the talk: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html

A quick walk to the conservation area

Today, I moved all of my MA-based possessions to the room I am renting for July and August. No real idea of how long I will be here, but at least for the next couple of weeks. After getting my very full Camry unloaded, I took a quick walk down the road. I knew that there was a “conservation area” down the road, but had no idea what that meant specifically. What I found, was a very large, unspoiled area with walking paths that are also bike paths when they are dry. The tree-covered canopy is lovely. The water pictured above runs inside of the area. There is a foot bridge that covers the water and that bridge is maybe a two minute walk from the house. Of course, this picture was taken from that bridge, otherwise I would have gotten quite wet taking it! There are a bunch of black flies there, so I used a bug repellant on my second visit and wasn’t overly bothered at all by the flies.

After one of the most stressful weekends of my life, this was a great way to start to unwind. Now where is that bottle of scotch I bought?

Short term move

Packing for a short term move is a pain. I do get to figure out just how much stuff can fit in my Camry. If it’s too much for one trip, then I get to add more than an hour to my trip (40 minutes each way plus unpacking the entire first load and packing the second load). Of course, I need to do all of this by noon (or 1 PM for a late checkout). Tomorrow is the first move.

What's in a house?

Late on Thursday, we found out that someone wanted to look at our house on Friday. Since the family is here in Mass. with me, we arranged for someone to go to the house and turn on all of the lights. Apparently there was a miscommunications between the prospects and their agent on when to arrive at the house. So, they looked around, talked to neighbors, talked to some more neighbors, and then were finally able to see the house. The talking to the neighbors must have worked since before the day was through, we had an offer for the house that we are accepting. The deal looks like it will go through, so we were in a much better state of mind today when seeing houses with the Mass. realtor. Not many houses in Mass. will work with contingent buyers, so selling the house takes that out of contention.

One very different thing about homes in this area vs. Richmond is that, for the most part, there is little work done to a home before putting it on the market. There were two notable exceptions, and both of them we are interested in. The first home has a weird bedroom configuration, so that we would need to give Jake a smaller bed or be very creative where we put his current one. The other home is higher priced than we want but is an 1850-era farmhouse with almost 11 acres of land. I am afraid of being bound to a home that large and with that much property, knowing almost no one in the area to share it with. It is perfect for entertaining, but will take so much work and money on weekends to maintain that we will be house-poor for a while. I'm not sure that is in our best interest, no matter how much we love the home itself. The homeowners have put tons of money into the property, all excellent investments. So, we will continue to look at properties, and will continue to decide on how much home we can afford.

Starting over in Massachusetts

The past two weeks go down in my life as being life changing. Last Thursday, we had a gathering at the house of many of my friends from work outside the City. These are the people outside of my wife and children that help me define my life these days. They are lifelong friends, all met in the past ten years. Not everyone was there, but many were to help me celebrate. My closest friends made a CD for my trip, to remind me that I always have a home in Richmond.

Friday, I left my job after more than ten years. I packed my last box, turned in my laptop, blackberry, and badge. Then, I made one final trip around the facility to say my goodbyes that I hadn't previously said. While I still need to send an email to those folks, it was really strange saying goodbye. I went home and packed, then jammed as much as I could in my car.

Early on Saturday, I left the comfort of Richmond and headed north. It was a 12-hour drive, filled with phone calls from friends making sure I was awake and doing alright. At long last, I arrived in the Residence Inn located in West Springfield, Massachusetts - my home away from home for the next 60+ days. My GPS tried to self correct my intentional diversions from major highways, but that's another story.

Sunday, I found a grocery store, Costco, and drove to my new office to be sure that the Monday commute would work. My GPS worked like a champ this time.

Monday, I started my new position, with a new company, doing things that scare the heck out of me. I am working for a very large company (again), but with many more corporate-based employees at the same building. The building is huge, old, and with the great style attributed to the early 20th century. There should be a picture above.

After a whirlwind week, I have settled into a basic routine. I have started to catch up on my sleep, and really got a chance to recharge yesterday. I was fairly restless last night, in part due to a loud snorer next door and in part due to my 2+ hour nap in the middle of the afternoon yesterday. I was up today at 5:30 AM, and was doing laundry at 6. Not much competition for washers and dryers at 6 AM.

This week, Sue and the kids come up. They will be visiting schools on Thursday and Friday, visiting northern houses with one of our realtors on Sunday, will be visiting CT and southern MA houses with our Realtor on Monday. Thank goodness for the three day Memorial Day weekend next week!

Making the leap...

This week, I made the leap of faith from PC to Mac, and the leap was long, faith that I can do this strong, and the desire to separate work on a PC from non-work on a Mac. With my upcoming job change, I wanted to have that clear distinction.

This week, my new Apple MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 15.4" laptop arrived. It's a loaded box with iLife '08, MS Office 2008 for Mac, Aperture 2.0 and tons more. I upgraded to 4GB of RAM from crucial.com and also purchased an HP Photosmart C7280 because of a $100 combined purchase rebate. Clear distinctions aside, this is an Intel-based system. I will be installing VMware Fusion this weekend, along with Windows XP Home so that I can get my Quicken up and running to actually pay bills when in Mass.

Needless to say, I am really excited, yet concerned that learning the Mac style is somewhat difficult for me, the old PC guy. I have been using PCs since the dawn of time - at least from a PC perspective. I will definitely need to purchase a book or two on the subject, at least one of those "Dummies Guide" books to get me kick started. It is certainly easier today than yesterday and will be easier in another week or two. Some of the keyboard shortcuts that I have apparently taken for granted on the PC are really missed. I'm sure they are there, but I'll need to have some sort of book to figure it out!

Putting the house on the market

Today, we met with our Realtor (Erin) to discuss the price for selling the house. I will be taking the pictures in the morning and the house will be officially for sale on Wednesday. Erin was very impressed with how much work we have done on the house, including how much we have cleaned out to make the house appear much larger than when she first walked through the home.

The challenge is to have all of the photos taken by Monday at the latest, then have her create and print fliers by Wednesday or Thursday. This is a whirlwind compared to last time we sold our home in Phoenix (10 years ago). There, we plopped a sign in the yard and it sold. The real estate market today is very different today.

I leave on May 10th, so everything that I need has to be packed and ready to go prior to that. The challenge is that we still need to have the house until school is out. We have the added challenge of camp for both kids, although that is higher with my spouse than I. Perhaps it's my incorrect gut feel, but with a limited amount of time allocated for temporary housing and a limited amount of funds to sponsor an extension of that time, that I really want to be in a house by late June, even if I am sleeping on the floor and waiting for our furniture to arrive in a week or two.

Timing, they say, is everything.

Monument Avenue 10K

Today, I ran the Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond. The weather was interesting - warm and damp. The race has grown to more than 30,000 participants (runners and walkers), which is both good and bad. The good is that the greater Richmond community has embraced the race to get people out of their chairs and moving. The bad is that there are too many stinkin' people in the race to make it fun for anyone running. I guess you always get the bad with the good. Four of us left our normal parking area at 6:30 AM so we could access our good secret parking area where I have been parking for years.

The elite runners took off at 8:30, and we took off at 8:57. Lori, Sara, and Quina were running with me for a bit, although we all splintered off as the race wore on. Richmond is a very small town - not in population, but the fact that you can be anywhere and see people you know. My physical therapist (sports med doc assistant) was almost beside me at the beginning and the end. Lots of folks from church, work, etc. were all there. I even ran into and spoke to the one newscaster I know from WTVR who had just completed an interview when I arrived.

The race was okay - I had a new PR for a 10K, although it was not what I had hoped. 1:03:06. I brought my own Accelerade which worked well. The only water I took was one cup at mile 5 to pour directly over my head to cool me down. It rained on and off, but never hard. I didn't walk other than at the one water stop and to regroup during the 6th mile. I made the mistake of taking off too fast, especial for mile 2, about 30 seconds per mile too fast. So, a slow mile six made up for it. I ran a 10:09 initial mile out of the crowd, then had a single negative split into mile 2 (9:37). I was warmed up and feeling good, but let my legs outrun my head. Towards the end, I was out of energy, another negative of eating at 6 AM for a 9 AM start. I'm not sure how to get around that in the future, other than to get a ride to the race closer to the start and not have to worry about parking!

This was the last race for a while. Details shortly.

I am a new hybrid owner

Starting on Monday, and concluding today, I purchased a 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid. This car is loaded to the gills, with a full navigation system, XM radio, heated leather seats, and moon/sunroof. I never thought I'd pay this much for any vehicle, but with my job situation likely to change in the next few weeks, I will have a much longer commute each day. The car is very comfortable and will also make the 18-hour drive back home for a weekend or two worth while!

Here is a picture if you want to see (CLICK HERE).

One of the things I like most is the Bluetooth integration. From the steering wheel, I can initiate calls or answer calls. From what the people I've spoken to say, the clarity is excellent - much better than with my Bluetooth headset in my truck.

The other thing I like is the dead silence when the car is stopped. No noise what-so-ever. After running tonight, I asked Melanie to tell me if the car was running or not. She said no... then I put it in drive and edged away. She was surprised to say the least. Give me a few thousand miles to figure out if I really like it!

It might be the happiest day of the year...

Well, maybe not YOUR happiest day... but my happiest day each year is when I have electronically transmitted my taxes to the US and state governments. It typically means that I can sit back and wait for them to accept, then wait for the cash to hit my checking account. Maybe I should wait for the acceptance email from the government to be happy, but at least I've figured things out and they are out of my hands. Last year, I wasn't so lucky...

First, let me say that there is an up-side and a down-side to non-qualified stock options (NQSOs). Employee stock purchase plans (ESPP) are generally good, so long as you are earning money. This year, my ESPP lost big time. Stock was high at the beginning of the year before a steady decline during the year. So, I decided to cut my losses and sell what I could, then transfer the cast to my broker since he couldn't do worse for my return if he put my money anywhere and went on vacation for the entire year. ESPPs are also really easy for taxes since you can get all of the information you need from the company that handles them.

NQSOs are a different beast. You see, you get an option granted years ago. It vests a couple of years later, and when you roll it into your broker, then decide to sell it (see the steady decline note above), you actually have to figure out the details from a transaction that happened years ago. Fortunately, I have sold the last of it, I think, so shouldn't have to go through this nightmare again. What a way to spend Easter...

Getting back to the "I wasn't so lucky..." comment above...

In my fret to get everything done for taxes last year, I filed right about at the final day, but electronically so I could get my refund as soon as possible. Imagine the fear when the Federal Government returned a status as REJECTED!!! It took me a while but found out that some schmuck had used one of our SSNs in their return, or, more likely, that they filed a paper copy and either they, or the typist at the IRS, fat fingered one of my kids' SSNs. In any case, I finally heard from them after having to print and send via snail-mail the return. Weeks (could have been months) later, I got my refund. This year, I planned on submitting my return early, but had to deal with the damned NQSO and figure out how to cost that out. So, I will find out in a few days if my return is accepted or, God forbid, rejected again. At least I'm early this year so can get my nice refund early. Three weeks is early, right?!?

Shamrock 13.1 finisher!

As of 9:26 am on Sunday, I can officially say that I have finished a half marathon! I finished standing up, albeit struggling at the end, but I finished! Final time, and my newest personal best, 2:26:35.

The race was not held under ideal conditions - mid 40s and a cold 20 MPH wind out of the north (which means it was cold since it came off from the Atlantic Ocean). The fact that it stopped raining before we were outside to run was excellent.

Course summary -- we took off shortly after 7 AM and headed north for about 3 miles on Atlantic. From there, we ran by both of my children who got out of bed on a cold morning to walk to see me! The kids took the hats and gloves that others wanted to drop. It was really close to the house where we were staying and another water stop. Then, we headed NW on Shore Drive for about 3 miles. Those 3 miles were a boring 3 miles, but were sheltered from the wind by trees. We passed by First Landing State Park, where the eventual Jamestown Settlers first landed.

Next, we turned east into Fort Story, home of the Cape Henry lighthouses (old and new ones). I've been on Ft. Story a few times -- to climb the old lighthouse and to visit my Mom once (stays there every year for a week with her ex-Air Force hubby). We continued for the 3 or so miles through Ft. Story with the winds whipping off from the Atlantic (you could see the ocean to the left - no break from the trees). Next, we headed out of the west gate of Ft. Story for the 4 miles south. We passed by the house where we were staying, then the water stop where we headed NW (above). This was our Goo stop on the return trip.

Finally, we cut towards the Atlantic Ocean at about mile 12 or so. The elite Marathon runners were starting to pass me (they were heading north, we were heading south), just as I headed towards the ocean. We made a quick jog to the boardwalk and then ran the final leg on the boardwalk to cross the finish line. Done... thankfully.

After finishing, we got our own emergency (space) blanket (foil-like wraps with the Yuengling logo), our finishers medals, bananas, a bag of goodies, and the best part -- a hat that declares me to be a 13.1 finisher! I met up with my running buddies who all finished ahead of me and we eventually headed into the celebration tent. There, they handed each runner 4 beer tickets (the race was sponsored by Yuengling), and had Irish Stew to eat.

Eventually, I was able to retrieve my car and head to the house where we packed and headed home. Today, I treated myself to a massage and a day off from work. Tomorrow, the real world will get back under my skin...

Half Marathon - here I come...

Today was the last mid-week run before the half. We ran a measly 4 miles - very short even by mid-week standards. I ran slowly at first, got rid of the congestion that has been plaguing me for the last week, then increased my speed with each consecutive mile.

My miles were 10:31, 10:41, 10:15, and a blazing 9:43. I felt fantastic! I almost sprinted up the final long hill (which I generally hate), then kept going. I passed Melanie and Sara both -- I think they were shocked... Knowing that I only had the four miles to run helped a great deal. My knee felt great. My feet felt great, and my belly felt great as well. If it weren't for the congestion, I'd be really happy now.

The half marathon is Sunday. I have decided to head to Virginia Beach on Friday so I can relax on Saturday all day. I need to visit the Expo to do packet pickup, eat some lunch, then cook dinner for my buddies on Saturday night (pasta, of course). Early to bed, then an early rise on Sunday for the race. At this point, I think that I will need to leave the house around 5:30 at the latest to find parking in a public lot. Driving around in pre-dawn light is not my idea of a good, stress free day. After the race, I will relax, pack up and drive home. The best part is that I am off on Monday, have a 4 PM massage scheduled, and will have zero email or BlackBerry all weekend long.

Continued knee pain, then relief!

Last week after the almost 14 mile run, pain set in. My left knee was a bit sore on Sunday, and very sore by Sunday night and early Monday. Ice and ibuprofen were my only resolutions for then. I went to the gym on Tuesday to attempt to run but was promptly reduced to a slow pace on the treadmill. With each step, excruciating pain. It would have to be a week of rest. On Wednesday, Lori and I walked 2 miles - it was cold and my knee was again not up to it. Time to call the doctor.

I saw the good doctor (she is a tri-athlete). and a good bit of feeling my knee and a few digital x-rays later, she had her diagnosis. Pes bursitis or pes tendonitis. Something about the bursis getting inflamed by the rubbing when I run. So, she shot me up with cortisone, fitted me with a strap to keep the kneecap in place, and put me on high-dose anti-inflammatory drugs. If this doesn't work, I will be back for other stuff on Friday. I am attempting to run on the treadmill tomorrow (maybe 4 miles), then see how the knee feels.

Saturday, in the park

Okay, so it wasn't a walk in the park... but, I did run 13.85 miles on Saturday! I was so pleased with how I felt, how I worked through the pain, and how I kept going when stopping was so easy.

As scheduled, we ran the first 4 miles with the 10k team. It was so easy... we started late, chatted with everyone we passed (many of them), and finished up significantly warmer than when we started. Then, we took off again after a few minutes of a break for a short 10-mile jaunt. This was actually easy for the first half of a mile, then I started coughing up a lung getting my breathing down right and letting the Allegra kick in. Once I got back in the swing, I ran pretty good through mile 5 (so that would be of mile 9 total). A few periods of walking and I finished it... I was having a hard time when I finished mile 11, right before the SAG. By mile 11, the muscle fatigue had started but I worked through it.

My diet this week consisted of a goo after mile 4, another one after mile 8, and one more at the SAG at mile 11. Lots of Accelerade throughout, and I was feeling pretty good.

Sunday, I was lame as can be expected, then lame again on Monday. Today, I went to the YMCA to run on the treadmill and my left knee was so sore that I just couldn't run at all. I walked 2.5 miles, but will try to run 5 miles tomorrow night with Lori.

The longest distance I will ever run?

Tomorrow morning, we are scheduled to run 4 miles, them recoup and run 10 more... that makes for 14 total miles. Since we are training for the half marathon which is a mere 13.1 miles, 14 miles is insane.

If I run all 14, I will know that I can do 13 and finish standing up. If I run all 14, I will know that I will feel like I am 80 years old (and I'm not even 50 yet). If I run all 14, I will have the satisfaction that February 23rd, 2008 will be the day that I ran the furthest distance of my life.

While it seems to be a daunting task, it will make the half marathon in 2 weeks much easier knowing that I can cover the distance.

10 miles and feeling good

We just finished a 10 mile "recovery" run and I'm feeling good. Wow - I never thought I'd be able to say that! We ran 3 miles with the YMCA 10K Team in Training group, then stripped down some of the layers, grabbed our fuel belts, and took off to run another 7 miles. The weather was cool, but not cold, sunny, but not in your face sunny. What worked for me was sort of everything. So, in the determination to repeat success, I wanted to document what I did.

Dinner Friday - pasta with meatless sauce, 2 pieces of whole grain bread with butter, a salad and a beer. I had done my best to hydrate all day on Friday and then continued with water in the evening. A few nuts to snack on before bed and in bed by 11. All of my clothes were out, with a few options depending on how cold it was overnight.

Saturday - up at 5:30, 2 ibuprofen tablets and some water, back to bed until 6:30. Up at 6:30 - breakfast by 7:00 - sweetened oatmeal and 1/2 mug of coffee - lots of water. Two immodium tablets for the IBS. Clothes: shorts, socks, shoes, and the first layer Nike shirt too tight to wear solo. Then, my new long sleeved layer with the zipper at the neck. Hat and sunglasses. For the first 3 miles, I added my jacket and gloves but stripped them off when we picked up the rest of the group before the final 7 miles. Of course, two paper towels folded and in my shorts waistband for the sinuses, glasses, and sweat.

I ate a PowerBar Gel (goo) after the first 3 miles, and topped up with Accelerade. Another Gel after 4 of the 7 miles (at 7 miles overall), and drinks of the Accelerade along the way. I felt good, with almost no walking at all today. I ran an 11:06 average pace which I will take over 10 miles anyday! Here is the link to the results: CLICK HERE

12 miles... a new personal distance record!

I completed a bit over 12 miles today, while the gals did 13. I was hurting during the last 2, so decided not to to the 13th mile. My orthotics were putting pressure particularly on my left knee, and I'm really feeling the pain tonight. We ran three miles to warm up with the 10K training team (Lori is a coach), then stripped down to more appropriate clothes (I went down to shorts and a top, leaving behind a jacket, gloves, and long pants).

That said, it was a good workout - a bit over 2100 calories worth - by far the most ever. Oatmeal for breakfast (single serve instant), a goo after 3 mile warm up, another goo after 7 and one more at 10 (our SAG) and lots of Accelerade along the way. By the SAG, I had set my new personal distance record by over 1/2 a mile.

After the SAG, I was really dragging, though, and my legs felt like jelly. I decided to blow off the last mile so I wasn't completely spent for days, and it was a good decision. We all got a smoothie at the grocery store, including a protein shot. Then, home, a shower, and a quick nap. I think I won't have a problem sleeping tonight.

And the distance continues to increase...

Today, five of us started out together with four different distances in mind. I was running 8 (run to the SAG), another 9 (modified the course), another 10 (first 5 with us then back), and the other two 13.1 miles - a full half marathon distance. I kept up (mostly) with the 13.1 group (Sara and Melanie), and got a return ride at the water / SAG stop that Lori set up. This was planned - although I could have gone a bit further but didn't want to push too far too fast and risk injury.

My orthotics worked well, although I pushed the envelope of how long I should wear them. The run today was well over an hour which is the limit that I'm supposed to stick to for the first week. The limits are a bit loosy-goosy though, so it's what I'm feeling comfortable with. So far, they have felt great when I'm running, but I have some knee pain afterwards from the foot straightening that they are doing. In time, all will be well! I replaced my shoes about the time that my foot problem occurred, but they are just a newer model of the same shoes I had, just without hundreds of miles of road wear. One good thing to note is that my old shoes showed even wear, meaning I don't have any signs of pronating.

Nutritionally, I tried a different goo and broke open a pack of these gummy-bear like shot bloks from the makers of Clif Bar. Three of us shared them (a bit less than a serving each). You absolutely have to stop and chew them, though, since I believe you will choke if you try to keep running. The ones we had were orange and quite delicious - eaten at about 4.5 miles. I also had a vanilla goo with no caffeine a couple of miles later. To start the day, I had my usual single serving of instant oatmeal which works with my belly. I got a solid night of sleep last night as well, so all of the stars were in alignment to run well.

Next week, 3 on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday, and 3 on Thursday, then 14 on Saturday. We are going to run the 3 with the beginning 10K team first (Lori is one of the coaches), then take off for another 10. I think we will freak out the beginners if they find out.

The podiatrist and the orthodics

I went back to the Podiatrist on Monday since I got a call on Friday that he had my orthodics ready. Those are inserts that I will wear in all of my shoes going forward to help straighten out my feet and remove the foot pain I have been feeling. It was a 5-minute appointment (still paid my $25 copay) and walked out with the orthodics in place.

Like contacts, I need to wear them for only an hour or less each day for the first week, then 2 hours, and so on until I wear them full time when I wear shoes. Today, I wore them at the gym while I attempted for the first time in weeks to run. I ran 3 1/2 miles with no pain at all (treadmill). I will attempt to run 6 miles tomorrow night (about an hour) and 13 miles on Saturday. I'm fairly certain that I won't be able to run all 13 miles but that it'll have nothing to do with my feet.

Today, I felt some pain in my knees, but that is from the correction that the orthodics have in straightening my feet. A few weeks from now, my only pain will be from covering distances that my 47 year old body just isn't ready to cover...

Frostbite 15K

Since my feet aren't fixed yet, I was unable to run in the 15K race this morning. This is named the Frostbite 15K for a few reasons. First, it is 15K or 9.3 miles long. Second, it is held on or about the last weekend in January (the 27th this year) and it's damn cold. Great name since everyone knows at least the season when the race is held. This was the 24th running of this race and people come back year after year.

Melanie, Sara, and Lori were using this as their long weekend run in their half-marathon training. They were scheduled for 10 miles, I think, so this was perfect. I, on the other hand, simply couldn't run. I thought about volunteering to help with the race, but came to the conclusion that I could help in a better way -- take pictures!

I looked at the course online, trying to find the perfect spot. I was unsure of what the status of the sun would be, but the forecast was for overcast skies - perfect! I found a great spot on just after the 4-mile outgoing marker, and where I would see the runners returning just after 5 miles. This course was conveniently an out and back course, providing the opportunity to see runners twice.

It was very cold this morning (frostbite - duh), so I dressed in multiple layers but still had to make my fingers work. When all was said and done, I had snapped 864 photos and my fingers were absolutely numb when I was done. I swapped my long lens (70 - 300MM) for the mid-range one (55 - 200MM), set the camera to autofocus and just used the sports setting. I was able to capture what I think were some great pictures! The pain was occasionally shown, but the smiles were rampant! I came home with some great photos of Melanie, Sara, and Lori, and believe that they will be very pleased with the outcome! What was funniest was that people were posing, giving thumbs up, and making silly faces for the camera. I think a few people will be looking for pictures soon!

da feet

So, the pain in my left foot has gotten to be too much. During a 5-mile attempt on Wednesday, I had to stop after 2.5 miles. On Tuesday, the podiatrist told me I had a cyst sort of in the pad on the left side of my foot. It's under part of the 5th metatarsal. So, he shot me up with some good stuff that took care of the pain temporarily. The shot didn't hurt since his nurse numbed the area with some cold spray first. Immediate relief for the pain. So, still feeling fairly pain-free on Wednesday, I joined the group for 5 miles. While not a mistake, it certainly was a learning experience.

The pain is still there.

I will try to see the doctor this week if possible and try to schedule the outpatient surgery to get the cyst removed. I'm not at all sure what kind of recovery that involves, but will likely not be running 13 miles in the next two weeks.

Saturday - 2nd longest run to date

Saturday we ran 7 miles around the neighborhood. Other than last week's 9.45 mile run, this was my second longest run ever. 7 miles is about a quarter-marathon. Half of a half-marathon. Longer than a 10K by almost a mile. No matter how many ways I think about it, it was a good run. I walked a bit, mostly caught up in the congestion that accompanies most people during this time of the year. I ran most, however, and it actually felt pretty good. We ran at almost exactly an 11 minute pace, a pace that I would die for during the half. Lots of hills (relatively), and lots of congestion. I used another PowerBar Gel to get through the distance. That bowl of instant oatmeal 90 minutes before I start is just not enough to last the morning! Fortunately, my good friend and church wife Heather suggested that we hit Melito's Restaurant before heading home. Great food that filled my belly! For some historical precedence, Mr. Melito designed the Freedom Flag after September 11th, and 3rd place American Idol contestant Elliott Yamin used to work at Melitos since he lived around the corner!

We all made it through even though all 7 miles, I was the last to finish. I was last because I was meticulous about the full 7 miles. According to my Garmin 205, I had to take an extra lap around the parking lot to get in the full 7 miles. The funny thing is that I saw a friend from church pulling into the parking lot at 6.8 miles and we joked about it the next day. Boy was she surprised when she found out that it was at the end of 7 miles! I must be fat enough to look like I run maybe 2 miles at most ;-). I suppose it's finally time to lose some weight!

This week, we continue the longer mid week runs (3, 5, 3 weekly runs). We're all concerned on January 23rd when we get to running a full 10K on a Wednesday as a mid-week run. This will be hard since the weather by the end of January is very cold in Richmond! That week, we are replacing our long Saturday run with a Sunday 15K race (9.3 miles). The race conditions over such a distance will be good, and we will have SAG breaks along the race for a change. I will love not having to carry water or pre-mixed Accelerade for a change!

This week, 10 miles is scheduled for our Saturday run. It might be an interesting run since we will need to carry all water and snacks with us! All I can say is to hope for cooler weather than today, but warm enough that I don't have lots of clothes to weigh me down!

Saturday - 2nd longest run to date

Saturday we ran 7 miles around the neighborhood. Other than last week's 9.45 mile run, this was my second longest run ever. 7 miles is about a quarter-marathon. Half of a half-marathon. Longer than a 10K by almost a mile. No matter how many ways I think about it, it was a good run. I walked a bit, mostly caught up in the congestion that accompanies most people during this time of the year. I ran most, however, and it actually felt pretty good. We ran at almost exactly an 11 minute pace, a pace that I would die for during the half. Lots of hills (relatively), and lots of congestion. I used another PowerBar Gel to get through the distance. That bowl of instant oatmeal 90 minutes before I start is just not enough to last the morning! Fortunately, my good friend and church wife Heather suggested that we hit Melito's Restaurant before heading home. Great food that filled my belly! For some historical precedence, Mr. Melito designed the Freedom Flag after September 11th, and 3rd place American Idol contestant Elliott Yamin used to work at Melitos since he lived around the corner!

We all made it through even though all 7 miles, I was the last to finish. I was last because I was meticulous about the full 7 miles. According to my Garmin 205, I had to take an extra lap around the parking lot to get in the full 7 miles. The funny thing is that I saw a friend from church pulling into the parking lot at 6.8 miles and we joked about it the next day. Boy was she surprised when she found out that it was at the end of 7 miles! I must be fat enough to look like I run maybe 2 miles at most ;-). I suppose it's finally time to lose some weight!

This week, we continue the longer mid week runs (3, 5, 3 weekly runs). We're all concerned on January 23rd when we get to running a full 10K on a Wednesday as a mid-week run. This will be hard since the weather by the end of January is very cold in Richmond! That week, we are replacing our long Saturday run with a Sunday 15K race (9.3 miles). The race conditions over such a distance will be good, and we will have SAG breaks along the race for a change. I will love not having to carry water or pre-mixed Accelerade for a change!

This week, 10 miles is scheduled for our Saturday run. It might be an interesting run since we will need to carry all water and snacks with us! All I can say is to hope for cooler weather than today, but warm enough that I don't have lots of clothes to weigh me down!

Our daughter's knee surgery

KT is home and resting, with her leg elevated and iced, doing exercises every TV commercial (she is NOT allowed to fast forward through the TIVO'd ads!). For the next 48 hours, that is the prescribed treatment.

She had a plica band which was causing the majority of the pain. A plica is a band of dense scar-like tissue that occurs normally in many people. It is left over tissue from when the knee was developing prior to birth. We always knew she had a little something special! This was removed since it's location was preventing her knee cap from doing it's thing. Since the plica band had acted up, the IT band (a group of fibers that run up the outside of the thigh) had positioned itself so that it was pushing her knee cap out of position. This was surgically released to allow the knee cap to re-align itself correctly. Which should allow her ankle, knee and hip joints to re-align eventually. She was great and really held it together throughout. I am so proud of her -- and she did far better than I ever would have done (I'm such a baby about such things).

She has pain meds for as long as needed, has crutches for as long as needed, but has already put weight on the leg. She will have physical therapy tomorrow (Friday) morning and will keep up with that for another 6 weeks or so to re-build the muscles again. The bandage comes off either tomorrow or Saturday and then she can hop in the shower - she seems opposed to the yellow of the Betadine as an accessory color!

There are no stitches. It is an amazing thing.

A Year of Change?

This year will be one of change. Jake will get his drivers license and have a full season with the Robotics team. KT will have her knee surgery and regain mobility. Sue will continue to run both the house and the Foundation with utmost precision. I will finish hundreds of miles running capped by completing the half-marathon. We will consider our job options and current location with care, sure that there will be a change in one and likely a change in the other.

It is indeed a year of change.