God Bless America...

You know, I kept saying, "We're gonna wake up and it will be 95 degrees!" and it happened! The weather has been sooo blasted cold and awful forever, it seemed as though summer would never arrive. Snowbird had people skiing on July 4th!!

So I asked the family if anyone wanted to go see the hot air balloons on Saturday. Everyone was in, but they all wanted to sleep as much as possible, so I didn't insist on being there at 6:30. We all got there around 7 and the balloons had all taken off! We did get to hang out next to the Coke ballon. It was funny watching the Darth Vader balloon come peering over the bushes now and again. Stupid Anikan! How could he have given in to the dark side so easily?! You big wuss! They were cranking up the music pretty loud, and I managed to get a shot of the girls doing the ski dance!

We decided to head over to Macey's for the French Toast breakfast. Jenny and her friend showed up as we were waiting in line. You know, nothing like free food to bring out all the "interesting" people. The French toast was awesome and the syrup is outstanding! I know Jayton Wakefield will debate about the Magleby's syrup. They are both delicious in their own way. Regardless, I want to drink them both! We had fun and laughed a lot. We tried to ignore Jenny's New York Yankees hat, but she is living out in New Jersey and is in New York all the time. Still, the Yankees?! Ugh.

Chelsea, Abby, Madalyn and I decided to check out the Freedom Festival and walk through the carnival. Now there's an event that brings out the dregs! Oye! And of course it was 500 degrees out. We walked around for a bit and noticed it was pretty crappy this year. Mostly just food vendors, and I had just had lunch before we went! My girlies were all beat red by the time we got back into the car. I pulled into 7 Eleven and got them all a Slurpee.

The Stadium of Fire was going on, so Madalyn and I drove down State Street and parked on the side of the road and waited. Brad Paisley was finishing up. Finally the fireworks started. We had a pretty sweet view! When it was done we were able to book it on out of there and were home in about 3 minutes.

Sunday, after church and fasting, we had a delicious dinner. Teresa and Madalyn made cake balls. Holy cow they were good! And after fasting, I lose my senses a bit and eat way too much. Brad and Andrea Frandsen stopped over and had some, too. They hung out and we laughed. We love the Frandsen's.

ANyway, Monday morning Austin and I were running the 10K. We didn't sign up this year- we just wore our Ragnar bibs. I walked outside and it was 77 degrees and super humid! I picked up Austin and we were unable to drive on 900 East, so we were speeding around the back side of the temple, trying to find Kiawanis Park. We finally got there and ran over to the starting line. They moved the 10K starting line east of where it used to be. We seriously had about a minute and they started the race. Austin and I stayed together for the first couple miles. He stopped at the water station and I kept going. I was able to grab a water later on. It was really hot and sweaty out. It is always fun to run along the parade route and have everyone yelling and cheering. I didn't see anyone I knew. This year they had us go up Center Street and all the way around the Mental Hospital! Ugh! More uphill. That turn onto 9th East for the last mile is a killer! It's all uphill. I kept churning and running. There was no sprint in me to get to the end. It was weird; I wasn't mentally in to this run at all. After the Ragnar, I was kind of in a no-intensity mode. Oh well. I had my unofficial time of 45:53. Austin came in a few minutes later. We were both dying from the humidity. Plus, we had a hard time trying to make it through all the people to get a drink. And one tiny cup.

We all went to Carl's for dinner and fireworks. Dinner was awesome. Burgers and dogs, guacamole, corn, fruit, brownies. I was bloated. We played a fun game of Croquet on the back lawn. It came down to me versus Austin & Marissa. They eventually won. Lance Phillips came over with his daughter Kiley. I haven't seen Lance in a long while. He and I did a ton of stuff together back, oh, 30 years ago! We used to go surfing all the time, hang out and do whatever. He was an official brother in our family. The fireworks were crazy this year with the new ariels they were selling! If you were a vet, you probably went into flashback mode. Carl's neighbor put these "seal bombs" into a watermelon! Holy cow! It was everywhere!

Anyway, it was a very fun few days. I have come to the conclusion that I prefer Monday holidays better than Friday holidays. It's great to have a day after Sunday to hang out and it also makes the rest of the work week go pretty quick.

But the best thing of the 3-day weekend is that I beat my son-in-law in the race... again! (I say that with love, because at the rate I'm aging, I only have a year or two left where I can!)

RAGNAR Wasatch Back Run! and run... and run!

So I ran the Ragnar on June 17-18th. I drove to Carl's house in Lehi, Brad Shafer came by with the rented Chrysler Mini Van. Chuckle and laugh, but it actually worked out waaaaaayyy better than an SUV! We got the shell put on the top, loaded our gear and drove up to Olympus Cove to meet up with the rest of our team. We had to drive out to Eden. We went through the Ogden canyon. Man, the rivers are running real high! Of course we get behind some dude pulling a load of mulch and going 15 MPH.

We finally arrived and were heading over to the orientation area. As we were crossing the street one of the volunteers starts yelling at us because we weren't crossing with our flags. We didn't have them yet, and were actually picking them up, but he said we should be using them... I don't know, chicken and the egg thing!?!?!

We met up with Van 1 from our team, (we were named Hot 'n Runny) and waited for April, their last runner, to arrive. The whole valley of Eden is really beautiful. Anyway, she arrived and slapped the bracelet onto Sean, and he was off and running. April looked pretty hammered, and actually didn't run again; she got sick and later had her husband come pick her up.

So we drove up to the next exchange and waited. Sean came in and handed off to Matt, who had a quick 3 or so miler. Jeff was next and had a 3 miler, too. While we were waiting for him, one of the volunteers said there were only 29 teams left behind us! Our team officially started at 2 pm. It was getting dark and a bit cold! We went up to the next exchange and I got ready to roll.

I wore my reflector vest and Matt's headlamp. You know, putting on someone else's sweaty head lamp is a bit nasty, but eventually we were all pretty sweaty. So jeff slapped the bracelet on me and I was off. I had my RunKeeper app going. It notifies me every 5 minutes and at every mile. I was totally shocked when the voice came across my headphones telling me I was on a 6:41 mile pace! It was dark now, and I couldn't see where the heck I was supposed to be running. The markers are barely blinking and the volunteers are just standing there. I had to yell "Which way?!?!" to which they just point. I ended up on a road that people were driving pretty fast. I just kept hoping that they saw my vest and headlamp. So I ended running four miles at a 6:50 mile pace. I was shocked. I guess the adrenaline kicked in.

You gotta love being all hot and sweaty and even a bit gooey, then climbing into a van! Brad took the next run, which was straight uphill. He burned it up and did real well. Brad had surgery on his abdomen back in April and hasn't been able to eat a lot. In fact he has been losing lots of weight, so he wasn't sure how much he could run. It was getting pretty brisk and windy. Carl took off after Brad and had a long run that ended at Earl's Lodge at Snowbasin ski resort. We had to laugh because at every exchange, they were taking everything down. No difference here. We met up with Van 1 again. That's where we found out April was done. Dan had tagged along with them, not planning on running (he said he was too fat. Yeah right!) So he took over for her. We were able to use the bathrooms at the lodge before they closed it up. And we were able to get some nasty tasting free drinks from a vendor.

Carl came in, handed off, and we went to Morgan High School to get some sleep. We arrived there around 12:30 am. Brad and Matt decided to sleep outside, the rest of us slept in the gym on the wrestling mats. When we got there, there were lots of vehicles all over, and 50-60 people in there sleeping. Jeff and I stopped by the bathroom. He pulls out his toothbrush and toothpaste. He got about 3 strokes done when he dropped his toothbrush onto the floor. He swore and chucked it into the trash! I offered him mine, after I used it, but he declined. I didn't really get too much sleep; I would doze for 15 or so minutes at a time. I got up at 3:30 to use the bathroom. When I came back in, our dudes were the only ones there and were up and packing. The old man that was helping said he was going to come and wake us up because everyone was gone. He said they were waiting on one final female runner!

We got outside to find we were the only vehicle in the lot! All the Ragnar stuff was stacked up and ready to go. We booked it to the next exchange at East Canyon State Park. It was dark and in the mid 30's outside. Sean took the bracelet and was off. He had a short run and handed off to Matt. He had a long 7 miler to Hennefer. When he got done, he had frost on his gloves! Jeff took off for a grueling 10 miler along Echo Reservoir. We drove up to the next exchange (there was no van support for him on his run) at Coalville. Carl, Sean and Brad got the pancake breakfast there at the school. They were charging to use the bathrooms! The Honey Buckets outside get SUPER NASTY, especially when thousands of people have already used them!

Jeff made it in and I took off. I ran about 1/4 mile down a road then onto a dirt path! No van support, but they had some Gatorade stations. You know, it is utterly impossible for me to try and drink while I am moving! I ended up with a big slash up my nose and down my shirt! I had a long 8 mile run that was on an uphill grade. I did pass 10 people, though. Chantel and Austin were working as volunteers at the exchange there in Wanship. It was good to see them. Too bad it smelled like there were dead animals in the bushes! And the aroma of the Honey Buckets. Mmm mmm.

Brad got to run along Rockport Lake for a 5 miler. By the time he was done, he was done running the race. We had told Austin he might have to step in and help. Carl took off on a 7 mile run into Oakley. We got some cool pictures of him by a big red barn. Some runner that passed Carl stopped a couple times and looked like he barfed both times. His van would give him some water and he would take off again! Van 1 was there waiting for us in Oakley. We made the exchange and took off to Deer Valley to Jeff's dad's huge big house!

Jeff told us we could each use one of the 5 showers downstairs. Five showers on one floor?! Holy dooley! I was wasn't planning on showering since I still had my worst run waiting, but I got in and man, it felt real nice! We hung out for a while. Carl and Brad played shuffleboard on a miniature set. There were big flatscreen TVs in every bedroom, along with satellite TV. We got a call that Van 1's runner was starting his last leg, so we packed it up and headed to Heber to make the exchange. Well, we get there only to find out that the runner had just started leg 4! So we hung out with Chantel and Austin, who was ready to run for Brad. As we sat on the blanket with them, Brad says "We left Paradise for this?!" Classic. I passed by the Honey Buckets to see a huge tanker truck and a dude with a big hose sucking up each unit. I looked at a dude standing next to me and said, "You know, whenever you think you have a bad job, you could be sucking poo!"

They finally showed up and Austin took off. In our van someone asked if he's going to need water, to which the reply was, "Aw, he's young and it's only four miles", so we didn't stop and offer. He ran into Charleston, hands off to Matt and promptly says "Don't you believe in water support?!" We all felt bad.

Matt ran up to Midway and handed to Jeff, who had 3 miles of the Ragnar Hill. Brutal! Jeff flew in from Tennessee to run with us, so he's already having altitude issues. I was feeling bad for him. He had one of the funniest statements of the whole adventure later when he said "I think I caused irreparable damage to my heart!" We laughed because Carl's wife, Ivette, made a comment that Ragnar ruins families. We were afraid we were going to have to make a phone call to Jeff's wife that he'd died! As we were driving next to Jeff, Brad looks at me and says, "You know, yours is steeper."

I got ready and took the handoff from Jeff. Austin had said a while ago that there is no shame in walking on the hill. I thought I could make it without walking. I ran for a bit over 1/2 a mile when I thought my heart was going to explode! I had to walk. Ugh. I felt like a failure and wanted to pull my shorts down around my ankles. I couldn't believe how steep the hill was! Brad came out a couple times with water. I did pass a number of people, though. You know it's bad when we went from dirt to a few feet of snow! Brad came out and told me I needed to pass some buff dude who was running without his shirt on who was asking how far back the next runner was. They were going to take a photo of the dudes face as I passed him, but just as I got there, I had to walk. I didn't know that was their plan, or I would have done better. When I did pass him, I made a comment like What were we thinking? to which he made some macho dude man statement. Teresa would be upset, but I rolled my eyes. The hard person to catch was this girl in pink shorts, who was pretty good at hocking loogies! I pushed and kept churning and finally passed her. I had to walk, and for a while we would go back and forth. I finally passed her for good and was extremely happy to be done with the most hellish 4 miles I have ever run!

Sean wanted the long downhill run into Park City, so he traded with Brad, (who had Austin run... you know already). I felt like a sack of goo. We got down to the last exchange and waited. When Sean was coming in, Carl pulls out his Nacho Libre mask! Classic. He only wore it for a minute. Anyway, Carl's run was a long 7 miles that wound around Park City. While he was running the rest of us went up to the Red Banjo Pizza restaurant on Main Street. Pizza never tasted so good! Jeff told us stories about being on the city council and some lawsuits, etc.

We went to the Park City High School and waited for Carl to come in. They had all kinds of tents and stuff set up. Carl came and the 6 of us ran through the finish line. Our time was 30:24. Ugh. We got our medals and shirts, etc. and packed up and headed out!

It was a lot of fun and real hectic, too. It is a great experience to hang out with the dudes in the van for that long, too. Kind of a weird bonding experience, but something that we'll have forever. And you know, I hope we are up for the Las Vegas run again!

Hawaii

So apparently Chelsea had chosen a trip to Hawaii for a high school graduation gift. What the crap? Back in my day I didn't go on any kind of graduation trip! I don't even think there was a gift of any sorts. But then again, my high school career wasn't what you'd call stellar, so I probably didn't deserve much, and that's pretty much what I got.

Anyway, we also decided to celebrate Chelsea's first year of college being done, her 19th birthday, Teresa's first year of college being done, as well as her being accepted into the Accounting Program. I was obviously the tag-along slacker with nothing but my charm and wit.

We flew out by way of Seattle. Now that is a grungy airport. (They did Cobain proud!). On the flight to Hawaii, there was a baby that SCREAMED, not just cried, but screamed for 5 of the 6 hours! We also flew right into a huge lightning storm. Chelsea was freaking out that the plane was going to get hit and go down.

We landed, got our bags and picked up a rental car and drove to Kailua to a rental property. It was 10:00 pm local time when we finally got there, so I was feeling the 2:00 AM time and couldn't even think coherently! (You know me, if it's past 9:30 pm, I'm trying to get into bed)

And I woke up at 2 am local time, wide awake, laid around and finally got up around 4. Once we were all up, we went down to Kailua Bay and walked around for a bit on the beach. We decided to go to the North Shore. We kept laughing because it was so early! We kept saying to Chelsea, "You're in Hawaii!" She was soooo happy.

It was fun to stop in at the Kahuku Grill for some delicious Teriyaki Chicken, and head up to Sunset beach. Chelsea and I did a bit of snorkeling at Three Tables. She was having a tough time with the fins and didn't believe me that she just needed to turn around and walk backwards! We cruised around a bit checking out the fish and such. The currents are pretty strong right there, so we bailed out, but not before Chelsea was on her bum getting nailed by waves shooting sand everywhere! She looked like she was wearing a loaded Depends! We stopped at Ted's Bakery for some desserts, too.

We had shaved ice at Aoki's, which is right next to Matsu Moto's, and from what we understand, no different. I had the ice cream and the sweet beans in mine. Yummy! And who doesn't want more fiber?!?!

When we went to Waikiki, we parked at the very end and went into the nasty public bathrooms to change. Oye! I had some homeless dude ask me, "Hey, uncle, go buy me a Subway sandwich..." Uh, no thanks. He followed me into the bathroom and I thought for sure I was going to get mugged!

It was pretty surreal being at Waikiki Beach; I've seen it in pictures and movies and tv shows, but to actually be there was weird! We got a photo next to the Duke, and went out with some Boogie Boards. It was great. A few days later we rented surfboards there and Chelsea learned to surf! It was awesome! I've never been on a longboard, so I didn't know how she should be positioned on the board. There was a surf instructor out there teaching a guy named Mark how to surf. So I saw how he had Mark and got Chelsea in the right place. The instructor was a crack up- he kept yelling, "Mark! Paddle like you want it!" and "Stand up!!!" We surfed for a couple hours and had a blast. Too bad we live in Utah, because I believe now that Chelsea has tasted the joy of surfing, she would be doing it all the time!

We went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Cool to see how pineapples grow, but that place is a tourist trap rip-off! And they have this pond thing where you can feed the fish. Ugh, what looks like a couple hundred koi fish going nuts trying to suck up all the food that people were dropping in. Nightmare in the making!

We drove the Pali Highway and went to the lookout place up at the pass. Super windy! But breathtaking views! And what's up with all the chickens and roosters running wild everywhere?

We went to La'ie, drove around BYU Hawaii, then went to the temple and into the Visitor's Center. That was cool. The plan was to go to the Polynesian Culture Center, but it started to rain, real hard, and the wind was blowing hard, too. We parked, went in, and decided to bail. Good thing- it never let up and would have been miserable. But we did get the BEST shave ice of the trip at Angel's. Ice cream in the bottom, then they drizzled sweetened condensed milk all up and down it and whipped cream on the top. Oh baby!

Chelsea and I also did some snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Kind of a rip-off to get in! $7.50 per person. We had fun checking out all the fish and trying not to get stuck in the coral. We stopped one time so I could clean my mask. I look at Chelsea and she is just treading water like crazy. I started laughing and said, "Stand up!" The water was only up to her chest. She cracked up.

So I went to Agnes' Portuguese Bakery one morning to get us their malassadas (Portuguese donuts), along with a Long John and a Chocolate Pocket. Holy cow! Phenomenal! We ate there a couple more times. I haven't eaten donuts in years, but they were so yummy, I couldn't not eat them! Plus, Teresa kept saying, "You're on vacation! It doesn't count!"

I ran a couple times right on the beach. That's a workout to do 5 miles in the sand! The other times I ran I did it on the streets. It was really nice to not be freezing while I ran!

We went to Peal Harbor. It was very interesting. I don't recall learning about how the Japanese took out so many airfields all over the island. The thing that was kind of weird was there were tons of Japanese tourists there. I just kept wondering what they thought about the whole thing. Oh well. When we were taking the boat to the USS Arizona, I commented to Teresa that the water looked pretty mucky. The Naval Officer out on the Memorial said that in the 45 years he's been there, the weather has never been this wet. He said it's usually like standing on a piece of glass there, but we could barely see 5 feet down! Shrug. He explained about how much oil they estimate is still down there and how much comes up a day (3-4 quarts). They figure at this rate it will take a couple hundred years for it to all come up. Crazy.

It was sad to leave. We had a great tome and it was real fun to do so many things with Chelsea. The flight left at 10:00 pm. Holy cow, who designed airplane seats? Obviously they never tried to sleep in them. Brutal. We had a layover in Seattle then went to Portland and hung out with Teresa's folks for a few hours. We stopped at VooDoo Donuts for the other girls. Marilyn made a yummy lunch/dinner for us. Teresa and Chelsea both took showers. I figured I'm greasy and have to get back on the plane. Heck, I'll just save my grease until the next morning.

So, we had a blast and will always be thinking of how we can get back. Chelsea and I will be thinking about trips to the coast and renting some boards!

I'm Bloated!

The Wakefield's came up for a visit this last week. It's been great to hang out and be around them again. And I've eaten an enormous amount of food since they've been here! Jayton and I went to the temple on Friday morning (I took a little time off of work). After that we went for a run up in Cedar Hills. I took a couple weeks off of running due to a nagging neck/back/shoulder injury (I think I will forever be susceptible to injuries due to the bike accident). We ran by the golf course, down a huge hill, which meant we had to run back up it!! Ugh. Man, my legs were hurting bad. We decided we would all meet up later.

I took Abby out for lunch at The Italian Place. I love the steak and everything sandwiches. Love them. Not just a liking or partiality, but true love. I want to carry a picture of a sandwich in my wallet type love. We split a bag of salt & vinegar chips and had a cherry Coke. We hung out, went to the Hobby Lobby and had a fun time. Abby rocks.

Well, we did all meet up at Brick Oven for dinner. The Grover's, Frandsen's, Wakefield's, and even the Hanks' came along (you know, my daughter and son-in-law). We had a great time, laughed, were loud and finally left and drove back here to our place. I drove with Brad because my little wife had to stay on campus for a test review. Finals, you know. Anyway, Brad and I started laughing at the restaurant @ 12, that's the name of the place. Chinese take out. So, what, you start throwing up @ 12? That led to other topics and finally to a discussion of how when I was about 12 and came to the realization that Loni Anderson uses the bathroom?!?! And then Brad says "Yeah, Loni's probably had to light a match a time or two." We started laughing so hard we had tears. Classic.

Teresa took her Calculus final on Saturday, and just as I thought, she got a 90! She is awesome. I am so proud of her for doing the math thing. It has been a hectic semester for her and there has been a lot of stress around the home front, but understandably so. She has also been taking an economics class. Good stuff.

Jayton and I ran around the streets here in Orem on Saturday. He always says I am trying to kill him, but my legs were extremely sore and I could barely run.

So we ate out again at Macaroni Grill. That is where the photo is from. One thing that really stinks about the Droid phone is the camera is a big piece of crap and takes terrible photos, especially in low lighting. Anyway, one thing I don't understand about the Macaroni Grill... the are always soooooo SLOW!!! Good grief, there was three other groups of people there, and it took FOREVER to get anything! Heavens. We thought about walking out a few times because we couldn't find our waiter. The food, and especially the bread (and dipping it in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar) is delicious. Teresa and I split a dish. It was real fun to just hang out again and laugh. Teresa and Beth both got the lemon cream cake. Yummy, and I'm not a lemon cake fan- hard to believe, I know.

We did eat Cafe Rio the next night. We all got our food then came over here to eat. It was rowdy and fun. Chelsea is done with school and has moved back home, so her stuff was all over the front room. Teresa, Madalyn and I all shared a chili roast salad. Chelsea helped Beth with hers. I even had some of Oliver's black bean. Yummy. Man, my cholesterol is going to shoot up! Good thing I started running again to try and offset the calories.

Today for work we went to a meeting up in Salt Lake City, at Sizzler. Salad bar, lots of fruit. But I did have a couple skewers of the shrimp. And then there was tonight- we went to Sakura so they could all eat sushi. Teresa ordered the chicken teriyaki and I just got a bowl of fried rice. Well, the Frandsen's and Wakefield's all ate their sushi and we waited and waited for our food. When it came, the rice was super shiny and extremely oily, and Teresa's chicken was waaaaay over cooked and dry and nasty. Our waiter just says, Sorry. So we spoke to the owner. Needless to say, we are never going back there, ever. Osaka is our Japanese food destination.

We went to Farr's for them to all eat ice cream. I just had a few samples. Holy cow, good stuff. I want to bring a Dixie Cup with me and when they ask if I want a sample cup I can pull out my cup and say "Got one!"

So, the Wakefield's are on their way home, and we miss them already. Stupid Wakefield's. Jeeze, why did they have to move? We hope Jayton can buy a business around here. Oh well.

And there you have it. Bloated! You know, I mowed the lawn for the first time last week. I'm not excited about that weekly ritual. It is still quite cool and real wet. I hate this time of year because I am ready for it to be nice and warm, but not in Utah, nooo.
And where the heck did all the dandelions come from? Good heavens!!

And why is gas so expensive? Back a couple years ago we hit the high prices when barrels of oil hit $!40, so why are we paying even more when barrels are only $112? So what does Obama do? He's going to get a committee to check it out. What?! Here, I'll help... LET US GET OUR OWN OIL!

Okay, well, the Giants are generally do pretty good so far. Blew the first few games, but I think they needed to shake off the World Series hangover. LA Dodger fans showed how awesome they are by putting an innocent Giants fan in the hospital with brain damage. Quality LA fans.

Happy Easter!

It Was Work!

So I was able to go to a conference down in Palm Desert, CA last week for work. We stayed in the J W Marriott resort. Holy Dooley that place is huge and awesome! Four pools and three jacuzzi's, and, yes, I jumped in all of them! I flew down with a co-worker and was freaked out to see what seemed to be countless golf courses surrounded by homes! Lots of pools, too. I was excited to get off the plane and step into the 86 degree warmth. We met up with another co-worker who had taken his whole family on a vacation.

Monday morning around 6:20 I went for a 5 mile run. Perfect 65 degree weather and a beautiful pink sky! The conference was really good, too! The first keynote speaker was an economics professor from New Mexico State University. He was like Doc Brown from Back To The Future! I don't know if I agreed with all his thoughts, but he was fun. Lots of good discussions and speakers. Crappy lunches, though.

After the conference sessions we hung out at the pools and got some needed sun. Yes, a Utah winter makes one very pasty! We were invited by a vendor to a dinner at another golf resort. We got shuttled over and were taken to the bar. You know, living here in Utah and working at BYU I just don't see a whole lot of drinking going on, but at these events with an open bar, people are just throwing them down! Crazy. But, they had phenomenal hors devours! We adjourned to a room for a beautiful steak and fish dinner. I hate fish, so the steak was what I ate. And can someone please tell me why asparagus affects the urinary track with that smell?!?!?! Oye!

Another early morning run on Tuesday. It's been a long while since I have sweat while running in the morning outside! Lovely.
We had another economist speak, but this one was more realistic on what's taking place in the economy. Fun topics and speakers, another subpar lunch, but more pool time! We also had a big conference banquet. Holy cow, people were getting hammered.

The best part of the dinner was this luscious dessert! Chocolatey and rich. Ed ate two of them! Anyway, pretty sweet gig. I had a blast and it was so nice to be in the warm weather.

The cab driver sure took the long way to the Palm Springs airport!

And I must say, I have seen enough old, leathery, wrinkled skin to last a lifetime!

Of course when we landed in Utah, it was cold, rainy and windy. Welcome home. March and April are tough months for me; I am programmed for Spring being nice and temperatures going up. Here you get snow into April. I think it snowed last May. Ugh. Anyway, it really was a work trip. I could handle those more often.

Like Zeppelin Says...It's Been a Long Time

So I know it's been months and months since I wrote anything. Call it lazy, lack of interest, being spooked about who's stealing my info, heck, pick an excuse, it doesn't matter. Brad Frandsen made a comment about not writing on his anymore with "There's no instant gratification like on Facebook." Well screw that, I'm gonna write about what has been happening since July!

The Wakefield's came in August for a visit. We laughed that they stopped here before going to Beth's folks' house! We loved having them around and of course Jayton and I went running. We always eat out when they are here. Brad, Jayton, and I went shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond and were cracking up at all the items in there. We kept saying "I get that one for a white-elepant gift!" I think the best was the men's bikini shaver. Makes you shudder just thinking about it, eh?

Abby was in the marching band. It's sad that they have to combine with their rival school because Mountain View doesn't have enough band nerds. Oh well. She plays the xylophone so she doesn't have to really march. Classic. And those uniforms! Whoa! But bless her little heart for doing it and she has a blast, so I guess that's all that matters.

Teresa climbed in the saddle at the Texas Roadhouse so we could sing happy birthday to her. She's a babe.

I couldn't believe that the San Francisco Giants were hanging in there throughout September and suddenly had a death match with the Padres. We were stressing out but the playoffs were great! I had the games on at work and was yelling in my office. But they kicked butt, even though no one thought they would.

So, in October the big event was running the Ragnar Relay Race in Las Vegas. Carl talked me into doing it. Our half of the team drove down together, listening to the Giants vs. Phillies as we went. 3 of the dudes stayed at a really nice place and then Carl, Brad, and I stayed in a glorified double-wide. It was one of those situations that you really didn't want to touch the sheets, but did anyways.
We got up, picked up our other dudes and headed out to the Valley of Fire in Nevada. Since this was my first Ragnar, I didn't know what to expect. Lots of people dressed up, and I'm not going to repeat the names of some of the teams, but they were nasty. Brad and I had to take a photo with this lady. I kept wondering "How in the world is she going to run?! Not just the boots, but I figured she would fall over from being top-heavy!" Turns out she was just a helper at the starting line.
I was runner 4. While waiting I saw Jeff Wise, a guy I worked with for years in the foundry world. We ran the same legs. Well, I had a 6 mile run and was surprised at how many hills I had to run up! But I passed 25 people. After our legs of the race, we were at the Lowes Resort. Sweet! We even watched the Rangers beat the Yankees as we hung out in a cabana! If only we had the monkey butlers bringing us food and drinks, it would have been perfect! My second run was at 11-ish at night and was only 3.5 miles. I did it in 22 minutes and passed another 13 people, including a 12 year boy who about pooped himself when I ran passed him.
We slept, or tried to, at a school in some rinky-dink town. They had a generator blaring and they sprinklers had been on so the grass was wet. We had a tarp, so a few of us threw our sleeping bags down and tried to sleep. About 20 minutes later the sprinklers came back on! Big sprinklers! I stood up and tried to get out of the way but was soaked after one pass! I tried sleeping in our vehicle, but was wet and cold and got maybe an hour or two of sleep. Classic.
The other van had people that weren't runners. When their dude came in, I thought he was going to die! His wife thought so, too. My third run was about 7 miles at 8 in the morning. First mile was on a paved road but then the rest was on a dirt road. That was pretty hectic. But we did it and it was great. The funny part is that all we worry about is making sure we don't have to take a dump when we are on our run! Our team was supposed to be Hot & Runny, but the other group didn't like that, so we ended up with Team Firestorm. I am running the Wasatch Back Ragnar in June with the dudes again. Looking forward to it.

Anyway, when the Giants were one inning away from winning the World Series, I was freaking out! Blooming Wilson always makes it so stressful, but I was excited that they won! A couple of my girls were watching and the tension was horrible! I ran outside and screamed! You need to know, for years and years we went to Candlestick Park, freezing our butts off, just hoping that someday they would be good enough to even make the playoffs! There were games when it looked like maybe 2,000 people were scattered throughout the ball park. Ugh, just so happy that it finally happened.

How about that "Blizzard" that never really made it. Pathetic when the weather people are trying to say "it really was a blizzard..." Shut it.

Carl and I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. It was 5 degrees. 5. And the wind was blowing. There weren't as many people as usual... wonder why. I was pretty bundled up and could get loose as I ran. I really hate the start of the race- they leave us all standing there forever, just waiting. Shoot the stinking gun! Running on Center Street past the High School right into the wind, my mouth and part of my face went numb like I had just visited the dentist! My lips swelled a bit! I started wondering, "how fast does frost bite set in?". I tried to run with one hand up covering my face, but that didn't work so well. My hands were hurting and it just all-around sucked! I was 50 seconds slower than the previous year. I wanted to get the hot chocolate they had at the end of the race and pour it on my face and then dump some on my crotch!

We did have a fun Thanksgiving at Carl's house. We kept cutting little slices of the turkey cake to eat, you know, so you don't feel guilty that you're eating so much. And of course we played Sequence. And the women folk cheated as usual. But the best part of the day was the Cowboys lost!!!

The Wakefield's came up again and we had a big party over at Beth's parents place. We had a lot of people there and had a great time. After dinner, we played some minute to win it games. That's a picture of Jayton, Thomas Grover, Sarah Chaffin, and you can't see Ashley Nelson, stacking Little Debi Snack Cakes on their foreheads. They started smashing them to make them stick and all I can think is "AHHH, don't waste them! I'll eat them right off your face!!"
Jeff Wilde gave the best white-elephant gift of all, and I opened it: a model of the women's reproductive organs! Classic. Then Jayton stole it from me!

Christmas was pretty low-key. I love Christmas music and would still be listening to it today, but I fear that someone would beat the tar out of me. Most likely Teresa!

Right before Christmas, the dentist removed the crowns off my front teeth. I've had those baby's since 1984, and they looked it! See, back in 1974 we used to go swimming over at Cupertino High School during the summer. Carl, William, and I went into the locker room where some punky kids had plugged up the drains and had all the showers on. I slipped and landed on my face, chipping my four front teeth. For years I had temporary caps on my teeth, but then as a senior in high school, Dr. Webb, our dentist, ground my teeth down and gave me crowns. So, the photo shows what teeth start looking like after a couple decades of being all cooped up. I was so happy to get my new teeth on Jan 3, 2011!

Teresa got accepted into the Accounting Program at BYU, which is no easy task. I already knew she is brilliant. I guess next fall will be a bit hellish for her. And if mom's not happy, no one's happy. So, we will have to keep lots of chocolate in the house and I will need to learn a few more recipes!

Abby is now 16 and went on a date to a dance! She looked real pretty. I don't know why I am having such a tough time with her growing up, but it has really freaked me out a bit.

So one of my goals is to read 5 books this year. Sounds pretty un-impressive to the everyday man, but I am such a slow reader that it takes forever for me to get through a stinking book! I am reading Broke by Glenn Beck right now. Pretty interesting. Do books on tape count? Hee hee.

How about our awesome president?!?! Good night, he shows no leadership skills. You know, if these idiots wants a socialist society, please move to a different country that has a socialist government. Then again, Wisconsin could be that socialist haven they are looking for. And think of all the government cheese that they could have!

You know, I'm always hungry. Always, just ask my wife, she'll tell you. Tape worm? Possibly.

Well, I can't think anymore. I'm hoping it doesn't take another 7 months to write again.

Fourth and Fifth

Seeing as how the 4th was on the Sabbath, we did the Freedom Run on the 5th. Yesterday we did go to Carl's for some dessert and fireworks. Ivette made a beautiful frozen coconut dessert, I guess it's a Nicaraguan delight. We did all kinds of fireworks (Carl bought the big pack from Costco), but they all seem to do the same thing! Fun, but a cool night!
So this morning we ran the Freedom Run. It was weird not having Jayton there, but I did visit the bushes in his honor. I met up with Austin at the start, but never saw Carl. A couple dudes were dressed like Vikings (and later we saw some Viking girl), but they lasted about 1/2 a block and we lost them. That first mile uphill is brutal, but the heading down University Parkway is sweet. Austin stayed with me for most of the run on University Ave.but he fell behind after 3 miles. We waved at the Billings' as they screamed and yelled for us. I saw Thomas Grover on the corner of Center Street and 900 East.
Same thing, though, at the end... trying to dodge the strollers and walkers and people kinda roaming aimlessly. I thought, by the clock at the finish line, that I had really blown away last years time, but the clock was off by a whole minute! So, I was actually 8 seconds slower than last year. Oh well.
Austin came in about 1 minute after me, Carl about 14 minutes after that. Teresa and the girls got there just in time to get some photos! Classic. Anyway, it was a fun run. And of course, the post-run barfing pictures. That's Carl's running friend, Brad, but he never did vomit!