Thankful

The bounty of blessings I've been afforded in this life are too many to count. I realize that each and every day as I spend time with the stunningly patient SML and my three children. I realize that each time I'm at Church, worshipping freely. I realize that each time I am able to pay a bill without panicking. I realize that each time I sit down for a meal. I realize that each time I get on the phone with my amazing Mom and talk with her. I've been richly, richly blessed and I am thankful.

I'm thankful for a wife who doesn't seem to mind getting up and going to a race to cheer on her woefully slow husband. The stunningly patient SML did that this morning, going with me to the Naperville Turkey Trot. It was cold this morning and we got our first dusting of snow and it was raining/sleeting as we left the house, but she bundled up and went with me. Mercifully the starting point was at one of the local high schools so she was able to wait in the warm gym as I ran. It was a good race - not a PR by any stretch but good just the same. It did get me thinking about warmer sock options as well as some other things to put in place as I go into winter training for my first half-marathon in May 2010. I know it sounds forever away, and it is, but this is how I can make the goal achievable.

Proud of CAL, daughter number two, for getting a j-o-b. She got hired at Buona Beef and starts tomorrow. It looks like she'll be working the counter and serving tables. I'm proud of her for getting this all on her own. I'm very curious about the family discount, because I like the place. It makes a good Italian beef sandwich:

So clearly, with discounts on sandwiches like that I'm thankful that I run. Otherwise, I'm going to wind up on "The Biggest Loser." Although because I can't cry at the drop of a hat or would refuse to gaze at another contestant as he sings a song about the time on the "ranch," methinks I would not be ideal for that train wreck.

Anyway, it's time to get going on Thanksgiving feast preparations. Looking forward to a great afternoon with friends. I look forward, too, to some time to further ponder the many blessings I've been given. Hope you can do the same.

A peak into my iPod Running Mix

Thanksgiving brings many things, not the least of which is the potential of excess pounds from the mountain of mashed sweet potatoes that I will be forced to mow down this Thursday. To combat said gorging, plenty of places put on 5K's. etc. Our fine 'burb is no different, so it's nearly time for the Naperville Lions Turkey Trot 5K and I could not be LESS ready. I've hardly been out since my six-miler last week. I won't be breaking any PR's on this one.

Anyway, I picked up my race packet from the country's most awesome running store, the Naperville Running Company, on Saturday where I could have sworn I heard someone say there are nearly 5,000 people registered for the race. 5,000 people for a 5K...is he serious? He may be. I mean my tag number is 4786. He may be right. Yikes. I've run with a couple of hundred runners before, but thousands. We'll see how it goes.

I've tweaked my "Running" playlist on my iPod in advance of this week's festivities. Here's a peak into what I'm running to these days, in no particular order:

Bad Medicine - Bon Jovi - c'mon, how can you go wrong?
Wake Up Call - Maroon 5 - annoying band, yes. Like the song.
Borderline - Madonna - the Mistress Skank of all things 80s at her early best
Strangelove - Depeche Mode - it's got a great running beat
Cuando Calienta El Sol - Luis Miguel - I live in Chicago...anything about the warmth of the sun is good to get you going.
Somebody Told Me - The Killers - another great running beat
Don't Go - Yaz - I could run to the sound of Alison Moyet singing the mutual fund listings
Rock The Boat - The Hues Corporation - Just because I like it
Girlfriend In A Coma - The Smiths - Morrisey at his cheeriest
River Deep, Mountain High - Ike & Tina Turner - I just envision Ike trying to put the beatdown on me and I keep running
Jai Ho - A. R. Rahman - because who doesn't need a little Bollywood on their run
Move Along - The All-American Rejects - maybe because I find the title inspirational
Jogi - Panjabi MC - see "Jai Ho" above
Lose Yourself - Eminem - it was either this or the "Rocky" theme for my obligatory race anthem
Kiss Them For Me - Siouxsie & The Banshees - just because it's cool
Legal Tender - The B52s - because Kate and Cindy hold one of the notes for a stupid long time and I make it into a breathing game

I mix it up from time to time, but those are my go-to's, right now. We'll see if those will carry me through on Thursday.

Fare thee well, L-1011 seats

The recent basement flood has left us wondering what to do with the space as we have had AMPLE time to contemplate. The flood was weeks ago and today was the first day where we had some one show up to start work. The painter/drywaller started work late this afternoon. Yeah! I didn't even argue that it was fouling up our evening plans. I'm just grateful that the repair work is starting.

So paint and carpet are chosen. With the painting and drywall repair starting, we began moving stuff out of the basement that hadn't already been moved. That included my beloved Delta Air Lines coach seats from one of their last L-1011's. Those two seats have been a part of my office decor since 2001 or thereabouts. These were awesome red seats, except one of the seat cushions ("which, in the event of a water landing, can be used as a floatation device") was gray. A perfect symbol of what those L-1011's were like in the end. Click here to get an idea of what my seats looked like. They were a wonderful piece of memorabilia in my collection of airline stuff. Stuff that includes a couple of life jackets (legally obtained!), more than 800 safety/emergency instruction cards, and a lot of other stuff. But as I looked at these seats, it was obvious that they'd been hammered. The move to IL was particularly rough on them. It dawned on me that it was time...time to bid the seats farewell.

I could have put them on eBay, but they are so hammered I don't think I could have gotten anything for them. So I took them to the curb. Just let them go. I know that the stunningly patient SML is beyond relieved to see them go. She just couldn't get passed the fact that hundreds of thousands of people had parked themselves in those seats. The thought of it was just too much for her to take. We did agree that new seats would be more acceptable. I did promise not to go the extreme that Anthony Toth has gone. He's my hero - we've talked a couple of times. Check out what he's done in his garage:

Watch CBS News Videos Online
Completely cool. I could not be more jealous.

Run, Bulls, Forever Strong

It's an early Sunday morning. I forgot I have to teach a lesson at Church today so I got up at my normal time to review it. It looks like today is going to be a good day. It's been a good weekend so far so why shouldn't today be excellent?

Yesterday dawned early with a 7AM training meeting at church. It's all a part of the drill of belonging to a Church driven by lay clergy. We are asked to serve so you accept and you serve. And you grow and are blessed as a result. After the meeting, got home to find the stunningly patient SML and the Boy doing one more raking of the leaves since yesterday was the last day for leaf collection in our fine 'burb. I got the cars washed and then headed into the city to pick up CAL. She'd gone into the city to work - boxing up cupcakes for an event that our friend was putting on. She has a really boss cupcake company, Foiled Cupcakes, and it was interesting to get a "behind the scenes" view of her company. She's built an impressive business primarily through social media, like Twitter and Facebook. Smart stuff.

Once home, I could no longer ignore the siren call of yesterday's weather. High 60's in Chicago. IN NOVEMBER! So a run was in order. Figuring that we may not have another weekend like this for awhile, it was a long (well, for me) run. Six miles through the leaf-strewn streets down to the Riverwalk, through the campus of North Central College, and then home again. It was a stunning day. I was pleased with my first three miles. Not so happy with the last three. Based on my pacing, if I don't change anything, my goal of completing my first half-marathon in 2 hours, 30 minutes will be doable. However, I will be making some changes and plan to beat that goal by Race Day.

We capped what had been a great day by heading back into the city for a Bulls game. the Bulls played the 76ers and we had awesome seats.
View from our seats

The game was good - the first quarter was rough for the Bulls but then they got it together. It was nice to see the Bulls get a win. We had a good time.
The mighty fine and stunningly patient SML with CAL and the Boy before tip-off

And tonight should end well after a good day of getting religion. If you've seen this movie:
Forever Strong
You may have heard of the nationally-ranked, championship high school rugby coach, Larry Gelwix. He was a central figure in the above-mentioned film. He'll be speaking to our Church youth tonight. Looks like it's going to be very cool. Good way to end the weekend.