Team 'Ohana 2009: No One Left Behind

[jbucci]

Kerry

It's great to have a new teammate. You'll figure out the names soon enough, or you could just call everyone Jen and be right a lot of the time-- there are three of us (I'm JenB BTW) I just wanted to let you know that I totally agree with you about not really liking to run but loving the events. I run because it is good exercise, sets a good example for my daughter, and allows me to race with tons of really cool people, the events keep me going. I'e got the same 1/2 time goal as you: sub 2:45. I did my last half in 2:48, so I'm hoping to shave off a few minutes when I do the Princess 1/2 in a few weeks.. we'll see how it goes.

overseas move sounds like a big thing, where are you headed?

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Aloha, Cousins!

Just a quick for now (and not the Debra kind!)

I just wanted to say to Kerry! It does take awhile to learn the names, but you'll recognize us all eventually. The really, really witty long posts are always Debra.


Last night was a bust, foodwise. I had a roast beef sandwich and curly fries...oh well. My weekends just don't come together well. At least I won't eat a ton of gift chocolate today...

DH and ds surprised me with a vase of a dozen beautiful red roses. They are absolutely lovely, but it is a bit bittersweet, because I haven't been able to have flowers at home in 15 years. Gecko (the kitty who passed over Labor Day), loved to eat flowers and roses were his favorite.

Anyway, I doubt I'll get any workouts in today or tomorrow, but since I'm home Monday for the holiday, I'm determined to make something happen.

Oh, and before I forget...

In another dimension
With voyeuristic intention

Everyone have a wonderful weekend, and a Happy Valentine's Day!

Maria

 

[novafan]

Let's see if I get this right. Hi JEN! Thank you for the warm welcome. That's so crazy that we both had the same exact time on our last race. It will be nice to try and achieve a new goal with some support.

To answer your question, we are moving to Vienna, Austria, right after the 4th of July. We'll only be there for one year and then we'll be off to somewhere else, hopefully in Europe, but possible in the States too. We lived in Germany from April 2004 - December 2006, so we know the drill and actually can't wait to get back to Europe. That said, we've had the opportunity to live in New England for this current assignment (we'll have only been here for 1.5 years when we leave) and I LOVE it here too! I'm going to miss this place.

Kerry

It's great to have a new teammate. You'll figure out the names soon enough, or you could just call everyone Jen and be right a lot of the time-- there are three of us (I'm JenB BTW) I just wanted to let you know that I totally agree with you about not really liking to run but loving the events. I run because it is good exercise, sets a good example for my daughter, and allows me to race with tons of really cool people, the events keep me going. I'e got the same 1/2 time goal as you: sub 2:45. I did my last half in 2:48, so I'm hoping to shave off a few minutes when I do the Princess 1/2 in a few weeks.. we'll see how it goes.

overseas move sounds like a big thing, where are you headed?

 

[corinnak]

Good morning Ohana!

A Big WELCOME to our newest cousin Kerry - wow - we were your first choice? Really? Was that based on the name or does our reputation for something (???) precede us? I've got a cat named Nova so obviously I love your username! My dad, step-mom and father-in-law were all in the Army - they are all retired now. Thank you for your, your husband's and your family's service to our country.

I also ran the 2009 half and was just a few minutes behind you. I had hoped to manage a 2:45 this year, but (everyone here has heard this TOO many times) I fell down and got a concussion - this is known now as The Goldendoodle Incident of 2008 or TGI '08. I lost a month of training and was happy to finish in just under 3 hours, BUT I hope to go back next year and get that >2:45. We may just need to have a little Ohana 2:45 pace group.

You could print out a copy of the cheat-sheet that is the first post on this thread. It has all our usernames and first names as well. It takes a while to get everyone straight in your head.

Debra and JenB - It is always such a drag to get a 0 from that scale, but it truly is better than a gain!

Maria - I don't think I ever told you this, but

Well secluded-
I see all!

Enjoy the roses - the sound lovely. So sorry about your cat - it sounds like he would have enjoyed them, for sure.



ME - The show went very well last night. No major injuries. One actor did get elbowed in the nose during the fight scene.....but he's OK! I forgot one thing - I didn't pull the embroidery hoop before the last scene change, so it made an unexpected appearance in the final Cliff's room scene. Not actually a very big deal at all. Actually, if I think about it, it kind of adds to the of that scene. The actors did a great job and the audience seemed to really enjoy it last night. Always nice when that happens!

Afterwards, there was a cast party at a local wine/coffee bar. I went in anticipating pizza. I had planned on one or two slices and maybe a beer. It was the end of my WW week, and I had flex points to burn! However, it wasn't that kind of pizza. It was a very thin, cracker-like-rosemary-heavy pizza, and there wasn't a lot of it to go around, so I had a beer and some pizza, but not as much as I was expecting to have. Oh well.

So it's Valentime's day (As Junie B. Jones would say!) and my CASH has been Valentiming me all week, with taking the boys every night. He said he failed to get me anything but thought that all the nights with the kids would make up for it a little. I know I'd rather have that than a box of chocolates or flowers anyhow!

I bought the two kids and CASH some of those tiny Whitman's samplers - the kind that has 4 pieces of chocolate, you know? And fits in the palm of your hand? I remember getting one of those when I was in 3rd grade and it was the biggest deal to me. This morning I could only find 2 of them . The kids LOVED them. I told them they could eat them as they chose and did not have to ask permission at all. It's only 4 pieces of candy. I love that there is not a big box of candy for me to sneak pieces from. LOVE it.

Have a great Valentine's Day, Team!

 

[novafan]

A Big WELCOME to our newest cousin Kerry - wow - we were your first choice? Really? Was that based on the name or does our reputation for something (???) precede us? I've got a cat named Nova so obviously I love your username! My dad, step-mom and father-in-law were all in the Army - they are all retired now. Thank you for your, your husbands and your family's service to our country.

Thank you for your thanks! It's taken me a long, long time, but I love being an Army family now and can't imagine my life NOT in the Army. My husband is creeping up on 11 years of Active Duty service, so we have 9 years till retirement. I can't even imagine not being a part of the Army though.

I wanted to be a part of the Ohana group because I am completely obsessed with the Polynesian resort. I've never stayed there, but I will one day. Being military, we have stayed @ Shades of Green twice now and I love that we can walk down to the Poly and ride the monorail and hit my favorite WDW restaurants. It's almost like Shades is an extension of the Poly for me. Some day we'll stay there though. Until then, I thought it would be just as great to be a Cousin with this WISH group.

That is sweet that you gave your kids those mini boxes of a chocolates. I remember getting those as a kid too and thought I was such hot stuff with my own little box of fancy chocolates. My husband surprised me by ordering a 1 lb. box of my favorite chocolates from See's Candy (West Coast thing, I suppose) and while I'm touched and LOVE them, I certainly didn't need 1 lb. of chocolate. I'm thankful though as it was so loving of him to think to order those for me and I'm sure I'll enjoy every last morsel.

Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for the big welcome!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Hi Cousins!

I lost 3 lbs this week, which was great after my scary gain last week. I'm still not ahead, but with alot of effort this week, I might get there!

We had something happen Friday that made it clear to me I have to make a change. A family who we know (not really friends, I guess acquaintances) has a 12 yr. old son and a 7 yr old daughter. The daughter had a heart attack at school, and she's in critical condition now. That was a wake up call that even if you think you're ok, you're really not. Obviously this child had a defect that went undetected -- who knows what's lurking under the many extra pounds I carry? Being able to do a Half Marathon (I am really proud of that!), doesn't make me fit or healthy. It means I can pull that out for one day. I need to be fit and healthy every day to have a long life. I made a comment to dh about wondering if this would make one of our friends realize how unhealthy her obese daughter is (9 yrs old, 105 lbs), and then it hit me -- I am that friend and it is me who's obese, not my child! If my son were that big, I would have him on a strict diet and exercise regimen. I would not make it optional, I would make sure my son got healthy so he would have a long life. Why on earth am I accepting anything less from myself? I think I just had an epiphany.

I guess you could say it was

With a bit of a mind flip

Happy President's Day (a little early!)
Maria

 

[deekaypee]

Welcome, Kerry! Thanks for taking the time out to post your bio--I feel like I know you already--and respond to us. Let us know if you have any questions on the team, the challenge, tracking, etc. We do have another thread for posting miles, linked here....

I can understand how you don't like to run, particularly, but you like the events. I often think I like how I feel after I stop running so much better than I actually like running. Unfortunately, to get the former feeling I kind of have to do the latter. I'm going to love hearing all the relocation to Austria stories--did that have anything to do with your decision to homeschool? Or is that just coincidence? (I have no idea how far in advance orders come down the pike...). Living overseas must be a great experience for your children. I'm looking forward to hearing more, more! (I'm a story junkie!)

P.S. I've not actually lived in Pgh that long. Originally a Michigander who ended up living for far too long in Fargo before moving to Pgh. Luckily, those places allow me to think of Pgh as balmy. I'm also looking forward to any memories you have of Pgh to help me become a better local.

JenB: I didn't know you were DVC, as well. I'll just drop your name to the growing list as I attempt to convince DOOD.... You're training really hard and gaining consistently--I mean ground, not pounds--so I think you'll break 2:45 at the Princess.

Corinna: Loved hearing about opening night. Sounds like you--and all the Cabaret cast and crew--have settled into the groove. I love the details of the production and remember that we expect pictures! The pizza story cracked me up. I know I should congratulate you on not ending up spending your flex points, but I not-so-secretly commiserate with your disappointment. Thin crust, though I love it, just isn't the same.

CASH is such a sweetie. A true VD gift is the gift of time. And I remember those Whitman samplers. They're perfect! DOOD, of course, gets me the full size bars of some new dark chocolate I haven't tried, where the bars is like 3 or 4 servings. He means well....

Maria: I'm not so sure I'm witty, although with as much as I write there are bound to be a couple of gems. Not to mention groan-inducing puns. What is is that Blaine Pascal said?

I have made this letter longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter.

Those are my posts.

About your Valentine's Day. The roses sound beautiful, but I'm sorry they brought up bittersweet memories of Gecko. Is it crass to ask you if you'd consider adding another family member sometime. Not as a replacement for Gecko, but because you've got the room? I sometimes wonder what I'll feel like when the time comes for Caliban or Ichabod....

Re: the epiphany. I know how you feel about such moments. PD to your acquaintance's daughter and the whole family. How scary! It's just those kinds of moments that make us appreciate what we have and can spur us on to changed behaviors. I'm glad to hear that you're more motivated than ever because of it, too. Still...congratulations on the 3 pounds, and I hope you see that you are doing good things for yourself.

As for me: My Valentine's Day gift, in addition to the chocolate? Ooooh, DOOD got me three more issues of Fables, the comic-book series that imagine fairy-tale characters living incognito in a noirish NYC. And we saw a double bill of the Oscar-nominated animated and live-action shorts before going out to dinner at our favorite Thai place. His biggest gift? Allowing me to rant about the aforementioned films over dinner--it's a very weak year for Oscar, I think.

Speaking of dinner, I was not very conscious of my eating, unlike Corinna. A fried tofu dish. Yummy, but not good for me. And next Saturday is the all-day AMC screening of the Best Picture nominations, another eating challenge. I'm hoping that putting in the miles will help stave off any weight gain. DOOD and I are making an eating/WO plan for the movie-going day, but sitting on my keester for 12 hours makes me sore just thinking about it. I think I need to add a race or two (5K) to make up for all the sedentary living I'm doing these days.

I hope all our Cousins had a great Valentine's Day and enjoy President's Day tomorrow. I'm off to update our spreadsheet with Kerry's name and any totals posted on the miles/minutes thread....

 

[jbucci]

Maria: Scary story.... I guess some good can come of it if people are inspired to get healthy. I hope the little girl recovers quickly.

Debra: I love my DVC, come and drink the Kool-Aid with us We have been members now for several years and are totally spoiled by DVC rooms. I'm not sure we save any money, but we stay at Beach Club instead of All Star for the same annual cost so it seems like a deal to me.

As for me: I didn't do much in the way of formal exercise this weekend. DH and I played racquetball on Friday-- we used to play a lot but then started this crazy running thing and didn't have time for both. I decided it would be good "cross training" so we played some friendly games. We quickly realized that we could no longer beat the other person just my forcing them to run around the court (this used to work really well). We had great, long volleys and pretty competitive games. I woke up the next day barely able to use my right arm it was so sore from swinging so hard during our games. My only consolation is that DH's arm was just as sore as mine

Yesterday we spent our exercise time lugging a new ellipse into the house and assembling it-- note how much fun this wasn't with my aforementioned sore arm...

Today we took DD5 snowtubing in the Poconos. We spent all day on the mountain climbing up and down and sliding really fast down a hill. We just got home and I'm pooped, so my long run will be tomorrow. Happy Presidents Day everyone.

 

[tiberius]

Hi Team!!

I've gotten back home from Austin tonight, and will provide a quick paas at a race report.

The weather was great--a little cool, and cloudy most of the race--until mile 11 for me. I got out at a good pace and was on early pace to set a small PR, even allowing hills over the first 3 miles. However, I lost 2 minutes in mile 4 trying to fix my shoe and sock after feeling the start of a blister hot spot. Fortunately, this area did not hurt me again during the race. From that point I ran well over a mix of hills while falling back to a 4-1 run-walk, but keeping a good pace. Mile 7 had a pretty rough hill, maybe 100 yards and a 35 to 40 degree incline (or so it seemed). Around mile 10 I caught my running partner who I had lost around mile 4, then came another hill a little tougher than mile 7's hill. I definitely walked up that one! During mile 11 came the big hill it seemed like a half mile straight up, more likely it was about 0.35 - 0.4 miles at about 20 degrees, around here my right calf rebelled with muscle spasms and made me walk the hill. Then a run into town, now the uphills are causing both calves to spasm a bit so all uphills (relatively minor now) are walking only. Finally, I run the rest of the non-uphills to the finish at abour 2 hours 40 min, plus change; about 4 minutes over last month's half and 7 minutes over my PR--although this was a more difficult course.

All in all, a good event. The race was well put on, all water stops (but one) were well stocked (and that one had plenty of Power Ade). At the finish, the medal was very nice, but the finisher shirt was cotton (not a technical shirt ). Past the finish they served drinks, soup, chips, crackers, fruit, and a few other things.

I would definitely recommend this race and will likely do it again, but will have to find a few hills to train on first!

 

[novafan]

Debra- Thank you for the warm welcome! I do need to figure out the tracking, but I quickly looked over it and it looks pretty straight forward. I'm going to probably use the google document to track my information for the challenge. I will make sure to share the best of the best Austrian relocation stories once all of that starts. It won't be long! We will need to pack our household goods up no later than May 31st so we can get them on the ship for the journey overseas, but we won't actually fly till after the 4th of July. I'm trying to enjoy my last few months in New England and the USA, but I am very anxious to get over there too. Homeschooling - in part, it has to do with the moving, but we have some other reasons too. We're very pleased with how homeschooling has worked out for us, so it's nice to know we always have this to fall back on no matter what choices we end up making in the future.

Maria - That is SO sad about that little girl. I hope she gets through this and is okay.

JenB - Sledding in the Poconos sounds fun! And you can never underestimate the calories burned by walking up a sledding hill over and over and over in the snow.

Richard - HI! I'm still making my rounds to meet everyone. Good job on the Austin Half! One of my dear friends from college (Pitt) lives down there now and she ran the full marathon today - her first! She had nothing but great things to say about the race.

 

[novafan]

Debra- Thank you for the warm welcome! I do need to figure out the tracking, but I quickly looked over it and it looks pretty straight forward. I'm going to probably use the google document to track my information for the challenge. I will make sure to share the best of the best Austrian relocation stores once all of that starts. It won't be long! We will need to pack our household goods up no later than May 31st so we can get them on the ship for the journey overseas, but we won't actually fly till after the 4th of July. I'm trying to enjoy my last few months in New England the USA, but I am very anxious to get over there too. Homeschooling - in part, it has to do with the moving, but we have some other reasons too. We're very pleased with how homeschooling has worked out for us, so it's nice to know we always have this to fall back on no matter what choices we end up making in the future.

Maria - That is SO sad about that little girl. I hope she gets through this and is okay.

JenB - Sledding in the Poconos sounds fun! And you can never underestimate the calories burned by walking up a sledding hill over and over and over in the snow.

Richard - HI! I'm still making my rounds to meet everyone. Good job on the Austin Half! One of my dear friends from college (Pitt) lives down there now and she ran the full marathon today - her first! She had nothing but great things to say about the race.

 

[novafan]

One quick question. Where do I get the cool graphics for my signature that you guys have in your signatures (team logos/marathon logos)? I need to update my sig.

 

[Dennyha]

Kerry,
Welcome to the team>
Also, thanks to you and your husband for the sacrifices you make for our country.

To add our logo to your signature, you have to click on "UserCP" in the upper menu area, and then click on "Edit Signature" in the Control Panel on the left. Somewhere in your signature, you have to paste the following:

{IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a11/twotoohappy/smaller2.jpg[/IMG]

except exchange the { with a [

Also, for the WDW race clippies, you can go to this thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2072117 Sunny created all of these clippies for everyone's use. Again, exchange the { with an [ prior to pasting into your signature.
You can experiment a little to get it to look the way you want.

Good Luck.

 

[padisneyfan]

Good morning Cousins. Happy President's Day. I am not one of the lucky ones that gets the day, so writing this from work.

Welcome Kerry We are glad that you are one of our cousins. I'm from PA also and my son went to college out near Pitt so made many trips from the Eastern part of the state to that area. Also a big thanks to your DH for serving our country and keeping us safe. My roommate from nursing school DH was a career naval officer, so I know how had it can be for you and your family also.

Corrina--Congratulations on the 2.4 pound weight loss this week. Glad that the show went well.

Maria--- Good job on losing 3 pounds. That is so scary about the 7 year old who had the heart attack. You are off to a good start with your weight loss program. We are here to support you.

Richard--- Congratulations on the Austin Half. From your race report that course was really tough with all those hills. Glad you were able to get a Treehouse Villa, they look really nice. If you are near the golf course, watch out for my stray balls when I am golfing at BV during marthon weekend. I hope those picture windows have shatter proof glass.

JenB-- Snow tubing in the Poconos sounds like alot of fun. I would say that you did alot of crosstraining this weekend--Racquetball, putting together an Ellipical, and snow tubing sure sounds like a good work out to me.

Debra--So you make sure that you see all the Best Picture Oscar nominated movies before the Oscar show? You do love your films. I also love Thai foods, they just opened up a new Thai restaurant in my area that is a BYOB so we have added it to our circuit of restaurants that are BYOB so we usually hit it about once a month.


As for me, I had a good week of crosstraining and even did a 3 mile walk outside. I am close to the 10 pound loss, only another half pound. This will be last full week of working out before my surgery, so I hope I can get that last pound off. Eating is going well. DH loves at the WW meals I have been cooking.

Hi to Mel, Denny, Marcy, Christa, JenG, Jeanne, Jen, Julie, Kathy, Jackie, Robert, Linda, Dennis and DOOD. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

Nancy

 

[laughinplace199]

Hi Cousins!

Mel - How's the class going?

Corinna - I'm so glad that opening night went well. Sorry to hear that the pizza afterwards wasn't what you were hoping for. I would have been disappointed too.

Christa - Happy Birthday!

Kerry - to our crazy family. I'm looking forward to getting to know you! Also, a big thank you to you and your family for your sevice to our country.

JenB - How's the Princess training going?

Maria - A roast beef sandwich & curly fries - Kelly's, perhaps? That's one of my favorite meals. Congrats on the 3 lbs lost I understand how the roses were bittersweet for you , but at least you got flowers! That kind of stuff doesn't cross my DH's mind too often.

Richard - Sounds like a great race, despite all of those hills.

Nancy - I hope you lost that last .5 lb! Congrats on the weight loss so far.

As for me, I'm now officially training for a half marathon in May, so that should help with my motivation (or lack thereof). Eating was terrible this weekend, but sometimes these things can't be helped on busy weekends, right? DH & I got Chinese food on Valentine's Day, which is something we hardly ever do. DD is severely allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, so Chinese food is a once-in-a-while splurge for DH & me after the kiddos go to bed.

Have a great week cousins!

 

[corinnak]

Hello Ohana! I am pleased to report that the first weekend of Cabaret is finished and with no major incidents or injuries! Well, there were a few little things, but there are always going to be little things.

I thought of Debra on Saturday night at the cast party when we did a big ol' group toast with Jameson Irish whiskey! Apparently it is a tradition. There is more to this story, but I'm going to spare the cousins.

I ended up having my BIG points night on Saturday instead of Friday. Which means I was working with this week's points instead of last weeks'. I ran 4 kinda quick miles on the TM earlier in the day, though.

This quote cracked me up just a little:

A true VD gift is the gift of time.

Because for some reason, even though it isn't the 80's anymore, VD still says something besides Valentine's Day to me. However, I fully agree with your sentiment. And that man put in the hours over the past few months, for sure.

Kerry- my kids are STILL talking about those little boxes of chocolate. They thought that was the best thing ever, I think! I know about See's Candies - GOOD stuff! We're talking about an Ohana meet at the Poly in 2010.

Maria- That is such a scary story. I guess you never really know what might happen, what's going on underneath, as you say. I, too, hope she improves quickly and makes a full recovery. What a scary wake-up call.

I know what you mean about your realization that you'd have a higher standard for taking care of your child than you do for taking care of yourself. Here's to taking care of Maria.

You're into the time slip. And nothing will ever be the same!

Oh, and congratulations on your 3 lb. loss! You're on a roll now, I can feel it.

JenB - I love how you say you didn't do much formal exercise this weekend and then go on to say how you played racquetball for hours, climbed up a hill numerous times and lugged an eliptical machine inside. It sounds to me like you hardly STOPPED exercising all weekend!

Tiberius - Wow - that sounds like a tough and hilly course. Sorry to hear it didn't go as you had been hoping. Still -great job getting through it! Thanks for the report.


Nancy You are getting so close to 10 lbs! I bet another .5 pounds will be within your grasp this week, but even if it doesn't come off, you've done a great job of getting yourself slimmer for surgery.

And I know what you mean about the WW meals. It seems like we all eat better when I'm on the plan. Not just healthier but BETTER.

Julie - Congratulations on signing up for your next half-marathon! Having a training plan and a race to train for can sure be helpful for motivation and structure.

The weekends can definitely be tough food-wise. The main thing is to get right back to your food plan once the weekend is past. It's when the weekend lasts the whole week that I get into trouble. I don't remember the last time I had Chinese food from a restaurant. DS used to be allergic to soy and we stopped getting it during that time and never started up again. It sounds like a good Valentine's Day treat!

Until next time, Cousins! I'm going to go do my resistance band workout. It's like therapy for my back.

One more thing - I was able to tighten my belt one notch this morning - a month ago, I could barely wear it at all! It's the little things, some days.

 

[laughinplace199]

Corinna - Congrats on a successful first weekend of Cabaret and on the belt notch!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Aloha, My Cousins!

I did 6 mi on the TM today, taking advantage of a day at home and a ds who went skating with dh!

Tomorrow it's back to the old salt mines, I'm going to try to get 4 in before work...

Corinna -- Tightening those belt notches is definitely something to celebrate! It sounds like Your spaced out on sensation

Julie -- I admit it, I am a fan of Kelly's and it's about a 5 minute drive from my house so... We actually went to South Bay and had our family Valentine's Day meal at the Olive Garden. Sometimes you just have to get out and live a little

Nancy -- I know with Beth at your side, you can lose that last half pound! I sense you guys do a great job of pushing each other! Dennis says "Hi!"

Richard -- I loved your race report! Even when things aren't optimal, you always find the good. I think your glass is half full!

JenB -- Snowtubing sounds awesome! Ok, so I watch way too much Grey's, and now I'm picturing you dealing with really sick kids every day, and I'm awed.

Debra -- We still have the 15-yr. old Worf, and he is not looking for a new minion, so we will have to wait until he cedes his domain to consider other pets. Seriously, he wouldn't take it well, and that's why we're not getting another kitty yet. I hope you do enjoy your movietopia! I think I would be vaguely insane, but then I'm not a trained professional!

Big howdies to Denny, Kerry, Jen, JenG, Mel, Christa -- oops, you get a , Marcy, Jeanne, Jackie, Kathie, and DOOD

And special to Linda and Robert, I hope things are improving with your situation!

Maria

 

[deekaypee]

JenB: Oh, I'm all for drinking the DVC Koolaid. Too bad DOOD is a beer-lover. I love that you and DH are playing raquetball as XT. Between that and your elliptical and snowtubing you've got a lot of variety in activities. I need to follow you lead in many things besides DVC.

Richard: It sounds like you ended up with a very successful race with a hilly, difficult course and the onset of blisters. (Boy, do I understand the challenges of both.) Congratulations! Like you, though, I'm puzzled by a cotton finisher's shirt?

Kerry: I just got your PM and gave you access to the Google document; look for it. Your relocation to Austria is just around the corner when I think about it. And you know what's really sad? I think of time in terms of training plans for races, now. I know, I know....lame. Are your kids excited? As for the siggie stuff, if you like the skinny userbars, go to this thread.

Dennis: How are you liking Lost? Have you been catching the repeats of the shows in the hour before the new episodes--they offer "pop up" background information.

Nancy: Congrats on the 9 1/2 -going to be 10- pound loss. I'm envious, and realize you've been working hard and earning it. It's a bonus that DH loves the WW. Our Thai restaurant also allows us to BYOB. I find that just so civilized because the wines I like, I really like!

Julie: Ooooh, Chinese food. I'm glad you enjoyed a special treat for Valentine's Day (see Corinna, I'm spelling it out)! Woo hoo for officially signing up for a May 1/2!

Corinna: Ah, Jameson. I see you're enjoying a Catholic whiskey. (I got my info from The Wire--Protestant is Bushmills, apparently.) Congrats on the show's first weekend being so successful. Thanks for mentioning your resistance band. I need to dig mine out--for my back, as well.

Maria: I refuse to believe that Worf doesn't want a new minion, although I'm willing to believe not the four-legged kind. (Okay, so I just wanted to use the word minion!) Great job with getting your miles in today! That's the start to a great pattern for the week. Also, I'm ready to move on to the Diana Gabaldon books. What one do you recommend I start with?

Hello to all our cousins! Check in with us soon!

As for me: Not much to report. I slacked off at the gym during today's XT. Darn DOOD for giving me comic books to read--I stayed on the bike extra long to finish instead of moving on to circuit training. I'm weak, I tell you, weak! I'll try to make up for it tomorrow, somehow. In the meantime, I highly recommend Fables for those who read comic books/graphic novels. Just don't bring 'em with you to the gym.

 

[deekaypee]

Just a quick update: Mel and Christa have both posted brief RR on the weekly thread.

Here's Mel's.

Here's Christa's.

Three races this weekend, including Richard's! I'm so proud of all my cousins! You rock! And you inspire me!

And now's a good time to encourage everyone to visit the weekly thread and say hi. It's kind of slow these days, and not so overwhelming!