Crazy and tired....

Crazy....that part comes from our signing up for the Peachtree Road race on July 4th.....and actually being picked to run it! They draw from a lottery and I'll be damned if we didn't get picked. The Peachtree is a 10K which is 6.2 miles but even crazier is that I'm running a trail run this weekend here in Woodstock that is 6.5 miles and I haven't run 6.5 miles in forever. I see a tired boy on Saturday! But good training for our 4th of July throwdown!

Tired....because poor Kim has been under the weather with a stomach bug and then we both were jarred awake last night to the Carbon Monoxide sensor going berserk at 1am this morning in the kitchen. Um.....what do you do with that? I mean it was 1am and pouring rain. Do you leave? Call the fire department? Open a window....what? I "think" this was a battery issue, however, I could have made the dumbest mistake ever by just going back to sleep but I replaced batteries and moved the sensors so that they were more likely to detect anything coming near us but the damage was done at that point....You don't want to go to sleep for fear of not waking up and you don't want to just lay there and think when you need to be sleeping. So a cold rain fell last night while we slept with the windows open. Genius right?

Nothing happened today with the sensors and Kim stayed here all day - poor thing was sick as all get out. When it hits her, it HITS her. I felt so bad for her this morning. Anyway....all seems to be better and Kim is slowly on the mend....and we're not feeling terrible from any gases so maybe we'll sleep better tonight.

And start training like crazy! Peachtree Baby!!

Happy Birthday sweetie!

Where has the time gone?

Kim and I were coming home from dinner tonight reminiscing about the night that Reese was born. We met her at 7:15p and to our surprise, we had a very big girl on our hands. 9 lbs. 10oz and literally trying to hold her little head up from the moment that we saw her. She gulped 2oz of food before the nurses knew what to do and was such an angel that first night while everyone poked and prodded on her. We were so nervous in that hospital room that night. I think every time she let out a whimper, we raised up to check on her....we slept like junk but we were so happy to have this little girl in our lives.

Fast forward two years and she's talking to us, she plays with us and makes us laugh so much. She is truly a blessing from God and Kim and I love her more than words can properly say. She's a ham when she wants to be, she's bossy sometimes, she laughs big and plays big....she is such a wonderful little person and I'm better off because I know her. If I didn't live with her, I'd want to....I'm so lucky to be this little girl's Daddy and I want to get better at this every day. I'm also lucky to have Kim because she is responsible for so much of the way Reese responds to challenges and the way she reacts with happiness and manners....yes manners at two. She says Thank you all the time and Kim introduced manners from the beginning so she understands it to a degree and doesn't act like we're putting her out to say these things.

So many kids buck authority and push back - and Reese does from time to time as well - but Kim has the patience of Job and stays the course with love, discipline, and more love. I've rarely seen Kim frustrated with Reese and that unconditional love is the main reason that our little girl isn't a hellion......yet. Sure, these are the "terrible two's" but we're not going to doom ourselves to that fate. These are the TERRIFIC twos, the TREMENDOUS twos.....She's a little girl learning the world around her. What can be so terrible about that. Kim will have to drag me along but her positive leadership and parenting is beyond compare....she was really made to be a Mommy.

All of that aside..today is about our little girl growing another year in life. Learning, loving, laughing and being our little pooks. We love you so much Reese. You've changed our lives so much for the better and I can only pray that your life is a charmed one. No challenges, no fear, no hurt, no tragedy.....I pray for a life that is full of opportunity and love. Happy Birthday punkin....Mommy and Daddy love you.

Kimmy did a 5K!

We're really trying to get in shape and part of that plan is running 5k races and building to 10ks. As an example, I went online today and signed up for the Peachtree Road Race this year. It's a lotto system but I'm hoping that MAYBE, JUST MAYBE...we'll get picked. Another example - Kim just completed her first 5k this weekend. She ran the Eagle Mountain 5K which was put on by the Etowah High School track team to earn dollars for track equipment. A decent enough investment but they really should get the word out a little more. I'd estimate 75-100 people ran the race and half of those entrants were track kids that run like scalded dogs. I've been to about 5 different events so far and this was by far the fastest and least attended race of them all. I'll take a stab in the dark and say that of the estimated 100 runners, 70 finished below 30 minutes. Figure that out in your head - 10 minute mile pace equals 6 mph for the entire 3.1 miles...and you need to ratchet it up a little in there to beat the 30 minutes because of the additional tenth of a mile. Run that on a treadmill and you'll see why both mine, and Kim's aspirations of sub-30 minute 5Ks is pretty tough. 70 flipping percent ran FASTER!!! By alot in most cases!!!! Eh well.

The time was unofficial but Kim crossed the finish line just under 36 minutes. I'm so proud of her for doing this as this is a huge milestone for a non-runner. This will get in your blood and make you competitive and make you want to run harder. Here are some pics from the morning out....

Good morning sleepy head! She looks race ready.

It's a sunrise morning on the Etowah campus.

Kim mingles in the race crowd.

Little sprinter and Kimmy pose for a pic.

Reese using her "bull horn" to cheer on Mommy. This is hilarious when she does it.

Future track star?

Kim....upper right....kicks it to the finish line on the track.


We had a great time and Reese was so patient during the race. She had a good time running around the track while the race was going on and yelled for Mommy when we could see her. Kim was loaded with energy after the race and proceeded to kick my butt in the yard for the remainder of the day. Luckily for the both of us Reese takes a nap and I was able to get a little shut eye to make up for the early wake up on Saturday.

I've got more to cover this week including Reese's 2nd birthday and some musings from the road....I travel and think of things worth blogging or griping about and then put humor into them because I could never make it if I didn't laugh it off. Later folks.

Japan....

I've been struggling with the idea to post something about the disaster in Japan because it is uniquely important to me and my family. I work for a Japanese engine manufacturer and I have a decent understanding of where some of these things are happening but I suppose anyone could do so by looking at Google Maps for any period of time. The long and short of it is that I travel for this company, I'm away from my family for this company, I've given almost ten years of my life to this company, and I love what I do. It sucks some days...I get upset with my boss some days....I get stressed out some days, but I never have to hold my head down and sell something that I don't believe in. I appreciate the civility of the Japanese people. They are very structured, traditional, and conservative people. They believe in respect and they will give up something of their own to help someone in need. Yes of course....there are just as many of these people in the U.S. but there are ZERO reports of looting in Japan, there are ZERO calls for the Government to come and save them, there are ZERO areas of blame outside of the issues with the reactors that - in my eyes - can't be averted. I mean Jesus people...the island moved nearly 8 freaking feet. Stuff is bound to happen.

I say all of that to say this....please say a prayer for these people if you haven't already. Not because I work for them. But because they need it. I know we live in a Buy American society and that truly does help our country. But this is a global economy - like it or not - and they are a tremendous ally to the U.S. They provide a way of life that wouldn't exist without their technical prowess....Flash memory, Flat panel TVs, Automobiles, motorcycles, boats, motors, toys, computers, lights, phones, routers, servers, on and on and on.

We need them to be ok and they need prayers. Thanks all.

One year ago....

Almost one year ago to the day....so much has changed with Reese. She is so talkative, so interested in helping or just being involved. She's pretty much feeding herself all the time now but we help her from time to time. She isn't working on the potties nearly as much as I would like her to but we'll get there. She seems so much more willing to try things now but in trying things she's also learning fear and to sometimes be afraid of things. I hate that she's losing that innocence of being a baby and having to learn what fear is but that's just life. She's not a fan of the dark, she doesn't like to be without you for too long but she's fearless on the steps and trusts us 100% because she'll just lean forward and fall off the steps expecting us to catch her......that's pretty much like a heart attack for Mommy and Daddy.

She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she loves to sing, she loves controlling the TV while lying in our bed and she loves to crawl all over Mommy and Daddy any chance she gets. She loves to sing, laugh, play, and dance. She makes life so much better.....so much more fun. She's almost two. She's changing right before our eyes.....this time is going by too fast. I already miss the little girl in this picture but I'm having so much fun with the little girl from yesterdays post.

I hope I light up her life as much as she's lit up ours.

Huh?

The post title and the pic have nothing at all to do with one another but I try to link the titles to the post in some way and the tie in here is......drum roll......still can't hear all that well. YEAH!! The Reader's Digest version is that left ear has essentially gotten no better and late last week, my right ear started acted like it was going to clog. Finally Sunday night, it did. I woke up Monday morning with about 50% overall hearing overall and with a right ear that was clogged something terrible. THIS was the line in the sand. Once I arrived to the office I began the process of getting a referral to an ENT locally. By mid-day I was able to obtain the referral but through nothing more than fear...I did a couple of those hold your nose and swallow tricks and it helped a little bit. Later in the evening I did a really good nose blowy thing at the house and damn near blacked out. I blew something out of kilter because my ear made a squeaky farty noise and I then discovered that the TV was incredibly loud! My right ear opened up completely! Nothing on the left side but I could at least hear ambient noise or things with a low hum.....the dishwasher, the dryer, our fans, anything like that just couldn't be heard earlier in the day but now I was not as scared.

So....ENT appointment today. The Dr. was super dry and pretty  much to the point. He looked in my ear and made some comments about fluid behind my right ear drum and inward pressure on my left ear drum. He then sent me to an audiologist to have some hearing tests run. This young man couldn't have been 25 and he was a doctor. I started re-evaluating my sales career as this young fellow was called Dr. and he was at least 10 years younger than I.....who knew that you could be an audiologist and be called a doctor? Anyway....I highly recommend Brian Regan at this point because he does a great skit on hearing loss. The part about the hearing test is so relevant to my situation. I swear this kid was screwing around with me saying words that didn't exist. They test the right ear, then the left, then both, then they put something outside of your bad ear and on the bone behind your ear so you can hear things through your skull.......huh? Yeah, Junior said that I would hear the sounds through my skull bones and that would cut out any issues that my middle ear was having. Oddly enough, Dr. Spanky knew what he was talking about as I could actually hear BETTER with the audio thing outside my ear. Crazy.

So the end result was more dope, more nose spray, continue working the NetiPot magic and just be patient. In other words it will get better sooner rather than later. Not really the answer I was looking for.

Poor Reese is tired of repeating herself for Daddy's sake and so is Mommy. I'll come back later in the week with a Reese central post but for now, I'm tired and ready for bed. Good night all. I can't hear the crickets but I guess that's not such a bad thing.

Weeknights....

Just chilling with my girls.

Ahtsiiide.......

Trying to type the way Reese sounds is tough some times but that's supposed to say OUTSIDE. Reese's favorite place right now and her favorite word.

This weekend was a nice preview of spring - albeit a little too warm in February for my tastes - I know I'll catch grief for that but February is still winter....it should feel like it to a degree. 75 degrees is not winter time weather and it really isn't spring when you think about it. I'd like some 60's for a change and a nice breeze to go with it...today was just a little too warm a little too soon but it was still nicer than 30's. I guess I want perfect and its hard to find here in North GA.

So, updates. I ran the Guns and Hoses 5k this Saturday and did ok. I ran a 32.30 and I was pleased with that since I haven't really ran outside in a long time and on top of that, I haven't run a complete 5k distance in a while. I need to get back on the horse and this was the first step. Kim walked/ran the Towne Lake Loop which is about 4+ miles when I got back and then we proceeded to spread about 60 bales of pine straw in the afternoon. All of that = whipped Kimmy and Adam on Saturday.

Sunday had us going to Cartersville for a lunch with Kim's cousin who is back from Afghanistan on leave or break...not sure the technical term. Reese did very well today and I learned how to sew a button on a shirt from Kim's Aunt Nina......Kim couldn't sew something together if you put a gun to her head and any attempt at a button looks like FOP when I do it so I learned from a pro today. Pretty easy and that's one thing off my bucket list.

I've got alot of worthy photos to post from this weekend but just please accept apologies for the blue hue to the outside pics....Adam was playing with the white balance earlier in the day and it screwed up the pics and I've 'fixed" them as best I could.

enjoy....

See that blue hint? It was horrible until I dorked around it the pics in Picasa....anyway....here are pics from this evening with Pooks playing with us in the floor and one from the car ride to Nina's....seepy baby.

That's the run down folks. Nothing crazy but just a great weekend with the little girl. ON top of that...today is her 23rd month with us. One more month and Reese will be TWO!!!!!!! Where the hell has the time gone? Happy 23rd month sweetie.

Hey....so guess what?

I can't hear again. Completely gone....nothing....nada. Even laying upside down is useless this time. I attempted a few days ago and Reese joined in of course but nothing...no relief.

Even more concerning this time is the complete lack of any significant hearing in my left ear vs. last time when I could hear something...faintly. So, this makes life interesting with a little girl that is learning to talk. Two year old jibberish becomes non-identifiable mumbles quickly. I'm sure Reese is tired of me saying, "what sweetie?" or "Huh?", "Say again...". Yeah, I'm tired of this mess. The Netti doesn't really provide relief and I take a cocktail of meds to clear my head to no avail. I think I need to jam something in there to stir things about but then I'd have to pick Kim up off the floor from the sight of something jobbed into my ear.

On to different things.....Reese updates.

This little girl is the copycat queen now. Everything you do....she'll do. If you say it with any amount of inflection....she'll catch it and repeat it. Having her say Hippopotamus back to you is hilarious. HIP-PPATOMOSAMUSES.....SES. It's good for hours of fun.

It's so much fun to communicate with her now. We don't just talk to her...she finally talks back and it's in context to the conversation which is amazing. She's pretty demanding though. I'm not sure where the bossi-ness comes from but she is a take charge kind of girl and wants things a certain way. We give her some leash with that to a degree but we make sure to reign her in before she gets too much attitude. We don't want a diva on our hands.

I think the best things that she's said is "I love you Mommy, or Daddy". Yeah, she may be repeating something but its the best thing in the world to have her say those words. Being a father seems more real right now. She needs me for things but she wants me to do things for her as well. She needs me to prep dinner for her but she wants me to rub her feet or scratch her back (believe me...she loves both). She needs Mommy to keep her safe but she wants Mommy to hold her when she's scared. Those needs are more real than ever but the fact that she wants to be near us or that she wants to spend time with us....is priceless. You can't get that from a dog or a cat. You can't find that kind of love just anywhere....it almost has to come from a child and what a gratifying feeling it is. I know it won't be like this forever and part of me wants to bottle this time to keep for a lifetime because she changes so much day to day.....but I guess each age or situation has it's rewards or pitfalls so we'll just keep moving forward.

She's growing up on us....she's not even two but it'll be four and then eight, and then sixteen......ugh. I wish she could stay small forever.

Thoughts from the dentist's chair.....

Today is a holiday for me....lucky yes....somewhat of a yuck day...yes again.

I didn't start my holiday with a biscuit from Family Tradition or a donut from the local bakery. I didn't sleep in and I haven't been watching Regis and Kelly. Nope, I went to the dentist and for my troubles, I can't feel my face.

I'm difficult to numb and on my last visit to the dentist, they tried for almost an hour to deaden my jaw for a simple filling but my body was hopped up on Caffeine and that is a no-no when trying to deaden your smile. Today, I went in only armed with a chocolate milk from this a.m. and no food. They popped me three times and now, I can barely blink my right eye. My lip feels as if it is swollen from a fight, my tongue feels like its not part of my body and like a left over piece of flank steak that I've been chewing for the past two hours. I want to enjoy a lunch but it would appear that I may be sipping a milk shake for lunch today.

I need to be doing things around the house but I think Novacaine has an adverse affect on my desire to do anything as well. I think my "want to" is numb as well. I think I'll head for the couch and rest for a bit....and maybe swallow my tongue.

Been a while.....

Yes....I'm delinquent on posting but I have good reasons. Since we've been back from the ski trip, I've been dead tired every night. Then, I traveled to Miami this week for the Miami International Boat show and I've just been behind on posting anything. But mostly tired....those mountains just pulled the life out of me!

ANNNNNND yet again....I'm borderline sick. Again.

This has been the worst winter and a few days in Miami just made it harder to absorb that February is still here. I'm actually ready for heat again. Sweltering, unbearable heat. I hope this summer is one to write the records for heat waves because this winter has absolutely killed me with sickness and general yuck.

The semi break in weather has put me on the Egg again cooking burgers, Pork butts, ribbies, and Italian sausages. I just love my egg and I can honestly say that this is one of the best investments that we've made in a long while...Kim even likes it and loves that food that we're cooking on it. Nuff said, the CFO approves of the capital expenditure therefore future projects "could" be approved. I'm thinking blender now....Blendtec baby.

The pic above is from last weekend and the 18 hour slow cooking Boston Butts. Slow cooked pork is the best!

So a few updates on Reese. The kiddo loves to sing. She is singing Twinkle Little Star, Old McDonald, One Two Buckle My Shoe, Happy Birthday, The ABC song, Ring Around the Rosie, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Little Ducks Out to Play, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Row Your Boat.....I mean seriously, this is out of no where. One afternoon she just started belting out a tune and it was pretty much spot on. Sure, she mumbles some of her words but all in all, I'm so impressed with all that she has memorized. Her vocabulary is really exploding now and she is having miniature conversations with us. It's hilarious to hear her bark orders at us like, "MOMMY sit!" or "Daddy! Play bocks"....(blocks). She is so demanding but she does it in such a nice way. You can't help but laugh at her.

We haven't been video people but Dad gave me this little webbie camera that actually takes pretty good video and we've just started to use it more and more. Today we were looking back at video that Dad took around her baptism when she was around 8 months old and the changes are so dramatic. It's funny to see her sitting there sort of yelling something but having no idea what she wants but look at her now and she is telling us what she wants. It's so amazing how time just escapes us and now a baby that whimpered is a toddler that talks.

 

She's such a happy little girl right now and we're just so lucky to have her. I've got some planned updates for later this week so I'll hit the creative vein then....Right now, I'm tired again.

Vail....part 2

So I was talking about dropping into a Bowl and regretting it.....well. This is what a Bowl looks like.

Does it sort of make sense that Bowls are big and deep and steep and and and .......Get a little perspective with me. Look at the last picture. There is a natural center to the mountain and it forms a V...right above that V are two specs.....those are skiers. Oh and this is midway through the run on this particular Bowl. Vail has four bowls on the backside so you can understand where the vast terrain comes in.

Here are some more pics from this beautiful side of the mountain.

Lance at the top of China Bowl

Looking into part of Sun Up Bowl

Me in the middle of China Bowl

This is me taking a break in the Siberia Bowl on Bolshoi Ballroom....a long steep, powder run...Black Diamond baby...that's how Lance and I roll.

I've sort of been telling this tale with pics to accurately portray the times but now I've gone and mixed days with me in the bowls so here is the deal. I'll tell the tale and then put up pics that tend to correspond to the day or area as close as I can.

Day 1 in the bowls....Sun Up Bowl specifically....a disaster.

Day 2 in the bowls...China Bowl is groomed.....ah...the sun is out, I can see better...we ski better.

Day 3 in the bowls....Siberia bowl is powder and steep....and we're better at handling things.

That's sort of the tale for the bowls with Lance and I. I think the real story in all of this is how well the girls did but on top of that....the cold. Wednesday the high never got into positive digits. Thursday morning the low was -30 F. I mean really? Is that necessary?

I'll end this relatively short post with a series of front side pictures and then espouse about the cold and the experiences on the front side of the mountain on Vail part 3.

 

 

 

Tons of fun folks.....

I'll hit the high spots of the slopes on the front side and have a little fun with the pains of skiing later this week.

Hope you enjoy the pics.