Some pictures from the weekend

I must admit, having a picture assignment made me think. There are plenty of ways of looking at things, and most of the time we look through fuzzy eyes because even though we look, we don't really see. A lot of what we're looking at is blurry. Sure, we really notice things that stand out for us, but what about what's really important?

What's really important is love. Love can be seen in so many things, if you know where to look. Love can be described as an emotion that is felt, but it's also very visual. It's represented by the heart but shows up all over the place.

Such as happiness. Happiness feeds love and love feeds happiness. Once we open our eyes to really focus on what we're doing, we can experience happiness in every day things. Being happy is a state of mind. Seeing life through the eyes of a child helps as well.

Being happy makes life sweet as well. I was reading a story about someone who's friend was always avoiding the things that would make her happy since they were usually bad for her. Then, one day she found out that she had a terminal illness and thought back to all of the things she had missed out on because they weren't good for her. She decided that from that point on, she wouldn't care whether it was good or bad, she would just do. So, eat sweets when you can. There comes a point when it just won't matter.

But, make sure you don't do anything illegal. For that, you could get in trouble and have to sit our a couple of rounds while others have all the fun. When there are rules to be followed, do so as much as you can because that will keep you in the game longer.

Then, when there is just the two of you, you can get a little crazy and no one will really care, because you've followed the rules, you've played the game you've enjoyed the sweets and you're as happy as your 16 year old life can be because you're in love and are looking at life clearly, well as clearly as a 16 year old can look at life.

It's For The Medals

Ran a half marathon yesterday. In a sense, that's not that big of a deal since there were 20,000 runners for the full/half/5k run that took place. All 50 states were represented as well as 13 other countries. 64% of the runners were female. Still, I was there, and I completed it. I've been running the halfs between 2:20 and 2:30 which is okay but I realized that I'm not really pushing myself in training, I'm just running. There's another run coming up the beginning of May. This is the run where I set my personal best of 2:16 four years ago. It will also be my 10th half marathon so I'd really like to beat that time and accomplish a new personal best. I'm not that far from that time, but I'd have to knock off about 45 seconds a mile to achieve it. Granted, it's not the exact same course but the mileage will be the same. I have 3 months to train for it, and since I know I can do the distance, I need to work up the speed. This past race, I wore out a bit over miles 10 and 11 so that tells me I need to also pick up the training distance. And, I did beat my previous time on that course by 4 minutes.

This whole running thing came about a few years ago. In my 20's I had run a few 10k races but never really thought about doing anything further and as the years went by, I pretty much stopped running. In 2005 I chose to train for and run a half marathon with my sister Maria and that was the start. I just completed my 9th and have a marathon thrown into the mix. After 2007, I thought I was done with the races and didn't run any in 2008 but for some reason, I missed it. I keep telling myself that it's for the medals but I think in a lot of ways, it's for the accomplishment. It requires training and it requires dedication but the early morning runs calm my soul. The completion of the race doesn't bring on emotions like the first couple did but I still feel the satisfaction of completing something that is pretty special. It's difficult at times getting up and getting going, but I'm usually glad I did.

I'm signed up for 2 more runs this year and then I know I'll be doing at least 1 next year in San Francisco. That will give me the California Dreaming medal. And, since the Surf City run changes medals every year, I suppose I'll do that one again, and when you've done 3 of those in a row, you get special benefits. See, I told you it was for the medals....

That's My Only Issue?

Met with some friends last night. During the course of the conversation we began talking about someone known to us who is going through sooooo much. She recently had a double masectomy due to stage 4 cancer that is now in her bones. Just the other day she had a lymph node removed from under her arm for testing. 2 weeks ago her husband died of a heart attack. She's in the process of losing her home. Her family lives out of the country. Oh, and she has three children, ages 5, 4, and 18 months. She has no life insurance and no will.

This morning, I woke up healthy. We are all healthy. We have jobs. What was my biggest issue this morning? Ants. Ants in the bathroom, ants in the kitchen. Streams of ants. Ants into almost everything. On any other morning, that would be a big issue. This morning, not so much.

1-1/2 Hours

1-1/2 hours. Sometimes it can be a very long time. When you're waiting for something that you've wanted for a very long time, it can be forever. When you're reading a great book or watching a wonderful movie, it can seem like it's just minutes. When you're sitting in nature, listening to what nature has to say, it flies by. When you get into Phoenix at 3:30 a.m. and into bed at 4, knowing that you have to be up at 5:30, 1-1/2 hours of sleep just isn't enough, but that's what we dealt with this morning. The nap this afternoon after the tournament was nice though.

When does one stop calling it a new year?

I had this conversation with someone the other day. They wished me a happy new year, even though we were several days into the new year, the question was posed, "when do we stop saying "new year"?" My best response was, "when we stop writing 2009 on things." For me, that usually takes a good 3 weeks into the new year. I caught myself just yesterday writing 09 on a check and had to cross it out, so I guess that means it's still a new year for me. We also just finished our last bit of Christmas. Sunday I took down the rest of the lights on the eves of the house and last night we got together with Bob and Sharon for dinner and gift exchange. I guess that officially closes out 2009, except for when I write it on a check. When that isn't my natural inclination, then 2010 is no longer a new year.

Do You Remember?

Cassandra had some friends stay over last night. They came in after a basketball team dinner and pulled out RockBand and went to it. A while later, Cassie asked if they could all spend the night. Not a problem. Then, she said they had to pick some things up and took off. They were back by 11:30. I got to bed as they were pounding drums, vocalizing and playing guitar. At some time during the night, I heard them come in from outside, rolled over and went back to sleep.

Got up at 4:30 to see the girls all up and about. Figured they hadn't been to sleep but they seemed to be crawling under the covers. I said I heard them come in at some point during the night to which I was greeted with, "which time"? Seems they were in and out of the house quite a bit. Doorbell ditching, TPing a friend, drive by TPing and going to the beach. Two of them are 18 so they figured it was okay if the all went.

I had no problem with it. I remember the times after Foster Freeze when we would go out, sometimes returning just before dawn. There was one time we had gone to a party, then to the beach and then home as the sun was coming up, only to have to get ready to go out to a Mother's Day brunch. I was beat but it was a great night just hanging out with friends.

The girls, especially Cassandra, needed to go out and get a little crazy. The league games officially begin tonight and with all of the volleyball and basketball stress she's been under, let her have her fun. It was harmless and probably will pay dividends in the long run. However, she's got a basketball game tonight and then a volleyball tournament tomorrow early so she won't be getting a whole lot of sleep. But I remember those times as well. And it was still worth it.

There Is Always A Solution

There Is Always A Solution

Had some technical things going on this morning at work. First, we were having 2 videoconferences going at the same time, one to London and the other local. The one to London  created a challenge since with the time difference, we didn't have a chance to test the call, and it was going to be a 2 hour interview. Well, there was a problem with the connection and it appeared that it was on their end, but how do you tell them that without it seeming that you're just pointing fingers? So, I pulled out my phone book, called a company that specializes in videoconferencing and let them connect us. 3 minutes  before the interview was to start, we were up. Then, the interviewee was having problems getting his laptop connected to the internet and he needed to access some things. I took his laptop and in about 3 minutes, had it connected and handed back off to him.

Got back to my desk to be greeted with several e-mails about our antivirus program not updating the definitions. I sent out, or thought I sent out, a message to everyone that it was being looked into, only to find out that my e-mail wasn't being sent. It was all just sitting in my outbox. Tried several things while I was online with tech support for the antivirus thing, none of them working so I totally uninstalled and reinstalled the program. That worked for my e-mail but 2-1/2 hours later I was still on hold with the antivirus company. Come to find out that they are the ones having the problem, not us and that they are working on it. 1/2 hour later I get an e-mail from one of our vendors saying that this particular antivirus company is having a problem with definitions...oh really? Don't need to worry about the definitions because they really are getting updated, it's just not reflecting in the date of the update. We're covered.

Needless to say, it was a pretty crazy, technically challenging morning, but it's all okay because, there is always a solution.