blah, blah, blog

LAST POST

2007-08-11T12:41:00.000-04:00

Last night, I spent about 4 hours migrating this Blog over to WordPress. I'm impressed with the technology and straight-forward design of WordPress. So, if you are looking for blah. blah, blog posts you'll need to go to www.starbucksgirl.wordpress.com I will not be posting anything further here.

And HEY, don't read anything into these post that isn't already there, ok?!? People's imaginations go vividly wild sometimes, and they start reading things between the lines that I never wrote or intended to convey, be careful out there, don't let your imagination get the best of you!

8.9.07

2007-08-09T08:21:00.000-04:00

EXCELLENTO 10-mile run on the mill!

Some knee pain still, but I just back off and pick it back up when the pain subsides. I think I may be due a visit to the chiropractor. I believe that may be where the problem lies -- in my hip, and is resonating down into my knee because of the different run pattern I pick up when the hip is out of line.

A little ambitious I know, but I'm watching several MCM bibs on Ebay [just to see what they go for] AND this morning I went ahead and registered for the ING GA Marathon next March ;) the deadline before the price increase is 8/31 and I didn't want to forget to do it... things like that happen you know.

8.8.07

2007-08-08T08:15:00.000-04:00

5 miles on the mill. A much better run than yesterday! No knee pain until well into mile 2. At that point I just eased off for a bit and then picked up the pace again when the pain subsided -- finished strong. Plan to run 10 tomorrow.

8.7.07

2007-08-07T08:20:00.000-04:00

Tough 5-mile run, intense knee pain! Reminds me of the SGK 3-Day. Did the best I could to finish. Will wrap it for the day and take Aleve in hopes that it will be better for me tomorrow :)

8.6.07

2007-08-06T08:22:00.000-04:00

5 good miles on the mill :)

So you're probably wondering what happened towards the end of last week -- no Blog posts... Well, after that hard, 10-mile, late p.m. run on Tuesday, and very little sleep Tuesday night AND Wednesday night [because of a headache and various unexplainable pains Tuesday night and the campout Wednesday night] I wasn't able to run the 10 I had planned on Thursday and I was basically wiped out the rest of the week. So, I didn't run AT ALL on Thursday, Friday or Saturday :( I was a real BUM! I could have, should have, and probably would have felt better if I had but I didn't.

Last week should have been a 35-mile week and it ended up being a 20-mile week. This week will be better, I hope... Should be 5 today [did that :)], 5 tomorrow, 5 Wednesday, 10 Thursday, an off day on Friday, and 10 on Saturday. Not sure how 2 back to back 10s will do with only 1 day of rest between -- we will see...

8.1.07

2007-08-01T08:19:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are, sitting in another Chick-fil-A parking lot. We arrived here in Greenville, SC at 6:00 a.m. and are numbers 59 & 60. AMAZING! I've never been to one that filled up so quickly, and I certainly didn't expect that outside Atlanta. They were full by 8:00 a.m. The earliest we've ever seen one fill up has been like 10:00 a.m. This is the first we've done outside ATL.

We left the house at 3:39 a.m. to get here by 6:00 a.m. If I had had it my way, we would have slept longer and gotten here about 10:00 -- that was MY plan. Glad I didn't have it my way, this time!

I didn't get much sleep last night. I don't know if I have ever hurt so much after a run as I did last night. Not even after the marathon did I hurt that bad! And I'm not really sure why. It was a hard run, but only 10 miles. I sweat A LOT, and afterwards, I could feel the salt on my face. When we did the 15 last week I sweatted a lot too, but I don't remember feeling the salt. I wonder if dehydration could have made the difference in why I hurt so bad last night. I did get mid-torso cramps towards the end of the run and that's usually a sign of dehydration setting in. I thought I had drank a lot of fluid yesterday -- I had at least 80+ oz. Maybe it was just too close to the 15-miler last week, maybe I needed more rest? Anyway... because of the pain, headache, etc. I didn't sleep well.

I don't think we are going to be able to do another 10-miler tomorrow. That probably wasn't too good planning on my part anyhow -- a 10-miler, one day of rest, and then another 10-miler? Not good! We might try for 5. Depends on how much sleep we get tonight. I can't imagine we will get too much :[ Don't know how much running I can do on 2 nights of sleep deprivation.

We'll see...

I just heard the #1 person say she was in line at 7:00 p.m. LAST NIGHT! Times are changing... The day may have passed when you could show up on the morning of. Soon, you may have to actually spend 2 nights to be a part of the First 100.

One TV station has been out, and a newspaper girl taking photos. The TV guy said he's be back in the a.m. - LIVE! And, a news helicopter just flew over...

I took a pic of some guys in a pool and posed it on the Facebook group "I Campout in Chick-fil-A Parking Lots". he he he...

Another report just stopped by and now WYFF News [WYFF4.com] is here.

Lunchtime [12:45 p.m.] CFA or nuggets for everyone...

There is a CFA Mini Cooper with the 40th Anniversary logo here. How COOL is that?!?! Imported from Europe, ony 400 made... NICE!

WoWZers! [3:00 p.m.] They just served everybody [even the kids hanging out with their parents] FULL SIZE Milk Shakes!!! UNBELIEVABLE! My FIRST CFA Milk Shake -- I'm HOOKED!

Now [3:45 p.m.] they're handing out brownies, lemon pie, and cheesecake. I think I'm going to be ill...

[6:00 p.m.] More sandwiches. The sky is looking ominous :[] YIKES!

This Sprint mobile broadband card is AWESOME and saved the day!

You've heard, "It's raining cats and dogs!", well, it's literally raining cows from the roof top!

The sky has opened up, a blowing, hard summer rain. Well, this will cool things off. The first one we've been to where it's rained.

One shower has passed. According to the radar it looks as if there is another, bigger one, to come. It's not really cooler, at least not yet. It is however, much more humid :[

7.31.07

2007-07-31T20:41:00.000-04:00

10 miles [2 laps around the Rock] late evening run. WoW! There are A LOT of bikers out there in the evening! And, I found it SO hard NOT to say, "Good morning" to everyone I ran past. I'm used to doing that on our morning runs. Actually, you know, it starts out "Good morning" but before the run it over you're just saying, "morning". I'm not sure what happens to the "Good" part :)

Tomorrow, early, early, early a.m. we are off to Greenville, SC for our first "out of State" CFA First 100. Hopefully, their WIFI will be up and running or we will be able to jump on some nearby free WIFI and I'll be Blogging to you from there.

Until then...

7.30.07

2007-07-30T15:03:00.000-04:00

5 easy miles on the mill.

7.28.07

2007-07-28T07:41:00.000-04:00

A 3-mile walk last night with my running partner and a GREAT, fast 5-mile run through the city this early a.m.

It may work out that we are able to get both 10-mile runs in this week at the Rock. If it does, Monday, Friday, and Saturday will be 5-mile runs, Tuesday and Thursday will be 10-mile runs with Wednesday being a rest day in between.

I love this new Sports Authority/Nike+ ad I just saw on the back of a Running Times magazine! It's the picture of a runner's calf and superimposed on it are these words:

"This calf is a hard drive, packed with gigs of running memory. It started out
as a puny chip and grew into a big bad CPU. Bulging with data. Lining up for
the first 5K. Breaking the 10-mile mark and not bonking. Training all summer
for a marathon only to get hurt before the race. But still finishing anyway.
All those runs. Stored right inside this ultimate processor."

An entry from a blog I was reading today:

“If I had to select one marathon that I really like it would be the Marine Corps
Marathon,” he said. “The Marines are involved and there is a lot of support
around the course; you’re running on Constitutional Avenue, you’re running by
all the monuments and along the Potomac River. It’s a very nice run.”

~ Marv Bradley Runonearth.com

7.27.07

2007-07-27T15:21:00.000-04:00

I feel surprisingly well after yesterday's 15-mile run. Very little residually soreness at all. I made sure to stretch yesterday, several times + the Endurox R4, and I've been eating well [a lot of anti-oxidants], and I took my Aleve last night and this a.m.

Tonight I will go for a walk with my running partner, and tomorrow, in the a.m., we will go for a 5-mile run through the city -- one of my favorite places to run :) Can't wait!

Our next LONG RUN will not be until Saturday, August 18. This one WILL be long -- a 20-miler. No fears though, after yesterday's super fantastic run I feel confident that a 20-miler or a 26.2-miler or whatever is very doable. Looking forward to it!

The next 2 weeks will both consist of 3 5-mile and 2 10-mile runs.

7.26.07

2007-07-26T15:14:00.000-04:00

GREAT 15-mile run!!!

We got out an hour earlier than usual and that really helped with the heat. The weather was really nice. I was concerned with the BIG storms that moved through the area last night that it might still be raining this morning but it wasn't.

7.24.07

2007-07-24T07:38:00.000-04:00

5 fast miles on the mill. GREAT run considering what a bad nights sleep I got.

I really, really blew it yesterday afternoon/evening. I came home from work late, frustrated, and starving -- that's NEVER a good combination! First there was the bowl of cereal [yes it was Kashi so that wasn't too bad], then there were the 3 Pizza Hut bread sticks left over from Saturday night -- SO not worth it. Dinner was just a BLT w/o mayo on white wheat [home grown tomatoes], an OK dinner I guess. Here's where it gets really, really ugly... After dinner: 4 Nutter Butter cookies, 6 Oreo, and then another bowl of Kashi. It's a wonder I wasn't sick!

I don't know WHY I did that. None of it satisfied. I should have gotten up out of that office chair a couple of times and taken a break, maybe gone and gotten some Starbucks or something so I wouldn't be so starving and frustrated all at the same time.

Today I will respond differently. I'm going to take a break in the afternoon, get up out of my seat, stretch, have a snack, go walk some or something.

Today I WILL BE GOOD, tonight I will sleep, tomorrow I won't be beating myself up :)

7.23.07

2007-07-23T08:31:00.000-04:00

Good 5-mile run on the mill.

Will do another 5 tomorrow. Wednesday will be an off day with 15 (3 laps around the Rock) on Thursday -- our first really long run of this training session. Friday will be an off day and then I (or we -- depends) will run 5 on Saturday. That will round out another 30-mile week.

7.21.07

2007-07-21T13:32:00.000-04:00

5 fast miles on the mill.

This Could Be Your Boss...
A young executive was leaving the office at 6 p.m. when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand. "Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document, and my secretary has left. Can you make this thing work?"

"Certainly," said the young executive. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.

"Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I just need one copy."

Lesson learned: Never, never assume that your BOSS knows everything.

7.20.07

2007-07-20T06:56:00.000-04:00

Stiff this morning but I stretched out real good. Will need to do that again this afternoon. After my 10-mile run yesterday a.m. and then all of the "running around" I did ALL over town (WHEW!), then... I walked 3 miles w/my bff last night down through the city. It was a nice brisk walk, and not to to hot, although, I was sweating like a pig when we go back. Don't know that we will walk tonight... Tomorrow will be another 5 on the mill.

7.19.07

2007-07-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

Awesome 10-mile run! Felt really light on my feet and strong, no pain whatsoever... AWESOME!

Will take tomorrow off and run 5 on Saturday. Next week we have our first 15-mile run of this training session -- 3 laps around the Rock. I feel up to it and ready. Hope my running partner is as well :)

I think I am going to drop the banana and Clif Energy Bar I have traditionally eat prior to long runs and races. As of late they seem to be upsetting my stomach. The morning of the Peachtree and today I ate a bagel and that seemed to work well. I think also I am going to get back on the SPIKE before long runs -- a little extra energy never hurts. I may also replace the Clif Builder's Bar I have traditionally eaten after long runs and races with the Endurox XL. During our last marathon training session I used both the Clif Builder's Bars and the Endurox XL after long runs but that was during the winter. During the summer months the bars are pretty mushy at best and sometimes melted when I get back to the car, and, I probably don't really need both anyhow. I've read a lot of good things about the Endurox XL and how it speeds recovery, so I'll stick with that.

7.18.07

2007-07-18T11:38:00.000-04:00

Today ended up being a rest day. Everything feels fine. Tomorrow I will run 10 on the mill with a rest day on Friday, and then another 5 on Saturday to round off a 30-mile week.

A few years ago [about 3] I created a website that to this day is still my most favorite of all the sites I have created. But nobody really liked it :( To me however, it was the most cutting-edge, coolest site... The Internet is SO full of color and most sites are SO complicated that I thought I would do something radically different -- a totally colorless, simple, easy to navigate site. So, I did it -- a site that was totally gray scale. I loved it, but I think I was about the only one.

Anyway... when the beginning of this year rolled around it was time to re-do that site and I started out building a Flash site. I really liked it too (it was BEAUTIFUL!) but the more I looked at the trends of the web I decided that the Flash technology just never really caught on like people thought it would and really the trend out there today is the Blog look. So, back to the drawing board -- a Blog, news-style site was in order.

I spent weeks putting this new site together, long, long hours, lots of editing and Photoshop work. The site debuted last month and to rave reviews! People LOVE it, and the more they love it the sadder I feel about the cutting-edge gray scale site. Maybe it was ahead of its time?

7.17.07

2007-07-17T06:37:00.000-04:00

5 miles on the mill.

Only 3 weeks into yet another marathon training schedule and I'm already experiencing discomfort in my knee and the possibility of a shin splint is looming :[ I put on my friend the knee brace this a.m. after my run just for compression sake -- will wear it today and see if it helps. I also took Aleve. Tomorrow will be a rest day and my long run for the week will be 10 miles on Thursday.

As in the past, I suspect this all stems from my Plantar Fasciitis. The question is whether to see a podiatrist or not? I probably should before it gets worse but I'm so afraid of the consequences -- maybe he'll say to skip this marathon, maybe there will be week s of therapy? But I am also afraid of the consequences of letting it go as is. What to do, what to do?

7.16.06

2007-07-16T07:52:00.000-04:00

5 miles on the mill early a.m.

7.15.07

2007-07-15T08:28:00.000-04:00

Whoa! After a week of watching what I eat I've dropped 5 lbs. That sounds nice but it's actually a little too much to drop in one week. At this rate though I should be back in race trim well before the marathon :)

This will be a 30-mile week with 5 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, a rest day on Friday, and then 10 on Saturday. However, this is subject to change. I possibly may do my long run on Thursday with a rest day on Wednesday. We'll see what the work schedule will allow. My running partner is out of town this week so the 10-miler will be on the mill.

Next week we have our first 15-mile run of the MCM training scheduled. I'm looking forward to that and hope it goes much better than the 10-miler we did at the Rock last week :[

BTW, whether or not I get to actually run the MCM, the training will do me good. I will be in GREAT shape for the 1/2 on Thanksgiving Day.

7.13.07

2007-07-13T16:54:00.000-04:00

FRIDAY the 13th, na na na na na na na na BOO!

Got'ya didn't I :)

5 mile run through the city in the HOT mid-afternoon. WHEW! was it ever HOT! Sweatted like a PIG. I know that's not very "Southern Lady" like, but it's the truth!

Well, that wraps it up for the week. Unless I get a BONUS run in tomorrow, but the schedule in pretty tight so it's unlikely -- we'll see...

Will probably take 2 day off to rest, stretch real good, and ice the bottoms of my feet. They are actually doing pretty well considering I have run on the pavement 2 days in a row, one a 10-mile run and one a 5-mile run. I'm still thinking about seeing a podiatrist -- possibly.

7.13.07

2007-07-13T08:42:00.001-04:00

I was online searching for something totally unrelated [a graphic] this a.m. and came across this – funny how these things happen…

The site I found it on is: http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/tutorials/wordart01.shtml

I was totally blown away at how remarkably similar it was to the textural art I created for my running partner’s wedding program last summer.

Interesting…

7.12.07

2007-07-12T12:53:00.000-04:00

2 laps around the Rock [10 miles], pitiful run! I am SO out of shape! The first 5 miles wasn't too bad, only 1 minute off my best time, but the second 5 was so so pitiful, pathetic is more like it. I just like had NO energy AT ALL. Pitiful! I need to run outside more often and condition my body to the heat. I think that may have been part of the problem, a small part. The BIG part is that I have just gotten so out of shape since the marathon. I am so disappointed with myself. gerrr...

I'll do better, I know I will. I have to!

Tomorrow I may get out for a late [hot] afternoon 5-mile run through the city with my running partner. We'll see. If not, I'll be running 5 on the mill on Saturday. Either way, that tops off another week of 25. Not good but sufficient for now.

7.10.07

2007-07-10T07:10:00.000-04:00

5 miles on the mill early a.m.

Tomorrow will be an off day with 2 laps around the Rock [10 miles] on Thursday. Friday as well will be an off day with 5 miles on the mill on Saturday.

7.9.07

2007-07-09T07:52:00.000-04:00

5 fast miles on the mill early a.m. :O that's me yawning!

7.7.07

2007-07-07T10:56:00.000-04:00

6 miles on the mill; didn't seem to take that long. The speeds I am used to running are beginning to feel awfully slow. Kicked up the last 1/4 mile like heading to a finish line.

Finished up week 1 of marathon training. Can't wait 'til my running partner and I get to do some long runs around the Rock! I feel good after my first 25 mile week in a long time. I've been such a bum since the marathon in March. Time to get back to work... I'm a little stiff and will need to stretch real good this weekend several times.

Sunday will be an off day as usually with 5 miles on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and 10 next Saturday.

Whew! NICE! Feels good.

OK, so plans have changed ALREADY! It will be 5 on Monday and Tuesday, an off day on Wednesday, 2 laps around the Rock on Thursday, an off day on Friday, and 5 on Saturday :)

7.6.07

2007-07-06T07:25:00.000-04:00

Little shots of me crossing the finish line at the Peachtree Road Race. Good thing they are little, because up close, it wasn't too pretty!

Someday, I think I want to run in the back where the party is just so I can see all the goings on. I saw pictures, on the news, in the paper, and on other blogs of CRAZINESS! -- People dressed like cavemen and spiderman, a whole group of people from Fleet Street PAINTED like the American Flag. I'm sure there was much more craziness that I didn't see!

Oh, I forgot about this -- I saw Scott Rigsby, the double amputee that I ran with for a while during the marathon. I passed him at some point so I'm assuming he started out in front of me in time group 1 somewhere or maybe he was subseed.

I saw several people running with nice size American Flags on polls. That is so cool and I'd like to think I could do that some day but I'm not too sure I could. It looks tough! I saw the fireman in full gear and there were others too in full gear, army personnel and the like. That's so cool too!

I saw a lot of people wearing those flag shorts. I'd like a pair of those. I looked at them at the expo but they were just so poofy. I don't need poofy!

By now you've probably seen the shirt. It's nice, not the one I voted for but nice.

BTW, I read about some poor guy who had a heart attack on heartbreak hill [right outside of Piedmont Hospital] -- that's why I walk it... Anywho, they hauled him into the hospital and performed open heart surgery on him and he is in stable condition last I heard. Wonder if he got his tshirt? How ironic, having a heart attack on heartbreak hill. I LOVE a good irony!

7.5.07

2007-07-05T09:43:00.000-04:00

4 miles on the mill this a.m.

It's funny, when my bff first brought that treadmill home I despised it! Then, as I got into running and all I like it because it was there for me on days when I couldn't get out on the road. Then... as I got really into running [like training for the marathon last winter and all] and I was doing more running outside, I got to where I despised the treadmill [again] because I SO enjoyed running on the open road as opposed to the mill. Now that I haven't been able to get out and run very much over the past 3 months or so I'm back to liking the treadmill :] for the time being...

There are no plans in the works for a race in August. On Labor Day we will do the GRULING U.S. 10K on Cobb Parkway and it was pretty expensive so we decided against a race in August for that reason. We will do some long runs around the Rock though. Actually our first long run on our Marie Corps Marathon training schedule will be this month, Saturday the 21st -- 15 miles around the Rock. I will be doing a 10 mile run this Saturday and next, those could be considered long by some standards, but those will more than likely be on the mill. Then in August we will do a 20 mile run on the 18th. We have a 15 mile run scheduled the Saturday before the Labor Day race on Monday, that probably wasn't good planning on my part, but I guess it will work with 2 days rest -- it should be OK.

In October we will do the Peachtree Classic. Probably my favorite race of the whole year. It's on the golf cart trails in Peachtree City and in October it can be quite cool and the leaves are usually beautiful that time of year. We will do the 15K [9.3 miles].

The Marine Corps Marathon is 1 week after that.

In November we will do the 1/2 marathon on Thanksgiving Day. That's always nice -- gives you the go ahead to eat all the turkey and dressing you want :)

There is not much on the calendar as far as races go for December, at least not yet...

There are a couple of ATC freebies in the fall as well. I think they are both runs around the Rock, one a 10 miler and one a 15 miler. They are what they call low-key, no tshirt events. I like that! Doesn't cost you anything except the gas to get there and you get to run with an organized group - nice!

There is also the ATC Resolution Run on Jan. 1 but I haven't heard where that will be yet. I don't think it is always in the same place each year. AND, a nice ATC run in Peachtree City each January - usually VERY cold but nice.

That pretty much raps up my running goals for the next 6 months.

DHL just delivered my new running shoes - SWEET!

BONUS RUN: 4 more mile trying out my NEW running shoes!!!

I made the paper! I was #4991 to cross the finish line in the Peachtree Road Race!

7.2.07

2007-07-04T13:27:00.000-04:00

The Peachtree was awesome! The weather was PERFECT! -- cool with a nice breeze. I ran in a pack of people the whole time, it never thinned out. My time was good for a Peachtree 58:38 is what my Garmin said -- I haven't got my "official" chip time yet. My time was ESPECIALLY good considering I stopped twice for water, twice for teeshirts, and I walked heartbreak hill :o

I LOVE THIS RACE! The GREAT American Race...

Official Chip Time:
419 PATSY P. BURNETTE 45 HAMPTON GA 1:00:30 58:50
I was # 419 in the Women's Masters Division

7.2.07

2007-07-02T08:01:00.000-04:00

5 miles on the mill, good fast run. Marine Corps Marathon training has officially begun...

6.30.07

2007-06-30T11:46:00.000-04:00

So tomorrow I start training for the Marine Corps Marathon, actually, tomorrow is an off day, but it is the first day on my training schedule. The real training starts on Monday with a simple 5-mile run. Tuesday will be an off day as well, with the Peachtree on Wednesday [6.2], 4 miles on Thursday, rest on Friday and 10 on Saturday [actually, I may split Saturday into two 5-mile runs, one on Friday and one on Saturday]. That will complete my first week of training with 25.2 miles in the record book.

I really, really need this. I need a schedule to stick to and a goal to reach for. I can get pretty lazy without that!

I bought a new pair of running shoes today, the same as I've been wearing for the past year or so, Fila Flow Sanctuary. These will be for the marathon.

6.28.07

2007-06-28T10:44:00.000-04:00

A few things I learned yesterday:

Oregon is the ONLY state in the US where you CANNOT pump your own gas -- that's right, I said YOU CANNOT PUMP YOUR OWN GAS -- too dangerous I guess. When you pull up to the pump an attendant comes out [just like in the old days] and says, "Fill'er up?", "Premium or regular?" How COOL is that?!? You don't even have to get out of your car -- just like the old days. Of course, they don't check your oil, and they don't do windshields either.
I thought that this time of the year would be the "off season" for Timberline. WRONG! It's like their peek season because it is the only place in the US to ski or snowboard during the summer. We are thinking about returning in the spring when the rooms are not so expensive and we can REALLY see snow!

The trip back yesterday was nice and uneventful. Uneventful is good when you're flying. I sure didn't want to come back! It is so beautiful out there, so beautiful in Oregon. We took lots of pictures but pictures do not do it justice. The soil must be like really, really fertile. It's like the whole place is made up of nursery after nursery and orchard after orchard. Fruit stands are everywhere, everything is so green and lush, lots of evergreens. It's like a HUGE Christmas tree farm! I would think the growing season to be pretty short.

A few things I didn't see: billboards, churches, and people of color. These things are in short supply in Oregon, at least the part we visited. You really take for granted all the churches we have in the south -- the "Bible belt". There are not that many in other parts of the country. I think I could count on one hand how many churches I saw, and only one of them was Baptist.

6.27.07

2007-06-27T10:43:00.000-04:00

Our trip around this grandiose mountain yesterday afternoon was quite interesting.

The temperature difference is SO diverse from the mountain to the valley. When we were up on the mountain it was SO COLD [probably like 30 or so] that we had sweaters, coats, mittens, gloves, hats, boots and the like on. We went to find a lake in the valley that we can see from the mountain, lake Trillion it was, and when we got there it was like 80! People were swimming -- it was such an AMAZING difference in temperature just from the mountain to the valley, two places that were not that far apart -- you can see one from the other, but so, so different! People were doing outdoor kind of stuff at both places, but in totally different clothing and temperature. It was so cool!

Last night we had the best pizza I think I've had it my whole life. A little place at the bottom of the mountain called the Ice Axe Grill in Government Camp. It was really, really yummy! --their signature pizza with tomato and spinach.

This morning we are just chilling until it's time to check out. Then it is on to the airport for the long trip home. We didn't get first class on the way out but I think we will on the trip home.

6.26.07

2007-06-26T13:18:00.000-04:00

Today I have discovered that God is a God of variety. It’s not something you will find in the Bible, at least not in those particular words. But as I was riding the ski lift up Mt. Hood this morning and enjoying the cold, beautiful scenery and thinking about all of the other beautiful backdrops I have been privileged to witness over my lifetime, like the Grand Canyon, the Caribbean, and others, I realized that God IS a God of variety. But not only in the landscape he created for us, also in the people he created – So many different personalities and looks. He is SO a God of variety!

We got in bed pretty late last night; we were up almost 24 hours [21+]. This morning the sun came up so early. I had my alarm set for 6:00 but woke up at a little after 5:00 and the sun was up, bright and shining! Grabbed a bottle of water, some granola and raisins, a banana, and we were on the lift a little after 7:00. The ride up was incredible; they call it the Magic Mile and it is magical!

After about 4 times down the mountain BIG Tom was done! His side is scraped up, he had fun, maybe he’ll go back out a little later.

BTW, pictures are posted on facebook. Sorry to all you folks who don't have a facebook account; you can see the pics when we get home.

This afternoon we took a driving tour of the surrounding area. Actually, we drove completely around the mountain. Took several hours. We actually found a STARBUCKS! Can you believe that?!? We came back on the"road less traveled" and it was nice -- a one lane road for miles and miles and miles and some of it wasn't even paved. Glad we rented the Jeep!

6.25.07

2007-06-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

I don’t even know where to begin to describe the beauty of this place! It’s like a HUGE Christmas tree farm :) Evergreens everywhere! The trip out was great, it took 5 hours but really to me it only seemed like about 2 or so. I had a good opportunity to work on my book as I hope to on the trip home as well.

When we arrived the first thing we noticed was the clarity of the air in Portland and lush, green vegetation everywhere – So different than the dry, parched grass and shrubs at home. Oh yeah, the temperature is a lot different than back home too – in the 50s up on the mountain at Timberline, 60s in Portland, and it should get down into the 30s or low 40s tonight.

The Timberline Lodge is nice and quaint. It was built in the 30s and much of the furnishings in the rooms and other areas of the lodge are from that era – original to the structure I would guess. Our beds are actually feather! The view out our window is incredible! It is a picturesque view of the valley and we can see Mt. Jefferson off in the distance. Mt. Hood is about 11 thou feet at its summit and Timberline sits on it at 6 thou feet.

We hiked part of the way up this afternoon and will hike some more tomorrow. We will not be able to reach the summit on this trip as the higher trails are closed for restoration. We really came out here to let BIG Tom snowboard so as long as he gets to do that tomorrow, all it well!

It is all about the huckleberry out here… huckleberry ice cream, huckleberry milk shakes, huckleberry jam, huckleberry syrup, huckleberry honey, huckleberry chocolate. You name it and they’ve got it in huckleberry flavor!

There is still plenty of snow as you will see in the pictures, especially up on the mountain. I think I read that in the winter the snow gets 21 feet deep! There is still a good 2 feet in some places around the lodge. We even saw a snowman that someone had made here today. People probably think we are crazy to get so excited over 2 feet of left over snow but we just don’t see this stuff in Atlanta. We get excited there over 2 inches of snow!

6.23.07

2007-06-23T11:32:00.000-04:00

Just finished a pre-Peachtree run [+ 1 mile] starting at the BIG Peach on Peachtree to Piedmont Park. Today is the Gay Pride thing in Piedmont Park, so... that was interesting. I mean, there are always a lot of those types down there but today the place was crawling with them. YIKES!

The run was 7.2 miles total [it is a mile from the BIG Peach to Lenox]. I felt OK about the run. It was pretty low key. Sponsored by Rebook and the BIG Peach. They had a trivia game [about the Peachtree Road Race] before the run and I won a radio. Woo Hoo!

My time was pretty off 1:19. Last year I finished in just at an hour. But the course felt so easy today compared to last year [even my running partner said so] that I would have thought my time to be better. Up until last year I had done NO hill work whatsoever in my life, but while we were in training for the ING GA Marathon this winter and early spring we ran those hills at the Rock and Heartbreak Hill [at Piedmont Hospital] doesn't even begin to compare to that!

I stopped during the run to spin the big wheel at Caribou Coffee and won a tin of mints -- maybe that's why my time was off. Ha Ha Ha Ha

When we got back to the BIG Peach they gave us a drink bottle [like I need another drink bottle-- I just got finished cleaning out my "drink bottle" cabinet a few days ago and threw a bunch away] and a training journal. I need to use that, but I probably wont.

I've gained like 20 lbs. [and it's not even Christmas!] That's one reason my times lately have been so bad. That's like running with 2 1/2 gallons of milk. I've got to work on getting rid of that 2 1/2 gallons! It won't happen quickly. It's crept on slowly, since that marathon in March, so I expect it will take a few months to get rid of. I've set myself a goal of 5 lbs. a month for the next 4 months.

I probably won't run again until the end of next week. Hopefully we will be doing a good bit of hiking on Monday - Wednesday though. Mt. Hood here we come!

6.22.07

2007-06-22T07:47:00.000-04:00

I think I'm recovered from the campout and lack of sleep :O well, maybe not fully [that's me yawning, again].

Tomorrow we will run the full Peachtree course + a mile, starting at the BIG Peach at 7:45 a.m. to Piedmont Park. I hope my friend Anne will be able to join us, that will give me someone to run with [maybe]. My running partner could be back at the BIG Peach before I finish... he he he he she's FAST!

I've got a new site going up [as I write - watching it w/one eye, writing w/the other]. This one is loaded with PDF and MP3 files and is taking FOREVER to upload. I will be maintaining this one as well and it will require quite a bit more time than any of the others I have maintained in the past, maybe with the exception of one.

I've already drug out the suitcases to begin packing for our trip to Mt. Hood. We will leave early [VERY EARLY] Monday morning. I'm SO excited!

6.20.07

2007-06-20T08:19:00.000-04:00

cow girls ;)

Well, here we are at the CFA First 100 in Smyrna Blogging away on my old laptop - NICE! The weather is great -- so far... Will post some pics later, I think. We got here at like a little after 6 a.m. [left the house around 5] and we are numbers 14, 15, and 16. Right now the girls are playing Scrabble and I am getting ready to get some work done, thanks to my running partner's CPA, who let us borrow his SPRINT wireless card.

OK, so now the Chick-fil-A FREE WIFI is up and running, took them a while but it's working now and fast - GREAT! They came around and gave us all cow fans -- thus the "cow girls" picture.

About 10:00 or so they passed out lemon pie, brownies, cheesecake, and chicken biscuits. The first campout that we've been to where they've served the sweets. At noon it was CFA sandwiches.

The afternoon passed slowly. The heat wasn't too bad, there was a nice breeze most of the time and we had a table with an umbrella which fortunately we brought from home. Usually, the tables have umbrellas but the ones for this CFA have not come in. SO glad we brought one from home -- the old "craft show" umbrella.

For dinner it was a nice bag dinner with a fresh, HOT CFA, chips, and a brownie -- NICE!

It's almost 10:00 p.m. and they are about to serve nuggets and play the movie Facing the Giants. At midnight they will serve ice cream with all the toppings. We've already seen the movie but if the girls want to stay up I'll stay up with them and surf and Blog while they watch. The ice cream is not worth staying up for. They have to serve so much at one time that the only practical way they can do it is to prep it ahead and put it in the freezer -- HARD Ice Dream -- not a good thing.

It's 5:00 a.m. [or a little there after] and we just got our wake up call. The bathrooms are only 1 stallers, so, the line is incredibly lllllllllooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggg.... We can't break down our tents because the TV station [don't know which one] is on its way. Hopefully, about 6:00 or 6:30 they'll walk us through, give us the goodies and we'll be on our way... They do have coffee out. Guess they want us to be awake :O That's me yawning.

6.19.07

2007-06-19T21:01:00.000-04:00

HOT, 4-mile run through the city [between thunderstorms] in the mid-afternoon. Good Peachtree conditioning. Made it back home just before a BIG thunder boomer hit. WHEW! And we were going to run 7. Glad we didn't!

Looking SO forward to our Mt. Hood trip next week. Read more today on the summit and the approach to it. Hope we make it!

Reservations Made

2007-06-18T14:52:00.000-04:00

The reservations and airline bookings are made, car rental is in the works. We will fly into Portland, Oregon next Monday morning for a few days of snowboarding [about the only place in the states where you can snowboard this time of year] and mountain climbing on Mount Hood. I am so looking forward to staying at the Timberline. It's a National Historic Landmark, build in the 1930's, situated near the boarders of Oregon and Washington State. Parts of the Stephen King movie "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson was filmed there, many, many moons ago...

6.17.07

2007-06-17T09:11:00.000-04:00

A busy week ahead. The usual, + on Wednesday we are camping out at yet ANOTHER CFA First 100 Grand Opening campout. I think this will be the last for a while. I don't seen any other openings on the horizon in the area this year. Of course, that's not to say we couldn't go outside "this area" :) The weather looks to be nice, 84 for a high on Wednesday, the lowest high of the week -- that's about all we can ask for. There is a threat of thundershowers in the afternoon. We'll deal with that if it happens and hopefully, it won't blow our tents away. I think we may have a good number of friends joining us for on so that will be nice.

Thursday/Friday... we'll talk about that later...

6.16.07

2007-06-16T18:36:00.000-04:00

WHEW! What a day. I don't even know where to begin beginning.

I guess, the Hooah race: the last I suppose, although I didn't think about it before, my friend Anne reminded me that the base is closing in the next year -- so, I would assume this year's race [the 6th] will be the last -- one can only assume.

My time wasn't so great 1:00:22, but then I didn't expect it would be. Too much sight seeing and reminiscing :) my old stomping grounds, lots of memories... My running partner won first place in her age group, again :)

After the race it was home to clean up and off to the car show with my BFF. It was HOT! I saw a friend from high school -- that was nice.

Then it was off to Belk for a Father's Day gift.

Then ALL the kids came for dinner -- Dad cooked so it was good :)

Now, I'm EXHAUSTED!

6.13.07

2007-06-13T11:22:00.000-04:00

4 mile on the mill late a.m.

Dale Earnhard Jr. is announcing [as I write] his decision to go with Hendrick Motorsports next year. I was surprised. I really though he would go to RCR but I think this will be a good fit. There is obviously a long-standing good relationship between Dale Jr. and Rick Hendrick that maybe wasn't out front so not too many people knew about it. I think he will be like a father figure to Jr. and Jr. needs that. He needs someone in victory lane telling his he's done a good job, and I don't think he's had that since his dad passed. Jr. is also good friends with the other drives in the Hendrick camp -- that will be a good thing.

Next year will be interesting to watch. As far as the sponsor and the number, that's still all up in the air and will be worked out in the next few months. I would suspect that Hendrick and DEI will trade the numbers 5 and 8 and the sponsor that Jr. currently runs for will remain [unfortunately] -- Bud has been with Hendrick before [back in the day].

I suspect that next year, from the fan's eye, everything will "look" the same.

It is very interesting to me how you have a Sr. [Rick Hendrick Sr.] who has lost a son [Rick Hendrick Jr.] and a Jr. [Dale Earnhardt Jr.] who has lost a father [Dale Earnhardt Sr.] and now the two come together as a team. I think all around this will be a good marriage for both Hendrick Sr. and Earnhardt Jr. I think they "need" each other in a strange kind of way.

6.12.07

2007-06-12T12:47:00.000-04:00

This morning I watched Steve Job's keynote address from the opening of the WWDC yesterday. EXCITING STUFF! I was wrong about the iPhone going on sale yesterday, June 29 seems to be the date. [2+9=11, 611 still applies.] Leopard is due to be released in mid October and has some really exciting features, one feature will make file sharing so much easier and there are a lot of other goodies as well. I can hardly wait! October seems so far from here. Of course the MacBook Pros have been updated -- that happened last week, bigger processor -- NICE! When I get mine in October it is going to be such a HUGE step up from this 7 year old Gateway. WHEW! Don't know if I'm going to be able to handle all that speed...

6.11.07

2007-06-11T08:19:00.000-04:00

6 miles on the old mill this a.m, some of that pretty fast. Have GOT to stretch good this afternoon -- every day this week, really. I am so tight! I was so nice and limber during the marathon training and oh how I want to get that back!

I will run probably 5 on Wednesday, 4 on Thursday [LOVE that taper!], and take Friday off. The BIG Army Hooah race is on Saturday, a FAST, flat 10K through the ghetto -- run like you were being shot at... that won't be hard to imagine. Could be a good time for the '08 Peachtree. I'd Love to break 50 but I don't see anything close to that happening.

6.8.07

2007-06-08T18:23:00.000-04:00

I know it is late in the day for a post but I have been so, so, so, SUPER busy as of late!

[3 miles on the mill this a.m.]

I am working on a new website that I plan to put up June 22 and it has been an all-consuming job! That's how it usually is with these things. When I get into them I like eat, sleep, and breath them until they are done. I'll be up at like all hours of the night pecking away on my laptop. When I do get to sleep, I'll think of an idea or solve a problem and like have to get up and write it down so as not to forget it...

Anyway, that's my excuse for not Blogging much lately.

I am SO looking forward to Steve Job's keynote address on Monday morning at the WWDC! It will be carried live over the Internet and I hope to be able to see it w/o any computer problems or interruptions.

Tomorrow it's off to a Pampered Chef party in the a.m. and then I'm not sure what the afternoon and evening will bring. More website work I would suspect.

6.6.07

2007-06-06T12:43:00.000-04:00

GREAT, fast, 5-mile, late a.m. run! Felt really good and strong. NICE!

6.4.07

2007-06-04T09:49:00.000-04:00

5 miles on the mill. Good run! Felt strong.

Rumors, rumors, rumors...

2007-06-03T19:54:00.000-04:00

Dale Earnhardt Jr NASCAR Rumor: Junior Moving To Gibbs, Visa Sponsor
By Mike Baron June 3, 2007

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008. This is the latest rumor and we have had several people we trust tell us it has legs. Look for an announcement very soon.

This powerhouse three-car Chevy team will now become four. It pairs Junior with pals Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. J.J. Yeeley also drives the Interstate Batteries No. 18.

Junior and 'Smoke' are close friends and work particularly well together on restrictor plate tracks. Earnhardt was one of the ones who convinced Hamlin to be a pro racer early in his career.

Earnhardt Jr to Ginn NASCAR Team, Mark Martin Full-time in 2008 ?
Posted by: MSulka on Jun 03, 2007 - 09:21 AM
The rumors continue to swirl regarding the future of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who revealed Friday that he has trimmed his list of potential teams down to three or four.

The most interesting possibility right now has been published in the Winston Salem-Journal stating that Mark Martin may return to a full NASCAR Nextel Cup schedule in 2008, and that "many drivers seem convinced that Earnhardt will accept an offer to drive for Bobby Ginn."

Though Mark Martin has been vocal about his happiness in running a partial schedule this season, winning does have a way of pulling at the heart of a driver.

Is it possible that Martin's full-time NASCAR Nextel Cup return is tied to Ginn landing Earnhardt Jr. ?

We shall see.

6.1.07

2007-06-01T10:03:00.000-04:00

3 miles on the mill. Have an opportunity to run a couple of laps around the Rock tonight but don't know if I will do that or not.

Interesting news on the WWDC front: New rumors abound! The first is that the new MacBook Pro updates will be released before the conference scheduled to begin on June 11. It seems that Apple has an Education Back to School program which launches next week and the updates will be released early to coincide with that... well, you read the rumor:

While we had heard convincing reports that the MacBook Pro updates would have to wait until WWDC (June 11th), a few new reports have started trickling in that the MacBook Pro could see updates as soon as this Tuesday (June 5th).

Mac4ever.com (French) posts the following from a reseller (roughly translated):
There's some news. We've just ordered the new MBP ! Launch expected for next Tuesday... But Apple didn't say anything about the specifications. We have to order blind-eyed... If I've got some other news, I'll keep you informed.
This information alone would not necessarily be convincing, as resellers tend not to have much lead time on new products... but a few other tidbits we've heard leads us believe that this could be legitimate.

Sources are unclear if this will be the LED / Santa Rosa updates that users have been hoping for, and some sources still insist we will have to wait until WWDC for the new MacBook Pro.

Update: There is some speculation that Apple may be releasing MacBook Pros next week rather than at WWDC to coincide with their Educational Back to School Program which launches next week. (If Apple waited until WWDC, the MacBook Pro specs would change a week into the Back to School promotion.)

Another rummer, now brace yourself, this one is WILD! NEW MACS to SHIP w/VISTA

I told you it was WILD!

So some other...bloggers and I were discussing this unlikely rumor, and we started to realize something: With core elements of Vista in place on Intel hardware, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to imagine OS X running Windows apps. Then, by chance, I ran across this article at Mac Daily News posits the very idea, and that this could be the way big secret Steve is keeping for WWDC. Bootcamp 2 isn’t in the current preview of Leopard, nor are many other expected toys. We still think the whole thing is a little suspicious, but what a possibility it creates, no?
This is probably the most insane Apple rumor we’ve ever heard... But in the interest of generating site traffic, and to secure bragging rights of being “first!” if it’s somehow real, and because we’re reckless, we bring it to you now.

Our Trusted, Reliable Source™ at the WSJ’s D conference...was chatting with some other PR types who work for Apple... He/She said they were nervous over Mr. Jobs accidentally spilling Leopard secrets two weeks before its official unveiling at WWDC. The source said something jokingly about how it’s really a re-designed version of Vista, and, to their surprise, the PR type said, “No, Vista runs great on the new Macs by itself, and Bootcamp 2 lets us ship it as an add-on option for dual-boot.” Or something to that effect.

We’re thinking the Apple PR person was messing with our source, the idea is to run ideas up the flagpole to see if they fly. We really don’t see any Macs shipping with dual-boot to Windows anytime soon, but Steve has surprised us before, so who knows? We mark the likelihood as very low, but stranger things have happened...

5.30.07

2007-05-30T07:49:00.000-04:00

3 easy, quick miles on the mill, felt strong and heavy :o

WW tomorrow night is NOT going to be pretty. It's probably time for me to start going weekly again, at least for a while.

Working on a new site, my first in Expression Web. Mostly CSS coding and some ASP.NET. I have a lot of reading to do AND a lot of catching up. This should be interesting. I think the end result will be a much more efficient website and a smarter Blogger Friend...

Another Blogger confirms my suspicion about the release date of the iPhone

2007-05-29T05:51:00.000-04:00

Scoop: AT&T Wireless, iPhone Coming to Fry’s Next Month
May 28 Matt Hickey

Thanks to the loose lips of a local employee, we now bring news that Fry’s, the ginormous big-box electronics retail chain that is part Mecca and part Disneyland for nerds, will next month start selling AT&T Wireless. They haven’t announced this yet, but it’s a big deal. Fry’s was always reluctant to offer Cingular’s services for various reasons, but seems to be ok with AT&T. Shipments of promo materials...have arrived, and the phones themselves will show up on the 5th. Fry’s then starts selling the phones six days later, on Monday the 11th. What’s really telling is the chatty clerk mentioned that they were making room on the 10th for a special display featuring a new, high-end phone made by Apple. This means that we can perhaps...a June 11th sell date for the iPhone. This echoes rumors we’ve heard before of that date. It also lines up nicely with Apple’s WWDC and Steve Jobs’ keynote. You know he likes surprises, so look for something along the lines of “Goes on sale today.”

5.28.07

2007-05-28T11:40:00.000-04:00

2 laps around the Rock [10 miles] this a.m. Didn't get started until around 7. Think I will hit it at 6 next time since the sun is already coming up by that time and I LOVE to see the sunrise! Didn't do too bad for being as out of shape as I am. The first 5 was actually a PR at 47:30. After 10 we walked into the city for a look -- nothing really open. There were A LOT of people out, I guess because of the holiday. Traffic was a good bit heavier on the way home.

OK, so I've decided that when I do get that new laptop, this will have to be my desktop -- Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) coming October '07

2007-05-26T20:09:00.001-04:00

Five bucks says the launch date for Mac OS X 10.5 is October 5th - 10.05. [The dual Quad-core Mac Pros were released on 04.04]

I had forgotten, until doing some reading this weekend, the significance of numerology at Apple. The first personal home computer they sold way back in 1983 [I didn't purchase one of these -- unfortunately, I bought an 8088 from Texas Instruments I believe it was -- that's a WHOLE OTHER POST!] sold for $666.66 -- CREEPY!

I would also be willing to say that the iPhone, which is set to debut next month, will more than likely be released on June 11. 611 is Cingular's "Customer [no] Service" number and with Cingular being the exclusive provider.... I should also note that 611 is the number for which you reach people in India. At least, that's how it works for me. If I ever get the urge to speak to someone in India, I just dial 611 on my cell phone... AND THAT my friend... is a whole other post too!

Of course... We all know what 6/11 is. The opening day of Apple's WWDC Worldwide Developers Conference. Could it be that they would also release the iPhone and the beta version of Leopard on the same day? We'll have to wait and see...

Some believe that Leopard will integrate Windows interoperability. Since Steve Jobs announced the switch to Intel nearly two years ago, it has been continually rumored that Macs would gain the ability to run Windows applications naively within OS X. And with Jobs set to reveal Leopard’s “secret features” at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference [WWDC], the idea has taken hold. Those in the know are “expecting a full-feature demonstration of Leopard, including a demo of how Leopard will integrate Windows interoperability.

No more Virtual PC YIPE! Not even Parallels? But what about Boot Camp?

Bluetooth Saves the day [or the cell phone]

2007-05-26T19:58:00.000-04:00

This afternoon my best friend and I were out test driving some automobiles. While traveling from one lot to another, via a dealer's golf cart. my cell phone inadvertently slipped out of my pants pocket. It could have simply slid off the cart onto the ground, I may never have found it. As it turned out, I didn't even know it had left my pocket. Fortunately, it stayed on the golf cart and VERY FORTUNATELY for me, I was wearing my bluetooth, AND VERY VERY FORTUNATELY, I walked far enough away from the cart to loose the signal. That's when the bluetooth beeped in my ear, letting know I had lost the signal of the phone. I felt my pocket and realize my cell phone was gone. I PANICKED!!! It could have been anywhere on the ground between the two lots, possibly run over by another vehicle... I was very relieved to find it there on the golf cart. Bluetooth saves the day or in this case, the cell phone. Without the bluetooth beeping in my ear when the signal was lost, it would have been who-knows-when when I discovered the cell phone was missing... Thank you Mr. Bluetooth!

5.26.07

2007-05-26T09:17:00.000-04:00

Graduation was very nice last night.

The Salutatorian address was the best I ever remember hearing -- applicable, relevant, and interesting. BIG Tom got a trophy for attending at BBCS from K5, SteveO got the same.

The party afterwards was very nice as well. It's the first we have stayed for and was well attended I thought. The other children wanted to have parties at the house and so for them we did that. But BIG Tom's class being so small and close knit, it was better this way.

A cooler of YooHoos was a BIG hit, and made BIG Tom's table most popular with the kids [and some adults too]. His table was simple compaired to others but that was appropriate for him.

I wish we had taken more family pictures. I was fully intending to have one taken of my best friend, myself, BIG Tom, and Sari Beri for our Christmas card but totally forgot. Maybe another time. We did get this one of BIG Tom and his sister -- nice! We call these "Phil's kids".

Today will be a relaxed, hangout kind of day. We will pick strawberries and maybe run a few errands, have leftovers for dinner and maybe get some ice cream...

Monday, my running partner and I will run a couple of laps around the Rock [10 miles]. That will be nice -- I really, really need that!

Summer is upon us now, the pace a bit slower and not so hectic we all hope.

I have decided to wait until the new Mac OS comes out to purchase my laptop. It is scheduled for October but sometimes this gets pushed back. I would think most certainly by the end of the year. However, sometimes with the release date of a new OS looming the manufacturer will sell existing machines with a certificate for a FREE upgrade once the new OS is available. If that happens, I will buy. For now, I will try to be patient. I figure I've waited 7 years, I can wait a few more months...

5.25.07

2007-05-25T07:56:00.000-04:00

5 miles, easy run, on the mill. Energy level is very low, was yesterday too. Not sure why, seem to be getting adequate rest. hummm.....

Today is a very special day in this household, a day some of us have been anticipating for 13+ years. BIG Tom hits the graduation isle, president of his class, with big plans to boot! We are all so excited for him and can hardly wait until tonight's festivities :~)

CONGRATULATIONS BIG TOM!

2007-05-23T11:36:00.001-04:00

I want software that is intuitive, software that learns what I do most and makes it easier for me to perform those tasks.

5.23.07

2007-05-23T09:08:00.000-04:00

7 miles on the mill, made up 2 from Monday :) Felt good and strong. Really need to stretch well this afternoon or tonight. I'm pretty tight!

Yesterday I made my last school lunch for this school year. WoW! The time flies by so FAST! Three more years and then we are done...

Made my marathon training schedule for the Marine Corps Marathon yesterday. No, I don't guess I'll be running this one [although, registration IS still open -- as of yesterday] but my running partner is, and I am going to train with her just to keep her motivated. Training begins on July 1...

BIG Tom says it's BLAZING fast!

2007-05-22T13:40:00.001-04:00

5.21.07

2007-05-21T07:02:00.000-04:00

3 miles on the mill, will make up the other 2 later in the week. I am just like a complete ZOMBIE this morning, dead from the weekend. I've got to go back to work to rest...

I am too tired to chew gum :0

BIG Tom got his grad gift this weekend, his laptop for college -- his MacBook Pro. I am SO gelerous... He's killing me sitting here computing on it... He says it boots up in like 15 seconds - LUDICROUS he says... BLAZZZZZING fast... SWEET says BR... Not fare I said.

5.19.07

2007-05-19T06:02:00.000-04:00

5 miles through the city late p.m. yesterday. It was SO nice to get out on the open road again! The new steak & seafood restaurant had a live band outside -- almost like a finish line but only 1/2 way home.

This morning it's off to the 15th Annual Fayette County Old Courthouse 5K then home to clean up and off to the 30th Annual Geranium Festival for some KETTLE CORN!

Back from the race... third in my age category with a time of 27:50. I wimped out at the end -- the end was up a hill -- and I missed getting second place by 1 lousy second. I could hear the girl coming from behind me. She was huffing and puffing like a horse at full gallop. I was just praying she wasn't in my age group. She WAS. BUMMER! I should have just imagined that she was and kicked it up a notch but I guess I didn't want it that bad.

My running partner got second over all women and first place in her age category with a time of 21:16! WooHoo!

It was a nice race -- an out and back, rolling hills, evidently known for it's door prizes of which one was like this really nice fishing rod. Great if you fish, don't know what I would have done with it though. My running partner won a $25 gift card to Play it Again Sports, a nice flash light, and a couple of CFA free sandwich cards.

Just the first step...Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies

2007-05-18T14:23:00.000-04:00

[I KNEW THIS WAS COMING! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! This is SO EXCITING!]

Revved up: DEI, RCR merge engine programs

Lee Spencer / FOXSports.com
Posted: 1 hour ago

CONCORD, N.C. - Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Richard Childress Racing have entered into an agreement that will merge the companies' engine programs, effective immediately. The joint venture will be named Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies.

"This is an effort to combine resources and gain a competitive advantage in the series," said DEI VP and GM John Story. "We both believe both programs are strong and combining the engine departments will make us even stronger."

A common premiere facility in excess of 80,000-plus square feet with capability for expansion will be designed and built between Mooresville and Welcome, N.C. The design process has begun and is targeted for completion in mid-'08. [Jr's NEW HOME -- YEAH!] The companies will be working together on the common engine that is expected to be ready for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July.

DEI VP of motorsports Richie Gilmore and RCR VP of competition Bobby Hutchens will oversee the project.

Hendrick Motorsports has set the bar in engine development with the information that it gathers through its four Cup teams plus five additional cars with Ginn Racing and Haas-CNC. Childress already provides additional engines for Busch and truck programs at Kevin Harvick Inc. and JR Motorsports but has lacked the supplemental Cup data. Considering the amount of data race teams can accumulate with additional teams, the move will benefit both organizations.

"(Hendrick has) set a standard, now it's our job to exceed," Story added. "This immediately gives us six Cup teams.

"Richard and Teresa (Earnhardt) have been working on this project for the last six months. Her commitment is to continue Dale's legacy and win championships."

Story added that there's been a lot of interest from drivers following the announcement that the No. 8 seat will open up next season. [Nobody in their right mind would get in the #8 -- no one can fill those shoes!]

"We've had dialog with a lot of top drivers," Story said. "We've been pleased with the level of interest from a lot of top drivers in the sport."

[As DW would say -- Boogied, Boogied, Boogied, Let's go racin' boys!]

5.18.07

2007-05-18T08:40:00.000-04:00

5 fast miles on the mill this a.m. [remember, it's all relevant].

Didn't sleep very well last night, not as bad a night as Sunday night though, but still not a normal sleep pattern. Analyzing the situation I realize that Sunday was a BIG meal day w/the Mother's Day celebration and all the family over and all, AND yesterday was a BIG meal day w/the birthday celebration and all. hummm... seems to be a pattern here... It's not like I ate a whole lot -- I never do eat A LOT, just more than usual. I feel [and sleep] a lot better when I just eat a little... like a bird, I guess.

Today BIG Tom returns from the senior trip. His room and desk have been "Spring Cleaned" and his truck went to the detail shop. He will NOT be happy, but it's all good! His friend, Jon, is home for the weekend, so I doubt we will be seeing much of BIG Tom. Maybe, if we're fortunate [hate that word "lucky"] we'll get a "hi" and "bye" out of him, and of course there will be the "Why'd you clean my room?" Ah... well... maybe so I could vacuum it [which probably hasn't happened in like 6 months!]

This afternoon, my running partner is coming down and we will possibly go to the Friday Night Street Drags at the Atlanta Motor Speedway or just go for a long run -- that would be a lot cheaper. Tomorrow we will run a 5K over in Fayetteville and then go to the Geranium Festival. KETTLE CORN! mmmmm....

What a special, special birthday! Last night my bf fixed me this incredible dinner and brought me flowers and Hershey's Extra Dark chocolate w/espresso! AND, today the ladies in the office [namely 1 - CL] brought me my very FAVORITE drink from Starbucks and then a plate with 7 HUGE chocolate covered strawberries on it. The one in the center had a candle. So, so thoughtful! I really am so fortunate to work w/so many very nice and thoughtful people :~) I received several cards, and a gift card from Bath & Body Works, one of my favorite places -- from my friend BG, and other gifts too.

So many nice and thoughtful people!

5.17.07

2007-05-17T07:45:00.000-04:00

I took the RealAge.com test not too long ago and it said I was 36. So today, I guess I am 37. There -- that doesn't sound too bad. 37! hummm... Three more years to the BIG 4 - 0.

5.16.07

2007-05-16T15:44:00.000-04:00

6 miles on the mill this a.m. [1 to make up for yesterday] A lot more energy today!

5.15.07

2007-05-15T08:25:00.000-04:00

4 slow miles on the mill, time would not permit 5.

My energy level is really, really low even though I got a good nights sleep last night. I'm not sure what's up with that but it doesn't feel right. Maybe it's just one of those girly things, I don't know.

I just realized today is Ellie's 1st birthday, and I left the house w/o telling her, "Happy Birthday". :( Tonight we will have grilled salmon [I think Ellie will like that] and birthday cake and ice cream. I don't think she will go for the cake, but I'm pretty sure she will like the ice cream...

5.14.07

2007-05-14T19:21:00.000-04:00

Today, I had the privilege of joining the 1st grade at Killian for Muffins for Moms :~) I am the teacher's mom... Some of the students were kind of perplexed as to why a teacher would still need a mom. That was kind of funny.

It was very, very exciting to, for the first time, get to see my daughter as the teacher. She's a real adult now, with her own responsibilities and a classroom full of 23 little ones that depend on her, all with different personalities and several with varying ethnic backgrounds. There is even one with the same first and middle name as the teacher. How unique.

I really enjoyed just sitting back and watching all of this unfold. It was so satisfying, rewarding, and fulfilling.

Thank you Lord! Thank you Mrs. O'Neal.

2007-05-14T16:54:00.000-04:00

WoW! Thank you Laura SO much for my Starbucks gift card and the Happy Birthday!!! I could almost hear you singing it :~)

Happy days are here again,
I love those days they're here again,
oh those happy days they're here again HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!!

YEAH! Whoo Hoo!

THANKS!

Love ya!

And that's a new card too ~ haven't seen that one.

5.13.07

2007-05-13T18:52:00.000-04:00

Today was a WONDERFUL day! Mother's Day 2007...

I should have, could have, wish I had... gotten up and run this a.m. My running partner was on this side of town and I could have met her and we could have run but my LAZY bones lay in the bed 'til too late :(

The annual Mother & Daughter Breakfast/Brunch [some people call it a breakfast; some people call it a brunch -- it's really sort of in the middle of both, not sure what you'd call that] was spectacular as always! The ladies at our church do such a FANTASTIC job planning, organizing, decorating, and pulling off this event year after year. I spoke briefly on the same topic that I spoke Friday night -- this was the abbreviated version.

Most all the family joined us for dinner at our house. I think there were 14 of us present. It was very nice to see everyone, but we missed those who weren't there. Maybe all will be able to get together at our next gathering on July 4th. We celebrated the May birthday -- there are a lot of us born in May! Pictures are posted on our family blog...

Sari Beri had to make a batch of her famous chocolate chip cookies [Sari Beri Delights] for a school project due tomorrow. So, we did that after everyone left. The off to her friend's [MD] for the night. I know, it's a "school" night, and we usually don't do this but tomorrow EARLY a.m. I am going up to be with my running partner who is having a Muffins for Moms day in her classroom :)

This week will be a busy one. This MONTH is a busy one! As I said...

Monday is Muffins for Moms

Tuesday is Ellie's birthday and I think I might take BIG Tom's truck to be detailed [it is a TRASH HEAP inside! And I'd like to get this done before he returns from the Senior Trip on Friday]

Wednesday we have the spaghetti dinner at church -- thankfully, no violin lesson

Thursday is my birthday but I plan to spend the day cleaning BIG Tom's room [maybe, just maybe I'll find the missing wallet]

Friday Big Tom comes home about lunch time and then I guess if will be off to the DOT to replace his drivers license, then my running partner is coming down, I think the 4 of us will go and watch Philip race his daily driver at AMS [this is scary business racing your daily driver unless you LIKE walking to work]

Saturday my running partner and I will run a race over in Fayetteville -- just a 5K, then... Geranium!

Yes, a busy week indeed!

5.12.07

2007-05-12T08:10:00.000-04:00

I just realized that today is Ginger's birthday; she would have been 38... I often wonder what she would have been like and what she would have become, probably a mother with a couple of very active, athletic teens by now. It would be been nice to see it, but that wasn't in God's plans...

Last night went well. I keep forgetting how far it is up to Community and with the traffic yesterday after noon it took us almost 2 hours to get there. WHEW! Glad we left early!

The place looked and smelled AMAZING when we arrived!!! The ladies up there are really on top of things and SO talented! It put me to shame; they do so much with so little. The theme "vessels unto honor" was carried through out most of the building with an old time feel like you were stepping back into old Jerusalem with pottery, candles, and beautiful fabrics. It was truly an AMAZING sight to behold.

AND THE FOOD! WoW! They TOTALLY out did themselves. If you had told me they did all that w/o even as much as a kitchen on the premises, I wouldn't have believed you, but it was true! No kitchen and STILL this AMAZING feast! A wonderful salad with a walnut vinaigrette dressing, moist, delicious roasted chicken and ham, skewered grilled vegetables including potatoes, mushrooms, red peppers, squash and more, a variety of wonderful breads, and 3 different kinds of spreads. And for dessert -- YUMMY! -- all kinds of finger foods like baklava - one of my favorites -- and special little treats like that...

It was ALL so wonderful! The decorations, the food, the special music, sang by 2 ladies with AMAZING voices, a reading that was very apropos.

Then my introduction -- I hardly think she was talking about me... That was surreal. I got up to speak with a well prepared outline and as usual rushed through it. I hardly feel I gave the message it's due, but several ladies came up to me afterward and said that it spoke to their hearts. So maybe I got some point across; something that each lady could take home that would be an encouragement to her to have a closer walk with God. That's all I could hope for.

That was the expanded version; Sunday morning our ladies will get the condensed version.

I was able to renew some friendships -- that was very nice. I just love the ladies up there. They are such a special and unique group. I remember praying for that church even before it ever started, and now, who would ever have thought that I would stand before the ladies of that very church I had prayed for some 7 years later and speak.

WHAT A BLESSING it was to ME!!!

What is DEI w/o DEJ?

2007-05-11T13:31:00.000-04:00

Not much!

I predict Jr. goes to RCR and takes the #8 with him. After all, who is going to drive the #8 besides Jr.? Nobody in their right mind would try to fill those shoes. And on that note, it wouldn't do DEI any good to hold on to it. I hope they don't try to hold it hostage!

5.11.07

2007-05-11T08:50:00.000-04:00

5 miles on the mill this a.m. Still really low energy level (and there's a reason for that) but I struggled through the 5 miles and finished strong. It's not too hard to finish strong -- it's miles 2 and 3 that are the killer. Listen to me... miles 2 and 3... what a WHIMP! I guess I just needed some "conversation". FOX News was kind of boring. Need my running partner and the open road!

5.9.07

2007-05-09T09:38:00.000-04:00

5 miles on the mill this a.m. Got a late start, so some of it I had to run at a 7.5 minute pace which is quite fast for this slow old turtle. My energy level is really, really low. I'm not sure why.

Anyway... today is the day we send BIG Tom off on his senior trip. He pretty much packed his own stuff [well, his sis helped a good bit]. I'm still reminded of the time we sent him off to summer camp [the summer between 3rd and 4th grade]. At the end of the week, when I went to pick him up, he smelled SO BAD that I had to ride home with the windows down! When we got home, I discovered his bags, STILL pack just exactly as I had packed them -- he hadn't changed all week! Hopefully, things will be different on the senior trip. I'm pretty sure they will.

Getting him ready and sending him off today was just the beginning of a whirlwind long week and weekend!

Yesterday, we had a MoM & ToM day, going to K&G for a new black suit. He needed black pants for graduation and I'm sure will need a suit at college. We bought a white shirt too. Oxfords just don't get it with a black suit, but trying to convince him of that is quite hopeless. Then we went to checkout the laptops at the Apple store at Lenox. We are both in the market for a laptop. He needs one for college, and mine is 7 years old and really, really SLOW! I've made up my mind and know what I want but BIG Tom is still teetering between an Apple and Alienware/Dell. Last night was the annual Sports Banquet. I was disappointed that BIG Tom didn't get any "special awards" he was probably the most talented on the basketball team [maybe w/the exception of his friend BT] but he couldn't care less about basketball and didn't apply himself at all . Unlike his brother... However, his sis did get the Flyer award for cheerleading, which was nice. She's a very good little cheerleader :~)

Today, I work, work, work...

Tomorrow, I will whip the house into shape...

Friday night, I will be speaking at a Mother Daughter Dinner...

Saturday, my running partner and her CPA will be coming down for the weekend...

And Sunday, I will speak briefly at the Mother Daughter Brunch at church. THEN, the family is coming over for Mother's Day. I had so hoped that all would be able to come [about 23] but I think there will only be about 14 of us. But, it will be nice to see everyone. We will celebrate birthdays with birthday cake and ice cream! We have several family members born in May.

Next week Sari and I will get to see what it's going to be like next year when it's only she and I. I wonder if she will be lonely, having that wing of the house all to herself? Well, there is the cat...

I feel like I need to take a deep breath and put my running shoes on. I'm exhausted just thinking about all of this stuff!

BIG Tom has lost his wallet, and had to leave on the senior trip w/o any ID. I would think with security like it is now he would need ID to get into some of those buildings in Washington DC. Don't know what he'll do :( Sure glad his head is attached!

5.7.07

2007-05-07T09:26:00.000-04:00

GREAT Strong 5-mile run on the mill. Felt really, really good!

2 more days to make a decision on the Marine Corps Marathon...

BTW, I think the Yankz are going to work out GREAT! I'll have to run in them more to be sure, and a few races also, but they seem to work well. I can see a real advantage for a triathlon where slipping into your running shoes would need to be a quick process. Hope I get to see them work that was some day!

5.5.07

2007-05-05T12:36:00.000-04:00

Cinco de Mayo!

GREAT BIG Peach 5K race today, 28:40. Would like to have done under 25, but I've been such a slacker lately -- anything under 27 would actually have been really good for the shape I'm in!

Got to see Anne, a girl I went to school with and haven't seen in 25 years -- can't believe she was able to pick me out -- after a race I don't look ANYTHING like I look on facebook! But, I guess it helped that I was in ALL PINK!

Got to meet a girl that had a Weimaraner with her -- guess she ran the race with him. He was HUGE and quite a handfull! Needed some training, but he was BEAUTIFUL. I asked her how old he was and she said 10 months! WoW! He was BIG! She said she got him from a breeder in Canton. I think I saw that same breeder advertise in the AJC.

The course was nice with rolling hills through the quaint neighborhoods of Brookwood and then straight up Peachtree to the BIG Peach. The after-party was GREAT with Starbucks, and lots of pastries (I think from Duncan), and bananas, and apples. The shirt was a nice drifit Nike shirt but I got a small and it's HUGE! Don't know if I'll ever even wear it. Got a nice pair of Yankz for FREE.I've REALLY got to step up the pace! No more 9-mile weeks. Need to pick it up to at least 5 miles on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with some longer runs on Thursdays and Saturdays. The next 2 races are both 10Ks -- the Army "Hooah" Road Race in June and the Peachtree Road Race in July.

Then, if we decide to do the Marine Corp Marathon in October (we'll have to decide that by next Wednesday -- that's when online registration begins, and I hear it fills up in like 2 days) I'll have to get my base back up to 25 miles per week by the week of June 24 to start training for that. SEE! I told you I'd been a slacker! Anyway, it sure would be different training for a marathon in the heat of the summer as opposed to the 20 degree mornings of the winter!

So, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of this week it will be 5 miles on the mill with the possibility of a late p.m. run on the road, with my running partner, Saturday... We'll have to see about that.

Fairburn Frist 100 Campout

2007-05-03T08:07:00.000-04:00

This was our real estate that we staked out yesterday [a.m.] at the Chick-fil-a First 100 camp out in Fairburn. Fairburn is just up the road [Highway 74] from Kedron Village which is just up the [same] road from Star's Mill. Now, Star's Mill filled up at like 3:00 p.m. [if I remember correctly-- that was a while back so my memory fails me somewhat], Kedron [more recent] filled up at 11:30. [I remember that better because WE were numbers 101 and 102 -- ONLY because I made my best friend stop on the way so I could buy me a new pair of running shoes, that I could have bought at any time -- anyway, we make the cut, people dropped out], Fairburn filled up at 10:00 a.m.! It was the fastest one of these First 100 Camp outs has filled up since it's inception approximately 3 years ago.
I had planned to get up about 5:45, run 3 miles, make the kid's lunches, shower and be ready to go about 8:00. My best friend [who is the nervous type -- always has us at the airport not less than 2 hours prior to any scheduled flight] said we should get up at 5:00 and leave at 6:00. So, that's what we did. We actually ended up leaving about 6:10 and arrived on site a little before 7:00-- Numbers 18 and 19.

We set up our tent as far away from the festivities as we could, hoping to get a little sleep during the night. Then, thanks to my best friend's brilliance, we did something we've never done before, we claimed a table up near the front of the store, a two-seater, handicap [how appropriate] table, plopped our stuff down and there we sat -- NICE umbrella and all. By the time the sun gets up in the sky 11:00 a.m. or so, these tables with umbrellas are PRIME REAL ESTATE!So, there we sat, my best friend with his Civil War book [which he always brings but never reads-- watching the people is just FAR too fascinating!] and me with my Bible [which I did read quite a bit, several passages during the day]. The Bible turned out to be a real conversation opener which was interesting to say the least.

By 10:00 a.m. this is about what it looked like. They wanted to keep us all on one side of the building [different from other First 100 camp outs we've attended]. As a result, tents were 4 deep in the parking lot but it all worked out. The police presence was greater at this camp out than any others we have been to. I'm not aware of any trouble they've had at any of these events; maybe that's just the way it is in Fairburn. They were real stern about the boundaries, which at other First 100 Camp outs has just been the property itself. However, at this one it was the corners of the building and you had to stay on this side of the building at all times or you would be disqualified IMMEDIATELY!

There was a lot of laptop computing at this camp out, more than I've seen at any other. Our friend, Stephen, went across the street to a hotel to get the access code for their wireless and they gave it to him. I couldn't believe it! He shared it with someone and they shared it with someone, and so on... and before long everybody knew it.
There was a live "Christian" rock band [which was all together interesting] and the Cow made a visit. The band played "It Is Well With My Soul" [sort of]

Have you ever played Twister with the Cow?

The heat of the afternoon passed quickly. Before we knew it the sun was setting and it was cooling off nicely. There was pretty much a constant breeze all day so it never got unbearable.

After a buttered biscuit for breakfast, and CFA sandwich for lunch I really thought we'd get something different for dinner but it was CFA again. We've been to one camp out where they ordered pizza. Then about 10:00 p.m. it was nuggets and ice dream with all the toppings.

After that, they played the moving Facing the Giants which is a REALLY GOOD MOVIE! We had the opportunity to see it at the First 100 at the Truett's in Griffin but chose to hit the sack instead. After I heard how good it was I was disappointed. This time, we watched the movie!

As night fell the XBox came out with games being played on the BIG screen.

There was a final "line check" [that is where they pretty much call roll to make sure everybody is still there and nobody has dropped out or left the premises] about 12:45 a.m.

THEN, we hit the sack and I slept pretty good for about 4 hours on the FULL SIZE air mattress, with my old army sleeping bag and a pair of ear plugs.

They woke us up around 4:30 a.m. and let us pack up our stuff and TAKE IT TO OUR CAR across the street. WooHoo! That's the first First 100 Camp out we've been to where they let you go to your car and take your stuff BEFORE they open at 6:00 a.m. and give you your free coupons. It makes good sense though, because at the others we've been scrambling to try to get our stuff out of the parking lot and to our car while the store opens up and people are pulling into the drive thru trying to order -- a REAL NIGHTMARE and potential deadly situation, especially accounting for all of the small children that are usually there -- A LOT yesterday and I can only imagine that next month in Smyrna [it begin summer and all] there will only be more!

All in all it was an EXCELLENT camp out and we'll do it again -- June 20, South Cobb Parkway, Smyrna. Mark your calendar -- we'll be there EARLY!

iGoogle is here...

2007-05-01T14:52:00.000-04:00

PC WORLD Tuesday, May 01, 2007 8:59 AM PT Posted by Harry McCracken

Yesterday, Google announced that its Personalized Homepage was going to become iGoogle--and today, it is. The Gadget Maker that lets you create content gadgets for iGoogle and share them with a few clicks is also live.

I assume that another new feature, the use of your default location on Google Maps (if you've set it) to provide more relevant search results in the main Google Web search engine is up, but you couldn't prove it by the searches I've tried this morning. Google's Sep Kamvar told me that the effect on results would be subtle, at least at first, and it seems to be.

I did a search for "Saratoga," thinking that the results might skew to the one here in the Bay Area, but I mostly got ones relating to the one in New York. And when I retried my search for "Mazda dealer," I saw no evidence that Mazda shops near me were being promoted to the top of the list.

Back to the name "iGoogle" for a moment. When Google told us at yesterday's personalization event about the new moniker, I immediately started thinking iPod. And I can't imagine I'd be alone--the lower-case "i" prefix has become pretty much synonymous with products from Apple, or with some relation to the iPod. A group which doesn't include iGoogle.

(I assume, by the way, that Apple won't carp about the name, given that Google CEO Eric Schmidt is on the Apple board.)

In the pre-iPod days, a lower-case "i" prefix kinda stood for "Internet." (And was a synonym for a lower-case "e" prefix, meaning "electronic.) iGoogle is no more Internet-related than oGoogle (a name I just made up to refer to Ordinary Google).

No, the "i" in iGoogle must refer to "I," as in you. Or me. You get the idea--it's about the personalization aspect.

I'm curious to see whether folks warm up to it--Google says there are tens of millions of people with personalized Google homepages, so a lot of us are going to see the "iGoogle" logo instead of "Google" from now on. Some of my PCW colleagues have said they think it's kinda goofy. I'm OK with it, but Google has been changing names of things often enough recently--Frugal became Google Product Search last week, and Google Maps became Google Local before changing its name back to Google Maps--that it's beginning to remind me of Microsoft, which has a long history of changing product names for reasons that are rarely clear to anyone outside of Redmond.

And one last thought: Wonder if Google will bother to create variant iGoogle logos to celebrate holidays, like it does with the oGoogle logo?

Famous Last Words...

2007-05-01T13:02:00.000-04:00

[I love this!]

** It's fireproof.
** He's probably just hibernating.
** What does this button do?
** It's probably just a rash.
** Are you sure the power is off?
** The odds of that happening have to be a million to one!
** Pull the pin and count to what?
** Which wire was I supposed to cut?
** I wonder where the mother bear is.
** I've seen this done on TV.
** These are the good kind of mushrooms.
** I'll hold it and you light the fuse.
** Let it down slowly.
** It's strong enough for both of us.
** This doesn't taste right.
** I can make this light before it changes.
** Nice doggie.
** I can do that with my eyes closed.
** I've done this before.
** What duck?
** Well, we've made it this far.
** That's odd.
** Don't be so superstitious.
** Now watch this.

hummmmmmm...

2007-05-01T07:32:00.000-04:00

Occasionally, when I get ready to get out of the shower I can't remember if I've washed my hair or not. Yes, it's wet, but did I use shampoo? There in lies the question. Recently, I have noticed this "occasional" occurrence happening more and more frequently. Now, I'm only in the shower for probably less than 10 minutes tops -- but I still can't remember if I washed my hair.

I've noticed in the last few months that the personal care home, down the street from where I work, has added to its sign that they now also assist the memory impaired. I've quite often wondered in the past few weeks if I should stop in to see if they can help me with this problem.

Maybe I just need one of those little 2-sided, magnetic signs like you put on the dishwasher. You know, the ones you turn to say "dirty" or "clean".

Darrell Scott addresses the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee

2007-05-01T07:19:00.000-04:00

Guess our national leaders didn't expect this, hmm? On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful.

They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every so-called expert! These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness. The following is a portion of the transcript:

"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good and evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before I knew I would be speaking here today:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of mass acre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America, and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!"

4.30.07

2007-04-30T10:01:00.000-04:00

The last day of April; 4 months of 2007 are gone already. WoW!

3 miles on the mill.

We will run the BIG Peach 5K on Saturday a.m. -- through the quaint neighborhoods of Brookwood... down Peachtree... The race is sold out at 1,200 people. Should be a nice after party.

But first, there is the First 100 Camp out on Wednesday. YES, once again [this will be our 5th] we will spend the night [notice I didn't say "sleep"] in a parking lot for free food. Well, not JUST free "food", FREE CFA! $500.00+ worth of FREE CFA between the two of us. We will have lots of time to talk... lots to talk about -- decisions to make [the job offer, Marine Corp marathon, etc.] It will be fun, and the weather looks to be nice. I can't wait!

4.29.07

2007-04-29T14:26:00.000-04:00

Lest you think I have lost [or am loosing] my mind, based on my facebook status "Patsy is on an emotional rollercoaster ride; She thinks the ride just ended, and she is wasted!", I'm not.

I have had, in the past 2 months, just as many interesting job offers. I don't know what the Lord is trying to do here, but I am trusting Him to give me the wisdom to make the right decisions. I'm not even looking for job offers -- these have just come knocking at my door. Both offers are still on the table at this moment. One I will have to make a decision on this week and it would mean picking up and moving, a new city, a new church, a new school, etc., etc., etc. The other, I'm waiting to receive some financial figures on and it would mean my office could be at the nearest Starbucks, beach, or where ever in the world I want it to be. So, thus the emotional rollercoaster ride.

No, the emotional rollercoaster ride is really totally my fault. For one of the job offers I had a meeting yesterday for which I have been hyped all week. I had GREAT EXPECTATIONS about this offer. However, it turns out that the job is just a whole lot more than I expected or was prepared for. I was really excited going into the meeting, but just absolutely wasted last night, because now I've got to figure out is this just me baulking at what the Lord wants me to do, or is this just Him testing me, or what? I'm not sure. I will pray about it this week and make a decision by the end of the week.

4.27.07

2007-04-27T07:50:00.000-04:00

3 miles on the mill.

Last night I went to a funeral home to visit the family of a guy I graduated from high school with. Actually, he took me out on a date on my 18th birthday -- just one date. It was a year of MANY "dates" -- that's a WHOLE other post! Anyway, he died of a massive heart attack at his job on Monday. He had 3 kids, and It was a really sad situation. It's quite scary when people your age start dying, even though I don't feel that old.

I have been to more funerals this year than any other year in my life and it's ONLY April!

I saw a lot of people there that I haven't seen since high school, and was surprised at how old many of them looked. Fortunately, I was able to remember most of their names. However, there were some that I did not recognize -- they recognized me and introduced themselves. I wondered how many more there were that I did not recognize that did not introduce themselves. One in particular I was QUITE EMBARRASSED that I did not recognize -- she was in my wedding :~O The bad thing is, I saw her just a few years ago.

The funeral is today at 11:00 a.m. I have not yet decided if I will go. I feel like I should, but really don't want to. This is when "adult decisions" kick in -- doing things you know you should even though you don't want to. Humm.... I AM an adult now.

2007-04-25T13:04:00.000-04:00

Well, I've spent much of the afternoon working on my portfolio. Gathering stuff, re-printing some, and discovering much. Something I've been thinking about doing for about 4 years now, but I'm such a slacker... "thinking" is about as far as it's gone -- until now.

I have been pleasantly surprise at how far my sense of design has come from the early days. The early days of PageMaker and the like, pre-Photoshop. Bless you if all you have to work with is PageMaker, Adobe's feeble attempt at page layout and design software. I still have the actually software from one of the very first versions of PageMaker, consisting of about a 1/2 dozen 3.5" floppy disks. Museum worthy!

As I gleaned through several files I realized that actually some of that early design work was really quite embarrassing! I guess at the time, I thought it looked good. YIKES!

I noticed w/i the last year or so though that my style has become much more contemporary. And while this is not earth-shaking by any means, I actually like it.

I need to find some sort of unique container to "contain" the portfolio. Don't know what that will be just yet, but it will come to me in time.

It's good to get started on a project that has been looming in the background of your mind for so long. A project that will never actually be finish, just ever evolving...

4.25.07

2007-04-25T07:45:00.000-04:00

3 miles on the mill.

Today is Secretary's Day [Administrative Professionals Day]. There, doesn't THAT sound impressive!?!

We will go out for lunch and have the afternoon off. The days of the Sun Dial are llooonnnnggggg gone -- even gone are the days of Red Lobster... I guess the budget doesn't allow for such frivolities as that any more. Today, it will be Cracker Barrel, for which I am still grateful!

However, I feel somewhat guilty going out with the "secretaries". I don't answer phones, take messages, make appointments, get the mail, or any of those other gazillion things that secretaries do. I do very limited filing and that is only for my own personal self -- AND, it's probably a GOOD THING that I do very limited filing because my filing abilities are lacking! I have about 3 different methods of filing and who knows which one I will use today.

Basically, they pay me to sit around and play with Photoshop and Adobe InDesign, and do a few other things, but I never quite feel like I "fit in" with the secretaries, of which I'm not.

But today, I will pretend to be a secretary...

The BIG Peach 5K

2007-04-24T07:44:00.000-04:00

Our next race:

Saturday, May 5, 8 a.m.
Start: at the Brookhaven MARTA station
Finish: BIG Peach Running Co. on Peachtree
Rolling course through beautiful, quaint, tree-lined Brookhaven
Proceeds benefit The leukemia & Lymphoma Society [AKA TEAM in Training]
HUGE post-race party w/food, drinks, & more!
Awards to overall male/female & masters + 3 deep in age groups
Door Prizes
Registration fills at 1,200; Last I heard it was at 1,000!

4.23.07

2007-04-23T08:54:00.000-04:00

Hit the snooze 3 times this a.m. :~O Actually, I got up before the 4th. I read this week that's an average [3 times on the snooze], which means that somebody out there is hitting it like 5 times, right? I didn't have time for that. 3 miles on the mill.

HA HA HA HA

2007-04-21T18:43:00.000-04:00

Two hikers on a trail came around the bend to find an enormous brown bear about 75 yards up the trail. The bear spies them and begins running toward them at a full gallop. One hiker drops his backpack, sits down, throws off his boots, and starts lacing up a pair of running shoes. The other hiker says: "What are you doing? You will never outrun that bear!". The first hiker replies: "I don't have to outrun the bear..."

Hacker breaks into Mac at security conference

2007-04-21T17:42:00.000-04:00

$10,000 prize for the CanSecWest challenge winner

April 20, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- A hacker managed to break into a Mac and win a $10,000 prize as part of a contest started at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver.

In winning the contest, he exposed a hole in Safari, Apple Inc.’s browser. "Currently, every copy of OS X out there now is vulnerable to this," said Sean Comeau, one of the organizers of CanSecWest.

The conference organizers decided to offer the contest in part to draw attention to possible security shortcomings in Macs. "You see a lot of people running OS X saying it's so secure and frankly Microsoft is putting more work into security than Apple has," [well, duh -- that’s because IE is an insecure piece of junk!] said Dragos Ruiu, the principal organizer of security conferences including CanSecWest.

Initially, contestants were invited to try to access one of two Macs through a wireless access point while the Macs had no programs running. No attackers managed to do so, and so conference organizers allowed participants to try to get in through the browser by sending URLs via e-mail.

Dino Di Zovie, who lives in New York, sent along a URL that exposed the hole. Since the contest was only open to attendees in Vancouver, he sent it to a friend who was at the conference and forwarded it on.

The URL opened a blank page but exposed a vulnerability in input handling in Safari, Comeau said. An attacker could use the vulnerability in a number of ways, but Di Zovie used it to open a back door that gave him access to anything on the computer, Comeau said.

4.21.07

2007-04-21T13:12:00.000-04:00

Two laps around the Rock (10 miles) and then, as an added BONUS, we climbed the mountain! WooHoo.... haven't done that in like 14 years!!! I think we'll make it a regular part of our workout -- GREAT for the calves! They were starting to cramp about 2/3 the way up. I ONLY WISH I had had my Garmin on while we climbed the mountain. I would like to have seen the elevation when I downloaded the info to my computer at home!

The weather was so BEAUTIFUL! No more of that 20 degree stuff we had to put up with while training for the marathon. Our time was 1:44:09 -- that's including a stop for fluids -- didn't bother with Fuel Belts today. Not too good on time -- just a nice easy run. We weren't kicking it like the Kenyans who FLEW past us on occasion [and the guy on roller blades!].

Much preparation was going one for the Tour de Georgia that will wrap up today's leg in the park this afternoon.

Tomorrow will be an off day [as usual] with 3 miles on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this week.

4.20.07

2007-04-20T08:52:00.000-04:00

3 miles on the mill this a.m. NO energy whatsoever!

When the alarm went off I was dreaming about the Tour de Georgia. I was dreaming that they were on the last leg and I was standing on the side of Cleveland Avenue watching then truck up the BIG hill. They were dying. I specifically remember one biker coming by me with all this “stuff” – like everything he owned in the world – attached to his back and to his bike. He was like a “homeless person” on a bike – he was toast! I didn’t see Lance though. I know, I know, he’s not on the Tour this year – but at least you’d think he could show up in my dreams. Anyway, I was so worn out after that dream – I think it ZAPPED all my energy! Hope I get some before tomorrow. 2 laps around the Rock! I’ll take a SPIKE pill first.

4.18.07

2007-04-18T08:56:00.000-04:00

3 miles on the mill. BORING!

On Saturday, we will run 2 laps around the Rock (10 miles). My first long run (if you can call that long -- I really don't) since the marathon. CAN'T WAIT!!! It should be beautiful weather!

Yesterday, Sari Beri and I went to pick strawberries at Little Billy's for the first time this season. They aren't quite ripe enough yet, but it was open and the price and quality SURE beat the grocery store strawberries.

4.16.07

2007-04-16T09:37:00.000-04:00

3 miles on the mill this a.m.

Finally, after 3 weeks of weirdness, I am back to a "normal" (if you can call this life normal) schedule.

Flood Warnings and Wind Advisories are in effect for much of the Boston area!
The 111th Boston Marathon kicked off at 9:35 this a.m. with heavy rain, high winds, and flooding on some parts of the course to greet runners. Over 2000 were "no-shows" for the race this year, primarily due to horrific weather conditions in the region no doubt. Power was out in some parts and there were many airport delays and cancellations as well. Glad I'm not running this year! I doubt there will be any course records set today.

Masazumi Soejima of Japan has won the men's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon in an unofficial time of one hour, 29 minutes and 15 seconds.

Wakako Tsuchida of Japan has won the women's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon.

Women's Winner

33 year-old Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia won the 111th Boston Marathon in a time of 2:29:18. She reached into the crowd to grab a flag moments before crossing the finish line.

Cheruiyot Repeats

Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot is the repeat winner of the Boston Marathon, crossing the finish line in 2:14:13, 7 minutes off the course record that he set here last year.

This is what happens when people spend too much time on the Internet!

2007-04-14T14:09:00.000-04:00

Elderly Woman Found Alive Under Garbage Pile in Home

Saturday , April 14, 2007

WOODMERE, N.Y. —

An elderly woman was rescued after being found buried beneath a pile of debris, garbage and animal feces in a home, authorities said. An elderly man was found dead.

Helen Bushwick, 85, was discovered Thursday when volunteer firefighters responded to the two-story house after relatives said they couldn't reach her. Debris mixed with human and animal waste was piled high in every room, some all the way to the ceiling.

"A six-foot pile of rubbish collapsed on her and trapped her in there," Erik Kinney, a volunteer firefighter, said of Bushwick.

The man was found Friday when authorities resumed a search. His name was not released.

Bushwick was taken to a hospital where she was admitted with dehydration. Officials weren't sure how long they had been trapped, but neighbors said they last saw them about a week ago.

There was garbage — "cans, boxes, clothing, papers, whatever you can collect in every room, some spots to the ceiling, some three feet to the ceiling," Kinney said. "Feces — raccoon, possum and human" were found in buckets and in the trash.

"The stench was very strong, as you can imagine," he added.

A sign was posted on the home saying it was unfit for human occupancy, John Rottkamp, first deputy commissioner of the buildings department in the town of Hempstead, which has jurisdiction over Woodmere. The gas also had been turned off.

The house will be boarded up, and the woman's relatives will be allowed to go through the contents, authorities said.

Another Reason to STAY ON THE COUCH!

2007-04-14T12:45:00.000-04:00

Nailgun injuries soar among weekend warriors

Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:54AM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Take a nation of do-it-yourselfers, add a ready supply of cheap nailguns and what do you get? About 37,000 nailgun injuries a year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since 1991, nailgun injuries have risen about 200 percent, the CDC said in its weekly report on death and disease.

"This increase likely corresponds to an increase in availability during the 1990s of inexpensive pneumatic nail guns and air compressors (to power the nail guns) in home hardware stores; however, no sales data are available for confirmation," the CDC reported.

But when the CDC looked at who was getting injured, it became clear that the number of work-related nailgun injuries had stayed stable since 1998. It was consumer-related injuries that had soared.

"During the 5-year period 2001-2005, an average of approximately 37,000 patients with injuries related to nail-gun use were treated annually in emergency departments, with 40 percent of injuries occurring among consumers," the report read.

Emergency departments treated three times as many consumers with nail-gun injuries in 2005 as they did in 1991, the report noted.

The CDC said more needs to be done to make consumers aware of the dangers.

2007-04-13T08:59:00.000-04:00

3-miles on the mill.

Fast and Flat are both relative.

- Train Strong

CAKE CONFIDENTIAL

2007-04-12T15:02:00.000-04:00

[If you're like me and grew up in the big ATL you my have fond memories of the Rich's Bakery. If so, this my interest you as it has so many this week.]

Guardian of recipe spills secrets

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Published on: 04/08/07, By JIM AUCHMUTEY

Carl Dendy has the original recipe for Rich's coconut cake, but you probably wouldn't want to use it. The photocopied recipe from the department store bakery he ran during its heyday in the '60s and '70s would make at least 10 nine-inch cakes.

I wondered if we were going to bake every one of them when Carl e-mailed me the ingredients he needed to test a domesticated version at his house in Rockdale County.

5 lbs cake flour, 2 cans Crisco, 5 pounds granulated sugar ...

"Carl," I said, arriving at his front door with the requested groceries, "are we feeding the Rockdale County road crew?"

"We may need to make it more than once," he said, allowing that he might be out of practice.

A few minutes later, Angie Mosier, the Atlanta baker whose fond memory of Rich's coconut cake led to this story, walked in with an armful of pans. The two of them went straight to work reducing the recipe to more manageable portions. Sitting at Carl's breakfast table — under a sampler that read "Give us this day our daily bread" — they puzzled out the ratios on a yellow legal pad. "We call this baker's math," Angie said.

Only then were they ready to get their hands messy.

Carl had insisted on frozen, sweetened coconut — found next to frozen fruit at the supermarket — instead of the unrefrigerated bags of grated coconut that most of us know. At Rich's, he said, they always used the freshest coconut they could find without cracking the shells themselves.

"That was the most important ingredient. I imagine it accounted for a third of the cake's weight."

As Angie mixed the batter and creamed the icing, I asked Carl why he had specified Crisco and powdered milk. I mean, those aren't exactly from the pages of Gourmet.

"You wanted Rich's coconut cake," he said. "That's what we used."

And with good reason, Angie explained. Large-scale bakeries often use shortening and powdered milk because butter and fresh milk require costly refrigeration and raise food safety risks. Besides, shortening makes a pure white frosting that's easier to spread than one made with butter.

After the cakes came out of the oven, Angie turned one out of the pan. A couple of sizable chunks broke off.

"We fix that by spackling and cementing it with frosting," she said, not missing a beat.

"Happens all the time in bakeries," Carl agreed.

"Yeah, the more mistakes you make, the more goo you get."

It was time to assemble the cake. One of the secrets, Carl said, is the way the coconut is applied.

For the frosting between the three layers, he made a bowl of simple syrup — half water, half sugar — and added coconut to it. As Angie iced the tops of the first and second layers, she made a buttercream levee around the edges and Carl spooned the coconut/syrup on top of the frosting. It looked almost as moist as a trifle.

After she finished frosting the outside of the cake, Angie and Carl liberally appliquéd the surface with the rest of the coconut, which wasn't nearly as wet.

Carl, the man who launched a million coconut cakes, cut the first slice, looking as delighted as a boy at his 12th birthday party.

He took a bite.

"Strong vanilla flavor. Nice and moist. Very sweet."

Another bite.

"You know, I think we could have used more coconut."

Rich's Bakeshop Icing

16 servings
Hands on: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons powdered milk
1/2 cup water (for dissolving milk powder)

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the vegetable shortening, vanilla and salt and cream together until incorporated. Slowly add the confectioners' sugar until it forms a very thick consistency. Dissolve the powdered milk in the water and gradually add, just 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time, until the icing is a nice, spreadable consistency.

Rich's Bakeshop Yellow Cake

16 servings (three thin 9-inch layers or two thicker 9-inch layers)
Hands on: 30 minutes
b>Total time: 50-60 minutes

Rich's always did a three-layer cake, with two layers of coconut filling, but some home cooks don't have three pans of the same size, so two would work just fine.

Shortening and flour for pans
2 1/4 cups cake flour (if you can't find cake flour, use White Lily brand all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon powdered milk
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup liquid milk (2 percent or whole)
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake pans by lightly greasing with shortening, then dusting with flour. In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir the powdered milk into the water and mix until dissolved. Combine the liquid milk with the powdered milk/water mixture and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add about half the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated, and then half the milk mixture, again beating until just incorporated. Repeat this step, adding the remaining flour with the remaining liquid, and beat until just smooth (about 1 minute). Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowls once or twice during the mixing. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake in preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on how many cake pans you use and how full they are. The cake is done when it springs back when lightly pressed near the center with your finger. Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely.

Rich's Bakeshop Coconut Cake

16 servings
Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 1/2 hours

Angie Mosier tested and rewrote the recipe for home use.

2 pounds frozen unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 or 3 layers Rich's Bakeshop Yellow Cake (see recipe)
1 batch Rich's Bakeshop Icing (see recipe)

In a large bowl, thaw the frozen coconut. Set aside. Take 1 1/2 cups of the coconut and place in a smaller bowl. Combine the water and sugar and pour over this smaller bowl of coconut. This should be very moist but not soupy. Place one layer of the yellow cake on a cake plate and spread with icing. Spoon the moistened coconut over that. Place the next layer on top and spread with icing, spooning the moistened coconut over it. Continue this process until all your layers are filled; however, don't put the moist filling on the very top of the last layer, as it will be iced. Next, cover the entire cake with the icing. Make sure to use a thick coating of icing on the cake to eliminate any of the cake showing through. Take handfuls of the dry, thawed coconut and press the flakes into the buttercream. You may want to put a tray underneath to catch any coconut that falls as you do this. Continue pressing dry, flaky coconut all over the cake until it is completely covered. Chill for about one hour to set (it helps the coconut to stay) and then serve.

Number of morbidly obese growing rapidly

2007-04-11T14:18:00.000-04:00

Study finds 3 percent of Americans are 100 pounds or more overweight

Reuters 11:35 a.m. ET April 10, 2007

WASHINGTON - People who are 100 pounds or more overweight are the fastest-growing group of overweight people in the United States, researchers reported on Monday.

They found the proportion of the severely obese was 50 percent higher in 2005 than it had been in 2000 — a startling rate of growth.

“The proportion of people at the high end of the weight scale continues to increase at a brisk rate despite increased public attention on the risks of obesity and the increased use of drastic weight loss strategies such as bariatric surgery,” said Roland Sturm, an economist at Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research institute.

“The explosion in the use of bariatric (weight-loss) surgery has made no noticeable dent in the trend of morbid obesity,” Sturm added in a statement.

The researchers found that based on self-reported height and weight, which tends to underestimate the weight part, 3 percent of Americans are already severely obese — defined as having a body mass index of 40 or higher.

Body mass index is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by the square of a person’s height in meters.

The researchers, whose report will be published later this year in the journal Public Health, found that the proportion of Americans with a BMI of 30 or more increased by 24 percent between 2000 and 2005.

The proportion of people with a BMI of 40 or more increased by 50 percent and the proportion of Americans with a BMI of 50 or more increased by 75 percent.

The number of bariatric procedures, which include stomach stapling and stomach bypass surgery, rose to an estimated 200,000 in 2006 from 13,000 in 1998.

More than 30 percent of Americans are overweight, with a BMI between 25 and 29, and another 30 percent on top of that are obese, defined as having a BMI of 30 or above.

Overweight people have higher risks of heart disease, diabetes and some cancer, and obesity makes the risks much more imminent.

[scary stuff!]

4.11.07

2007-04-11T08:51:00.000-04:00

3 miles on the mill.