More Christmas Updates

I know that you're all starving for content with reruns on television for the past couple of weeks, so here's a few things for you to enjoy:

There's another photo album online. This one has pictures from the Isaacson family celebration on the 26th.

Also, check out Ben's Running Log for a picture of what Ben looks like when he runs in the cold.

Finally, check out the poll on the right, which refers to the picture on the BenCam.

Have fun!

Merry Christmas to all!

I've already got two photo albums up:

Comande Christmas 2005 - Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's is always a thrill.
Christmas Day 2005 - More fun with the "immediate" family.

More on the way after tomorrow's celebration!

Let the partying begin

Here's what's on tap in the days to come:
December 23 (Today): Profit Sharing Celebration at work
December 24: Comande family Christmas party
December 25: Immediate family Christmas party, another Comande family gathering
December 26: Isaacson family Christmas party
It's going to be a busy but fun and exciting time for everyone. And as soon as things settle down, I'll post lots of photos.

Some milestones from Wednesday the 21st:
Happy Birthday, Grandpa Milt!
Happy Anniversary, Eric and Gina!

Christmas Greetings (finally)

So, Jenelle and I still haven't perfected the art of getting all of the Christmas stuff done on time. We bought our last present yesterday evening, and we're just now putting out our online Christmas letter. We're also sending out about 65 cards, which are going in the mail today. Which, unfortunately, means that some of you who are traveling for the holidays won't have them until you get back. Oops. There's always next year, right? :)

In other news, we should have posted this on Sunday: Happy Birthday, Sarah! Sarah was the maid of honor at our wedding, and she ran the Chicago Marathon in 2004. She also has her own web page.

Mmmmmm.... Bus

One of Jenelle's co-workers is leaving SCJ, and her group is having a farewell party for him. Jenelle's contribution to this party is a cake. The person who is leaving is nicknamed "The Bus". So, Jenelle made this work of art:

Yes, it's totally edible.

In other news: Happy Birthday, Uncle Dan!

Ben's Shopping Saturday

Let's start off with this annoucement (a day early): Happy Birthday, Andrew!

I went to a number of stores today to buy Christmas gifts and a couple of things for myself. Three somewhat interesting events occurred:

• The lady in front of me in the checkout line at Best Buy attempted to buy two $20 gift cards and four $15 gift cards (for a total of $100). Her form of payment was a card that said "Best Buy Store Credit" on it. Suprisingly, the cashier informed her that she couldn't use store credit to buy gift cards. Why not? It's still store credit, isn't it? Is there some kind of loophole I'm not saying that would allow someone to profit from this?
  
• The fitting room at Dick's Sporting Goods is huge. It's also in the middle of the store -- surrounded by merchandise hung on very high walls.
  
• The person in front of me at another store paid by check. The cashier said, "I'll need to see a driver's license." I noted that cashier wasn't specific about whose driver's license she wanted to see. The guy behind me also noticed, and we simultaneously opened our wallets and said, "Here's one."

Jenelle also went on a shopping trip today, but I'll let her tell you about that.

Three Crazy Days

For those of you who think weekdays are boring --
Monday night: We went to a Bulls game with Adam H. and Allison. I brought my camera. :)
Tuesday night: Small group with Steve, Mary, Jamie, Janet, and Jack. I should have brought my camera (I'll get picture when I go next week).
Wednesday: I played bass at a meeting at work, and then I played guitar at church. Fun musical times.

I'm working on several things right now. Most are holiday-related, but one that isn't is another movie -- I'm using the photos and some camera footage to make a movie of our visit to Paris.

Thanks to everyone who has voted in the poll. Dare I try and train for Houston? I'm still not sure.

Seattle Marathon Movie!

Head on over to the movies page, or just use this direct link to watch a movie I put together using the footage that Jenelle took during my run in Seattle. It's about 10 megabytes, so it might take a little while to load.

THANKS to everyone who has voted in the poll and/or submitted comments regarding where I should run my next marathon. I wonder who voted for Houston -- Todd, was that you? :)

A milestone birthday for my cousin on Dec. 3: Happy 21st Birthday, Amanda!

TWO new albums

Be sure to head on over to the usual photos page for two photo albums from this past weekend. One has highlights from our Thanksgiving trip to Oregon -- everything EXCEPT the marathon. The second album is where you'll find the marathon pictures. Thanks to Dave, Pam, and Jenelle for keeping the cameras clicking while cheering and providing all kinds of support and assistance during the race!

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you're bored this Sunday, check out Ben's Running Log for real-time updates from the Seattle Marathon starting at 8 a.m. Pacific time (10 a.m. in the Midwest). Otherwise, have a relaxing weekend!

As promised, here's Adam & Adam!

Congrats to my friend, Adam, and his fiancee, Leslie. They're getting married on December 17!

---

Congrats to my friend, Adam, and his fiancee, Allison. They're getting married on August 5!

Pseudo-Thanksgiving

Pictures!!!!!! are already online from today's Pseudo-Thanksgiving party. Enjoy!

Oh, yeah, and there's a new poll. Don't forget to vote!

Resurrecting Deep Throat

What is it with Bob Woodward? It's like he just can't be content unless the whole nation knows he has a secret.

First there was deep throat, and granted, that was a huge secret for many years. But once we all found out that it was just Mark Felt, the whole word was like, "Who?" I think it the lack of a whoop-de-doo was kind of a letdown for Woodward. First off, Vanity Fair scooped him on his own story. Second, it was news for about 15 minutes, and everyone moved on. The shroud of mystery was gone and Woodward was no longer a vault, but just a journalist. (But to his credit, a credible and well-respected journalist.)The mystery often is better than the truth.

So now, he comes out and says that in fact someone told him about Valerie Plame first. So na na na. He's got a secret once more. But I bet Woodward doesn't let this secret sit in the vault for two long. In fact, he's already hinting and saying who his source is NOT. So only about 5 1/2 billion more hints, and we'll have his source nailed.

Since when are journalists supposed to be the news? Is there really not enough going on in the world that journalists can't just suffer in jail for a few days to protect their sources like old times, instead of brokering deals with the government and doling out hints right and left? Next thing you know, the headline on the New York Times or the Washington Post will be: "Woodward eats ham sandwich at deli, denies reports that meat cutter leaked CIA info"

Can't we all just go back to being mad about the President, the war, the weather or whatever?

And Then There Were Two

Jenelle posted an entry below, so make sure you read that. :)

Many of you know that I have two friends named Adam, both of whom were groomsmen at our wedding. Adam W. is getting married on December 17 in Pennsylvania, and I plan to be in attendance. Over the weekend, I learned that Adam H. recently got engaged, and he will be gettting married on August 5, 2006! I'll try and get a picture of each of these two happy couples for a future post. For now, let me just say:

Congratulations, Adam!   Congratulations, Adam!

In other news, I have restored the "number of comments" feature. I originally had trouble getting the number to update itself after someone posted a comment, so I took the number part of it out. Whatever the problem was, I think it's gone now. So, step up to the virtual microphone!

I feel the love!

So, I hear that many of you want to hear more about what's going on with Jenelle. So here I am ready to answer all your questions. The truth is, I've been really busy at work and just haven't gotten around to posting much lately. And I don't anticipate much of a slow down at work before the holiday closing.

As many of you know, we're heading to Oregon for a couple days over Thanksgiving. I'd love to see as many of you as possible, but we will be in only for a couple days. We're planning to take a little road trip to Seattle on Saturday and Sunday, so we won't be in Portland that much. Just for Turkey Day and then Shopping Day. It's practically a tradition. Brave the crowds and hope for a bargain.

In anticipation of the holidays, I spent the afternoon steaming pumpkins. Since Halloween is over, Wal-Mart was having a special on pumpkins -- 25 cents each. So we got a couple and I made a complete mess out of the kitchen getting them all steamed, mashed and frozen. Here's a tip. Don't take the lid off when you're using the blender, but more importantly, don't stick the spatula into the blender while it's turned on. You'll get one big shredded plastic mess. If any of you accidentally get a bite of purple plastic in your pumpkin pie this holiday, I apologize profusely.

Next order of business -- restitching some throw pillows I had opened up to redistribute the batting. Call me Martha.

Is anyone else annoyed that now you can't see how many comments have been posted for a particular posting? I'll have to talk with Ben and see if we can fix that.

Movie added

Someone in the poll said they wanted more movies. So, I found one from Easter that I took using my digital camera. Aunt Gail would pretend to "chase" Ella, who would run around the corner and hide. After a moment, Ella would check to see if Gail was still there. Noticing that, yes, Gail was still there, Ella would run back to her previous spot. Very cute. Here it is.

This clip is about seven months old, which means that Ella is about 37% older now than she was when this movie was taken. It's amazing how much she's grown.

And this is the perfect time for me to plug the sites that feature Ella, Lily, Andrew, and Holly (a.k.a. my brother and his family). They've got a weblog, photos, and movies. Enjoy!

Out of nowhere

Here's a recap of the Northwestern-Iowa game that Jenelle and I attended earlier today. We were present for the entire game, but we almost left late in the 4th quarter when Iowa was about to kick a field goal and take a 16-point lead. The field goal attempt was unsuccessful, and the deficit remained at 13. NU drove the length of the field, and then we were down by 6 points with 2:10 to play. An absolutely perfect onside kick gave us the ball, and we scored again. NU ended up winning 28-27. I was THERE, and I am still amazed at how quickly things turned around.

Early November updates

There's not as much exciting new stuff here as there was last week, but here's a few tasty nuggets:

1) There's a new poll. Have you voted?
2) Our wish lists have been updated. Just click on Ben or Jenelle next to "Gifts" on the navigation bar at the top. If you want your list online as well, let me know.
3) The BenCam is now hosted at my new account instead of my .Mac account. Yawn.
4) I might be running another marathon soon. Check the Running Log for details.

New old photos

Be sure to read the "Something Neat" post below about a game I recently added to the site.

In other news, as I was transferring old photo albums from .Mac into Shutterfly, I noticed that I had never published an album of photos from our party on July 3, 2005 and the parade on July 4, 2005. I just put it online, and you can enjoy this album here.

Something Neat

My new hosting plan has inspired me to try some different things with the world wide web. When I'm not busy transferring my .Mac photo albums over to our Shutterfly account or moving the Disney Journal, I'm working on my second project involving PHP and MySQL databases (This Day in Isaacson Family History was the first).

I am wondering:

1. Do you enjoy games where you have to use your brain?
   
2. Have you heard of a board game called Mastermind?
   
3. Are you related to me, or do you know several of the people in my family?
   

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions (and even if you didn't), you might enjoy the game I just created. Introducing...

Family Series

Give it a try, and let me know what you think of it. If you're confused, there's an instructions link here and in the bottom left corner of the game screen. Party on!

We've moved... sorta

The site of this blog moved today from http://ibenj.blogspot.com to its new home at http://www.benandjenelle.com. This probably doesn't mean a lot to the average reader. However, it will help me tremendously. By hosting the blog through my own plan, I can do some neat things with site content.

For example: Check out the POLL in the right-hand column. I'll be updating the poll every so often to keep things exciting. And, yes, I'm open to suggestions on what the next poll question should be. :)

Anyway, let me know if the change is causing you trouble. I tried to make the move as smoothly as possible.

History!

Many of you relatives may have noticed that the "This Day in Isaacson Family History" site has been down for maintenance for a while. Why did I take it down? Well, maybe it was just so that I could re-activate it and make the following announcement:

This Day in Isaacson Family History is back up! :)

You can once again add your favorite family events to the database. If you can think of something exciting or interesting to add, go right ahead! Birthdays and weddings are the most common, but any kind of event is welcome. There's 64 events in the database at the time of this post, and there's room for lots more. Go for it!

Paris DONE, New TV stand

There's been a lot of posts this week. Are you sure you've read them all?

Photos from days six and seven of the Paris trip are now online at the same place as the rest of photos. We also took some video while we were there, but I'm not sure how much of it I'm planning to use. The photos do a fairly good job of summing up our adventures.

Anyway, Jenelle was in Illinois yesterday with cousins Gina and Katie, hanging out and doing some shopping. She bought a new TV stand at Ikea. We still have to fix it up a bit so that the cable box doesn't hang over the edge, but it's looking better than our old one. Here's a comparison for you:

Before:

After:

This is Today

More content? Sure! Check this movie out:

Jenelle on the Today show - Thursday, October 20

Having trouble spotting her? Look at the right side of the screen shortly after Al Roker says "pizza boxes".

Paris, Days 4 and 5

The posts keep coming here at Ben and Jenelle's WebJournal. Head back over to our Shutterfly page for even more photos from Paris. Enjoy!

More Paris photos AND a marathon movie!

I just added an album containing 44 photos of days 2 and 3 of our Paris trip to our Shutterfly site. I was originally going to write a journal entry here, but it's getting late, and I think the photos sum up the days pretty well.

And here's something else for you to enjoy. Using the footage that my dad took while I was running the marathon, I made a six-minute video that sums up the action on race day. You'll have to drop by our place to get the high-quality version, but I have put a compressed verion of it online. It's about 21.3 megabytes, so dial-up users will have to be patient:

Movie -- Milwaukee's Lakefront Marathon

And just when you thought I couldn't add any more content to the site -- notice that the BenCam has a picture of me holding a box of everyone's favorite atomic popcorn, EXPLOD-O-POP, as seen on the David Letterman show. Jenelle bought it for me when she was in New York yesterday. I'll have something even more exciting that's New York-related to show you in the near future. I'm doing my best to keep my blog readers happy. :)

Last, but not least, two birthdays are coming up tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 21):
Happy Birthday, Uncle Randy!
Happy Birthday, Jeri!

Paris, Day 1

Since everyone in the family is going the way of Shutterfly, I've set up a Paris photo album in my Shutterfly account. The address to look at my albums is easy to remember -- http://ibenj.shutterfly.com. I've only got one day's worth of photos up there right now, but I'll have more up later this week. Here's a journal entry for you:

Dimanche, le 9 octobre (Sunday, October 9)
We left Chicago on Saturday evening. The 7-hour time change got us to Paris on Sunday morning. After taking a bus from the airport to the Arc De Triomphe, we walked a few blocks to the Elysees Union Hotel, our home for the week to come.

After a brief nap, we headed south toward the Eiffel Tower (which we could see from our balcony). We walked around the Palais De Chaillot and the Trocadero Gardens, a great place from which to take photos of the tower. There were plenty of tourists around, including a German couple who asked us to take their picture. We obliged, and they took one of us.

We eventually crossed the Seine and walked underneath the tower, our digital camera clicking away. Things were so busy today that the top floor of the tower was closed. It didn't matter to us, as we weren't in any hurry to go up the tower. We walked through the Parc Du Champ De Mars, which is the green area just to the south.

We eventually got hungry, and we ate a cafe called Le Royal Tour, only a block or two away from the tower. Jenelle had a tomato salad, and I had the "steak frites" (steak with fries). Not bad for our first meal. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a boulangerie (bakery) and picked up a baguette -- yum. We also visited a nearby market and bought some fruit.

Though there was still plenty of daylight, we were tired from the time change, so we relaxed at our hotel for the rest of the evening. We noticed that the Eiffel Tower has lights which make it sparkle. The effect could be observed every night for the first ten minutes of any hour from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. -- there's a picture of it, and I'll try and get a video up as well.

That's all for now!

Euro for your thoughts

I had a productive pre-work morning today. I got up, ran three miles, balanced the checkbook, ate breakfast, packed my lunch, and loaded the dishwasher all before heading to work. Yay me. :)

Jenelle and I used last night for some quality "veg out" time. We watched a lot of the shows that we recorded last week, and we also got a few loads of laundry done.

Paris photos will be coming soon. Until then, I'd like to share this story:

While looking for something nice to bring back from Paris, I thought it would be neat to have a polo / collared shirt that says "Paris" or "France" that I could wear to work. There were a lot of touristy stands that had t-shirts, but nothing that I would consider suitable for SCJ. So, we proceeded to two French department stores on the north side of Paris -- Galleries Lafayette and Au Printemps.

I was thinking that I would find a lot of authentic French merchandise at these stores. However, the departments with shirts for men looked a lot like department stores around here. Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, and other American brands seemed to be the headliners. And the prices were, of course, higher than what I'm used to. A simple polo shirt cost 60 euros, or about 72 dollars. Since I could get the same exact stuff back here in the states, I decided to save my money for other things.

On Sunday, Jenelle and I went to Madison to visit Sarah (Jenelle's college roommate), who was in town for a wedding. On the way home, we went to the Old Navy Outlet in Johnson Creek. I bought three polo shirts on clearance, and Jenelle bought a pair of pants. The total for all four articles of clothing -- $ 22.10.

God bless America.

Back on American soil

Hi all!

Yesterday was the LONGEST Saturday ever. We got up around 8:30 a.m. Paris time, did a few small errands and then took a bus to the airport. Our flight left at 2:20 p.m. Paris time, and arrived at 4:00 p.m. Chicago time (11:00 p.m. in Paris). After taking the shuttle back to Wisconsin, picking up our mail, and unpacking, we relaxed for a few hours. We went to bed at about 10:30 p.m., which is 5:30 a.m. Paris time. Besides a short nap or two on the plane, we were awake for 21 hours. The strange thing is that we couldn't sleep much past 6:30 a.m. this morning. Oh well. :)

I have over 250 photos and about a half hour of video to look over -- I'll try and get some of it online soon.

Also, on Wednesday, October 12: Happy Birthday, Laura!

A paris

It's wednesday in paris and we're having a great time. We've been to Notre Dame, le Tour Eiffel, Versailles, l'Arc de Triomphe, le Louvre, Musee D'Orsay and beaucoup de places in between. We'll have lots of photos to post this weekend. Au revoir for now.

Soon enough

Wednesday, September 28: It's a girl! Welcome, Lily Grace Isaacson! More Info
Thursday, September 29: Happy Birthday, Hunter!
Saturday, October 1: Happy Birthday, Lucas!
Tuesday, October 4: Happy Birthday, Aunt Lisa!

There will be lots of exciting things coming to this blog -- just not right now. I promise more info soon. Probably not tomorrow, probably not the next day, but soon. :)

And we're off!

We're heading out now for the marathon! Look for more blog updates soon as Ben starts the race.

Tuesday Fun Times

Marathon day is fast approaching. I'll actually be posting updates to Ben's Running Blog during the race. Yup, DURING the race. Head over to that blog for details.

Some of you might be a bit curious about the photo currently appearing in the BenCam. It's Jenelle and two friends from our Tuesday night small group. That's Janet on the left, and Mary is on the right.

And while I'm on the subject, let me take this opportunity to explain what we do every Tuesday night when our small group gathers together. To make things more fun, I'll use a question-and-answer format.

Why did you join this group?
Since our marriage in March 2003, Jenelle and I have been looking for more opportunities to get connected with more people our age. Most of our friends from school don't live in the area, so we were often bored on weekends. While Jenelle and I really enjoy spending time with each other, there's still a need to socialize and hang out with other people.

How did you meet the people in the group?
Last year, we began attending Kenosha Bible Church regularly on Sunday mornings. The church, which is fairly large, has several small groups available. We expressed interest in small groups with one of the pastors at the church, and he gave our contact information to the people in the small group. A member of the group (Janet, specifically) contacted us and gave us the details of the group (meeting times, etc.). A week or so later, we were in! :)

So, what exactly do you do? Read the Bible and pray?
Yes, we do spend time studying the Bible and praying, but there's more to it than that. Here's a typical Tuesday evening:

• We arrive and talk informally for the first 20-30 minutes, sharing recent events, checking up on each other, and just having a good time. There's usually quite a bit of laughter. Sometimes our conversations get so involved that they spill over into the rest of the night's events.
  
• We all have copies of the "Celebration Hymnal", which contains both traditional and contemporary songs. We pick 4-5 songs from the hymnal and sing them together.
  
• Next, we share praises and prayer requests -- not just for ourselves, but for friends and family. This week, I'll share a prayer request -- that everything goes well for all 2300+ runners in this weekend's marathon.
  
• We'll spend about five minutes in prayer. Usually about 3 of us take turns and pray out loud for the various requests we just discussed.
  
• We read through the Bible passage that we've picked for the day (we're in the book of Luke right now) and discuss it. This is usually the most "serious" part of the evening. However, it is often preceded by a hilarious discussion of who will read what verses. Example:
  "Okay, we're reading verses 18-53, so that's five for everyone."
  "Wait, there's 36 verses."
  "18, 19, 20.... oh yeah, you're right."
  "So, uh, six of us could read six verses each."
  "Yeah, or we could all read five and someone reads one extra..."
  Well, it's not hilarious when typed into a blog post. But rest assured, the small group has a special ability to make even the simplest task an interesting endeavor. :)
  
• Once we finish going through the reading, we have more informal gathering. Sometimes we'll talk about upcoming non-Tuesday events that we'll be doing together. Examples: Concert at Ravinia Park, Brewer game, shopping trip.
  

I like to think of the small group simply as some friends getting together. It's like a party every Tuesday night. :)

Do you enjoy it?
Very much! It's always great to hang out with friends. Oh, and I forgot to mention -- there's food at every gathering. :)

I am blessed to have close ties with both my mom and my dad's side of the family, and I enjoy spending time with all of my relatives. However, the small group has taught me that there are great benefits from a close-knit group of people who can help each other out in both good times and bad. Our common faith brought us together and continues to keep us together.

Regardless of how you might feel about religion -- if there's someone who's been a good friend to you, whether it was last week or last year -- be sure to let that friend know that you appreciate him/her. It sounds cheesy, but I bet it'll make you feel better.

The Thunder Rolls

A late-summer / early-fall storm greeted us this morning around 4 a.m. Some of the thunder was quite loud, and some of it was so close that we could feel the ground shake.

On a related note, we leave near two car dealerships. A lot of those new-fangled automobiles have sensitive alarm systems.

I'll leave it to you to figure out the rest of the story.

Photo Time Again

I know that a new entry is long overdue, so I put together another photo album. Trips to Oregon are always lots of fun!

We arrived late Thursday night. We spent most of Friday relaxing, shopping, and hanging out with friends.

Saturday was a much busier day -- I got up and ran 10 miles, and then I went with Jenelle, Pam, Jeff, and Lucas to the Beaverton Farmer's Market. We bought berries, vegetables, and some incredibly tasty cheese-flavored kettle corn. From there, we went to the library, which is a place where Lucas really likes to go. We had lunch at Red Robin.

After a quick stop at home to change, we were off to Melanie and Kevin's wedding. I didn't know a lot of the people in attendance, but Jenelle knew quite a few. I was more than happy to have Jenelle parade me around like the trophy husband that I am. :) We went to a place in downtown Portland for more fun after the wedding.

Sunday was another relaxing day (after my 20-mile run, anyways). For dinner, we had most of the Walter family over for a cookout. Fun times.

On September 13: Happy Birthday, Aunt Gail!
And TODAY (the 16th): Happy Birthday, Dad!

oh yeah, one more thing...

... we're heading to Oregon next weekend. Holler if you want to see us.

The freckled face red headed girl you oughta know...

Ben and I just got back from running some errands -- I had to go to Toys R Us to find a movie for work. While we were perusing the $3.99 VHS specials, I came across one of my favorite movies from my childhood -- on DVD! No, not Cinderella - that doesn't come out until October 3 -- and not Mary Poppins, or Strawberry Shortcake or Rainbow Brite. This is way better.

The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking. Crazy Pippi - the things she can do! Not only does she scrub floors like she's roller skating and go down waterfalls in barrels, but she can fly! And you thought those red pigtail braids were just there to look cute!

So Ben isn't super excited about watching it with me -- especially since I've already started singing all the songs from the movie. Yeah, I remember them. And I'm sure there's someone out there who remembers them too. Anyone?

Clarkin' It

It's September already?!?!?! Yes, it is.

It is also the first day of school, and I got stopped by a school bus this morning. I'm sure all of the kids are THRILLED to be back to the books. :)

With gas prices on the rise, I'm sure lots of people have pictures of gas stations with the incredibly high per-gallon rates perfectly in focus. Well, I don't have any of those. Instead, I have an interesting story to share.

In between work and church yesterday evening, I noticed my tank was just below 1/4, so I would have to stop somewhere to get gas soon. I figured that sooner was better than later, given how prices have been going up so frequently. I pulled into a Clark station, where the sign said that unleaded would cost me $3.249 a gallon. I was hoping to catch it for $2.999 a gallon, but oh well. I would still get a 4% rebate with my credit card.

BUT WAIT...
As I got out of my car and looked at the pump, I noticed that the price still said $2.999! Woohoo! How lucky I felt. (Yeah, feeling lucky to be paying almost three bucks a gallon. My, how my standards have slipped.)

BUT WAIT AGAIN...
As I removed my credit card and was about to insert it in the machine, a gentleman working at the station approached me. The following conversation ensued. I can't recall it word-for-word, but it went something like this:

Him: "Wait! The computer is doing an update!"
Me: "An update?"
Him: "Yeah, it'll just take a minute."
Me: "What kind of update?"
Him: (pointing at a clerk in the building) "He's doing it right now."

I looked at the message readout on the pump. It said 'Insert Card or Begin Fueling'.

Me: "How will I know when it's ready?"
Him: "It'll tell you."
Me: "Is it going to be $2.99 a gallon?"
Him: "No, it just went up."
Me: "Oh. How much did I miss it by?"
Him: (misunderstanding) "A quarter."
Me: "No, I mean -- if I had been here 20 minutes ago, it would have been $2.99?"
Him: "More like two minutes ago."

Awkward pause.

Me: "I'm kind of in a hurry. Do you mind if I just try it anyways?"
Him: (with a slight chuckle) "Well, you won't get any gas that way."
Me: "Okay."

Despite the employee's advice, I inserted my card, pushed the start button, lifted the nozzle, inserted it into my fuel tank, and depressed the lever. It worked like it always had before. I was purchasing gas at $2.999 a gallon.

As I watched the amount rising, I realized what was going on. The store personnel were trying to increase the price to $3.249, but for some reason, they couldn't do it quickly. For some strange reason, they also couldn't stop people from buying gas at $2.999 a gallon. As other customers pulled in to the station, the clerk who had approached me was doing the same thing -- telling people to wait. Most didn't listen -- especially when I told them that my pump was working perfectly.

I finished filling my tank, collected my receipt, and drove away.

Look at all those links

Another weekend over. I don't have anything exciting to report, except for some run results. Well, I think it's exciting, anyway. :)

I'm trying to keep the links in the right-hand column up-to-date. The most recent addition is Gina's Photo Site, under the "Family" heading. If there's any links you want added to the list, just let me know. I'll be happy to help increase traffic to your site.

And as always, I'm open to ideas for fun things we can add to the page to make it more interesting. Comment anytime!

Tipping the scales

Looking at some of our wedding photos, I made the following comment to Jenelle:
"I wish I had weighed as much as I weigh now at our wedding. I think our photos would have looked even better."

Her reply:
"I wish I still weighed what I did at our wedding."

Transferring Data...

On Sunday the 21st:
Happy Birthday, Gina!
On Thursday the 18th:
Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!
Happy Anniversary, Andrew & Holly!

You might notice the new BenCam picture with my latest accomplishment -- a 10K in 50:32. Woohoo!

Since I seem to be spending a lot of this blogspace talking about running, I've created another blog devoted specificially to these endeavors. I am proud to present: Ben's Running Blog! Enjoy. I'll probably still make an occasional mention of races or milestones here in this blog, but if you like reading details (lap splits, etc.), head over to the running blog.

Jenelle and I just finished up a pretty busy work week, so we're not doing anything too stressful today or tomorrow. I'm probably going to spend some time practicing my guitar, as I haven't been doing that nearly as much as I should be. Later, blogfans!

Roma, Pizza Photos

Sunday the 7th: Happy Birthday, Eric!
Monday the 8th: Happy Birthday, Tanner!

Another exciting week in the books. On Saturday, I ran nine miles, went to breakfast in the courtyard, attended the company picnic, went to Tanner & Eric's birthday party, AND went to Ravinia for a Chicago Symphony concert. I ran 19 miles on Sunday. During the week, I did all sorts of traveling:

Tuesday: Kenosha (Small group)
Wednesday: Delafield (Family pizza outing at Marty's)
Thursday: Villa Park (Fraternity alumni board meeting)

It's been nice for Jenelle and me to relax tonight and "decompress" a little. And it means that I have time to put up some family photo albums:

Roma Lodge Italian Festival 2005

Delafield Pizza Outing

Tomorrow, I'm running 10 miles, and on Sunday, I'm running 20. I hope all goes well. :)

Lots of reasons to smile

Happy Birthday, Ella!

Jenelle is smiling in the BenCam today because her InvisAlign treatments are done. I think her teeth are looking quite pretty! She's also smiling because our niece is two years old! Congrats!

COMING SOON: Photos from last weekend's Italian Festival.

People Change

Two years ago, I was at the Roma Lodge Italian Festival wearing a green shirt. I was wearing the same shirt yesterday. HERE is an interesting comparison. What a difference two years makes!

Cottage Photos Part 2

HERE is a second album from our trip up north. Lots of things in here -- fishing, mini-golf, and more!

ENJOY ROMA AudioBlog

I think I need to move the cell phone away from my mouth a little bit to improve the audio quality. I'll work on that for the next one.

All kinds of updates

For those of you who just can't get enough content, I just published a photo album that serves as a Virtual Tour of the cottage we visited last week. There are quite a few more pictures from the trip detailing our activities and whatnot. Those will be going up in a separate album very soon.

Don't forget about these July milestones:
July 18: Happy Birthday, Rachel!
July 20: Happy Birthday, Uncle Jerry!
July 30: Happy Birthday, Adam W.!

Running update:
My training for the marathon continues to go pretty well. On July 3, I set a new personal best in the half marathon (1:56:25), thanks to my good friend Mike Brinkley, who drove up from Illinois to trek through town with me. Mike is quite the athlete and has completed several triathlons and marathons (including Boston).
This past Monday, I ran 17 miles on a treadmill. For whatever reason, my quads were quite sore afterward, so I've been taking it easy this week. I should be fully recovered by the weekend. My next super-long run will occur on Sunday, August 7, when I will run 19 miles at a steady pace, probably around 10:00 / mile.

Party update:
The July 3 fireworks party at our place was lots of fun. I'm especially thankful for everyone who helped out, including my dad, who never seemed to working on something while he was here. I hope he still had fun! Last year, we ran out of drinks and meat, and this year, we had plenty of both. Some are still in our fridge. And for a nice change, we could actually SEE the fireworks this year. My mom continued in her annual tradition of saying, "This must be the finale!" about five times.

More partying soon:
The annual Roma Lodge Italian Festival starts tomorrow. I'm planning to eat my share of fried dough, tastee taters, and baked goods. I might also have some pizza if it's better than the frozen variety they had last year. :) I'm not planning to bring my camcorder, but I might take some still shots. So, if you're in town, don't forget to "Enjoy Roma" this weekend.

Home again, home again

What a whirlwind couple of months! In June and July I've been to Las Vegas, Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and to the north woods of Wisconsin. Talk about a busy few weeks. But we're back home in Sturtevant and should be staying put for at least a month or so. We're cooking up a trip to Oregon sometime in September, and maybe, just maybe, I'll get that first stamp in my passport sometime this fall. We'll see. But for now, it's good to be home.

We spent the past 5 days at Ben's family's cottage about five hours north of here -- or about an hour south of Michigan's upper peninsula. What a beautiful place! The cottage is on Little Muskie Lake just north of the Woodruff/Minocqua area.

Minocqua is a cute little island town -- a lot like Seaside for all you Coast-lovers. There's a main drag with fudge and candy shops and lots of quaint gift shops. In fact, the whole north woods area looks a lot more like Oregon than SE Wisconsin does -- minus the hills of course. But still - it was nice to see some green again.

We spent our days fishing on the lake, making smores over the campfire, bumming around town and even biked through a forest on the Madeline Trail -- which is really just some old overgrown logging roads.

The cottage doesn't have a phone, has poor TV reception and the cell phone only worked in the corner by the kitchen -- and I absolutely loved being cut off from everything because it meant that no one could bug me! Except for the bugs of course, and I have 8 bug bites to show for it.

We'll have pictures of the trip up north -- including my amateurish nature photographs -- posted soon. Just as soon as we finish all the laundry.

Yeah, we've been busy

The past month or so has been very exciting. We really enjoyed our recent trip to Ohio and spending time with family. Grandpa Nick and I made our annual trip to Arlington Race Track just last week. Jenelle and I are definitely ready for a nice relaxing "vegging out" type of vacation. We'll see what we can do about that.

Just in case you think this is a boring post -- those links above take you to photos. :)

Now for something different

Still here

June 21: Happy Birthday, Jenelle!
June 25: Happy Birthday, Ed!
June 26: Happy Birthday, Ben!

Happy July! Jenelle and I are busy preparing for our annual fireworks party, scheduled to take place tomorrow evening. Last year, inclement weather forced us to grill partially under the garage, causing smoke to pour into the condo and sound a few detectors. This year, we are prepared, even though the forecast says the rain won't show up until very late. We bought a really cool 12' x 12' canopy that can supposedly set itself up in minutes. We also have more meat than last year. Why? Last year, we ran out of meat. :)

Oh, yeah, it'll be a fun time. And with luck, we'll actually be able to SEE the fireworks this year.

Scattered Pictures

Time for photos!

Five Lighthouse Run Photos

42 Photos from Portland -- June, 2005 (mostly the Rose Parade)

Enjoy!

SCJ Off! And Running

Another fun day in Wisconsin. This morning, I participated in my first ever Lighthouse Run. I ran ten miles in 1:24:49.1 (a new personal best). The official results are right here. Yeah, you'll have to scroll down a bit to see my name, but it's there. 327th place. Oh yeah! Special thanks to Mom & Dad for taking pictures and video, Grandma Iz and Grandpa Nick for their enthusiastic cheers, and Aunt Sue for a much-appreciated bottle of water at the halfway point. I'll have some photos on the internet soon.

Also coming soon to the blog -- photos and recaps of our trip to Oregon this past week.

Home again

Jenelle and I returned from Oregon late last night. We've got lots of pictures to share and stories to tell, but they might not show up here until this weekend. For now, I'm going to catch up on a few milestones:

June 2: Happy Birthday, Fil!
June 5: Happy Birthday, Brinkles!
June 7: Happy Birthday, Adam H.!
June 11: Happy Anniversary, Jeff & Josie!
June 11: Happy Birthday, Aunt Sue!

We'll be in touch. :)

The Cat…

…is out of the bag

For all you family members, you may be thinking that for an East Coast girl that I have become (hey – if you’re from Oregon, Wisconsin is more like the east coast than the midwest!) Vegas sure is close to Portland.

So after soaking up the sun in Vegas, I’ll be flying to Portland for a few days of soaking up the rain. Ben is meeting me in Portland late Friday night and we’ll be up with the sun on Saturday for the Rose Festival Parade. I don’t think I’ve been to a Rose Parade since high school, so I am very excited. And, I am even more excited to see my favorite 3-year old nephew. I hear he’s quite the fun guy.

Vegas, Baby!

Jenelle here…

I’m sitting right now on a plane to Las Vegas. Like last year, my two bosses and I will be giving a presentation at the Corporate Communicators Conference at Caesar’s Palace. This year, we’ll be talking about how we redesigned our corporate publications to make them more interesting, engaging and effective.

I’m sure this begs the question – what exactly do you do? Well, my journalism professors always told me to be concise, so in short -- I write stuff. I manage the company’s 4-page color tabloid-size publication and make sure it gets out to our employees and retirees every 2 weeks. That may seem like small beans, but our publication rocks, and it really is quite a big task. And it certainly keeps me very busy. I do other stuff too – but that’s my main job.

I just successfully whittled the e-mails in my inbox from 122 to about 2, so it’s time to take a break. I’m flying over the Grand Canyon right now. From the air, it looks just like a hole in the ground – like when the ground dries up and cracks.

I’ll be in Vegas until Friday, enjoying the sun, the conference, the food and the occasional slot machine. We get these great rooms in the Palace Tower at Caesars – its the kind of hotel room where the bathroom is bigger than the bedroom – Jacuzzi, phone near the toilet, separate glass shower, etc. I’m looking forward to this trip – I’ve been really busy lately, and while I still have a lot of work to do on this trip, I’d much rather do it lounging by the pool than sitting in my moldy office.

I formally retract my previous statement about the Grand Canyon being a hole in the ground. We just banked left pretty hard – which gave us a phenomenal view of the canyon.

And yes, I did bring my sunscreen. Although I am hoping the sun will remedy this awful v-neck tan I currently have going on. Who knew it could be sunny in Wisconsin?

Whoa, another big time desert bank, and some funny engine noises. That must mean it’s time to land. It’s Jackpot time!

Memorial Day Weekend Updates!

On Friday: Happy Birthday, Dave! (or should I say, "Dad-in-law")

Here's some content to keep everyone happy over the long weekend:

1. Memorial Day Weekend Cookout Photos

2. BenCam Archive - For those of you who can't get enough pictures of me. :)

3. My name appeared in a news article a few days ago. A co-worker of mine, Ken Rustici, ran a total of 25,000 miles over 22 years. That's the equivalent of circumnavigating the globe! HERE is the article, and HERE is a photo. I'm on the right.

Enjoy!

Where have all the green grapes gone?

Jenelle here...

I'm excited to see new people reading our weblog! Thanks for leaving a comment Diana -- it's good to hear from you! Ben and I used to think that our moms and grandmas were the only ones that read it, so we like hearing about loyal readers in the under 30 crowd.

On a side note...Is it just me, or has there been a complete and total shortage of green grapes lately? And this is not just an isolated problem -- Jewel, Wal-Mart and Woodmans have been out for about a month. I've searched high and low and can't find them anywhere.

Sure, its only May and the ground has only been thawed for a month or so, but come on! Can't they truck some in from California or something?

This is almost as disgraceful as paying $5 for half a pint of blueberries. But those things are chock full of antioxidants and worth every penny.

YES!

What a ride. I successfully set a new personal record for the half marathon this morning. Here's a mile-by-mile breakdown:

Getting Started
The weather was overcast, but plenty warm. As I finished stretching and prepared to set out, I noticed a few drops of rain. I headed back upstairs and got my rain jacket. I took a swig of raspberry lemonade-flavored Gatorade before setting my forerunner at 9:08 / mile -- at this pace, I'll finish in 01:59:39. Off I go!

Mile 1 - 8:35 (0:33 ahead of the pacer overall)
As the few drops of rain turned into a small drizzle, I felt okay out of the blocks. I'm sufficiently warmed up, and I don't feel too hot or too cold. So far, so good.

Mile 2 - 9:31 (0:10 ahead overall)
Right before reaching the two-mile mark, my forerunner skipped a beat. One moment, I was almost 400 feet ahead, and the next, I was only 50 feet ahead. The problem is that the excessive clouds and rain are keeping the forerunner from being as accurate as it usually is. I'm fairly certain that I ran this mile faster than 9:31. These kinds of tracking errors usually work themselves out over time, so I'm not worried. I'm still ahead, and I still feel great.

Mile 3 - 8:48 (0:30 ahead)
The rain is getting a bit heavier now, but nothing close to slowing me down. My head is getting a tiny bit wet, but my rain jacket keeps me plenty dry. It also helps that I'm wearing my Nike "dri-fit" running shorts. Onward!

Mile 4 - 8:39 (0:59 ahead)
The downpour arrived! As I started to feel the moisture seeping in to my shoes and my hair getting wet, I suddenly remembered that my rain jacket has a hood zipped inside the collar. My pace dropped just a tiny bit as I pulled the hood out of the collar, put it on, and adjusted it to keep it from falling off. I'm still feeling pretty good with almost one third of my run completed.

Mile 5 - 8:29 (1:38 ahead)
One minute it was pouring, the next it was just a drizzle, and the next it was pouring again. Now perfectly comfortable in my rain jacket AND hood, I didn't have any problems. I was thrilled that I was building a signifant lead over my virtual pacer without any fatigue. However, was I going too fast? Most of the run was still in front of me. I didn't feel like I'm going too fast. Hmmm.....

Mile 6 - 9:00 (1:46 ahead)
The rain eased up at this point -- yay. I wasn't feeling tired at all. Double yay.

Mile 7 - 8:57 (1:57 ahead)
The halfway point! My forerunner showed me reach 6.55 miles (half of 13.1) at about 58 minutes. I was doing great, and the weather continued to improve.

Mile 8 - 8:46 (2:19 ahead)
No signs of trouble at all. My lead was about a quarter of a mile. I started to wonder if I was going to burn myself out before the finish. The question I began asking myself was: Should I try and build more of a lead while I feel okay, or should I just keep the pace steady?

Mile 9 - 10:32 (0:55 ahead)
What happened here? The forerunner hiccuped again. One moment, I was ahead by 0.27 miles, and the next, I was only ahead by about 350 feet (about 0.06 miles). This mile did not feel significantly slower than any of the others. It's possible that some of the earlier miles were reported a little quicker than I actually ran them. Regardless of the reason for this setback, I was still ahead of the pacer, and nothing was going to slow me down!

Mile 10 - 8:51 (1:12 ahead)
Back on track. I started to feel a little bit tired at this point, but I was still able to keep the pace.

Mile 11 - 9:16 (1:04 ahead)
A little bit of slow-down, but nothing to worry about.

Mile 12 - 9:04 (1:08 ahead)
Mile 13 - 9:13 (1:04 ahead)
The fatigue slowly built up during these two miles. This is to be expected after running so long at a faster-than-usual pace. The good news -- no blisters or sharp pain in any of my joints. I'm guessing that a lot of family members might be worried about my knees, as most of my running is done on either concrete or asphalt. Let me all assure you that my knees feel great. Never been better.

The Finish - 1:00 (0:58 ahead)
The final tenth of a mile was a little bit slower than the pacer, but not by much. I finished the half marathon in one hour, 58 minutes, and 41 seconds.

What's Next?
I'll be taking it easy for the rest of the week. The following week is the first week of my 18-week program to train for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on October 2. Just to make sure I'm fit for such a task, I have a doctor's appointment set up for this week so that my physician can give me the green light.

Time will tell how the training goes, but I'm setting an agressive goal. I'm going to try to run the marathon at the same pace at which I just ran a half marathon. This would put me across the finish line in four hours or less. Can I do it? Only with encouragement from you, my loyal blog readers.

The stuff goes, the memories stay

We had a rummage sale at my parents' house today. After experiencing it from the seller's point of view, I must report that the phenomenon is incredible. Within moments of opening the garage door, vehicles of all kinds parked and rushed to check out our items. The busiest time was before 9 a.m. I know that I shouldn't be awed by the number of people who have arisen in the wee hours on a Saturday morning to find a few bargains, but I couldn't help but think to myself, "Who are these people?" throughout the whole process. Don't get me wrong -- I have nothing against rummage sale shoppers. In fact, I'm very thankful for them. I'm thankful for the lady who spent $40 on Star Trek toys, black lights, and tacky dorm room decorations. I'm thankful for the guy who bought Dad's table saw. I'm thankful for the 10 year-old kid who bought a $1.00 typewriter and a $2.00 plastic poker chip rack.

I'm also thankful for the time that I had to bond with my parents while we reminisced about the last time we used a lot of the items we sold. The title of this post really rings true -- the memories aren't going anywhere. Now, if I can just get my mom to let go of that painted snowman rock. Just kidding.

Tomorrow will be another exciting day. I'm attempting to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) in less than two hours. Can I do it? We'll soon find out!

Happy Mother's Day... if it applies

Here are six photos from last weekend's Mother's Day celebration.

18 and counting

I got up early on Sunday morning to set a new record for my longest run. 18 miles later, I was done. Here's the breakdown:

Laps 1-3	10:12	10:11	09:42
Laps 4-6	09:46	09:27	09:36
Laps 7-9	09:29	09:28	09:38
Laps 10-12	09:45	09:50	09:49
Laps 13-15	09:50	09:37	09:52
Laps 16-18	09:23	10:04	10:00

Average Pace: 9:45 / mile

I was thrilled that I was able to run about thirty seconds per mile faster than I did two weeks ago AND run 2.4 miles farther. I was fairly tired at the end, but I think I could have done a few more miles.

I'm not planning to do another long run for at least a month. My next goal is to complete a half marathon in under two hours -- and of course, the results of my attempt will be posted here.

Another Running Entry

Happy Birthday, Todd!

When the blog switched to its new look, I updated my personal best for the 15K (about 9.33 miles). I trekked out on Sunday morning and finished in one hour, 21 minutes, 33 seconds. Here's the breakdown:

Mile 1 - 8:24
Mile 2 - 8:53
Mile 3 - 8:29
Mile 4 - 8:53
Mile 5 - 8:20
Mile 6 - 8:53
Mile 7 - 8:48
Mile 8 - 9:08
Mile 9 - 8:45
Finish - 2:56 (8:36 pace)

Average pace - about 8:44 / mile

There was a light but ever-present wind that was responsible for the 20-25 second fluctuations between lap times in the first six miles. Had there been no wind at all, my laps would have been much more consistent.

I'm probably going to run long this weekend -- perhaps even further than the 25K that I ran on April 24. The weather is supposed to be warm with a bit of rain, which doesn't scare me all that much. :)

I'm thrilled that I have almost five months to continue training for the marathon. I don't want to jinx it, but I think that eclipsing the four-hour mark on October 2 is an attainable goal.

Jenelle's thought for the day

From our friends at despair.com:

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

Have it Their Way

On Friday, I walked into the Burger King near the mall to buy a gift certificate for a friend of mine who really likes Burger King. I wasn't sure if Burger King had gift "certificates" or gift "cards" until I read a sign near the register:

$5.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE if we fail to issue you a receipt

Ah, certificates it is. I patiently waited in line until I reached the front. Here's the conversation that ensued with the cashier:

Me: "Hi, I'd like two $5 gift certificates please."
Her: (matter-of-factly) "We don't sell those."
Me: "Er, uh... you don't?"
Her: "No, we don't."
Me: "Um... are you sure?"
Her: "Yup."
Me: (looking right at the sign) "Even though there's a sign that mentions them right there?"
Her: "Yup."
Me: "Hmmmm... Well, thanks for your time."

Anyone out there ever possess a Burger King gift certificate? If so, how'd you get it? Did you buy it, or did the cashier fail to issue you a receipt?

Over the hill

Here comes another post from Ben about running. Before I talk about actual running, here's a picture from last Sunday's MS Walk.

This morning, I ran further than I ever have before in a single workout. I trekked 15.6 miles (about 25K) with an average pace of about 10:21 / mile.

What did I learn? Giving yourself an extra 30 seconds per mile can make a HUGE difference in how you feel. Two weeks ago, I ran 13.1 miles, setting the pacer on my forerunner at 10:00/mile. I made it, but I was EXTREMELY tired when I was done. I didn't feel like I could go another step. Today, I set the pacer at 10:30/mile. After almost 16 miles, I felt like I could go a little farther if I had to. Since my "race" isn't until October, there's no point in pushing myself too hard right now.

For those who might be curious about my split times, here you go:

Mile #1: 10:41
Mile #2: 10:47
Mile #3: 10:04
Mile #4: 10:14
Mile #5: 10:02
Mile #6: 10:00
Mile #7: 10:06
Mile #8: 10:14
Mile #9: 10:28
Mile #10: 10:19
Mile #11: 10:26
Mile #12: 10:16
Mile #13: 10:57
Mile #14: 09:59
Mile #15: 10:26

I think I could have managed 20 miles at this pace -- during mile 14 (my fastest), I actually walked for about 15 seconds while Jenelle brought me some gatorade (thanks, sweetie!). The weather was a bit chilly this morning, but it was perfect for running. I didn't get dehyrdrated at all, and I wasn't drenched in sweat when I got home (yeah, pretty picture there).

Estimated calories burned: 2250. That's over half a pound.

Are you Ms. Isaacson?

Jenelle here...

I'm in San Francisco this week attending a conference for work. It's good to be back on Pacific time. This is a fun city -- but definitely a workout if you want to walk anywhere!

My flight to San Francisco was pretty uneventful, and after getting my bags, I took a cab to the airport. I'm staying at the Fairmont, high up on the top of Nob Hill. It's across the street from this enormous cathedral reminiscent of the Notre Dame. Anyway, the staff here is very friendly and polite. After handing off my suitcase to the valet, I walked into the hotel to look for the front desk to check in.

As I was walking over, a man in the employee uniform walked up to me and said, "Ms. Isaacson?" And, I said "yes." And he said something along the lines of welcome to the Fairmont, let me help you get checked in. And he ushered me up to the front of the line and introduced me to the guy behind the desk to check me in. So I asked him how he knew who I was, and all he said was that he knows everything.

So, the question is -- how did this employee at the Fairmont know who I was? I didn't have a nametag of any sort on me, and my luggage tag had my maiden name on it, and I didn't use a credit card at the airport or in the cab. Alas, such are the mysteries of the hospitality industry. I'm still going to be scratching my head over this one for a while til I figure it out.

Run, AND Walk

The weather is beautiful here in the Midwest. I've enjoyed have so many opportunities to run outside and make use of my favorite Christmas gift -- the Garmin Forerunner that Jenelle bought me. This morning, I logged a new personal best for a ten-kilometer run. I averaged 8:28 per mile for a finishing time of 52:40. I'm excited that I continue to improve, but there's still a long way before I am ready to run 26.2 miles. I haven't officially signed up yet, but I'm leaning towards participating in Milwaukee's Lakefront Marathon on Sunday, October 2nd.

As for my weight, I am holding steady at 175. I haven't been overly cautious about my diet over the past month or so. As long as I keep exercising, I don't think my weight will be a problem. As marathon time draws sooner, I might try to drop five more pounds, but it's not really necessary. I'm just thinking that it would be easier to lug 170 pounds over 26.2 miles instead of 175. More to come....

T.G.I.F.

Jenelle did the sweetest thing yesterday -- she was supposed to be spending last night in Milwaukee as part of a work-related conference. To my surprise, she walked in around 8:30 p.m. I gave her a great big hug! We watched Survivor together and had a wonderful time. Tonight, we rented Napoleon Dynamite from Blockbuster and enjoyed pizza from Buona Vita. Can you believe it? She let me have pizza, even though I had just had one on Wednesday night.

The webcam picture of Ella is still up -- and until I can find something better to replace it, it'll stay up there. :)

Miles and Miles

Jenelle and I celebrated our second anniversary this weekend. We spent Friday night at the Harrison House Bed & Breakfast in Naperville, IL. We had an absolutely wonderful time. I think it had something to do with the fact that we were the only guests in any of the five rooms, so we had practically the whole house to ourselves.

On Saturday, we headed east to Aurora to shop for presents for each other. Jenelle found a really cute bag at one of her favorite stores. I haven't really found my present yet, but I did find a nice pair of brown corduroy pants on sale at the Gap outlet for ten bucks. :)

Coming soon -- Jenelle is working on "How We Met: The Jenelle & Ben Story". I considered writing a version of it myself, but I don't think I can capture it with the magic that she's inherited from her dad.

Here's some more running news for all of you fitness fans: I ran about 4.5 miles on three consecutive mornings (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) while I was in San Francisco on business. The weather was beautiful. I was thrilled that the beautiful weather came back with me, so I ran all the way to the Marvin house this afternoon. After taking some time to visit with Liz and Randy, I ran back home. Almost ten miles in all. Fun!

And finally, here are some photos from our Easter celebration. Enjoy!

Top Speed

Yesterday (the 25th): Happy Birthday, Aunt Sandy!

I've been fighting a cold for the past few days, but I woke up this morning feeling fairly well. After resting both Thursday and Friday, I decided to make an attempt to set a new personal best for a 5K run. For those not in the know, a 5K run is five kilmeters, which is about 3.11 miles. Prior to today, my best outdoor 5K run was at the Roma 5K last July (27:20.6). My best treadmill 5K mark is 24:58.

I set the "Virtual Training Assistant" on my Garmin Forerunner at a pace of eight minutes per mile, which translates to a 5K time of 24:51. If I could keep up with the little runner on the screen, I would be successful.

Mile One
I was out of the gate in a hurry -- perhaps too much of a hurry. I didn't realize it at the time, but for the first quarter mile, I was running at almost 10 miles an hour, which is a six minute per mile pace. I slowly settled back down into a reasonable pace that I could hopefully keep for the rest of the run. I reached the one-mile marker in 7:13. A NEW RECORD! This is the fastest mile I have ever run.

Mile Two
I continued south on 90th street almost to highway 11, turning around when I had about a mile and a half to go. I felt a cramp in my side starting to develop, but it wasn't enough to slow me down. I finished the second mile in 7:52. At this point, I knew that I had a lead of about a minute on my personal best. So, as long as I didn't "crash" in the final mile, I would emerge victorious.

Uh, what's a "crash"?
I don't know, exactly. It's a term I've read about in articles about running, and some of the runners I've talked to at the SCJ fitness center have used it. Apparently, a "crash" is when your body basically gives up, and you can't go much faster than an easy walk. Thankfully, I haven't experienced one yet.

Mile Three
I've run outside for the past few weekends. One thing I've noticed is that a strong wind blows from west to east. As I turned to head west back home, I was concerned that a strong wind might cause my pace to slow signficantly. The wind, combined with a slight uphill grade, can sometimes make things rather difficult. Today, however, was not a problem at all. There wasn't much wind at all, and the energy and excitement of breaking a personal record kept me going. I finished mile three in 8:02.

The Finish
When my forerunner read "-28 feet to go", I stopped the timer. I didn't really have an idea of what my final time was, except that it was definitely faster than 25 minutes. I switched the display to show the total time, and I was thrilled to read:

23:59.35 !!!

Could I have gone even faster? Maybe, maybe not. I definitely started too fast, so I didn't have much energy left for a burst of speed at the end. One thing's for sure -- if I keep exercising regularly, I'll be in good shape to break 23:30 at this year's Roma 5K in July.

The Dave and Pam Story

Jenelle here...

In honor of my parent's 30th anniversary, here's my dad's rendition of how the two lovebirds met (originally posted on the Walter Family web site five years ago.)

"Since our 25th anniversary is coming up soon, I have been asked to tell our 'how we met story'. So here it is.

It all started back in the fall of 1970. It was the beginning of my senior year at Reynolds High School. It was also the start of Pam's freshman year at the same school. Like most observant high school seniors, I was checking out the new freshman class.

Pam and I met each other in orchestra class where I was the hot young trumpeter and she was the fresh young babe that played the violin. I was famous enough to have my choice in those days but I will say that she took my breath away. Being a trumpeter and full of myself, I didn't realize then that she would be the one for me. She was gorgeous, but she was also very young, and I was intent on staying out of trouble.

Soon Reynolds was over the loss of me. I left Pam with only the memory of my handsome frame and long hair. Occasionally the rock band I was in would play a sock-hop at Reynolds. This was my chance to win her heart, but only from a distance.

Eventually fate had its moment in our lives. It was a night when hunger for my favorite #2 Chinese dinner overtook me. Unbeknownst to me, Pam had a after school job as a waitress at the Chinese Gardens Restaurant (famous for their #2 Chinese dinner). When she came to the table to take our order, I was overwhelmed. This windbag was rendered breathless for a second time.

Well, I don't know how she knew, but she came to the table and told me about that day's special on the #2 dinner. It may have just been my ego, but I sensed that she might have been flirting a little with me. That was it for me. I was in love. Beginning that day, and for about the next two years, I lived on Chinese food. Yep, mostly the #2 dinner. That fateful night at the Chinese restaurant, I asked her for her phone number.

Later I called her to ask her to a Chicago concert. Chicago had a trumpet player even better than me, if you can imagine that! Two years later I asked her to be my wife and the sound of wedding bells rang for us on March 22, 1975. We still enjoy going to Chicago concerts and remembering that first date with fondest memories."

-- Dave Walter

Highlights

Let's sum up the past ten days with one post. Here we go!

Friday, March 11: I made the mistake of leaving a pen in my pocket. Let's just say that our weekend started off with an inky washer and dryer. Thanks to some quick work involving nail polish remover, hairspray, Shout, and various other chemicals, we kept the clothes casualties to a minimum.

Saturday, March 12: We went shopping at various establishments to replace some of the items damaged / destroyed in the previous night's fiasco. I'm happy to report that I'm now a 34 waist. :)
By the way -- I'm not all that bitter or upset about accidentally washing a pen. It really put things in perspective for me -- there are a lot of people who have to deal with things much worse than getting blue ink off clothing. Jenelle and I are truly blessed, and I hope I never forget that.

Monday, March 14: Happy Birthday, Ashby!

Tuesday, March 15: Congratulations are in order for Jamie and Janet, one of the married couples in the small group Bible study we attend. They had their first child on Tuesday evening -- a son, John Robert, weighing in at just over eight pounds.

Wednesday, March 16: Happy Birthday, Aunt Liz!

Friday, March 18: We saw Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Milwaukee Theatre. We both enjoyed it more than the presentation of The King and I (featuring Stefanie Powers) that we attended in February. I think I enjoyed it more because we rented some opera glasses / binoculars to get a close-up view AND the person in the lead role was less than 60 years old. :)

Sunday, March 20: I ran nine miles this morning at an average pace of 09:45 / mile. I am continuing to train for a marathon in the fall, which will most likely be the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon on October 2. If I can average the same pace, I'll finish in less than 4.5 hours, which would be a tremendous accomplishment for me. I've got another six months to train, so that goal is within reach!

Finishing What I've Started

Two birthdays from late February --
On the 23rd: Happy Birthday, Uncle Mike!
On the 28th: Happy Birthday, Dyan!

And, finally, here are the top ten snowball throws from our fun snow day on February 5th. Some of the names may have been mixed up because it's been so long, but I guarantee I got the important ones right. :)

10. The Gut Shot
Though we were aiming at the snowman's head most of the time, quite a few throws ended up a little short. Every snowball that hit in the snowman's chest area made a loud thump as it exploded into a million pieces. Eric and Dan's throws, which had above-average velocity, sounded quite impressive, and often caused one or more of the snowman's mulch buttons to fall off. THUMP! "Oooooohhhhhh!"

9. Point Blank
We really wanted to keep Hunter involved in the fun by giving him some chances to hit the snowman. Of course, since he's only 3.5 years old, he should get the benefit of being a little closer. So, we gave him a snowball while he was standing a mere three feet away. For the extra advantage that every kid deserves, one of us proceeded to LIFT HIM UP so that he could throw downward at the snowman. Hunter did not disappoint at all -- he connected several times. Nice work!

8. Battle Damage
As I mentioned above, when a snowball impacted on the surface of the snowman, it made a loud thump. What we soon realized is that each successful throw causes him to lose a bit of mass. As the snowman's face was hit more and more frequently, he began to look gaunt and thin, almost like a skeleton. To keep the party moving, we took a short break and made the necessary repairs. Once the snowman had a significantly pudgy face, we resumed our attack.

7. Crash!
Okay, this is more of a SLED impact than a snowball impact, but it definitely belongs in the top ten. After pulling Hunter around the house a couple of times, he asked me to pull the sled directly into the snowman -- with him in it. After assessing the potential of injury with this stunt, I asked Hunter, "Are you sure?" He quickly nodded his head, "Yeah!" We lined up the sled as best we could, and we were off. I ran right at the snowman, moving to the side at the last second. CRUNCH! The sled, which went up in the air a little bit, actually got stuck in the snowman's lower third and needed to be pried out. Hunter laughed and smiled throughout the whole ordeal. In fact, I don't remember why we didn't make another attempt. Oh well.

6. Have a Cigar
This was one of my best throws (I think). The carrot nose had fallen off several times during the course of the afternoon. One of these hilarious incidents is detailed in the top five. Before getting to that, I'll write about my well-aimed throw that connected, literally, right on the nose. I wasn't throwing excessively hard, but this throw of mine was the straw that broke the camel's back -- as the snow dust cleared, we noticed that the carrot had split in two. One part of it was still in the correct place, but the other part had fallen to the ground. Uncle Dan quickly found a quick and easy repair solution -- the snowman had a smaller nose AND a cigar next to his mouth (which, by the way, was made of pine tree leaves).

5. The Tommy I "Super Size" Throw
As we continued to pelt the snowman, we noticed that my dad's throws, though not as fast as Eric or Dan's, made a more significant impact when they connected. A bit of careful observation showed us the cause -- Dad was heaving softball-sized projectiles, and doing it rather well! We all joined in the foray, throwing the occasional grapefruit. The battle damage was extreme. :)

4. The Arm-Splitter
Causing a carrot to break in two is one thing -- Uncle Dan one-upped that accomplishment when one of his blazing-fast snowballs split the snowman's left arm into two pieces. Ouch. One would expect the entire arm to just fall out of the snowman's body. It must have been well-embedded, because after this throw, the arm was still stuck there -- half of it, anyway.

3. The Blurred Face
What happens when someone with the power to break wood with compacted snow happens to throw said snow in the perfect spot on the snowman's face? SPLAT! Uncle Dan connected with a snowball somewhere in the mouth/nose area, and it caused EVERY facial feature to fall to the ground. Two eyes of coal, a carrot nose, the pine mouth, the cigar, and the hat all flew off. Our snowman suddenly had no face at all. Time to rebuild again!

2. Put It Back Where It Belongs
This was far the funniest moment of the entire day. One of our early throws knocked the carrot to the ground. When Hunter saw this, he immediately ran over to the snowman, planning to fix the situation. We obviously stopped throwing at this point -- and I began walking toward Hunter, planning to lift him up so that he could repair the nose. Hunter, however, decided to do it all himself. He placed the carrot in the snowman perfectly -- well, except that it was a bit low. So, the carrot wasn't sticking out of the snowman's face anymore. It was... uh... somewhere else. Hunter moved away from the snowman so that we could resume throwing, but we were all laughing too hard. We laughed even harder when we saw Grandpa Milt peering outside from the living room window. His "what's going on out there?" look said it all, and it made us laugh even harder. Grandpa Milt eventually walked out on to the porch with a bit of advice for us:
"Someone better put that carrot back where it belongs."
Hey, it wasn't our fault -- Hunter was the one who put it there. And it was obviously a representation of the snowman's bellybutton. Yeah, that's it. :)

1. The Throw to End All Throws
We were all getting a little bit tired, but we were enjoying this little game too much to quit. I can't remember the last time so many of us in the family were together and having this kind of fun. However, when Eric made the throw to end all throws, we knew we were done. Eric hit the snowman with a speeding bullet right between the eyes. The force of the blow caused the snowman's head to lean back and separate from the snowman's body. The snowman paused for a moment... as if looking toward the heavens... right before his head CRASHED to the ground. So, call it whatever you like -- the decapitator, the clock-cleaner, whatever -- I'll always call it the throw to end all throws.

We quickly rolled a new head for the snowman and fixed him up as good as new before calling it a day. Good clean family fun -- there's nothing quite like it.

Wild Wednesdays

Snow day lovers, be patient -- the top ten throws are coming soon. :) To be honest, I'm surprised no one has asked me why I haven't posted them yet. In this post, I'm going to talk about Wednesdays, which are always pretty busy for Jenelle and me.

After a long day at work, Jenelle drives down to Winnetka to lead an AWANA group. AWANA stands for "Approved Workers are Not Ashamed", and it's a very fun program for church youth.

Here's what I do on a typical Wednesday:
5:30 a.m. -- Wake up
6:30 a.m. -- Work out at the SCJ fitness center
7:30 a.m. -- WORK
4:00 p.m. -- Guitar Lesson
4:30 p.m. -- Get dinner somewhere
5:30 p.m. -- Practice for upcoming church service
6:30 p.m. -- Church service
7:30 p.m. -- Committee Meeting (sometimes)

This past Wednesday (the 2nd) seemed especially busy because of the number of items I had in my car as I left church. Here's a list of everything:

1) Guitar Case (contains guitar, cord, picks, etc.)
2) Work Bag (contains laptop, work papers, etc.)
3) Workout Bag (contains sweaty gym clothes, water bottle, etc.)
4) Church Bag (contains committee folders, music binders, etc.)
5) Empty Chick Fil-A Bag (that used to have dinner in it)
6) Jenelle's Dry Cleaning (that I picked up earlier in the day)
7) My mom's Dry Cleaning (that I picked up earlier in the day)

So, on the way home from church, I dropped off my mom's dry cleaning at her house and finally headed home. It then took a couple of trips to get everything inside.

The fun continues this weekend as I participate in the 30-hour famine once again. It should be a fun time. I'll bring my camera.

Tired and energized...

That's how I felt on Monday night after spending over two hours on a treadmill. I successfully completed a half marathon! I ran about 12 miles at a pace of 9:22/mile. After that, I slowed down the treadmill to a steady walk for a couple of minutes to regain enough strength to complete the rest of the distance (13.1 miles total). I haven't run since then, but I'll probably do a few miles sometime tomorrow.

Things are looking good for me to continue training and run a marathon sometime in October. The Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon is on Sunday, October 2, and the Chicago Marathon is on Sunday, October 9. There's also one in Portland around the same time.

MILWAUKEE
Pro: Not too many people.
Con: Not super-exciting.

CHICAGO
Pro: Lots of excitement and tons of people cheering you on.
Con: Tons of people running alongside you.

PORTLAND
Pro: Amazing scenery.
Con: Lots of hills.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Milwaukee Marathon because it's the closest. We'll see if my opinion changes in the next few weeks. Feel free to share your thoughts as well!

Snow Day Photos

I've only got four so far, but more will be online soon...
SNOW DAY PHOTOS!

If I Could Turn Back Time

Jenelle here..

We live in a pretty quiet complex that is literally filled to the brim with old people (And not cool old people like my grandma, just boring old people hooked on bingo) so when we find out that new people move in, we typically are pretty eager to learn more about them. And to spy in their windows to see how they've decorated their kitchen. But that's beside the point...

Our newest neighbors came in the form of a car lot. One day we had a beautiful forested lot to gaze out upon, and the next day nothing but rows and rows of Hyundais. (Did I mention it is currently a GM Sell-abration at our other neighboring car lot?)

That's right -- now we have car lots to the north and east, a national guard base and maximum security prison to our south, and public storage to the west. We're a realtor's dream.

I don't really mind the car lot(s) next door. I'm perfectly comfortable wandering around the house naked knowing that only a 2005 Elantra will be looking back at me. The thing that intrigues me most about the dealership is their choice of music. It's always of the elevator music variety, never anything top 40, and always really loud.

As I pulled into the driveway after work today, Cher's "If I Could Turn Back Time" wafted over. And I started thinking about what an ironic song that was for a car dealership.

If I Could Turn Back Time... cars wouldn't lose half their value the second they're driven off the lot

If I Could Turn Back Time... Nobody would buy a Hyundai.

If I Could Turn Back Time.. all these pre-owned cars would be shiny and new

If I Could Turn Back Time .. I would have bought this lot and preserved the beauty of the forest. Or at least built something useful. Like a Starbucks.

Technical Foul Explained

No, it wasn't my middle finger that caused the referee to give me a technical foul -- it was my RING finger. Even though I've worn my wedding ring during every game I've attended this season, it's apparently against the rules to do so. However, that rule seems to be open to interpretation, because at the previous week's game, my uncle was told by a referee that though necklaces, earrings, etc. are not allowed, wedding rings are okay. Whatever. I'm going to take steps to make sure I don't get "T"-ed up again.

And yes, snow day fans, you'll soon hear about the snowball that my cousin Eric threw so perfectly that it was literally the throw to end all throws. And I've also scanned a few pictures. They're on the way -- really!

Benjamin C... Rodman?

The basketball game tonight was a lot of fun. We only lost by two points. And I was whistled for a technical foul. That's right, a technical foul. I'll share that story in a few days, but for now, I'd like to have a little guessing game. In the comments entry, post what *you* think is the reason why a technical foul was called on me. Good luck!

And make sure to read the first two parts of the snow day story below -- part three coming soon!

Snow Day, Part 2

Make sure you read part one, which is just below this entry.

Okay, so we've built a pretty nice snowman, and my father has taken the standard Isaacson family photographs. What now? The weather is still absolutely wonderful, so there's no real rush to get inside.

I almost forgot -- we found two tree branches and made them into arms for the snowman. You'll understand why I mentioned this later on in our story.

For whatever reason, we quickly realized that packy snow makes great snowmen AND great snowballs. We certainly didn't want to get into a fight with each other, especially with three year-old Hunter around. Our search for a target led us right back to our beautiful snowman. Our first goal -- knock the hat off. Uncle Dan and I began packing together ammunition and firing. Our focus quickly turned back to Hunter as we made snowballs for him so that he could successfully hit the target. After a few tries, he did it. We were all very excited.

As the game continued, the snowman took some battle damage. We continued to aim for the hat, but a few shots were a little low. When packed snow hits packed snow, there's often a little explosion of sorts. After every hit, we all went "Ohhhhhhhh!". One thing led to another, and we soon found ourselves firing at the snowman instead of his hat. We had set up our firing station on the driveway, because you can throw better with a hard surface on which to plant your feet. By this time, others had joined us. Now outside were myself, Uncle Dan, my dad, Hunter, and my cousin Eric. Grandpa Milt, Jeri, Jenelle, and Gina (Eric's wife) could often be seen watching from the living room window. Aunt Gail unfortunately had to head back to Madison.

As the pelting of our poor snowman continued, here's a few other "subplots" to share --

Sled Time!
I had some fun pulling Hunter around on a plastic blue sled. It reminded me of when Andrew and I used to push each other all over the yard -- except pulling Hunter was a little easier. After circumnavigating the house a few times, Hunter asked me to get in the sled so he could pull me around. Though I have lost weight, I was still a bit too heavy for him. But he still got an "A" for effort. He actually managed to pull me about ten feet before I got too worried about him hurting himself. We have a picture of him pulling me -- that's one a gem.

Crashing the Party
At one point, Jenelle and Gina sneaked up on the firing squad and threw a few snowballs at us before retreating back into the house. I *just* missed Jenelle as she ran in the back door. Later on, the two of them joined us as allies in battle with the snowman (who never received a name).

In part three, I'll be writing descriptions of each of the most well-thrown snowballs. I guarantee you'll enjoy them -- especially the throw to end all throws.

Snow Day, Part 1

It was unseasonably mild on Saturday. After some errands and running a few miles outside in the morning, Jenelle and I ventured to my parents' house for a big family meal. The occasion? My uncle Dan was in town from Ohio for the weekend. I think there were about 12 of us gathered. The food was great (it was like Thanksgiving), and we all had fun chatting and catching up on each other's lives -- but we had the MOST fun playing in the front yard.

Because the weather was so great, we decided that now was a perfect time to take our three year-old "nephew" Hunter outside and build a snowman (nephew is in quotes because he's actually my first cousin once-removed, but he feels like a nephew). The wet snow was incredibly packy, so Uncle Dan and I had no problem rolling the first snowball for the bottom. We were a bit overzealous on the mid-section, as we were barely able to lift it on top of the base -- I've heard reports that Uncle Dan may have hurt himself during our efforts to lift it, but there were no signs of it at the time. In any case, Hunter helped us make the head, and we had ourselves a pretty decent snowman in no time.

We secured the following items for the finishing touches: two eyes made of coal, a carrot nose, a red hat from the front hall closet, a mouth of pine branches, and wood chips for buttons on the mid-section. My aunt Gail, who drove in from the Madison area, helped with this part. My dad took a few pictures, but I don't have them yet. I'll work on getting those up.

Little did I know that our day in the snow was just beginning...

That's right, woodchuck-chuckers, it's

GROUNDHOG DAY! Well, it WAS Groundhog Day two days ago. Jenelle and I snuggled up and watched the Groundhog Day Special Edition DVD once again. Did you know that the movie was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois, which is less than two hours away from where we live? Every year, they have their own Groundhog Day celebration, complete with a walking tour of filming sites. We might make the trip next year -- we considered going this year, but our weeks were both crazy-go-nuts.

In other news -- after almost six months of typo-free powerpoint slides during Wednesday night services at Our Savior's, I made a small mistake at the service this week. The song was "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" (#731 in your blue book). The correct line was, "I am tired, I am weak, I am worn", and I accidentally put "I am tired, I am weak, I am worm". Oops.

I'm currently sitting in a room at a training center in Downers Grove, Illinois, learning all about SAP Smart Forms. Normally, classes like this aren't very exciting, but we have a very good instructor. And class is about to resume...

Jenelle here...

I've realized I'm not as good at this blogging thing as I should be. It's been a pretty long time since I've left a message. I think that's because I've been busier at work than I have probably ever been. TGIAF -- Thank Goodness it's Almost Friday!

Let's Do Something Fun!

Two birthdays on Tuesday the 25th:
Happy Birthday, Katie!
Happy Birthday, Brian! (Jenelle's other brother)

I'm thrilled that the weekend is here. It's not that I don't enjoy my job and everything else that I do during the week, but there's a reason that God rested for a day. This week was a bit draining for both Jenelle and me. So, after work, we had a nice relaxing dinner at the Chancery this evening. And now we're just vegging out for a while.

I'm not sure what else to write. Well, I'm thankful that I'm not bored.

Blizzard Weekend, Days 2-3

Before I recap today and yesterday, some announcements:
Happy Birthday, Holly!
Happy Birthday, Jeff! (Jenelle's brother)

We completed a LOT of "catch-up" tasks yesterday while the weather outside was frightful. We did four loads of laundry, and Jenelle cleaned at least four rooms in the condo. REALLY cleaned 'em. I was quite impressed. I caught up on things like bills and paperwork. As soon as we get one more W-2 form, we're filing our taxes. That's not the kind of thing I like to put off.

With cabin fever beginning to overtake us, Jenelle and I ventured out to Wal*Mart at around 7:30 p.m. We bought groceries, a year's supply of trash bags (buy in bulk, it saves $!), and a new rug to put at the top of the stairs. It matches the rug at the bottom of the stairs. We don't always shop at Wal*Mart -- I actually prefer the Woodman's 24-hour Market in Kenosha -- but the mart is pretty convenient for us, especially when we need to buy a bunch of different things.

Today, we attended a retirement celebration for the secretary at Our Savior's. She had been working since... well, probably since before I was born. Jenelle and I had a hand in preparing things for the party. We made a pretty good punch -- it had two parts Cran-Raspberry Juice Cocktail and one part 7Up. Yum.

After the party, we were both productive in our own ways. I ran five miles on a treadmill at the JMBA center (a place for SCJ folks to do stuff), and Jenelle caught up on some work. I have no problem with someone doing work on a Sunday, as long as it isn't the only thing that's done that day. And besides, I bet it will make Monday much more pleasant.

One more note before my better half and I spend some quality time together -- on Wednesday night, I brought the keyboard that was in the basement of my parents' house into the condo, along with a bunch of my old piano books. Jenelle took piano lessons for quite a few years when she was younger, and she's thinking of taking it up again. Sounds good to me! We can form a band. Hmmm, we could use a few more instruments. Anybody got a violin?

Blizzard Weekend, Day 1

We left work around 6:30 yesterday. Jenelle managed to reach a record 4.75 miles on the EFX machine (yay sweetie!) while I was busy fixing up an "urgent" computer program issue. Yes, Mom, they had me fix it because I'm the best SCJ employee. :)

Anyway, the snow was just beginning to fall, and the roads weren't too bad yet, so we went to Home Depot and bought some paint that will be used for a youth room at the church in Winnetka where Jenelle is an AWANA leader. It's a pretty light blue color -- tropical something.

As 7 o'clock rolled around, we were getting pretty hungry. The roads were starting to get a little ugly, but we decided to drive over to Applebee's (just around the corner from Home Depot). We figured that no one else would be out in this weather. Oops. The wait was 35 minutes. So, we did what any starving couple would do. We placed a "Carside Carryout" order, got our food in 15 minutes, and were home before the roads got REALLY bad.

After a candlelight dinner (in lovely plastic carryout containers), we watched a bunch of stuff that had been saved on our DVR this week, including Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, Joey, CSI, and ER.

Looking outside now -- yikes. It'll take some effort just to get one of our cars out of the complex, and the snow's still coming down pretty heavily. Here's something I don't get -- at the car dealership nearby (the old one just north of us), there are about 10 people cleaning off all of the cars and another two people driving plows. Why on earth are they engaging in this activity IN THE MIDDLE of a snowstorm? Do they think I'm going to come over there right now and check out the latest models? "Oh, yeah, I like that one, but it's covered in snow, so, forget it." At least wait until the Winter Storm Warning is over.

I feel like I've missed a birthday or two -- let's take a look at ye olde birthday reminder service -- ah, I see -- I'm in the clear for now, but next week has FOUR birthdays in it. Exciting.