Last Call

There will be lots more at BenandJenelle.com very soon, but for now, here's a couple of Christmas photo albums for you to enjoy. I'm off to help Jenelle get ready for our New Year's party.

• Isaacson Family Celebrations
  
• Christmas in Oregon
  

Success!

We arrived home at about 8:00 p.m. yesterday and found Lily's present on our porch. And it was the CORRECT item. :) Even though their communication was less than spectacular, the folks at IQ Kids came through for us and made sure we got what we ordered in time for Christmas.

On that note, I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy 2007!

Holiday Customer Service

I sent the following e-mail (and picture) last night. Since it involves a present for Lily (who I don't think can read yet), I don't mind sharing it with the world. I'm going to withhold the company name until they (hopefully) address my concerns.
------------------------------------------
Date: December 18, 2006 9:40:54 PM CST
To: (company name withheld)
Subject: Received wrong item (Amazon.com order ##########)

Hello,

I was supposed to receive the iPlay Enchanted Palace by December 15. Instead, I received the wrong item -- an "Ant Hill Living Ant Habitat" -- today (December 18). Please ship me the correct item. This item is a Christmas gift, and I need to receive it by Friday, December 23. Please contact me at ###-###-#### or at my e-mail address as soon as possible so this mistake can be promptly rectified.

Kind regards,
Benjamin Isaacson
contact info

------------------------------------------

Let the banquets begin!

The fun and excitement of Christmas is here! Yesterday, we had a celebration at Gail and Mike's house to see their Christmas decorations and wish Grandpa Milt a happy 90th birthday. As usual, I brought my camera.

There's also quite a few work-related parties coming up. On Friday, Jenelle's group had a "pig out day", and Jenelle made the dessert. Very impressive.

T minus two weeks or so

If getting ready for Christmas was a big project at work, I'd have to report that we are in "green" status. We still have a few presents to buy, but we're in pretty good shape. The tree is up, the lights outside are mostly working, and my dad, who is wonderful, helped us put up some new shelves (see the BenCam) and install an energy-saving programmable thermostat.

Happy new house, Andrew, Holly, Ella, & Lily! From what I hear, the paperwork is FINALLY all done, and the moving truck arrived safely.

Birthdays coming up:
December 11: Happy Birthday, Andrew!
December 13: Happy Birthday, Uncle Dan!

Open for Business

Jenelle and I have both spent a little time updating our wish lists today. We may still make additions over the next week or so, but you are free to check them out using the links above or these right here: Ben Jenelle

In other news, we got almost a foot of snow today. A plow just went by, so Jenelle and I might actually leave the house and celebrate the return of our freedom. Bye for now.

Birthdays!

Monday, November 27: Happy Birthday, Amanda! (Jenelle's friend)
Monday, November 27: Happy Birthday, Uncle Nick!
Thursday, November 30: Happy Birthday, Mom!
Sunday, December 3: Happy Birthday, Amanda! (Ben's cousin)

Thanksgiving in Minnesota

We just got back from a trip to Minnesota. Andrew, Holly, Ella, and Lily live in Bloomington (near Minneapolis). We had a wonderful time spending Thanksgiving with them. We also had some time to relax and hang out on Friday. The weather was great, so we kept away from shopping areas and instead went to a playground. We all took lots of pictures and movies. Here's the fun photos from our camera.

Weekend Double Feature

I'm on a roll. For the second day in a row, a new movie is available for viewing. Head back to the movies page and check out the footage from Portland, Oregon, where I ran marathon #5 on October 1, 2006.

The 4th Marathon Movie

I've added another running adventure to the movies page -- it's the Lake Geneva Marathon, which I ran on Saturday, May 13. Enjoy!

Special Delivery

Congratulations to our friends Steve and Mary on the birth of their first child. It's a boy! David Matthew was born at 6:40 p.m. on Thursday, November 2, weighing in at 7 pounds, 13.8 ounces, and measuring just over 20 inches. Let the record show that he is an especially beautiful baby.

Trick or Treat!

Here's some photos of an amazing Halloween display, put up every year by Uncle Nick and his family. I'll have to check with him to see how many visitors he got this year.

In our neighborhood, trick-or-treating was from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. We turned off our porch light at 5:45 because we ran out of candy (and and fruit snacks). We had over 100 visitors! It was fun to see lots of kids in costume, including Jack the lion.

Belated Birthdays / Anniversaries Galore

Sorry I'm late, everybody!

September 28: Happy FIRST Birthday, Lily!
September 29: Happy Birthday, Hunter!
October 1: Happy Birthday, Lucas!
October 4: Happy Birthday, Aunt Lisa!
October 12: Happy Birthday, Laura!
October 12: Happy Anniversary, Ed & Yolie!
October 21: Happy Birthday, Uncle Randy!
October 21: Happy Birthday, Jeri!

More Marathon Stuff

Two new things to share:

• A new movie from the Houston Marathon. You'll find it on the movies page (surprising, I know).
• I posted some statistics from the Portland Marathon on the running log.

As always, more fun content coming soon!

Portland Photos Are Here!

We have so many pictures of our Portland trip that I split them up into two albums:

1. Marathon-Related Photos
2. Not Marathon-Related Photos

Don't forget to check out the election humor in the previous post. It's so funny that other blogs (like this one and this one) have posted about it. :)

Those People Were Nuts

I'll have pictures from our Portland trip online soon. Until then, enjoy some election-related humor.

It's Marathon Time (again)

After successfully completing marathons in Milwaukee, Seattle, Houston, and Lake Geneva, I'll be running in the Portland Marathon this Sunday (October 1). The race starts at 7:00 a.m. Pacific time. You can check out Ben's Running Log during the race to see how I'm doing. If all goes well, I'll cross the line in less than four hours and set a new personal record.

Welcome!

I've sent out notices to a lot of people about my e-mail address change, and in the notice, I also included this web site's address. So, if you're here for the first time, welcome! I try to update the site at least once every two weeks. Feel free to click on any of the buttons on the top navigaton bar or the right-hand column, and have a look around!

Deck Photos! Yay!

The wait is over.

HERE are photos of the deck construction, along with two shots of another project we did last weekend. Enjoy!

The deck is done!

I'll have a whole bunch of pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Deck Progress (Monday)

Most of the boards are in, and we're cutting pieces for the railing. At the same time, my dad is here helping with the stair assembly. I probably shouldn't be taking the time to post this. Back to work.

Deck Progress (Sunday)

Most of the board fasteners and railing posts are in place, and we're putting the boards in now. Rain, stay away!

Deck Progress (Saturday)

Dave and Jeff did a tremendous job with all of the framework today. Jenelle and Pam stained the underside of each of the deck boards, ensuring that we won't have any problems with the deck rotting from the inside out. I helped with a variety of tasks, including hauling some excess soil away from the deck area and into a pile at the far corner of the yard. We're in great shape to get the boards laid tomorrow.

The fun begins

This weekend is a time for exciting changes. Jenelle's parents and brother have flown in from Oregon to build a deck for us. As of right now, we're pouring concrete in the post holes. I'll try and post a new picture to the BenCam every so often.

At the same time, my dad is working on mounting our new TV on the wall. He's already drilled a lot of the holes for the cable, and his electrical expertise is certainly coming in handy.

We are extremely thankful for everyone who helps us out each and every day. From the simplest gesture of kindness to major favors, we appreciate it all very much.

Wednesday, September 13: Happy Birthday, Aunt Gail!
Tomorrow (September 16): Happy Birthday, Dad!

Smart, but not that smart

On Saturday, August 12, Jenelle and I went to Waukesha to try out for the Jeopardy! game show. We don't watch the show very often, but we heard about the audition opportunity on the radio.

We waited in line for about an hour, and then we entered the room where the "Clue Crew" was handing out 10-question fill-in-the-blank tests quicker than people could sit down. Jenelle started her test shortly before I started mine. As I struggled through a few of the tough questions, I saw Jenelle hand her test in to be graded. In less than ten seconds, she was informed that she "passed" and was invited to a session the following day. A minute or two later, I handed in my test, knowing that I got at least one of the ten questions wrong. To my surprise, I also passed, and I got invited to the same session as Jenelle. Yay us.

The Sunday session was at the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. We had to take a 50-question test this time, and the questions were a bit more difficult. Out of about 60 "candidates" in the room, only six or seven "passed" to the next round. Unfortunately, neither Jenelle nor I were among those people. However, one of the lucky folks was right next to us, and he was very excited to be selected. Apparently, he had tried out several times over the years. Yay him.

We can always try again after a year if we like. I might do that, but for now, I'm just happy that we appear to be smarter than the average bears.

"Stupid people aren't stupid; they're just not as smart as us." -- Jenelle

Summer Celebrations

I haven't announced any birthdays or other milestones since June. Without further ado, herrrrrrrrrre we go:

July 18: Happy 5th Birthday, Rachel! I remember the day when Rachel (my cousin and goddaughter) was born. It was also the day I purchased the Oldsmobile Alero that I still drive. We had a fun time celebrating Rachel's birthday the following weekend, but I couldn't help but occasionally think about the fact that the extended warranty on my car is now expired. :)

July 20: Happy Birthday, Uncle Jerry!

July 30: Happy Birthday, Adam W.! Adam has his own blog, but he hasn't updated it in a while.

August 5: Happy Birthday, Ella! My niece / goddaughter is now three years old. She's tons of fun. I was happy to give her two CARS toys that she didn't have yet. More on that story here.

August 7: Happy Birthday, Eric!

August 8: Happy Birthday, Tanner!

August 18: Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!
August 18: Happy Anniversary, Andrew and Holly!

August 21: Happy Birthday, Gina!

Okay, I think I'm caught up. I'd also like to say Congratulations! to Adam H. and Allison, who got married on August 5. Here's a picture of the happy couple.


I have a few more bits of news to share, but they can wait for another post. For now, it's sleepytime.

Italian Festival 2006

The annual Roma Lodge Italian Festival took place from July 28-30. Jenelle and I were present on both Friday and Saturday, taking in the usual atmosphere. I'm hoping the following question-and-answer session satisfies your curiosity:

Did you eat any Pane Fritto (fried dough)?
You bet I did. I had three each day, for a total of six. It helped that the price remained at four tickets ($2.00) this year.

How was the pizza this year?
Not too bad. Buona Vita provided it for the second year in a row. It was much better than the frozen stuff they had in 2004.

Did you eat anything else?
Sure -- I had my share of Tastee Taters and ice cream as well. And the entire family ate their share of beef sandwiches, corn, meatball bombers, pasta, and chicken.

Did you take any photos?
Not too many -- Feel free to check them out.

Was "Mr. Roma" on the scene?
Yes, he was. He was still dancing and directing the music, but he didn't seem as excited as in years past. Perhaps he is finally slowing down. In any case, it was nice to see him again.

Why didn't you make a video this year?
I gave it some thought, but it would be a lot of the same things that appeared in videos past. My current plan is to make another video in 2008, when perhaps things have changed a little more. :)

Life is Precious

I'm usually pretty light-hearted on the blog, but I felt an obligation to share a story that touched our lives over the weekend.

Returning home Friday evening, we noticed that 30th Avenue was blocked off right around where it intersects with our street, and there were lots of blinking lights from police and fire department vehicles. After taking an alternate route home, we walked (less than a quarter of a mile) to the scene of the accident. We learned from several of the onlookers that a motorcycle accident had occurred earlier in the evening.

We took a few pictures with our cell phone camera as the Flight For Life helicopter arrived on the scene.



Someone exited the helicopter and brought a stretcher over to the ambulance before entering the ambulance himself. After several minutes of no activity, I was saddened when the stretcher was brought back to the helicopter. The ambulance left the scene with the siren on, and the helicopter took off shortly after that.

We weren't able to find anything on the internet about the accident. However, when I went out for a run the next morning, I saw this on the tree near where the accident occurred:



Even today, there are still signs of the tragedy that occurred:



We learned the whole story when we read this article on the Journal Times web site today.

Though I didn't know him, my thoughts and prayers go out to Mike's family and friends. May they find comfort and strength in this time of mourning.

I got cottage pictures

Yay!

Frozen Fiasco

There's a picture up from our cottage trip last weekend on the BenCam. It was taken shortly after the six of us completed a round of putt-putt fun at Island Golf in downtown Minocqua. I'll have pictures up soon, but tonight, I'd like to tell a more recent story.

It's been very hot here in Wisconsin lately. When I was out running this morning, I noticed that the local Speedway gas station was offering a fountain or frozen drink, any size, for only 79 cents. Shortly after dinner, we were looking for something to do, so Jenelle and I walked the 3/4 mile to get a slushee-style beverage. The deal was still posted on the sign outside, so we were somewhat eager to enjoy this treat, especially because it was still pretty hot out. To our surprise, all that we found by the slush machine was the phrase:

OUT OF ORDER

How very frustrating. No chance for a refreshing 79-cent frozen drink. We walked out of the building without purchasing a thing, and we walked across the street to a BP gas station. There wasn't as big of a slush machine as at the Speedway, but it was there. Two flavors -- cherry and blue raspberry. For whatever reason, the cherry side contained blue slush, and the blue raspberry side contained red slush.

Ben: "So, what flavor do you want? Cherry or blue raspberry?"
Jenelle: "Er, um, the red one."
Ben: "Okay, one blue raspberry -- sounds good to me!"

As we were about to pour, one of the station employees stopped us, notifying us that the slush wasn't tasting quite right today. He said to put a little bit in a cup and try it. His assessment was correct -- the slush was VERY sour. We thanked him for letting us try it, told him about the Speedway across the street with the same slush outage issue, and made our way to our next destination.

A few blocks west was a third gas station -- a Kwik Trip. VICTORY! We walked out with a 32-ounce wild strawberry slush, and it was quite good. It was $1.26 including tax, but that really didn't bother us at this point. We walked over two miles total (roundtrip) to get our frozen drink, but we did it.

And so ends the story of another small triumph in this thing we call life.

Where has the time gone?

Jenelle here...

I can't believe it's already the middle of July! This year is flying by, and it seems like so much stuff is going on.

I continue to be extremely busy at work -- working on a number of big, exciting projects. It's exhausting, but at least I really enjoy what I do. And I recently was promoted, so that makes it even more fun!

Last week Ben and I managed to sneak away from work for a week of vacation (Five vacation days for the price of three! Yeah!)We have a few pictures from the trip, and we'll try to get them up on the site soon.

Along with our friends Janet, Jamie, Steve and Mary, we spent about five days up at Ben's family cottage just north of Woodruff, Wisconsin. That's about a five hour drive from our house. The weather was beautiful and we spent the time sitting on the pier, fishing on the lake, eating a lot of junk food, shopping in town and playing miniature golf. It was a lot of fun and definitely a much-needed break from the chaos of work and the new house.

Speaking of the new house...

We haven't had enough time to do much with the house. We do mow the lawn, and I'm working my way around the house and pulling the 2-foot tall weeds that are growing everywhere. The fence guy is coming in a couple weeks, but aside from that we have hardly done anything.

We're considering getting some ideas from an interior designer, simply because we have no clue what to do with the family room. It's about 12 feet by about 25 feet, which presents a challenge when arranging furniture. It seems like every way we arrange things, there's unused space. Maybe someone else will have some better ideas.

That's it for now. Ben and I will try to be a little more on the ball with these updates!

Weeks In Review

So, what's been happening with Ben and Jenelle in the days since the previous post? Here's a recap:

Monday, June 12 through Friday, June 16: The usual work + Tuesday small group + Wednesday church. I think we did have someone come by our house on Friday to give us another estimate for a deck. Jenelle and I are still pondering our options -- with luck, we'll have both a deck AND a fence installed by the end of the summer.

Saturday, June 17: I braved 80 degree temperatures and managed to complete the 10-mile Lighthouse Run in about the same time as last year. Details here.
This is also the day that Andrew, Holly, Ella, and Lily arrived in Wisconsin. We had dinner at my parents' house to welcome them.

Sunday, June 18: Happy Father's Day! Did you know that Jenelle was born on Father's Day?

Monday, June 19: This was a semi-interesting day. Back in 1997, I gave two small vials of blood to get myself on the national registry of bone marrow donors. Having received a call that I was a potential match for a leukemia patient, I went to LifeSource blood services in Gurnee, IL to undergo confirmatory testing. Bascially, I gave more blood -- about six vials this time. There's an 8% chance that I will be compatible with the patient in need. I probably won't find out the results until mid-to-late July.

Tuesday, June 20: Since we moved in to our new house, all but the two coolest phones in the house would ring when we received a call. After a few calls over the weekend to convince the AT&T guy to pay us a visit, we finally got the problem fixed. Something about a bad card at a relay station. Our Uniden something-gigahertz cordless phone with built-in digit-all answering machine is once again working as designed.

Wednesday, June 21: Happy Birthday, Jenelle! After a busy day at work, I gave the message (formerly known as the "sermon") at the evening church service because Pastor Tracy was gone on a camping trip with the high school youth group. There wasn't a big crowd, but those who were there said I did a good job. I think I could do a little better with a bit more preparation. In any case, it was definitely one of those "outside my comfort zone" experiences that I need to have every once in a while.
After church, Jenelle and I had a low-key evening together, which included a trip to Arby's and a stop at Pick & Save for frozen confections. Yum.

Thursday, June 22: We had our family birthday dinner at the Chancery in downtown Racine. We had the back room mostly to ourselves, which is nice, especially when two of the people in your party are less than three years old. It was lots of fun.

Friday, June 23: We spent a bit of time hanging out with Andrew, Holly, Ella, and Lily in the afternoon, and then we visited Aunt Liz, Uncle Randy, Amanda, and Tony after dinner, who we haven't seen in quite a while. More family fun times.

Saturday, June 24: Another "outside my comfort zone" experience. Today, Jenelle and I got to watch Ella and Lily for most of the evening while Andrew, Holly, GrandTom and GrandPat were at a friend's wedding. It wasn't too difficult a task, but it is something I would have to adjust to if I was doing it every day. Shortly after our babysitting adventure began, both Ella and Lily went to sleep, which made our job easy for the first two hours. After that, taking care of Ella wasn't too hard. She's not really talking yet, but she's fairly good at using gestures to explain what she wants. She also has a habit of switching the DVD in the player very frequently. Her favorite movie seems to be Lady and the Tramp. We watched this one several times. The funny part is that whenever we put it back in, we could not resume from the point where we left off -- we had to start again at the beginning! Oh, well. Lily was a bit fussy after her nap, but we managed to keep her busy with a variety of things. In any case, I appreciated the opportunity to spend more time with my favorite nieces.

Sunday, June 25: Happy Birthday, Ed! Jenelle took me out to Tenuta's for my birthday lunch (one day early), and then she baked me a delicious cinnamon swirl cake. We spent a fair amount of time just relaxing and hanging out to gear up for another exciting week.

Monday, June 26: Happy Birthday to me! I brought donuts to work, which were devoured at the usual quick pace. After work, I enjoyed leftover Tenuta's for dinner. I also got a cute card from Jenelle which included a $100 "gift certificate" to RaceReady, which I used to buy most of the stuff on my wish list. It wasn't exactly a "gift certificate" -- basically, she told me I was cleared to spend that much. That works for me, since it all comes out of the same bucket anyways. :)

Tuesday, June 27: We recently finished a big project at work, so I received a bonus gift at a celebration in the evening. It will probably go in the savings account to be spent later on a fence or a deck.

Which brings us to today, when I posted this message. Have a great rest of the week, everyone!

Sunday Fun Times

Today was both fun and productive. After a 13.1 mile run and a trip to church, we returned home for a day of indoor and outdoor house projects. My parents came to help -- thanks, Mom & Dad!

Inside: We installed a hook for our towels in the master bathroom, and added a doorstop in the master bathroom closet. We also re-assembled a TV stand for what we have dubbed "the bonus room", which is the fourth upstairs bedroom that is about the same size as the master bedroom. We now have a DVD player, VCR, and a Playstation 2 ready to go in there.

Outside: I learned to use a lawn mower! After 23 years of living with my parents and 5 years in the condo, I am finally in a situation where I have to cut my own grass. With a little bit of help from my dad, I am now proficient in the art of mowing. Once it's a good day for spreading fertilizer, we'll be one step closer to getting our yard in shape.

But the biggest outside project (and I mean BIGGEST) was removing more weeds from our front flower beds. Check out the BenCam for what I mean.

Class of '96

My ten year reunion was this past weekend. Here's a photo of everyone from the class who showed up. Yes, I know, it's only ten people, but considering that there are only about forty in the class, the turnout was pretty good.

If you're one of the people in the picture, I'd like to say WELCOME to benandjenelle.com. Thanks for dropping by!

House Pictures

So, our DSL isn't working yet. We're hoping that the folks at Ameritech, I mean SBC, I mean AT&T get their act together and get it fixed by tomorrow night. However, I still managed to brave through dial-up and upload four photos of the house. Here they are!

Enjoy the Difference!

Our house is about 20 minutes away from the condo where we used to live. It's interesting to look at the approximate travel times to all of the places we sometimes drive. Here's a table that lists the place, the travel time from our condo ("before" the move), the travel time from our house ("after" the move), and the difference between the two. In general, we think our new location is a lot more convenient than our old one.

Location	Before	After	Difference
Work	12 minutes	17 minutes	+5 minutes
Weekly Small Group	27 minutes	10 minutes	-17 minutes
Our Savior's Lutheran Church	10 minutes	18 minutes	+8 minutes
Kenosha Bible Church	22 minutes	8 minutes	-14 minutes
Mom & Dad's House	8 minutes	24 minutes	+16 minutes
Nearest Grocery Store	6 minutes	2 minutes	-4 minutes
Nearest Pizza Place	3 minutes	45 seconds	-2 minutes
Our Dentist's Office	8 minutes	20 minutes	+12 minutes
Tenuta's Restaurant	21 minutes	9 minutes	-12 minutes
Northwestern University	78 minutes	76 minutes	-2 minutes
Milwaukee Airport	22 minutes	36 minutes	+14 minutes
Chicago O'Hare Airport	72 minutes	71 minutes	-1 minute

Big wheels rollin'

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last two weeks. We have now sold our condo and bought a house, and we're in the process of cleaning out the condo and unpacking all of our stuff at the house. We really enjoy our new place! Pictures and other fun details coming soon -- hopefully in less than two weeks.

Jenelle's dad's birthday was yesterday. Happy Birthday, Dave!

Happy Mother's Day!

Here's a few pictures from yesterday evening's celebration at Roma Lodge.

Lake Geneva Photo Fun-Times!

Fans of Ben's Running Blog should definitely check it out this Saturday. Starting around 8:00 a.m. Central time, there will be real-time updates from the Lake Geneva Marathon, some of which may include photos. Have fun -- I know that's what I'll be doing.

HOUSE

It's a near-certainty at this point. By the end of month, Jenelle and I will probably be out of our condo and into a house. It's a very exciting time for us. I'll obviously write more about this as our moving day gets closer.

Tomorrow is the Walk for Diabetes, and I'm running in the Lake Geneva marathon in a week (on May 13). Super-fun times ahead.

It's not too late...

If you want, you can still join Jenelle and me at the Walk for Diabetes this Sunday morning. My walk page is here, and the team page is here. You're also welcome to sponsor us -- I know that gas prices are getting the best of us, so don't worry about it. An e-mail of support is much appreciated.

The fun continues in the following weekend. I'll be running a race in Lake Geneva, WI, on Saturday, May 13. I don't plan on setting a new personal best -- I'm doing this one just to enjoy the weather (which is finally improving around here). Let me know if you're interested in heading out to Lake Geneva to cheer me on. :)

Things are moving forward in the world of real estate, but it's still too early to make any big announcements. Maybe next week.

Celebrate a little bit tomorrow, because May 5 is Todd's Birthday!

Suggested Serving Size

At Woodman's today, I bought a 25 cent bag of Barbecue-flavored Krunchers potato chips. To show everyone what a typical "serving" of potato chips looks like, I put them in a bowl and took a WebCam picture of them. 140 calories, 7 grams fat. I could probably eat three times as many chips in one sitting.

For those that monitor their nutritional intake -- I wish you all the best.

Walk With Me

It's been over two years since I last participated in a walk to support the American Diabetes Association. You might remember this post from October 2003.

There's another Walk for Diabetes coming up. It's in Racine on Sunday, May 7. I would appreciate your support, whether than means making a contribution, joining me at the walk, sending an e-mail of encouragement, or just making a quick comment on this post. In case you're curious about where contributions go, here's some details:

Your commitment to the American Diabetes Association funds research for a cure, prevention of diabetes and its complications, awareness and outreach programs, as well as our mission to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

I've set up a couple of web pages that make it fairly easy for you to sign up / make a contribution:

Here is my personal page that shows how much I've raised so far. It also has a link to make an online contribution. If you'd like to contribute using a check (a.k.a. an "offline" contribution), just let me know.

I'm also serving as team captain for the SC Johnson team at the walk, and here is the team page.

Thanks for your support! I'll be sure to take pictures at the event and let you know how it goes.

Keep on Movin'

Happy Easter! Here's some photos from our recent trip to Oregon.

We're both very busy at work. It seems like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. I've been swamped for the past few days, but I still like my job. I just wish I had more time to do it. :)

On the real estate front, we're still trying to sell our place. It's somewhat annoying to have to keep our place spic-and-span EVERY single day, but it also has tremendous upside. You always come home to a clean place. And it's been worth it -- we've had visitors almost every day this week while we've been out working / running other errands.

I'm sure that things will settle down eventually. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the excitement of life as best I can.

And here's a classic post from October 18, 2003: Pizza for Isaacson

Three

We spent a little more than usual this year for our wedding anniversary, which occurred on March 29. I thought I might be a spending a bit much when I bought Jenelle a makeup case, a new customized photo jewelry box, and an emerald/diamond pendant. However, the biggest expenditure was yet to come.

Late Wednesday night, we reached an agreement with the seller of a 4-bedroom home in Kenosha. There are a number of things that have to happen before all is said and done, but there's a decent chance we'll be moving before summer rolls around. It's very exciting and very time-consuming, but we're enjoying the process. We're especially thankful for everyone who has helped prepare our existing home for sale, including my parents (cleaning efforts galore) and Gina (lots of painting assistance).

In other news, work is also keeping us occupied. Surprise, surprise.

More on this story as it develops.

I missed yet another birthday

Happy Birthday, Aunt Sandy!

What have we been up to?

This is another one of those times when the lives of others seem more exciting than our own. Some people we know went to Las Vegas and had a great time. Others are going to parties and family outings. Old friends are doing an amazing job of counting calories and losing weight.

But what's new with us, you ask? Let's see... I'm still working on a movie from the Houston Marathon. I've been following up with residents of my condo association to try and obtain all of the necessary contact information for our annual meeting. I'm continuing to play guitar at church. Jenelle and I continue to meet regularly with our small group friends on Tuedsay nights. We're both very busy at work.

I'm happy to be alive -- I just wish I had something more exciting to share. Remember when we went to Disney World?

Another fun weekend

Last weekend, we were in California visiting Andrew, Holly, Ella, and Lily. We would post pictures from our trip, but Holly already did that -- you can just go their photo site and check out the "March 2006" album. The whole trip was tons of fun, but especially neat was going to Hollywood the night before the Oscars.

On Saturday, I ran a 5K race in Wauwatosa. Jenelle, Mom, and Dad were all present to cheer me on. I didn't set a new personal best, but it was pretty close. I'll post details in my running log as soon as the results are available online.

After church today, we went to Woodstock, Illinois, which is an hour or so away from home. Why? Because it's the filming location of a lot of the scenes in my favorite movie. That's right, woodchuck-chuckers, it's... Groundhog Day! We brought the camera, and the photos are already online. It's been thirteen years since the movie came out, but I still recognized a lot of the places from the movie. Enjoy the pictures!

Oops...

Thanks, mom, for reminding me to include Brian in the blog... although I would have sworn that I wrote something about him earlier. I have a very clear memory of typing about him while sitting on the plane. Anyway, it's now updated below. We did see Brian on Thursday night for dinner at a place call the Yard House. Once we get around to putting up photos, there's one of us at dinner.

Jenelle... back in the saddle

It’s been a while since my last posting, and while you have all been so kind not to nag me for my lack of posts, I decided it was time to show my face again. The truth is, we have just both been very busy with work and other things. We’re sitting on a plane right now, flying back from a weekend visiting Andrew, Holly, Ella and Lily in L.A. Surprisingly, this trip has been just about the calmest thing to happen to us in a while. Ben and I certainly needed the break. Here’s the recap of the past week and a half…

Friday, February 24: Jenelle drives Ben to O’Hare Airport in Chicago. Ben flies to see his friend Fil in North Carolina for the weekend.

Sunday, February 26, 5 a.m.: Jenelle picks up Tom and drives to O’Hare to catch a flight to Palm Springs for a work meeting. (Rough life, eh?)

Sunday, February 26, mid-afternoon: Ben arrives back in Chicago from North Carolina, finds the car and drives back to Wisconsin.

Monday, February 27 – Wednesday, March 1: Ben and Jenelle both work, just in separate states.

Thursday, March 2, 9 a.m.: Jenelle catches the shuttle to Palm Springs Airport, where she rents a car and drives to L.A. (Side note – it’s expensive to rent a car when you’re only 24 years and 7 months, and when you want to drop it off in a different city than you picked it up.) Around the same time, Ben drives to O’Hare, parks the car, and catches a flight to L.A.

Thursday, March 2, 1 p.m.: Ben and Jenelle meet up in the American Airlines baggage claim in L.A. (Side note – Ben first asked Jenelle out at American Airlines baggage claim #7 in Chicago. She said yes.) Andrew picks us up, and after a short trip to his work, we drive to their house in Glendale. Then, we meet Brian for dinner in Pasadena. Brian is in California for work, and it was good to meet up with him and here about how he's doing.

Friday, March 3 – Saturday, March 4: Ben and Jenelle hang out with Andrew, Holly, Ella and Lily and do NO work. Yeah!

Sunday, March 5, 2 p.m.: After a slight delay due to snow on the ground in Chicago, Ben and Jenelle take off from L.A. headed back to O’Hare.

So there you have it. Things should start to calm down a bit. I hesitate to use the phrase “return to normal” because “normal” seems to be busier and busier lately. But hopefully we’ll have some time to kick back and relax.

Weekend in Raleigh-Durham

I had a great time this past weekend with my friend Fil, who was my roommate in Delta Chi when I was a junior at Northwestern. He works for a consulting company, and every weekend he can either fly home to Chicago or fly someone else to North Carolina. I accepted his offer to fly me out for the weekend. He picked me up from the airport on Friday night, and we spent a lot of time catching up on things. We shared his hotel suite, so it was just like old times.

I got up somewhat early on Saturday and ran around the neighborhood. It was a tiny bit cool, but MUCH warmer than it is in the Midwest. I came back after about three miles, and then we had free breakfast in the hotel dining area. As usual, I took advantage of the waffle maker.

We went shopping in a nearby mall that had a lot of neat stores. We went in a lot of the gadgety places like the Apple Store, Sharper Image, and Williams-Sonoma. We probably would have spent a lot more time there if Jenelle was with us. :)

After having lunch/dinner at a $3.99 all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, we drove to the Greensboro Coliseum for the WinterJam concert featuring one of my favorite bands -- Newsboys. There were several other groups, including Toby Mac, ZOEGirl, and Newsong. And I should also mention the Sphere of Fear motorcycle show. I took pictures, but they didn't turn out too well. I'll try and find a good one or two and post it soon. There was something happening at the event from 5:30 until about 10:00. It cost only $10 a person, and we managed to get seats pretty close to the front. We had a blast!

On Sunday, we went to a nearby fitness center, where we could both burn off the free pizza from the day before. I logged 10 miles in 90 minutes, and Fil spent time on the elliptical trainer and lifting weights.

After heading back to the hotel and packing up, we stopped at a nearby Subway, and still had plenty of time to get to the airport for my flight back to O'Hare. It was a quick but fun-filled weekend. It's been a while since I spent more than a few minutes chatting with Fil, so it was great to hang out for a while.

Greetings from North Carolina!

I'm posting this from an Apple Store in Durham, NC. I'm here with my old roommate, Fil. The weather is a comfortable 50-60 degrees, and we'll be heading to the Greensboro Coliseum later for a Newsboys concert. I'll bring my camera.

More to come when I get back on Sunday!

One birthday on Thursday: Happy Birthday, Uncle Mike!

Keeping away from Olympics results

The Olympics have started. I'll probably watch most of them, thanks to our digital video recorder. There's only one problem -- the delay. Results are posted online before they air on television, and I'll wait a while to watch them so that I can skip over the commercials. So, I have to stay away from CNN.com, ESPN, Google news, and every other major news site. No problem, right?

Ha. It's not as easy at it looks. I also have to be careful I don't accidentally watch another channel when the news is on. Here's a scenario for you:

I was running in the company fitness center at lunchtime. The WGN (channel 9) news was on, and the volume was turned up somewhat loud so that it could be heard above the din of treadmills and elliptical machines. I was listening to music on my iPod shuffle (not too loud, too many warnings about hearing damage these days). So, I can hear both music and the TV at the same time.

All of a sudden, I saw a picture of a U.S. Athlete with the Torino logo on the screen. ACK! I quickly looked down at the treadmill display, turned up my headphones and covered my ears as best I could. I could still hear the TV a little bit, but it was muffled enough so that I didn't understand anything. I was *this* close to singing along with my iPod as to be sure not to get any unwanted information. A minute or so later, I glanced up at the TV, and the news folks had moved on to another story.

All this just to save my viewing experience. Is it worth it? Who knows.

Tour Time

Jenelle and I have been doing plenty of things lately, but none of them seem to be blogworthy. So, I invite you all to read a bit more about my mom.

A couple of birthday announcements:
Wednesday the 8th: Happy Birthday, Higgs!
Saturday the 11th: Happy Birthday, Tony!

I definitely see a shadow

That's right, woodchuck-chuckers, it's... GROUNDHOG DAY!

Go ahead and vote in the new poll. :)

Warm January Rolls On

Time for one of those posts with a bunch of random stuff.

Celebrations all over the place --
Monday, January 23:
Happy Birthday, Holly!
Happy Birthday, Jeff!
Wednesday, January 25:
Happy Birthday, Brian!
Happy Birthday, Katie!

I'm not quite used to it being 2006 yet. I find myself recalling events in 2004 and thinking that they occurred "last year". I really need to get with the times.

How many of you have misspelled Jenelle's name and found yourself here?

What percentage of the U.S. population eats cereal without milk? How abnormal am I?

How come cellular companies don't advertise any monthly plans that cost LESS than $39.95 a month? Am I the only one who uses a cell phone, but not that much?

Have you seen the flashlights that don't need batteries? You just shake it up a little, and it gives light for hours. Whatever you do, DON'T buy one through mail order or an infomercial. They have them at the dollar store at the mall.

I have lots of little projects on which I'm currently working. You might see one of them here within a month. Maybe not.

That's all for now!

Houston Marathon Stuff

There's even more info in the running log, but here's some links that have enjoyment potential, even for non-runners:

• Ben's Race Results
  
• Ben's Graphical Race Results
  
• Ben's Finish Line Video
  
• More Photos

Houston Pictures

Here you go!

More details from the Houston marathon coming soon!

Mid-January Fun Fun Fun!

This past weekend was a blast. We had a great time with Todd, and I turned in a personal best at the Houston Marathon. I've put up a new poll along with a picture of my finisher's medal and mug. I'll have pictures and more soon!

Small Victories

It's important to celebrate the little things in life. That's why I'd like to offer congratulations to Andrew and Holly for successfully freeing their 2 year-old daughter, Ella, from her need for a pacifier. All it took was a tricycle. Seems worth it to me! :)

Here's another story that might brighten your day. I got a pair of flannel-lined pants at a J Crew store in Oregon a little over a year ago. On Friday, March 11, I accidentally put a pen in the wash with them, so I haven't worn them since. Jenelle, being the sweetie that she is, bought me a new pair for Christmas. When I tried them on (size 34x32), they were just a tiny bit too big. We called several J Crew stores in the area, and none of them had a 33x32 to match... UNTIL we called the J Crew Factory Store in Pleasant Prairie. To our suprise, they had a single pair left in stock, and it just happened to be my size. Wow. Also, they were only $20, and we're returning the other pair that Jenelle got for $50.

Finally, check out the running log for more information on the Houston Marathon, in which I'll be participating this Sunday.

Happy New Year!

To start off 2006, we celebrated on New Year's Eve with the other two couples from our small group. In the top picture are (from left): Mary, Steve, Jenelle, Janet, and Jamie. I'm in the bottom picture, and I happen to be wearing a new shirt. This is a shirt that I got in exchange for one of the shirts in the now famous BenCam poll. :)

We had a great time! Jenelle made chicken something-or-other that had fresh mozzarella and prosciutto on it. Mary brought a salad, and Janet brought appetizers and champagne. Though there were quite a few memorable moments, and here's a few:
1) We tried to play a game of Outburst. I'd like to think that we were pretty good at it, but the fact that the game was many years old made it tougher than it should have been.
2) We had chocolate lava cake for desert. Very yummy.
3) We had three kinds of noisemakers, leis, and three different kinds of party hats. :)

Finally, I'd like to send greetings to two people who celebrated birthdays on Friday the 6th:

Happy Birthday, Pam!
Happy Birthday, Aunt Nancy!