pre Halloween report

sure, why not?
totally not in our normal way of doing things, this year we ended up waiting until almost the last possible second to carve pumpkins. this was B's first Halloween where he was actively involved with the setting up of decorations and picking out his pumpkin and it's design. i can't wait for next year already!
last week or so i decorated our side deck:

I went into the woods near our house and lopped off some dead branches from a fallen pine tree. used zipties to secure them to the posts. i managed to stretch one package of webbing across the whole thing, so that was pretty sweet. the skull on the table has a light underneath it, and it glows in the dark. nice sky, too.
Several years ago i took some scrap plywood that had been lying around and cut some shapes out of them. Graves stones, a sinister pumpkin, some arms, a cat, and a snowman. these we place in the front yard, on the hill. We mix in some ghosts on a stick, then add some eyeball lights. The picture doesn't do it justice, but here it is anyway:

note the ghosts in the window. we put a strobe in the room behind them. very cool effect!
are you ready for some obligatory pumpkin carving photos? well, i shall not have you wait any longer...

here we are, 'eating' the 'guts'

note the stern concentration on my face. you'd think it was neurosurgery

looks like Z is trying to hide behind B. yea, not gonna work

there are 5 of us, so we had 5 pumpkins. trouble was, M was working and wouldn't be home until too late for us to wait, so T carved a pumpkin in his honor. Here are 4 of them, lined up on the front steps, which we never use.

l to r they belong to B, T, 'M', and Z. where is MINE, you ask???

surprisingly, it was a big hit among the other family members!

be sure to tune in again either tonight or tomorrow, when i'll have pictures of the kids dressed up and some other things. i hope. thanks!
-g-

hey, Coach! just did 6.2

hey, Coach! just did 6.2 miles (10k) of trails, roads, rail trails in 56:04. thank you for encouraging me!

ran 5 miles in 1

ran 5 miles in 1 hour. spent about 15 minutes geocaching along the way.

fun foto friday

lemme first say, "Mom, please avert your eyes." K, thx.

This past spring I, along with 50 bajillion others, rec'd a tshirt from Agion Corp. They use silver ions (Ag is the periodic symbol for Silver. butyoualreadyknewthatbecausemyreadersareWIKKIDSMAHT.)
ANYWAY....yes, i tested the shirt. yes, it took me forever to get around to writing a review. I recently posted it here, kinda camoflaged in the post. But it was done, and it was up. One of the comments i received was this:
@yumyucky wanted to know..."can you please explain to me why you only get smelly on one-half of your body?"
why, yes, yumyucky, i would be happy to explain. you see, the chemicals in half of the shirt are designed to prevent bacterial growth, which is where the smell of fresh cut roses...ummm...aroma comes from. clear as mud? excellent.
There is also an online survey at the company's web site that needed to be completed in order for me to not have the FBI show up at my house and reclaim the shirt  fulfill the other half of the bargain. Whoopsie! So last night, while my wife was typing a letter to try and help a nice family avoid stupid, stupid things that the stated wanted to put them through, I started to fill out the survey on the other laptop. Being the super-duper nice hubs that I am, I graciously volunteered to go downstairs and get her rough draft off of the printer for her. When I came back, this is what was on my screen:


click for larger version

 so....yea. good times. i LOVE it how she makes me laugh at times that i least expect it. really. she cracks me up!
oh, right! almost forgot. The survey is part of a contest. here's what Agion sent me....
    "You can send the following text around to your friends if you like:
 "I put an Agion Active T-shirt to the test and now have been entered to win an all inclusive outdoor adventure vacation for 2 from the website http://www.stinkatnothing.com/. Check out my online profile here: http://stinkatnothing.com/index.php/2010/10/running-the-white-river-junction/ and please vote for me to win the trip!"
love ya, Tracey. +1, me.

some catching up to do

I have not run since last sunday, so if you are interested in reading about me running, skip this post. Better yet, when you log off, go do some plyometric skipping. you know, 30 yards for height, 30 yards for distance, lather, rinse, repeat. And maybe some hopping.
Alrighty then.
A long, long time ago, back in the spring, i think, I signed on to test a shirt over at Stink at Nothing. As soon as i got the shirt, i started using it. I used (actually, still USE) the shirt as a t-shirt under a dress shirt, as a running shirt, and while moving tons and tons of dirt this summer while building the amusement park in our back yard. Through all of it, the shirt held up fabulously. I noticed that one side (right) didn't really smell, while the left side did get kinda stinky. While shopping for kid's flip flops this summer, we ended up choosing 2 pair of flip flops that use the same Agion technology that is in the shirt. I haven't gotten close enough to them to see the level of stink, but I am not grossed out like i have been in the past, so.....win!
I wore the shirt during the VT Remembers 10k back in September. Here's a picture from that event:

the boys were pretty shagged after the event, so we camped out in the shade for some time. meanwhile, my sis and i hammed it up with our NUUN bottles. maybe someday i'll ask them to 'sponsor' me. does anyone have any experience with NUUN's sponsor program? they do events, groups, individuals, etc. hmmm....

What's on tap for the fall, you ask? well i plan on ramping up my indoor running. i think that i am in a good place mentally to be getting to work early and going for a run on the dreadmills. i'd like to try a spinning class or two, but am totally 'afraid' that i will get addicted....

I have been asked by two women who i work with to help them to make healthful changes in their lives. i was surprised by the first inquiry, and doubly surprised by the second. my wife doesn't think that i should be all that surprised. if i thought about it for very long, i am sure that i would agree with her, but i just like to be surprised, so...i'll leave it at that.

it carries two things for me; fear and excitement. both trigger very similar physiologic responses, to no surprise that i feel both, right? good. so. now i'm a role model. i guess i have been for a while, but now it has turned into something.

very interesting. i'll keep you posted.

I am also thinking of getting my town to host a 5k race in concert with their 250th b-day celebration next year. what's more, i want to start a c25k program for adults, with the 5k race being the goal for the program. could be one of the hardest things that i have done, but i am very excited about it!

well, that about catches you up. thanks for tuning in, and feel free to offer advice in the comments, or send me an email and give me pointers about organizing a race from the ground up (hint hint, Barefoot Neil Zee...)

peace, yo!

Orbana Drink Review

Some time ago I received an invitation (via Twitter, I think) to try out a sports/energy/recovery drink from the Mother Country, Jolly Old England. Often when I think of Britan, I think of.....no, not the Beatles. I think of The Sex Pistols, The Young Ones, and of course, Month Python. Other things, too, but that's good enough for now. To those of you too young to recall any of those references: you now have something interesting to do this weekend. Look them up. Ask people in their early 40's about them. Good times.
But back to Orbana.
I must admit, I frequently referred to this product as OrGANA. Whoops. Not any more, though. I promise. According to their website,


 Well, I dunno about the no artifical colors part. Ok, that's not completely honest. The coloring is pretty mild, and I am sure that it can be found in nature. Probably a combination of an orange and a banana, an Orbana?, but I can't be sure. My sample came to me in a simple little foil packet. The instructions said to mix said packet with 250mL of water. Being the scientist-cooker that I am (not), I had to ask T where the measuring cup was and then put the water in one of my favourite bottles:

Don't know if you can see it, but the water doesn't come up the side of the bottle very far. So I poured in the pleasant smelling powder, and commenced to shaking. One would think that I was standing on the Shake-a-lator I was shaking it so well. I can assure you, though, it did NOT look like I was using one of these fine products. And if any of you EVER suspect that I am using one of them, PLEASE just lead me out into the woods and leave me there. Run. Run fast. Just.Leave.Me.

Huh? oh yes, Orbana. After shaking a bit and getting the usual strange looks from Tracey, it worked out to look like this.

Palatable, but still seemed a bit thicker and sweeter than i wanted to risk while out on a 10 mile trail run. So I filled the rest of the bottle with water and off I ran. Since it was a new product to me, I also took with me some water and some NUUN, just in case the Orbana didn't agree with me.

One of my goals for the run was to drink just enough to stay hydrated rather than drink a boat load of fluids and then pee it all out at the end. I kept sipping on the Orbana as I ran, about once every 15-20 minutes or so during the first part of the run. After I was almost done with the drink, I switched to water, then to NUUN, then back to the Orbana for the last 1/3 of the run.

I can tell you that I was very impressed with the taste, the lack of texture, and how it didn't upset my stomach at all. I had no cramps, no nausea, no shakes. None of that.

For me, this product ranks right up there with NUUN. It is sweet, I must say. The web page touts:

  "Orbana™ contains a unique blend of 'mixed GI' carbohydrates. Orbana is composed predominantly of complex carbohydrates (64% Maltodextrin) rather than simple sugars (36% Dextrose and Fructose). The high GI Dextrose gives an initial lift whilst the lower GI Maltodextrin prolongs your endurance without the spike and crash. This mixture does not upset the stomach, so it goes down easily and is readily digested."

"Sure, I'll try it....YUM"

I agree. I ran it by some of my other critics; my training Coach and my (sometimes) training partner. While he isn't always willing to train with me, he IS always willing to help me play guinea pig lab rat.

"there's no way i'm drinking that. i won't even look at it."

Tweet up Meet up, Lance Style

If you don't know what I'm talking about, please see the post below. All caught up? Ok. Read on....
I got home in time to get T and M off to the Dr.'s appointment. Mimi showed up in time. Kids were up, dressed warmly, and outside. TIME TO ROLL, BABY!
We weren't even 5 miles from the house when I realized that I left my cycling shoes on the mat by the door. Yep. Had our helmets, though, so we were good to go. no time to turn back anyway.
Bryce promptly fell asleep, so I was solo. Great. Alone with my thoughts.
"would i actually get to SEE him?"
"will he sign my wife's LiveSTRONG shirt AND my kid's bike helmet?"
"will we actually MAKE IT THERE IN TIME? DRIVE DADDY, DRIIIIIIIIIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!"
so I did. just as we were getting off the interstate, i got another tweet:


Landed in Burlington. #twitterride, I'm a little late. Sorry! Be there asap.about 5 hours ago via ÜberTwitter

Ok. good. we're 5 minutes from the park, HE's at least 25 minutes drive time. Whew. As we rolled into town (a very small, typical VT town), cyclists were already weaving in and out of traffic. Great. We are SO out of our league. Why did I do all of this? Oh, right. For a chance to be in the company of greatness.

We parked rather easily (local knowledge is KEY!), hooked up the trailer, and headed over to meet with the masses. Here's what we saw, from the back left, where we hung out:

No, it isn't broken. My bike is just laying on the ground. 

A big mob of what seemed to be about 300 strong. Ha. Strong. Get it? Sorry. Moving on. 

A quick scan of the peeps showed a good mix. There were very expensive bikes and kits, and then some people who looked like they dusted off a Huffy from the 70's and brought it along. Good. 

So then we looked some more, and saw this:

See that? Right there. She's wearing a brown shirt. Yep. KIDS. People brought kids, ON BIKES. Very, very enccouraging!! Gotta love it.

THEN IT HAPPENED. I SPOTTED HIM. IT HAD TO BE HIM. Who else would be sitting atop a black and yellow high end looking bike. I had to admit, though, it looked as though he let himself go since Leadville:

Even pony-tail hippie dude thought he looked funny. Seriously, dude. The WHOLE KIT? I hope he won it.

After about half an hour of nervously waiting (good thing I was wearing my anti-stink shirt), I got this tweet:

5 mins out! Everyone ready? #twitterride

suddenly it seemed like we were being overrun by the toy aisle at Wal-Mart. I've never been around that many people who were getting simultaneous tweets. Pretty cool. So heads started to turn up toward the direction that we expected him to come from. But we had no idea HOW he would come. I half expected him to arrive in a van, jump out, say a few things, and then take off.

I saw him ride in on a bike, not looking flashy, no entourage. Only his riding style tipped me off. Couldn't get the camera up quick enough before he was engulfed. I can't imagine this kind of lifestyle. He was very professional  and calm. I woulda been swinging my heart-rate strap over my head, screaming like a banshee.

Bryce and I had a plan for me to hoist him onto my shoulders when he arrived, so we did. We headed to the center of the frenzy, trying not to block out too many others, but hell, I wanted to see him too! AND I wanted Bryce to be able to see him and experience the event.

Only by holding the camera way over my head was I able to get these shots.

the dude on the left edge is a reporter for our CBS affiliate

 

The crowd started to surge down the road, so Bryce and I booked it back to the trailer and i buckled him in, closed the cover, and turned around to get on my bike. By the time we did this, just about everyone was GONE. I mean GONE GONE.

I said, "hang on, B!" and we took off down the road. Well, that term is all relative, since I was lugging a trailer with 40 pounds in it. Yea.

SO....we lasted about 500 yards. The peleton was already nearly out of site, headed up a road that is a LONG, steeeeep climb. Even without the trailer I don't think i could make it.

Carefully, we turned around and headed back to the truck to begin the journey home. All in all, it was a great time. I am so very thankful to Tracey, Mimi, M, and Z for being so flexible!

On the way home, I got the final tweet of the event:

Thanks to the 100's of Vermonters (that's correct, right??) who came out for the #twitterride. What a beautiful part of the world!

For a link to the local news story (maybe they'll get around to posting video) click here.

Thanks for tuning in, I hope you enjoyed the show. Oh, and here's a parting shot, in the general direction of Lance during the interviews.

incredible, innit?

ok. i lied. one more:

even superstars need to reapply their lip balm

Twitter is my enemy

ok, not really. I just need to lear to NOT have it on in the background while I am at work. Don't get me wrong, I love to chat it up with folks in England, CA, TX, AZ, OR, UT, and such while I work. I don't take smoke breaks, am efficient in my job, and dog-gone it, people like me! So why not Tweet.
Well.....
Today, out of the blue that is Twitterverse, I recieved this tweet:

Hey Vermont - let's ride!! 4pm in Waterbury. Corner of Main St & Warren Ct at what looks like a park to me (on Google Earth). #twitterride!

Benign enough, unless you know who it is from. That's right, it was from THIS GUY:

No? Need a better clue? Ok, how about this:

That's right. Lance. Love him or hate him, he is an icon of our era. Being in the healthcare arena, seeing almost daily how Cancer can ravage the human body, mind, and spirit, I have beaucoup respect for this young man and his crusade.

Our oldest has a Dr.'s appointment today at 2, so I am leaving work at 130 to watch the daycare while my wife goes to the appointment. Being a fool, as soon as I got the tweet I called her. "Hey, what time will M's appt. be over?"

"I dunno, 3 maybe. Why, what's up?"

"Wellllll, ya seeeee.....yourbuddyLanceisgoingtobeinWaterburyat4forabikeride. Yes, I got a tweet. I know that I can't make it, but I think it is pretty cool, and wanted to share it with you."

"Wait a minute, perhaps I CAN make this work", my accomodating wife said. "Let me call my Mom and see what we can do, ok? You can't miss this chance!"

me: "no, no, no, it's not going to work, and that's O-K. i just thought it was neat and wanted to share."

"Shhhh. We'll work it out. I will call you back."

tick tock tick tock (not 3 minutes passed)

"Hi!"

"Hi. I talked to mimi, and she'll be at the house at 230. You should take B with you, too. It will be great!"

So as HUMBLY as I could, I said thank you, and then we worked out some of the kiddo logistics.

As of right now, I am bringing B, his bike trailer, and my 1999 Rockhopper with skinny tires to Waterbury, VT to go for a ride with Lance. I hope to be able to hang for at least 2 miles, then who knows.

We'll try to get photos, and perhaps get Lance to sign B's bike helmet, and try not to be obtrusive at the same time. just like all 3500 other people who might be there. wish us luck!!!

10 miles on 10/10/10

As you may or may not know (that really doesn't make ANY sense, does it? I've never thought so) I entered Neil's race over at his blog. The rules seemed to fit me, including the distances.
Between now and including Oct 10th, 2010 (10.10.10.), run any of the following distance

• 10 km
• 10 miles
• 1.0 km
• 1.0 miles
• 100 km
• 100 miles

Which one did i pick? Have we met? Of course i picked 100 miles. Why not?
Well, if I had given it ANY thought, I would have realized that there was NO way that I could tally up 100 miles. But I plodded along, trying to get some miles here and there. Never really added up.
Once again, my wonderful wife Tracey came to the rescue. She gave me the 'ok' to skip a gathering so that I could have time to run today. Today, the final day to be able to get this run in, and then get it posted. I also volunteered to so dome chores around the house so that she wouldn't have to worry about getting them done when she got home tonight.

ANYWAY...... Here is where I ran. I ran along the Appalachian Trail from Norwich, Vermont. I headed south, which is to say I headed to Georgia. I didn't make it go Georgia. Besides, I've heard that the Devil went down to GA, and I'm still trying to give him the slip....
I've run on this trail many times, and the last time i went as far as i was planning to go today, I came home with pretty serious blisters on my feet that ended up getting infected. That time, however, I didn't have any socks on. I was only planning to do 5 miles that day, but was feeling good and decided to push it. Bad idea.
So what did I learn? Yes, to wear socks. Today I ran in my injinji socks. No blisters, I am happy to say!
Fall is in full effect in these parts. The trail was very obscure in several parts. More than once I had to stop and look for the white paint marks on the trees that show the way. Let's just agree right now that this accounts for the 14:21 pace. Ok? ok. moving on now.....
No one else showed up to race with me, so I don't have any start photos. The organizer wasn't very organized, so there were no port-o-lets. This was ok at the start, but I wish that I had one at the 5 mile turn around. Since i am male, however, every tree is a urinal. Thank goodness I was in the middle of the woods.
I think that I nailed my nutrition for the first half, but didn't quite have enough reserve in the tank to make it good for the second half. I was drinking from 3 bottles. One of NUUN, one of water, and one of ORBANA, from London, which I will review in the next few days. No GI trouble, and that's a good thing.
I tried to shoot a video as I ran, but I'm not sure how good it came out. Those of you prone to motionsickness might want to skip this part:

I saw several people on the course, which was fantastic. An older couple with full, large packs who i saw not long before the turn around. My goal on the way back was to beat them to the shelter mentioned on the sign at the trail head (photo above). I made it! I beat them with less than .25 miles to go, but I beat them! I also came across grand parents out in a field with their grandson and granddaughter. Grammie said, "they love to be out here, and what a perfect day!" I patted the grandson (maybe 10) on the shoulder and said that I was very happy that he was outside today. He smiled, and I ran on.

Due to fatigue, I wasn't lifting my feet as high as I should have, and my left toe caught a root. I went flying down onto the trail. Cell phone bounced around, and i used my handheld water bottle to brace my fall. All is well, the phone and I are fine. Good thing no one saw me!!!

Back at the truck, I grabbed some more water and walked around a bit to make 10.10 miles. Good times. I had a BLAST. Thank you, Neil, for the idea. I hope you had a great birthday!!!

mizfitonline, oh, and a fun photo

I am in a class today called "let's hold hands, sing Kum-ba-ya, and feel better about being a leader". honest.

Ok. not really. i lied. But it is much like that, and, surprisingly, I am finding it interesting. This means, however, that I am not able to hang out online in the comfort of my office. It does NOT mean, though, that I have nothing to offer today.
I am honoured to announce that I was asked to be a guest blogger over at mizfitonline. (Wait for the link.) So go there, cruise around after reading my post and the comments, and show MIZ some blogoshpere love. She's a great gal. One of her tag lines is "unapologetically myself". How great is THAT!? The link? oh, right.
Here.
Be well. I'll hopefully be able to get online tonight or over the weekend and put together something astounding that will keep you coming back for more. Meanwhile, I leave you with this offering for Friday Photo. It was only one of a bunch of sketches that I saved from an email I got about a year ago. I love the creativity!

check out the fly on the far left....

Front Row Tickets to the Gun Show

I've been broadening my online social circle lately, and have made some virtual friends in foreign lands, to include Utah. Yes, Utah. I've actually driven through the state, and what I saw was beautiful. Honest. Drove along Highway 80 headed West. SO?

Well this twit-ter dude suggested that we join in on a Big Bad Biceps Challenge being hosted by a friend of his at http://www.yumyucky.com/ . Never heard of her? Me either, so of course I was willing to give the challenge a try. In brief, yumyucky wants us to do a bicep routine 5 out of the next 7 days. First we have to take "before" pictures, and then, of course, "after" pictures.

Z has been using weights at home for a few weeks now, and I am very encouraged and excited by this. For one, the weights that I 'had to have' about 4 years ago are finally getting used. Well, we DO use them every year to help anchor the Christmas Tree, but that isn't in the brochure.

So here they are, for all the world to see. Z's and my BEFORE pictures. Try not to drool. Remember, he is only 13. I'll be sure to let you know how we do. Woot!

 

Z Before

 

me Before

Leave it out there

One of the reasons that I run is to clear my head. Or, more accurately perhaps, organize my head. Some people write in diaries (men write in journals, not diaries. just fyi. or, i suppose, blogs...). Other people work with animals, tend gardens, fish, cook, talk with friends, or pay to talk to a stranger. Last year, for Chirstmas, I received an oval bumper sticker that has become one of my favourites. I also recieved it as a magnet. I believe that someone was trying to tell me something, or perhaps giving me a way to accept and proclaim something that I believe to be true:

And i do believe this. Not only cheaper, but for me, better. It is almost always available, can be intense or relaxing, doesn't always require an appointment in advance, can be done in group or individually, and, except for races, doesn't require a co-pay. One of the aspects of it that I have been very fortunate to be able to use is the 24/7 'emergency help line'. Take this past Saturday evening, for example:
Up until the incident, I had been having a pretty fantastic day: Z had a football game in the morning, during which he made his first ever pass reception, and it was for a 1st down, gain of 13 yards. The team lost, but Z and we were very thrilled. After the game T and I helped staff the snack shack for the 7th grade game. Did some shopping after that, and then got chores done at home. All's good! I was planning and making a really good dinner for us, and looking forward to sitting around the table eating good food. T and Z were out getting new sneakers, and she had just sent a text saying that they were headed home. Perfect! Timing on dinner was great. I was psyched.
And then it happened. I won't go into details, but several of my buttons were pushed in about 15 seconds. Way too much for me to handle, even with the good mood that I was in. In the (not so distant ) past, I would have 'engaged' and escalated the situation way beyond the scope of what it was all about. In fact, I would have turned it into something that it wasn't, and made it much, much worse. For everyone.
But I didn't. Instead, I sent a text message to T and said, "please hurry, I need to leave." An eternity few minutes later she called back to see if all was ok. I gave her a brief run down, and she said that they were almost home. I took this time to change into my running clothes, gather some water and music. When she arrived I told her where dinner was in the process, thanked her very much for understanding, apologized for 'ruining' dinner, and left.
I went to a local bank's headquarters. They have a new, well lit parking lot that serves nothing but that building. I parked, sent a text message to T to let her know where I was, fired up the mp3 player, and started to run. One lap, as it turns out, is only .14 miles. I decided to listen to one of AudioFuel's newest offerings, a 180 bpm max interval session. See it here. (Get it. You'll thank me later). I ran the entire time, which was tough. But here's what made it possible:
I left it all out there in the parking lot. At the beginning of the run, while I was sorting out the best line to run, figuring out where to put the water, jacket on, jacket off?, my mind was swimming, nay, drowning in thoughts of what had nearly happened at the house. Old things were coming up, feeding my frustration and anger. Remember that story about the old Cherokee that I shared a few posts ago? Well, I was definitely feeding the wrong wolf. And he was winning.
So I decided to push myself through the session. Focus on the session. Listen to the music, listen to the voice coaching, wonder if the cleaning people were watching this raving lunatic run circles in the parking lot. As I ran, it got 'easier'. The intervals lasted 3 minutes, and I enjoyed them. Yes, the high end ones were tough. But I felt better. In a recent magazine ad, I noticed the following statement. I am sure that many of you have seen it, too:

"Running won't solve your problems, but you'll both feel lighter when you get back." 

Winner, winner, pancake dinner!

ok, maybe not DINNER, but breakfast doesn't rhyme well with winner. not even an eye rhyme. huh?
I have been trying to find a new way to come up with a random number for the winner of the contest. Here are some of the things I tried:
Randomly get up and look out the window. Number of people walking across the parking lot equals number for winner. How many did I see? None. (YAY! I get to keep the syrup!) bzzzzt.
Get deck of cards from one of the wards and try some card thing. Yea. Well, the first deck I 'borrowed' and brough back to my office (along with MRSA and who knows what else) turned out to be a pinochle deck. WTH??? So I went back and found a real deck. I only had 12 entries, so I was able to go Ace->Queen. I thought that I would go to the top of the stairs and toss the cards down and pick the one that went the farthest as the winner. HA. I forgot that the elevator in our building is being 'upgraded', so the stairs are actually getting some use. Almost put a Doc's eye out with the cards Decided that this wasn't a good idea and went back to my office.
Tried to toss the cards into the recycle bin in the office, but the AC is on so high that the cards never actually made it to the bin. Took me 2 rounds before i could figure out why they were all stalling in mid air about 2/3 of the way to the bin. Drat.

What to do, what to do? Here is the list of contenders, with randomly assigned numbers. I used paper from the recylce bin in an effort to be 'friendly'. I write that, but I am also using a brand new blank piece of paper to doodle on. All things in balance, I suppose. Anyway, back to the contest.

I have beaucoup (boo-coo) work to do today, so I gave up trying to be creative and just went with the old stand by, the random number generator at random.org.

Here is the number that it chose as the winner of the contest:

As you can see, it chose the number NINE. If you look on the list above, the number NINE corresponds to RTP, which is RUNNING THROUGH PHOENIX!!!! Congratulations to Jeff G! Please send your mailing address to me at boutdrz at gmail dot com and I'll try to get it out to you in Saatuday's post (mail. sorry, have been tweeting quite a bit with folks in England lately...cheers!).

Friday Fun

Did you expect to find the winner of the One Sweet Giveaway? Well, I HAVE chosen the winner, and an email and DM tweet was sent. I am waiting for them to get back to me before I post it here. That's how I roll.
In other news, I have been totally slacking off at work today. My officemate doesn't work on fridays (and apparently neither do I (ba-dum-bump), so I have been slack-a-lackin'.
I do have some fun things to share, though. Here's one:

Two Dads and two Sons enter a race. All of them win Age Group Awards, but there are only 3 trophies handed out. How is this possible? (answer in comments) (BEWARE!! A friend of mine who knows the answer said that she was going to put a in a spoiler comment.)

Here's another, though more thought provoking than the first:
A Cherokee elder told his son about the battle inside of us. He said 'The battle is between two "wolves" that live inside us. One is Unhappiness. Fear, worry, anger, jealousy, sorrow, self-pity, resentment, and inferiority. The other is Happiness. Joy, love, hope, serenity, kindness, generosity, truth, and compassion.......' "The grandson thought then asked, 'Which wolf wins?' "The old Cherokee said, 'The one you feed.'

Very True. Which one are YOU feeding? I tend to be very diplomatic and want all things to be equal umm, errr...feed small children to the Unhappiness side I mean...I am chucka-block full of anger, jealousy, resentment, and inferiority. But I am no longer leaving the bowl out for them, and they don't come around as often as they used to. WIN!

Finally: we have 3 cats. None of them like me, which is fine, except when the DO like me, which is either:
1) when they want to go outside in the morning
2) when i am sleepin on the couch and they want me to pet them
3) ok, number 2 is a lie. they only want me when they want to go outside.  Here is what happens later:

Check back later tonight or tomorrow for the announcement of the winner!