A few more pics

I call this one "I got lei'd in Panama City" :)

The gang at IMFL. Back: Dianne, Kathy, Nancy, me.

Front: Linae, Ellie, Dawn. Photo courtesy of Dawn.

More IMFL Pics (FINALLY!!)

Linae at the bar

Volunteers and cheerleaders ROCK!! L to R: Holly, Linae, me, Dawn, Dianne

Ellie getting off the bike

Nancy starting the marathon

Ellie starting the run

Ellie finishing the marathon

I'd do 'im

This is apparently is going to be inscribed on my gravestone.

What the hell happened to, "What happens in Panama City Beach STAYS in Panama City Beach!?"

;)

Speaking of which, think I'll work on getting more photos up from IMFL.

Rest in Peace

Rest in peace, Bo.

Michigan coaching legend Bo Schembechler dies:
http://tinyurl.com/y944e8

Beat Ohio State for Bo, boys.

GO BLUE!!!

A few IMFL photos

The view from our hotel balcony


A couple of pictures of the swim start

Thousands of bikes racked up

At the "tiki bar" : Dawn and Dianne

My cat's votes, books, and other random stuff

It must have been Dixie's five e-mail votes that put Emmitt Smith over Mario Lopez in my reality-TV obsession, "Dancing with the Stars," because he won :) Go Emmitt! Go Emmitt! I had to work last night (and manager Jeff kept me almost an hour late, which pissed me off, but I digress...) so my mom taped it for me. And I actually stayed up to watch it. It's a sickness, really.

I'm very excited. I got an e-mail from Amazon.com the other day that my favorite author, John Jakes (of North and South fame) has released a new book. Then I got a coupon from Borders for 25% off any item over $10. It's fate. I'm supposed to buy this book today :) Yeah, any reason to drop by a bookstore...Actually, I need to get going on the one I'm currently in the middle of, Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It's a time-travel story, and it's really good so far. I try to get in at least a chapter every night, but I've been falling asleep really quickly lately. Exhaustion will do that to ya. With the long weekend next week, I should have lots more time to stick my nose in a book, where it's happiest :)

School update: I still haven't begun testing at 120 wpm. I'm not comfortable there, but it's getting better. My fingers are kind of all over the place lately, which probably means I need to go over my theory again. Project for the weekend :P

Kiawah training is going pretty well. Got in 12 miles last Saturday; going for 14 this coming weekend, 16 the weekend after, then my "taper" week is 10 miles. I'm following Hal Higdon's multiple marathon plan. We'll see how it works in about three weeks. Hal has never let me down before, so I'm fairly confident in his plans.

My next race is on Thanksgiving, the St. Pete Times Turkey Trot, where I'm hoping to at least wave "hi" to Linae, Slow Twin Bill, and maybe even Leslie. Oh, and a girl from work, who's running the 5K. She's on the cross country team at her high school. I am soooooo old...

Well, that's it from here for now. I'm going to work on getting some pictures from IMFL up this evening. If I can figure out the software. So there's a 50/50 chance it'll happen :)

Great American Teach-In

My friend and classmate Melanie and I just got back from participating in the Great American Teach-In, which is where vocational schools go around to public schools and give a presentation about their program. Ms. Patnode, Mel, and I went to an inner-city elementary school in Tampa and talked about court reporting to two classes of third graders. They were pretty bored with it until Ms. P. pulled a volunteer up and asked the kid questions (like a deposition), and Mel and I typed it as they were speaking. Then they let the kids come up to us and tell us what to type, and they got to keep the little paper tape. They went absolutely bat guano over that. This one little girl was telling me the names of everyone in her entire family, another kid told me this fairly long story. It was cute :)

So this was slightly more worthwhile than voting for Emmitt Smith for an hour last night. I feel somehow redeemed ;)

Here's how sad I am....

I am addicted to "Dancing with the Stars." I spent the past half hour dialing in on our home phone for Emmitt Smith and his pro dancing partner to win. My mom was behind me on her cell phone doing the same. I voted online using my two e-mail addresses and my mom's e-mail address. And then I made an e-mail account for my cat and voted the maximum number of times on THAT.

Electroshock therapy is not an unreasonable suggestion at this point.

Now I'm going to bed.

Go Emmitt! Go Emmitt! Go Emmitt!

Single-Handedly Keeping Active.com in Business

Or so it would seem. In the past three weeks, I've signed up for five races:

St. Pete Times Turkey Trot 10K, Clearwater, Florida, November 23, 2006
St. Pete Beach Classic 10K, St. Pete, Florida, January 13, 2007
Mercedes Marathon, Birmingham, Alabama (Marathon #8), February 11, 2007
Bay to Bay 12K, St. Pete, Florida, March 18, 2007
ING Georgia Marathon, Atlanta, Georgia (Marathon #9), March 25, 2007

And I still have a few more I'm planning on doing in between these races.

I need a second job to pay for my race registrations. Maybe I can get an endorsement deal. Perhaps from a molasses company?

IMFL Mini-Report

I originally sent this list of stuff I learned at Ironman Florida to a friend of mine, and thought it was pretty good, so I'm posting it here as a mini-report. I'll post some pictures later on. I wish I had gotten more. I'm still learning how to be a spectator. I should be an expert by the time Linae's Ironman rolls around next year!

--Florida is in two time zones. Who knew? Well, probably lots of people, but I was not one of them.
--There are bears in Florida. I didn't get to see any, for which I am both grateful and slightly disappointed.
--When you get up at 5 AM every morning during the week, getting up at 5 AM on your "day off" sucks. But it was totally worth it.
--Wearing kitty cat ears to a huge athletic event elicits lots of attention. And chuckles and smiles. And a few "here, kitty kitty kitty" comments.
--Anybody who takes on an Ironman is a rock star wrapped in a super hero. And slightly insane. But it's all good.
--I have no desire at this point in my life to attempt an event of this magnitude. I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I will probably never have that desire. I will, however, volunteer and play cheerleader for these athletes anytime, anywhere.
--I have been in Florida entirely too long because I was freezing my ass off waiting for Ellie to come in. It was probably only about 50*. But it was windy. And dark. And even the Canadian contingent admitted to being cold. So I am not a complete wuss.
--I don't like champagne, but add in a little OJ and it's quite the tasty little cocktail.
--Drinking four of the aforementioned cocktails gives me a headache about three hours later. And makes me very very sleepy. (I actually can't remember how many mimosas I drank--my original estimate was six, but that seemed high. Now I'm thinking it was half a glass of champagne and four mimosas...)
--Hanging with my girls that weekend was like summer camp, only way funner. Yes, I said "funner." That's how much fun it was :)
--As always, I find it amazing that the people you have the most fun with can be people you've only met once or twice in the flesh.

Full report before the end of the weekend--I promise :)

Court reporting game I just made up

Drop a word, take a shot.

Practicing at 20 words per minute above my comfort level, I should be drunk in about 15 minutes.

Gotta go find some tequila now. Wooo hooo--pass the limes!