.: bistan.net :.

5 - AM wake up
9.1 – miles of running
15.5 – times around the block to make 9.1 miles
80 – minutes it took
4 – minute shower because running made me late
3 – times Tristan was told to not get a warning at school today
13 – mile drive to work
350 – suite number
5 – servers rebooted after 8AM because running made me late
1 – poptart
2 – bottles of water
2 – missed calls
1 – voicemail
4 – napkins to clean up Fred’s spilled coffee
5 – day weekend coming up
79 – messages stuck in the exchange queue because Microsoft sucks
25 – dollars to Amazon for completing a vendor survey
51 – videos encoded and uploaded
7 – sent emails trying to clear up email issues
1000 – things I would rather be doing

This morning, after dropping Kimberlie off at the hospital for class, we headed off to City Park to visit Storyland. Basically it’s a playground made out of oversized storybook characters.  This evening, we headed back to the French Quarter, where we sampled beignets at Cafe Du Monde, then we took a ferry ride across the Mississippi River and back, and then we strolled through the streets (and got an eye-ful on Bourbon Street).

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll leave you will 21 of them to ponder . . .

When we found out we were going to Las Vegas, I thought I was going to hate it.  I loved it!

When we found out we were going to Baltimore, I thought I was going to hate it.  I loved it!

When we found out we were going to Boulder, I thought I was going to hate it.  But, I loved it, too!

So naturally, when Kimberlie’s class was scheduled for New Orleans, I knew I would hate it.  My vision of this place was people who eat weird food, drunks wondering between bars checking out strippers and ignorant people that don’t pay attention to hurricane evacuation warnings.

Of course, I LOVE IT HERE!

Yesterday on the way, I added two new states to the list of state that I’ve been to: Mississippi and Louisiana.  Today, after checking out the local mall (which is fabulous — better than any Atlanta mall), I took the kids and drove down to the French Quarter to take a steamboat ride up and down the Mississippi River.  The French Quarter was awesome . . . tons of history, interesting people, and beautiful architecture.  Parts of it remind me of Savannah but also reminds me of Nassau.  We didn’t have much time because we had to pick Kimberlie up not long after our boat returned, but I can’t wait to go back tomorrow.

After picking Kimberlie up, we went back to the mall so that the kids could get stuff from the Disney store and make an overpriced bear at the Build-A-Bear factory.  Then we hit Acme Oyster House.  I got the New Orleans sampler: jambalaya, red beans & rice, sausage, mojo potatos and gumbo.  I hadn’t tried any of it before and I’m usually funny about trying new things but all of it was delicious.  These people really know how to eat here!  Before I ordered, I asked the waiter to describe each item.  This would be the equivalent of him going to Georgia and asking what barbebue and bruswick stew is.  He even brought me some free oysters since I had never tasted them either.  They were great as well!

Tomorrow we hit up Storyland, which is a giant playground, and then chill for a while until Kimberlie gets out of class. Then its back to the French Quarter for some more culture!

Monday we plan to tour a cemetery before heading back to boring Macon.  My Day Two post may have to wait until I return home because I’m too frugal to pay this hotel another $13.00 for another day of internet.  I guess I can’t complain since I got the (really nice) hotel for $60 a night.

After the birthday party, we quickly headed off for Grub on the Grounds at church.  That is basically a bring some food, have a picnic, and then have some fun.  They had volleyball, wiffle ball, ping pong, basketball, frisbies, water activities, and plenty of other stuff.  It was great to get to know some of our church members and attenders in a different setting.

Last week, we went to Elliott Farms in Lizella to pick fresh strawberries.  The taste of a strawberry seconds after it is picked is amazing.  It could be the freshness or the pesticides — I don’t really know.  We try to take the kids out to the strawberry fields several times a year during strawberry season.

Yesterday was the day of the College Hill Corridor Soap Box Derby, part of their annual Bike Week.  We worked on our car for about three weeks.  I personally put in about 4 hours of construction and 13 hours of painting/decoration and another hour or so of transport. 

You’ll have to watch the video to see how the car did on the track, but I will tell you we won Peoples Choice, which was a $100 gift card to Ingleside Village Pizza!

This week at work, we had a chili-cook-off.  Basically the faculty and staff all cook pots of chili and the students go around and taste and vote on their favorites.  We even got t-shirts for the occasion.

My boss Chris and I both cooked for it.  He develops software on the side and I do occasional web development on the side, so we named our chili appropriately.  His was called Chili(beta) and mine was called Chili 2.0.

Now I do 99% of the cooking at my house, but I am by no means what you would consider a cook.  Yet somehow, I managed to get 5th place in the contest and picked up a whopping $5.00 gift card to Wal-Mart!  That just goes to prove that the majority of our law students are indeed . . . on crack.

This will end this blog’s fascination with 2.0 analogies.

I began the One Hundred Pushups a Day program today.  I found in on a blog a while back that I read occasionally, but today it was featured on LifeHacker, where it recaptured my attention.  It’s just the latest addition to my frugal fitness program. I completed 46 push-ups in five sets.  I’m not trying to “get back into shape” as most people are.  I’m trying to “get into shape”.  Honestly, I have never been “in shape” or anywhere close for that matter.

My first and foremost priority remains distance running.  I have less than 180 days until I run the Walt Disney World Marathon.  I am estatic about it.  I ran six 5Ks this past spring, with my best time being 28:24.  This fall, I plan to run a few more 5Ks, a couple of 10Ks, and hopefully at least one half-marathon.  I’m averaging around an 11 minute per mile pace on my walk/runs right now.

Other than doing the push-ups, today was a complete failure when it comes to fitness.  I probably had 5000 calories.  I had a Rice Krispy treat for breakfast and all was well until the boss brought me two Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  I followed it up with the lunch I brought from home and added several (actual number withheld) slices of Papa John’s pizza.  Dinner was normal but since then I have scarfed down a half-pint of Ben & Jerry’s among other snacks.  On a brighter note, I am sticking to my two-cokes-a-day plan.

I think I’ll knock out another set of push-ups before hitting the sack.