.: bistan.net :.

I think we finally found a sport that my kids enjoy: Soccer.  As you know from reading this blog, t-ball did not work out due to various reasons.  Soccer seems to be working out well.  Both kids had their first game this morning, and the only thing that could have made it better is if I didn’t have an awful cold.

They play through the Upward program at a church within walking distance of our house.  The program is extremely well-organized and the coaches are very enthusiastic.  The program is designed so that every child plays and every child is a winner.

I volunteered to be an “assistant coach” for Mackenzie’s team and it’s great.  I don’t really know much about soccer, but I seem to be okay at rotating the kids out every three minutes and getting them plenty of water breaks.

Here are a few photos from this morning:

This was certainly a baseball weekend! Saturday night was Mercer night with the Macon Pinetoppers.  Sunday we went to the Braves game, part of Kimberlie’s birthday present.  On Sundays, kids are invited onto the field after the game to run the bases.  They get a t-shirt and certificate and it’s free!  On top of all that, it was kid’s day at the game with tons of stuff to do.

Enjoy the photos below:

This has not been a good month for technology at my house.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that my Macbook would no longer charge.  Then I discovered that my cat had chewed through the power cord.  No biggie — I was a little ticked off (especially since this is not the first time that its happened), but I ordered a new one from Amazon.  Small setback.  Nothing major.

On Tuesday, I we discovered that we couldn’t channel surf past channel 20.  We technically only pay for channels 2 – 19 for a measly $16 a month.  A long long time ago, when we had high-speed internet installed, the tech “forgot” to put the trap back on.  The lack of this trap allowed us to go all the way up to channel 70.  That’s $52.00 worth of cable for $16.00 a month.  Do the math and that is $3168 for savings since we moved in.  Of course, we are very dependent on those upper channels — CNN and History for me, TLC and HGTV for Kimberlie, and of course, Disney for the kids.  Restricting us to local and public access channels really sucks!

We went tubing in Helen two years ago and had a great time.  This Saturday, we decided to do it again.  I wanted to take the small point & shoot camera and my beloved iPhone with me.  I knew it was risky so I took a ziplock bag to keep them safe.  On the way down the river, I took photos and tweeted and checked email and facebooked.  Everything went fine.  At the end, it was time to get out so I put the camera and phone in the bag and proceeded to get out of the tube and wade to the riverbank.  The water was only about a foot deep so I put the bag in my pocket.  All of a sudden, the river got really deep.  The water was so cold that I wasn’t concerned with my technology.  Somehow, the water seeped through the bag and ruined both: my $170 camera and my iPhone 3G.

Needless to say, this has not been a good month for technology in my house.  It looks like we will be going with Dish Network in the very near future to get our channels back.  And, since I’m eligible for an upgrade with AT&T, it looks like I’ll be getting the iPhone 4!  To cover the costs, I’m dropping my $30 data plan to a $15/month plan.  The only problem: there is a 3+ week wait to get the new phone.  I am about to lose my mind here!

This morning, after running a quick 7:30AM 5K, we met some of my colleagues for a trip down the Ocmulgee.  We went with Ocmulgee Expeditions, which is one of the best kept secrets here in town.

They put us in the river at Water Works Park and we paddled/drifted for about 4 miles to the Riverwalk.  The kids loved it.  It was amazing how we were right in the middle of town, but it seemed like we were out in the middle of nowhere.  Even when we passed by the trails, you couldn’t see anyone because we were so low in the river.

I highly recommend taking a trip sometime soon!

Back in January, we were going through some things in Mackenzie’s closet.  In the process, we discovered the carpet was soaked.  A few things were ruined, including the baby bed that I, my sister, Tristan, Mackenzie, and a few other kids in-between used.  Nothing, however, was as bad as the carpet and baseboards.

Finally after a few months, four plumbers from two different companies on three separate visits failed at determining the source of the water, I finally found the leak.  Next, I had to repair the shower and the wall.  I also added an access panel so that the source of the leak would be accessible in the future without more demolition.

Because the water had ruined carpet outside of the closet and the carpet was well worn, we decided to replace it with something else.  Here are a few shots of Mackenzie’s room before:

I set aside a weekend where I had no other obligations, and carpet removal began.

Every spring, Lowe’s reduces the price of their laminate flooring.  Three years ago, I pulled up the carpet in our living room, dining room (who carpets a dining room anyway?), and 2 closets.  While at Lowe’s, we also discovered these nice purple curtains on the clearance rack.  Below are the “after” pictures:

And finally, the closet where it all began:

(I actually finished all of this about two weeks ago, but I’m just now getting around to posting it.)

This weekend, I went to the Coliseum Rock & RolL Triathlon at Lake Tobosofkee.  No, I did not do the triathlon.  I did participate in a 10K, which was an “afterthought” addition to the events.  The race was extremely unorganized and turned out to be the worst race I have ever run. 

I did, however, very much enjoy watching the triathlon events.  I had several fellow runners from our local track club participate and they have inspired me to attempt one someday.  Unfortunately, that someday will not come anytime soon for three reasons. 1- I am registered for too many long races to focus on anything other than running. 2 – I don’t want to shell out that much $$$ for a road bike right now. 3 – I’m not looking forward to actually swimming in Lake Tobosofkee.

Here are a few photos from the events:

This has been quite the busy weekend.

Saturday, we awoke at 5:00 AM and drove to Milledgeville for another 5K. I set a new personal record and was 2nd in my age group. Former UGA quarterback David Greene (second photo in black) presented the awards.

Later that evening (after a nap interrupted by a census worker), we met up with some friends at Buckner’s Family Restaurant.  It’s located at exit 201 off of I-75 behind the Pilot truck stop.  They seat your group around a lazy susan and serve the amazing food family style.  I highly recommend it!

This morning, we got up and headed up to Athens.  My sister had her first child, Elinor Grace (don’t ask about the name), on Wednesday and we went to meet her. Afterwards, we ate at Raisin’ Canes — the best chicken finger shack ever.  We discovered this place on our trip to New Orleans last year and were happy to find one in Athens.

Aside from all of that travel and fun, we have also played in the pool, went grocery shopping, and watched Avatar (which is totally not my kind of movie).  The rain has now ruined our afternoon plans, so it’s a good time to catch up on a blog post.

I hope your weekend was enjoyable as well!

This weekend, I participated in the inaugural Georgia State Fair 5K.  In my race packet were free admissions tickets, so later we returned to check out the festivities.  We saw a water-skiing squirrel, racing pigs, and many Maconites (which are a carnival act themselves).  Some old ladies gave us their left over ride tickets so we enjoyed a few rides as well.

The fair is not as big as the Georgia National Fair, but its also not subsidized with tax dollars.  That means I can enjoy the atmosphere without thinking about how high the student/teacher ratios at my child’s school have to rise in order to put it on.

Somehow, our Saturdays have been consumed with running and t-ball lately.  I fondly remember sleeping in on Saturdays.  This Saturday, we woke up at 5:30 to get ready for the Run4Missions 5K.

The kids participated in the one mile fun-run.  No, I’m not forcing my kids into my sport.  They WANT to do this.  I am happy that they are picking up on positive habits.  We know several kids who sit and play video games all day.

Tristan placed 3rd among boys 10 and under.  He ran the mile in just over 10 minutes.  That’s a lot faster than I was two years ago!

Mackenzie finished 4th among girls 10 and under.  She beat out girls three times her age!  She finished in about 14 minutes.

Here’s a picture with them sporting their finisher’s medals.  I regret that I didn’t get the pictures of them receiving their trophies at the awards ceremonies.  I wish I had brought my video camera so that you can hear the “AWWWWW”s when Mackenzie ran up to the stage to get her trophy.

After the fun run, it was time for my 5K.  I ran the race in 23:48 — a new personal record!  I was pleased.  Since I’m in a tough age group (30-34), I ended up 5th and didn’t get any bling bling.

Next, it was off to t-ball, which no longer has a “tee” as you can see above.  I’m still not sure what’s up with that.  I think maybe the ballpark lost all of the tees.

Here is Tristan getting tagged out on the way to first base.  It turned out to be a pretty good shot.

After lunch and a nice nap, we headed off to Downtown Macon for the Moonlight Miles 5K.  I’ve never raced twice in one day, but it worked out pretty well.  It was my first local night race and the only one I’ve done other than the Tower of Terror 13K at Disney.

Kimberlie isn’t great at getting good night shots, so you won’t see any pictures of me running at night.  My time was about 2 minutes slower because of hills and trying to avoid the Macon potholes at night.

We finally got home about 11:30 after a nice meal at the Waffle House (the only thing open).  Needless to say, we slept in this morning!

This morning, I drove to Reynolds for the Run for Literacy 5K, part of the Georgia Strawberry Festival.  Lightning was crashing all around and it was raining so I thought for sure it would be cancelled.  I even left the family at home.  The race director, who already had to postpone the last race she directed due to snow, pondered postponing the event.

Somehow, right at 8:00, the clouds parted and the rain stopped.  We started the race.  I had considered trying for a personal record (PR) earlier this week, but my training mileage was literally cut in half this week due to issues that I might discuss later on this blog.  I’ve also skipped speed-work training for three weeks for various reasons. I decided not to worry about the PR and just get the race over with and go home and get back into bed. (I love sleeping during storms and I was convinced that t-ball would be cancelled.)

Somehow, I miraculously pulled off the PR, shaving 36 seconds off of my previous 5K record, set last Halloween.  I also got second place in my age group and brought home a trophy — the nicest trophy I’ve won so far racing.  When I got home and connected the Garmin, the computer showed that I had negative splits — which are awesome. (For the non-runners, that’s where your first mile is the slowest and each additional mile is faster with the final mile being the quickest.  It’s extremely hard to do.)  Needless to say, I was pleased!

I have two races next Saturday: Run 4 Missions at 8:00 AM and Moonlight Miles at 8:00 PM.  Remember, you can always track my Running Saga by clicking the link on the right.

And no, they didn’t cancel T-Ball.