Since you asked sis

My sister asked for a recent picture of me, since I lost the weight. So here I am, the facial hair is just for the week, it'll go before I start the new job on Tuesday :)

Cows N Corn

Since I'm off for the week, I decided to go along with Gwyneth's school on a field trip to a local farm - Cows n Corn (they have to do something about the neon on that website). She learnt all about chickens, cows, and sheep shearing. Well, she was told about chickens, cows and sheep shearing, but when I asked her about it tonight, she couldn't really remember much of the details. Anyway, she had fun hanging out with her friends, and it was a nice chance for me to see her in that environment.

Changing jobs

After 7-1/2 years of working for the same company I decided that it was time to make a move and look for a new position. I found 2 positions that looked interesting and sent off to both of them. To cut a long story short, 2 weeks after applying I accepted a new position, and last Monday handed in my 2 week notice. On Thursday I was told that I didn't need to come in for the rest of my notice, but that I would be paid out to the end. So now, instead of the 4 day holiday that I'd planned in between jobs, I have 11 days. This means that I now have time to do some landscaping plans that I've had on hold for a while. Pictures to follow at a later date...

Busy weekend

On Saturday morning, the 3 of us ran in the Braemar 1 mile fun run, Gwyneth was thrilled to get a medal for completing the course. Right after that we headed out to her soccer game, where her team kept up their unbeaten record. Then it was off to my game. The team that we were playing hadn't lost for 1-1/2 seasons. At half time we were down 4-2, but we came back to win the game with a final score of 7-5. Of course, it helped that they didn't have a full contingent of players, so our 11 beat their 9.

On Sunday, despite the aches, I had another game. This time, my team was short, and the other team was full. At half time we were down 2-1. After we went to 3-1 our goalie got fed up with the lack of cohesion on the forward line and decided that he wanted to play up front. Muggins volunteered to take over in net. Naturally we ended up losing 5-1. Ah well, it just means they won't ask me to play in goal again...

Nostalgia

Yesterday I drove up to Pennsylvania for a meeting, and really experienced a wave of nostalgia. The route I ended up taking took me up roads that I used to travel on every day over 10 years ago. Route 202, from 95 through Wilmington to King of Prussia, and route 30 from Exton to Lancaster. It's strange how driving once familiar roads, that haven't really changed that much can make you remember the past, and wonder for a fleeting moment whether the present is real, or just a daydream. Yes, I know, very existential... ;)

2 hours in Tuscany

Last night we went to a Tuscany wine seminar, which is basically a wine tasting with wines from that region, along with a slide show on the history of the Tuscany, and the Frescobaldi family in particular. It was an interesting evening, where we found out that the Frescobaldi family has been in the business for 1000 years. The wines themselves? Excellent. I'm not normally a red wine drinker, as I'm not a big fan of the cherry taste that a fair few red wines carry, but these had such a variety of flavors. They varied in price from the cheapo $15 bottle of Chianti to the $190 bottle of 2004 Ornellaia Estate Bolgheri, which was apparently flown in specially for the event last night, so our group was the first on the Eastern seaboard to taste it. All in all a nice evening out.

Great Gwyneth news

Yesterday Gwyneth and I went to see her nephrologist for her 6 month checkup. The news was fantastic, everything looks good, and she's now off all medications. We just have to go back in 6 months for a final checkup, and then she'll be discharged, and this whole thing will be over and done with (well there's always the chance that it may flare up again before the age of 11, but given that it's been over a year since her last bout of HSP, it's looking good).

BHAG update

Well, it's almost 1/2 way through the year, so what's the progress on my BHAG's? The first is still a work in progress, so I'll not reveal that yet, but the second well, I've hit the point where I can make an announcement...

Yep, I've made the daft move of registering for the MCM in October. Since deciding to lose the weight in December, I had this set as my goal. Before my knee injury I was running ~9 miles a night, 3 nights a week, so now that the knee is feeling better (not 100%, but better), I'm going to start the running back up, and do this race. Will I finish it in the 7 hours and 30 minutes max. time? Heck, will I finish it? I don't know, but I am going to try.

Midway through the season

So our record after 4 games reads, won 2 lost 2, which puts us at 3rd in the league (out of 5). This weekend is our bye weekend, which gives some of our injured players an extra week to get fit. However, when we come back the following Saturday, not only do we have a game that day, but we also have one on the Sunday, that's going to be interesting given how my legs usually feel the day after a game...

Toastmaster elections

So on Wednesday night the Manassas Community Toastmasters elected officials for the next 6 months. Yours truly was voted in as the new Vice President of Public Relations. Which means that I'm supposed to interface with the local press, and perhaps put together a monthly newsletter (although the club doesn't currently do that). Anyway, it's going to be interesting.

Sad end

Scott Singer of Durango Colorado apparently had some demons that he couldn't handle, he blogged infrequently about them, as well as about his joys with his children. The last post that he put out ended with the text that his wife had filed for divorce that day. 29 days later he used a gun and ended his life. I'm sure that people in his life tried to help him, and from his posts, he'd tried to seek help himself, but unfortunately it ended how I'm sure no-one wanted it to. Sad.