Rolling Rock "33" mystery solved

Well, I now know that the "33" on the back of the bottles has to do with how old I turned today. Happy birthday to me. I've been very reflective today - moreso than any other birthday I've had. It's always a good time to take stock of what you have in life, and what you wish to accomplish. I won't bore you with details here... Also a good time to evaluate who your true friends are vs. your acquaintances. Thank you to my friends who remembered my day, and helped to make it a very special one.

s42

Tryin' to Reason....

With Hurricane Season.... What a mess the past few weeks have been. I guess we're making up for last year's dearth of storms. I was utterly amazed that the Key Westers actually boarded up and left the island. They usually sit through the hurricanes by locking themselves in the bars and getting faced six ways to Sunday at hurricane parties. They must really have been scared about Ivan. I'm glad to see it's going to spare them, though. I guess when you make enough liver sacrifices to the god of all spirits, you get a favor every now and again.

Life's goals

I've become a bit ambitious over the past few weeks. My main stress release (other than getting plastered on the odd occasion) has been running. I've raced several 5K and 5 mile races over the past 2 years, and used to be a regular scholastic performer in track and cross-country races. Well, I've decided to up the ante and I've set a goal to run and finish the Philadelphia Marathon next year. I know it's going to require a TON of dedication and training on my part, but I decided to challenge myself to do something that would be very hard. I don't know too many people, personally, that have ever run a marathon before, so I'm sort of stepping into uncharted waters, for me. Should be interesting. I'm hopeing that I'll learn alot about myself. Learn about my inner strengths and capabilities, as they will be tested harder than ever before. I'm not looking for a blazing fast time (4 hours and change would be good), but rather to survive and to make it to the finish running. Call it my quarter to mid life crisis if you will, but I'm looking forward to the journey.

Labor Day

How many pregnant women do you think went into labor on Labor day? Seems odd that they would get their own holiday......

Seriously, though, it was a fantastic weekend. I got to see an old friend that I haven't seen in 4 years or so (Vijay), got to meet/know my new neighbors in a great picnic/hangout on Saturday night, and got to spend alot of quality time with my extended family today. And that's really what it's all about. Catching up with old relationships, making new relationships, and finding plenty of time for family.

So now Summer is unofficially over, and I guess it's time to start dusting off the long sleeved shirts and long pants. It's always a bit depressing, but at least I can start looking forward to the ski season now. As soon as Brandon is old enough, I'm going to get him out on the boards. I can't wait until he's old enough so we can go out west and tear it up at my all-time favorite ski town, Breckenridge Colorado. Of course by then I'm sure he'll be skiing circles around me!

Where have you gone?

Is it me, or did we just sleepwalk through an entire summer? Maybe it was the weather or perhaps just a packed schedule, but I really can't remember much of the past 3 months or so. Seems like not too long ago, we were all pushing around snow. I guess as you get older, the cycle of seasons gets quicker and quicker. Crazy.

So as we look to one last official weekend in Summer, let's all try to have one kick-ass weekend, and party like there's a major hurricane about to wipe out 1/2 of Florida's coast. Oh, wait a minute......