Shamrockin'

I know it has been quite some time since you have heard from me. I wanted to update you all on your donations to my run to support LLS and more specifically Russ French.

Last year 2 weeks prior to the Shamrock Half Marathon I signed up to run and to which you donated, I developed IT Band Syndrome. Basically the ligament that runs down the outside of your legs tightens up. I had shooting pain with each step. Apparently, I'm getting too old not to stretch properly before and after runs. I had to back out fo the race and cheer on my friends from the sidelines. Due to other circumstances I was not able complete a run last year so I signed up for the Shamrock again this year.

I signed up and started training late Fall. Training was sporadic and was limited to time and unimaginalble amounts of snow that blocked streets let alone sidewalks to run. This past weekend Steph and I made the trip to Virginia Beach for the race weekend. I was meeting up with my friends that I talked into running with me last year to uphold that end of the bargain as well. The weekend was warm and sunny and overall great. Despite limited training I completed the run in 2:14:49. Not the time I wanted but respectable enough.

It was not easy. We got to the starting line late after waiting in the port-a-pot lines for what seemed like forever so we didn't get in the correct pace corrals. I spent the first half of the race trying to catch up to my pace group. That expended a lot of extra energy up front so by mile 11 I was at the wall. I also had a full bladder. There is an uncomfortable feeling when you know you have 3 miles to go on a full bladder. I had already passed the last official potty stop so I started looking for a good bush. With so many people on the sides and running through a residential area I was not even able to do that. Miles 11 & 12 were the biggest obstacles to overcome as I was tired, hurting and felt like I was running alone. One of my goals was to not walk and two guys helped me through it. One was my friend Joe, who's off-hand words came back to me at this time, "You can do anything, just don't quit". Thanks for those words Joe. The other was the inspiration of Russ, the reason I started running for a purpose. He just recently went back in to the hospital. The strength he and Marla have to deal with this is amazing. I know they are going through incredible emotions. Just thinking of what the French family has gone through I figured I could power through and put up with whatever I was going through for another 20-30 minutes.

The course goes down Atlantic Avenue until the last 1/4 -1/2 mile is run along the boardwalk. God answers prayers and there were some port-a-pots stationed right at the turn. A quick stop was all I needed and felt much better to finish strong. Another boost was seeing Steph along the boardwalk cheering and taking pictures. I picked up the pace and tried to leave it all on the course. It felt very good to cross the finish line. I accomplished a couple of things. One being that I reached a goal of running 13.1 miles in a race with some of my best and oldest friends. The other and probably longer lasting is that I ran with purpose and for a cause to help a friend. I'm not a doctor so I can't help that way but I can go through a little pain and hardship to raise money to find a cure.

I'm already looking at other races to run, some 10k some half and yes we've even discussed a full marathon next year, but this first one is special.

Russ, this first one is for you.

A Walk in the Park - Part Duh

So now that SpongeBob is on I got the kids some lunch at the little stand. We sit there for awhile so Addison can sleep a bit in her car seat. We had received clearance to go back and be with Steph a while earlier so after about 3 hours of sitting in front I thought we'd go back and see how she was doing. As the four of us followed the nurse back through the twists and turns of hospital hallways we finally made it back to the er. As we all said hi to Steph one of the doctors mentioned that this was not a good time for the kids to be around her. I quickly figured out why they said that. Steph's left hand was held up by her fingers in straps. They were about to reset Steph's bones. I herded the kids to the little waiting area there and turned on the ipod music to cover up what was about to happen. I found out later that Steph had no idea what was about to go on. The doctors kept her talking and all of a sudden yanked down on her elbow, she screamed and the bones were reset. Job well done. We got to leave about an hour later. The kids did well overall and were very helpful. We got Steph home an picked up her drugs. She was strung out for a couple of days and stayed in bed for the rest of the weekend. They didn't put her in a hard cast - just a splint/brace. The pain never really went away and was pretty bad Sunday so she made an appointment to go see the specialist on Monday. While talking with Dr. Beiber he told her that the bones had moved apart again and he woudl have to reset them. Remembering the pain from the last time she asked for options. He said that if they did the surgery she wouldn't have to worry about the bones coming apart again as they would put a plate in to keep them togather. Then she woudl be able to get therapy to move her wrist faster. She took that option and scheduled surgery for Wednesday. While this is all happening I was in a training class for the entire week so Aunt Alice took Steph to the appointments. I talked to Steph about taking the day off to take her to the hospital but she said that Alice could take her and all I would be doing would be just sitting in the waiting room all day. So I stayed in class. I'm not sure how much I paid attention that day. She didn't get home until after 8 pm that night partly due because she wouldn't wake up from anesthesia right away. After another few days on Percoset she decided she was going Huey Lewis and needed a new drug.
Oh, I almost forgot the week before Addison was home sick fo r a couple of days, the Saturday night Steph broker her arm Chloe got sick for a few days then the Sunday after Steph's surgery Dylan got sick for the entire week. So a little Brian pity party - over 2 weeks everyone got sick or hurt and I had to take care of them.
She's doing better now and the doctor has thrown down the challenge that she's not progressing fast enough so she'd kicked her therapy into high drive and has some mobility back.
Now she's able to pick up Addison a little and even took all three out for the day last weekend and didn't have a problem. So we're now back to the normal chaos of our household. Stay tuned for new developments.

Just a walk in the park, Kazansky

Sooo, it's been a while. I truly have been too busy to write. Between work and home I have barely had any downtime that I'm not sleeping. Work issues have been that I was given a project, the scope changed and then it was taken away. Why would it be taken away you might ask? Too many questions, that was truly the official answer. When the scope changed I asked silly questions like, "Do those changes require any approval?" and "We don't have the inventory for those changes, when will we have it?". I've always heard no question is a bad question. Apparently it is when you are dealing with underfunded projects. Oh well, on to the next project.

Home issues as most of you know are surrounding Steph's broken wrist. I know, I know the first question to pop into your head is "how could such a graceful cautious person like Steph break her arm?" Answer - Just walking in the park. Truthfully, it was a bit more than that. We were at Needewood park for the kids fun run one morning. We got there late because at first I was just going to take the kids while Steph stayed home to clean the house. Sidenote- I was supposed to be running the Baltimore Half Marathon that morning but signed up a few days late and didn't get in. Steph decided right before we were leaving that she would go too. I was pushing for this as I wanted us to go as a family. It would be fun, I thought. We got there and most everyone had already done the walk/run as it's only a barely a mile down and back. It was also raining a bit so we just kind of hung around, let the kids play with their friends and chatted with Scott Bailey who was there with his two. We were packing up to head home when we suddenly changed our minds and decided that we were at the park we would go for a walk. The rain had stopped and the sun came out a bit. Steph went ahead with Chloe to run a bit and I had Addison in the stroller with Dylan walking with me. About a half mile in Dylan saw some rocks and a tree that had fallen down across the little creek that runs through the park. He climbed on the rocks for a few minutes while I waited with the stroller. He was trying to find a way across but the leap to the tree from the rocks was a little to far for him without someone there to help, so we headed out to find the girls. We all met up about a half mile down and walked a bit more. The Dylan wanted to show Chloe the rock climbing place so we headed back. Steph was feeling good and started to walk across the creek. I know you are thinking "This is it, this is where Steph falls off a wet rock and breaks her arm" No, she actually did very well and even helped Dylan get across. The two of them explored the other side while I stayed with the girls exploring the close side. Chloe was trying to find aneasy way acrosss for her but we coudln't find one so we just played a bit on our side. Steph and Dylan were looking around, balancing on fallen trees and having a good time. By this time it was getting close to lunch so we decided to head home. Dylan came across OK and Steph got off the fallen tree and was on the wet rocks helping Dylan across them (No, not here either). I turned to put Addison in the stroller when I saw both of them were off the wet rocks and Dylan was on the dirt. Steph was only a step behind him. Then with only about a foot or two to the dirt it happened. Out of the corner of my eye I see Steph just go down. There was no off-balance wobble or anything she went straight down.

She popped back up pretty quickly and said she broke her arm. Honestly, my first thought was something like, "no it's not, suck it up, I'm gettting hungry". Then immediately after that I saw her arm. I could see the bone pushing her skin up on her wrist. After a quick assesment I gave her some instruction to hold her wrist up and close to her body. I got everyone moving back to the van. Dylan and Chloe started crying because Steph was crying. Dylan started blaming himself becasue he wanted to climb on the rocks. I was trying to calm everyone down on the half mile walk back to the van. We drove straight to the hospital where I dropped Steph off at the door, parked and walked with the kids to the waiting room. The good news is that by the time we got in there she was already admitted and was going through the preliminary assessments. The kids were very good and were very concerned about Mommy. I talked to Dylan about how it was not his fault at all and it seemed to stick with him. The Shady Grove hospital has a kids emergency waiting room with a tv and fish tank. There was a short time when we first went in that I was playing AV tech trying to get the tv to the correct station the kids wanted to watch and find the volume buttons. It took a while to find the right buttons when the buttons are on the top of the tv and the tv is about 8 feet off the floor. I found buttons and just started hitting them. 5 minutes later we had SpongeBob.

To be Continued

2009 August Long Beach Island

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The Swimsuit Issue

We just had a taste of what all the fuss is about out here. Most people out here take at least a week and head to the beach. We went for a weekend to Long Beach Island, NJ and found out we need to take a full week next year. We've been talking about it for years with Ann & Steve Philpott to take the kids to the beach. Steve's parents have a house there so they make the trek a couple of times each summer. Poppy and Mom-Mom opened their house to us to use as a base point. They had also just added an upstairs with 5 twin beds. Just enough for our two oldest to sleep over with Will and Cole. Will and Dylan are two weeks old and we met the Philpotts back when the boys started daycare together. Cole is a few months older than Chloe. They all get along very well. Steph, Addie and I holed up in a motel not too far down the road. The kids didn't even go see it until the last day there. Chloe came over to help pack and mentioned that she was really glad she got to stay with Will and Cole because our motel didn't even have room service. I guess she gets used to staying in Marriotts too.

We drove up on Saturday morning. Big Mistake, Huge. Ann & Steve forgot to mention the Saturday morning traffic might be bad. We basically went Saturday instead of Friday night because we wanted to save a bit on the hotel cost. We weren't getting the employee discount there. The trip itself should take about 4 hours. We got 13 miles away from our destination according to the GPS and came to a standstill. Now, I'm a pretty laid back guy and don't get rattled easily. I also travel very well and don't get antsy about being in the car for long periods of time - I leave that to SWMBO and Dylan. I tell you what though, we went 3 miles over the next hour. I was a little tired because we hosted Happy Hour the night before and I didn't get to bed very early and then got up early to get on the road. Needless to say I was a little punchy to begin with and I hate not moving and sitting in traffic so I was on a roll. I'm not sure the family had seen me like that before. I was talking with other cars (well really the people in the cars, I wasn't that out of it - yet) singing songs and making jokes. I really needed to get out of the car, hit the beach and have a cold beverage. So six hours after we left home for a four hour drive, a four hour drive (think Gilligan's Island) we made it to the beach. It was everything we needed. Surf, sun and a beer. Next time we'll splurge for an extra night in the motel. It took Ann and Steve only 3.5 hours to drive up on Friday...

After some body surfing, wave battling and playing wave masters (a game Steph and Dylan made up) we packed up and headed to the Philpott home to get cleaned up and eat dinner. Poppy is a bit of a cook himself and made some ribs, burgers and dogs. After a few hours of chatting on the back patio Steph and I headed to the motel for some much needed rest. We had checked in and set up the pack-n-play earlier so all we did was put Addie down and plop into bed.
Next day was more fun at the beach, but with toys! Steph made a run to the local surf shop (read expensive place) and picked up a skim board and a body board. The body board was essential to those of us who like to body surf but don't like getting chests and stomachs scraped up in the sand when riding the wave all the way in. The body board gives you a better ride and reduces the sand scrapes to the legs. The skim board on the other hand is like trying to slide on ice. The idea is to wait for the wave to come in and when there is about 1/2 inch of water start jogging, toss the board down, jump on and surf/skim the wave into the water. It's best done on a flatter area of sand for beginners. Needless to say we were beginners and we didn't have a flat area. After numerous falls and heavy laughter from the peanut gallery watching I did master the skim -for about 3 feet and I didn't fall. I determined after seeing other and more proficient kids doing that on bigger boards, that Steph just got me the wrong size skimboard. Maybe next year I'll go bigger.
That night after getting cleaned up we had one of the most delicious meals I've had in a long time. Poppy went fishing that morning and caught a couple flounder so we had that in a white wine and caper sauce along with some Shrimp Diablo - shrimp in a spicy sauce and bread for dipping. Incredible.
Monday was our last day there so after breakfast we tried to squeeze in as much beach time as possible. We headed out just before dinner so we could grab some seafood on the way out. We headed out to a souvenir shop that also sold Chamelia charms. Steph was getting a crab charm as a reminder of our trip to Tilghman Island and the beach. Poppy gave us a couple of places to stop. Charm shopping went off without a problem but food was not working for us. every seafood place we stopped was jam packed so after trying 4 places with an hour wait we went to a Joe-Pops surf bar and grill. We didn't think it would be that bad but it was basically a nightclub that served dinner. The kids loved it and thought it was cool. For Steph and I, it just wasn't what we wanted for our final dinner on the island. We tried to put on a happy face for the kids because we decided that they liked it and it was building memories for them. We didn't want our food snobbiness to sour that memory.
Thanks to the Philpott clan for hosting and letting us hang out for the weekend.

I'm a runner?

No "S", there I was. I thought I was gonna die.
Not really but I was having a hard time breathing. I ran my first race since I was in 8th grade. OK I wasn't really running to win. I was running to finish and at some points just to get to the finish line. I cought a cold the week before the run and was hacking things up all week. Let me provide some background. I am running and training for a 1/2 marathon again. I have learned that stretching is good when you get old and apparently I'm getting old. The knees, muscles and ligaments are all doing well so far. We were planning a trip to see my sister and family outside Chicago in Hampshire, IL. She flew to DC to pick up the two oldest kids and kept them for a week. Then Steph, Addie and I flew there to bring them home. We made it a little vacation as Mom and Dad drove in from KC and Grandma Reeve and Aunt Diane made the trip over for a while on Sunday. It also happened to be the Coon Creek Country Days the same weekend. I forgot how much I enjoyed small town festivals. Beer tent, nightly band(s), midway games, carnival rides and even a parade and fireworks. The girls had a fun day out sponsored by Grandma to the American Girl store in downtown Chicago. They took the train in and had a good Chic Day. Most important (to me) was the 10k. Kristin mentioned when we were first planning this that I could run in their little 10k since I was training for the 1/2 Marathon. I almost dismissed it but then thought better and saw that it fit right on my training schedule. I was supposed to be running 6 miles that weekend anyway. Why not?

Since Dana (Lenz) Hartwigsen lives about 20 miles away from my sister I invited her to join me. She said she would register and even chastized me to make sure I wouldn't back out on her. Come to find out when I went to pick up my number the day before the race it was SHE who didn't even sign up. A quick call resolved the issue. In true Dana form she was running behind and didn't get to sign up. She was planning to do it the morning of the run though and assured me she would be there. A true friend she was and showed up at 6:50am to my sister's house ready to run. One of the highlights of the run, besides making it through, was at the end of mile 5. My nephew Andrew was at the final water station handing out cups of water. I was thankful to get the water and see him on the run. Keep up the good work Andrew. In true female form Dana didn't stop talking until we went to church after the run. We were sweaty and still in our shorts but showed up anyway to see the kids do their Vacation Bible School program. Kristin/Supermom had all the kids in VBS all week. We got a few strange looks by the regular Sunday crowd but at least we were there. I don't recommend running a 10k and then sitting in a cold church. Dana and I were freezing. At one point we had the baby blankets over us to keep from shivering so much. next time I'll at least change my t-shirt before going somewhere after a race unless I can sit outside.

The next big event was the festival parade. All of Kristin's kids were in or on a float - Andrew for football, Scott and Matthew for Cub Scouts and Lauren for cheerleading. Dylan and Chloe thought it was almost as good as Halloween. They didn't have to walk and people just threw candy at them. Dylan's highlight was getting a carrott and a potato from one of the floats. He was so excited and it was the first thing he ate when we got back to the house and peeled it for him.

So while I may have run in my first race since 8th grade I still don't consider myself a runner. Maybe I eventually will. Right now it's something to do to keep in shape and I have a goal to train for, nothing more. It's not a part of me and I don't miss it if I can't get out for a couple of days. I feel I have potential to be considered a runner because if I only get out once during the week I do find myself looking forward to the next run. It's some 'Me' time and a stress reliever but maybe that's all being a runner is.

Fish, Golf and Blood

I know, I know 2 posts in 2 weeks. It's getting to be a habit. I have a ton of work to do both at home and work but I felt the need to write.
This past week seems to have been only about 2 days long. Last weekend seemed like a 3 day weekend partially because we had a happy hour Friday afternoon to kick the weekend off. Saturday we took the kids to the National Aquarium in DC. The good thing was that it was inexpensive - relatively. $7 for adults and the whole thing was about as big as one floor in my house. Baltimore Aquarium it is not. The kids had cameras in hand and were snapping lots of pictures of fish. I remember thinking during that time that I was thankful that we have digital pictures now and can just erase the bad pictures. When I was growing up with my 110 camera and later the 35mm I had to actually pay to develop the pictures to see the bad ones. Oh the money I wasted on bad pictures. Speaking of pictures. I think I'm going to dig out a few of the picture boxes I have saved from those days and scan them in. I have a bit of my Grandpa Woldruff in me and I'll take pictures of anything. Though I don't have a slide projector to show them on so this blog and facebook will have to be the venue for most. SWMBO will have a say in what pictures are posted as well. This is a family site...
Sunday, went golfing with the guys for the first time since last Father's Day. I hate to say it but I'm still a bit sore from al the swinging I did. I got my money's worth of golfing though. All those other guys were trying to swing fewer times on each hole. I figure if I can get 2 or even 3 swings per dollar spent then I don't feel so bad. Some of those guys were barely over one swing per dollar. I may not have scored well but the economics works out better for me. I either have to golf more, stretch more or take a bottle of aspirin with me and keep it in the bag. We did have a good time on the course. 2 foursomes with a little bragging rights competition. It came down to a 2 stroke difference between the two groups - my team lost. I blame myself. My putting was terrible. I had the line dead on but apparently I was feeling like playing hockey instead of golf and slammed that ball right over the cup about 4-5 times. I tried to blame the fast greens but Jorge corrected me and said it was just me. So instead of getting par or even a couple of birdies I would go 1, 2, or 3 over. Again - the economics were great but I guess good economics don't equal a good golf game. Maybe that's why so many politicians are good golfers. Just a thought. The kids got me a new golf bag for Father's Day and were very excited about it. They gave it to me Saturday night so I could use it Sunday morning. Steph, ever my stylist, got me a pair of Under Armor golf shorts and shirt. I may not have been the best player but I was probably the best dressed.
I did hang out with the family later in the day. It was great. I made some ribs and sat out on the porch and relaxed. Of course that was after I did my fatherly duties and mowed the lawn and cleaned the pool. Some things you don't get off doing even when it's Father's Day.

Oh, one night (seriously I forget which one) Steph was out for a work thing and I had the kids at home. Dylan and Chloe finished eating and went inside (we don't really eat anywhere but the porch in the Spring/Summer/Fall time). Well, let's say the went in to the house and right back out the side door. Dylan was riding his bike (he's doing much better now after he saw his friend James riding his bike to our house a couple of weeks ago) on the driveway under the carport. Chloe go on her bike, without shoes or a helmet and headed down the driveway hill. They do this and then like to run the bike into the grass on the other side of the street. They know we are to be out there to check for cars and give the go-ahead before they do that but apparently the lure of fun was too much for Chloe. The next thing I know Dylan is running back to the porch to tell me Chloe is in the ditch with blood on her foot. She had run the bike into the ditch on our side of the street, probably out of control, and sliced her foot open on the drain that goes under the driveway. I didn't know whether to be mad she was riding her bike down the driveway with out me, helmet or shoes, Thankful she was relatively OK or worried about how badly she was cut. I think I was all 3 at the same time. I'll spare the details of me rushing her up to the bath tub to wash it out and all the screaming, crying and apologizing that went on. She's OK. I cleaned her up, determined she didn't need stitches and bandaged her up. It was a bit of drama though and now she's running around on it.
Kids.