"You Know You've Been Traveling too Long When..."

You know that you've been traveling too long when you no longer feel the same thrill with taking the shampoo, conditioner, and soap that the hotel gives you. I'm leaving it at the hotel this week! [Still in Winston-Salem, NC.]

On The Road Again

Just like nearly 3 years ago, 7 weeks after my child is born I'm traveling again for business. Last time, after Ella was born, I traveled to Houston on a project. This time I'm in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Not much else to say, other than I'm glad I'm working inside. It has been in the high 90's the past few days here! Oh, and this week's rental car is a Lincoln Towncar. I could get used to it!

Careful What You Wish For!

I was just going back over some older posts. I really should be careful about what I write on this site... "That much closer to being a diaper-free family." Ha! As it stands, Ella only wears a diaper at night now, but Zack goes through them like they're going out of style!

Emmie's Poem

The other day, Madeline and Emmie were trying to remember one of their favorite poems from a book that my mom has. The poem is called, "I Went to the Store", and it was written by Jack Prelustsky. This whimsical poem is about a person who goes to the store and gets all sorts of things that he didn't go there for. Here are the opening lines:

I went to the store for a pear and a plum. The fruit was all gone, so they sold me a drum.

The rest of the poem is similar, and like I said, the girls love it.

Well, the girls couldn't remember the poem, so Emmie offered this one:

I went to the store to buy some more. When I got home, I found out I was poor.

Pretty cute and creative, if you ask me!

Kidding Around

The other week, I was joking with Emmie when she was whining, "Whaaat's for diiiner?". With a smirk on my face, I said, "Food." Emmie whined again, "What kiiind of fooood?" Without missing a beat, Ella replied, "Meat." I think Ella is going to be a comedian when she grows up.

Peachtree Road Race

I ran my first ever Peachtree Road Race, which is touted as the world's largest 10K. It started out as a great day for a run, with low humidity and temperatures, but I had a number that a neighbor gave to me which was in the 80,000 range, which meant that I didn't actually cross the starting line until 1:05:00 after the race officially started. Yes, that's ONE HOUR and FIVE MINUTES. That meant that it was starting to get pretty warm by the time my race began.

Here is where I lined up (in front of Phipps Plaza)--you can't even see the starting line (which is front of Lenox Square Mall):

In this shot, we're getting close to the starting line:

I felt like since I was in starting group 8 that I would be surrounded by a bunch of walkers, or at least a bunch of slower runners, so I managed to work my way to the front of the pack. Once they said, "Go!" a bunch of people sprinted ahead of me, thus debunking my theory.

I used my new watch that I was given for Father's Day, which has a chronograph with 100 lap memory. Each mile was fairly clearly marked with a big sign, and when I saw "Mile 1" I looked at my watch to see what my time was. I was in disbelief: it read 7:54. I was running a sub-8-minute-mile! I had been training at a 10 minute mile pace, so dropping that down by over 2 minutes per mile meant that I was cruising! It helped that the first 3 miles were either level or downhill, too! At mile two, I remembered that I could use use the "split" feature of my watch to record each mile's cumulative time. Here's the breakdown for the race:

• Mile 1: 7:54 (estimated)
• Mile 2: 15:53 (7:59 mile)
• Mile 3: 24:33 (8:40 mile)
• Mile 4: 33:33 (9:00 mile)
• Mile 5: 43:07 (9:34 mile)
• Mile 6: 52:30 (9:23 mile)
• Finish (6.2 miles): 54:28

As I passed Peachtree Battle Shopping Center, where the restaurant "Jalisco's" is, I called my mom on my cell phone. We always like eating there, so I was reminded of her as I jogged past. I could only talk for a minute or two, because just past there is the start of "Cardiac Hill" (or is it "Heartattack Hill"?). I was headed uphill, started breathing heavily, and said goodbye to mom. I slowed way down going up that hill. Partly because the people in front of me all slowed down, and the walkers weren't keeping to the right like they were supposed to. But mostly because I was hot, I was running uphill, and I had already run 3 miles in 24 minutes: I was tired! Getting to the top wasn't too bad--it seemed like a fairly short hill, plus there was water along the way. Then the course leveled out for a little bit to get to the bridge over I-85, then went up a little more. People were handing out ice along the way, which felt great. There was a lot of sun at this point in the race, and it was getting hot! After getting past the High Museum, the course started to level out and then go back down hill. I picked up my pace again, especially when I could see 10th Street ahead. Around the corner would be the finish line, though I wasn't certain just how far around the corner it would be. It was a little farther than expected, but I kept up my pace as best as I could. The street was very crowded at this point! I called home after passing the mile 6 sign and was on the phone with Madeline as I crossed the finish line. I think she got a kick out of that. Can't wait until she can run it with me (she's got to be at least 10 to run the full race).

Here's a shot in Piedmont Park of all the finishers and other spectators: It was a great day for a run!

[Updated on 7/12/07 with pictures!]

"Let Me Be Your Wings" Video

Here is a video of Emmie, singing "Let me be Your Wings" from the animated movie Thumbelina:

She won't allow other people to watch her, especially if they're smiling at her, so I had to hide upstairs and shoot the video from the second-floor balcony... [She says that if someone is watching her she gets nervous.] In the video, Emmie is looking at Madeline, who is in the next room (kitchen). At the end you can hear them both laughing after Emmie runs off-camera.

Zackary Clayton

Melissa and I and our daughters have a new addition to our family: Zackary Clayton was born last Tuesday, June 12th, at 6:07 PM. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 8.9 ounces, and was 19 inches long.

The delivery was relatively easy according to Melissa, who was able to pose for a picture shortly afterward: Unlike the previous two deliveries, the epidural actually worked, much to Melissa's delight.

The girls are, so far, happy to have a baby brother. Especially Ella, our youngest daughter. She is becoming the little mommy. Several times we have heard, "Give him to me." She loves holding him in her lap, and helping to give him a bottle.

Emmie, our middle daughter, loved rubbing her face next to his and giving him kisses.

Madeline loved holding him, too, at least until her arms get tired.

Here is a picture of all of my childred shortly after Zack was born. It is also a rare occasion that got caught on digital film: all my daughters are quiet and getting along with each other!

[In honor of Zack's birth, the site has gone blue!]

Marathon Man

It's been almost a month since I ran my first marathon, so I thought I would finally post a message about it.

First off, I finished! The 2007 Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN, is in the history books! I crossed the finish line 4 hours 43 minutes 52 seconds after crossing the starting line. What an experience!

I never thought I would even consider running a marathon in my lifetime, but I'm glad I decided to join my friends Mark and Darren in the training and in the marathon itself. My knee hurt for days afterward, but I think it was worth it. People have told me how impressed they are that I ran a marathon, but I didn't do it for glory, or for boasting. I'm not even certain why I did it, in fact, other than I told Darren that if he joined the YMCA then I would run the marathon with them (I had been on the fence about it beforehand).

Anyway, the course had a few more hills than we had trained for, and the weather was warmer than what we had trained for, so the run was quite a bit tougher than what we had prepared our bodies for.

We never did find Scott at the starting line--he was staying at a different hotel with some high school buddies who were also running, so we weren't too worried about him. Mark was the first to show some signs of trouble. He started complaining about difficulty of breathing, and after 11 or 12 miles he told Darren and I not to wait for him. So Darren and I ran the second half of the marathon by ourselves, and Mark was solo.

We had trained by running for 10 minutes and then walking for one minute, but by mile 20 we were needing a walk break every 5 minutes. We had expected this, though, since the same thing happened during our longest training run (which was about 22 miles). However, after mile 23, Darren got a severe cramp in his left hamstring, which reduced us to walking for about 4 minutes and jogging for 30 seconds or so. He finally managed to massage it out and put some ice on it (a first aid station was conveniently located at about mile 24), so we started jogging a little more frequently at that point. [This was the third part of the race course that went out and back, and we were on the back part when we saw Mark and Scott coming toward us on the out part of the leg. Darren and I felt much better about Mark at that point, once we knew that Mark had found someone to run with.]

But instead of watching the clock, we starting finding landmarks and would run to it (the third phone pole, or a car parked on the side of the road, or an overpass, for example), and then walk to the next landmark we picked out.

But we ran the final 1/2 mile to the finish line!

After the race we walked around quite a bit, got some food, stretched, you know--all the usual post-running things. Then went to get lunch at the San Antonio Taco Company. For some reason I wasn't very hungry--must have been all the post-race snacks I ate. We then made our way back to the hotel for some rum drinks and some sitting around. We thought about hopping in the pool or the hot tub, but never made it down there. We had dinner at the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, which was pretty good.

Overall, like I mentioned above, it was quite an experience. We're already talking about doing another marathon later this year--Mark wants to do better time-wise. I'd do it just because I got used to running and I enjoy Mark's, Darren's, and Scott's company. It's my "guy time" that I never really had before I started running with them.

It's Starting Again...

The grass is turning green and it's time to start mowing again. Soon it'll be twice a week that I'm out there on the John Deere cutting the grass. Don't get me wrong. I like taking care of the yard. Plus this year we bought a bagging attachment so that when the grass gets too tall to mulch then we can bag it (although my guess is that it'll be too tall to bag, as well--it'll keep clogging up the chute). It's just that I have a basement to finish and I don't need to be spending all that time out in the yard. [Can't wait to get that basement finished! I'll post some pictures when I have some.]

Travel Tip

I traveled on business last week to Baltimore. It started out as a bad trip, since I got a much later start than I had intended. I knew it was going to be bad when the helpful person at the ticket counter said that it was too late to check my bag. I always check my back, despite what some folks say. (Note: he could have saved me lots of hassle if he had just booked me on the next flight right then and there!) Since I had planned on checking my bag, I hadn't taken the time to make sure that I only have 1 quart-sized plastic bag full of 3oz containers of liquid. In fact, I didn't even have a quart-sized plastic bag. So several of my items were confiscated out of my suitcase. Now here's the kicker, any my travel tip: They didn't look through my laptop bag at all, and I had a few more items in there which technically should have been in plastic bags. I'm not advocating trying to smuggle things onto the plane that you're not supposed to smuggle on to a plane, but I thought it was interesting that my suitcase filled with clothes and toiletries was most definitely targeted over my laptop bag which had two computers, several cables, toothpaste, toothbrush, hand lotion, and so on. In fact, I think the items in my laptop bag were more "dangerous" than anything I had in my suitcase! Go figure. Damn Islamic terrorists!

Out of the Mouths of Two-year-olds

"Boys have peanuts." -Ella, when describing the difference between boys and girls.

Half-Marathon Man

I did it. I completed the Alpharetta Half-Marathon in record time! At least that's record time for me: 2:08:34. It was cold and windy and they weren't handing out Gu along the way like they said they were going to, but I had a good running partner and good conversation along the way, so I didn't mind so much.

Place No. Name Age S City St Cou Finish Pace ===== ===== =================== === = =============== == === ======= ===== 215 1529 Steve Jackson 37 M Alpharetta GA USA 2:08:34 9:49

I had never run over 9 miles before, so this was an accomplishment for me! I felt great after the race, but the next day my right foot started hurting along the outside bottom edge. I guess the pounding was a bit much for it, or I didn't stretch enough, or maybe it was something else. It's starting to feel better now, but it's still sore when I walk on it.

Spot the Fake Smile

Here's something I happened across today. I got 15 out of 20 correct. Tell me how you fared: BBC - Science & Nature - Human Body and Mind - Spot The Fake Smile. At the end of the quiz there are tips for how to spot a fake smile, in case you need help.

Another Office Building Sign

The office building I work in isn't anything out of the ordinary. There's one thing I like about it, and that is the fact that the stairs are not locked. I'm working on the 6th floor, but some of the people I need to talk to during the course of the day work on the 5th floor. It is very easy for me (and usually faster, too) to take the stairs.

Have you ever wondered, though, what the singular form of "stairs" is? Well, here is the answer:

Yes, this is a sign indicating where the "stair" is. I don't use this stair, though. Instead, I use the stairs that go all the way from one floor to the next.

I Switched

Today I finally started using my new Dell D820 laptop. I've had it since September but I have not had the time to install everything I need to do work on it. It's still not 100% there, yet (I'm missing Visual Studio, for example), but I've got what I need for the project I'm on at the minute. Basically that means I have the latest Office (2007 version) and not much else...

I also loaded Internet Explorer 7, and I'm getting used to it. So far it just seems like the Microsoft version of Firefox.

I'm planning on keeping my 3-year-old Dell D800 around for a while to use as my personal machine, database server, and second monitor (using MaxiVista).

Duh!

Hmmm...I'm trying to think of something witty to add, but I think the picture says it all!

This was taken in the stairwell of an office building and is on the cover of what I presume is an Emergency Telephone. I didn't feel that it was an emergency to figure out whether there was an actual telephone inside or not, so I didn't open the cover. That would be pretty funny, though, if an emergency happened and there was no phone inside.

I wonder if inspectors actually inspect the phone on occasion, or if an inspection isn't considered an emergency, in which case the case would always remain closed.

Until an emergency happened, of course.

Recovered the Dining Room Chairs

Last week, maybe the week before, I finished recovering our dining room chairs. Here's what one looks like now:

Part of the fun was figuring out how they were put together in the first place, but that's something I've been curious about most of my life (I used to take stuff apart and then put them back together just for fun--I guess in a way I still do, like when I took Melissa's laptop apart to see if I could figure out why the sound wasn't working).

The seats were the easy part--only one piece of fabric plus some piping or cording (the round part around the edge which gives it that "finished" look). I sewed the piping myself, reusing the piping that came off the original covering so it was all the correct length already. I just cut a new piece of fabric the same size as the piece I took off, and then stapled it to the underside of the seat, being sure to stretch the fabric as much as I could in order to give the final seat a nice smooth finish. After that, I just stapled on the piping and then put the seat back on the chair, fastened with four screws on the bottom of the seat.

The backs were much more difficult. There were two pieces of fabric, one for the front of the chair where the padding is, and one for the back. I put the front piece on first, then the piping, then the back. The back of the back was the most difficult, especially with all the folding of the fabric to give the chair a smooth look (instead of ragged material where the cut was made).

The best part of the whole project, though, was that I got to buy a new tool. I got a Rigid stapler, which I have pictured here on the left. It was an invaluable investment! I started this project using my Black and Decker PowerShot stapler, but it just wouldn't cut it.

This stapler has many nice features, like the swivel connector where the air hose connects, and the trigger which is selectable between single shot and multiple shots. My only complaint is that sometimes it is difficult to see when you're out of staples--there is a small area that shows the last 5 or 7 staples, but I was working in an area that didn't have a lot of light and it wasn't always obvious that I was out...until the staples didn't come out any more!

I'm not sure that I'll have a need for the Rigid stapler any time soon, but I have it if I need it, or if my friends need to borrow it!

(NOTE: I tried looking for the PowerShot stapler on the Black and Decker website, but I couldn't find it.)

New Look

I decided to update the look of the blog. Let me know what you think.

Dealing with Death

I was going to title this post, "Preparing for Death", but Granny died early this morning--about 2:15 am according to Melissa's parents. We knew that her days with us were few, but we didn't know how few. We last visited her on her birthday a couple months ago, and Melissa was planning on going back again tomorrow, but now we'll just head to Statesboro or Metter for the funeral later this week. What follows is a speech that Melissa's dad asked her to prepare in order to deliver it at the funeral. I am posting this entirely without her consent, but she sent it to me so I could give her an impression of it, and I think it is beautiful. Candid and beautiful. Let us know what you think:

I’ve thought about this day for quite some time. I knew it was coming, but you’re never really quite prepared. I think about Granny all the time. Especially these last 7 or 8 years. My mind always goes back in time to when Mark and I were little. I always remember certain things about Granny and they always comfort me. I so wish I could go back and relive some of these times. I remember she made the absolute best pancakes in the entire world. I remember the smell of her kitchen. The pancakes cooking and coffee perculating in that old perculator she had. I loved the smells and sounds of her kitchen. She made an endless stack of pancakes whenever we spent the night and I would eat as many as possible. She never complained about cooking more. I remember making endless trips to the laundry mat in her blue dodge. I can remember how that blue dodge smelled…it smelled like Granny , Papa, White Shoulders and her endless supply of trident gum. In the summer, there was also a slight scent of Skin So Soft. We couldn’t go through a visit to Granny without her coating with Skin So Soft. I remember how I loved playing house on the back porch of her trailer. I would sweep that porch all day waiting for Papa to come home. Granny and I would greet him with a big glass of iced tea in those dented glass ice tea mugs they had and he would drink his tea and smoke his Camel cigarettes. I loved his smell. He smelled like sawdust and Camels. I always remember that smell. I remember how I loved when Granny started cooking dinner. It smelled like heaven in that small trailer kitchen. I’d eat whatever she made. Until the day she tried making my mom’s german potato pancakes. Potato pancakes are shredded raw potatoes cooked in a skillet of hot oil. I knew that much. I knew there was going to be trouble that evening when I saw her mixing the pancake mix with potato flakes. I’m quite sure I ate those as well though. You never insult your grandmother’s cooking if you can help it! I remember going through her medicine cabinet and getting into her endless supply of Avon perfumes, lotions and other beauty products that were too tempting for a 10 year old to stay away from. I always remember thinking what does she do with all of this stuff. I think she had the same collection when she lived in The Summit. I was in high school then and remember thinking…what does she do with all of this stuff. I do remember thinking how good she smelled and how put together she always looked. It was my granny that really taught me the important of prayer. I didn’t realize at the time what she was trying to instill in me. She’d visit in Atlanta and that is where I was introduced to devotion. I don’t think as a 10 year old I realized that spending 30 mins on my knees in devotion while my friends were at the door wanting to play was going to influence my adult life. I just thought she was talking to Jesus and forgot were she was and kept starting over. Later on in life, when my Dad traveled for weeks and months, I would pray endlessly at night that he would be safe and come home soon. Sometimes, I would pray until I feel asleep. It wasn’t until several years ago that it occurred to me that Granny is the reason I do pray so much. It was also Granny’s influence that made me love the old hymns. I remember how she loved to hear me play Sweet Hour of Prayer, Rock of Ages and Amazing Grace on the piano. Fortunately, for you, I’m not playing them today. I’m quite out of practice. She sang these songs as long as I can remember and always knew the words. I’m quite sure even though her eyes may have been closed her last days here with us, she was still singing those sweet old hymns in her head and talking to Jesus. She had such a strong faith. I know in my heart that she left this earth knowing she was going home to Jesus. I feel quite sure that he had her wrapped in his arms these last few days and she was beaming on the inside. Her mind and body wouldn’t let her share this wonderful experience with us, but I know she was being comforted. She is where she has always talked about going. Her soul is at home where she belongs and has been yearning to go. She is finally at peace in her heart and her memory has been restored. Granny and Papa have touched all of her lives. I can’t mention one without the other. Now they are both together again. These are my memories of Granny and of Papa that comfort me. I know you all have your own and I hope they offer you comfort as well.