Felt Like Tina After A Round With Ike....

I know it has been awhile since my last post. All I can say is that life has a way of getting in the way. I am not saying that is a bad thing, but it does take up a lot of time. So let me recap...

Since the last time I posted not too much had happened until this past week. The training for the Expedition Everest 5K has went excellent. We leave this coming Thursday and head to Disney!!! Last Sunday started out quite nicely. Chris and Double D showed up at the house for a Sunday morning 5 mile run. The run went well with a finishing time right around 52 minutes. We let Double D set the pace, since he has not been training for 6 months. This was also Chris's first run of that distance. While we were running we had noticed that it was a little more windy than usual. Not windy enough for us to see what we would be in for later in the day though. After the run we hung out and talked for awhile before Chris and Double D had to make their way home.

Sunday was also my 17th wedding anniversary. Autumn had been sick on Friday and Saturday but said that she was feeling better on Sunday. So I wanted to go out for lunch to celebrate our anniversary. We decided to head to Cheddar's, which is one of my favorite restaurants. By this time the winds had picked up significantly. So, we put our name on the list and waited. While we were waiting the power at the restaurant went out. The hostess then walked to the front doors and locked them, so no more people could enter. The power was only out for maybe 10 minutes. Not long after the power came back on we were seated. No sooner than the appetizers hit the table the power was out again. Our waiter came over and said that it was going to be a few before he would be able to put our order in, which was fine since I had a plate of chips and salsa in front of me. After probably 15 minute he came back and gave us the option of waiting or leaving without owing a thing. We chose to leave, which turned out to be a good thing since they were without power for 4 days.

We then decided we would head home, since just about everywhere we passed was without power. Along the way home we noticed numerous trees blown down or broken and plenty of roofs and siding missing on homes. As we pulled onto our street I was hopeful that we did not have any damage to the house. I was wrong. We have some roof damage. I was able to get it secured for now, but am waiting on the insurance adjuster to take a look at it. The power was out at the house. Luckily the weather had turned a little cooler, so opening the windows kept the house comfortable. While I was on the roof securing the damage I received a voice mail from one of the managers at work who gave me the great news (sarcasm) that we would be closed that night. Oh well, just meant I did not need to take a nap. I then made phone calls to Chris and Gibby, my fellow Yeti's, to make sure that they were aware.

After sitting around the house for awhile longer we decided to take a ride around the area and look at the damage and find somewhere to eat. Lots of trees and homes were damaged in Jeff, Clarksville, and New Albany. We ended up heading to a Pizza Hut in New Albany, which was the least crowded of every place that we saw and were there for almost 2 hours. As we headed back home we were hoping that we would have power, but we did not.

We were without power for almost 4 days! Our power came back on at 1:22 pm on Wednesday. I know this because the fan in our bedroom woke me. I don't think I have ever been happier to be woken that early in the day. After 4 days with no electricity all of the food in the fridge was gone. We had been surviving on PB&J and fast food, and cold showers. The kids were out of school for the entire week, which had to suck for them being stuck home with no power. Luckily we were able to charge gameboy's and ipod's with the car chargers, so this gave them some relief.

Things seem to be back to normal now. Although my parents still do not have power. They live out past Charlestown in an area with not too many homes, so it may be awhile for them. I talked to my brother who lives near Cincinnatti and he has damage to his home, but never lost power.

I do want to say thanks to Chris, Kevin, and Double D for all of the "Do you need anything?" and "If you need to shower or wash clothes or anything the house is available". It makes it nice to have a group of friends that you know you can count on. So, Thank You.

On a happier note, we are only days away from the Everest Challenge!!! It is going to be a great trip and I can't wait to go. I will definately blog and post pics once we return for all of you who are not able to go.

So until next time.....

Yeti Out!

Taking the weekend off

Welcome to the weekend. It seems like it has been a long time coming. Not sure why, but this week felt like it went on forever. I guess because a lot seemed to happen. Let me recap.

The week started off promising, or so I thought. For those of you who know me, and if you are reading this I assume that you do, you know that I have worked my ass off over the past 12 weeks trying to be the Biggest Loser. Unfortunately I am not. I still managed to drop 39 pounds in that time and am very happy for that. It started out being about the money and turned into what will hopefully be a lifestyle. I have regained my love of running and don't plan on stopping any time soon.

After that the week just continued along the same path as always. Work, sleep, work, repeat. There were also all of the chauffeur duties that have come up with the kids being in activities with school, which is a great thing, just a time killer. As the week started to draw to a close, we were informed at work that we would be forced to take Monday night off as well as Sunday night. Not a big shock, but it sucks to be forced to take days off. So I decided not to bitch too much about this one and just enjoy an extra long weekend. This just means that next week will be much more leisurely than most. Works for me!

Yesterday was my wife's birthday, so we spent the day just doing whatever she wanted. We headed over to the Oxmoor area and did some shopping. We both are in need of new clothes for our upcoming Disney Land and Sea vacation in October and now is a great time to buy since all of the stores are getting all of there winter stuff out. Yes it is 90 degrees today and I just said winter. Anyway there are deals to be had. We also ate at a Red Robin restaurant. I had seen the commercials, but did not know where one was. Now I know. The food was pretty good but kinda pricey for burgers. But now I can say I have eaten there. Not sure if I will be back, but who knows.

Not sure what the rest of the weekend will hold. All I know is that it will be relaxing. After this weekend it will be back to running everyday. I think that I am ready for the Everest 5k, but my goal is to do the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon next year. So that is a whole other amount of training.

So until next time.....

Yeti Out!

Weekend Adventures

Well it's Friday and already the weekend appears to be shaping up quite nicely. In the morning I am running my first official 5k in approximately 10 years with my good friend Chris. I don't look for this to be too challenging for either of us, since we have been training our butts off for the Everest 5k in September. We currently run anywhere from 2 to 3 miles every night. After the run we will be enjoying, hopefully, a home cooked breakfast. No telling what that means, but hey, it comes with the price of admission.

As far as the rest of the weekend goes. I received a call from a friend tonight who informed me that he had 4 FREE tickets to Saturday nights Black Crowes show. So I quickly got on the phone and called a couple of friends, Chris being one of them, and we are good to go. I really can't think of a better way to wrap up a weekend than with a free show from a damn good band. Can you?

Hopefully cameras will be allowed and I will be able to get some pics to post along with a review of the show. Not that I think anyone except the people that I am with will read this, but you never know.

So wish me luck on the 5k and have a good weekend. Even if it can't be as fun as mine.

Getting things started

First let me introduce myself. My name is Brian and I am an avid fan of the Disney World Theme Parks in Orlando, Florida. I have made several trips with my family over the past 10 years and every time I leave I can't wait to plan the next trip. We are currently planning a land and sea trip for October of this year. This will be the first cruise for all of us, so I hope that we enjoy it.

I am also planning a small trip with a couple of friends in September to do the Inaugural Expedition Everest 5K. We have been training for the past 3 to 4 months. Should be a great guys weekend.

I guess that is enough for now and my first attempt at blogging. I will try to update this when I can with training updates as well as pics of the family.