Roma: "...the best day of my life!"

Yesterday, Roma was given the all clear by our vet that she was no longer contagious.  The news definitely was the best news we could have possibly received.  Two weeks ago we tried to get her cleared, but she just wasn't ready.  It was like Christmas came early, we got to send her to daycare.  Our excitement might sound silly, but we knew it was hard for Roma.  No dog park, no playing with our friends' dogs, no day care, and if she didn't get better, it would have meant no boarding (we have two weddings coming up in the next few weeks).  

So, the news was great.  In the car this morning, she looked like a kid on Christmas morning.  And 9 hours later she was tired!

Didn't even make it out of the parking lot and she was done for!

Sleeping and snoring on the couch...

Kitty was wondering why she wasn't getting chased today...she was utterly confused!

Being so tired, she even let kitty come and sleep next to her on the couch.  

"Do you have any grandkids?"

I'm not sure how I didn't blog this funny story a few weeks ago.  It was during my week of "uh ohs."  As you can read in one of my previous posts here.

An excerpt from that post:
I had a third inspection last week and it was another church. I joked to my boss, "wonder what I'm going to do tomorrow (at the inspection)?" His response, "perhaps you should pray..."

So while at the inspection the representative for the church was playing with his grandson.  It was cute, he was having a good time.  I think the kid said something that made me chuckle...

The grandfather looks over and smiles, and asks, "do you have any grandkids?"

I kind of looked perplexed and countered, "you mean kids?"

He boldly responded, "no, grandkids."

I was a little more perplexed and realized he was serious.  I simply said, "no."

Wow, I thought.  First thing I thought of was the events that happened on the city walls while in Dubrovnik, Croatia during our honeymoon.  There was this kid and he was hilarious.  He was eavesdropping to a conversation Deb and I were having with our new friends Bob and Lisa (while drinking and sharing hilarious stories)... "How do you get stung by a dead bee?"  That's an entirely different can of worms, but all of it lead to Bob asking the kid to guess how old I was.

He looked at me....long pause, then said, "late............................40s." 

It was, and is, still a classic line I get ribbed for.  Later in the cruise we saw the kids dad, who yelled over, "hey it's grandpa," pointing at me.

Not sure how twice in the past 10 months I've been called a grandpa...I mean, I'm 28!  I'd have to have had a kid at 14, and my kid would have had to have had a kid at 14.  Well, I guess when I put it that way, it's not impossible, but really, it's quite unlikely!!

I didn't win the lottery...

Today I got the email I was hoping I wouldn't receive...that I was NOT selected in the lottery for entry into the Houston Marathon in January 2011.  Apparently the interest in running the races (Full, Half, and 5k) were so high, a lottery system was the only "fair" system.  Bull!   For the past three years, I had registered without issue for the race.  Deb and I ran the half together in 2008. This year, I ran it once again, scoring my best finish in 2 hrs 12 minutes.  I was looking forward to running it once again in January.  But it's not going to happen.

The blog is anything but a place to rant, but please entertain my argument.  I don't think it's "fair" to create a lottery system.  As I said, I had no issues registering and from those that I know who ran it, they didn't either.  When the registration opened, everyone registered.  If you were serious about running, it's not that hard.  I even remember sending emails to those I thought would be interested, and all got in.  Plus, our old running group sent out reminders for runners.  Everyone got in.  When you take a step back, just leave it alone!  Or make it a bigger event!  Seriously, they could do three waves, instead of two?  Figure it out without alienating your former runners.  Participating in Houston's biggest sporting event was awesome, so much fun, and memorable.  Next year, Houston will be missing a lot of runners.  We are unhappy.  I still haven't found one of my friends who got in!  It's shocking how crappy a system is when you implement it to make it more fair.  While at the gym, I was watching the news and they were talking about the race lottery's intent to help diversify the racing pool.  Really?  I'm not even going to go there.

SO, on February 20, 2011...we'll be in Austin running the Livestrong Austin Half Marathon.  Deb and I both registered for the half marathon...it'll be a new route and race, but will still be 13.1 miles of running fun! 

Former President George Bush often shakes hands on the Houston course...I'm hoping for my favorite Austin resident during our race, Sandra Bullock!  One can hope...

Happy 4th Birthday Cesilie!

Yesterday was Cesilie's 4th birthday!  Cesilie, of course, is my brothers daughter...

Being in Texas, we miss a lot of the events back home in Florida, but I thank my parents and sister for all those photographs we received.  It's like we were there!

One of my favorite photographs was of my dad and uncle...I can see my brother and I in 40 years in the same photograph!

Happy Birthday Ces!

Little TJ Kadlec...new photos

Even though that last post may have made it seem like we don't post family photos here, well that's not true! Here are some recent photos of little TJ...my 11 week old nephew.

To Post or Not to Post, that is the question...Answer: Not!

So I dedicate this post to my sister, aka "Annonymous" on all those comments, and one of our most loyal readers. 

Deb and I decided to start the Meet the Kadlecs blog to share the happenings in our lives, our travels, stories, and more...it's grown so much since we started.  Hahaha, who knows if that is true!  We have posted over 200 posts since it's inception, so we're going strong.

About a week ago I got an email from my sister asking me to post some of her most recent pictures on our blog.  I kind of hesitated and just let it go.  Mentioned it to Debbie and we both had the simple answer, no.  As this is meet the Kadlecs, it may make sense to post "other" Kadlecs, but that would set a precedent and who knows when it would stop.  All of a sudden we'd be posting some of the less eloquent conversations exchanged between Kadlecs...and I'm not even going to sarcastically mention them here! 

So a few days later, my sister mentions that I should post them...so I had to confront her and simply decline the invitation.  I mean, I felt bad, but this is a blog about Deb and I, as newlyweds and so forth.  She was all "why not, please, you should, etc etc, come on brother."  She kept on it.

I stopped her and suggested the obvious, "why don't you start a blog?"

She responded, "no, I don't want my stuff all out there on the internet."

Hmm, "but it'd be on our blog."

It went on, us Kadlec's and our stubborness.  So, I said I'll open a Gmail account for you, start the blog, and go on and start it for her.  It's as easy as writing an email.  Truly, a blog is easy.  I'm doing this over lunch!  No no no, was her response.

Days and days went by and she emailed asking where the post was.  I was like, "not happening."  She obviously reads the blog...but still does loyalty bring me to the point of blogging a post for her?  Do I open a guest spot for her?  Again, what precedent does this set?

NO post!  :-)  But I'll give in some.  For you, Tamara, here's one of your pictures you wanted me to share.  If only you had a blog, we might even see his/her face. 

So the game begins...will she start a blog?  Will her blog rival ours?  Meet the Kadlecs 2?  Sequels are never as good as the originals.  So I suggest you think hard, sister...plot your next move.  For now, checkmate.

Polish Food, Deb's Creations, Astros & Scrabble...sounds like visitors!

Last weekend, Deb and I welcomed my parents for an extended visit over the weekend.  We hadn't seen them since our last trip home to Florida, so what better time to have them come visit then now!  Near 100 degree days, near 100 percent humidity, near 100 scrabble games...just kidding on the last one (but not by much)!!

To touch on the last one first, my and I love Scrabble.  Perhaps, borderline, obsessive...but we love it.  We play till after midnight and we are cut throat.  Since I am writing this blog post, I could say mom is the most "viscious" but I can't.  My mom says I play like that...  But hey, it's part of the strategy.  If you don't challenge the word because you can't afford to take the gamble of losing, you just have to accept it's a word!  That is until after the game is over and you look it up.  This is usually when my mom says "you stinker!" because I've snuck something in!  Can't remember the scores and win/loss from the weekend, it was fun!!  Even had a bruschetta break thanks to Deb and her amazing cooking and baking!  She made a killer meatloaf, ziti, and homemade ice cream, just to name a few!

We didn't just play Scrabble, we took my parents to a local Polish restaurant, Polonia.  Really, though, it's the only one in town.  It was awesome!!!

 Potato pancakes, sausage, sauerkraut, veal,...., oh man, I'm read y to go back!

We also took in an Astros game.  It was the FIRST game they won this year that we were at!  (FYI, we went this weekend too, and they won again!)  My mom even sported an Astros jersey.  They played the Braves, her all-time most-disliked team!  Chipper Jones...you're not welcome at my parents house!  Haha.  You could stop by our place, I'd love to chat...you all know me and baseball!

Overall it was a great visit...they always go by too fast.  See you all next in Florida!

Bigfoot! Nope, just "big" clumsy feet! What a week at work...

Last week was an interesting week for me.  It was my second week back post-vacation, and I was finally getting my rhythm back, that is until my first blunder on Wednesday...

Granted, the photo doesn't really show it, I tracked mud into a church I was inspecting.  Not a big deal, I know, but a mess I was on the hook for.  I made the call to the office and all would be taken care of.  I'd heard of stories of damages caused during our inspections...this was minor.  One of my colleagues told me a story about when he stepped through a roof, and another about my boss falling through a roof (and narrowly escaping a 20 foot fall).  They said, "don't worry, if you haven't yet, you'll step through a roof."  My response was simply, "that's okay, I'll pass!"  

I passed...but, less than 24 hours actually passed when it happened.  While up in an attic, I lost my balance momentarily on a loose board, and my right foot went crashing through the ceiling...fell down to my hip.

The damages were relatively minor...not the end of the world.  I knocked through a piece of sheetrock and some insulation came down.  My ego was a little bruised.  I got back on the phone to my secretary and was like "you're not going to believe it..."

A few days later, I couple bruises did in fact show up...on my knee and hip.

I'm going to bank on this being the worst that's going to happen.  I had a third inspection last week and it was another church.  I joked to my boss, "wonder what I'm going to do tomorrow (at the inspection)?"  His response, "perhaps you should pray..."  

What a week at work.  (On a side note, I'm loving my new job.  It's been 6 months already and I couldn't be happier.)