T-minus 3+ months...Austin Half Marathon

What an uneventful post, but this is going to be the "proof" that I will need next summer...apparently I made the comments earlier this year, but I guess it didn't hold true, as when Deb told me I said it...I didn't believe her!

"This will be my last half marathon."

Yup, I believe my running days are ending...not completely, but these long distance training runs are starting to take their toll on my knees.  Granted I've been battling knee issues for 8+ years now, I'm starting to feel a little bit "old" the morning after a run.  I've been running periodic long distances with sprinkled  short distances, as well as speed training, for the past month or so, in preparation for the half.  But, as I increase my mileage as I've done before, I am not enjoying it quite as much.  People ask me what the enjoyment is with running so much...I used to enjoy the challenge, the accomplishment...but now that I have accomplished my goals in running, I don't have that drive to keep doing it.  Perhaps a triathalon or biking...or perhaps something else?  One thing I'm really enjoying is the 4+ games of softball a week...I get more out of it now than I have in a long while.  Who knows what's next, but I do know it's most probably (90%+) not long distance runs!

Anyways, in the spirit of that one crazy man on our honeymoon..."I'm done!"

(And Deb is running with me in February...not sure if shares the "last time" feelings that I have...guess we'll have to just wait and see!)

Where are you taking my friend?

Roma LOVES going to daycare, and today was no different.  She's been fortunate of late, going twice a week.  And she looooves her time with Izzy.  As I said in a previous post, they cry when the other one leaves...well, tonight I snapped a quick (very short) video of Izzy trying to get around the door to see her bud, Roma.  She apparently has considerable height on her jumps...(one thing that separates the two...Roma doesn't have the height on her jumps).

Enjoy...

(The voices are the daycare personnel, who deserve much credit for dealing with our rowdy pup all day long!  They even had a few battle scars/scratches from the two rough-housing today!)

Pumpkin Carving

This past Sunday we headed over to the Reyes' for pre-Halloween activities...including pumpkin carving!  It was a lot of fun seeing everyone's pumpkins come together.  Deb and I didn't plan ahead, so we kind of winged it.  The talk of the party was about what "level" your skills were...so of course, I said "challenge accepted!"  Bragging rights are at stake when we vote this week at their annual halloween bash.
Here is my creation...can you guess what it is?  It's Mario, from Super Mario Brothers.

As for Deb, she went for a classic pumpkin...picture to be posted soon.

Since I don't have a photo of her pumpkin, I'll post her cookies that she created for the season...she continues to increase the bar for herself, aren't they professional looking?!

And since Deb and I had a reminiscent moment when we took out our Fall stuff with a pumpkin, I'll share a photo from back in 2006.  This is kitty when she was small enough to fit into the pumpkin!  Now, not even close.  (Thanks go out to Deb for holding her in!)  Plus you can see our 2006 pumpkins...

And for your enjoyment...when her head was small enough we'd pour milk in the bottom of a glass and she'd get it all the way in there!

Happy Halloween everyone!

(We'll post more with pics from the party and our costumes...mine has been decided for some time.  It references something I've been referred to as a few times in the past year...any thoughts?)

OH, and Roma came along and was able to play with Robo and Miles...they had a good ole time!

October Golf at Beacon Lakes Golf Club

Today I golfed for the first time in a while.  I had a couple scheduled opportunities canceled thanks to my recent thumb injury, but with it nearly back to 100%, I had the itch to get back on the links!  I roped in Andy, Spicer, Loi, and Mintz to come out...with it being a 5-some, we were somewhat limited on courses we could play, so we chose Beacon Lakes Golf Club in Dickinson.

Overall it was a great day at the course, but before I delve into that, I must tell the story of hole #5.  I had just snapped this photo of the hole...it was such a beautiful day today, I was planning on blogging or sharing some photos.

As I'm walking back to the cart to go grab my driver...BAM!  It was a golf ball that had just missed me by inches!  SPICER!  I was caught so off guard and it was a scary instantaneous moment!  As if he deserved a mulligan, he took one.  Here he is at the box.  I was standing next to the carts on the left...note the hole to the right!  I never let him live it down including me throwing golf balls at him unexpectedly...I had small victories seeing him jump nervously!

But the day was a good day overall game-wise.  I shot a 44 on the front, 45 on the back...a solid 89 for the day.  That's including 3-putting a whopping 8 holes!  Count in the 2 drops, I was quite fortunate to keep my day sub-100.  From my score you can see putting and a few stray shots proved to be the achilles heal of my day...my driving was the inverse of sorts...considering I had 9 - 300+ yard drives, including #16 when I overshot the 352 yard pin, and landing on the fringe of the 383 yard hole #17!  Best hole was #8 when I barely missed an eagle attempt on the long par 5...

The greens were quite slow, this was a common occurrence with us...burying the balls deep into the ground.  This was mine on hole #18.

Roma...or Imposter!

As you all know, Roma goes to doggie day care a couple times a week.  The past few weeks she's gone to Rover Oaks...  The previous two times I'd heard about Roma's new play buddy, Isabelle (aka Izzy).  I even saw her once and thought, wow she's cute...but I really didn't look too hard.  On Tuesday I had heard they played ALL day nonstop and was informed that Izzy was actually a foster.  They had pegged us as good adoptive parents considering she was Roma's best dog friend.

On Friday, when I was picking her up I thought wow, she looks tired...and she came running over.  But something wasn't right, her tail was straight.  Yup, that was Izzy!  And then Roma was jumping below my feet and I laughed.  They look so alike!  I had heard that the two cry for each other, and only each other, when they get separated.  Surely enough, when I took Roma on her leash and led her outside, Izzy was on the other side...scratching at the door and whining.

For now, we can't adopt another dog.  Kitty is still becoming acclimated with Roma...we don't need to add another dog that looks nearly the same...we'll give kitty a heart attack!  Anyways, here's a quick photo of Izzy that I snapped.

Izzy

Funny thing, I sent it to Deb and even on a quick glance from her, her response was "Roma looks tired."  Yup...we have an imposter!!