Sunday Ramblings (short)

Mass at St Pius X at 08:00. What an adventure. Aiden was pretty good but it asks a lot for him to be still and behave for over an hour. Today was Palm Sunday so it was even more of a challenge but he and I both survived without joining the crying babies in the "cry" room.

It finally stopped raining and the sun was out on an intermittent basis but it was still in the 40s. We went over to Mill's Road Park for some exercise. Linda walked and I ran pushing Aiden in the running stroller (which I broke trying to fold; it was cheap for a reason). Aiden kept trying to fall asleep on the way home and then only slept for an hour when we put him down for his nap. He got off schedule with the party last night and we're paying for it today.

Now he's watching "Finding Nemo" as I type this note.

Running in Fog

Fed Buzzy and myself early. We both ate cereal; he Honey Nut Cheerios, me Wheaties. I ate a blueberry scone but Buzz wouldn't have anything to do with one. Our bananas aren't ripe enough to eat so Buzz passed on them.

This morning it's cool in the low 40s with a stiff breeze but also very foggy. There is no rain though, which is a pleasant change from yesterday. I got out the door in shorts, long-sleeve Patagonia capilene shirt and water/wind-proof anorak. I added a hat and was good to go. For once I was perfectly dressed for the conditions, not too hot or cold. Ran a moderate route of hills and was out for just over an hour, probably about 5 miles or so. It was a nice morning run.

Rainy Day in Independence

It's been raining here since dawn; a gentle downpour that doesn't seem to have waxed or waned. Ciara and Matt are househunting in Charlotte this weekend so Buzzy is in our hands. Currently he's napping. He slept in to 8 this morning so it's a little unusual that he's still asleep, I suppose it's a result of the rain. I made blueberry scones this afternoon and they turned out pretty good. The recipe I used calls for buttermilk and is relatively simple to make when using the food processor. I should make them more often.

The rain is disappointing but last Friday at this time in the afternoon it was 20 degrees and snowing. We were in the clutches of a full-on blizzard with 6 inches on the ground, blowing snow and another 6 inches of snow to come so I shouldn't complain. I was really looking forward to running but it just made no sense to try and run in these conditions. Maybe tomorrow.....

Sunny Morning before the Deluge

What a beautiful morning!

55 plus degrees, sun shining with a brisk southern breeze. Buzzy and I went for a run in the neighborhood. The wind made it a challenge especially given my deconditioning but what the heck it was fun. I heard a train coming as we got to Webster Rd. so we ran down to the crossing and got there just as the locomotive came around the bend. The engineer even tooted the horn for Buzz. It was a relatively short train with a bunch of empty car carriers but Buzzy still liked it. I was glad we got out for an early start because it's supposed to start raining this afternoon and quite heavily. There are already flood warnings posted.

Buzzy's watching "Cars" as I write and he's playing with "Lightning McQueen."

To the side I've posted two pictures of Buzzy. The first is him enjoying his birthday cupcake on Thursday (his actual birthdate) and then his cake on Saturday. I must admit he doesn't look too happy in either picture. I think he was tired after all the excitement in both pictures.

The top picture is Grandpa holding Buzz captive as we watch Nemo.

Sunday Listening to Ciabnw1 on Finetune

An eventful week!

Aiden turned 2 on this past Thursday, February 28. Last night we celebrated at the house with Molly, Charie, Colin and Aubrey in addition to Matt, Ciara, Linda and I. Of course the guest of honor was the focus and made off with gobs of loot! I made the family "marble cake" which is a scratch cake that takes a lot of care to make and the results reflected this; it looked like a refugee from a food fight but tasted wonderful. Surprisingly even though it had a Hershey's Milk Chocolate icing Buzzy wouldn't eat it (everyone else did). We have several pictures which I'll try to upload later. I still can't find my "daisy" that allows picture downloads. I know it's around here somewhere...

Ran this morning for the second time since getting sick on January 19th. It is amazing how deconditioned even a conditioned body can become in that short time. Today's weather has been changeable but a nice portend of spring. This morning's run was under a clear sky and sunshine with temps in the 40s. This afternoon it's been sunny alternating with overcast and a little bit of light rain but the temps are now in the 50s. Tomorrow I think it's supposed to be rainy but warm again.

Matt's grandfather died this past week at 94. He and Ciara are in Brookville, OH for the layout this afternoon and the funeral is tomorrow.

My friend Chris died on February 15 from pancreatic cancer. It's hard to believe. We were pretty close at one time but lost touch over the years. It still hits you pretty hard though. I picked up a card to send to his family when I can get my thoughts together.

Happy 81st Birthday Dad!

My dad is 81 today. I talked with him this afternoon about 15:00 as Buzzy was wrapping up his nap. He was in good spirits. Apparently he'd had numerous well wishers call. My brother Danny awoke him at 06:45 thinking he would be up and about!

Buzzy and I made our usual trek to the library this Monday morning for "Storytime." I had forgotten it was Presidents Day but no worries the library was open for business. We checked out several books on airplanes, jets and trucks for him to peruse. After awakening from his nap we watched "Cars" for at least the 1000th time! He enjoys it.

The weather continues to be confounding. Cold and very windy. Yesterday a wind gust blew my huge gas grill across the deck and into the railing breaking one spindle in two and knocking loose another one. The grill had some cosmetic damage to the skirt on the bottom but otherwise I think it's OK.

Lately I've been sampling some late 60's progressive rock: Deep Purple, King Crimson, Uriah Heep, Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Genesis. It brings back a lot of memories but I guess that's really what music is for...."so spoke the wizard in his mountain home." "The Wizard" Uriah Heep. And who can forget Iron Butterfly and "In a gadda da vida."

Waiting for the Winter Storm......

Hi All,

Here at 10553 awaiting the winter storm that the local media has been revving about since last evening. Their tractor crawl during the Grammy's was as annoying as it was persistent. They just can't seem to do anything but try to whip people into a frenzy of paranoia and panic shopping! Anyway, as I type it's cold (20's) and increasingly overcast but no precipitation. I guess that's supposed to come later. They're predicting a mixed bag of snow followed with freezing rain and then rain.....

Aiden and I traveled to the library this morning for "Babes in Storyland." He wasn't much in to the story or the activities that followed so we browsed for a bit and then came home for lunch. He started to fall asleep on the drive home so I guess he's just tired this morning. He didn't eat much for lunch and took a long nap afterwards. Now he's watching his favorite toy "Lightning McQueen" as he stars in "Cars."

It's now been 3 weeks since I've done any running at all. I still have a lingering cough but for the first time I think it's all but gone. I'll give it the rest of the week and see if maybe I can get back in the saddle this weekend.

Patagucci has their "Winterfest 2008" starting tomorrow and I'm looking forward to trying to get some discounted gear for the late winter and spring.

Dinner is in the oven and Linda's on her way home so I'll post this baby and get on to cooking.