I first want to
apologize to the few readers that may have visited my blog in the
last couple months. I decided to take a little time off to finish my
last grad class and wrap up a few projects around the house. Part of
it was me being too tired at the end of the day to actually sit down
and try to type something interesting. I have decided to make an
attempt to keep my blog up-to-date once again. I will not being
keeping the same weekly schedule of regular posts though. I found
that I was pressing to find things to write about just so that I
could write the daily post. If I had to try that hard to find
something to write about, more than likely it was a waste of
everyone’s time anyway. I will probably keep posting on the same
topics (Funny Stuff the Boys Say, Recipes, Running Reports, Product
Reviews, etc.). The posts will just not be on a set schedule.
I will use this
post to catch everyone up on the past few months. Since my last post
on June 4th, our family has been busy. We have been
camping at Douthat State Park, lounging at Ocean Isle Beach, and
pretty much just living the good life. The boys have been growing up
so much in the past few months. Coy is a talking machine now and Eli
keeps looking more and more like a little boy and not a toddler
anymore. Coy will repeat anything you ask him to and he has been
putting 3 and 4 words together to complete short sentences all by
himself. Last night he was retrieving a toy from under Eli’s bed
and could slide back out. All I heard from under the bed was the
cutest little voice saying, “Help me Daddy. Help me Daddy.”
Eli and Coy are
constantly fighting for something or racing somewhere. I am sure they
get their competitiveness from both of their parents. So we hear
“mine” and “me first” a lot around the house these days. Even
though we have a constant battle on our hands most of the time, there
are moments when they can really touch your heart. Last night Coy
told us that he needed to pee, so we told Eli to take him to the
bathroom and help him on the potty. Eli has done this before and he
helps Coy take off his diaper. Without Eli or Coy knowing, I peaked
in the bathroom to watch them. Eli carefully took off Coy’s shorts
and diaper, then lifted up the training potty’s lid and said, “Here
you go buddy”. Once Coy sat down, Eli told him to “Scoot back
some” and helped pull him back on the seat. I know it doesn’t
sound like a lot, but just seeing them help each other out with such
care is very touching. These little moments make up for all the time
spent trying to get Eli to eat his food or pick up his toys!
Personally, I was
able to wrap up my last graduate course and complete all the
requirements for my Masters of Information Technology from Virginia
Tech. I started taking one class for three semesters a year, back in
the fall of 2008 (before any children). So it was a huge relief to
complete my degree. Now I have a new diploma sitting in a shipping
envelope in my desk drawer, but at least I have it!
After finishing my
school work, Anna and I started remodeling the finished side of the
basement. Half of our basement has been finished since we bought the
house, but of course the plain white walls were not liked by my
ambitious wife! She found some pictures online of trim work she
wanted us to do in the room (thanks Pinterest!). So after many hours
of cutting, nailing, and painting, my “man cave” no longer looks
like a “man cave”. I made my own deadline of September 3rd,
so that I could watch the Virginia Tech’s first football game in
style. We cut it very close but after staying up way too late
painting for several days, we moved the furniture back in place on
the 2nd. Whenever I can get the room straight enough to
take some “after” pictures, I will post them.
Somehow, between
all the playing, studying, and painting, I was able to get a little
running in. I didn’t compete in any races in June or July. I
stopped my long Saturday runs and spent those mornings with the boys.
I tried to get all my miles in on weekday mornings before work. It
worked out pretty good and I averaged around 22 miles a week. I ran
in the Mountain Junkies Fab 5k in August. This 5k took place in the
Green Hill Park in Roanoke. It was a very flat cross country course
consisting mostly of grass and gravel. This course is known for being
fast and I was shooting for a new personal record (PR) for a 5k. I
was able to accomplish this goal by breaking my previous PR by almost
2 minutes with a time of 21:46.9. Recently I started making a longer
run each week, in order to get ready for the Virginia 10 Miler in
Lynchburg. I will cover my 10 Miler experience in a separate post
later this week.
Once again I am
sorry to be away for so long. Hopefully you made it through this
dreadfully long post today. But now that I have caught everyone up
with what we have been doing the past couple of months, I can get
back to a more regular schedule of posts.
