Why clean out your garage, you may ask?

A dirty garage has no victims. No one suffers as a result of untidiness, or do they?

I give you Romero and Julietta the frogs who perished within my garage. They led otherwise happy lives, gobbling up numerous bugs and avoiding Heidi the hound dog. Romero would recite Julietta sonnets, frog couplets (croaketey croak croak and what not), bring her fresh junebugs, and generally look out for her best interests. But it was not to be, their families resided on separate banks of the creek. There was only room for one more frog in each nest prior to hibernation season. Knowing that they could not make a hibernation season without each other they resolved themselves to attempt to hibernate together. The young inexperienced frog knew of a place that remained a constant temperature year round, the only trick was getting in the door. So away with haste they hopped to the house, but alas young Romero did not know the garage was not temperature controlled. Julietta would succumb to the temperature that very night, and then whilst thinking of life without is sweetheart, Romero resigned himself to stay near his bride until the end. The first freeze came quickly as did their deep sleep when they no doubt sought shelter in the corners of the garage, and perished therein, not to be found until their slippery frog skin was dry and crunchy, their bodies mummified in the arid expanse of my garage floor. Goodbye my froggy friends.
Pictured here for the last time Julietta and Romero repine on the park bench

Make Way For Bebe!

If you say it right it totally rhymes so cut me some slack, titles are sometimes difficult part of this process.


You guessed it today was clean out "the baby room"day, otherwise the extra bathtub will have to function as a bassonet. We started today with a closet full of junk in the extra bedroom/office and have since cleared it of almost all but baby stuff. A task we are somewhat proud of. The thing with emptying a closet is that the stuff you took out usually spills over into something else that must be cleared out and so on and so forth all through the house.

The good part is that is sort of forced our hand a bit in clearing some different areas but not quiet as much as we should have. We are fully aware that a small closet will not contain the plethora of things that accompany a child. I know the picture may look decidely pink, but the bag was Kelly's and the piggy bank is just a reminder to save for the little one. Besides the stroller (gracias momma or should I say Grandma Pace) is blue so don't think we are hedging our bets or anything.



Here was the modus operandi for today. Clean out office Closet ---> excess items overflow to extra bedroom closet ---> extra bedroom closet stuff overflows into -----> Garage ----> Garage overflows to Trash and Goodwill.


Check out the final results on the Garage (trust me this is better).

Kelly's Belly w 19.5

As far as new developments in Kelly's pregnancy, we are pretty sure that we have started feeling the baby move. This includes Kelly and myself, which is pretty fun. Apparently the little one has a pretty active night life, especially the night Kelly had a particularly potent batch of green chile enchiladas. We are unsure whether this means the little one has an affinity for spicy native New Mexican cuisine or a general dislike of said food but I guess one way or the other he/she will be a Texan so it could go either way.
This weekend we stayed mostly around the house for a change. I tried to put up the Christmas lights (ala Griswald) and somehow got back to the corner of the house where I plug everything in with two ends and no way to plug the things in. It wouldn't be a problem to get back up on the roof but when you don't own a ladder it becomes a little more adventurous.
As all of my engineering friends and family collectively sigh at this type of oversight I might as well own up to the other comical development that continues to occur in relation to the nearing due date of our first born child. We went to Target trying to figure out which items were "must haves" and which were useless, unsafe, overkill, or flat out ridiculous (butt paste?!?, parents are all nodding in agreement, non parents look it up, it exists I promise). We investigated the ease of manipulating supposed "easy to handle" strollers, pack & plays, car seats, and various combinations of said items. We were taking things apart, pulling things off shelves, and very few of them met the manufacturer's claims of ease. At one point, no doubt seeing the look of overwhelming confusion on our faces, a good hearted woman actually recommend a pack & play because of it ease in collapsing for travel. Not to take any ones word for it and to figure it out ourselves, Kelly and I decided to test this nice woman's word. We proceeded to try our best to dismantle then reassemble this contraption in the aisle of Target (if there is surveillance footage of this spectacle I would like to see it, sound would be a comedic plus).
It included the usual,
"I think you just broke it,"
"I didn't break it you broke it,"
"no you have to push this,"
"then why isn't it working,"
"surely it can't be this hard,"
as well as significant amount of flailing and frustration. Nevertheless we push on toward the goal of preparing ourselves and our home for our firstborn with excitement and trepidation, so if you have any advice we will gladly accept it. Heeding that advice, as you can tell from this story, is something that may escape us and we may just have to figure it out on our own. To that end we will treasure your prayers and wisdom as we go about this process. 

Happy Turkey Day!

Better Late than never, but after a whirlwind of a thanksgiving weekend I am just now sort of catching up. We had a great couple of days in Sacramento. Kelly and I left on Tuesday night to beat the rush and were picked up at the airport by my sister and her more than just an acquaintance Arthur, who is from Greece. For those of you who didn't know Mara was touring the Mediterranean a few weeks ago. He was a good guy and we only got to hang out with him briefly but he put up with our family for a few hours so he cant be all bad. We even tortured him with a game of cranium and made him spell. His english was much better than my greek, spelling and all. Kelly thought it was comical that he came all the way from Greece and he ended up hangin out with the fam during Turkey day. I guess if he is looking for the real American experience maybe we're it. I am sure he did find it strange that the news story that included my father happened to be on TV (see below post) when he came over. I think that would have freaked me out. Not to worry he didn't just hang around suburbia and watch TV. My sister showed him around the rest of the week, and they were debating on whether to go to Tahoe or Monterrey later. I told Arthur that if he really wanted to see the real US of A, not just the land of fruits and nuts he was welcome in TEJAS anytime.
Kelly, Rhonda, my Dad and I ran/walked/jogged/wogged a 5K Thanksgiving morning with about 20,000 other people. It was really hard not to run. I am no shape to run a fast 5k so my pregnant wife was a good excuse, but I had no idea how hard it would be to turn that instinct off. I heard a gun go off and I didn't move, we literally waddled like penguins to the starting line and didn't get to it for more than 5 minutes. I felt like it may have been a good exercise (psychologic not physiologic) for me but am not planning on doing it again anytime soon. We finished in a whopping 60 minutes and about 45 seconds. We negative split each mile speeding up each time mostly because I had to go to the bathroom. It would have been good to have my brother and Leslie there. My brother and I could have shared in the pain and confusion of being in a race without competing and we could have taken turns playing NASCAR with Andrew in the stroller, while Leslie and Kelly could have compared pregnancy notes. Sadly doctors orders advised the SoCal Capron's to stay home and we affirm their decision. Hauling a 1.5 year old through the airport is hardly bedrest. Hopefully we will get a chance to get out to the OC to catch up with them in due time. I wonder if they are booked for spring break?
Dinner was great and masterfully prepared by all involved. Myself not included, I was given no food related responsibility, maybe it was to many, 5 second rules, God made dirt and dirt don't hurt comments that tarnished my food prep resume. After it was over we were looking for the 12 other people who it seemed we had prepared food for, as our cup runneth over with turkey, mash potatoes, yams, did I mention turkey, green bean casserole, and cranberry salad. Unfortunately we were unable to help with the leftovers as I had a to catch a flight to North Carolina to do a bit of recruiting at the Foot Locker South meet. By late Saturday night I was back in Waco ready to squeeze the rest of relaxing into a Sunday afternoon. That's all for now, Thanksgiving break is over.

Kelly's Belly w18.5 + Tricia w19.5

Well, I thought there might be a rule, bylaw, or a city ordinance about having two pregnant women with obnoxious dogs in the same house at the same time but apparently not since we weren't sited for anything. Our neighbors probably wish that maybe we had been after our goofy dogs ransacked the neighborhood all weekend. Heidi got out while we were gone (multiple times). Our poor neighbors were still digesting their turkey dinners while chasing her around the block, to no avail. When Tricia brought Kelly back to Waco, after she graciously picked he up from the airport, we had multiple dogs roaming the neighborhood looking for trouble. Tricia has a beautiful wire-haired German short haired Pointer who is smarter than Heidi, just as rascally, and has a wiry goatee. They had a good time carousing, but it was not without its moments.
Anyway, the post should be about these lovely ladies whose due dates happen to be roughly one week apart. Tricia and Jeff will be having their second child (first boy) and we still don't know what were having. Again we really have no preference, Kelly thinks its a girl, I can't decide but might be cheering for boy since he's apparently the underdog. I think that our doctor must be into the suspenseful drama thing because we have heard of people finding out by now, but maybe it is just God's way of buying me just a little more time to prepare myself for the next step. Not that I am not ready but I am pretty sure knowing the sex of my firstborn child will make this whole process a great deal more substantive in my head. We should find out around the second week of December so be checking the blog for updates. 

Another Television Appearance by Dr. Capron

Well I guess as long as there is crime, terrorism, and other social deviants, my father will continue to be on TV. I thought this one was much more optimistic than in times past. Maybe it was the comfy home environment. Click on the Picture to see the story.

Kelly's Belly w17.5

Kelly here- making my first post ever. Jon has done quite a good job of updating our blog each week. I always looking forward to reading his commentary on things... whether it is the pregnancy, the mouse, the snake, or whatever. He always seems to make it interesting. This week Jon is in Indiana for nationals, so I figured I would try the process out myself. My mom is here visiting for a few days, so she took the weekly baby belly pic today. We both think that my belly sort of has a strange pointiness in the middle. I want it to be round not pointy! I guess I will try to eat enough at Thanksgiving to take care of that problem. Here is a pic of my mom and Heidi hanging out. We have all had a nice time together.

Heidi has expensive taste

We always knew this to be true, and for that reason we usually splurge and by her the expensive dog food but this is ridiculous. Not that we have even this kind of money "lying around." Heidi pulled this one from on top of the dresser. Apparently the small bills aren't quite good enough for her taste, so she didn't eat all of it.

HeartBeat

Today we went to the doctor to check on the bebe. Everything sounded good, and the heartrate was clicking along nicely. We should find out the sex of the baby in early December.

Hear it for yourself.

Kelly's Belly w16.5

If you are looking for the Kelly update, here it is. So far the only thing that has been bothering her lately has been her relative lack of clothing that fit correctly. She is in that stage where she is not ready to commit to 24/7 sweatpants but wearing your clothes half unbuttoned isn't much of a fashion statement either. I guess I will have to let her do more shopping. That or find her some real nice sweatpants.

Coach Capron makes the message boards

In a new and exciting development for a young coach, I made it onto a running message board famous for defaming people doing a pretty darn good job (myself, not even necessarily included). It is a favorite place for those who want to remain nameless but want their voices and criticism to be heard. Basically a lot of people have nothing better to do than whine about things they don't like, sort of like an armchair quarterback or coach only much meaner. As I told Kelly, at least I got accused of being to much like a youth pastor, I guess it could be worse.

See for yourself www.letsrun.com

All I ask is that you don't add anything to the post. It is not worth adding to the fray, it only encourages more banter, and although it can be funny, I would rather not have people brainstorming on why I did/am doing a terrible job as coach, runner, person, or otherwise.

Christy and Noah Get Married, friends come to Waco

So, we went to a wedding and it was truly a beautiful ceremony. I am a little embarrassed that I don't have any pictures of them, but they had a wedding to be in and we were just glad to be invited. I also didn't want to be that guy taking pictures from right behind the photographer so I just took a few of our table. Christy and Noah are great and we are happy we get to hang out with them when they get back from Hawaii. The ceremony was at the Earl Harrison house and gardens that happens to be by the zoo and you could hear the lions and elephants voicing their approval of the union. The wedding brought together a lot of people that haven't seen each other in a long time (for no good reason). It was good to see all of them again, and somewhat amazing to see them all grown up. It was neat to see that everyone was doing so well.

Kelly's Belly w15.5

Now you see it.












Now, not so much.









Either way, as cute as ever.

Kelly has continued to do very well this week. It is somewhat remarkable how taxing it is for Kelly to literally grow a child. Her sleep and nutrition requirements really have increased and her energy level, despite the sleep shows that her body is . . . well working on something else. Probably a good reason the physical side affects of pregnancy are hard to miss, otherwise men around the world would assume their wives were just making stuff up. The large stomach ( I know this is only the beginning) and other outward changes I believe are visual reminders ( men are visually based) to cut your wife some slack and take her word for it even if she did eat less than an hour ago.

in the mean time . . .

We have

a baby

dog.

Kelly's Belly w14.5

If you can't tell she/our child is growing, come hang out with us for a while. You will quickly notice Kelly's appetite is considerably different. She is frequently hungry to the point of being nauseated until she eats. Then she is so full that she is uncomfortable until she is hungry again and the cycle repeats itself. I guess the little guy/gal in there is taking up a considerable amount of space already.
Personally I try to lay low and keep the food coming, I would say more but I have to go make dinner, or else.

You have to start somewhere...Kelly's Belly w13.5

Some of you will be wondering what this is picture of (other than Kelly) because she doesn't really "look that pregnant" in this picture. Let me assure that she has all the other symptoms. Some good, some a little more difficult to deal with. Truthfully she has begun to get into her maternity gear already and she is growing, not that you can tell that much by this picture. Showing the picture with the real evidence would no doubt get me in trouble because it isn't the most flattering and I was instructed not to post that on onto the internet. I thought it was great shot but then again, the internet is a very public place for such photos.
Mother to be and the lil peach, pickle, squirrel or whatever you want to call it are doing well and it is very obvious that Kelly is already beginning to enjoy being pregnant more and more in the lull between the 1st trimester morning sickness and the 3rd trimester point where you are uncomfortably large; even though I still have a hard time imagining Kelly in that state. Nevertheless, you have to start somewhere and well, here it is.

Heartbeat

Kelly and I went to the doctor yesterday and got to hear the heartbeat of our child for the first time. It was clicking along at about 150 bpm which is pretty fast unless you are the size of a small peach, then it is normal. In true doctor fashion he then began to tell us that studies have shown that you can predict the sex of the baby based on heartrate and be correct almost 50% of the time (ha. . ha). Due to the fact that we were using doppler to hear the heartbeat, Michael Taylor and I thought it would have been funnier if he had said, "Well we can hear the heartbeat and can see a 40% chance of severe thunderstorms moving across Kelly's stomach on the radar, so if you have weekend plans be sure to bring your umbrella."

The Dog who cried Woof

Typically Heidi barks and we tend to ignore her, but there are definitely times when you can distinguish between, "I want to be inside under the bed," and "HEY, you get outta here!" Thinking the neighborhood teenagers were teasing her or walking behind the fence I went outside to scare them back, as I was scantily clad. After figuring out that there was nothing outside of the fence she was barking at I decided maybe she had treed a squirrel (can you do that since that is there home?) Anyway Heidi greets me at the gate with exuberance that I have not usually seen at 12:45 AM. Since she sleeps more than any of us. She is excited because apparently the hunt is on. She proceeds to show me what she is hunting and points out a rattlesnake, barks and darts in and out of its strike range. Not knowing exactly where it was as Heidi completed laps around, over, and among said snake, I didn't really want to wade in barefoot, let alone no pants (just shorts), no shirt etc to pull her away. I was afraid their might be more than one or Heidi would scare it towards me. I had no time to compose myself as I thought any moment my dog would be barking her last time I went about it lion tamer style with one of our lawn chairs. Seeing Jon the Snake Charmer/Lion Tamer in action spurred on Heidi more however and she started to really hassle him. Finally after tiptoeing across the lawn and trying to call a very stubborn dog, I convinced Heidi to check it out from a different angle behind the chain link in her dog run and I was able to grab her without becoming a half naked Texas statistic. I can just see it now, "Over 38% of Texans are bitten by snakes, while in their underwear or something to that effect.
I believe I did break a rule set out for any member of the Texas Republic. I encountered a rattlesnake and didn't kill it. I didn't discharge a firearm within the city limits or blindly wield a shovel at 1:00am to finish off the cursed reptile. Mostly it was dark, I was barefoot, I was sleepy, and I figured as long as it didn't come in the house maybe it would keep the mice out (see previous post)?

Ever Lost Your Job Due to a Military Coup

I must admit my father the terrorism expert has some friends in high, wait a second, low places. If you haven't heard, my Dad's grad school buddy Thaksin (former Prime Minister of Thailand) was removed from his post by the military sometime last week. Luckily there was no violence as is seldom the case when the military are the ones doing the taking over. Apparently they were unhappy with the job he was doing, so they removed him from office. He will be spending some time out of the country and hopefully things will get patched over and he will be able to return in a few years. The only question I have is does that make this picture more or less interesting?

We have ourselves a little magic bean

So it's not really a good picture but he/she is the size of a lima bean so what do you expect. I must say that the ultrasound was really cool. The little shape in the black is our child. Upper left is its huge braniac head. I believe the lower right is the bottom (both directionally and anatomically) and legs and possibly still a tail? Hopefully that will go away or develop into a useful appendage for swinging and climbing trees. The screen came a alive right in the upper middle left where you would find the heart just pumping away like crazy, it even gave a little kick in response to all the prodding. This picture estimated the baking time at 8weeks 4 days on Sept 18 which means that approximate due date of roughly April 25th. Just so you know at the present time we have eclipsed the grape size and moved on to plum. For some reason the books all use fruit, I prefer animals but I understand why most people don't. So in my mind I think we are past tadpole and have reached baby chipmunk or possibly even squirrel. They way I see it, if I am going to be calling he/she an it, there is no harm in a animal comparison, plus I can envision a fetus much easier as a squirrel compared to a person being plum or apricot sized?!? We still need a name for "it". Be aware that I am not opening up naming rights to our first born, I am taking suggestions for its pre boy/girl name such as lima bean (already outdated but my favorite) pepito(a), LG (little guy) Eric's creation/already taken, etc.
Anyway, we are extremely excited, please help us pray for the "little guy/gal" as time goes on. Kelly could use your prayers as well, as she has been a little sick as of late. Thanks for checking on us and I will try to keep the site a little more up to date.

Perhaps you have heard?

Maybe you have heard maybe you haven't. If not you've probably figured even with the blurry picture that 2 lines mean a whole lot more than one line and basically our lives will never be the same. But who wants the same anyway, sounds boring to me. I say that like the thought of being totally responsible for another human being, my child, doesn't terrify me, trust me I am still a little bewildered by the whole thing. I am certain that no one could be more excited about the whole thing than Kelly and members of both of our families.
I feel like the somewhat blurry picture, captures the moment fairly well because even now that is about how I remember it. A moment of excitment tinged in doubt, hope, prayer, anticipation, and some trepidation. The line itself is a little miracle on its own becuase I believe that Kelly, through a numerous pregnancy testing procedures, pinpointed the first possible time that the test may actually come close to working. So much so that when a line actually appeared I was convinced the anomoly was in the test becuase there were so many other negative results. The nurses where a little surprised to find Kelly calling for a doctors appointment so early, wondering how she could know so soon.

Injuries

When I said I had avoided calamity I spoke mainly of the meets that I have been hosting (only 2 really). I have not avoided calamity on my own team however. Bo Price one of my top senior runners was hit by a car a few weeks ago. Miraculously he was treated and released from the hospital after a ride in an ambulance with minor abrasions, lots of stitches and a few staples. He is up and running but is still in some pain that keeps him from running to far. Pray for Bo to be able to have the season he would like to end on as he finishes his collegiate cross country career. While you are at it I would appreciate if you could cover the whole team as it seems that oft times we are bent on destruction. We had a victim of the spinach Ecoli problem that set Mitch back a week, and Cody is still coming back from a host of injuries with a 3 inch screw in his foot. We could have a lot of fun if I could get everyone healthy at the same time.

Cross Country

What have I been doing you may ask, well the cross country season is in full swing, and things are looking pretty good. This is especially true since I survived the hosting of the first few cross country meets without any major calamities, people falling in large holes, runners turning the wrong way on the course, etc.

Bear Relays went off without a hitch and very little trouble I may add, this is a low key meet that I can handle because everyone is pretty relaxed and well informed. Our girls ran great and our guys looked even better thanks to a great deal of hard work.

This continued to the next meet at UNT where the guys missed a perfect score of 15 by one place. The girls admittedly had a little more competition but we will take what we can get.

The last straw was the high school meet that we put on where I didn't even advertise well and garnered over 60 area high school teams complete with Boys, Girls, JV and Varsity. Some 1300 runners and their parents came to run at our course that was exceptionally dry due to the substantial margin of rainfall that we are behind our yearly average. I spent a great deal of time in the sun and maintained my sanity (who said that? ) I think.

Interspersed between, around, and even amongst some of these weekends I have been spending almost every available minute recruiting some of the finest runners in the country, who are if nothing else politely interested in coming to one of the finest universities in the country. If the type of people that have been visiting happen to come to Baylor our team will get better very quickly, which would be a lot of fun.

Where do I start?

Ok, by now you are probably wondering if I gave up on this whole blog thing. Well, I haven't but we have been pretty busy, which by its very nature should translate into a more interesting blog, except that unfortunately I am not paid to do this so blogging falls well behind things like sleeping, eating, working, and perhaps even watching TV. Regardless a lot has gone on since my last post so I might just make separate posts for each one, even though they may all be posted this evening. Thanks

A Mouse in the House

Last night Kelly and I spent an exciting evening evicting a mouse from under our refrigerator. You see, he wasn't paying rent, was eating Heidi's food, and kept using up all of the hot water in the morning during his shower. Basically he was a total freeloader. He didn't do anything except maybe gather a few dustbunnies from off the floor. He even caused a little damage to his compartment under the fridge, gnawing the plastic coating off the ground wires to the fridge and what not. He could have been helping around the house using said dustbunnies to add insulation to known drafty areas. He could have helped me rewire the house for surround sound without making to many holes. But no, he just ate, slept in and watched Mickey Mouse on our TiVo ( I had been wondering who kept recording that). If he had just done his share around the house we may have not had to give him the boot but he just wasn't pulling is weight around here.
Therefore last night using several highly advanced trapping procedures including:

vacuum cleaner
high pitched screaming (admittedly from all parties involved)
trained mouse detecting dog
non conductive mouse poking stick (because of the bare wires)
forefoot soccer pass towards the door
and finally the most successful,
the broomhockey mouse slapshot

we were forced to evict him from his humble flat below the refrigerator and return him to his wild ways
among the johnson grass and sagebrush.

Mr. Mouse left the house with more than likely a mild concussion, but may have survived as I threw him what looked to be a rather homey bush in the field across from my house. My theory behind not terminating this little mouse lies behind the fact that I realize his native habitat is dwindling and if I had a choice I would probably take my chances too (AC, good dog food, no birds of prey, etc). I also feel that just like when Batman took people to and from his cave they were usually knocked out so they wouldn't know how to get there, Mr. Mouse was in a similar state when he left and hopefully won't know how to come back, because if he does . . . let's just say I won't be so kind.

Bedell Makes Finals in 1500

Erin made it into the final heat of the 1500 against the best junior runners in the world. She will look for a high finish early Sunday morning our time. This is her fourth National team appearance. We are very proud of her. Go to www.baylorbears.com for more info.

Finals were Sunday and Erin is 10th in the World

Terrorism Expert Makes Doomsday Predictions

Q&A with "The Capron's"

Click on the picture
to see the video

Who does this guy think he is. . . honestly? Professor? Dogged?

I bet he reads a great deal

Why do all terrorism experts have beards?

Maybe it is because they have been on vacation all summer since the terror expertise business has picked up.
Would you say that he is a glass is half full or empty type of guy based on this interview?

I bet it depends on wether the glass has taken proper security measures to ensure its safety, only then can we say for sure, then determine the threat level of said "glass."
Man, I wonder what his kids are like?

who knows, but if increased terror is "exciting," then hopefully they aren't too wild and crazy

What do you have to do to become a terrorism expert?

First obviously, the beard, then school, add in travel and you're in like flynn.

Promotion?

Well I must say that Assistant Head Cross Country Coach has a nice ring to it, but much of my job will remain the same. I will know a little more by the end of this year about where my team will stand. This is a big year for my distance team both on the course/track and from a recruiting standpoint. If you want more info, follow the link. Promotion 

Want to see some pictures of our trip?

Seek and you shall find:

Spain, Alhambra, Gibraltar, Lisbon

Innocents Abroad

So we are back in town and caught up with things on the homefront, at least enough to pretend that I have enough time to spend organizing the photos from our trip.
We had a incredible time and will be ready to go back if anyone knows of a good sponsor that would like to fund our trip. I would be happy to go and chronicle it all by photo and short prose. That is of course if someone wants to watch the dog.
The trip began as we dropped in on the Zutaverns, who graciously allowed us to stay at their lovely home and gave us a ride to the airport. It was great to see them and I hope that we are able to make more time to visit each other in the future. On the way to Madrid we had a layover at the Miami airport (not the US' best international foot forward). We landed in Madrid, Spain early the next morning after an extra 7hrs of evening at the beautiful Barajas International Airport (new terminal 4). Monique was there to meet us at the airport, and we caught a cab back to their apartment, went down the street to the school to pick up Josh, and laid low that afternoon trying to stay awake long enough to fend off the worst of the jet lag. We were confident that if we held off long enough we could sleep at the newly established bedtime. Russell returned to the apartment shortly after one of his last finals to find us in his living room, and remarked that it seemed strangely familiar. We felt welcome immediately, which was good because by the late afternoon Kelly was asleep, and I could barely keep my eyes open as well. We stayed with the Browder's for three days and toured around Madrid, visiting the Prado, the Royal Palace, and the Plaza Mayor. We also took a day trip to Toledo. Next we caught a high speed train south to Malaga on the Costa del Sol. It was great to see them, and we appreciate them opening their home to us. We hope we can return the favor.
Kelly and I arrived in Malaga around lunch time and met up with my Dad and Rhonda, who were on a Tour de Europe of their own. They looked as though they had settled comfortably into the beach town lifestyle. My dad especially looked the part as he sported a perfect Tommy Bahama-esque shirt, his Teva's, and a $5 pair of aviator sunglasses. Fitting in wasn't that difficult as it seemed every person around was here on holiday. We had about a 45 train ride to the town down the street from where we were staying, which was an adventure because about 300 middle school kids seemed like they had the same idea as they almost stampeded Kelly, so they wouldn't miss the train to the beach.
Due to its somewhat central location to the Andalusian region and the fact that my father was brave enough to both rent and drive a car in the area's constant traffic jam, we used Malaga as a jumping off point for a few day trips to "nearby" towns. Our first day took us to the town of Granada, where we greatly enjoyed the Alhambra and ended up having little time for much else. As you may be able to tell by the number of pictures that we took (read Kelly used up a 1G card). Anyway though it was almost 2hrs away and required some serious navigating, we were glad that our buddy Rick Steves told us we should make it a priority.
Our next day trip took us to the rock of Gibraltar mostly due to its curious history (Great Britain vs Spain), my fathers desire to eat some real fish and chips, interesting geology, and my desire to see uncaged monkeys . So off we were, and needless to say we were not disappointed. The following day we really put my dad's driving skills to the test as we raced up the mountains in a Citroen to the white hills town of Ronda, birthplace of the modern bullfight. Bullfighting season had not yet begun, and we thought it would be best that we didn't attend a fight because my dad assured us that he would be rooting for the bull. Ronda was a neat town with a amazing bridge that seems to separate the old town from the business oriented modern side. On our last day we tried to blend in a little more by going to the beach and getting the Mediterranean suntan. By this I mean the reddish hue that the British, Germans, Swedes, and others seem to take on while visiting the Costa del Sol. The beach was great but we definitely weren't the only ones with the idea.
After saying goodbye to my parents we embarked on the only part of the journey we would undertake by ourselves. We weren't worried about going to Portugal but were definitely conscious of the fact that we were on our own, and Kelly doesn't speak Portuguese. Luckily we found the Portuguese much more accommodating to our inability to communicate in their native tongue. We got to know Lisbon pretty well thanks to a good public transportation system and good recommendations from the front desk at our hotel. We happened to catch the 50th anniversary of the tall ships races, apparently quite an event as huge sailboats from all over made their way back out to sea. We were even able to squeeze in a day at the beach on the Costa Caparica, which is part of the Atlantic coastline.
All in all we had an amazing time that we will remember forever. It was great to visit family and friends and to see a new part of the world with them.

Floyd Did it . . .

He did it. By "it" I am referring to the Tour de France. I am going to delay the guilty verdict regarding the other "it" (a positive drug test) a little longer; however, it does not look good. While I am happy that another American is atop the podium, it was seemingly to good to be true. At this point even if Floyd does clear his name the second drug scandal for the famous, Tour, cycling has taken a tremendous blow, with the sport of Track and Field not far behind (read Justin Gatlin). What probably angers me the most is the time frame that these tests are reported. Floyd had already stood on the podium, Gatlin had already won USA's (mid June) though he tested positive in April. They have already claimed what may not belong to them, no amount of shuffling places or prize money will ever rectify that injustice.
I am also starting to wonder if we Americans are just as sneaky at cheating in the drug game as everyone else, or we just have better drugs? Hopefully that is not the case but for everyone that is working on a testing method there are more than likely 4 or 5 that are working on a way to stay ahead and unfortunately they are probably better paid. Sadly my knowledge of exercise physiology makes me all to aware of this possibility.
So kudos for all of those working hard in a drug free training regimen, may your glory never be stolen by someone who didn't. And if you aren't guilty good luck with the media/doping authority/public opinion, I hope you get to the bottom of things.

Possum Kingdom is a pretty place

Whoever wrote the words Possum Kingdom across the map for the first time should have worked on the name a little longer. More than likely there is story here that I have not heard, but I would guess that a quick online survey would come up with a title that had a slightly better connotation. To me Possum Kingdom just does not conjure up images of a beautiful place to relax, recreate, and enjoy oneself. That is, of course, unless you are a possum.
Regardless, our short trip to PK was all of those things without the possums. We enjoyed our time greatly and appreciated the invitation from Tricia and the rest of the Durand family. Kelly was bound for ABQ on Sunday so I was destined for a drive eitherway. We decided to take Tricia up on her offer and put a stopover at the Lake in Kelly's run to the airport.
The Durand Lake house is a great place to relax however there are very few dull moments. Perhaps that is due to the pack of dogs that descend upon the house when Tricia graciously invites her friends (and thier dogs). The weekend was no different as we had enough dogs to start a small circus, that is if any of them minded their owners and knew any good tricks.
Wether it was the swimming, dogs, fireworks, wakeboarding or the great food, we look forward to the next time we can return to the land of the possum. Watch the Video

Say it ain't so Jan, Ivan, . . . . . . . Lance?

My excitement for the Tour has been marred yet again, this time from the biggest players in the whole race. In a race just about to get interesting with the departure of Lance, two of the favorites have been left off the starting list amid swirling accusations of doping. This while Lance continues to fend off accusations of those very close to him. Clean it up gentlemen, either the sport, the media, or both. This is sad. Velonews

Kelly's Table Arrives

Well, Kelly saved her pennies, taught during summer school and finally found a dining room set we both liked. The other one held up the dinner plates as well but I guess this one is more sophisticated. She is very proud of it, I am assuming because she took pictures of it. I must say that I like it too, however I hope I never have to move it because it weighs a ton.