Hi, Everyone - Gotta get this in here quickly so I can get back to work.

Congrats to Sarge!!

This morning was a perfectly beautiful example of why, even though it takes a monstrous effort to get out of bed at 4:00 a.m., I love running in the predawn hours: crisp and cold with a black cloudless sky chock full of stars, a bright sliver of a moon over which you could see the shadow of the whole moon, quiet streets with hardly a sound except for that of my own foot steps and breathing.  This resulted in 4 sproinky miles with 6x100m strides at the end, followed by an hour of core and upper body strength training.

Sarge- nice work for you, but yes, sad story as well.

Mariposai - Enjoy!  How long will your visit be?

Ribs - nice picture of your boys - handsome fellas, both.

Baboon - 7 kids, wow! And you still have hair!

Leslie - nice workout!

No run for me today, just 30 minutes or so of weights and core.

My boss seems to think his staff is super-human, as he has scheduled quite a bundle of clients who want to get their cases done "before the end of the year."  (sigh)  Hope we live up to the challenge. 

Hello everybody!  Wow--there was some great runs and races over the weekend.  I was just too busy to post. 

I ran 14  miles on Saturday in 1:41:55.  Probably a little too fast but it felt really good so I just kept the pace.  Then I went to our company's Christmas party.  Boy, what a difference from my last place.  We used to rent out the most luxurious ballrooms in some of the finest hotels and sky rises in the Twin Cities and were served a fancy diinner.  Our party, this year, was in the basement of one of the employees with whatever people brought to share.  I'm not rally passing judgement on which is better...I'm just pointing out the differences

Then on Sunday, we woke up early to drive down to Sioux Falls, SD for Ryan's cross country banquet.  because of the snow that had begun to fall over night, our 4 1/2 hour drive took about 5 1/2 hours.  We left as soon as the banquet was over and it took us 7 1/2 hours to get home.  We were driving 5 to 10 mph and even stopped a few times because of white out conditions.  Of course, when I got home, a driveway full of snow was waiting for me.  Luckily, my neighbor had used his snow blower at some point in the day because, instead of having the whole 16" to shovel, I only had about 6.  I've never said this before but...I think I might want a snow blower.

So...how many of you recieved your drivers license on a Friday and got 16" of snow dumped on the streets over that very weekend?  Yes...the story continues.  We checked in with Eric a few times over the weekend to see how he was doing...okay, we checked in about every hour.  Besides getting stuck a few times, he was gettiing along pretty good.  He did not let a little snow blizzard stop him form driving all over the cities...where, I might add, were over 800 accidents over the weekend.  Of course, he had to get up at and be at work by 5:00, this morning...which is where our story continues....

After driving in blizzrd conditions for 7 1/2 hours, shoveling 6" of snow off our 24' x 45' driveway, the next thing I heard after collapsing in my bed at 11:30 pm was...."Mike!  He's not answering his phone!"  DW had gotten up at 3:45 am to call Eric to make sure he got up in time to go to work.  "What are we going to do?!" She yelled!  "Well, since you woke me up, I guess I'll go pee."  That, probably, wasn't the smartest thing I could have said.   So, I went ahead and called a few times, too.  Nope--he wasn't answering his phone....and his roommate wasn't home for us to wake up to help us out this time.  So...I went back to bed...for about 10 minutes.  I figured I'd better get it over with because, with DW storming around the house, I wouldn't be getting any sleep, anyway.  I drove through the unplowed side streets, then got to the somewhat plowed county roads, then hit the bumpy, hard crusted snow on the "plowed" freeway.  I turned the corner to his apartment and, up ahead, I saw a car on the side of the road.  Sure enough, it was Eric...he had made it half a block then decided to stop and scrape his windows.  Pretty good, I thought...I usually go a couple.  So, I got out and helped him finish it up so he could get on his way.  He goes another half block to the stop sign...and gets stuck.  I get out to help him.  He decides he's better call his work and let them know he is going to be late.  I start scraping snow out from under his wheels...with my hands.  A  guy pulls up, and the two of us get Eric's car unstuck.  Eric, jumps into his car and drives away....with no headlights.  I jump in my car to try to catch him.  Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement on the right side of my windshield.  I look closer and realize that, when Eric got the number out for his work, he laid his wallet on the hood of my car.  I stop quick, grab his wallet, then fly down the road.  He had already realized his headlights weren't on and turned them on...I thought that was pretty good, too...it usually takes me a few blocks to figure that out.  But, I flashed my lights a few times to get him to stop so I could give him his wallet back.  He thanked me and off to work he went.  I drove back home and got another 15 minutes of sleep.  I called him after work to see what his plans were for the evening.  I was very happy to hear that he was planning on going home and staying in for the evening.  DW called him later and found out he drove to his girlfriend's house.  I have not been able to get a hold of him since.  To be continued....

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Oh--I went 5 miles on the treadmill, tonight.  It's been so long since I've used the treadmill, I forgot to put it at the 1% incline like I always do.  I was wondering why it felt so easy.  Anyway--5 miles in 37:39.

Okay--that's it!  Gotta go to bed. 

I like both of your stories!

It sounds like Eric's testing his new-found freedom, just like any kid wants to when he/she gets his/her driver license.  It's just too bad it's with so much snow!  Sounds like he's continuing to do well, though.  Last night, I read your latest installment in "Adventures with Eric" and was telling The Hub about Eric's transformation.  He sounds like he's happy, Mike, that makes me .

Okay - Did some more transcription tonight.  Now for a hot shower and bed.  Nitey night ~

Hey carolyn, does it work up there to put visqueen plastic sheeting

or something on the windshields under the wipers?