My Top Ten Favorite Animated Movies

Because Noah is asleep, the PAckers are still pussy-footing around about Favre, and my house really needs cleaning, here are my favorite animated movies of all time.

10. Space Jam
9. Bambi
8. The Lion King
7. Madagascar
6. Kung Fu Panda
5. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
4. Cars
3. Shrek
2. Surf's Up
1. Curious George (can't beat a cute monkey and a Jack Johnson soundtrack)

Night Time at the Zoo

Last night, the place where I (used to) work had their annual employee party at the zoo. Noah's favorite friend, Ryan, was there and they ran around like crazy people the whole time. I loved being at the zoo in the evening because the animals were so active. The elephants were washing each other in dirt and the zebras were jumping around and playing constantly. Noah was fascinated. Sorry the pics are so crappy. I forgot the camera so I had to use my cell phone. Hopefully Lorrie will send me some of the real pictures she got (hint, hint, Lorrie).

September 10

That's our closing date. They pushed it back again, but it might be for the best because it will give me time to settle into the new job a little before we have to move again. They are seriously making progress on the place now though. Here are some pictures.

Front of house: Kitchen:
Living/dining room:
Noah's bathroom:
Noah's room:
Master bathroom:
Master bedroom:

Kitchen floor:

Bathroom floor:

Favre is back!

I don't know where he'll be playing, but it looks like he's coming back. Here's the story.

Cool Cat

Check out my cool little guy. I took this picture as we were leaving the pool yesterday.

Race Report: Colorado Springs 10K Classic

I got up at 5:00 and it was 65 degrees and looking like rain. Rain in the morning is very rare here so that was kinda weird. Anyway, I was on the road around 5:30 and got to the race start area around 6:15. They had a sweet setup. The start was by an office park, so chip/shirt pickup was inside. Real bathrooms too! Ahhhh...the luxury. I stretched a little and walked around some until they started lining us up. I was so nervous that my stomach hurt because I wanted to finish sub-60 so bad.

The race started exactly on time at 7:00, which seems to not happen very often. My absolute worst experience with a race starting late was the Turkey Day 5K in Highlands Ranch a few years ago. It was freezing and the wind was crazy and they kept pushing back the start because they weren't finished registering all the people yet. It was awful.

Mile 1 felt great. I had to run around alot of people who were in my way, which is still a novelty for me. I used to be so much slower than most other runners. The mile was over almost before I even realized I was running and felt totally effortless. Mile 1 time: 8:54.8

As mile 2 started, I decided to slow down a bit and save my energy for later. It felt pretty good too. Mile 2 time: 17:58.8

By mile 3 though, I was really starting to feel the fact that I was running significantly faster than most of my longer training runs. It still felt ok, until I hit the first hill. It wasn't too long though, and I managed it ok. Mile 3 time: 27:14.0

I don't really remember mile 4 at all. Strange, huh? Mile 4 time: 36:29.0

Mile 5 is very memorable however for the very short but very steep hill at about 5.3 miles. I thought my lungs were going to come up through my throat. Mile 5 time: 45:31.8

During mile 6, I kept trying to pass people to keep my pace up, and I actually did pass a few people. Most of them passed me again also, but a few stayed behind. Mile 6 time: 55:15.8

I swear that those last .2 miles were a full 1/2 mile long. It would not surprise me at all if tomorrow I heard that they mis-measured it. I was running all out as hard as I could, and it still took me over 3 minutes. It just doesn't make sense. Maybe I just had nothing left...I don't know. Anyway...

Final time: 58:47.9

I did it! I got a PR and came in under 60 minutes. I am so freakin' excited!!! That was the time on my stopwatch. I'll have to see what my official time is when they post race results. I was too busy messing with my stopwatch at the end to see the official time on the board, but I know it started with a 58 or 59.

My next challenge is the Golden Leaf Half Marathon at the end of September. I may run another 10K between now and then, but I haven't decided. Some of that depends on how busy my new job is keeping me. We'll see... (Oh, and it never did rain. The weather was great. 65 degrees and a little overcast.)

They told Brett Favre what?

I gotta be up front...I don't like change. And I'm sure it won't surprise anyone who knows me that I cried when Brett Favre retired. So I was beyond elated when I started hearing rumors that Favre might return. I sort of felt sorry for the Packers and Aaron Rodgers because it put them in an awkward position, but I figured they would work it out. And maybe they still will.

But earlier today, after hearing the reports on ESPN that Favre told Packers GM Ted Thompson that he planned to report to training camp, I began hearing the reports that the Packers told Favre that if he does, he will be the #2 quarterback.

Brett. Favre. backing. up. Aaron. f_ing.Rodgers.

Are they serious? I know it's all just negotiating tactics, but my respect for the Packers organization just went down faster than the Titanic. That's just such a ridiculous concept.

I would just love to see the guy play some more. As far as I am concerned, he is the most exciting player in the NFL. Whoever he ends up playing for, I will be cheering him on. I sincerely hope it's the Pack, but that looks unlikely at this point.

Why? Seriously, why?

Hey, Eric, why do you do tris again?



I got this video from the Half Fast blog. You should check it out. It's hilarious.

Happy Birthday, James

Welcome to the world, Baby James! This is my cousin Michelle's new baby! Isn't he cute? He looks just like her!

Suite Game!

Thanks to Dan's job at Sprint, we had suite tickets to the Rockies game last night. They spanked the Dodgers 10-1 so it was a great night to be at Coors Field. Here are some pictures from the game. There were 2 other 2-year-old kids in the suite with us, so Noah had a blast. Have you ever tried to get a decent picture of three 2-year-olds? It's not easy, people.

Motivational Songs

I love my iPod. I love the music on it. Dan adds new stuff to it for me every once in a while to keep it fresh, and most of the songs on it really help me on my runs. Here is a list of my top ten favorite running songs right now:


10. "Everybody Ona Move," Michael Franti and Spearhead

9. "Steve McQueen," Sheryl Crow

8. "Long Road to Ruin," Foo Fighters

7. "Tangled Up in Blue, " Indigo Girls version (I know, weird, huh? I used to do the Bob Dylan version, but this one works better for me. Maybe I should try Jerry Garcia's version too.)

6. "Omaha Nebraska," Bowling for Soup

5. "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well," Mike Doughty

4. "Monkey Wrench," Foo Fighters

3. "Inside Out," Eve 6

2. "The Pretender," Foo Fighters (OK, so pretty much any Foo Fighters works for me.)

1. "New York," Ryan Adams (This was playing on my iPod as I finished my marathon.)

If you have any great songs I should add to my iPod, please let me know!

Summer Fun

Here are some pictures of Noah at the pool from this weekend. We spent most of the weekend there because it was so hot...it even hit 100. Noah sure is a water baby even if he still doesn't like floating on his back. Oh yeah, and Dan taught him how to eat Icee Pops.

8 Mile Trail Run

I thought I'd post an update on my running for those of you that get sick of looking at my adorable child (not possible, right?) . Today I ran 8 miles on the bike trails near our house and it went pretty well. It is becoming painfully obvious to me how much the trails slow me down and I don't know if it's the brutal hills up there, the trail surface, or just an excuse to not run so fast since I'm so lazy and all. The rest of my runs this week will be pretty easy though since I'm running that 10K next Saturday. Here's the schedule for anyone who is interested (I used Hal Higdon's Intermediate 10K plan):

Sun: 3 miles trail

Mon: 3 miles trail

Tue: 5x400m

Wed: 3 miles trail

Thursday and Friday are rest days in the hope that I will run super fast for me and come in under 60 min. at the 10K on Sat.

I can't complain too much about the trail running though. Other than the fact that my feet hurt more than they normally do after road runs, it's been some pretty great training. And check out the view from the trail:

Can't complain too much about that! (See what I did there? I snuck in pics of my adorable kid.)

Here comes the...rain?

It finally rained this afternoon after a lot of hot, dry weather. It felt so great that Noah and Dan decided to go out and play in it.

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Happy birthday to my brother in law, Eric. Have a great one!!!

Swimming Lessons

Noah's last day of swimming lessons was today. This is a picture of him holding his certificate at the end of class. I wanted some pics of him actually swimming , but they were pretty impossible to get. Next time I will get a waterproof camera.

I was really impressed with the lessons. Last summer, it was all games and songs. This time, they actually taught them stuff like grabbing the wall after you jump in and learning to float with a noodle. They also worked on front and back stroke with the kids. Noah mostly enjoyed it, but he does NOT like to float on his back. Better luck next summer with that one, right?

Semi-Pro

Dan and I rented Semi-Pro the other night. I wasn't expecting much even though I love Will Ferrell because I heard it wasn't that great. But it was hilarious. I highly recommend it!

My Most Improtant Running Companion.

Coffee has two virtues: it is wet and warm.
Originally uploaded by sharaff

A couple of weeks ago, my brother posted on his blog about some of his running essentials. He came to the conclusion that his favorite running companion is his Garmin watch (yes, it's ok to drool). It got me to thinking about what I absolutely could not do without on my now almost daily runs. I definitely love my new trail shoes if you hadn't already figured that out from the gigantic picture of them I posted yesterday...I also adore my running watch (it's a Polar)...and then there's the iPod...that's definitely helpful... but really there's only one thing I have to have to run and that is COFFEE. Mmmmmmm...coffee....

New Mizunos

Check out my new trail running shoes! I have been a Mizuno fan for a long time (I'm on my 5th pair of Mizuno road running shoes right now), so I was super excited to read all the great reviews of the Mizuno Wave Ascend 3 when I started looking at trail running shoes. I'm all ready for the Golden Leaf Half now!

Pictures of My Little Angel

Seriously, though, doesn't he look like a little angel with the rays of heaven shining down upon him in this one? Of course, that's not taking into account all the screaming fits of "NO" he had the other day when he refused to nap. This one's more like it...the wizard waving his wand. "You will all do exactly as I say..."

So Dan just threw him down a slide a couple of times.

And we all did a little dance. The pictures below are Noah dancing to the band that warmed everyone up for the second Castle Rock movie night we've gone to this summer. Those nights are great because Noah and Daddy can have some good clean family fun while Mommy gets drunk. Just kidding. Sorta...
They played some good ol' Led Zeppelin and also Green Day. Nice Mix!

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Today is Dan's dad's birthday. Thanks for being such a great grandpa to Noah! We love you!

My Son's New Favorite Toy

Good thing he doesn't have more toys than a toddler could shake a dinosaur at because, well, that would be a waste...