back from the dead

ok, not really the dead, but you know, figuratively and blog speaking.

i can't really give a good excuse as to WHY i disappeared, especially when i was on SUCH A GOOD ROLL last year. oh well - moving on...

update:
i ran a marathon last fall in berlin. yes, as in germany. my dad and i ran it, though not together directly, since he still finished about 45 minutes earlier than i did. i finished in 4:53 which was slower than i had "wanted" but it was cold. and raining. and it was still 22 minutes faster than my previous marathon time, so in that respect i smoked my PR. but all in all it was amazing. rob and i flew out there and met my mom and dad. we spent a week in germany, and i would say that while running the marathon was amazing and humbling as they always are, the most wonderful thing i experienced was to be able to go with my dad to Hornsommern, Germany, where he was born. also, we got to go to Kutzleben, Germany (right down the road, really) where his grandparents lived. after that AMAZING and UNFORGETABLE trip, (where i met a cousin of his) we went to that cousin's home, in Kassel Germany, which i would strongly recommend to anyone who is in germany to make the trip. it was beautiful.

after germany, rob and i flew back via a 4 day "layover" in paris, and spent a lot of time walking and metro-ing around to catch all the sights. i had been there about 7 years prior, but rob had never been, so it was nice for both of us. paris wasn't all i remembered it being cracked up to be, but that might just have been because i was comparing it to the berlin trip.

returning to the us was uneventful, and the fall and new year remained easy. my parents and grandmother came down for christmas and we enjoyed, once again, a smoked pig for christmas dinner. the girls were spoiled rotten, and i think that generally everyone had a wonderful time.

the end of january i had entered the houston marathon lottery and had gotten in, so the cold damp morning of jan 30th (4 months, and 4 days after the berlin marathon, NOT THAT I WAS COUNTING...) i toed the starting line and by the end of it finished in 4:37 and change. meaning that i took another 16 minutes off of my PR time. yeah, now it's getting hard. not so much about finishing as it is about beating the times.

i had bought a plane ticket out to visit my sister for a week, but the day i ran houston, she decided to make my vacation a VACATION and broke her ankle. which while she might think put a dent on our plans, it ended up being perfect for me because i could come out and take care of her, play lots of scrabble, learn to play gin, or rummy, or gin rummy, and lay on the couch. for 6 days. really, that's about the best vacation one could ask for.

the week after returning from my sisters, i ran a half marathon here in town. i ran it is 2:01:27 or something, and i REALLY wanted to hit under 2, but i just didn't have it in me. oh that and i didn't train for it. LESSON LEARNED.

fatty mcnatty has been growing like a weed, talking a lot (though really, i think no one would be able to understand her aside from babyhead, rob and myself). she tries to do everything her sister does and usually is successful. though babyhead is a very loving and great big sister, when she is playing with her friends she has already begun the "leave us alone - you're too little" routine. babyhead is doing great. helpful and loving. she is taking gymnastics and soccer, though neither have truly lit a spark in her yet, i like the fact that we have her in some sort of club/athletics.

that pretty much brings us up to today. i'm still looking for a job. rob's still working his tail off. the girls are in a school that we ALL like (we had some issues for a while). babyhead is starting to be this close to reading and i think when she starts kindergarten in the fall (i know i know) she's gonna love it. fatty mcnatty is the comedian and keep us on our toes. yeah, life is pretty good.