Happy Halloween

Curling season update

The first half of the season is over and we've been reclassified into Group A and B. We lost our first two matches but after a well placed bye week we regrouped and won our last two matches. With our victory last Sunday we ended up in a tie with the third place team in the other group for the final position in Group A.
We were given this choice: coin toss for the last spot in Group A or go into Group B and pick our bye week for the next half of the season. It was a tough decision, but we decided to go into Group B and pick our bye week. My basketball schedule is keeping me from being able to go one weekend and another teammate might not be able to make it that weekend either, so we went with keeping the team together the entire season.
Curling League has been great fun. We all look forward to it all week and then when we are done on Sunday night it's "dang it we have to go to work tomorrow".

Here's some pictures of the fun courtesy of Rob:
My form still needs a lot of work!

What proper form should look like.

Strategizing

Hello Basketball! Goodbye Weekends!

Another year and another October. I always get a little depressed around the middle of October. NCAA rules stipulate that Men's and Women's basketball teams around the country may officially begin preseason practice on the Friday closest to October 15th. This is always an unfortunate day for me because that means my nice relaxing weekends go into hibernation till April.

Here are some of the things I'm going to miss the most:
- Being able to roll out of bed whenever I want
- Playing beach volleyball
- Hanging out with friends
- Random road trips
- Weekend getaways
- Watching college football games

And here's what I have to look forward to this season:
- Thanksgiving in Normal, IL
- 2 separate trips to Utah (Orem and Ogden)
- 3 days off for Christmas
- A visit from UNC

The worst part basketball season is the preseason. Who decided teams needed three weeks to prepare for the season? Let's just get these games rolling and the season over by February!

SNL Political Humor

Congratulations Allison

Allison this one is for you. This past weekend my very good friend Allison ran the Chicago Marathon. Congratulations Allison on finishing the race and finishing strong!



Here are her splits
5k.....25 min. 14 sec.
10k...55 min. 22 sec.
15k...1 hr. 15 min. 59 sec.
20k...1 hr. 41 min. 54 sec.
Half...1 hr. 47 min. 41 sec.
25k...2 hr. 8 min. 36 sec.
30k...2 hr. 37 min. 5 sec.
35k...3 hr. 6 min. 39 sec.
40k...3 hr. 35 min. 57 sec.
Finish......3 hr. 48 min. 35 sec.


Congratulations again Allison! Awesome job!

PS: I'm still working on your Halloween gift package!

AIDS Walk 2008 Recap

Hey everyone, sorry for the long delay in blogging lately. I am hoping to get some inspiration to be more consistent again.

This past weekend I participated in the 2008 Heart and Sole Aids Walk. This was a 10k walk along the Santa Barbara coast line. The weather was kind of crummy with a heavy misting rain that gradually got better as the walk progressed. Although the weather wasn't the greatest everyone had a great time. My team and I had such a great time that there was actually a picture of us in the local paper. I'll post the picture tomorrow.



I wanted to thank everyone who donated to this cause on my behalf. With your help myself and my two co-workers were able to raise over $1,000 for the Pacific Pride Foundation. All the donations go to support programs like free and anonymous HIV testing, HIV/AIDS Mental Health Counseling, a food pantry, and a needle exchange program. I was very proud of our efforts this year and I owe that in large part to all of you who donated.

So once again, thank you so very much to everyone who donated I truly appreciate the support!