Logging the Miles

It sure has been a great break, but where did it go? It went something like this:

*Get on the plane for my PIT-CHI-SD flight, but plane stops after getting to full speed on the runway because the pilot thinks we hit a bird. An hour and a half later, we're off to Chicago and I make my connection by about 15 minutes. Good thing I only had carry-on's!

*Beth had an awesome race out at California 70.3. Other than the race, we went to a restaurant called Noodles three times, got to know some more triathletes (and get to know previous acquaintances better), enjoyed the San Diego Zoo, and went to La Jolla (expensive houses!) where we saw seals beached on the shore from about 10 feet away.

*Monday night/Tuesday morning (2am) we returned to Pittsburgh to SNOW!!! Our track meet Tuesday was cancelled and we had a pretty crappy week of practice with the poor weather. I was hoping this would be a solid week to get some good work in, but I guess you have to adjust. Big stretch coming up.

*Wednesday I went to the doctor to see what he thought about all of my congestion this winter. He thought it may be due to the chlorine from the pool. He gave me some nose spray and said to try it out for two weeks. If it doesn't improve, we're going to try a sinus MRI and blood work to test for allergies. I also had a big day of cleaning out the garage and cleaning the cars.

*Thursday was grass cutting day and several other odds and ends and the sad memorial of the three police officers who were killed in the line of duty. We were able to become a part of the unplanned Route 28 procession for the officer who was going home to Indiana, PA. It was breath-taking and tear-jerking to see the line of police cars escorting the casket and family. My heart goes out to the families and my appreciated was renewed in our police, fire, military, and all who serve our country.

*Friday we picked up our new phones from the Verizon store (remember the Beth and the Port-a-jon story from Oceanside?) and we've been slowly getting used to them this weekend. We then picked up Beth's grandfather in Uniontown and met up with Beth's mom, dad, sister, and brother-in-law in Charleston, WV to celebrate Easter and to see Beth's dad's bridge. We ended up not going to a baseball game there because there were some pretty nasty storms Friday night. Oh well, this is just an excuse to go back down there later this summer.

*Saturday we came back to Greensburg to spend the night and celebrate Easter with my family. We went to church where I grew up and it's always good to see the people, but kind of sad since the Pastor and his family (including a great friend) left a few years ago. Of course, Easter's big because it's the whole point of our faith. Jesus sacrificed his life for us. What makes Him different from all the other religions is that we believe He came back to life, walked among the people, and ascended to Heaven. No other religion claims a leader that lives eternally.

*We got home around 5pm and didn't feel like making a messing with a meal, so we opted for the Little Caesar's Hot-n-Ready deal. Yes!

*All told, according to a crude calculation on a map-my-course application, about 5,000 miles this week. Whew!!

*The rest of the night was spent playing around with the cell phone some more and getting ready for the week ahead. We've got a developmental (9th & 10th grade) meet on Tuesday, Butler (Varsity boys) and Seneca Valley (JV) Invites on Friday night, and Hempfield (girls) Invite on Saturday. Next Tuesday (4/21) is the section championship and I can't believe how fast things are flying by!

*Oh, by the way, the Pirates are a week in. They're 3-3 heading into the home opener Monday (I'll be wearing the Baseball tie to school Beth's sister got me). They haven't looked too bad so far. The pitching has been better than expected and the offense has been so-so. We'll see what happens. I'll be following the minor leagues this year pretty closely to see if the management's plan of building from within works. I guess I still need to do my Pirates season preview. Good luck with that with my schedule this week. Maybe I can do it on my cell phone at some point.

Have a great week!