A Cold Dam Run

Just wanted to take a quick moment to reflect on my run this morning. A good 6 miler from our house, to Falls Lake Dam, and through a variety of toepath hiking trails. During my Marathon training two years ago, I discovered the Falls Lake Trail, part of the Mountains to Sea Trail here in North Carolina. The FLT, 26 miles from start to finish, consists of a variety of 3-4 mile segments that spill out onto roads. Beautiful! We are so lucky to have such great trails so close. If I choose to complete another marathon this year, I will spend many hours and miles on these trails. We hope to get out with Lucy to do some hiking as well. Myra may not be quite ready yet!

My Online Gym

You will probably notice my Running Challenge on the sidebar. I wanted to find an online recordkeeping/workout site, and stumbled upon Gyminee. It will keep track of workouts, photos, and progress, while also providing you with many different challenges for motivation. This one is a 100 mile challenge, which I hope to have finished in March. Root me on!

Inauguration Picnic

So with all the snow this week, we all had the opportunity to watch the inauguration together. As you see, this was our lunch picnic, right at the time of the oath (the first one, haha!). It was pretty neat to have the girls there watching with us.
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Busy week of work, then we will have my folks coming into town on Friday. My Grandma will also make the trip, which we're excited about. They will be the first to stay with us since the girls began sharing a room. Besides the first 20 minutes of playing, they are doing well with it, so we will see how long that lasts!

Let It Snow...

Fun day. Multiple outings out in the snow. Unfortunately it was just some powdery snow, but we still made snowballs, trekked through the snow, and enjoyed it. Probably about 5-7 inches overall. Now school is canceled for tomorrow, due to BLACK ICE! Heehee!

Which Linux Distro Am I?

Which Linux distribution are you? My Result: I'm a Gentoo Chris I am a centered Zen master. I can enjoy games and media, but they aren't a way of life. I prefer to be the engineer building them instead. I am the hardest of workers, and I set a pretty brisk pace. Quiz School Take this quiz & get your result

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All Through The House...

...we await the snowfall! Yup, a forecasted 4-6 inches possible tonight through tomorrow. Of course I have wound the kids up pretty tight. I am just so excited to have ONE real snowfall. Snowmen, snow cream, heck, Myra has not even really seen snow yet. Cross your fingers!

A+ Day

A+, not because it's a great day, but I am spending the day studying to take my A+ Certification test. It is pretty much just a basic test of the hardware and software for computers and an industry standard.

Here are the results from a practice test I just took:


Score » 98 out of 100
Total Correct » 39 out of 40 correct
% Score » 97.5 %
Min. Pass % » 75 %
Result » Pass
Taken By » Chris
Time Taken » 15 mins 49 secs

See if you can beat me:

Essentials comptia A+ » Quiz School

What Metal Am I?

You Are Copper

You are provocative and challenging. You help people realize who they really are. You live a very balanced life. You always take time for love and art. You are both a powerful and generous person. You always have time to give back. People find you to be incredibly ethical and loyal.

What Metal Are You?

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

Wow! Single digits tonight and tomorrow night. We won't get out of the 20s tomorrow. While those Northerners may laugh, that is COLD for North Carolina. NO SNOW though! )-:

Running!

So it is my turn this year. November 1st, 2009 is the target for the marathon that I hope to run. I have not yet signed up for it, so I am not too committed, but I am trying to get into race shape. Ran a six miler today, down to the Falls Dam. It was my second in two weeks, and I felt pretty good. I hope to do an 8 miler next week on the Falls Lake Trail. Man, how I missed that trail! I am sure I will continue to update you on my progress!

Reflecting and Anticipating...

2008 was a pretty good year for us. I had a good year professionally. Continued for awhile at the State level, continued to make connections, and then made the move to become a Director of Technology for a local County School System. It has been a pretty good move for me. I continue to make some connections, while making a larger impact on a greater number of students. I also am working toward earning some professional certifications that will help me in the future.
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Familywise, things are GREAT! Lucy made the transition to 4 day a week preschool with ease. She continues to amaze us with her 'smarts,' and her kindness. She is such a compassionate little girl too. Myra also did well in starting two day a week preschool. She continues to discover her personality, and I can see she is going to be a little comedian. "MOMMY," in her best Exorcist voice. Haha! Kerry does well also, renewing her teaching license, as it appears she will go back into the classroom. She spent much of her time (besides being Mom!) training for her marathon. She completed the City of Oaks Marathon in November, with her loud cheering squad along the course.
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So what can we expect in 2009? Well, I hope to earn two professional certifications. I also plan to take my crack at another City of Oaks Marathons. Kerry looks to go back into the classrooom, so that we can make plans for a larger house eventually. Lucy and Myra will finish up preschool, then we will see what happens with that. A busy year, yet again!

Happy 2009--With Cable!

Well, as of 12:07AM, we still have VH1, Noggin, Nick, MTV, and all the Viacom channels. I am heading to bed, so I hope we'll still have them in the AM!
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Happy New Year!

The End of 2008...

Busy year. Two jobs, big trip to Texas, and, oh yeah, growing children. On this last day of the year, we'll try not to become too introspective, but we were busy, that's for sure. And busy yesterday too, what with the carpet cleaning, oil changing, car inspecting, toy playing, Christmas tree/light taking downing, and so much more. Phew! A slower day today. A run, trip to K-mart, and no big New Year's plans. We need a rest!

Home Again!

We survived another trip up North to the Great White North. Well, this year the Great White was the Great Green as temps soared into the high 60s in Pittsburgh. Our trip to Pittsburgh was nice, as we actually got out to the playground across the street, then we went over to a local library that I never knew existed. And what a library! It was in a large, older building. The floors were wood, they creaked, and the childrens' section was huge! Madison did an awesome job reading to both Lucy and Myra. Cole found lots of military books, and Uncle Gary rented movies. Yup, their library actually rents out movies. So cool!
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We got to finally have a Bull Dogs hotdog. It was alright, and their fries weren't bad. Coming home was a long trip, but we're home now, and have big plans for the week. Photos will be coming soon, as will the changing of the cars' oil, the cleaning of the carpets, and the cleaning of the sinks. Fun times!

Merry Christmas Eve!

So it starts! After a fun day yesterday (we met Greysen and Emma Kate at Marbles), Christmas Eve is here! This morning we hung out, I went for a 4 miler, then we went to Falls Dam and hiked around. Definitely a lot of fun being out in the open with the girls. And few were out to join us. I envision the rest out at the malls, stuck in traffic, and grumbly. Ahh...the outdoors!
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Once MJ wakes up, we will pack up to head to the Flanigans for Christmas Eve dinner. Mark, Christie, Aidan, and Maeve flew in this morning. Shannon will be up as well, so a nice family gathering. Then after presents tomorrow morning, we are heading up to PA for a few days, and we're looking forward to all those 'free cupoccino stops' at Sheetz! I think there are 7 on the way!

My Cute Little Snowglobe!

A SUITE Hockey Game...

Yeah, pretty good pun there, eh? Well, after many opportunities washed out, we finally attended a hockey game from a luxury suite. All four of us went, plus it was Bobblehead Night! As you can see, the girls throughly enjoyed it!

Tea For Two...or Six...

Our girls experienced the high life last weekend! Kerry, her cousins, and the girls decided to hold a 'high tea' with dress up, cookie decorating, and some serious fun. I love the creativity of my wife, providing all these opportunities for our girls. Neat, neat things! Of course I am a little late in posting, but the meaning is still there!

What Do My Snow Preferences Say About Me?

Your Snow Test Says You're Independent

You feel like something good will happen to you in the next few days. You love to work, especially when work is creative. You have the makings of a successful artist. You are an independent, individualistic person. You thrive when you're doing your own thing. Your biggest worry in your life is your health. You tend to be a bit of a hypochondriac. When it comes time to relax, you have difficulty relaxing. You are a bit high strung.

The Snow Test

My Linuxy, Christmasy, Baby Girl!