September MPD update

As of today, Wednesday, September 25th, I have run 258 of the required 268 miles for 2019.  Once again I took a few too many days off from running which caused me to try to catch up just to September's requirements and not give me much hope of chopping into the 10 mile overall deficit from previous months.

Tomorrow I'm off from work because we have to take Moose and Squirrel to their annual checkup (they turned 5 last weekend!).  I don't suspect I'll get any running in, which is a good thing because I need a rest day.  On Friday I should be able to knock out at least 3-4 miles.  If  I don't run over the weekend, again I'm rested for Monday which can be another 3-4 miles.  That means I would have chipped 1-3 miles off that 10 mile deficit!


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Labor Day Fun

This was perhaps one of the best Labor Days I can remember in a long time. That's not to say the last
few have sucked or anything but this one had the right combination of just enough to do to keep busy but not too much to be overscheduled.

Nightingale had taken most of last week off in an attempt to get the house better organized and work on some pet projects and also maybe engage in some personal she-time (massage, pedicure, etc).  However, Boris and Natasha decided to get sick and couldn't go to Daycare on Wednesday and Thursday, which blew a lot of that out of the water.

They were healthy enough to go to Daycare on Friday and Nightingale managed to purge a bunch of toys from the attic and other play areas.  We dropped off a big load at the Salvation Army on Saturday on the way to Taste of Polonia.

For once, the weather was just right for this event.  Not too hot, not too cold, no rain (well a little late afternoon once we decided to leave).  We put our kids in the bounce house and they spent a good combined 3 hours there burning off energy.  Last year it was too hot and it had rained the day before so the houses were a little waterlogged.

The other thing that made it easier as it was just us.  While we love meeting up with someone, the downside to that is balancing agendas.  Since it was just us we didn't have to worry about seating for a lot of people or who wanted to do what.  We just took turns looking at things and then spent a boatload of money on Polish food. 

I did run into a pseudo-friend from the No-Name Software Company.  This was a person who I thought we were better friends but I overestimated my value.  A couple years ago at the annual event, we were chatting and she asked if I was staying for dinner.  I wanted to catch up and get the backstory and company gossip but didn't realize that she was just making conversation.


Sunday it rained in the morning so it wasn't conducive to go outside.  We let the kids stay in which was more for our benefit than theirs.

On Monday we met Katness at a pool in Wilmette and even though it was colder than normal, we managed to make it until about 2:45 pm.  Then we went back to her place and had a cookout for dinner.

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Monday Monday Monday

I've been working on projects around the house all year (and last year) in order to put the house on the market.  We made the decision to wait until Spring to list.  While I think the major items have been addressed, there are still some smaller items that need looking into. 

By then we should also have better answers about my job uncertainty and where we want to live.  If a miracle that allows us to stay in Chicago doesn't occur, we ship the kids off to grandparents in the Memphis area and stag the house for selling.  With the money we save on Daycare we should be able to not only buy a nice home but put a sizable down payment so that we pay it off quickly.

Meanwhile, we are both going to explore some lateral job moves that might allow us to stay here.  I'd love a setup where we have homes in both places so we get a good school system on the cheap but also the amenities of a blue city.

I just got back from the Post Office.  We ordered a Hugglepod stand which should have arrived on the 15th.  It didn't and I contacted the USPD.  Setup re-delivery for the 21st...didn't happen.  Set up re-delivery for the 24th, didn't happen.   I decided to go in person since our local PO is just down the street from our kids daycare.  wouldn't you know it that today is raining so bad, they had flooding and were not taking customers!  I kinda threw a fit and someone asked what I needed.  Told him and he found someone to look for me.  After about 25 minutes they found my missing package.  I asked what happened and he said, on the sly, that it must have been a female carrier who didn't want to lift the heavy (32 lbs) package.

Whether that is true or not, we have had both male and female carriers delivering over this span.  Surely someone could have delivered it by now?

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August MPD update

I had this sorta but not so crazy idea that for the month of August I would try to run 2 miles a day every day.  This would theoretically bring me to 62 miles for the month which would not only get the 31 miles needed for August, but would also knock out the 18-mile deficit and give me a 13-mile surplus going into September.

Life doesn't quite work that way but as of right now, I have 23 miles for 19 days of August.  With 12 days left in the month, I need 26 more miles to break even.  Given that I'm not getting runs in on the weekend, it is more realistic that I get the remaining 8 miles for August and chip away at the 18 mile deficit, perhaps halving it.

July was hot, hot, hot.  My beautiful green lawn is now a burned yellow hay patch.  I also had some knee issues so I took a strategic week off to see if that would make a difference.  I ended up with an extra 7 mile deficit that I probably could have made smaller just by doing 1 mile per day on the treadmill.

Month	Goal	Actual
Jan-Feb	59	59
March	31	25
April	30	18
May	31	38
June	30	30
July	31	24
	212	194

Why I think I'll succeed:  If I can go into September only being 9 miles behind, I should be able to catch up.  I run more during the fall when it's cooler and I don't have yard work or outside chores to compete with my free time. 

Why I think I won't:  I hate having to follow a schedule and there are days when I just want to kick back and not go out for a run or do anything. 

I'm averaging 28 miles a month so I should at least pass my usual 300 miles per year.


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Stage 5: install quarter rounds on the six steps

I finally got around to buying, painting and installing the quarter rounds for the front porch.  I wasn't in a rush to finish this project, but I didn't think it would still be technically going on this year.

To be fair, last summer every day was either brutally hot or very wet.

Anyway, I bought the quarter rounds but didn't get around to painting them until this year.  I was pleased to find that the local Crafty Beaver not only had them but would cut them to size.

For a while, I thought my nail gun was broken.  Turns out it was just a faulty battery and I had a spare.  But the nails kept jamming.  Turns out that while nailguns prevent you from putting the nails in upside down, they cannot prevent you from putting them in backward.

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The 2nd Half of 2019 begins

With this post, we start the second half of 2019.  The first half was the first half of 2019 was, for me. exhausting, stressful and not altogether fun at all.

Generally speaking, years that end in 9 are not awesome for me.  I usually experience an uptick in Unfortunate Events.  In 1999 I had my Year of Hell. In 2009, I lost fiance 1.0 although it worked out with meeting Nightingale and having awesomeness flow ever since.  It is 2019 and I expect things will suck for a bit until they improve.  At the moment, things are not going well at the office.

I did learn how to do a few things I never thought I'd do around the house.  I installed a new toilet. I planted and grew sod.  I'm about to replace the Through-the-Wall AC unit in the bedroom.  And I'm going to take a stab at replacing the broken railing on our porch flat roof.

This will involve a lot of power washing to strip the loose paint.  Then I will likely have to use wire brushes and hand sanders to remove some more paint and get the wood ready for paint.   I will need my MIL help to replace the decayed boards.  Then  I will paint it.

Update:  upon closer inspection, the post in the picture is rotting, much more work involved than just replacing a few boards.  The good news is that this railing isn't drilled into the roof and can easily be removed.  The house won't look as pretty but it's an inexpensive fix and any money we save on one item, we get to spend on another.

Also, I"m back to my driver's license weight 205 lbs.  I think I can get back to 200 if I focus and lay off the hot wings.

I'm 11 miles shy of the halfway mark for MPD goal.  Honestly, this is annoying, not because I cannot do it but because I'm back to following a training schedule which was one of the things I liked least about marathon training.

Let's see how the second half of the year turns out.


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Under the deck project

For a long time, I have wanted to address the situation under our back deck.  For whatever reason, whoever installed the non-standard sized deck, they didn't put down a decent foundation.  I suspect it was both costs and the desire to have the pool water go somewhere.

Anyway, I gave myself a challenge: do what I can with minimal monetary investment.  Kinda like when Nicole Curtis of WHATEVER does the I'm not gonna put a lot of money in the backyard because I spent too much on the 6th fireplace in the 2nd guest bedroom.

Anyway, the first thing I did was put down some weed guard.  This required me to temporarily remove and then put back the assortment of different sized pavers we had back there.

I was going to leave this go until mid-summer when I know the big box stores have clearance sales and I could get extra-large pavers dirt cheap.  However, my neighbor is having his basement re-done and they had bought a large number of pea stones.  Actually, the next size up of rocks.

Anyway, after they used all they needed, the doofus who is doing the work asked me if I wanted them and I said sure.  It was about 10 wheel barrels and naturally, the cost was I had to take all of them.

I was also able to repurpose the stones from the fireplace we removed from the basement.


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