Contemplating the Office

My world is changing.. Suddenly, my whole way to mentally process information and make business decisions has changed. I didn't see this coming. All of a sudden.. It just happened. And now I find myself struggling in ways I never imagined. And what caused this whole new style of thinking? A little show.. called "The Office".

I must admit, although I arrived late at the party just joining in late last May, I am now an "Office Convert and Addict" for the NBC American version of the show (I have yet to see the British show it was based upon). Having joined up with this peculiar bunch of workplace misfits late, I have been playing catch up on the series, watching season one from Netflix, and having received season two for Christmas. Over the past week, I finally finished watching all of season two, finally now understanding the complexity of the Jim & Pam romance, and all the other character nuances.

It is an outstanding show, one of the few that can actually make me laugh out loud, spit up food and drink, while I cringe uncomfortably on the couch. But now that I have watched all the episodes, I find that it has entered into my subconscious.. and makes me question my day to day activities.

Office fans, especially those that work in the private sector themselves, always say that one of the best things about the show and all the different wacky personalities on it, is that they can identify people in their own office that fit each personality type, So, that then begs the question... Who am I? Which office character do I act like, or do people think of me as? It's this line of thinking that sudden makes me question how I handle my daily situations. Am I a Michael Scott? Am I a Dwight? or Am I a Jim?

As an example.. two weeks ago, we were under the gun to get a new website ready to launch. And not just any website, but the website for all of our corporate dealings and business. Managing the new site construction and design was a large project, a lot of fun, but there were a lot of details to work out. Five days before "launch day", the Marketing Manager flew in to help review the site in it's final week of construction, and I had a meeting in my office to do the review. Since I like to do things visually, I was in the process of setting up a projector, screen, etc in my office to do this so all the attendees could have a clear view of what we were talking about. But as I was dragging the screen in from the conference room, watching one of my team members roll his eyes at my "wanting to present our work in the best way" style, when a simpler "flip my monitor around" tactic would have worked just as well, I had to wonder... Am I being a Michael.. or a Dwight by doing this? And suddenly I was second guessing my behavior.. all based on a fictional TV show.

So let's analyze...

Am I a...

Michael:
The boss.. the idiot that holds the show together. Michael thinks of himself as just the greatest boss ever. He constantly goes off about his views of the world, everything making perfect sense in his own mind and ego, he's an awesome boss, good guy to work for and running an effective group. But all those around him see him as an idiot who doesn't really know what he is doing..he's clueless, and insensitive.

So.. Am I a Michael.. Sheesh, I hope not. Yes, my world makes sense in my own mind, as each person's should. Yes, I am a manager, supervising a team of people, trying to get the best out of them. But hopefully I know what I am doing, and that knowledge is agreed upon by others. I don't mind public speaking, but I am not an entertainer like Michael professes to being and I am not about to rap in front of my office.

Concerns: Michael enjoys the opportunity to make his own "films" on his "Mac at home" and use them in an attempt to inspire his employees. While he thinks his "films" are just amazing ("A Michael Scott" Joint) all who watch, including the audience see them as painfully cheesy to watch. So while I too enjoy making my "films" please tell me they are not as painful to watch as Michaels.. And I DON'T use them to inspire my employees! Usually...

Dwight:

Dwight is the office nerd.. the suckup.. the manager "wannabe'. He is constantly throwing his title at people to try to gain authority over them calling himself "Assistant Regional Manager" typically corrected by others as "Assistant TO the Regional Manager". Dwight is intense, has no sense of humor and is filled with delusions of grandeur. You've got a story? He can top it. And WAAAAAAY top it!

So am I a Dwight? Holy cow, NO! In almost every sense I am in no way similar to that guy! My only concerns are when they show him as the office "A.V. guy.. a role that I often fulfill. And in the first episode of Season 2.. "The Dundie Awards" he is DJing the office party... a sight that suddenly had me fearful that I was treading into Dwight territory. (90% of my DJing work comes from people from work, and referrals from others they have recommended me to).

Jim:

Jim is the "everybody" guy.. the laid back office worker, outstanding salesman, the character everyone seems to root for to succeed. One of the key subplots of the show is Jim and office receptionist Pam's flirting, with the country waiting patiently to see if they will ever just decide to pair up. Jim does have a sense of humor... he's the office prankster, typically enjoying his torturing of Dwight. He's known for putting Dwights office supplies in Jello molds, (or the office vending machine) and at one point even moved Dwights entire office space into the Men's room.

So am I a Jim? No. For one, I don't spend all my time flirting with girls in the office. But I do enjoy pulling off a good prank every chance that I get, as blog readers can probably attest to.

The point of all of this is simply this... Here I have a fictional show with characters that I like. But suddenly when these characters begin creeping into my subconscious, making me question my own tactics at work "Am I being a Dwight? Is this something that Michael would do or say", then I have to begin wondering if this is normal...

I don't wander the office thinking "Is this something Jack Sparrow or Han Solo would do?" No, not even for a second. Yet the office characters seem to stick, and make me question my own tactics..

So, am I Michael? Dwight? Jim? After thinking for awhile, I believe I'm a little of each, which is probably true to some degree with every fan of the show. And that's why people find the characters as endearing as they do. Nobody embodies all the extreme characteristics of any one character, but most can take a piece from each character to form an "office version" of themselves.

Just call me Calvin Midwijim.

Snow Days

IT'S SNOWING!!!!! There is snow outside my home!!! A whopping 4 inches! Now, for many people this will not seem like an eventful thing! When my folks in Colorado, still recovering from getting 3 and a half feet of Christmas snow, hear that we got 4 inches they roll their eyes. But to us, here in Oregon's Willamette Valley, this is big news and a very odd event. The last time we had accumulating snow was 4 years ago.

Now sure.. we don't get snow a lot.. and when we do.. mass hysteria ensures all over town as people try to figure out what to do with the stuff (and how to drive in it), schools get canceled and businesses close. When other parts of the country hear about this, they laugh and call us wussy names. But what they don't realize is what happens in Oregon when it snows. There's a little more to it.

I learned this lesson after first moving to Oregon. During my first winter here, in 1995, we happened to have a snow storm similar to the one we are currently experiencing.. 3 - 4 inches on the valley floor. When looking out my window upon hearing that my college classes had been canceled, I was shocked that school could be closed. (I had just moved from Rexburg, Idaho having just had 2 years of record setting deep snow). I marched outside to see what all the fuss was about, and promptly fell on my butt. Ouch.

What I failed to contemplate... was that in Oregon, in the winter... it rains... A LOT! And so our roads and land, are constantly wet, with lots of flowing water running every which way, sometimes enough to flood places. So when it finally does get cold enough to snow, all that water on the roads... freezes solid. So however much snow ends up accumulating, no one ever thinks about all the frozen water underneath it, that turns everything into one big ice skating rink. That is what makes Oregon snow so crazy and entertaining (especially for the people that live in the hills, with all the uber steep paved roads). And so we get cars sliding (I like the one that slid down a steep driveway and through a garage door... I won't mention names) and all manner of sliding, falling chaos.

And so today is day 2 of snow days: No school for Little Calvin and for Dawn, who works at a college. They get to stay home, build snow men and relax in the blankets. Me... my work doesn't close. Ever. We are an industry who can't afford to just shut down for inclement weather. And so I get to come to work, brave the elements.... and do cookies on the way into the office, treating my car like a snowmobile with a loud stereo, whooping loudly and proudly "YEE -HAAAAWing" to myself as I sail sideways through intersections. At least this year I have an office with windows so I can watch the snow fall. It's a wonderful sight!

Freaky Teeth

My son.... has become a shark.

A few days ago, he came to me complaining that his teeth hurt. I looked in his mouth and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. So I dismissed it as just another random aliment being used as an attempt to delay his bedtime. But a couple days later, he came to me with a new concern: He had a loose tooth.

For Little Calvin, this was a first.. a milestone.. the first tooth to become loose, leading up to what will eventually become the first tooth to come out, which will lead up to the first visit of that winged fairy. (It's disturbing.. having watched the Santa Clause 2 over the Holidays, now all I can think of in regards to the Tooth Fairy, is some big lout wanting to be called the Molinator, flying into my son's room in the middle of the night.... creepy!)

But when the report came in to me of a loose tooth and I looked to see what was going on in his mouth, I was startled. When looking to investigate, I happened to see not one set of teeth.. but 2. Now, according to his dentist, who we quickly called, this is quite normal for kids. But since I had never seen it, it looked just wacky and abnormal.

What happens is that his baby teeth are in place and solid. It's now time for the new, permanent teeth to come in, but rather than coming up directly under the baby teeth, thus pushing them out, the teeth come in.. elsewhere, not affecting the baby teeth.. thus giving my son two sets of bottom teeth, the new set just inside of the old ones.

What now is fun is showing this off to others and watching their reaction to the kid with two sets of teeth. They usually glance in, realize what they are seeing, recoil back and go "Whoa" in a deep "Ted" voice from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure". Little Calvin doesn't seem to mind or take offense. After all, he loves the ocean and studying sharks. And if Sharks have two sets of teeth, then why can't he.

Now, I am still a little unsure of how, when the front teeth actually do fall out, things will all line up, and this could bode well for his future in braces... to line all of this up, but for now, it's just the freaky teeth.

A Calvin Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Calvin household! It's been a fun day from here as we celebrate the day, and the season. Now, I know that every household is different, so heres how it works from our house anyway and the "rules of Christmas".

First off, PRESENTS ARE TO BE OPENED CHRISTMAS DAY... that is what the day is for. It seems like total torture to have kids open presents on Christmas Eve to then turn around and send them to bed, shortly thereafter. Christmas Eve is a time to celebrate the meaning of the holiday, in all of its forms: We finish wrapping gifts, we bake cookies to put out for Santa, we read Christmas stories and then study Luke 2 from the New Testament to make sure the kids understand what we are REALLY doing in all of this. Then, before it gets too late, making for grumpy kids in the morning, the kids go to bed, since as they all know, "Santa doesn't come when the kids are awake!" This gives us plenty of time to get the house ready for Santa's arrival and still get to bed on time ourselves (well, ok... maybe in theory.. there are some of us... ahem.. who procrastinate the wrapping of presents causing us to be up unitl 2 AM on Christmas morning, but I won't mention my... or.. ehhh.. names..)

Next, KIDS DON'T SNEAK UP ON CHRISTMAS MORNING TO PEEK AT THIER GIFTS! In our household, sorry, but there is no pitter patter of little feet on the kitchen floor at 5 AM sneaking in to see what Santa brought. In between our kitchen and family room hangs a large leather belt covered in large jingle bells. The kids know they are to stay in bed, regardless what time they wake up, until they hear the jingle bells ring. Once the bells ring, they are free to get up and trample me in a puff of dust as they rampage towards their loot. This was something that was done in my house as we grew up, and now that I am an adult I see the many benefits. We can control when the kids get up to see what... I can video their first reactions to Santa's arrival and I can make sure all is ready to go before the kids are up. Plus, I have a special place in my heart for that sound of jingle bells and I mentally associate it with the magic of Christmas morning, so I enjoy sharing that with my own crazy crew.

Third, GIFTS ARE OPENED PATIENTLY, ONE AT A TIME, NOT IN A WILD ALL AT ONCE FREE-FOR-ALL. As with everything else, there are rules here, all put in place to increase the fun and enjoyment. Each person takes a gift, whether it is from their Santa pile or from under the tree, and opens that gift while the others watch and support them. This allows the kids to share that opening experience with others from the family. It encourages the joy of giving as you can actually watch the gifts that you have worked to purchase be opened. And instead of having all gifts opened in a blur of flying wrapping paper in 10 minutes, we can still be opening presents at 10 AM.

Fourth, WE ACTUALLY EAT BREAKFAST ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. Now, there is a certain order to all of this: the Santa gifts are opened first, then we take a breakfast break, and then we open up the family gifts. This extends the experience out all the more and gives us a nice meal in the process. Now, my wife may question my definition of breakfast... to her, breakfast means eggs and hash browns, but in my growing up years, Christmas breakfast was always toast, hot chocolate, and cheesecake... yes, cheesecake... for breakfast. I have no idea who's original idea that was, or what would possess my normally health conscious parents to feed us cheesecake at 6 AM, but I never complained and the tradition (at least for me) continues to this day as I take my mid present breather and eat my seriously sweet breakfast.

So how was Christmas this year? Very nice! For me it was a great balance of all my passions: Star Wars, U2, and Disney theme parks. In the Star Wars realm, Galactic Heroes ruled the day, Typically designed for 4 year olds, I began collecting these toys several years back, simply because it was so fun to see how the toy makers would take a creature from the Star Wars universe clearly designed to appeal to adult fanboys, and "cute" it down to appeal to 4 year olds. I have every set ever released, with the exception of 1, and this year, not only did I get the newly released additions of the series, but 4 new that are very hard to find in stores.

Little Calvin also fared well, more entering the digital age. He got his own "kid friendly" digital camera (and is now acting like Mr. Fashion Photographer, taking picture of everything by the dozens. He also got his own computer.. not because I actually bought him one, more because I inherited an older one and fixed it up. But to him, it works, it stores all his pictures, music and can even edit video and it plays al his CD-ROM learning games to he is happy as a clam.

Dawn enjoyed herself, receiving a large framed version of her favorite painting of Christ, and DVDs from one of her favorite shows: Veronica Mars as well as multiple accessories for her phone and iPod. Amanda, added to her collection of frog paraphernalia, while Tyler loaded up on science experiments, a planetarium, magic tricks and has a new bike to enjoy (if it will ever stop raining).

Finally, it was time for the last gift, and I had the honors of opening it this year. On my Christmas list this year, I had indicated that I wanted a Dog. (Now that Little Calvin is no longer afraid of them, I felt it was time). I specifically wanted a Golden Lab, like "Yellow Dog" from the movie "Funny Farm". While I was not expecting to actually get a dog, as I know my wife has many concerns about getting one, I was quite surprised to open the last box and there I found.... my little Golden Lab puppy. They had gotten me my dog!

Now, here I learned an important lesson in life... called "Be specific". I got exactly what I had asked for: A golden Lab Dog that looked like "Yellow Dog". I soon realized, as it was pointed out to me.. that I never requested that it be REAL. They had gotten my exactly what was on my list.. just stuffed. They made a very good point.. and so for the time being I will be very content with Yellow Dog, and just think of how much I will save on dog food and vet bills. He's actually a very low maintenance pet!

So now it is time to go enjoy our newly received treasures and enjoy the holiday! Merry Christmas to all! And to all.... A chimerically fantastic night!

Hau' oli la Hanau Surprise

Surprise! That was the word that I hoped I could successfully utter today. Today is my wife's birthday, yes... two days before Christmas Eve. Due to this fact, she has always mentioned how uneventful her birthdays were growing up, typically with her family just letting her take a pick at a gift already under the Christmas tree. This to me is totally a wrong approach! Birthdays need to be special and completely separate from any other day, with the day spent making lasting memories and doing something unique that makes a person feel special and important (even if that means annoying them). Past readers should remember my passion for birthday celebrations...

For the past several months.. I knew exactly what I wanted to do to celebrate Dawn's birthday this year.. something that I had toyed with doing for the past several years, but never had the time, resources, or finances to pull off: I wanted to throw her a surprise birthday party.... the stereotypical kind where by some means, the birthday girl ends up in a dark room and all her friend pop out of no where to scream Surprise!

So that was the idea... Now.. planning how to pull this off with my ever observant, logical wife, was the tricky part. I suddenly had to get very good at lying and inventing stories off the top of my head.. all for a good purpose, of course!

So with the DVDs done and out of the way, I was finally able to put on my "Evil Calvin Grin", rub my hands together in a scheming way and begin to brainstorm the details. First, I needed a location and that came fairly easy as our friend. the one friend that would happen to be the one that would be "taking her to lunch" that afternoon, happened to own a little cafe in our town. She volunteered the space and we coordinated a date and time and suddenly the party was on.

It was shortly thereafter that I made an interesting observation: I have attended many partiies, both as an invited guest and as hired DJ, but never in my life have I PLANNED a party... been the instigator.. the Inviter. Suddenly I had to learn all the little details that goes into planning such an event: How many are invited, how many will actually attend, mailing invites, planning and coordinating with catering, entertainment, music, decorations, etc. What started as a very simple idea.... as most of mine do... suddenly turned into a giant, time consuming monster. Luckily, I had some good resources in my accomplices.. my partners in crime.. all of us plotting together as to how to really pull this off.

Finally, today arrived. The morning began by my lying that I "Had to go into town to do some last minute shopping, as my work week had been crazy and I hadn't had a chance to go yet". Yea right... Partially true... I hadn't been Christmas shopping during my lunch hours.. I had been birthday party planning. But my Christmas shopping had been done for some time. This seemed perfectly reasonable to her, knowing that I am a notorious procrastinator, so off I went to decorate the cafe.

As it turns out I went with a tropical theme, combining a Hawaiian and Caribbean tropical party into one. And so there I was in the morning, hanging tiki walls, lights, tropical masks, and decorating with lots of bright colors. As the restaurant was completely covered in Christmas decorations, I had to accept a fair amount of Christmas carry over, otherwise I'd be taking down a lot of large scaled items! When Dawn left for "Lunch" that afternoon, Little Calvin and I threw on our Hawaiian shirts and headed over to pick up food and cake.

Soon enough, everything was in place, guests were arriving and mingling and the place was starting to fill up. I found it very odd being a "host" trying to greet everyone and spend time with all of our friends simultaneously. Soon, I got the signal that she was close and everyone headed upstairs to the balcony that surrounded the cafe. As Dawn arrived, the cafe was dark, and appeared empty and quiet. It wasn't until she wandered halfway into the room that we all startled her with our "Surprise!" yell.

Now, was she totally surprised? Not really. She figured out during lunch that this would be a perfect set up for a surprise party and so she began to look for the signs that she felt might come. As she and her friend headed home and her friend said "Oh, I need to swing by the Cafe to pick up some things", she quickly added another mental check to her list. And finally, when she arrived at the cafe and was told to "just come in for a second while I grab some things" instead of the typical "wait here in the car while I grab something" she was pretty sure she had me figured out.. which she did.

But we all enjoyed ourselves. Good food, good company with a selection of people from all aspects of life: work, neighbors, church friends and volleyball coaches. She was surprised to find all the tropical touches... the birthday cake written in Hawaiian, the steel drummed background music, and we all had a good time playing "Apples to Apples": a game that I bought almost randomly not realizing it is an uber-popular party game that is selling out like crazy all over the country. I can see why... we had a ball and laughed our heads off.

Now, I just need to figure out what kind of crazy idea to pull off next year!! Bw ha ha! [gets evil Calvin scheming grin and slouches away. rubbing hands together]

Geeking Out

A long Time Ago... In a Galaxy Far, Far Away....

Ten of my favorite words, all put together in a phrase that just defines it all. I started blogging my life adventures after the Star Wars movies had run their course in the theaters, so my absolute love, adoration, and psychotic love of all things Star Wars hasn't really had a change to rear its head in this format.. Yes, I have a Star Wars Shrine in my house filled to the hilt with framed posters, toys and all things Star Wars. Today, my geekiness got to resurface in a way that just hasn't happened since attending the midnight premier of Episode 3 last year.

Today, Little Calvin (whom I rightfully converted into a Star Wars fanatic at birth) and I had a change to just "Geek Out" while taking a mini road trip to Portland to see the exhibit "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" at the OMSI Museum (That's the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for the non-locals). Dawn even had enough guts to go to this geek-fest with us, even though she is not a Star Wars fan and scratches her head in udder confusion whenever Little Calvin and I get into debates on Jedi vs. Sith or the strategies of Republic vs. Separatist troop placement. But since she is a science fan, she hoped she could find something stimulating for her so she could spend time with the family.

Taking a vacation day from work to begin the Christmas break, we left early in the morning to make the two hour trek Northward so that we could be there as they opened and get the lower crowds. But even as the doors opened, the crowds were there, flocking by the dozens to see their favorite Star Wars characters and ships.

First, it was off the ride the Millennium Falcon.. before the lines got too long. Inside one wing of the museum was a full size reproduction of the Falcon's cockpit including the entry hall into it, to make it feel more realistic. Once inside, we were treated to a blast into hyperspace, then a tour of the galaxy from the controls of the great ship. The cockpit felt very close to what was seen in the originals, and while it didn't actually move, once the show got underway it felt like we were rocketing through space, surrounded by the domed front cockpit window. With Little Calvin at the controls, and Dawn and I taking the other seats (holding true to the original, the cockpit only has 4 seats) we sailed though our mission, landing safely back on earth. For Little Calvin, this was the highlight of his day. For me it was just thrilling to sit in what felt just like the Falcon I know and love from the movies. Very well done!

Then it was on to the exhibit. The point of the exhibit was to show off both a large assortment of original Star Wars props, models, costumes, etc. and to show how some of the science found in the films can be brought to reality, thanks to technological innovation. We certainly were not disappointed! Once inside we found costumes including the original Darth Vader, Chewbacca and other wookies, bounty hunters, storm troopers, etc. all displayed. The droids were there: R2, 3P0, Battle droids, Destroyers droids, medical droids... you name it. I found the ship models used in the making of the films to be particularly fascinating. Ships such as the Falcon, Star Destroyers, the Tantive IV, X-wings and Y-wing fighters, all look amazing when studied up close to see the incredible amount of detail included.

While I was busy drooling on myself. mouth gaping open at the sight of all this greatness, Little Calvin and Dawn soon discovered the "science" portion of the exhibit. There they played interactive games to simulate running a farm on a hostile world such as Tatooine (all desert). Then they moved onto discovering how magnetic technology could be used as a transportation system. Working through 3 stations they built a Lego "ship" with magnets that made it float off the ground just like Luke's Landspeeder (which was also on display). They then got to learn how to race that ship magnetically through a course, making it go faster the better the magnets were placed. From there it was onto making robots. After building a core robot from available parts, they could test to see what kinds of wheels worked best for different terrain options, and then they programmed their little droid to successfully maneuver an obstacle course.

Having just spent several hours geeking out, we also watched a Planetarium show about Black Holes (very cool!) and had a nice lunch over looking downtown Portland. Finally, having received our large scale Star Wars fix, we headed back home, making sure to be there in time for the Duck's bowl game. Judging from their pathetic performance against BYU, we should have stayed in Portland a little longer (Did you all TOTALLY FORGET HOW TO PLAY FOOTBALL?!), but so goes college football....

All in all, it was a great day spent as a family, enjoying each other's company, and seeing some really cool things. The show is a traveling show and will move to Los Angeles in April of next year. If you are anywhere close, I'd highly recommend paying a visit!

You can check out some of our photos, by clicking here.

The Dream is... Delayed

Ok, time for a large dose of unwanted reality. I have been struggling for the last few weeks on a decision that somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew was coming like a roaring freight train. But I wanted more than anything to avoid... to just continue on my course and ignore.

The good news: I have had a fairly descent last few weeks of running and marathon training. I have put in a lot of miles. I got to have a nice run in the snow while in Idaho.. and the other night I had a bizarre run where it was so foggy, I couldn't see ANYTHING in front of me... a very strange feeling to not really know where you are in the run or how far you have gone.. or where the cars are! So I have been energized by my runs and where they have taken me.

The bad news: Those runs are only 5 miles a piece, not the 10 -15 that they should be at this stage of the game. And after the run is over, my knees feel... loose, for lack of a better term. Not painful, but instead of feeling like I have a nice strong support system in my legs, with ligaments and muscles holding everything together in my knees, it feels like I just have wobbly bones, with nothing really holding it all together. It feels as though I could take one wrong misstep, and everything will just fall to pieces, leaving my in a heap on the ground. It is the same way my knees felt four years ago, right before I went on a slightly too long run and blew out my right knee in an overuse injury. So I am getting paranoid, as I really don't want to repeat my past mistakes and spend the next 6 months in physical therapy trying to get my knee to move correctly again.

So that means I need to take a break and rest those knees before pushing it any harder. This way, I will prevent the overuse injury and hopefully be better off in my long term running plan in the future. BUT, that also means... gulp.. that after almost 18 months of hard work... I have to admit defeat in that I will not be able to handle the Disneyworld Marathon in 3 weeks.

Now it sucks enough that I wont be able to run the race that I was so looking forward to, but it just doesn't help that I lose all the money invested in it. I lose my entry fee, and I lose my plane tickets, purchased with frequent flier miles that they don't give back if you cancel your ticket. (And what really is logical.. if I call the airlines and CANCEL my free ticket, so that they can resell it and make their money back.. they charge me $100.... $100 to CANCEL. Whereas if I just don't show up to the flight, nothing happens, and the airlines lose money... smart thinking guys! I guess being honest costs money!)

So the dream is not over yet... Just delayed. I am looking at a half marathon here in Oregon on April 29th, giving me 4 more months to prepare without overdoing it on the marathon required 20 mile training runs.

Am I disappointed? Very! I was looking forward to beginning 2007 by accomplishing a lifelong goal and relaxing in one of my favorite places on the planet. And I may very well be grumpy come January 5th, when I was supposed to be flying out, but such is life. We take our hits, we discover realities, we find our limits, we learn from our mistakes... and then we try again.

The marathon is not dead.. just delayed for the time being.