Turkey Day

Top:Jason (6) and Sarah (8), creating the centerpieces for the tables. Bottom:Raisin and Fudge, Fudge is the rowdy one, obvious in this pic.

Thanksgiving...my favorite holiday and it didn't disappoint. Mine was filled with; mouth watering food, good friends, active kids and rolling dogs. It was a great time. I traveled South to visit my friend Rozanne, her husband Brian and their two kids, Sarah and Jason in Sunnyvale (20 minutes from San Jose). From there we traveled another 1.5 hours to Carmel to spend the holiday with their family. I know the whole gang but it's been awhile. I used to visit often but with all the running and triathlon stuff, not to mention work, it's been difficult. I've been slacking with the visits.

I used to work for Rozanne and she was the person that inspired me to run. She was an instructor of mine's at the Art Academy and along with my friend Dennis, would later take us on as interns then later as a part-time design staff. One day we discovered a picture of her and her identical twin sister Suzanne at the Honolulu Marathon. The thought about running a marathon crept into my mind that day but it seened so preposterous at the time that I quickly chased it away, "No, I ain't doing no crazy marathon". It just seemed so crazy back then. However the seed that was planted never went away and four years later when I returned to my faith, running became an important part of my reformed life. Is she surprised that I run ultras now? You betcha.

It really was a great time, my only regret is that I ruined my appetite a little by eating too much of the snacks that were put out. They were good. The kids were non-stop as usual, I knew these guys since they were babies - Sarah I held when she was only 5 days old. Growing like weeds these kids or maybe it just seems that way because I don't seem them often. The dogs were no different, there was 4.5yr old Chocolate Lab that kept jumping on the 8yr. old Black Lab. Now and then the old black one will slap down the brown kid to calm it down but the kid forgets too quickly. Anyway I think I have enough food in me to power me through four Quad Dipseas, hasn't stopped me from eating though. The off season starts as soon as I'm done with the race tomorrow and I'll deal with my diet then. I won't need all the calories during my off season but it is the holidays. I think I'm getting See's chocolate from one of my printers. This is going to be hard. One challenge at a time.