Richmond, VA Arboretum I

Richmond, VA Downtown

Bryan and Celia in Richmond, VA

We had an EXCELLENT weekend in Richmond with Bryan and Celia! We'll post more photos in the next few days.

Exercise Night 5, and Running Updates

Last night Steve, Charlene, Youngin, and I ran at Umstead. Charlene and Youngin ran/walked 4 miles. Steve and I ran/walked about 7.5 miles in 74:30.

About a week and a half ago I had my 3 mile run for PE. I ran a 23:48, which I was happy with. Later in the week, I decided to see what I could do in the mile and finished right at 7:00.

Ding Dong

Ding dong... the doorbell rang insistently today. Swallowing my food and rushing to the door, I opened our front door to find a little old lady standing there with a camera. "Sorry to bother you, but I live on the next street over and wondered if may I have permission to photograph your magnolia bloom?" How sweet! She continued to tell me that she wanted to use the photo as a postcard.

My bike tells me so

After a crazy week of shop-vaccing gallons of water, schlepping out wet carpet, and noisily running fans in the basement, this reminder on my bike brought a smile to my face today.

Wishing for Water Does Not Always Go Well

I've been wishing I was splashing in the water at the beach this week. Steve, Charlene, and my parents are still there.

We did have one part of the beach experience delivered right to our house, though! You might have heard of it before. It's called "flooded basement". The sump pump quit on the day we had about 3 inches of rain. Only about an inch deep in the basement, but that's plenty deep since we have carpet.

We sucked about 120 gallons out of the carpet with our *new* shop vac. (Hey, I get new tools and stuff any time I get the chance.) I also bought and installed a new sump pump last night.

All for now!

The newest member of the house

Just before heading to the beach, I noticed a posting on Craig's List for this chair. I've been looking for another chair for the living room, and I wondered if this would fit. Violet and I whirled up to check it out, negotiated a little, loaded up the van, and dragged it into the house all within 30 minutes! It sits very comfortably (well, that's my claim after a max seat time of 180 seconds so far!) and best of all, was a great bargain.

Beach pix

Beach Bound!

Troy's parents came in last night. We are headed to the beach today with Charlene and Steve. The 4 will stay for the week, and we'll come back tomorrow. We are looking forward to getting away. Ahhhh...

Exercise Night 4

Youngin and I both ran twice today. In addition to our time with Steve and Charlene at Umstead, I had to run for Phys Ed class and Youngin just got some extra work in this morning at the gym.

Youngin:
1 mile - 9:29
3 mile run/walk - 46:00

Troy
2.7 miles - 22:15
4 miles - 38:54

Ohhh, BUSTED!

Several times a month, we find someone who is seeking controlled substance in excessive amounts or too frequently or from multiple offices in violation of the drug contract signed with us. Our office is quite diligent (and good, I'd say) in nosing them out. The stories I hear are SOOO trite and common: "my purse got stolen, it fell down the toilet, the dog ate it, the pharmacy didn't get me enough pills, it got washed with the laundry, etc" On a rare occasion, someone will have a clever, original story but eventually gives away the game by coming up with too many creative stories. Really, how clumsy can you be every other week?! We have our secret weapons too and often put them into use. The sleuthing can be an exciting break from a routine day. Our primary job is to help people not to further addictive, seeking behavior.

Golfin' girl

Thanks to Hyesoo for sending these pictures of the new rising Korean golfing star! She's too cute to not share with everyone else.

2.5 miles, 1 mile

Youngin: 1mile, 9:50
Troy: 2.5, 22:04

The Inbox Debate (or is that Debacle)

Our household of 2 vastly differs on the inbox situation. I read emails, keep the ones which need response or contain important info, then delete all others. Every so often, I will filter through the messages and either store messages in folders or delete the ones which are no longer timely. For example, at this very moment, I have 53 messages in my inbox (ALL of which have been read). I'm keeping a few recent ones, like the one with my parents' itinery for their San Francisco trip next week. But when they get back, I'll delete it.

On the other hand, Troy keeps nearly EVERY single email he's ever received, some of which have not been read. In fact, his unread messages are more numerous than my entire inbox! He recently went through them and is now down to under 3000!!! My brain can't function as well as his, and I'd go nuts if mine contained so many. I like to bug him about it, but on a rare occasion, "Ctrl F" comes in handy if there's a question about something that someone had emailed. So, I don't really fault him for keeping the emails but I'm amazed.

Exercise Night 3

Troy & Steve:
6 miles, 58 minutes

Youngin & Charlene:
3 miles, 42 minutes

2.25 miles

Time: 19:08
tg

Post-wedding Surprises

This wedding video made me remember one funny situation this week. A young woman complained of right ear fullness for a few days. She wondered if she had an infection and wanted her ear evaluated. Peeking in, the ear canal was full of impacted wax, so we irrigated with water. At the very end of the irrigation, a little yellow-tan pellet came out. "It looks like a seed!" I blurted out without thinking. Horrified, she clamped her hand over her mouth and started laughing really hard. She got married nearly a year ago, and that was bird seed from the reception. "I have to tell my dad, since it was his idea to throw bird seed!" she said.

Undie Economics

Thanks to Betty for this insight into monitoring the current economy. Hemlines, belly buttons, bees, undies and more. My parents used to say people dress up more during recessions. Any other observations out there?

Positive Negatives

Reflecting back on people I met today, the outstanding factor is that many have been losing weight! One lady in her 70s decided she didn't want to be huffing and puffing up and down the stairs anymore, and lost 25# since the last time we saw each other. Her face really slimmed down and she even looks younger! Another lady in her 50s has made it her goal to maintain her wedding day weight (124#) and overall has succeeded. My favorite story of the day is of a 26 year old man who weighed in at 314. I walked into the room ready to broach the subject of his weight and to encourage him to lose some. As we talked some about his eating habits, he revealed he has lost 100# since his high at 400+ pounds when he was 18. His secret? He moved out of the house and started eating better. Inspiring!