Uh oh, guess whose turn?

After avoiding illness for nearly a year, I've now started feeling feverish, chilled, achy with a sore throat. The 10 hour per night sleeping marathons, accentuated by vitamin c and chicken soup, haven't deterred this virus. At least now I can commiserate with Troy!

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Akron Marathon 2009

We managed to finish the marathon relay! We were one of the last relays to finish (962 of 970) but we all ran our personal best pace, so we're happy! Youngin ran 3.5 miles at a 9:30 pace and Troy ran 7.9 miles at an 8:29 pace. You can find us listed as The 5 G's team in the Relay Teams results.

Our cousins, John and Julie Mitchell ran very well, and you can find their names in the Individual marathon results. John created the design for our Team Gilmore shirts. It should be a great shirt to wear again in February for the Krispy Kreme Challenge!

Here's the Akron Beacon Journal Coverage.




The only bad part about the weekend is that Troy came down with the flu on Sunday and missed school today.

Anyone up for a weekend at Fallingwater?

They are now offering a weekend experience at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in PA. (Only $1,195)

Ok, so that may be out of the budget, but I've taken the regular tour a couple times and it really is an interesting place.

Lots of answers, even more questions

1) If the white-haired lady sitting two rows ahead of me is wildly fanning herself when the lecture hall is set at 58 degrees, how does she fare in the middle of the night?
1a) Does her husband wear a parka instead of PJs?
2) Why did the man in the row behind me, avidly reading his novel, sign up for a conference when he could be relaxing on a comfortable beach lounger getting to know James Patterson better?
3) Why are some men unable to wear anything besides a suit and tie, especially if they are in the audience and not on the podium?
4) If the very old doc (in the suit, of course) can't find his seat too well, is retirement an option yet?
5) Do unlikely couples (like the 60-some-year-old lady who wears inappropriately short and tight dresses, hanging onto her casually-garbed, much-shorter man) have better marriages?
6) How does the haven't-moved-beyond-the-hippie-era-woman knitting a complex afghan during every lecture still absorb information? (I met her after making this observation and she's very nice, btw.)
7) How many variations of Coach bags ARE there?!! I've counted about 40+ so far this week, the best one being the gold leather shopping bag style one.
8) Who decided that a canvas bag with C's printed all over is a status symbol anyway?
9) How is the lady who chronically snacks ALLLLLL day long maintain a decent weight? (Yep, just like special meeting rounds, we're fed every 2 hours and some people manage to haul in a load at every snack, making it a continuous feed.)
10) Why do intelligent people NOT know how to turn their cell phones to VIBRATE?!! Like seriously, folks, there's a ringtone going off at least every 5 minutes... and that's NO exaggeration!!

Akron Marathon Coverage

Here is some coverage in the Akron Beacon Journal:

Family Relay
Interest Running High

And, uh-oh, here's the weather forecast!

And a PBJ dependent ultra-running chef from Akron.

Fun? Run

We were invited to run at 6:30 this morning, so I joined the other 30 in the 2 mile event. The winner was a young man who has come to every session in his green military garb, and obviously looks very fit. His time was 12+ min. The beginning had an uphill which almost made me turn around but I ended up finishing in 18 min and a few. Later, at the beginning of the lecture, we heard that the course might actually be slightly less than 2 mile. POP... bursting the bubble of my best time yet.

Taking NERD to a whole new level

Youngin interacts with engineers at work occasionally. They're the ones who bring in graphs and spreadsheets tracking their health.

I bumped into this guy's website* while trying to look up a unit conversion online. He is definitely taking nerd to a new level! Anyone who does a full analytical study on the color distribution of M&M's definitely has reached nerd status.

And because we all like bacon, especially Youngin, check this out.

*Disclaimer - I only glanced at a couple pages, so I can't guarantee there is no vulgarity on this site.

People Watching Heaven

Those of you who are like me and LOVE to watch people will appreciate that this week has been a feast for my eyes. I've met some really interesting and nice people here, and some I've observed to be really interesting. The world is made up of different colors, flavors, and personalities to sprinkle on top.

By the way, the food has been excellent; a sweet way to make up for sitting on my rear for 14 hours per day.

Lancaster, PA

Thanks to everyone for birthday wishes, cards, calls, songs, videos, gifts, etc. It was a happy day overall! We spent the day at convention, which has never happened before (now I know how Younguk has felt occasionally).

This week, I am at a conference in PA. The sessions started Sunday night, and all week will be 7am-10pm. Just thinking about it makes my brain hurt, so I'm trying to pay attention to one session at a time. Thankfully coffee is plentiful.

Brunch Book

Youngin wrangled her way into opening this birthday package before her actual birthday arrived! (Ok, give her credit for waiting at least a week.) She's pretty excited about her new Brunch! cookbook signed by the author, Gale Gand!



(P.S. This is Youngin now.... thanks for the b-day gift. I love it! Can't wait to dive into those recipes!)

Suspicions

I have that sneaky feeling that someone's birthday is coming up. I just can't figure out why!

teg

Fix it day

Besides the fixing of dinner to think about, the granite people came back to fix the slight misalignment of the smallest piece of countertop to the left of the stove. The 1/4 inch gap in the front was barely noticeable at first, but became one of those things that glared at me every time I walked by. Much better now!

The range's bottom warming drawer also has been askance since delivery and the repairman came again this afternoon. He said the problem was not fixable, so now we await a replacement, likely in a couple of weeks.

More things to fix: the laundry situation, the ironing situation, the packing situation, and the what-to-feed-hubby situation....

Nonjudgemental judgement

Is there such a thing? My days are spent talking with lots of people with lots of issues. I try to assess the him or her (usually within 10-15 seconds of entering the room) in order to figure out what that person needs. Quick judgement is needful and useful but sometimes as people continue to tell me details of their issues, I have to hold back on the other kind of judgement. I want to be open to everyone to share their feelings, emotions, indiscretions, failures, and triumphs. Most people seem to be comfortable enough with me to do so.... BUT, Is it possible to help people without making judgement of their character? Is any judgement at all fair?

Dude, where's my soap?!

Here's an interesting study about hand washing!

Neighbors, Relatives and Strangers

The Greenwood Forest neighbors gathered at our house and we really enjoyed getting to know them better. Somehow we manage to talk often with people far away but don't know our immediate neighbors well enough.

Steve, Charlene and we ran at the American Tobacco Trail again this morning. We all ran a full hour, sweated some, and are happy to be done with that task.

While running today, we saw a man who was walking with a cane in his left hand, pulling his seated walker with his right, and said a hearty "good morning" to everyone who passed by. He inspired me more than those buff fitness gurus on the trail!

Run, Spot, Run

Besides the need to physically run in order to get ready for the upcoming Akron marathon at the end of the month, there are lot of little things which need tending. We enjoyed our convention last weekend, seeing old friends and meeting new. We also completed the hallway trim paint job, only a year overdue. Troy has been finishing the wood tables that he made last year. We are having our neighbors over, which means a little more cleaning than usual on my day off.

Troy is now fully entrenched in school and research, so sometimes comes up for air and food. I am preparing for a conference in 10 days, aside from trying to complete my CME reading before the end of the month. We are also looking forward to meeting my family at Hilton Head next month for a long weekend. The carpet in the basement needs to be installed but may have to wait a little bit longer than hoped.

AT LAST! Completed Kitchen Remodel

The original kitchen with the L-shaped counter and carpet

The new galley kitchen (range side)

Fridge side

"Blue in the night" granite countertop

NOT stressed enough, according to research

This story explains why I'm prone to rapid-fire mosquito bites.