Running is only half the battle

So awhile ago, I get this phone call from my mom. She basically asked that I do her a favor and not ask any questions. "Sure." I'm a good son, really. So I ended up going grocery shopping for carb-heavy foods and delivering it to a very sketchy part of Rochester as a sort of mission of mercy. A quick trip to Tops, five bags of cookies, pasta, milk, bread, peanut butter later, and I was driving through gunshot alley and crime central (oddly enough, the road names had alley and central in them). The lady was nice, she had several darling little kids, and doing a little charity work felt good. Not asking any questions was tough though. And I was told... under no circumstances can I enter the house. Hmm, OK. Who would go into a strangers house? I'm no alarm salesman.

The new season if Stargate Universe has started. Brand new show. Basically a spinoff of the other two Stargate shows. It's started REALLY slow so far, but I like the concept.. and it has a mix of characters that are non-typical for a show like this. I'm really looking forward to seeing how everyone interacts being so disconnected from everything they know and love. But it needs to pick up some steam. There is a ton of waiting and hopelessness. And it's episode 3!

So for the last four weeks, my family has been trying to get together for a quiet sitdown dinner at a restaurant on Sunday. My mother and sister work on Sundays, and we figured the timing would be perfect. It's not happened. Every Sunday, something comes up and messes with the schedule. Nola and I have basically been available, since we wipe our schedules in preference... but it just isn't to be. At this point, I've given up. But the good news is, Nola and I have had a couple dinners together instead, and we've done some fun shopping. Hey, it works. But we do see each other all the time already.

Work has been going really well as of late. I've been working on some pretty interesting data research projects. They test the limits of my abilities, but I figure things out, get everything worked out, learn a lot in the process, and chuck it to the side for future use. Today I finished a 2 week process in which we needed to prepare data for a 3rd party company. Well, to check over the directions one last time to make sure it was all correct, I noticed a small note at the bottom. They're giving work two grand for me to work on this...! And not even my department. Sheesh. That seems a bit unfair. Buy me a work laptop!

Speaking of laptops, I just bought myself a netbook for my personal use. I've been going back and forth for months about getting one. I don't let myself buy much anymore except the basics, but I'm reaching the goals of my saving, so I should start allowing myself to have some nicer things. The new laptop should be here tomorrow night, just in time for me play with it and set things up this weekend. Only a couple more things on my list of "must buys" that I've been putting off, and I'll be super content. I'll leave the other items to your imagination.

So my running goals are being met. I'm pushing myself to run further, faster and longer. Week by week, it's creeping up, which is really great. And I've started getting used to running at night. It's really safe out, even if I can't see. But the cool air is really refreshing, and I love the smell of fall. Last night's run (pictured above), I almost ran into a 12 point buck. He was in the middle of the canal trail that I run on, and kept running ahead of me about 10 paces like I was chasing him. I finally walked past him, hoping he wouldn't charge or challenge me. I made it out safely, but the picture I took didn't really come out. Kinda funny if you ask me. When I ran the one night at my mom's house, it was about 40 degrees out, and I almost ran over a possum walking the road. Well, trying to scare it away by making hoots and claps really sucked. I hadn't realized how cold it was until my skin started stinging from the claps and my breathe filled the air with steam. Hilarious.

So I've donated 1/4 of my closet to charity. I usually wait until December to hoe out stuff, but I plan to completely replace every article of clothing I own in late December/early January. Nothing fits anymore. I've lost ## pounds since January, and I'm on pace to lose the last bit by December. I've dropped several pant sizes, several shirt sizes.. and stuff just looks baggy on me. I hate it. So after a couple small trips to the mall and Kohls the other day, it struck me: out of sight.. out of mind. So I loaded up 50+ pieces of clothing (shoes, pants, jeans, sweaters, dress shirts, t-shirts, etc) and dropped them off at Goodwill. Awesome. My closet looks THAT much more empty, but it's giving me clear vision ahead of my goals and my desires. I've put aside some $1,500 for a shopping spree to start a new wardrobe, and that's how it's going to go down. I've shared the word with the family for Christmas, and it will happen. I'm really looking forward to it. I've been sporting some of my new shirts as of late, and I'm really pleased.

I'm in final preparations for a trip to Los Angeles in mid-November. I'm waiting on final approval of the time off, and final OK from the girl I'd be staying with. I don't want to get too excited in case it all falls through.. but the prospects have put a permanent smile on my face.

Oh, and bye Tim.