Our 2017 reunion will be held in southeast Nebraska. The map below shows the locations of each days events.
I have two videos today, launched from Pat Dollard. The video on the left is Gibbles and Bits using that damned War On Terror and not that "incident over there" type of thing. The video on the right reveals how stupid the type of quack that Gibbles and Bits is...he says Cheney doesn't know anything.
Dana Loesch and Penn Jilette attempt to seriously debate 2nd Amendment rights with Stephanie Miller and James Carville who refuse to take the issue seriously.
So, the past two weeks have been the "big" weeks so far in this slightly herky jerky training cycle of mine. And in those weeks of 40+ miles, maybe 5 or 6 each week have been on pavement. This week, in my 34 miles, I'd estimate conservatively that at least 24 miles were on pavement. Ouch. Although I love my Flites - they feel a bit like slippers - and my feet have felt fine all week, my hips are a bit cranky by today's run. Add in the humidity, and the fact that Sam hardly slept the past few nights, which means I have barely slept, and I was feeling a bit off during today's 5-mile run around the in-laws block. Still, I have to thank my lucky stars (and my legs) that I can run, so I will try hard not to complain too much :) That said, I am very much looking forward to a run on the Cathance trails tomorrow! Bring on the roots and the singletrack!
Yesterday, Sam and I had an early flight out of RDU up to Boston. Luckily, the travel went smoothly and as usual, she was a model traveling companion. Ryan picked us up at the airport and we spent the rest of the day with his family, celebrating his grandfather's 90th birthday. It was really nice that all of us could be together for such a milestone, and of course, Sam loved being able to play with her cousin! The cutest thing might have been that the second Gavin saw Sam, he reached for her to get a hug and then kept reaching his arms out to her for more. Adorable ;)
Didn't get out quite as early as I had intended due to an early waking child, but finally got out of the house around 8:00. Luckily the legs felt a bit more peppy than yesterday and I was able to keep what seemed a fairly reasonable pace for the completely flat loop of road/trail/gravel around the neighborhood. It also was overcast, thankfully, as the humidity was through the roof. I thought it was raining at one point, until I realized it was just my sweat flinging all over the place. Gross! Got in 10 miles in 1:30, with a few stops for water and to watch the wildlife. Saw three deer along the nature trail, as well as another egret, a cardinal and a lot of turtles with their heads peaking out of the water along the pond edges.
While looking for one particular playmobile person, Sam said, "Where is that lady with the dyed hair?"
Neenie responded, "Is she hiding? She's trying to keep from getting put away. I think we've got her number!"
Comment #3 to Neenie, earlier today: "Today was a very calm, relaxing day." What almost-5 year old says this sort of thing? Or even notices that it was a rather laid back day? Sometimes I am in awe of the way Sam vocalizes her thoughts and speaks her mind using sophisticated vocabulary and phrases.
Aside from being awed by Sam's use of the English language, she also did a great job swimming in and jumping into the pool without her bubble on. It was an incredibly warm day so the water felt great, and we had a lot of fun.
On the running front, I got in 8 miles this morning soon after it got light out. Saw a pileated woodpecker down by the river lodge, and saw about a dozen turkey vultures roosting in a tree along the river. Also saw one bunny along the berm and a Great Egret in one of the ponds. Warm morning.
No running yesterday, as we were up and in the road well before dawn, headed to Boston so Sam and I could catch a plane to NC. It is warm and sunny here and as usual, I love all the color and flowers and birds.
We stopped at Pullen Park for Sam to ride the train, the carousel and the boats, then went for a short swim in the pool before dinner. We were both exhausted from the travel and from our weekend of camping, but it was a great start to the rest of our vacation week! We love visiting Neenie and Pippi!
We all slept in this morning. It is dark here until 7:00ish, so I didn't get out to run until around 7:30. I ran the cart paths from the house, thinking I had an hour to run the 6+ miles before a tournament started. Tried to make it a "speed" run. Ha. I am damn slow. Anyway, managed to keep the pace between 8:00 and 8:30 per mile (50:46 for 6.16 miles). Fairly cool with a nice breeze, so not too bad of a morning to be out running. Saw a lot of bluebirds, a goldfinch, one Great Egret, one Great Blue Heron and one little turtle out sunning himself in one of the ponds.
A bit later in the morning, we headed to Wrightsville Beach. The sun was warm and the waves were crashing. We had a fun time playing in the water, walking the beach and collecting shells. After the beach, we stopped for a yummy ice cream at Boombalati's before heading home. A fun day!
We had a great long weekend this weekend camping at Recompense Campground at Wolfe's Neck. It was the 2nd annual Bowdoin camping weekend, and we all had a blast. We roasted smores, the kids played together so nicely and we didn't have to watch or be with them every second - so nice now that they are a bit older!, time was spent wandering along the rocks and along the beach, there was running and drinking and merriment, and it was really nice to catch up with old friends whom we don't see all that often. Plus, the weather was perfect. Can't have asked for much better!
This morning, Shannon and I went for a nice 5 mile run up the dirt road and onto the trails in Wolfe's Neck State Park. It was a lovely, if warm, morning, and always fun to run with a friend on trails I love! A great way to cap off a really fun weekend! Thanks, everyone!
After a bit of rest at home yesterday, I took off to daycare for the family fun party. But first, I stopped and got myself a bit 'ol sundae. Nothing that ice cream can't cure, I say :-)
The daycare party was fun. Sam loved the bounce house, and they had a magician come in. To my surprise, Sam volunteered for one of the magic tricks, and had a lot of fun. The kids thought the whole thing was pretty hysterical - there was a lot of laughter and clapping. However, sitting on the hard laminate floor for an hour after 16 miles run on uncooperative legs kinda hurt :-)
I was exhausted for the rest of the day yesterday, despite the sugar from the ice cream, but luckily, this morning's run went much better. I was up and out a little after 6:00 am. I ran the cart paths and then hit the snowmobile trails along the powerlines and ran the Lover's Lane loop. Somehow I was thinking that would get me 10ish, but in fact, it turned into 11.25. At least the legs felt good!
I always enjoy running along the powerlines and at this time of year as the season's are slowly changing, there was an abundance of color. Red bunchberries, yellow goldenrod, white aster and queen anne's lace, the blush pink berries on the bushes that I can never remember the name for, the white arrowhead amongst the green shoots in the marshy areas, the deep purple blackberries. Also saw a deer and her two fawns, plus an indigo bunting in the bushes up near Rt. 24 (interestingly, looking back through the blog, I saw one in this same area around the same time of year back in 2011. Cool!). Heard my friend the towhee and the chickadees calling in the bushes too.
I slept terribly last night and didn't get up as early as planned. Finally got myself out of the house around 7:00 am, just before the rest of the house was waking up. I have yet another Friday off due to this afternoon's "family fun day" at daycare - Sam's last day. There will be a bounce house and a magician and some other fun stuff for the kids. Sam always enjoys it.
Since we are always juggling our long runs around here, the plan was for me to get in my 20 today so Ryan could get his in tomorrow. I felt a bit off from the get-go but attributed it to lack of sleep and hoped for the best. My plan was to run 3 Snowplug loops plus a little extra to get in the additional mileage. Except, at about 3.5 miles, this is what I found...
If you zoom in on the photo, you can just see a white blaze at the top of the overgrown raspberry brambles and other crap. Yup, that's the trail. Lovely, eh? Thank goodness I had on my calf compression sleeves. I slowly made my way through the mess, but decided there was no way I was going to subject myself to that another two times. Thinking I was going to be coming by the house every 6 miles or so, I had only brought three gels, so I knew I would have to get back to the house to reload. I decided to run out to Head of Tides and back, hoping that would get me 10+ miles before I returned home to load my pack back up again.
The trail out to Head of Tides was littered with mushrooms. Large areas with the bright yellow "coral" mushrooms, and this pretty patch of brilliant red mushrooms too. I had to stop to take a photo. So beautiful set against the green moss, and extra bright on an overcast morning.
Things were pretty slick out in the woods and along the bog bridges, and it was slow going on some of that singletrack. Not to mention, it was seriously high humidity. I got back to the house at 10.8 miles and was soaked. I also kind of felt like crap. I texted Ryan to let him know how it was going. He asked if I was sure I was done. I said, no, I was at least going to do the river and back for 16.
I took a short break, used the bathroom, gagged down a fig newton and a few dried strawberries and headed back out. It was a slow go, with my legs and stomach not cooperating. I took advantage of the pretty view out along the Heath with the cotton sedge blowing in the breeze to stop for a bit. Ugh. Only 2 miles to go! It was not pretty, but I got in 16.5 miles in 3:00. I honestly did not have the energy to keep going, so I am just going to call it good enough for the way I was feeling. Tomorrow is another day. And before then, I really think I need to get some ice cream ;)
Hit the BTLT trails (or maybe it really should just be the BLT trails, a la Xar) with Shannon this morning. Relatively cool out but we warmed up quickly. It was fun to catch up on this and that as we ran along. I am recognizing more of the trails each time we run, but I am sure I'd just make a few good squiggles instead of cohesive loops if I were to run out there solo :-) Got in a nice 6 miles in just under an hour, chatting away the whole time. Always good to run with a friend! Thanks, Shannon!
In other news, tomorrow is Sam's last full day of daycare. Yes, she will be going back to Building Blocks after kindergarten each day, so it is not a true goodbye, but still, it is the end of an era. Hard to believe that my little baby, who has been at this same daycare with the same teachers since she was 7 months old, is going to be headed to kindergarten in just a little over a week! Crazy how time flies. I am incredibly excited for her and I know she is ready, but when I read this the other morning, I totally cried.
Back to the hills. Nice and cool this morning when I headed out a little before 6:00 am. Fall is in the air, for sure.
As I ran down the high school road, I passed the football team shuffling along the sidewalk on a warm-up. Their coaches, both rather rotund, were driving along on the street in a golf cart next to the team. When I passed them, I stopped and asked them why they weren't out running too. I am not sure they were amused :-)
Got in 7 loops up and around the hill. I was actually shooting for 6 but on the last loop I wondered if I was really on 6 or if I was just *hoping* I was on the last one, so I went up again just to be sure. Ha! Well, I guess that's one way to get in an additional repeat.
Wanted to stretch my legs out this morning after a day spent sitting in the car on Sunday on the way back from NJ. The morning light has been arriving slowly but surely later each day, and today when I headed out at 5:50 am it was apparent that I had probably just missed what was likely a gorgeous sunrise by not too many minutes. The bluish-violet clouds were backlit by a golden light, with some pink still along the edges of a few of the clouds. Very pretty. Got in a nice four miles on this beautiful, rather cool, Monday morning.
We headed south to Hoboken on Friday night, picking Ryan up from work at 5:00. It was a long drive, but honestly, we made pretty good time; it was a decent time of day to travel. Sam slept for two hours in the car, and then woke up when we were crossing the GW Bridge. She was a bit in shock to say the least, and then was hyped up for an hour or two. We didn't get to sleep until well after midnight. Luckily, we managed to sleep in a bit in the morning, and then Ryan and I did the kid/run swap, except instead of heading out on the trails, we headed down the hallway to the fitness room. Yay, treadmill!
Honestly, though, how do people use these things? I have not been on a treadmill in years. I avoid them like the plague. I'd rather battle snow, ice, rain, whatever than get on those darn things. Oh, I see their use, for sure, but they are just not my thing! My legs were feeling a bit stiff from Friday's miles and the car ride, so I started out at 11:00 pace, but that didn't last long. The tenths were passing away way too slowly at that rate :-) Incrementally inched up the pace and finished the last mile at 7:30 pace. Ha. Nothing like consistency. Still, I really needed to get off the thing. Got in 3 miles and called it good. Hit 40 miles for the week too.
Then it was off to Gavin's first birthday party. Luckily, I have a cool sister-in-law and brother-in-law and the party was held at a local bierhaus :-) Ryan was in heaven! Ha. It was a lot of fun, and Sam was so cute. She did not want to leave Gavin's side all weekend. She is taking the big cousin role VERY seriously :)
Having two Fridays in a row off is pretty nice. I could get used to this!! And what else to do but go for a run? I was the first one in the lot at the Brad at 6:30 am. The air was cool, all was quiet. I headed out to run the BBU mountain side - the trails were very very soggy, with many puddles and a lot of standing, and running, water. Despite the cool temps, the humidity was high and I got rained on a bit too. So between the sweat, the rain, the mud and the water, I was pretty wet all around. :) Still, felt good and fairly strong, making it back to the parking lot in 10.3 miles and 2 hours. I hadn't seen a soul. I stopped briefly to go to the bathroom, dump my trash, and text Ryan that I was back at the lot. Just as I was headed back out, I saw Linda Raymond and friend, out getting their long run in too.
This time around, unlike last week, I had no reservations about continuing on. I felt focused and although 20 miles is a lot of time with only one's own head for company, I knew I would get in the miles. The twisty singlet rack was pretty greasy with wet roots and mud and I find it impossible to go fast on the Island Trail, but I just kept chugging along. I ran the Bruiser, and was happy to reach the Snowmobile trail and have a bit of a break from the single track and get in a nice steady climb before dropping back into the woods again. I followed the course until it hit the Link, then just followed the Snowmobile trail back to Knights Woods. Caught my foot in a mud pit/root trap at the bottom of that last climb and almost are it, but managed to right myself just in time. Needs a bit more mileage, so did a short out and back on the Link to finish up with 20 miles in just a smudge over 4 :00.
Very happy to have gotten in 20 and feel decent doing it. Then it was off to grab lunch and a huge cookie at Pineland before a visit with Amy. Good to catch up with her. She is looking good!
Wish I could have stayed all afternoon but had to get home to clean the house, take out the trash, get the recycling to the transfer station, get the cats all set, finish packing and get the car all set for our whirlwind weekend trip to NJ for Gavin's 1st birthday. Whew! No rest for the wicked, or is it weary, or maybe it should just be moms, especially moms who want to spend their morning running 20 miles ? ;)
Wow. We received a lot of rain last night. We are now lakeside property again :-) All of this meant it was a very soggy run. I was out a little before 6:00 am for my morning run and I headed down the powerlines to Highland Green Road, then hooked up with the cart paths. Although the cart paths are a nice packed gravel, there were quite a few wash-outs and a number of spots where the path was more like a stream than anything I'd want to drive a golf cart on! Yikes. I veered off at hole #5 to run the Heath loop, which was more like one big puddle than a trail. My shoes sure got nice and clean! Ha. Ended up with a nice 7 miles and felt good.
My head seems to be rebelling against the idea of getting up early to run multiple loops around Mt. A., so I didn't feel much enthusiasm to get up on a dreary morning. But, then I started to think about the rest of the week and realized if I wanted to get some miles in, I had better get up and at least get a regular run in. That would be better than nothing. So, I got up, had a quick snack and was out the door around 6:00 am. Must have been 99% humidity out there! Enjoyed a few blackberries along the way, and managed to get in 4 miles to start the day.
Shannon and I are trying to meet up once a week to run. Well, it didn't quite happen last week, and it won't happen the last Tuesday of the month, but hey, even if we get 3 out of 5 weeks, that will be pretty good :-) So, this morning I headed over to her house and we ran a nice 6+ miles together on the BTLT trails around Crystal Spring Farm. One of the trails took us out into the blueberry fields and beyond between the farm and the high school. I never knew such a big open field was out there! And on one of the wooded trails, we saw a raptor fly across the trail. We stopped to look for it up in the trees, and saw that it was an owl. The owl sort of cocked its head to one side and looked at us serenely. I'm assuming it was a barred owl by its shape and coloring; we did not hear it call. It was a fun run and good way to start off the running week. Thanks Shannon!
And totally unrelated, Sam made this adorable birthday card for Gavin, who we are going to see this weekend down in NJ. Just makes me smile :-)
I had intended to get up early this morning and get in my miles before Ryan headed to Bradbury to mark the course and get in his run, but you know, a 4:00 am alarm is just darn early on a Saturday! I decided to sleep in instead, and take my chances with an afternoon run. Sam and I spent the morning making breads for the race prizes, doing color/water experiments, picking berries, taking the recycling to the dump, and playing on the playground. And all before lunch! There is no resting with this one ;)
This was before she decided to just squeeze every color into every ice spot... I am sure they will all be brown when we take them out tomorrow to melt them ;)
Once Ryan got home later in the afternoon, I suited up and headed out for my run. As a change of pace and because I had the time, I drove over to Bowdoin and ran out through the Commons and down to the ocean via the trails in Coleman Farm. I stopped to watch this beautiful Great Blue Heron standing patiently in one of the ponds.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had mowed the Coleman Farm trails basically all the way to the ocean. In fact, it was the singletrack that wound back along the edge of the salt water marsh that was the most overgrown, but it was still a lovely run. And always a pretty view :-)
We finished up the day with veggies and chicken on the grill plus local corn and potatoes, plus a trip to Gelato Fiasco for dessert. Yum!
The Bundian Way Gallery is part of the Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council project, which is responsible for the development of the ancient walking track from the coast to the mountains.
The track is older than the Asian silk roads and was used the Aboriginal people for trading, ceremonies, family gatherings and caring for country for thousands of years.
The Gallery is curated by South East Arts and offers visitors an insight into the work of local Indigenous artists.
Such a pretty little whore, such a shame she caught your eye. But this evil murdering slut would have fun with her. All it took was rigging her little car so she would get stranded and be vulnerable to my kidnapping. I am so glad you enlisted the help of this hot sadistic whore. I enjoyed pretending to help this young big titted sexy thing and then knocking her over the head with her hood. As she laid there her skirt was hiked up and I saw she wasn’t wearing panties. A true little whore. Maybe she would like the things that you are going to do to her before we snuff her out. You arrived and scooped her up. I knew you would love seeing her like this. Back at your pain room I helped wake her up as you were fulfilling your rape fantasy by fucking her over and over. You asked for my thoughts on snuffing her out and I gave you a plastic sheath for your cock with barbed edges and razors sticking out. I said fuck her to death!! Ripp her from th inside out. oh, the screams and the blood were magnificent. Tell me please how we kill the next whore.
My boyfriend thought he could find a better snuff accomplice. He was so wrong, and I proved it to him so quickly and effortlessly. I saw him eyeing our new friend. The blonde was hot and wild I have to give credit where It is due. She was into it all, but she wasn’t a freak like me.
There was no way I was going to let her outshine me. Never have I been so adamant about that. I was going to make him realize he had the best of the best. There was no way I was going to be upstaged. When things got rowdy, and we were high all three of us had to snuff sex, but I wasn’t going to make this hot blonde win my guys attention. I was going to make sure he knew I was the Snuff Queen.
I began to fist my holes and make them bleed. I knew he wanted that more than anything. The look on his face when I started to put on the best show ever solidify that I was the nastiest. I wasn’t done I was going to fuck her holes up too, Like that he was reassured he is one lucky fucker.
Master says we need to handpick the best little whores to make into our snuff porn stars. We pick the most deserving piggy whores to violate, abuse, torture and fuck. Master hasn’t yet let me out on my own to pick him fresh meat yet, but he brings them back for us to play with. This one particular whore he brought back to us was this awful popular girl from my school that used to bully me and taunt me relentlessly.
At first, I was horrified but then I remembered all the times her and her friends would spit on me and call me names. She tried to beg us to let her go. The little bitch even tried to play on my emotions by telling me that she missed me and that everyone was still out there looking for me. But I didn’t believe her venomous lies. We tied that little skank up and had her stretched out. Her little whore tits were tied so tightly, they became purple. I wanted them to die slowly just like she was about to.
Master had the rope wrapped tightly around her through as he skull fucked every last breath out of her. I watch and became so wet watching the bitch struggle for air. I rubbed my throbbing pussy and clamped my clit while I watched Master suffocate her with his cock. It’s what the bitch deserved.
There is a slamming Halloween party going on at the club tonight. I am going as a stupid slut raver punk chick. I am looking like I do every Halloween for a guy with some balls to give me the ultimate fucking orgasm by snuffing the life right out of me. I look for the guy in the fucked up costume. A serial killer, or a vampire maybe. You know something dark and frightening. Those are the men I target at parties they have sadistic sides to them. And every one of them needs a pain slut to release those fetishes on. When I spot my target I make my way over to them and rub my body right up against them. I see no sense in beating around the bush I come straight out with the fact that I want to get fucked up and fucked. And none of this pg-rated bullshit I want hardcore triple X brutal fucking. Take control of my trashy body and beat me within an inch of my life before stopping to fuck my holes raw making me bleed. And right before they are about to burst their nut I want them to snuff my life out. If I am lucky skank it will be a painful agonizing slow death.
Snuff sex is what I deserve. It is all I get. No man looks at me and wants to make me his wife or his girlfriend. I scream blonde bimbo to men. I represent the type of woman who has scorned them, rejected them, cheated on them… But unlike other women, I am submissive. I wouldn’t cheat on a man. I would give him everything I have and more. When I met Danny a few weeks ago, I had no idea I would end up bound, gagged and battered on his basement floor. Danny had me all wrong. He thought I was a high class girl, maybe even a spoiled rich bitch. He assumed the reason I didn’t go out with him was because I thought he was beneath me. The reason I rejected his date offer was because I am owned by someone. Some one who would dismember me and keep me locked in a cage under the bed for even kissing another man. When I was hit over the head last night going to my car, I assumed it was my owner and I had made some small infraction he took personally. When I woke back up, I discovered it was a jilted man seeking revenge. He had me tied to a support beam. I was black and blue from the beating he gave me. I saw the blow torch and pissed myself. I pleaded and begged for my life. I tried explaining that I was more like a snuff porn start than a gfe type. All he could see was a woman who rejected him. He branded his name into my flesh with his name. He burned my flesh off and when it scabs over, his name will be forever etched on my body. He didn’t kill me, but he sealed my fate. When master sees another man’s name on my body, he will certainly kill me for my betrayal.
Dan Bailey interviews Dave Dillion who recently presented at the 2014 SOA Annual Meeting on ACA Health Rate Review. For those who could not attend his presentation, this episode will provide you with highlights from Dave’s session.
Dan Bailey interviews Jim O’Connor who recently presented at the 2014 SOA Annual Meeting on ACA Implementation and Strategies in 2017 and Beyond. For those who could not attend his presentation, this episode will provide you with highlights from Jim's session.
Trustees from the Social Security Administration and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services produce annual reports updating the status of the Social Security and Medicare programs. This podcasts provides some insights from the 2014 reports to changes in the status of each program.
From the hit animated show, Rick and Morty, is Cornvelious Daniel as a stylized POP! from Funko. He stands approximately 4" tall and is perfect for any Rick and Morty fan!