What have I done?????

I am in deep frustration right now for two reasons.

ONE:

Last night I (innocently)

got on the computer to download a few photos from 

Saturdays family bonfire on the beach.

I plugged my brand new sparkly Christmas Iphone into 

my Mac.

I have been LOVING my new 4S Iphone.

I am in Love with Siri....

even though she tells me that is impossible.

I love the look I set up with my new home page picture.

It is a photo of the Fulton's back yard....

a beautiful picture of their pool area and the river behind it.

I aspire to a view like that someday....

I like the other picture I had for my other page that shows my 

apps.  It was also a water scene.

My new phone was fast.

It did my bidding.

I say it was fast.

It did my bidding....rather than does....

because somehow,

in my stupidity,

I accidentally RESTORED my new phone to my 

Old....hated 3G everything.

I DUMBED DOWN my phone.

To include my old welcome page photos, etc.

I can't stand the sight of it.

It makes me physically ill.

K is Totally ticked.

Well, he is not the only one.

We worked like crazy last night trying to get back what I lost.

no.

I still have my old phone in my new case.

How is this even possible?!!!

Isn't a smart company like Apple smart enough,

to save their customers from themselves?

Why would this even be an option?

Someone is inadvertently going to take it and be insanely furious!

Help me not do stuff like this!

Take away the danger.

YOU GUYS @ APPLE are the dumb ones!
and you're mean.

For Christmas K bought me IMac computer classes at our local

Apple Store.

I am excited.

I have a list of questions and ideas I want them to teach me 

how to do on my computer.

This is almost like marriage counseling.....

I am forever getting stumped on things.

Kev please help me make this four to a page invitation....

Kev please help me figure out how to open.....

Kev PLEASE!!!

HELP ME!!!

He is not a bit familiar with Mac computers.

He will work with me for decades.....

but we usually end up where we started.

I leave my idea in a heap,

choose a different strategy....

like cut and paste.

and then we both move on and never speak 

of it again.

So I am grateful to him for my thoughtful gift of knowledge.

Knowledge is Power.

Hadn't really planned on taking up my first hour class,

tomorrow, 

on the hope and dream of getting my 

new phone back to the way it was.

Will it ever really be back to the way it was?????

..........................

TWO:

For the last few nights I have heard movement up in our ceiling.

A LOT of action.

I have not woken K up on purpose.

I was being courteous.

Patient.

Respectful of his sleep because he needed to get up for work.

Today was the morning I decided would be the best choice 

to invite him to partake of the sounds,

since it is a holiday,

MLKD.

At 6:48 a.m. (waited as long as was humanly possible)

I made my move.

Kev.....

hey Kev....

.....hey hon,

do you want to hear this noise?

Can you hear all that scratching?

Do you hear that scurrying?

What do you think that is?

Do you think you and the boys can get up there today 

and take care of that?

before you head out of town?

What?

Go back to sleep!

No.....I can't...... listen.....

It is all in your head.

Excuse me?

Anyway....

in the end, he heard it.

The ripping, tearing, shredding, running, scampering, chewing....

does not seem to bother him.

It is the beginning of the end (of this house) for me though.

We have had a good long stretch of rodent free living.

(except for cockroaches)

But if this is how it is going to be......

oh boy.

Kev shot down my plan of he and the boys getting up there.

He said there is no way to get to that spot.....

(apparently not if you're a rodent) 

It is blocked off.

FAN

TAS

TIC.

Please leave me with a new pair of ear plugs.

I will just await the day for when the thing burrows through

and drops on my face in our bed.

I will just relax with the earplugs until that day.

..........

I wish things were back to when I had my 

new phone.

This little light of mine.

Tonight Kev and I had an interesting experience.

K had been gone working all day long, I thought it might be nice to 

try and sneak in a movie together.

I knew it would be tight, 

but we decided to give it a go.

He made it home,

sped through his shower. 

We made it to the theatre and through the line.

We asked the movie clerk if we were too late to make it to 

the show we wanted to see.

No, of course not, it is just starting.

Great!

Are there seats left?

oh yes, at least half the theatre.

Wonderful.

We made our way into the movie,

each holding a small popcorn and trying to be inconspicuous 

and respectful of those already seated and enjoying the show.

We waited off to the side for there to be a break in the action so we could

step across with out being too big of a pain.

It was very easy to see the entire theatre full of people as we waited and 

scoped out the place, 

scanning for two seats together.

There were none.

(That kid was waaaaaaaay off).

However we could see several seats scattered about,

and if a couple, 

or an individual moved one seat in one direction or another

we would be able to have the two seats that we required to enjoy 

the show as well.

I was a little hesitant to make the move to step over two people and ask

an older lady if she and her husband would mind sliding over one seat.

Kev said, ok, I got this.

I watched,

it was still very easy to see every thing going on.

He kindly asked if she wouldn't mind scooting over one seat.

She was instantly loud and pretty much enraged.

She said, no, she most certainly would not move down.

She picked this seat and this is where she intended to sit.

It was shocking and bizar.

ok.

We took our popcorn and moved along.

Again.....EVERYONE CAN SEE US.

We are sticking out like a puffy, red, sore thumb.

We come to another set of people,

this time with two seats right there available.

I ask if we can sit there,

no, I'm sorry these are saved.

Ok, I am sure they were.

This went on,

until the only option was to either sit on the absolute front row,

which Kevin went and did, or go up and brave the
lady actually laying on several seats.

I couldn't do the front row.

It makes me way to sick.

I decide to go back up and try the lady

laying over three

seats herself. 

Kev had me avoid her before saying she probably 

has a back issue. 

However, 

between she and her husband they 

were taking up 5 seats.

I go over, 

hi there, is there anyway you could slide either way so my

husband and I could have a seat?

I need these seats because I have an injury.

No problem,

but there are two seats on either end that are open,

would you mind?

(you had to walk to get into the theatre!!! I know you have the 

capacity to move!)

Finally she grudgingly had her husband move to her other side.

During the movie, a few times she was moving
around trying to get comfortable and
leaning toward my seat a bit,
I said she was welcome to the armrest if she
needed it.
She briskly said no with out looking my way.

After the movie we hustled out,
she had gone down a few minutes before the show ended,
and was just outside the door.
I noticed her and said goodbye,
have a good evening.
She averted her eyes and said nothing.

WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?

What is wrong with people?

We were completely flabbergasted by the cold indifference offered
up by pretty much an entire theatre of people.

At their hard fast self preservationess (my own word).....

Their complete lack of civility.

WOW.

Wow!
Did we crash a reunion?
Were all these people somehow related and we stumbled
into a private showing?
Geeeeeeeez.

It was really sad.  

I felt bad for them.  

Doesn't it feel good to be kind to others anymore?

To "help a brother out?"

To make room for everyone?

We didn't like seeing that.

We were both kind of shaken by the whole thing.

I know it was only a seat at a movie,

but it seemed to speak volumes about our current society.

I want a reminder of peoples innate goodness.

I know it is there.....surely we just got them on an off night.

please.thankyou.yourwelcome.afterme.afteryou.takemine.goodnight.

goodmorning.haveagoodday.

asmile.

"I suppose no one is as handsome or a beautiful as he or she wishes, or as brilliant in school or as witty in speech or as wealthy as we would like, but in a world of varied talents and fortunes that we can't always command, I think that makes even more attractive the qualities we can command - such qualities as thoughtfulness, patience, a kind word, and true delight in the accomplishment of another.  These cost us nothing, and they can mean everything to the one who receives them".                       

Jeffrey R. Holland 

RAGNAR Take Aways....

I wasn't going to do a write up for this Ragnar.

I wasn't feeling motivated, or inspired.

We did it.

It's done....good job team.

But today I finally got down to loading our photos onto my computer

from our run, Christmas, and so forth....

I quickly realized 

there was no way I could pass up talking about my teammates.

They are way to AWESOME!!

I was a little jealous of Tina's Welcome home sign her boys made her.

Well guess what folks??

McCauley hooked me up right!!

Booooya!

Look at this relaxing scene....an open chair waiting for me 

to flop down on and get some well deserved R&R.

(Thanks M....love you a whole bunch.  Glad to be home.)

2013 RAGNAR Florida

Miami - Key West

Last Ragnar I am ever going to do.

It was great....but I am done with these fellas.

I am graduating to Tri's or mud racing or something.

Here are a few thoughts about each of my team mates this go round.

Van mates are really what make or break a Ragnar.

I am happy to say these guys made mine.

This is Sonia, she may be on the quite side, but she is one amazing

lady.  I have known her for several years now.

I have watched her transform into the strong woman she is now.

She is an inspiring person, an example of patience and endurance for me.

Thank you Sonia!!

She was also my sleep mate throughout the trip.

We faked it for several hours in the van together while a 

zillion hippies and freaks loud mouthed it out side.

We decided laying there had to do something for us....

right? 

Lance.

Way to go buddy!

For real.

You held your own as the only guy.

You surpassed my expectations for your 

FIRST RACE IN YOUR LIFE!

It was great to have you along.

I hope you keep running, and running.

I also want to say, THANKS for all the driving.

You were a trooper.

I am sure we can all recall 

what it was like having Tina drive in the dark....

So help us.

Speaking of T.

I am very proud of this lady.

For someone that can tolerate very little contact with sweat and

things that smell, namely other humans,

and canned chicken,

you did remarkably well.

I think you were sort of spoiled by Amy a little.....

but dang it, you earned it.

I was so stoked with how amazing you did on your long 

9 miler....

I felt so proud of you.

There are very few dull moments with you around.

Vanessa was a True Hero.

She rocked every run.

She is a Hero because she did this all while also sustaining a 

severe bout of debilitating "Runner's Trots".

She spent more time in the porta potty then our 

entire team combined.

In the end though, it turned out to be a good lesson for one of us.

Tina admitted that V changed her life for the better.

 She taught her the system she used to survive her extended bouts in the ports....

involving baby wipes and holding her

breath while using them.

Tina will never forget the lesson.

Another thing about V....she is ALWAYS good for a photo.

Anytime is a good time for a shot.

I never feel like a freak when I pose for pictures if 

Vanessa is with me.

She is a mega poser and game for just about anything....

especially muscle shots,

my personal fav.

This girl is no quitter.  

 Amy!

Whooohoooo!

My little sissy baby saved the day.

First, she and Lance flew out here with very short notice.

Very big surprise to me....did not think they would be 

able to swing it in a million years...

(thank you family back in Utah!!)

Second, she was handing out massages left and right.

She brought a smile and some sweet relief to several runners.....

not me, but several others... ; ) 

She made our masks,

(which we lost in the van....until we got home)

decorated our van,

and was a fine example of Paleo eating.

She provided a constant stream of ham wrapped 

carrots and almonds.

As well as full sticks of celery packed w/ almond butter.

She offered up spoonfuls of avocado, 

and other non dairy, non grain, non legume, non processed items.

The one thing I did not expect from Aim was her 

stanche unwillingness 

to bend her Paleo ways.

This is not the sister I know.

In the past she has always been a junk food junkie...

with me!

She can take in sugar until the cows come home.

Sooooooo, for me, 

eating four doughnuts alone was really 

a let down.

Eating the tops off the 6 sweet rolls by myself was a huge downer

with no one to enjoy them with.

Sure, I still did it.

But it wasn't really that satisfying w/out someone 

i.e. my sis to share it with.

In all honesty.

She literally blew my mind with her will power of steel.

She was doing hand stands against any unmoving object,

sit ups on a whim,

jumping jacks on the fly.....

who is this masked man??

No one I am familiar with,

but 

someone I could certainly get used to in a speedy fashion!

It's just that I thought I was the healthy one.  

Geeez.

Amy was true to her eating until exactly after her last run.

Then it was 

C - YA PALEO....wouldn't wanna be ya!

She was off the wagon....

to the point of me having to pry 

a burnt cookie out of her hand when we got home 

to our place after 11:00pm Sunday night.

Aim.....no, we are not going to do this,

I will save it in a baggie for you to enjoy in the morning.

(actually I ended up enjoying it myself).

You are looking amazing!

You are the powerhouse I remember from our youth!!

The "Brick".

I enjoyed my runs.

Two were night runs, not the greatest to enjoy the city scenery.

I really enjoyed my final run, 

(when I was not lost during the last 

mile and a half or so).

Felt strong and capable....

most of us reported feeling this way.

I enjoyed being runner number 12....bringing our team home.

The best parts of the Ragnar are always the times when your

van comes to find and support you.

It is a boost,

 and makes you feel rejuvenated and special.

I loved having this person in town.

Good bye Ragnar days.

They were good times.

Look what I was eating during this post.....

wrapped carrots.

Thank you Aim!

Here is a video Tina put together for us.

Enjoy!

It is a sweet little wrap up of our time,

plus you can see the rest of our Justice League team,

Van 1 - They ROCKED THE HOUSE.

ooops...

I spoke to soon, this post was too long.

I got desperate for CHOCOLATE!

Brownies are in the oven. 

I will never be Paleo......It is good I was not born in

Caveman time.