NYC Trip

Laura and I headed to NYC for a couple nights and stayed with Ryan and Melissa in Astoria. We ended up going all over such as Central Park, Upper East Side, Bryant Park for some ice skating, Greenwich Village and Brooklyn for some Peter Lugar.

It was a good time.

Check out the photos by CLICKING HERE.

Trunk or Treat

I took Kaden-the-Fighter-Pilot and Emma-the-Puffy-Coat down the road to the Crossroads church for their Trunk or Treat. Kaden had his plastic pumpkin and he got quite a bit of candy! We walked by the fire truck, ambulance and police cars from Perry Twp and then by all the cars who were giving out candy. Afterwards we got a picture by the big pumpkin sign and then headed out.

It was cold and windy!

Pumpkin Fun

Laura and Kaden finally broke out the knife tonight for our pumpkin outside. Good thing because we're leaving on Wednesday for NYC! They cut up a good face, pulled out the innards and lit it up. It was pretty cool and Kaden certainly enjoyed messing around with it.

I just brought a little rough-housing to the party.

Kaden and I - PS3

I rented Baja: On the Edge for the PS3 for a few days so Kaden could have a little taste of the PS3. He loved it. So did I. He and I played for about 90 minutes one night before bed.

Around the House

Here are a few pictures from around the house over the past few weeks. My picture folder tends to build up where I need to just put up a general post. Oops.

Emma crawling around the floor.


Kaden standing guard (sitting guard?) on the deck while I cook on the grill.


Emma loves her little play chair.


Off to the Ottawa-Metro Park!


Emma, do you want some popsicle? Sure!




She forgave me.


Kaden thought he was awake from a nap. Five minutes on the couch proved otherwise.

Pumpkin Patch

Kaden and Laura went to one of the pumpkin patches in Lima with some of the others from church. He always has a good time and loves to show off his wares when he returns home.

Ready for Halloween

Kaden got his 2008 costume and, as you can see, he's going to be a USAF/USN pilot. The patches are all contradictory to each other "USAF Top Gun" and an F-14 patch next to an F-117 patch, both retired by the way.

Anyway, he digs it and loves the helmet that goes along with it.

IFR Current... Again

It seems like a common theme. I do my six approaches and a hold one month and then six months and a few days later, I find myself getting the LogShare reminder email that my IFR currency has lapsed. Why does that happen so much?

I'll tell you why. I don't fly much anymore; especially in IMC. Looking at my logbook, I've only logged about 25 hours this year with half of those being in March when I was leaving the flying club, meaning I had some pre-paid flight hours to burn up so I wouldn't lose them.

Anyway, Bob S and I went up this morning in some crisp, cold morning air in the Cheetah and I knocked out my six approaches and one hold in 2.0 flat on the Hobbs. Burning $6.50 with a blindfold on isn't my idea of fun, but it keeps me current to fly in the IFR system and if I ever need to get through a layer of clouds or simplifies some flying somewhere, it's well worth it.

Boys Weekend in Myrtle Beach

Justin, my dad and I all headed to Myrtle Beach for a few nights to play some golf and hang out. We played three rounds of golf at Lion's Paw, Farmstead and Panther's Run and had some good food at some area restaurants. Unfortunately two of the three days of golf included rain, but it didn't slow us down.

Thanks for going, guys!

USAF Half Marathon - 2hrs6min16sec

So I wussed out from not training very much this summer and changed from the full marathon to the half. I'm glad I did, otherwise I'd still be laying on the side of the road. Kaden and I drove down on Friday afternoon to pick up my packet and attend the pasta dinner at the USAF Museum. The food was pretty good and the speaker from Runners World Magazine was great.

After a long night at Laura's sister's house with no power and a partially inflated air matress, I made it to the run over an hour early after a bagel and coffee at Panera. It was nice to have plenty of time to warm up and stroll around before the race started at 830am.

The race started and I told myself that I'd try to keep my BPM around 140. About a half mile in, I was already pushing 150 and so I told myself I'd stay in the 150's. About a mile in, I was already in the mid-160's and running up hill. It was not to be. The entire race had me in the 160's, 170's and occasionally higher. Oops! The route was quite hilly compared to the other two half marathons I've done (Columbus and Cleveland). It was through the USAF Museum, Fairborn and WPAFB and back.

I felt great and was moving well for the first ten or so miles. The last three were miserable. My HR felt very high, my legs felt heavy and I just couldn't keep a good breathing rhythm. I almost walked a few times but could practically see the finish line from almost two miles away. (Air Force bases are big and flat.)

Anyway, I ended at 2 hours 6 minutes and 16 seconds for a pace of 9:38/mile which is a PR. Sweet. As much as I dread the race as it comes up and am in pain during the race, within ten minutes after I finish I'm already thinking about the next one I can do. Columbus is in a month. I should be there.