Catching Up: Part 3

So, after leaving sunny, warm Hawaii... Tim and I flew to Chicago and drove into northwest Indiana to visit his family. Why? Because he lost a bet with his sister so we both had to go for Chicago.

So what can I say about the visit to Chicago? It was nice to see his family... but....

it was grey, and dreary, and freezing cold!

Here's Tim, pretending to shovel to driveway. The roads were icy. We stayed indoors the entire time (except for one outing to the bowling alley). Tim and I both slept late every day - but Tim slept really, really late. I would get up and sit on the couch and read. Tim would get up, then lay down on the couch and sleep some more. There's NO WAY we'll be going back to Chicago in the winter!!

Soon we were leaving Chicago and heading back for warm and sunny Florida, right? Wrong. We were back in Florida all right, but to record low temperatures!! I had the Goofy Challenge on January 9th and 10th (half marathon and full marathon).

On Saturday morning, it was sleeting at the start of the half marathon. Robin Perkins and I dressed with a LOT of layers and hand and feet warmers and even wrapped our feet in plastic wrap to keep them dry and warm. Sunday, the skies were clear but it was even colder at the start of the marathon. Again, we dressed in many layers but we were amazed with people who wore less. They sweat through their clothes and it turned to ice right on their backs! Every water station froze over and they had to bring out sand to keep the runners from slipping and falling. It was the most miserable marathon I've ever participated in.

But the medal was all worth it! I can't believe I've finished five Goofy Challenges!

The Thursday after the marathon Rene arrived from Austria for some winter training. We did have a few nice warm days but Rene definitely got to experience our record cold temperatures. I'm glad we had the hot tub warmed up for him... we definitely used it!!

Rene, John Macedo, and Tim when we went to see Avatar in Digital 3D. And I had fun with Rene - practicing my German. Even though it wasn't so good, it was a lot better than he was expecting... and that motivates me to keep going!!

Right after Rene left, I had a couple of trips to take. The first was a trip to San Antonio where it was also really, really cold. I got home on a Wednesday night and the next day my sister and her three boys arrived from Sacramento, California.

We had a really great time through the weekend and when they left on Monday, so did I... and we were all headed to the same place. I had a scheduled business trip to visit a company that was only about 2 miles from Linda's house so I spent 3 nights at her house and enjoyed more time visiting with her and her family.

After that trip, my Dad went to the hospital for scheduled back surgery. He had surgery on a Thursday, one week after my return from Sacramento. He was out of the hospital on Saturday so he and my Mom stayed at my house for 10 days while he recuperated.

They just left this past Monday... so that pretty much brings me up to date. Whew!! Now to try and keep this up. The next four weeks should be pretty uneventful, then it gets into St. Anthony's season and I'll be swamped again. Ahhh... the calm before the storm!