WORK: 20 minutes...

Asides from the still-present fear of getting sick, today's been quite wonderful at work. I took my meds this morning, so I've been really good with the concentration(digested a lot of information at work) and productivity (sold off some code and made plans on how to go about working the other code changes).

I'm foregoing overtime this week (left early yesterday to catch up on rest), so now I get to leave early today.

Oh, I can't wait! My sister will be here in less than 8 hours, and I feel like it'll be pretty much non-stop from then on until 8am Monday. I know that Cindy's game for an intense schedule - I'm just now realizing that we really Should plan some "chill" time.

I think that I'm going to skip practice (yet again) tonight... I'm totally racking 0 miles for the week so far. I'm thinking 26.2 on Saturday will be enough, though I don't know how rollerblading miles translate to the running realm. *shrug, meh*

Okay, I'm going to get a few more things prepared for next week, then I'm out of office! Woo Hoo! :)

JOURNAL: Two monitors are better than one.

After work, I came home and hooked up one of my extra monitors to the extra video ports on my computer via a DVI-to-VGA video adaptor I had bought a few weeks ago. I rebooted the system and boom, I had dual-monitors... one working and one not. Long story short: after some fiddling around with the configuration, I disconnected the adaptor, unbent four (totally pushed-down) pins, reconnected the adaptor, re-restarted the computer, and ta-da, now I'm a man with twice as much desktop space.

As I type, I have Brothers and Sisters playing on monitor two. Yum. I'm officially done with watching all of the episodes, and enjoying the second time just as much as the first.

But I've just woke up from a four-hour nap, so I'm kind of up and eager to get something/anything/something done. I'm thinking cats and laundry... not together. Same time... but not together. Or I can just check up on them in the morning, way early before work... that'd probably be smarter, as it was suggested by someone who's pretty wise... pretty and wise... together.

Anyways, sounds like a plan... a simple one... stay home, pack, goto bed. :)

JOURNAL: I have to pack!

It dawned on me last night that I have to pack for this weekend.

Granted I'll only be an hour away from home, but I still have to pack!

I'm really considering taking tomorrow off, but I'm 3 1/2 hours ahead for the week, which means, just 1 1/2 more hours (plus tomorrow's 9) and I'll have overtime. Granted, it boils down to money vs. sanity. And I may just decide based on how engaged I project I'd be tomorrow.

The past couple days have been very productive at work. There are a few tasks that I'm procrastinating, but overall doing pretty good this week. I'm really tired though and could use some off time to get a little more rest. I think it's because I haven't been working the weekends the past couple weeks.

Anyways, I'll get to see my older sister in a little more than 33 hours! Woo Hoo!

CARDS: Guess Who From...

Card #1:
Card #2:
Card #3::)

JOURNAL: Birthday Donut

This is a picture the celebratory donut that gets passed around the program when someone has a birthday. When I saw it this morning, I was going to eat it, but there was a small post-it on the plate that says "Happy Birthday! This is the name-of-program Birthday Donut. (Do Not Eat!)". I thought it was because I was supposed to share it with everyone. I was later told that the donut's been with Harris longer than I have. Still, I wouldn't've minded adding some teethmarks to the trophy.

EVENT: Happy Birthday to Me!

As much as I would like to think that I don't need special events, I really do. I really do enjoy the big fuss. And even though I realize that a daily regiment is what keeps me grounded, I always enjoy the change of pace.

So when I walked into work and found a donut with candles,surrounded by colorful, curly ribbons, I really did appreciate it. And the day's off to a good start (asides from a unnecessarily long search for my keys (which were still attached to the outside of the front door)... but still I didn't stress so it's all good).

The boss is out today, and I've already gotten some work done. I've decided to take a complete break from the SSL work, and to get a move on with the next coding task (though still waiting on the dependent code to be delivered).

Papa in Orlando invited me out to the house for dinner tonight, but I'm still feeling throat-sick and don't want to pass it along, so I'm going to stay home tonight... maybe work on the TLR webpage some, maybe go rollerblading (figure out why it's so slow), and nap with the cats (they're having a particularly many 'Awwwwww' moments lately).

Okay, so it's back to work. :)

JOURNAL: ps. _______

Where I parked today:

at Disney's Animal Kingdomat the Premiere Outlet Mallat the Mall at Millenia

JOURNAL: ______... umm... pictures

Okay, my mind is shot, and I'm unable to put together a decent story entry, so here are the pics and some quick captions:

I rode Expedition Everest twice.Sweetie Bear at Premiere OutletsGifts for my newphewsThe Stitch pack I bought, and a birthday card I got from Southwest AirlinesIt looks like Stitch is hugging me...yeah, he's literally a stitch on my side.

Boo... I told you it was a bad writing sentence day.

STITCH: To The Zoo

This morning was fun. Daddy brought me to the Brevard Zoo. It was my first time. There were a lot of people there... mostly short ones.

We were going to do the African kayaking but we got bumped to a later tour. Daddy took me around to see the other animals instead.

My favorite exhibit was the vultures. There were a lot of these shelly-animals sleeping. They looked comfortable so I joined in.

We grabbed food at the Chinese restaurant then went home and watched tv on the computer. And now Daddy's going to take a nap before he has to go back to work. I'm going to sleep too. In a comfy bed this time.
~Stitch

RUN: Sweaty Ceddy (a.k.a. "Swish")

Home <--> Suntree Blvd @48:40 (w/a few walk breaks)

Tonight's late-night run was an attempt to fight off a cold. Also, after a couple of weak practices, I needed a long-run to build up my endurance even though I felt that my right leg wasn't hitting the ground quite right - hence the walk-breaks.

Also, I felt the need to contribute a couple of kitchen pics... it's been a while:

Anyways, tomorrow's a "free day". Depending on when I go to bed and when I wake up tomorrow, I might head over to Disney (I know that I'll be there Next weekend with Cindy, hitting the parks pretty hard)... or I'll go shopping for pants.

Okay, gotta go shower and sleep now. G'night!

JOURNAL: Shortbus.

Took me a couple hours, but I finally found out that RoadRunner doesn't allow "custom CGI scripting". Boo. At least I can stop trying to get the form to work... for now.

It's almost 11pm, but I want to go for a run... is that bad? I have a sore-ish throat (from one of my co-workers... thanks. *psflttt*). I just thought that some running may do it some good.

(the entry wasn't what you thought it'd be about, eh?)

WORK: Team Photo

Yesterday morning at work, our program team had a photo taken of all of us wearing our spiffy new program shirts. Anyways, turned out it was a great modeling/posing day, and I think I looked great. Yes, it's another picture to add to the vanity collection. I also like it because I have poptarts in my shirt pocket and I'm wearing jeans and sneakers. Woo hoo.

Anyways, enjoy.

CATCHUP: RUNS

Three Runs. Just for the record...
Sunday, March 18, 2007: ran from home to wal-mart, bought Casino Royale, ran home, watched it; it was hot outside.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007: work went late, so tried running 2-mile time trial on my own @ BCC PL; ran first mile in 6:13, but was rushing and hadn't warmed up; called it a practice... done in less than 10 minutes total... wow.
Thursday, March 22, 2007: at WP, rollerbladed a couple laps for warm-up (1 1/4 miles @7:00,6:40) then ran 11x 330s @1:05 (w/1:30 rest) with Paul; Juan's last practice before being deployed to Kuwait for 172 days; people brought food, I brought my camera:

Not-a-GatheringThe Spread (very niiice)(Anne,) Juan, Jimmy, David's Dad, DavidSuzie, George, Me with broccoliMichelle and Jim being photogenic

CATCHUP: Photos and mini memories

Work's been busy, and there's just TOO many things to catch up on. One way of handling this would be something that Nofo would do (and which I like) which is bolded, bulleted nuggets of blah-blah-blah. The only difference is that mine won't be all nice and neat because I'm totally putting lots of pictures... for those who don't like reading (i.e. those who have skipped reading this rambling and are now just looking at the pictures)... so, with no further...

Camille and Quave's visit. This is the fourth year in a row that my little sister's come to visit me for her Spring Break. In 2004, she came with two girls and a guy, 2005 was with four guys, 2006 was with one girl, and this year it was one guy. It was another fun visit, though busy with work too:

Just Have To Get A Picture In Front Of the Geodesic-Sphere
No Calibration Needed
Hey, I'm Britney
How Many Years of Chinese School for What?
We Did All Four Parks!
Holiday Cards 2006. I managed to finally get to those Holiday cards out. I wasn't sure whether or not I could "just send a photo" with a message on the back or if I had to send it with an actual card card with the photo. As a compromise, I used mounting corners to attach the photo to a half-page of heavy(er) card stock paper:

(sent out in March 2007! Yeah!)Green CardRed Card (mounted)
The Cats. Yeah, they're are still alive. The food station, the litter box, even the slow-growing pile of mail pretty much look the same each time I go over there, which has been pretty much everyday. My visits were initially relatively quick and the cats became more affectionate (read: "needy") so I've tried to spend more time with them. I was having a difficult time adjust to a sleepover (being headbutted by the cats (okay, just Nala) throughout the night) so as a compromise (and it seemed to work tonight), I took an hour-long nap on the couch with Nala, then watched Grey's Anatomy (real-time) with StinkyPants snuggled up against my leg. So yay: relaxing and quality time:

Nala and StinkyPants ... plus Sweetie Bear
Olan Mills Couldn't Take a Better Photo

BULLOG: Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

Just for you Uncle Cedric!

--Poker and Euchre (and Cindy)

MOVIE: 300 -- It's Reigning Men!

Mmm... Meat. Raw, bloody, scantily-clad Meat.

But 300 offers more than chiseled men in strappy leather sandals, tight leather briefs, and gorgeous free-flowing red capes... I think... I was concentrating on the aforementioned eye-candy.

The standout for me was David Wenham as Dilios. I absolutely adored his hair - all of it.
Yummy.

RACE: Run For Your Life 5K, Titusville, FL @20:00

This morning I was really considering skipping out on the race in order to get more sleep but I woke up anyway and very begrudgingly packed up and headed out.

I'm glad that I went.

I ran pretty even splits:
    1st mile 6:25
    2nd mile 6:32
    3rd mile 6:15
TOTAL 3.1 miles... 20:00

Yeah, I ran a 20:00 flat, which is kinda "dooh", but it's a season PR, so I'll take it.

This morning I got to the IRC United Methodist Church for the race 40 minutes before the 8:00am start time. The set-up at the church was so festive (it being St. Patrick's Day and all) plus the church races are quite well-staffed; there were green signs, green shirts, green balloons, green lights, and their own Christian rock band, which rocked because the music was good/danceable and it's not like I listen to lyrics anyway. I wished that I had my camera, but again, it was kind of nice not worrying about it all.

For the race, I wore the navy blue [women's] shorts (fb-ing) and my purple sleeveless compression shirt to keep warm. It was really chilly, so I figured that I'd actually do a warm-up, and I ran for 5 minutes and stretched. I think it helped.

I didn't jet out super quick like usual, I just took it at a manageable pace. I wanted to try out my kick-speed and feeling more fit from some nice hard practices (like Tuesday's 5-mile continuous intervals), I figured that I had enough fitness to try it out. And I did. I didn't worry so much about the people who slowly passed me during the first mile even though they looked twice my age.

My Cocoa Beach coach, Rebecca, and the usual top female runner, Kara, caught up to me and we ran the second mile together. Then Kara and I picked up the last mile, and with a quarter mile to go, I kicked it hard... but it was the last tenth-of-a-mile that kicked my ass. It was a run-past-the-finish-line, loop-around, and come-back sort of thing. By the time I rounded the last turn, I saw the clock at 19:52 (holy crap) and gave it a second kick. I had initially kicked too early, but without it, I know that I would've been over 20 minutes.

Anyways, I changed out of my compression shirt soon after the race, so I think that my internals will behave for the rest of the day. I had three of the wonderful power-rolls that I look forward to at each of these Titusville races. I would "eat one, put two in my bag" so by the end of the awards, I had nine rolls to snack on at home.

YUM!
OH, and I won 3rd place in my age group! WOO!

my award!
The drive home was kind of crazy... I was SC-driving (i.e. passing cars one-by-one on the right-hand lane). Boo, but I was listening to Car Talk, it was beautiful outside, and I was too tired to care all that much. Anyways, after I got home. I gave myself a quick haircut (just the sides):

before and after
And now I'm going to shower, eat, and take a nap.

Woo!

BULLOG: Making cookies

Mom's making your favorite cookies again. We don't know what they taste like. She doesn't let us have any. This time they're normal size. Can you smell them?


--Poker and Euchre (and Cindy)

BULLOG: Busy at the office

Uncle Cedric, are you working? We're working hard at the office too!

Okay, it's more like breathing hard. And don't most people nap there anyway? We did.


--Poker and Euchre

WORK: I'm still alive

Wow, when I posted that I'd be on hiatus, I didn't think that I was actually going to Be On Hiatus...

Anyways, just wanted to check-in and say that yeah, I'm still alive. It's been hella-busy at the office... hey, it's 1:05 AM, and I'm still here! I'm SO going to crash sometime today/tomorrow/Thurday/Friday.

I took two naps today: one during lunchtime and another one right after work (I'm just like Poker and Euchre).

Anyways...

Must... Test... Code... then I may just sleep in my car, wear the same stuff to work tomorrow, try to sell off my code early/asap (hoping that all is perfect), then head home to sleep some more.

Boo.

Ps - the cats are still alive.

BULLOG: Soneevda gets the Bullog treatment

Unclonymous needs to take a nap, so we're giving soneevda the bullog treatment. There's too many cat posts on here for our liking.

Cat? Where? uh, What's a cat? --Poker


We live in Baltimore with Cedric's sister Cindy, aka "Mom". This guy used to be Mayor McBiceps in Baltimore. Now he's Governor McBiceps.


Stop drooling. Oh, were you thinking about this? We were. Yummy!


Mom says Uncle Cedric lives in Florida where it's hot. Euchre likes to stay cool. Here's one way to do it.


Okay, back to napping until Mom comes home.


--Poker and Euchre