Christmas in chem lab!

I hope it's a pony!

Turns out it was a graduated cylinder.

No more p-chem lab. I just have to finish about 5 more lab reports by next Wednesday.

I also need a haircut.

Say what you need to say

I used to be good at writing out my thoughts... blog, journal, email, whatever. It was better than talking about them because I tend to formulate them as I talk. When I would write I could figure out the connections between different points and organize them in some coherent way. At some point in the past five years I think part of me shut down... either I gave up on writing or I just quit having thoughts that I needed to organize.
Truth be told, I think it was the later.
But now I'm at this point where I need to do that again and I don't know how. There's so much I want to say and do, but every time I try to say or do it, it just seems wrong.
Blah!!

Cookie monster

We told him he had to sit at the table until he finished his cookie. Half way through, he tried getting up for some more hide and seek and wanted to take it with him.

It looks like he's finally hit that age where he thinks that it's a loophole to shove the whole thing in his mouth. Unfortunately it was a lot of cookie for a little guy.

That's the motherload in the background washing the post meal dishes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Smoke the turkey 5k

Thanksgiving morning at 9 AM. knocked another minute off my time with this one. 26:22. There were over a thousand people participating, making the start line the biggest race crowd I've been a part of. Probably could have knocked a few more seconds off if I wasn't dodging people for the first mile.

I didn't know he was running, but apparently I passed Matt Olszewski and he followed me for a good chunk of the race and didn't say anything till the finish line. Got to see his whole family afterward. Good times :-)

I'm still gunning for that 6 minute mile!

This one is for melissa

Culvers in Red Wing Minnesota. Turtle sundae and a butter burger... mmm!
of course I don't recommend this after eating a third of a bag of cheese curds.

Falcon 5k

This was our homecoming race. My time was 27:23 and I was 2nd in my age group... of course 3rd place took over 40 minutes. I'm mostly proud of beating my previous 5K time of 29:45. I made some new friends while I was there too.

Co(en)2Cl2*Cl

Co(en)2Cl2*Cl

CoCl2*6H2O

CoCl2*6H2O

Home opener

I love a stadium full of orange

In rock he trusts

In the physics department at Bowling Green State University, or any other department that I know of, there is no professor like Bruno Ulrich. He is six feet and two inches of awesome. Favorite Band: Deep Purple. Being an Austrian, he tends not to wear deodorant so his body oder announces his presence long before he is seen. note the fanny pack full of doggy treats.

Fail!

This is Doug.
Doug is socially awkward.
Doug is also one of my favorite people ever.
Doug makes me smile.

I missed this guy

Typical for the Hannah, seen here munching on it's subway, is to be seen giving quizzical or mocking looks to the people around it. A frequent a tormentor of the Kirby, the Hannah is known for being somewhat indiscriminate toward whom she demeans and belittles. It is truly a glorious creature to behold.

Poor rickey

Oh how it is to be home! Good, bad? I don't know, but it definately is. Can I leave now?

The backyard and Psalm 23

"He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul."

I know where i won't be on october 6th and 7th

This was one side of the marquee at the State Theater where Lonie and Tiffany had their wedding reception. I laughed :-)

This is the one i'm gonna miss like woah

Friday morning in Denver Airport. She's runnin on 3 hours and considerably less for me. We might be tired, but DANG, we look GOOD!

Jonny B: constipated on a cooler

Earlier this summer, I got a picture of this boy that looked like he was sitting on a cooler and crying. I was later informed that he was in fact constipated. Somehow I also doubt that this was the case. All I know is that this kid loves sitting on coolers.

Chelsea has a heart of darkness

Ok, so it's not really all that dark. I wish I could have gotten a picture with her face in the Roman Centau...Centuari...Centauri... The Biblical Guard!

Same place, different feel

Three years ago I had my first experience with Group Workcamps Foundation of America. I took my youth group to Indianapolis. We stayed in this very church. this summer I just happened to get sent back there on staff. It's just not the same w/out ashley and joy :-(

Ironically, two years ago, I had my second experience with Group Workcamps Foundation of America. I took my youth group to a Week of Hope in Nashville. It was a different church, but that was the other city I just so happened to get sent to.

I find it somewhat uncanny that I would get sent to the two camps that I had been to as a participant. It's stranger if one considers that they are both different formats than what I had been trained to staff.

My last new crew

On their way back to Colorado, Crew 10J had to drop me off in Indianapolis to staff the last week of hope there for the summer. The two crazy kids next to me are Matt and Jen Ferguson... the married couple!

Apparently God especially loves my face

Friday at workcamp is the Day of the Lord's Favor. It's Thursday at week of hope. The campers put stickers on each other. As staff, I do not participate in these shenanigans. I did not have an option this week.

So we stopped for lunch and...

...Praise God!

Less than a week!!

That's how long until I get to see my fellow flex staffers. Of course there are other people I'm looking forward to seeing, but I'm dedicating this post to Renee and Chris: the only two people who really have any real idea what this summer has been like.

Laura demonstrating the tongue dance

It wasn't as bad as it sounds. She just got up on the table and danced while sticking out her tongue. It was still just about my favorite staff meeting moment of the summer.

I invented organizer check-in

Those kids were my entourage from the cosponsor. They hung out with me the whole time and we had the most popular check-in table of the day :-)

Rob and ed stopped by to visit today.

Apparently the girls in their crew cared more about Harry Potter and the beach than hanging out with us. Yeah, whatever Kate West. I don't even care!

All masking tape

All masking tape

Mystic CT

Yup, it's the one from the julia roberts movie. Our cosponsor took us out to eat at a place called the voodoo lounge in Mystic. Apparently a lot of movies have been filmed here. I haven't seen any of them.

Here comes the sun...

I saw this while i was running this morning. I don't think the picture does it justice.

Ahh... Jason loves Setup week

Ahh... Jason loves Setup week

What is that mysterious ticking noise?

I think I liked the order of the phoenix better, but malfoy did a great job in this one. However, the DA was disappointingly absent :(

New crew part two: laura and Mandy

New crew part two: laura and Mandy

New crew, part one: Tenni and jason

New crew, part one: Tenni and jason

I miss these guys!

I miss these guys!

Things to do before I turn 30:

• Get a haircut

Check!

• Run a half marathon

Check!

Just like I said I would in my last post, I did it! I know I'm a little late with the update, but it has been a busy few weeks. First the 13.1 miles, then exams, then moving out of my apartment, and now I'm effectively homeless for a week and a half. So understand why it has taken me so long to get around to posting what an outstanding experience this was.

Bear with me because I'm just going to relive the whole experience beginning to end.

The half marathon started in Perrysburg .1 miles away from the 13 mile marker for the full marathon runners. I got there about a half hour early and really had to pee. Unfortunately there was a huge line to get to the two port-a-potties (I think that's the first time I've ever typed "port-a-potties" and it's making me a little bit uncomfortable). So I decided to hold it.

I met John Amato's friends that he talked into running. All of us were first timers. eventually they started ushering us up to the start line. the race was slotted to start at 8AM but at 5 till, we heard that they were starting us ten minutes late. So I decided to try my luck at the now dwindling bathroom lines.

I was on my way back to the start line when the gun went off. Not being in the crowd of 400 runners when they took off was probably my only regret of the day. I was far from being alone though. The general excitement made it difficult to keep from running to hard at the start, but I found some people going at a good pace and just followed them for the first two miles. I met up with John at the first water station and he ran with me for about the next 3 miles or so. after mile five, John went on ahead and I started walking the 0.1 mile between the full mile markers and the half mile markers and running the other 0.90.

When John finally ran up ahead, he left me an energy gel and told me to eat it right before an aid station and then wash it down with some water. It's like a power bar, but in gel form. I'd never eaten one before and was expecting some kind of fruit flavor. ... it was like squirting a tube of chocolate toothpaste into my mouth! I gagged a little, drank some water, made a mental note to never eat an energy gel ever again, and waddled on.

At about mile 8, there was a big hill. I say big from the perspective of someone from the flat lands of north west ohio who had just run 8 miles. It just about killed me. I felt like I was going to throw up afterwards. Essentially, I had to walk for about the next 3 miles because every time I tried jogging, I started feeling sick. It was during this leg that I got passed by a 12 year old girl.

at about mile 11, I caught a second wind and was able to start jogging again for the last 2.1 miles. At the last aid station, all the volunteers were dressed up in lederhosen and one of them offered me a beer! apparently this is pretty standard at some marathons. I declined.
at about the last .2 miles, John met back up with me, surprised that he didn't have to backtrack further. He ran with me to the home stretch and then let me finish on my own.

I crossed the finish line three hours, one minute, and some odd seconds after I crossed the start line. I had hoped to make it in under three hours, but my real goal was simply to finish.

Most of the pictures are on facebook, but Here's pKa exclusive link to a picture of me approaching the finish line... the smile was completely involuntary

Momma said they were my magic shoes...

It's always been a life goal of mine to run a marathon some day. 26.2 miles. seems like kind of a long way.

Back in the day, I had actually started training for one. I stayed pretty consistent with my running. Unfortunately for some reason or another, I ended up falling off the proverbial horse. I managed to get back on for a while and ran a four mile race, but that was three or four years ago and ever since then, I never really expected that I'd realistically be able to go any farther than that.

For about a month and a half now, a young man named John Amato has been pressuring me to hop back on that mighty steed and run the glass city half marathon with him. Unfortunately I always considered my wall to be at four miles and while thirteen isn't exactly twenty six, it's a helluva lot more than four.

Two weeks ago, he finally talked me into giving it a try.

I'm proud to say that I broke my wall last Friday and made it 5 miles which made me realize that it's actually going to happen.

... the crazy part is that it's happening in less than a month.

Good morning starshine. The earth says hello!!

This is the new guy:

His name is Dean Michael Anning and he officially came into being yesterday. I'm not a big fan of the name, but unfortunately Max and Shauna neglected to consult with me. I need a nickname.

SPRING BREAK TWO THOUSAND NINE!! WOO!!!

Last week was spring break.
Went down to Cincinnati and saw brother Gym:

I think the 'stache only makes him look a little bit like someone who should not be left alone with children.

Tuttle looks cold

Had dinner with this girl a couple weeks ago:

It was freezing in the resteraunt.
... and we were pretty sure they were smoking pot in the back.
... and by "we" I mean "me"
... and by "pretty sure" I mean "in my dramatic fantasy world"





A week or two later, I got a visit from this girl:
she wouldn't let me photodocument the occasion so I had to steal her profile picture. Regardless, it was a good weekend of authentic chinese food, stuffed breadsticks, cookie jar, and watching wall-e with a girl on valentines day ;-)