ABC's

Ava has this awesome ABC book with wonderful pictures. We often read it to her, and a week or two ago we realized that she knows most of the words in the book! Not only does she know all the words, but she even knows them out of order and can do it without pictures! Here is a movie of her saying the first few words (only the first 15 seconds are worth watching).

Boston Marathon

Sorry, I thought I posted this last month...

The Boston Marathon is a big deal to runners and the Boston community. It is held on Patriots Day, which is observed on the third Monday of April (and to my knowledge is only celebrated in Massachusetts). It is a hectic day in Boston, because there is both the Marathon and a Red Sox game. Plus, the marathon course is basically a straight shot heading east from Hopkinton to Boston and cuts off the north side from the south side of the city. All of that makes for one crazy day.

Last year after watching four Boston marathons, I couldn't resist 'The Itch' any longer and decided I would try to qualify for, and run, the Boston Marathon. I planned out several races/events that I could train for that (assuming I could stay healthy) would help prepare me to run a qualifying marathon. Fortunately, everything fell into place and I was able to qualify (AND register, something that is going to be much harder starting next year thanks to a new registration scheme).

Unfortunately, I was not able to stay as healthy in the months leading up to the Boston Marathon as I had before the qualifier, so I wasn't able to train well. I had a good long run 3 weeks before the race so I thought things were looking up for me, but then due to an injury I was barely able to exercise until race day. As a result, I lost a lot of my stamina and was not well prepared for the race. My goal had been to run the race, not to necessarily get any specific time, and it is lucky that I had low expectations...

Race day was perfect running weather, highs around 60, and a stiff tail wind, which proved to be a big help because by mile 4 I could tell that I was fatiguing already. I held a decent pace through mile 16, but was TIRED and still had 10 miles to go. UGH!

From then on I had to stop and walk a lot, and it was all I could do to focus on getting across the finish line without passing out. I was so tired, that at mile ~22 I stopped to chat with Britney and Ava for several minutes because I needed a break. Notice the runners going by behind me in the pictures below.

After 10 very slow and painful miles, I made it across the finish line at a time of 3:22 (7:43/mi pace). It was much slower than my qualifier, but I FINISHED!

After I crossed the finish line I felt HORRIBLE! My stomach was really upset and I was so tired, all I wanted to do was lay down and not move. I was able to make it through the line to get a massage which helped a bit, but I still didn't want to walk more than a few feet at a time. It didn't help that the finish line is a total mob scene (see below).

After taking a Taxi home and soaking in the tub for a while I felt well enough to walk and go to dinner. By the next day I was feeling like a normal human being again, just a bit tired still (except for one black toe nail).

Here are some amazing facts about this year's Marathon:
1. The winner of the race ran the fastest marathon time EVER (2:03:02, for those of you wondering, that is 4:42/mi pace)! (How cool is that, and I was in the same race!)
2. Almost 24,000 registered runners finished the race (I specify 'registered' because this race is well known for having numerous 'bandit' runners who run the race without having qualified).
3. 98.1% of qualified starters finished the race.
4. I finished 5454 overall, and 4749 out of the men.

Personal Highlights
1. This is an amazing race not only because it is the longest running marathon (this year was the 115th), but the fans are INCREDIBLE! There were fans along almost the ENTIRE 26 miles! I've watched the race before and seen some of the crowds, but it is truly humbling to see all the thousands of spectators out cheering on people they don't know as they run past. I was particularly grateful for the all of my friends who came out to cheer me on. Thanks everyone, I really appreciated it!

Notice that here 4 miles away from the finish line, there are lots of people and barricades, and it just got more crowded from there.

2. It is truly amazing to run in an event where, as far as you can see in both directions, there are other participants. This picture I found is a good example of what the first few miles look like.

For those of you frustrated by Microsoft Windows: You are not alone...

There have been many times when I have been horribly frustrated (and/or confused) by Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft products. Amazingly, Bill Gates himself (former CEO and founder of Microsoft) often voiced frustration with Microsoft products. Check out this rant he wrote in a 2003 email about an all too familiar sounding experience when he was trying to download a Microsoft program (CLICK HERE).

When asked about the email, Gates apparently said: "There’s not a day that I don’t send a piece of e-mail… like that piece of e-mail. That’s my job.”

Wait,... so Bill Gates, the CEO of Microsoft, was doing basic quality control??? And, years later, we are all still painfully aware that things like that STILL happen!?! Maybe its just me, but I though CEO's were supposed to be doing better things with their time, like pushing for REAL changes/improvements. I guess I was wrong... at least about Microsoft.

Another thing Bill Gates ranted about: 'Clippy' (click HERE to listen to a HILARIOUS segment about Bill Gates and the infamous 'Clippy' from Wait Wait Don't Tell Me)

Who thought that a talking paperclip was a good idea?!?!?

One last thing: Does anyone remember seeing ads last year for the Microsoft phone called the Kin? Most of you probably won't remember because they were only on sale for 48 days and only sold ~500 units (compare that to the original iPhone that sold 6.1 million units). Talk about a FLOP! I don't understand how Microsoft can spend ~$1Billion developing a product and end up with something that didn't sell!

These are just a few of the reasons why I am a Mac!

Belated Christmas Present

For Christmas, Britney got me a coupon for an airplane flight lesson that included a 30 minute flight. Yesterday I finally got around to doing it. My instructor didn't provide very much instruction before getting up in the air, so I was pretty nervous and had to really concentrate on following the directions from the instructor. As a result, I didn't get to really enjoy the scenery, but fortunately a friend of mine came up with us and took pictures. Here are just a few.

It was a pretty small plane and because of the wind and warm weather, we got bounced around a bit, which made both my friend and I uncomfortable. Fortunately, neither of us got sick and we both had a good time (or at least I think so).

Thank you Britney for an awesome Christmas present!!!

Ava's Dear Friend

I don't know what it is about the Sesame Street character Elmo, but kids LOVE him! Ava is no exception. She loves the Elmo books, toys, and segment of Sesame Street that he's in.

For a few weeks, Britney and Ava would drive me to work. Along the way, in a fairly secluded area, Ava would always say ELMO! For the longest time we couldn't figure out why she was saying it so consistently. Finally we realized that there was a billboard that was barely visible in that secluded stretch of road that had a picture of Elmo on it.  I seemed that Ava looked forward to driving past it because she would always happily say 'Elmo'.

Sadly, several weeks ago the billboard was changed, and no longer had a picture of Elmo. To this day, as we drive by that stretch of road, Ava says in a sad and longing voice, 'Elmo'. She definitely noticed the change and mourns her loss.

More Costa Rica

Here are a few more fun pictures from our trip to Costa Rica:

This is a sign advertising a zip-line place. Read this one carefully...

It reads "The Longest & Hightes".... Awesome!

The next picture is of the Arenal volcano at La Fortuna.

The last two are of the rain forest area west of the Arenal volcano. It rained most of every day we were there. We only had to drive about 10 miles to get out of the rain forest... talk about micro climate!

Ava Firsts in Costa Rica

In February we went on a Bassett family (yes all 5 sibs and families were there) trip to Costa Rica. We had a great time! Here is a list of firsts that Ava achieved while there.

First...
...time leaving the country
...time hiking (where she was actually walking and not being carried the whole way, look how happy she is in above picture)
...time really figuring out how to walk down stairs
...Spanish word she learned 'Gracias'

And most importantly....she got her first hiking blister! I couldn't be more proud!