Dear Santa

I found this somewhere and think it's great.

The No Impact Dear Santa letter

Dear Santa,
I was thinking about how much I love playing with my little girl Isabella and talking to my wife Michelle and joking around with my best friend Tanner. You know what I realized? There is nothing more fun than just laughing with the people I love. There isn't a gadget or a game or a toy or any sort of thing you and the reindeer could possibly bring me that I would rather have than a couple of hours of laughter.

I was thinking how when I talked to a bunch of third graders a while back and I said to them, "How many of you know the feeling of really wanting something and then when your parents finally get it for you, instead of feeling excited, you feel kind of disappointed and sad?" Three-quarters of the kids raised their hands. By age eight, these kids already knew that more stuff doesn't really make you feel better.

I was thinking, too, how that wanting feeling I get in the pit of my stomach is never cured by getting the object of my desire. Once I get what I want, instead of feeling satisfied, my want just moves on to the next thing. And I was also thinking how most of my stuff has the effect of pulling me away from my friends and family--because I use it alone--when joking around and having fun with them actually is really effective at making that wanting feeling go away.

Finally, I was thinking how all this stuff that doesn't really make me happy also has the effect of hurting the planet as clouds of carbon are produced as the stuff is manufactured, delivered, used and finally disposed of. I was thinking, on top of that, how so many people get stressed out by the debt and high costs of a Christmas full of presents. In other words, all the Christmas junk not only harms the planet but it kind of harms the people too.

So anyway, Santa, I was thinking how, since joking around with my friends and family gives me a lot more pleasure than more stuff, maybe you and the reindeer could just drop a few envelopes down our chimney. Like maybe I could have a couple of comedy tickets so I could take my friend Tanner out. Maybe we could have some symphony tickets, so Michelle and I could hold hands and listen to great music. You get the drift.

What I'm asking for is gifts that, instead of causing me and mine to separate from each other, instead cause us to bond together and enjoy each other. Experiences we can share that have the effect not only of giving us a good time but, say, supporting the arts and helping to build and strengthen community. They have the benefit, too, of not consuming a lot the planet's resources.
Thanks so much Santa. Sorry if I won't be coming to the mall this year to sit on your lap. I'll leave the cookies in the kitchen as usual.

All the best,
No Impact Man

End of Summer

I definitely thought I would be better at writing more regularly. The summer came and went so fast, I can hardly believe it! I ran my 3rd 5K of the year this past Saturday and finished in 31:30- my best time this year! I'm in a 10K training program right now and we run twice a week together. I really think that has helped a lot. The 10K is November 3 and we've been training since July. I really like the structure of the workouts. Between working 2 jobs and running 3-4 times a week, I'm keeping myself very busy. There isn't much time for anything else so there really isn't much else to talk about. I plan on running about 5 more races this year and I'll keep you all updated on how they go! My next big goal: a 10 Miler next April.
Oh, and here's a picture I took of my dad on his new Harley!

Happy 4th of July

This is a picture from the Race for the Cure. So many people!! I ran another 5K on June 16 and just as I had hoped, finished in under 35 minutes! 33:41 to be exact!! I don't know when the next race will be, but I'll definitely let you know! I haven't been keeping up-to-date with our movie goings. We saw "Knocked Up"- so hilarious!! We also saw "Surf's Up". It was a lot better than I expected it would be. There are still a few movies I'd like to see while they're in the theatre. I think we're going to see something tomorrow and we already bought our tickets to see Harry Potter next Tuesday night! I'm so excited! If I could only go to 1 movie all summer, it would have to be Harry Potter. Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!

Race For The Cure

The 5K race was Saturday and it was awesome! There were 45,000+ people there- it was completely insane but lots of fun. I finished the race in 36 minutes which I am very happy with. I'm hoping to finish my next one in under 35 minutes. They had a lot of sponsors and booths set up and I won a 6-roll pack of Quilted Northern!! Other than finishing the race in 1 piece, that was the most exciting part of my day! There's a 5K on Friday night (I'm a member of a running club and this is just a club race) and I really want to run it, but I noticed some swelling on my ankle last night. It's not too bad so it should be good tomorrow. After the injury I had last summer, I'm not going to push it and risk not being able to run for 2 months. We'll see how it goes!

Pirates of the Carribean and a 4 mile run!!

We saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End on Friday. It was really good. We hadn't seen the second one, so rented it and watched it last week. It definitely helped that we had just watched that one when we went to see the new one. I didn't have high expectations for the second one, so I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. They were both really good. I don't want to go into too much detail and give anything away! We probably won't go to the movies this weekend because I have the Race for the Cure and 2 parties. But we want to see "Knocked Up", "Surf's Up", and "Ocean's Thirteen" next.
Speaking of the Race for the Cure, it's already 5 days away. Today I ran 4 miles so I know I'll be ready! I'm not looking forward to getting up at 5 a.m., but I'm looking forward to the race itself. My goal is to run it in under 40 minutes which I know I can do. I'll let you know how it goes!

Shrek the Third

Last night was summer movie #2- Shrek the Third. I was looking forward to seeing this, and then when it came out there were a lot of mixed reviews. Many people say the first and second are much better and this one needs to be the last. I was bummed but still planned on going. I am so glad I did! It was funny and cute and I was able to relax and enjoy it. There were many adult jokes in the movie and they were good! If you're looking for a movie where you can just sit back, relax, and don't have to do much thinking, then go see Shrek the Third! On Friday we also saw "An Inconvenient Truth". It opened my eyes and I encourage everyone who hasn't seen it to go out right now and rent it.
Next up: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. We already have our tickets so I guess that means we're definitely going!

Race for the Cure

I signed up for the Susan G. Komen National Race for the Cure yesterday. It's a 5K run or walk on June 2. I'm going to do the run, and my goal is to raise $300. So far I've raised $60. There's another 5K on June 16 and an 8K July 21 that I'm hoping to do as well. I had a lot of fun running races last spring and I'm looking forward to running lots more, especially when it's for a good cause. I ran 2 miles last night, plan to do 2 again tonight, and Sunday I'm going for 3!

Spiderman 3

We kicked off our summer movie bonanza today with Spiderman 3. I have one word to describe this movie- weird. I didn't know what to expect going into it and I tried not to let the reviews influence me. It wasn't bad, but it was so weird! It was really all over the place and it definitely could have been a lot better! I'm glad we saw it and because I didn't have any expectations, I wasn't disappointed so that's good. I won't go into it because I don't want to give anything away for those of you who haven't seen it but are planning to. Next up: Shrek the Third!
Oh, and I ran for 30 minutes this afternoon- 2.5 miles! :)

Woot!

I ran 20 minutes tonight= 1.6 miles!! Woohoo!

First Post

I figured since I've had this blog since January, it's time to finally make a post. I haven't decided just what type of a blog I want to have. Mostly I'll write about how my running is going. I figure if I'm writing about it, then I have to be doing it. No excuses. I hadn't really done any running since October 2006 when I ran a 5K, but this past Friday I decided to go to the gym and I ran 1 mile. This time last year I was running 6 miles and now I'm struggling to finish 1. It was a wake-up call and I'm definitely glad to be back in the game. My goal is to be able to run a 5K in June. There are 2 of them and I just might run both. I'm also going to run a 10K in November and in 2008 I just might run that half-marathon I was training for last year. It's going to be a long road, but I'm looking forward to every step. Oh, and that's my cute and wonderful kitten, Sebastian.