Run the Republic Part Deaux

Ok, so here's Team BYGFoot before we

head up the big nasty stairs - you remember 1,098? From Left to Right - Lynne, Brian, Aileen, JR, Stacey, Bobby and Sarah - thanks to Sarah for the photo. The official team photo is forthcoming. Sarah also shared this other picture of her, Lynne and Bobby in front of the Republic Building. JR is already talking about "next year" and how he wants to be in the elite runner category (that would be climbing those 1,098 stairs in under 9 mins).

What doesn't kill you....

Well, this is one day after we did the Run the Republic. The Republic is the tallest building in Denver with 55 floors or 1,098 stairs, as they repeated over and over before we started. I haven't been able to work out for 3 weeks what with the bad back, the wedding, the budgets and the silly training in Boston so I wasn't at all sure of how I would do. Our friends Aileen and Brian were on our "team" as well as some people from JRs office and a friend of a friend, who was just delightful. This is the part where I give JR tons of kudos as he beat the 27 and 28 year old males in our group (it only took him appx 12 mins)! This is also the part where I cursed him for numerous floors while I climbed by myself. As luck would have it, one of the FOAFs hung back with me as he has Asthma and wasn't sure how he would do. We took our time - to be exact we took 1.12 secs per stair - and got done in appx 20 mins! Yippee for us. I can't thank Bobby enough for hanging with me; although he will tell you I hung w/ him. Aileen, Brian, Bobby and I all crossed the finish at the same time, and believe it or not, it was lots of fun. We all went out to Hot Cakes for a much deserved breakfast and then went home. JR and I read, watched golf and then watched the first 4 episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Aileen and Brian were right - It rocks!

On Friday, we saw Vantage Point which was fabulous - ignore the pundits as they are wrong. It's a thinking man's film and was really put together well. On Saturday we saw Michael Clayton and liked that as well.

I'll have a team picture soon.

Our Beautiful Daughter

Our Daughter Katheryne turned 24 in January and I wanted to include a picture of her "Hollywood Glam" party.

The handsome rogue in the picture to the right is her friend Chad.
From the looks of the pictures on her website, it looks like they had a wonderful time.

Oh, My Aching Back

What I didn't relay in the Houston post is that the first day we were there, the very first box I moved, I felt something in my back move and heard it go Pop, Pop; hmmmm not good sounds - oh yeah, and now pain. Well, I didn't let that stop me from helping. I even didn't tell Patti so that her head would not explode. So today, I go to the doctor and she sent me to a Physical Therapist who also saw me today. Apparently, my Sacrum and L5 are not where they are supposed to be - story of my life. So, he worked on my back and got me an additional 45 degrees of movement, so even tho it still hurts, it's at least a little bit more mobile. No working out this week, no sitting, standing, walking or lying down for long periods at a time. The plane ride back was excrutiating, but I'm feeling better after the PT. I'm looking forward to not being in pain.

Houston

Houston was a BLAST! We went to help and by help, I mean organize and effectuate, my friend's daughter's wedding. We left on Thursday and got a handle on what was going on, or not, as the case may be. On Thursday, we took Katheryne and her friend Chad out to dinner at Perry's Steakhouse and had a wonderful visit. The pork chops and the steak were to die for. On Friday, I went all over town with the other person in charge, Kathy, to tie up last minute purchases for the reception. JR stayed at Kathy's office and organized all the prior purchases - linens, sliverware, dinner plates, salt and pepper shakers, etc. He even put them into boxes - one per table - for easy dispersing. That evening, JR and I had about a dozen friends over for dinner at the extended stay suite we were staying in - it was so much fun! It was wonderful to see so many of our friends again. I miss them, but I sure don't miss Houston. On Saturday, it was up early and pack the cars for transporting all the times to the reception hall - an historical firehouse in the historic Heights neighborhood where we used to live. From 9am to 3pm, JR, Kathy, Jeni (my old neighbor) Dawn (my girlfriend's neice who is our age) and myself transformed this room into a romantic paradise fit for a princess. Katheryne came at 2 and took matters into her hands and organized the cake guy, the caterers and the DJ not to mention arranging all the flowers, while we went to the wedding itself. The wedding was held in an historic church in Sam Houston Park which only holds 75; don't sneak anyone in as they do a head count, bride and groom included. The ceremony took all of 15 mins, but accomplished the goal. My girlfriend Patti - MOB - looked amazing and her daughter the bride looked beautiful. Then back to the firehouse to help Kat who apparently had everything well in hand and looked quite beautiful herself. My handsome husband and I danced our butts off and I danced with any other man that stood still too long; Patti's bro Andy, my former neighbor Mike, his friends Mike and Gus, Chad...no one was safe - Patti, the bride, Kat, Dawn....It as a wonderful evening. We got home exhausted but happy as Patti and the bride were very pleased with the results. Pictures to follow, when we receive them.

Boston

Well, my trip to Boston was, unfortunately, a waste of 4 days. The "mandatory training" was going over software that we already use but would have a new look. I learned not one new thing. OK, that's a lie, I learned that unorganized people make me go insane. Wait, I knew that too :) I did get to spend a littl one-on-one with the head of accounting and explained some of our frustrations to him which apparently were a little of a surprise as he had been hearing the accounting people say that the people in the field are the problem. He listened and semed to want to do something about it and let us in on a few changes he already had planned. My budgets are still due, but I didn't work on them when I was gone. We found out that the formulas on several page were wrong, so one of my piers went through ad found the incorrect formulas. Multi-Billion Dollar company can't send out a spreadsheet that has been formatted correctly. So we all have to add time to fix all the formulas. Oh, and keep the expenses flat. Still takes over 2 hours/property. As of this morning, I have 4 more to do and I have to go back and fix the formulas on the ones I finished.
Boston was architecturally pleasing. Lots of beautiful buildings and row house, churches and librarys. Weather was cold and either rain or snow, but not unduly so. We walked wherever we wanted to go and took the subway one day to a historic building that has been converted to a market. We at lovely food at a great restaurant thanks to my boss and the evening was enjoyable. We stayed at the Courtyard at Copley Square where the workout room was the size o the elevator, the waitstaff for breakfast apparently hate their jobs and the icing on the cake was limited hot water the first 2 days (I had about 30 secs of that) and none at all on Friday.
I was happier than a barn full of baby owls to get home and spent the weeend doing household things and enjoying JRs company. Well, off to the grindstone.

Great Quote

Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well that we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process, we will catch excellence -Vince Lombardi

Lucky Stars

I am so grateful that I have a husband who values me and our relationship, and vice versa. I know many people who have problems with their spouses understanding the simple things. We each have likes, dislikes, hobbies and friends. Sometimes they overlap, but sometimes they don't, and it's all ok. We don't have to be glued to each other although we both enjoy just being in the same space. We can be happy for each other and our success in business without jealousy. We can each go off with our friends and not be concerned with what is happening while we are not there. People flirt with us and neither of us are pissed off about it or blame the other for this independent person DARING to talk to us and find us attractive; we find each other attractive, why wouldn't anyone else?

Deadlines

I love Deadlines - I love the sound they make as they go wizzing by....