Random Thoughts: My baby is great

I don't really have a specific thing that caused me to say that my baby is great. It's all the little things she does. For your entertainment, here are some examples:

• I went for a walk with her yesterday, and my knee started hurting sharply. I muttered, "Ow, my knee!" She says from her stroller, "Daddy... Kiss... Knee." After I let her kiss my knee, she says, "Better."


• Every time I am caring for her, when I say, "Daddy has to use the potty," she goes running off to her room. She grabs a pull-up style of diaper and carries it into the bathroom saying, "Yea! Proud!" She then proceeds to try to get me to lift my foot so she can put it on me.


• Erin showed me pictures yesterday of a great example of Laura helping. After Erin unloaded the dishes, Laura felt that all her plastic cups in a certain drawer needed washing. She pulled everything out and put it onto the bottom rack of the dishwasher. Afterwards, she decided that she should sit in the now empty drawer.


• Recently, Laura learned that she could get up onto the dining room chairs. Erin and I were preparing Easter dinner while Laura played randomly. Erin was facing the stove and I was facing the sink. I had seen Laura getting up into the chair but didn't think anything about it. As I work, in the back of my head I hear, "table, table, table, table..." Erin turns around and screams, "Oh my God!" I turn around and exclaim, "Holy crap!" Erin runs into the dining room and removes Laura from the table, tells her how dangerous it is to do that, and then we both recover from our near heart attacks.

Ah, babies. Is there anything better to keep you on your toes?

Welcome, Spring

It's been a long time since we've seen you last. Actually, you're kinda lingering in the doorway a bit. Usually you've made your arrival known well in advance with some kind of January thaw. In fact, I'm a little disappointed in your performance to date. I'm not mad, just disappointed. I expected better of you. Well, welcome home anyway. Hope we enjoy your stay.

Random Thoughts: Rough Night

Laura had her most restless night in a long time last night. It seemed like every 30 minutes, she was crying out or thrashing. I think its her incisors pushing through. I can't imaging that's all too fun. One positive note... I can get to work early. Sadly, I'm waiting for my pants to dry in the dryer before I can leave. The plus side to that... What's better than slipping into some warm and comfy pants fresh out of the dryer?

Relay For Life

Dear Family and Friends,

I’ve decided to take action against cancer by participating in my local American Cancer Society Relay For Life® event. Relay For Life® is about celebration, remembrance, and hope. By participating, I am honoring cancer survivors, paying tribute to the lives we've lost to the disease, and raising money to help fight it.

Please help support me in this important cause by making a donation. It is faster and easier than ever to support me by making a secure, tax-deductible donation online using the link below. If you would prefer, you can send your contribution to the mailing address listed below.

Whatever you can give will help - it all adds up! I greatly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Sincerely,

William Gauch

To make a donation online, visit my personal page.

Random Thoughts: That settles it

OK. I just loaded the post I just made and noticed that it is 50 degrees out AND I really feel crappy. I'm going home!

Random Thoughts: I'm getting sick

Just in time for a miserable weekend, I'm getting sick. Laura is already sick, and if she feels like I do, I feel bad for her. This started coming on yesterday and has been getting worse in bursts. Up until an hour ago I had a sore throat and some mild sinus irritation. Now, I just started with the nose blowing and coughing and I feel a headache rolling in. I just want to go home and sleep, but I know if I went home and went out for a run, I would probably feel better. I really don't want to be sick all weekend, but I think that's how this is going to play out. Maybe I will bring some fire wood into the house when I get home so we can play in the living room all day Saturday to rest and escape the rain. Although, logistically, fire and babies don't mix. I am betting Erin and I will be trading off on Laura duty and 5 minute breaks all weekend long. No matter what, though, I plan to push on with my garage clean-up. If I don't do it now, I will never get it done.

Recreation: Should I or shouldn't I?

I have been looking for my next run to motivate me in my training. After all, it makes it tough to train for no specific purpose. If you recall from a previous post, I was thinking the June 'SNA 5k by the Bay' was going to be my next race. It still hasn't been posted, so I was in a standstill. I don't want to register for a different race around the same time because I don't want to go overboard. What would I do if they were on the same day or even consecutive days?

That said, I periodically look for newly posted races on Cool Running to see if there is something else that seems interesting. I don't really want to run a 'fun run' associated with a bar or restaurant. I also generally like to keep my distances on the shorter side. That said, I recently discovered the 21^st Annual Narrow River Run. It is a 10K Run/5K Run/Walk. It is on May 17^th, so it would be far enough away from the SNA race to be safe. My only question is whether or not my knees will be in fighting form to run a 10K by then.

My general doctor seemed to think I had some previous meniscus damage that got shaken loose from my running. The running shoe store clerk seemed to think my pain was probably due to my moderate/severe over-pronation combined with the fact that my legs are of different lengths (according to her). A $99 dollar pair of shoes plus a full length orthotic insert plus a lift in my left shoe will probably help a lot (again, according to her).

In reality, it looks like the saleswoman was more correct. This new running gear has completely eliminated all pain from my right knee and has significantly reduced the pain in the left. Although, I say that but it really just moved the pain. Now, though, I think it might be muscle, tendon or ligament based. Some stretching and conditioning should help with that. My only question at this point, though, is will I be in shape to run 6.2 miles in May? I will know better in the next couple weeks, but my prospects are looking good.