There's No Wrong Way

Total miles run since entry to NYC marathon/this year: 15.81/333.54
Total distance(in miles) swam since entry to marathon: 1.38
Exercise calories burned since entry/this year: 2,812/55,177
Weight: 202 (I just ate dinner)
Beers in last 24 hours: 0
Money raised towards goal: $140



As part of today's "keep the family coming to my blog" offering, today I bring you this video of Beckett eating an Oreo at dinner last night.

More contributions came in today! My kick-ass, 100+ mile bicycle racing father-in-law, Bob, and his equally kick-ass 100+ mile bicycle racing wife, Alison, just pledged. And Michelle, a dear friend from my ASU days – who spent nearly three years of her life helping people in Africa, and later dedicated her life to helping children in Boston – has informed me that she'll be donating, too. Thank you. I'm really so friggen' honored and touched and grateful that you guys would step up like that and help out my cause. It is super-charging me with quadruple enthusiasm for this marathon. Besides helping out kids who really need the support, you're also helping me out. You're making me feel loved and all that mushy shit. Seriously, it's amazing.

Michelle says she may also try to come. Gnarly.

Also, before I forget, somebody (or maybe two of you) made donations via the internet link. Thank you so much. But can you please let me know who you were (perhaps privately by e-mail if you prefer anonymity). Here's the thing: Team for Kids is working top-speed to get their new website set up so that I can login and track my donations, but they don't have it up perfect just yet. So right now, all we get is little e-mails that said somebody made a donation. But I can't see who or how much right now. I just want to make sure when they get it set up that everything made it through the system transistion okay. Thanks.

I'm trying to think of what eventful things happened. Fourth of July went pretty smoothly and uneventfully. We had a little cookout with Janet and Ed, my in-laws, who live out in east Mesa. Beck woke up on the wrong side of the bed and complained on most of the drive out there. But once he got to "Grandma Kitty Cat's" house, he was pretty entertained. We had salad and zucchini and some other grilled stuff. I took a 'break' afterwards in the hallway bathroom. Those 10 peaceful midday minutes were most enjoyable. It's the little things that count, you know.

We came home and watched the first half of that new Woody Allen flick, "Match Point," during which I thought to myself at least 15 times that if I weren't happily married with a child, I would make a conscious decision to develop a most unnatural obsession with Scarlett Johansson and stalk her until she agreed to be mine, or at least agreed to sign a publicity picture at a photo op with some kicthy cliche like "To My Biggest Fan. Love, Scarlett" Then, I would post it on the wall and sing love songs to it everynight. Probably "Saving All My Love (For You)," by Whitney Houston. But I'm guessing some nights I would switch it up, you know, just to keep it fresh.

We're so lame, we actually went to bed before the fireworks started here in the big city. Some kids through M-80s in or near our yard. Heidi yelled at me to do something but, being a kid who once threw M-80s in peoples' yards, I knew there was little I could do. If I yelled at them, they'd throw more at us. If I called the cops, they'd run away before the cops could get here, and then put an M-80 in our mailbox two days later. At least, I'm guessing that's what I would have done 10, er, 20 years ago.

God, it does feel weird to say '20 years ago' and to think that 20 years ago, I was actually 10 - a functioning, somewhat intelligent human being. Makes me think of the Stones: "Kids are different today/I hear every mother say/Mother needs something to calm her down/And though she's not really ill/There's a little yellow pill/She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper ..."

In fact, by the time many of you read this, I will, indeed, be officially 30. And so it goes ...

Remember, as always, donations can be made to http://www.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/start.cgi/mar-programs/nyrrf/team/donations.htm. or by mailing me a check made out to NYRR Foundation. And, yes, they are tax deductable.
My entry number is 58138.

May your day be a good one.

Until tomorrow.

- Ed