krisalis

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Riding the Zilker Zephyr on Boxing Day.

1) Finally upgraded to WP 2.7.

2) Finally got around to changing the banner picture for the weblog.

Still to do:

Fiddle with the CSS to change a few colours and fonts and whatnot. It would be easier if I actually knew what I was doing, rather than taking educated guesses as to what elements I’m changing and what the end result would be. It’s all rather trial and error around here. Oh well.

Alexander had his second hair cut yesterday.

Before:

After (from the back):

And from the front:

Such a handsome little boy. Where did my baby go?

Here’s my 2008 reading list, most recent consumption at the top. My favourites are shown in bold.

Letters to Sam: A Grandfather’s Lessons on Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life - Daniel Gottlieb
Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
Quidditch Through the Ages - J.K. Rowling
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - J.K. Rowling
Under The Banner Of Heaven - Jon Krakauer
The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl - Shauna Reid
Love Over Scotland - Alexander McCall Smith
The Miracle at Speedy Motors (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency) - Alexander McCall Smith
The Sunday Philosophy Club - The Sunday Philosophy Club
Behind The Scenes At The Museum - Kate Atkinson
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast - Nigella Lawson
Childhood - Bill Cosby
In Style: Instant Style - Editors of In Style Magazine
Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World - A. J. Jacobs

[my reading list from 2007 is here and 2006 is over here.]

New Year’s Day
Originally uploaded by krisalis.

Alexander playing in the garden with his trucks in the sunshine. Hope your 2009 is off to a happy start too!

Zilker Zephyr
Originally uploaded by krisalis.

Happy Boxing day!

Trail of Lights
Originally uploaded by krisalis.

Alexander walked through the lights in silent, wide-eyed awe.

It’s not easy to capture a 21 month old boy on camera and get a photo that is suitable for sending out to friends and family….

Here are a few pictures from our attempt.

1) Cheeeeese

2) Booger

3) Blur

It took us a while, but we finally got something usable…

Christmas Greetings to you and yours.

Here’s a snapshot of my training so far:

This past week was pretty brutal. Lots of mid-week miles on top of the longest run I’ve ever done (so far) at 16 miles. And the weather has not been cooperative recently. It was soooo cooold during the week, then all of a sudden it got hot and muggy just in time for this weekend’s 12 miler. Pah!

For our 12 mile run this weekend Billie and I ran the last part of the AT&T marathon course, in an attempt to begin familiarizing ourselves with the terrain. It was a pleasant enough route, with lots of interesting neighbourhood type things to look at. Of course, we may not think this way towards the end of the marathon on race day….particularly those little hills near the Hancock Golf course…Hmm.

We’ve got a slightly lighter work load this coming week - 3 on Mon, 4 tempo on Tues, 5 on Wed, 3 on Thurs….building up to 18 (!) at the weekend.

Training seems to be going pretty well so far, from the point of view that I can now comfortably cover a half marathon distance, finish up and head home for a shower, change and get on with my day, and still feel fine the next day. Yesterday’s 12 miles actually felt “short”! I honestly don’t know that I believed it would ever be possible for me to say “oh, it’s only 12 miles”.

I have a few minor aches and pains and tweaks and tightness here and there. The ball of my right foot gets sore towards the end of long runs. I’ve changed shoes and now have 2 pairs of shoes that I switch between to keep them springy, but that hasn’t seemed to make much difference. My left hamstring gets sore towards the end of longer runs and twinges when I run up hill. And my hips/hip flexors are tight/sore after long runs. But with a bit of stretching, a lovely sports massage last week and the occasional ibuprofen (which Mark refers to as vitamin I), my body is coping pretty well all things considered. I hope this can continue!