Murphy's Law in Action

Ever feel like the adage "anything that can go wrong will go wrong" can be so accurate it is almost depressing? Or the spin-off of Murphy's Law "give the most inappropriate time for something to go wrong, that's when it will occur."

Well last week ....as our ceiling began to fall, I sure felt like whoever Murphy's law is named after was proud of his gremlins and the giggled watching his law flip my week upside down. Now, the ceilling situation alone was a dilemma; however, it was compounded by the fact that my partner in home ownership and life was OOT (out.of.town!) not only him, but everyone at the top of my emergency phone list chain of command (Ryan, my dad, his dad). All 3 were enjoying vacation, while I'm trapped with my collapsing ceiling. It sounds highly dramatic, but at the time is was a bit concerning.

Once I learned the first order of business was to prop the ceiling with 2x4's it led to more dilemmas.

1. 2x4's inside a Prius, that's a joke, right?
2. Me, sawing 2x4's to the appropriate length, that's a farce, right? I'm not even trusted to cut vegetables.
3. Propping the appropriately sized 2x4's to support the ceiling until a contractor and permanent fix are decided upon. Wait, am I candid camera, in my own home?

Luckily, I convinced a contractor to come and setup props to hold the ceiling temporarily (phew!). So what caused the ceiling to collapse? Laminate ceilings....note if you ever look at a home built in the mid-1970's - are the ceilings laminate ceilings?

In the long-run, we now have a contractor setup to come permanently fix the ceilings (throughout our home) and my better half is now back from vacation.

À bientôt!

Cool Things In GR

Since I've lived in GR (Grand Rapids for those non-Michiganders) for 9-months now, I'm almost an official Grand Rapidian (yes, that is a real term). I've noticed Grand Rapids tries really hard to be really cool, and since I'm really nerdy, it is cool enough for me. There a few things I strongly believe GR has going for it: several colleges in town, several large medical facilities, close proximity to Lake Michigan, good restaurants, several trails for hiking, running, walking, cycling, etc., summer festivals, and because of that there is a relatively large population of outdoor enthusiasts, compared to other Michigan cities. Note: we are not comparing ourselves to Denver, California or other typically uber-outdoorsy locations; only other Michigan cities.

What are my favorite things about GR? Several items listed above.....trails, relatively dog-friendly (at least my neighborhood), good shopping (mix of typical chain stores and local boutiques), and a solid base for runners (driven by places like Gazelle's and Metro Health).

So what made me attribute a whole blog to my love of GR....well that solid base of runners decided to organize a fundraiser for Joplin, MO - which I think is awesome. Instead of collecting registration fees, everything will be donated to Joplin's local United Way. So on June 26, hopefully a huge group of people will be ready to run, walk and raise money for Joplin, which doesn't get any better.

This race alone could be a reason people in Grand Rapids are cool. Of course, this won't be the only city organizing a Benefit for Boomtown, but I'm very happy to live in town with one.

Success

Do you ever wonder what success feels like? What its like to be livin' the dream? Well I wonder about both sometimes....and I definitely can't say I've experienced the latter (other than sarcastically, of course); however, last weekend I experienced the former. I completed my first marathon....not a half (that was done in March).....but a FULL marathon. Yes, 26.2 miles or 138,336 feet. I can officially proudly display the 26.2 bumper sticker on my Prius, rock the marathon shirt (and socks!), and confidently run any distance less than a marathon forever.

Was I fast? No....5:01:35 was how long it took me to complete my marathon. I had to stop and pee 4 TIMES! Which is just ridiculous! My goal was sub-5 hours, but all my damn pee stops screwed me.

A good question....where do I go from here? An ultra....hell no. A tri.....maybe, although that requires a higher level of up-front capital.....new road bike, tri suit. Although I do enjoy all 3 sports....I swam before I ran and technically, I probably biked before I swam. However, my old Schwinn with the basket on the front is not designed for racing. For now, I'll stick with running - maybe I'll do a half again this fall and some 10K's this summer. After a marathon I can do anything, right?

So success feels like your legs can't possibly move any further and the final mile is the longest mile you've ever run. Lucky for me, I never hit a wall....thanks to my sport beans (huge fan), eating carbs for 4 solid days ahead of time (yes, all carbs), and consuming a generous amount of gatorade (probably did not help the multiple pee stops). At the end I proudly rocked my medal, despite being uber slow. I now have a starting point and maybe someday I'll record a better time. Just looking for a training partner this time. Any takers?