Oct 12
Oct 10
I ran my first marathon, Bizz Johnson, Sunday October 7th 2007 with a finishing time of 4:09:39. If you would have asked me any time after mile 22 up until about 24 hours after the finish I would have said I ran my first and only.
We have a great group that I run with which made the 20 hours in a van for 3 days a pretty good time. Ryan, Brent, Shane, Trevor and I all ran the Bizz Marathon this year with Kevin taking 3rd at Boise’s own City of Trees marathon. Ali, Trina, Holly and Lenea, who all ran the half marathon, and Heidi were waiting to see us crying as we crossed the finish.
I really wanted to run this marathon under four hours but to be truthful I was surprised I finished under 4:30. The group and many of the runners we talked to before and after said that this was a slow run even though it is touted as the fastest marathon in the west.
This trail run was awesome. From what I saw when I looked up and actually had my eyes open it was a very beautiful trail. We crossed several bridges and went through two tunnels. I can say now that the tunnels were pretty cool but as dark as they were that’s not what I was thinking while going through them. A runner that was going through the second tunnel the same time I was stated it perfectly, “You have to be pretty trusting don’t you?”.
We had a lot of good times with Stanley, My Sharona, Rotten Egg and the Front Runners. I’ll post some pics later and write some more about the trip and the run.
May 20
Cooper John Crane was born on May 9th 2007. 7lbs 12oz and 20 inches long. Cooper has been an awsome baby and everything Ali and I expected. He has already proven himself to be an endless supply of turds and a great automatic sprinkler.
He has been home now for over a week and is doing very well. Mom is healing well and still abusing the fact that she just created a miracle with more honey dos than normal.
We have pics located at on picasa that will eventually be moved to our site.
Apr 20
Tomorrow is the day! This will be my second year running this race. I’ve been running with a couple of friends that I ran with, well behind, last year and a few more that we have been training with in the hills most Saturday mornings. I think that I’m ready to go, just hoping to have a good run. Last year my time was 2:17:46.
These same so called friends have talked me into running a marathon on October 7th of this year. Bizz Johnson is held at Lassen National Forest in Westwood-Susanville CA. I’m not sure what I let these guys talk me into.
Feb 03
My boy is only 23 weeks old and already he is a camera ham. I’m sure he is just saying hi dad! This is not an edited pic, it is one of our last ultrasound photos, I thought is was pretty funny.
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Dec 04
Ali and I haven’t really officially announced it yet but she is pregnant. We are now on week 15. This ultrasound was taken at week 12. This will be our second addition to our family following our dog Tobey. We are getting pretty excited but I don’t think it has really set in for me yet. I imagine it will when we walk in the hospital as two and come out three.
Ali has been doing really well. No morning sickness and she has been feeling good. So far Ali has shot down my favorite boy name, “Denver”. My sisters liked it, I think it’s just spite 
. She probably figures I already talk too much about Denver. Ali likes Addisen for a girl, I like it for either. The debate will continue for awhile. If you have suggestions, here is the place to let us know.
         
Nov 05
Travel to Hawaii was a blast!!!!  First my anal type AAAAAAA wife gets us to the airport 2 1/2 hours early. Then the 1:40 flight has a couple of delays due to maintenance until 3:45 at which time we are told it will take until 7:15 p.m. Two hours past our connecting flight in Seattle.Â
 Ali went to the desk, stood in line for over an hour and gets us a new flight that leaves at 8:00 pm, arrives in San Francisco at which point we spend the night in a hotel and leave for Hawaii at 8:30 in the morning. We have to exit the gate area, go pick up our luggage, re-check the luggage and check in - with a different airline. As we are walking through security we get the magic numbers and go through the special check.
 Flight proceeds to get delayed a couple of times and end up leaving at 9:30. 11:30 a.m to 9:30 p.m at the Boise Airport and we are 15 minutes away from home. :) We were about 5 minutes away from boarding our plane and the security alarm goes off and asks everyone to evacuate the building as quickly as they can. Lights going off, sirens ringing and Paul bitching; I’m going to miss two weekends of Call of Duty Two for this shtuff? Grrrrrr. They announce that it is a false alarm a few minutes later and we are allowed to board.
Ahhhhhhhh we are now in sweet San Francisco. We wake up plenty early, things are going great, we catch the shuttle, get our tickets(no seat assignments yet of course) and proceed to security. Going through security we win the lotto yet again and get to go through the special line. This is a fun little 45 minute wait.
We get to the front of the line proceed to put all our shtuff into the brown containers provided for us and move into a chamber where I’m am possitive that Scotty is going to beam me to Hawaii. Instead we get the ultra cataracts test which blows a puff of air around you, violates you in some way I haven’t figured out yet and in about 20 seconds opens the doors and lets me exit “NOW!”.
After finally getting through security, we get to the gate as they called our names to get our seats. Got them- Row 45 in 46 available rows. We had just enough time to grab a few things to eat, a bottle of water and then board. At least this flight wasn’t delayed, and the plane ride to Hawaii was fairly uneventful, except by the time the flight attendents got to us for lunch, all of the choices were gone- Ali got pasta, and I got a twice rejected Turkey sandwich. Good times, but we finally made it to Hawaii, and checking in the hotel was the best experience so far.
Oct 18
A little while back I wrote about my safer form of exercise. I thought I’d give you a little update on the condition of my last ride. 
 This is what my collar bone looks like as of this morning. Now the doctor shows this pic to me and then says to me exactly what I’m thinking, “I know you’re thinking this looks like shit. That’s a technical term.”, and that is exactly what I was thinking.Â
He told me the darker areas around the break are where the cartilage is developing and that it will turn to bone. The dark splinter sticking up on the right side is exactly that. It is where part of the bone just splintered off. So I have to lay off any lifting for another 2 weeks. I has already been 70 days.
I had two options, surgery that would line the bone back up or let it heal and I’d just have a bump in my collar bone. Dr. Collins told me that letting it heal would be just fine the only side affect would be the bump. I chose bump over surgery.
This picture looks pretty bad but not near as bad as it looked the night I broke it. I’m going to call St. Lukes and see if I can get a copy of the x-ray from that night. If I get it I’ll post it. Until then, stay tuned for the sequel to Paul’s a friggin part-tarded clutz.
Oct 12
We signed Tobey up for the Pets Best First and Wellness plan last week. Yup, not only do I work for them but I believe in what we sell. I’ve seen claims payments go out to people that would have sticker shocked me if I had to come up with that kind of money to keep our family friend. Now was the perfect time to sign Tobey up, no pre-existing conditions, he’s new! :)Â
I hope that I never have to use my accident and illness coverage but if I ever need to it’s there for me, giving me more options for treating conditions. My take on Pet Insurance is like my take on every other insurance I have, I hope to never need it but if I do it’s there.
 I have a cousin that spent around $2,500 to mend his dog after it was attacked by another larger dog. With my plan, I would only have to come up with $575 out of pocket and the rest would have been covered by my plan.
Sep 29
Working at a pet insurance company it was only a matter of time before I bought a puppy. Ali was out of town so it was my chance to sieze the moment and sneak a pup. Now I haven’t been able to hold him since. His name is Tobey and we are already attached. Monday I sign up for pet insurance with PetsBest.
               