A blog to share

Hey, just wanted to share a new blog I recently found and enjoy. It is called Zen Habits. It is a blog by the father of six children who posts each day on everything from being productive to finance, health, family, and happiness. The archives on the left of the blog link to great articles.

Today, I read about how to effectively clean out your e-mail inbox. My work one is not too bad (40 e-mails as of right now), but my personal hotmail account is terrible (1000 e-mails just taking up space) I'm sure 99 percent of them I could delete. The trick is to check e-mail only at certain times during the day and to immediately take action on them. Does everyone do this? I need some help in this area!

I should get a reward...

for a record four posts in one day! We've had a busy month of September, but we've had lots of fun. Here's a few of the things we've been doing.

Valleyfest

Today we spent the afternoon at Valleyfest, a local festival put on by our town each September. This was our first time going and we were pleasantly surprised at how much there was to do (and free of charge) We spent zero dollars for several hours of fun! We parked at the mall and got to ride a bus to Mirabeau Park. They had all kinds of vehicles and trucks for the kids to sit in and look at (fire engines, buses, garbage trucks, etc.) They had an old car show, hundreds of booths, a logging competition, horse rides, petting zoo, jumping castles, games for the kids, and more.

The girls especially loved the animals, Elizabeth even got her first ride on a horse. Katherine has a great love for animals, so she was very excited in the petting zoo! She kept running around chasing all the bunnies. It was so hilarious, there was this crazy goat running around desperately looking to be fed. It kept knocking over some of the toddlers! Every time he came around, I had to shield the kids. It was a fun time and we were glad we went.

TRIP TO THE FAIR

ELIZABETH's 3rd BIRTHDAY

Elizabeth had a great 3rd birthday! Kurt's family (grandpa, nana, and great grandpa) traveled here to help celebrate. Her birthday theme was balloons (since she loves balloons so much). She asked to go to McDonald's for lunch and we had pizza for dinner and strawberry cake and ice cream for dessert. She got some much needed fall clothes, some new board games, books, a talking piggy bank, a Kewpie doll from great grandpa, and a new red wagon from her Aunt Katie.

DAHLIA TRIAL GARDENS

A couple of weeks ago when our company was here we visited Manito Park, one of our favorite places to visit at the end of the summer when the flowers are in full bloom. Here are some pictures I took at the Dahlia Trial Gardens. This garden is one of nine American Dahlia Society trial gardens in the United States. The day was just beautiful and I couldn't take enough photos of these flowers.

Well, I wanted to jump up and down after my 20 MILE run this morning, but I could hardly move my body! (I'm still having trouble 5 hours later!) I want to say the run was spectacular, but sadly it wasn't. It was just plain hard. I learned the hard way that the day before a big run you should eat lots and rest often. Well, I had a 13 hour bridge inspecting day on Friday and didn't eat or drink enough throughout the day - I could surely tell this morning during my run.

Things were pretty good until about mile 14 to 15 when my legs just started to feel like they couldn't run anymore. I was getting a little loopy too. But with some Clif Shot Blocks, gatorade, turning up my music, and a few little prayers, I was able to finish (I did have to stop to walk every few miles). When you are in pain during a run, it is so hard to focus on something else besides how much you want to finish. But my strategy was to take it mile by mile and that seemed to work in the end. My time for 20 miles was 3 hours and 27 minutes.

Oh, and I did get some new shoes this week which are awesome. I had to shell out $90 at my local running store, but I feel it was worth the price. I found a brand several years ago (Addidas Brevard for women) which fit my feet really well. My old ones were way worn out after running on them for more than a year. The new ones feel like I'm running on a cloud. No knee pain or blisters today!

Happy Birthday To Our Sweet Elizabeth!

Elizabeth turns 3 on Friday the 7th, can you believe it? In many ways I can because she seems much older than a 3-year-old, but in other ways her birth seems just like yesterday. Here's a few photos each year in September since 2004. I'll post some birthday photos this weekend...

BRIDGE OVER CLEARWATER RIVER INTO OROFINO

I just got back from a two-day work trip down to the great Orofino, Idaho! Yes, the beloved town were I was raised until the 4th grade. Since living here in WA, it is my 3rd trip to Orofino, but I always get excited to visit and reminisce about childhood days and memories.

We stayed in a very nice Best Western hotel right along the Clearwater River (the picture above was taken from my room balcony). We had a great dinner at a restaurant called the River's Edge. I had salmon chowder and an almond chicken salad for dinner and they both were fantastic, probably one of the best soup and salads I've ever eaten!

After dinner, I took a walk along the river on the edge of the city park. As I was walking, I had a rush of memories overcome me. We went to the park so many times as children to play on the equipment - there was a huge slide and swings, and a half dome monkey bar set (which is the only thing that still remains). And the Fair, oh, do you guys remember the Fair and Lumberjack days? I remembered walking through the 4H buildings looking at animals and foods and crafts. I remembered the carnival rides at night and hearing the big kids screaming as they rode the scary rides, like the Zipper. I remembered the coin toss out in the big field, where a man would toss money into the air and you would run and find it in the grass (a quarter was the ultimate find!). I remembered being in the parade down Michigan Avenue with Smoky the Bear (yeah for our Dad). I remembered going to the bank to get a Dum Dum sucker, the post office, the tiny little library, the Rex theatre to see my first movies, the fabric store where we loved to hide between the rolls of fabric, and the drug store to buy stickers and candy. So many wonderful and fun memories! Each time I visit, it seems like I discover something new or notice something different. Hopefully, I'll be able to go again next year.