The Update - Ch-ch-ch-changes!

It's been a bit hectic around the CJ household. I'll get directly to it here.

Enough whining about the hip. Done with that stupid thing. The PT, yoga, elliptical and bike seem to be getting the job done. I will try running again tomorrow night, and switch to the elliptical if it hurts. I need to do a brick soon too, either tonight or tomorrow. Might be bike/elliptical, but it will be a brick.

Saturday I got in 9 miles on the elliptical in a good time. Then we took off for NC to a bridal shower for one of my fraternity brothers. Have you seen these "couples" wedding showers? Used to, only skirts had to attend those. Now us dudes are getting suckered into going too. Actually, it was great to see the poor bastard again, and we all ended up pounding a few beers (except kelley, she drove my drunk ass home) before heading back to Greenville. The drive was almost 2 hours each way. Kelley's mom and sister (with neice) came to keep the kids at our house while we were out. It was a fantastic getaway.

Sunday I negative split 45 miles on the bike. Broke it down into 15 mile segments, and tried to hit 45 minutes per segment. They timed at 44:50, 44:31, and 43:40. That's right, NEGATIVE SPLIT!! At that distance, that much time, that was unexpected. I felt really strong the whole time. Hung with the fam some until they had to go and sunday was done.

Monday I worked hard at my job. No time to post, but I wanted too. After work monday I drove to Raleigh, NC about 4 hours away. Did some yoga and weights in the morning.

Monday was the last day of summer, and I have to update a goal. I'm not going to call it a fail, but it's not a total success either. You might remember I had a goal this year to wear white pants and make them look good. in an "ooooohhh honey" kind of way, not in a "noooo, honey" kind of way. That was defined as white linen pants with a 34" waist and no shirt, a slight tan, and slight hint of 6-pack abs showing through. Well, with summer at an end I'm in 35" pants, pale as a whole garlic, and no abs shining through yet. I also did not actually purchase these pants yet. However, I'm not calling it a fail because it's the first time in years I've been able to get into those 35" pants, and my abs are slimmer than they have been since I got married. I'll call it a close, but keep your shirt on goal almost met.

Tuesday was the first official day of fall. You know why I like fall? Good things happen in the fall. We get football, the leaves change, the stupid heat goes away, it becomes pleasant to be outside again. I love it. And this tuesday was an especially auspicious start to fall. I was in Raleigh, after all.

Since I work from home, and Kelley's dad also works from home, sometimes I like to go visit him and work from his home office just for a change of pace. But this time it was planned for a reason. I had my first job interview with a company up there, and I freaking GOT IT!!! I'm still in shock. Worked all morning at this job, then went for the 2.5 hour interview. Finished at 4:30. By 5 pm they called with the offer. I accepted. And after a few hours of celebratory jumping and screaming, I drove back to Greenville. Then we watched the Biggest Loser after I got back and called it a day.

This is an awesome company. It's a larger, more stable company than I have worked for recently, and there are 30 other software developers on staff. I've always been the only software developer on staff. Nobody I have ever worked with in the past can type as fast as I can, but everyone there types just as fast as me. It's going to be amazing to be amongst my own kind instead of having to wear the "lone developer" freak label. Two of the three owners are runners, and one even did Ironman CdA last year!

This also initiates an entirely new set of insteresting developments that are all going to go by too fast. I had to quit my existing job today, which was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I have to buy a car - haven't had one for the last 18 months. Without a commute I had no need for non-bike transportation. We have to sell the house here in Greenville and buy a house in Raleigh. We have to move from said house one to unfound house two. Moving sucks. And I have to convince my parents (and brother Morgan) that it's a good thing to take their grandkids 4 hours away.

I'm going to stay with Kelley's dad during the week and come back to Greenville weekends until we can get moved into the new house. There is a list as long as my arm of things that need to happen to this house before we can sell it. Got to get all of those crayon marks off of the wall. The recent roof replacement and exterior paint were a great start, but now the whole landscaping thing needs to happen. Winter is the slowest time of year to sell a house, and the real estate market is still fairly dormant anyway thanks to the lending crisis and economy.

Kelley will be here with the girls while I am in Raleigh all week long. I do not expect this to go over well. I will have to join a gym in Raleigh and I'm going to get on that has a damn pool. Workouts will have to be confined to while I am in Raleigh as I will have no wife/kids then and I will be solely responsible for wife/kids when back in Greenville. The family tension that is sure to ensue in that scenario will certainly expidite the move to Raleigh.

All summer long I've been lamenting about some kind of big life change. This is it. I've been waiting on this plan to kick into action for months. Step #1 was to find the job. Mission accomplished. I've been complaining about SC and wanting to move back to NC for some time now, but it has to be done the right way. My patience has been rewarded.

Today I worked some and quit my job. Tonight I'm hitting the gym for some bike work, maybe a bike/elliptical brick. Tomorrow is more work, I have to finish the projects I'm working on before starting the new job. Tomorrow night is a run or elliptical or both. I'm going to try out this hip and see what happens.

I'm still so excited about this new opportunity. I feel it is a blessing, a door that has been opened for me.