G B O

I've seen so many good, bad, and ugly posts in the last week or so that I thought I would throw my hat into that ring as well.

The Good
Our house in Greenville is under contract! Took four months, and we're selling for $30k less than the original asking price but that sucker is done. We finally get to be a family again. This is certainly good. They want to close March 19th, which is only about 5 weeks away.

The Bad
Thanks to my current situation at work we can't close the purchase of another home until May 15 according to my lender. So we will, officially, be homeless for a couple of months. That means right now I have to figure out what to do with people and stuff. I am totally open to suggestions here homies. Got any ideas?

For the stuff, I'm leaning towards getting a large self-storage unit in Raleigh. We can't afford to hire the moving company now, so I think we will have to move ourselves (which I swore I would never do again) into the storage unit. I will let the movers come in and take the larger furniture pieces into their warehouse. I'm just not going to haul armoires around like I did when I was 25. no thanks.

For the people, we're going to have to crash with family for a week at a time. My folks said they would put us up, I know we'll be ok with kelley's dad for about a week, and kelley's mom has an apartment they aren't using right now. I know the kids are going to get all kinds of disoriented and homesick, and we won't have a home to take them back to. This is going to be the toughest part.

The closing is March 19th. They take possession at closing, so we have to be moved out March 18th at the latest. Guess what happens March 21st? The Tobacco Road marathon. So much for an easy, stress free week before the race. Moving is an appropriate taper activity, right?

I think this means my marathon chances this year are screwed. I might be able to find a summertime marathon, or something in april. But this one is in my hometown, flat, and fast. Hence, exactly what I'm looking for. This has thrown my training for a loop. I've lost the motivation for my early morning workouts (tri-power and yoga), and the evening workouts are getting harder mentally. Lunchtime swim/bike stuff is still awesome, I'm going to put a mile in the pool today. I know that the house is more important than the marathon. But when I settled in for an 18 mile run yesterday and only made it 3 miles, I know it's because I am worried about house stuff. Also Kelley came into town yesterday so I knew she was waiting for me.

Still, I'm just off my game mentally. My left foot, knee, and (to some degree) hip are getting new pains when I'm running. It just doesn't feel as fluid as it should (or did 2 weeks ago). This weekend I'm going to head out to Furman to run around the lake some, we'll see how far I feel like going. I'm not going to write off the marathon completely until the house plans are finalized. But you guys know what the last 5 weeks of marathon training are like. When those long runs start to get really long you don't feel like moving furniture afterwards. I've got to get my head on straight for everything to be more effective.

That looks like a lot of bad, and only a little bit of good, but I swear the good is really good and the bad I can handle.

2 pm update: I put 80 laps in the 25 yd pool over lunch, which is just over a mile. 76 laps is a mile, according to a piece of paper tacked up to the wall in there. Now I am really hungry.

The Ugly
I've notice a growing and disturbing trend in the men's locker room recently. Men who are seriously overweight have been walking around naked with impunity. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad these guys are in the gym working on their fitness. And if you've been reading this for a while you know I have no problem with naked men and the sanctity of the locker room.

Apparently Swollen Sack Syndrome is sweeping its way across North Carolina, maybe even the nation. This is a serious problem which must be addressed; I've never seen anything like it. These sacks are so engorged that there is only about half an inch of pecker sticking out the top. It looks like an apple with a really thick stem. Please, in the name of health, check your husbands, boyfriends, and male co-workers sacks out to be sure they are not inflicted. We must stop SSS before it becomes a national crisis. So be kind to your favorite sack, treat it right and it will be spared from this new epidemic. So your mission this weekend, if you choose to accept it, is to drain a sack by any means necessary. Enjoy.