Its funny how I can forget about this blog for month's on end and then stumble across it when I'm home sick from work- er, when I'm home from work with a sick kid. I don't really have too much to report that I have not mentioned on the usual social media spots- Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. But to recap- Avery started 8th grade this week at James Weldon Johnson College Prep and Riley moved from a home daycare to a Montessori preschool just outside of our neighborhood. And of course Riley is already sick 4 days in! Anyhow, it is simply nuts that Avery is already 13 and Riley is almost 2. It's sometimes not fair how fast time can move, especially when your kids grow up so damn fast...
Char just left her job with SEDA Construction after 10 years to finish her teaching degree and pursue a career as a teacher so that she can be on the same schedule as the kids. This is such a noble endeavor on her part and I am so proud of her putting in the time and making such a bold move. Oh- speaking of kids, we are expecting a baby boy this December! He will be almost exactly 2 years younger than Riley. Char always wanted a little girl and a little boy so she is set! And yes, this will be our last! Still haven't decided on a name but it will come to us in time...
We bought a new house this past spring down by the St. John's river in St John's Landing Estates. The location is so nice and secluded- we absolutely love it! We have really enjoyed walks and bike rides over to the pool and dock on the river. Its been fun watching dolphins, ships and looking for manatees. There is a canal in our backyard and it has also been fun seeing the critters in it- fish, turtles and gators. Actually, there is a ton of cool wildlife back here because there is quite a bit of undeveloped land along Mill Cove and the river. The views from our front yard are so nice- we can see Mill Cove, the river, downtown and the Dames Point bridge. We still own our 3 story townhouse over in the St John's Town Center and are currently renting it to Avery's mom. We feel really good about that investment in such a booming, promising area.
Training- I have been staying steady on the bikes all year- except for about a month in May when we moved. Right now I am "training" for an 8 hour endurance mountain bike race Labor Day weekend. The race is called the 8 Hours of Labor at San Felasco in Gainesville. This was the last mountain bike race I did in 2008 before Mayo discovered my heart issues. Now that I have the whole heart thing under control, I am pretty excited to make this my return at this race. The last time I was there things did not go so well so I am out for vengeace! I am also excited to fly the colors on my new race team, Ironheart Racing. I would like to increase my role as an ambassador for heart disease and inspire heart disease folks to live an active and healthy lifestyle as possible. It is important to show folks that they CAN DO IT and that the mental component is half of the battle. I did a few road races and road crit races last year with no problems, but I am simply eager to get back to my roots on the mtn bike. I also plan to hit a few fall Florida State Championship cross country races while I can before the baby gets here. I've had to get some work done to my mtn bike to get it ready, and Bicycles Etc has helped me out quite a bit getting my old Gary Fisher race ready. I am pretty excited about having my fork and shock rebuilt by Suspension Experts too. It is almost like I have a new bike!
Avery just started travel soccer season with JFC on the U14 premier team. It looks like she will be one of their primary offensive weapons playing forward. They opened their season in the local Adidas Cup, finishing runner-up with Avery scoring all of their goals. She has really blossomed into quite the athlete and does well in soccer with her combination of size and speed. I really, really enjoy watching her play! Oh, she has also joined Instagram so if you consider yourself a friend or family, go check her out!
Oh, almost forgot- I graduated from the University of North Florida this past spring with a bachelor's in business management. I am so glad to get that done and over with! Now I'm just not sure if I want to finish my bachelor's in electrical engineering considering that I have that half done or if I want to go straight to a master's. Either way, I'm taking a damn break! I do want to get my project management certification as well as working towards a black belt in six sigma, which I have already started.
Anyhow, not sure if I will start filling these pages again on a regular basis or if I will continue to just pop in every blue moon. Either way, my Facebook, Twitter and Strava feeds will stay active and I will try to figure out how to add an Instagram feed. I've been having quite a bit of fun on Instagram- its such a cool concept.
Ok, that's beyond enough...I'm out...
