Time for an update

So I figure that its been a while and i haven't posted any of the exciting/stressful things i've been doing. So, here goes.

At the end of January Chem-Dry had its national convention in Hawaii (I didn't get to go) and they presented the last six months of my work consisting of about 30 lessons of content and the main portion of Chem-Dry University (CDU). I was stoked that it is finally up but there is still so much room for growth.

Last week I got to "run the show" for new buyer class. Jotham was out of town on other training events and Linda is no longer with the company. Suffice it to say that I ended up teaching presentations that I have never done before (most of which I did very well). The class was a great test of my patience. They were constantly asking random, not applicable, seemingly unimportant questions.

I had Saturday off and Sunday I flew to Calgary, Alberta Canada. This is my first time to Canada. I am actually in Canada as I write this. I have a little time to kill before dinner. I am here for the Chem-Dry Canada convention. Cool eh? Anyway I helped present Tile and Stone Cleaning and will do workshops on it and PURT tomorrow. Then I get to go home and take a few days off.

Meanwhile I have been training for a marathon. I was thinking of running the Ogden marathon but it filled up before I signed up. I am now trying to decide between doing SLC or Bear Lake or both. Or maybe I do one as a half marathon. Anywho, we'll see.

I ran 14 miles on Saturday in the snow and somehow I have been able to maintain my pace right around 8 min per mile. That was the same pace I ran the 5 mile run leg of the Cache Valley Biathlon in the spring. Cool.

Back like a vertebrae

Ok, So I realize that it has been a while since I posted. First things first here is the audit of my christmas list. These are the items that I asked for that I actually received for Christmas:

• Cold weather running clothes (tights, tech shirts, running jacket, etc)
• Yak Traks for running on ice
• Running socks
  
• Timex Ironman 30-lap
  
• A snow blower
  
• Music for my Zune
• Dress shoes
• Time with Martha

For those of you keeping score who are just dying to help me out here are some ideas for you:

• A snowboarding trip (lift ticket and rentals)
• Entrance fees (Ogden Marathon, Top of Utah Marathon, Utah Half Ironman)
• My back waxed (gross but true)

A few weeks ago we had a company activity at the USU basketball game. We took Dillan and it was a blast.

For more on Dillan's adventures, check out The Monkey Times.

As for me I have been swamped at work working on getting Chem-Dry University ready for launch. I think we are pretty much there, which is good, since we are launching it this week. Now I get to focus on the future and prepare for my trip to Calgary for the Canadian Convention. Pretty sweet, eh?

My Christmas Wishlist

I have been asked several times what i want for Christmas but I can never remember in the heat of the moment so I thought I'd post it to remind me (and anyone else) of things that I want/ need. If you want to get me any of these things you may want to ask Martha first just in case she bought it for me.

So here goes (in no specific order):

• Cold weather running clothes (tights, tech shirts, running jacket, etc)
• Entrance fees (Ogden Marathon, Top of Utah Marathon, Utah Half Ironman)
• Yak Traks for running on ice
• Running socks
  
• My back waxed (gross but true)
• Timex Ironman 30-lap (I really liked the one Emily gave me years ago but it is dying. I saw them at WalMart for about $25.)
• A snow blower (so we can get out once the plows bury us every time it snows)
• Music for my Zune (not iTunes)
• Dress shoes (slightly more adventurous than my black Docs although they are great. I need different colors)
• A snowboarding trip (lift ticket and rentals)
• Time with Martha
  

I'll probably update this once or five times between now and Christmas so check back when you can.

Holy running in the snow Batman!

Ok so, in the spirit of randomness, I am writting about two basically unrelated experiences.

FIRST:
I was on my way to swim laps at lunch on Friday. Those of you who know me, know that I am a huge Batman fan. I couldn't help notice this wannabe batmobile. Check it out. I think he did it in the right spirit but missed the target completely.

SECOND:
Yesterday I ran in the snow (accumulated) for the first time this year. I can't believe that we don't have any real snow to speak of down here in the valley. I tried out a new trail that starts at 1st dam (at the mouth of Logan Canyon) and goes to Green Canyon about 2 miles North. Once I got to Green Canyon I started going up hill and had snow for what ended up being the middle 4 miles of an almost 8 miler. Anyway, it was beautiful... and kinda cold (the sun wasn't shining in the canyon). I took my phone with me and took a few pics and a video. Two of them are the snow-covered dirt road in Green Canyon and the other one is from the trail between Logan Canyon and Green Canyon. It looks out onthe valley including Utah StateUniversity. Click on it and see ifyou can spot the "A" on old main.

House Progress... and Other Stuff

So the sellers accepted our counter-offer and we were going to close near the beginning of December. Today we got news that they want to close on the 24... Before Thanksgiving. That is cool because we will be done paying a mortgage for a while but that also means we have less time to get all of our stuff out of the house and up to Logan.

In other news, I took 3rd place in HRI's Biggest Loser Contest. I lost almost 20 lbs between mid-June and the end of October. It earned me an extra $100 bucks. Woo hoo!

For Halloween I was a basketball player. People said I looked like Bill Walton. See for yourself.

Also last Saturday I changed the starter in the Jeep. It was a pain and took a while but I was successful and best of all... It works!

Tomorrow, Martha and I are going to the season opener for USU men's basketball. Sweet! The best part is that my company gave me the tickets and a sweet parking pass that lets us park super close. Hopefully I'll get some sweet pics to post.

Also a few weeks ago, I had Dave from work come and help me refinish the wood floors in Dillan's and our room. Here is how it turned out. We didn't worry about color matching the outside and inside. We just patched the holes and put finish on. I like them a lot more now. The process is called Nhance. Google it or e-mail me if you want to know more.