We Are Doing This

Where’ve I been? I can tell by the many cards, letters, and strip-o-grams I received that you’ve all been very concerned that I haven’t checked in for two weeks. I mean, who leaves a picture of a marmoset up on their blog for that long? Crazy, right?

Unfortunately, I don’t have an exotic excuse to explain my absence. There are still the same number of orphans in the world that there was two weeks ago. The ASPCA animals are still walking all one-eyed and limpy. Heck, outside of a few highly insulted strip-o-gram strippers – turnabout is fair play, right? – the world is pretty much how I left it.

The fact is that my job tends to get busier at quarter end. And, no, despite what Mrs. Nitmos says, I am not an accountant. This quarter was particularly busy. So If I disappear again at the end of June, September and December, you'll know why. Tell your friends and families that I don’t need the cards and letters.* I always wondered what it would be like to be one of those people who said they were busy…and actually were. Weird. I don’t like it. I prefer the challenge of filling up my project time sheet with invented tasks. It’s my one chance each week to create pure fiction.

Though my real world has interfered with my bloggy world, there are still a few things worth noting in RazZian bullet point style:

· I learned a new word. It is German. It is spectacular. It will change your life. At least, it will change the way you view breakfast foods. In fact, I will create an entire feature length blog post about it soon enough. Prepare to be blown away. Also, prepare to spend $19.95 on the t-shirts.

· As I’ve mentioned several times (i.e. ad nauseam), my kids are deep into the world of competitive youth soccer. They don’t really want to play; we force them. Our weekends usually involve an hour drive east to watch 4-6 soccer games and an hour drive home. Maybe repeating it on Sunday. Normally, the parents are on their best behavior…until last weekend. I watched in bemused horror as sideline cheering turned into pointed comments back and forth which them developed into a chest-to-chest confrontation complete with a shouted “ARE WE DOING THIS?” Awesome. This was over a non-call on a slide tackle. I’ve long felt that, as America builds its soccer programs, the area we’ve been lagging is the full on European style soccer brawl. Unfortunately, no punches were thrown and the situation was diffused. We’re still learning how to properly view soccer.

· In the same game, my son jabbed his left leg between a rampaging forwards legs to poke check the ball away and ended up with a partially, temporarily dislocated knee cap: leg brace, sore ligaments, two weeks on the pine…which coincide with the two week Spring Break. But, alas, it could have been worse.

· To further prove my statement that my blog and running are completely disconnected (I continually read others that don’t blog when not running or feel they need to blog in order to keep up with the running), I‘ve hit all of my planned runs and am rounding into shape - even without updating this blog. Go figure. And that shape I'm rounding into is: not so round, more angular, and loaded with pointed scowls. In other words, I’m starting to re-develop my spring/summer anorexic gauntness! Others around me feel I “need to eat a cheeseburger”. I must be getting back into shape!

· My plantar fasciitis is still being present. I’ve molested the racquetball quite a bit – which has helped tremendously – but I think I over did it at the track on Tuesday. I will keep running though because that’s what I do.

· Finally, enjoy this GIF of a stumbling, bumbling Rollerblading Raptor mascot FAIL. Don’t we all just have days like this?

Did you note the pathetic drooping of the tail at the end? Now, re-watch it 150 times like I did and see if you are still laughing just as hard. Don’t forget to vote in SB Nation’s animated GIF competition.

Happy trails.

*But I prefer naughty nurse strip-o-grams. A parking meter attendant? Seriously?