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In case you hadn't noticed (and really, how could you not notice?!) I've made some changes to the look of the site. The skinny columns always bugged me, so I widened them and made the header wider to match. I also made the header a little taller so I can use a greater variety of pictures. Plus, I was really getting tired of watching all those people cross the street in Tokyo, so now there's a shot of the shore to taunt me all summer. Finally, I tweaked the colors so it wouldn't scream Standard Blogger Template. I'd love to hear any feedback you might have on the new design.

Also, I know the Twitter widget isn't working right now, but seeing as how I haven't updated my Twitter in, oh, several months, I figured that's a lower priority. It'll get fixed soon enough, and then maybe I'll step up my Twitteration.

Update: I am aware there are some bugs when viewing the site with Firefox or Chrome. I hope to get it fixed soon(ish), and that you'll bear with me in the meantime. Thanks.

Update #2: I've got it tweaked so it looks OK in Firefox and Chrome. In Internet Explorer, the description "If you don't like it, don't read it." is cut off, but I think that's the best I can do for now. And anyway, this is just motivation for me and for the rest of you to kick IE to the curb for good. Also, any Safari users out there want to weigh in on how it looks?

Update #3: Can I just say, I am so impressed with myself because I am totally out of my league with all the HTML-ing I've got going on. But I think I fixed it so it looks pretty good in IE too.

The results are in

Having been dealt a gentle slap on the wrist for failing to provide a race update (hat tip to MRM), I am here to remedy that oversight.

We both finished. But it was hot. Too hot.

I didn't do quite as well as I had hoped / planned / trained for. I bettered last year's time, but only by a hair. I certainly can't say I demolished it. But still, I finished. So there's that.

J-P finished too, but was bummed that he didn't manage to better his time. But, as I keep reminding him, when you're already running at warp speed, it's really difficult to improve very much.

Although I hate to blame the heat for our rather disappointing results because it just seems like so many excuses, it's hard not to. After all, we trained our butts off this year, and our finishes definitely didn't reflect that. And it was clear that the heat affected a lot of people -- many walked for long stretches, as I did, and others sat or lay in the shade on the side of the course to cool down -- so it wasn't just us.

The one upside is that our finishes have motivated us to keep it up and train for another one. Maybe we'll see if there's a half in November. In Anchorage. Where it's nice and cold.

13.1

Well, hello friends. Here we are again, on the eve of the Country Music Half Marathon, where I will strap on my running shoes and run an insane number of miles in pursuit of that elusive runner's high. And, once again, my body IS NOT COOPERATING. But this time, it's not my knees that are the problem. No, this time my knees are thoroughly physical-therapied and trained. My calves and quads are ready. No, this time it's a hacking, flemmy cough that just presented itself a few days ago, much to my chagrin. And it's not budging, despite the Vitamin C and Halls Honey-Lemon Drops I've been sucking back all week.

(Which reminds me, did I ever tell you about the time I got a cough and laryngitis three days before our WEDDING??? Yea. That was fun. At bachelor-bachelorette karaoke, I was stuck singing the Sonny Bono part of "I Got You Babe," and I sounded like Kermit the Frog croaking out my vows.)

Well anyway, this cough can just shove it. Because tomorrow, I'm going to demolish last year's time, even if I hack up a lung doing it.

Take this 1040 and shove it

You know what sucks?

When you're all proactive about doing your taxes ahead of time for the first time EVER and you get them done and file them in MARCH and then you figure out ON APRIL FUCKING 14TH that you totally screwed it up and now, because you had to go and be so freaking on top of things for once in your life, you're going to have to go back and amend the whole damn thing instead of just filing an extension like you usually do.

That. SUCKS.

Brainstorming

Things we could do when we become a household of NINKs (that's No Income, No Kids) in August:

1. Shack up at the 'rents' beach house and get a job slinging subs (or are they hoagies?) at Subbogies.

2. Take advantage of low fuel prices and drive cross-country, sleeping in our palatial tent and eating whatever's on special at the Mapco.

3. Convince Sarah and Aaron to hire us to work as Scarlett's nanny.

4. Use our meager savings to move to Mongolia, where we can live for tugrugs on the dollar.

5. Lead walking tours of East Nashville that end with a virtual pub crawl to the hangouts we frequented when we were employed. (Just use your imagination and pretend that empty Solo cup is a pint of Guinness!)

Any other ideas?

New York, how I've missed you

Translation: Don't even think about walking, muthafucka.