Last Weekend

Last Friday, the wife and I closed on a great rate refinance on our house -- Closings have come a long way -- we were able to do the whole closing at our kitchen table and used our wireless network to sign some of the paperwork electronically. Way better than closings I've had in the past. Yep, after 7 years of living in my house, I've paid off $2000. I'm so glad they talked me into that negative amortization arm loan and 2nd mortgage. Good news Is that the new loan is good enough to get me back on track. My sister-in-law agreed to stay at our place and watch the dogs for the weekend, so we loaded up the car and headed to the in-laws cabin. Its just over an hour away, so after a stop at the grocery store, we got up there just after 9. We turned on the water, turned up the thermostat for the furnace, sat by the fire for a bit and then went to bed. I woke up the next morning, grabbed a couple of coffee, and tried to wrap my head around the fact that I was going to try to run a 5k race that morning at 10 AM. I wasn't quite sure how I would pull it off because I hadn't run since Jan 5th and it wasn't pretty then either. After my cup of joe, I went into the bathroom to take care of the standard morning three S's - two of which are shower and shave. On completion of the first S, of which is not specifically mentioned in the previous list, I leaned on one cheek to take care of things and at that moment, another monumental event happened to me letting me know beyond a shadow of doubt that I am a very fat man. Yep -- apparently shifting all of my weight was more than the seat could handle because I cracked it right in half. After my embaressment, I headed to the winter festival where the race would be conducted -- As I studied the crowd, I quickly realized that I was the guy that everyone looked at and said "whew! At least I won't be last". It was sort of fitting as the sun cast across the hot air balloons being launched on the lake nearby the start of the race, I could barely tell between my sillouette and that of the POW/MIA and American Family Insurance hot air balloons. The race was not pretty, lets just say if they turned the list of the results upside down, I'd have finished in the top 10. But I finished it -- and was easily the heaviest guy there by 50+ lbs. I said only 50 because my stepbrother was the next heaviest and he was quite a bit heavier than most of the other people there. My brother-in-law-to-be pulled way ahead of me before we got to mile one, but it only took about a quarter mile for my step-brother to do what I can only imagine it would look like if her were to be hit by a long range sniper while in stride - holding multiple body parts in agony as he struggled to keep it to a trot. So I basically ran/walked the race by myself - of course I got to talk to lots of senior citizens for a few seconds at a time as they passed me. Once the race was finished, I made my way back to the car and swung into Menards to buy a shiny new toilet seat for the bathroom upstairs at the cabin. Fortunately they were on sale, but at $6, I waited until the end of the weekend to replace it just in case the cheaper seat was not rated for a fatty like myself.  We got home early on Sunday so I settled in and watched one of the best Superbowl's that I've seen on the 15 inch TV in my living room.