Unexpectedly got to see my friend Butch and his fiancee Dawn's new house that they just closed on this past week today. Proud to be "the first" people to visit. It's in Elmwood Park, and is actually just about four "short" blocks from a house we were pretty close to wanting to buy in the Galewood neighborhood of Chicago. As such, they're maybe 10-15 minutes from us now. That's nice.

Their house is a nice starter bungalow that has been very well-kept and updated really well too. They got a good deal, no doubt. They won't have to do a ton of work on the place, and they do have some expansion room in the attic if they decide the place is really, really long-term. I'm happy for them, for sure. So, if you see them or talk to them, say "congrats!"

Meanwhile, I have less than a week now to sort out my plan of attack, of sorts, for getting this fence replaced next weekend. I'd like to have all the tools and supplies I need ready to go so that we can just jump right into it when help arrives Saturday. Furthermore, I still have to seal the remaining fence panels, so they are ready to put up on Sunday. I have to figure out how much gravel I need for the posts and make sure I have all the right tools, ready to go, for Saturday.

It's a lot of pressure, that's for sure. :) But I think I can do it.

I said I'd post more...so I'm trying to do so. Hopefully it will last...we shall see!

So, I'm 95 percent sure I'm going to run my first 5K race here at the end of the month. We got a flyer on our door for the Fall into Fitness 5K run/walk at Portage Park. Now, I haven't been to the gym since A.J. was born, six months ago. But, I probably could have run a 5K at that point, having spent months on the treadmill.

The kicker here is, I'm going from no running (other than windsprint-like running in softball once/twice a week) to having 23 days to prepare for this thing. It shouldn't be a problem though. Today was my first day back at the gym and I was able to run at a 5 mph clip for one full mile. So I should be all right (even though, yes, I understand that pavement running is much different than treadmill running).

Now, if this weren't basically my neighborhood, I probably wouldn't do it. But I think it will be cool to wander over there, run around the 'hood (though not my part of the 'hood) and enjoy a nice early autumn day (hopefully). And I'm just aiming to finish -- I don't think for a second that I'll "win" the race or even come close. In fact, I'm sure I'll even walk a portion of the race, pending how much "training" I get done between now and then. But it'll be simply about finishing the race, really, and I have plenty of confidence that I can do it.

So if you're not doing anything that morning, come on out and cheer me on as I pass by. It'll give me a little bonus boost of energy. :)

So, who's free Sept. 13 and/or 14 to help me demolish my old fence and put up the new one? Email me and let me know. I'm gonna need the help, and if we get enough, you might even get to demolish the "enclosure" around the hot tub outside. Isn't that exciting?

So let me know...

Oh, and to follow up on yesterday's post, I'm actually not sore at all. Thought my pitching elbow would hurt, because it did postgame yesterday, but nothing today. So that's good. :)

--Oh, man, am I sore...Fall Softball started up today (as in Wednesday) in Oak Lawn. I hadn't played in a few weeks, and I'm pretty surprised I'm as sore as I feel. Tomorrow could be brutal. We played our best game, hitting-wise, of the year (including summer league, of course, since this was our first fall game). But, we simply didn't do exactly enough and lost 18-17 to a very, very good team.

--I'm debating my ability to get in shape and get back on the treadmill at the gym in order to possibly do a 5K run in my own neighborhood on Sept. 28. I didn't know about this thing, otherwise I might have started training earlier and definitely did it. But the question is, is 24 days (well, less, as I wouldn't start outright tomorrow, probably) enough time to gear myself up for a 5K? I'm not starting from total ground zero because of softball, but given that I'm sore, I'm thinking I'd have a bit of work to do.

--Other than that, I'm looking at dates to destroy our old fence and install our new fence. If you're interested in helping me out, let me know if you're available Sept. 13 or 14. Email me privately.

--Finally...when I switched over the template for this blog, I lost all the links to everyone else's blogs. If you want yours linked, let me know...and if I can get this old blog updated, I'll "steal" KM's RSS feed idea...I like it! :)

Thank God for old friends. They always bring you up when you're feeling somewhat crappy. Mine in particular. You know why? Because they don't really give a shit why you feel bad and they really don't want to hear about it. They just want you to have fun with them. We reminisced a bit, around our annual fantasy draft. Now, one of these days, if I'd just remember to bring my audio recorder and get the good stories "archived"...someday.

Even something as simple as a 10-team fantasy football draft is fun with those guys (and gals). And getting to see the West Loop condo one of the couples lives in for the first time was cool too. Furthermore, getting the first overall pick in the randomly selected draft order "raffle" will lift the spirits too. I took Adrian Peterson. They thought I'd take L.T., and were surprised and pissed, because it's whom the No. 2 and 3 wanted. Oh well for them. :)

So, a solid end to a somewhat ho-hum weekend. I'm glad I got to do the things I got to do, but I have plenty on my mind. Work tomorrow, I'm sure, won't help too much, but hey, you never, ever know.

I spent most of last night staying up late reading through my blog's archives. It's funny to look back on a lot of the stuff I wrote...and try to figure out what the hell was going on for some of them -- such as the one in early 2003 where I lament not gearing up to participate in the Chicago Triathlon...don't remember what the motivation was there, or context; or the other one from my unemployed time, in which I hint that I'd never work for a magazine that would, unknown to me then, ultimately become my No. 1 competitor today...bizarre! :)

Anyway, tomorrow A.J. is six months old tomorrow, and I'm amazed at how fast it's already gone by. He's crabbing like crazy right now and waking up multiple times during the night...not sure if he's teething or going through a growth spurt or what. But he's even grunting "angrily" lately too, so something's bothering him, one way or another.

So, I'm pretty tired and I actually feel somewhat ill...I hope I'm not coming down with anything...either way, it's about time for an early bedtime.

Nothing like a Dairy Queen banana split to ease the mind on a general downer kind of a Sunday. Well, it was either that, or the fact that I was minutes away from just spur-of-the-moment buying a 52-inch LCD TV at Costco. That would have been nice for Gina to come home to. Surprise!

Well, now I know how people gain weight. Or get addicted to watching TV.