It's Official: We're crazy!!

I've mentioned before that my coworker Greg (not Greg of Greg and Deb on the Web) and I are trying to get/stay in shape by walking/running a nearly 3-mile trail as often as we can. It snowed a little last week, well a few inches, nothing compared to the several feet of snow in other parts of the country. Greg and I opted not to go the day it was snowing as he was not feeling well and it coming down fast. The next three days I went by myself as Greg was still sick. The trail was a little treacherous because the snow was quite powdery and there were several icy patches hidden underneath. It was like putting sawdust on a shuffleboard table. The snow was just deep enough and my mukluks were just heavy enough to make the trek quite a workout. Oh yeah, it was cold too. The wind chill was below zero, sometimes way below zero. I went again this past Monday and then Tuesday the area got hit with another 6-10 inches of snow with high winds. Again I didn't want to go in the blizzard. I didn't work on Wednesday.
Thursday I anticipated going to the gym and using a treadmill because of all the snowfall and snowdrifts. I asked Greg if he was feeling better and if he planned on exercising. He said yes and yes. Then I asked, with much hesitation and afraid of the answer, if he thought he wanted to walk the trail. My fear was substantiated with his reply of "I was thinking about it". Oh no. I tried to reason with him, but not too aggressively because I think I secretly wanted to try as well. I said that it was very difficult last week, like walking on a three-mile stretch of beach only with many long, steep hills. So I guess it would be closer to walking sand dunes and not the beach. Plus it was cold instead of hot. So maybe not like sand dunes at all. More like walking a three-mile, hill-infested, snow-covered trail in the cold. And now it was going to be even worse.
Well we're crazy. We went ahead and did it. The snow was just deep enough in most places (at least half way up the shins) but there were stretches of snow that went up to mid-thigh. We hadn't even gone one-half mile and I was thinking we were in trouble. It was slow going and much further to go without knowing if conditions would improve or deteriorate. My calves were burning, my feet were cramping, but other than that I was okay. Greg was in the same boat. Neither one of us mentioned turning around or taking a route that would avoid the toughest hills. The only thing we kept saying as we trudged along was that we're crazy. In the end, we concluded that it was very challenging, we were glad we did it and that, once again, we're crazy.
Rivermen - one of our enforcers was called up to parent NHL club St. Louis and got in fight. D.J. King held his own against a veteran, and may have actually gotten the upper hand (or fist). We'll probably go to a game this Sunday, maybe D.J. will be back with us then.
Movies - We used to go to movies all the time, but it's been a while since Raquel and I have gone without Lourdes. Finally, this afternoon we will leave Lourdes with our friend Anita and we will go see a movie intended for grown ups, an adult film if you will, but not an adult film. Actually it will be Eddy Murphy's Norbit which looks pretty funny.
Dan reviewed Hot Fuzz which I've seen previews for. Unfortunately it will probably have to be a DVD rental someday. We've rented a lot of movies since Lourdes got too big to be quiet at big people movies. Kids sure do change our lives!
Joke - Two buddies, Bob and Larry, are getting very drunk at a bar
when suddenly Larry throws up all over himself. "Oh, no...Now my wife
will kill me!"

Bob says, "Don't worry, pal. Just tuck a twenty in your breast pocket
and tell your wife that someone threw up on you and gave you twenty
dollars for the dry cleaning bill."

So they stay for another couple of
hours and get even drunker.
Eventually Larry stumbles home and his wife starts to give him a bad
time "You reek of alcohol and you've puked all over yourself!
My God, you're disgusting!"


Speaking very carefully so as not to slur his words, Larry says,
"Nowainaminit, I can e'splain everythin. Itsh snot wha jew think. I only
had a cupla drrrinks. But thiss other guy got ssick on me...he had one
too many! and he juss koudin hold hizz liquor. He said he was verrry
sorry an' gave me twennie bucks for the cleaning bill!"

His wife looks in the breast pocket and says, "But this is forty bucks.."

"Oh, yeah.. I almos' fergot, he shhhit in my pants, too."

Seems like a nice enough bloke

Greg and Deb have become friends with Dan after he stumbled upon Greg's blog/webpage a while back. Dan started his own blog and quickly climbed Greg's Links page settling in at number 3 behind Greg's wife and Greg's brother. Somehow, I have managed to climb to and stay at number 4 despite the fact that I only post sporadically at best.
Please don't think I'm jealous of Dan. On the contrary, I've recently started following Dan's blog on a regular basis and have grown to appreciate his sense of humor (or is it humour?). Well, actually I guess I am jealous of the fact that he blogs so much more than I, but I do enjoy checking his blog. Anyway, good on ya, mate. Or is that Australian? I'm not too good with the words and making them come out correctly.
Deb has become a prolific poster. It seems that not a day goes by without something from her. Thanks Deb for keeping us updated on the family.
I've wanted to become a regular blogger but I just can't seem to muster the determination or the topics. By the time I get done reading all the regulars, I don't feel like writing anything. Or if I do feel like writing, it takes me forever to write a single paragraph. How long does it take you (whoever you are) to do your posts?
Weather - a pretty good winter storm hit last night and all day today. At work, they implemented liberal leave and finally early dismissal. The roads weren't too bad but far from pristine. I had no problems with my big 4X4 and I didn't see anyone stuck anywhere. While at work, it was hard to keep up with the falling and drifting snow. My coworkers ran the plows on our little utility vehicles and were running out of room to push the snow. I'm taking tomorrow off so hopefully everything will be clear when I go back on Thursday.
Rivermen - They haven't done very well recently. After losing several games, they won last Wednesday and Saturday, then lost in sudden death on Sunday. They still have lots of games left and have the potential to turn things around for a playoff run. Seems like if I post something positive about them, they lose, so if I post a lukewarm blurb, maybe they'll do better.
Fitness - Greg, my coworker, fell a little ill last week and I went on the trail by myself three times last week and once this week. It snowed last week and it felt like I was walking on a three-mile stretch of sand. I was wiped out at the end of the week. I'm not sure I will feel like walking in even deeper snow this Thursday. By the way the temperatures had been really low with negative wind chill but it didn't stop me.