Running

I want to run a marathon. Seems a simple enough goal, but I am smart enough to know that I can’t use my usual show up and run philosophy. I think that I top out at 15 km with this method which luckily for me is exactly the length of the River Run here in Jacksonville. Caroline and I have decided to start off with a half marathon to test the waters and see how we go. Caroline started a training program to get into shape and the goal at the end was to run a 5k race. I went with her on race day and we finished together. The next step was to extend it to the half marathon in February. Because I know I need to train too, we both joined her training program. It is called Galloway Training and is based on a walk run method. Depending on how fast you go you run for different intervals, but everyone has to walk at some stage. I was skeptical at first because the first couple of weeks were a little disorganised and I wasn’t happy with the pace of my group. Before Caroline went to Arizona for tennis we had to do what they called a magic mile which helps to put you in the right pace groups. I ran Carolines with her then did mine and emailed it to the guy in charge. He said that instead of running in the third group I should move to the second group so that is my plan for next week. This morning there was no official run because there was a 5k race that they wanted people to run. We didn’t do that because it was $50 to enter. This entry fee included a ticket to the Players Golf tournament but we were not at all interested in that. Instead we went out to Jacksonville Running Company for what they called a Renegade Run. Basically it was just like a normal group run but with less people. I ran with a couple of people and a dog we didn’t take walk breaks like we were supposed to but that was fine with me. It was 6 miles and we ran a 7:30 pace which is fast for me but I felt pretty good about it (we will see how I feel tomorrow at soccer). After I was done I ran back and met Caroline and ran to the finish with her at her pace which I know has improved since she started. I am actually enjoying running again we run with the group every Saturday and then by ourselves Tuesday and Thursday.

Knitting

I am not sure when Caroline started knitting but it was at least a year ago. I think she started because she wanted to give a friend who was having a baby a present. Of course things snowballed from there with more babies and more knitting. I don't mind the knitting that is fine, its the trading and stockpiling of wool that seems a little over the top to me. She started with just a couple of balls of wool for the project she was working on, but then she discovered the Ravelry website (facebook for knitters is how she describes it) and then things really took off. Through the website she found others selling wool or for trading wool with other people. There is even one, based in Germany , that has super rare wool that they sell once a week and people stalk it online. She managed to get a couple of those which she then traded away. We currently have wool, needles and patterns stashed everywhere around our house. That is not the point of this blog though. Just after she started knitting Caroline said she wanted to knit me a scarf. Since I already had a black and red Essendon scarf it was decided that a green and white Celtic scarf was in order. And thus began the saga of the scarf, about a month after she started and a couple of stripes in she wanted to restart it because it was too thick, I disagreed and negotiated a continuance. The scarf knitting went on for the next year almost, in between other projects - most of which were baby related. Finally last night she decided that she wasn't going to bed until the scarf was finished, at around 9pm the last tassel was put on and official photos were taken (available in the gift shop on your way out). I love my new scarf and hope the weather only gets colder so I can wear it every day. Thank you Caroline. Now I can't complain about our house full of wool ever again.

Pharmacy School

While it may be true that I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon because of Pharmacy School, it is also true that I really gave up on it after we got back from Australia. Because as you see there are no pictures from that trip, no posts about visits to various relatives or friends. We had a great time visiting just haven’t managed to document it at all. That was July and I started school at the end of August so I should have at least been able to get something done within that time. But no!

School is going well, I may have mentioned to some people that I think I have studied more in the last eight weeks than I did the whole time I was at the University of Melbourne. My class is about 300 students split between the main campus in Gainesville (150), Orlando (50), St. Pete (50) and us in Jacksonville (50). I have managed to find a group to study with which is very helpful and much more useful than me sitting at home by myself watching TV, then trying to read over material 20 minutes before an exam and thinking I will pass like that. I have actually finished one class already and got an A in it, you got the text message I am sure. It is a lot of work and it’s not really hard but just the volume of information is huge and it will only get worse.

Picking up the slack...

Our poor blog. Pharmacy school is the worst thing to happen to our blog - but the best thing for our family. Stewart was the SOLE updater of this blog and now he's too busy to do it, so I must pick up the slack. So far, so bad as I've only done so once.

This past weekend I spent in Daytona playing in the 6.0 Mixed Doubles USTA Sectional tournament. Basically, I play tennis. This league in particular is mixed doubles, meaning I play with a man. Because our level is 6.0, my rating and my partner's rating cannot exceed 6.0. So I am 3.0, meaning I must play with another 3.0. My partner is REALLY GOOD, but I was still nervous because as good as he is, I still have to carry my weight. On Friday and Saturday we did group play, meaning we were in a draw with four other teams. We basically had to play every team and win to make it to the finals. Well, we did. We then played the final on Sunday against Pensacola....and we won, making us the sectional champions. We are the only 6.0 team from Florida to go to Nationals...which is in Tucson Arizona! Very exciting.

I have also set some new goals for myself. The first one is that I want to cook more. Stewart needs better meals prepared for him...or really ANY meals prepared for him. I've been looking at a lot of cookbooks and online recipes and as soon as I have more time, that's my plan. The thing that's putting a kink in my new goal is the fact that Soccer coaching starts today. From this day on, I will not get home before 6:15 pm every night....so cooking dinner looks dim. Poor Stewart :(

Yay! New things.

So it's been a few months of new things in the Morris household.

1. Stewart got a new IPhone for school. I find this hilarious. When I first got one he was DEAD set against them....and now...he can't put it down. He said he needed it for school, but all I've seen him do on it is play games and check baseball scores.
2. Stewart also got a new laptop...which he has used for school every day. He really needed this, and it's a cool computer. It's red, of course, and has lots of cool features. Sadly he never gets to use the cool features because he's constantly watching lectures, writing presentations, and checking school stuff.
3. Melanie Oudin shoes. Yes, I'm a sucker. I got so taken in with her whole US Open run, that I had to have them. I needed new shoes anyway...and these just seemed perfect. They even say BELIEVE on them. Do I believe they'll make me play like Melanie? No.

How awesome are these?

4. Finally - I got my new car. Well, it's a used car, but it is so great. It's a 2007 CRV EX-L. It's glacier blue metallic. and did I mention it's PIMPED OUT? Leather seats, nav system, back up camera, heated seats, XM radio. It's so sweet. I'll get pics up soon.

Brazil vs South Africa Confederations Cup

I was a work while this game was played so I couldn’t watch it and so this commentary may be accurate and worthwhile. However I wonder where this commentator is from and why he is wasting our time with this. I copied some of the comments directly from the ESPN gamecast.
61' I know I bigged him up, but Melo has been nonsense tonight.
This is ok I guess but nothing about what is happening in the game
71' Brazil's passing tonight has been as erratic as Amy Winehouse's heartrate.
Strange analogy, however as I said it may be true I wasn’t watching the game
72' Tshabalala really is a first class name. Apparently he has brother called Po and Tinky Winky.
This is a terrible joke is it a teletubby thing?, does he think the guy is gay? A joke like this wouldn’t work on the teletvision or radio so any chance of it working in print is gone.
77' Booth - who has one of the longest necks I've seen and looks like one of hammerheads from Return to Oz - knocks the ball out of play, but is awarded the throw anyhow, much to Fabiano's consternation.
At least this is somewhat related to the game but really it is just an insult.
81' Alves is rolling down his girly poloneck in preparation for his imminent introduction. He replaces Santos.
Another insult it seems the commentator doesn’t even like soccer.
83' Melo is robbed by Modise and Lucio is then adjudged to have fouled Pienaar, which elicits a tantrum. It's been bothering me all night, and I'm pleased to say I've at last realised who Lucio reminds me of - it's Ivan Lendl.
83' Luisao has really quite a magnificent nose
Or maybe he just likes some of the players more than others, a lot.
85' And another thing I've just noticed. The very front of Dunga's hair hides the baldness that lies behind it. Good effort, but not good enough.

Now he is insulting the coach. I had to Google a picture of the coach to check out this statement and I have to disagree. He may be balding, but the short spikey hair is fine, I have seen plenty of worse attempts at hiding it
86' At last Brazil show something. Kaka drives at the defence, feeds it into Ramires, and he's fouled on the edge of area, to the left hand side.
And about here is where Brazil scored the only goal of the game.
90' I know I've slated him tonight, but I do like Dunga's velvet jacket, although I wouldn't wear it.
This is a very backhanded compliment. I also don’t know what the jacket looked like so I can neither defend the jacket or the comment
93' Well I'm glad that's over. A miserable game and a miserable performance from Brazil. South Africa did well, but you can't help but feel if they'd been a little less cautious, they might have managed to win. They'll also be rueing Mokoena's miss in the first half.
And the true feeling s about the game come out at the end.

The Worst Blogger Ever.

Ok Ok, I know that I am the worst blogger ever. I think I've blogged once. Maybe. But this past weekend I had the best time and I decided this was the perfect blog post idea.

So one of my best friends in the entire world (Since college) had a gorgeous baby girl about 7 months ago. She is truly one of the cutest babies I've seen in a long time and her name is Mattie. She's perfect in every way! Much to my surprise, Meg asked me to be Mattie's godmother. I was beyond excited. I mean, I've never been a godmother before, but knowing how close Meg and I are, I was ecstatic. Up until this point, being a godmother was more a title than anything else - but on Sunday, Mattie was baptized.

Believe it or not, Baptism requires rehearsal - so we did on Saturday. Meg and her husband Jon showed up with Mattie and Jon's brother David, the godfather. We spent about an hour walking through the ceremony and learning the meaning behind the ritual, etc, etc. Then, on Sunday, Stewart and I showed up at Meg's house at 9:30 to help set up for the post-ceremony luncheon. We all arrived at the church by 10 am.

The ceremony was great. There were four babies getting baptized that morning, and alphabetically, Mattie was last. She was so well behaved! She's only about 7 months old - so to be that behaved was shocking to me. Even as the water was being poured over her head, she was great. As godmother I had a few rolls. I had to speak out loud in response to the priest, take care of a candle, and a banner. Between David and I, we did a great job! Then it was home for the luncheon.

I got Mattie a gorgeous pearl necklace called an add-a-pearl necklace. Each year, at Christmas, I am going to get her another pearl for the necklace!! Meg loved it and I hope that when Mattie is old enough, she will too. I am so excited to be a godparent for the first time!

Other than that - the only thing going on is knitting and a countdown to Australia. (currently knitting socks for me, socks for mom for her birthday, and three weeks to Oz!) I can't wait. Ok that's it for me. Look for another blog post in about 6 months!! :)

The Internet is Wonderful

We were waiting for the computer program we use at work to be fixed to allow us to continue working, I was looking at various things on Wikipedia. For some reason I wanted to know about the Violent Femmes and really the wikipedia entry didn't tell me much I didnt already know. At the bottom of the "Blister in the Sun" page was a link to an outside page which read Second Hand Songs - Song: Blister in the Sun - Indigo Girls wondering what it was about I clicked on it to discover that www.secondhandsongs.com was a database to tell you the original artist and other artists who have covered songs. for some reason I think this is fantastic and a great resorcue to have to settle arguments about who sang what song when.

Kevin T. Jackson

This is about something that happened this week but really it happened in February 2008. I arrived at work and found out that the previous night one of my friends and coworkers had been shot and killed. The version of events I heard was that Kevin was arguing with his girlfriend who called this guy and then he showed up argued with Kevin, returned to his car to get a gun and came back to the apartment where Kevin was leaving and shot him in the back. We all went to the funeral and I was a mess, crying through most of the part where people get up and tell there memories of the deceased. The good news that followed was that they caught the guy who did it soon after. He was on parole for some other gun related offence, so it was good to know he had easy access to a firearm. Things got back to normal or as much as possible. Last week Kevin's mum let us know that the trial was going ahead and by Friday, he was found guilty. Sentencing is this week and we were asked to write letters to the judge to help. Below is the letter I wrote

"The Honorable Judge Senterfitt

My name is Stewart Morris and I am a friend and co-worker of Kevin Jackson. I was born and raised in Geelong Australia and moved to Jacksonville three years ago when I married my wife. I started working at the Ambulatory Pharmacy at Shands Hospital soon after. When Kevin began working at the pharmacy I helped to train him and we quickly became friends. He was always smiling. We talked everyday about the latest sports news and what our respective teams need to do to win. It didn’t make sense that we would bond over this with me being a Red Sox / Celtics fan and him being a Yankees / Knicks fan but it worked. We even made a bet over the Yankees getting into the playoffs, which I lost, however the Red Sox did win the World Series, so in a way I won. Kevin was the baby in the pharmacy and everybody loved him. He was always willing to help anybody who asked and even if you didn’t. He never had a bad word to say to anybody and was planning to return to school. Even now I expect him to show up and make some comment about the Yankees beating the Red Sox. I really thought that we would be friends for a long time.
I ask that you sentence the man who shot my friend to the maximum penalty.
Thank you


Stewart Morris"

I thought it would be easier than it turned out. I didn't end up putting much of anything. I feel like my communication ability was limited I didn't say things that I should have included, but I know that most of the people in the pharmacy wrote letters so hopefully they will help to get the maximum sentence.

April 30th

The last picture and i had to get Cat in somewhere. She is a good girl constantly being hassled by Fenway and hiding away. She spends most of her time sleeping and avoiding the other family members, but on occasion she will climb up on the bed to get pats and socialize, This shot was taken by the front door notice the vacuum cleaner in the background.

April 29th

The sunset which had something to do with this whole project. I kept driving past this bridge and seeing the view out to the St. Johns River thinking that would make an excellent foto. So when I started this project I knew that one of my shots would be sunset at this spot. So on my second to last day I rode my bike over and waited for sunset. It doesnt seem as good as what I had seen previously and what I thought it could be but I still like it and if a better shot shows up down the line, that is what i was going for.

April 28th

I tried to take a foto of the entire tree, but it would fit with the buildings either side. So I took a close up of the hole in the middle of the tree in an effort to be arty or something like that. Instead it just looks like a hole in a tree. See what happens when I start to run out of ideas.

April 27th

While we were in Raleigh I bought a red NC State Block S for my car. I had to rinse off the dirt before applying it. It looks really good and is actually shiny enough that you can see my reflection taking the foto.

April 26th

Caroline and I came home and Fenway greeted us. I thought this would make a great foto and told Caroline to repeat it when I had grabbed the camera. Very Cute!

April 25th

We had game night at our house. I had taken some fotos earlier in the day, but replaced it with this one. Travis and Diana brought me a cake to celebrate me getting into pharmacy school and I loved it. Travis put the decorations on himself and in case you are wondering the "pills" are really Tic Tacs. I thought it was a very thoughtful gesture and it tasted great too.

April 24th

Caroline talked me into playing 6.0 mixed doubles last year which was not fun. I practised a whole bunch with the team but the woman who was supposed to be my partner was playing on another team as well and never practised with me or played with me. So I did get to play one and a half games before the captain decided that I wasn't good enough to play anymore. Here is what happened I played one match with a woman who is a 3.0 and I am a 2.5 so we had already given up 0.5 to the other team and it was the first time I had played competitive tennis and we lost pretty bad. The second game I was supposed to play the other team forfeited my line because they didn't have enough players. After driving out to the middle of nowhere to play I got to play a game that didn't count against the captain and my partner while I played with an extra person the other team had found. I was pissed off and the captain had said that because of the amount of people on the team we were only guaranteed two games and that was my 'second' game. So i got to watch Caroline play every week and in sectionals and then go to nationals. So this year Caroline was trying to get me to play again but I refused to play for the same captain again. One of her friends was having trouble finding guys to play on her 6.0 team so she asked if I would play on that team. I agreed not really wanting to go back to mixed doubles, but at our first match tonight I had heaps of fun and I am looking forward to the rest of the matches. This was the score when we had to stop because it got dark and the lights didn't come on. We finished the game at Epping on Monday night and Kristy and I won! I managed to hit a drop shot that bounced on their side of the net and then spun back over the net to our side, the perfect shot.

April 23rd

We play Team Trivia every Thursday at Players Grille in San Marco. We are quite good. Well let me qualify that, we have people on our team that are good. the core team is myself, Caroline and our friends Dom, Travis and Diana. I am there every week unless I am sick, although I have been several times when I was sick. I didn't make it the week I was battling the stomach problem and we had been to Epping Forest trivia beforehand. This foto is of the top of the score sheet and it is super fun especially when you win, which we do frequently. I think our longest streak was four weeks in a row. The prize for winning is Players Grille House cash, so we usually have a reduced bill when we go.

April 22nd

The rascal Puppy. This was the day we got home so he was 'allowed' to play with my sock. I was also encouraging him so I could take a better foto, which I shouldn't do if I want my work socks to remain intact. He has since had a hair cut and is not as furry.

April 21st

Caroline organised for me to go with her on a tour of the N.C. State campus on the final day of the conference. It was not only fun, but educational as well. I was way more interested than some of the other tourees, but I didn't have any questions which slowed things down endlessly. The Campus is much bigger than I had expected and they have a number of partnerships with real companies that provide students with real world experience. We walked through the Brickyard, which is the center of campus activities. There were a couple of guys there trying to get people to donate money to buy a real bell for the bell tower. I wanted to donate, but thought it might look bad to duck out of the tour to do so. After the tour we went to the bookstore so I could buy some cool NC State merch. We walked past Reynolds Coliseum, so I took this picture which was the only one for the day so I barely made my requirement. I also ran back to the Brickyard but the bell guys were gone.

April 20th

I could see this mural from the window of our hotel room. While Caroline was at her conference again, I went exploring and discovered it was the Lincoln Theatre. It seemed like a cool place to go see live music, Snoop Dogg was coming up in May. I wandered around downtown the rest of the day and found a couple of stores selling bowler hats. i tried one on but it looked cheap and I ended up with no new hat.

April 19th

I was not planning on taking a foto of myself, but I had to. This was taken moments after I read my email telling me that I had got into UF Pharmacy school. I texted everyone and called Caroline and left a message, as she was in her conference. It was an exciting day which included me getting a foul ball at the baseball game later that afternoon, although the team was smashed by FSU 13-2.

April 18th

Saturday in Raleigh was super fun. I slept in and then walked around a little and had lunch at the Flying Saucer. Then Caroline returned from her conference stuff in time to drive me out to the NC State Red and White Game. For a practice game which essentially means nothing, I was surprised to see such a big crowd. They announced at halftime it was 21075. I think that part of that was the entry fee donation going to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. I was pretty proud of the support until I read that Ohio State got 90000 plus to their spring game which is a little ridiculous, I guess there is nothing else to do in Ohio. After the game the fans were allowed down onto the field and after much waiting I finally got down there. It was a little strange walking around, I was not sure what to do. I didn't have anything for players to sign, plus I don't really know players names or importance. So instead I wandered around the field taking fotos and admiring a view I probably won't ever get to see again. As I was climbing the stands to leave I turned around a took this foto. I had thought that people were crowded around to take foto's with the wolf statue but really it was because Coach Tom O'Brien was standing right by the goal post.

April 17th

This is our traditional pose for holidays. One of us (usually Caroline, but me this time for obvious reasons), holds the camera at arms length to take a foto of us smiling at whatever event we are at. This is us in the hotel room in Raleigh. We have similar shots from weddings and holidays. We managed to survive a delay in Jacksonville and a tower fire in Charlotte, while we were on the runway about to take off. After those delays we finally arrived at our destination and got to the hotel around ten PM. Then we wandered the streets trying to find somewhere to eat, before finally falling into bed sometime later.

April 16th

I am not sure if I took this on the 16th, but it is the closest I can come. When I was talking to Caroline at lunch time she mentioned that a tree had fallen on her parents garage. I had thought that it went straight through the middle to the ground. When I arrived for a stickybeak I discovered the tree at the back had fallen and leaned on the back of the garage, pushing it off square. The workmen were in the process of removing it. I didn't have the camera so I used my mobile fone camera. The memory was almost full and I could only take two shots before it refused to take any more, then I had to email it to myself to be able to get it to the blog.

April 15th

Another discovery of mine while walking Fenway was these berries. I actully found a blackberry along the back fence which I tried to feed to Fenway, but he was not interested. The next day I needed something to fotograf and decided to see if i could find another blackberry. I actually found a whole range of berries in different places around the outside fence. This was, in my opinion, the best picture.

April 14th

This strange foto is of a flower stuck to Fenway. This happens occasionally when I take him out for a walk. He gets too close to a plant and the flower sticks in his fur. Of course it is always just a solitary flower which makes it even weirder when I see it. Upon arrival home I tell Caroline that Fenway brought it for her.

April 13th

Another of the wonderful trees around our condo complex that I love so much. This actually turned out pretty good. It is a matter of deciding which angle to shoot from because other shots i tried had strange backgrounds. I walk past this tree every day when I take Fenway out and it makes me happy.
(Disclaimer: I tried to write this the other night and it didn't work, so this is the second attempt)

April 12th

AS you can tell some days I struggle for somehting to fotograf. I was also not feeling well due to whatever my ailment of the week was. I took this shot of the screen that is in our lounge room. It hides the Guitar Hero equipment when Caroline is not using it to rock out. It is an attempt ot be all arty and not a very good one.

April 11th

Fenway chewing on his bone. I was trying to do something that day so I gave him a bone to keep him occupied and out of trouble. It was rather effective as he gnawed on the thing most of the day and didn't hassle me or the cat which is a minor miracle in itself.

April 10th

This is another one of the trees that surround our condo complex. It is the one tree that got me thinking I could fill the holes in my picture schedule with tree shots. It is in an awkward spot because the background is not good. The sun shining through was an issue and I want to re shoot it, but a different angle gives a terrible background so I may have to think about it some more before I do that.