Making History of Cancer

It's been a long time since I stayed up all night. Yes, I've had my fair share of late nights playing with friends or out in DC, but I think the last time I was up all night was probably in high school.

So when I was invited to participate in the Relay for Life at Elizabethtown College, I was a tad hesitant. When I understood that the event is to raise awareness and funds for cancer research, however, I signed right up.

Here's the play-by-play:

2:00 PM: Arrival in Elizabethtown, PA; hanging out with friends; catching up on all the life happenings.

4:30 PM: Setting up for the Relay for Life

6:00 PM: The Relay starts with a welcoming speech by Rachel and Jackie; survivor lap; caregiver lap

6:30 PM: Marcia's Marchers (our team) gets started and I realize we have an amazing and hilarious group, so this night's gonna be awesome

7:15 PM: Activities get started; Kate, Jen, and Jess win close soccer game #1 against the athletics department giants

8:15 PM: Local bands keep things lively by rocking covers and originals; theme laps are in process and about this time was the 80's lap; visit the food area and our friends that are selling tea and other goodies; another soccer game, which the ladies won

9:00 PM: Glowstick ceremony; lap of silence -- both very emotional

10:00 PM: More activities, including beach ball pong, the red/white/blue laps, team photos (almost the whole team), and another visit to the fundraising food table area

12:00 midnight: Let them eat cake! The sugar rush is appreciated by all at the halfway point; badminton game for our team doesn't turn out so well, but fun to watch

12:30 AM: Four-square domination by Jen and me. We reached the finals, despite the drunk dude who was trying to cheat

2:10 AM: Three-legged race ends in hilarity and battle wounds which would last for weeks; cowboy theme lap brings out some great costumes

3:00 AM: Kate and Laura have speaking part and do great job; DJ plays YMCA during a lap and we all have a great time; DJ follows that up with awesome hip hop series of songs and we all get our groove on; we battle in the tug-o-war, make it to the finals, but all we end up with are dislocated pinkies and severe rope burns

4:00 AM: Macarena gets played and I'm ashamed to admit that I joined in. In my defense, it was 4:00 AM and I wasn't thinking clearly haha; team lap where we carry our Marcia's Marchers banner; a little down-by-the-banks playing by our team, and Dan does surprisingly well; more good dance tunes as we walk, resulting in embarassing pictures of all

5:15 AM: Rachel and Jackie get interviewed by E-TV crew for a feature; Relay committee celebrates a successful Relay for Life with a big dance party in the middle of the gym

5:40 AM: Presentation to announce grand total of fund-raising from 2009 E-town Relay for Life; crowd erupts into cheers and excitement when the total of $87,019.06 is revealed --that's $12k above the goal!

6:00 AM: Finish up Relay and take down the decorations as quickly as possible; sleep deprivation apparent as we all stagger around and carry boxes like zombies

7:00 AM: Done cleaning up; we all make our way to the apartments to sleep, just as the sun is coming up; thank heavens for blinds

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My Racing Season Begins

A lot of people were snug in their beds. Some were snuggling up to a loved one. Some were maybe asleep on the couch wearing a Snuggie. I wasn't.

I was at the Nation's Half Marathon. My friend Julie met me at the metro station and we rode to the Stadium Armory stop together. It was a bit chilly out, but not as bad as we expected. We stretched out inside the Armory to keep warm until a couple minutes before the start. After dropping our cover-up clothes off at the tent, we headed to the start line and found our timing corrals. That was the last I saw of Julie, because she's a lot faster than me :)

The race was great. I couldn't be happier about it. Okay, well I'd like to run faster, but it was a good first big race of the season. We ran by the US Capitol, the Washington Monument, up by Trinity College (which I'd never been to that area), and finished at the Stadium Armory again.

During the race, I had a couple revelations.

1) I still love running after all these years. That doesn't seem like a big thing, but the love ebbs and flows sometimes, and this was a good reminder.
2) Sometimes you just have to take it easy and enjoy the scenery. Running next to these amazing sites, you have to look around.
3) If my hands are warm, I'm fine. Debated about if I should wear my long-sleeve shirt, but very glad I didn't. My gloves kept me from tensing up due to the chill, and, after about 5 minutes of running, I was warmed up and good to go. Then it was easy to tuck my gloves into the back of my shorts once the sun had come out.
I finished in just under 2 hours, which was just faster than the pace I'd hoped to do. If I can have that pace for the half marathon portion of my half Ironman in the Fall, I'll be stoked about it. After the race, I found several friends, including a couple that came down from New York for the race, and we had a good time talking and catching up. Then it was home to get that ice bath going and start recovering...

Note: Congratulations to Julie, who finished her full marathon in 3 hours 40 minutes. That's fast enough to qualify her for the Boston Marathon next year!

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Touring the USA for Uncle D

Every so often, my job is awesome. When you get to take a two-week trip around the country for work, that qualifies as one of those times.

We started off in Athens, NY. Athens is about 45 minutes from Albany (the state capitol, for those of you that remember U.S. geography) and not nearly as Greek-y as the name would suggest. But we did get to spend two days at the power plant there, and we were able to take an in-depth plant tour including climbing up the stairs onto one of the "stacks".Next we drove up to Sturbridge, MA, a little tourist spot with great restaurants, including Fins & Tales, VIENNA! (emphasis and exclamation point added for inside joke effect), and Publick House. There is also a very nice power plant, with people who are just as friendly as in Athens, NY.Instead of going home to DC for the weekend, we decided to have a little fun. Elizabeth and I met up with Peter down in Nawlins for a couple nights and had ourselves a ball. We battled semi-dreary weather as we explored the city and culture and took in several ruckus parades. We also paraded ourselves down Bourbon Street on several occasions and took in some live jazz.

To finish off the trip, Uncle D sent us out to a power plant an hour outside of Phoenix, AZ. Our work conditions weren't as ritzy as in Athens or Sturbridge, but we enjoyed our little air-conditioned metal box in the dessert just fine. And we were able to take in plenty of fresh air, which I think we all appreciated. And while we were in town, I was able to meet up with my old friend Drew, a.k.a. the Giver, for dinner and conversation afterward.

The whole thing got me thinking about asking for more audits that include traveling...

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Guilty on Almost All Counts

Hi friends!

So if you've ever wondered about my work and the things we accountants like, here's your answer: http://www.stuffaccountantslike.com/

I received it in a forwarded email, which I think should be the next item on the list. I get 2-3 emails a day of jokes, funny pictures, YouTube videos, and comparisons between accountants and other professions (My favorite so far: "accountant or prostitute?" The similarities are frightening).

Okay, gotta get back to some tickmarks in excel spreadsheets and figuring out where we're going for lunch. Later!

Aaron

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The Rest of the Story

Dear Paul,

You will be missed.

I will always remember hearing your great stories while on roadtrips with my family.

Whether headed to Yellowstone, Disneyland,

Spokane, Lake Powell, or Montana.

You were there to give us... the rest of the story.

RIP Paul Harvey

-Aaron

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Pagoda, Peanuts, and Punching Players in PA

When was the last time you played Monopoly? Not Dinosauropoly, BYU-opoly, Geckopoly (Geico's version), or any other -opoly. Remember the railroads in Monopoly? Well last weekend I went to the city behind one of those railroads. Nope, not Short Line. B&O? Too smelly. Pennsylvania? Sort of... but I'm actually referring to Reading! [Rhymes with bedding, by the way. Who knew?]

My friend Kate invited me to go up and see her hometown. Little did I know the wonderous sights and sites that I would behold! Such as:1. The Reading Pagoda - Not what you'd expect to find in the middle of Pennsylvania, but it's there. It really is. And it has a great view of the whole city, too.2. The Peanut Bar - Yes, you just toss the shells on the floor. Wild and crazy! It definitely took us a few minutes to not feel bad for doing it, but soon we had cast off our etiquette-entrenched traditions and were tossing shells with reckless abandon.

3. Punching Players - We saw a Reading Royals hockey game and had a blast sitting with Kate's dad's friends. They were all die-hards and the best kind of loud-mouthed fans for small-town hockey. Plus, we crossed the Reading Railroad train tracks on our way to the arena. Sadly, it was too dark or I'd have taken a picture of us walking along the rails.

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