Again, it has been too long

Over the last several months my blog has become more of a picture book-- a "phlog" if you will.


Why is this? I think it's because it's just too easy to whip out my blackberry, snap a pic and e-mail it to my blog. Plus, what better way to keep people updated on the latest happenings way up here in Fort McMurray than to actually see what I'm doing, or see what I'm looking at, in real time?

To some degree this should be acceptable, but unfortunately I've fallen into the scary trap of relying solely on the photos to keep this blog afloat. This must come to an end!

From this point forward I will commit to more frequent posts, regardless of the meaningless content they may contain.






For now, it's probably time for an update:



The Slow Sox (the lame name of our softball team) currently have a record of 8-2. Pretty sweet, if you ask me. The nice thing about this team is that we always have just enough girls, so I have yet to ride the pine this season. Overall, the hitting and fielding are going well, despite a couple of errors in the last game (one of which included throwing a ball directly at Kelsey's ankle--ouch!).



I've also been spending a solid amount of time donating golf balls to the local courses. This season, nothing is getting in the way of my sub-100 round. This has been a goal I've been solidly pursuing for the last two years. Last year I didn't play as much as I am this season, so I'm confident it will all come together before the end of September. So far I've shot rounds in the 105 range and a nine-hole round of 45, so I'm in the running.



My training for the 10K in September is also progressing fairly well after a three-week hiatus. Despite a numbness in the outer part of my right foot, which seems to be caused by some tightness and funky stuff in my lower back, I'm continuing to pound the pavement, confident I'll have no problem reaching the 10K goal in just a few months.



Work is crazy-busy, but that's nothing out of the ordinary. We're all working as hard as we can during this period of uncertainty. Hopefully by the end of the third quarter the merger stuff will have worked itself out and everyone can get on with their "normal" lives - whatever those may entail. Personally, for me, I'm embracing the time I have and getting as much experience as possible, not worrying about what the future may hold for me. I am a firm believer in whatever happens, happens for a reason. Does that mean it would make losing a job any easier? Absolutely not. Do I hope I have a future in this new company? Absolutely! I work with some of the smartest communicators out there and I'd hate to lose out on more years of working alongside them. Only time will tell, though.



This weekend we have had some glorious weather in good old Fort McMurray. Today it was in the 28 degree range downtown, which I think translated into about 30 up here in the Timberlea area. As you can see from my previous post, I spent about an hour lazing in the hammock longing for the sun to wash away the terrible farmer's tan I have from golfing and playing baseball. I made a bit of progress, but the 60 SPF sunscreen I bathed in before going outside did its job in deflecting most of the rays. It wasn't until today that I realized I'd purchased suncreen with a 60 SPF. I usually don't stray above 30, so this was clearly a mistake. Oh well.



In other news, I am so happy the Penguins pulled off the underdoggish on-the-road victory against those pesky Red Wings. Now, let's get something straight: I have nothing against the Wings; I was just really hoping the Pens could pull it off. I wanted to see Sid the Kid be the youngest captain to ever hoist the Stanley Cup, so I say good on ya boys.

This week will bring a little more baseball and hopefully some more sunshine before I get ready to head to Calgary for 10 days on the 22nd. Because Brody and I had planned to go back to the Okanagan for our traditional Funtastic weekend, we both have the 26 - 29 off. It turned out that we didn't have enough people to put together a team this year. While it's sad that I won't get to spend the time hangin' with my parents and playing ball alongside my daddy, I'll get to spend some much-needed quality time with the Brodster. Here's hoping the weather is great for us and we can get a round or two in.