Youthless

Happy Presidents Day. I celebrated it by going to work. Woo hoo.

'Twas a busy weekend. We spent much of the day Saturday getting ready to have friends over for a little Valentine's Day bash for the kids. I used to take the girls to a father-daughter dance at the Y, but the last few years we've joined forces with some of our other friends with kids to get together for dinner. This year, we hosted. But first, I had to run some errands, getting a haircut and picking up a V-day card for Deb. Then I took the girls to the library for a few hours while Deb finished getting the house ready for the party. Matt and Tricia also came up for the weekend, so they arrived first, followed by three other couples and their kids. It was a good time. Matt and I didn't drink too much because we were heading up to Hampton, NH, on Sunday to run a half marathon. Fortunately the race was at 11, so we didn't have to get up too early.

My cold is still bothering me, but I was able to run a good race at the Half at the Hamptons, finishing in 1:44 (basically an 8:00/mile pace). The weather was nice, sunny in the 30s, and the race was well organized. I enjoyed a Harpoon Celtic Ale afterwards. Matt finished in 2:21. We headed over to my mom's place to change and then went to the Amesbury Sports Park, where we met the wives and the kids to do some snow tubing. It was a blast. There were five or six lanes and we did a bunch of runs for three hours. Lily decided after a couple that she didn't want to do it anymore, so I went in the lodge with her for about a half hour before everyone came in and talked her into going out again. Everyone had their own tube. Hannah and Danny were able to go by themselves but an adult went down with Lily and Timmy each time. Lots of fun, but we were pretty exhausted by the time we got home. We made a Nick's Roast Beef run for dinner. Good times.

Matt and Tricia headed home this morning after I went to work. Meanwhile, Deb and the girls are enjoying their February vacation. I was planning to take Friday off to spend a day with the girls, but Deb's mom got tickets to take them to Disney on Ice that day. I can't take another day off because of deadlines and I was looking forward to a long weekend, but Deb may have a bunch of chores lined up for me while they're gone. I'm still debating my options.

This just in:

• Just a decade ago, the ridiculous (and fun) movie Face/Off with Nic Cage and John Travolta featured a crazy sounding face transplant. Now face transplants are a reality. I suspect it'll be some time before criminal masterminds get them, but you never know.
• So the dude who started an Islamic TV station in New York designed to counter negative stereotypes about Muslims goes and (allegedly) beheads his estranged wife. Yeah, that'll really win people over, pal.
• Poor Octomom. Even her PR team has abandoned her after the overwhelmingly negative response to her attempt to seek donations to help support her 14-kid brood. And it doesn't look like a TV show's happening anytime soon. She'd better hope those kids grow up to be a football team or something.