GREAT SCOT! Has it really been almost three weeks since my last post?

What have I been up to? Let’s see…

• Work – Of course, work takes up a fair portion of my waking hours. I’m not going to ramble on about that here but I’ve been considering some ‘how I get things done’ posts in the near future.
• Sleep … well, not really but I’m fully aware that is an area for improvement. Four hours of sleep per night isn’t cutting it and I continually fall into this bad habit of sleeping less for some reason.
• Parenting – Freya is an amazing little bundle of squiggles. This week she has learned to make a bird-like shriek and sort of freaked us out the other day. Jane was holding her and she started to cry and kick around (typical baby stuff) then buried her face in Jane’s shirt and screamed. This new behavior had us worried for a few minutes until we went through our checklist of baby stuff.
  • Last nap? within the hour
  • Diaper change? just now
  • Last nursing? one hour ago but she only nursed for a few minutes … AHA!

  Sure enough, she was just hungry and nursed like a champ.

  Freya has also been practicing for speech much more often lately. Sometimes I’ll come downstairs for a coffee break and she’ll be laying on Jane’s lap looking up at her and cooing as if telling Jane a story. I wasn’t aware that I could smile so big until this daughter of mine came along.

• Martial arts – My mat time has been limited because trying to be a good parent is a priority. I attend Hapkido classes twice per week (usually Thursday and Saturday) and practice Bujinkan and Hapkido movements at home as part of my solo training. This year, I’ve started drilling down into basic movements and making them solid (again). Once I have more free time I’m planning to gather a Bujinkan group for class twice per week as well as attending and helping with Hapkido classes. I should really start adding my thoughts about martial arts training here because I need to get them out of my head and discuss them with the world.
• Runnning – Kona and I have been out a few times this week and I’m getting ready to don the sweaty running gear that is currently hanging in our guest bathroom shower. More updates on running coming along soon as I start planning for the 1/2 marathon in June. With this much time to prepare I think this is going to be a great experience for me.
• Personal Training – I’ve dusted off the NASM material and have been studying again to take my CPT (certified personal trainer) test. This is another of my great ideas that lost momentum and sort of fell by the wayside. If anyone reading this is interested in a free personal trainer to help me stay motivated and gain experience helping you reach your fitness goals, let me know (contact me here if you don’t have my contact info).

So there it is, a quick and dirty update of my life over the past three weeks. Now, it’s time to lace up and hit the street – puppo is getting antsy.

This weekend I defeated the hill again but one block after the peak I had to slow my pace to a fast walk to allow my breathing and heart rate to normalize. Kona looked back at me, puzzled as if to say “keep pushing, don’t let me down!” But I had to walk for just a bit to catch my breath again, clearly I was excited about the hill climb and had run at a faster pace than normal.

When I got home I felt discouraged by what I considered at the time a failure, the hill had taken just enough out of me that I had to walk part of the route I had chosen to run. However, later in the afternoon I realized that I’m doing myself a favor by pushing a faster pace up the hill and really challenging myself and I started dreaming about doing hill sprints and how the pain involved certainly must be equal to the feeling of accomplishment that comes afterward.

Goal for next week: circle the block twice four double hill climb action.

Today was a very emotional day for Jane and I as we had to say goodbye to our very good feline friend Simon. For several weeks his health had been spiraling downward and I tricked myself into thinking everything was better when he showed signs of improvement for one week. However, his face continued to distort from swelling on his forehead and the third eyelid of his left eye was 50% closed. Monday and today he didn’t eat and wandered around with a distant look on his unfamiliar face. We suspect he was losing his vision because he was pacing around the house in strange patterns, running into things and getting stuck behind furniture.

I had to phone the vet to schedule the procedure and for the first time since we met, Jane saw me cry – which proves I’m probably still human.

Shortly after noon today Jane petted Simon as the doctor injected the series of fluids that would signal his retirement. The doctor’s best guess is that his swelling and deteriorating health was caused by some form of cancer. The procedures to verify the diagnosis were out of our price range at this time and it was very likely the results would tell us that he was in very poor health with no chance of significant recovery. It’s very frustrating but I’m confident that we did the right thing by not prolonging his suffering. He had a very good life with us and will be greatly missed.

Now that I’ve set a dreary tone for this post, let’s see if I can pull it around to something more celebratory.

A short and incomplete list of the things I loved about our dear friend Simon.

• His purr often rivaled the roar of a Harley Davidson when he would snuggle up to Jane at night.
• When working in my home office late at night, Simon would often hop into my chair between me and my chairback to fall asleep purring his face off.
• Simon was down for a nap any time of the day and would happily lay on my chest to make sure no one disturbed me.
• He was very good at playing with balls of crumpled paper.
• We could not have house plants because Simon would always find a way to rub his face in them, eat the leaves or knock them over. In the video below you’ll see his love for plants.
• He was one of the most social cats I’ve met. When visitors would walk through our door, he was there to greet them.
• Simon was talkative. He would sometimes walk into a room and start meowing to us as if telling us about his day.
• He was the boss and made sure our other pets stayed in line. When we brought Kona (our dog) home, Simon backed her into a corner the first day to send the message that he’s not to be messed with.
• He was crazy about being picked up and would seriously try to climb my leg just so I would cart him around like a baby.

This video was taken on Simons 14th birthday in our back yard. He was an indoor cat ever since I met him (though in his early days he was indoor/outdoor) and was always interested in escaping if there was a partially open door. The best part was even if he did escape he would only get as far as the first leafy plant because he would have to stop and stick his face in the leaves, it was like catnip for him.

You had a good life my friend and will forever live on in our fond memories and many photos, one of my very favorites is this one:

This past weekend I went running with Kona and I powered through the previously mentioned hill that has been causing me some trouble. At the top my calves were burning so very badly but the endorphin rush at the end was so very worth the little bit of struggle. By the time I made it back to my house and in the door I swear felt like Rocky Balboa or something.

It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop listening to the voices that tell you to stop, even though you know you can finish strong. I’m hoping I can make the time to get another good run or two in before 2010 starts so I can hit the ground running … or something like that.

This weekend I returned to a three mile run-route that is mostly downhill for the first half and uphill on the return trip. My running mate (Kona, our dog) loves this route as we usually keep a quick pace on the downhill portion and if she had her way we would be sprinting at least 5 miles each day. I enjoy the downhill portion but my attitude changes as soon as we make our switchback and have an uphill return route. I can stay motivated and keep my feet moving until we reach the area orange highlighted area in the graphic above. That’s when the voices get really loud and convince me it’s time to walk.

So, one of my renewed personal challenges is to ignore the voices and defeat this hill, it will now be included in all of our run routes. Once I’ve killed this one I’ll move on to other, more intimidating hills in our neighborhood.

Which reminds me – I need to check the elevation map for the 1/2 marathon in June to see what sort of inclines are included.

Can’t find the right gift for one of the nerds in your life? Well, I’m here to help with some links to online resources that cater to the nerdy crowd. For the last three years, items from these stores have been on my wishlist for christmas or birthday. So, shop away shoppers.

1. Thinkgeek
ages: 0-100

You may have seen my last post featuring our six week old daughter Freya napping it up in a super rad Taun Taun sleeping bag. From startrek onsies for your nerdy newborn to demotivational calendars for your unhappy co-workers, thinkgeek has a wide range of geeky goodness for all ages.

2. Jinx
ages: 0-100

If your nerd is a gamer, be it console, pc or pen & paper, Jinx has gear for them. One of my current favorites is the ‘level 1 human’ onsie which I just might have to order for Freya.

3. BustedTees
ages: 2-1,000

Need some hilarious tshirts? Bustedtees is your place, they’re just darn clever. One of my favorites is the cinco de mayo shirt with line art of five mayo jars.

I might be updating this list over the next week but these three are excellent starting points for your holiday shopping.

For those who are not in my circle of regular updates (via facebook, chat, email or in person), my wife and I welcomed a new addition to our family six weeks ago. I imagine the content of brianchurch.com will likely include updates about my journey as a new father.

But, the reason I started this post is to show off a super awesome gift we received late last week. Freya’s first sleeping bag, gifted by my co-workers.

NOTE: Click for larger view … really larger view because I uploaded the super large photos after I realized I didn’t install photo editing software on my laptop after a recent HD reformat.

If you would like one of these bad boys for yourself, head over to thinkgeek.com before they run out again.

My first publicly announced goal for 2010.

I’ve just signed up for the Seattle Rock & Roll Half Marathon in an effort to encourage myself to step up my running routine. Over the past 12 months my runs have dropped down to the 2-2.5 mile mark and I realize I’ve fallen into a comfort zone that I need to break out of.

View Seattle Rock & Roll WA Half Marathon in a larger map

I’m a huge fan of the Naruto anime (and manga) series, if you like ninjas you should check out the series at http://www.naruto-tv.com.  One of the special powers Naruto uses is the kage bunshin no jutsu or shadow clone technique. Throughout the series, Naruto uses his kage bunshin no jutsu to create multiple clones and get himself out of some rough spots.

This evening, I was thinking about how great it would be if I could replicate myself in order to complete a greater number of tasks over time. I embarked on a fantastic day dream of having multiple versions of Brian Church running around doing things just as I would do them. After a short time I realized that this fantasy is entirely possible. While the ability to physically replicate myself on a cellular level is not yet possible, efficient delegation of tasks will accomplish the same thing.

However, I’m often slow to hand off some tasks because I don’t have the time to communicate the methods by which I would complete a task or begin a project. Next step: documentation. By documenting my processes (decision trees and instructions for regular tasks) I can trust my shadow clones will have a guide by which to make decisions and take action.

Now if I could just replicate myself in order to have someone who can document my processes…