Wedding, Running, Rain, Rob Schnieder and More

It has been quite the weekend. It started with at 12.5 mile run with the students from my school. It is the longest we have run so far and the last 2.5 miles or so were pretty difficult for the students but I am proud to say they all made. I am impressed by all of them and the work they have put in so far. We have a half marathon (the Philly Distance Classic) coming up in two weeks. I am excited for them to take on this challenge.

After running, I went home, showered as fast as I could, at lunch, and headed to a wedding of friends of mine in Philly (Oscar and Karen). You can see pictures from the wedding and reception below. It was in a beautiful church and a great wedding. Also, some friends who used to live in Philly but moved about 2 months ago came back for the wedding with their 4 month old son, Collin, who has been a real treat to have around the house (they are staying with us for the weekend).

Between the wedding and reception, I went home and slept for almost two hours because I was exhausted. During which the effects of Hurricane Hannah started taking its toll on the Philly area. We had pretty much torrential downpour from 1pm until about 9pm last night. It was unbelievable...and crappy weather for a wedding but we got much needed rain.

I head to the reception after my nap. The reception was great and Karen and Oscar's wedding officially is listed in my top 5 favorite weddings. They know how to throw a great party. I danced for most the evening, the DJ was great, the food was amazing, and the bridge and groom made their rounds talking to probably everyone...all in all an evening well spent.

Today I headed down to South Street in Philly for the Philly Green Festival...yes you called it...a festival all about saving the world and cleaning up our environment one person at a time...of course I loved it. I met my friend Mary, perused the booths, ate at Moaz's (a falafel restaurant), visited a sewing store, and on my way back to the car....I know I couldn't believe I drove to a green festival instead of riding my bike....

Anyway on the way back to my car, who did I see...none other than Rob Schneider of crappy movie acclaim. I couldn't remember his name at first and called my brother, Collin, to help me out but just before Collin answered it came to me. He had hsi arm around a lady and signed a few autographs. We walked the entire length of a block together...kind of strange but hey it was my first famous person sighting in Philly...although I don't really consider him famous....just a crappy movie actor....

Here are pics from the wedding...enjoy

Yep That's Right

Yes folks...I did it. I went on the longest bike ride of my short life. All in all it was just under 30 miles. I was pretty tired at the end of it but it felt great to have accomplished that. My butt is crazy sore...that is the hardest part to get used to.

Just think, if I was doing an Ironman, I would only have 82 miles left to bike...sick....

Weekly Food Consumption in Countries

Okay I posted this once before but the pictures didn't upload. I thought it was worth posting again with the actual pictures...this might leave more of an impression with you.

What is eaten in one week!

This is undoubtedly one of the most interesting e-mails I've ever received. Take a good look at the family size and diet of each country, the availability & cost of what is eaten in one week.

Germany : The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07



United States : The Revis family of North Carolina (Sure hope most American
families eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less junk food than this family.)
Food expenditure for one week $341.98



Italy : The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11



Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09



Poland : The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27



Egypt : The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53



Ecuador : The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55



Bhutan : The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03



Chad : The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

Nominate Students Run Philly Style

If you know and care about me at all, you will take five (5) minutes of your time to nominate Students Run Philly Style for American Express members Project. There are many programs hoping to receive funding from American Express, but only the top 25 make it into the next round. If we make it to the next round of judging, we will share in 2.5 million in funding from American Express.

Follow the link below to nominate this great program. You have until September 1st, 2008, so do it now before you forget. I will greatly appreciate it and so will the students that benefit from this great program.

http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/REMW3T

After you click on the link, all you have to do is register as a guest (unless you are already an American Express card holder) and follow the directions. Once you have registered, nominate Students Run Philly Style and you are all done. Simple as that. Hopefully you will have helped our program receive some funding we definitely deserve.

If you want more information about Students Run Philly Style checkout their website at:

http://www.nncc.us/studentsrun.html

I absolutely love this program and I have been a part of it since March mentoring and running with kids. Our longest race so far was the Braod St. Run which is a 10 mile race in Philly. We are currently training for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 23rd. It is exciting watching these kids dedicate themselves to running and meeting their goals in the process.

Candidates in Philadelphia

So again this happened forever ago but it was a small moment of fame in my life. Hillary Clinton came to Philadelphia for a rally prior to the Philadelphia primary and I was lucky enough to attend. I came with Bud and Sara and we had great seats to the left side of the podium she would be speaking on. There was a huge build up to her coming out to speak with both Governor Rendell and Mayor Nutter introducing her. In the past few years, I was able to hear John Edwards and Barak Obama so I was completing the potential Democratic President trifecta by seeing Hillary Clinton.

Hillary's people created a video of the rally at Temple University, but it isn't posted anymore on Hillary's website. On this video you could catch a small glimpse of me and my friend Sara if you had quick eyes. Well everyone didn't have quick eyes so Dave (my brother) was kind enough to make a freeze frame of the video and circle me and Sara in the video.

You will obviously notice Hillary's head in the picture:



Here is a slideshow of some pics I have of the evening:

I'm Back....well at least I think so.

Okay so apparently I am terrible at this blogging thing. One of my goals for this upcoming year which by the way I still experience years from August to August...I can't help it. I have been a student forever and now I work at a high school. I think I will forever live by that calendar. Anyway one of my goals for this year is to blog and update people about my life more often. Not that I have all sorts of great things going on but that isn't the point. It is important to share life with people even if it is just the normal day to day and the things that make you think, laugh and enjoy life that day. And also the things that make you sad, lonely and wish the day would end sooner.

These are all important and hopefully you can look forward to hearing from me more often. Here's to another year and life lived. Selah

Sailing and then some

Jibing, Tacking, Spinniker, Hiking out, Jib, Port, Starboard, Ready About, and many more...

Before yesterday, I had no idea what many of these terms meant. I was a child in the world of sailing. I still am but I have one race under my belt and 2 hours experience with an excellent sailing teacher. My friend Mary invited me to go sailing with her On Wednesday. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. We went to the Riverton Yacht Club in New Jersey that has sailboat races every Wednesday night on the Delaware River. Often some boats are looking for extra crew because they need weight in the boat or an extra set of hands. I was lucky enough to get picked up by a Allen and Diane. Their third crew member was unable to come that night so I took his place. The next two hours were a crash course in sailing. Needless to say we didn't win the race, but I personally had a nice time trying. I was invited back for next Wednesday's race and I think I might take Allen up on it.

After the races are over, everyone meets on the dock for snacks and drinks. It is really a neat culture to be a part of....if even only for a couple hours every week. There are three types of ships in the races: J22s, Lightnings, and Mariners. I rode in a Lightning. We are given a mapped out course and compete against the other ships in our category...so all the Lightnings set off at the same time to compete to finish the race first. We actually didn't finish the race because we didn't cross the final buoy on the port side so oh well...it was still a great experience...and I look forward to hopefully learning more next week.



That isn't me or the boat I was one, but it gives you an idea of what it looked like last night.