Update and thoughts

Here I am again, being the laziest blogger. In a world where we constantly update everyone 140 characters at a time, it seems superfluous to write an entire blog entry. I might as well take all of my Facebook status updates and Tweets and smoosh them all together for a weekly blog post.

Anyway, here is a little update on what has been going on with me.

 - We are going to Hawaii next week! Levi is teaching a class at Schofield Barracks in Oahu, and I am tagging along for a relaxing vacation. I am looking forward to a lot of lying on the beach, swimming, eating, running, and hiking. I will need it after this week of getting my workspace in order and delegating my tasks to everyone else.

 - The weekend mini-vacations usually take up a lot of our off-time in the summer. This month we visited Williamsburg, Virginia and went camping at a friend-of-a-friend's beach house on the Chesapeake Bay. Those two trips were completely different experiences. In Williamsburg we went to an old tavern, stayed at a presidential-themed bed & breakfast, explored the William & Mary campus, and played around at Colonial Williamsburg in the hot, hot sun. The camping trip consisted of relaxing, drinking beer, catching crabs from a boat, relaxing, sailing on a catamaran, eating the crabs, and sleeping in a tent. They were both fantastic, and both full of things I had never done before.

 - I am quitting smoking. For good this time. Since I have tried and failed a few times in the past, I am attacking my addiction from all sides. I started taking Chantix four days ago, and my "quit date" is on Friday. Coincidentally, that is the day before I leave for Hawaii, which should make it easier. So far things are going well on the Chantix. The crazy-vivid dreams have already started, so that should make for a fun nighttime adventure.

 - Tomorrow is our sixth wedding anniversary. Woo!

 - I have a couple of races coming up this fall. I took it easy after the half marathon in June, but I am getting back into the running habit. (One of my top reasons for quitting smoking.) In September I will be running a 10K with a friend who wants motivation to lose a few post-baby pounds. At the end of September Levi and I will be running the Ragnar Relay with a group of ten other people. The Ragnar is 193 miles through West Virginia, Virginia, DC and Maryland. It takes about 30 hours and we all run three legs and sleep in a van. In October Levi and I are running the Army 10-Miler in DC. I am the most excited for that one, because the course takes us from the Pentagon, through the memorials, up to the Capitol, then back to the Pentagon. By then I want to be completely comfortable running 10 miles, like I was two months ago.

That's all for now. Maybe I'll find time to write from our house (with wi-fi!) in Hawaii.