'Tis the Fourth of July. So far, our weekend has been completely opposite of what we had planned and I'm kinda loving it.

We had made plans to go to DC for the long weekend but found out a few days ago that we wouldn't be able to see some of Mike's classmates we had planned to meet up with. They're having a party in two weeks so we're going to try to make that instead.

So rather than be jammed into throngs of people out in the sun and heat (and probable storms) watching fireworks over the monuments, we spent the morning doing geek things followed by a trip to the gym. Tonight, we'll watch fireworks over the trees at the end of our neighborhood.

I've been feeling a little burnt out recently. Summer heat taking its toll, perhaps? Hanging out around here this weekend with a possible day trip to the beach sounds awesome.

Oh, also, happy birthday to my brother, Matt. Fireworks just for him, as always.

All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. -Winston Churchill

Yesterday, Mike lucked into one of those nice perks that come with his job from time to time - free tickets to the Dave Matthews Band concert at Walnut Creek. Neither of us are huge DMB fanatics but for free? Sure!

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It's been an uneven couple of weeks for post-Race for the Cure running.

I pulled a muscle or something, I'm guessing during the Race though I felt really good afterwards. That brought on an uncomfortable first week where I could only run once (outside with Mike, way too early for my liking). That Thursday (the 19th) I finally went to the doctor and got some anti-inflammatory drugs for my muscle pull.

Last Sunday, Mizuno held an event at the Fleet Feet location in Raleigh off Wade Ave. They did some fancy diagnostics to determine the best kind of shoe for your foot and running style. Mike's last pair of shoes were Mizunos and they put him right back in the same pair. My last shoes were Brooks but they put me in the Wave Creations, just like Mike's. Only, smaller and more girly (see left).

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I tweaked webchicky.com this morning and it should be working correctly in all browsers now.

Today is Ripley's 5th birthday according to the paperwork from the shelter. Nobody knows for sure but this is as good a day as any to celebrate.

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FireFox 3 was released today. If you'd like to download it, there's a link to the right under the "search" form. Their servers are a little slow right now so be patient if you're trying to download the installation file.

In related news, of all the sites I'm responsible for, the only one that's showing problems in FF3 is this one. The home and subpages (everything but the blog and message boards) aren't rendering correctly. I'll work on it over the next few days.

Saturday was the Race for the Cure. The weather wasn't too bad that morning. Warmer than most runners find to be ideal (72° and 84% humidity at 6am) but the smoke from the Eastern NC fires had cleared out and there was a slight breeze at times.

We parked at the RBC Center and took the bus over to the Meredith College campus around 6:30, picked up our timing chips, and made our way to the start line. Really, we timed everything perfectly - just enough time to do what we needed to do but not enough time to stand around waiting and feeling anxious.

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I love it when lyrics catch my attention when I was only passively listening to a song in the background. But every so often, they catch my attention in a bad way.

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I registered this morning for the Race for the Cure this Saturday. I have a race page and everything! It's going to be warmer than last year, which was already completely miserable. I haven't run outside hardly at all. In general, I'm not feeling good about my running ability.

My time last year was 34:46. It would be nice to beat that though my actual goal is to once again cross the finish line without requiring medical assistance. I figured even though I'm not expecting to have a fabulous run, it's a very good cause and I'd feel bad about not going. Worst I can do is walk the whole 3 miles! Since Mike was already signed up, I figured I might as well join in - going to be awake early anyways if he's rattling around.

I'll report back on Saturday, assuming I make it. Wish me cool weather!

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit still. -Will Rogers

I rarely eat lunch out but since I was running an errand today, I stopped at Hardees for a low-carb thickburger. (No, I'm not all crazy Atkins but I am trying to limit my white breads/pastas a bit)

I fully expected my burger not to have a bun. But I was initially surprised to see no tomato. That is, until I remembered the Salmonella outbreak in tomatoes.

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