I've been pretty preocupied with things lately (family, exercise, work) and haven't spent any real time on the Internet this month. I see this as a good thing ... it's not as though I don't spend ANY time in front of a computer ... but also a predictable part of it being summer. I mean who wants to be trolling Facebook and blogging all day when it's 85 degrees and sunny outside? Not me.

Really there's been plenty worth blogging about going on in the past few weeks, it just that I've been too buys, too disgruntled, or too lazy to get in depth about it. And you know what that means...a catch up entry!

So here's a bit of what's been going on lately:

• Training...for something: My 51 year-old father has got me going on this crazy idea that he and I are going to do a half Ironman triathlon together this fall in Greenville, SC. Yes, that's a 1.2 miles swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run. Sounds like fun, except for the fact that I've never biked or swam that far in my life before and I'm really out of shape when it comes to running. But, we have 3-4 months to train, so I said "Why the hell not?" He brought me a road bike to ride over Memorial Day weekend and I've put in 25 miles on the bike so far this week. I tried to get started swimming (even went as far as to buy all the gear) but the local rec centers are getting their pools renovated and won't be open until first week of June. I considered swimming in the ocean, but I'm just not that brave yet. We'll see how this pans out, surely more entries to come on this training.
  
• Miles turns 1: Yes folks, he made it! A whole year with tons of bumps, bruises and mishaps, but my boy turned 1 year old on Sunday. We had a really great time with a Yo Gabba Gabba! party for him up at my mom's condo. It was pretty much just family there, but he still had a great time and WE had a great time putting the Brobee cake together and getting everything all ready to go. Overall a great success, but it is hard to believe the little guy is getting so big already. Click here or on the picture below to check out all the photos on Flickr.
  
  Miles claps and gets ready to eat his birthday cake
• Work remains tough: I'm sure a lot of folks saw me pouring out my guts about work and my pay cut a few weeks ago, so I won't get into it again too much. Let's just say that since then not a whole lot of progress has been made, but as with anything life goes on and I still have to get stuff done. I keep finding myself getting really frustrated with it every once in awhile, but the fact remains they are still paying me to do my job and so I gotta get it done. The hard part for me is that I really don't know how to settle for less than my best, and thus if I'm gonna take on a project I still have to put 100% of myself into it. This creates an odd situation where I either have to cut corners to meet my time restraints or I have to work extra hours for no pay. It's not been a fun decision to make, but I've still been trying to churn out some good stuff...hopefully that is enough.
  
• No news ... is good news? We are still waiting to hear something from the bank on the bid we put in on a home nearly 60 days ago. The listing agent on the house assures us that the bank is getting closer to dealing with us, but it seems they are working with homes closer to foreclosure first (which ours is not). I knew bidding on a short-sale home would be a long process, but I really figured 4-6 weeks was the maximum. Still, we went and looked it the place again while my parents were in town and it really is kinda perfect, big rooms, huge backyard, on a lake, quiet neighborhood, great location, etc., etc. So if I have to wait another month for it to happen so be it. I just really am starting to itch to get out of this place we're living. Between the guards on constant vigilance for people who are coming to visit and the breaks-every-6- months Air conditioning, it is time to move on.
  
• Summer is here. With Memorial Day behind us, it seems summer is officially here. This has been fun in some ways — we've been taking Miles to the beach more — but it is also a little bit different a summer for us. In the past we've had tons of visitors throughout June and July, but this year that doesn't seem to be the case. My dad was just down, so you can count him out until at least Labor Day. My mom just vacated her condo until at least July and is headed back to Lexington for a month or more. We do have some family coming to visit, but they are all getting packed into a single weekend in June where Heidi is busy working and I will be bouncing about trying to get the baby to her grandparents, my grandparents, and my aunt, uncle and cousin. Should be alot of fun, but a bit hectic I suppose.

Other than that I think summer is gonna be pretty boring for us. We're now a strict budget (thanks pay cut!) and so there's not gonna be a lot of opportunity for extra activities. I'm really hoping that the whole buying a house thing comes through at some point so we can keep ourselves busy moving and getting situated in a new place. Either way, my goals for June include: getting serious about this training stuff, finishing Resident Evil 5 (which my dad and I have been playing co-op for months),  and securing at least one freelance design project. Wish me luck.