Father of Six

We (me, Tami, Boomer and Nana) went to Tim and Jeanne’s to watch the Super Bowl. Mom and Vern were there, as were Tim’s sons Nick and Zack. Boomer loves Nick and Zack, as evident in the picture.

Tim and Jeanne put out a whole spread - taquito’s, cheese sticks, japaleno poppers, bbq pork, cocktail weiners, pretzels with mustard, buffalo chicken, chips and dip, a cheese tray, a fruit tray, pistachios … and I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Here are mom and Vern at the table.

For dessert they had an equally impressive assortment of sweets, cakes, cookies, brownies and ice creams. Have a look.

While we all watched a very entertaining game (especially the 4th Quarter) Nana warmed herself by the fire.

Here are our gracious and generous hosts. (Notice the Mardi Gras beads wrapped around the lights?)

So the fitness center at work is putting on what they are calling an “Ironman Triathlon Challenge.” They’ve created several different ways to accumulate the required mileage in each discipline, and durations for the contest.

I took a look at my training over the past month and decided to enter the “8 Weeks to Complete a Double Ironman.” My challenge began today (2/4) and continues to 3/31. In that time, I must complete (cumulatively) a 5 miles of swimming, 224 miles of cycling, and 52.4 miles of running.

The process of competing in the challenge is that you record your mileage and times in each discipline, and then turn this data in each Monday during the event. The Wellness department will then put out standings, and other data points. In addition to the actual swimming, cycling, and running, there are opportunities to reduce your overall time by performing some very defined strength training routines.

I’m not a big volume exerciser. I run about 15-20 miles per week. I bike about 30-60 miles per week, and I swim about 4000 yards per week. Based on what I’ve done recently, what my current training plans look like, and my travel commitments, think I should be able to finish the task in about 5 weeks.

As a monthly fund raising project, the Heritage High School Football Booster Club arranges a large motor coach to go to and from Black Hawk - a gaming, gambling, casino place/town - up in the mountains about an hour and a half from town.

Last night Tami and I, along with Tim and Jeanne went and had a pretty good time.

Here is a shot of the main room of the casino where we spent most of our evening (and money.) The place has a rustic saloon sort of feel to it, but only if you look up at the ceiling. Otherwise it’s wall to wall, and back to back machines with everything from 1 penny to 1 dollar. They also have table for blackjack and poker.

We went to another casino up the street (and hill) from the first place. This was the “Ameri-Star” I think. A much larger place, but more of the same really. We had a very nice dinner at a place here called the Timberline Grill.

Here we are:

And here are the two bottles of wine we had with dinner:

Tami was the lucky one of our crew. I think she won about $250 total.

On the bus ride home, Dena Cocetti, mother of one of the boys on the team, modeled a team jersey she won in a raffle. It has the one-sy built in snaps. Pretty cool, huh?

Finally, after a long evening of wandering around, spending money, eating a pretty decent meal we headed back home. I think we got home around 1 am.