Ode to Brady Bear

On November 22, 2008, after months of debate, The Wife and I took a ride to our local animal shelter to "look" at the dogs.  A new shipment of yellow Lab puppies had garnered the interest of most of the shelter visitors; however, we elected to bypass that area and make our way to the back room.  Honestly, it was love at first sight when this cute little guy looked up at us with his warm brown eyes, while his sister absolutely mauled him.  We were able to bring him to a private play room and he was slipping & sliding all over the floor.  He ended up falling asleep in The Wife's lap...I looked at her excited face and told the shelter volunteer "go get the paperwork."



Meeting Brady at the shelter



1st day at his new home

This was a totally new experience for me, as I never had a dog before.  I had been the one holding-out on getting a dog, because I like things orderly & neat.  We trained Brady to use the doggy-door to take care of his business, which still amazes me to this day.  I told The Wife, "if we can get him to become self-sufficient going to the bathroom, I don't care if he doesn't learn another thing."  I think he took these words literally.

As a pup, Brady was quite the collector...he would frequently gather up all the shoes in the house and bring them back to his dog bed.  Another time, he had stolen my wallet that I foolishly left on the coffee table & took it out to the back yard, chewing-up all my cards and leaving my license unrecognizable.

Quite the collection!


Once I finally decided to make an honest woman out of Brady's adoptive mother; we of course had him in the wedding.  He made a charming groomsman in his lilac bow tie and the crowd loved him!

There is a saying "cousins are often our first friends," and for Brady that was no exception.  His cousin Sadie taught him many things, including how to climb up stairs (though to be honest, this may have been more motivated by fear.)  Of course his next friend proved to be the love of his life: Sofia.  They first met on a snowbank at Forest River Park and mouth-wrestled for hours, while the humans shivered in the freezing cold.

"Playing" with cousin Sadie

At the beach with girlfriend Sofia



Holidays are Brady's favorite time of year, he loves to get dressed up for our annual Halloween party and loves drinking Christmas tree water whenever we're not looking.



Mommy & "Dogula"



1st Christmas

Many dog owners brag about how smart or brave their dogs are, well you're not going to get that in this blog.  Now, I won't say Brady is "slow," but let's just say "Lassie he is not."  He eats sticks, grass, really anything in our backyard, prompting those awkward phone calls from the Vet detailing the results of his latest stool sample.  Loud noises, including (but not limited to) thunder, fireworks, slammed doors, and fallen objects scare the beejesus out of him.  During thunder storms he insists on human contact and will sit on your feet or lean up against you for the duration of the storm.  I know you're not supposed to cater to this type of fear, but selfishly I like the affection...does that make me a good or bad dog father? 

As an only "child," Brady is very spoiled...he's definitely a "momma's boy," as The Wife takes him to the park every weekend for swimming and play (while his father trains for races he likely will never win).  The Wife operates on the assumption that "nothing but the best is good enough for my dog."  Natural dog food & treats...check!  Glucosamine for joint health...check!  Seasonal & Holiday themed dog collars...check!  I could go on, but I'm started to get aggravated just thinking about it.

Such a tough life.

Phelpsian!

Daddy's 1st open-water swim

He never listens.  His shedding is a nightmare.  I have to sweep the floor 2x a day and it still looks like a Barber Shop in here.  I find random sticks & tree branches in various rooms around the house.  And many of my favorite gym t-shirts/shorts have little holes chewed in them.  But for all that trouble, he pays it back ten-fold in humor, love, and affection.  Someone recently asked me what is the most I would be willing to pay to help Brady if he was hurt or sick...my answer: "what wouldn't I pay?" 

Suits

Now that the Olympics are over, we return to the boring Summer television programming schedule.  During the Fall, the Rodrigues family DVR is working overtime, but during the Summer - only one show has been deemed worthy of a coveted DVR slot and that show is "Suits" on the USA network.

I suppose the show would be classified as a "legal drama," but calling it that wouldn't do justice to the comedic back & forth between main characters Mike Ross & Harvey Specter, not to mention the hilarious interactions with office outsider Louis Litt.

The show has it all: a smooth, successful, charming main character (Harvey), his witty, brilliant, charasmatic protege (Mike), the resentful antagonist (Louis), and of course hot chicks (Rachel & Donna). 

The interplay between Harvey & Mike actually reminds me of my relationship with my boss.  I remember when I was a young guy entering the work force, my boss used mockery (his preferred teaching tool) to advise me on the proper way to dress in the office environment.  Lessons included: don't wear graphic t-shirts under a dress shirt, always button your collar buttons, and most important: always use collar stays to keep the collar lying flat and looking crisp.

While the foundation of the show's plotline is a bit far-fetched (Mike Ross is a genius with a photographic memory, who never actually went to law school, yet works at a top New York law firm), the show has great characters and is highly entertaining.  If you're looking for a fun show, give "Suits" a shot.

Back At It

So three weeks have passed since my epic Lake Placid experience.  I took some time off from working-out in hopes that my body would forgive me for all the abuse I put it through over the last eight months.  During my time off, I ate and drank whatever I wanted (basically, I lived like a "normal" person), but honestly that got pretty old pretty fast.  I love training and everything that goes along with it; for me triathlon is a lifestyle.  Most people don't get that, but for those of us that put in the time and effort focusing on training/nutrition/recovery, this really is a lifestyle.

It sounds crazy to say, but due to my extended lay-off - I'm out of shape!  I went out for a few easy runs and apparently now 11:00/mile is my new pace.  Also, I've reintroduced weight lifting to my training (since so many people have felt the need to call me a "skinny bastard" over the past couple of months); however, my return to the weights has been incredibly humbling to say the least.  It's funny when your mind expects you to be able to do what you've always done before, but physically your body just can't make it happen.  To make matters worse, all the jacked-up college kids are home for the summer & back at the gym, so now I feel old & tiny!  LOL

This weekend is the Timberman 70.3 (Half-Ironman) in Gilford, NH.  I'll be making the trip up north to cheer on my training partner Dan & the rest of my QT2 teammates!  I really wanted to race in this one, but honestly my body is just not ready.

Cirque du So-Lame

So The Wife and I had both always wanted to see Cirque du Soleil, but neither of us ever had.  Cue the temptress that is "Groupon," offering her amazing deals on random services & events.  A discount of 30% off was enough to sway us to roll the dice on Cirque du Soleil "Totem" and attend a Friday night show.

We were both pretty excited.  The show started out with some great gymnastics, (Author's note: gymnastics will not be a common theme in this blog, despite the fact that it has been discussed in two consecutive posts - honestly it may never be discussed again) with performers dressed in lizard costumes doing flips, bar exercises and other cool stuff.  I started wondering "Who are these people?  Do former Olympic gymnasts end up in Cirque du Soleil, with a bitter attitude stemming from their painful fall from grace, like Chazz Michael Michaels from Blades of Glory?  Will Gabby Douglas & Aly Raisman be leading the 2015 Cirque cast?

Flying lizard gymnasts

Enter the next group of performers: four Asian girls on unicycles with bowls stacked on their heads.  Now this is right in my wheelhouse because A. I love Asians and B. I love unicycles.  (Just kidding, I don't love unicycles, I prefer my cycles with two wheels).  This was amazing...while riding very tall unicycles, these girls kicked bowls across mid-air and they landed in stacks on each other's heads...it was unreal. 

Unicycling Asian Girls

So far I'm loving this, just amazing stuff going on...I'm dropping audible "WOWs" every 3-5 minutes...then things took a turn for the worse.  The show shifts gears and we get a couple of segments of dramatic stage performance that attempt to be funny.  I don't find this cheesy stuff funny at all.  "Woah woah woah" I said to The Wife, "I hate this kind of stuff...this is not what I signed up for."  She shot me one of those "shut up and stop embarrasing me glances."  Point taken.  So Intermission comes next and the show limps into the locker room at half-time.  During the break, I continued to complain "they better cut the $hit with all the boring stage performance - I came here to see incredible physical feats!"

I ruined Cirqu du Soleil & I'm not remotely funny

Back to the show: next we have a male/female duo with both performers wearing old school roller-skates.  "This could be good," I thought..and it was.  The male performer was a tall, exotic looking fellow with long braided hair - I assumed his name was Antonio.  The female performer was very beautiful and exotic as well - I call her "Pocahontas."  Their performance was very sensual, almost to the point of downright erotic.  I whispered to the wife: "you know these guys have definitely banged," which caused her to burst into laughter because she was thinking the exact same thing.

Antonio & Pocahontas precoital.

But just when things seemed to be getting back on-track, those same dorky stage performers trotted out onto the stage with their thoughtless, easy jokes that appeal to the masses.  This continued for what seemed like an eternity and I was getting aggravated.  The last few performances were mediocre at best.  I'm not trying to be unreasonable, but there were some "fumbles" and "mistakes" in the last few performances...I saw Blue Man Group & they NEVER messed up.  But I digress.  All in all, it was an enjoyable show that did not meet my lofty expectations.  Some of the performances were amazing...others seemed like glorified street performers.

Judges score: 6.7/10

The Olympic Zombie

Earlier this year, I added the following reminder to my Outlook Calendar:

So ya, I like the Olympics.

The only problem is that I find myself staying up way too late everynight...turning me into a zombie the next day.  I know I should go to bed, but I just can't.

Through 5+ days of the games, I've probably logged about 27 viewing hours.  I don't discriminate...I watch anything & everything:
Water Polo? Absolutely.  Handball? Sure, why not?  Men's Synchronized Diving?  Don't mind if I do.

I watch it all and I can't get enough.

I find myself applying gymnastics scoring to my everyday life: "It's 4pm, the Mailman hasn't delivered yet?  That's going to be at least a tenth of a point deduction."

Imagining if Phil Dalhausser & Kerri Walsh-Jennings got together and created a dominant Volleyball pure-bred?

Wondering if Mckayla Maroney thinks she should be America's Golden Girl because she is 10x more attractive than Ali Raisman?

Seriously considering how much money (or how many beers) it would take for me to sleep with Allison Schmitt?  GOOO!

Hey Charlie!

Another highlight has been the re-emergence of Ryan Seacrest on prime-time TV, as a die-hard American Idol fan, it's nice to have the "hardest working man in show business" back in my life.

That's all for now...I lost my focus after Dan Hicks just said "we're about to find out who the greatest breast-stroker in the world is."

Breast-Stroke?  I thought this event would be a lot cooler.  :)

 

IRONMAN: The Aftermath

Last Ironman-related post (for a while)...I swear.

Like many things in life (weddings, holidays, etc), so much planning, sacrifice, worry, & expense go into making that one special day "magical."  And at the end of those days, when things quiet down, you think to yourself "was it all worth it?"  For me and my Ironman journey, the answer is unequivocally "YES!"



My 1st "Selfy"
Tat is actually on my left side (fahkin' mirrors)

 People talk about the "post-Ironman blues," about being depressed that the big event has come & gone, but I haven't experienced that...I'm still on cloud-9.  And yes, to celebrate the achievement, I got the tattoo.  People have varying opinions on getting an Ironman tattoo: some think it's awesome, other's think it's foolish and you are branding yourself with a corporate logo.  I wanted to get the tattoo "for me" - so I did.

Since I'm so new to triathlon, the training definitely took it's toll on my body.  I've taken the past 10 days off from training to recover & heal from the months of abuse.  Since the race, I guess I've been living like a "normal" person: eating & drinking whatever I want, not working out, etc.  I have to say, it's getting old pretty fast.  Physically & psychologically I'm ready to get back after it...tomorrow it starts up again!

Upcoming Races:
9/15 - Lobsterman Olympic Distance (Freeport, ME)
11/4 - New York City Marathon
*Very close to finalizing 2013 race schedule; highlighted by the inaugural "Ironman: Lake Tahoe" event on 9/22/13!