Holiday time

Well Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!!

After some much needed down time after IM-FL in November, I'm trying to get back into it to get ready for the Mardi Gras marathon in February, and IM-NO in April. Our oldest daughter Catherine did a marathon when she turned 15 - see The Flying Monkey Marathon, which was a great marathon, by the way. Now daughter number 2, Anne Lee, is 15 and trying to get ready for the Mardi Gras Marathon on February 1. Ironman-New Orleans is shortly after that in April, and my wife and I are so pumped that all of my Evotri teammates will be coming down to Louisiana for the race.

Well, what have I been doing with myself since Ironman?

I went fishing over the Thanksgiving break with my family. We caught a lot of fish but not many we would keep. It was fun to watch the girls get all excited about catching sheepshead. We also caught some redfish which are great eating, but they were too small - they must be over 16 inches to keep. The worst part about the trip were the vicious little gnats that ate us up.

Beautiful sunrise.

Sheepshead teeth.

Gnat bites.

Cousin Miles holding up Catherine's catch.

Not a keeper. The redfish, I mean.

We've continued to plug away at the house. We are finally settling in to living here, but still have many little projects to complete. I'm getting used to the idea that I'll never be truly finished with this house, as projects keep getting added to the end of the list.

The kids are off for Christmas break right now, so Lisa and I decided to take them camping last night. They each invited a friend to come with us, so the camping trip consisted of me and 9 women!! We stayed in a cabin at Lake Fausse Point in St. Martinville, Louisiana, and we had a great time. There are some hiking trails, canoeing/kayaking, bike trails, etc. The woods are loaded with armadillos for some reason - that really freaked out the girls. My favorite part of camping is the campfire at night - we had a perfect night for it.

Our cabin.

Nightfall.

The campfire's the best.

I've also been trying to plan my season for 2009. So far I'm doing the Mardi Gras Marathon and IM-NO like I've already mentioned. I'll probably also do the Crescent City Classic (10K) in April, WIBA in June, and Cajun Man Triathlon (Sprint) in September. Lisa won a lottery spot for Escape from Alcatraz in June, and we're considering that race. It seems like a great experience, but it falls at a bad time of year for us.

So there's the quick update. Hope everyone had a great holiday season. Now back to work!!