Sunday, May 21, 2006

Various Ramblings

Saturday was a historic day in the Irish province of Munster. For the first time, the rugby team won the Heineken Cup (the top European rugby trophy), and the whole province is going bonkers. We happened to be in Limerick yesterday, the hotbed of rugby, and not only was the town half empty (there were tens of thousands in Cardiff for the final), but most of the remaining few people were congregated in O’Connell Street where a huge screen was erected to screen the game live. The whole place went nuts at the final whistle. Today the roads are dead quiet, even more so than usual, as everyone seems to have to biggest hangover since, well, last Paddy’s Day.

Unfortunately, the weather God isn’t celebrating with us. Friday and Saturday gave us a break from the relentless rain. Alas, reprieve was short-lived, and today the heavens have opened again. I got up at 8am, but waited until 10.30 in the hope that the conditions would improve. Eventually I gave up waiting and just headed out into the rain. I might be completely mad, but I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t very windy, which made the rain much more bearable, and somehow running in the lashing rain gives you a feeling of “I’m hardcore!”. Maybe that’s why I ran too fast yet again, or more likely it was attempt to keep warm. My ankle had been painful for most of yesterday and even this morning, but I didn’t feel it at all while out running. Thanks go to Hilda for reminding me about icing it. Oh, and guess what – it stopped raining half an hour after I came home.

I haven’t reported much about Cian’s misbehaviour recently. Well, he did scratch yet another DVD this morning (which infuriated me, but I’ve calmed down by now). The real mess was when he discovered a 5 kg bag of lentils in one of the kitchen cabinets. It was maybe half full, but you can still cause an awful mess with 2.5kg of lentils. To be fair, he didn’t actually pour it out, he just seemed to be fascinated by the texture, and kept running the lentils through his hands. Even so, the chaos caused was considerable. And he’s just started toilet training. I promise I won’t give you the details, and I still remember that time when we trained the twins, with me once saying that this was my least favourite part of parenthood. As I said, I’ll spare you the details, but at least we haven’t had any major accidents so far.

21 May: 7 miles, 54:31, 7:47 pace

11 comments:

  1. Hey Thomas, congrats on the rugby - I never ever heard of that cup - shows my ignorance. Would you say there is a difference in 'misbehaviour' of young tots based on gender, or is that just a myth?

    By the way - you were right: it's a girl =)

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  2. I just wonder how can you run so wet all the time. Your will is a rock! Just can figure out days with so much rain!

    To say the truth I was missing those baby reports!
    Great the ice is helping, those small details we sometimes forget make a huge diference.

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  3. Ahhh lucky you who can watch aq good rugby, congratulations for the Heineken Cup.
    ....and good luck for your ankle.

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  4. Hey Thomas! You know I work at a preschool? Well, one of our most popular items is a sensory table. We fill it with all kinds of things, including dry rice, lentils, oatmeal, sand, cornmeal, etc, at different times, and let the kids play in it. You can make one at home using some kind of large, flat tub. I don't know if you've got those under-bed storage tubs, but they work great. Just a suggestion!

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  5. And we have 10 days of rain coming back too...sheesh, it was so nice for the whole month, I almost believed I moved to CA!

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  6. And I thought the German's were soccer crazy. I think you sent rain our way this past weekend, they cancelled the Mannheim Marathon on Saturday due to rain and hurricane winds. I hope your ankle (and Cian's behavior) is improving.

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  7. You are hardcore Thomas. That is why you are going to run a superfast marathon in the future.

    I let my wife take care of the potty training. Mostly because I am incompetent.

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  8. Joshua begins toilet training today as well. Hang in there, 5 changes of clothes are packed for the day!

    I admire your committment to continue to run in the rain.

    What is the average rainfall where you live? It must be about 3 meters!

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  9. That's a brisk pace, esp. on a tender ankle!

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  10. That great about rugby, it's worth lots of celebration.
    That's a nice 7 miles with that kinda of time.

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  11. excting few days! good luck with the potty training.

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