VIP Status

This has been yet another interesting week.  I held on to my cough and sore throat much longer than anticipated...as a matter of fact I have been coughing more today than the past few days.  We had a couple fun days at school, attended a fundraiser, and with the help of some generous people in my family and community I was able to raise a considerable amount of money for the homeless people of Indy.

Let's start with the fun days at school.  Last Tuesday, we held FitnessGram day.  This day is intended as a way to benchmark the fitness of the children in our schools.  At my school we tested all 4th and 5th grade students while also giving the 3rd grade students a test of at least one of the tests.  We spent the day measuring running, push up, and curl up tests.  The kids were great and definitely gave it their all.  I can honestly say, thinking back to elementary school, I would have definitely had some trouble with these tests.  On Thursday, we had Snakehead Ed visit our building with 6 snakes and a great presentation to share with the students.  For the end of the program, I was asked to help hold a 100 lb. Albino Burmese Python while every student had the chance to touch it.  It was pretty fun, but I definitely had an odor lingering with me from the snake the rest of the day.

Over the past couple weeks, I have been raising money for Wheeler Ministries by participating in the Fund-Racing program as a part of the Drumstick Dash.  Although I will only be participating in my second organized race, when I saw the fund-racing portion of their efforts I knew I had to participate. During these two weeks I was able to raise an amazing $600.  I had a goal of $500 and I was definitely able to beat that.  I was actually the 7th highest individual fund-racer as of 9:00 am today.  That stat earned me a VIP status for the Drumstick Dash on Thursday.  How great is that!!  My second race and I am already a VIP.  That means that Mrs. Re-Dan-imation and myself will be able to park close and take advantage of the heated tent close to the start line.  This is NOT the reason that I raised these funds but is a nice thank you from the race.  The $600 will feed 266 people!

Speaking of fundraisers...Mrs. Re-Dan-imation and I attended one for a friend of mine that is going through her third bout of Cervical Cancer (check out her blog here).  The fundraiser was a painting event basically like a wine and canvas evening.  We were to paint a picture that looked as if it is painted on wooden boards.  One of the letters was replaced with a picture of Indiana.  My wife chose the word "Hope" and I chose the word Give."  I don't think they turned out too bad.

Sunday, I was finally able to get in my first run in almost two weeks.  I hit the treadmill and got in 3 miles with a warm up and a cool down.  I felt pretty good considering the issues I have had breathing the past couple weeks.  Hopefully, the cough that I picked back up today will make it easy back out of town again as coughing during a 4.5 mile event on Thursday doesn't sound too appealing.

Finally, I stepped on the scale this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see 259 lbs. even.  That's a difference of 3.3lbs from last week.  I honestly think this may have more to do with the amount of sleep I got over the past week trying to heal myself from this cold.  I think I was in bed before 10:00 every night.  I am looking forward to Thursday and a new experience at a MUCH bigger race than my last one.  Until next week...Food. Feet. Water. Repeat.