Forward Progress

Life has been moving along since I last checked in.  I'll give the updates by category:

Work: I am having a wonderful quarter teaching - I have a large and really good group of student teachers.  It's been a lot of fun visiting a variety of preschools and child cares to observe them all.  Only two weeks left in this quarter and then it's Christmas break!

Family: We had a little excitement when Web headed off to New York to sail on a new tall ship.   He was already on Amtrak as Hurricane Sandy creeped ever closer.  He got there Friday night and Saturday morning they sailed up the Hudson to find a safe harbor to ride out the storm.  Many days later they finally began their journey.  He got off the ship in South Carolina and is now in Florida visiting friends.  Riley got a promotion to E5, which also moves him up to IT2.  He's only been in the Navy 17 months, so I'd say he's doing well!  And Emily got accepted to the Fire Academy - a goal she's been working hard to achieve.  We spent a busy two days with family over Thanksgiving - the big, extended family dinner on Thanksgiving, and a smaller gathering - though still 21 people - with my family on Friday.  A good holiday!

Running: I've run steadily since the Victoria Marathon, logging my usual 25 miles a week.  The longest run I have managed was six miles, so I was a little worried today at the start of the Ghost of Seattle Marathon.  Turned out to be fine - I had a great run. We had a gorgeous day, I got to see lots of old friends, and ran the entire thing with Margaret, plus 13 miles in the middle of it with Rob.  The weather was perfect - the drenching rain we've had for the last week disappeared and we had blue skies, sun, and a high of about 48 degrees. Lovely! This was my 5th Ghost of Seattle, and my 70th marathon/ultra.

School: I am please to report that I passed my proposal defense and have submitted my application to the Institutional Review Board.    Now I'm waiting for approval, which could take up to six weeks. Once that is obtained I can recruit participants and begin my study.  These are two big milestones and I am really happy to be at this point, plus happy to have a little bit of a break!

That's it - just continual forward progress.  Thanks for reading!