carlos_bc

Current Music: Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down
Current Mood: Content
Current Location: Point Loma, CA

So I really didn't mention this the other day because I was just giving more of a summary of the last couple of weeks but I thought maybe I'd get into more detail today. So on Monday, I was given my yearly performance evalutaion. Every E-5 in my office is ranked and given a score. The score is based off a lot of things, not just job peformance. Leadership skills, professionalism, community service, command involvement, and more are all taken into account. I thought that I was easily going to be in the top 5 of the 16 E-5's in my office. Surely my watching standing and briefing capabilities would shine through. My immaculate appearance and dedication to the Navy would place me higher than most here. My positive attitude and willingness to take on extra work at the last minute would assure me a top spot. Apparently not. It turns out that because I had little command involvement and no volunteer work I'm not the "well rounded" sailor that I thought I was. So what did I get? 8th! I was stunned to say the least. Of the 7 other E-5's ranked higher than me this year, only 1 other one is on the watch rotation. This leave 6 other on the day shop. (7-3:30) Most of the time all these guys do is sit around and look for things to volunteer for. No actual work that supports the Third Fleet mission! I get the picture though. I see now what I have to do. I'm just going to have to play their game. Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. Shit, I'll change schools from University of Phoenix to Tennessee just so I can be a "Volunteer" in that aspect too. And when I'm not at work for 3 hours out of each day because I'm out volunteering at a school or a shelter they're just going to have to deal with it because it's a command sponsored event. Oh, what's that? You need to know how long before that missile is supposed to launch Sarin gas into the atmosphere? Sorry, you'll have to wait until I get back from the Boys and Girls club.
Ok, maybe I won't get that extreme with this whole volunteer thing, I mean I still have to see the family, train for my races, and go to school, but 8th place....I spit on 8th place.

Ok, enough ranting. Moving on. I continue to run to train for the marathon in June. I'm up to a little over 30 miles a week at this point and getting higher each week. Towards the end of my training I'll be running about 50 miles a week before tapering down in the final weeks before the race. After that I'll start training for a couple half marathons in October and then hopefully after that I'll be training for Across the Years. I'm not as anxious for the lottery results as I was when I first registered but I think once the last week of April comes the excitement will begin to build again.
Countdown To San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon: 10 Weeks 4 Days
Countdown To ATY Lottery Results: 5 Weeks 3 Days

Current Music: Wiretap Podcast Episode - The Dinner Party
Current Mood: Happy
Current Location: Point Loma, CA

Ok, so it's been a week since I have been on here which would normally get me down and depressed and I would call myself pathetic but this time I have a valid excuse! See for those of you that don't know, Erin and I  as well as the baby have moved out of our apartment and into Navy sponsored housing. It's really a beautiful place. But we've spent the last couple of weeks putting the finishing touches on everything and baby proofing the place. Erin's got all the pictures on her blog if you want to see them. Between this, working, running, and spending time with the "fambam" (as my friend Ashley would put it), blogging has taken a back seat. On top of that I have also resumed college for my bachelor's degree. Right now I'm taking a computers class which seems a bit redundant because I use computers everyday and at this time in the evolution of mankind it seems almost unnecessary. But whatever, I do it and move forward.
I'm still reading  Pride and Prejudice, and Zombies although that too has been put on a bit of a back burner while the moving continues. What I have read though, has been completely entertaining. It's a very easy and quick read and I have been wishing to get back to it. After I've finished it I think I'm going to have to try to read the actual Pride and Prejudice. Although, I also just watched the move The Count of Monte Cristo and I was completely captivated by it and now I have the urge to read the book. I think I'm going to have start a book list for all the books I want to read...maybe I could have a list like Oprah's list and people can look at my list and read them because I say so...now that's power! Have I ever mentioned I might have delusions of grandeur?
Ok, lastly I had been growing my hair out because well I've been a little light on the re-growth on the back of my head. So I had been growing it out because I felt the need to do so while I'm still capable but it got to be too much for me I've gotten so used to being bald that I said eff it lets go bald all the way.  BUT I had to have some fun with it while I was shaving so here you go:

Before                                                                                          













After




















I hope you enjoyed it people, I know I did. Ok look for me to post more often now that we're all moved in.

Countdown To San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon: 10 Weeks 6 Days
Countdown To ATY Lottery Results: 5 Weeks 5 Days

Current Music:
Current Mood: Tired
Current Location: Point Loma, CA

Hey! So we're moved in to our new place! It's really great and we have a nice yard and a garage. We're loving it. We still have a few boxes here and there that we need to get put away but we should be completely done by the middle of this week. Unfortunately we're still disconnected from the world until Wednesday. AT&T is coming to install our internet and cable that morning, then we will truly moved in. I'll get back on here and get to writing again after Wednesday. There's only so much I can write here at work.

Current Music: Soundgarden - Spoonman
Current Mood: Exhausted
Current Location: San Diego, CA (last day)

Another rainy day here in San Diego but I wasn't going to let it stop me from getting in my 14 miles damn it! However, I did let the rain keep me from running first thing in the morning. I was OK with waiting until the rain subsided though because we were still packing. Again, Erin took the lead when it came to packing everything up and she had the help of her mom and her grandma which I'm sure she appreciated. Erin also delegated me to clean out my closet and get all my stuff packed up for the move...which I did, with no problems! YES! I'M AWESOME!!!

Anyway, I took care of what I needed to do here at the apartment, which wasn't much and then got ready to on my run. By this time the rain had dissipated and I got to go on more of an exploratory run. Basically, I ran around Mission Bay trying to figure out where I might be able to run once we move and I start to train more aggressively for my marathon in June. Running along Harbor Drive isn't going to cut it for long after we've moved.

I ran a little slower today than last weeks 13 miler, I'm not sure why, maybe a lack of water before the run or too much water at the beginning of my run but I cramped pretty much for the first half of my run. I ran through the pain though and eventually the cramps went away. As for the rain, it only sprinkled on me for parts of the run but the last half a mile or so the rain just decided to come down in sheets. At this point in my run though, I appreciated the refreshing shower. Final total: 14.78 miles, 1 hour 50 minutes, 7':26"min/mile. Now a day of recovery tomorrow which is perfect timing with the move and then new run routes starting Tuesday from the new place.

This is going to be my last post for a couple of days...until we get the cable hooked up at the new place, probably (hopefully) Tuesday.  So until then I leave you with pics of the new place before we bring in all our junk! Enjoy!





















The Dining Room










Backyard










The Stairs













The Upstairs Bathroom













The Computer Desk













Natalie's Room













Countdown To San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon: 13 Weeks
Countdown To ATY Lottery Results: 7 Weeks 6 Days

Current Music: Radiohead - Creep
Current Mood: Relaxed
Current Location: San Diego, CA

The family has arrived! Erin's mom, grandma, and grandpa have come from Phoenix to help us with our move on Monday. Tomorrow we plan to pack up the rest of the house. Well, as much as possible seeing as how we can't move in until Monday. I'm looking forward to that day though yet at the same time I'm not looking forward to how long that day is going to be. I will be happy when the move is all over.

I don't know what it was about today maybe it was the cloudy rainy skies or maybe my body was just exhausted after running over 31 miles since Sunday last week but I just had no energy today. I got up at just after 7 (6 hours of sleep) to Natalie's cries and played with her and fed her breakfast until Erin got up at 8:15, at which point I went back to bed until 10 because Erin had made waffles for breakfast. (7 hours 45 minutes) Shortly after breakfast I started feeling tired again so I laid down on the couch and took another nap for about 2 hours, I'm not quite sure because I didn't make note of the time. (~ 11 hours of sleep)
I was also too lazy today to go on my planned 14 mile run. I tried many times to get my body ready for the run, hydrating and walking around to wake up my muscles but my mind just wasn't into it. I am determined however, to complete the task tomorrow first thing. This might take sometime away from packing, but like I said there's only so much we can pack up tomorrow...

Having a relaxing day today wasn't all wasted on sleep. I had so much extra time on my hands that I was actually able to finish my book. It was so entertaining that I could hardly put it down. The way Seth Grahame-Smith rewrites history incorporating fact with fiction in a way that you almost believe that it's true is very captivating. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something to read. It is only 336 pages, but it is so well written that you can get through 100 pages and not realize how much time you've actually spent reading. Grahame-Smith is truly a talented writer. I can't wait to get back to the book store to pick up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.


Countdown To San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon: 13 Weeks 1 Day
Countdown To ATY Lottery Results: 8 Weeks

Current Music: Holiday Shores - Phones Don't Feud
Current Mood: Rested
Current Location: San Diego, CA

Wow, I can't believe it's already the end of the third day of the third month and I haven't blogged. I was getting pretty consistent there for a bit. Although, I can say that I have been a little busy getting ready for our move on Monday! We're all very excited around here although I don't think anyone could be more excited than Erin. She has been telling me everyday at least 3 times a day how she can't wait to move into the new house and how she has all these plans and can't wait for them to come to fruition! It's awesome to see her so excited it makes me excited.

Like I said, we've been pretty busy trying to get ready for the move. For the most part Erin has been doing most of the packing and I was happy to let her do it. She was excited to do it. I got to spend some real quality time with Natalie. I can't believe how big she is getting and how much she is progressing! I swear it won't be long now before she takes her first steps. Everyday I am surprised by something new from her and it makes me so proud to be her father. She is such a smart little girl! Look at me...I'm gushing! Almost makes you sick, right? But you have to see it to understand where I'm coming from. Here's an example: On my right arm I have a tattoo of her brother Landon. The other morning Erin came in with Natalie to wake me up and Erin said she had something to show me. They sat on the bed next to me and Erin kissed my arm where the tattoo is then Natalie looked at Erin then at my arm and leaned over and pressed her lips against my arm too, mimicking her mother. It was the most adorable thing I'd ever seen! I wish I had been able to capture that on video!

Running this week has been amazing! I posted last week that the rain had prevented me from doing one of my runs, well fortunately for me there has been no rain all week. I got to do my 13 miler on Sunday, 2 miles on Monday, 7 miles yesterday and 3 miles today. Tomorrow I have another 6 miles lined up after work and then 14 on Saturday before everyone gets here. I'm going to be in tip top shape for the San Diego Marathon! I also bought something that's going to let me run motivate me to run in the rain. As some of you reading this now, I keep a log of my miles through the Nike+ application on my Ipod. My run is logged into the Ipod during the run and when I sync it with the computer it uploads my work out to www.nikeplus.com and I'm able to see how far I ran, how fast and at what pace, approximately how many calories I burned and other various things. Anyway, I bought the Nike+ Sportband which is basically a small watch/pedometer and it eliminates the need to run with my Ipod while still allowing me to record all my runs. And, because the USB tab is protected by a rubber housing it's as close to water proof as possible. Now I will no longer have the excuse, "Oh darn, it's raining. I guess I can't go running because my Ipod might get damaged due to the torrential rain."

Finally, I've decided to put aside my book Americans in Paris because I just haven't been able to get into it. Maybe it's all the distractions as of late but I was just having to hard of a time concentrating on the words on the page and I found that I was re-reading a lot. I've decided to take up a different book for now and come back to Americans in Paris. Today I bought the new Seth Grahame-Smith book. He's the author of  Pride and Predjudice and Zombies. His new one is called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Here's a little video about the book, and if the book is anything like this video, it's going to be AWESOME!!!




Countdown To San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon: 13 Weeks 4 Days
Countdown To ATY Lottery Results: 8 Weeks 3 Days