Yesterday at 1:51 PM Eastern Time, while on the phone with a customer in New York City, my office — and my whole house — in Saratoga Springs began to shake. And shake.
At the time, my friend Ken was down in the basement crawl space installing a ventilation system for our new dryer, which had involved chipping away part of the foundation near a hole in the kitchen floor that leads to our dryer. So my immediate reaction was, “Woah, what’s Ken doing down there?” Then Jen came running down from upstairs and said, “Are we having an earthquake?!”
But it didn’t seem like it could possibly be an earthquake — especially in Saratoga Springs, NY (despite the fault line that runs through town here). It never does.
Jen and I quickly turned to the Internet to confirm, and watched as Facebook and Twitter exploded with comments from friends and others up and down the East Coast, including some reports from as far west as Ohio.
I grew up in California and lived in San Francisco before moving east, so I’ve experienced my fair share of earthquakes — including the last Big One in 1989 (Loma Prieta in SF, which I felt 90 miles away in Sacramento). And I have to say yesterday’s was one of the stronger quakes I’ve felt (circa 2000 in SF there was a sizable one, too, when we were living there). Yesterday I looked around my home office and literally saw the walls moving back and forth, my marathon bibs and medals swaying to and fro.
Plenty of people are saying things to belittle yesterday’s quake, but I’m here to tell you it was no small potato if we could feel it 504 miles from the epicenter. It may not have caused much damage or too many injuries, thankfully, but it was noteworthy. And pretty darn rare for this coast, which caused the earth to shake even more since it does so less frequently here.
Eight years ago today I married my best friend. Time really flies when you’re having fun. The past eight years have gone by so fast. I still remember our wedding day like it was yesterday. Each year just keeps getting better and better.
And this year, of course, we have a new member of the family to help us celebrate everything we have to be thankful for — our health, our family, our friends, our Grace, each other.
Today my little bro turns 31. I’ve had the great pleasure of living just a few hours away from Pete the past year — the first time that’s happened since I left for college in 1995.
From the day he and Sierra arrived in Saratoga last July, we’ve been making the most of our proximity to each other — from Chalmers-infested trips to New York City to Mini Hulk-infused Saratoga Springs invasions via the Double Pleasure bus — and have had one hell of a year.
We watched polo. We played the ponies. We drank, we ate, we Scrabbled. We shoveled snow, grew mustaches, got humped by a Dalmatian. We bowled, played in the snow, grilled, drank martinis, ate pickled herring, ran. We moved furniture, trimmed hedges, raked, partied.
I became a dad; Pete became an uncle.
It’s been one hell of a year, and I’m going to miss having Pete and Sierra nearby.
Last week our good friends and Saratoga Springs photographers Niki and Seth stopped by for what we thought would just be a visit to meet Grace and take a few quick pictures. Little did we know they had a full-on photo shoot planned with what was essentially a mobile studio.
The resulting photos of Grace are simply amazing and have been described by friends and family as magazine quality, the best some people have ever seen, breathtaking, incredible, beautiful — and the adjectives go on. Of course we’re biased, but Jen and I fully agree.
Thank you for capturing the magic of our precious little one, Niki and Seth! You guys rock and we love you.
On Friday, April 8, 2011 at 8:03pm the world got a little brighter when Jen and I welcomed our beautiful daughter, Grace Cory, into our lives. She was 5 pounds, 3 ounces and 18.5 inches when she was born, and is a perfect little baby. She’s a truly amazing little girl, and we’re cherishing every moment with her. We can’t believe she’s already here, and we’re so lucky to call her our daughter.
It’s hard to know what to write. How do you capture so many emotions in so few words? Her soft skin, her nose, her cute facial expressions, her chin-forward lunges, her bright blue eyes — there’s so much to love.
I raced the Shamrock Shuffle 5-mile race in Glens Falls, NY today for the fourth year in a row. I may be getting older, but I’m also getting faster, which is a good feeling.
This was Race #45 (2nd of 2011). It was a beautiful, sunny day with some slight 5 MPW winds. Much better than last year’s 19 MPH winds. I had three goals. Here they are, in order of increasing difficulty:
Beat last year’s time (32:33).
Set 5-mile PR.
Break 32:00.
Two of three isn’t bad. I set a PR (32:03, official time – view results PDF), beating last year’s time by 30 seconds and taking 6 seconds off my PR (set at 2010 Delmar Dash). I placed 22nd overall (of 350 552) and 2nd in division (results show 3 of 21, but 1 of 21 guy placed 3rd overall, and top 3 get overall awards, not division awards). I left before I was awarded my victory coffee mug.
As for the race, I spent the first couple miles trying to fall into a steady pace. I didn’t really get into the groove until about Mile 3 when another guy put the pass on me. I answered and picked up the pace, staying on his heels until Mile 4, when I passed him, but didn’t give it my all just yet. We jockeyed for position a few times, and ultimately I pulled ahead as he slowed, passing a few more people before the finish, turning on a fast sprint to the line. I really picked it up as I saw the clock inching toward 32:00, but didn’t quite get across the line in time.
Really happy with the race. I pushed hard throughout, and felt strong but pleasantly spent by the end, satisfied I’d given it my all.
After the race, I was talking with a couple older guys who’d run the race — a 77-year-old (#209) who’s run just about all of the 25 Shamrock Shuffles, and a 74-year-old (#222). Both clocked in times of 50+ minutes, which is about a 10+ pace. Very respectable for that age. I told them that guys like them motivate me to keep on running, and I hoped I’d be as fit as they were when I was their age.
They said the secret is to listen to your body and not to push too hard, which many competitive runners have a tendency to do. The 77-year-old guy (a retired doctor) said his resting heart rate in the morning is 48, which is at least 12 BPM slower than mine.
This has been one of the snowiest and coldest winters we’ve experienced to date here in Saratoga Springs. This morning is just a bit absurd in terms of the cold factor. The temperature is anywhere from -16 °F to -27 °F (-34 °F with wind chill). I just walked the dogs around the block and can confirm that any way you look at it, that’s just a tad below unreasonably cold. At least the sun is shining. It’s mostly the wind that bites — your face, your nose hairs, your dogs’ feet.
Despite the cold, I’ve been making an effort to get back into my running routine, and yesterday braved the snow and cold for an awesome 10-miler, my longest since October’s Mohawk-Hudson Marathon. It felt really good, and I loved running in the snow with my YakTrax. I’ve been averaging about 24 miles per week in the first three weeks of the year.
In baby news, today marks the beginning of Week 27 of Jen’s pregnancy, and the start of the third and final trimester! The pregnancy’s been great so far, and is going by really quickly. Last night we had our first of five child birth education classes.
In house news, we’ve been looking to move to Albany — to be closer to Jen’s work and parents once baby arrives — and actually put in an offer last week on a house we loved. We were really disappointed that our offer lost out to another without contingency to sell another house (as we have to sell ours first). We’re coming to terms with the disappointment, and on the bright side, we still have a house we love in a town we love, so if we’re here through the summer, then oh darn, we’ll just have to enjoy another summer in Saratoga, which people come from all over the world to do!
We rocked in the New Year in Niagara Falls, where we witnessed the wedding of Richard and Melanie. We had an awesome time.
Last but far from least, we enjoyed an awesome and truly memorable Christmas 2010 here in Saratoga. My mom flew in from California, and my bro and Sierra came to rock in the New Year (and ’staches) from NYC. Jen’s parents joined us from Kinderhook on Christmas Day, as did Justin, Alexis, and Buzz.
I went to New York City last night to rendezvous with my bro and see in person what his blog claimed he was sporting: A Chestache. There was some truth to the Chestache. I was impressed. We celebrated by watching Hot Tub Time Machine, one of the greatest movies ever.
But I digress.
Fast-forward to Christmas Eve evening. Anticipation was high. Our ladies were enamored (as always; how could two ladies be so lucky?). The chilly December air in Saratoga was a little warmer thanks to the warmth brought on by the glorious lip follicles.
Everyone knew this year would be good, but just how good? There was talk of ugly Christmas sweaters, so how could we go wrong, really?
Enough prose, let’s get to the point… initiate ABMGC IV: Christmas Eve Showdown 2010:
Yes, your eyes do not deceive you: The bear I wear has a mustache (and Santa hat) that matches mine.
And clearly the ladies were delighted:
Oh, and the bear has a mustachioed friend, the mouse:
May the mustache be with you. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good mustache!
Yesterday marked Mustache Independence Day, the day the Anderson Brother mustaches would stand on their own, without help from their furry facial friends. Both Anderson Brothers complied.
Pete came out swinging with this post, featuring a before and a glorious, Puerto Rico LFT-sporting after:
Well done, chap!
Not to be outdone, my mustache was freed from its chin-based follicular neighbors, left to shine in all its sketchy, dirt-bag pride:
I think my expression says it all: Could a mustache that awesome really exist in the wild?
