Last Sunday, Mik, Lance, June, and I did the ET Indoor Tri. It was a blast! So fun to be racing against Lance and Mikaely. I have always loved the concept of triathlon and loved participating in these races, and it was so nice to see that they are finding out about the beauty of this sport, too! Of course, they're super competitive and were both going at it. They both earned top 10 places in their respective groups, too! So proud of both of these amazing athletes!
I don't usually go off-topic on this blog and talk politics or current events, but things have gotten very, very strange here. Our precious democracy is truly under threat, and our country has become the bully in the world, threatening other countries rather than being a beacon of hope and freedom!
Immigration enforcement has been turned into a sort of personal attack squad and is immune to any laws or responsibility. Last week, a US citizen and mother of three young children in MN was brutally shot 3 times while in her car by an ICE agent. Within the hour, officials were on TV, calling the woman a terrorist and saying the incident was fully justified. But the videos of the killing show otherwise: this was an innocent woman trying to leave, and who was killed out of hostility toward protesters and indifference to dissent and human rights!
December 30th, 2025. We had a fun night the day before Christmas Eve when we hosted Elisa and Bob with their kids, and Kevin and Maryam and their kids. We played charades with a homemade charades game we made for the kids Westfield's 4th-grade class. And also just laughed about the sad state of the country and reminisced about old times.
Now it's almost 2026! Yikes, can't believe I'm going to be 68 years old in less than two months, and we are marching into my last full year here at MWU! It all seems so strange. The 'kids' are 23, so not really kids anymore more and they are moving on to another new chapter in their lives. Mik to graduate school studying ecology and environmental genetics (if I have that right?), and Lance to attend medical school (hopefully!). Why does life have to work this way? Why must we get older, change, and grow up and apart? I know it's stupid to even contemplate this, but why? I don't handle change well, and these changes are all going to be difficult!
This was the Xmas tree at the Student Union at Purdue.
Happy New Year, and may 2026 be better than 2025!
Eck, in just 15 months, I will be "retired." That seems hard to believe and I'm struggling with how to feel about it. On one hand, I'm terrified and anxious, on the other, I'm curious to see if there is life on the other side. If I can make a life beyond MWU and my current place in the world.
Here is my plan: Retire March 1st, 2027, then head out on a round-the-world bikepacking trip on about March 15th. That way, I can avoid actually thinking about being retired and about how depressed I am!
This coming March, I will do a trial run on my new bike (see photo), riding from just south of LA back home to Chicago. This will give me a chance to see if I have what it takes, as well as help figure out what more I need and tweak all my equipment and training. Here is my tentative route, but I'm really only going to map-out a few days in advance since its too hard to plan long term given the scale of the trip, weather, unforeseen circumstances, and my fickle body! Not to mention bike trouble. 🤞
So sad to say goodbye to Fort Pierce, FL. Erin and Joe are moving, but we had a blast with them for a final time in FP! Spent lots of time with Kim, Carly, Sydney, Erin, and Joe, as well as Kya and Scott.
Carly took us fishing and we caught enough for two nights of fish dinners. Kids swam every day, and the weather was awesome. Hard to come back to snow and ice here. Such a unique place and I have so many great memories of trips there!
I can't believe L & M turned 23! Just too hard to accept. They have turned into the most wonderful people, kind, smart, motivated, athletic, and beautiful! So proud of both of them!!!
Marathon went well this year. 3:16 and 7th in 65-69 age group! Also really fun because Lance and Diana came to watch and I got to see them at mile 24, the most grueling part of the course. Also saw lots of PT students at finish line. Beautiful day to run and overall fun race!
But I’m also nervous. I’ve really lost my edge over the last year. Hopefully I’ve got one more of these in this aging body!
Lance’s friend, Matt Gollins is running and Lance will be coming to watch,, so that will be really fun! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🏃🏼♂️➡️🏃🏽♂️🏃🏃🏻➡️🏃🏽♂️
Last weekend was really fun. Diana, Mik, and I went back to St. Paul, MN for a Mac Women's Soccer game. We drank lots of Dunn Bros coffee, had good meals at classic MN restaurants, and nice workout on the trails and around the many lakes. Sadly, Mac lost, but it was great to see some of the players I recalled from last year and Mik had a fun reunion.
