Goodbye summer . . . we had some good times.

The author returns to work this week, reinvigorated from a couple months traveling back to the states to see family and friends. It certainly was a busy couple of months crisscrossing the world from Warsaw to Boise to Coeur D'Alene, back to Minneapolis, up north to Hibbing then home again. Whew! I think I'm experiencing jet lag symptoms just from writing that sentence.

Summer started off by landing in Boise to celebrate Hash #1000, the weekly run of the Boise Hash House Harriers. This is a wonderful group of finely conditioned athletes who combine drinking with long distance running. For a detailed description of what this is all about, go to www.boiseh3.org If you see some debaucherous pictures of a guy who looks similar to me, that's just my double Matt. He's a real fun guy to hang out with, but I was constantly getting mistaken for him back in Boise.

Around 26 (the exact number escapes me) of my friends from the aforementioned "running club" competed in the Ironman Coeur D'Alene triathlon this summer. I was lucky enough to venture up to picturesque northern Idaho to cheer them on. Most of them were first-time entrants in a race like this so there were a lot of jangled nerves that morning when high winds kicked up white capped waves on Lake CDA. Some had done zero swimming prior to entering this crazy test of endurance so to see conditions that test even the most skilled of swimmers certainly had to tighten a few sphincters. Check out the vid from the local news that morning. Gotta love youtube:


Anyhow, to make a really long story (and day) short, everybody came through with the proverbial flying colors and finished the race. It was emotional for all since they had worked so hard for months to accomplish this monumental feat. Now, the thoughts of "What's next?" are flying through post-race conversation. I know I was a bit envious of seeing them come across the finish line. It's tough to train over here on the roads of Poland without taking your life into your hands, so it could be awhile before I figure out the logistics of doing a triathlon over here. However, there is some hope since the school just hired a new counselor who has done Ironman before. The addition of a training partner just may roust me off the couch and onto the road.

Well, I'm going to continue this entry later since it's been a couple weeks since I've written. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention how great it was to spend time with "the two cutest kids in the world" my nephew Griffin and his new sister Lauren. The picture above was taken at my brother Paul's house and gives you a good idea of what most of my time in Minnesota consisted of: quality time on the couch.

Okay, this has the potential to be one of those lengthy entries so I'll cut it short and pick it up later . . . for now. Thanks for reading . . . do zobaczenia!