Webbed Together

HAPPY, New Year! Transitioning and moving on.

2012-01-14T06:57:00.005-05:00

Yes, it's a new year, and I'm quite happy, but it goes beyond that, WAY, beyond that. It's been one full year since the collapse of my marriage. A day I hoped would never happen, a day that had been coming for quite some time, but whose deadline had been pushed back on several occasion's.

I was really hurt and put into a position I didn't want. My girls no longer had a full time father, my dogs went up for adoption and I left most of what I had accumulated in 12 years, behind. I also found myself, thrust into the 21st century, all by my lonesome. I wallowed in the loneliness, a bit, but quickly found solace, when I turned around and found God, whom I had left standing in that very spot, was waiting there, with open arms, to give me the love and understanding I needed.

I've found that though I have a great relationship with God, I tend to put that relationship on the back burner, when involved in romantic relationships. The problem with this is, God is the one that gives me all the Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control. The very things that make me so attractive, beyond good looks. These are the qualities that make me beautiful, inside and out. So when i pause my relationship with God, I also leave these gifts, behind, leaving me on my own, where, when i start relying on ME, things start to fall apart. At which point I call upon The Lord, then slowly put Him on the back burner, once again.

This cycle has gone on, since I can remember, but this time, my focus is changing. Over this past year, I've read more about, and bonded more with God. I've given up some really, really bad habits and have concentrated on becoming the best Stephen and Dad, I can be.

After separating on Jan 11, 2011, receiving the divorce papers a month later and the divorce being finalized on Aug 19, 2011, I'd say I was bowled over. The only good part about this whole situation, is that we made the decision to share the responsibility for our Children, equally. That means that I get them for a week, and she gets them for a week, and since we only live about 3 miles apart, this is working out great.

The only problem is the girls are now going through many painful issue's, due to this divorce. So now, being who I am, I refuse to comfort them with trips, toys or any other distractions, that tend to put off dealing with hurt. I have had a more direct approach, just by being alone with them, talking, watching movies, learning how to be a good Dad in a girl world and being a part of their lives, more-so now, than I was before. Not doing this in an unrealistic way that won't last, but taking the time that I didn't take before, to listen and give them the love they need. Trust me, it's not all peaches and cream, but at least I try my best, of course with loads of help from Him.

In 2011 we took a few trips, just to get out and do stuff we hadn't done before. We went to Disney, during spring break and to North Dakota, in July. We had such a great time during these trips, but I don't think it was so much, where we went, but that we were together.

2011 brought an end to me being on the NW Jensen Beach/US1 route, where I had been for about 8 years. I got bumped by the next senior driver to me, when we bid routes, which we do every 2 years. I'm now out west, near 95 and Kanner Hwy, which at first i thought to be some sort of spiritual punishment, but now realize it was so i could keep going in the right direction, as I grow closer to God, and what remains of my family.

2011 also brought me my first cellphone, EVER. I didn't go out and get one, but the one I had bought for the former Mrs. Cortes, was returned to me. I have no clue why someone would return a cellphone that has her number and contacts, but that's what happened, so I took it and have kept it till the end of the contract. Now that the contract is up and I can upgrade, i'm seriously thinking of going up to the iPhone, so we'll see what happens. Last year, I also joined facebook , where I've reconnected with some old friends, have currents friends and have met new friends. I currently have 375 friends, which amazes me, because i felt so alone at the beginning of the year.

In 2011, I put my love life on the back burner, while I put my girls first, in my life. We met so many people, some married, some single, that we started hanging out with. We've done movie's, bowling, parks and beaches, building friendships and getting a fresh start, on us. Time will tell how this works out for us.

The end of 2011 saw many new changes for me. I haven't been able to run, due to another injury, though I have pushed it, making some great gains in my quest for speed, but to the detriment of my injured leg. So now I'm just biking, swimming and lifting weights, till i can run again.

With my new, every other week, free time, I've also taken my life off the back burner, making friendships and have met a very special woman. We actually met on facebook. We messaged back and forth for awhile and decided to meet, face to face, where we continued to connect on many levels. We eventually started seeing each other and eventually became exclusive. My new love's name is Chenae Bertholf Jackson, whom I call, Sunshine. She is a divorced mom of 2, an 11 year old girl and 4 year old boy. She lives with her parents, and has been doing so for the past 3 years, moving there after separating from her husband in Washington state. She's been divorced for 3 years and just recently started dating.

I really had no interest in dating or romance, for that matter. I was absolutely NOT looking and am surprised at where life has taken me. So I am now looking forward to a brighter, much , much brighter, future. My girls get more one on one time with Dad, I am over the midway hump at work, with retirement far off on the horizon and my love life has greatly improved. I'm excited, and look forward to all God has to offer.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T21:52:00.002-05:00

It's been quite a year, and in looking back I see I have much to be thankful for. 2011 started in a pretty rough way, with my wife of 12 years leaving and asking for a divorce. I was devastated and though hurt, I drew close to God, where I was able to learn so much about myself, the good and bad. My time alone really helped me to become a better Dad and a better person. This year I've spent more time with my Children, made friends and found peace.

My current journey has taken me to places, physically, mentally and emotionally, that I never dreamed I would visit. I've learned that an open mind and a soft heart and the peace of God can build great character. I'm so proud of the closeness I have with my Daughter's. This is something that we father's oft times take for granted, as we trudge along on the path of life, working and seemingly living, a good life.

Friendships have also blossomed along the way. From the Mom's and Dad's of my Girl's friends, to my many social friends, who aren't just on facebook, but people I run with, deliver to and have grown close to along my journey. I am honored to be part of such an eclectic group of people that share in the same everday trials alongside of me.

I've also met someone who has really touched my heart in a very special way. She and I have touched each other's heart and mind in such an emotional way, that the future really looks bright, so I have nicknamed her, "My Sunshine".

Aside from all of these great things, work is good, almost 16 years and counting. The divorce, though painful, was quite amicable, in that we are sharing our Children 50/50 and have been very cooperative together.

In all, I'm Thankful, I'm Thankful that God, in his infinite power and might, has taken care of me. It's not only this year, but throughout my youth up through manhood. I'm realizing that I am truly blessed, and am grateful for all I have been given and all that has been taken away. Thank you Lord!

Part II of our summer trek to North Dakota and back, finally.

2011-11-14T19:07:00.025-05:00

I'm finally getting around to the rest of our trip from North Dakota, back to Florida. After making our way through South Dakota and Iowa, we reach Missouri. Here,s Kansas City, just before dawn.

We stopped for breakfast just west of Kansas City, where we found this guy in his car/hotel room.I was WAY tired before we drove through St. Louis, so I handed the wheel to my equally tired Daughter. Sara drove us clear through to Indiana where I finally woke up and took over for her. What a joy to have someone else to share the driving duties. I got us to Kentucky, where we stopped for the night. The Girls loved the food and the hotel, especially since there was a pool.
The next day we visited the town of Cave City, Kentucky. We planned on touring Mammoth Cave, and were surprised by how much there was to do here.
Our agenda had us going into mammoth cave, first We didn't realize that the cave was actually a bus ride away, though this park had the tour set up pretty well. Here's our tour guide.The cave entrance started at the bottom of a huge sinkhole.Upon entering the cave, we were glad we brought our sweaters. It was 55 degrees inside. The camera lens was a bit fogged up when we left the cave, since it was about 30 degrees warmer outside the cave. After the cave tour we decided to go horseback riding. Our tour guide on the horses was name "Big hungry", LOL.Each of our horses had funny names, and mine, shown here, was named Trigger.
We left Kentuckyand arrived in Tennessee that evening. We stopped for the night right outside of Gatlinburg.

The next day we got up early, rode Go-Carts
Visited the cascades of the Smokie Mountains
Drove up through the Smokie's into North Carolina and made our way back into Florida. Our mileage for this trip was 5,165 miles in 8 days. What a great trip, with my great Girls.

I Just Miss Them, Is All!

2011-10-05T22:08:00.003-04:00

Sasha, Baer and Belle!

We Interupt This Calm, Serene, Family moment, so I can gripe about, The Boston Marathon

2011-09-26T22:59:00.005-04:00

STRIKE 2

My rejection email from the Boston Athletic Association B.A.A

Our World Wide Tour Continued.......

2011-09-11T18:38:00.009-04:00

One last memory of North Dakota's Badland's. We hit the motherload on this one. A whole herd of Bison, shortly before nightfall. After we left North Dakota, we decided to take a different route on the way back. We wanted to hit as many states as we could, but still be able to stop and see sights, along the way, so we headed due south, toward South Dakota.We left North Dakota around 3pm, arriving in South Dakota, pretty quickly. We saw wind farm wings being transported, Sara mugging for the camera,many, many farms long stretches of flat highway more farms, and then we arrived in Sioux Fall's, South Dakota! After stopping to eat and check out some old carsand this UPS plane, landing, we went to the center of town, where we found the actual falls.This town turned out to be WAY bigger than we thought.Here at the Falls, we stayed for a laser light show, which told the story of the city's history.We just happened upon this place, and it turned out to be quite a find.
We even saw lightning bugs, for the second time on a vacation,which had the girls surprised. This turned out to be quite an adventure!

THE Best Time's, In The World!!!

2011-07-30T10:12:00.052-04:00

And I'm not making THAT up. The girl's and I decided to spend our summer vacation driving to North Dakota, to visit Peter Moynihan and his family. Peter is the guy that helped me get off of the streets of NYC, and back into school, by becoming my legal guardian, some 30 years ago. As we planned the trip, I Google Earth mapped our route, and saw some pretty cool sights along the way. On final planning, we decided to try and get to North Dakota as quickly as we could, and hit some of these sights on the way back. We also had to coordinate the route around picking up my various children, because to were at camp, in Apopka, and one would meet us near there, coming down from Ft. Stewart, in Georgia. So since I am a master of logistics, lol, I mapped/planned everything out, as though I was delivering packages.

We set off early Saturday morning, July 16th. We had to pick up Abigail and Julia from camp Wekiwa, between 9 & 10am. Angelica and Emilia were with me already. Emilia had just finished a week at Sunnyside Stable's Horse Camp, in Palm City, while Angelica was hanging with me, at home, for a few weeks. On the way to Apopka, there was a rain shower that seemed like it would never end, though everything was high and dry, by the time we got there. The Turnpike drive was smooth as could be. We even got to the camp a bit early, so we cruised around, and saw some deer grazing, which was pretty cool. When time came, we picked up Abbie and Julia, crammed their luggage into our REALLY full car, and set off to meet up with Sara.

After a few mixed signals, we finally met Sara, who was being dropped off by her husband, Kenny. Shortly after they said their (awkward to me) kissing and hugging goodbye's, we set off on our trip. The drive started well, with everyone nestled into their spot, snacks and drinks available, and a DVD playing. We saw a fender bender on I75 that really could have been a bad collision. A tractor trailer carrying automobiles and a small car collided, sending the tractor trailer into a gulley, between the main highway and the woods. Somehow, the tractor trailer driver was able to drive down into the gulley without losing any cars, or causing any apparent damage to the tractor trailer. I found this to be quite amazing.

We got to Georgia pretty swiftly, and unfortunately, I decided to follow the Garmin blindly, which led us around downtown, but put us into some major stop & go traffic. I mean we moved like 1 mile in an hour. Since we were stuck with everyone, we decided to play a game. We looked over in the car next to us, and would guess what we thought the person's name was. Then we would roll down the window and ask, to see if we were correct, lol. This really helped to pass the time, and made us all crack up. We even came across a car of Boy Scouts, who started waving and saying Heyyyyy, as they drove by us. So we started to do the same thing, as we went by them, back and forth, lol. This really made time go by quickly, though, unfortunately, traffic was still at a standstill. I decided that we would get off the highway at the next exit, which would help us get around this mess, and we all had to pee, as well. So I get off the highway, and go to the first gas station I see, and decide it's not up to OUR standards, lol. So we pull into the next place, I let the girls out to go potty, staying in the car, because apparently, we are in the HOOD. After we're done, we start driving, looking for the end of the highway traffic. The girls decide we need to eat, so I stop at Krystal's for dinner. Between where we got off the highway and Krystal's, I saw like 3 people, in separate instances, getting frisked by the police, while handcuffed. We were definitely, in the hood.

After dinner, which I must say, was quite satisfying, we worked our way back to 75, getting in downtown Atlanta. We should have just stayed on 75, instead of going on 475, it would have probably saved us a couple of hours, if not several. So back on the highway, and before you know it, we're in Tennessee. It's dark now, probably about 9pm, and the girls are still awake. They're amazed at all of the mountainous terrain, the lights of Chattanooga and the steep hills the car is climbing. We stop just west of Chattanooga for a final bathroom break of the night, and Sara asks if I'd like her to drive. I'm usually the only driver on our trips, but I say, what the heck, sure, I could use a break, so I give her the wheel. Sara drives through the night, getting us all the way to Illinois. Anyways, I took over in Illinois, also changing the Garmin setting to shortest route, instead of fastest time, which proved to be a weird situation. The Garmin took us off the main highway, and through some weird towns, that were pitch black with rolling hills, through farm land. Abigail, who doesn't like the unfamiliar, was freaking, saying, Daddy, go back to the highway, lol. I kept course, eventually getting back on the highway, but that was quite the funny experience for 5 of us.

When the sun started coming up, quite early, may I add, we were in Illinois. We stopped for breakfast shortly after daybreak, when we entered Iowa. We stopped at a bagel shop in Iowa City.
We all got out, stretched, ate bagels and drank chocolate milk.

Then, we continued on our ride, cruising through Iowa and into Minnesota, then finally, arriving in North Dakota around 6pm Sunday evening. We checked into the Red River Motel, showered, and set off to Peter's house for dinner.

Peter's road is under construction, but we were able to park in his driveway. He lives across the street from an elementary school and a park, which we would explore, the next day. The weather in Fargo was unseasonably warm and muggy, but being from Florida, we fit right in. Peter and his Wife Ann, cooked for us that night. We tried Buffalo (Bison) burger's, which tasted like.......beef, lol. They're cat brought us a present while we ate out, in the backyard. Cocoa, the cat, brought us a small rabbit, she had just killed. Not only did she kill this rabbit, but she began to feast on it, as well. My girls were creeped out, but way curious, so they watched, as Cocoa tore into her dinner. We weren't outside that long, before the mosquito's started feasting, on us. We quickly moved indoors, where we were joined by Peter's son, Ruairi
, who's summer job, just happens to be with Mosquito control.

We stayed at Peter's for awhile, returning to the hotel for a night sleep, not having to sit in the car.

The next day we explored Fargo, with Peter and Ann. Emilia was not thrilled that it was so hot outside, but she did find this Dandelion quite interesting.The girls were also amazed at the size of the tree's, in North Dakota.Peter and Ann really love their townand we found it to be a lovely place as well.
Later that evening, Peter and Ruairi took us to the Fargo Zoo, where we saw all sorts of animals.

This is the closest Abigail has ever been to a bull. Angelica and a deer, during their staring contest.This Meerkat had just gorged itself on a bag full of popcorn, that some woman had carelessly dumped into its pen.

Emilia was thrilled with this Reeve's Muntjac. This little deer, had sharp tusks, sort of like a wild boar. After the Zoo, we went to Scheel's Sporting Goods store, one of the biggest, in the world. These president's were all posed outside the store front, so the girls couldn't resist posing with them. This IS NOT the reason we decided not to visit Mount rushmore.Inside the store was a full sized Ferris Wheel, which the girls and Ruairi promptly took advantage of.

There were also the best animal taxidermy collection, I had ever seen.Sara and the girls had a blast at the target range.

Steve, the hunter! We ended the day, having dinner in downtown Fargo, with Peter.

The next day we were supposed to get up early, meet Peter at his house around 8am, and set off to tour western North Dakota's Badlands, which from Fargo, is about 8 hours round trip.

I woke up early the next morning, a lot earlier than I thought i would, checked my phone and saw Peter had left a voicemail at 4:30am, saying that a major storm had dumped tons of rain, flooding his basement, and that he wouldn't be ready to leave until after 10 or 11am. Apparently, tornado alarms were sounding, and we slept right through the brunt of the storm.

Peter wasn't ready to leave until 12pm, and we probably left later than that, not arriving into the Badlands until 3 or 4pm, or later.

During our trip, we saw some of the major flooding that had been happening in North Dakota, We also saw some weird gas pumps and rest area's, stopped for eats and treats, watched my daughter Emilia change, before my eye's, after her treat, lol, as well as watched the landscape go from flat terrain, to hilly countryside.

When we arrived at the Badlands, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park , we quickly saw that it was well worth the drive. I was concerned, because we had a pretty tight budget, but I still wanted my girls to see the good old U.S.A., and that is just what we did. These pictures are all from different parts of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Here, we're at the outlook, that looks over the Badlands.

Makes for a pretty nice backdrop for my family.

The park entry was all prairie land, and it seemed that every square inch was covered with Prairie Dog burrows. The park is equpped with camping facilities, which is what we planned to do, if we had more time. Once we started to get to different terrain, we stopped every once in awhile, checking to see if we could find some Buffalo or Wild Horses, which was our goal.. We climbed up butte's, and down trails, in search of our elusive prey. Peter was pretty familiar with this park, so it was nice having him as our tour guide. The storm that we saw in the distance, as we got closer to the Badlands, arrived, and it started to rain as we explored the trails and Butte's. The storm brought rain and lightning, which Peter didn't like, so he sided with caution, preferring to stay in the car, mostly, till the storm had passed. Meanwhile, Sara, Angelica, Emilia and, I kept exploring the trails.

Eventually that weather passed, bringing much more comfortable temps, and WAY less humidity. There was actually a chill in the air, when the rain subsided, along with a nice breeze, making this trip all the more pleasant. We continued exploring, eventually reaching one of, if not, THE, highest point in the park. The pictures speak for themselves, but you could literally see for miles and miles, in any direction. We still hadn't seen any wild Buffalo or Horses, at this point, so the family went in different directions, to search for wildlife. The terrain on these Buttes was filled with soft grass and small Cacti, so you really had to watch where you stepped. At one point I was taking pictures and Abigail started recording video of the breathtaking scenery. Suddenly, we heard Julia scream. Angelica and Julia were quite far away, exploring a different side of the Butte we were on top of. They ran back toward where I was, quickly, and explained what had happened. Angelica was telling Julia to watch where she walked, because there were many small Cacti, so Julia, keeping her eye's peeled, looking for Cacti, when suddenly she sees a Rattlesnake, coiled up. She screams and bolts from the spot, all at once, and me, being the curious guy with a camera, says, where, tell me quick, so I can go see the Rattlesnake, lol. Needless to say, after that, we started looking for Cacti, AND snakes!

By this time, I started getting concerned that we would't see any wild Buffalo, Horse's or anything bigger than the Deer we saw with her 2 fawn. We did, however, see plenty of fresh Buffalo poop, just about everywhere.

We even saw this cave, in one of the Butte's, that was shaped just like a Buffalo. We all stared at the cave intently, waiting to see if it was a Buffalo and if "the Buffalo" would move. We stayed there, staring at this thing, till we saw something fly out of it, it turned out to be a cave, LOL.

As we rounded the back end of the park, we came upon a herd of wild horses. To the left of the horses, was a lone Buffalo, steadily working its way, as it grazed, toward the horses. The girls, minus Abigail, and Peter, slowly walked closer to get a better view. I stayed behind with Abigail, taking pictures from where we were parked. The Buffalo seemed to agitate the horses, but passed near the herd with no problems.

We then saw a carload of people who told us we were about to encounter some more Buffalo. Sure enough, as we rounded the bend, we found two adult and two juvenile Buffalo, grazing in a pasture. After this, we stopped and found a few male Buffalo, all off by themselves. Again, we stopped to get a closer look.

At this point we were able to walk down a trail and get really close to some of these Buffalo.

The scenery of this part of the park was absolutely beautiful. We were even privy to see a Prairie Rainbow. We were so happy to have experienced so much, in one day. We stayed at the park till about 9pm, and were able to see tons of the nocturnal animals, like Badger's, Coyote's, Elk and more.

When we exited the park, I thought it would be cool, since we were only 17 miles away, to cross the Montana state line, and take a picture in front of the welcome sign. By this time, the family was pretty tired, but agreed, after a bit of coaxing. When we got out of the car to take the picture, we were swarmed by bugs. Some were biting, some were just pelting us, but the girls didn't like this, at all. I find it funny, thinking back, how we didn't eat a thing, the many hours we were in the park. After leaving Montana, we headed back toward Peter's house, stopping to get gas and a bite to eat. We didn't arrive at Peter's till 4am, at which time we quickly set up our mattresses and sleeping bags, gabbed a bit about our day and quickly fell asleep. We woke up pretty early the next morning. Peter and Ann made us brunch, we took pictures with our hosts, and set off to begin our journey home.

Did I Mention, That I LOVE Being A Dad???

2011-07-05T17:47:00.005-04:00

I took the girls to the Indian River Lagoon, on Jupiter Island, for a day of sun and fun, well, fun anyways, lol. We drove through some pretty good rain showers to get there, but that's the best thing about Florida. It doesn't usually rain everywhere, at once. We always pack a cooler, with lunch, drinks and snacks, so we don't have to go in search of, and spoil the fun. This place is so scenic and fun, we love it! Here's a few of the pictures I took on THIS excursion. Emilia's best impression of a 60's/70's Go-Go Dancer.Abigail is saying, "Dad, look at that boat, it has 3 engines. Emilia, holding a small Sea Urchin I found while snorkeling the lagoon.Emilia, holds a large Sea Urchin I found in the ocean, while Julia and Abigail make their best surprised faces.Emilia sure is a ham!Julia and Emilia snorkeling. I can gladly say that, I taught them. Lunch break!Emilia is a ham, lol, REALLY!!!It seems that everyone loves this place.Ahhh, serenity.Nemo reference, Dad, I'm gonna touch the butt!!Here I am teaching the girls a new card game, SPIT!I just ran 6 miles on wooded trails, AWESOME!Right afterward, Angelica and I went to Bathtub Reef , to snorkel, and watched this storm, intently, as it moved closer to us.I made no plans to go see the fireworks last night, but just couldn't resist watching them from the comfort of my living room.

Braiding, REALLY takes a long time.

2011-06-25T18:19:00.003-04:00

I promised Abigail that I would braid her hair this weekend. This project took about 3 1/2 hours, and though it isn't perfect, she's satisfied, and so am I. Now it's Julia's turn!

Happy Birthday, Emilia Grace!!!!

2011-06-24T23:35:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to my youngest daughter. Born on June 24th 2003 (pictured here)

Today's impromptu celebration.

That's my baby!
Chocolate, her favorite!

Another year, on to bigger, and better.

Facebook

2011-06-16T20:56:00.002-04:00

Face it, some people just don't want to be found!

So Busy Lately!

2011-06-11T22:20:00.012-04:00

My visit to one of Jupiter, Fl's best eateries. The Girls! Julia Style
Smile NOT necessary! Our day in the sun-shower's.SuperDad
Super, Super, LOL.The day I taught my girls how to snorkel. Jupiter Island, Indian River Lagoon (Jupiter Lighthouse in background).Sara and Kenny visit us on the way to The Keys. The O's, have it!Sara making friends.My new friendJulia newest friend. The 3, in style.We love this place!
Nothing better than FREE DQ ice cream and free radio station T-ShirtsOur local radio station giving away tickets to that nights concert with Katy Perry, 2nd row. A poolside critter (Florida's infamous Mole Cricket) Hey, lets push Angelica into the pool. Hey, we're going to the 5th grade!!!

I Love You, Girls!

2011-06-07T22:21:00.002-04:00

I figured I'd pop in tonight, before I close my eyes, to sleep, and let you know that I love you all. I mean, you never know, I may not wake up here on earth, and I'd hate for you all to go through life wondering what I thought about, when my house was empty. Well, this is one of my many thought, about my girls. Oh, and Josiah, this goes for you too. God Bless you all!

Happy 9th Birthday, JULIA!!!

2011-06-07T12:01:00.004-04:00

Today is Julia's 9th birthday and she's not feeling well. She wanted to go to school this morning, so she could attend the honor roll assembly , and afterward, have a cupcake snack with her classmates and teacher. Now we're home, resting, watching movies and keeping each other company. Thank God for sick days!

I'm Excited

2011-06-05T22:04:00.003-04:00

My fun day at the beach!

Which was followed by a nice haircut.

I'm Baaaaaack!!!

WOW, IT'S ALREADY JUNE!!!

2011-05-31T21:58:00.003-04:00

Here's my dilemma. I have a new camera, am taking great photo's, but have WAY TOO MANY to sort through, for my blog. It would be nice if uploading the pictures was as easy as it is on facebook. I guess I'll just have to start going through them, and post the best ones. I'll start with this one, and work my way through the rest.

The day after I asked if Angelica had a boyfriend, to which she replied NO, may I add. She asked if she could meet this fellow (James), at the beach. Apparently, according to my 10 year old, Angelica spends quite a bit of time gabbing on the phone with James. Here they are at our community pool. Memorial weekend was a blast. My 3 youngest girls and I were at the beach the entire time. Great moments are made when people take the time to make them great.
Here we are at Downtown Stuart, Florida. Good Times!!!

Thinking About You

2011-05-10T23:51:00.002-04:00

Amelio C. Miura

August 2nd, 1924 - May 9th, 2011

A good man has left us, God Bless You, Dad!

SUCCESS!!!

2011-05-06T21:19:00.002-04:00

I have accomplished something, ordinary humans can only dream of, I braided my daughter's hair! And to prove it wasn't a fluke, I did another braid on the other side. Now the question is, what do I do about this???

The New Camera Is Great, But Catching Up To The Pictures Is Really Hard!

2011-04-28T21:44:00.002-04:00

I've taken well over 5000 pictures with my new camera, and I'm finding it so hard to sort through and add pictures to the blog.

THE BEST DAY, EVER!!!

2011-04-27T22:41:00.003-04:00

Today was one of those days. I ran my butt off, had late air, left pkgs for the next guy over, who called and brown nosed em back to me, still ran hard, met the ex to talk about our settlement agreement over lunch, rushed through pick ups, picked up my girls AT 5pm, rode bikes, roller bladed, swam, all while I roasted a chicken in the oven, (made brownies this morning), got the girls showered, fed, and instead of watching TV or listening to the radio, I did their hair in ponytails, while laughing, and talking about things that I never would have spoken about, had I not ran my butt off. Thank you God for such a great day!

Oh, and now they're in bed, asleep, because I refuse to get on this computer, talk on the phone, or drown them out with any of life's distractions.

Now You're 10!

2011-04-18T10:58:00.006-04:00

My Abigail is 10 years old, already! Where has the time gone? I'm so glad that I have the pictures of all the stuff we've done and places we've been to. Happy Birthday Abbie!!! Abigail had the benefit of attending her skate party with her closest friends, and afterward, a pool party. Sophie Julia and Abigail showing their skills. Bria, doing her best Vogue.Julia and Madison putting on a show.

Emilia getting some air.Bria and Abigail helping Ghiana stay upright.All of the girls getting in cake mode.Madison, Emilia, Abigail, Julia, Maggie, Bria and GhianaGrandma and Grandpa giving Abbie some love. And then it was off to the pool party. The girls quickly discovered this wall and began jumping off into the water. Abigail really enjoyed her birthday parties, which made Dad feel good.

Abigail, 10 Years Has Gone By So Fast!!!

2011-04-15T21:08:00.004-04:00

Abigail Lynne Cortes, through the years..... Love Dad!

Life Continue's...........

2011-04-09T08:41:00.005-04:00

Welcome back Carolyn!!! This is my friend, Carolyn, she had open heart surgery recently, and after following her Dr's orders, is back on the links. Here we are at the community pool where we live. That's Patty Gentile, on the right, with her daughter, Amelie. She also has another daughter, Ariel, swimming in the pool. Another friend, Kari Bachoo, brought her 2 daughter's, Bria and Madison. Oh, and Liz and Elissa also brought their daughter's, so altogether there were 14 people at the pool. I'm so glad my girls have plenty of friends.

Ariel, Julia, Abigail, Elizabeth, Bria, Alexis, Emilia and Madison!!!

Sometimes it's the little things in life. Here we are at Disney World, and this little girl is finding so much amusement in this bubble.

My Beautiful Family!

2011-04-06T23:08:00.003-04:00

Ker-SPLOOSH!!! Stephen's Angel's! The differing shades of CORTES. Not too shabby for a guy that hasn't run since December 19th and quit the gym in February. How many memories did this bring back to me?

My New Direction

2011-04-03T20:24:00.017-04:00

Welcome to Disney!Epcot!!!The pictures certainly don't tell the whole story, we actually had a great time. We stayed in a log cabin, at Disneys Fort Wilderness resort, and though it did pour the whole first day, we threw on poncho's, flip flops and enjoyed Epcot, as only true Floridians could. Dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe was really nice, But remember, never ask for Ketchup. : ) Our 2nd, we went to the Magic Kingdom. The sun was out all day, and we took full advantage. The girls had a great time, I mean, besides having to stop every 5 seconds so Dad could take pictures. My girls are growing up so fast. Julia definitely needs to read the driver's manual.Abigail and I partnered up and walked through the park, enjoying the sights and sounds, while Cece, ran through the park with Julia and Emilia, like she was going to miss her plane. We stayed till about 10pm, even though the park was opened till 1am. The girls were smoked! Our last full day was spent at the Animal Kingdom. I asked my Daughter Sara to come down with my Grandson Josiah. This totally surprised my younger girls. Sara walked into the bathroom, I had told them to use, and I could hear them shout her name.

Everyone wanted to get their hands on Josiah We went out to eat at Perkins on our final morning at Disney. My sister Ceci, who paid for the entire stay at Ft Wildernesscouldn't get a big enough piece of Lemon meringue pie Upon arriving in town, I realized I was right on time for a foot Dr appointment. The Dr, (Bill Salcedo), said I could start running again, in May, though I "may" start a bit sooner. Back at home, it was back into the pool for all of us. Ceci, wasn't obeying the rules. I finally figured out that girls like to doodle.Angelica joined us on the weekend, as did Kari and her girls, Bria and Madison. What a great Spring break!As usual, here I am surrounded by girls. Launching Emilia! Kari took this picture of me, blocking a direct hit from a water bomb, AWESOME!Ahhh, serenity.Madison & Emilia, loving the water.NICE! Angelica, and if you look closely at this picture, you'll see that Angelica has Daddy in her eye.After a long week of fun, we were all, smoked!

Spring Break, Ahhhhh!

2011-03-27T22:32:00.004-04:00

This is where good memories are created. The girls are here for Spring Break and we are doing things non-stop. Here we are at the complex pool, all six of us??? My girls are joined here by friends Bria , Katie and Madison We're spending quite a bit of time rollerblading, bike riding and swimming. Synchronized Waterguns A wandering Sandhill Crane.

My Wandering Explorer

As if today wasn't enough, the girls decided they wanted to go bowling.I won the first game.....barely, and Abigail and I tied in the 2nd game.

Bria, making sure no one grabs the wrong cup.

My bowler girls.

As expected, a good night sleep couldn't come quick enough.

My Rude Awakening!

2011-03-22T20:49:00.003-04:00

My rude awakening is taking me to many places. I'm even being shown perspectives I never knew existed. Dear God, please help me to avoid the meaningless distractions in life, and help me to concentrate on things that really matter.

I pilfered the following pictures from my sister's facebook account. I've never seen these pictures, and am wondering just how many old pictures she has kept, over the years. There are so many missing piece's to the puzzle I call, ME.

Here is my Brother Albert, Izzy and sister Cecelia, back in May of 1962, 3 years before I was born.
Here is my Father's mother dancing with my eldest sister, Barbara.

Here is my Father (Israel) and my brother Albert.

Here is a family photo of my sister Barbara, Clare and Myself, taken while we were in a foster home in Brentwood Long Island.

My sister's Clare, Cecelia, Barbara, and little old me in a stroller (carriage).

Though I don't remember these photo's, or my life at these moments, life was happening, things were taught, impressions were made.

Someone To Talk To...

2011-03-21T20:50:00.002-04:00

I have so many things to say, but no one to say them to. When I say no one, I actually mean, no one human. I've been talking to God a lot, but I still feel distant. It's really hard to handle, when your heart is broken, and you just need a friend. There are many people I could talk to, but I really can't think of anyone that would give me that, I really feel better, feeling.

Heads nor Tails...

2011-03-20T21:22:00.002-04:00

Just like in my life, at the moment, I just can't seem to make heads nor tails of this thing.

My Apprentice!

2011-03-16T22:41:00.004-04:00

I am teaching my Daughter Abigail how to use our new camera. I showed her how to center her subject and to let the camera do the rest.

This first picture is a result of me just handing her the camera and telling her to shoot.

The rest of these pictures are from today. I said, "okay honey, I want you to take pictures of Daddy doing a flip into the pool."

You can see Just how gracefulyour FatherISN'TOUCH!!! OUCH!!!

Starting To "Click"

2011-03-13T20:38:00.008-04:00

What to do, what to do? That's the question I keep asking myself each time I pick up my girls. I'm starting to realize that my girls need me, even though they're hurt/confused, just as much as I am, at the moment, and I need to make myself totally available to them. That being said, this week was pretty rough, emotionally. I was served divorce papers on Wednesday, and that was pretty hard to handle, but just as in anything, life goes on. So here's life, through my eyes.

I've been running my butt off at work so I can get done in time to pick up my girls. In doing so, I was able to pick them up on Thursday and Friday at 5pm. The arrangement we have made is I get to pick them up on Thursday and keep them through Monday morning, every other weekend and I get them on Wed-Thurs. morning before the weekends I don't get them. This weekend the girls strapped on their Rollerblades as soon as I got them home on Thursday. Friday was the same, except that they found some friends in the complex where I live. Their friends go to the same school and are similar ages, so our family was extended by 2 girls and 1 boy, all of which were on Rollerblades.

I met their friends ( Brea and Madison's) mom (Kari), who was quite cool, and the kids all had a blast this weekend. Now, even though I got them at 5pm, it gets dark pretty early, so Thursday was an early night, but Friday was a different story. While the girls played, I spoke to Kari about all things girl. While we were speaking a rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral/Kennedy . It's funny, because watching the rocket reminded me of when Bobby Brady got kissed for the first time and saw fireworks. I'm not saying that there was a romantic moment, it's just a funny thought that entered my mind. Anyways, we were invited (barged into) Kari's house. Upon entering, you could tell that girls lived there. There was art and fingernail painting stuff out and my girls felt right at home. This is when my life suddenly took a turn. It's when I realized that I'm actually standing face to face with young girls who are growing up, and quickly at that.

I felt a bit nervous at the thought of doing this alone. My nervousness, however, turned into excitement, when I realized what a great opportunity I have ahead of me. Now the fun begins...

On Saturday, the girls decided they wanted to hunt for baby fish in the lake that's in the middle of the complex.

On Sunday, Abigail saw THIS is the same lake. I guess the warm weather is on its way.

Sunday it church, Sunday brunch and off to the pool. Here's MadisonBreaand the rest of the girls. We had the whole pool to ourselves.

I even got in on the action.

After the pool there was a little sunbathing

and some more rollerblading.

Abigail had a much better weekend!, and so did I

I miss you guys...

Here's a couple of test pictures with the new camera.

Millenium Man!

2011-03-06T19:49:00.007-05:00

I recently joined Facebook, which I had no plans on doing, EVER. I became friends with a lot of people I know from this area. I started searching for people from my past and found so many. In the picture below, bottom row, 3rd from the right, is a girl named Michelle Cruz. She lived in the same housing project and building I lived in, growing up. She lived on the 5th floor, I was on the 2nd. There were so many kids that were friends, in this building. I had the biggest crush on her sister Nancy.

It's funny; The memories that are stirred, with just one picture. I guess that's why I like to take pictures so much. It helps me to hold onto the moments that pass by all too quickly.

This is how my day started, LOL. I was in too much of a hurry to realize that my new camera has a switch for manual and auto focus, located right on the lens.

After a little bit of searching for why all my pictures were blurry, I found the problem and quickly solved the issue. This cat and dog are my friends pets. I take care of her pets when she goes out of town and she takes care of, well, she used to. She's a good friend!

After taking care of the pets, I stopped at my sister's house to visit for awhile. I took the opportunity to take pictures of almost everyone while I was there. This is my beautiful niece Jennifer.

Jennifer's children Darien and Deanna Marie.

She's already a ham : )

Bella, who was weirdly attached to me.

Ruben and Jennifer, I'd say beautiful Ruben, but I'd probably get smacked next time he sees me.

My Dad having a good day. He totally remembered who I am.

My buddy Hectorworking on Sunday with his wife Maria. Trying to get his shed finished in time for a family visit.

My dinner tonight. I hate eating alone, but I'm not gonna spend my money at a restaurant, when I can very well cook for myself.
I know, I know, it's a lot of food, but don't forget that I ride my bike to and from work. I need all the fuel I can get.

Tearing Me Up Inside

2011-02-28T07:45:00.004-05:00

When I was a young boy, I could remember being torn away from my parents, so that I could go visit my biological mom in NYC. The pain I felt was strong, and at the time, I wished that I didn't have to go visit my biological mom. After awhile at my biological mom's house, I got used to being there, though I kept an ever watchful eye out for my foster parents.

Now, I keep thinking back about that time in my life, when I go to pick up my own children for their visitation with me. My 9 year old daughter cries because she has to come spend time with me, and this just tears me up inside, even though I know she doesn't understand the why's and how's. I hate that life is so hard on her, so early in life. I hope that these times will make my girls strong for the future.

Way Too Fast....

2011-02-27T20:49:00.009-05:00

It's funny how you can sit at the computer to simply check a website and next time you check the clock, 4 hours have passed. Time is slipping by and I find myself trying to catch up on things that I've missed. Everything is so fast nowadays, as well. How many people actually cook anymore? Our kids are shoveling all sorts of fast, processed garbage into their mouths, and it's all on account of saving time.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, I've decided to take back the time. I'm going to cook/prepare all of the meals that we eat. I'll take the time to do the dishes afterward, without complaining. I'm putting the brakes on, RIGHT now. Family time needs to be of utmost importance. If we lose that precious time, we may as well throw in the towel and let just anyone raise our children. I will not let my children sit idly in front of a TV, while I sit on the computer or talk on the phone. I will devote my free time to them, so that they will learn what I want them to learn. The values and morals that I know, but tend to throw to the wayside. I will be a better example for them than my parents were for me.

I am in no way trying to badmouth my parents. I'm simply stating that not enough time was spent in "SHOWING" us the values that we try to emulate.

That being said, here's our weekend. Though I tried my best to be the best Dad, I did fall short a few times, but at least I tried and keep trying. The weekends that I get the girls start on Thursday night. Abigail wasn't happy that she would be staying over my house, and I would be getting them up for school in the morning, (though I was thrilled.)

Abigail's attitude quickly changed once we were home, at my house, and though it is heart wrenching to see her go through this, I understand how she feels.

I bought Abigail a cycling outfit. We're supposed to do a 30 mile ride together on March 21st, and she needed something that was more comfortable than a T-Shirt and shorts.

I'm glad the girls find the new furniture in this house comfortable.

I bought the girls sneakers and Rollerblades on Saturday. I need to work more overtime!

Abigail and her road bike.

I took the girls the the 1st annual (TCCA Treasure Coast Cycling Association) picnic. We had a great time, though the beach was quite crowded on this pretty day.

After the beach we came back to the complex and went into the pool. A great ending to a great weekend.

Abigail, seemingly all better by Sunday.

The girls making their best leaps

Julia and Emilia Abigail, Emilia and Julia Who says Dad's house isn't fun?

Do YOU Know a Muffin Man?

2011-02-26T22:47:00.003-05:00

It's amazing how different the weekends can be. One weekend I'm crying to myself because I'm all alone, and the next is the best in the whole world. The weekend started off pretty rough. Thursday pickup can be heart wrenching

For Old Friend's Sake

2011-02-25T22:51:00.004-05:00

Here's some pictures I took back in the day. I just hooked up with old friends on Facebook, and I promised to show these. I know, I said I would never be on Facebook. Well, times have changed!

My Mom Hilda (RIP), at Tony's Pizza on Graham Ave

Mom and me on Jackson St with the old Greenpoint Hospital in the background

I miss you Mom...

Me with my nephews, Anthony and Albert

Adam, you have got to remember this photo! We had a blast on that 4th of July

I took this picture in Cooper Park, brings back memories, huh?

The Finishing Touches

2011-02-23T02:21:00.003-05:00

Tonight I finished getting the apartment ready for my girls. We now have beds , dining room table (not pictured because I didn't feel like taking all of the stuff that I lazily set on it, off), couch and TV. Ahhh, all the comforts of home...

The Absolute Truth!

2011-02-20T23:16:00.004-05:00

The truth about this mess is that I really miss my family.

It's very lonely without my girls in the house.

These pictures are from some of the best times we had, and we didn't have to go to Disney World.

Missing you all!

This has been the saddest weekend yet.

It's A Wonderful Life

2011-02-13T21:32:00.004-05:00

Life goes on, happy or sad. It's getting easier to handle being alone, especially when I have weekends like this one to look forward to.

The long walk home....Emilia's shoe looked tweaked, so I had her take em off and walk barefoot.

An Anhinga in Eagle Marsh

Julia and Angelica playing Rummy.

I introduced the girls to my Faux friend.

Abigail...

Camouflaged Fears nothing,.....usually.

Praying Mantis

The Lady's!!!

Woody A Sunday stroll

The future Triathlete

Cocky, at its best.

Posers...

The girls were invited to a skate party that i thought I would dread. It turned out to be quite fun. We all put skates on and had a blast for a couple of hours.

Saturday, in the park.

Jump around!
Abigail self portrait

Angelica Photoshopped
Batter up!

My girls made these projects at our local home depot.

Out of control! Most people I know and haven't seen in awhile don't even recognize me.

2 Years 2 Months......The Unveiling.

2011-01-31T19:49:00.005-05:00

I've been wearing braces on my teeth for the past 2+ years and today was the day they were finally removed. It took about 1 1/2 hours, but they're finally off.

Say Ahhh.

Michele was there from the beginning.

Even though I'm getting drilled, I didn't feel a thing.
Dr Mark Lively is THE Man!

Now that my teeth are pretty, maybe I'll shave and get a haircut.

Oh, and now that I'm single again, it's back to "Colonial" furniture.

In My Haste

2011-01-31T15:16:00.011-05:00

In my haste to run away from the pain of my Wife leaving me, I abruptly signed off from this blog. I'm sorry, it was the wrong thing to do. I will continue to blog about my family, minus one member.

My Wife of 11 years has decided to leave me. The reasons are multiple, but mostly my doing. I'm not a Facebook person, so I won't discuss the details, but I will take responsibility for my share of what occurred.

That being said, I will continue to post about the Girl's and I. Once again, sorry, it may take me a bit to get my head together, but the love I have for my Girls will always live right here.

Since the break up. I've seen some really nice scenery.

We've gone to the beach, which was very crowded, must be tourist season.

I hardly ever see Seagulls on the beach, but I guess they were looking for free meals.

Abigail chasing the Seagulls. She's lucky they didn't turn on her, though, as a responsible shutterbug, you know I would have been snapping away at the excitement.

My girls decided they would like to swim yesterday, even though we didn't bring towels , not to mention that two of my swimmers weren't wearing bathing suits.

Abigail dared not go into the water.

The Girls and I on my new furniture.

One happy customer!

I've let my hair grow since September.

It's almost time for a new car.

I had to turn my dogs over to Aussie Rescue. Almost 11 years old and going to foster care. This isn't the first time that I've lost something or been left behind.

This picture is the last night I saw my dogs. Goodbye Baer and Sasha.

Is this really happening?

THE END!

2011-01-23T19:44:00.002-05:00

Hey all, I know you've all loved this blog, but as happens with most things in life, they come to an end. Due to circumstances beyond "MY" control, I have to sign off. Thanks for letting me share the love I have for my family with all of you. May God bless each person that has visited this blog.

My 3rd Marathon

2010-12-19T20:02:00.003-05:00

So today was my marathon. The weather was perfect (40ish), the course was fast and flat and I was feeling strong. I was going to start out with a few buddy's that I carpooled with, but when I saw the 3:15 pace leader, I decided to go out fast and try to remain ahead of any pain that I may encounter. We averaged about a 7.20 pace, which I held on to until mile 16. At mile 10 I took a GU (Powergel) and a little bit of it irritated my uvula (GU Gag). I felt as those I was going to gag/cough and could feel how tight my pubis was, so I tried everything to avoid coughing. I coughed like twice and was in agony, so I tried to douse the irritation at every water stop, but that didn't work.

I tried everything to keep from coughing and eventually became so focused on my other pains, that I forgot the irritation. My heel pain started coming on strong and I started to get pain im my other foot, which I think was due to overcompensation. By mile 18 I had dropped the pace to 8:30-9's and at mile 21 I walked for 1/4 mile and stretched a bit before trying to slowly jog again. At this point I'm dreading the thought of running over 3:30 or worse, a DNF. After a prayer I started to jog a bit faster, and jumped behind a guy the was going a bit faster then I was. This realy helped me get my legs moving again, though I was still running in the 9 minute range. I went from person to person, drafting and slowly getting up some speed till I launched off on my own again. I was now back into the 8.30 range and cruising pretty well. At some points I would slow down, but for the most part I was getting faster. By mile 24 I was in the high 7's again and still had some time in the bank to possibly BQ. By now, all of my buddies had passed me, so I also had this as incentive.

Right after mile 24 I was passed by the 3:30 pace leader, followed shortly by the 3:45. Apparently their people couldn't hang, so they were telling everyone to hop on board. I tried, but couldn't manage that pace , so I opted to hang with a woman that was running next to me. We both turned up the pace, running together for the next 1 1/2 miles. When I reached the turn for the stadium, I could hear 2 of my buddy's names being called out. As I'm coming around with 200 meters to go, I see the clock at 3:29 and end up finishing in 3:30.16, BQ'ing by the skin of my teeth. After the race I could barely walk. The pain in my pubis/adductors is a 10, as is the pain in my left foot. It is NOW time to go get these issue's treated, though I still have to work this week.

Thank God for helper's during Christmas season, LOL. I'll update on how my day at work went, tomorrow.

2010-12-04T13:48:00.003-05:00

Today was my last long training run before my marathon in 2 weeks. I ran 26.2 miles in 3:51.29, and am I ever pooped. Here is the actual map and stats from my run.

When I got home, I put my legs into the cold water of our pool. Someone told me that this would help me recover from the hard workout. All I know is that I was stiff as a board when I got out of the pool. Maybe the fact that the water was in the 60's had something to do with that.

The Beginning

2010-12-03T21:29:00.002-05:00

My Nephew Ruairi, at the very beginning.

Way to go Ruairi!!!

2010-11-28T15:14:00.004-05:00

My nephew, Ruairi (Rory) Moynihan, just won the space coast half marathon in a time of 1:13.11. He out ran the 2nd place finisher by almost 2 minutes. This was his first ever half marathon, though he has run cross country since high school, but has never run this distance. He's down with his folks from North Dakota, visiting relatives in Melbourne for the holidays, so he, and his father, Peter 2:19.15, decided to run the Space Coast half marathon. I am so proud of him, and so very jealous, at the same time.

You have to love Florida, in November

2010-11-21T14:12:00.009-05:00

My last vacation week of the year and the temperature is still reaching the 80's.

I took the girls and the dogs to the park and beach, while on vacation.

First things first though, Abigail wanted to show her haircut again, but this time flat ironed.

Last one down, uh, last one up!
The girls and Baer got tired of "hanging" around the park, so we went out to the beach. A few action shots
Emilia
Julia
Abigail

Julia's driftwood surfboard

These guys both had their hands full

Here's a balloon that you DON'T want to see floating near you.

Today I took the dogs to the beach
They really like the beach, or is it the time alone with Dad?

The day ended beautifully

Halloween, Haircuts and Growing Up!

2010-11-13T18:24:00.003-05:00

After Melissa scored her medal at the Halloween Half Marathon, we napped and took our excited daughter's, in their costumes, trick and/or treating. We did our traditional thing and went over to my buddy JK's house. His neighborhood is very kid friendly and our girls always get loaded up with candy, this year being no exception. I like this area because even the adults get into the festivities.

I chose not to wear my Halloween Half Marathon Costume, and as you can see, it was for good reason. We had a great time in JK's neighborhood. Here are some pictures.

What I don't have any pictures of, are the tons of bug bites the girls got when we were manning the water-station for the runner's at the race. I sprayed each of the girls with an ample amount of repellent, but it seems it didn't work too well on them. Of course I hardly got bit at all. The poor girls were itching for days.

Angelica's Mom took her to get her permit to drive. Is she 15 already??? I'm so proud of her. She is excelling beyond belief in everything she attempts.

We took the girl's for their haircut's today. Aside from my having the "Daddy Look", (not that I was bored, but was tired from my 12 mile run early this morning),
and the girls getting the giggles while we waited turns, everyone enjoyed getting their new style's.

Abigail

Julia

Emilia

I was even thinking about cutting my hair, which I have been letting grow since Sept, but I said, Nah.

First Half Marathon!!!

2010-11-01T19:41:00.005-04:00

My Wife (Melissa) completed her first 1/2 Marathon on Halloween, (Pictured above is the actual GPS track from her Garmin GPS watch). She completed the race in 3:05, finishing exhausted, but glad that she accomplished her goal. She never dreamed of running this far, before earlier this year. The girls and I volunteered at the last water stop and egged Mom to continue through her last mile.

She joined the local Galloway runner's group, which runs out of the local Fleet Feet runner's store. She joined with a few friend's and made a bunch while training for this 1/2 marathon.

I'm so proud of her accomplishment, that I've already run out and bought her a 13.1 sticker and put it on her car.

Great job Melissa!!!

There Goes Boston!!!

2010-10-18T22:16:00.000-04:00

Today was the opening day for registration in the Boston Marathon. Unfortunately, it was also the closing day and I tried to register too late. I'm sorry to say, but I will NOT be running the Boston Marathon in 2011. Had I known that people were going to register like it was a Bruce Sprinsteen concert, I would have been on the computer first thing at 9am, when registration opened. Unfortunately, I, like many other REAL people, have to work, and don't have access to the internet as I drive around delivering packages. I started work today at 8:45am and punched out at 6:48pm. Registration closed at 5:03pm. UGH, so much for running Boston at 45 years old.

This rant is over!!!

Monthly Report

2010-09-29T21:10:00.003-04:00

Wow, a whole month without a post. That must mean I either have no battery's for my camera or I'm overwhelmed. Well, I'm not overwhelmed, so while I have no camera at the moment, I've let other's capture my most precious moments. Here one of their pictures.

I actually have loads of news, including my Wife completing her first 10k (6.2) mile race on Sept. 18th. She ran it in 1:16, which is really good, especially since she thought she would finish in 1:30.

Beach to Beach 5k

2010-08-29T18:41:00.004-04:00

My girls ran the Beach to Beach 5k race on Aug 20th. The weather was way hot, in the 90's and humid. As we ran, hoards of mosquito's were biting us, but we completed the 3.1 mile course.

AJC beat her 5k record by 13 secs,

ALC beat hers by 36 secs (ALC is right in front of me and EGC is in the front of her). I ran with my 7, 9 and 14 year old.

WAY TO GO GIRLS!!!

Neighbor Day!

2010-08-29T16:10:00.007-04:00

Our neighbor John called us early one Saturday morning and asked if we would like to go out on his boat. We had no plans for the day, so the girls and I went along for a ride through the St. Lucie River, out through Stuart, Fl. and into the Atlantic Ocean, on the way to a sandbar off of Sailfish point, Fl. Mom didn't come along because she was pooped from her long run that morning and wanted to rest.
As soon as we got onto the boat and put out into the river we spotted a few Dolphin (Porpoise's). We slowed to take a few pictures and ooh and ahh at them. They were about 5 or 6 miles upstream, in the river. I guess they were feeding. One of the Porpoise's had a weird back fin that looked deformed.

After getting out to the old Roosevelt and New Roosevelt bridges, it was smooth sailing to the ocean. It was hard to believe how flat and calm the ocean was. The water was also crystal clear. We could see these huge Jellyfish floating by.
Molly loves the water.
A typical Sailfish Point house.
Molly and Hannah jumped overboard, as Lyn's friend watches.

The girls jumped out at the sandbar and started complaining about being stung by the small Jellyfish we saw. I said, c'mon now, it's not that bad, but soon found myself sitting on the boat, admiring the water from afar. Here's a panoramic view of the boats at the sandbar.
This boat had quite the funny name, and if you look at the horizon, you'll see what made us leave the sandbar.
We got caught in a wicked storm and spent part of the ride home anchored under a bridge till most of the storm passed by.
John and Lyn showed us a showed us a great time.
Thanks for all the fun.
John's a great neighbor!

Mobbed for Lunch!

2010-08-28T20:06:00.002-04:00

My family made an impromptu gathering at the local running store during my lunch, a week ago. My Grandson is a year old and my daughter wanted me to see him before she moved to California.

The NEXT Generation

2010-08-15T17:53:00.010-04:00

Sunday August 8th, we drove down to South Miami for a mini family reunion. My Wife's family really knows how to throw a party. This party was a combination, welcome home for people returning from a 7 day cruise, an unveiling of Bill and Dani's newborn twins

Ava

Aidan

and some fun time for the rest of the family.

Ahhh, the joys of childhood.

My girls and their cousin soaring on the trampoline.

Pool time is so much more fun when there's more people to play with.

The up and coming generation. I wonder how things will turn out for them? Will they hold onto the morals, values and beliefs of their parents?

I got talked into holding Aidan while I took a rest, not that I didn't want to, mind you.

T thought the baby's were adorable. They're just over 2 weeks old.

There were many generations of the same family at this event.

As much as T loves this child, she says she's done having children. Time will tell.

Alex says he would love to have another child.

Here's the face T puts on at the thought of another child.

I've watched many of these teenagers grow into their teens, over the past 11 years.

I "Completed" A Sprint Triathlon!

2010-08-07T21:38:00.007-04:00

Today I participated in the Loggerhead Sprint Triathlon. The race course consisted of a 3/8 mile swim, a 13 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. I signed up for this race in May, so I thought I knew what I was in for. Not being the math genius that other are, I didn't realize that the swim part was almost a 1/2 mile long. Now that's all well and good, but I didn't practice to swim 1/2 a mile. I actually only jumped into the pool about 10 times total between May and last Monday, to practice. That being said, I absolutely almost drowned during the swim portion.

As a first timer we went out in the last of a five wave start. Each wave started 6 minutes after the preceeding wave. When we started, I proceeded to wade out into the water and didn't start swimming until I really had to. I started off pretty well, making it around the first buoy, but shortly after the first turn, my muscles started titghtening up, like I had been lifting weights. I turned onto my back to get some relief by doing a back stroke and soon after, heard the lifeguard yelling to me that I was off course. I was heading out to sea. I tried a freestyle stroke again, but was really fatigued. I was fatigued to the point of nausea and drowning. I prayed that I wouldn't have to stop and call the lifeguard to rescue me. *Note to self, I need to learn how to swim more efficiently.

Finally, after every stroke you could imagine, I finished. I finished 35th of 38 first timers, but was glad just to finish the swim. When I got out of the water, I thought I was going to puke, but didn't. I walked to my transition spot and slowly recovered while getting ready for the bike portion. As I started riding, I could feel myself recovering. I made up a lot of time on the bike and the run, but still finished 12th out of the 38 first timers @ 1:27.13, but at least I finished and didn't quit. You can go here to see the final results Loggerhead Results.

Here's my official time: The top results are the results for first timers and the bottom are my actual results out of the 528 single, (not including relay) triathlete's

Place O'All No. Name Age City St Time Rank Swim Tran 1 Rank Bike Tran 2 Rank Run

12 315 623 Stephen 45 PSL FL 1:27:13 35 17:32 5:29 5 39:35 2:02 1 22:37

298 623 1:27:13 510 17:32 5:29 196 39:35 2:02 63 22:37

More Summer Fun!

2010-08-07T19:41:00.017-04:00

I wanted to post pictures where you could actually see me on the other side of the camera, enjoying myself with my family, so here they come.

Here I am after a 10 mile run and a 40 mile bike ride.

Roseate Spoonbills that landed in the pond across the street from our house.
Not only do they look peculiar, they sound funny, too.

The view from our living room window. Mom and the girls out for a morning swim.
EGC and ALC having a ball war.

Our day at the beach. We went so that we could give Mom a little bit of a summer break.

Back into the pool when we got home.

JAC puting on a show.

EGC and Me.

ALC trying to shake dry her hair.

JAC shaking her hair.

Dad and EGC sharing a moment.

I hardly ever get into the pool so I took the time to enjoy the family.

My Niece, Sister and Wife getting the candles on my Dads birthday cake.

Lyn, Ruben and Abner.

Deanna Marie giving love to Baer and Sash.

Deanna "Minnie"

Dad blowing out candles for birthday #86.

The grands and Great Grand.

Darien

Too much excitement for Dad.

ALC getting fit for her road bike.

John, our local bike store guy.

More fun in the pool. My girls love when I get in the water, because they know we'll be doing all sorts of stunts.

After a day in the pool, I need some rest. I wouldn't miss these days, for anything.

100th Post!!!

2010-08-06T10:32:00.005-04:00

Wow, 100 posts, and I haven't even begun to tell the story. I guess I'll make this a "mostly" picture post.
Nothing but beach, pools and park, this vacation.

ALC at Camp Wekiva.

ALC got to ride in a cool sports car, of course you could only see the top of her head as she sat inside.

ALC was "tired".

Baer and Sash realxing on the beach in Stuart.
ALC and EGC relaxing in the tide pool.

Daddy, what's this?

Look girls, I caught a fish.

JAC pretending she's eating sushi.

Dad, we're tired of posing, can we go play?

EGC taken by surprise.

Not humanly possible, or so I thought.

2010-07-20T20:33:00.010-04:00

I've been working for UPS for 14+ years now and I didn't think things on my route would ever change. The way a typical route works is, they give you a certain amount of time to finish, depending on how heavy/light of a day you have. So say you go out and are expected to deliver that days load in 9 hrs, and actually finish the load in 8.5 hours, then you have run .50 under allowed, which in the eyes of UPS management (MGMT), is good. However, if you have the same "planned" day and finish it in more than 9 hours, then you are what they call over allowed, which , in today's climate, is not a good thing, no matter how little you run over allowed.

Anyways, all of this said, I have been running over allowed for quite some time, do to what I told MGMT was a bad time study of my route. MGMT wouldn't budge and kept telling me I was doing a bad job and needed to do a better job. I don't remember where or when it happened, but I went from running under allowed to over allowed. I kept doing the job the way I had always done and MGMT starting riding my butt to the point where they would ride with me every so often to see if I would improve with intimidation. In the end, they got the same result.

After my last ride along I was told that they had "virtually" re-time studied my route and that time would be added. This past week the new time study took affect and sure enough, I'm running under allowed again. So now, thanks to my MGMT team, I'm able to deliver my packages, get the job done and best of all, get home at a decent time to have some part in my family. So, here's the end of my day in pictures, yesterday and today, compliments of UPS.

My family and I went out to the front yard and rode the electric scooter, batted the ball in the front and back yards, swam in the pool, and ran around the golf course in the backyard. It was great to spend so much time with the family.

Sasha

Baer

EGC on the Electric scooter

JAC

ALC

Me, launching the softball (blurred top right corner of the picture.

JAC dribbling the softball back with her feet

ALC and Sasha

AJC, Sasha and ALC

Baer catching his floppy frisbee

Baer whooped from chasing the ball and frisbee.

Baer gets love from Dad.

Mom thought this mushroom was a golfball when she saw it across the golf course.

I climbed up to the top of this almost hollowed out tree stump that was like 20 feet tall. Once at the top, MMC took pictures of me. As I positioned myself to climb down, my head was close to a hole in the stump and I could hear something breathing inside the hole. It sounded like either a nested bird or a snake that I had upset, what ever it was, I climbed down a whole lot faster than I climed up. I then had to help the girls climb up so they could here the sound that I heard.

Me, on top of the stump in the middle of the 9th green

Helping AJC down from the stump

ALC, terrified of me tugging on her from the bottom of the tree stump.

Sum, Sum, Summertime!!!

2010-07-18T14:21:00.014-04:00

July is off to a good start. At work I was given a new truck with power steering, automatic transmission and a much lower step to get into the truck. I was previously driving a truck and trailer with none of those options, though they both average the same temps during the day, about 130 inside the rear with the pkgs. Many people comment that their pkg or the computer they're signing are quite warm. I tell them that it's because I just pulled em fresh from the oven.

Did I mention that my new truck is WAY longer than my old one?

My Wife's Cousin Bill invited us over to a Barbecue at his house in Abacoa, not to be confused with, The Abacoa's..

My Wife's Cousin Bill (Goatee) and his Wife Dani are expecting Twins any second now.

Billy and Dani always throw a great Barbecue.

ALC jumping into the pool from the hot tub as JAC looks on.

Danny Launches EGC.

JAC sprays Blue with a water gun.

On July 4th, my buddies Mark, Deb, Lisa and I did the annual holiday ride from downtown Stuart to Coral Cove Park in Jupiter.

Deb, Me, Lisa and Mark , after we rode 66 miles and ran 3 or more on the 4th of July. I rode a total of 252 miles and ran 33 miles that week.

I'm trying to get ALC into cycling.

Mark holding a Tortoise that was just cruising by as we hung out in his front yard.

Our neighbor John went to Louisianna and brought back these masks for the girls.

We attended Kerry and Dean's wedding. Here, Linda Norris is wiping tears, as she officiates the wedding.

We had a really good time, and my Wife and her Teacher friends only got slightly carried away.

We've been living in this house a whole year and finally decided to invite some people over for fun, food and swimming. It was spur of the moment, but Mark, Deb, Randi and her family came over, as did Hector and Maria. We have to do this more often!

Deb showing us her YOGA skills.

Charlotte and Randi

Fun and games at our first pool party.

Me trying to dive without getting pegged by a ball

Mark and Julia, Chillin!

Our 9 year old, (ALC), won a trip to sleep away camp for a week. She's pretty dependant on us, so I didn't think/know how she would do being away from us for a week. Mom and the girls drove her up to camp, which is 143 miles to the north. I picked her up on Satuday the 17th and it turns out that she had a blast.

ALC went to sleep away camp for a week at Camp Wekiva in Apopka, Florida.

ALC signing in to camp Wekiva.

EGC and ALC on her camp bunk.

Camp Wekiva fire pit.

After getting ALC home from camp, we had fun on the golf course in the back yard and the girls enjoyed a swim with Mom.

ALC, EGC and AJC hanging from a tree on the golf course in the backyard

Kendall, our neighbor friend.

Mom and the girls in the pool on 7/18.

Oh, The Carnage!!!

2010-06-26T11:32:00.004-04:00

Today started out like any other Saturday. I woke up at 4am and went for my Saturday morning 10 miler from Fleet Feet Stuart, at 5am. David couldn't show up and Hector was out of town, so I ran with Marsha G, who's hoping I can pace her to Boston, at the Miami Marathon. We ran an avg 8.14 pace, which was better than I thought she could do. After the run, I jumped into my cycling gear and took off to catch the long (40 mile) ride from Indian Riverside Park.

The ride wasn't that big today because there's a charity ride going on south of here that draws a lot of cyclists. I decided to jump in with the "A" ride, which is a pretty fast paced ride, but my usual choice because I want to get faster on the bike. The slower "B+", "B" and "C" rides left before us, which was unusual, as they are slower, but I figured we catch them and pass them in no time. The ride got hectic pretty quickly. We increased to 29MPH, at which point my buddy Dennis and I got dropped. Dennis and I hung together averaging 26MPH and we caught some other guys that had also gotten dropped. We all worked together and made it to Ft. Pierce, where we finally caught the "B+" ride. We stopped at the Cumberland Farms on South Beach in Ft. Pierce for a rest break.

All of the rides left together for the ride back to the park. It was a pretty casual ride for about 12-14 miles, with speeds no greater than 24mph. After we passed the power plant, the "A" ride guys started going faster, dropping a bunch of the other riders. After awhile, us dropped riders formed a group of about 10 people and were averaging about 22-23mph. We all took turns in the lead position (pulling) and things seemed to be working quite well, until mile 35 of this 40 mile ride. I was 3rd back when the guy in front of me hit the lead guys wheel, causing him to spill. I saw this happen and had nowhere to go. I hit this guys bike and flipped over onto my back on the pavement. After I fell, 2 or 3 more guys almost hit me and fell to the pavement as well. We all survived with nothing more than road rash, bike scrapes and hurt ego's. This is the first time I've been wrecked by another rider, while riding my bike. Here are the gory pictures.

My $84 Jersey.Road Rashed upper back.A closeup of the upper backRoad Rashed Butt, OUCH!!!