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It’s 10:15 on a Friday night. I’m messing around on the computer, having just read some sports articles. Melinda is doing some online research for PSCS about relational databases (she knows how to have fun on a Friday night!). Ella, apparently, has just finished a version of her holiday/birthday wish list and is now cleaning up her room (wow, she also knows what Friday nights are for).

Mostly, though, we are waiting for Chloe to get home.

That’s right, Chloe is making an unplanned trip home this weekend! It’s a holiday weekend in Canada (Thanksgiving up there) and Chloe’s friend Alex (yes, the same Alex as seen here) who also attends Quest University, is from Seattle and has a car is heading home for the weekend. Chloe is hitching a ride.

So here we sit, whiling away the time on laptops and desktops, looking forward to seeing Chloe. This has been by far and away the longest we’ve ever gone without seeing her.

So we’re excited.

Isn’t that what the gambler says just as he’s about to roll the dice? Or is it, “Baby needs a new pair of shoes?”

No matter. Behold my new pair of running shoes!

I know, I know. What could be more boring than ANOTHER post with a picture of my running shoes. But I figured the regular readers (by that I mean Laurent) would be reassured knowing I wasn’t going to be out running in my torn shoes. Indeed, I went in to Super Jock ‘n Jill (yes, that’s the name of the store, Super JOCK ‘n Jill) this afternoon, right there along Green Lake in Seattle. I was wearing my old shoes, the pair I bought in France last winter, those that tore during the 10k on Sunday. The man who helped me asked if I liked them. I said yes, quite a lot. He checked the size, then appeared with this pair, the same basic shoe, updated. As is the custom in Super Jock ‘n Jill, they encouraged me to go try ’em out by running around the block. Which I did.

Then I bought them.

Then I ran around Green Lake.

Oh, I almost forgot. One of the other employees at Super Jock ‘n Jill spoke to me in French.

I attended a conference in downtown Seattle this morning (as in Wednesday morning – it’s been such a busy day I’m actually writing this after midnight, making it Thursday morning as I write). After it was over, I walked to PSCS, about 15 minutes away. On my walk I passed a building that had this piece of art in its lobby. Walking by, I did a double-take, surprised to see something in French. I entered the lobby and took this picture.

The art piece is by French artist Bernard Villemot, known for his advertising images for Orangina, a popular French soft drink. The piece is specific to a national lottery. I took the title of today’s post from the statement in the lower right, “des millions a votre portée,” “millions at your fingertips.”

Now I’m no big fan of lotteries but I do like Villemot’s art and I do like seeing French. And on a busy day like today, it was a nice distraction.

The next two days, today being the first, are very busy days at PSCS. Tonight we had a board meeting, which means Melinda and I didn’t get home until after 10pm. And tomorrow night is the school’s fall potluck, which means something similar in terms of when we will get home.

That in mind, I don’t really have a blog post plan tonight. Some days I think about what I might post as the day goes on. I even stage photo opportunities. Some times I even plan things days in advance. Then there are days like today in which I really haven’t thought a lot about the blog. Come night time, I don’t really have an idea what I might write about, nor do I have a picture in mind.

When that happens I find that I like to go back and see what we were doing on this day last year in Nantes. It’s funny. I remember this particular week like it wasn’t as long as a year ago. The week included a lot of rain, so much that it became clear it was time to move from heating the pool to heating the house (The Heat is On). It was also the week in which I saw my first hockey game in France (Hockey Night in France), what has turned out to be one of my most viewed blog posts.

Today’s photo comes from this week a year ago in Nantes. I’m at the tram stop outside Ella’s school in the rain waiting for her. Ah….

After yesterday’s 10k I looked down at my feet and noticed that my running shoes, both of them, had tears in them. This may explain why my back is a little sore today. I think I outran my shoes.

I bought this pair, really my first ever running shoes, in France and have been running in them for months. I’m sure there is some sort of formula for determining when one’s shoes have “run” out of usefulness. I’m not sure what that is but I’m guessing mine are past that.

I took this picture tonight to honor my shoes and, in so doing, honor the miles and miles I’ve run in them. Pardon me for going on about this. It’s just I never really imagined myself being a runner, especially at this point in my life.

So here’s to you, my first pair of running shoes. Well done!

So I ran my first “official” race this morning, a 10k (6.2 miles) in Kirkland, a large suburb of Seattle. The race was called “SET the PACE for Prostate Cancer.” Today’s picture was taken by Melinda of me crossing the finish line. Ignore the time on the right. That’s for people running the 5k. My final time was 47:59.

For you competitive types, I finished in 18th place overall out of 103 participants. I was 14th overall for all the men, and 5th out of 15 in my 40-49 age group. I average 7:45 per mile, which I am very pleased with.

In getting ready for the race I tried to get set in my mind what an 8 minute mile pace would feel like for the 10k distance and set that for my goal. As I was running I had a hard time knowing how I was doing with it. Up until the 4 mile mark I hadn’t seen any distance markers. Then at the 4 mile post I was at about 31:30, ahead of schedule.

Among the challenges in running today’s race was trying at times to block out the presence of other people. Also, both the uphill and downhill portions of the race were more taxing than I expected.

To see the results, click here.

Here they are, Chloe and Ella, in today’s picture. You may be saying that Chloe, there on the left, looks a little different than in some of the other photos I’ve posted here. Long dark hair, for one. Since when did Chloe have long dark hair?

Okay already. Sitting with Ella in Chloe’s room (Chloe, as in Ella’s sister) is one of Ella’s best friends, a girl whose name just so happens to be Chloe. This particular Chloe, the one with long dark hair, came over tonight for dinner and is spending the night. And I was getting a big kick out of the idea of taking a picture of the four of us, Melinda, Ella, me, and long dark haired Chloe, and posting about it here on the blog.

I especially liked the idea of having this picture be taken in Chloe’s room (I’m referring to the room in which Ella’s sister, Chloe, grew up). I can just imagine Ella’s sister (Chloe) reading today’s blog post while up there in Canada at Quest University and worrying that she’d been replaced by another Chloe, one with long dark hair..

It could happen, you know.

At about 10 this morning while responding to some email at school, I came across a message that connected me to the website listing the traffic cameras in Nantes. Not having the discipline (apparently) to keep myself from being distracted by it, I clicked on it and then took a couple of minutes to see a couple of the views. I quickly took this screenshot and got back to work.

10am in Seattle is 7pm in Nantes so this photo, superimposed over the traffic map, shows that it was a beautiful evening in Nantes. I later learned from Melinda that it was quite hot in Nantes, here on the last day of September, Melinda having learned this from Christine, who called her today (at almost the exact moment I was looking at the Nantes traffic cam website from work – that’s interesting or eery or something).

This photo is near the Line 2 tram stop of Le Cardo. On the left of the photo is Line 2 of the tram, itself, caught by the camera just as it was heading off the screen. Straight ahead along the road is the Biocoop (health food store) where we shopped and a McDonalds. It always struck me as funny that these were next door to each other. Le Cardo is not far at all from Leclerc.

It is so pleasing to look at these traffic cams. It’s like validation that Nantes is still there. Truth be told, from Nantes I sometimes looked at the traffic cams in Seattle.

That’s right. I’m a nut.

Back on January 4 I wrote a post called “Water of Life.” In that post I mentioned several ideas I had for that day’s blog post title, finally settling on “Water of Life” in honor of a digestif I had after lunch that day, something that in French is called “Eau de Vie.” I found I loved it and actually have a handful of stories to tell about it, most having to do with my friend “Poire William.”

But today’s post is specific to a little gift Melinda presented me tonight. Yes, in her hands is a tiny bottle of eau de vie. This one is eau de vie pomme (apple) and I have no doubt it will be wonderful. She told me she contemplated buying me a regular sized bottle but it was a bit expensive. This little bottle was $5…

Speaking of Melinda, I think she looks especially good today and asked if she’d allow me to include her in today’s photo. While you can’t see it too well, she’s wearing a new skirt that came in the mail yesterday from England. She reported that in her travels of the day two strangers even told her how good it looks.

That’s right.

This is nuts. I almost forgot to post to the blog tonight. And it’s not like I was really busy or anything. I mean there was a staff meeting after school so we didn’t get home until late. Then making (and eating) dinner, chatting with my folks on the phone. I read to Ella before she went to bed. And Melinda & I watched some streaming TV shows.

Really, nothing busy. Plenty of time to post. It just never occurred to me. That is, until about 5 minutes ago, when I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed. All of sudden, it hit me.

I hadn’t posted to the blog.

What does it mean? Okay, yeah, I remembered and all, and here I am posting at 11:30, and using a silly photo of me from the PSCS retreat at the start of the month. Is it related to the fate of the Red Sox and the Braves?

Should I be worried?