Running with Skeletoes,Teenagers, Laser Tag, and Puerto Rico

Took a few days off two weeks ago so the kids and I could accompany Jennifer to Houston while she did a training for work. Karlie, Tristan, and I visited the Battleship Texas, the San Jacinto Monument (where Texas gained its independence from Mexico), and the Children's Museum of Houston (voted #1 in the US by Parent's Magazine). We had a great time and because we were so busy, I did not make time to report last week.
It was back to a full week of work this past week, but I'm very pleased to report that thanks to a wonderful year of foundation support, the College of Education is forecast to have its greatest fundraising year ever. Our previous best year was my second year here (over $12 million) and this year we look to finish somewhere over $15 million. Not bad for an office of 2.5 people. May be the best per capita performance of any college on the UT campus. Looks like it's time for me to finally take my summer vacation. More on that in a minute.
This past week was Tristan's thirteenth birthday. We now have a teenager in our house. Considering the boy has facial hair, is as tall as his mom, his voice has changed to where people confuse him for me on the phone, and he has a girlfriend that could be the cutest girl in his entire middle school, I should not have been too affected by it. I should have been prepared. I have to admit, it hit me pretty hard. The little boy I knew is now a young man and he needs different things from me than he did before. I'll miss the little boy but I'm very proud of the young man and look forward to this new stage in our evolving relationship. We celebrated his birthday weekend by inviting his best friend for some laser tag. Tristan came in first out of all the participants on three teams in our second and final battle. We then went to the movies to watch Captain America. It was a really nice day.

Did my third run in Skeletoes this morning. I've really grown to like them. The first run in them three weeks ago left me with blisters and calves that were sore for nearly a week. After using BodyGlide all over my feet for run #2 two weeks last week, things went much better. I had little if any blistering. My soreness was much less after some good stretching afterwards. You will run a more natural movement than you do in shoes and the muscles you emphasize will be different than those you might emphasize in running shoes. I hear people say the same soreness happens when using Newtons due to the way they put you more on the forefoot than the midfoot or heel. Today's run was pure pleasure. It was a 45 minute out and back. I negative split by 1.5 minutes and it felt so smooth and fairly easy. Considering I've only made time to run once a week, I was really pleased with how good the run felt. I followed it with a nice core and push ups session while I watched the final day of the Tour de France on Versus Cycling.
The family and I leave on Tuesday for Puerto Rico. This will be our kids first time to the birthplace of their father, the first time Jenn and I have been back together in some 19 years, and the first time I've been back in nearly 10 years. We will start in Isla Verde where my mom lives, visit Viejo San Juan, Carolina, where I lived with my grandparents, and work our way west to San Sebastian, where the Lugo family hails from, and end up in Rincon, known as Puerto Rico's surfing town. On our way back to San Juan, we will spend a few days at El Conquistador Resort and go for some hiking at El Yunque National Forest, the only rainforest in the US National Park system. It's going to be special to take my family to the place of my birth, introduce them firsthand to the culture they've only experienced through my stories, and see them meet many of their family members for the first time, including my father and uncle. Peripheral to that will be a chance to relax and have some fun in the sand and sun. I'm in dire need of a vacation and I cannot wait!
Spending my day today editing a friend's script for a TV show. That should be a fun, new experience. I also need to get a haircut and work on a website I'm helping build.
Have a super week, one and all. Kia Kaha!