Jim Time

"And though I miss you

But time is on my side

And though I need you

But you and onions make me cry"

Meiko

It's Monday in Madison and it's going to be good night to be Jim. I have volleyball at 6:30 and than after a quick clothing change in the bathroom at Club Tavern I get to head down to the Majestic Theater to see one of my favorite new singers Meiko. Played four nights last week and went 3 and 1, losing the opening game in the Tuesday night league. That night will present challenges as the level of competition is high.

It seems to finally be warming up here in the mornings and although I have been in the gym fairly regularly since returning from Utah I haven't been getting out to jog before the gym and need to find the resilience to start getting up again in time to get on the paths. I also feel like I need to find a new main workout. I have been doing mostly 2 minute interval circuits. 2 minutes on the treadmill, followed by two minutes doing weight/sit-ups repeat 10 times. I have flattened the sit-up bench and am trying to do 2-300 at each workout. I was sure that my abs would kill me after increasing the intensity of the sit-ups but was walking around last week and thinking not bad. Of course, than I coughed and about collapsed in pain. But at least I know it's working :)

Jacky had a wonderful trip to London/Italy and got back last Thursday. She called it a once in a lifetime trip when she left, and after checking our bank account I was happy she had a trip of a lifetime. Not so happy that she is already talking about her return trip. Perhaps trip of a lifetime means something different to her than I. But knowing what I do about women, I am certain that the next trip won't be as expensive because exactly how many purses and pairs of shoes can one buy. Surely she is at the limit.....yea right :)

One thing we will be buying is a new camera. Our old Canon died in Italy and the new Nikon bought in Italy took a header in London so we are working camera-less right now. That may help explain why the recent blog entries are picture free.

I spent Friday and Saturday sporting my new pink ball cap that proclaimed "Alexandra the Great" I, in no way, thought I could pull off a pink hat but was pleasantly surprised by the look. Not to mention that my faith and wallet were both rewarded on Saturday when Rachel Alexandra became the first filly to when the Preakness in 80 years. I may have celebrated a little too much because my pink hat and I needed a ride home that evening at 1 am after using surprisingly good judgement and not getting behind the wheel.

I am getting a Ridge visitor tomorrow to Madison as Richard from Bermuda stops in town on his drive to Western Canada from Vermont. Hopefully he is the first of many others as Madison in the summer is wonderful. Could blame no one for not wanting to come the other 8 months out of the year. Want to say congratulations to the '09 graduates from UW who made it to the podium last weekend. Sorry that your school thought a cheat, swindler, and down right boob like Bud Selig was an appropriate speaker. Glad some of your parents wanted to shower you with gifts from Sunshine Daydream.

Have some cool Jim Time planned for this week. Need to head up to Ho Chunk OTB to pick up some cash from my winning Rachel Alexandra bet. Get to, of course, get in the sand 3 more times and hopefully on the hardwood a couple times as well. Need to get back out on the paths and keep up the work in the gym. I get a night of trivia on Thursday at Claddagh Pub. I am heading down to Arlington Park this weekend for a day of live racing and hanging out in the private finish line box. This weekend is bratfest in Madison. 4 days of music and a couple hundred thousand sausages. As I stated before, no one can celebrate the the jamming of pork into a skin casing like the wonderful people of Wisconsin. It is 4 full days of live music, some local some touring, that is the draw for me and I can promise I will have less beer than brats and I am capping my brat intake to 2 over the weekend. Great in theory and let's hope also great in practice. I hope everyone has an exceptional memorial day weekend. Come Visit Madison!! Peace, Love and Brats, Jim