I'm back for the moment

I've been laying low these days and I've been pretty busy at home and work. Some of my New Years resolutions included doing some painting and other home improvements. Painting is still not accomplished but we have completed some other tasks - so we're accomplishing some of the things on our list.
Work is crazy - some days more managable than others. I have to thank God that I'm employed though. My Aunt just found out the company she has worked at since highschool is shutting their doors in their community. My Aunt doesn't have much else to fall back on - and she's too young to retire. I'm not going to complain about mine.
I have managed to have a little bit of fun. The VP at our company "volunteered" me to help coordinate an around the office golf tournement. Each suite has their own "course." On the course there are 6 different teams who are responsible for creating a hole. Teams can get as creative as they like. Some themes I've heard of so far is "A tour of Vegas," and "Alice in Wonderland." It begins tomorrow and I'm pretty excited to see how creative everyone is!
The year started out with some with below zero temps. Not too big of a deal if your spending the day indoors - but I and a few friends brought in the New Year by jumping in a nearby lake.
It was c-o-l-d, about 1 or 2 degrees below zero to be exact. I'm not sure what the windchill was - but quite frankly I'm not sure I wanted to know. Here are a few photos of myself and one of my teammates Tristud.
The first photo is a few of us lounging on a few of the blocks of ice they pulled out of the lake to provide us with our "swimming hole." Pictures are coming Steve - I promisssssssse!

I just started back with the P2 group out of St. Paul and while I'm probably one of the slower teammates - it's always good to have those that challenge you and make you aspire to be faster, quicker & stronger. I've been focusing on lifting a little more which I've enjoyed but it's time I begin managing to mesh the two together. I only work out with the group once per week because it's hard for me to get there most days - so the vast majority of my training is on my own. I've still been a little gun shy to really let loose as my hip still gets sore from time to time. Yesterday I had a crappy work out. Squats, lunges and leg curls followed by a weak attempt at cardio. Only 22 minutes to be exact on the precore machine. My hip was sooooo sore. I was not looking forward to my P2 workout this morning. In fact - I was dreading it. I made my way to the P2 pit and found a spot to set up my bike. Coach Matt popped in a move - The Bourne Identity - which really gets my adreneline going with all the kick ass parts....suffice to say - I had a kick-ass work out myself and ended up running for a bit afterwards too! Yeah! I was so stoked, I talked Mark into heading to the gym this evening for a little extra workout, shoulders and back. My kind of day.
Last night I registered Mark and I for our volunteer duties at the Ironman USA in Lake Placid. Our favorite jobs (wetsuit peeling, bodymarking & finish line catchers) were taken already. Bummer. Mark was especially upset - as he wasn't going to get the "hot-chick bodymarking" job I had promised him...but hopefully we'll get one of the run aide stations so I can jump around like a silly fool cheering on the likes of Kim and everyone else!