Friday, October 21, 2005
The First Annual VMP Session 2006
Last night was rest night for this old body so I puttered around the house catching up on a few odd jobs. My wife and I both had a good day at work and were relatively chilled out so we had an impromptu Vacation and Marathon Planning (VMP) Session 2006.
For those of you in a hurry the good news (for me) is that a marathon in 2006 is on, the bad news (for us) is that the vacation in the USA will probably be postponed.
So for you that are still here, here is the rest of the story:
I patiently let my wife present her opinion on our proposed USA vacation in 2006. Her work contract currently runs until the end of 2006 in which case either it will be renewed or she will be out of work again. As wifey works for the Social Services Court her position is affected by every little whim from the budget-cutting, Champagne-drinking, politicians running this country, so anything goes. Anyway it was my wife’s opinion that we should wait until 2007 for our USA vacation, whereas the job situation will hopefully improve.
I softly reminded her that my father will be 85 next May and we never know how long my parents will be with us, which she fully understood and had compassion for. She suggested that I talk to my parents and to get a gist on how they feel. So we did a quick tele-conferencing session with my parents, who responded in their typical warm, loving and very understanding manner and said they of course would love to see us but would fully understand if we can’t make it next year. What was really weird is that although I did not say it, I was thinking in the back of my head that I hope they both live for another year and I’m sure my mom sensed this because she said: “And don’t worry about not seeing us again, we’re all going to meet again sometime anyway” (meaning in heaven).
This of course didn’t make our decision at the moment any easier, but you just gotta love their attitude! In any case we viewed the vacation issue from different vantage points and finally decided that we would wait until 2007, but with the understanding that if one of my parent’s health should deteriorate that I should go over alone for a visit. If my wife receives a new contract before the end of the year we will reassess the situation.
Then we talked about a marathon. I suggested that I could run one in March for example, this would minimize training during nice weather when we could be doing family-oriented things. My wife responded with:
“What about the rest of the year, I know you won’t be satisfied with just one marathon if you run that early.” Ouch, does this woman know me :-)
Luckily I was saved by the ringing of the telephone and didn’t have to answer that. Later, my wife reminded me that she still wants to drive to the Spreewald (Spree Forest) some weekend. This is a popular tourist area south of Berlin, approximately a 7 hour drive from our house.
With a blaze of speed I sprinted forward with two dates: The weekend of April 23rd or September 24th, 2006. But my wife has been training and beat me to the finish line with
“Why, which marathons do you want to run?”
“Well, in April is the Spreewald Marathon, or if that doesn’t work in September is Berlin! Of course there are also three marathons in Dresden each year (April 30th, May 27th, Oct. 22nd 2006). Dresden is only a 45 minute drive south of the Spreewald, by the way, don’t you have a cousin that lives in Dresden ;;;-)”
By that time I figured it was a good time to end the discussion and put the car in the garage, in other words let wifey chew on the idea for awhile.
For those of you in a hurry the good news (for me) is that a marathon in 2006 is on, the bad news (for us) is that the vacation in the USA will probably be postponed.
So for you that are still here, here is the rest of the story:
I patiently let my wife present her opinion on our proposed USA vacation in 2006. Her work contract currently runs until the end of 2006 in which case either it will be renewed or she will be out of work again. As wifey works for the Social Services Court her position is affected by every little whim from the budget-cutting, Champagne-drinking, politicians running this country, so anything goes. Anyway it was my wife’s opinion that we should wait until 2007 for our USA vacation, whereas the job situation will hopefully improve.
I softly reminded her that my father will be 85 next May and we never know how long my parents will be with us, which she fully understood and had compassion for. She suggested that I talk to my parents and to get a gist on how they feel. So we did a quick tele-conferencing session with my parents, who responded in their typical warm, loving and very understanding manner and said they of course would love to see us but would fully understand if we can’t make it next year. What was really weird is that although I did not say it, I was thinking in the back of my head that I hope they both live for another year and I’m sure my mom sensed this because she said: “And don’t worry about not seeing us again, we’re all going to meet again sometime anyway” (meaning in heaven).
This of course didn’t make our decision at the moment any easier, but you just gotta love their attitude! In any case we viewed the vacation issue from different vantage points and finally decided that we would wait until 2007, but with the understanding that if one of my parent’s health should deteriorate that I should go over alone for a visit. If my wife receives a new contract before the end of the year we will reassess the situation.
Then we talked about a marathon. I suggested that I could run one in March for example, this would minimize training during nice weather when we could be doing family-oriented things. My wife responded with:
“What about the rest of the year, I know you won’t be satisfied with just one marathon if you run that early.” Ouch, does this woman know me :-)
Luckily I was saved by the ringing of the telephone and didn’t have to answer that. Later, my wife reminded me that she still wants to drive to the Spreewald (Spree Forest) some weekend. This is a popular tourist area south of Berlin, approximately a 7 hour drive from our house.
With a blaze of speed I sprinted forward with two dates: The weekend of April 23rd or September 24th, 2006. But my wife has been training and beat me to the finish line with
“Why, which marathons do you want to run?”
“Well, in April is the Spreewald Marathon, or if that doesn’t work in September is Berlin! Of course there are also three marathons in Dresden each year (April 30th, May 27th, Oct. 22nd 2006). Dresden is only a 45 minute drive south of the Spreewald, by the way, don’t you have a cousin that lives in Dresden ;;;-)”
By that time I figured it was a good time to end the discussion and put the car in the garage, in other words let wifey chew on the idea for awhile.
# posted by Jack : 8:18 AM
Comments:
<< Home
I have a Swiss colleague that ran the Berlin marathon last year, he said the energy from all the runner's (58K) and the crowds was absolutely awesome!
Ok, I totally screwed up that comment.
Restart.
First, I'm really dissappointed that you won't be coming here next year. Second, I really admire your wife for putting up with all the training. I think my wife would kill me if I was talking about the *next* marathon already. She's had enough these past 18 weeks.
Post a Comment
Restart.
First, I'm really dissappointed that you won't be coming here next year. Second, I really admire your wife for putting up with all the training. I think my wife would kill me if I was talking about the *next* marathon already. She's had enough these past 18 weeks.
<< Home
