Odds and Ends (or... it's not a Hickey)

Been tired and/or busy and/or uninspired the last week or so... so haven't bothered putting anything up... but... here's some odds and ends from the past week:

It's not a hickey: Kelly decided a few weeks ago that it was time to start running again (after just having had the baby 3 weeks prior). And, in true Kelly fashion (that is, if she makes her mind up to do something, it will be done -- even if that requires the suspension of sanity) she insisted upon running outside... at 5 in the morning... in the dead of winter. And to keep warm, she was doing this with.... I'm not kidding.... an old knit cap... an old sweatshirt and some old ski gloves I had. Well, I wasn't going to let that happen more than once, so I bought her some new gloves, exercise pants and this cool running jacket... which is thin... yet warm and has arm/shoulder pockets for your Ipod (well, in our case, an mp3 player). And she really seems to like it. Unfortunately, there is one part of the collar that rubs her the wrong way leaving a decent sized circular red mark on her skin. So... do the math... the red circular mark left where the collar is... the collar is on the neck.... leaving behind a noticeable mark that looks very much like a hickey. It's not. Trust me... we're not 15. We did get a few odd looks at church on Sunday, though. I'd take a picture of it and post it... but, it really looks like a hickey and I don't want to run the risk of my wife's now public domain picture ending up on some STD poster on the metro... so.. I'll just leave it to your imagination what it looks like.

Heartbreaking: I've got this "feedburner" thing on my blog... so I can tell how many "hits" I've got during the day. It's totally nerdy... but weirdly entertaining. Anyway, one thing that I find fascinating is that it will show me the search terms that people enter into google that make them hit this blog. By a landslide, the most search for term that leads people here is "Redskins Season Ticket Wait List" or some variation on that theme. "People Magazine Cover" is popular, as well... and "Scott Faircloth Blog" is, interestingly enough, the third most popular.

Well, someone today hit the site with the search "What to say to my young children about my addiction?" Man... that breaks my heart... clearly that's someone that recognizes their problem and how it's impacting their children and are searching for something to help them... and then they hit my goofy site... no doubt disappointed that none of my blogs addressed the issue and merely gave admonitions such as "don't wear an 'I love hot Moms' t-shirt when taking your child to the emergency room." As a father of young children myself, it just hits me differently than it would have before I had kids. And, well, in reality... not much I can do to help them, however (while acknowledging that it might seem overly simplistic to some) I don't believe in "coincidences" and I will be praying for that person.

News on the job front: Have been promoted to "Assistant to the Regional Manager" ("The Office" reference for those that don't know -- seriously... time to start watching that show if you don't already) as of Monday. This is good news for the Faircloth Family and kind of closes Chapter 1 (the first 2 years) of our Northern Virginia/DC experiment and moves us into Chapter 2. Not sure what the title of Chapter 2 will be... hopefully not "you're fired" or "the homeless years"

Tomorrow in DC: About 2 or 3 times a month I find myself donning the suit and tie and making the trek to DC. I blend in. But, as many times as I've been there in the past 7 years or so, I can't help but think to myself that I'm walking the streets of the most powerful city in America and quite possibly the world. I look like everyone else, walk with purpose like everyone else, look like I belong like everyone else.... but still... I often feel like I'm a fish swimming in a tank full of sharks (the key is just not letting anyone know that's how you feel -- hence the reason you wear the suit and tie, walk with purpose, and walk around like you own the place).

Good night friends... I'm calling it a night.