We Have a 1st Floor

The framers delivered once again - the first floor is framed up. It is amazing to watch the progress each day. I was able to walk through the rooms of the first floor. I discovered that the deck will stand at least 6 feet off of the ground. Tracee and I were discussing adding a gazebo off one corner of the deck. I get to spring that on my builder tomorrow.

Can You Say - Subfloor?

Even with the the on and off rain we had all day the framers still managed to get the entire first subfloor installed. You can walk in the basement and see the rooms and the high ceiling. There is going to be a full bedroom with its own private bath in the basement. The room is quite large with three windows. The rest of the basement is open with a walkout sliding door except for the utility room. If the rain hold off then we should start seeing first floor exterior walls tomorrow.

NASCAR Driver Cited for Speeding?

In a sport that rewards the fastest driver with exceedingly large trophies and even larger paychecks, it just didn't seem right that NASCAR gave #42 driver Juan Pablo Montoya a speeding ticket that would cost him the race at Indianapolis last week. Montoya definitely had the fastest car on the track leading almost all of the Brickyard 400 until he was caught speeding down pits. The official pit speed limit is 50 mph and according to the calibrated pit radar (yes there is an off-duty police officer with a radar gun at the pit exit monitering speed) he was doing 60.6 miles per hour. Now on I-95 no State Trooper in their right mind would pull someone over for 10 mph over but NASCAR is not so forgiving. The punishment for exceeding the pit speed was a pass through penalty. That meant that the #42 car had to drive down pit row at the maximum allowable speed. Not unlike the lifeguard making you go back and walk to the diving board instead of run. While Montoya was going 50 mph down pit row the rest of the field was eating up his lead. After the smoked cleared Montoya went from a 5 second lead to 12th, finishing the race in disappointing 10th place. I guess even racecar drivers have to watch their speed.

New camera

Inspired by a few friends that have really nice cameras and then completely motivated when our little point and shoot camera that was only 6 months old completely died - we purchased a Canon Rebel XSi ditigal SLR. I was really into photography back in highschool so the jump was not that dramatic. In fact I'm suprised that I haven't purchased one sooner - the picture quality is unbeatable. The Rebel is Canon's consumer line of digital SLRs and so far I have enjoyed the features. It has all of the stardard shooting modes but it also can be set on full manual mode. The only issue
so far is that the flash automatically pops up on the preset modes when I would have gone with natural light. I'm sure there is a way to adjust this setting but I have not figured it out yet. Stand by for better pictures on the blog.

Concrete Slabs Installed

I'm not sure if these house updates are interesting to anyone but Tracee and I but yesterday the concrete company was back on the site to pour the concrete slabs for the garage and the basement. The framers were still on site starting their work and in the next few days the house should start taking shape. We are praying for good weather (that means no rain) for the next few weeks so that the workers and be out there everyday.

Framing Begins

Our builder is still on track for a December 8th, 2009 finish date with the framing to start tomorrow. Today two large trucks came to drop off many piles of wood for the coming construction. The foundation is complete with the drain tiles installed. The basement plumbing is done and we are ready to build. It is fun to see the house take shape. In the next few days we will get to see the house exterior take shape and we should be under roof in 3 weeks. So far no problems and mother nature has cooperated with the schedule.

Lowes Build and Grow

Tracee has always said that I always do things in the big way - that would include construction projects with the kids. Tracee's Dad introduced me to the Home Depot Kids Workshop last month. Since I posted the blog I was told that Lowes does just about the same thing (on a different Saturday). This weekend I told four kids to Lowes Build and Grow to build helicopters. Bethanee brought her friend Delaney and Jackson brough his friend Jake. It took about an hour to assemble the craft and then they flew the copters around the store as I picked up a few things. So we are going to alternate between Home Depot and Lowes for all of our kid construction needs.

Chef Jackson

I volunteered to make 3 dozen of cupcakes for the last night of VBS - Family Night. Jackson found a recipe for pineapple-upside down cupcakes and decided he wanted to make them. Here he is preparing the pineapple/cherry base. They turned out delicious.

Fredericksburg Fair

It was opening night at the Fredericksburg Fair and the special advertised was $10 for unlimited rides. Well that sounded like a deal to me so off we went. Since it was opening night most of the animal exhibits were not ready but all of the rides and midway attractions where ready for action. While Bethanee and I were riding the Extreme Swing (ultimate hurrler) Jackson made a friend that stuck with us the entire night. We rode rides until close and didn't get back home until after 10:00. We will be at the Fredericksburg Fair every opening night.

A Blog to Becky

Becky Castle is celebrating yet another birthday away from home, and since I don't know if she'll get her birthday card to the address I sent, I'm posting this blog in her honor.
Becky I want you to know how proud I am of you. You are so good at writing letters of encouragement and gratitude to others, so I wanted to write one to you. Your life is such a testimony to God's goodness and faithfulness to us when we are obedient. You are a ray of sunshine in a room and I know that your are touching so many lives. I am reminded of the song, "Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am a life that was changed...." when the author gets to heaven and so many come forward to acknowledge his impact in their lives. But your story goes back so much further for me. Back five years ago to a young lady in the youth group.
Quiet and shy have never been words I would use to describe you. You wore a smile and shared a hug, but a battle raged within. You lacked confidence in yourself, but you so wanted to step out and serve Jesus. Praise the Lord for Annie and Colby and their constant influence in your life. Sitting with you in Sunday School, you would briefly share glimpses into your life and struggles, and I could see such potential in you that I knew you couldn't see in yourself. I would lay in bed at night praying for you as you struggled and God put you through the fire. Then, you began to shine a little brighter. Each time God put you through the fire, you became stronger and your beauty shone brighter. You are a beautiful diamond Becky. I no longer lay awake burdened for you because of your total surrender to Jesus Christ. I now pray for your influence on others and strength for your journey. Enjoy the rest of your summer at camp.
From the Pelt family, Happy Birthday!!!!! We love you.

"I'm Sailing"

Whenever I think about sailing I think about THIS CLIP from "What about Bob?" - "I'm Sailing, I'm Sailing" I kind of grew up around sailing because my brother was into it. The kids are getting old enough to start sailing so I began looking on craigslist for sailboats, entry level sailboats. Well this 1977 Snark is about as entry level as you can get. She is a fine craft and handles well but she is not winning the America's Cup anytime soon. We took her to the lake and sailed around the campground for hours. On Sunday we took the entire family out but the one thing about sailing, you have to have wind or it is not very fun.

Catch and Release?

Jackson and Bethanee both caught their first fish this weekend at Lake Lunga. I set them both up with Nightcrawler worms and bobbers and then let the good times roll. It was not to long before Jackson reeled in a whopper. I pulled the fish off of the hook and started to throw him back when Jackson said "what are you doing?" I tried to explain the catch and release theory of fishing but Jackson was having none of it. When I asked what he was going to do with his fish he said, "I'm going to eat it tonight." So true to his word I let him keep one fish and when we got back to the camp site I cleaned a small Bluegill fish and roasted it over the fire. When it came time to eat it Jackson was first in line and ate the first fish that he caught. A true fisherman. Bethanee joined in the fun and we roasted her first fish as well. The kids caught about 6 fish during the evening hours on Sunday night.

Mobile Office

There is nothing like getting a couple of issues knocked out during the weekend at the Goodall & Pelt Mobile Office (the trailer parked at the lake). The family is out running around town and Jillian is asleep, so I'm sitting at the lake under the trailer awning answering emails. I could really get use to this office setting. We are at Lunga camping again. I think next year we are just going to rent a space for the entire summer. It is so nice out here.

Footers and Foundation

Our builder is not wasting any time in the construction schedule. His projected finish date is still December 6th (that is with a 2 month delay in plans with the county). Brandonbilt Foundations (a great client of the law firm) came out on Wednesday to pour footers and then on Thursday they poured the foundation walls. Then on Friday they removed the casts and applied waterproofing. These guys were professionals able to pour concrete raster than the trucks could deliver it. They had a concrete pumper truck that would pump the concrete to an arm that was placed right where the concrete needed to be poured in the casts. It was amazing watching this team work. I have been told that it is unheard of to have a foundation 3 days after the building permit was released from the county. It is always fun to stop at the house to see the next new thing being done on the house. Standing in the basement the house looks huge. Our builder told me that we are going to need some dirt to fill in around the basement. The basement slab will sit about 12 inches higher than the other house. Then if you add that fact the basement ceilings are two feet higher than the old house it will make the entire structure sit quite a bit higher than the old house. The next things on the schedule is installing drain tiles, back filling, rough-in plumbing for the downstairs bathroom, and then pour the basement and garage slabs. We should see the wooden structure taking shape by 7 August and be under roof before Labor Day. I can't believe that it is time to start planning for packing up the rental house.

Construction Begins

Construction on the new house began today. Last night a couple of machines were dropped off at the old house site and this morning it was digging time. By noon most of the digging was complete and the concrete subcontractor was out marking the footer placements. It is hard to believe that it has been over 6 months since the fire and in another 6 months we should have a new house. The hole that they dug is huge. We had to take down a tree that was on the Northest corner of the house (I never liked that tree anyways). The foundation should be done by the weekend and then it is framing time.

Colonial Beach Triathlon Report

11 July 2009 Colonial Beach, Virginia - This is the first of many Triathlon Reports (yes, I'm completely hooked) The Colonial Beach Triathlon is Virginia's oldest Triathlon but this year was the first year for a Sprint distance. Over 2 month ago a few friends got together and decided that triathlons were going to be the next big thing, Team Trinity was formed. We camp right next to the course at Monroe Bay Campground aka Redneck Rivera. The campground has at least a hundred trailer sites in which most of them the trailers are parked and never move. These trailers had porches and landscaping (one had a vegetable garden). After befriending a local, we found out that most of the residents live at the campground from March through October. We must have looked strange parking the trailer just for one night. The campground was great, it had a nice beach and small playground. We arrived around three on Friday night and rest of the team arrived around six. We all ate dinner and prepped our gear ready for our first triathlon. The race started at 6:50 and the transition area opened at 5:30. The team woke up early and loaded the bikes in Bryan's truck for the short ride over to the beach. The transition area had wheel slots that held the bike up and then I set my gear around the bike. I had my Speedo shorts on with my Body Glove top. I set my bike shoes and my running shoes on my towel along with my helmet, glasses, and running belt with number attached. I attached an energy pack to my bike frame to fuel up during the first part of the bike leg. After I set my bike up I headed over to the body marking station to get Number 112 on both arms and thighs and my age on my right calf. 6:50 was getting closer so I grabbed my goggles and cap and made my way to the water start swim leg. The air temperature was 70 degrees with humidity at 94% and the water temperature was 78 degrees. On your mark, get set, go - and we are swimming. Open water swimming is much different than pool swimming, and open water swimming with a group is a completely different issue. Jadie said it looked like feeding time at the aquirium. Triathlon is not a sport for the timid, all of the swimmers were beating the water and each other. Here is a great You Tube Video that explains the Triathlon Swim. I tried to find a small area to swim but I was hit plenty of times and I'm sure I hit a few. The first part of the swim I was just trying to survive - no form. After the first turn I got into a little rhythm and started to swim with my new Total Immersion techniques. The water was calm with little to no current. Every fourth breath I would pop up to get a look at the big orange buoy. I felt good at the second turn and I got out of the water at 18:28 for 750 meters. It was a short run to the transition area to switch to the bike portion. The Speedo and Body Glove stayed on and I grabbed my glasses and helmet then put on my bike shoes (no socks). I got my bike out off the slot and ran to the mounting line. I was in transition for 1:41. The bike course was a large loop which was mostly flat but had a few gentle hills. I was in gear 1 - 3 and started pumping. About 5 minutes into the bike I grabbed my energy gel and downed some water. I stayed in 1-3 for most of the course only going to 1-1 on the downhills. I was passed by at least 30 racers and I only passed 1 racer - hey I'm running my own race, right? First big turn and I am feeling great. At this point I know that Kevin in ahead of me and Bryan is behind me. The every time a bike passed - is this Bryan? Third turn down and on the home stretch. I could see the transition area and I started hearing screams - "Go Daddy!" Tracee and the kids were on the corner cheering on the team. Also in the cheering section was Kevin's girls, Jadie, and Cynthia Shaw (Bryan's Mom). They were loud cheerers and motivated me to get off of the bike and hit the run. In T2 I replaced the bike, took off my biking shoes, got my running shoes on, and grabbed my running belt. Opps - I didn't really tie my shoes that great (more on that later). I was out of T2 in 1:21. Now I'm running. The cheering section was out in full force with Tracee running next to me to get the above picture. The course was 3.1 mile out and back along the Potomac River. About 5 minutes into the run I had to come to a full stop to retie my shoes. About mile 1 I lost my biking legs and got into a running stride. I saw Kevin before the turn around and then saw Bryan, Bob, Josh, and Kathy on the way back. I could see Kevin but I could not reel him in. On the finally turn I saw the cheerleaders again and I really kicked it in for the last 200m. I got high fives on the final turn and then saw the race clock - 1:34:51 at the finish. My personal goal was under 1:40 - I made it. At the end of the race I felt good. I was 82nd overall out of 159 and 15th out of 23 in my age group. Things to think about for the next race 1) I need to get into a swimming rhythm faster - I think I lost a lot of time concentrating on other swimmers instead of just swimming towards to the buoy. 2) Transitions - be fast but be good - Do it right the first time or you will waste time on the course redoing it later. 3) Have Fun - This race was my first Triathlon and I was a little nervous about it. Next time I will know the ropes and hopefully have more fun on the course. Way to go Team Trinity.

The teacher learns a lesson in teaching

Having gone about two months since giving the house a good clean, I decided to for go the gym and let house work be the workout. Since I am "night nausea" , I must get anything that needs to be done for the day accomplished before noon. As I lay in bed before getting up and going over my game plan, the words of my good friend Jennifer Clifton ring in my head as she was telling me of Noah's vacuuming the house. So mentally, I divided up the days chores among two of the three kids and left myself the mopping lest the whole bucket of water be dripped out on the floor. The kids have tried mopping before and they are just not strong enough to wring out the mop. So at breakfast, I excitedly shared the plan to a very enthusiastic bunch of willing and strong bodied workers. After cleaning up breakfast and getting dressed, we were ready by 9:30. (I'll share a side story to the getting ready part at the end.) The kids picked up their rooms while I washed the sinks. We did learn Jillian can take toys out of a box as fast as two people can put them in. Then I got Jackson his paper towels, glass cleaner, toilet bowl brush, and a container of Clorox wipes. After he has started on the bathrooms, I set Bethanee up with the vacuum. Due to the power of the Dyson, I could not let her use the hose part of the vacuum, only the upright on the carpets. I would hate to see one of the girls heads sucked up to the end of the hose. While she is vacuuming I go downstairs and work on picking up. She vacuums in about 8 minutes and comes downstairs announcing she has finished - her room, Jackson's room, Jillian's and mine. HHMMM! I go up to complete the bathroom floors with the hose and find debris still on the carpets. That's when I realize I've never actually taught Bethanee how to vacuum. I just figured it to be common sense. I'm sure my mom could attest to the fact that one must be taught the proper way for the job to be done right. So I went back over the upstairs and then brought the vacuum down. This time, I stood beside Bethanee holding the cord, while she learned to properly vacuum. Her finally comment was "This is hard." She did a great job, though and I am more than eager to hand off the task. Jackson, who has already learned the way a cleaned toilet should look, did an excellent job at his task as well. He was doing well on the mirrors, until he slipped in the sink and hit his back. Yes, it has happened before and he new the risk associated with getting to use the bottle of Windex. Final note, house is clean - whole thing in one day. Cute side story....Jackson told me he'd pick out his clothes and mine. I said that was fine, not thinking to much about it. I told him to pick me out something comfortable to work in. When I went upstairs to get ready for the day, there was a fleece sweater and a skirt laying out on my closet floor. At first I was baffled, then I realized he had laid my clothes out for me. I didn't wear that outfit and he didn't seem to notice, but it was so typical of my sweet, thoughtful, Jackson.

4th of July 2009

The 4th holiday fell on a Saturday this year which kind of takes the fun out of a day off, I mean Saturdays are normally a day off aways. So the office took Friday off to make up for it. On Friday I got together early with the Triathlon Team for practice then headed to the office to get a few hours of work in before I started the holiday. On Friday evening it was off to the Fauth's House for dinner and yard games (Bocce Ball on an impressive grade). Saturday was Tracee's day to workout. Before noon I took Jackson and Jake to Home Depot for their kid's workshop projects. Then it was off to the Davis House for their annual party. More food, More yard games. We left Lake Wilderness just in time to make it to my partner backyard to see the Fredericksburg Fireworks. Made it home by 10:30 while 3 tired kids. It was a great 4th. Tracee picked up some 1/2 price fireworks a few days after the 4th. We had our own fireworks show on the driveway.

Gibbs Racing Replaces Lagano

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (AP) In a surprise move by Joe Gibbs Racing spokesperson Peter Malinia announced that Joey Lagano will not be driving the #20 Home Depot car for the rest of the 2009 season. Replacing Lagano is a relatively unknown driver from Yucca Valley, California Jeffrey Pelt. Pelt has spent the last several years in the United States Marine Corps flying fighter jets. When asked about the transition to the NASCAR circuit Pelt said, "200 miles per hour is just getting started for me." Gibbs Racing has been searching for the next young star to fill Tony Stewart's old seat in the #20 car since 2008. "Lagano just didn't work out for us. We suggest that he join the Marine Corps and come back to NASCAR in a few years" said Malinia. General Tanner, Pelt's Commanding Officer, expressed support in the young pilot's career change. "If he wants to just turn left for the rest of his life, then it is a great move" said Tanner. Pelt will get to prove his abilities next week when NASCAR visits Chicago for the Lifelock 400.

Another Wild Finish

The Daytona 4th of July NASCAR race was again exciting right down to the last lap. In move similar to Talladaga last spring, Kyle Busch atttempted a block of Tony Stewart with less than 200 yards to go to the finish line proving that the worst place to be on the racetrack on the final lap is in the lead with a strong car behind you. As Busch tried a block he got into Stewart and the 18 car lost the backend grip. After hitting the wall the Number 9 Kaine car took another shot at Busch pushing him over the finish line. Kyle Busch finshed the race number 14 when he was leading 2 seconds before the end of the race. Watch the last 10 laps here. On a side note that is Stewart's 2nd win of the season, another prize for me.

Team Trinity Racing

Jason, Bryan, Josh, Kevin

Too Much Swimming

I have decided that my ultimate goal is to one day (I stress one day) complete an Ironman Triathlon. With that in mind I wanted to increase my distance swimming just to see where I was at with my endurance. Last Tuesday I went to the Quantico Base pool for some lap swimming. The pool is 50m long and I wanted to complete 1500m. I really enjoy swim and after 1500m I was done. When I started the swim I was the only one in the pool but as I finished there was a swim team getting ready to start practise. I was done and didn't want to take up a valuable lane so I quickly got out of the pool. As I stood up I started to feel a bit weird and then as I took my first step I realized that something was seriously wrong. I fell down right in front of the entire swim team. The swim coach quickly came over to assist me and recommended that I not get out of the pool so quickly after a long swim. It turns out that after a long period of time in the horizontal position a quick move to the vertical can cause you to loss your balance. Thankfully the only thing that was busied is the ego.

Home Depot Projects

This goes out to Grandpa Shelton who told us about the Kids Workshop at Home Depot on the first Saturday of every month. Jackson invited his friend Jake to join us for some "guy time" at a home improvement store. We walked back to the kids workshop area and was greeted by Tom who got us going with today project. We were ready to make a picnic caddy just in time for the Fourth of July. Both kids did great and next time I'm going to bring Bethanee and her friend Delaney.

Summer Nights at Aquia Landing

Every year we rediscover Aquia Landing, our personal beach that is right down the road. On a cool summer's night it is just perfect for an after dinner adventure. The kids love to get in the water while Tracee and I enjoy sitting on the beach looking over at the Maryland shore. This evening we had the pleasure of hosting Andy and Nicole for dinner then a landing adventure. Andy is a local attorney that practices in the same courtrooms. After dinner we played Blokus and Cranium Party Tournament (great game).