Starting Off

After reading other blogs for some time now and getting some encouragement from others, I decided to jump in and try one of my own. It's just what the world needs - another blog. Not really, but I do it because I can. Also because I'd recently read, in Newsweek I think, about how we all should write more. To leave our own personal record. Something to leave for the GreatGrandKids so they can know something of their family history, how we lived (iPods and HighDef - how quaint) and what a pain in the ass their Grandparents were to raise. So this will be my little spot on the web. We'll see how it works out. To help you along, here is the cast of characters:

Me - Lets just say that according to US Rowing guidelines, I qualify as a Masters rower. US Rowing defines a Master Rower as anyone over 27 years old. I passed that mark a long time ago. I grew up in NJ, NC and MD. I graduated from Severna Park High School. After high school I attended Auburn University (War Eagle!) with a degree in Aviation Management. After bumming around for a bit, I was hired by the Government to work for the Navy. A job I still hold. Lest we forget the lesson taught to us all by Dooce, about all I will say about my job is that I buy things. Expensive things. The Navy paid my way through graduate school at George Washington University. I thank them a lot for that. I'm married to a wonderful wife and have three kids, including fraternal twins. We currently reside in northern Virginia. For fun, I row. Like you see in the Olympics only a lot slower.

Ann - My wife. A Washington, DC native. A rare breed. She went to an all girls Catholic school that no longer exists. She attended Ohio (not Ohio State) University and graduated with a degree from the Scripps School of Journalism. Like me, she also works for the Navy. Its how we met. She doesn't buy things.

Daughter #1 - Currently lives in CT and is a Conference Manager. Single. She's the only blonde in the family and is jokingly referred to as the Milkman's daughter. Also graduated from Ohio University. She's the one that got me interested in rowing after she joined her high school crew team her freshman year. She's done crew at the high school level winning gold at the state level (formerly known as NoVAS), at the Philadelphia Stotesbury Regatta and the Scholastic Rowing Association National Championship, the college level and the Masters level winning the Masters Nationals with Sagatuck Rowing Club. Technically she's not old enough to be a Masters Rower.

Son - One half of our twins. Living at home, temporarily, after graduating from Radford University. Single and working for an IT firm in the area. Spends hours and hours playing World of Warcraft. Also rowed during high school.

Daughter #2 - Other half of the twins. Married and living in Harrisonburg, VA. An environmental specialist with VDOT. Has her own bright yellow VDOT truck and hard hat. Vegetarian. Graduated from Virginia Tech. Lives with husband and a lab mix named Gracie, who we like to call the black demon. Talented ex-soccer player. Her high school team won the state championship her senior year.

Son-in-Law - Works for VA Tech Extension Service. Also a VA Tech graduate. Plays the drums and brews his own beer in his spare time. Their wedding was the best party ever.

Winifred (Winnie) - Miniature Schnauzer. 15 years old and still holding her own. We got her right before Christmas when the twins were 9 after years of lobbying for a dog. Spends her day looking out the window and barking at passersby.

Rosie - Schnauzer mix. Also known as the faux schnauzer. Obtained two years ago from a schnauzer rescue organization. We were under the impression that she was pure schnauzer but she obviously wasn't. Definitely has a bit of dachshund in her. Excels at scamming treats from humans.

That's the list for now. I'm sure others will be popping up from time to time.

The weatherman is calling for snow tomorrow so I'm sure by the time I get home all the milk, bread and toilet paper in the Washington area will be long gone. Luckily if it does snow, I can work from home. Thank God I have some enlightened bosses.

On Saturday my rowing club hosted an erg sprint competition for the five local high schools. We drew a record 100 plus rowers. There was great competition including a new senior girls record for 1,500 meters. The high school crew season begins next Monday, but seeing how its been brutally cold here, at least by Virginia standards, the Occoquan is frozen over. So they'll be a few days late getting out on the water. By way of introduction, the Occoquan is home to numerous northern Virginia high school crew teams and a few adult clubs, including my own. Its one of the best rowing venues in the country and at one time was the home of the US Sculling team. At least until we had a winter like this and the Occoquan froze over and they couldn't train. I think they moved to Savannah.

After the erg races, Ann and I were off to Dulles Airport to pick up the son who was returning from a two week business trip to Colorado Springs. We stopped at Ned Devines in Centreville for lunch where in he embarrassed us by ordering a Bud Light in an Irish Pub. Where did we go wrong? I also helped him do his taxes for the first time. He was happy to find out he'd be getting a refund.

Since it is impossible to get out on the water this time of year, I try to stay in some sort of shape doing my own erging. On Sundays I take a rowing class at a local gym. They have 25 ergs of which the gym owns half and my rowing club owns the other. All the ergs were filled. Made for a fun class or at least as fun as erging can be. I finished with 10,000 meters for the hour long class and I was happy with that. Besides the Sunday classes, I also have an erg at home, which I try to use about three times a week. Since I was a real slacker over the holidays, I'm slowly getting back in form.

The name of the blog - Ready.....Row is a term used by the Coxswain to get the rowers set (Ready) and then all rowing at once. Seemed like an apt title.