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<\/a><\/p>\nAnd as I said, I did catch up on a lot of shows – finishing “Breaking Bad,” “House of Cards,” “Homeland,” “Orange is the New Black,” “Parks & Recreation,” and almost\u00a0all episodes of\u00a0“The League.”<\/span><\/p>\n I sealed all of the cracks and painted all of the patio\/pool decks.\u00a0 While it may seem minor, I had no idea how much work it would be to smear concrete paint around, since it has the consistency of snot.\u00a0 Even worse was that it needed 2 and even 3 coats in some places.<\/p>\n We were tired of the old,\u00a0worn,\u00a0wood railings on the front porches, so I tore them down and built and installed\u00a0new ones.\u00a0 We got the design idea from one of our neighbors, and it looks so good we are now going to\u00a0replace the entire old metal railing that runs up the\u00a0front steps.\u00a0 I posted a picture below.\u00a0 Note that\u00a0this is now just the beginning of the project—we are also working on additional upgrades such as a new\u00a0front door, new windows,\u00a0and a new entryway.<\/p>\n Next, our scout troop did not have enough instructors for rock climbing camp-outs, so I took the instructor-certification course, which entailed going to classes twice a week and spending several weekends in October and November camping at different climbing spots.\u00a0 The final weekend was out at Enchanted Rock (I borrowed the picture below from the park service site) on Turkey Peak.\u00a0 We practiced setting anchors and letting the Boy Scouts do climbs and rappels.\u00a0 When we were packing up the gear that Saturday, I noticed that there was an event being set up.\u00a0 It turned out to be a trail run that was taking place on Sunday morning.\u00a0\u00a0 The distance options\u00a0were 10k and 25k, and both finished on top of Enchanted Rock.\u00a0 The timing worked out where I could finish the 10k and still make it to Turkey Peak to finish my certification.<\/p>\n In early November Tracy and I went to San Francisco so Tracy could get her leg checked.\u00a0 We stayed in the Mission District at an OK Air BnB place; cool neighborhood\u00a0with great restaurants, but it was a little dirty and noisy.\u00a0\u00a0We did a lot of dining, hiking (picture from the coastal trail below), and visiting with friends.\u00a0 I also got to have drinks with Tag and catch up on what was going on with my old team at Dell.<\/p>\n For Thanksgiving we flew to\u00a0Milwaukee to my sister Deb and her partner Anne’s house.\u00a0 Tracy had never been there and it had been 10 years since I was there.\u00a0 It was great to spend time with them and see the incredible kitchen Deb had put in.\u00a0 On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we drove with Deb & Anne and their dog Koda\u00a0to my mom’s apartment in Grand Rapids, Michigan.\u00a0 Preston flew into Grand Rapids on Thanksgiving day since he didn’t want to miss school.\u00a0 There is a picture below of Tracy checking for garlic in the bloody Mary mix, Preston acting like a goofball, mom cooking, and Deb taking pictures of everything.<\/p>\n While in Michigan, we were able to get in a couple of runs in the snow.<\/p>\n The first planned race I had after the 106-miler wasn’t until December.\u00a0 I didn’t want to make the same mistake I did\u00a0two years ago by racing too soon again\u00a0after a long ultra.\u00a0 This one, called “El Sendero,” was in Burnet, Texas at Reveille Ranch.\u00a0 I did the 40k and Preston did the 20k.\u00a0 Preston and I have run races\u00a0out there many times, but the course this time was a little different and the trail covered areas of the Ranch with which we weren’t really familiar.\u00a0 It was a slightly chilly day, which made for great running, and\u00a0we both did really well.\u00a0 Finishing line pictures are below.<\/p>\n Tracy and I then squeezed in a short diving trip to Cozumel in December.\u00a0 We had 4 beautiful dives over the\u00a0four days we were there, and we ended up after two days of rain with two gorgeous days of sun and perfect weather.\u00a0 On the not-so-great side,\u00a0we decided to try a new place this time, instead of our usual Iberostar (which we thought had become too run down and mildewy).\u00a0 So we opted for a place just\u00a0up the beach called the “Occidental Grand.”\u00a0 It was far from grand, it was a dump.\u00a0 We will go back to Iberostar next time.\u00a0 The picture below is from the lobby bar (which we did like).\u00a0\u00a0I wrote a very unfavorable\u00a0review on TripAdvisor if you want the details: http:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/ShowUserReviews-g150809-d259238-r188237993-Occidental_Grand_Cozumel-Cozumel_Yucatan_Peninsula.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\n