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Well, we’ve come to the end of the Holiday edition of Ed & Brian’s Friday Five. It’s been fun. Kudos to Ed for playing along.

Top 5 New Year’s Memories

5. New Years Eve, 2003 - I realized that I was an old man last year, and fell asleep before 10:00.

4. New Years Eve, 1990 - Amanda and I were dating at the time. She had gone with the Million Dollar Band to New Mexico, but called me at 12:0? Central Time, to wish me a happy new year. I thought that was pretty cool.

4. Fireworks at Mom and Dad’s House, 1999 - Or at least I think it was 1999. This will forever stand out in my mind because of 1 firework incident. My brother Phillip and our friend Steve were shooting some pretty big fireworks in the backyard… Phillip had just lit the fuse on one of the big ‘rocket-on-a-stick’ type thing, and backed away to stand by Steve.

Then the stick broke.

It fell, and pointed directly between Steve and Phillip. All I remember seeing, before the huge flash of light and thick smoke, was Steve’s head running towards me, and Phillip’s feet as he jumped, Superman-style, in the exact opposite direction. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to throw up.

3. New Years Eve, 2002 - We spent this evening at Chris and Jennifer Wofford’s house. It’s a great memory because I think it’s the first New Year’s Eve party that we’d ever been to, and let the kids (or kid, at the time) stay up.

1. Fireworks at DBC, 1992 - My friend Steve, mentioned above, had some sort of relative that sold us a bazillion dollars worth of fireworks at an insane discount.  On the way back from the place, my friend Gary, who was driving his car, casually mentioned that his brakes had gone out.  The next 20 minutes was a roller coaster ride involving lots of slinging, emergency braking, and praying.  When we finally made it back to the Church, though, it was well worth it.

Day One is in the books. Our goal, for the weekend, was to establish our base times. I decided not to push it too hard, and got my first mile time.

5:00 warm-up
13:29 - walk/run first mile.
14:10 - walk/run second mile.
2:00 cool-down.

Total distance: 2.25 miles.

I thought about pressing for the entire 3.6 miles, but decided not to, as next week’s workout only has us going for 25 minutes, time-wise.

I think that 13:29 is a pretty atrocious mile time. But it’s a start.

I am going to run a 5K in April.

I’ve wanted to get back into a regular exercise routine for a while now. I’ve specifically wanted to train to run a 5K, for some personal reasons. But motivation has always been my downfall in the past. I knew that it would take some serious commitment, and someone to hold me accountable. Where would I find anyone like that?

God’s providence: Last week, a couple of guys at work started kicking around the idea of starting a Running Club. So, to make a long story short, about 6 guys at work, including myself, have committed ourselves to an exercise program in the coming year. Our goal is to run a 5K on April 2, 2005. We start training as a group on January 4th. If I miss a training session, I’ll not only face harassment from my co-workers, I have to chip in $2 to a ‘general fund’. At the end of our session, that ‘general fund’ will go to whoever has improved their 1-mile time the most over the 9 week period.

I’m pumped.

Amanda’s reaction when I told her: “You’re WHAT?!?!?!?”

Brandon’s reaction, when Amanda told him what I was doing: “You mean Dad’s going to be in the Olympics?!?”

It’s a little aggressive, but we’re following the schedule posted on CoolRunning.com. I’ve created a new category on the left to keep track of how things are going. Watch me change from a couch (or cubicle, these days) potato into a running guy…

People have actually started using Flickr to upload images from the tragedy in SouthEast Asia: http://flickr.com/photos/tags/tsunami/.

Warning: Some of those photos are not for the squeamish.

So why is Brandon smiling??

Because today he lost his first tooth:

He’s had a loose tooth for about a year now, and it finally decided to work its way out. He’s excited because now he gets to put his name on the “tooth chart” at kindergarten… and about the idea of waking up and finding free money under his pillow.

(If you really want a close-up view, click here.

Some moments that I hope to never, never forget:

1) Brandon putting a present that he had made and wrapped at school, under the tree, with the biggest smile on his face.
2) On Christmas morning, Caleb exclaiming ‘For ME???’ every time someone handed him a box to open.
3) At our candlelight service, when one of our Ministers read the following scripture: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”. Brandon turned to me and whispered, “Wow, Dad. That’s a long name. Even longer than David Brandon McGraw.”
4) Caleb carefully studying which bottle of lotion to buy for Amanda.

I’ll try to have more pictures and commentary later. What a wonderful Christmas it was.

Top Five Christmas Songs

5. Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown - Soundtrack - It’s my #1 Christmas Show, so you should have known it would be here. I bought the soundtrack at Starbucks last week, and have been listening to it almost non-stop.

4. Medley of Christmas Songs, by Michael W. Smith - I think that this montage of songs - Christ the Messiah, No Eye Had Seen, and All Is Well - is some of Michael W. Smith’s best work, ever. It tells the story of the buildup to the coming of Christ, the Angel’s mesage, and the shepherd’s (and our’s as well) reaction to the birth.

3. O Holy Night - I love this song.

2. Carol of The Bells - This song is best with absolutely no instruments… just voices.

1. What Child Is This? - My all time favorite Christmas song. It asks the one question that is at the core of Christian Faith. Strip away all of the evangelical and theological talk, and it all boils down to this: Was Jesus who He said He was, and who the Bible says He was?

Click on the photo above to see pictures from Brandon’s Birthday party!

Amanda and I lost a good bit of weight late last year /earlier this year on the South Beach Diet. I was planning on following the diet for the holidays, but have instead decided to follow these tips:

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they’re serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it’s rare. In fact, it’s even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can’t find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It’s not as if you’re going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It’s a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It’s later than you think. It’s Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That’s the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they’re made with skim milk or whole milk. If it’s skim, pass. Why bother? It’s like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people’s food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year’s. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do.
This is the time for long naps, which you’ll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don’t budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They’re like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you’re never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or, if you don’t like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it’s loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don’t feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven’t been paying attention. Reread tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

(Found somewhere on the world wide web…)

Celebrating Brandon’s birthday at El Ranchero. He wanted to eat Mexican, so he could wear the ‘Birthday Hat’.