Crazy Ohio weather...

Monday was insanely warm.  We shattered the record high in Columbus by passing up the 62° mark and hit 69° for the new record.  It was very windy as well, but still got my run in.  Still doing my Runners World run streak from Thanksgiving to New Year's... so 39 straight days of running.  It is VERY easy to throw in the towel this time of year, but I am powering through with at least 1 mile each day, but normally running a few more than that.  I have to say... I am pumped for the runs in 2017 and the races I plan on doing.

Yesterday I worked, got a haircut, ran, then went to go see Rogue One again.  I wore the new t-shirt that Dawn got me for Christmas.  I was walking in the theater when I saw that Carrie Fisher passed away.  So sad.  She was my first crush as a young lad.  May the Force be with you...

Enjoy the sun today because clouds return tonight along with on & off wintry mix that will be sticking around for a while. Temps will warm back into the low 40s today with lots of sun. Clouds arrive this evening and an overnight scattered wintry mix, mainly rain, will move in. More spotty wintry mix, mainly snow, for Thursday and highs in the mid-upper 30s. More snow showers Thursday night and Friday with some light accumulations, mainly north. Another round of a wintry mix arriving late Saturday. Temps will surge by Monday with rain showers expected. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

A fantastic Christmas

Friday we put Summer down for her morning nap while Dawn and I packed the car to visit her parents for the Christmas weekend.  When Summer woke up she found out that Santa made an early stop by the house.  Good thing we let him know that we were going away for a couple days.  Summer got a few books and each book was read cover to cover before opening the next present.  It was a great afternoon with the three of us.

Christmas Eve morning I had a little bit of a sore throat and no cough drops so I went for a four mile run in the drizzle and ice to pick up some Fisherman's Friend lozenges. I LOVE them!  I found a GREAT deal on a Garmin running watch a few weeks ago, so Dawn gave that to me for Christmas.  It was very freeing to run without a phone tracking how far I ran.

We did a lot of relaxing on Christmas Eve and went to the later mass since the Browns were winning. 

I went for a 2.5 mile Christmas morning... since it was the 25th of the month.  There was a LITTLE bit of snow still in Strongsville.  Not too bad on the sidewalks, but just a few spots of ice.  It was a great holiday season with lots of family.   As I get older, family time at the holidays means more and more. I've been blessed to see so much family the last few weeks and more next weekend with a cousin's wedding. For all my extended family of "friends" on here, I hope you all had a great holiday and cherished the unpurchased gifts of love this holiday.

 Columbus is warmer than about 75% of the country right now! Big changes coming soon though...

A windy & warm start to the final Monday of 2016. The record high for today is 62... so we may break that pretty easily.  The 7AM temp is 54 already! Cloudy skies today with rain likely this evening with even a few rumbles of thunder. Best chance of rain will be between 6PM and midnight. Temps falling fast tonight with cooler weather for Tuesday and Wednesday with the skies giving way to some sunshine. A few rounds of wintry mix on the way for the end of the week and next weekend. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Running, gift wrapping, & holiday forecast

Wind chills have only been in the 20s the past couple of days so I have been running in shorts again.  I prefer shorts and being a bit chilly.  I keep my upper body warm, but legs... ehhh... I did squeeze in 4 miles yesterday before lunch.   So nice that the ice on the sidewalks is melted.

I have been trying to step up my game when it comes to wrapping presents.  I managed to wrap this present with only one piece of tape... yes... one piece of tape.  I wanted to try diagonal folding and it was easier than I thought and it saved some time once I mastered it. Medium sized boxes would be ideal. 

A chilly Thursday with mostly cloudy skies and a few flurries, mainly to the north.

Temperatures slowly warming up as we head into the holiday weekend. We warm up a little more Friday with partly cloudy skies and then more clouds late with rain arriving later in the evening with some steady rain likely overnight into early Saturday morning. Warmer & daytime hours on Saturday and Sunday will have some spotty rain around Central Ohio, but not a washout. More rain likely midday Monday with warm temps then cooler by Tuesday. Have a good one!

Michael Family Christmas, freezing rain, & Christmas forecast

We had a fantastic family Christmas get-together yesterday.  My brother, Marcus, is still teaching English in Bulgaria, so we video chatted with him.  More on that shortly.

BOY was it icy on Saturday!  We had about a third of an inch of freezing rain during the early morning hours before it melted as rain moved in and temps warmed up later in the day.

I went on my daily run and kept it short and quick.  I had to run in the street because the sidewalks were a quarter of an inch of ice.  This was the view of the front doorstep... even after I salted it.  Luckily there was very little-to-no traffic and I would run in the icy grass when I saw a car coming.

So back to our Family Christmas on Sunday.  My parents splurged on the gifts.  Lots of underwear & socks.  HAHA!  

We video chatted with Marcus.  This is what we could see of him.  He was showing us how he dries his clothes there... He hangs them on his curtain because they do not have a dryer. 

This was his view of all of us.  

He wrote heart-felt cards for all of us, but they had not arrived yet.  Luckily... he planned ahead and took photos of the cards.  He had to send the images of the cards to us before we opened up his gifts of Bulgarian chocolates and other trinkets from Bulgaria.  It wasn't an ideal Christmas, but we made the best of it and we had a lot of fun catching up with the family. 

A fairly quiet start to the workweek with early clouds and flurries for your Monday morning then more sun by the afternoon.  Skies stay mostly clear until Wednesday as our temperatures slowly start warming. Christmas looks fairly cool with scattered rain showers.  So looking like a wet Christmas, but not necessarily a white Christmas. I'll keep an eye on it, in case we cool down and switch to snow. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Season's first decent snow and COLD!

Summer took her morning nap Tuesday and by the time she woke up the snow had blanketed the snow and she had a LOT of emotions with regards to the snow.  It was adorable.  

She always wants to go outside and so I put on her snow suit and brought her outside.  She was great!  No crying and kept running around and trying to drag the snow shovel as well.

I followed up shoveling and putting patio furniture in the attic with a run around the neighborhood.  The Christmas lights were coming on as I was finishing my run.  It was a very peaceful run.

Yesterday the sun came out for the winter wonderland.  With the winds still light yesterday the snow was very pretty on the trees.

The woods by our park was still untouched when I went for my run.  It was fun running through a snowy woods.  I would say forest, but it's too small for that.

Wind chills this morning are VERY cold.  Bundle up!

The sun will be deceiving today. Early morning wind chills will be between -5 to -10 then staying between 0 to -5 most of the daytime hours. Lots of sun today and increasing clouds tonight and Friday. Another cold night tonight with lighter winds so wind chills will not be quite as cold, 0 to -5. A wintry mix expected Friday night and early Saturday morning, including sleet and freezing rain possible overnight. We warm above freezing by daybreak and switch to rain showers for most of the day Saturday and even a rumble of thunder possible. Temps warm to low 50s Saturday then drop fast heading into Sunday with freezing temps returning and a few snowflakes by Sunday morning. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Decorations, Mad River, Family Farm, & First Snow

We finally got all of our Christmas decorations up in the house.  We kept delaying because we were afraid Summer would tear down the tree and we ended up putting a gate up in front of the tree for now.  She is wanting to climb and we were very afraid she would topple the tree down.

Friday morning I was up at Mad River Mountain doing the weather and reporting on their first snow making of the season.  They have 130 snow makers and it takes about 30 hours for them to drain their spring-fed pond.  Then 6-8 hours for the pond to fill back up.

The wind chill at the top of the hill was 1.6°F.  YIKES!  Friday afternoon was a fairly relaxing day around the house with some cleaning and errands before Dawn's mom came to town.  They went out for Dawn's birthday, so I went home to the family farm with Summer. 

We went out to Indiana to an Amish cheese sale.  The cheeses were DELICIOUS.

Then we went up to see Grandma Jean, or Great Grandma Jean for Summer.  I always get her word search books for Christmas.  She loves them and it keeps her entertained for most of the year.  Summer played pass the wrapping paper with her. 

Then back to the homestead.  My parents got rid of their cows so they could travel with all of the 5 kids out of the house.  Our neighbors were out of town so my parents milked for them and Summer LOVED seeing the cows.  We have been working with her on animal sounds and when we walked into the barn she heard one of the calves moo and her eyes lit up!  It was adorable.

Sunday morning I went for a run... Not a long one, but I needed to run a mile to keep my holiday run streak going.  I am running at least a mile every day between Thanksgiving and New Years, so 39 days total.  There is nothing to block the wind out in the country and BOY was it cold! It was nice being back home for the weekend.

Clouds stick around this morning and some afternoon clearing with a few peaks of sun.  Temps stay above freezing most of the day until this evening.  Partly cloudy tonight with freezing temps.  Increasing clouds Tuesday with a light wintry mix, mainly south for the afternoon/evening Tuesday.  A few flurries and mostly cloudy Wednesday then a blast of frigid air for the end of the week. Have a good one!

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

Fun with Summer, then Dawn, then run...

Friday night I got the chance to hang out with Summer for an evening with just the two of us.  I get that chance every afternoon while Dawn is working, but the evenings are special because Dawn normally spends time with Summer after I head to bed to get up at 1:15AM.  But we had some good food, we watched some Disney Christmas shows... a very fun night. 

Saturday and Sunday I went for my runs around the neighborhood for about eight miles this weekend.  Not training for anything currently, but doing a holiday run streak with some other runners around the country.  Basically we run every single day between Thanksgiving and New Years... so 39 straight days of running.  You have to run at least 1 mile, so that's pretty easy.  The challenge will be when it starts raining and snowing more.  Last week I ran in a light spritz of a rain shower, but tomorrow looks much wetter.  So I may only squeeze in a quick mile run, depending on the radar and how heavy it will be running.  But at least it keeps me motivated to stay active during one of the easiest times of the year to throw in the towel.  Then I start training for my next half marathon/marathon in the middle of January, so I can rest up a little and take a few days off here and there during the start of 2017.  I used to run a lot and still have a ways to go before I feel that I can call myself a "runner,"

I also helped out at the Toys For Tots at our station this weekend. So much generosity from the community!

Saturday night I took Dawn out for her birthday.  I found a new babysitter in our neighborhood, so I took Dawn out to The Elevator and the casino.  I took her to The Elevator for her birthday when we first started dating in college.  I saved up a LOT of money for that first dinner... College kid getting filet steaks on a 400 degree rock... We are smarter now and don't go for the biggest and most expensive thing on the menu... HAHA.  I ended up getting the almond chicken.  VERY good and pretty reasonably priced.  She loves the casino so we had a good time and broke even, so a fun night without breaking the bank.

Hard to believe that 2016 is almost over... It's been an interesting year and can't wait for 2017!

A dry Monday with clearing skies and some afternoon sun. Temps will remain near normal for the first couple days of the week then turning colder. Increasing clouds Monday night with rain on the way for Tuesday. The leading edge of the rain will move in around daybreak Tuesday with some spotty wintry mix on the leading edge then turning to rain. Rain for a decent amount of Tuesday then mostly cloudy Wednesday. Partly cloudy and some flurries for the end of the week and becoming colder. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Goodbye warm weather, hello cold!

I am going to miss going on my daily runs in shorts.  Time to start layering up!

But even on a cloudy, chilly day... Columbus is still gorgeous.

Here is a look at the morning temp changes compared to this time yesterday. Quite a shock to the system! 

Clouds will remain to stick around the next several days with only a few peaks of sun. We stay chilly through the weekend. A few flurries possible early today, but a slightly better chance to see more on Friday afternoon. Another chance of a wintry mix is possible on Sunday and then we warm up next week and more rain by Tuesday. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Running all over this weekend and BUCKEYES WON!

 

I am trying to run every single day between Thanksgiving and New Years.  It is likely one of the easiest times of the year to throw in the towel and take a break, but I am trying to stay busy.  I was lucky enough to find a few trails through the woods by our neighborhood park.  Running on trails is SO much more fun than sidewalks.  You focus more on the next few feet in front of you and your footing, rather than dodging cars parked on sidewalks.

Saturday morning I went down to The Shoe for the Ohio State vs. TTUN (That Team Up North).  I had some friends in town and we had a lot of fun.  I got to hang out with BuckIGuy and Shelley Meyer before the game. 

Urban went by our tailgate before Skull Session.  He was all business!

Thanks to the generosity of my friend's girlfriend, we got into the game! 

And after we won, it was easier to exit by getting onto the field.  There was a mob of people going onto the field.  Then we funneled out the south tunnels.  What a fun time!

Sunday morning I wrapped some presents for Dawn's birthday and started watching Westworld.  Quite an interesting story.

Then I went for a run

And kept running... What a beautiful day for a run!

A couple rounds of rain on the way for Central Ohio. Best chances of rain will be Monday night and Tuesday night. Rain showers will be on and off with more throughout the day. Heavy rain at times overnight tonight then clearing skies for midday Tuesday with some sun and warm temps. More clouds later in the day with more rain Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. A spotty shower or two possible later Wednesday and Thursday then drier air for the end of the week and cooler temps. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael