Dana and I ran in the City of Pittsburgh Great Race 10K portion this morning. It was the first 10K for both of us, so our goal was to finish. I had a secondary goal of finishing in under 1 hour. Given that the course is predominantly downhill, I didn’t think that would be that difficult to do.

Grandma and Grandpa A offered to take Deuce last night so that we wouldn’t have to wake him up early to get down there. We parked downtown and got in line for the bus at around 8:15. It took us about 45 minutes of waiting for the bus (and then actually riding up there), so we got to the start right around 9. I heard numbers that there were over 6000 registered runners for the 10K, although the official results showed 5550 total finishers.

Overall, the race was pretty nice. The weather was downright cold this morning, but by 9:30 it was cool enough to run without being uncomfortable. Given the fact that there were 5500 people there, the start was a bit congested. However, unlike the Steelers 5K, the 10K had a chip timer that recorded start and end times. My chip time for was 55:14, Dana’s was 1:06:35. Like I said, our goal was to finish, and we both did so.

It was actually a very nice day, and we are both planning on running again next year.

After glancing over the past few months of posts, I came to realize that I really haven’t been speaking much about Deuce. Granted, I go over our adventures as a family, of which he is the primary focus. However, it’s high time I put down in writing what’s been going on for the past few months.

First and foremost, we’re finally potty trained. Like most of Deuce’s developmental milestones, this one seemed to happen overnight. Prior to last week, if we asked him if he had to go, he promptly said no and went on playing. Then, five minutes later, he’d pee in his training pants. We finally decided to buy some underwear with “extra” padding to help absorb accidents, but still gives him that nasty feeling of your own pee in your pants. After a few accidents in those, we finally got the hang of it. We still wear training pants on him at night because he’s such a sound sleeper, but I’m sure those will be gone soon too.

Deuce has made some notable improvements in school as well. There was some concern as to his development of language skills and speech, but he seems to have come a long way since his first evaluation. Still, we’re going to have someone from the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit do a second evaluation and see if he could benefit from some one-on-one language lessons.

He’s still as cute as a button, at least by my account. I may be biased, but hey, who cares. I’m looking forward to Halloween, hopefully we’ll be able to trick-or-treat this year without the rain.

I got a call from Toshiba a few days ago to inform me that they were escalating my account to the “options” department, as in, “we can’t fix this, what options are there.” They called me yesterday that they were going to put the paperwork through to facilitate a return through Best Buy, which is where we purchased the thing. I’m thinking to myself: “This is great, I’ll get a TV this weekend.” Wrong.

Apparently, the paperwork for this return has to go through Best Buy’s Corporate Headquarters for approval, a process that can take up to 10 business days (yes, that’s right folks, two weeks). At that point I’ll have to throw (ok, gently load) my busted 65″ Toshiba DLP into my car and drive to Best Buy to return it. Apparently, I get store credit and can buy a new TV.

Therein lies the problem: I don’t want a different TV, I want my 65″ DLP projection television. In looking at Best Buy’s website, it doesn’t look like they carry my model anymore, and all the other 65″ projections are more expensive than the one I purchased. So that’s just great. The two months that it took them to figure out that they couldn’t fix my TV means that I now can’t even get the same television. I really want to walk into Best Buy and tell them “Hey, I’m returning at 65″ DLP projection with 1080p, etc., I want the same television.”

But I guess I’ll have to wait two weeks before I fight that battle. At least some progress has been made… It only took two months.

Dana, Deuce and I wanted to go out on Saturday to do some shopping and grab something to eat. Since Deuce woke up from his nap hungry (and it was already 5:30), we decided that eating would come first. Now, we play this game about once a week: Where do you want to go to eat? The seemingly innocuous question usually finds us debating on where to go for at least an hour. We like to try new places, or at least places we haven’t been in a while. Unfortunately, that unfamiliarity usually leads to disappointment.

Our last two experiences at chain restaurants were enough for us to swear of the establishments. We tried to go to the Damon’s in Monroeville a few weeks ago, and it was rather busy. Not really a problem, since they said it would be a 15-20 minute wait. A half hour later we walked out the door. Not so much because of the wait time but the fact that there were visibly 10 tables cleaned and ready to be seated, but the two hostesses had more important things to do, like play with their hair and talk about boys. Needless to say, that’s the last time I’ll visit Damon’s.

Last week we thought we’d give Chili’s a try. I’m not sure why, as we always comment on how overpriced it is, and the food is usually only so-so. We went, the food was horrible, the service was slow (on a not-so-busy Friday), and the check was, as expected, too high for what we ate. You know, I read somewhere that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result…

So Saturday we decided on an old stand-by, D’s SixPax and Dogz. I’d send you to a website, but I don’t know that they have one. The original D’s is in Regent Square, but there is an offshoot in Monroeville across from the McDonald’s on Northern Pike (it’s in the old Pizza Hut building). After yet another delicious meal (and a great draft beer), Dana and I have decided we’re not going anywhere else. Why? Well, I don’t know that I’ve ever ordered the same sandwich twice there, and I’ve never left D’s saying “I’d never get that again.” The food is delicious (healthy?.. not so much, but who cares… You have to splurge every so often), the service is always good, and it’s just a much nicer atmosphere than the chain restaurants. Plus our bill was 2 bucks less than our chili’s bill, and we had beer and pop at D’s and water at Chili’s.

While I won’t go so far as to swear off chain restaurants (some are okay), I urge you to take a look around and find some of the local places. Believe me, you may find some really good stuff.

Being the summer months, Deuce has been wearing sandals for the better part of 4 months now. It would seem, given the current temperature, that the seasons are changing a bit and perhaps some warmer clothes are in order.

Luckily, we went out yesterday to pick up some new kicks for the Deuce. His old sneakers are obviously too small (it’s been 4 months, that at least a half a shoe size growth), so we drove over to Stride Rite for a quick fit and purchase. We let him choose his own, but he was more interested in the puzzles they had then the shoes. However, showed him a few styles and he picked out one that he like and, as usual, wore them home.

We woke up this morning to mid-50’s temps, so he gets to wear his new shoes to school today. I’m sure they’ll be dirty when I pick him up later…