Halfway

Madeline turned 6 on Wednesday. She's getting taller every day. Abby was Madeline's age when Madeline was born. Alex was Madeline's age when we moved to Cambridge. Life goes by pretty damn fast.

My niece, Ashley, is heading out to Boston tomorrow to begin her adventure with the Boston Celtics Dancers. I'm excited for her. Have fun Ashley!

Some things that have stuck with me from the trip to England:

• Everything is smaller over there. Actually, I think it's all bigger here. We Americans are all about excess. I don't know if we do it because we can, or because we're used to it, or because we're spoiled, or all of the above. I don't know if it's right or wrong either, but to me it feels like excessive selfishness.


• Every single person I met over there was extremely kind and generous; all of Angie's relatives, their friends, the guys that own the Oxygen club, the guy that helped carry our suitcases up the stairs in our mad rush through London to the airport, the people on the trains, everyone. They all really made an impression on me.


• They like chips (we call them french fries) with everything. They have great sausage, much better than anything I get here.


• There are sidewalks everywhere, and everyone does a lot of walking. They have to, gas costs about $12/gallon over there.


• Some of the neighborhood pubs have playgrounds out back. The kids like it. I like it. Beautiful.

Just today, I ran mile 250 of my 500 mile goal. I'm halfway there. I still have a long way to go, but I feel very good about it. I ran more miles in August than any month so far.

Peace-
Matt