Thank goodness for Friends

Interesting Saturday we've had so far. Mike just took off to take pictures of some spikey headed Buddha. You should be in for some great pictures soon. This morning was really busy though. My new girlfriend Maggie decided to motivate me into running the Black History Month 5K. I thought I was about ready. I had been working on the treadmill for some time now. At one time, I had worked myself up to 2 miles without stopping. Now, I was trying to work up to 3 but, wasn't really making it. Maggie & her husband have been training to run a marathon. In fact one that they have been considering is the Great Wall marathon in China. She's almost at her halfway point of training and has made it to 4.5 miles on the treadmill. Maggie has been my motivation to kick it up a notch while working off the flab. For me, it's turned into not just getting the rest of the baby bulge off but also working towards a goal that I've never been able to accomplish: running a few miles without dropping dead. For family members who know me well they will assure you that I am and have never been the athletic type. However, once I made it past a mile I've wanted to go further. After this 5K today, my legs feel like rubber. I did rest 2 times during that run but, I did keep up a pretty good pace (for me) and made it in at a little under 33 minutes. Maggie was with me the whole way pushing me to go further. I wouldn't have done as well as I did if it wasn't for her positive motivation, so thanks Maggs.

After the run, I laid like a slug in the sauna and showered in the locker room. Then waddled my way over to Sbarro's. Mike and Josh were waiting for us when we arrived. All the more reason for me to inhale my calzone. Maggie and Andy then planned to stop by the modeling "auditions" on base. Mike and I have been intrigued ever since we've been here to try it out. Being that this is Japan, us America-jin get gawked at everywhere as though we were purple. Considering that we only make up about 0.01% of the population, this is totally expected but sometimes not always enjoyable. It works out very well for the advertising agencies here in Japan. They really love having "different" looking people in their ads. It grabs the attention of the public. So, this means big bucks for modeling agencies and an easy buck for us America-jin. Because Yokosuka has a dense population of us Americans in all shapes, sizes, and colors, it's prime real estate for modeling agencies. They will usually do shoots every once in a while on base or they will have a fair, where several agencies come and do shoots. This would give us a chance to do all of them at once. It's also totally free. This shoot was just one agency. Like I said, they love all shapes, sizes and colors. They aren't just looking for what we my consider, "the all-American look". So, everyone's invited. We decided to get Josh in on the action. Hey, a little extra college money never hurt anyone! It just so happens that Josh hates getting formal pictures taken. He could be as happy as a clam until that photographer, AKA Stranger, starts hollering at him to smile. He is instant water works at that point. After several minutes of trying to make him smile, Maggie started meowing like a cat.....this worked! She and I started meowing like alley cats which gave the patient photographer a somewhat decent photo of our child. Hallelujah!