Doing battle with the Mormons

If you read one of my posts a few posts back you'll realize that I have a weakness when it comes to people coming to the door to try to sell stuff. Apparently the same goes for the Mormons who go door to door to try to convert people. Yesterday morning I had a visit from 2 missionaries trying to get recruits, I don't think they will be back to take me! One of their first questions was what religion I was. I answered and then they asked about Bridget, I told them that she was spiritual...but didn't believe in any one "God" or and one religion. Their eyes grew to approximate golf ball size. One of them asked "well doesn't that cause problems in your relationship", I said "no not all..Why would it?" At this point their eyes jumped up to the size of tennis balls. They next asked if I went to church, I said that I didn't. They said that (I think he meant according to the Mormon religion) it was not enough to believe in God and live a good life, that you needed to attend church. That irked me a bit, so I think I got a little defensive. He said if we joined the Mormon religion we could spend the rest of eternity together in Heaven, I asked "why my religion wouldn't allow me to do that?" He really didn't answer that, but he went right into scripture quotes. And he explained that the bible was written by the 12 apostles and that Joseph Smith was the 13th apostle, and that he received his teachings directly from God. This raised two questions that I asked him, first I asked why God had waited nearly 1900 years to contact a 13th apostle? Since Smith founded the Mormon religion late in the 1800's. My second question was more of a statement about Smith receiving his visions by placing 3 stones into a hat and then placing his face in the had and staring until he received these teachings. I sort of smirked and they're eyes were softball sized. They again didn't have much to offer, but handed me a pamphlet about the religion.

I hope that these were two rookie missionaries. Hopefully they will return to the mother ship and send in the reinforcements. I like to talk religion with the Mormons because they are so brainwashed that it really isn't much of a debate. One other thing, I'm not trying to say being Mormon or any other religion other than me is a bad thing or that I'm right and they are wrong. I just think if you are going door to door to recruit for a religion, you are going at it the wrong way. People should want to join a religion because that religion speaks to them, it makes sense to them, and it shouldn't be contingent on a bunch of rules like you can't drink caffeine, alcohol, can't have tattoos, and many more things that the Mormons profess.

Wendy's

In a pinch before our trip to the zoo yesterday we needed to make a stop for lunch. Bridget and I had a conversation about how well Wendy's was doing at providing a healthier menu. The kids both got kids meals, and instead of fries Sydney had yogurt and Aiden had orange slices. Instead of soda they had 2% milk. Bridget and I each had taco salads with low fat sour cream and dressing. For their main course the kids did split a burger and chicken nuggets, which are obviously not the healthiest....but neither was my root beer float or Bridget's frostee.

Even though we didn't eat everything low fat or low cal, at least we cut fat and calories out of what we would have usually ordered. I would probably go for a double cheeseburger with bacon, fries, and a diet coke...look at the difference:
Taco salad - 380 calories - 19 grams fat - 28 grams carbs - 26 grams protein
Burger option w/ fries - 1050 calories - 53 grams fat - 107 grams carbs - 41 grams protein

All of that info came from www.fastfood.com, which I just found on Google. It seems like a pretty useful tool in researching what you eat. Maybe if I would have researched my meal before hand I would have found something even healthier!

Big Day #2

This coming Saturday I will race in my second triathlon of the summer. It is pretty close tot he same distances as my last one, so I should get a good chance to upgrade that running time of my last race. I finished that last run in 31 minutes, which just killed me in the rankings. I did really good in the swim and the bike, but had people beating me by 5 or more minutes. I'm hoping that this race will go better and I also plan to consume some energy gel during the ride which seems to work well for me.

I ran 4 miles this morning, and I have 7 miles to run tomorrow at my "race pace" so that should be a tough workout. Although I did run my 4 miles this morning at 8:34 pace and my race pace is 9:05 per mile. It seems like the long weekend runs are really helping my shorter distances, 3 miles seems almost like a warm-up!

Great Sunday Hike

I took the kids on a great hike today. I got the trail from a book we have called "Best Hikes with Children in Utah." (I highly recommend this book by the way, I think it is a series and you can find them in different states) I chose 2 hikes, the first one was described as a great family hike. It was a 1 mile walk around Silver Lake, but the entire hike was boardwalk around the lake. The second hike started 1/2 way around Silver Lake and was a trail to Lake Solitude. That trail had 400 feet of elevation change and was 1.5 miles each way. So, with Aiden on my back and Sydney walking the entire way we made it. We had a nice picnic lunch at the top and had many positive comments from passers by....most amazed that I would adventure up to the top with 2 kids all by myself. Sydney even carried her own Camelbak hydration pack, the one she had was really my adult sized pack filled to the max. She did so great, she never once complained about the water. There were times when we needed to take breaks, and we went at Sydney's pace...but I would say it was an amazing feat for a little girl who is not even 3 years old yet! Aiden enjoyed it when I stopped and let him touch the trees, he liked the different textures of the aspens, pines, and of course the free ride up and back! Check out more pics at www.browntography.com!

Random Thoughts

Random thought #1 - What the heck is going on with the rental movies recently. The last 2 weeks there have been crap! The last good rental we had was Apacalypto, but there isn't much else. For people that rent 2 to 3 movies a week, we count on decent rentals. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. Of course this has given us a chance to watch some movies from our DVD's from our collection. We recently watched the Matrix trilogy for the first time in years.

Random thought #2 - Could you imagine walking your dog along the street and humming your favorite tune in your head while thinking about how perfect the day is. When all of the sudden a dog crashes through a 6 1/2 foot tall wooden fence and begins attacking your dog. This recently happened, except Buddha was the attacker. I was in the backyard playing with the kids, I think he was protecting his family. Both dogs were fine, the other dogs owner was a bit shaken. Animal Control came out and seemed a bit more concerned that Buddha wasn't registered, than the fact that he busted out of a fence and attacked a dog.

Random thought #3 - My best friends are all getting pregnant. Nick and his wife.....knocked up. Another VERY good friend and his wife are knocked up (but it is a secret that I'm not supposed to share).....Maybe it's a sign that Bridget and I should have baby #3? She doesn't think so, she says it isn't a sign...I disagree.

Random thought #4 - My marathon training is going very well. I talked to a friend who has completed a few marathons, she said my times are right on track to meet my goal of a 4 hour marathon. My day to day feelings are that there is no chance I'll hit that mark, but when I look back at my times from the first weeks of training my times are getting faster! Maybe there is hope! This weekend I hope to return to park city to run my long run, this weekend it backs off a bit (only 9 miles).