Hi there!

Took Pino this morning to Fuengirola for the second in a three-series road race. 7.4 km (5 miles). I was signed up for the series, but didn't run the first race. This morning while Pino warmed up, I had coffee and churros, then decided to run. Turned out great -- I ran 34:43, under 5 minutes per-k.

Sunday. Took Pino to the Malaga half marathon. She ran in about 1:50. Best time eva!

Thursday. So Alex and I crossed the mountain top at 48:30 on Tuesday (around 36 minutes from Manolo Santana's club reference point.) Today, we didn't plan on riding fast, but ended up hammering, and crossed at something like 46:30!

Wednesday. Finally remembered to take Mike the MMA training gloves I picked up at Paul Creighton's gym last time I was in the US. I can't believe Mike's going to participate in an MMA fight. I'm pretty sure he's going to win (since he's fighting another rookie). I hope he doesn't decided to keep going with this.

Tuesday. Did a lot of catching up at work, and then went for an afternoon ride up the mountain with Alex. We pushed the pace on the way up, and did 35 minutes from Club Manolo Santana to the top. Not bad. On the return, we took a route through Nagueles, and ended up climbing nearly half of the Istan height!

Sunday. Had a wonderful day. This morning went for a 30km mountain bike ride with Alex. We started on the Monda/Istan route, and at the Tolox intersection, headed towards Tolox. We were feeling great, when we realized it was 1:15 PM and my wife was expecting me home for lunch at 2:00 PM. Yikes! After lunch, Pino and I took the kids to a birthday party, dropped them off, and took a long overdue stroll along the beach.

Saturday. Went for short walk to Castellar. We left the car at the Venta Jarandilla and walked 2.5 km up a beautiful stone path to the Castellar Castle. They seem to have run off all the hippies since the last time I'd been to Castellar, so the small village inside the castle was a bit too quiet. Came back down to the car and had a coffee at the venta. Worst. Service. Ever. All in all though, a nice day.

Tuesday. After taking the kids to school, went for a morning bike ride with Alex. We pounded the pavement from Marbella to Istan, where we stopped for coffee and a "moyete" with olive oil and tomato. What a way to start the day!

Friday. New Apple equipment arrives! 23" monitors let's get much more on the screen. Audio-Technics ES7 headphones let me work in the zone with my music. Airport Extreme was supposed to let me move to new heights of wifi bandwidth. But 802.11n doesn't seem any faster than 802.11g. I wonder if Apple limite the bandwidth in European models, like they limit the volume in European iPods. :)

Sunday. Today we all packed in the car and headed down to Fuengirola, for the third and final leg of the Fuengirola Race Series. Pino was in fourth place overall, and was hoping for some good luck (maybe one of the top three wouldn't show?) Instead, a new girl showed up, and Pino finished 5th. Arrrrg. In the afternoon, we took the kids rollerblading. Both did much better than yesterday.

Saturday. Went with Pino and the kids to do a 7km walk around Casares. This time, route number 3. Was beautiful. I love that area around Casares (and it's so close!) Afterwards went to Decathlon and bought the kids some inline skates. This should be fun!

Friday. Decent day at work. James is coming back next week. Didn't chat much with Alex today, as he's focused on a prototype for next week. I've got US Inc. taxes due -- wow -- March 15th! I thought it was April 15th. Good grief. Accountant says it's going to be hard to make it.

Sunday. Took Pino, the kids and FIL (father-in-law) to Álora, so that Pino could run the half marathon. The kids ran a 400 meter race, and the poor things were involved in a pile-up at the start. Picked them up crying, and helped them get off running again. Andrea passed everybody, and finished sixth. (Probably would have finished top three if not for the fall.) Pino finished in 2:05. She wasn't happy about that time, but then again, it was very hilly. I went for a late afternoon mountain bike ride.

Saturday. Started the morning (late) with a mountain bike ride with Alex from Marbella to Istan, and then a bit towards Monda. I can't believe this guy, with little cycling training, is already hard to keep up with. Youth. Sheesh. We had some really good "roscas" in Istan at the Argentinean restaurant, Entre Sierras. In the afternoon, had a kids' friends' birthday.

Tuesday. Alex is flying along on a prototype for a project we have ongoing. Man, he's doing some cool stuff. OpenID looks like the future. The Da Bruno pasta del dia was amazingly good.

Monday. This journal lets you know just how fast time flies! Got a lead on a potentially good Rails developer in the area. Will have to interview him soon. Had a good BJJ session tonight. Almost beat the brown belt.

Friday. Was rockin' and rollin' with Alex on a prototype. Last day in town for Michel and Mark. They had a good Drupal session this week with Arto. Michel's doing a fine job leading the project. In the evening we went out for a good-bye dinner. Mark and I shared rediculous ski experience stories.

Saturday. Started with a mountain bike ride to Istán. Awesome -- what a day! Lunch with the in-laws. Arrived late, and ate with my biking clothes on. Quiche -- pretty good! (I missed the paella :( In the afternoon, went with Pino and the kids for a short hike in Estepona. Took Alex along and he like it.

Tuesday (but being written on Friday. Keeping the "daily" part of journaling is proving to be a challenge!) So what happened Tuesday? Oh yeah, had some tremendously unstable weather in Marbella -- rain, high wind, then sunny. That's one of the things I find pretty cool about winter weather here, the unpredictability.

Wednesday. It's fun having so many people in the office. Finished work late, and didn't have time on the way to jiu-jitsu to stop and pickup the kimono. Edson (the teacher) "punished" me by pairing me to fight with The Incredible Hulk. As usuall with BJJ, technique won over size and strength. :)

Had a great day, that didn't end well. Anyway, the kids are excited about school tomorrow -- Carneval! -- time to get dressed up as faeries and indians. The kids have been reminded to bring "one Euro" that the school will donate to "help the horses." I would prefer charity to be voluntary and anonymous.

This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I.

This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know. This is cheating, I know.

Monday. Back to work, and looking forward to the week. Got lots of Makalus coming into town this week -- Michel coming from Paris, Mark from the UK, James is here from Germany. Gonna be a busy week. Going to try the new Mexican restaurant down the street at some point.

Sunday. We had an awesome day. First, we went to Benahavís, and hiked the Monte Mayor peak, and had picnic at the ancient castle ruins on top. Back down to Benahavís for coffee and tapas. Afternoon mountain bike ride to Istán and back. 30 km round trip. Felt great.

Saturday. Woke up to rain. But this is Marbella — beautifully sunny by noon. Took the family and the MIL (mother-in-law) to a Carnival event in the morning, and then to a "Family Orchestra" event in the evening. Picked up where I left off in The Tipping Point. Great!

Friday again. Was another productive week. Tonight I went to jiu-jitsu, and realized I'm building stamina back up. Fought four times with the new brazilian brown belt assistant. Finised 2-2 -- got him in a mata-leon and in a katagatame choke. Dinner with the office team and wife.

Today was a very long day. Had to get up in the wee hours to pickup my father-in-law from the bus station. Got the kids off to school fine. Lot of work, ended up having dinner with the team and working till about 1:00 a m.

Monday, monday. Back to work. I'm lucky to work doing something I love! (Yeah, having trouble filling the 43 words today! :-) Arto's excited about JavaScript 2.0. Alex is excited about all the projects (and the launch tonight!) Yoga was cool. Tonight Desperate Housewives.