Goodbye 2012

We are back home in Cayman for the next few weeks to finish up our affairs here, sell our car and other stuff and finish packing to return home.  We also have some obligations to complete and a bucket list of a few things we want to do before we leave that will keep us busy.

As we ring in the new year later tonight we will say goodbye to a year that saw us decide to leave Cayman and return home and restart our lives back in the States.  We will say goodbye to a year that gave us exciting trips and also say goodbye to a year that saw us set and achieve fitness goals that put us on paths to even more goals for 2013.  For Katie and I, we finish the year with a better feeling about ourselves physically than we have had in a long time.  Our daughter continues to amaze each of us as she grows in leaps and bounds and 2012 saw her change dramatically.  She is a running, talking ball of energy and we cant wait to see what she does next.  We say goodbye to this year knowing that next year will bring tremendous changes to us all and that is both exciting and scary all at the same time.

A Day in Charleston

Thursday was our day to drive up to Charleston, South Carolina.  As a Civil War buff, Fort Sumter had always been on the must see list of places for me and this trip brought us just two short hours from Charleston so a day trip up was one of the first things we scheduled. We hit the road by 6:30 and pulled into the Ferry parking lot right at 9 a.m. We got on the 9:30 ferry out to the fort and enjoyed a cruise through Charleston Harbour out to the fort.  

This fort wasn't as kid friendly for Arianna and although it was sunny, the wind was blowing very strongly and it was quite cold throughout the tour of the fort.  

We spent an hour at the fort before heading back to Charleston. From the ferry we could see the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown which was decommissioned and is now a museum in the harbor   We also had a great view of the huge Ravenel Bridge which we later crossed when we headed over to Sullivan's Island and visited Fort Moultrie in the afternoon.  We also went to the Sullivan's Island Lighthouse that is just down the road from the fort and looks like an air traffic control tower more than a lighthouse.  We all agreed that it just might be the ugliest lighthouse we had ever seen 

We can now cross of Fort Sumter from the list of important historical sites in  the U.S. that we should visit before we die.  It was a great trip and a long fun day.

Fort Pulaski and Tybee Island

Hilton Head is just over the border from Savannah, Georgia and the day after Christmas we headed south to visit some historical sites and lighthouses.  The day started out rainy and wet but cleared up by mid morning and was a beautiful sunny one though very windy by noon.  Fort Pulaski National Monument is on Cockspur Island which is the second to last island in a chain as you drive out from Savannah. The fort was the scene of a Civil War battle in early 1862 when it fell to Federal bombardment.  

We started with a picnic lunch on the grounds of the National Monument down by a Coast Guard Station.

There is a lighthouse just off the island and we began our tour with a three-quarter mile hike out to the overlook.  Arianna walked almost the entire way both ways and was very disappointed when water on the trail kept us just short of the end of the trail though we did get a good look at the lighthouse.

We then toured the Fort and got to see a demonstration of a musket firing.  It was Arianna's first Civil War battlefield trip and she was very excited to run around, look at things and of course climb on the demonstration cannons. 

We ended the day at the Tybee Lighthouse.  It was closed, so we couldn't walk up to the top but we got some nice pictures of it.  Arianna got her first taste of her father's obsession with lighthouses and with Civil War battlefields and was pretty wiped out by the end, in fact she actually took a second nap of the day for the first time in months on the drive home she was so exhausted.

Harbour Town on Hilton Head

On Christmas evening we headed into Hilton Head and to the most recognizable landmark on the island, the Harbour Town Lighthouse. There were almost no crowds so we had the marina and surrounding grounds almost entirely to ourselves.  We saw the Stars and Stripes Yacht that won the America's Cup, took lots of photos of the lighthouse and Arianna got to go on an ice skating rink and dance around with a skater who was practicing.

Merry Christmas

This morning we celebrated Christmas with four generations of Carlisle's, Loski's and Cummings'.  The morning began with a reading of the Nativity Story and then presents for all the family.  Arianna was very excited about the presents but patiently waited through breakfast and the story before she helped deliver the presents and of course assisted with opening all of them.

Hilton Head, South Carolina

We have arrived in Hilton Head, South Carolina for a week with the Carlisle side of Katie's family.  The week will include some activities here on the island and a trip up to Charleston.  We are getting to see Arianna's great-grandparents Bruma and Brumpa Carlisle who last saw Arianna when she was just a week old.  She is also meeting her Great-Aunt Beth and second cousins Brett and Eli who she is meeting for the first time.  We are at a resort on the western side of the island and can see the intracoastal waterway from the back of the resort.  Here is the view from our balcony and the intracoastal bridge from the back of the resort.

Texas Christmas and Prairie Lights

Tomorrow we head to South Carolina for a family reunion on Hilton Head Island, so today was a celebration of "Texas Christmas".  We wanted to open presents here so that we don't want to have to haul the presents across country, down to the Cayman's and then right back here in a month.  Arianna of course had no issue with opening gifts early.

This evening we headed over to Grand Prairie and drove through the Prairie Lights show, a huge Christmas Lights spectacular next to Joe Pool Lake.

Tomorrow is an early morning flight to Atlanta followed by a drive down to South Carolina for the second half of our U.S. excursion.

The Nutcracker

It is hard to believe it has been seven years since we got engaged to be married.  The evening of the proposal we attended the Nutcracker Ballet at Bass Concert Hall in Fort Worth and every Christmas since we have tried to either attend a Nutcracker performance or watch it on TV.  This year we were able to attend a showing back at Bass Concert Hall and even did dinner at Pappadeaux's where we ate that night too.  It was a great show and a wonderful night of new memories to add to our old ones of Nutcracker performances.  We saw a lot of little girls there with their parents and are already contemplating whether next year will be Arianna's first time to attend.  Now that we are headed back to the States permanently, this is a tradition we look forward to attending every year.

Cayman Premier Ousted

Yesterday afternoon while here in DFW, my blackberry suddenly started flashing multiple messages.  The Legislative Assembly had voted a Motion of No Confidence in Premier Bush and ousted him from leadership of the country.  He had been arrested last week and for several days his own party tried to get him to step down.  When he wouldn't, his party split with over half of them joining the opposition in removing him as Premier.  While not quite analogous to impeachment it has the same effect as the leader of Cayman no longer holds his post.  In my position as Chairman of CINICO this has a lot of implications as it could mean anything from no changes through the regularly scheduled elections in May or no Minister of Health if early elections are called for February and the government is dissolved.  My term runs through June so either way when we get back in two weeks there will be some interesting times for my work with the government owned entity.

A week in DFW

We are back in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this week to visit family and do some job hunting.  We looked like a band of refugee's coming home with 8 suitcases packed with stuff most of which will remain here in storage awaiting our final return at the end of January.  We have lots of activities planned including attending the Nutcracker on Thursday at Bass which will not only continue a tradition but commemorate the place and the event that I asked Katie to marry me at.  Russ and Gail have generously opened their home to us for the week as we job hunt and visit all in one trip.  We are here through Sunday before heading to the east coast and a family reunion on Hilton Head in South Carolina.

Christmas Lights

For our last night on the island before we go home for Christmas, we headed over to South Church Street and a house that sets up a huge Christmas Lights display every year.  We took Arianna to it when she was just a month and a half old and this year brought her back for the first time.  She was incredibly excited and talking the whole time about what she was seeing.  It was a great final evening before we head back to the States tomorrow.

Melanie arrives and a visit to Santa

Aunt Melanie arrived yesterday afternoon and will be spending a month in the Cayman Islands.  She will be house sitting for us while we head back to the States to spend some time in Texas and South Carolina. We went to Camana last night and Arianna got to visit Santa.  She already knows this Santa (who works the rest of the year at the college when he isn't delivering toys for Christmas) and was very comfortable walking right up to him and telling him about the pirates going splash and other events of the past few weeks. 

Big Shake Up in Local Politics

This morning we woke up to find that the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) which is run by Scotland Yard and not the local government, had arrested the Premier McKeeva Bush on several financial related allegations and that he was in police custody.  There have been stories about multiple on going investigations since April of this year and it would seem one or more of them have finally broken through.  The Governor has issued a statement about the continued functioning of the government and while this isn't quite a British takeover of the government, it will be interesting to see where this goes over our last two months on the island.

Botanic Gardens

One of the items on our bucket list was to take Arianna to the Botanic Gardens now that she can walk and run around and let her explore.  So yesterday we headed to the Queen Elizabeth the Second Botanic Gardens to check that one off our list.  Arianna was really excited about seeing lizards but when one of them moved at her quickly she got freaked out and after that would only go close to them if she was "up high" which is her way of saying she wants to be on Scott's shoulders.

After seeing the lizard Arianna wanted to race Mommy and went running through the color gardens.

We had a great afternoon walking around and seeing the gardens though Arianna kept a wary eye out for any more lizards.

Cayman Sport Trifecta Challenge

This year we challenged each other to participate in and complete each of the big three athletic events in the Cayman Islands.  As we learned this would be our last year on island it also became a bucket list item to complete.  The three events are the Flowers One Mile Sea Swim in June, The Cayman Islands Sprint Triathlon in November and the Cayman Islands Half Marathon in December.  Each event is well attended by locals and visitors alike with the Flowers Swim ranked as one of the top open water events in the world and the Marathon being a Boston Qualifier. Even the Triathlon draws hundreds each year to participate in the waters and on the roads of Grand Cayman. As we crossed the finish line respectively this past Sunday we completed the trifecta of events and finished our challenge for 2012.  Here is the hardware that documents our completion.

Last day at ICCI

This past Friday November 30, was my last official day on campus at the college.  Although I am still employed by the college for the next two months (through January 31) I have completed all of my duties with the exception of Graduation in January.   Katie continues to consult remotely and will be completing her work by January 31 as well.  I have agreed to be available via email for any questions during this two month period.  I plan to use this time to finish up any matters we may have pending here in Cayman, job hunt for open positions back in Texas and spend a lot of Daddy-Daughter time with Arianna.  It's not often a person gets two months paid vacation to figure out their place in the world but that is the place I find myself in.

Half Marathon

(By Scott) This year was the 10th anniversary of the Cayman Islands Marathon and it had the largest turnout of runners in its short history.  There were 93 teams each with four runners doing one of four legs, 635 Half Marathoners and 122 Full Marathoners along with 2 Wheel Chair Half Marathoners.  The race started out at 5 a.m. local time from the water front in George Town.  It went out just over 6 miles along South Sound before doubling back part of the route then heading north on Walkers road and winding through a residential area and part of downtown before coming back onto the main road on the water front to the start/finish line.  This was the third part of our "sporting trifecta" of finishing The Flowers 1 Mile Sea Swim, The Cayman Islands Sprint Triathlon and The Cayman Islands Half Marathon all in the same year.

Katie had been training with a running partner Kristy and for the first ten minutes we all ran/walked together on 3 minute run and two minute walk intervals.  After that they moved on ahead and I ran at my own pace going back to two minute run and three minute walk intervals.  4 miles in I was at 52 minutes and running at 12 and a half minute miles which was way faster than I had trained for.  I was on pace for a 2 hour and 50 minute finish which was 25 minutes faster than my goal and 10 minutes faster than even my shoot for goal.  I had trained to go at about 13 and 1/2 minute miles and to finish somewhere between three hours and three hours fifteen minutes. Somewhere between miles 4 and 5 during one of my run intervals my right leg suddenly tensed up and I literally felt a pop in my calf.  At first I thought I might have torn something and I slowed almost to a halt.  But after a few seconds the pain went down a lot and I was able to walk with a limp.  After a few minutes of walking with a limp I was able to walk with just pain and no limp and at that point decided that I was going to try and finish even if it meant walking the rest of the way.  

I tried to set in a walk pace at an 18 minute mile rhythm and just kept focusing on getting to the end.  I reached the turn around point in less than an hour and half even with the last mile and a half being at walking pace but then took over two hours to walk the second half causing my ending time to come in at 3 hours 32 minutes and 59 seconds by the chip in my shoe (which measured when I actually crossed the start line and then the finish line at the end).  I was very fortunate that at about the mile 8 marker I was able to team up with another walker and we paced each other to the finish trying to walk at that 18 minute mile pace.

Katie and Kristy kept up a very good pace and even with her second half being about 20 minutes slower than her first half (which was expected), Katie came in at 2 hours 33 minutes and 42 seconds which was well below what her goal had been and over an hour and a half faster than what we did in 2008!  Katie finished with enough time to do a full stretch and still get in position to take some photographs of me as I approached the finish.

I had to go to the Paramedic tent afterward and was told that based on the description of what happened and the swelling that I probably had a severe pulled muscle but likely not a tear as I wouldn't have been able to walk the last 8 miles if I had torn the muscle.  They iced up my leg and then released me with instructions to ice it again at home and rest my leg for a while.  I couldn't put any weight on it yesterday, but this morning my leg is a lot better though still quite tender and painful to walk on. Hoping that a few days rest will allow it to recover and then a little P.T. will get it better as Katie and I want to do a Half Marathon in March in Dallas and I want another shot at a sub three hour time.

Here are photos of us before the race, Scott finishing and then both of us after the race with our finishers medals.