Christmas With The Sharps

(Christmas Day, 2008) Christmas day would turn out to be a long and busy day for us. My parents, along with Karen and Kyle, would join us for breakfast and to watch the kids opening presents.

Karen came up with an idea to pull a prank on my Dad for when arrived at our house. Several weeks prior to Christmas, Dad had hit a deer on his way home from Lake Jackson, causing lots of damage to the front of his car, and presumably even greater damage to the deer. Dad felt bad about the deer after hitting hit, knowing that his car would be dealt a better fate than the deer, since his car could be repaired. Well Dad has had this plastic deer in his front yard for years that has definitely seen better days. It's got a big hole in it's hind end and is missing a leg and an antler. Karen thought it would be funny if I were to take it home, prop it up, and write a note from the deer saying "no hard feelings" and have it offering Dad a Bud Light. Well Karen's idea worked great! It was so funny! Dad thought it was funny as well and took pictures with it.



Well I digress. Prior to Christmas, Dad and taken Christian to Walmart to test out bikes, so Santa would know which bike he liked. He would ride around outside on a Tonka bike that looked very rugged. But Dad said there were more bikes inside to look at, and perhaps there would be one he would like better. Well Christian did find one he liked better; a bike designed with the Cars movie theme. Christian would ride the bike around the bike area several times when a Walmart associate would tell us that he can't ride a bike in the store, to which my Dad would quickly and cleverly respond "What do you mean he can't ride a bike here? He can. Don't you see him riding?" The associate didn't seem too amused and said he's not allowed. Well after this, Christian would tell everybody who asked him what he was getting for Christmas, "A bike with two wheels!" since all he had was a tricycle and a car with four wheels.

When he woke up on Christmas morning, he went straight to the bike and began riding it all over the house. Reagan would sit on the tricycle and try to peddle without much success. He would see that Santa ate his cookies and drank his soy milk, leaving a mess as he has for the last 40 years. Rhian would later read him the letter Santa left.We would all enjoy an egg and pancake breakfast, and the rest of us would exchange gifts.

We would head over to Rhian's parent's house at 2 PM for a nice Trinidadian lunch and exchange presents. Christian and Reagan would have their semi-annual meeting of their Godfather, Rhian's brother Jason. ;o) Deri, Phil, Adrian, Rhonda, and Khadija would be there as well.

We would then head to my parents at 6 PM for dinner and talk about our day, and how this Christmas was truly the Best Ever.

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Christian Leaves Milk, Cookies, and a Letter for Santa on Christmas Eve

(December 24, 2008) What has been a tradition in the Sharp family since Karen and I were small, continued with Kyle and now continues with Christian. He would leave chocolate chip cookies that he and Rhian had baked earlier along with some soy milk for Santa. Christian would also spend a few minutes writing his letter to Santa, and requested privacy while doing so.
Though it wasn't legible to grownup eyes, Christian would read it to us, telling us that he said that he missed Santa Claus.
Christian was very excited about Christmas, since this was his first year really comprehending who Santa was.

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Christian Sees Santa Doing His Annual Chimney Inspection

(December 22, 2008) Dad started a tradition when Kyle was small, telling the story of how Santa Claus visits all the houses of children before Christmas to inspect the chimneys, to make sure they were okay to deliver presents. Dad would dress up in a full Santa costume and sneak up a ladder on the back side of the house while Karen would bring Kyle by the house. Dad would do this with Kyle until he was 9 or 10, until he realized that Pap Pap wasn't around when Santa was on the roof, so the last year for Kyle seeing Santa on the roof would be me on the roof and his Pap Pap by his side.

This would be Christian's first year of witnessing Santa Claus doing his thing. Dad would take time away from his new "Buddy" and suit up and resume the tradition with Christian as we were leaving. Christian is usually intimidated at first with seeing things that mean a lot to him, and I thought the sight of Santa would scare him. Christian was actually happy to see him and actually waved to him. Reagan would see Santa on the roof as well as her Aunt Karen held her. Santa would give Christian the thumbs up, and Christian then knew that all would be well at Christmas.

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Dad Gets His Christmas Gift Early, Doggone It!

(December 22, 2008) Ever since Dad had lost his beloved Golden Retriever, Shadow, last year, we (mainly Karen) have asked him if and when he was getting another dog, he would always reply, "Maybe later" or "After (insert event)". Karen decided that Dad was ready or another dog this Christmas, and wanted to get it as a gift. Dad had mentioned he wanted a yellow lab this time, so Karen began researching information well ahead of time. Dad preferred that his next dog be AKC registered, as was Shadow. Well Karen found out that they aren't cheap, and solicited the help of Mom and myself. (Don't worry Karen, I WILL get you your $30 ;o>) After much research, Karen, with Kyle's help, found a puppy they felt was right and bought it. She kept it at her house for a couple of days, waiting until Dad was finished giving his now famous Christmas parties and could relax and take time to care for his new gift. We decided the Monday before Christmas would be best and planned on how we would surprise him. I brought Christian over so he could build a gingerbread house with his Pap Pap. Mom came up with the initial plan, which was for Karen to sneak the puppy into the patio at Dad's house while I and the kids would have him distracted elsewhere in the house. Well I kinda messed that up. I was looking out in the patio trying to find a reason to take him out there. Well, Dad noticed me and asked what I was looking at, and decided to take me out there to show the electric fireplace he had recently purchased. So I had to call Karen with a quick plan B, and she decided just to bring the puppy into the house normally and put him under the Christmas tree. Well just before Karen could put the puppy underneath the tree, Dad had finished showing me the fireplace and headed back into the house. Karen and Kyle tried to make a wall to hide the puppy. Dad thought it was someone he hadn't seen in long while hidden behind them. He then saw the puppy and immediately fell to the floor to play with it.
Dad was so happy with it he had a tear in his eye. Karen told him that she had nick-named him Buddy and Dad thought that would be a good name for him. Dad would play with Buddy for a while and eventually take him for a walk, all the while mentally planning the time he will spend on Lake Jackson with him, along with traveling to and from the lake with him.Dad would wear Buddy out and Buddy would take a much needed nap.
According to Mom, the timing with Dad's gift was perfect. After having finished giving all his Christmas parties, no longer having to worry about decorating, and having done pretty much everything he could do at the house on Lake Jackson, Dad commented to Mom the night before that he had no idea what he was going to do. Well, I think that problem has been solved for the next 10-15 years. :o)

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Dad's 2008 Annual Christmas Party

Today was Dad's annual Christmas Party. This used to be an exclusive, invitation only party for family and Mom & Dad's friends. A couple of years ago he made it an "open house" party, so as to not put pressure on those that were invited. He would then hold parties over several weekends to accommodate Karen's, Mom's, and Kyle's friends.
This year he decided to have my friends, Karen's friends, and his friends come to the same party. It would have been okay if Karen wouldn't have invited ALL her friends. See, Karen is a pretty popular person, and she has lots of friends who mostly all have families. So needless to say, we had a really large turnout, especially considering the fact that most of Karen's invitees couldn't make it! ;o) Despite all this, (LOL) the party turned out to be very nice, with plenty of food, plenty of good conversation, and of course Dad's magic shows, one each for the kids and the adults.

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Visit to Savannah to Run The Savannah River Bridge Run

(December 6, 2008) The family traveled to Savannah last Friday to visit with old friends Bill Cobb and Mark Dempsey from the college soccer team at Armstrong State College to run The Savannah Bridge Run. We ran what is called "The Double Pump", which is essentially a 15K, running both the 5K and 10K races back to back. Our team name would be One/Not One (an inside joke on one of the members of our team).
The 5K was supposed to start at 8 AM and the 10K at 8:45. The 5K starts on Hutchinson Island, which is on the other side of the bridge just before you get into South Carolina, and you have to take a trolley to get there. Due to the fact that the there was major transportation issues, the 5K didn't start until 8:45 and the 10K started at 9:25. It was a cloudy and cool 45 degrees at the start with very little wind. I had been up all night coughing with a bad cold, and had taken lots of cough medicine and nasal spray in hopes that I could finish both runs. I felt great running the 5K, and the bridge, which is a 5.5% grade, didn't seem too bad. I would finish the 5K in 27:53, and believe it or not, I ran the whole way with my shirt on! The good thing was that I hardly coughed after finishing.
Getting to the 10K start proved to be a little tricky, since it started on the other side of the 5K course, which meant you had to cross through the finishing runners. The only other way to avoid with was to go against the flow of 5K finishers and go around the finish of the 5K, which wasn't feasible. While standing on a corner waiting to cross (Bill and Mark had already crossed), a cop was telling us to go around, since we were obstructing the finishers. While he was saying this a runner made a hard tangent to the corner and purposefully gave me an elbow! Unfortunately I couldn't see who did it as the cop was moving us back. Fortunately I was able to catch up with the others and get to the 10K start on time. I would get rid of the shirt about a half mile in, and Mark would tell Bill to mark the time I went shirtless. I felt great the first half of the 10K, and started getting gastric pains at exactly the 5K mark right before crossing back over the bridge. I contemplated walking, but the pain shortly went away and I was able to run the rest of the way with no issues. The nice thing for me running the bridge was that you knew exactly how far it was to the top and could see it the whole way. I would finish strong in 57:47, and not have any issues coughing at the finish. All the double pumpers would get nice beer mugs at the finish, and we all had lots of free beer after. Later that evening I would join Bill at Marks house and watch the SEC Championship game between Florida and Alabama.

Thanksgiving with the Sharps

As with most years, the Sharps (as well as Rhian's family) have lots for which to be thankful. We all have our health and we all remain close. As is tradition in the Sharp Family for over 25 years now, at least one or more Sharps participate in the annual Atlanta Marathon/Half-Marathon in downtown on Thanksgiving morning. Dad started it back in the early 80's by running the marathon and the rest of us would be out there to support him. When the 90's came along, Mom and I would join Dad and we would all run the half marathon. Rhian would eventually start running it and on two occasions, Karen would run it.
This year, Rhian, Mom, and I would run it and Dad would be our transportation to the start and at the finish. The weather at the start this year was a clear and crisp 33 degrees with no wind. This was a stark contrast to the start of last year's race, which began at a humid 65 degrees with rain, wind, and some lightning. Those that know me at the races know that I am usually shirtless when the temperature is at or above freezing. I don't do this to bring attention to myself like those at a Green Bay Packers game in January, I do it because when I run, I generate enough heat to warm an entire house! ;o) I would start the race with a long sleeved shirt, but it would soon be gone at the first mile. Of course I would garner many looks at comments, as I didn't see one other person shirtless the entire race. What I noticed while running shirtless (while everybody else was in tights, gloves, and ski caps, (and this is by no means a generalization, only my observations from THIS race), but White people would just look at me (or look at each other, as if to say "Don't look too quick, but look at that guy with no shirt!")and then I could hear them make their comments after I would pass. Not one would say anything to me directly. Black people were more honest, and said things such as "Aren't you cold?", "Where's your shirt?", "You're crazy not to have a shirt!" and "Do you want a shirt?". While running up cardiac hill at the 7 mile mark, one guy said "That's what I needed to see! Someone running shirtless to help me up this hill!". I don't know why people feel that they can't be honest and say what they want to say! Anyhow, that was my non-biased observation from the race. Well back to the race. My goal was to run a 1:57, or a 9 minute/mile pace. I would hit the first mile in 8:45 and the second in 8:40. I kept thinking to myself that I need to slow down, that I can't keep this pace for 13.1 miles, but I would through the whole race and finish in 1:55:14, a 14 minute improvement over last year. The nice thing about this year's race was that there would be mylar blankets provided to all finishers. What would be poetic would be the person who would hand me my blanket at the finish, Gerald Miller. A top age group runner/race-walker for years, Gerald is notorious for running all the Atlanta Track Club races shirtless, regardless of the temperature. Rhian would finish in 2:09:51, an improvement of 27 minutes over last year! Mom would finish in 3:01:23, an improvement of a minute and 30 seconds.
We would go home and all 4 of us would take naps before heading over to my parents house for dinner. Unfortunately Christian was sick with a bad cold and a 102 fever and wouldn't eat. We all had a great meal and would go outside and watch the annual lighting of the lights.

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