2006 Year in Review - Christmas blog

We have had an eventful 2006 for the Cable Family. If you found this link from the Christmas card, we thank you for your interest in our family. We are currently in the middle of the only year when we will have two middle-schoolers. Next year, Ian is off to High School. The picture was of Ian in one of Ed's suits. He doesn't normally dress this way.

We have discovered the blog and the picasaweb sites and have found that these new tools are excellent ways to share information with others who are interested in what we are doing. Family photos can be found here. Below is a paragraph from each family member.

Ed: I continue to work at Metabasis Therapeutics. This year I had a compound that was discovered under a project I was leading put into people for the first time. The press release can be read here. It was quite an interesting experience going through the drug discovery process and seeing a compound get put into people. I continue to play Ultimate as much as I possibly can to try and stay in good physical shape. You do enough research on obesity and diabetes, and you realize that physical activity and good diet are so important. I also go mountain biking when I can. I played Bob Villa and remodeled the kitchen, which was quite an endeavor, but it looks really good now. Our vacation this year was to San Francisco where we were able to visit most of the famous tourist sites: Lombard street, Fishermans wharf, riding the cable cars, and Alcatraz. Alcatraz was the best and most unexpected event of the trip. We left on the ferry to go to the island expecting to do the normal tourist events and when we got to the island, we found there was going to be a nature walk to show the wildlife that currently lives on the island. The tour guide was excellent and took us all around for about 30 minutes, showing us the plants and the birds. Of course, Judy and I asked many questions about the plants and animals. The gulls were my favorite since the gull kids will make themselves look smaller by hunching down in front of their parents, so the parents will continue to feed them. We have a picture of this behavior occurring. I told Ian that I think humans also do the same thing because he quits picking on me when he is hungry. Anyhow, becuase of our interest in wildlife, she offered to take us around the facility, particularly to places that are not currently open to the public. We got to see the prison from the guard towers, the infirmary, and stand in the Birdman's of Alcatraz final cell. You can see a picture of the cell here. Very interesting. We were quite excited that our guide asked us to come around the facility like that. There are some pictures here. We also got to walk the Dipsea stairs home of the famous Dipsea race, and double and quad dipsea races. We are looking forward to 2007.

Judy: I currently have a part-time job at Pomerado Elementary School working with grades K-3 kids that are having mild to moderate adjustment issues. Which means I get to be their best friend and play with them and get paid for it. It is an enjoyable job. I continue to run (it keeps me out of trouble). I have run several races this year: one 5K (3.1 miles), one 15K (9.3 miles), 5 half-marathons (13.1 miles), 2 marathons (26.2 miles), one 50K (31 miles) and one 50 miler. The two final races are ultramarathons, which is any distance longer than a marathon. The 50K was the lake hodges 50K, right up the road from the house. The 50 miler was the PCT50, out in the east county. You know your an utrarunner if.... It may sound like a lot of races, but the shorter runs were training runs for the two big races. I have several more planned this year, starting January 13th with the Calico 50K.

Ian: I got to be a soccer referee this year. I mostly run lines and get to call offsides and when the ball goes out of bounds. Sometimes I get to ref people that I know. It is a good part time job. I got to run with the middle school cross country club and we had several meets. The best one was the Mt Sac Invitational. We traveled on a charter bus to the meet, which is the largest cross country meet in the world. I got 95th place in my heat. You can find the results here. I also just got my legs run off at the West Coast Road Runners distance camp with Coach Dan and Steve Scott. Steve Scott is the current American mile record holder. He ran a 3:47 back in the '80s and no American has run faster. I ran a 6:20 as my fastest mile.

Alyssa: My favorite activity is swimming. I practice swimming 5 times a week and I currently swim with Pacific Swim. My favorite stroke is the breast stroke. If you want to see my times you can search for them here. I am currently playing trombone with the band and I was invited to be part of the 6th grade wind ensemble.