Final Piece of the Puzzle?

For the past 2-3 weeks I have been trying to locate an old friend, and I feel like it's turned into a puzzle that is finally about to be completed. The reason I'm trying to get in touch with this old friend (Doug C) is because to my knowledge, he is the only ultramarathoner that I know. If my memory serves me correct, I have not seen him since I was about 9-10 years old. We used to go to church with him back then until he moved to Katy, Texas. I've always thought he was a neat guy, for several reasons. In 1970, he led, with Joey Abboussie, the Wichita Falls High School Coyotes' football team to the state championship game as the quarterback. They lost by one point. He used to take a bunch of boys from church to Lake Texoma for an annual camping trip. It was on one of these trips that I experienced my first snipe hunt. It was either me or my brother that got so scared at the sight of these snipe birds that I(he) literally ran across water. It was also on one of these camping trips that Doug got out of his sleeping bag (not in a tent) and approached the female park ranger who paid a visit late one night in only his underwear! HA! I also remember being in his wife's Sunday School class and getting in trouble with 2 other boys for writing bad words in the Sunday School book. We were in the 2nd or 3rd grade. Doug sat us down like adults and explained to us that we should not have done that, told us he understood we were just being boys, and told us he wouldn't tell our parents what we did. It was also Doug that participated in a Hands-On-Marathon where he kept his hand on a truck for many many hours (maybe a few days) hoping to be the last one standing to win the truck. If you took your hand off the truck, you were out of the competition. On occasion, the contestants would get a short break, and Doug would choose to run instead of rest. He made it pretty far, but got tricked into checking a little message attached to a sandwich causing him to remove his hand from the truck and consequently himself from the competition. It isn't until now that I more fully appreciate something else he once did. He, along side a doctor, giving him a special solution of electrolytes, attempted to run the 100 mile course in the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred bike race. He made it approximately 75 miles before stopping. Amazing!

So lately, I have had this burning passion to become an ultramarathoner. For those still reading who don't know what an ultramarathon is, it's basically any run that is longer than a marathon, or 26.2miles. My goal is to run a marathon in December and then run my first ultramarathon next spring. I'll start with a 50k race, which is 31 miles, and over the next few years, hopefully work up to 50 or even 100 miles. I LOVE the challenges of endurance running - you have to have a lot of stamina, learn how to treat your body during the run, stay hydrated, stay fueled up with carbs/protein, stay smart and focused, and ignore the pains until the endorphines kick in and then keep hydrating/refueling so you avoid exhaustion (the wall) where your muscles fill up with lactic acid and are unable to burn up anything else. It's much more a mental challenge than a physical one. Anyway, I'm very driven to train towards this.

One of my philosophies in life is in any new endeavor, educate yourself as much as possible by going straight to the horse's mouth. Talk to people who have direct experience with whatever endeavor you are seeking. So, I've decided to try and contact my ultramarathoner friend, Doug. I've gone through quite a series of twists and turns to get in touch with him. I started out by trying to find him on the internet in Katy, Texas, but was unsuccessful. My dad told me he recently ran into an old friend who said he had recently talked to Doug. So, I called this guy's dad wanting to get in touch with him, who coincidentally was sitting right beside him! He recommended I try contacting these other 2 guys who are friends with Doug. I tried contacting one, but haven't been able to connect. When I tried the other, it was actually this guy's father I was calling, whose wife informed me had passed away 5-6 years ago. However, after explaining my situation, she gladly gave me her son's phone number as well as her granddaughter's number (my age) and said either could probably tell me how to get in touch with Doug. I tried her granddaughter several times but could never connect. This guy's mother informed me that he would be out of town until this past weekend. So, I called him tonight and actually got in touch with him!! I also knew this guy from 20+ years ago, so it was neat to talk to him. He said he hasn't talked to Doug in several months, but he knew Doug was about to move to Dallas. He didn't have his home or cell number, but he gave me 2 possible phone numbers to try at Doug's work. He wasn't sure if either number was actually good, but it was more than I had before so I thanked him. After trying the 2 numbers, one was not in service and one was the technical support line for some energy company. So, for grins, I typed in the company name and Houston in google.com. Low and behold, there's a company by that name in Houston! I called the number and maneuvered my way through the voice prompts to the directory. I punched in the letters for Doug's name, and guess what I hear on the other end? A recording of Doug saying his name! So, I pushed pound to connect to his line, heard his voice mail, and left a message. WOW - what a journey to finally reach him!! So, I finally feel like the last puzzle piece is being put into place. Hopefully tomorrow he will return my call and my journey will be a success. Then I can pick his brain about being an ultramarathoner...and if all the stars line up, maybe if he's in Dallas, we could actually meet up and run together! This other guy that gave me Doug's number (sort of) said Doug just had a rare form of leukemia 2 years ago, was treated, and is now completely cancer free. He said he stopped running for awhile during the treatments, but he thinks he's started back up recently. So maybe that was a long and boring story, but it's a big deal to me, and I look forward to talking to Doug. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm finally able to run again. I've been running 5 times in the last 9-10 days, and each time I feel better and better. I am now completely pain free and am back up to 5 miles. My pace is only about 10-15 seconds per mile slower than my pre-injury pace. I suspect I will be back to my 6-8 mile runs at a sub-10 minute mile pace within another week or two. Last night was the first time I was able to let go, relax, and just run...as opposed to counting laps and worrying about aches and pains that could be a lingering injury. All of my running recently has been at the track, which in some respects has been a complete beating! Do you know how intensely boring it is to run 20 laps around a track?? However, I am sooooooo grateful that I'm able to run again, so I'm not complaining.

OK, just so I can say this blog is not JUST about running, is it just me or is Drew Carey an odd replacement of Bob Barker on The Price Is Right?

Injury Update

I'm working from home right now, but there's a lot of waiting while each process runs in the background so I thought I'd blog. I am suffering severely from not being able to run. At first it was endorphine withdrawals, and now it's a physical deterioration. I feel bad a lot now, I'm less motivated at work and home, I can't think as clearly, and I'm obsessed with the fact that I can't run and it's killing me! Running is amazing on so many levels, and the realization is magnified in its absence. I won't bore you with the reasons I love running, but I love it even more now that I can't do it. ARGH! My foot is feeling much better, but I don't think it's completely healed yet. Last Saturday morning it was not hurting, but when I ran a slow mile around the track, it started hurting again so I immediately stopped, went home, and iced it. Since Sunday it has not hurt at all, but I'm resting this whole week too so I don't rush back into running. I will try again this coming Saturday and see how it is. I HOPE it's better. I'm thinking it's probably not a stress fracture, but tendonitis instead...but I can't be 100% sure. Meanwhile, I tried learning how to swim freestyle so I could swim laps until my foot heals. Wow - there's a lot to think about, it takes coordination, and it just flat out makes me tired after 1-2 laps!! I've also tried riding a bicycle, but the last 3 nights I had issues with a tire/tube. Tonight I finally rode, but it was too dark and there was more traffic than I was comfortable with. ARGH! So much for cross training!! I can't wait until I can run again!!

Keep crossing your fingers - the football coach at Boswell called me tonight and there's still a good chance I'll get to do stats at the games! I am so pumped about that!!

Fantasy Football is right around the corner. Both the Texas Thunder Thighs and the Lambeau Leapers will win their respective leagues this year!! Take that to the bank!!

Football Stats and Stuff

OK, so I missed the entire month of June. Sorry! A lot has happened in the last 6 weeks, but I'll just do bullet points instead of my normal 647 page blog.

• I got fitted for new running shoes and they are amazing!! My first test run I went 14miles and felt great! One week later, after a few more 6 milers, I got a little too motivated and ran 16 miles (thanks to Dean Karnazes - check out www.ultramarathonman.com). Something bad happened. The outside of my left foot started KILLING me about 2 hours after my run. I sure hope it's not a stress fracture, but it could be a slight one. The pain eventually went away for the most part and this past Thursday I ran a slow and easy 4 miles on the track (soft surface) and didn't have any trouble with my foot. So yesterday I go on my normal 6 mile course and finally, just past the 3 mile marker, I had to stop and walk home because my foot was killing me again. UGH! It still hurts today. This is very upsetting, a big mental setback...hopefully not too much of a physical setback. My marathon is not until Dec 9th, so I have time to heal, I just hope I can find the patience. I've lost 34 pounds now and I can just see the weight coming back on since I can't run for at least a week now. ARGH!!!
• Seriously, go check out www.ultramarathonman.com. This guy seems perfectly normal, but he runs marathons just about every day. Oh except for his weekly 100 mile training run. He has run 262 miles straight without stopping - that's 10 marathons!! He orders pizzas while running. They deliver pizza to him and he rolls it up like a burrito and eats it without missing a step! He ran for 75 hours, through 3 nights without sleeping and actually fell asleep running!! I just HAD to buy his book and I read the first 100 pages Friday night!! I have NEVER read that much in one night! NEVER!!! It is so fascinating.
• We sold Lambeau. It was a very difficult decision, but ultimately my kids' livlihood won out over the dog. They didn't like going outside anymore because he always knocked them over, stole their toys, ran away and chewed them up. I think he went to a good home.
• I also sold my truck! I finally sat down and listed it on autotrader.com, paid extra for the 8 week listing, and less than 16 hours later had sold it for $200 more than what I had hoped to get! If you ever need to sell a vehicle, I fully endorse autotrader.com!
• You know what I love about work? Coming home from it! I'm so lucky to have the family that I do! I love my wife and my kids and I love being at home with them. I think it's about time to teach Caleb how to pee off the back porch. HA! I was throwing the football with him today and I must say...he's pretty darn good! I showed him where to position his fingers on the laces, and he actually kept trying to do it by himself quite a few times! And the girls...isn't it crazy how three daughters from the same set of parents growing up in the same house can all be so different? I love them all and everything about them that makes them unique. Jenn, I love you and thank you for supporting my habit (running-ha!) and for making our home a place I look forward to coming home to and for loving and caring for our kids and being a wonderful mom!!
• I'm giving some serious thought to buying the Sunday Ticket this year. It's a little pricey, but we would LOVE the chance to watch Favre and the Packers every single week!! Since it will probably be his last season. Can't wait until late November when they come to Dallas!
• Have you ever met someone for the first time and then thought about the brief encounter all day long? Well, I did today. At church this morning, I overheard a guy introducing himself, and his name perked my attention. I knew the name but not the face. So I sat there small-talking with a friend while listening to the head football coach of Boswell (Saginaw) tell another guy about some of his expectations for the approaching season. WOW!! How cool is that?! The opportunity didn't come for me to introduce myself to him right then. The service started and I saw him sitting out there, and admittedly, was distracted the whole time I was playing keys in the worship band with introducing myself to Coach. After the service, I tried to catch up with him, but he left very quickly. So as I'm at the nursery door telling Jenn that the head football coach from Boswell was at church, she laughs and tells me she just met his wife and exchanged phone numbers and talked about getting together. Jenn asked if I met him and right after I said no, he comes walking by so I stop him and introduce myself and Jenn to him. Jenn tells him that she just got to know his wife, etc. After exchanging greetings and kid talk and "where ya froms" (didn't like telling him I went to Rider when he asked, because Rider ended Boswell's season last year!), the conversation quickly leads to football, and before you know it, he's telling me he needs someone to do stats at the games if I'm interested! WOW!! You better believe it!! It's a dream come true!! I'm going to call him and talk more about the details of doing it, so it's not a for sure thing yet, but I am literally beside myself with excitement at the potential!! It has been difficult for me to think about anything else all day today! HA! I would absolutely LOVE doing that! Keep your fingers crossed...

OK this is long enough. Maybe I'll try to blog like this more often to avoid the HUGE postings. Hope you're doing well!

Half marathon a huge success!

It is truly an unbelievable feeling to have accomplished what I did today. Just 2 short months ago (maybe less), completing a half marathon was a distant dream that I wasn't sure could ever happen. Now, I'm sitting here with sore knees and tired eyes after successfully running 13.1 miles this morning. It was a great run in so many ways! New scenery, the company of very strong runners, nice course, lots of people cheering on the sidelines throughout the whole run, and most importantly, I felt very strong!! I'm used to hitting a wall in about the 7th mile(the point in a run where you lose everything and are overcome with an intense urge to stop running - do you give in to your body's request or push it to the next level?). However, today I never hit the wall. I started at a slow 11 minute per mile pace so I could conserve as much energy as possible without running TOO slow. I don't know if it's a subconscious muscle memory thing or what, but I'm amazed at how close I can get to my goal pace. The first 3 miles I literally ran at exactly 11:00 each. Starting in to the 4th mile, I was pleased at how I felt, so I got off rhythm a little and accidentally kicked it up about 20 seconds per mile, but as I passed the 4 and 5 mile marks, I didn't get too concerned because I was feeling very strong still. During the 6th mile, I maintained my 10:40 pace and mentally started preparing for the approaching "wall". I sucked an energy gel pack down and got two cups of water at the next water station (ever try to drink water from a cup while running? It's not easy - I choked 3 times!) . At the 6.5 mile marker, we turned around and headed back, and I was still feeling strong, no wall. Miles 7, 8, and 9 came by, and I was still at my 10:40 pace feeling great! After 9 miles, I started paying more attention to how many miles were remaining instead of how many I had run. I got excited when I realized I only had 4 more miles to go!! I was starting to think I may finish this run without having to walk! At the 10 mile marker, I crossed over and told myself, from this point forward, I'm setting a new personal distance record. There's nothing that hypes me up more than breaking a distance record!!! However, my excitement was tapered a little by the pain in my knees. I've been fighting off tendinitis in my right knee, and at this point in the run, both knees were pretty sore. It wasn't enough to concern me, it's just typical soreness from pushing your distance - so I kept on at a slightly slower pace. I also try to "glide" more as I run through the discomfort to decrease the impact as much as possible. I eventually made it to the 11 mile marker and my knees finally reached the "numb" stage, where you know they're sore, but you can't really feel it anymore. There was a water station at 11 miles, so I got two cups again and settled in for an attempted "strong" finish. Emotions started rising at this point as I knew I was nearing the end, and I was passing runners who started too strong and were losing the battle. Let me rewind for a minute - at about the 1 mile point, I noticed a girl about 10 feet ahead of me who had about the same pace, so I just kept an equal distance from her, especially after hearing her tell one of her friends who was passing that she was at an 11:00 pace, but would kick it up to 9:00 at 6-7 miles. So, I figured I could try to pace myself with her until she kicked it up and then I would just stay back. About 5 miles in, she steadily increased her speed and I eventually lost sight of her. Well...just past the 11 mile marker, lo and behold, who do I see up ahead?? Yep, it's her. I could tell that I was slowly gaining on her, which added to the emotion of the race...so I kicked it up a notch without increasing my cardio too much. You can probably guess what happened at the 11.5 mile marker...yep, I passed her! I felt so victorious!! I kept my pace up and ran hard. As I crossed the 12 mile marker, I was in such disbelief of how great the run was going that I attacked the last mile like there was no tomorrow. The excitement and a deeper sense of accomplishment than I have ever felt in my entire life propelled me forward. I was almost overcome with joy, pride, satisfaction, and yet disbelief at the same time - it was indeed an emotional experience. A few people I passed looked at me like I was crazy, but I didn't care. I wasn't just merely going to finish this half-marathon, I was going to OWN it!! Kill it - crush it - make it MINE! I knocked over a minute off my pace time in my 13th mile and then did a full out sprint the final one tenth of a mile. It was incredible!!! Such a rush!! Those last two miles I was in such a state of euphoria, it's almost like an out of body experience. Amazing.

Jenn and the kids arrived 12 minutes after I crossed the finish line, but the directions I gave her were not as specific as they could have been - it was my first time there, all the way in Dallas, so I didn't know exactly how to tell her to get there. Sure, I wanted them there to cheer me on as I crossed the finish line, but even more than that, I felt bad that she had a hard time finding the place with 4 kids in the van. Thanks for trying Jenn (I'll take credit for not doing a better job of getting clear directions beforehand - sorry!)!! We'll plan the next one better.

So where do I go from here? I've been reading about how you should "recover" from a half-marathon (or full), and surprisingly one of the common side-effects is a mild state of depression. I honestly don't see that happening to me right now because of how excited I am still, as well as my new goals I have embraced, but I guess I'll have to monitor that (let me know if I weird out on you, Jenn). Other than that, I think I will take it easy this coming week and just do some walking and light jogging, maybe 2-3 miles. I could also gain a few pounds as my muscles retain water to aid in the repair and recovery process, but that weight should come back off within a week or less. Now for the big thing - I am going to run a full marathon December 9th in Dallas!! Or maybe we'll plan a trip in November to Austin or San Antonio for a marathon there. Honestly, today I feel like if I would have maintained my pace in the 12th and 13th miles, I could have run 17 miles. With 5-6 more months of training (double what I've already done), I feel very sure that I can complete a marathon. Key word - complete, not WIN! I'm excited about that! When I first started running, I dreamed of a half-marathon, but never even considered a full marathon until just recently. There's a good lesson here...you should always dream big. Don't blow something off because you think it's unattainable, just dream big and take one baby step at a time...eventually you will gain confidence in reaching your dream. I recently read a statement in my Runner's World magazine from John Kelley, multiple winner of the Boston Marathon in the 50s & 60s (in fact, 8 years IN A ROW). He said "Follow your heart, it's the one thing you can count on. Let your passion ignite bonfires, and feed the flames every day. The things we do should consume us. If they don't, our lives won't have any meaning." I love that. I recognize the potential danger in allowing our passions to consume us, but if you can keep a healthy balance, you can accomplish it. Dream big. If you don't know what your dreams are, take a few moments (by yourself with no distractions) and think about it...everyone has hope for something...a material possession, a vacation, a new skill, an accomplishment, anything. If you're married, share it with your spouse and see how each of you can help each other achieve them! Jenn, I thank you for supporting me in training for this half-marathon, and I want to help you achieve your dreams!!

Just for grins, you can go to http://www.thrustonracing.com/results/070520.html and see the results from today's race. In my gender/age group (men30-34), I came in 17th place!!!! That sounds really good, until you throw in the part about there only being 21 finishers in my gender/age group! HA! Yeah, I'm slow, but I finished!! :)

I'm going to bed now, but real quick - I am LOVING my Jeep!! Everytime I ride in it I love it more!

Jeep

So I finally get to cross off another achievement on my lifetime dream list - today I took the plunge and bought a Jeep Wrangler! When I set out for my purchase about a week ago, I was specifically looking for a few things that I wanted in my Jeep - black, soft top, 6 cylinder, and standard. After seeing the small price difference in a base model 2007 and a used 2003-4, I decided to test drive the 2007. I plan on keeping this Jeep forever, so I might as well consider a new one, right? Well, the 2007's are very nice, but I think they're almost too nice. They've made DRASTIC improvements to the body (length/width), drive train, suspension, etc - it is a much smoother ride and you can get power windows, locks, and keyless entry. I'm sorry, but this is a JEEP, not a luxury vehicle. Jeeps are supposed to be bouncy, muddy, and MANUAL - EVERYTHING MANUAL. So I decided I definitely wanted a 2006 or older model. Well, I found a 2005 Sport model at James Wood - and guess what. Black. Soft top. 6 cylinder. Standard. AND I got it for about $2,200 under NADA market value. WAHOO!!! I pick it up Saturday morning! I AM SO EXCITED!! Here's a few pics, but don't think that top will be staying on long....

Just real quick, here's an update - I've lost 28 pounds now. I did good in my 10k Zoo Run a few weeks ago. My biggest accomplishment was starting slow and finishing strong. The first 3-4 miles people were passing me, but I maintained the pace I wanted. The final mile and a half, I kicked it up a notch and probably passed 50 runners who were struggling to finish. It was an awesome feeling! Since then, I have increased mileage a little. Last Sunday I ran 9 miles and this Saturday I'm running 10. Next weekend (May 20th) is a half-marathon in Dallas. It's sooner than when I wanted to try one, but the next one after that is not until November!! So, I'm going to give it my best effort. If I run the first 5 miles at an 11 minute pace, then I feel like I can finish the full 13.1 miles ok. I must admit, I'm nervous about it, but at the same time I think it's definitely possible to run the whole thing without stopping. If I stop, it won't be until mile 11 or 12, so if I conserve my energy, don't run too fast out of the chute, find my rhythm early, and stay hydrated enough, I think I can pull it off. I'm thinking it will take about 2 hours and 20 minutes. I can't imagine the feeling that will overcome me at the finish line...that is what motivates me. Couch potato to half-marathon runner in 11 weeks!! I'm no superman, I just made a decision to do it, and have religiously stuck to it - anybody can do it, that's for sure! So, what are you waiting for??? :)

Major League Hail Storm

So Friday evening as I'm pulling in to Saginaw, I hear the tornado sirens going off. I can see a few funnel clouds, but no tornados falling from the sky yet, so I rush home to check on the family. As I pull on to my street, I notice something I have never seen this close before! Practically right above our house, I see a HUGE funnel cloud with circulation just a few hundred feet above the ground!! I meet Jenn at the door and let her know it is serious and to put the mattress over the kids in the bathtub. Now I, on the other hand, am so fascinated by such an incredible sight that I stay outside and watch the developing tornado. It was un--be--lievable. Sure, it was probably a stupid thing to do, but I accept that. Thank you. As the funnel cloud continues on to the neighborhood behind us, golf balls (and larger) start falling from the sky, so I run inside to check on the family. I say nothing of the funnel cloud behind us, but I explain to kids that the sirens are going off because of the hailstorm, trying to keep them as calm as possible. They did great! The hail storm lasted a good 5 minutes! Jenn had put the van in the garage knowing the potential for large hail was great, but our roof probably got dinged up. Insurance settlement maybe?? :) Anyway, here's a few pics of the hail -

This next picture is of the same funnel cloud that went over our house. It went on toward Texas Motor Speedway, which is where this pic was taken from.

What a crazy night!! In other news, the running is going well but the weight loss has stalled. I've lost 18lbs and have been at this same weight now for 2 weeks!! Any advice from people who have been in this situation would be appreciated. I know I could eat better. I mean, I'm doing pretty good, but I could improve on the eating thing. Still no sodas...7 weeks so far! I'm to the point where I could probably have one and be ok, but I'm scared that if I drink one, I won't be able to stop. My running is going quite well in my opinion. I've been running 5 miles every other day, and today I started a new 6 mile route! My time has also dropped to about 10.5 minute miles. I don't care so much about that, but it's nice to see my time improving without focusing on it. I'm just trying to get up to a half-marathon (13.1 miles). Maybe by the middle to end of the summer, but I'm concerned about the increasing summer heat and how that will affect my endurance. It would be nice if I could run on a treadmill on the 100+ degree days, but I can't do it. I went to the recreation center yesterday when it was cold to run on the treadmill. I set the speed so slow I was almost going backwards. Still, after about 0.8 mile, I was in a lot of pain with shin splints, so I quit and went to the weight room instead. I don't know why I can run 6 miles outside and NEVER get even a twinge of shin splints, but 8 minutes on a treadmill and I'm dying. I checked the incline and it was flat (0.0), but I'm wandering if there's a slight upward slant to the treadmill itself. Anyway, I just hope I'm able to run in the heat.

Just as you thought you escaped all the running talk, I realized I forgot to blog about the Race For the Cure! :) Thanks again to all who helped me raise $150 for the fight against breast cancer!! My very first sanctioned run was a success. I won!!! Just kidding. It was crazy at the start of the race. They had all of the non-competitive 5k walkers and 5k runners start together. So when the starting gun blew, it was pandamonium (I think that's the first time in my entire life I've actually typed that word)! After about 5 minutes of weaving and zig-zagging through the walkers, it finally started thinning out enough to run in a straight line. All of the excitement and adrenaline from such a huge event caused me to push it a little harder than my normal pace, so it was actually a bit of a challenging run. I averaged about 11 minute miles. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience though and look forward to many more events. In fact, I have signed up for the Fort Worth Zoo Run in 2 weeks. I'm going to run a 10k!! That's 6.2 miles, which is about 2 minutes longer than what I ran today. I'm hoping to run 7-7.5 miles next week sometime before the Zoo Run, but if not, I still think I'll be ok. I may not break any speed records, but it's the long-distance that I love so much about running. I'm addicted!! The feeling of accomplishment that I get every time I beat my previous distance record is so exhilarating!! I think that feeling is my drug, it's what I long for when I run. However, I'm pretty good about not pushing it too hard just to get that feeling. I only increase my distance about once a week now. When I run a route several times without increasing distance, it's also pretty exhilarating to run as fast as I can the final mile. During my last 5 mile run, after running 4 miles with some good uphill stretches, I kicked it up a few notches and finished very strong. I ran mile 5 in 9 minutes and 20 seconds...which is slow for seasoned runners, but I was pretty excited about my personal accomplishment. OK, I just realized I have been rambling about weather and running and you guys have probably had enough. Thanks for reading! Happy tax day!

Enjoying the success

Well, it's been 31 days of no sodas, no sweets, LOTS of water, less food, healthier food, working out, a LOT of running (by my own standard), and if you were to see me, you would actually see 15 pounds LESS of me! WAHOO! It's really going quite well in my opinion. I'm sure in 31 days, if I had followed an actual DIET like south beach or north beach or lemonade and pepper or something, I would have lost more, but I am very comfortable with the way I am doing it. It's more of just a change in my diet/exercise that I feel I can live with long-term. I even had a cheeseburger Sunday night at 9:30, a greasy stromboli for lunch Tuesday, two tostados loaded with cheese last night, and I actually broke through a plateau and lost 3 pounds this week! HA! To top it off, I feel like a new person! I have more energy, I'm happier, I feel WAY BETTER, and I can focus on things easier and can tell I'm a little sharper mentally. The best is right after a good run, I guess it's what they call "runner's high", I don't know. I'm up to running 4 miles every other day and I hope to stretch that to 5 miles within the next week or two, but I won't do it if it hurts too much. My dream of running a half-marathon appears to be getting closer, but I know I'm still a long ways away. My 5k Race For the Cure run is coming up - April 7th. Thanks to everyone who sponsored me with their donation. I've raised $130 so far, and a few other people have said they plan on donating. Awesome! I teased Jennifer about wearing a shirt during the run that says "Jog for the Jugs" or maybe "Support Our Rack" (Iraq). HA! She was not amused, but I thought it was funny. Obviously, I'm not taking breast cancer lightly, so I apologize if that offends you...I guess I just have a warped sense of humor. :)

A few thoughts -
* Stop voting for Sanjaya
* Read the biography of your favorite person
* Smile if you recently fertilized your yard before all this rain (like me) :)
* Download iTunes and search/download some of your favorite music
* Stop voting for Sanjaya
* If you hear of a way to buy some shares of the Green Bay Packers, CALL ME!
* The Ultimate Fighter is about to start back up
* Tip your waiter/waitress enough for them to take notice, unless of course they were bad
* Don't leave crayons out unless you want your kid to draw a masterpiece on your wall
* Do something nice for someone today

6 lbs and counting

Yes, my loyal and dedicated blog readers, in the last 7 days, I have lost 6 pounds! How? Why? Whoa boys and girls, settle down with the questions, I will explain. Ya know those little blood pressure chairs you see in WalMart and Target that make you think "I wonder how my blood pressure is?" as you walk by them only to be distracted by the question of "How did Michael Phelps get on the can of Barbasol shaving cream?" and as you turn the corner you think "Why do I always feel sort of 'taboo' when I walk by the condom section?"....and sure enough, as quickly as the thought of checking your blood pressure enters your cerebral vortex, it vanishes and you never actually sit down in one of those chairs to see how close you are to having a stroke. Well, last Saturday I stopped myself in Target and actually sat down in one of those chairs and discovered that I have borderline hypertension. I believe it was 143 over 83!! WHOA NELLY! I realize to people who actually have high blood pressure, this is probably a good reading, but I've always been closer to 110 over 70 or something like that. So, that concerned me a little and gave me some motivation to take better care of the only body I have. Also, the next day in church, our pastor mentioned how he's lost 18 pounds in 4 weeks. I talked to him afterwards and he said he's not following a diet per se, he's just drinking A LOT of water, exercising, and eating less at mealtime but a little more frequently. I can do that! So, in the last 7 days, I have not had a single soda, I have drank at LEAST a gallon of water every day, I have exercised 5 days (walking/jogging/weightlifting), I have cut back the amount I eat at mealtime, and I have tried to eat healthier snacks...like instead of a Mr. Goodbar, I eat a banana or grab some natural, unsalted almonds. I can not TELL you how good I feel! Physically and mentally. My body feels SO much better...I'm not as tired during the day, my stomach doesn't feel gurgly and sick from 4-6 sodas per day, I feel stronger, my attitude is better, I'm happier, etc. Can you imagine where I'll be in a month? I know 6 pounds isn't much, but it's a GREAT start to what I hope is a major change in my life. Seriously, I've gotten to the point (according to the scientific charts) where I am probably 35-40 pounds overweight. I'm not necessarily trying to lose that much (although I might), but if I can lose 25 pounds and be healthier and in better shape, I will be happy. I mean, I'm not going to put myself in prison in terms of a strict eating regiment. The only way I can make this work is to still eat whatever I want (sensibly), just eat less of it. For example, last week the boss bought everyone pizza. I ate 2 slices instead of 4. Three nights last week, I had my microwave popcorn, but I only ate half the bag instead of the whole bag. Probably, because of this, I won't lose 40 pounds, but losing 25 pounds and still enjoying the foods I like is a good compromise to me.

For the past year or two I have thought it would be a rewarding accomplishment to run a half-marathon. The only problem is that I never wanted to actually TRAIN for it. So, last week, I decided I would pick a sanctioned 5k run about 2-3 months away and work up to that. Understand that I do not run at all...so I'm starting from ground zero. Today I walked across the street to make a deposit at my bank and saw a pamphlet for the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure sanctioned run to raise money to help fight breast cancer on April 7th. I took one back to the office with me and looked it over, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. Even though I may not be able to run the entire 3.1 miles in a month, I can give it my best shot and walk the rest while feeling good about my registration fee going to a good cause. There's even a place in the pamphlet to list donations from various people you get to sponsor you. Awesome!! So, not only can I get a jumpstart on my goal to do a 5k run, I can try and raise money to help fight breast cancer! It's a win-win! A lady at work has already said she will donate money! You can win prizes for raising money, but that is sincerely not what is motivating me. What motivated me to try and raise money is something in the pamphlet that says "IF every participant raises $100, over $2,000,000 will be collected!" All to fight breast cancer - that is awesome!! So, I'd like to try and raise at least $100 just to play my part in that! So, if you're interested, let me know.

With this new motivation of attempting to run 5k in a month in mind, tonight at the gym (Saginaw Recreation Center - $20 annual membership - I know, that's CHEAP!) I got on the treadmill with the intent of walking 5 minutes and then jogging until I had to stop. Then tomorrow night and each night thereafter I would increase my time by 30 seconds. Every night up until now, I have only walked for 30 minutes at a very brisk pace. I was fully expecting to run for 5 minutes and then have to stop, go to the locker room, and puke my guts out. To my surprise, 5 minutes rolled around and I was feeling pretty good...my legs burned a little, but I wasn't breathing hard yet. Granted, I was jogging pretty slowly, but still. Pretty soon, 10 minutes passed and I was still feeling good and wondered if I should stop and not overdo it. Soon enough, 15 minutes and 20 minutes passed and I was still jogging! I had started to breath a little harder and my legs were getting tired, but by now, I wanted to finish my 30 minute workout, so I pushed it 5 more minutes and then cooled down. I ended up running 25 minutes without stopping!! WOW!! That was VERY encouraging! I'm sure you runners out there are not impressed, especially because I only ran 1.7 miles in 25 minutes, but to me, that FAR exceeded my expectations! I felt great afterwards too! I went into the weight room and worked on my upper body. Here I am now, almost 11pm, and I haven't fwlt this good in a very long time. Running is definitely a drug. I've heard that running one mile is like taking a prozac. HA! I believe it! I can't wait to do it again tomorrow night!

There's several other things in the pipeline that are worthy "feel-gooders". We've just decided to go with a small group from our church and help lead a weekend retreat in Winter Park, Colorado in early June. There is a brand new church in Denver that our church has adopted that is just starting up and they have asked us to lead a retreat for their church leaders to help them get on track with growing their church. I will help lead worship and possibly teach a class or help with the backyard bible school for the leaders' kids. The details are still being ironed out, so Jennifer is not sure what she will help with yet, but there will be plenty to do, so I know she'll find her place. That is exciting! We will be staying in cabins in the mountains! Colorado is my favorite place in the country, so I can not wait to bask in one of God's most beautiful creations!

Another "feel-gooders" - I talked with my boss and asked him if he could give me an idea of what he's thinking for me salary-wise over the next 5 years. He was very receptive to that and is putting a plan together that he'd like to show me sometime in the next week or two. He gave me the impression that part of my salary may be linked to assets under management, and could easily turn in to a salary close to what a marketing person would make (six figures). If this is indeed his plan, I am completely on board with that. This basically means I would get a set salary plus a small percentage of the assets we manage. Since I began working here 2 years ago, we have grown about 25-30%, which is good, but it's actually a slower rate of growth than the previous years. Anyway, I'm not intending to boast or build it up or anything, it's just exciting that we very possibly could be making a very nice income in the coming years.

Still another "feel-gooder" - I think I may actually be getting close to FINALLY getting rid of my ugly junker clown pickup and getting a jeep! Maybe next month!!

OK, as always, this is a very large post, and thanks for reading this far (Alyssa, you didn't skip paragraphs did you? I didn't mention the economy or politics or sports ONCE!). Hope you all are doing very well, and I'll probably post again in a month! I'll at least let you know how the 5k run goes! I will leave you with the following response to an email Jennifer received from our sister-in-law. Feel free to leave your own responses in a comment!

1. What time is it now? 11:14pm
2. Name? Kirk
3. What are you afraid of? how I will react when my children have to take practice TAKS tests
4. What do you drive? S-10
5. Have you ever seen a ghost? no, but I probably looked like one during my first snipe hunt
6. Where were you born? Glendale, AZ
7. Ever been to Alaska ? no
8. Ever used toilet paper for decorating trees? I wouldn't call it "decorating", but yes
9. Croutons or Bacon bits? both
10. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
11. Favorite restaurant: Texas de Brazil
12. Favorite Flower: that's gay
13. Favorite sport to watch: do I even need to answer this one? (football)
14. Favorite drink: Sangiovese
15. Favorite Ice cream: Oreo
16. Disney or Warner Brothers? I don't know
17. Favorite fast food restaurant: Taco Casa
18. What color is your bedroom carpet? Beige
19. How many times have you failed your driver's test? none
20. Before this one, from whom did you get your last email? Marcela
21. What do you do most often when you are bored? Watch recorded shows on my DVR
22. Bedtime? I hate going to sleep...usually somewhere around 12:30am or 1:30am.
23. Who will respond to this email the quickest? Jenn
24. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond: Chris Deges
25. Who is the person that you are most curious to see their responses? Josh Burgess
26. Favorite TV shows? The Office, The Ultimate Fighter, American Idol (please don't take my man card away), Saving Silverman Program
27. Ford or Chevy? I don't care
28. What are you listening to right now? Lambeau snoring
29. What are your favorite colors? blue and red
30. How many tattoos do you have? I've thought about it, but none
31. Which came first the chicken or the egg? God could have created either first
32. What would you like to accomplish before you die? I want to see my kids grow up to be healthy, self disciplined, and wise decision makers...marry wonderful people and have happy lives. I'd also like to see the northern lights, run a half marathon (maybe marathon after that), and own my own business.
33. What are your favorite birds? Quiet ones
34. How many people are you sending this e-mail to? none - I'm blogging it!
35. Do you recycle things? only bad jokes

February Posting...

Well, the biggest news of recent days is Brett Favre's decision to play again next year! WAHOO! The Packers finished the season very strong and have a majority of players returning next year, so I think we will most definitely see the Packers in the playoffs next year! And guess what - the Packers play Dallas next year...IN DALLAS! When the schedule comes out in April, we will be purchasing tickets to that game! We'd also love to go back to Green Bay again...yes, I said we...Jenn actually mentioned it, but it's not really a serious thought right now. Of course, the way my job has been going, with the mounting stress and insurmountable increasing workload, I've been fantasizing of running away with my family to Green Bay to teach math and coach high school football!! :)

Karissa went to the orthodontist yesterday for a checkup (expander) and he said she would probably be ready for braces this summer. WHAT?! If any of you readers out there (if anyone still keeps up with my sporadic postings) have knowledge or experience with this, please let us know. The plan would be to just put braces on the top as part of phase 1 of her orthodontics plan, which is the "restructuring of the mouth" phase. Phase 2 would begin around 12 years of age and be the "teeth straightening" phase. I have a lot of research/understanding to do, but my uneducated thoughts now lean more towards thinking it may be a little early for braces. She's 8! Even between now and when she is 12, she will grow a meaningful amount, so what will that do to the structure of her mouth?? I don't know...any thoughts?

In case some of you don't know, I am a nerd. Here's proof: I have been watching the tryouts to American Idol, and have compiled my prediction for the top 15. Here it is in just an approximate order:
1 Haley Scarnato (I think she could win)
2 Jory Steinburg (could also win)
3 Jason Sundance Head
4 Nicholas Pedro
5 Brandon Rogers
6 Jordan Sparks
7 Jenry Beranjo
8 Shyamali
9 Alaina Alexander
10 Sanjaya
11 Chris Sleigh
12 Paul Kim
13 Sarah Kreuger
14 Bailey Brown
15 Ebony
Last year, the very first time Taylor Hicks auditioned, I told Jenn that he is by far the most talented and should win, but I didn't think he would because people wouldn't understand him. Obviously, people DID understand him and made the right choice! So anyway, it has become a personal competition to try and pick the winner or top contestants just based on their very first audition. Hey, I have to do SOMETHING for entertainment while not working during the football offseason, right?

Caleb is becoming so much fun and I'm LOVING the dynamic of having a little boy in the mix of our brude of children. He's such a good natured boy. I look forward to the days when we can sword fight and shoot each other and play football and pee on trees and see who can spit the farthest and fix things (or learn together) and take Lambeau swimming in a lake and teach him how to be a man (I'm still learning) and all sorts of cool masculine things...but I'm also thoroughly enjoying the present.

I've been reading the biography of Vince Lombardi and absolutely love it! Jenn gets to occasionally hear something extremely boring to her that I find remarkable in the book. :) If you haven't read a biography, I encourage you to find a successful person in an area of interest to you and get their biography. This is the 2nd biography for me, and I'm starting to think I'll never need another fiction book in my life - I love biographies! It's so cool to read so much about a person's life - it's like finding hundreds of puzzle pieces about a person that you never could have even imagined existed. I find it very fascinating! I'm also being forced into reading the bible more as I go through this "learning" phase to co-lead a small group, as well as starting a very structured systematic theology class at church with weekly exams and everything! It is setup like a theology class and you are actually graded on your exams. It won't earn a PHD in Theology, but it will expand my theological knowledge greatly, and that is awesome! I learned a LOT tonight about how the bible was written, who wrote it, how it became the authority, the history of the old and new testaments separately, why each was translated from language to language over the years and the persucution that followed, along with a brief history lesson of the last 3500 years or so. Very interesting stuff!

Pardon the Indecency

Seriously, can a dog get any more comfortable than this? I laugh almost everytime I see Lambeau sleeping, because most of the time he's sprawled out on his back like this. I don't really have anything else. Just wanted to share this image. He's doing MUCH better on the "pooping in the crate" issue. In fact, he hasn't in a week now. I think it's directly related to the better food we started using. I went to a feed store and talked to a "dog food expert" :) who helped me decide to try Purina Pro Plan. I've been very pleased so far. I went back to the feed store Saturday and got the stuff to give him his 2nd round of immunizations. Jennifer held him while I gave him a shot in the skin on his back. He whimpered a little, but only for about 2 seconds and then it was over. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who is not nervous giving shots. I could take him to the vet for the same thing and pay $100, or I could get the shot at the feed store for $10. Hmm...I think I'll save the vet bill for later.

Happy New Year!

Here's my monthly post, and here's Lambeau! Just as Lambeau Field is football in its most pure element, our dog, Lambeau, is a dog in its purest element. Just look at him...you can't get anymore "dog" than that! I love him! Except for the endless nights of pooping in his crate and cleaning up after him 1-2 times during the night and bathing him every single morning to get the poop off of him. He's worse than a kid in that respect! At least they poop in a diaper and it stays contained until you change them...well, most of the time. I know he will be housetrained soon, but it's not too much fun right now making sure you take him out every 30 minutes to an hour. It's ok, I know he'll be worth it.

We had a good Christmas and New Year. It was a stressful Christmas this year for me, but I think the kids enjoyed it. Work is very stressful and it was difficult to keep that from carrying over into my Christmas spirit. Hopefully things will settle down in the next 6-8 months. I got a bunch of really good gifts, including an espresso maker, the biography of Vince Lombardi, a new football, and many other great gifts! Oh yeah, I got Taylor Hicks' CD! I'd like to buy Chris Daughtry's CD now. Also, if you've never played Guitar HEro 2 on the playstation, I would highly recommend it. It's fun for all ages, genders, and skill levels! It's like karaoke on the guitar, but you don't have to know how to play...similarly to karaoke - you don't have to know how to sing.

We watched a silly movie last night, the Da Vinci Code. I know it's just a bunch of theories and there's no real proof to it, so I can accept watching the movie for its entertainment value, but I was hardly entertained. I felt like it was an overdone drama that tried to manipulate my thoughts, but failed. At least it was a free pay per view.

As you all know, I live for football. Here we are, one hour before the first playoff game, and I am pumped! I have been looking forward to these playoffs for about 6 weeks, knowing that it was actually going to be a good playoff bracket this year. I'm sure you don't recall, but in week 2, I posted on my blog that San Diego and Chicago would be in the Super Bowl. I still feel pretty sure San Diego will be there, but I don't think Chicago will make it. I'm sure you are all interested to know my playoff predictions. Dallas will beat Seattle. Philly will beat the Football Giants. Overrated Patriots will slide by the Jets. My upset pick - Chiefs will run past the Colts (Larry Johnson will rush for 200 yards). Round 2 will be Cowboys over Bears and Saints over Eagles. I know it's crazy, but I think we could see a Dallas-New Orleans NFC championship. Dallas plays all games on the road, which is good for them. Seattle is hurting very badly in their secondary and they have trouble stopping the run. I think Dallas can beat the Bears because the Bears can not do ANYTHING offensively, and their defense has been falling apart. That's what it hinges on. If the Bears' defense returns to midseason form, they'll make it to the Lombardi match. Anyway, round 2 of AFC, we'll see the Chargers beat the Chiefs and the Ravens beat the Pats. Then the Chargers will beat the Ravens and also beat whoever makes it in the NFC. What an exciting playoff bracket we have!! On top of all this, I found out this week that the Packers are playing in Dallas next year!!! WAHOO!!! Tickets will go on sale in mid-April when the schedule is released, so be sure you buy yours! Especially if Favre comes back next year...which is a real possibility. OK, sorry for me football indulgence. I bleed football and can't help it.

After such manly talk of dogs and football and stuff, I feel a little girlish saying this next part - I'm looking forward to a new season of American Idol!! I'm going to try and predict the winner in the initial tryouts. OK, I need to go get ready for football to start. By the way, a special shout out to my brother - he's getting married today in Czech Republic to a girl he is madly in love with. She works for the organization that he is going through to go to Tanzania to work on a childrens' orphanage. She's already been to the orphanage to work, and they plan on returning there together later in the year. I'm excited to meet Katerina in a few months!

A Tribute to Troy Gilbert

As most of you know, a friend of ours was killed in an F-16 crash in Iraq last Monday. He leaves behind a wife and five children. He was flying a combat mission, bringing aerial support to American ground troops when apparently a mechanical issue caused his plane to go down. A week later, as I continue to think about Troy and Ginger and their family, my heart is still deeply saddened by their loss. It is unfathomable to think about Ginger and her children and what they must be going through. There is nothing that I can do to make the situation any better, but I have made a vow to pray for Ginger and her family every single day for the next year. I can’t go to the memorial in Arizona (Kelly, please pass on our condolences), so I wanted to write a little tribute, if you will.


Troy was absolutely one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Always smiling, he had an infectious personality – people were drawn to him. He loved his family, God, and his church. My fondest memories include the surprise 30th birthday party he threw for Ginger at his parents’ house and the tour he gave me of Sheppard Air Force Base. When I was pursuing Officer’s Training School in the Air Force (6 years ago) and giving thought to applying as a pilot or navigator, Troy took me all over the pilots’ main building and showed me everything he could. He even got special permission to let me try out the instrument simulator – VERY COOL! What I remember most about that tour is Troy’s genuine interest in wanting to help me in anyway he could. He truly was a great guy who put others before him. I guess we’ll never know the exact details of this tragedy, but we know his F-16 flew erratically before nose-diving and he never ejected. If only for my own personal reasons, I’d like to speculate (100% speculation here) that American ground troops were under heavy fire and needed help from the air…so Troy answered to his call of duty and flew into enemy territory to fight off the insurgents to save American lives when his plane suddenly malfunctioned. Though he tried, he couldn’t gain control of his plane, so he steered it away from American troops to crash without injuring anyone else. I’m sure you could find holes in this speculated theory, but this sounds like something Troy would do, unselfishly putting others before him.

May God continue to bless the lives of others as a result of the life Troy lived, and may God take care of and begin to heal his family.

Lambeau Field Journal

Saturday, November 18, 2006
Before I begin this journal, there is absolutely no way to express this experience in words, but here’s my best effort. After a smooth flight to Minneapolis, lunch in the mall inside the airport, and another smooth flight to Green Bay, the time had finally come to see Lambeau Field. As soon as we landed in Green Bay, I immediately focused on the series of events that had to occur in order to not miss our Lambeau Field tour. By the time we walked out of the airport, we had precisely 45 minutes to find a taxi, drive to our hotel, drop off our bags, get back in the taxi, drive to Lambeau Field, and find the meeting point for the tour! Not only did we make it, we had 20 minutes to spare! It wasn’t until when we were in the taxi, on the way to Lambeau Field when we saw it from a distance for the first time, that it finally hit me that we were really there – it was an exciting feeling! We arrive at the front entrance and get out to be greeted by the tall statues of Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi. Seeing these life-like statues sent a wave of history and tradition through the air and I was immediately in a very respectful state of mind as I recalled what I know of the history of these two men and what they brought to the Packers’ organization as well as the NFL. We walk in to the atrium and are amazed at the size of it. After we find the meeting place for the tour, I’m standing there looking at the pictures of greats like Bart Starr, Reggie White, Ray Nitschke, looking at the yard lines painted on the floor of the atrium that actually line up with the real yard lines on the field, feeling the presence of everything Green Bay Packers, anticipating the moment I get to see the field for the first time, and it’s just too much. I can think of 5 specific times in my adult life that tears were brought to my eyes. At the birth of each of my four children and now Lambeau Field. Yeah, maybe it’s a little corny, but if you shared the same appreciation of the Green Bay Packers - who they are, who they’ve been, where they came from, the legends born over the past 85 years, how they have changed the game, how the community owns the team and stands in line to sweep snow off of the field for free, how people literally come from all over the world to see the Packers, how season tickets have been sold out since the early 1960’s, how there is a 25 year waiting list for season tickets, how people put their name on the list so hopefully their grandkids can get season tickets, the Lambeau Leap, the Ice Bowl, the ACME Packers, Brett Favre and his magical ability to do anything on the field and yet be so humble while leading his team to success, Favre’s uncanny ability to perform at his highest during times of emotional and physical stress like losing his father, brother-in-law, finding out his wife has breast cancer and shaving his head to support her through chemo, Curly Lambeau inventing the forward pass, Vince Lombardi inventing the sweep, and the list goes on and on – but if you shared the same appreciation as me, and so many other people do, and it became your dream to see Favre and the Packers play at Lambeau Field, and then to have that dream enter your life as not a dream, but a real experience…maybe you’d also shed a tear or two. Soon after this minor breakdown, the tour begins. After a brief introduction, the tour guide led us outside to the statues and gave us a brief history of Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, and the Green Bay Packers up to where they are now with Coach Mike McCarthy. Then we went up to the 6th level and went inside a $30,000 per game luxury suite for 49 people. The anticipation of seeing Lambeau Field for the first time was killing me. I wanted to push everyone out of my way so I could rush in there and see the field. I finally entered the room and the sight of such a beautiful field made my stomach drop and I really think my heart skipped a beat. It was so much more awesome than what I imagined it would be. Again, the history of what I was seeing hit me like a ton of bricks, but luckily I was able to keep my composure and save some embarrassment in front of the other 30 people in our tour. All I could do was stare at the field and replay game moments from the past that actually took place on the very field I was looking at. I was so entranced that I probably only heard half of what the guide said. We left the suite and went down to where the locker rooms are. We didn’t get to go in the locker rooms, but we saw them from outside. The next thing was something that was truly an unbelievable experience. We walked into the player tunnel and they played a recording of what it sounds like when the players are in there – the announcer announcing their entrance and the crowd roaring outside. It was quite the adrenaline rush! Knowing that I was walking down the same tunnel that Favre and the Packers and the Packer greats from the past walked down was almost an out of body experience. I closed my eyes and could feel the presence of all the players as I walked down the tunnel, especially at the place where they preserved actual cement and bricks from the original City Stadium before the modern-day Lambeau Field where Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi actually stood to address the Packers. What an amazing thing to see and feel! As we reached the end of the player tunnel, we had arrived at the grass of Lambeau Field. It was a sensory overload! I couldn’t believe I was actually standing on Lambeau Field! I’m sure it’s illegal, but as Jennifer took a picture of me touching the grass, I pulled some and stuffed it in my pocket. I will forever have a piece of Lambeau Field! I also touched and leaned up against the green wall where Packers perform the Lambeau Leap. Of course I imagined Donald Driver catching a pass from Favre and then running up to the exact point where I was standing to leap up over the wall where the fans would catch him and celebrate with him. Hopefully we’ll see quite a few of those tomorrow! After this, the tour was pretty much over after the practice facilities were shown to us in the distance. Here I am, the night before the game recalling the events of the day, and I can’t believe it will get even better tomorrow! I will actually see Brett Favre and the Packers play a game from the 4th row in the end zone! I literally can not believe we are actually here in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and will actually see the game tomorrow. Most dreams are never attained, but this dream of mine is being fulfilled right now! I am appreciating and taking this in as much as humanly possible. I will try to get some sleep tonight before going to the tailgate party and the game tomorrow!

Sunday, November 19, 2006
We wake up early in the morning, get ready, and board the bus to Lambeau Field for our tailgate party. It is probably 25 degrees, which is much colder then 25 in Texas…it feels more like 10! We arrive at the tailgate party, 2 blocks from Lambeau Field and make our way in. There are tents set up, tables, a DJ, and Gilbert Brown (former Packer on 1996 Super Bowl team), and TONS of fans, both Packers and Patriots fans. The fans on both sides are very classy and respectful of each other. We stand in line for the food and listen to the music, which is all Packers parody songs…songs like “The Bears Still Suck” and our favorite was “I love Brett Favre” to the tune of Toby Keith’s “I Love This Bar”- very funny! I fill up my plate with bratwurst, a cheeseburger, Brett Favre’s jumbalaya, and cookies – at 9am!! What a breakfast!! The food was delicious! We then go to find a drink, and were humored to see that you had 3 options – beer, bloody mary, or screwdriver! Again, at 9am!! What a tailgate party! I guess it’s so cold up there that they have to drink alcohol to stay warm! HA! Anyway, I grabbed a screwdriver that had been sitting for awhile with the vodka settled at the bottom and enjoyed a nice glass of orange juice. ;-) After hanging around for a bit, we make our way into Brett Favre’s Steakhouse where we bought a cheesehead and then a few more souvenirs on our way to Lambeau Field. It was a party the whole way to the field! At one point, I look over and see Vince Lombardi himself walking around with a Super Bowl trophy, so I had to get my picture with him! He was a very good look-alike. As we get closer to the entrance, we enjoy looking at all of the tailgaters in the parking lot – it was a very fun atmosphere! To our surprise, when we entered the stadium, we got free towels (like Pittsburgh’s terrible towel) and Brett Favre statues! Cool! We found our seats and were AMAZED at how close we were to the field! Being on the 4th row, we were only like 8 feet from the grass. Jennifer got excited too, she didn’t realize we would be so close. By then, it was probably 30-32 degrees or so, and in the sun, we could take our coats off (we each had layered clothing on over thermals), but when the sun went behind a cloud, it got COLD again. Seriously, it felt like the temperature dropped 15-20 degrees when the sun went behind a cloud! The players started coming out for pregame warm-ups and it was awesome to see them so close! Eventually, the game started, and it was absolutely one of the coolest experiences I have ever had! As the game went on, it was a little frustrating that the Packers were so flat. They never got pressure on Tom Brady (most overrated QB in the league), they couldn’t establish the run, and they couldn’t put together a string of completions. They also had a hard time stopping New England’s offense. The Patriots weren’t impressive or anything, they just nickel and dimed us. They had just lost two in a row, so I knew they were very beatable, but the Packers had to have some things clicking, and they just couldn’t get it going. Now, if you can imagine the irony of the situation here…Favre has started 251 games in a row, which is something that is just unfathomable as a QB in the NFL. It’s a testament to his toughness and ability to play through injury and pain. However, as irony laughs in my face, Favre goes down with 2 minutes left in the half. He of course pops up immediately, but is in obvious pain, holding his arm and wrist. The trainers come out to check on him, and funny enough, so do the refs! HA! After a few minutes, he looks like he’s about to go back to the huddle, but the trainers grab him and make him walk to the sidelines. He’s carted off to the locker room for testing. It was definitely a setback, but I tried to look at the positive side…I told myself that maybe it was luck that we got to see Aaron Rodgers play too – the future QB of the Packers after Favre retires. However, he didn’t have a good game. After halftime, Rodgers comes back out and Favre never does. I kept expecting Favre to come out any minute and come back in the game, because after all, Favre doesn’t get hurt – EVER! I notice early in the 3rd quarter, maybe the 1st or 2nd series, that Rodgers starts limping a little. It turns out that Rodgers had broken his foot and finished the entire game on a broken foot, which required surgery and a screw the next day! Must be part of being a Green Bay QB – no injury keeps you from playing! A few minutes later, Favre comes out of the tunnel and to the sideline, which of course was met by an eruption of cheers from the crowd. I kept waiting for him to come back in, but he never did. The Packers ended up losing 35-0. So here we are…living my dream at the frozen tundra in Titletown USA and the Packers lose to a team I think has been overrated for a decade and don’t really respect that much, and Favre gets hurt. Sure, I could have let myself sulk and get real upset at the result of the game, but it was seriously overshadowed by the fact that I was there in person. What an amazing experience! I knew the Packers lost 35-0, but they weren’t beat by the Patriots, they just simply didn’t show up to play. The Patriots weren’t 35 points better than them, they didn’t get shut down by an amazing powerhouse team, they just didn’t show up. So the game is over and we have 45 minutes to go back to the bus. I lingered in the stands as long as I could, because I knew it could easily be the last time I see Lambeau Field in person. I knew my perspective of the field would be changed forever, since I was there in person, but I just couldn’t let go…I couldn’t say goodbye. Finally, I gave it one last sincere lookever, and we left the frozen tundra. As we were walking underneath towards the exit, I felt as if I were on the other side of a new page in the history of my life. Major events come into our lives and carve out moments in time that become a reference point forever…for me, it was Lambeau Field. We stop at a concession stand since we didn’t get up the entire game and got some hot chocolate, a soda, and another bratwurst. There’s just something amazingly delicious about their brats – I don’t know what’s different, but they are soooo delicious! We make it back to the bus and eventually back to our hotel room, where we crash and watch the second half of the Dallas Cowboys game. What a game!! They beat the Colts!

Monday, November 20, 2006
We got up, went to pickup our rental car, and drove back to Lambeau Field. Being at Lambeau Field 3 days in a row was something I could get use to! It’s so amazing how every time I saw it for the first time in the day, it was such a rush! Even on the 3rd day, I couldn’t believe we were actually in Green Bay, Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Unbelievable! We still had tickets to the Packers Hall of Fame as part of our package deal, so we (or at least I) wanted to take advantage of it. The tour was self-guided and took about 2 hours. It could have easily taken 3-4 hours if you stopped and looked at every single display and watched all of the videos and read all of the signs. It was really cool seeing the progression of the Packers from 1921 to the present, with actual equipment from the players of old and new. Leather helmets, jerseys that snap at the crotch like onesies, 80 year old cleats and shoulder pads, notes written by Vince Lombardi on the 7-4 defense, a hand-drawn chalk drawing of the infamous sweep play. There was also a setup of Vince Lombardi’s office, as well as life-size statues of players in formation at the Ice Bowl that you could stand next to. I stood next to Bart Starr and looked into the eyes of the Dallas Cowboys’ linemen and linebackers who were hungry to tackle me with all of their ferocious strength and it was quite intimidating. Very cool experience! We saw the three Lombardi trophies and made our way out of the Hall of Fame. After buying a few more souvenirs, we drove away from Lambeau Field toward Appleton, Wisconsin, where we would begin our journey home. It was a sad moment, leaving such an amazing monument behind, but life must go on. I have experienced a part of history that nobody can ever take away from me, and I hope to go back one day…with my son (and any other family member interested) :-).

Jennifer, thank you for agreeing to experience this dream with me! I am truly lucky to have a wife who loves football! YOU ROCK!

[Insert creative title here]

I'm going to attempt to write an interesting blog, despite the fact that I am fuming - totally disgusted after tonight's Packers game. I don't know if I'm more disgusted at their mistakes or the ridiculously stupid announcers on ESPN Monday Night Football. I mean, give me a break, they speak without thinking and they jump on and off bandwagons faster than I can stop yelling at them for saying something stupid! Get an opinion and stick to it - don't change your mind after every play. I emailed ESPN and gave them an earfull. I am seriously almost to the point that I will either stop watching Monday Night Football, or I will subscribe to the NFL Pass and listen to the game online while watching it on tv to hear different announcers. Also the halftime/postgame show guys (except Steve Young) - I mean, it's so lame to talk trash to Brett Favre because the Packers lost. If it makes you feel like a big man, go for it, but I think it's pretty cowardly. A few plays with different results, the Packers win, and then what would your story be? Would it be how incredible Favre is? The media makes me sick with their shallow, emotional, unintelligent, meaningless blah-blah!! OK, sorry, I'll try to calm down.

We went to the Boswell (Saginaw) high school homecoming football game Friday night. One night last week, I saw the end of the homecoming parade and I was flooded with a desire to become a bigger part of our community. I absolutely love living here in Saginaw and I never want to leave. We will upgrade our house in 3-5 years(buy a bigger one), but we'll stay in Saginaw. Anyway, we decided to try and take our whole family to the football game, but after the first 6 minutes of the game, it became clear that our kids were not at all interested in sitting there through a football game. We took them down to the end zone in the grass to let them roam a little and play, but eventually, Jenn took the three youngest kids home and came back and picked Karissa and I up in the 4th quarter. Boswell actually looked very good! The were up 21-0, 6 1/2 minutes into the first quarter!! They ended up winning 55-22, but it could have been MUCH worse very easily had they kept their starters in. Karissa and I had fun. We went down to the bottom and stood at the fence behind the football players and cheerleaders. Karissa finally built up the courage to ask a cheerleader for a football, and she gave her one! Karissa was proud! It was fun to be part of the community like that.

This strong sense of wanting to plug in more to the community brought me to research local churches again. We like Christ Chapel Bible Church, but it is so far away (relative, I know) that we still haven't REALLY gotten plugged in and we only make it about once a month. We go to small group just about every week, but church only once a month. So I found what looked like a non-denominational church online (Eagle's View Church) that's right behind Karissa's school. I scoured their website and was not turned off by anything. I was a little hesitant because it appeared the pastor's style was more life-application than expositional study. However, I've come to believe that the life-application style is almost everywhere and I may need to just feed my in-depth biblical studying desires in a medium outside of Sunday morning church. I also recognize that the majority of people (and unchurched) prefer the life-application style. I agreed with the theologies detailed on the website, and liked the fact that it would take a minute and a half to get there, so we visited on Sunday. The website said the service started at 9am, so we get there around 8:40am and see a sign outside that the services are at 8:30, 9:45, and 11am. So, I got out to go see which time was right, and was immediately greeted in the parking lot by a guy who told me this was actually the very first Sunday they moved to 3 services. So I got back in the van to tell Jenn and we were trying to decide what to do for 45 minutes until the 9:45 service. The church member came back to the van and invited us to come in for doughnuts and coffee while we wait for the next service and he would show us around. So, we said ok and went inside with him. He's my age, plays the bass guitar in the worship band, and was very welcoming. We sat and talked about the church, the pastor, their theology, etc and then we checked the kids into their rooms and went to the service. He said it was a great first time to visit because the teaching was on sex! HA! The pastor is doing an exegetical study on the Song of Solomon. Cool! It was actually very good! He seemed to do a good job of balancing the story-telling surface-level style with the more in-depth style, explaining original Greek words/translations and pointing out historical references (cultural and historical facts to bring more light to the biblical text). There were a few cheesy pet peaves that I PERSONALLY am distracted by, like clapping after worship songs and saying "amen" throughout the teaching. However, those are just little personal distractions that I can overlook because it would be a silly reason to not attend a church because of that. We met our new friend's (Justin) wife (Misty), picked up our kids, and went home. Karissa said she liked it and wanted to go back every week. Cara and Kylie could actually tell you what they learned about. They seem to have a great children's program. The church is actually affiliated to a very small degree with the baptist church, but they are talking about dropping the affiliation next year. Justin said the pastor doesn't teach like a baptist pastor and he's not sure why they are affiliated with the baptist organization. He thinks it was because when the church was started about 7 years ago, non-denominational was still pretty new so they weren't sure if they should affiliate themselves with a religion that most closely resembled their upbringing and education or just go with the non-denomination designation. The pastor went to Southwest Theological Seminary, which stereotypically has a more baptist spin, but his focus isn't so much in line with a typical baptist preacher's. Anyway, it is essentially a non-denominational church. We liked it and look forward to going back, and I am excited about it! Justin said they need another keyboard player too, so I could immediately get plugged in to the worship team. They don't have an organized Sunday School program, but they have Lifegroups which are small groups you sign up for and attend weekly. They don't have a Lifegroup specifically for young marrieds (are we still young?) so maybe we could start one up? Jenn and I met Justin and Misty downtown today for lunch and had a great visit with them. They both work downtown. Anyway, funny how things just sort of worked out so spontaneously...almost like there was a higher power involved or something....possibly....

Oh yeah, I have a blog

It's been a while since I've indulged in an excessive rambling session, so here goes. My last blog entry, I was a mere 30 years old. Those were the days...now I'm a much wiser and more mature 31. Funny how that seems old, but I still feel so young. Reminds me of the great country song...You're always 17 in your home town. It's true...when I visit Wichita Falls, I feel even younger! Anyway, this entry, as always, will be somewhat chaotic and skip around.

I went for a follow-up at the urologist today. To be brief and save you from too much personal info...I had a little side effect from the vasectomy I had to get checked out, but everything was ok, and I don't have cancer. That was good news. For the few of you out there (I know of 2 for sure) who are considering or have scheduled consultations for a vasectomy...don't worry about it. If you'd like to know about the side effect, send me an email. Josh, I'll save the details so you don't cringe. :)

Today I also went to my hearing at the Tarrant County Appraisal District office to protest the tax value of my house. They increased my tax value 13% from 2005 to 2006. This was mostly due to the fact that they had an extra 400 square feet of living space since our garage was closed in before we bought it (it was a model home). So, I won the protest with ease and they dropped the value back down to the sales price I paid for the home. Very nice...that will save us at least $5-600 in January!! Plus, we also get the homestead exemption this year. Double nice!

Here's a few funny bits - the other night I was in the recliner around 12:30 with my laptop getting ready for my fantasy football drafts when all of a sudden Cara appeared beside me. Here is the conversation that ensued:
Cara - "Dad, when are you going to get a new job?"
Me - "Do I need to get a new job?"
Cara - "Yeah." (she's very sleepy while talking)
Me - "Where do you think I should get a new job?"
Cara - "Well...you could drive the ice cream truck."
Me - "Yeah...I could do that."
Cara - "But you'd have to get some new clothes."
Me - "OK, I could do that.....Would you like to drive the ice cream truck sometime?"
Cara - "Yeah, but you'd have to buy me some new clothes."
Me - "OK...let's go get back in bed."
HA! Don't you love kids! Her ear has been hurting a little the past few days. She says "Dad, there's little pieces of cracker in my ear". "Cara, did you put a cracker in your ear?" "No, it's there because my ear hurts." "Well how did the cracker get in your ear?" "Oh, probably some time when I ate a cracker it just kinda floated around in my body and landed in my ear." So tonight I tell Jenn about it at the dinner table and Jenn tells Cara that it's just earwax. So I tell her that's what we make candles out of and Cara looks at me and says "I don't believe you!" She's pretty smart to already be catching on to my daddy lies...

Karissa had her expander put in towards the end of August. It was a traumatic experience, especially the first 2 days of rotations. But somewhere around the 3rd day it stopped hurting her and it was smooth sailing from there on out. Hopefully it will all be worth it in the end. I understand the logic behind it, but we'll still never know if it was really worth it until probably 10 years from now. She got a Gameboy Advance for letting the orthodontist put the expander in. I know, I can be a softy sometimes.

Caleb is such a blast! He is all about having fun and laughing and playing! He can throw a football...and everything else he grabs for that matter. HA! He turns 1 next Friday! Kylie is still the sensitive one. She loves to play and have fun, but she needs constant reassurance that you love her and are just playing. I think maybe she'll be the high maintenance one. But she loves to cuddle and listen to stories and is as cute as a bug!

This weekend was a bad football weekend. The Cowboys lost, the Packers lost big, the Texas Thunder Thighs lost, and the Lambeau Leapers lost. The last two are my two fantasy football teams. I'm excited about the new Keeper League I organized. I was able to find 7 other guys (in Fort Worth, besides Jeff) to form a new league where we use a performance based scoring method, and we have the option to keep up to 3 players each year for the next year...and you can trade draft picks, blah blah blah. I'm sure you are all very interested. Anyway, I hope the 'boys and the Packers just had a first week hiccup and will turn things around. The Cowboys just didn't play well for most of the game, and the Packers had some struggles, besides the fact that they were playing the best defense in the league, and a Super Bowl contender as far as I'm concerned. You heard it here first...Chicago in Super Bowl...against San Diego.

I have found myself of late watching too much tv. I watch Ultimate Fighter, UFC Unleashed, football, Survivor(starting Thursday), Two A Days, and soon the Office will be starting back up as well as Friday Night Lights and probably American Idol. I kinda quit watching the Apprentice. The nights I'm not outside with the neighbors and there is nothing on tv, I either watch NFL Network or play the playstation. I got Madden 07 for my birthday and it is awesome! I also got an MP3 player, which is really cool! If you don't have one, you should get one!

Well, I'm sure I am leaving some major news out, but I can't think of anything right now, so I will close this blog entry. Oh yeah, can you believe gas has dropped so much! I paid $2.33 today. Poor gas companies, I don't know how they're supposed to make any money now with such a significant decline in gasoline prices! HA! Economically, this is actually good from a psychological standpoint, especially with wage inflation creeping in (people are getting paid well) and a relatively full employment economy (low unemployment rate). Well, good for now, but if it gets too good, with all the money out there available to pump into the economy (more jobs, more wages = more spending in the economy) and the mere "thought" that gas prices are lower so we can breathe easier and spend more money elsewhere...it could bring more overall inflationary fears back into the forefront of the Federal Reserve and further monetary policy could be enforced (more rate hikes). So, hopefully we will kind of sit tight and maybe begin a SLOW growth rate in our economy so the Fed will leave us alone! Anyway, more importantly - Only 59 more days until GREEN BAY!!! Post a comment!

PS - I was saddened by the death of Steve Irwin. Such a tragic ending to a great man who has contributed so much to his industry. Shall I say, a tragic ending to his life, but his legend will live on forever in his field of expertise. My heart and prayers go out to his wife and 2 young children.

Green Bay, Here We Come!

I know I could wait a few more days to officially make it one month since my last post, but I think I'll go ahead and enter my August post now.

I am literally beside myself, and have been all week. Why, you ask? Sure, I'd be GLAD to tell you! I called Monday morning and made reservations everywhere for our dream come true trip to Packerland...Titletown...Brett Favre & the Packers' very own...Lambeau Field. The pinnacle of all sporting arenas as far as I'm concerned. We fly out Saturday (Nov18th) morning at 6am and arrive in Green Bay at 11:40am where we will take the courtesy shuttle to our hotel and check in, and then go to Lambeau Field!! All transportation all weekend is included in the package deal we purchased. We have a 3pm tour of Lambeau Field scheduled! We will get to see everything! Even walk on the field! Either before or after that, we will tour the Packer Hall of Fame. Saturday night, after dinner (maybe at Curly's in the Lambeau Field Atrium!) I think we may hitch a ride to a casino. Sunday morning we will ride to Brett's Steakhouse at 9am for a lil tailgating party! Whenever we finish there, we will walk 2 blocks to Lambeau Field and walk around or watch the Packers warm up and eventually sit down and experience the ultimate in football. A Packer game at Lambeau Field!! We paid extra to get lower level end zone seats. What they will do is take all of us who ordered a package 2 weeks before the game and randomly assign seats. We are guaranteed to be in the end zone somewhere between rows 1 and 20. Today I called back and requested seats at the tunnel so we can high five the players! (ok, maybe that's corny, but ask me if I care) She said they can try to accomodate my request, but there are no guarantees. After the game, we'll grab dinner somewhere and do whatever comes next...casino again or something else, I dunno. Monday morning we can sleep in. Instead of taking the only flight out of Green Bay at 6:30am (there are other flights but the price doubles) we decided to rent a car that day and drive to Appleton, 20-25 miles away, and fly home at 3:20pm. The hotel has an indoor pool/hot tub, but also an indoor putt-putt golf course and bowling alley, and free cocktails at the hotel bar are included with our package. This trip has been very distracting this week because it is literally ALL I have thought about since Monday!! GO PACKERS!!!

In other news, there has been a lot of female turf-wars drama at work...and that is not fun at all. We've made it over the quarter-end stuff, so we should start slowing down a little....I hope!

I want to see Ricky Bobby - just the sound of that name makes me laugh. That is so NASCAR, I love it! Can you feel the excitement? All the way from over there? Well you should feel it over here!

OK, I would write more, but I'm falling asleep. Hope all is well!!

Making Memories

Checking in for my monthly post. I think I'll just ramble some highlights and then call it a post.

- I spoke in great detail with Packer Tours and have made some decisions on our dream come true trip to Lambeau Field in November. Well, ok, MY dream come true trip, but Jenn is excited about going too, whether she'll admit it to any of you or not! More details later, but we will tour Lambeau Field, inside and out, Packer Hall of Fame, Tailgate party at Brett's Steakhouse, lower level end zone seats!! Watch for Favre to scramble in for a TD against the Patriots on Nov 19th and then run to the end zone seats for the Lambeau Leap...because I'll be there hoisting him up!!

- I'm REALLY looking forward to tomorrow night's UFC event. Tito Ortiz will make Ken Shamrock's face look like hamburger meat AGAIN!! Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovsky will be a good bout as well. I used to like Ken Shamrock a lot, back in the early-mid 90's, and since Chuck Liddell is my favorite fighter, I have always hated Tito Ortiz. However, since the Ultimate Fighter 3, I've lost respect for Shamrock and have actually come to really like Tito a lot. Sure he has a mouth on him when he wins, but that's just competition gone wild, right?

- We spent the 4th of July weekend at Jennifer's uncle's house right on Lake Palestine. Aside from illnesses, misadventures, and a little drama, we had a great time! Good memories: experiencing new things with my children like paddleboating, fishing, tubing, & boat riding. Caleb taking 3 steps. R&R away from work. Bad memories: getting thrown off the tube at 45 MPH and hitting the concrete water groin first and then skipping across the lake for 30 feet. If I would not have had my life jacket on, I would have drowned. That hurt WAY more than the vasectomy, I mean, WAYYYY more. I have officially retired from tubing. Other bad memories: someone stole $40 out of my bag. There was quite a bit of family there, and some I didn't know, so I believe it was one of these unknown wackos that stole it. Very upsetting. Oh and we also sunk Jenn's uncle's boat (with Cara aboard but in a life jacket of course) when the winds suddenly got very strong and created 3-4 foot white-capping waves that kept sweeping over and into the boat. Luckily, we all survived that injury free and we think besides cosmetic repairs to the boat, maybe the steering cable is the only meaningful repair needed to the boat. Another bad memory is the stomach virus we all caught. We finally made it home Tuesday (gave a new meaning to home sweet home - I'm in love with home!!), and then 3 of our kids started throwing up that night, followed by myself and Karissa Wednesday morning. Luckily, Jenn didn't get sick! However, she did an amazing job caring for 5 sickos!!

- Karissa and I watched a hot dog eating contest on ESPN the other day. A guy actually ate 54 hot dogs in like 12 minutes. Disgusting! Karissa said if she were to go to one of those contests, she wouldn't eat breakfast or lunch beforehand, but she would probably still only be able to eat 2 hot dogs. HA! Me too...

- My brother has decided to pursue international missions work. He's flying to the Czech Republic Aug 31st for 2 weeks to talk with churches and missionaries about an orphanage in Tanzania, Africa. Then, sometime next year, he will go to Africa for 6 months to an orphanage where he will help kids learn how to use computers, teach in the school, be a positive male role model, and more importantly teach the children about God. The initial plan is to continue going back to that orphanage, six months on, six months off. Your prayers and support are appreciated.

- Today, listening to Casting Crowns, my jealousy of the Trimbles was suddenly reinvigorated. When are you guys going to the concert again? That will be sooo awesome!

Nice Weekend

OK all you blog peeping toms...my last post was up for a mere 5 days and even though I had 10 unique visitors every day, I only received 1 comment! Thanks Laura! You win a famous "Kirkburger", which you can redeem in September when you and Marco visit!

I had a spontaneous change of plans last week. After the 4th night of lonely bachelorhood, and a VERY stressful week at work, I decided Thursday morning to take off Friday and drive to Wichita Falls Thursday night to join up with my family (whom I missed terribly!) and have a nice 3-day weekend. Of course, the market has arrived at a very crucial technial point, which means we've been adjusting all of our portfolios like crazy, so I had to stay at work until 7:30 Thursday night getting everything figured out and ready for Friday. I probably should have stayed to oversee our moves on Friday. I guess it didn't matter though, since I ended up logging in from Jenn's parents' house and working until 12:30pm on my day off! UGH!

On my way to Wichita Falls Thursday night, my A/C ran out of freon!! Luckily it was at night and not too hot. I rolled in to WF at 9:45pm and met up with Jenn at On the Border where she was having dinner with Kelly and Alicia. I crashed their party!! Jenn and I went home to her parents' house and caught up for awhile, and then around midnight I went up to Chris Deges' work and hung out with him pretty late. He's a nuclear pharmacist and was mixing solutions for various tests like gall bladder tests that allows the machines to see all of the radioactive activity in the patient's body from the solution (if there's no activity in the gall bladder then it's full of stones and needs to come out)...anyway, Sorry Chris for probably not doing your job justice with my weak explanation. It was a great visit and very interesting to see what he does. Friday after I finished working on my vacation day (not bitter at all), Jenn and I took Karissa to Olive Garden for lunch. I learned that earlier in the day, Karissa had accepted Jesus and His free gift of salvation in the van with Jenn. We're happy for her and have suspected that she was ready, but we have been cautious to not create too much drama or emotional rah-rah! Don't get me wrong, it is a big deal and definitely worth being celebrated, but we want her to keep it in context. A little more on that later...

Friday night we went to Jeff & Kelly's house and cooked out with them and Chris & Alicia. We had a great time! Good food, good drinks, good conversation! It was fun to spend time and catch up with friends we haven't seen in a while! We went and dropped the kids off (put them to bed) at Jenn's parents' house and returned for some more fun. It just occurred to me that this blog is probably excruciatingly boring so far - HA! Anyway, the Deges' left and Jenn, I, & the Trimbles stayed and had some great conversation! Thanks again guys - it's too bad we're not closer - that would be fun to do more often. However, remember it's only an hour and 35 minutes to Saginaw! Today we made it back in an hour and 45 minutes, driving the legal speed limit most of the time, but that included one stop to find a lost pacifier and one stop to use the bathroom and get gas. So an uneventful trip really is ONLY an hour and 35 minutes!

Saturday morning we got up and went to visit my parents for awhile. After having lunch with them at CiCi's pizza, we went back to Jenn's parents' house and got ready for Kylie's "impromptu" 3rd birthday party with our families in Wichita Falls. It was 10 days early, but it was very convenient while we were in town - it saved our families a trip to Saginaw in a week! It was very hot Saturday! That evening I went and got the stuff to fix my A/C in my truck, but by the time I got back home, I was hot and tired, so I showered and watched some tv and then went to bed.

This morning we went to church to visit everyone and let the girls sing in their VBS program. They were cute! It was great to see everyone, and I was reminded after listening to Tom teach that we will never find another church like Grace. He started the whole lesson off by saying something I've thought for years, but haven't known how to express it clearly. He mentioned someone who was considering a business opportunity in another city, and before long, had moved his family and begun a new job. He said that he felt God was calling him in that direction. He didn't know it at the time, but he was letting his feelings determine God's will. You hear all too often "God is calling me to do such and such"...and I'm not the one to judge, but how many times do you think it's God actually calling or just a person's feelings that make them THINK God is calling them? The lesson was on spiritual enemia, relied HEAVILY on scriptural support, and was very in-depth and meaty. Very refreshing! After church, we went out to eat with Jeff & Kelly and we took up 3 tables!! Between our 2 families there are 7 kids!! We had another great visit and look forward to seeing them again soon.

I put more freon in my truck for the drive home. Karissa rode with me and the freon only lasted for about an hour! YIKES!! We rolled down the windows and enjoyed a nice, hot drive home. However, it was a good drive. After listening to her High School Musical soundtrack, we turned it down and talked for awhile. We talked mostly about her decision to accept Christ and what that meant on an intellectual level. I'm continuously amazed at how smart she is - how much she knows and remembers, processes, analyzes, and understands. They say you can judge the intelligence of a person not by the things they say, but by the questions they ask. She asks some pretty impressive questions for a 7 year old! I can already tell she's like me in that she's not happy with surface level answers. I assured her that she doesn't have to get baptized to be a christian since she was pretty nervous about that. She's trying to grasp the concept of the trinity, and I think she's doing a great job - that's a difficult one! She wanted to know how I accepted Christ, and since it was partially a result of my reaction to reading Revelations, we had a pretty in-depth discussion about the second-coming, what hell might be like, what heaven might be like, and how Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for everyone. Karissa said she doesn't feel any different even though Jesus is inside her heart - :) which of course she meant from a physical sense.

I popped my hood tonight to get a reading on my A/C compressor, and the neighborhood guys immediately flocked to my driveway. Funny how that happens! I was very grateful though since I'm not very mechanical and they got my A/C to blow cold air again! I'm hoping it lasts a few more months...I'm planning on FINALLY getting a Jeep towards the end of the summer!!

Sorry this is so long! I know it's a chore to sit there and read one of my long posts. Leave a comment!