Picture Post

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For those who have commented about my having a picture for everything, I gave you that last post off. As penence, you get two pics in this relatively short post. I've been getting up early to go workout before work. I'm going to see what it does to my metabolism. It also forces me to be more organized as I have to pack all my crap the night before. The alarm goes off around 3:45, I fix myself some wheat toast, get dressed, and roll out. I would have to get up earlier to get done everything I want to get done, but I don't see it happening. I've been showering at the gym instead of home. I got in my own shower today, and everything was bone dry. It was kinda weird. Some of you have heard tales of my housekeeping, others have actually darkened my door. You can decide for yourself if that's my shower.

Finally, it's a small world. I was driving home this afternoon, and I got behind this van with some awfully familiar decals on the rear. I've always seen UK stuff up here, and even more since their recent football success, but I never see Murray State stuff.....so, go Racers!!!

All Grown Up ???

I’ve read that the lengthening adolescent period in our country is becoming a problem. Americans are taking a lot longer to grow up. Yesterday, it was made clear to me again that people my age can indeed be grown-ups, even though I don’t feel like one myself.

The first eye opener came a couple of years ago at a marching band contest I was attending. I was looking through the program and found that I recognized the names of most all of the band directors. It’s not because they were directors when I was in high school. I knew these people because I had gone to college with most of them. There were people my age running high school marching band programs. I thought only grown-ups did that kind of stuff.

Yesterday, I got some news about a former college roommate of mine, Dake (rhymes with rake). He was my roommate during my sophomore year. I was in his wedding and he in mine. I was even at the hospital when his first daughter was born. After college, he and his wife took teaching jobs at Meade County HS. They were there a few years before they accepted assignments as missionaries to Indonesia. In addition to what we would consider normal missionary work, they also worked at a school teaching the children of other missionaries. They came back to the US about 3 years ago. His wife started teaching again, and Dake enrolled in seminary at Louisville. They had another daughter along the way, and I just learned yesterday that they’re going back overseas. They’re in Virginia right now training before they leave at the end of December. I talked to Dake’s mom yesterday, and the only thing she can tell me is that they’re going to Central Asia. For safety reasons, they can’t divulge the name of the country as Christianity is not accepted there. Please pray for Dake and his family. Here’s a grown man and woman, sensing God’s call on their lives, packing up their family and moving to a country on the other side of the globe where they could become martyrs for their faith. I thought only grown-ups did that kind of stuff.

I am 33, have completed college, have a grown-up job, found and joined a church all by myself, been married, divorced, and am helping to raise three little girls, the oldest of which is already 9, but for whatever reason I still feel like I haven’t grown up. If I can ever stop laughing at farts, that will be a step in the right direction.

UPDATE: Another friend of mine from college, Jim Bob (that's what everyone called him) Outland had a saying that I've always found to be true. He said "Butt gas is always funny." I've been around some that was pretty close to not being funny, but it's still good for a laugh.

My Friend Jarrod is a Bad Influence

I played one year of organized baseball when I was growing up. My team was the Charles Todd Pirates. Because of that affiliation, my favorite MLB team was the Pittsburgh Pirates. 1984 rolled around. The Cubs won their division. My family was made up of Cubs fans, so I decided it was easier to join them than try to beat them. That was about the time I started hanging out with Jarrod. We went to our first baseball game together about that time, so I’m going to blame my Cubs habit and subsequent related heartbreaks on him.

It was the fall of 1988, and we were both freshmen in high school. It was at one of those drug free dances at GCHS where I saw him kissing a girl (on the lips no less) for the first time. At that point, I knew life as we knew it would no longer be the same. It was later that same year I kissed a girl (also on the lips) for the first time. I hope that would’ve happened on its own, but I’m going to blame, or credit depending on your viewpoint, that on Jarrod, too.

Fast forward several, several years to 2007. He and I are discussing our changing figures and the topic of diet soda comes up. He fills me in on a new little drink called Coke Zero. We all know how I feel about that.

Finally, I’ve never had a favorite college football team. I guess I liked Florida State when they were so successful back in high school. The Racers gave us one good year under Houston Nutt. I developed a fondness for Auburn after seeing them smoke Samford at Jordan Hare Stadium. I started getting familiar with the Big 10 in 1998 after moving to Milwaukee. All the fans seem to be very loyal, but no team really jumped out.

I was at Jarrod’s house for the Morton Pumpkin Festival four weeks ago. That Saturday night, UK beat Louisville. It was quite a game capped off by a UK comeback in the final minute. I was glued to the tube for their win at Arkansas. I was working when they got beat by SC, so I didn’t get to see too much of that. Today, they welcomed the top ranked LSU Tigers into Commonwealth Stadium. Our railroad line passes right behind LSU’s stadium. I always wanted to go to a game there but never got the chance to. Working with all those coon-asses made me a quasi-LSU fan by association (Their recent success didn’t hurt either). Back to today…..

I’ve got the girls this weekend, so I planned our day around being back home in time for the game at 2:30. We were home for kickoff. It was a back and forth game until the UK defense got tired. LSU took a 10 point lead that UK cut to 3 at halftime. LSU opened their lead back up in the 3rd quarter, and it looked like the Cats might be in for another heartbreaker. UK tied it up and needed to stop LSU on the final possession to force overtime. I hate OT, and was hoping LSU would win so it would be over. I would have no such luck as the game went to overtime anyway.

It was typical back and forth OT stuff. Woodson threw a touchdown on third down in the 3rd overtime to take the lead. They missed the 2 point conversion but shut out the Bayou Bengals on their next possession to take the lead. The game was over just after 7 PM. 4 and a half hours of my day……gone. Yeah, I played with the girls, helped them with their homework, and fixed supper while the game was on. However, I was otherwise useless for that time.

They welcome Tim Tebow and the Gators next week, and it’s going to be the CBS SEC game, so I’ll be right back on the couch taking it all in. Thanks Jarrod….it's all your fault.

Hearts on Fire

On 9/30/07, I started my own little Commitment to Excellence to try to drop a few pounds in the final six weeks leading up to my stair climb in November. (BTW, if I lost 20 lbs, that would be 42,180 lbs I wouldn’t have to lift) Like most diets, it was slow going at first and hard to stay focused. I’ve been at it 12 days and would like to share a few bullets from the experience so far…

• I’ve been to the gym 9 out of the 12 days. I’ve had some really good workouts and some not so good.
• Other than the small steak I had on Sunday, I haven’t had any red meat. That just kinda’ happened, but I guess it’s a good thing.
• I’m taking an ELMO approach to dieting and Eating Less More Often. Here lately, it’s been a boiled egg for breakfast, a salad around 10:30, some ground chicken or pork around 2, and another salad and some meat for supper. I got hungry Tuesday night while watching TV, and I ate an apple. I surprised myself with that one.
• I haven’t been to McDonald’s since I started the C2E. If anyone is wondering, their stock is up about $3/share over the same period.
• Finally, I weighed myself before I started. I won’t tell you what I started at, but it’s definitely in the 3 digit range. I actually gained weight after I started. If you net it all out, I’m down 5 lbs. The initial weight loss is usually the easiest. We’ll see what happens after I hit the wall.

Rocky IV was on TV the other night. It always gets me fired up. Here’s a little clip so you can share the inflammation. When I do my training, I look just like this.

Brett who???

Not alot to say here...just that the Bears might have salvaged their season last night after travelling behind the Cheddar Curtain to squash the Pack......actually, I thought we, ('cause I'm part of the team) were going to get trounced. If the Packers could hang onto the ball, it would've been a different story. Although, if I'm #89 (right) and someone has their fist where Peanut Tillman does, I might be hard pressed to hang onto the ball, too.



In other Illinois over Wisconsin news: the Illini hung on to beat the Badgers in Champaign on Saturday. It's been a bad sports year for Wisconsin. Cubs over Brewers, Illini over Badgers, and now Bears over Packers.....proving once again, that the FIBs are superior to the Cheeseheads.

Totally Gay

Forgive me, I’m catching up from the weekend.

Friday night, I went straight to the gym after work. I’ve got that whole stair-climbing thing fast approaching, you know. I had a nice long workout and got home around 9. Being as how it was early, I decided to take in a movie at the dollar show. It actually costs $3 to see a movie there, but everybody around here knows exactly what I’m talking about when I say dollar show.

I decided I would take in a showing of “Hairspray”. I’ve seen plenty of musicals performed live and been to a Grease sing-along. I’ve got no problems showing up at these types of events. I did feel a little bad when I was waiting in line to buy my ticket. The guy in front of me was going to see Bourne Ultimatum. His choice was probably a little more manly, but what are you gonna do?

Even though you can get bottomless coke and popcorn for like $5, I decided to skip the concession stand. I was still full from the salad I had after the gym….you believe that, right?

I took my seat and got ready for the show. There were probably 50 people in the theater. It’s an older theater with the aisle down the middle instead of on the sides. There’s no stadium seating either. It reminded me of the Twin Cinema in Mayfield. If you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s about a pudgy girl who loves to dance and wants to get on one of those teeny-bopper dance shows. She gets on the show and a whole host of other stuff happens to her to fill out the story. Even though I dozed a couple of times (I don’t think I snored) I enjoyed the movie.

Now, the part that stuck with me…. the lead character, Tracy Turnblad, made me think of my mom. In one of the opening scenes, she and her friend Penny rush home to watch the Corky Collins show. They’re in front of the TV learning all the dances that are being done on the show. When she gets her chance to dance, she does so with such energy, excitement, and pure joy. The joy on Tracy’s face reminded me of the same joy my mom had when she danced. I only saw her cut loose a few times, but it’s pretty hard to forget. I called dad the next day to tell him about the movie. By the end of the conversation, we were in such agreement that we were finishing each other’s sentences while comparing mom to Tracy. Dad even commented that she made him look good on the dance floor several times. Something about talking about your parents on the 'dance floor' just doesn't sit well, but I digress.

I’m glad to know that her memory has stuck with me enough to recognize her traits when I see them in others.

It's so good......once it hits your lips!!!!

I had a good food day today. I had some chicken with creole seasoning and broccoli with soy sauce for lunch. The soy sauce on the creole made for a delightful combination.

I was doing some thinking about Shane's comments on diet drinks and caffeine. He's not the first person to share that with me, so I gave it some more consideration. When I was doing so well in April, I was drinking water and Crystal Light. Jarrod turned me on to the magical potion that is Coke Zero. Man, I LOVE that stuff!!! It goes down so smooth, and I can drink one right after the other if I'm so inclined. It's like liquid crack. Given Shane's earlier thoughts, I've decided to take a little break and see how that goes. I don't think anyone really cares about what I'm drinking. I just shared all of that as a segue to one of my favorite scenes from a great movie. This is how I feel when I'm holding that mystical black can and enjoying its carbonated goodness.....