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26 Jan 2014

What’s your mantra?

There was a dark time, back in May, when everything I knew, built, or dreamed of was taken out from under me. I had a meeting with my Oncologist that told me I had cancer. Me! At age 51! Me?

I’m too healthy! I feel too good to have cancer? How could this be?

I didn’t know what it meant at the time but when the doctor tells you you have the C-word it stops you in your tracks.

What would I do? What does it mean? What will happen to my family and those two precious little girls God entrusted to us?

It was probably the darkest two weeks of my life. I had some tests done to find out the extent of the cancer growth.

The day the doctor read me the results of those tests had to be in my Top 5 best days of all-time! I walked out a saved man, to some extent, with the promise of living a good long time.

And as I climbed in my car and turned it on and let the good news marinate in my head a little bit an unexpected song came on the radio that brought me to knees, “Its Not My Time”.

The song was an old familiar one. The lyrics brought sobbing and praising God.

IT’S NOT MY TIME

Looking back at the beginning of this
And how life was
Just you and me and loving all of our friends
Living life like an ocean
Now the current’s only pulling me down
It’s getting harder to breathe
It won’t be too long and I’ll be going under
Can you save me from this

‘Cause it’s not my time
I’m not going
There’s a fear in me
And it’s not showing
This could be the end of me
And everything I know
Ooo but I won’t go

I look ahead to all the plans that we made
And the dreams that we had
I’m in a world that tries to take ‘em away
Oh but I’m taking ‘em back
Cause all this time I’ve just been too blind to understand
What should matter to me
My friend this life we live
It’s not what we have
It’s what we believe in

And it’s not my time I’m not going
There’s a fear in me
And it’s not showing
This could be the end of me
And everything I know

But it’s not my time
I’m not going
There’s a will in me
And now I know that
This could be the end of me
And everything I know
Ooo but I won’t go
I won’t go

There might be more than you believe
There might be more than you and me
There might be more than you can see

And I lived and breathed that song all summer long, right up to and through an invasive outpatient cancer treatment last September.

The results of the cancer procedure? Well they are about as good as anyone could ask for! Thank YOU for all your prayers!

So last month a few people that are closest to me urged and encouraged me to start running again. I had fallen off the bus pretty good for the last 2+ years.

Not getting enough reaction from me they dared me to do a 1/2 marathon in February!

What? 13.1 miles…. in the cold! Are you crazy? I am not in any kind of shape to do that! And so one of them led by example and did one for me, showing it can be done.

OK why not? It worked! After all…I do have 4 long weeks to prepare and get up to 13+ miles. Geez!

Well that 1/2 marathon is this coming Saturday at 8:30am (pray for sun and some warm weather!)

You know what? I feel ready to do some damage to it!

I have been running, training, dropping a few pounds and I have my good running form back. And, afraid it will take me all day to run 13 miles, I have put in some time that says I won’t do too bad.

This afternoon I ran a good pace on a treadmill for over 70 minutes, burned nearly 900 calories and ran with that good form the entire run, not dropping to a tired shuffling of feet.

Here are some stats after the first 59 minutes:

So all things being normal I may be able to run this half marathon in under 2 hours. I would be soo happy with that! I may not crack the code and run it in 105 minutes like I did the race in several years ago. But that’s OK. That’s Not My Time…

Just the idea of running a race again, let alone one of great distance, was a distant memory back in May. Especially since I haven’t run a race this long since 2010.

So thanks everyone for your prayers and encouragement along this mind-numbing period. A very special thanks to my closest of close friends that duped me and encouraged me into this challenge. You know who you are! Some very Special Mates (SSM)! Thanks for kicking my butt and daring me to put this C-thing in the rearview mirror.

The song Its Not My Time will continue to be one of my mantras as I go through life. It goes right beside my other one, Hold On Tight. Two songs, two phrases I will never forget and hope to hold on to for a very, very long time.

These two mantras mirror the final words of the famous North Carolina State basketball coach, Jimmy Valvano as he bid farewell at ESPN’s ESPY awards in 1993 after it was found he could not beat his form of cancer. Jimmy started his V Cancer Foundation with the words and the drive and now trademark phrase, “Don’t give up . . . Don’t ever give up.”®

Never give up my friends!

If you have the time take a look at this by Jimmy V.

It can be very motivating!

So do you have a mantra you try to live by?

Care to share it?

Posted in Archives and tagged “Don’t give up . . . Don’t ever give up.”®, cancer sucks, ELO, hold on to your dreams!, its not my time, Jimmy V, whats your mantra?

23 Jan 2014

11 Comments

What’s Your Blues Name?

The Winter storms give you the Blues?

Tired of being stuck inside or all bundled up?

Your kids need a break?

This post has always been one my favorite posts. It silly fun and down home bluesy.

This table tent comes from my favorite local restaurants, Sticky Fingers.

We would match our initials on thenames on the flyer to find our true Blues persona and then procede to call each other our Blues Name the rest of the afternoon

Me?

My Blue’s alter-ego is “Fat Sugar Lee“.

“What Is Your “Blues Name?”

Posted in Archives and tagged Blues, fat sugar lee, More BBQ please, nickname, Stickey Fingers

11 Jan 2014

21 Comments

Invitation

Last night as I viewed how my Stats in 3D have slid into the ‘nothings-going-on-here’ cavern again, I noticed all of the sudden my views take off.

Every now-and-again, somewhere around the world somebody(s) gets a hankering for Shel Silverstein and his wonderful poems. Last night a few searches were done and 3D received 10 hits for some of his poems, including Snowball, which was viewed 6 times along.Snowball was actually founds via search 161 times last year alone. Another one of my personal favorites, Hug Of War, was viewed 4 times last night.

Back when I created this blog I put a smithering of our family favorites from Shel’s book, “Where The Sidewalk Ends” in the top header entitled, Bedtime Stories as we always read some of these poems to the kids as they went to bed. As you can see, these are not the typical children’s’ stories.

They are fun!

If you have an propensity for the silly or imaginative readings these poems can be a lot of fun as you act out the character in the poems.

But as a parent these poems, or this book, has greater value. Our kids loved hearing these stories at night and then want to try to read them their self . It created genuine interest in books and reading for our girls. Now, every night at bedtime they demand to hear another story.

The benefits of enjoying books and reading?

Dylan brought home her 2nd report card this week. She received all ‘A’s again. Her teacher’s comments included how “Dylan is advanced to the next grade level in all her academic studies. She is a great listener and contributes well in class discussions.”

As a parent you gotta feel proud of that and can’t help go back to when we read ‘Acrobats‘ over and over until the girls could read it by heart.

I’ll swing
By my ankles,
She’ll cling
To your knees
As you hang
By your nose
From a high-up
Trapeze.
Just one thing, please,
As we float through the breeze–
Don’t sneeze.

This year, while shopping for Christmas presents for the girls, Santa spied another Shel Silverstein book for them, A Light In The Attic.

And I hope to start reading and learning this book with the girls real soon. But first they feel compelled to finish reading another good children’s book, The Children’s Bible.

If you have some young children I invite you to explore the world of Shel Silverstein and open up their world of imagination and fondness for reading and books.

(My ‘Stats’ are going to soar now!)

*****************************************************************

Sure enough, 2 hours after I included the words Shel Silverstein, Snowball and Hug Of War in the same post….I became popular again!

Your stats are booming! Looks like “OUR LIFE IN 3D” is getting lots of traffic.

Look for more upcoming stories and poems by Mr. Silverstein so I can make a little cash flow from this blog. 🙂

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks for stopping by

Posted in Archives and tagged good luck!, have fun, hug of war, lights in the attic, reading, shel silverstein, snowball, where the sidewalk ends

03 Jan 2014

11 Comments

Mug Shot

Its true.

Today I had to spend some time with the local law enforcement to make a bad deed I did last weekend right. That’s right, up and including a mug shot.

Relax…its my new driver’s license..and I WAS smiling

You see, I have a history with the law I hate to say. A history that spans many states actually. It seems one of my faults is….

I like to drive fast.

Now, not to worry you mothers out there. I have been able to curb my addiction to being able to hoover around 5-10mph over a posted limit all the time now; kids in the car not withstanding. Especially after my punishment the last time I was caught fracturing a local driving law….

So I made it right today. You see, I was pulled over for speeding with out any A) Registration, B) Proof of Insurance, and C) tag saying I paid my taxes. So I went to the local DMV to update and renew all that material today. Heck even my drivers license had the wrong address on it.

And there in lies the problem.

You see my taxes were due to be repaid last September. BUT we moved into a new county when we moved earlier this year and so I never received a tax bill from my new host county.

I know what you are thinking, you, being the responsible person that you are, would have called, emailed, or went online to take care of your annual tax burden and nip the problem in in the bud, right?

But September, for me, held lots bigger obligations that demanded my attention. Some would say, life threatening obligations and an appointment with a certain cancer doctor and radiation seed gardener.My new tax bill was the furthest thing from my mind! And my new tax bill was actually paid in November. I just didn’t have any proof to it with me last Saturday.

Twenty years ago, heck , ten years ago I would have blamed my speeding ticket on the slow truck that pulled out in front of me back in our sub-division that afternoon. He sped up to pull out in front of me and then drove 5mph under the speed limit all the way out to the highway.

So when I reached the highway I sped around him, gave him a courtesy wave, and tried to make up time on the highway.

I could also blame my speeding ticket on the forthcoming speed trap on said highway. The highway is 55mph at the light where we pull out on to it but very inconspicuously drops to 45mph a short distance down the road at the bridge right before the next traffic light.

And when you are going across any body of water, who takes the time to look at speedometers, much less speed limit signs?

The officer said he had me going 63mph in a 45 zone. Well, by that logic, I would have been going 63mph in the 55 mph zone right before that too, right? That would be a far cheaper ticket I believe.

And I will not place any blame on my mind set, as my car had just acted up earlier in the day and I was thinking about that and spinning the idea of whether I should stop at the local service station on the way to have it looked at while I was out. ~ The Lexus dealer already told me his remedy to fix the car earlier in the day, and I was having none of that!

No, almost being a grown-up now, I am taking full responsibility for my bad driving and the handful of traffic tickets that ensued that afternoon.

I am trying to put this bad habit back in the past where it belongs. I am being more in the moment in the car and be aware of what my speed is. I am trying to set a better example for my girls for when they get this car to drive. And I will never do this again!

So I tried to fix up my problem from last week

Next week I am going in to meet with my arresting officer, show him everything he needed to see last Saturday afternoon and then get down on my hands and knees to beg for him to change the ticket to the 63 in a 55mph zone. …..and maybe offer him a bag of chips or cookies.

Hopefully I can fix it a little bit more and everything will be a good as new; minus a couple Franklins

After all, the points of that ticket will stay on my record for 4 years I have learned. And some more hiccups can happen over the course of the next 4 years, right Captain Jack?

The Fixer

When somethings dark, let me shed a little light on it
When somethings cold, let me put a little fire on it
If somethings old, I wanna put a bit of shine on it
When somethings gone, I wanna fight to get it back again

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

When somethings broke, I wanna put a bit of fixin on it
When somethings bored, I wanna put a little exciting on it
If somethings low, I wanna put a little high on it
When somethings lost, I wanna fight to get it back again

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fight to get it back again
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

When signals cross, I wanna put a little straight on it
If there’s no love, I wanna try to love again

I’ll say your prayers, I’ll take your side
I’ll find us a way to make light
I’ll dig your grave, we’ll dance and sing
What’s saved could be one last lifetime