Perspective

Just the other day my wife was talking on the phone with someone, and they began to tell her all of the things that their family was going through:
surgery for the dad, possible CA diagnosis for one of the kids, headaches for mom, trouble with basketball for the other kid.
when she got off the phone, she had a strange look about her. i asked why, and she said something along the lines of 'here we are, stressing out over what to do about the $ we got from the insurance company, and these people are worried about surgeries, CA, and other 'real' problems. just doesn't seem fair.'
today is typically fun foto friday. i was looking forward to getting on the web and finding some obscure photo to post, and if i could make it poke fun at one of my fellow bloggers at the same time? WIN/WIN.
Then i started seeing tweets about the jishin (earthquake) and tsunami (tidal wave) in Nihon (Japan). One of my first thoughts was, 'I need more coffee.' Another, more pertinent one, was 'i hope our basement doesn't flood.' Yet another involved thoughts of not posting a picture for fun foto friday. But THEN i started thinking about perspective.
Just because someone is having a bad day, does that preclude YOU from having a GOOD day? I don't think that it should. Sure, it isn't ok to flaunt your greatness good fortune in front of others, but i think that it should be ok to share some good news with those less fortunate. It might just turn on that light at the end of the tunnel for them!
It is often easy to fall into a mindset of over-commiserating: you just make yourself feel just as miserable as someone else. I see this as LOSE/LOSE.
SO. in keeping with that.....
One of the tweets today said that Japanese officials found 2-300 bodies washed up on shore. Can you imagine? I can't. But I CAN imagine several people washING up on shore....

FUN FOTO FRIDAY

Welcome Home, Super Fly!

Fun photo Friday

this actually happened on Thursday (yesterday), but I think that the photo was fun enough to wait for today to post it. It is, i think, my new favourite photo.

Hi, MOM!

We had been planning to run in a local turkey trot to support Zack's Place. We had participated in a World Record breaking event 2 years ago (longest continuous moving line of wheelchairs), and we really think that they do great work for our area.

Well, race day started off COLD. It was 18 when i woke up at 6. by the time we got out the door at 830 ish, it was only 22. Our initial plan was for Bryce and I to start running together, me pushing an empty stroller. After he got tired, he would hop in, we'd run until the last 100 meters, then he'd hop out and cross the line with me. We'd practiced our fists-pumping-in-the-air poses for the finish, and we were psyched!

yes, i know the bib is off center.

While we were hanging out in the gym before the race, B kept saying that he was cold. His eyes looked like death, and he was fairly quiet, which is not the norm for this 4 year old. Tracey suggested a new plan for the race: B and I would start together, then meet her a little way down the road. She'd take B and get in the truck to stay warm. They'd seek out a spot near the finish (ptp race, not a complete loop) and wait for me. When I got to them, B would jump back on the course, and we'd finish together. (I swear she's a genius!) So that's what we did. B and I hung back with the walkers so that we could be sure to be seen by T. That's when she snapped the picture above. 

As for the race itself, it was pretty good! The start was a complete MESS, and we were waiting around in sub-freezing temps for it to start. We started 15 minutes late, which translates into 25 minutes of standing there......

Since i started back with the walkers, i had to weave in and out of traffic for about a quarter mile after i dropped off B with T. no worries, it was kinda fun trying to spot open spaces up ahead. Once the road opened up, i just trotted along. I hadn't thought of this as a race, and wasn't planning on a PR. It was fun to look around and see other hats and get-ups. Next year I'd consider running it in a turkey costume. why not?

Here are the winners coming past T and B while they waited for Dad:

  

The first female was cruising! Me? Not so much. This was the first time that I had run on the road without music. I have no idea how people do this on a regular basis. The footfalls of other runners, their harsh breathing....all distracted me from my running. Good thing I am not headed for elite status anytime soon.

I'll leave you with some final pictures. We had a great time, B is still a bit under the weather, but the run definitely helped me get through the rest of Thanksgiving!

headed for the final stretch!

enjoying the endorphins!

Funny Friday (LONG VERSION)

Alright. we ALLL know that i am madly in Love with my wife, who was my first TRUE love, and then i suffered brain trauma broke up with her while in Japan, then we got back together, yada-yada. No? You must be new here. Ok. Go here to catch up with the group.....
You back? Good. WEEEELLLLLL...this post has NOTHING to do with that story. I just like to tell it. wuhahahaaaaa.
This post has to do with a different story. Please bear with me, as I think that you will find it interesting AND funny (at my expense).
About a month or so ago my hospital was invited to give a presentation at a conference being put on by the Vermont Council for Quality (yea, i dunno what the hell that means, either). They wanted us to talk about our electronic medical record system. good. fine. we ROCK at that, so, why not. My predecessor, Pam, readily accepted the invitaion and said that we could use one of her 'canned' presentations since she has given this talk several times over the past few years. Sweet. All I had to do was to come up with about 5 slides, sit next to her on the stage, talk for about 5-6 minutes, and sit down. Basically I would act as "eye candy". (Which sounds a lot like I CAN....just sayin').
We received an email that listed the agenda for the day and it included a listing of the presentations and presenters. This is where the story gets GOOD. And by good, I mean Soap Opera Good.

I quickly scanned the peeps, wondering if there would be anyone I knew from nursing school or such, because, hey, Vermont ain't that big a place, ya know? As my eyes went down the page, they got HUGE, I mean BUGSY huge when I saw a familiar name. I immediately picked up the phone and called my wife. The conversation went something like this:

T: Hello.

Me: ohmygodyourememberthatconferencethatitoldyouaboutthatihavetogivealittlespeechatinNovember?yeawellguesswhoelseisgoingtobethere?okyou'llneverguesssoi'lltellyoubecauseiknowyouarebusy. Steph.

T: who? what? is this prank call? we don't want any encyclopedias.

Me: nononoit'sme! youheardright. STEPH is going to be at the conference. not just BE there, but also PRESENTING. yea. right before me, in the same room as me.
T: what day? i SO want to go to this thing.......

(a bit of back story here: my first marriage ended disasterously. mostly because i wasn't the best person that i could be at the time, and the person who was hurt the most was Steph. i do feel bad about the person i was back then (we divorced in 2003. i haven't seen or heard from her since. no children are involved, but i DO suspect that she killed my cat.), and i suspect that Steph still harbours bad feelings toward me. I would. (i do, actually...)

So then i told Pam, my co presenter. I believe that her email response was, "GET.OUT! Are you kidding me???" Many emails have gone back and forth about this. Pam found the situation to be 'interesting' but was certain that 'everything will be just fine'. Well, it was. I have thought about it quite a bit, and have lost a little bit of sleep about it, but have steeled myself enough so that earlier this week, with just 10 days to go before the event, I was ready to present.
Then an email came from Pam with this subject: "PLEASE DONT FAINT"
The body was this:

Hi Gene

Don’t faint when you read this -----I cannot be at this conference – I am flying home from a meeting in SLC that day – I had made a mistake and thought the conf was on Friday – not Thursday….yikes. I will prepare slides of the stuff I was going to cover – are you OK with doing the whole VA enchilada? I will be in tomorrow – can we get together then?

Thanks, Pam

"thanks???" THANKS??? thanks is what you say when you ask someone to pass the Old Bay and they do. I would have preferred to have her write, "sorry to have totally effed with your head, but i am sure you'll be ok" instead of 'thanks'.

So i replied with, "**thud**", waited a good dramatical few seconds, then re-replied with this:

Disregard the last email. After some smelling salts, I am feeling MUCH better now.

Yes, I will be here tomorrow. Now, if I could just figure out what that halo is on the periphery of my field of vision, I’d be all set…

-g-

(the halo is sometimes a symptom of head injury, stroke, seizure, etc.)
Her reply? Oh, so comforting....

It’s a good thing you share an office with Chris – otherwise no one would have known that you fainted…and we would not have found your body until I showed up to talk to you in the am.  I am really sorry – I am usually pretty good about remembering dates with my travel etc…but I had in my mind (feeble as it is) that the conference was on a Friday and that I was all set (who needs to know the date?)….

Have you developed a twitch?

nice. so i shared this conversation with Chris, who is the stereo-typical systems analyst who i share an office with. she has been working with computers since..well..ALMOST since they still used vacuum tubes.
My rebuttal? yep...

Yes, actually, and I’m afraid that my ex will think that I am winking at her. Maybe some depakote will do the trick?

No worries…..

I will see you in the morning. Please disregard my 1000 yard stare. And please, no sudden movements.

-g-

(depakote is often prescribed to combat seizure activity, as well as for major depressive disorders.)
having a similar sick sense of humor, she replied:
Wear sunglasses and she will never see the twitch (unless it becomes a full body tremor)…but if that happens you will undoubtedly begin to stutter also. 

I asked if I could wear a suit for the day, and she said that I could. I sent her this picture, asking if this type of suit would be appropriate:

We shall see.

But the FUNNIEST part of all of this, which I will NEVER KNOW ABOUT, is....think about it....I got the agenda, which means SHE got the agenda. What do you think her reaction was when she saw MY NAME on the list???? And my name isn't common, like a Bob Smith might be. So....there is no mistaking that it will be me following her to the podium this coming Thursday. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall in her office that day. And the subsequent weeks. Who knows. Perhaps she just laughed it off and went on with her day. I hope so, but imagining differently has been much more fun.

Thank you for enduring this lengthy post. I has been cathartic for me to get this out there. Have a great Friday~

-g-

Fun Friday

I had started a post yesterday, in which i was going to be more upbeat about the dreadmill, and trying to embrace the treadmill, and not harp on the rubber band of doom any longer.
This is not that post.
I have decided to go ahead with the Fun Foto Friday meme. Please allow me to pre-empt it by expressing my sympathies to a friend of mine (who isn't a reader, but deserves mention anyway) who's husband lost his battle with cancer early this morning. I had only met him on a few occasions, and they were all while he was a patient and i was helping to care for him. The news was expected, in as much as this type of thing can be 'expected', but it still threw me for a little spin. I am better now, and have regained focus.
Which is what brings me to today's Fun Foto Friday offering. Let's look at a familiar scene from someone else's perspective. I am sure that those of you who have not been living under a rock (or in Siberia) will recognize this scene from the Original Star Wars movie, now know as Episode IV:

"these aren't the droids you are looking for"

Let's see it from the poor StormTrooper's perspective, and try to tie it all in to real life. Stay with me on this, ok? Thanks. They KNOW that these really are the droids that they are looking for. They have been briefed. They read the memo. They have all seen the films, read the blogs of other Troopers, tweeted about their plan of action. Then this old guy comes along waving his fingers basically tricking the Troopers into believing that what they actually believe about the situation is FALSE. For an instant, they question their training, their instinct, their prime directive, and then fall for this false prophet (remember, from the StormTroopers' perspective. we all know that ObiWan is a good guy).
Later, after a few rounds at the local cantina, the poor, defeated, and now a$$-less (from the chewing? hello!) StormTroopers are left to reflect on their day and the choices that they have made (as I am sure most of us do, no?) Suddenly, he realizes that he as been duped, and is downtrodden. He goes into a period of beating himself up for not following his gut, for not trusting his instinct, for not following plan.

self interrogation can lead to misery. don't let it.

It is easy to get caught in the trap of self loathing and self pity. Am I right? during this time, however, we need to reconnect with the things that brought us to where we started along our path as well as refocus on the destination. Ever so often, moments of clarity will seem to fall into place, most often from sources that you wouldn't expect. I find that it is during those times that we need to be most open to learning from various sources, rethink things that we have cast aside in the past and explore them deeper, and even reach out to others for help. It can come from the strangest of places.

why can't I be this clever?

My message today is to never give up. Set a goal, have an idea, make a plan. People and situations will come along and (for good and bad) cause you to stray from your course. Don't let them take over. Take time to regroup, to refocus, to re-evaluate. Find new ways to stay on track. If you need other resources, seek them out, and don't be afraid to back track. But keep the end in mind, and go for it!

fun foto friday

lemme first say, "Mom, please avert your eyes." K, thx.

This past spring I, along with 50 bajillion others, rec'd a tshirt from Agion Corp. They use silver ions (Ag is the periodic symbol for Silver. butyoualreadyknewthatbecausemyreadersareWIKKIDSMAHT.)
ANYWAY....yes, i tested the shirt. yes, it took me forever to get around to writing a review. I recently posted it here, kinda camoflaged in the post. But it was done, and it was up. One of the comments i received was this:
@yumyucky wanted to know..."can you please explain to me why you only get smelly on one-half of your body?"
why, yes, yumyucky, i would be happy to explain. you see, the chemicals in half of the shirt are designed to prevent bacterial growth, which is where the smell of fresh cut roses...ummm...aroma comes from. clear as mud? excellent.
There is also an online survey at the company's web site that needed to be completed in order for me to not have the FBI show up at my house and reclaim the shirt  fulfill the other half of the bargain. Whoopsie! So last night, while my wife was typing a letter to try and help a nice family avoid stupid, stupid things that the stated wanted to put them through, I started to fill out the survey on the other laptop. Being the super-duper nice hubs that I am, I graciously volunteered to go downstairs and get her rough draft off of the printer for her. When I came back, this is what was on my screen:


click for larger version

 so....yea. good times. i LOVE it how she makes me laugh at times that i least expect it. really. she cracks me up!
oh, right! almost forgot. The survey is part of a contest. here's what Agion sent me....
    "You can send the following text around to your friends if you like:
 "I put an Agion Active T-shirt to the test and now have been entered to win an all inclusive outdoor adventure vacation for 2 from the website http://www.stinkatnothing.com/. Check out my online profile here: http://stinkatnothing.com/index.php/2010/10/running-the-white-river-junction/ and please vote for me to win the trip!"
love ya, Tracey. +1, me.

Friday Fun

Did you expect to find the winner of the One Sweet Giveaway? Well, I HAVE chosen the winner, and an email and DM tweet was sent. I am waiting for them to get back to me before I post it here. That's how I roll.
In other news, I have been totally slacking off at work today. My officemate doesn't work on fridays (and apparently neither do I (ba-dum-bump), so I have been slack-a-lackin'.
I do have some fun things to share, though. Here's one:

Two Dads and two Sons enter a race. All of them win Age Group Awards, but there are only 3 trophies handed out. How is this possible? (answer in comments) (BEWARE!! A friend of mine who knows the answer said that she was going to put a in a spoiler comment.)

Here's another, though more thought provoking than the first:
A Cherokee elder told his son about the battle inside of us. He said 'The battle is between two "wolves" that live inside us. One is Unhappiness. Fear, worry, anger, jealousy, sorrow, self-pity, resentment, and inferiority. The other is Happiness. Joy, love, hope, serenity, kindness, generosity, truth, and compassion.......' "The grandson thought then asked, 'Which wolf wins?' "The old Cherokee said, 'The one you feed.'

Very True. Which one are YOU feeding? I tend to be very diplomatic and want all things to be equal umm, errr...feed small children to the Unhappiness side I mean...I am chucka-block full of anger, jealousy, resentment, and inferiority. But I am no longer leaving the bowl out for them, and they don't come around as often as they used to. WIN!

Finally: we have 3 cats. None of them like me, which is fine, except when the DO like me, which is either:
1) when they want to go outside in the morning
2) when i am sleepin on the couch and they want me to pet them
3) ok, number 2 is a lie. they only want me when they want to go outside.  Here is what happens later:

Check back later tonight or tomorrow for the announcement of the winner!

fun foto friday

B-Man ready for a dinner time run!

No, that isn't my a$$. puttin' out fires as 'training'. ahhhh...

http://mysocalledfabulouslife.blogspot.com/2010/08/beer-bike.html


Jamoosh, ya GOTTA have one of these.....
 

Fun Photo(s) Friday

Greetings, and WELCOME TO FRIIIIIDDDDAAAAAAAAY!
Today's version of FFF is going to be a bit different. I am not going to post pictures from odd sites (well...lemme reconsider that. read on, and you might understand) around the web, but rather I am going to post pictures of people who I know stalk  follow who make me laugh, as well as one of someone who I actually KNOW who makes me laugh and/or shake my fist head on a daily basis. You decide who is who....
I offer:

Adam over at The Boring Runner. He's very funny, very personable, and soon to be a Dad. Congrats, Adam. May your little one NOT walk in on you like this someday (foreshadowing...this WILL happen, regularly....) btw, click on the picture to see his reading material. to see a review, head over to his blog. he cracks me up.

Along the same lines, is this guy. Steve is a photographer by trade, wed to a pharmacist (better living through pharmacology, i always say!), a triathlete, and all around goof ball seemingly good guy. He's done some yard work at home, like me, and seems to have a bit of a flair for the dramatic, especially where his bike is concerned. Turquoise? (he claims "sea foam", but.......) I present to you  "Goldielocks". Must be quite a bike, as he has her fenced in and all that.

Here he is, pre race. Or not. Could just be a shot from any day of the week. I wouldn't put it past him to just pop into a random blue house and take a picture. (Hey, that might be a good idea for a photo essay...hmmm.) Ok, for reals, he 'must' be at a race (note markings on his arm).

Beth. What can I say about Beth? How about "holy crap!" Don't take offense.....just go see her blog, read a bit, and you'll understand. Seems though there is a wave of YOGA going around. I have been vaccinated, so I am sure that I am pretty safe.

And lastly, but certainly not leastly, is this guy. I warn you, his mood, manner, and mayhem are infectious. Love you, B-man.

(disclaimer: all photos (except the last one) were pulled from their respective blogger's sites. If you (the blogger) would like me to remove the pictures, please let me know. no offense was intended. also, no animals were harmed in the making of this blog post.)