Similar but Different

I ended my Reunion weekend with a small glass of good whiskey and Addison sound asleep in my arms after I finished giving her dream feed when I got home. I was a pretty happy camper. I just spent a fast 72 hours of travel, friendship, drink and food with my classmates and was now back home with my family.
Some I hadn't seen in 10 years, other's I hadn't seen in nearly 20.
I had not been back to my hometown of Denison in 10 years. Since Mom and Dad moved away when I was in college I don't get a chance to go there. It's not really a destination/resort kind of place and I missed the 15 year reunion.
I have to give Steph major props. The reuinon took place over our anniversary weekend. I won't say she was happy about it - especially because it happened to be our 10th but she knows how close I am to my friends. I am planning to make it up to her with a nice trip and something shiny. Man, I love her.
Frank and I flew out together from Baltimore. We stayed with Mom and Dad Thursday night while Tim flew out from Denver the same night and stayed with his parents who happen to live about 10 minutes away. We connected Friday morning with Tim's dad driving him over to us. Steph reminded me that it started out like we were young again when we had to have our parents drop us off before we could drive.
We headed out for the first segment of our road trip - up to Blair, NE to pick up Troy Greder. Troy and I went to college on wrestling scholarships in Blair at Dana College. He stayed there after I left for UNI and went to Nationals for Dana the next 3 years. He took me up to the school so we could see his wife who was working there and to show me around some of the changes that have gone on since I left. It was like I was being hit with a million memories of my year there as we walked around the new sports center and wrestling room. We drove through the small campus due to time and the rain. The new Main was there (the Old Main burned down the year before I went) but most everything else was the same.
Segment 2 of the trip was to Denison down the very familiar stretch of road - Highway 29. The four of us were talking up a storm and catching up a bit on what we'd been doing since we last talked. Luckily we keep in pretty good contact so there was less catching up and a bit more "Remember When..." stories.
Pulling into Denison I was hit with a few changes off the bat. The bull statue had been moved from out by the trailer park to the (I found out later) Fairgrounds and the IBP plant is now Tysons. Driving through a few more stark changes. The Hardee's we all either ate or worked at and served as the general meeting place was now what looked like a run down mexican place. There are a lot of Latino stores, shops and people. Some stores had dual language names and signs. Apparently Denison is about 50% latino. That's a big change from 10-20 years ago. Some of the stores are there still but a lot were gone. Reynolds moved to the old JC Penny store and The Vault was torn down and a new Crawford County Bank was built. They also built a new Jr High out by the High School. There were some new businesses but it also looked like a lot had closed. A big stab to the heart is that the house I grew up in and served as the central gathering place for my friends (largely due to the fact that I my parents wouldn't buy me a moped as a kid to get around so they all had to come to my house - a fact they continue to give me grief about to this day) was painted. Not was it just painted a different color but it was painted PINK!!! It looked like someone spilled a large bottle of Pepto-Bismol on it. The back yard that was open to the neighborhood to play Ghosts In The Graveyard was fenced in. It was very sad. Driving around town I was reminded that there are some very beautiful Victorian homes there that are very well kept. Greder even had done some painting on some that looked amazing with all thier details.
Familiarity began for me when we pulled up in front of Frank's house. The only difference was that they enclosed their porch and there wasn't the big station wagon his dad used to drive sitting out front. Inside was much the same even though Pam made Jim move the deer head from the living room to the basement at some point in the past few years. Jim and Pam were very gracious hosts to us. They said it was good to have all us kids back in their house. She corrected herself to say that we weren't really kids anymore as we are almost 40 now. I told her that I don't think it will matter how old we get, when we come back and get together we'll always be kids.
Jim and Pam were having friends over for dinner and Liz, Dana and Lisa were also coming over. The guys went shopping and I cooked dinner for all of us. Jim did grill the pork chops - I don't like to grill on other people's grills so that worked out well, Greder played bartender, Frank cut the cheese and Tim held the garbage bag open for me once so all pitched in.
Then it was off to the Pub for the evenings festivities. Walking in the place and seeing a ton of people I grew up with, partied with and hadn't seen in years was pretty cool. While we all didn't always hang out together or even get along all the time, we all were there catching up and reconnecting. There were people I hadn't seen since graduation and some I'd seen just a few months ago. A lot of them came up to me to congratulate me on the show. I had put it out on Facebook and it seemed like everyone had watched it. I really love doing that show and it was nice for people to comment favorably on it. With such a small town and knowing everyone in my school let alone in my class, I have been influence by each and every one of them in some way. I hope the show takes off, that they can be proud of me and can say another Denison Boy done good.
We closed down the bar and headed back to Frank's with a small group of about a dozen. There were a few of us that saw the sun rise before hitting the sack. Morning came early.
Saturday was for hanging out at Liz's, the class picnic in Deloit, a short nap, dinner at Liz's and then to the bowling alley. The time at Liz's was again a small group for the day. Mainly seven of us that have kept in touch over the years. Liz, Dana, Lisa, Me, Frank, Tim, and Troy. Others had spouses and family around so they had other plans for the day. I'm not sure there was a subject we didn't cover sitting around the table in Liz's parent's garden/yard. Laughter was a constant, pictures were taken and friendships strengthened. It's still amazing to me that we can pick up right where we left off. I think it was Lisa who said we can still finsih each other's sentences and jokes. We are some funny people - just ask us.
We headed out to the bowling alley where the evening gathering was to take place. Some people from Friday didn't show but new ones were there. I got a chance to catch up with Bother Bri, Johnny and Ahrenholtz along with a few others that night. I was also witness to Tim's neon bowling shoes he rented and Lisa's two balls two strikes bowling adventure. The bowling alley loked much smaller than what I remember. They had done some remodeling and it was nice. Another nice thing that I didn't expect was that all the bars - includeing the bowling alley- were non-smoking. It was a nice change not to have to take a shower before going to be to try to get the stale smoke smell out of my clothes and hair.
When that finished a lot of the crowd went over to another bar. Since we'd seen the sun rise that morning not many of us wanted to head to another bar. We did however want to go to the Fridge. No, not a refrigerator, it was basically a hill in the country where we used to go hang out. It's a small town, country thing. It had been raining so only one car could make it up the road. It happened to be the car I was in so only Dana, Lisa and I made it. We had a beer out there and then headed back to Liz's to meet up with everyone else. More laughs, ribbing and even some singing went on. No, we didn't see the sunrise that evening. It was a good thing. The next morning Frank's parents hosted breakfast for all of us. I'm not sure when I've laughed for almost an entire weekend before but my cheeks got quite the workout. When it was time to say good bye and head out for KC and the trip home I was ready. I had a great time with my friends but I missed my family. We posed for the group photo, hugs all around and hit the road. Memories of the weekend, previous gatherings and plans to connect in the future were the discussions between Frank, Tim, Troy and I on the way back. It was interspersed with texts from Liz, Lisa and Dana as they met another classmate 8 1/2 months pregnant (Angie) for lunch and made their way across Iowa back to thier homes. I love my friends. I know a lot of people don't stay in touch with people from their High School. I do and I have a special group of friends that have been through each others successes and failures, marriages, divorces, births, deaths, arguments, debates, college, kids, worries and laughter - always with the laughter.
Til next time - Palimino!

It's a good burn

I know I'm supposed to be smart enough to wear sunscreen. But I usually don't. Especially at the beginning of pool season. I guess I like the pain from the first slight sunburn. It tells me summer is on the way and takes me back to those lifeguarding days. Those days I used to put on baby oil to cook myself a bit more. Got pretty tan and I try not to think of how much damage it did to my skin. It's a good thing I didn't have to jump in after anyone when I had that on. They probably would have slipped right offf.
Right now I have a little burn. Spend yesterday out in the sun and it feels good. In the morning we went to the JDRF walk at the Nationals baseball stadium. Then we came back to our pool. I cleaned the pool, trimmed some bushes, played Marco Polo with the kids and relaxed in the chaise lounge poolside with a cold beverage (or 2). The water was clear and 70, the sky was clear and 80. All-in-all a great day.
Just got word that we're booked on Channel 9 WUSA again on the 25th in the morning and I received my iTouch for making the final table at the company poker tournament during the National Sales Meeting in Vegas. Today is going pretty well also.

Where did April go?

I can't believe how fast this past month has gone. Well kinda I guess.
Steph started back at work and jumped right into the swing of things again by spending most of her days in meetings. I think she secretly wants to stay home and schedule meetigs around yoga class and lunches with other stay-at-homes. Wait - that's no secret.
April began a tripling of work for me. My Customer Service group that used to have 5 people is down to 2. We had a little reorganizing of our group and the other 3 went to Service Delivery. So now I have 3 represent instead of just one. I now have my original Sales and have added Research and Develpment and the Medical/Regulatory departments. I would guess it's about 70% of the company. Needless to say I'm a bit busier.

Easter took us to Connecticut to spend time with the Opalka's and Shawvers (Karen's family). We had a great time and it went by very quickly as those visits often do. Addison did very well in the car so there weren't any extra stops. We did borrow a GPS for the trip this time so I wouldn't have to try and read directions going through NY traffic. It saved us a couple of times and if we did more of that travel I would invest in one. Right now it seems better to borrow one for the weekend.

Dylan figured out last night that he has about a month of school left. He was pretty excited about it and is ready for the summer to begin. I think we all are. We spent last weekend (or 2) cleaning up around the outside and getting the pool area ready for opening. I just got the call a few minutes ago that the pool is officially opened and should be ready for swimmers in a few days. That is if you can handle 65 degree water. I'll wait until about mid June personally.

For Dylan's birthday we hosted a family oriented cookout/Kentucky Derby party. Since the Derby is always the weekend of/after Dylans actual birthday we've had people over for at least the last 3. Next year we are making it mandatory to wear a hat. I'm debating on wether to wear a cowboy hat or the pig ear cap if I can find it. I'm leaning toward the pig ears. Speaking of pigs - I cooked about 5 slabs of ribs for the party. MMMmmmm ribs.... they came out pretty well. Drakeel came over and helped make a home-made sauce from the drippings. That was a first for both of us and it came out pretty well. The other first for the weekend was Kevin Conway and I figuring out how to make Mint Julep. We're getting there. It was tough because we both prefer to take our Makers Mark straight so we were happy not to have too much sugar or mint in it. I think I'll be working on those over the summer as they are pretty light and 'summery'.
This past weekend (9th) we had Dylan's birhtday party with his friends. We took them to play Laser Tag. We had 8 kids and 4 adults in there for our group - Russ joined Steph, Carrie and I - and I'm not sure who had more fun. It's dark in there and Dylan did get clocked across the eye with the butt of one of his friends gun. He's got a bit of a black eye and a scratch. He took it pretty much in stride. Since it was dark in there I didn't see how bad it was when it happened so I basically got him calmed down and asked if he wanted to leave. He said no and ran off. It wasn't until we were out of there 15 minutes later did I see the bruise forming around his eye. We got it iced down and it's not so bad now.
Chloe and Addison have been spending their days with Aunt Alice. It has been great. She comes to pick up the girls from our house in the mornings and I meet her at a park to get them back. Alice - who has 3 boys of her own (Jr. Hi, High School and College) is getting used to dealing with girls. I think she's enjoying it but I know she's tired at the end of the day. Aren't we all. Chloe really enjoyed hanging around Middle School play rehearsals a few weeks ago. Alice was helping with sound so Addie and Chloe got to go until I picked them up. Both girls had a little fan club of 12-13 year old girls showering them with attention. When we went to the play Chloe had a number of girls wave to her and call out to her. She was eating it up and felt very important.
Addison is doing well. She's growing quite a bit and is getting more and more interactive. She is starting to try and roll over. It's only a matter of time before we have to baby proof the house and move breakables up above the 3 foot level.
Major News - We are now a cat free house. I'm not going into a lot of detail but I'm sure they will find a good home and I now have my basement back.
Salt and Pepper Update. The website is active - www.saltandpepperchefs.com and video is posted. We've done 2 local news shows recently and have another on the 28th. We are in the beginning stages of talks with a local station to become regular guests. Nothing final yet but I did get the directiveto start writing those recipes down. Amazingly, that is pretty hard for me to do. Something I have to work on though.

Disappointment

I had to officially pull out of the Shamrock Half-Marathon. I am getting things changed to a new venue to be decided.

Ugh.

I was kinda ready to be done training and just go for fun runs of 3-4 miles for a while.

I am currently still stretching the ligament so I can start to run again. The information I have read says that recovery is different for everyone. It could be relatively quick - 1-2 months and others have had issues for 6 months or so. I'll keep you all posted and try to not let my frustration and disappointment show through.

Here's the back story and details on the weekend.

I went to go see a specialist and after some pushing and prodding(5 minutes after waiting 1.5hrs) he said I have runners knee or IT Band Syndrome. It's where the ligament that runs on the exterior of your legs becomes inflamed due to rubbing against a bone in your knee. Apparently stretching is key. So he is sending me to physical therapy so I can learn some stretches to keep this from happening again. I've called the therapist and haven't heard back yet. I've taken it upon myself to go to the Internet and look up the stretches that I would be paying the therapist to show me. If I ever get a call back I guess I'll go but I don't have time to wait around. When I told the Dr. that I was training for a 1/2 marathon and the run was that coming Sunday, he stopped writing and looked at me like I was nuts and said "Well, you're not running in that". I of course pushed the matter and asked if there was anything I could do. He said matter-of-factly that it was up to me and how I felt but I took a great risk in injuring it further and causing more damage. I decided to follow his advice. Like a good friend of mine said after he inquired about the run - You only have one set of knees and you're not 18 anymore. Getting old stinks.

We decided to go on down to the race since the hotel was already paid and I had the time off to make it a mini vacation. That was an excellent decision. We made it down there just in time for me to go pick up my Shamrock shirt that I got for registering and my runners number. We then checked into the hotel (a Sheraton - we were spying on the competition). Steph had called ahead to see if we could get an ocean view room and they said there were none avialable. When we got there she turned on the charm and got one anyway. The room had a balcony that looked onto the beach/ocean and the boarwalk right below was on the final .25 miles of the race so we got to see runners filing by on their way to the finish. It was pretty cool.

Saturday night we met up with Vic & Jen Ferson and Dave & Jenny Huisenga for dinner. Our hotel had a pasta buffett so we just stayed there then headed to bed since the race began at 7am. I made plans to meet them all the next morning for the start. Fersons were walking and Huisengas were running.

I didn't bring my running clothes at all because I knew I would be tempted to just go run/walk with them. I almost did the walk with Fersons just to do it. I am kinda glad I didn't because with all the walking I did I was beginning to feel the knee again by the end of the day. I probably could have made it OK but would have been icing my knee still today.

I watched the start of the 1/2 Marathon at 7am then walked down to see the start of the full Marathon at 8am. I got there just as they were starting a special ceremony for a guy who was doing his re-enlistment to the Navy prior to the race. Then he hugged and kissed his wife and ran the Marathon. It was pretty touching to see that. It makes me appreciate all those who serve and have served just a little bit more. Thanks to you all.

After the start of the full race I heard the announcements over by the finish line that was about a block away that the first 1/2 Marathon runners were finishing. It had been about 1:05 from their start. They were bookin. I went back to the room to help get the kids up and ready. They had already ordered room service and were enjoying the fresh ocean breeze by the time I got there. I took Dylan & Chloe with me to head down to the finish line to try and see the Huisengas come across. I think I bent down to talk to one of the kids and missed Dave and I'm not sure where I was when Jenny came across. We did meet up with them after as they were walking to their hotel across the street from the finish line. Dave looked tired and Jenny was limping with a sore hip. They headed off for a soak in the tub and rest. We walked around a bit then went to the beach side of the race lane so the kids could go to the water and I could watch for the Fersons. I somehow missed them too but the kids got soaked in the freezing water...

I talked with Ferson's and Huisenga's and they were going to get cleaned up and meet up for lunch. They were heading off that day while we were sticking around and heading back home on Monday. Steph was exhausted and crashed with Addie so Dylan and Chloe and I headed to lunch. After we met up with everyone we were walking to the diner. Dylan was walking along the sidewalk in front of a laudromat. He and Chloe were playing the 'don't step on a crack' game. Then all of a sudden the door opened and smacked Dylan right in the head. He stepped back a couple of steps and had a smile on his face for a couple of seconds. The guy coming out apologized profusely and Dylan seemed to be OK. He then came to me and buried his head in my side. He was hurt a lot more than he let on and he was embarassed too. He did get tears in his eyes but didn't make much of a fuss about it though he did have a big red mark for a couple of hours on his forehead. Poor guy.

After lunch we said our goodbye's to Fersons and Huisengas and headed back to the hotel to watch the Jayhawks play in the NCAA Tournament. The kids and I then went to the pool to play for a little while. They are tougher than me as they would jump from the hot tub into the big pool multiple times. I did that once and I thought the regular pool was a little chilly even without hitting the hot tub first. I guess I do have a bit if Dad in me. He doesn't like getting in the water unless you can see the steam rising. That night we went out for sushi and tried to teach the kids to use chopsticks. It's a work in progress. With all the walking and swimming we had done the kids were tired. Chloe even finished eating and laid down on the bench to sleep. We only let her because there were only about 5 other people in the whole place and we were about to go anyway. She wouldn't wake up really so I had to carry her about 5 blocks back to our hotel.

Monday morning we went for breakfast at Pocahontas Pancakes... Interesting but pretty good pancakes. I do have a tough time going out to eat pancakes. I have a tough time spending $10 on a meal I can make twice as good myself. The buscuits and gravy weren't bad either. We walked around a bit after that and ended up in one of those beach side tourist shops that sells everything with Virginia Beach on it. The kids talked Steph into getting them hermit crabs. We got a boy and a girl that share a cage. Soooo now I have two more pets to take care of. At least the hermit crabs don't meow all night long and shed everywhere.

Before heading home we drove up to the Old Cape Henry lighthouse at Fort Story - it was the turnaround point for the 1/2 marathon. We got to meek the lighthouse keeper and he gave Dylan and Chloe special coins that you can only get from the lighthouse keeper. To show it's a small world. John, the keeper, went to church at the Redland Baptist Church when he was young - it's about a mile away from our house. We got to climg a bunch of stairs to the top of the the old lighthouse which was the first government paid for building. The kids did it twice - once with me and then again with Steph. Oh to be young again. They wouldn't let us take Addison up because of the steepness/liability.

Though it was very frustrating to me not to be able to run it was all in all a great weekend. I look forward to running it next year so I can get my beer and Irish Stew.

9110

9110 - That's my race number for the Shamrock 1/2 Marathon.

I'm hoping it's not an omen...

51

51 - That's the age that Wii Fit assigned to me last night. What a crock! Though I do feel old at times but 51!! Come on. I think it's faulty for it's basis as it uses BMI as a barometer. BMI has me at borderline obese. It doesn't take in the fact that I lifted weights for years and have muscle mass that weighs more than fat. Don't get me wrong I have a little junk in the trunk. I know I need to lose about 10 pounds but according to BMI I would still be drastically overweight even for that. So I get the BMI skewed weight thing but based on some agility and balance tests they put me at age 51. Even though I haven't run in about a week I feel pretty good. maybe 42 but not 51. Maybe I'll lay off second helpings for a while.

Knee update. I am still sore from who knows what went wrong on my 13 mile run. I am able to go up and down stairs with no problems now. I did go out on Saturday to test it out. I got about a block before it started hurting. I turned around and went to the top of my hill thinking I just needed to work it out a bit - kinda like walking off a charley horse or a near sprained ankle. No good. I headed inside put the brace back on and did some stretching. It does feel even a bit better each day so I'll probably try to run with a brace this week.

Steph, Chloe and Addison went back to KC/Beloit for Steph's friend's baby shower. They spent a few days in KC with Mom & Dad and a few more days in Beloit with Rod & Bonnie. Sunday they went to see Michelle at the hospital after the baby was born (about a month early but healthy). All day Chloe was complaining of a stomach ache but with all the chaos of traveling and visiting not much attention was paid. On the way home she got sick in the van. Steph, of course, felt horrible for not listening to her earlier. I felt bad because she had to clean it up as best she could on the side of the road and then had to do a deeper clean when they got home that night. She also would have to be up with Addie when she gets hungry at night. I knew she wasn't going to get much sleep then. It breaks your heart when kids tell you something and you don't pay much attention to it then something bad happens. You feel like if you would have paid more attention to their needs then you could have prevented it - even if nothing would have stopped it. They get back on Wednesday night so hopefully we can all settle back into life and get some rest. Or at least what we call rest in our house.

Paternity Leave

So here I am nearing my month off work for Paternity Leave and I've not posted anything the whole time. Hmmm, why is it that I can find 20 minutes to write something during the day while I'm working but not while I'm at home? The biggest thing we've realized this past month is that we forgot just how much work newborns really are. We had these grandiose plans for what I would do during my time off. Not many of those things have been completed unfortunately. It's pretty frustrating for both Steph and I. To be fair we had a lot of company with Rod, Bonnie, Amber, Ryan, Lainie, Mom & Dad. We've really only been sans company for a couple of weeks. Having them all visit was great and I wouldn't trade it. Getting into our own regular routine has taken a bit longer than I remember though.
The Shamrock 1/2 Marathon is coming up quickly. I can't believe how much progress I've made. When I started I could barely run 2 miles now I go out for short runs of 3-4 miles. A couple of weeks ago I did 12 miles and felt pretty good after then the next weekend I dropped down to 8 miles. Just this past weekend I did 13! That is the longest I've ever run - EVER. There is a downside though. My left knee started hurting just a bit off and on about mile 3. At about 11.5 it really started to hurt with each step just under and to the left of my kneecap. I powered through pretty good but did have to walk a bit then sucked it up for the last .7 mile. I came home to ice, shower and go to a party (nothing much keeps me from a party). I did dig up a knee brace that I've been wearing nearly constantly. I was able to keep the pain away for the first couple days by not bending my let which is a bit difficult in a house with lots of steps. Sunday I did stay off my feet pretty well and Steph took on extra duty of getting me things. She's a saint. I can now walk up steps without wincing. I will take it easy this week as far as running. I'll do some cross training and hopefully not lose much stamina. If it does not keep healing I'll get it checked out. I also need to check out what happens to the race if I can't run. I seem to recall that if you get injured you can apply your fundraising amount to another run so I still plan to raise the amount needed. If you have not had a chance to donate you still are able. Send me a check or go to http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/shamrock09/breeve .

Addie is getting so big. You can tell she's a Reeve baby because she's now got her cheeks. She has a little cold that keeps her nose pretty stuffy. It also drains into her chest so she coughs quite a bit. She is doing well though and only cries when she's hungry or tired. Dylan and Chloe are doing well with her too. Chloe is still a helicopter. She wants to be involved as much as possible. We think they were both a little jelous for a while but that has been going away recently. Chloe's been going to her school part time for the past month so she stays home with us on Tues/Thurs. She loves it but Dylan is jelous of her. Dylan is doing OK at school. He has another slight bully incident but we believe it has been resolved. He was not getting some of his school work done and we think it was because of the bullying and jelousy at home. Now that those are going away his work is improving.
Steph and the girls are heading to KC/Beloit for a week leaving tomorrow. Dylan was pretty upset that he couldn't go with them when he found out. I tried to explain that with the girls gone we get to do some cool guy stuff. Like no bathing, watching Star Wars in our underwear and burp and fart without saying excuse me. Those plans were going well until someone reminded me that Carrie would still be here so we may have to curtail some of those things. We'll see. I may have to come up with something else equally as cool. I already have offers for sleepovers for Friday and Saturday nights so I'm not sure what we'll do.
I do have pictures of the family and I know I've had lots of requests for pictures of Addison. They are still on the camera and I'll get them on here in the next couple of days. I also go back to work soon so my postings won't be so far apart...