Sleeping Through My Day...

ZZZZZzzzzzzzz... Oh! Hi !!!!
I have nodded off while trying to write this little post. I fell asleep last night when my intention was to watch pre-season football. I woke up this morning to 'Fox and Friends' waking up out of a sound sleep, laughing. That's what happens when I try to sleep while Steve, E. D. and Brian are on... Steve had an ink pen explode in his hand and spent the entire show trying to figure out how to get the ink out of his hand. Nothing worked. It was comical... Went to work and my boss was telling me how someone got a hold of her checking acct. number AND her router number to allow for withdrawals... and she has never, ever, done any business online for anything! Wow! I guess you never know, huh?
I left work and was going to go home (in a massive rain storm), but something told me to stop by my sister's house and check on her. Lou seems to be doing a little bit better, so that's a huge thing. She bought a new car and I stood out in the rain and looked at it... It was saaweeeeet! I talked to Lou for a while. She said that outside of the nausea and vomitting from the chemo, that she actually feels better. She has more hope than she did last week. And also, so does her doctors. That made me feel a lot more chipper today. My other sister filed a grievance over her getting laid off from her teaching job and everyone from the school system to the folks handling her grievance feel she will win her case. Plus, Lou told me that there are several openings in the school system so it shouldn't be a problem. I'm hopeful. I came home and had the gourmet meal (also the traditional single guy's meal): hot dogs and potato chips with orange crystal light... and a creamsicle for dessert. All that was missing was the blonde bombshell and a mariachi band... ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

Not The Road Less Travelled

Hola,
I hope all of you are well. Me, I'm beyond exhausted as I have come home from doing 4 games in less than 48 hours... all out of town. I put a boat-load of miles on my car. Yep, my insane broadcasting schedule has kicked into high gear. My schedule this coming week is nuts. But for some strange reason, I'm looking forward to it... As Mick Jagger said so eloquently: "I know it's only rock-n-roll... BUT I LIKE IT!!!" When I got home I sat down on my couch, ready to watch the news on TV. I started to watch the TV screen (hint: the TV was NOT turned on) and the next thing I knew, I woke up and the sun had gone down. I was toast. I woke up and decided to surf online and saw about the horror of the Comair plane crash. Ugh, that was very sad to see. I don't know how far that is from you JXN, but with the base of news reporting coming from Lexington, I'm guessing that it's pretty close to your neighborhood. Speaking of news reporting, I'm glad to see that the two Fox News guys were freed... Other random thoughts... My nephew was the happiest kid on planet earth. I gave him my old laptop to use for college. He thinks I'm okay now... He still won't help me move my old refrigerator out to be tossed, but he'll take the laptop to make the most of it... gotta love those kids... someone has to... My sister Lou went through her first week of chemotherapy for leukemia. She's battling hard and I'm hopeful that she'll pull through. We'll see how it goes...

Godzilla and Golf... What a Pair...zzzz

Oh my am I tired...
I am running on fumes but it was a lot of fun. I had to go into work
yesterday very early (5am) and put my time in. I went to visit my sister
Lou and she was pretty emotional. She has to undergo more chemotherapy and is still trying to rebound from having her foot amputated.
She is trying to keep a positive perspective on things. But it's really getting to her. I saw her and my other sister Terri. Terri lost job on friday (she's a school teacher) and it really hurt her a lot. They still haven't officially told her. She found out on friday by total accident. They'll tell her officially tomorrow, which is the first day of school. Budget cuts... arrrrrgh! I spent a little time with them and tried to stay upbeat but it was very depressing in the house yesterday. I think part of it had to do with the fact that today (sunday) would've been our dad's birthday. I thought about him at Church this morning. I slept in and went to a later service cause I was up late on saturday night watching football and a really bad Godzilla movie... "Godzilla's Revenge" I thought most of those movies were bad back then. Now I wax them a bit nostalgic... Watching a portly Japanese kid (with just atrocious english overdubs) talking with Godzilla's son ( a dwarf in a plastic dragon suit that was maybe 4 foot tall) with a high pitch overdub that was not at all in sync with the Japanese version. It was awful. But kind of fun... Until I looked at the clock and realize that it was after 2:3o in the morning and had to wake up for Church in a few hours. I went to Church and it was great. I loved it. We didn't do anything much to celebrate my dad's birthday so w I went and hung out at my place when the guy that I do the golf show with called me and invited me to golf for free at one of the area's more nicer golf courses... so we golfed, ate good food, and laughed alot! I'm just now getting home late (near midnight) and am going to nod off for the night... Happy Birthday Dad! I love you a ton and miss ya...

In the Cards...

 Howdy,
Had today off from work and slept in today for the first time in forever. I went to sleep just before 3am and woke up around 9am... I was tired and laid in bed till about 10 and went to eat breakfast down the road. I came home and mowed the lawn and did some work to get things prepared for the upcoming sports seasons: football and (more important to me) hockey!  I can't wait for everything to start up again next week.
I feel pretty good after going to play poker with the boys on Wednesday night. My buddy was in okay spirits, all things considered. He was a little subdued but tried to keep joking around a little.  We all toasted him with a drink and talked for the longest time before we finally decided to play cards. He knows he doesn't have long. So he's trying to do some things that we all did for years in the past: play another round of golf together at a great course, get together and be wacky over some sushi... after he left to go home, some of the rest of us were talking about how precious life truly is. No matter how bad things can be, we know that we are very fortunate (read: blessed) because we are not in the situation that he's in. Since most of the guys (with the exception of me and one other guy) are doctors, the prognosis is obvious... maybe a year if he's lucky, more than likely, six months.  Most of the guys have a minimal belief in God. They don't talk much about it. But we all agreed that we have to pray for him.  He's not the most spiritual guy, but I think at his heart, he believes in God...

Gut-Check...

Life as I look at it...
Okay, what can I say. Insanity rules the day. A small peek into my world: some good things, some bad... but my attitude remains the same... I'm prayerfully optimistic. My sister is going to the doctor tomorrow after a vacation and is going to find out about how her situation with leukemia is going. I found out tonight that one of my poker playing buddies has been diagnosed with gastric cancer. That whizzes bigtime. I watched as he had to deal with it when his wife was diagnosed and she lasted about 3 years with it before it took her... The diagnosis for him is that it won't go the distance meaning that the usual prognosis is that the patient usually has about 5 years left. His cancer is advanced and they don't think he has anywhere close to 5 years. They're going to treat him with chemo and more chemo... that's about all there is to do. We're playing poker Wednesday night and he wants to play. He doesn't want us to make a big deal about it. The core group of us have been playing for about 15 years... I'm taking the approach of enjoying the time he has left and hoping for the best. I think of how much he really missed his wife. I know when she passed, it destroyed him. I think he may be thinking as this is an opportunity to reunite with her. When asked about the situation by one of the other poker guys', he responded in his typical gruff demeanor: "well, it's the same shit sandwich that was handed to my wife!" Ahhh doctors... someone's gotta love 'em...
The easy thing to do is to have a pitty party and say 'oh the heck with it'... but my faith is something that I have to lean on... I have to remind myself frequently that my faith is what is important. I have to find things to be joyful about and keep on keeping on... I choose to be happy in the face of fear and negativity... I choose my faith in God!

All things nutty...

Trying to catch my breath as the time has been flying by.
So much stuff has happened since last I checked in... I've probably forgotten more than I remember but I'll try to get to a couple of highlights:
Well since last I've written, the head coach of the lady's football team resigned, the head coach of the Cherokee hockey team was fired. Uh, let's see... I was doing a baseball game for BCSN when we came back from commercial, there was no batter going up to home plate. When I announced that there was an unexplained delay, my color analyst chimes in with "uh, mik, he's in the port-o-let down the right field line". When I said "okay", the guys in the production truck opt to get a camera shot of said port-a-potty. The guy comes out of there and his teammates are giving him the business pretty good. Our camera guy decides to stay with him and get a close-up. Let's just say it was a little too close-up! The guy's zipper was down as he was walking toward the plate and he spent 'quality time' trying to adjust himself (if you know what I mean), and had a tuff time getting his zipper pulled up... all of this going over the air of television. I sat there stunned, just watching my supposed broadcasting career going up in smoke when I finally thought "y'know what? just laugh at yourself and relax, will ya?" So while I'm watching this emmy-caliber broadcast on my monitor and wondering why the director didn't cut to another camera shot, I finally regain my composure after what felt like ten hours, but in reality, was only about 30 seconds. And I took a breath and made the only obvious comment that could have been made: "well, you can't get this with a satellite dish!!!" The entire press box broke up with laughter. I never did ask the director about what happened, but I guess he thought it was all funny and we joked about how it was the top of the mountain, in our broadcast careers. Looking back, I can now find some humor in it.
Yesterday, after the radio show, I went out to a local ball park as the lady's football team was playing our local Christian rock station YES-FM in a game of softball. Now the guys from the station are HORRIBLE. I watched them play... they're NOT softball players. However, as I came to find out yesterday, NEITHER ARE THE SPITFIRE!!! In fact, they were worse! They got their lunch handed to them by the radio folks to the tune of 16-6... So now I have to go on YES-FM on Monday morning at 7:20am and take the (almost) good-natured drubbing by the morning show... Yeah, it's a little crazy...

Checking In...

Popping in and out as I check the journals/blogs...
Today I feel better but my thoughts still float to others... JXN, I hope your mamaw recovers from her heart attack. The fact that she's going home is a great sign. Tina, I know it's been a bit, but I still think about you often and pray that you are dealing with things as best you can my friend... Riccie, ahhh yes my friend, I hope that things continue to be positive and that you continue to grow in your faith. You will be tested by the enemy in different ways, but your faith will get you through... Maggs, just a note to let you know that life isn't always perfect, but it's a lot better to think about what's good about this world instead of what's bad. You my friend, are exhibit A...
I tried to help my sister to find a certain water toy for her work and I drove all over town trying to find it, to no avail. So as an afterthought, I joke that she should try and use a garden hose sprayer to have fun with... she text messaged me this morning and said she took the advice and it worked out perfectly. Hey, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Tonight, I'm finally home with a little daylight for the first time in donkeys. My other sister and her hubby and their kids are on vacation and I am baby sitting the dog... who just so happens to be MY dog! But that's okay. I know that I can't give Penney all the attention and time that she needs. But here I sit and Pen is snuggled up against me, sleeping as I type. A man and his dog... does it get any better? Luvvvvvvvvvv that dog...

Time's Flyin' and I'm Having Fun... at least a little bit

Thursday musings as I throw out random thoughts...

August.... AUGUST??? What the hay?
I can't believe that we're in the eighth month of the year already... wow! Two-a-days start this week and on the hockey side, the main tryout camp for the Cherokee is this weekend. I can't wait... that is going to be soooo much fun...
Lots of little things have been going on... some things I've noticed, other things I haven't until they jump up and bite me... perfect example: I work during the mid-day at the hospital. I don't get to pick up my mail during the week very often because the hours of my local post office are not conducive to my work schedule. So I usually go down there about once a week (maybe) when my schedule permits. I went down there since I had today off... I hadn't been down there since early July... as I tossed away all of the junk mail etc, I discovered a couple of birthday cards that were sent to me (thanks Riccie and Jan) BEFORE my actual birthday (july 15) ! I felt like a big schmoe but then decided to just laugh about it and not take myself too seriously... I'm such a dork!
Woman update: the lady that liked me from the restaurant but I wasn't interested in her... well she's found somebody else! I was happy (and relieved) that she met a nice guy and they're hitting it off... ahhh yes! She was telling me all about it this morning. I sat there and with a big grin and probably seemed too supportive of her about it... ha-ha!
My fridge here at the house went on the fritz... so I'm going to go put it out with the garbage and think about the fact that I don't want to spend the money on a new one. I know someone who works at Whirlpool so I think I may go that route...
Is it me, or has anyone really heard much about that American Idol guy, Taylor Hicks? He did a single that went to #1 (I guess) but he's already jumped to doing jingles for Ford... Isn't that a bit of a step backwards? And so soon? The guy STILL looks like Joey Buttafuco!
And finally, it's been a blessing to write and keep in touch with you all. Even though my schedule is nuts and will jump to warp drive insanity in about two weeks, though I don't write every day anymore, doesn't mean that I don't get a few minutes to read emails and blogs... I'm still thinking about you guys: Tina, Maggs, Jan, Riccie, JXN, etc., you all have been very cool friends and that has made a lasting impression in this tired old scribe... Thanks!