Sunday School at WalMart...

As the song from KISS goes... HOT HOT... HOTTER THAN HELL! It was soooo hot this weekend. I spent my 2 days off from work doing the radio show on Saturday morning and then doing a couple of girls college softball games for TV. I didn't get the benefit of the broadcast booth. So I sat in the blazing sun, roasting from medium rare, to well done. We're talking lobster tan... I was getting wobbly out there with the temp in the 90s and 100% humidity... ahhh life. On Saturday night, I was so exhausted I sat and fell asleep in a chair. I woke up and yakked with a couple of friends (hint: I didn't start chatting with them until I was awakened by their rings. I am such a dork) Sunday, I went to Church in the morning and the message scored a direct hit on my psyche'. I needed to be smacked out of the funk that I was in for a couple of days. I started feeling that light back in my heart and left there feeling MUCH better. I had such a nice chat with God in the car on my way to... WalMart!!! Don't ask me why, but it was a about 15 minutes out of my way... and I felt that I had to go there. I'm glad I did. I grabbed a shopping cart and didn't make it 20 feet into the store when I saw school supplies on sale: ridiculous prices on school supplies. SO I knew right then and there, I had to load up! I went crazy and bought lots of supplies: colored pencils, notebooks, crayons, #2 pencils, glue... you name it. Now I managed to get about 20 more feet into the store when I ran into a friend of mine, Ron, who I hadn't seen in ages. He was telling me about his dad who is in the hospital and struggling a little bit. I smiled and let him know that I knew what he was going through... we stood there and talked for about 20 minutes. I saw another buddy of mine, Rick, who I haven't spent much time with him and his wife. The group of us were talking away like school kids when it occured to both of them that my shopping cart was full of school supplies... and I don't have any kids! I still loaded up and figured that I going to shock the crap out of my sister and brother-in-law and their boys... I'm such a dork! Ha!

Faith, Hope, and Love...

Ahhh,
It feels so good to be home. I have spent the last few days in a whirlwind of activity. Going all over the place and putting miles on my car like crazy. I went and saw my God-daughter. Man, is she getting big. I've been trying to get her to warm up to me... she cries whenever I pick her up... she doesn't like to hug or kiss me... man, it sounds like my love-life... Ha! Well, my other sister is going to the doctor on friday. They told her she indeed has leukemia. But the outlook seems to be more optimistic than previously thought. So we'll see what turns up. As of late, sometimes I can feel my faith being challenged. After losing Doug, and Julie and seeing things go kind of south in personal issues, it would've been easy to give in and say the hell with it all, and blame it on not being able to, or more appropriately, not WANTing to deal with life. But then I do things like go to church and I find messages that seem to speak to me and bring me back to reality and I realize that I have a purpose on this earth and even if I don't have all of the answers, I have to have HOPE. Hope is what sustains me when things don't always go my way. I make myself think about things I want to do in the NEAR future, not the distant. By making myself think about the near future, I find that those goals are reasonably attainable. Thinking about the football and hockey seasons coming up and wondering what games will I be able to broadcast on radio/and or TV? Little things like that are what I make myself focus on until it becomes natural and automatic. Things that are positive and good. I went to the county fair tonight. The house band at the church I go to was invited to play for the 3rd year in a row. It's a dreary, rainy, night and I wasn't expecting much but they pulled it off. The band rocked the house (well in this case, Skeldon Stadium) and people left the dry confines of seats in the baseball stadium underneath the 2nd deck over hang, to go out onto the baseball stadium grass (in the pouring rain) to stand near the band. That coupled with the music they played, was just what the doctor ordered for me. While the rain fell on me, I felt the pain of loss, frustration, exhaustion, dullness, repetition of things in my life... start to roll away with the rain drops that ran down me... I came home and after eating some ice cold watermelon... my tummy is fat and happy and I am ready for a good night's sleep. Gotta work at the hospital and then I have to go to my nephew's and help him fix something on his car (which I know nothing about), and then go somehow try and broadcast a tennis match for TV. I guess I should say broadcast without falling asleep during the match.... zzzzzzzz

Celebrating A Life... or Two

Hmm,
been a wacky couple of days. Yesterday was a tough one. Went to work and then left for a while so I could attend Doug's funeral. That was pretty tough on a lot of folks. I listened as Doug's sister gave the eulogy. It was of fond memories from the earliest childhood up through Doug and Carolyn meeting up and getting married just over a year ago. They lived together for some time but never got hitched until 13 months ago. The minister who did their wedding, also officiated this gathering as well. It was hard to see Doug lying there like that when I seen all of the pictures of him rock climbing. Carolyn was sitting there, looking tired and defeated. The wind taken out of her sails, trying somehow to make sense out of the senseless... Afterwards, I went back to work and sat there for a while. It seemed out of sorts to come back to some sense of normalcy when Carolyn is saying good-bye to the love of her life. Life really whizzes sometimes.
After work, I headed home and was hungry so I stopped at a local restaurant that I frequent and treated myself to a nice dinner. The girl who waited on me is always nice to me. We joke around from time to time and pick on each other when we see each other. On my birthday, when she found out it was that day, she went and brought me out a piece of strawberry pie with a candle on it. Just because. When I went in there yesterday, I saw a huge floral arrangement with a birthday balloon on top of it. I asked her who's birthday it was. She said it was hers. I asked if it came from her boyfriend and she tried to downplay that completely. Apparently it was from a customer who thinks that she's hot stuff. So she was trying to figure out who to dump the flowers on. I think she said her mom... anyway, I was razzing her about something or another and she was asking me about my day. I didn't want to replay it but I told her anyway and it kind of brought both of us down... so I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to end my day like that! I paid my bill, looked at Jaime and just gave a non-chalant nod and said "c'ya later" and left... what she didn't know was that I went to the store and bought a birthday cake, had them put 'happy birthday jaime' on it, and got her a bottle of wine for her and her boyfriend to relax with later... I walked back into the restaurant and surprised the living daylights out of her... she was 12 shades of red and laughing hysterically and totally shocked that I did this. She kept saying over and over 'you shouldn't have done this, I can't believe it!' I just smiled and said "hey, just enjoy yourself" and smiled and left. The look on her face when I made my exit was priceless... I went home in a very good mood... poured myself a diet lime coke and thought of Doug and Jaime... with a smile... Cranked open the computer and saw the great success of Riccie passing her exam. Now that was great! Congrats Riccie! I started the day off not really having much to smile about, but by the time my head hit the pillow, I was feeling a whole lot better...

A day off from work...

Had a day off from work on Thursday and told myself I needed to get some sleep. Boy did I. I think I slept something like 11 hours. I woke up at 6am and caught Fox News Channel's 'Fox and Friends' for a while. I love that show cause it feels like they're my friends and I'm having breakfast with them and we're talking about the day's happenings. They share their own personal opinions and I form mine. It's a blast.
Any way, I woke up late and grabbed a shower before heading back into town. I grabbed some lunch at McDonald's (normally a no-no) but today was a day that I didn't care about much of anything. I went shopping at office max and then went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff. Then I had the daunting task of going to the mortuary to see Doug and pay my respects. Carolyn looked to be okay as she was talking with a few folks. I walked over to the casket and Doug looked a lot older than he did when he was alive. But of course, he went through sheer hell to earn the right to go to heaven at the end of his life. So it all works out in the end, I guess. Anyway, I said a quick prayer and then went over to where Carolyn was talking. She looked over to me and her eyes grew big. She walked over to me and as I went to hug her, she buried her head into my chest and sobbed. She cried and cried and said 'I don't know if I'm going to be able make it through this.' That kind of rocked me. I was not expecting that necessarily. But I sucked it up and very gently, but confidently told her that she would make it. Not because she won't go through any more pain, but rather, although she lost the love of her life, the rest of us were here to hold her up. That it would take all of us to be there for her and do the things for her that Doug was able to do by himself. It clicked in my head that perhaps that is why we grieve so deeply for a spouse or partner. It takes everyone else that we know to mildly substitute for the one person who was able to do everything to satisfy their true love! I told her that we're all going to always miss him and that it will hurt. But that the best way to honor his memory is keep doing what we know how to do... live. Not to forget him, but to keep his memory alive. We talked about some things that Doug used to do. Carolyn managed a small smile and continued to talk with people that came up to offer her condolences. It was hard but I went over watch the video of pictures of him. Wow, I was moved in watching his pictures that documented times in his life. and now that life is over... at least here on earth. It was a little weird in that he passed on the same day (one year later) that my dad did. I shared that with Carolyn and she was stunned as was her son who was standing there. I mentioned the difference was one year and twenty minutes... that was kind of weird. But as I told her (to make her laugh), my big prayer at the time Doug went to heaven was to my dad to go have a beer with Doug while they are up there and that we'll be up there someday... hopefully not too soon. But that we continue to live and honor God and one day be reunited with all of those that have gone before us...
After I left there, I came home for a bit, and went to my kid sister and brother-n-law's... Tried to repair her printer but that was an excersise in futility. Now I'm home and am ready to hit the pillow and try it all again tomorrow... Good Lord willing...

A Solid Rock (climb)

Now then,
I'm more chipper today than yesterday. I am also more sore... more on that in a moment. First, we heard from Carolyn's son yesterday. He said that Carolyn has pulled it all together and is now 'a rock'... She sent the kids to their respective homes because she had 'stuff to do'... It was amazing, the transformation. That really surprised me. I knew how hard she battled to keep him alive. The docs offered her the opportunity to take him off of life-support. She didn't even think twice... NO WAY! Under no circumstances would she do that. He actually came around just enough that she could tell him that she loved him etc., I personally think it was Divine Intervention because Doug lasted long enough so that his step-son could go through with his own marriage a few weeks ago. Not only that, but Chris was able to go on a honeymoon too, I think. Maybe that's why Doug lasted this long. He wanted his family to celebrate all that is good about life, before he went on to eternal life, which is good for him, but sad for us because he's not with us here on earth. And Doug was a good man. A very good man. His accomplishments were many, but his outlook was simple...he loved life. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved hiking and rock climbing... and he was 63 years old!!! I'm more than 20 years younger and I don't even do anything near that active. Holy smokes, I start to sigh when I comb my hair and this guy was rock climbing out west in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming up until this year! Geez, I feel like I need to do a whole lot more living! I am very sad at losing my friend, but am proud that he lived life to the fullest. I only hope that in the remaining time I have left on this earth, that I can pack more LIVING into life... I'm glad to have known Doug for as long as I did...

Bittersweetness...

Well,
Today was one that can be best described as bittersweet. Today was the 1st anniversary of my dad's passing. That was going to be tough to think about. But I got a good awakening from my radio partner Jamo. He called me on Sunday morning (while I was sitting in Church) and told about a phone call from the Golf Channel last night. The Channel wanted us to follow and film the golfer from the LPGA who's name is Natalie Gulbis. In her history, she very briefly dated Ben Rothlisberger last year. She does a reality show on the Golf Channel called (oddly enough) 'The Natalie Show'. Jamo, Dave and me had to wait for the producer to fly in from Florida to tell us what he wanted us to shoot. Most of the footage was of Natalie's dad. She and he are very close and he looks more like a biker that the father of an LPGA professional. Well since the LPGA was in Toledo for the Jamie Farr golf tournament, we were amongst the throng of people who were out there in the insanely hot weather. The heat index was well over 100 degrees farrenheit. I had to carry a TV video camera all over the golf course. It was heavy and I sweat myself silly. I walked all over the course. I was severly dehydrated and hadn't eaten much. But we got a lot of video footage and we thought for sure that Natalie would win. But she missed a key putt and finished regulation tied for first and ended up in a two hole playoff to determine the winner and lost. Prior to the playoff, the producer was making plans for Jamo, Dave, and I to follow Natalie out and about to paint the town red for her first victory on the LPGA tour. But instead, she finished in second and went to her rented house to be alone... So the producer, Jamo, Dave, and yours truly went to dinner and ate and really had a great time. I felt kind of odd because it was the anniversary of my dad heading to heaven. But my family told me earlier in the day that He would be proud of me... so I took it as a good sign.
I came home late Sunday night with the feeling of sheer exhaustion. I thought I'd check my email and head for bed... got a note from a co-worker that told me that Doug passed away on Sunday afternoon. That hit me in the solar-plexis... one year after losing my dad to the day. Wow. I didn't need that... Carolyn is a mess. She's trying to stay strong but is losing the battle. I really feel for her... God is picking himself up a good man. I hope that Carolyn can feel God's love. She's going to need it to survive a terrible blow like this...God Bless Doug... and Carolyn!

Ups, Downs, and Updates

How do,
This week started out pretty good... I was in rare form while figuring out what I was going to get Dylan for his birthday. I was all set to go see him and do the 'birthday' thing with him. But they opted for celebrating it this friday at Dyl's favorite place... the bowling alley! I personally can't stand bowling but I will be out there throwing that ball down the lane, making a fool out of myself because I love that kid... I'm still feeling a bit stung because with the joy of Dylan's birthday and the AAA baseball all-star game was here in Toledo this week and I had an absolute blast by my friends. The hospital network that I work for was the title sponsor for the week's events. I couldn't believe how much fun we had, but that was no match for my sister Lou's announcement that her docs believe she has leukemia... not much to smile about there... I've been having a wild variety of thoughts go through my head. My birthday is this weekend. Also this weekend is the first anniversary of my father's passing. Now Lou is dealing with this. I can't deal with it all. I ate like a moose the last few days. I don't know what to think or do. I'm used to being able to fix things or come up with a solution when it comes to my family. Right now I feel helpless and am kind of hacked off that I can't really do anything. But that is what true faith in God is, by it's very definition: the ability to believe when there is no reasonable explanation to show why something has or has not happened.
Today was day one of the Jamie Farr LPGA golf tournament. It's being held here in Toledo (okay the suburb of Sylvania... work with me here!) and I will look forward to it as I have to broadcast our radio show on Saturday morning from the tournament... Our show is a golf show after all... My head is swimming right now thinking about everything and nothing at the same time... ahhhh the heck with it. I'm going to stand on my faith for Lou and I am looking forward to enjoying myself this weekend...
Doug Update: I know it's been a while since I've mentioned my friend Doug. He was on death's door. We thought it was just a matter of hours till the end. But through faith and prayer (even his doctors don't know how he's hanging on), Doug is still alive. They still don't know how. My faith tells me he's still alive because he has a purpose. I believe he is still on earth, instead of in it, for a specific reason. I hope it's to survive and turn a negative into a positive and give God the glory... Keep fighting Doug!!! Carolyn has been off of work for about three months now and has not left his side... she loves him so... God Bless Her!

Lobster-fest (sunshine editon)

Before any of you go thinking that I spent the weekend eating seafood, the lobster reference is a reflection of how I spent the weekend out in the sun and let's just say I didn't have any suntan lotion nor shade for that matter. I am beet red and it hurts just to make facial expressions. I spent my days off (from the hospital) doing work for the TV station and I was broadcasting motocross (dirtbike racing) on Saturday, and Baseball on Sunday. I was fried by the time I made it home on Sunday. I thought about going and doing something but I ended up falling asleep watching the TV screen (hint: the TV was NOT turned on)... Well, today is day two with a new cell phone and new number. Those of you that have followed my blog for a while know about my previously delightful cell-phone experiences involving hoodies and toilets! Yippeeeeee! (no pun intended). Anyway, I switched carriers as soon as my T-mobile (aka 'useless') contract was up and now am with Verizon... hope things go better with them... at least they can hear me now... Good! And before I forget, a very happy 10th birthday to my nephew Dylan. That kid never fails to amaze me with how cool he is... and he's only 10 years old!!! He and his brother are two of the smartest (and craftiest) wise acres that I know... I feel like I'm chatting with two adults sometimes... I guess I am getting old...

Sleeping through fireworks

Tuesday was a day that was lonnnng and boring... Went and had breakfast at my usual stomping grounds. The waitress I know asked if I was going to work and I acknowledged that I was... she said "ohhhhh, wow, I didn't think that you'd have to work today..." she said it in a way that suggested that she wanted to do something today... maybe with me. I don't know and I don't really want to know... Work was borrring to say the least, but at least it's time and a half. I came home and thought about going to downtown Toledo and watching the fireworks but told myself to just walk to the beach and catch them from home... of course I was sitting on my butt watching a movie when the fireworks went off, so I opted for the movie instead...I'm such a dork!

Red White and feeling blue no more...

Ohhh man...
I'm dragging but a good kind of dragging... This weekend was the first one where I didn't have to go out of town or work at the hospital in quite some time... To say that I needed this time off is a great, great understatement... The area here on the lake where I live had an area-wide garage-sale day today. I left early Saturday morning to go and do my radio show and when I came back home and went to park alongside my house... people who I didn't even know had already parked on my grass... I saw them come towards the car and very politely asked them to move their vehicle because I had to park my car and I lived there. They said "you should put a sign on your property that says 'no parking'... it took everythng I had to not laugh outloud and say "um, now explain to me why I would put up a no parking sign on my own property"???? But the locals near me got a kick out of it and we enjoyed the day's proceedings. People were very friendly and it was actually a terrific time... People were walking up and down the streets and we laughed lots and lots... After doing a little garage sale-ing, I went home and took a brief nap. My sister called and her and her sister-in-law and their kids were putzing around since both of their husbands were working. I invited them over since I'm only about 45 yards from the beach. Plus, we had the fireworks going off at about ten... so they all came over and were surprised at where I live... They didn't realize how close to the beach I was...
At night-fall, the kids were all giddy with anticipation... I watched them swim out in the lake and they just had a ball. They ate corn dogs, elephant ears, and other food that was unhealthy. I wish I could've fed them (and me) more... we drank fresh squeezed lemonade and it was so wonderful. When the fireworks started, we all sat on the beach and I watched my nephews and the expressions on their faces said it all... They were applauding throughout the fireworks display since it was literally right over their heads. They watched in awe... I am so jaded from being able to appreciate simple pleasures like that anymore... but watching them in their innocence, appreciate something so simple as a fireworks display, really touched me inside. So maybe I'm just jaded and these things don't always mean as much to me... but to watch them look at the night sky as if it held the key to their happiness, It caused my heart to warm and grow which is something it hasn't done in quite sometime. As we walked back to my house and said so long, the boys were grateful and I just said "hey, no problem... come on back". Inside I wanted to say 'thank you guys for restoring some of the warmth I used to have' and letting me feel like a kid again... even though my innocence waved bye-bye to me a long time ago, I still felt a flicker of it on Saturday night... I have to find a lot of gratitude in that...

Rebound from feeling down and questions about Tree Town

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I think I did for the most part... Worked at the hospital all day on Saturday and was supposed to go to a graduation party... instead, I walked down to the local watering hole and chowed down on a burger and had one beer. I didn't feel like going and hanging out with the high school kids. I was thinking about my dad. I wasn't completely depressed or anything like that, but it's coming up on one year since he passed away and I have been thinking about him alot lately. I was asked by one of my sisters to bring over the DVD that me and my friend made of my dad that was shown at the mortuary. I knew I didn't want to watch it again and go down memory lane. But I watched it anyway... I watched it and cried like a baby... I really miss him. But I felt sooooooooooo much better afterwards. I went and dropped it off at my sister's. She popped it in and promptly wept. But again, she felt better. I needed to let that pain out of my system and continue with life... I left there and had a smile on my face. I just did... went to the women's football team end of the season party. Turns out it's the end of the Toledo Spitfire party... The franchise is being moved to Ann Arbor, MI and be known as the Tree Town Spitfire. Some of the players will stay with the team, others will not. Some of the coaches will be leaving. A couple of others will stay. It's going to be different. I think the team is under the impression that I'll be coming back. To be honest, I'm not so sure. I'm getting tire of everything (losing, dissention in the ranks, etc...) and I may need a break and do something else next spring... we shall see... if I had to decide right now, I wouldn't be back. I'd leave... but I love the ownership, they are really wonderful people... I guess I don't love them enough to stay... but I love them alot... Man, I wish hockey season would get here... ha!

Sick to death of...

My, my, my...
It's been a strange week. I've had a couple of setbacks, but I've been able to still feel very positive and (dare I say it) hopeful! At the end of last week, a very close friend of my sister's, lost her 17 year-old son in a car wreck just a few miles from my house. Also, the brother of the team president of our hockey team passed away the same day from liver failure and lung cancer. On Sunday (father's day) a long-time friend of mine, Julie, lost her battle with cancer over at hospice. I had known Julie for about 20 years... She was a doll. She would call me on the phone at work at the hospital anytime she saw me broadcasting on TV (she would be a patient at the time), and tell me that she was watching me on TV and how cool that was. I would just shrug it off and say thanks because I always downplay my supposed 'celebrity'... But now it's sad because I didn't give more consideration to the fact that she was a big fan of mine. I didn't consider it before because I never wanted to have an 'ego'... so I always downplayed any compliments. But I have learned from Julie's passing that she had an appreciation for life and the people in it... She was a pediatric nurse and a might fine one. She will be missed by her hubby and family obviously. But she will also be missed by her hospital family as well... Enjoy paradise Julie, say hello to my parents for me...
Despite the events of the last week, I have realized in my heart that I am yearning for more... more out of my life. I've been frustrated at times but I've learned that I have to like myself and to do more for those around me if I am to expect greater things in my life... I am learning to appreciate life a whole lot more than I did before... I used to consider myself a fatalist because to be honest, I wasn't truly happy with my life. I was miserable because I was missing something. We are all empty in some aspect of ourselves. Some have financial success, but are missing something emotionally or spiritually. Some have their poop in a group in terms of being responsible but aren't either financially or physically able to do anything. We all have our shortcomings. But I've learned that instead of seeing each other's imperfections, that it is more fulfilling to focus on what is good about each other... and to appreciate that!

Four Days Off and Missing Dad...

Happy Father's Day! (where applicable)
Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Me, I'm just trying to recoup from the weekend that was... I've travelled throughout the midwest. I've gotten to know the different ports of call that are a thrill to say the least. I'm tired but it's a good kind of tired. I could expound about the different things that happened to me this weekend but it pales in comparison. I have been involved in things ranging from rockers and festivals to blue grass (hi JXN) and the fact that the women's football team won their season finale and there was celebration amongst the masses... okay about 30 0f us... but I digress...
The most important thing that really hit home for me was that this weekend was father's day and it was the first without my ol' man... Even that was not soooo bad... but in one of the movies that were being shown on the bus to Erie, PA on Saturday was 'Glory Road' and part of the soundtrack included the motown classic 'Shotgun' from Jr. Walker and the Allstars. That was my father's absolute, all-time favorite song... bar none! Didn't matter what mood my dad was in, when he heard that song, I could see my ol'man start shucking and jiving like a kid... it would bring an instant smile to my face and to those around him. I remember at my kid sister's wedding when the DJ struckup 'Shotgun'... our whole entire family surrounded my father and we danced like crazy fools and it is one memory I'll always remember! Sunday was my first without my pop... It was bittersweet in that I smiled at the memories that I have of that song but it still didn't matter... my dad's gone and anytime that I see the Cubs play baseball, or hear that song, I think of him and miss him tremendously. I wish he was healthy and around. But I know that he is in a much better place and I'm not here to wish him back on any terms... He's in paradise... why would I wish him to be pulled away from that?

Bugging Me...

Trying to dig out of the storm that is freaking MAYFLIES!!! I woke up to a complete coating of my car of those sorry things. I was cleaning my house windows of those stink-bugs and was in my slippers... only to slip as I was on what I thought was my grass... nope, you guessed it... my grass was completely coated in mayflies... UHHHGH!!! I threw away my slippers immediately. The street cleaner had to come down my street 4 times to clean some of the those crud bugs off of the road... the funny part is that they'll have to come back every morning to get it cleaned for another month.
Anyway, I went on Wednesday night to see a private screening of the new Jack Black flick 'Nacho Libre'... it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. It opens on Friday. I laughed out loud several times... It's actually pretty safe to take the family... something unusual for JB films... the wrestling scenes are cheesy but Jack is Jack and I laughed...
Well, I don't know what else to say except that I hope that you all are well. I am feeling better because I've slept more and have the mayflies to keep me occupied... oh joy! Going out of town so I'll try and touch base sometime this weekend... Peace (an NO mayflies)...

May-flies... In June?

Whew! what a weekend! I survived my insane schedule and am enjoying a nice Sunday night/Monday morning watching the moonlight outside my window. Of course living on the lake, I have the unique pleasure of watching the mayflies land on my house... and stay there! Ugh! I hate these things. For those of you that might not know, on Lake Erie, for between 4-6 weeks every June, the mayflies hatch and bombard the local communities that are right on the lake. Mayflies are harmless flies (or bugs with huge wings) that do nothing but hatch, fly around and land (and stay) near anything warm and bright, and reproduce... all within 24 hours... and then they die. Wow, some could make the argument about the quality of life a mayfly has vs. humans... but I digress.
Church was really good today. They had a guest speaker who spoke about the DaVinci code and as he so eloquently put it: "why the davinci code is always in the fiction section!" I can't wait for the church to put this video teaching up on their website... verrrry imformative. And very interesting. The guy's name is Tom Short. He doesn't just try to feed people church position and the usual "believe us or you'll go to hell" sentiment. Instead, as Dan Brown tried to make points with the 'lost gospels' etc... Tom Short shows documentation that debunks every thing that Dan Brown 'infers' about Jesus. Very thought prevoking stuff... for christians and non christians alike.
Spent the rest of the day at graduation parties... ate too much food and came home to mow the lawn and clean the sides of the house of mayflies... UGH!

Let Me Sleep On It

Well,
It's been a few days since last I've written. Just been extremely busy. More than I care to be. Several of you have emailed and asked about the ol' energy level and how I do it... To be honest, most of it is because I have no real responsibility to anyone. No wife/kids etc... My jobs are about communication and the people that I work with in my main job think it's cool that I am on radio and TV so they help me anytime that I need a change in my schedule. But I answer to no one but God and when I look in the mirror. Sounds like a life to be envied, but to be honest, it's not... like the old saying goes: 'the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but they have to water and cut that grass too.' I think the thing that bothers me, is that I'm always tired. I have 'just enough' energy to keep going everyday. But I'm always exhausted. One thing about this hectic pace: I'm getting more sound sleep. I used to just sleep about 4-5 hours a night (on a good night). Now, I still have short nights but I'll get about 5-6 hours solid shut-eye between 4-5 days out of the week... on a day off if I don't have anything going on in the afternoon, I'll sneak a nap in... Sundays in the summer, I turn into Rip Van Mik as I wake up and go to Church, but in the afternoon I'm usually counting sheep when ever possible... I'll contribute something maybe remotely interesting this weekend. But this is my feeble attempt to let those who emailed, that yes, I am still alive and ticking... nighty night... Zzzzzz

Drinks, Rinks, Links, and Rock (me thinks)

You know something? I've got to say I am comfortably numb... no, not from any drinking unless you consider Diet Coke with Lime to be a highly toxic elixir. I am way beyond exhausted. I've gotten a lot of things done, not the least of which was to find a trainer or trainers for the Cherokee tryout camp this weekend. If you read my previous post, I was in a mild panic because the person who was going to be the athletic trainer for the weekend, backed out and left me kind of hanging. I was not thrilled at the proposition of trying to find coverage for the camp with only 3 days to do it, but I knew I had to have faith. More importantly, I had to demonstrate it. I got some friends from work who stepped up to the plate for me. (side note: thanks Rebecca for being willing to do band aid duty... By the way, do they make the band aids out of potatoes out there in Idaho? LOL) I was so grateful to have them offer to help. My great friend DJ who's an ER physician came out on thursday night and when we walked into the rink, I was stunned to find that our old trainer came back for the camp. He didn't tell anyone until he got there. So I had to tell the people that I struggled to get to cover, that I didn't need them afterall... arrrrrrrrrgh! Anyway, DJ and I hung out together and talked like a couple of school girls as we hadn't seen each other face to face in over a year. But we hung out at the rink and then went to get a bite to eat and talk some more. DJ is now interested in being the team doctor if his schedule will allow. I was happy as DJ is truly my manic counter balance. We both know that we have each other to lean on if the other is going down the tubes because of work, life, or the women in our lives, etc... you get the picture.
Anyway, Friday was an incredibly long day. Woke up just before 6am, went to Krogers for doughnuts, over to my buddy Todd's radio show on Yes FM and did an interview on the air with him, went to pay my car insurance, all before I went into work at the hospital. After the hospital, I went to the rink for more tryouts, left early as my nephew Tony graduated from high school and I had to drive across town for that. After the commencement finished and everyone went outside, we got hit with a wicked rain and lightning storm almost on cue. I got soaked but was still in good spirits. Was supposed to go downtown to a going away part for a couple of girls I know, Erin and Rachel, who are taking new jobs within the hospital... Saturday was almost a carbon copy of Friday, except I started with my own golf show on our sports radio station. Everything else was more of the same. Except that I had two hours to myself this afternoon before the Spitfire women's football game I had to broadcast. So I zipped home and fell asleep for a little over an hour and I felt so refreshed. After the game, which Toledo lost 20-6 , I almost went to a bar I know to see a band play. I was too tired and went home. The reason I had wanted to go was because Jada Pinkett Smith is the singer in the band that was playing. I'm not kidding. JPS is the lead singer in a heavy metal band... I'M NOT KIDDING! Yes, the same Jada Pinkett-Smith who is married to the fresh prince himself, Will Smith! A heavy metal band??? In an interview with the local paper here in town, she said that in addition to all types of music in the house growing up, a couple of big favorites were Iron Maiden and Judas Priest... huh???? I guess it's not an everyday happening that young, incredibly beautiful african-american girls dream of fronting a heavy metal band... I still am trying to figure this out... I wonder how she would've done on 'American Idol' ? On second thought...

Tears for Fears (or for Van Morrison fans... Dancing in da Escanaba Moonlight)

Watched a beautiful sunrise this morning. Watching it rise up over the lake was very refreshing. I needed to see some beauty to get my batteries recharged. This has been a long week and I've been short on sleep and am now officially in mild panic mode. Reason: Cherokee tryout camps are here starting Thursday and going thru Sunday and I have to find a trainer for the tryouts. My original trainer was all set to go and then on Monday emailed me and told me he can't do it afterall (His wife said NO). I'm trying to find someone that would be willing to do it. Just sit there and watch and hang out and only treat cuts or the odd bloody nose or two from the occasional fight that goes bad. Just little things. Anything major would require a trip to the hospital anyway... so a small amount of work would be all they would be responsible for. Ahhh life! Taylor Hicks was on Fox & Friends this morning. It was funny like always, but I have a small question about the new American Idol: is it just me, or does Taylor Hicks look like Joey Buttafuco???

Long Days and Short Nights

Thinking about coming to the end of a 22 hour day. It started early long before dawn. Went and got up and did some show prep for the return to radio. I wasn't nervous until I got to the station. I figured Mike and Dave would be there but I was the first to arrive at the studio. I got out of my car and just stood in the parking lot, looking at the studios and thinking about the past. My years in radio coming back to me... Going home again, sort of. I had a chance to continue in radio across town at the rival Fox Sports Radio affiliate, but didn't take the chance. I was afraid. I didn't feel right about it. When my buddy Jamo told me about going back to the old station (the ESPN radio affiliate) I was anxious at first. My show got axed because the sales manager got bumped from his time slot because of Ohio State football so guess who was the odd man out? I took the high road about it and have not once said anything negative about the then sales manager nor the program director. Even though I wanted to strangle them both... lol... But I have since worked with the sales mgr who works at the TV station I work at and we had a good heart to heart talk about everything and cleared the air and get along great. The PD is always polite to me whenever I see him but I can tell he was always glad that I was gone. Jamo told me when Norm asked him to do the show, and Jamo told him that Todd, Dave and I were coming back to work with Jamo, that Norm kind of winced and didn't say much. Jamo also told him that I was coming back with the hope of doing my own show again sometime, Norm just rolled his eyes. I know that he doesn't want me there (even though he won't say it). But I'm not going to do anything but be polite and respectful. I'm sure that Norm will listen to every show... Our first show back was okay. We laughed alot and we were a little rusty from not working on air together for over 4 years. But it was still okay. We're going to be a bit rusty starting out but I think we still have a good chemistry and it will work out okay.
Left the radio station and went to the bus and headed to Cincinnati for women's football. We lost 27-14 but played well. I am pulling into Toledo early (as I write this entry, I'm still on the bus) and won't get home until about 3am... I have to get up on sunday morning to go to church. Right after church I have to drive to Detroit to go to an Islamic wedding. A first for me... Should be interesting... I also have to work on Monday (a double header of soccer in the morning for TV, and then 8 hours at the hospital in the afternoon...) My whole next week is like that. yeesh, I'm whipped... I'll yak at y'all later

Jack Frostless My Sweet Dupa

So now I'm sitting here watching more playoff hockey and yelling at my fridge and frostless freezer. Why you ask? Oh, the answer is simple. The dang thing has ice build up! That's why! When I travel with the Spitfire women's football team down to Cincinnati this weekend, I'm going to unplug it and let the ice melt. Of course I'll have to move all the frozen food that is in there but since I don't have a ton of stuff in there, I'll take my chances...
Nothing new with Doug. Carolyn called today to thank us for sending her a gift basket of munchies etc. for her and her family. She said he had a stable night but things are still very critical. His kidneys are starting to fail and he's on dialysis now. The clots in his stomach are starting to clear up a little but his breathing is still in the toilet. I'm po'd when I think about it because Doug and Carolyn deserve better. They are very good people and I'm just hacked off that they have to go through this... But I guess I should be grateful. There but for the grace of God go I.... Talked to my sister Lou today. She's getting frustrated because her physical therapy isn't going well. When she first had the majority of her foot amputated, they told her it might be a year before she got back to walking again. Well, she thought it would be sooner and actually was doing well ahead of schedule. But now she's got a problem with a nerve in her back. She's going to go see her doc today so I hope it all works out... I'm trying to figure out why I'm in such an ornery mood... there's nothing on my mind that I'm pondering. I'm not in a bad mood, per se'. But I'm feeling cantankerous for some reason. I dunno... Well, I guess this saturday I make my return to radio... sort of. I'm am reforming a golf show with the guy who gave me my first shot in radio all those years ago. I'll be Jamo's sidekick once again... with our other sidekicks Dave and Todd... should be interesting... we'll be on Saturday mornings from 8-9am ET on WLQR 1470 'The Ticket'.... I'm going to try and stream the show on my website http://cherokee.totalink.net and see if that works... I'll be doing the Spitfire-Sizzle women's football game from Cincinnati on Saturday night. I hope they don't break out into a pier six brawl like the last time they did when they played in Toledo...