Last ramble of June

Wow has the time flown, its hard to believe June has come and gone. The 4th of July is on Friday. No big plans for us although Debbie and I both have the holiday off. Cheaper and easier to stay home and avoid being a holiday statistic.

Went for my physical for my NHRA competition license renewal today. Dr. says im good to go. He did send me out for bloodwork too. The typical stuff plus checking for my testosterone level to see how that has changed since my injection in May. Im seeing some improvemet in the way I feel, being able to sleep through the night etc. There are still some things that need improvement. I still have no patience with the kids and I feel bad about it. Im hoping that improves here real soon.

Thats about it for now. THanks for stoppping by and reading!

This is Spinal Tap Part Deaux

Ive now gone for the 2nd of 3 epidural injections in order to bring some relief to my protruding disc between my c6 and c7 verterbrae.

Im not much of a fan of needles but the thought of taking the option either time of sedation seemed like a real waste of time. First you had to bring somebody with you as you arent to drive after being sedated. Then they put in a cathedor and run an iv bag. THeres alot more pain and bullshit to go through for getting sedated than just climbing up on the table and getting the local anesthesia inection then the epidural.

After I got my injection and sat in the recovery chair for a few minutes, I noticed my Dr talking to an older gentleman. Apprently the gentleman wanted the sedation. Well Dr Rubin couldnt find a vein good enough to start the Iv for the sedation. He wound talking the man into just going in, getting the local, then proceeding with the epidural. Not sure how he made out as my 15 minute recovery time was over.

As far as relief. I think the shots are helping quite a bit. Apparenly though they wont make much of a difference with the clicking my neck makes. Oh well, so long as my arms and legs dont feel like they are going to fall off or spasm anymore I can deal with the clicky neck. Dr Rubin said im good to go on amusement park rides, woo hoo!

Thanks for reading!

A different perspective

With this blog entry I have written as many entries in June as I did in all of 2007. Guess Im feeling kinda chatty this month.

As much as you might think you know somebody there are always things that can pop up and surprise you. Reading the blogs of family and friends gives you a different perspective on life. Wether it be their life or even events in your own life, there is always a different view.

Sometimes its eye opening the things you read. Good in some ways, not so good in others. There are times were after you read something you really wish you could be there for that friend or family member instead of miles away. Looking at it that way there are times were it would be nice to have the freind of family member next to you to support you. Just knowing that they are out there and have you in their thoughts makes a huge difference though.

Ive read some good things latley in blogs. Things that maybe I had an idea about but after reading an entry or two solidified what I was thinking.

Ok ive rambled in no apparent direciton on this one so im going to close it out. But I will say im happier in these last few weeks =) Guess that treatment finally started paying off

A New Hope

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...



Star Wars

Episode 4

A New Hope

It is a period of civil war.

Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base,

Have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire

Sorry I got a bit carried away going down memory lane there. Its kinda funny that after my visit with the ortho Dr. that the blog title "A New Hope" came to mind, along with the scroll from the beginning of Star Wars.

The reason A New Hope was chosen is that's what I was given today.

Almost a year ago I was given a diagnosis of degenerative arthritis in my right hip after having some groin, hip and lower back pain after my PR ( personal record fort hose who dont know ) in the Half Marathon distance in Cinncinati last year. I initialy went to my primary Dr who put me on a 'script of prednisone. After the scrip ran out I was still in some discomfort. Given the name of sports med Dr by my podiatrist I went and saw the Dr. He did an exam and then proceeded to send me for x-rays. A week or so later I went for a followup and was given the diagnosis. I found it odd that I had no prior symptoms and found it odd that at 35 I had arthritis. The Dr did tell me I could continue to run but at a reduced rate and wanted me to do more cross training. You mean thats it? I was a bit dumbfounded by this and at the same time refused to accept the diagnosis. Following the advice of my fellow 30s, I decided to go for a second opinion. It just took me 11 months. I kinda dragged my feet, was scared and was going through a lot of other things so it kinda got put on the back burner. I finally went for the second opinion today.

Before I saw the Dr I had two xrays taken. I had brought last years xray with me just in case. The xray tech made a comment to me as she was making sure the film was ok that my left hip looked rough. Gee thanks alot lady. I am a worrier by nature and now I have it in my head that both of my hips are screwed up. I went back to the exam room and not so patiently waited for the Dr. I had to get up off the table cuz I was starting to hurt. The Dr mustve looked at my current xrays before he came in and saw me. He came into the room and asked me why I was there. Uh, well my hip is hurting off and on and im really looking for a second opinion on a diagonosis I was given. "What was the diagnosis?" he asked. Degenerative arthritis I replied. "Where?" he asked. "I was given the diagnosis by Dr Sellers last year". "No were is the arthritis?" "In my right hip" was my reply. "You dont have arthritis in either hip" Dr Duhon said to me. He agreed with the assesment that I have narrow spacing of the joint but there is no signs of degeneration. Woo Hoo I thought!

We talked a little more and then he told me he didnt want me to return to jogging as he referred to it. He said theres plenty of other activities I could do. He didnt flat out tell me no but he'd rather I do something else. Kinda funny how the Dr who told me I had arthritis said I could continue running but yet the Dr who said I dont have arthritis doesnt want me to run Hmmm.

I had taken time off at the first of the year from running to get my lower back healed up and hadnt planned on starting running again until after the summer was over anyways. Ive had some other setbacks with the protruding disc and my knee issue so it probably wont be until after the first of the year anyways at this point.

But the dream is still alive to complete more half marathons. My biggest goal is to complete one here in Arizona as I have yet to run one in my home state. I told Debbie tonight that I want to run PF Changs Rock and Roll Half Marathon with her in 2010. That gives us both a year and half to get up to speed.

The other dream to run with my friends from the 30s is still alive too. Not quite sure how that will pan out but Ill figure it out. I will say that one particular 30 was the first to come to mind today. Her and I have similar PRs in the 5k and HM. ( Or at least we did, not quite sure at this point, she mightve got a bit quicker ) Maybe once I get back up and going I can convince her to slow down a bit and hang with me at a race =)

Thats about it, thanks for reading

Oh, and May the Force be with you!

Im irritated as hell!

I found out an interesting bit of news yesterday... First some background info

I have been a member of a running message board ( fort hose who didnt know ) for 2.5 years now. Its a part of my everyday life checking in, posting, reading etc. I have met a lot of wonderful people from the board. From the board I have formed offline friendships with some of the people. That should be fairly obvious as most of the people who read my blog are from the board. =)

Several months ago one of my female friends from the board was going through some tough times at home. She didnt give many details on the board. We all let her know that we were there for her and that if there was anything we could do, let us know. Well come to find out this person's husband accused her of cheating on him. Wow thats a huge accusation. Again not many details but she was obviously hurt and upset by this accusation. I dont claim to be an expert in her life but I dont think she comes across as one to cheat on her hubby.

Now we get to the interesting news that I got yesterday. I was told by this friend of mine that I was one of the two guys that her husband accused her of having an affair. WTF? Excuse me? Um I dont think so. First off, I have only physicaly been around her once in my life. The closest thing I got was a hug the first night I met her and a hug and kiss on the cheek the night before I left to fly home. Sure I txtd back and forth with her, and talked to her several times on the phone. If thats what he considers having an affair, Id hate to see what he thinks having sex would be.

I just dont get it. I txt alot of my female friends. Many of them are married. Ive never had any of them tell me that their husbands think they are having an affair with me. Debbie knows I txt back and forth or chat with them on instant messenger ( some of my friends are Debbie friends ) Debbie doesnt think that Im having an affair with any of them. Sure she calls some of them my girlfriends but its all in jest. Dont get me wrong my friends are attractive and so are all the ladies on the board. There are alot of lucky men out there to have such great women in their lives. Sure if I were single Id like the chance to date alot of them ( if they wanted to date me is another question :) ) but im not out planning an affair with any of them. Im happily married and I want to keep it that way.

I dont know whats going to become of all this but it sure is irritating to me to be accused of something I didnt do. Guess if I want to keep my head attached I should plan on skipping meetups back east from here on out. Nah screw that. Im not going to let some nucklehead keep me from having a good time with my friends from the board and meeting new ones. He can drag his ass to one of these meetups and talk to me man to man. Ive got nothing to hide

Monday, Monday

I dont know if its so good to me or not, its too early to tell. Work wise its quiet thus far. THey probalby screwed up on loading us our work and will dump a bunch of shit on us late in the afternoon. Weather wise its already teh suck! At 8 am this morning it was 96 degrees on its way up to who knows what. Yesterday it was over 110. Yep summer is officialy here.

We might be escaping the heat this weekend though. My aunt ( dad's only sister ) is coming out from New Jersey on her way to Oregon and is going to spend a few days here. We might take her up to Flagstaff for the day. That way she wont completely melt =) This will be twice in 7 months that Ive seen Connie. I stayed with her for a few nights when I traveled back to Philly last year for the half marathon that I ran. Ive seen her more in the last year than I have in the previous 11.

Father's Day came and went without much fanfare. We didnt make it to church as Sarah didnt want to sing as part of the group so we opted to stay home. It was too hot to go check out the car show near another church by the house. So we lounged around the house ( or I should say I did as Deb was busy doing things around the house ) I wound up taking the kids to the community pool for a short time and then it was time for bed.

Had an IM conversation with a good friend of mine who I dont get to talk to near enough last night. She had some interesting news about my ex-girlfriend. Apparently she's getting divorced. Come to find out that her husband had cheated on her. How ironic is that. My ex-girlfriend cheated on me twice ( that I know of ). Now its happened to her. I dont care what Jen says about Shayla growing up, being a different person and taking marriage seriously. Thats just kharma, whats comes around goes around and I dont feel a bit sorry for her. I wouldnt wish a cheating spouse on anybody, I just dont feel sorry for someone who hurt me like they did.

Oh well enough of that. Not much else to talk about, although I must say Go Celtics! Oh and Geaux Tigers!

Some people

I got this email today from a friend of the family...

A Revelation

This will make you re-think : A Trivia question in Sunday School : How
long is the beast allowed to have authority in Revelations ? Guess the
Answer? Revelations Chapter 13 tells us it is 42 months, and you know
what that is. Almost a four-year term to a Presidency. All I can say
is Lord Have Mercy on us.

According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is: The
anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40's, of MUSLIM descent, who will
deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE
Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him
and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in
power, will destroy everything ..

Who is it? Any ideas? Is it? I STRONGLY URGE each one of you to
repost this as many times as you can! Each opportunity that you have
to send it to a friend or media outlet...do it! I refuse to take a
chance on this unknown candidate who came out of nowhere.


Now Ill be the first to admit, I dont like either canidate Republican or Democrat ( my canidate dropped out of the Democratic race a few months ago ) but not enough to come up with something like this and send it out to everybody I know. I know times arent the greatest but lighten up people and or get a life.

This Song....

was the song we danced to at our wedding 11 years ago. This was the song that after a large Long Island Iced Tea on our 10th wedding anniversary, I got up a little buzzed and sang this at a karaoke bar on the cruise ship we were on. I figured what the hell, it was a special day and nobody will ever know. Meh, unbeknownst to me, Debbie filmed it with our camera. Im sure for a small fee, Debbie would probably share it with folks :)

I Swear by John Michael Montgomery

I see the questions in your eyes
I know whats weighing on your mind
But you can be sure I know my part
cause Ill stand beside you through the years
Youll only cry those happy tears
And though Ill make mistakes
Ill never break your heart

I swear
By the moon and stars in the sky
Ill be there
I swear
Like the shadow thats by your side
Ill be there
For better or worse
Till death do us part
Ill love you with every beat of my heart
I swear

Ill give you everything I can
Ill build your dreams with these two hands
Well hang some memories on the wall
And when theres silver in your hair
You wont have to ask if I still care
cause as time turns the page
My love wont age at all

I swear
By the moon and stars in the sky
Ill be there
I swear
Like the shadow thats by your side
Ill be there
For better or worse
Till death do us part
Ill love you with every beat of my heart
I swear

I swear
By the moon and stars in the sky
Ill be there
I swear
Like the shadow thats by your side
Ill be there
For better or worse
Till death do us part
Ill love you with every beat of my heart
I swear
I swear

I dont know what it is, but its been playing on continous loop in my head for quite some time now. I cant reach the damn pause or skip button =)

Im a bit puzzled...

In a conversation with my father yesterday an interesting question came up. We were discussing the mission team that my church sent to Peru this week. This next little blurb is directly from my church's website about the mission and then Ill get to my point

The Purpose
As Americans, we live in the wealthiest country in the most prosperous time in the history of the world. We have gobs of resources, an abundance of opportunity, and hope for a bright future. Not only are we physically wealthy, but we have free access to the hope of the gospel through the many churches all around us. While we enjoy all of these benefits, all around the world there are people in great physical and spiritual need. When we see this need there is something that wells up inside of us that urges us to take action! Therefore, we at Journey Church are compelled by God’s great mercy and the example of Christ to leave our comfort behind and sacrifice for others who are in need!

The Work
While we are in Trujillo we will be helping families and children that live and work in the dump outside of the city. These families spend their days digging through the trash for food, clothing, and recyclables. They sell the recyclables for profit, but it is not much of a life. Through a partnership with Inca Link, we will be helping with a construction project to benefit the men, women, and children living in the dump. We will not only be helping in construction, but we will be ministering to the people, playing with the children, and sharing God’s words of grace.

Our Mission
We will travel to Trujillo, Peru this summer to join the missionary work of Inca Link. Here is some of the work we will be doing:
Activities with children
Construction project
Ministry to families in the church and city

This trip will be a physical and spiritual challenge for every member of our team. This is not a vacation, but rather a ministry designed to stretch your faith and allow God to use you to make an eternal difference in people whose lives are very different from your own.

Now for my confusion

I get the need to want to reach out and help the less fortunate people. I understand that this is God's calling and this is what he wants done.

What I dont understand is why my church ( or any relief/misson type of group ) travels to such far off places to help folks. Correct me if I am wrong but arent there people right here in the United States in need? Dont we have unemployment issues, education problems, people living on the street etc? There are so many issues in this country that need to be a priority before any other countries issues but yet we choose to ignore them or put them on a back burner. WTF? I think we need to take a strong internal look at our own country and fix our issues before helping all these other countries. Dont get me worng its nice that my church and other groups want to help, but come on folks lets fix this country first.

As always, thanks for reading

This is Spinal Tap Pt. 1

Well here it is 3 days post epidural injection on my protruding disc between C6-C7. It wasnt as bad as I thought it was going to be. The anticipation was worse than the procedure itself. As somebody so eloquently compared the anticipation of my procedure to sex. The buildup was worse than the experience. Guess that persons sexual experiences werent so great =)

Anyways. Im experiencing some relief. My side to side movements are getting better. Even the clicks and grinding noise are getting better. Im thinking that Ill be even better after my second injection in 2 1/2 weeks. Now if the twitching and spasms will subside entirely, Ill be a happy camper. Nothing like being sound asleep ( when I do sleep, but thats another issue ) and having your left arm or leg twitch and jerk amd wake you up. Oh well, its bound to get better.

Thats about it for now. Figured seeing as how I'm 6 days into June, I needed to write a blog. Apparently Ive picked up a few more readers. Thanks for stopping by and reading