Half a Century

Half a Century sounds like a very long time. And today is the last day where I have not been alive for half a century.  Is that an issue for me?  . . .  I don't think so. Basically, I look at all of the things that I (we including Thresa for most of this time) have accomplished in my 49 years and 365 days (Leap year this year added one day to my 49th year). Things such as (in chronological order I hope):

• Being born. Without this accomplishment, nothing else would happen. I have Mononucleosis to thank for that.
• Growing up and surviving Decatur. Spending most days at South Shores park when not excelling in school. Lots of great times and memories with the family.
• Graduating high school and leaving for ISU.
• Meeting Thresa on a setup date. And even calling her back for a real date. I am amazed that I remembered her phone number when I got it.
• Falling in love with Thresa and deciding to get engaged. I still remember going down to Decatur to buy the ring.
• Graduating ISU with a BS (fitting for me) and getting a job at IBM in Bloomington.
• Marrying the love of my life on Nov. 24, 1984. It was a perfect day.
• Thresa graduating from ISU too. Only 6 months pregnant at the time. 
• Soon after our wedding, I left for 3 weeks of training for my job. Ten months later, we had Karen.
• Continuing the growth in our family, we had 3 more children in what now seems like about 5 weeks time (actually about 6 years). Four beautiful daughters to complete our family - for now. 
• School activities, volunteering, basketball games, proms (although I have still never been to one) and other family events consumed our lives. At the time, it seemed too busy. Now, it is great memories and family time.  I would not trade it for anything.
• High school and college graduations for our family. Lots of academic excellence from all of our daughters.
• Now we have 2 son-in-laws and 2.60 grandchildren added to our family. And a grand puppy too. 
• In addition to the best family ever, we have amazing friends. So many friends and memories that I cannot count them all. But friends are another critical part of my life. 

Our nights now seem less busy and full as they were years ago. And you can see that my prized accomplishments are all family and friend related. Possessions, awards, work and such really do take a back seat compared to family events. But I have to mention a couple: playing every existing golf course in Bloomington/Normal at par or better, 6 300 games and 1 800 series in bowling, coaching 3 IESA state championship teams and 6 teams to the state tournament, building a computer curriculum at Epiphany school from scratch and becoming a Certified IT Specialist at IBM. 

Finally, of all of the passions in our lives, travel seems to be one that we will continue (after family of course) for the future.  It is amazing to think of the places where I (and we) have traveled. Such as: Spain (Madrid, Sevilla, Granada), Vegas (multiple times), Napa Valley, San Francisco, Hawaii (twice for me), Mexico (multiple times), Caribbean (3 cruises), Florida (multiple places and times), Dallas, San Antonio, Grand Canyon, Denver, Yellowstone, Niagara Falls, Chicago, St. Louis, Philly, Washington DC, Atlanta, Durham, London (twice), Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Verona, Innsbruck, Munich, Dublin, Scotland, Edinburgh, New Zealand, Australia and many places I am forgetting. 

Just think what this list will look like in another xx number of years.  I have been alive 50 years now. And I cannot wait for many, many, many more years.

Happy Days

A couple great updates for me.  First and most important: my back is without pain now. The steroid injection (cortisone shot) worked perfectly. My back is pain free. The procedure was about 10 minutes and I felt a little bit of it. But, if I can have this procedures twice a year and become pain free, I consider myself lucky.

Second, I bowled another 300 last week (on Ash Wednesday).  Yea Me.  It is my sixth and, in an interesting circumstance, it is my second 300 bowled on February 22nd.  In fact, the last two February 22nd's where I bowled had a 300 game on them (2012 and 2006).  So I must have been without pain and able to concentrate on bowling. 

Finally, lent has begun. May all of you find your Lenten season fulfilling. 

Going under the needle again

Last July, I got a steroid shot in my back to reduce some pressure on my spinal cord (L4 and L5 vertebrae for people that care). Two things happened, my career as a professional baseball player was over due to the steroid shot (just kidding) and my back and leg pain went away. I knew it was a temporary solution and I can have up to 4 shots in 12 months. 

Fast forward 7 months and my back pain and leg pain/numbness is back. So, I go in Monday for my second shot in the back.  Hopefully, this one is as successful as the last one. People talk about these shots being a big deal but last time, it was painless and gave immediate relief. So lots hope for that outcome again this time.

And thank God Roland is OK after his feast at the Chocolate Buffet.

Random thoughts

OK. Time for some random thoughts. Thresa is at a Lady Redbird event (good for her) so I am home alone thinking random thoughts.

• I made supper for myself. I thought about making my famous ham and potato casserole but I did not want to have to buy a new disposal. So I just grilled out a steak and had rice with it plus a glass of wine. Ten minutes and I had an excellent dinner. Top Chef could not do that.  Unfortunately, as Thresa was leaving I found out that Thresa's event did NOT have dinner. Just snacks. Oops. I should have started earlier so we could dine together. My bad.
• Now I am watching Ramona and Beezus on TV. I recorded it from HBO because of Sara's recommendation.  It does portray the middle child very well and I see a little resemblance to Sara's childhood. I am not sure I would give it 4 stars but it is a good movie to have on while I type this blog. I do enjoy the technicolor jeep.
• I have made three of the four train reservations for our Madrid trip. This really is shaping up to be a wonderful trip.  Taking the train to various Spanish towns seems a lot better than trying to drive in a foreign country. Only 2 months until we leave. I know that primarily going to see Julie. But, it is starting to look like a wonderful trip for Thresa and I too. Plus, we really miss Julie. She is in Portugal as I type this out so she is enjoying her semester.
• Next, we are about a month away from owning a second house. To step back a minute, Thresa and I have accomplished a lot of good things in our lives. But our greatest accomplishments are our four children and the wonderful adults that they have become. And to be able to help  our children in whatever way they need is a highlight of our lives.  I just hope and pray that we can continue to be able to help our children whenever the need arises. 
• My car is in the shop to have the key scratches fixed. Thanks to Lisa's knowledge of claims, I am having my car fixed to repair two places where some JackWagon (or substitute your favorite phrase) keyed my car. 
• Finally, I am still praying for two pregnant women, Sara and some unknown family that I hope will make a huge impact on our family (if you know what I mean).

I think that is enough random thoughts for tonight. The movie really is not holding my interest too much. Maybe tomorrow before coffee. 

Prayers going out

Hello from Madeira Beach Florida.  Thresa and I are having a great time here.  But the real reason for this post is something to reflect on that, frankly, stretched my mine and imagination a little bit.

We were at church this morning and I was praying for Sara. Actuallly, I pray three ways for her: That she and Kel can grow into parents, that Sara can become a great birth mom and that Baby Robson can grow into a healthy baby.  By the way, I pray for all of our kids and their situations. As I also pray for Anna's birth mom/family along with the birth mom/family of the boy that was born.  Anyway, it then occurred to me Karen and Jeremy were finalizing their paperwork and video to start the process for their next adoption.  And that got me praying for them too. But .... (here comes the deep thought) ...

Somewhere in the world is a family that has a pregnancy or will have a pregnancy. Since we "know not the hour", a baby for Karen and Jeremy could be close or a year or two away.  I know the joy and elation we felt when Sara told us she was pregnant. But this mystery family may or may not have such joy. They may not even know that a pregnancy has or will occur in the future. All that they know is that they will choose life for a precious baby. Somewhere out there is a woman that will be the birth mom for Karen and Jeremy's future child. So I started praying for her and her family too. God's will will deliver a child to Karen and Jeremy on His time. This family needs our prayers.

Anyway, we all need to pray for this family in addition to all of our other prayers. "Somewhere out there" will be a precious baby that will become family. I know I just mixed quotes from the bible and "An American Tale" but it seemed OK at the time.  Anyway, that was my prayer morning. Sara, you got your full compliment of prayers too.