Not as easy as it sounded

The drugs are wearing off a bit and I'm trying to get it together but my goodness that roar is l-o-u-d! It seems to be getting better but there are still times it's so loud it could about take you to your knees.

Flip back a couple of pages to "Morning of..."
So I got to the hospital and Eddie (Admissions) made me feel like a VIP right off the bat. Signed the forms then headed back to the little room where they asked all the questions several times. It was funny because we are a children's hospital so part of the question set was about if I was a full term baby and such. We laughed.

Sondra, who is the director of OR came in and was super nice and comforting. She was one of the many hero's of the day. I remember Dr. D coming in and you would have thought we just won the super bowl. All be smiles and high fives. The day was here and this is what we came to do!

A-Doc came in and she time for some versed. I got the shot in the IV then I was dageryergahgh!!!! I remember Kelley coming in to take photos and I remember going from one bed to another.

Then I remember that sweet nurse beside my bed as I woke. At least I tried to wake. Man, I'm not shaking this off like the ear surgery I had in April. Back to sleep. I could hear people talking but it was like I wasn't there with them. I remember getting really scared because I was shaking. I just remember telling myself I had to get up but my body wasn't going with the plan.

I remember my pal Jason was at the bedside and I made a remark about I had died and gone to hell. I think I heard laughs and someone saying OK, he's back. Fade to black again.

I finally got awake enough that that wheeled me back around to the ambulatory area rooms. Good, I'll be going home before long. It's dark now.

You'll be staying. You'll be going home. You'll be staying. I wanted to go home but my breathing was too low. What I was told was that when I came in my pulse/Ox was 99 and now it's only 93. My breathing was too swallow due to the pain when I would breath, I didn't want to breath very hard.

Why so much trouble with this??? The implant had been faulty and they had to redo it. Surgery took twice as long so I was under longer. They got the implant in and when Steve ran the test they got weird numbers and didn't like it. Come to find out it was cracked and had some fluid in it.... so I've heard. I'll be interested to heard the story in a couple of weeks on my follow up visit. I was too looped to gasp much of it.

We finally got home Thursday morning and I was feeling a lot better just being home. Terri went on to work and I was there alone. Not a problem. Emmy came by the house and asked what I wanted for lunch. Sonic cheese sticks and a small coke sounded so good and it was. I fell back asleep after eating and sleep for a couple of hours. I woke hungry and staggered to the kitchen to find a cake my sister had brought over. Sounded good. Strawberry! I ate then it all went down hill! I threw up like I hadn't thrown up in years. There were times I thought I was passing out and I refused to open my eyes. Finally it passed and I got cleaned up and back to the sofa to stay.

I slept well through the night and it's been a basic recovery day. I removed the wild head dressing and took a shower but not washing that side on my head. I felt so much better!

Tried to watch movies but it just wasn't fun. I slept some more.

I have found the more I get up and move around the better I seem to feel.

Life will be good again before long I just have to be patient and that, I'm not...

This CI journey certainly had it's unexpected uphill but I think we will get there soon.

Ready for take off

Leaving in a few for the hospital. Can't wait to get this over with.

Terri and I had a really nice 26th anniversary dinner last night and almost had the cozy restaurant to ourselves.

Thanks everyone for all the calls and emails!

More later if I'm not too drugged up.

Ahead of the game

I did something I've been wanting to do since I started working with the church media... that is get ahead. I just finished the preacher's sermon slides for the w-h-o-l-e month of December! Yea-izzz! The theme is God's Greatest Gifts -- Just for you. I emailed them a few minutes ago. Hope the ole boy flips out when he sees his email tomorrow! HA! Serious though, it's still a huge honor to be a part of the media team at our church.

Speaking of gifts, I got an email from one of the media groups I subscribe to and they are giving away a piece of media everyday until Christmas! I downloaded the first one tonight and thought, OK, it will be a nice photo that I may can use. Oh no baby, it was a movie loop of flickering candles!! Very nice addition to our media library! I'll be using it as a welcome loop as folks enter the auditorium for an evening service. It's a nice warm look. I love it!

One of our church members called me today to ask me about a PowerPoint problem he was having. I ended up at his home tonight and showed him some short cuts and we worked on his slides. Again, another honor.

OK, I know what y'all want to know... am I nervous? You have no idea! I'm staying a busy as I can be to make time pass. Working fast and furious at work and staying busy at home. I did find out that the surgery starts at 8 and I have to be there at 6. Man, Java City won't even be open yet... not that I could have it anyway but I could at least stop by and smell it a moment! HA! Maybe oh maybe I can grab a cup on the way out after the surgery.

Night y'all!

Need a little laugh on this rainy Sunday?

Something tells me that this will come back and haunt me but oh well... it's all for a good laugh. Emmy put a little family Christmas card together for all of you!

ENJOY...
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9594620644

Life is good!
Geo.

It takes a village

It takes a village... actually it took several hours to set up the village. Every year we have a Christmas village that I have to stand on to or three chairs to put together. It's on top of our entertainment center. Looks real nice now that it's night time.

I didn't put the outside lights up this afternoon since it was getting colder and cloudier. I bet I'm going to wish I had. Not sure next weekend (3 days after surgery) would be the best time to do it either. HA! It would be like a real life version of Christmas Vacation.

Well Terri and Ty made it home but not a lot of big stories to tell. They did do the right thing and stop at Panara on the way back and brought me a few bagels and Hazelnut cream cheese. (Yes, Melissa, I hear you laughing!). I really don't need any other Christmas gifts... that was what I really wanted!

Emily walked in a while ago and handed me the movie 300!!! She bought it this afternoon for 3 dollars!! Yeaizzzzz!!!! Love that movie!

Tyler told me he would email the link to his bosses video library. I've seen the list once and it's pages and pages. But then they are work on videos so they have all the latest.

I thought for a moment about going out on the bike today but with it being cold and surgery coming up I didn't want to chance getting sinus or a cold. I have a friend who was supposed to have prostate surgery a couple of weeks ago and they had to reschedule because he got a cold. I would com unglued if i had to reschedule the CI surgery. I've waited so long and I would have to wait until probably late Jan or early Feb to get back on Dr. D's surgery list.

This CI is like waiting for a baby... you know it's coming very soon but the waiting is crazy stuff!

The day after...

Had a great time with the family yesterday. The crowd was just the right size at my parents house. We ate, laughed and then played Loaded Questions in the den while some watched football. For those who know me know I'm not a big football fan... oh but by the way, as I write the the Hogs are beating #1 LSU which we all have grown to hate whether you are in football or not... LSU fans... well never mind.

Em and I got home around 6:30 and of course her and Sean HAD to go to Walmart for something. I didn't even know Walmart was open on Thanksgiving. Man, what happened to "spend a day with the family?" Em said they are open on Christmas too... some of them are. Really? That's messed up.

Got up this morning to find a note on the kitchen counter that said "Gone Shopping" and the time is listed as 4:04 AM!!!!!! So glad I slept until 6 because I would have been worried silly. They did come by the house around 9 and unloaded some gifts and I was blown away by how much money they saved. They did say that Sears was no where near ready for the crowd. Sean bought his dad a tool chest and they had one and Sean got it.

When they finally came home around 1 I said "you all done for the day". Em smiled and said, "I'm not sure about the w-h-o-l-e day" That's a teenage daughter for ya. Shop til you drop. By the way, she has dropped... out cold sleeping in her room. I predict she will wake up in a bit, ask to go to Sonic for her Dr. Pepper and then turn on the shopping machine again.

Now me on the other hand... I cleaned my closest. It was really bad. Then all the summer stuff went upstairs while all the Christmas stuff came down. I even built a table today. Funny thing was when I went out to the garage after a short break I couldn't find any of the Christmas village. I floored the attic over the spring and didn't move the village boxes back over with the rest of the mess. Up I go again and move boxes down.

I have CI on the mind a lot suddenly. Just seems as though I've begun to get a bit tense about it. I have plenty to do before surgery and just want to make sure it's all done. Just weird that I only go to work Monday and Tuesday next week after being off for the Thanksgiving holiday this week.

All in all it's been a fun day so far.

Thankful

Thankful, blessed, lucky....
The list of words could go on and on. It's a quite morning here with the cold front now having passed through sending the temperatures into their winter zones. The air is wet and the wind is blowing and it now feels like Thanksgiving.

I really do have a lot to be thankful for this year. Serious, I could list a 100 things off the top of my head with hardly a thought and that would just be the beginning. This year I got to hear things in mind blowing clarity in my right ear. Sure there are a lot of things I still miss out on but never would I have ever thought that I would have a fellow recruiter ask me after we interviewed an applicant if I could hear the person because she barely could.

I am still so thankful for the day I got my Unitron hearing aid and got out of the car for a bike ride and stood frozen in awe upon hearing the dry leaves rolling across the parking lot.

The night Terri and I were sitting on the back deck of our house and she asked if I could hear "that"? It took a moment because my brain had to re-remember that sound... the sound of a whippoorwill.

Another was the moment that I was allowed to put my hearing aid back in my ear after canal plasty surgery back in April. After going for 3 weeks in complete silence the world was so loud! I have my fingers crossed that I will get that feeling in a few weeks when they activate my CI. I know I will only hear beeps at first but just to hear a beep in my deaf ear is, I suspect, going to be emotional.

I re-read yesterdays entry part 2 and laughed seeing all the typos. I was in a huge hurry and just keyed and sent so I could go eat pizza with Emmy. Sorry if you read the unedited version.

Well, lots to do this morning so all my peoples.... I wish you a warm and memorable Thanksgiving!

Where to start -- Part 2

Where to start -- Part 2

Spent the day in Benton and had a BLAST! Took Dad to his doc appointments and Mom tagged along. He got his flu shot too so my stress level has gone down now.

We called my sister (Sherry) who lives in Benton and told her we finished up and we were coming to kidnap her and go to lunch. Ended up at TaMolleys. It was good.

Ok... funny family story time (Sherry is thinking..."Oh no!")

Sherry broke her leg several weeks ago and now has a boot. We went to lunch in my Explorer and when she got ready to leave after lunch she keeping trying to hop in. With the leg still a tad bit tender she couldn't "hop" in. She was getting a little flustered and finally I felt sorry for her. Said, "Hey Sherry, if you turn around you can just sit on the sit then pull you legs in." We both busted out laughing.

At home Dad was in his chair and Mom brought his pills in and she starts feeding them to him like like Cleopatra and the King. She did it with such grace and I suddenly busted out laughing. After I explained what was so funny Dad was laughing so hard he coughed.

Sherry told me how much her kids HATED the garden and had to go pick vegetables all the time one summer. I remember that summer. I think they were dabbing in the Quaker faith that summer.

She told me about hiking up to Pinnacle Mountain once and it started storming and they couldn't get down fast enough. I reminded her of a time that she and I went hiking. We were lost in the forest for days with no food or shelter. OK, maybe it was a couple of hours, but it felt like days... didn't it Sherry?

Note to Jim: Your mom said you used to mow you Grand mom Gardner's yard for about 5 minutes then your mom had to always finish it. Then rumor has it you got the money for mowing. With compounded interest I think you owe your mom about 6 grand.

I love going down there and visiting and listening to all the funny stories and "theories" they have.

One the way home it was 10 mph all the way down I-430. I saw two wrecks going to the folks this morning and one lady slipped across the median and into the oncoming lane of traffic on the interest. The wreck happened seconds before I topped the hill. Another wreck on an exit ramp just a few miles up the road. On the way back the storm hit as I was on the river bridge. I HATE to be on the bridge when strong gusty winds and hard rain hits. It happened one year coming across a bay in Panama City and I had my foot all the way down to the floor and our car was going about 5 mph then lightening struck a tree just as we got off the bridge. Yes, it warped me for life.

Here's s few photos of the dessert cook off at the hospital

Me on the left and the hospital Chaplin, Del on the right.

Martha was the winner and it was one AWESOME dessert!

Where to start??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRI!!!! Hope you are having fun on the beach!

I ending up taking the whole day off today. The original plan was to work until 10 then drive down to the folks house and take Dad to his doc appt. But during a meeing Evie said, "Geo's off tomorrow". My boss looked at me and he knew that I was working until 10 but as I sat there and thought about it I liked the being off all day idea. So I asked after the meeting if he mind if I took off the whole day. I knew the answer was going to be "Sure, no problem", but I still like to ask.

So the storm came through and lit up the bedroom at 4:30. Try as I may, I couldn't really get back to sleep. 5am I was up and at 'em. Ugh! Still really warm outside when I let Sadie out. TV says if you are heading out today to take a jacket because the temps are going to drive bomb later this afternoon.

I have a million things I want to get done today and over the course of the long weekend. Guess I better sign off and get busy!

ONE WEEK TIL THE CI!!! Just seems too unreal!

The bike was in the picture!

CI countdown... 9 days out!

Well everyone the bike made it to the picture on Sunday! Boy did it feel good to be back out and cranking away. It was sort of on of those "oh look at the pretty leaves sort of ride" but I had a good average to coming back after pulling a Joba the Hut. I stayed on the north side of the river looking for friends I've lost over the past few months. I spotted the AR Bike Club but that was it. I saw Ed's truck over by the Big Bridge but no Ed. The climb to Fort Roots was even fun as I remember. Overall, the bikeway was really quite for a Sunday afternoon.

The weather is about to change... big time! They said the "s" word in the forecast for Friday. Snow. Just a slight chance but it those slight chances that dump on us when we're not ready.

Church media went smooth yesterday. Love it when that happens! We are having a short devo tomorrow (Tuesday) night rather than normal Wednesday classes. But guess what? They want a whole production! Wha??? No rest... no rest at all. There are videos and and all sorts of stuff. I put the presentation together and headed to the building. Lucky for my that is only a mile from the house. One of the videos they want will not work! UGH! I spent an hour and a half working with the codec and everything else. The video just will no play nice. It's not a major piece of the production so I emailed them and requested they not try to include it. The rest turned out nice. Lots of animation and fade in's and outs. Love the stuff!

Every year the hospital gives all the employees a Thanksgiving gift. Yep all 4,000 of us! We got to choose from a turkey, a ham, a cheesecake or new this year... ribs! Yep, I'm going for the ribs. They bring an 18 wheeler and we can get it right off the truck tomorrow or we can pick it up at the Honey Baked store. Good stuff.... Joba Syndrome will continue a little longer I guess! HA!

Terri was off and got the carpet cleaned today. Always go Ewww when we see how bad it was. House smells like oranges tonight.

Life is good! Hey meant to say, if you are traveling this Thanksgiving, have a great time and be careful.

Sunny Sherwood Saturday

I think it's fall here again. Yep, I'm quite sure of it. It's really cool and windy and the yard is covered in leaves. I'll be cranking the lawnmower up and heading out to get them all up after while.

I judged a dessert cook off at the hospital yesterday. The winner was a fancy lemon souffle surrounded by lady fingers. It was light and fluffy and I wanted to eat it all but the slice was huge and I had already sampled 10 other entries. I gave it a 5 (highest). The other favorite to me was a brownie sandwich. It was a thin slice of brownie then had a blob of chocolate cheesecake in the middle the another thin slice of brownie. Around the sides was finely crushed peppermint every now and then. Oh momma slip me! It was good. Check back here because Kelley shot some photos and I'll get a hold of some of them and show you these 2.

We went over to Texas Roadhouse for dinner last night. Talk about VIP treatment! 2 of Em's friends work there and they waited on us hand and foot. I had my usual prime rib and it was like the end of a good book when I finished. I was happy. HA!

Greg and I went through the Sunday service media and just a couple of very minor adjustments and we'll be ready to roll. We talked for a few minutes as we always do. I call them my weekly "Balcony Sessions". He asked if I was getting excited about the CI and I am but I also told him the nervousness is beginning to creep in a little. It's not the surgery I'm worried about. That's a breeze. Surgery, home, relax a couple of days then back to normal routine. It's the activation that has me worried. Remember the book Rebuilt I was talking about? Well the author is opening honest about everything including his dating life which I understand why he includes that (for social standpoint of CI users). But while reading it I also realized that this journey is not going to be easy by any means. I wonder how I will adjust to being deaf in my right ear for almost 7 years now. How long will it take my brain to clue in and the wires to spark that says, "Oh yeah, I remember this!"

I think there may be the word "bike" in the picture this afternoon. If so I'll be riding with my pal Ed who has lost a whopping 140 lbs! He is a speed demon now on a road bike. I'm now the dough boy who judges dessert contest and only rides every now and then on weekends. HA! (OK, it's really not funny!)

Well time to get busy doing Saturday stuff

Good to have friends!

I sent out the beg and plea today to see if I could get coverage for church media for the months of Dec. Jan, and maybe Feb. I read on one of the CI blogs or postings that the user had trouble in Church services so I decided I would still do a lot of the creative but let someone advance the program. Once I'm cool with the songs and understanding the sound again then I'll jump back into the drivers seat.

Funny story... last week Michael bumped his remote mic on his belt and ______ nothing. We pulled it off in flying colors but I was looking out of the booth like a deer in highlights. Why am I not hearing him... panic!! Just took a deep breath and advanced he program with the crowd singing. It's so funny how much goes on behind the scenes during a church service. On day they got up there and started talking and welcoming everyone and there was no sound and several folks turned and looked up at the booth at me and I just grinned really big. I don't know anything about the sound board and they all know this but where was the sound roadie? Uh, in the restroom! HA!!! That's like putting a fish in charge of dry land. Ain't gonna work.

Life is good and tomorrow is Friday!

ACH CI

I forgot all about this and ran across it on you tube.
Here's one of our patients going through CI. this was several years ago i think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEH28KdxjAY

The big drop

Out from my office window towards the hospital

POURING DOWN!

So at 3pm today it was a hot and muggy 76 degrees and at 4pm it was a windy and c-o-l-d 61 degrees just after the storm passed.

The hospital looked like a ghost ship during the storm and I felt for the folks who sprinted across the parking lot without umbrellas. I hate that cold wet feeling.

Got the call from PR today and they want to follow the CI journey and turn it into a story! I told them out would step out of my comfort zone and blog raw data about what I feel and what is going on as I get cyborged.

I have to admit the Rebuilt book is really helpful because too much of it is what I've felt. The loneliness of not going somewhere because there would be too much noise and you just can't hear voices enough to understand. Actually I can hear voices but I don't understand. It's an insane sort of feeling. Serious, my hands sweat sometimes when I go into a meeting just because I wonder if I'll be able to hear.

Another fear is going to happen next week. Terri and Tyler will be going down to FL to see Terri's folks. Emmy and I will be here at home. So what's the fear? At night I can't sleep because I'm afraid something will happen and if Emmy called out to me for something, not that she has in years, I wouldn't have my hearing aid on to hear her. It's a "what if" sort of feeling.

Yes, I'm looking forward to the surgery and the real start of the CI journey and yes, I have really high expectations. One of the things Rebuilt mentioned what that the author listened to Winnie the Poo and read along in the book so he would learn the sounds that go with the words. First thought, "what a cool idea". I bet it's all part of the therapy.

I was surprised when Speech Path called and asked if it was OK that my Speech Therapy appointments were not the same day as my Audio appts. Speech therapy?! My speech is fine. OK, thick country southern accent but fine otherwise! HA! Sorry but you can't take the south out of this boy. I'm interested to see what I'll be doing in speech. I know it will be repeating words and sentences I suppose. Oh man, just thought of something... please Lord, don't let it be those same words I have to say in my hearing test!!!
Say the word baseball
Say the word hot dog
Say the word sidewalk
Say the word 'night y'all!

Cochlear Implant countdown...

Cochlear Implant: 15 days and counting!

It hit me today as I booked an appointment in my datebook for Nov 27th. I would be getting my CI the next day! I'll getting excited now. Yep, two weeks from Wednesday. I slipped in and read the notes on my account to be sure everything was really in place and I saw the insurance authorization number and they even gave me a 2 day ticket to ride inpatient if needed. It won't be. I'm just doing this through the drive through lane! In and out in a few hours, home to sleep off the versed and just hanging out the next day. I wished they made versed in a 6 pack! They give me that stuff then I just dgjaaash sijgths 'ojpjnaidfhb .....

I plan to get a movie or two for the day after. I remember growing up and if I had to stay at home sick there was never anything to watch (pre-cable). Well guess what? Now years later I can be at home and loaded up with a truckload of stations and still hate daytime TV. If I'm ever in a car wreck where I have to stay put, trust me, TV is not going to be a part of my day! Judge this and Judge that with "Have you been injured in a car accident?" commercials in between. Not me!

I've been over to the cochlear implant forums at Advanced Bionics site and there are some really nice folks over there who have gone through what I'm about to. It's been a nice way to ease the nerves.

I kept seeing a reference to a book called Rebuilt by Micheal Chorost. He was 36 and on the road traveling when his hearing aids go out or so he thought and it was his hearing going down by the hour. He ends up with CI's. I read an except from his book on Amazon and thought this is so true to life. I mean the guy hits it on the head! So I asked the buds over in our CI clinic if they had the book and sure enough. I got it this afternoon and plan to start reading it here in a little while.

I love the book cover! One of my coworkers saw the book on my desk this afternoon and said, "Is that going to be you?" You bet cha! Part Computer/Part Man!

Ok, I know the other big question you want to know...

How many miles did I ride this weekend?

Uh, that would be zero.

WHA??!!!

I said that would be zero, turn your aid up a little!

But why?

So you can hear me!

No... but why no ride?

Because I was busy cleaning the yard.

I have a neighbor who cleaned the leaves off their yard Saturday and then again Sunday because yo couldn't tell they did it the first time. This morning as we drove out of the drive I pointed there yard out to Terri and neither of us could believe their yard was covered up again. I mean it's really covered up.

Oh well.....

North Little Rock fall color and swans

Seems like just the other day

I took this same photo and it was fall.

Another yar has yet come and gone.

After battling a stomach problem all afternoon and into the night yesterday I woke feeling really rested. Maybe that was because I parked it after I got home and didn't do anything but watch the tube and nap then in bed around 10.

I turned the clock away from me so I couldn't see what time it was and I would really get some rest. For some reason I have this goofy mental thing that if it's 4:30 then I'll be up in an hour so why get anymore sleep? But if I don't see the clock I will sleep until daylight. Weird sleep patterns seem to run through my family.

Since I was feeling so good and the sun was just coming over the hills I ran down the road to the lakes and tried to shoot at the Old Mill but it was closed until 8 and I would the early sunlight. Also they had a backhoe parked down there. There goes everyone's fall photos. If you have ever seen the movie "Gone with the Wind" then you've seen the Old Mill. It's several neighborhoods over and a beautiful place to go.

I ended up at a couple of the lakes surrounding the Mill.... enjoy the fall photos from this morning.

The exposure isn't good on this one.

The colors are really dark and rich

but the sun was too high already.

I just have a cheap camera but it's still a lot of fun.

These swans were not happy that I didn't bring them food like many visitors do.

The Friday 5

Sneaking in a blog hit right quick while no one is looking...

Friday five, here we go...

1) Yes, I am riding my bike tomorrow afternoon. I need to work on my climbing.

2) I have to mow up leaves this weekend

3) Got to clean the garage because I know that an attic full of Christmas stuff is about to coming down in a few weeks.

4) For those who know me... I ate fish taco's last night so I won't be eating them this Saturday.

5) Terri returns this afternoon!

Thursday

Another day of Mr. Mom is coming to an end. Terri will be home tomorrow. I spoke with her earlier today and said the meetings were going good.

Here's the opening media for Sunday. Y'all don't forget, it's Vet's Day Sunday.

I'm having a blast doing media for church. Sometimes I get really nervous in the booth during the services since I move the media with the songs. I'm afraid I'm going to miss something but so far there has only been one bad Sunday but no one remembers now but me. It was an emotional service and one of he songs got out of order and I sort of jumped the tracks. Luckily the songs were ones everyone knew so not a big deal.

I have a link off of my website to my niece Melissa's blog. She is in the middle of the time of life when everyone is having kids. She and her crazy husband (that's crazy in a good sort of way) have twins. She has some of the best links off her blog. Most are mommy sort of chick reading stuff but some are filled with heartwarming stories while others are filled with heartbreaking. There's a mom with quads. No, you fool... not a deer camp ATV. She has 4 babies. One of he mom's is starting an adoption process. I won't even tell you what is on her blog today! Remember the movie Caddy Shack and the Baby Ruth? It's something like that!

I cannot believe tomorrow is Friday! Everybody dance now!!!

The big boom!

Frost is coming in so I shot these two real quick before work.

It's going to be sad to see the summer flowers leaving for a few months.

Ok, I lied... there is something going on. We have had 2 days of drill at the hospital. What happened? A fake BIG earthquake. I mean end of the world type stuff. My VP was Administrator-on-call this week and every time she's on call something happens. Usually it's something like a snow/ice storm or something crazy but this week she got to save the world. It was funny seeing the update emails coming out. It started off as an earth quake in a small rural town of Arkansas but it ends up complete chaos! I mean the sewage failed, cell phone service goes down, public panic and they start coming to the hospital, traffic stops and EMT's can't get through. Yes, that crazy.

But as much as we laughed about it, it was a good thinking exercise too. Terri and I drove down to Benton after work yesterday to have a little family meeting with my sisters. Nothing big, just planning some stuff. Anyway, we were talking about what would be our plan if something of that scale did happen? I'm lucky that my wife is 3 blocks from my building and our son works about 2 blocks from her. We worried about Emmy being 8 miles away over here. Morbid, I know, but you really do need to plan for the unexpected sometimes.

Terri has a conference over in Vicksburg, MS today and tomorrow and will be home Friday afternoon. I guess the drill really did have an effect on me because it was really lonely driving home solo today. I miss hearing about her day... good or bad.

There is a really cool Wounded Soldier bicycle ride coming through Little Rock tomorrow around 11. I hope to bust out a few moments and get some place so when they ride by I can cheer them on. They will ride from War Memorial stadium down to the bike trail along the river and over the big bridge then along the north side to the USS Razorback sub. That will be really great for those guys!

Walking with The Dino's starts tomorrow at Alltel. They have been here for a week setting up.

I noticed on my comments was an entry from a girl named Jennifer. Folks, I think she got her 2nd cochlear implant surgery yesterday. Cochlear in stereo! I was over on the Advanced Bionics boards trying to calm my pre-surgery nerves. Hello Jennifer and thanks for the comment! i hope your surgery went well!

Oh yeah, when I got home yesterday, I walked to the end of the drive to get the mail and called Terri out to look across the valley with me. Beautiful afternoon but something had happened over the pas couple of days. The oak trees turned b-r-o-w-n. Serious, straight from green to brown.

Quick hit Wednesday

Just a quick hit this morning. You'll laugh or roll our eyes but it's trash day on my street so you know what that means!! It's getting closer to the weekend! HA!

Not really a lot going on here. I got a shot yesterday for my cochlear implant surgery. Hard to believe that I'm exactly 3 weeks out. If I would have kept the first schedule where I would be doing it over at UAMS then it would be tomorrow but I'm really glad I'm having it with my own hospital. When I went for the shot yesterday i had to go to the ENT clinic and it was like a beehive over there. People everywhere! I asked Patti if it was always like that and she said every Tuesday and Friday. Guess who is in clinic those 2 days... yep, the best... Dr. D (Dornhoffer).

I'll write some more tonight but gotta run to work.

Sunday 11.04.07

Sunset at my sister Donna's backyard (aka: Arkansas River)

The time changed and from what I hear, I was not the only person who woke up an hour earlier. My friend Michael from church said he did the same. i woke at 4:30 rather than my usual 5:30 but did go back to sleep until 5:45. Whew, felt like the day was half over! HA!

I'm not liking the earlier sunset but am digging this daylight by 6:15 again! My girls get up so much easier when it's daylight.

Been a nice relaxed day with nice temps and plenty of sunshine ... sigh... my kind of day!

Oh the bike!

Oh yeah! I did it!!! I rode a down and back on the north side. Man, it was like going back to preschool for bikers. I felt awesome just pushing along at 16-17. Lot of families out and it was a great day to get back in the saddle.

Plan to do it again tomorrow. Hoping I can make the 1pm club ride if for nothing else to say hello to some friends I've not seen in a while.

Our media production for church in the morning is looking good! I'm about to meet up with Greg for the run through. I'm looking forward to infusing more video into the service.

Don't forget to set your clocks back... I'll wake up at 4:30 thinking it's 5:30 no doubt!

The Friday 5

Here's a new gig for Friday's on the blog... 5 things.

1) I do feel bad about eating so much and bragging about it. D-u-m-b!!

2) Tomorrow -- the bike and me! Oh my love my love where have you been! First ride in 47 days. (Note to hard core friends... no I am NOT riding in the morning when it's 50 degrees!). You can find me on the river trail about 2:30 or 3.

3) I'm loving our Honda Odyssey! It's so soccer mom or old foogie van but man they ride nice and the space... they were made for road trips!

4) One of the stores here sent us a post card to let us know they were opening at 6am this Saturday morning. So what? Hope they don't expect folks to be waiting in lawn chairs for them to open. What happened to celebrating a little Thanksgiving for a moment?

5) Favorite costume seen this week... on my nephews blog. His daughter dressed as her mom (nephews wife). She went as "Mandy in the Morning".

It's been a good week friends and family! Hope y'all have a greeat weekend and i'll try and write and post a few photos. It's all about the hair!