The morning after

A sad day around Arkansas. The tornados really did a number about 30 minutes north of here. As daylight broke is was one of those things you sit and look at the TV wondering if this really happened. A few minutes ago we heard that one of the employee just found out a family member had been killed last night. Last I heard it was 13 passed away in last nights storms.

On the strange but positive side I did have a stormy CI moment last night. I had not heard the howl of the wind coming from far away nor the thunder from far off in a long time. I stood on our front porch... it's the Arkansas thing to do... they say tornado and everyone goes to the front porch to listen for the train. Anyway, I really did go out there but we didn't have tornado warnings at the time. I could heard a howl and just sort of stood there like a curious puppy. I could HEAR the wind but not feel it. Very bizarre! Then a moment later I felt it! I love this CI!

When the wall came it was like a 2 minute hurricane. Winds topped 67 mph according to TV. Our lights went out for a moment and it was really funny because Emmy was acting all excited and I said yep, I want to hear that same excitment when they are still off 24 hours from now. Then I walked to the restroom to get a candle and lighter and wasn't thinking about the lights being off and I reached up and flipped on the lights and they all came back on. We all just laughed.

Oh, my pal Brandon and his wife Hannah had a baby boy. Ben arrived and the family looks great in all the photos. If you've read my blog for long you know Brandon is a great guy and super cyclist. His whole family is a super group of folks.

My heart goes out to everyone who lost family and possions last night.

Life is sort of good...

Tornados

In Arkansas it's now being called Super Cell Tuesday. Tornados are at this moment touching down in several places. I-40 has CLOSED due to the overturned trucks and cars. Several cities and town have been hit. It hit one of the hospitals. Terri came back here and said it will be over and passing us in 45 minutes. Never have I wanted time to pass quick. I love the thrill of a tornado but hate what it does. Several people have been killed. More later.

Missed us again

The winter storm missed us again. Drats! I was sort of in the mood for the landscape to be covered in whipped cream today.

Speaking of whipped cream... I had my fitness assessment today and fat boy here has got to lay of the whipped cream and everything else for that matter. It was really sad folks... really sad!

Last night at spin I was sweating like a pig in Helena in August. But then the class was upped a notch too. there is a drill they we do that has always blown me and that's a sit sprint, then stand recovery for 1 minute then a stand sprint then a sit recovery for one minute then repeat. That is followed by as much tension as you can handle and still make the pedal turn. To me it feels like sprint then climb Overlook (the road that goes up from the Big Bridge to the Heights). The drill makes me HATE chocalte, Coke and doritos! HA!

I have to give credit where credit is due... You know that theory of the blood flow, oxygen and my bike riding causing me to hear better? Dr. Jordan King, my Audiologist guru came up with that. She'll end up rich dicovering my syndrome! HA! No really, she is smart as it gets. Glad she is the one who cranked my CI.

Life is good!

Dropping it

Oh man! The wind is w.i.l.d!!!!!! North AR dropped from 71 to 29 in 4 hours and it's in the middle of doing that here. The wind is 43 mph with gust of up to 50. It's roaring outside. Sounds like the building is creaking. This is insane stuff.

Then the sun came out!

Knocked out media at 2 services this am, had lunch with the girls then spent the afternoon on the bike. That weather guys was just wrong this weekend! Saturday was supposed to be sun at 48 and today was supposed to be sunny and almost 60. Instead we woke to dense fog. I mean really dense.

When we came out of church is was still foggy and chilly. I was getting bummed. While we were eating lunch Emmy said, "Look! The sun came out!" When we walked out it was a beautiful clear blue sky!

Now today's riding was a lot different. Well, still mostly winter gear but the lighter weight stuff. The difference was that there were folks walking, running, in line skating and biking everywhere. I stayed on the roadside bike paths rather than the river trail due to the families. I'm very glad they are out there enjoying the nice afternoon and don't mind riding in a different area at all for them. I spotted JBar and Diane but like so many winter rides, everyone is so covered up you don't know who is who. Well, I knew which was Jbar and which was his wife but other folks would wave and say Hey Geo and I couldn't make out who that were. I'd wave and say howdy anyway. Also spotted the Arkansas Bike Club out for their Sunday afternoon ride.

Sorry, no photos today. I wished I had take the camera because there was a section off area of one of the unused soccer fields and there were small orange cones everywhere. Then i saw what it was for... there were a bunch of adults who were racing these hopped up mini motorcycles. It was funny to watch. I sort of secretly hopped to spot one of the Arkansas Psychos but no luck. These are the guys to see on the cool motorcycles riding wheelies at 70mph down the interstate around here. Insane stuff. One day I was going home for the hospital and two of them rode by on wheelies in rush hour traffic. It was one of those things you just sort of wonder if you really saw what you think you saw. I know, it's wrong and I shouldn't be glamorizing them.

CI Moment #1: Have I mentioned hearing birds while riding? Now that is a trip! I've never heard birds while riding along. When the CI is covered a tad it allows you to hear all sorts of stuff really clear. Sometimes I change gears just to listen to the click. I've caught myself breathing hard and just laughed.

CI Moment#2: OK, now I'm sure there is relation between oxygen, blood flow and hearing during exercise. No question about it. It will happen to me each time at around 20 miles out. I really caught it today. I was not listening for it or had even realized what my mileage was when it happened. But when it did it was very noticeable. I'm pushing our audiology department to look into it. Maybe it's some unknown syndrome and they would name it after me! HA! Wouldn't you like a syndrome named after you?!

Tomorrow is spin class! Will be interesting to see how the legs feel after logging over 55 miles in 2 afternoons of riding. I know cycling buds, 55 miles is cheesecake stuff....

Life is good (and fun!)

Full winter gear today

No one around today

Got the tunes, got the bike... happy camper!


It was a good day. I had the whole river trail to myself except for 2 other bikes and a hand full of folks training for the upcoming Little Rock Marathon.

It was freezing rain yesterday and caused complete chaos on the roadways. So bad just outside of my hometown that they had to detour I-30 traffic. I think when it started sleeting and lots of folks freaked and took off for home and grid locked traffic. If you waited until about 3 the road crews had had a chance to work the roads and I drove home like it was just a normal rainy day.

I got out to ride today and it was supposed to be sunny and 48 but it was just breaking through the clouds as I was finishing up this afternoon. I had a great ride for this early in the year and coming back from slack-o-rama. I was surprised to see a 17.3 average for 24.67 miles.

There was a huge soccer game going on so I stopped for a moment to watch towards the end of my ride but I got cold and rode on in.

I used my hearing aid for tunes and the CI for hearing. It worked out great!

I really liked this shot due to the reflection on the water

It's freezing over

Friday at noon and the roads around town are bumper to bumper due to sleet. Schools are starting to get out and it's going to be a messy afternoon.

It was good

Got to the gym and was a few minutes early so i climbed up on the spin bike and started warming up. Before I knew it the class was about full. Julie came in and got the class going and before I knew it, time was up and I was a bucket of sweat. It felt great to do that again! And yes, I feel fine and can walk today! HA!

I wish someone would do a study of hearing and sports. Serious, when I am sweating like the over weight pig I am and i have my hearing aid and my CI on, I hear even better. I always said this about my hearing aid. Dr. D said maybe the sweat causes a vacuum seal. The heat pulls it in tighter. But last night it seemed as though my CI was kicking in even more as well. That's sound is not going through my ear drum.

Life is good!

Hell's Gate opens at 5:30 tomorrow

That's right, you heard me! Hell's Gate opens at 5:30pm tomorrow.
I return to the fitness center for training. All that slacking has come to an end. The demons will greet me at the entrance tomorrow holding billy clubs and whips. They will roll their eyes if I even mention pain or shake. They are evil but I love them and they make me a better man. I will sweat so bad that I'll fry my hearing aid and CI... and then I'll smile because I have coverage!

I've got that Coldplay song "Clocks" stuck in my head again... goes right along with the feeling of the night before training starts...
Lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
You've put me down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead (singing)
Come out of things unsaid, shoot an apple off my head (and a)
Trouble that can't be named, a tiger's waiting to be tamed (singing)
You are, you are

First order of business is a spin class at 5:30 tomorrow. Those will be Monday and Wednesday afternoons. Tuesday and Thurs and maybe Fridays will be core training. I will be told to walk around with a bottle of water and cut the crap food. You know that stuff I've been eating for the past 3 months. I will be the first to admit I did not train as I should have last year for my cycling. Don't get me wrong at all here... I had an awesome coach (Mark)last year and he pushed me but I should have stayed on the core training as I did when I looped the state tour. Man, I wish I had time to pull another one off those tours.

Saturday may find me heading back to the farmlands for a building base miles ride. Temps are going to nose dive then come back to normal by the weekend. Of course Friday they are using that "freezing rain" word. In my mind, I tell myself to use the word "commitment" again and again and again.

Big news.... Arkansas Children's Hospital made the Forbes TOP 100 Employers in the US to work for! As a recruiter that's like the gold card! By the way, we had almost 10K applicants apply last year. Gee after this I wonder how much that will jump?

Life is good... r.e.a.l good

Just too cold

Just too cold to do anything right now. **BUT** The weather for Sunday is 60!!
Thinking about watching the weather for a bit and taking a day off when it is going to be 60 or higher with a light wind and go out and spend the day on the bike. I need to do at least a 50 miler. I'm planning to grab my first century of the year in April so I better get on the stick.

The Rock Racing crew are all out at camp this week. Rashann has some great photos of the team including Tyler Hamilton. Can't wait to see these guys in May! Fun spring coming!

CI stuff: We had a "songbook" service at church and I was actually sitting in the crowd since it was Sunday night and I had set it up to work on auto pilot. The song leader said the numbers of the song and I heard and understood all but one. Usually I flip pages real slow and peak to see what age the person sitting on either side of me turned to then I turn to that page. You would not believe what all tricks hearing impaired folks know to do to make it look less painful than what it is.

Emmy is sick with that stomach stuff... n.a.s.t.y

Other than that... life is good.

Midweek... snow? No Snow?

It's midweek... that's right kids... I took out the trash this morning to the curb so that means only one thing... the weekend is coming!

First off congrats to Wes and his wife DeeDee for conquering the Disney Marathon last weekend. Those two ran 26.2 miles around Disney with hundreds of others. What to read the write up? Click over to your right on the link for Code Geeks Tail. It's a great write up.

Rumor has it there could be some snow during the night. I hope it plays nice and no ice. I can work from home so that part is not a big deal. Since Emmy is a senior, they don't have t make up any snow days so she is hoping for a blizzard. HA!

Dad is scheduled to FINALLY be released to go home from the hospital Saturday! I had a guy go to their house today and flip the doors on the bathroom to open out rather than in. That way if Dad ever gets in a jam in the restroom someone can get him out. Peace of mind. I drove down and hung out with him after work last night and had to to myself (rare!). We laughed a lot and had a good time.

Not much else going on. CI is doing great and I'm used to it now. I got to speak with a guy who is a big time water skier today in the Audiology center and he is considering a CI. Super nice guy. He and his wife asked questions and the wife said she didn't even notice mine! Mine is dark gray to match my hair. Fashionable man that I am! HA! Still need to work with the music program more. Practice practice.

Life is good!

Saturday

Had a blast today! Rode 24 miles and even snuck in the back of DWonn's noon ride and rode with them from the sub to the golf course. I dropped off and did my own thing when they turned I knew I couldn't keep up with a group in mostly Carve jerseys on the hills. Spotted JBar on his bike and also spotted Mike Mitchell out getting a run in.

After that I cleaned the garage. All Christmas junk is finally back in the attic. Oh geez, only about 10 months and it comes back down.

We then went to see National Treasure. Movie was supposed to start at 4:20 but after all the trailers then a stupid Goofy movie we finally got to see the feature. It was a good movie but to me not as good as the first.

Then we drove down to see Dad in the hospital a little bit. He was doing really well and seemed to be having a good day.

Then we went to Colton's for dinner. Prime Rib was some of the best I've ever had.

Busy day and more of the same tomorrow...

Life is good!

Maps and rides

I go in for my CI mapping tomorrow. I think I'm going to see if I can get Jordan, my audio guru to play music and map to that some. It's weird, I can hear radio/CD music and the bass is one thing then the high pitches are like a completely separate thing. Got to figure this out. Sort of like part is far away and part is in my ear. I did a speech exercise tonight and it was easy at first then I moved on to listening to answering machines and had to understand and answer questions at the end. Details details... there are words like shutter and shoulder and shimmer. Serious. It's crazy but fun at the same time.... solve the puzzle!

I'm really still having moments everyday where I just stop in awe and listen. So far one of my favorites have been cracking my office window and hearing the birds. Yesterday I had to walk across the parking lot to the main hospital and it was raining and I asked a coworker if the rain was always this loud. She just laughed and said this was a quite rain. We have a lot of construction going on and I have finally learned to tune out the beep beep beep of the heavy equipment backing up. And how many car alarms go off everyday? Geez louise!

Tomorrow I think it's going for a warm 58 degrees so I'm thinking an afterwork ride might be in the picture. It will turn dark on my while I'm riding but I'll be on a bike trail with no cars really to worry with.

Speaking of bikes get this... Rock Racing has invited Landis to come hang out at camp starting the 18th. The director has left the building. I liked Frankie. He was really a personable and approachable guy. I jut hope Ball doesn't think they are too good for the Joe Martin Stage races in Fayetteville this May and not show. Makes me think, I wonder what is going on with Healthnet and United-Toyota teams these days? All are in the hills of CA getting whipped and ready for the spring racing season.

I'm planning to head down to Ridgeland, MS on April 12th for a ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway. I'm going to try some new rides this year. I saw one the first week of Feb in Longview TX called "Freeze Your Fanny" ride. Bet the t-shirts are funny!
May be missing the Carti Tour de Rock this year since I'll be in FL in mid June. Bummer.

Yep, everyone has begun to ask me what "epic" ride will I do this year. Honestly I don't know. I would love to do a fundraiser for the Audiology group of the hospital again this year but it takes so much time to train ...plus... do the fundraising. I was a bit bummed last year when I started because I had a good base of corporations in the NW part of Arkansas but the Foundation worked them for another event so I couldn't approach. I came in short for what I really wanted. There is one piece of equipment they need down there and it's a newborn hearing analyzer. Price tag is about $28,000. My fundraising for them has been in the 10-12 thousand dollar range. I had a crazy idea about riding the river trail loop for 24 hours and that would be such and easy gig to set up... not to ride... to set up. I wouldn't have to worry with driving and hotels and the hospital is just a few blocks from the river trail. Oh well, we'll see. I'm just getting back out to ride and have a good time right now.

Oh yeah, I will add photos back to the blog. I didn't realize you guys liked those that much. Guess it does make it more interesting than just a bunch of text.

Well I'm outta here folks... life is good!

Monday

Yep, just plain ole Monday.

Yesterday I did get out and ride in yet again windy conditions. the nice part was that the temps felt like spring! It's been so warm the past couple of days that a neighbor down the street has a forsythia bush starting to bloom! Next weekend it will be back to winter I hear.

Speaking of hear... I wanted to wear the CI and helmet without a cap but my helmet knocked off the connection magnet several times before I even got started so I just wore the hearing aid. Oh yeah, love that deafening roar! The CI is so much quieter with the wind roar. I'm going to have to find some sort of headband to wear to hold the mag in place.

I did spot the club and rode to their regroup area and got caught up on some friendships. It was good to see the guys. There were several others out I hear but never spotted them. Saw DWonn doing his run. He rode the day before. Yep, he is one of the Ironmen guys. Super nice.

I got on the scale and I'm down 2lbs. Need about 14 more to get where I really want.

Oh I did the media at church and it was fine. We had several things going on but everything went like clockwork and I sat there enjoying the service.

life is good....

I thinking I'm having an affair... again!

That's right folks. I thinking I am getting dangerously close to falling in love again. She's one fast chick. Yep, I rode my bike again today! It was one of those Arkansas sort of days where you didn't know what to wear on the ride. You don't want to dress to warm but then I'm not one to ride if I'm too cold. Today was one of those rare days I got it just right and I enjoyed the ride along the river like none other. I knocked off a tad over 25 miles of pure enjoyment. Saw a couple of folks and said howdy. If all goes well I'll get to go back out there tomorrow afternoon and see a bunch of the gang. There is a ride at 1 tomorrow. Of course they will drop my lard butt but just riding with the Fast Girls Slow Guys for a few will be fun.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and the emails regarding Dad. He is doing a lot better and will more than likely be moved to rehab tomorrow. Last year he was in rehab and it did him wonders. He was able to walk a lot better with his walker and he just had a better quality of life. I'm hoping for that again.

Tomorrow starts my month back in the media control tower at church. I'm looking forward to being back. I put the program together but stayed out of the controls except for one evening while I was getting used to the implant. It's going so much better than I ever expected! I kept hearing this "3 to 6 months". If it's that much better in 3-6 months then man oh man... Jordan told me that some folks are making progress up to two years. I will say I had a CI Moment today while riding. I kept hearing something buzzing and kept thinking it was a car far off but none around. Come to find out it was the golf cart on the course I was riding by. I love hearing the gears clicking and he whiz of the tires on the road. Love it love it love it!! Also hear a funny CI story the other day. Man was on his front porch and he realized his CI wasn't working and then realized it was gone!! He and his wife were sitting on the front porch and come to find out when he sat down he got too close to a wind chime and the magnet jumped and stuck the the chimes!!! I laughed when I heard that.

Well, I'm done with this computer today... by y'all

Thursday night thoughts

Just got back from visiting my dad at the hospital. Seems to be doing better but he's going to be there awhile. My mom, bless heart heart, insists on staying there every night. Dad is in a semi-private room but there's not another patient in there so they have given mom the other bed to sleep on at night and they have brought in nicer more comfortable chairs. He said four good looking nurses came in today and gave him a bath. Oh the thoughts of turning older... HA!

I had mapping number 3 on the CI today. Jordan gave me more mid and high ranges. At first I really couldn't tell that much but I can tonight. I'm still bummed that I'm not getting the radio music in good yet. I did figure out that the car heater fan blocks a lot of the radio sound so if I turn down the fan then I can hear the radio a lot better. I have to not try to listen to the music so much and that's when I can hear it best. I've also noticed that the bass and the high notes seem like they are be processed by 2 different processors. Strange.

Sunny and 62 for Saturday and Sunday has a whooping 68 degrees... and it's about 30 out there right now. This much temp swing is going to continue to cause folks to get bad colds. Terri is feeling better by the way! She went to the doc and Bryon gave her a shot and meds.

As promised here are some more folks who have inspired me:
Huck (Yes, The Huckabee -- yes the Iowa caucus guy) He was our Gov and he got into running and lost a massive amount of weight. Vote for him. He really is a good normal ole guy.
Paul Creel -- always fun to ride with. Best hand therapist in the state.
Kyle, Doug, Rick and Mike -- they got me back on the back a couple of years. They are good as gold.
Paul Britt, Michael Mitchell, Jon Van Pay, Robb Carr -- Still cherish our long ride that day! HA!
Jason Gates -- Awesome rider, true gentleman, kick butt US soldier
Jason Ketcher -- He tells me like it really is. Makes me laugh so hard my tummy hurts.
Charlie Woods -- knocked out over 10K miles on the bike the past 2 years.
Many more to come!

Not much else going on. Speech therapy tomorrow. Counting down to the weekend!

Quick hit Wednesday

Got to do this fast... I'm at work and it's not lunch...

I did ride yesterday! It was crazy stuff! The temp was 39 with 19mph wind and 32 mph gust and all of that along a river! No wind blockage hardly at all.

... but it felt REALLY good to be back out there riding. I mean r.e.a.l.l.y good!

Had a CI moment. When I was riding back to the car with the wind to my back it was like the day I got my new hearing aid and I could her the whizz of the tires on the pavement and the gears clicking but with the CI the wind noise to me is much less! I could hear something behind me that sounded like a wave and it was a gust of wind coming across the field toward me. Unbelievable how cool that was to hear.

Saturday forecast is showing 62 for the high that afternoon with sun! I'm am so gonna be there riding! Yea-izzzz!

Funny story right quick: Ok, who all said no eating in 2008? Well we had a meeting this morning and some fool brought donuts! I passed... ohhhh weee, that's serious!

Card on the table true confession moment: Terri bought some fancy schmizing Weight Watchers scale and I got on it. Poor digital thing didn't know what to do with me. Told me to get off and come back in a couple of weeks. Y'all wanna hear something really sad... 10 lb gain since the CI surgery. Yes, that's why I rode in a freezing hurricane yesterday. I'm sure in the docs notes it prescribed for me to sit on the sofa and eat holiday foods for 3 weeks... I know i saw that somewhere... didn't I?

Hope you are off to a great 2008!

...and then it becomes Oh-Eight

What a year! It ended quite but you know that's OK. My dad has been in the hospital since Friday night. ICU at first but got to downgrade to a regular room. He has blood clots in both lungs. Doc says his body is going to have to dissolve them on their own because the meds didn't work. He was in good spirits yesterday when I when down to sit with him while the others went home to rest. He should be able to go home in several days.

Terri has the crud so that's not a lot of fun either. We did manage to eat out last night, drove around a little bit then back home for the evening. We had a nice fire in the fireplace and watched TV. The new year was sort of,"Happy (cough cough cough) I'm sorry (cough) New Year (cough cough)". Some years are like that.

It's been funny reading Aussie Rodney's blog lately. Downunder is having summer right now so it's summer temps and they are talking shorts and sweating. That sounds nice right now.

I pulled all of my bike gear out and plan to head back to the river for a ride. It's in the upper 40's with some stiff wind but you have to start somewhere. My daughter asked if I wanted anything from Sonic and when I said no she sort of looked at me like one of those curious puppies. I told her I was planning to skip Sonic as much as I could this year. Just not the best stuff for someone trying to hold down weight and save a little dough.

CI stuff: Just getting a little better each day. Nothing really new to say except I have gone dining 2 times and did fine with the CI only.

Well, happy oh Eight y'all!!

Just keep it going

I wish this holiday break would just keep going! Since Christmas hit on Tuesday I think 75% of the workforce took the rest of the week off and that was fine with me! I've gotten so much work done this week. I even answered the phone once with just the CI on. Nope, still need to practice that one.

Not really a lot going on so I'm not going to bore you.

CI mapping is tomorrow so got my fingers crossed that I'll dial into hearing a female voice better. Right now most sound a bit like they have a cold. Some really do. After an hour of that then I cross the hall and have speech with Krista.

I did daydream a moment today. Well, I had eaten lunch and the office was warm, which is rare. Also it was very quite. One moment I was working away and the next moment I was snapping out of it. HA! I was thinking about all the people who helped me along this past year and so I'm going to name some names. (If your name isn't on here, don't worry, it'll show up in a later blog).

Non-Family inspiration:
Wes (Man, you have rocked this year! It has been an inspiration watching you heading toward Ironman!)
Boomer (Ironman who carried our hospital Cancer Center name with him while doing the Ironman! Thanks Boomer -- always our hero)
Chris and Rebecca -- Friends just don't get any truer (is that a word?) than this. Always there for me!
Chris and Jen -- Shawdawg and Shawkitty. You know those folks you just plain enjoy being around... Dawg and Kitty are those type folks.
Yale -- I just laughed out loud thinking of all the crazy fun times. One of the generous kind hearted guys you'd ever meet.
Aussie Rodney -- Always inspiring me to do better spiritually.
Aussie Chris -- Always inspiring me to take photos like he does and ride outside the lines.
Ed -- dropping 140 lbs and kicking it on the bike now!
Jenn, Abbie and Jeff -- CI friends who are getting me through this thing.
Robb -- He's up there with Yale. Laughing thinking about the crazy times. "The faster you pedal the sooner the pain stops."

Shoot... I'm out of time... more later!

Hello, I'm Dasher

Took a little survey tonight...

width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2>You Are Dasher
You're an independent minded reindeer who never plays by the rules.

Why You're Naughty: That little coup you tried to stage against Santa last year

Why You're Nice: You secretly give naughty children presents.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Up for air...

I'm coming up for air for just a moment. Walked into the office and it was weekend type quite. No cars on the roadways this morning. Hope my luck runs good on that all week. Love how it's Monday -- I mean Wednesday already!

Christmas was a lot of fun. Terri and I "promised" we would not get each other anything this year and we ended up getting each other more than in past years. It was funny. I woke and went into the den before anyone else got up and spotted a huge box... to me... from Santa! Ok, I became a kid at the moment! I was so excited and so surprised because I wasn't expecting anything. Turns out to be a ready nice office chair for the home office. I love it love it love it! Thanks Terri!

Ci Stuff: Ok, I've learned not to take this think off. I got lazy and just didn't want to deal with it so I wore only the hearing aid during Christmas morning (Yes, I just heard the collective gasp for all of you!). We then headed to my folks house and I put it on. I had to get used to the sound again. Seems like it took forever for my brain to process the sound on that side of my head again. I stayed CI only the rest of the day. I keep hearing stories about how folks with hearing aid on one side and CI on the other how they come to realize how nice the CI really is. I'm turning into one of those people. I still haven't plugged the CI into the IPod since music s-t-i-l-l is funky sounding. It's getting there.

I have a new love of baseball caps! They keep the mag on the CI in place when I work in the yard.

New Years stuff: Oh this is gonna hurt! I know I have got to get this "extended off season" gut off of me. Really guys, it's just plain bad. I'll be the first crazy person and throw my resolution out there. I've not seen any blogs putting their cards on the table for this yet.
Not in any sort of order... just random thoughts coming out here...
1. Drop the gut.
2. Get the fat gut and butt back on the bike and push off to a new adventure.
3. Get back to your 2-wheeled family. You miss them! You n-e-e-d them!!
4. Use the term "all learned up" this year in honor of Boomer.
5. Stop with the Java City... doesn't matter if it's a skinny latte, just cut that crap out.
6. Plan something big this year. Big enough to make friends say, "Are you serious?!"
7. Take church media to the next level and don't take credit for it either.
8. Spend a week on the beach with the family.
9. Give Emmy her new car when she least expects it. Yep, she's getting one and everyone knows it but the big question is when??? Buh ha ha ha!!
10. Meet Tyler Hamilton! He has signed with Rock Racing and should be racing in North Ark this spring. I know he had some issues but just the thought of seeing this guy race is just mind blowing. Now to think of Rasahann, Austin and Tyler all racing on the same team... oh man!

Used to I would make a list of One hundred and... whatever the year was, list of things to do during that year. Think I may do that again this year. 108 things to do in 2008.

Later folks!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Beautiful Christmas eve here in Arkansas! The temps are just right... cool enough to feel like the holiday but with tons of sunshine to keep me outside!

Woke up and spent some time reading by the fireplace early this morning. Reading a lot of Christmas humor stuff this week. The full moon lit up the neighborhood like it was daytime. Even with the bright moon I could see the stars with ease. That was out on the deck. Now on the other side of the house (looking out the kitchen window, the sun was starting to light up the horizon. Beautiful light blues and orange.

Headed out to get a few stocking stuffers and back to the house by 10. My yard was calling me. I cranked the lawn mower and cleared the leaves, hopefully for the last time, off the lawn. The back still had some wet leaves from the rain a couple of days ago so it made for a heavy tarp-o-leaves to drag to the curb. We have a leaf sucker truck that comes by about once every other week and sucks all he leaves that you can put down at the curb. For a couple hundred bucks you can buy them back this spring as mulch. Serious.

Sadie (family dog) loves it when I work outside because she will be out there running and playing. She doesn't seem to like to really hang out by herself out there.

OK, ok, here are the CI stories... Church was really nice. The songs really sounded nice and I flipped the hearing aid on just a tad to get it in 7.1 Surround Sound. HA! Greg asked me from where he was up front how the second service was sounding. Embarrassed I said, "You guys are rocking!" Then after the sermon he walked up to were we were sitting and handed me a mic and asked me to tell the church what I thought about my hearing. First thought was ,"Man, would you cut this stuff out!" I just told everyone how grateful I was and how nice it was to hear so many voices in song. It really was. One of the things that did really surprise me was when everyone turned pages in their bibles. I could hear hundreds of people doing this.

Well, the gifts are all wrapped, I can smell the girls starting Christmas Eve dinner (wife's family all come to our house), sun will be starting to set behind the hill in about an hour and the outside lights will all come on. Yup, life is good!

Have a merry Christmas everyone!

Day 5

We went to a BBQ place last night with extended family and the place is awesome to eat at but not the place you want to be as a new CI user. The floor is concrete and the chairs are wooden. Add that with your usual happy Friday night holiday crowd and I lasted about 5 minutes and I had to switch to hearing aid only. Sliding chairs are not a sound you want to hear at increased volume. (Note to slave driving Audios: Yes, I turned the aid off and returned to CI the minute I walks out... y'all can ask Terri if you don't believe me! HA!). The strange thing was that when I took the CI off in Whole Hog I got really tired and was actually missing the sounds I had gotten to enjoy all day.

I chilled this morning and was a slug until I went to a family gathering this afternoon. I didn't put the CI on until we got ready to go but I've had it on since and it's been a good day. We did get good rain and it's so pretty to listen to. I cringed a bit as we drove the 20 minutes to the place of the gathering. Every time our Odyssey hit a water spot it sounded like someone hitting a cymbal.

I got to play with ALL my great nephews and niece. I am lucky enough to have 4 great nephews and 1 great niece (she is part of a twin set). Oh goodness, Elliott is a doll! She walked in with her big purse and was a sweetheart the whole time. All the kids were great actually. She curled up on my lap and had her sippy cup and got really still. Someday years from now I hope I get one just like her!

Day 4

It just continues to be awesome!

Had my first speech therapy today with Krista. She gave me the 6 sounds on a dry wipe board in front of me. You know the oo ee ah m s and sh sounds. Then we went through some words that sound alike. I crashed on the difference between boot and book. All in good time... all in good time. I also got a page long list of homework... who on earth gives homework over Christmas break? HA! No, serious, I'm glad to have these projects to work on.

I felt good about the speech therapy session. One of the other speech/audio guru's (Anna) came in and there was something about her voice that I wasn't picking up on. I kept catching myself not quite understanding her. There have been a few women that have the same pitch that I'm just not getting yet. It bugs me... I want it to process now. HA!

I'm telling you, this is the best Christmas present ever. What I'm about to say, I kid you not is the truth. I love the Porsche Boxster and this morning there was one parked right outside my office. A fine black on black number. As I was heading to Java City I looked it over then I asked myself the ultimate "Loaded Question"... which would I rather have this Christmas? A 50 grand CI or a 76 grand car? The choice was so easy... it was the car! HA! I'm kidding. Now that I have a CI, I couldn't live without it.

Met with Greg last night to do the run through for all the Sunday's holiday service media. Video's, special music, overlaid songs, you name it and it's part of the service. I'm glad that Scott is going to be in the control sit this week. This will be the first Sunday to check out my CI in a auditorium full of people.

Well, now it's just doing my speech homework and learning to live with the implant for the next week. Tonight will be my first experience dining out with it on. Fingers crossed that it's Roma in J'ville but I think it may be Whole Hog for BBQ.

For all of you folks heading out for the holiday... have a safe trip and laugh a LOT! It's good for the soul!

Day 3 -- Led Zeppelin

It was Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven. Yep, that was the first song I've recognized on the radio. A good friend of mine is the morning DJ on the Point 94.1 (Classic Rock) and I knew he was talking after the song then it was cool how suddenly his laugh came processed in!

It rained but it was about 4 this morning so I missed the big sound but I did get to hear it a little this morning. Cars on wet pavement with water spray have a "reeeeeessse" sound.

While walking back into the office I kept hearing a do-it, do-it, do-it. What on earth??? It was water drops in the downspout on the corner of my office.

Oh and several cars starting their engines at the same time is weird. I could pick up on one car at pretty close range but hearing several at once and being no where near them is sweet!

I'm hearing all sorts of sounds far way that I have no clue what they are. I did figure out one was a printer at the other end of the building.

If someone walks down the hall and coughs it scars the hibby gibby's out of me. That sudden burst of sound s something else.

I'll try and update more tonight... lunch is over.

More cochlear implant activation day video -- Arkansas Children's Hospital

More activation day video.

Day 2, Part 2

It's so funny how I can hear things that are "far away". That's as in a couple of rooms away. I hear people cough, drawers closing. Tonight was funny because I kept hearing something that sounded like someone sanding something. It was Terri walking in house shoes on the kitchen floor. I did finally pick up a little music while driving today. Actually I was sitting still waiting for traffic to move (don't you love rush hour) and I could hear music. The radio was only on level 2. I've never heard it on level two.

The washing machine is another thing that is deafening to me. Oh and hangers in my closet. If I slide a hanger and it makes that metal scraping noise -- ugh! And the dryer with blue jeans banging around while it tumbles. But you know what... I'm excited to even hear that.

I did notice a couple of folks looking at it today and even though I've seen people looking at my hearing aid, it didn't bother me. This is a bit different with it's wire and magnet. I want to say, "It doesn't go in my head and it doesn't hurt."

In laws made it in safe from Florida. Tons of gifts and homemade goodies. I'll do my best to not eat a bunch of it. Now if she makes her famous Key Lime pie, well, there will be no turning back.

Once again, I am tired from all the new sounds today. It's been a blast but it's at time overwhelming. It's so funny to get excited over simple sounds. I think the number of coworkers I've made cry is up to 3 or 4 now. When I tell them things like I heard keys or I can't wait for the rain, it seems to hit home that everyone takes the simple sounds of life for granted. We do. Even with my pre-CI hearing I took sounds I could hear for granted.

New count down started and that's to Saturday. I get to see the twins and all the other little tots in one room at one time. (Make a Little Richard style Whoooooo here! HA!)

I called my sister yesterday and we had a 20 minute laugh session Every time we get together we seem to get the silly's and that's what makes her great. Now, what I was saying about the tots all together. Well, my sisters will be all together Saturday and I will leave with a tummy so sore from laughing. It's Arkansas style version of Steel Magnolias. Insanely funny stuff. You'll hear (you have to say this with a slow southern accent) "Now, y'alllll..."

Oh, family funny.... While I was talking to Sherry, her husband had made some candy (it's really good too). I asked her if she ate it all and she stuttered around and said "Yes... I mean, no... well... uh... I mean I ..." I got so tickled and I laughed and laughed.

Day 2

Finishing up lunch...
Spent part of the morning hanging out in Audio with Jordan while she did some more programming. Everyone told me that each day sounds different and to be honest, I HATED it when I turned it on this morning. OK, here's a clue for folks like me... yes, you can turn it down. I was so set on working through the 3 programs yesterday.

Today I got a different sound coming through. This sounds so much more like my hearing aid on steroids. Much more easier to live with. (Note to the audio guys... yes, I have my hearing aid turned off). Voices are much better today. Still sounds grungy when people who talk loud talk. I love folks with soft voices now. Trust me, it's so easy to hear them now. Never thought I would ever type those words.

I did plug the IPod into the processor while in the clinic this morning. I'll have to work on that one awhile. It was a Beatles tune and I couldn't have told you that at all. that's one of the unusual things about this journey. I can hear my car keys jingle but I can't process music yet.

Note to CI users: Have you tripped a store thief alarm? I'm not looking forward to that day at all. I suspect I'll just shout, "Put your guns away, I'm bionic!" Oh that will scare them huh? HA!

Am I still blown away by this product... you bet! Blown away 10 times over!

Back to work... more later.

ACTIVATION DAY

8:30 --- I should be working but I knew a lot of folks would be reading today so I'll update off and on through the day. I'm 2 hours out from walking across the parking lot and having them flip the switch. I'm having my skinny latte so life is good. I was walking with my VP across the parking lot and who would we run in to? Ellen, my recovery nurse. This was the first time I had seen her since the surgery. I gave her a big bear hug and laughed.

12:12pm --- ALL SYSTEMS GO!!!!
Velcro sounds so funny! Poor Jordan sounded like a man. Terri (wife) sounded more like herself. Steve the other audio sounds like himself just fine... maybe a little tweaking. They are giving me 3 programs that increase in volume... you are kidding me right? Everything is so loud right now. This keyboard is insane. Most folks are gone to lunch right now so I'm excited to see what it is going to sound like in a little while with coworkers around.

I'M GONNA LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!

Not near as mechanical as I was expecting. It seemed to be right as Jordan flipped the switch and it was then sort of like I could hear her but there was a sound barrier between us. That seems to be going away really fast.

It keep picturing one of those underwater plants that move and flow. That's sort of what this is like. I'm already having those... what was that moments.

Oh what a fun journey this is now going to be!!!

4;21pm --- What an absolute amazing afternoon! I have some really funny stories. I have asked, "What was that noise?" a few times when I shouldn't have. We've laughed a lot.
Check back later tonight and I'll do my best to have the video up.

8:16 -- Been a blast today but I'm about ready to find a quite spot and a book for a bit. I was told that I'd be working my way through 3 programs before my morning appointment tomorrow. Not sure I will get to #3. Everything is so loud. I've been asking folks to whisper so I can understand them better. When some folks talk normal it seems so loud that it's distorted.

I did venture out to run an errand and did fine. Some of the funny things that have happened today are:
I heard a noise and asked what it was and to my embarrassment it was someone in the restroom.

One of my coworkers walked down he hall and I could hear a swishing noise and it was her pants. I said I could hear her pants rubbing and she thought I meant she had big thighs! She doesn't but I logged that in the ole mental bank to never mention anything like that again to a girl. HA!

I heard my keys jingling. That sound was what I used to gauge the volume on my hearing aid years and year ago. If I could hear the keys then I knew it was turned up loud enough. Now it will always be turned up!

I washed my hands and just stood there listening to the water. Oh how I can not wait until it rains!!!! I want to hear a car drive by and hear the water spray. I could always hear the car going back and I knew what the water spray was supposed to sound like but over the past few years the high pitched part slowly died away.

Well, here it is being turned on. It takes a bit to load. Sort of long.

I hate looking at myself in video or photos but promised the activation video. There are 3 more videos but I'll space them out. It would sort of be like watching someones vacation slide show.

Thanks for hanging out with me today! Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Waiting and ringing and riding

Waiting: Yes, somehow I will sleep tonight knowing that in the morning I'll go to work as normal but come home a tuned in and turned on bionic. If I make it out like Jeff (see link over on the blogs I read list) did with his CI then I'll be a very happy camper.

Ringing: Wha???!! Yep, that pesty ringing in back in my CI ear. I have figured out that when my heart rate goes up the ringing returns. I figured this out when the media at church froze and I had to do some fast moving while the guy was doing the announcements. thank goodness he was long winded! I got everything back on line but the stress made my heart giddy up and when it did the ringing was roaring. I can make it ring by yawning too. Weird!

Riding: I got on the trainer (bike) tonight. Ever gotten one of those papers back in school with the big red bad grade written over sized on your paper? I would have gotten one of those tonight. I was just glad I got on it and rode and even sweat. My pal Jason and I went to lunch today and I was telling him how surprised I was that I hadn't gained that much weight even though I had been eating fast food and other crap and not riding. He said, but I bet you lost a lot of muscle weight. I cringed! The was like a cold wet rag thrown in my face. He didn't mean it like that but I was the good smack up the side of the head that I needed. To even think of losing muscle due to fat middle aged laziness is a bad thought all the way around. Bet I'm back on that trainer again tomorrow night...with a CI in place!

It's so strange that I'm booking into the new year already. I even got one schedule of events today via email that takes me all the way to the end of 2009.

I did something pretty bold today. In an email I set out to the church presentation team, I told them how I was really looking forward to hearing Christmas songs this Sunday. (Enter Willie Coyote snickering laugh). Well one service last year had zero Christmas songs. I thought that was the most deflating thing in the world to do. I'll know Wednesday if it worked... keep your fingers crossed.

By the way, here is the hospital Christmas e-card that went out to thousands. When you watch it, pay close attention to the scene after the helicopters. Yep that was me and the awesome team that rode the River to River ride for kids with hearing impairments.
http://www.archildrens.org/thanks/

Note to cycling friends: I am still very grateful to you all and because of you a child is hearing better today!

Saturday Part 2

Forgot a really funny story to tell...
A friend of mine was telling me at lunch yesterday that a friend of hers took their little boy to a live nativity scene where you walk through. They were talking back and forth about the different parts and then they were about to round a corner to were the people got the element of surprise, the baby Jesus part.

So mom and little (5 year old) son are talking and she knows what's around the corner so she starts buttering him up and she says, "... and what did the wise men see?" About that time they round the corner and the little boys screams, "MCDONALD'S!!!"

Seems there was a McDonald's on the hill just outside so when he looked up for the star he spotted the golden arches!

Sleet?

Daughter just ran into TV crew at Best Buy and called to tell us it may start sleeting about 9:30 tonight. Oh great...

The wind is howling outside but we are warm and toasty in the house. I got the firewood a few days ago and brought some of it into the garage to keep it dry and it's just been a nice afternoon/evening with the Christmas tree, fireplace, the girls wrapping a mountain of gifts for family and friends. Tyler came by and we had fun working with my new video software. It's great to have a video pro (him not me!) in the family.

It was fun going to the office yesterday with the buzz. Everyone was doing the double take and then rubbing my head. It was funny. I stopped by Audio and the guys slapped the magnet right on. I could feel it pull together. (Big sigh) All systems go for Tuesday. This is sort of like leading up to the surgery...excited, nervous,,,etc.

I set up the media for church tomorrow and there are 178 transitions for 2nd service! Whoa. The search does seem to have a real preaching time but a few words then couple of songs and back and forth 3 times.

Bonus of the day: Who really played the tune "Miles Away"? I ran across the Ryan Farish version on ITunes and remembered I liked that tune but couldn't figure out who really did it. This will be a great tune for riding through the pecan groves.

There was another tune called Pacific Wind that he plays that's good too. These will work for basic "just get your miles in" rides. The wind and rain/sleet supposed to be gone tomorrow so I'm thinking loading Ipod with new tunes and take the bike out for a few miles. There is actually a ride heading out to the farmlands tomorrow afternoon but my legs couldn't keep their pace and I'd be dropped like a bad habit.

Life sure is fun right now!!!

Just gimme the keys and let me drive it!

Got an email from Jordan (One of my audio buds) across the street. She asked if I could stop by while I was in the main hospital and let her check the magnets so Tuesday when we activate then this wouldn't slow us down. No prob. I got over there this afternoon and she tried several magnets and only one stuck and then when I moved my head it came off. Bummer. She said there were several things that could be going on. One was my thick scalp. I laughed and said, "If y'all don't stop calling me a fat head." She laughed. The other thing was my hair. It's thick and curly or wavy. So I knew how to eliminate that problem. Guess who stopped by Sport Clips on the way home and got a b-u-z-z?? I love it, love it, love it! It's a short version of my summer haircut. Man, I'm going to freeze my butthead off in a couple of days when that temp drops! I don't have to comb my hair or dry it any more! Yea-izzz!

Meanwhile, as I was saying, Jordan was trying different mags and we had the door open. All the other audios would be walking by and see me sitting there and freeze. They would all then get excited and Jordan would have to tell them we were just playing with mags. Then she said she wanted to hook it up to the computer to get a green light. At that point I got all excited! Will I hear the beeps??? No, not this time. Pure torture... Just gimme the keys and let me drive it!

Get this though, she told me that she scheduled a CI for a patient today and guess what the earliest date is now.... M-A-Y of 08.... 5 months out. Well John is the best! Come to think of it, we started all of my CI stuff back around May of this year.

One other really cool thing Jordan was telling me today. With the little girls who get CI's she gets an extra cap and glues rhinestones on it for some styling! I thought, you know, that's why I love these folks I work with. They are always a level above!

Note to Boomer: Awww man, Chris Botti jazz is great! Love this stuff! Thanks for the suggestion!

Got to run... y'all have a great Friday!

Midweek!

To my friends and family... yes, I was excited to take the trash to the curb last night. "Trash" means midweek which means weekend is coming.

OK, here's another funny "Trash" story. The lady that cleans our offices walks down the hall every morning dragging a huge trash bag. We all have these mini trash cans and she will stop in front of our door and just look at you and say "Trash". One day she did this to my coworker in the office next to me and I completely lost it. I thought she was calling Evie "Trash". Didn't hit me that she was gathering our trash. We all had a good laugh.

Well then it got funnier this week! She came in my office and said , "Trash?" and I said, "Yes, ma'am, I got a little." She has this funny little he-he-he laugh she does then really loud she said. "Oh, yeah, George got a little!" he-he-he-he. I wanted to crawl under my desk. I could hear snickering down the hall. Man, never a dull moment in HR.

I got a GREAT email from a friend about getting back out there and riding. It was good and Chris Ironman, I appreciate it. It was just what I needed to hear.

Speaking of hear... I get the big turn on in less than a week. Whoa man I'm psyched!

We'll have 5 little folks UNDER 2 this year at my folks house for Christmas. It's going to be fun! I plan to take the mov-ee cam and roll it. They'll be grabbing toys from each other and screaming, and sneezing in each others faces! Award winning video coming up! HA!

Temps are doing the big drop and the firewood man is bringing this winters firrewood after work today! Yea-izzz!

Pretty in pink

Had he coolest thing happen today. We have a recruiters meeting every Monday morning at 8:30 and they know I have to walk across the parking lot to Java City to grab a latte. Everyone at the hospital knows this boy will show his face between 8 and 8:30 daily.

Well this morning I'm standing there with coworkers and one of my favorite Audiologist is standing a few ahead of us and she had a little girl with her. I could see the little pink things in her ear. After she made her order I knelled down to talk to her. That's a big thing at a kids hospital... get down to their level. So I told her I like her pink ear molds to her behind the ear hearing aids. She was all smiles then I flipped her out and reached up and pulled my hearing aid from around my ear to show her I had a hearing aid. She was sooo funny and cute. I told her I needed o get a new one (ear mold) and I asked her what color I show get and she stopped and did that little kid thinking look and then smiled real big and said, "PINK!" Everyone laughed. I just don't think bubble gum pink ear mold would look cute on me like it does her. She made everyone's day!

We have had 3 days of fog and it's getting sort of a pain. Sounds like a big cool down is headed this way after the Wednesday rain. Kin, if you are reading this, I hope you guys over in OK missed the bad stuff.

I bought some new software! Pinnacle Studio for making movies! I've got this PowerPoint stuff down for church and work now I want to go to the next level of "entertainment". Since my son is a professional in this stuff I figured I could get him to work with me getting me through the basics. I'll try and upload a few test movies as I build them. I'm planning on putting together some cool stuff. It's all in my head... yep, stored in that new 50 thousand dollar computer installed in my head. OK maybe not but sounded bionic-ish huh?

I'm getting in the mood to go to I-Tune land and download some new music. thinking Jazz this time. Anyone got a favorite? Leave me a comment and let me know what it is.

Hey Jeff, GOOD LUCK on your CI activation on Tuesday!

I'm outta here for the night.

Been a good weekend

It's been a good weekend and I'm certainly feeling my normal old self again, Everyone at church services today wanted to know if I had run into anymore walls. All in good humor. I have so many friends who are just as excited about the "big turn on" as I am.

I'll see Dr. D (Dornhoffer) for a few minutes as a post op check-up on Tuesday right after lunch. There are a lot of questions I want to ask just because I'm curious and really get into this stuff.

The the 18th this the big turn on. Since I have a great team of folks, especially Scott, covering the media at church i a as close to stress free as I have been in 2 months. I feel like now I can really concentrate on learning to hear out of the new ear. I have been really worried about the services. The "look and feel" and can roll out there but once we go live I was thinking, "What if your ears start ringing?" I sat upstairs in the control booth the first part of service and had zero problems and could have even drove but then I wanted to get a feel of the crowd and even with my hearing aid turned down my ears were ringing a bit. Bummer, they had been playing fair all weekend. It went away fast.

I got the rest of the Christmas decorations outside yesterday. I really had thought I might could have put them up last weekend but I was too looped still to care. I also got the few leaves up off the lawn. Tonight is the big drive through all around the neighborhoods to see the lights. We've got it good because our home is on top of the hill looking over the valley so we can see a lot of Christmas lights Usually it' bumper to bumper but a strong storm came through and dumped the rain and dropped the temps about 2 hours ago so it was a slow start for luminary night.

Our house group from church put together 40 gym bags of items together tonight and they are planning to go under the bridges next Sunday morning at 6. They really packed some valuable stuff including what is called a "homeless blanket". I had never known there was really a blanket called that but it's a super thick heavy wooll blanket. They also packed canned meats, peanut butter, puddings, snack pack fruit, spoons, gloves, socks, caps, cleaning stuff and then they did something really col, they packed 4 cards and envelops stamped so they could write to let a loved one know they were OK. Then it gets even better... they were given a couple of wrapped gift, one with socks and one with gloves that they are to give away to someone who needs them. I will be interested to hear the results.

Well, I didn't get on the trainer bike today. Yeah, I know... lard butt! I was busy today and it was a fun day so maybe tomorrow. A guy can dream can't he? HA!

Glad it's Friday

Long week this recovery week has been. It has gotten easier everyday. The ringing is for the most part gone unless I'm talking a lot or I have to move my head around a lot. Also i can taste most foods now. Still seem to be enjoying salty stuff more than anything else.

My to do list for the weekend is 3 miles long. Man, you miss one weekend and it sets you back big time. I have to put the lights up outside and clear the side of the garage so we can put a car in there. One side is fine, the other is tons of Christmas boxes (Note to my wife: No dear, I love all this stuff, I really do)

I need to do some Christmas shopping. I need to get leaves off the lawn...again. If "green" wasn't so "in" right now I'd cut a few trees down.

I W-I-L-L get on the trainer bike this weekend and ride. I have got to get my bike legs back. I keep telling myself, "Geo, the party's off you big buffoon! Get back on the bike and get on with it."

Very out-of-the-box and very right!

I read something during lunch that was mind blowing unusual. There is a church in Canton, GA called Revolution. They gave away their Sunday offering. Serious! They took up a collection at some point, no sure if that day or last week. Anyway, everyone in the crowd last Sunday got an envelope with a different amount of money to go out into the community and give-it-away! Some went to Wal-Mart and spotted a person they felt guided to give the envelope to and gave it in passing. Some gave it to different charities. One person bought the whole line at Starbucks their drinks. It was all up and down the scale. It was a most awesome read! Imagine what folks would remember about your church or organization if you did something like this!

Here's the link if you are interested:
http://revolutionarylove.tv/2007/12/02/revolutionarylovetv-share-your-story/

So why not do something a little crazy and out of the box this Christmas season?

Oh by the way.... our church entered the Sherwood Christmas parade for the first time this year and guess who won first place??? Oh yeah!!! They worked so hard!

THE PHOTO

Welcome to extreme makeover!

I opted for the Tupac (I say it as "Two-pack") head gear, the 80's Don Johnson/Miami Vice no shave, and druggie celebrity mug shot look. Y'all think I achieved that look?

Feeling much much better!!!

Quick hit Monday

Just a quick hit.
I did return to my office this morning and still have times were I walk like the ground is slanted but the roar is going south finally.
I have this bruise on my neck like I've been in a fight with one of Tony Soprano's men.
All in in, really, it's getting better.
Now just waiting until Dec 11th for the surgery follow up
Then it will be wait one more week after that... Dec 18th for activation.
Please tell me the ringing doesn't return when they flip the switch!!

Interesting story: Emmy went to stay with friends in Fayetteville and Terri drove 1/2 way to pick up her up yesterday. A big cold front was coming and David called from Fayetteville as he was going back and the south side of the tunnel was 69 and the north side when he came out was 39.... that's a trip!

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