home.

This photo probably doesn't have much of an affect on you unless you are actually one of my family and know the house in this photo. Inside this home is full of love and laughter. It's the home where I grew up and the home where my parents still live.

Oh the memories I have of this home and the family who has and is still living there.

I took this photo on Thanksgiving night just before we surprised my parents we special Christmas ornaments from each of us. I hung the lights outside the house before we did the surprise so we could get the full feel of a special Christmas tree lighting. My niece Lindsey came up with the idea and it made the afternoon that much more special.

(Geo releasing a long happy sigh)

Life is good...when you can always go home.

Saturday night quick hit

Christmas decorations... good grief! Up to the attic, down from the attic...repeat this many times.
I have to admit though, Terri has the house looking all cherry and festive!

Headed out on a training ride this afternoon and got bored on the river so I was going to ride on out to Scott or England since there was no wind! As I was heading out that way I spotted a group of cyclists and just as I was catching them they pulled over. I figured it was a flat or something but it turned out to be the mayor of North Little Rock (yes, he rides) as well as Rob, Charlie, Kenny, Tom and one other guy whose name is slipping my memory at the moment. I'll think of it about 2am. They were looking at new bike routes and boy did they come upon a GREAT one! There was a rode I've never seen before and have gone past it a million times. It was a great social ride for the reminder of the afternoon. By when that sun started setting the temp really dropped.

I stopped over at church and did a quick run through with Greg for tomorrow. WOW!!! You should see the auditorium!!! It's beautiful. We start a new series tomorrow called Joy to the World and each week is a different Joy. Nice to have a whole month of happy stuff. We have some great video coming through...starting tomorrow.

Hope to get out and ride tomorrow afternoon then it's back to the real diet come Monday. These holidays may be a bit tough on the diet plan.

Life is good... when you ride new places with new friends!

Put 'em under the lights!

I have an idea... I was noticing this morning that folks coming through the checkout lines on TV were frowning until the camera wa on them. Well by golly, I say someone paid a bunch of temps to pose as news folks and point cameras on random people shopping this holiday. Everyone of them smiled when the camera was pointed at them. Just think how great the holiday season would be if people smiled?! Just a random thought... back over to Itunes for new music... yes, I'm smiling!

I'll write a real blog later...

A Season of Thanks

Heading to the folks house in a bit. Just wanted to throw out a thanks to all of you guys out there! Everyone have things to be thankful for... simple things.

I am mentally in great shape. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I did just typing that. But really, I am so in tune these past few days. Spent time with Terri in Branson, short work week, took yesterday off just to spend with my dad only. Just the boys. We headed down to Hot Springs and ate at Fisherman's Wharf and laughed and cut up the whole day. I left him falling fast to sleep in his chair at the end of the day. There is not enough money to tag that day. It's one I am making sure is burnt in my memory.

The morning training ride was good. Started off cool but warmed quickly as I took to the climbs. On the way down once I stopped several times to shoot the last of the fall leaves so I would have them to use in media as next fall rolls around. The river was dead... no one out. At the end of the ride John E pulled up beside me in his family van. I'm used to seeing him in his truck. He had started just before I got there but we never saw each other out on the trail. bummer. He's a good guy. and fun to ride with.

The other mental goodness is Terri and I are celebrating our 27th anniversary today. It's so cool that everyone got to take the day off and eating massive amounts of food in honor of our anniversary. Bless y'alls hearts! Buh ha ha ha! (Note to Terri: I LOVE YOU!!)

The final mental goodness is.... I'm not getting up and having to go fight the crowds at 4am shopping.... whooo-ray!

Life is good.... Life is thanksgiving!

AWESOME weeknd!

Just got home from an awesome weekend with my wife in Branson. Get this... no computer at all... we both took off our watches. Would have turned off the cell if we knew family wouldn't need us. We stayed at the Hilton on Branson Landing .. ate at Catina Laredo (oh my gosh that was good!). We shopped and shopped and shopped so more. Knocked out a lot of Christmas and who wouldn't when EVERYTHING in Branson was 50-70 percent off. Serious. Guess what else they are doing?! All stores in Branons open at midnight on Thanksgiving. Even the Starbucks was opening at midnight! Unreal!

Going to be a great short week at work... just think when we go to work tomorrow it will always sort of be Wednesday! Well since we are off Thursday and Friday!

Life is good... and yes I'm still completely crazy about my wife after all these years!

Quick hit

Oh yeah... life is good!! Gas in my hood is $1.55 a gallon. If you use your Kroger card after buying grocery's it's $1.45

Fall Training

I got two good rides in this weekend and still had lots of family time and yard time. I don't know, it all just clicked.

I started a real diet last week and stuck with it all the way until Friday lunch! I got to take the weekend off from it but only once did I train wreck. Tomorrow is not going to be so hard to get back on it because I know I can do it now. Besides, junk food now makes my tummy flip! Oh trust me I know.

Saturday morning I got up and ate these packaged chocolate chip mini muffins and a juice glass of milk. My tummy slapped the snot out of me and told me not to abuse him ever again. When did he tell me this... a few minutes into my ride. Tummy settled down but he was not a happy camper there for a few. Speaking of upset tummy's... what was Saturday in the runners world? I saw 2 different folks tossing their cookies on the side of the trail. One guy I had seen earlier doing an all out run... I mean the sort of run if bees are chasing you. We had our friend the wind on Saturday morning too. By the time I finished my arms hurt but it was from being so tense from staying upright during those cross wind blast.

Saturday night Terri made an awesome dinner then I worked a little more on Sunday media. I was really done but had those, "Let's tidy this art up a little". Well guess what? I changed the WHOLE format of the announcements into multiple mini commercials. Tyler had helped me download a piece of software for video's and I got hooked and I turned a PowerPoint announcement set into a video with all sorts of motions and graphics. It was something that I had been wanting to to for a long time... raise the bar! We had Christmas lights blinking, fall leaves blowing across the screen. I really wanted a dancing turkey but couldn't find what I had in mind.

Sunday I just loaded the "commercial" in and let it play (after I checked it on screen first). Woot Woot! It worked!

After church we had lunch and I headed over to Sport Clips for a head buzzing. I really thought it was be empty but oh no... Sunday after lunch is prime time to get a haircut. I had to wait 30 minutes and there were 2 families who came in after me. One had 3 boys and the other had 4 boys. Guys were coming in and seeing all the kids who were about to get cuts and left. They knew it would be an hour. Man, I love short hair!

I got home and headed out for the afternoon ride. Lots of families on the river trail today so I jumped off every chance I could get. It was a great ride and I did lots of climbing. Going up Ft Roots was just dandy! My legs seemed to have said, "Hello there climbing legs". As I was heading back to the car I was behind (not drafting) a mountain biker. I realized it was Peter Beland, a local really fast rider and he was cranking it out on the mnt bike too. I just locked in and stayed with him to the car. It was one of those beautiful fall afternoons that when you get back to the car and you look at the sun shining through the last of the leaves , breath in big and sigh in total happiness!

It's just been a great weekend all the way around!

Life is good... when you just let it happen!

Update coming on Saturday

I know I know.. unlike me not to update... check back on Saturday.

CONGRATS WES!

In the blog world you become "friends" with people from all over the world. Wes is one of those. I've busted my brain trying to remember how we ended up reading each others blogs. Other than the elite folks I admire around here locally, Wes is one of the most admired long distance. I remember when he first started riding his bike, when he first started running, when he and Deedee, his wife, started swimming. When they did their first Tri. When he humbly remarked that Ironman was in his distance dreams. Well friends, Wes became an IRONMAN in Florida last week. Even Terri got excited when I told her Saturday night that someone had finally blogged that he made it. Way to go Wes... Congrats on becoming "one of them"!

Wes' blog is listed a Code Geeks Tail over on the right side of this listed under the blogs I read. But here is the link: http://www.codegeekstail.com/
Trust me if you like reading long detailed Ironman reports then you are in luck here and they are awesome reads too!

Life is good... when you have another friend who has made it to the big time!

Game on! The clock has started!

Well kids today was start day! Six months from today we'll be finished with the Gears for Ears 24 hour bike ride for Arkansas Children's Hospital. 6 fast months!

Today's schedule had ride 50-70 miles. I got 53 miles in. Got up this morning and let the pup out and the deck was wet.... rain wet. Oh no, not the first day. But come t find out it was just a pop up shower. I waited for the roads to become semi dry in front of the house then headed out. The closer I got to the river the driver is was. In fact, it didn't even rain on North Hills. I could have been out an hour ago. Oh well, too nice of a day to pout. I headed out to the farmlands since the plan is to "work on your base miles for now". Just as I was about to turn toward the farmlands a large group of Carve riders were coming in. They were riding strong, as usual! I hope that in a few months I can get out there and hang with them again.

On the way back I stopped at Scott and finally turned on the tunes. I was enjoying the morning so much I wasn't bored and needing tunes. I love the smell of the farmlands. Oh funny story, I was riding along and just watching the road in front of me and I could hear a tractor. I looked up and lo and behold it was a giant combine coming at me. I had plenty of road on my side so no worries. Me and the farmer gave a howdy wave.

While I was at Scott I looked behind the building because there was a drive that I thought went back there. For the first time in the years I've been riding out there I noticed the river was right behind the building! I couldn't believe I had missed this beautiful place all this time.

I switched on the tunes and headed on in to North Little Rock. Made it home and got my prize.... a juice glass of chocolate milk. That was one of the things I had to fess up to was my love of chocolate so every time I put in a good effort for 30 or over miles I get a juice glass of chocolate milk as a recovery drink! I was icey cold and tail wagging good!

Well rest time is over and I have a lot of things to get done this weekend!

Life is good... when you chase it with a glass of chocolate milk!

Oops!

Ok we forgot to not turn on the outside lights this evening. We live at the end of the neighborhood and no kids ever venture down the hill to our house for trick or treating. Just to far off the trail. Well tonight I was coming home and telling Terri no one has their porch lights on. Ate dinner and tinkering around on the low key evening and the dog goes nuts. We forgot and had he porch light on so it was fair game for the kids. We didn't have any candy here so Terri gave them a squeeze thing of mustard. Should have seen their faces!

Life is good ... with mustard on it!

Ok, it's a joke... we gave them treats but I told Terri to give them mustard... so much for leadership in the home! HA!

Layered Dip

Oh man it was a chilly ride after work. I hit the neighborhood streets for some lovely hill training. Just love those hills some days... just love them I tell you! HA! Ok, if you have not gotten out to ride in the cold yet then don't forget that chap stick! I needed it tonight. Also this is a gel called Stinger and it's a honey based gel and it's awesome for that dried out winter throat. Of course I had neither of those and my blinky light was dead. Oh yeah, I was prepared for this ride!

I had to dress in layers for the first time since last spring. It felt like that little kid on the Christmas Story so bungled up if I fell over I wouldn't be able to get back up. You know the little brother who will only eat when his mom says where's my little piggy and the kid gobbles his food up. Great Movie! I was a layered "dip".

I can tell the LR Marathon training has begun. My neighbors are all running. Seems when fall comes the runners all start there training for the LR Marathon in March. Before long you will see them late in the evening are very very early in the morning. Pals Chris and Rebecca ran a sub-2 hour half marathon last weekend in Conway!! They are so elite now they will probably have their on line of triathlon clothes and bikes before long. Some way with blogger pal Wes. Man these folks have shot straight to the top and it has been a blast trying to keep up with their stories of training. Then there is Dwonn, Mariann, and Jo... gee whizzz.

I did get my schedule for training for next May's 24 hour ride. It's a 6 day a week plan that actually kicks off THIS Saturday with a 50-70 mile ride and Sunday has a 30-50 miler. Not bad really. I'll do the low end this week but have to add 5% more each week. Tuesday and Thursday have me on the bike for 2 hours. It's a moderate pace on the trainer but if I get to ride outside in the cold I ride for 1 hour. I'm hoping to find a big parking lot where I can ride nights. 2 hours on the trainer 2x a week would make me insane by the end of the winter. Yoga is even in the mix at the first of the year. March will find me doing some intense stuff that I've never pushed to. April is INSANE crazy then it tapers. I had an awesome discussion able all of this with my coach. He made sure... and I mean positive sure that I was really to rock. He asked questions about my family, my emotional and mental health. Made sure my family was behind me... they are... I asked already.

Life is good... even when it's cold outside.

Big & little

I got all computer-ish this afternoon. Headed over to C. City to get a ram upgrade to 2gig in order to handle more graphics (video). All I can say is the tech guy didn't know what he was doing. When he gave up he said, "Maybe Best Buy can help you". Wha?? Do you not realize Best Buy is your biggest competitor and their parking lot on the other side of the interstate is packed and you have what, 5 cars over here? Well, guess what, I was waited on the minute I walked in I had to ask one of the 5 people standing around talking for help at C. City) and the Geek Squad was awesome! I had 2 gigs of ram installed on my laptop AND a 320 gig external hard drive (which I was going to get anyway) in 30 minutes. I'm just blown away how much you can store in a very small space. I have moved a massive amount of media to it and it barely even made a dent.

I was so excited I hit Starbucks for a veni Cinnamon dolce latte skinny on rocks! Sucked it down in celebration so fast I got a headache.... then a massive coffee buzz.

OK, big news... I got a title at church today. I was asked to be a deacon. I know, that's a trip ain't it? Serious, it's a huge honor and I was inducted with an awesome group of guys. At first I really didn't want the title. I enjoy doing all he visual media and setting up the look of the service ad would keep doing it with or without the title. But after seeing the names of the other guys I knew we could really help make a difference. Most of the time when folks think of Church of Christ they seem to think sort of stand off-ish. We are breaking that mold! I'm happy as a loon to say I have friends from every end of the spectrum... I do mean every end too. I'll go visit them at their churchs and they can come visit me at mine if they want too. We're all a big family. Oh gee, let's just break out and hold hands and sing kum-by-ya why don't we! HA!

I have to go get a ride in after work tomorrow the weather is going to be... well... weather! 56 degrees for a high with wind of 10-20mph. That's almost winter sort of riding. I'll pack a lot of clothes then have to decide in the office what I'll end up layering up to. And if you ride in the cold weather you know what that means.... yep, that wonderful running nose. I'll leave it at that. Nah, no I won't...snotrockets! Bu ha ha ha!!! I know, ewwww, gross!

We had small group over here tonight and it was the last one held here. We rotate each month and it's gotten funny because the girls have gotten crazy with the snacks! Tonight we had fresh cut apples with hot caramel dribbled all over them. You would have thought it was fresh meat in front of a group of hyenas! HA! Love my small group and would step out in front of a car for any of them.

Life is good.... when carmel is dribbled all over it!

Weekend hit list

Crappy photo I know... I'm in a hurry but wanted to put something out there.
I've gotta finish church media, plant some fall flowers, take the media platform to the building and set up and of course ride my bike really fast!

I don't have to really do anything in the morning! Actually I have a massive amount to do tomorrow but first thing in the morning is all mine! Fancy coffee and all.

Here is the new Welcome motion loop as you walk in to the auditorium. It's sort of a long video so it might take a minute to load and start. I've gotten several emails asking me to post some more of my art work and video so here you go. I keep waiting for one of those Mekrats (sp?) from Mekrat Manor to pop up on the video. HA!



Life is good!! It's the weekend!

Building stuff

Sorry not much blogging... I've been busy working on a building project with my pal Mike, plus I got a last minute request to help a guy do a presentation. Anthony's presentation turned out really well. He was nervous about it but pulled it off like a charm.

Let's see... gas is going back down! $2.11 a gallon and with a Kroger card you get it for $2.01. We are going to see $1.99 a gallon gas again before long. Yep, just in time for the elections.

No, I refuse to talk elections. Heard a discussion between office friends today and it could turn ugly fast. I will say this much... I don't vote party, ethnic, or sex. I vote for the person(s) who I feel will honestly take care of my family.

Rain is coming then a big drop in temps. We will be using the fireplace by the end of the weekend maybe. A chilly 38 degrees is on tap for the low on Monday night. Brr-weee.

I turned the Phonak hearing aid demo back in to the clinic. I loved it. Serious. It had a good sound range and I really liked the bass it could pull in. I was secretly hoping for the high notes like my CI but didn't get there.

My boss is in Kansas City for the rest of the week and I saw on the weather channel that ice and snow is about it hit there. Oh gee, he's going to come back crappy... he HATES cold. He lived in FL and Hawaii. Great boss, just hates cold.

Hoping the rain will be gone by the time work is over tomorrow. Fat boy here needs to ride.

New tunes on the Ipod... Fireproof I-Mix (go see the movie!).

Life is good... it's mid week already! yaaba-daaba-do!

Training ride ten-twenty-oh-eight

Funny how sometimes things just happen to be in the right place! After my ride this evening I was sitting on the back of the Explorer and pulled off my shoes and dropped them onto the pavement. When I looked down it was a great little setting for a photo to start tonight's blog. Yes, the leaf was really right there too. None of that is staged.

Stayed focused at work today in hopes that the day would pass quick and I could be out riding. All in all it was a good day. I passed up the donuts and the cake that someone brought in. That's a first! It really felt good knowing I could really pass that stuff up.

By the way, my weekend was so crazy busy I didn't get a ride in all weekend! Gasp! Shock! Banned in 36 countries! Yep, you heard right... no ride. I honestly can't remember a time when I went without riding at all for a whole weekend. Life happens.

I did get to spend a little time with my family at the 4H Center where my niece Shannon works. It's a beautiful place and we have Dad's birthday lunch out there most years. He was 84 the other day. It was good to be out there with them.

We had 5 couples over to the house for Mexican food last night so by the time to go to bed Terri and I was worn out from the busy weekend. But it was a fun weekend.


I headed out on my bike after work this afternoon and I can certainly tell fall is here. The days are getting shorter. The backside of Burn's Park where the hill is was already getting almost too dark to safely ride. It's woods so the shade made it dark there quicker that the open roads. I didn't even get to climb Ft Roots because I forgot to replace the batteries in my rear blinky light and it just gets too dangerous to ride without one. The temperature was perfect for riding though. 73 degrees!

After the ride I got to see the guys out in their boat. I know it's not called a canoe when you have 6 or so guys rowing. But that group was out on the river this evening and it was just a cool shot.

Funny hearing story: I use double sided tape to hold my cochlear implant in place. We this afternoon I was in such a hurry to get out there and burn some energy off that I put way to much tape on it. It was like super glued on! OWWWW.... momma it hurts...you're pulling my hair! HA!

Life is good... it's beautiful sunset after a good ride kind of good!

The end of a perfect day

I know, it looks like a murder mystery book cover. I actually took the photo tonight as I was leaving after my ride. I park under the interstate bridge and I looked up and thought, hey cool, this would be a nifty little shot. I decided I would now start all my blogs with a photo and title.

Got a lot done in the office today but the pace was so stinking fast! It was Hire-o-rama at the hospital starting about mid morning. Some of the spots were new positions for the new fiscal year which started in July. I also closed a couple of positions that we had been recruiting hard and heavy on. Let's just say email and the Internet are beautiful things. HA!

Ok, the real stuff... the after work stuff... I had the curse of the blinking lights this evening. I did my usual loop of Arena, Bridge, Burn's Park backside, Ft roots repeats. On my 2nd trip down I spotted a guy who was just attacking the hill. I mean smoke off the back tire sort of attack. So I get down to the bottom and turn to do my third climb up. I'm enjoying the tunes and just pedaling my happy over sized butt right on up the hill and I look over my shoulder to be sure no cars were coming and what do I see??? Oh no, that guy has a blinking headlight and is climbing up fast again. Up and at 'em cowboy.... pedal pedal... there's a swarm of bees chasing you.... no pedal faster, your hair's on fire... no, there's a herd of zombies chasing you! Just pedal goofus pedal!!! Don't you DARE let him chase you down. 10mph, 12mph...15mph!!!!!! Hurry hurry hurry to the top... not much more... go you fat fool go!!!! MADE IT!!!!! Yes yes yes, I beat you you young skinny punk! OK, just barely but then Michael Phelps just barely won too but look where it got him. OK, truth... no...let me finish... I did beat the guy to the top but he would have whipped me over and over on that hill. I did spot a Colorado flag on his jersey. Oh yeah, now you're with me huh? Colorado guys live in the mountains and train with NO AIR. When they come here they don't even breathe hard unless it's a hot summer day.

I flew down to the bottom and was cranking along and got almost to the crack house and here he comes. We look at each other and bust out laughing! I told him thanks for make me train hard and he told me the same. Seems when he saw me spot him and I stood and gave it my all it gave him a reason to push harder too. It was just one of those great times on a bike!

I got back to the car and opened the hatch and sat there watching the sky with it's beautiful sunset changing the clouds to shade of blue and pink watercolors. A couple of mountain bikers getting ready for a night ride. A couple having their photos made... bet it was for their engagement. I listened for all the sounds I could pick out. Cars overhead on the bridge, birds, people laughing down the parking lot, the thump of an urban hip-hop tune from a homeys ride. It was one of those times you just sit on the back of the car, smile real big, and be thankful for the end of a perfect day!


Life is good ... when a stranger pushes you to do better!

Banned

Oh man, the hospital has blocked blogs again. Bummer... that includes this one. I have to ask them again to unblock this one and the Gear for Ears blog that I'm just now putting together.

Rain coming in and behind it is real fall weather! Saturday is only supposed to be around 67 for the high. Now that's prime biking weather.

Got to talk to Matt for a few moments this morning after his daughters surgery which went well. He is going to look at the jersey project and maybe come up with something cool. Fingers crossed.

After he left our receptionist told me I always have the coolest looking friends who come by. Yep, I do and to be lumped in the same group is even cooler. Some look like artist, some are elite athletes, some are top dog business folks. I'm just lucky as far as that goes.

Life is good... when you surround yourself in coolness...

Ringing wet was a good thing

No chocolate today! I ain't lying either. There is halloween candy around the office already but I passed it up. I took my sandwich and yogurt and stopped at that for lunch. I think keeping that bottle of water on the desk and drinking when I want to get up and go get "a little something to take the edge off".

After work I headed over to the river for a down and back but I went down then added a loop on the backside of Burns Park (a hill) then challenged myself to keep a high pace and get on the road with traffic from the baseball field to the golf course. I was sucking air by the end. A soccer game was coming up so cars were coming in and they were in a hurry so I had o ride fast. I took a slower pace for a few moments then spotted a rider up ahead that was going a good speed so I told myself I had to stay at this distance from him and keep it there. If he sped up I had to. I was about 30 yards back so he didn't even notice. I turned at Ft Roots and climbed. I felt good at the top and my climb wasn't too bad so down the hill I go. I seem to be regaining my love of fast thrill of downhill riding once again. So I got to the bottom of the hill and the bike had a mind of it's on and turned around... a repeat? So up we go again... down we go again. Bike, stop, this isn't funny! U turn and up we go again (hey, this is feeling better)... and down we go again. U turn and 4th repeat and the speed was up and my legs we saying, "Well, Ok, I remember riding like this". I was actually smiling and singing along and the pace was faster than the first time I went up today.

Hey for you praying types... Matt and Mandy's tot is going to get tubes in her ears tomorrow. Yes, it's a simple outpt surgery but still when it's your baby it's still stressful.

Life is good... even the up hill climbs!

Just thinking about it makes me ill.

Nah, this isn't going to be a depressing post, just one to make us think.

The other day I was on the way to my parents house and at the stop light a girl in a beat up old car with plastic duct taped over one of the windows car died. She got out of the car and started to push it when someone in a truck got out across the intersection and ran over to help. I was across the intersection too but I drove on thinking, someone else is helping her.

I saw a car on the side of the road with a flat tire and a lady talking on the cell phone with her hand on her head like folks do when they stress out. Someone was going to be there in a moment to help her right?

I saw a family driving around our hospital parking lot trying t find a parking place which they could have parked right against my building even though it says Applicant parking only, all other will be ticketed. It was late in the day and there were n more interviews going on. Besides, they would not have gotten a ticket anyway. Why didn't I flag them down to let them know this and ease their troubles.

A woman dropped help belongings in a cross walk downtown the other day... someone else was going to help her.

It's starting to bug me that I am more worried about, "Oh they may get spooked if you walk up to help them" rather than reaching out to help someone in need.

Next time you see someone in need... reach out and help them. I'm going to.

Life is good... especially when you help others.