doug
Thursday, October 11, 2012
What a big knee you have
I woke up one morning about a month ago and could barely walk on my right leg. The pain in my right knee was almost unbearable.
I had absolutely no idea what might have happened, assuming it was a sprain. Or old age.
3 weeks later, the pain and discomfort was still there so I broke down and scheduled a visit with our family doctor and an orthopedic doctor. X-rays and an MRI indicated that I had a torn meniscus and a ruptured cyst.
I had outpatient surgery today and the staff had me in and out of there in 3 hours flat.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
It’s that time
Again. And I’m just s-o-o-o-o-o excited.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Read the Bible through in 2-0-1-2
I’ve never been really big on making new year resolutions. I prefer to think of them as new year goals.
And my main goal for 2012 is to read through the Bible again.
I’d love to challenge you to do the same. Especially if you’ve never read completely through the Bible before - from Genesis to Revelation.
It’s not hard. Just an average of 3-4 chapters each day for a total of 15-20 minutes.
I did it last in 2010 and can really tell a difference when I’m in the Word daily. Or when I’m not.
Would you join me?
{extended}Wednesday, December 28, 2011
A close eye
I was keeping a close eye on the girls while they played outside this afternoon.
Friday, December 16, 2011
My schedule
Today is the first day of my 18-day Christmas break.
Yup. I don’t go back to work until January 3rd.
I’m anxious to see just how much of this I can work into my schedule during that time.
The kiddos are out of school for the same 18 days so it’ll be a challenge.
But I’m up for the task.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
I don’t believe in it
So tonight was my 30th high school reunion. And I didn’t go.
It was completely free. But I chose to stay home.
It’s not like I’ve held a grudge against anyone over the last 30 years.
The fact is, most of my former classmates attending the reunion still live in town and I can see them whenever I want to.
No, really. I’ve not felt any animosity towards a single person I went to school with.
Well… except for that one cheerleader named Linda.
I was behind her walking into an assembly one day and she turned around and called me “bag o’ bones”.
In a strange twist of fate, I’ve seen pictures of her recently on Facebook and she’s… umm… plump.
Ah, karma.
Too bad I don’t believe in it.
{extended}Saturday, April 09, 2011
5K personal best
I ran my 2nd 5K (3.1 mile) race this morning.
This was a neat race because it was to raise money for 3 local non-profit organizations.
A total of 515 runners and 109 walkers registered for the event. Between registration fees and sponsorships, the race raised $22,500… a record amount.
Out of 515 runners, I finished #128 with a personal-best time of 28:38 which j-u-u-u-u-u-s-t put me in the top 25%.
{extended}Monday, April 04, 2011
5K on Saturday
I was supposed to run a marathon back in February.
You haven’t heard me talk about it because… well… I didn’t run.
Even though I began training 6 months earlier (in August), my poor ol’ knees just wouldn’t let me do it.
I tried to do too much too fast.
So my running buddy and I, we have started over.
We registered today for a 5K race on Saturday morning.
{extended}Sunday, December 27, 2009
We’re out
We needed to run by Target and return a couple of items as well as pick up a few things in the grocery section.
My mouth began to water.
I had received several Starbucks cards for Christmas and couldn’t wait to wrap my lips around a coffee purchased with someone else’s money. Stuff just tastes better when someone else buys it.
So we walked into the store.
Carmi, Zane and Eliana were ahead of me (Karys was in the buggy). Carmi turned left to head for the Customer Service desk and the 2 older kids automatically veered right in the direction of the Starbucks counter.
I have them trained right.
Just as we bellied up to the bar, the barista looked at me and said, “We’re out of white mocha.”
“No white mocha?”, I asked.
My immediate thought was, “Is this April Fools? If so, this is a sad joke. If not, this is a really sad joke.”
My lip quivered.
She responded compassionately to my stunned look by adding, “Sorry”. But then she went about her business by filling the next customer’s request.
A small tear started to swell in the corner of my right eye as I turned and walked forlornly away.
Maybe tomorrow.
{extended}Jesus, Light of the World
Several weeks ago, our Worship Pastor asked me to lead the music at church today because he wanted to take his family on a short after-Christmas get-away.
We planned for the choir to perform a song from our recently-completed cantata. However, there were only 10 choir members present when there are 25-30 on a typical Sunday. So… we opted instead for a familiar and loved chorus from the hymnal.
He also had asked me to sing.
I’ve sung the same song the last couple of Christmas’s and wanted something new. So I searched and searched and found a track for this gem from a contemporary group called Third Day. Listen to their song entitled “Jesus, Light of the World”.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
I’m all giddy
I’m either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.
There were some groceries we needed for Christmas Eve. So being the chivalrous husband that I am, I volunteered to make a late run to Wally World {shudder} when Carmi laid down with the girls at bedtime.
On the way to the store, I was practically alone. There was hardly any traffic at all which was the big advantage of going out after 11:00 pm.
But when I arrived at Wal-Mart, I quickly understood why there were very few cars on the road.
Everyone was at the store!
For 1-1/2 hours I precariously navigated a maze of scary-looking people and huge pallets of stock waiting to be put on the shelves.
And when my shopping
adventure was finally complete, I was warmly greeted by check-out lines (all 4 of them) backed up half-way to the rear.
When I finally made it to the register, the lady was like, “We usually only have 2 lines open on the 3rd shift. We knew there would be more people tonight but we didn’t expect this many people.”
Duh.
I’m all giddy about doing it again tomorrow.
{extended}Thursday, December 17, 2009
An early Christmas present
Christmas came early for me.
As of 5:00 pm today, I’m on vacation for 17 days.
That’s s-e-v-e-n-t-e-e-n days!
Zane, Eliana and Karys are out of school for 16 of those 17 days. So it might not all be a vacation.
Mmm… but we’ll manage.
{extended}Thursday, October 15, 2009
College roommate
When I was accepted at North Carolina State University for my first year of college in the Fall of 1981, I chose to live in a dorm on central campus called Alexander Hall. Alexander was the coed international dorm where an American student was paired with a roommate from another country.
I’m not really sure why I wanted to stay in Alexander. I’m not really sure why I chose Electrical Engineering as a major either.
As it turned out, my roommate for the 2 years I attended NCSU was Bader Abid from Karachi, Pakistan.
Bader was the perfect roomie because he was in the Nuclear Engineering program and was almost never in the room. He practically lived in classrooms and labs. When he did show up, I could always count on his help with calculus and chemistry.
But the crème de la crème? One of his buddies who hung around quite a bit taught me how to curse in Pakistani. Now that was something to help me get ahead in life. [cue eye roll]
So here we are, 26 years later, and our paths have crossed once more thanks to Facebook.
He received a PhD in chemistry from NCSU and taught chemistry and math at Saint Augustine College in Raleigh. In 1997, he moved to Canada and taught math at Wilfred Laurier University. In 2007, he moved to Saudi Arabia and taught math, statistics and physical science. Now he’s back in Canada. In the midst of all that, he married and has two sons who attend college in Canada.
We haven’t exchanged photos yet but I would imagine he’s still as skinny as he was in college. Too bad I can’t say the same about me.
It’s good to see you again, Bader.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
At least I will see our son
Have you ever felt like you’ve had the wind knocked out of your sails?
I felt like that today.
I was certain China had probably mailed our travel approval prior to leaving on holiday for the week.
Carmi and I both fully expected to get “the call” this morning but we stared at phones that never rang.
Lunch came and went. 1:00 pm…2:00 pm…
By mid-afternoon, I realized that my dream of being in China on the day that our son turns 13 was not going to be a reality.
I had me a little pity party. Oh, I didn’t show my disappointment on the outside but on the inside I was a complete mess.
Then I came home.
I wrestled with Eliana and Karys for a while and was thoroughly enjoying time with my girls when the phone rang.
The woman on the other end told me that a young lady in our church named Christy had died.
Christy had a very severe case of cerebral palsy and was confined to a wheelchair for her entire 20+ years of life. As far as I know, she never spoke a word.
Occasionally on Sunday mornings I would see her dad pushing her through the halls of the church. I’d often stop and place my hand on her tightly drawn hands and speak to her long enough to get a labored smile.
Around 3 weeks ago, Christy fell ill with pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital. Now she’s gone.
I had to ask God to forgive me this evening.
You see, I was under the mistaken impression for most of the day that it was all about me.
But while I may not see our son on his birthday, at least I will see our son.
Tom and Cindy can no longer say the same about their daughter.
Please pray for these heartbroken parents.
{extended}Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Then we came to the end
It has been a bittersweet morning.
I had my final physical therapy session at 9:30. That should be a good thing and it is. My first session was June 27th so I’ve been going twice a week for almost 6 months.
But I’ve had a good experience with my therapist, Donald. He is a h-u-g-e African American dude who played football for Howard University in Washington, DC. We are kindred spirits because he is a born-again Christian, deeply rooted in his faith who taught at his church. He often shared nuggets from the Bible with me which I needed and appreciated during my recovery. I think it was good for him too as I got the impression that he couldn’t do that with many coworkers or other patients.
I’m going to miss Donald but I’ll take our son to meet him when we come home next year.
{extended}