The True Meaning of Christmas

It has now been over 5 weeks since I broke my leg and had surgery. I have to admit, it has been a long and frustrating time, however, I have seen so much kindness, not only from my friends, but also from total strangers. People have gone out of their way to open doors, ask me if I needed anything, send cards, visit, bring food, etc. These things really make me feel good about holiday season. This seems to me to be what Christmas is all about. People caring about each other and showing it. It seems like a great way to honor the birth of Jesus.

This Christmas will be different for me. This will be the first Christmas that I will not spend with my family. My family, as most of you know, is very important to me. I have thought a lot about them. Instead of worrying about the shopping, I have spent my time thinking long and hard about the things that matter most to me... my faith, family, and friends. My family has seen some tough times, however, my sisters and I have very strong parents and they have taught us to be strong. Some of my friends have lost parents this past year and this will be their first Christmas without them. My friends will be strong, too, but it will be tough for them. Our faith will help all of us through the difficult times.

As I reflect over the past year I realize I have wasted a lot of time worrying about things that, in the grand scheme of things, really were not important...at all. My New Year's resolution for 2008 will be to focus on the things that truly matter. I wish everyone a very MERRY AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

Charles Dickens

Holiday Bash 2007

Location: Chateau Shinault (Team Sprout Int'l Headquarters)I have to say, I was initially excited about this Christmas party as we discussed it at Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger after the Flash Event. My excitement level waned after I broke my leg. I didn't think I would be able to make it. I mentally prepared for it for a week leading up to the big day. In addition to wanting to get out of the house for basically the first time in 3 weeks, I wanted to see all my GOWT and Delta Geo friends. Did I mention yet that Sprout and his wife throw one heck of a party? Food and fun for days! As 7:00 approached, I became very anxious and had very mixed feelings. Once I got to Sprout's house, the anxiety disappeared. The first person I saw was Steve and he had on a knee brace and used a cane to help him walk. Pcsenn & Wifey greeted me next. Wifey never left my side. She has to be an angel disguised as a cacher! Seriously, everyone was so nice in making sure I was comfortable and received plenty of food and drink. After much socializing, story telling, and food eating, the Dirty Santa event commenced. The gifts that everyone brought were so cool! We all especially liked the twist tinksdad threw in on his gift. His gift was the first one picked, so it worked out really well. GI Jane used her usual tactics that we are sure she "learned during her Army days," but unfortunately the gift was to good to pass up.

It was great seeing Steve and family. We even started discussing a super road trip to visit him. I finally got the opportunity to meet Itsmebigd and, of course, chatting with FamilyInFilm is always a pleasure. Bevofan has got to be the most giving cacher, as she gave her gift to another cacher that liked it.I can't wait for Hoot to hide his gift. Will it be wheelchair accessible? I doubt it! I know Paula was thrilled with her Dirty Santa gift! Bitbrain brought his now famous TB...thanks for not making me put that thing on my head!

Several other cachers, however, received the honor of getting to wear it. It was great getting to visit with Bruce, Tiger130, Gaylemae & Savvysteve! Who ended up with the

pink ammo can? BTW, thanks, cgeek, for the ride and protecting the leg.

The food was great and the company was even better. A big BRAVO goes out to Team Sprout on another fabulous party!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

3 Months

On November 11, 2007, I broke my leg while jumping over a gate. My right leg planted and twisted and I went down. I knew I had done something wrong to my leg, but I thought I tore my ligaments again. This is the same leg in which I tore my MCL and ACL over 10 years ago. Fortunately, four of my friends were there and they got me to the ER pretty quickly. Turns out, I broke my tibia and fibula and also crushed my tibial plateau. I will be non-weight bearing for 3 months. This will be and has been tough for me, as I am a very independent person. I am also extremely active and always on the go. I won't be for the next 3 months.

The positive in this situation is that, once again, I have the opportunity to be reminded that I have some very good friends and an awesome family. I have had a tough year and my family and friends have been there every step of the way to get me through each crisis. Even though I have had what I would consider some "bad luck," I'm indeed lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. Joe, "The Pup," always tells me that "friends are the family we choose." He is right. Thanks to all the positive people in my life and here is hoping that 3 months go by quickly!

Our God is the God of mercy. For He works in mysterious ways and His power is over all things. Amen.

Follow the Leaders

This will be a very short post, as it will only serve to inform readers of the direction my future blog posts. I have decided to follow the leads of both B@shful and Dalls and remove negative posts from my blog site.

Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint.
- Lewis H. Lapham

WWFM - Disorganized Flash: Collierville, TN

This was a great event...lots of fun! I arrived pretty early so that I could do some shopping, however, I met up with Cgeek and then Tinksdad. We stood around and talked for a while when Hoot Owl showed up. We continued talking and decided to move a little closer to the event as it was getting close to the start time. As we moved closer, we spotted Leavarock and stopped to talk to him. I guess everyone thought that the spot that we were standing was THE spot and they started moving towards us. Someone suggested that we split up as not to be so obvious. We were still kinda obvious, though. The "flash" point occurred when Bitbrain placed his bag on the ground and everyone (organized and disorganized) moved to that location from all over. Anyway, it was great meeting some new cachers and even better seeing some old cachers (Jamie) that I had not seen in a while. 76Stinger road in and brought gifts. I especially liked the wooden Munford celebrates coin. After the picture was taken, we dispersed and met back up for burgers. I really enjoyed the event and the group hunt that followed.

“A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.” ~William Penn

Old Liberty Hill Haunted Adventure

I always love attending events outside the Memphis area, especially in Mississippi and Arkansas! This event was no exception. Lacey and Scott have put on two excellent events...one at Lake Enid and the other...this event. They really made this event worth the drive. They had:

A witch theme on the front porch
A cemetery in the side yard
The walk through the dead
Yet another cemetery in the next yard

A slaughter house maze

another haunted yard and the maze of death

A bonfire where we sat around and ate while listening to geo-chat

A cemetery cache run to grab caches in the spooky night

Finally, a group shot and goody bags!

A GREAT time was had by all that attended the event! I can't wait until next year...

'Tis the night - the night

Of the grave's delight,

And the warlocks are at their play;

Ye think that without

The wild winds shout,

But no, it is they - it is they.

~Arthur Cleveland Coxe

Turn of Events

I was on our GOWT forums today and I stumbled upon a post that was made a few weeks back by a person for whom I have a tremendous amount of respect. I actually decided that I really liked both he and his wife when we all attended a milestone event. This was a turning point for me since we had been on opposite sides of the fence before that point. His post read like this:

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to
listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger
does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

James 1:19-20, New International Version

Now in light of the recent posts that have been made by a certain member of GOWT/JAG, and how some of his posts have made me feel, I thought this quote was an extremely poignant and deserved a comment. It held a certain meaning to me. After starting my post, I realized that the GOWT forums would not be the appropriate place for the comment and I chose to post to my blog instead.

This was my post in the GOWT forum:

Just thought I would respond to this. But then I thought better of it. I'll save it for my blog.

Here is where the turn of events comes into play. Another member, I'll just refer to him as BobXYZ, read my post and starts ranting about how I was starting a fight in the forums. He decides to make a series of attacks (against forum guidelines) toward me and was first warned and then, when he continued his rant in a new thread, was finally banned from the site.

My post on this subject becomes even more meaningful. "Everyone should be quick to
listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."

I hope I can keep these words in my heart and mind so that I may become slower to anger and quick to listen. I thank the person who posted this in the forums and I find it so ironic that in the very same forum thread, BobXYZ demonstrated why this quote is so important.

“My soul, sit thou a patient looker-on; Judge not the play before the play is done: Her plot hath many changes; every day Speaks a new scene; the last act crowns the play” ~Francis Quarles

Bachelor's Grove Cemetery

This small, abandoned graveyard in the southwest suburbs has been called the most haunted place in Chicago - and one of the most haunted places worldwide. The cemetery is located very close to where I grew up. The cemetery is located within the Rubio Woods Forest Preserve.

When I was a kid, my Girl Scout Troop went camping close to the cemetery. At night, the troop leaders told stories about the cemetery at night while sitting around the campfire. We were all freaked out! Some of the stories told that night were of a pond near the northwest corner, there is a tear in the fence, providing easy access to a quarry pond. This was once a pleasant swimming hole, however, it is now foul, dark, and covered with algae for much of the year. It is generally thought that at its bottom are many of the monuments missing from the cemetery. Though no specific incident is ever cited, it is said that 1920s gangsters used this as a location to dump bodies of murder vicitims - close enough to the city to be accessible with a short drive, but far enough to escape attention. Ghosts of a farmer and his horse are said to haunt the area by the pond. The story is that while plowing nearby, the horse panicked and bolted for no apparent reason, plunging into the pond and dragging the farmer with him. Weighted down by the plow, both drowned. The pair of ghosts have even been seen by forest rangers.

There are also tales of a "two-headed" ghost...

The best story told to us about at Bachelor's Grove is something that seems ordinary... a house.
There is no house near the cemetery, and no evidence that there has ever been one. Yet many visitors to the site have reported seeing a house, no more than a few hundred feet away. The location changes - sometimes it's across the path from the cemetery, sometimes it is seen further along the path, past the cemetery. The house is described as an old two-story white, wooden farmhouse with a porch, a porch swing, and a light from within. It looks completely real and solid; but those who have tried to approach it report that it seemed to move away as they approached, until it vanished. In other cases, the witness did not realize anything was odd about the house until they came back to the cemetery a second time and found it missing.
Our Girl Scout Leaders took us to the cemetery the day after telling us these (and other) stories and I have to say, my adrenaline was certainly pumping. One of the girls fell into an open grave...you should have heard her scream. On the walk back to the camp site, as we were walking along the road, a girl started screaming. We looked at her and saw that she had blood gushing from her forehead. We all thought a ghost did that to her. Turns out, she was probably struck in the head with a stone from a passing car.

On April 21st, 1989, just outside the entrance to Bachelor's Grove Cemetery, a body was found. Martin Myers, age 43, had been shot in the head and abdomen. Myers himself was a murder suspect, awaiting trial after having killed a man, Mark Tilton, by running him down with his truck. Eventually, the ex-girlfriend of both Myers and Tilton confessed to killing Myers; the killing was ruled a self-defense due to Myers' history of abuse.

I have been in this section of the Forest Preserve recently in search of caches. It still has the same effect on me. The adrenaline still pumps. I am constantly looking around curious about the source of every noise. I wonder what it would be like to do a night cache hunt in this area...

“The fence around a cemetery is foolish, for those inside can't get out and those outside don't want to get in.” -Arthur Brisbane

Searcy's 1st Ever Meet & Greet

I went to another great event on September 29th! This time the location was Searcy. It was Searcy's 1st Ever Meet & Greet. This event was hosted by Woodwalker9 and the Searcy Area Cachers. Cgeek and I arrived a little late...I'm NOT a morning person! We were welcomed so graciously by the hosts of the event and were introduced to the other cachers that we didn't already know.


The day was filled with fun and fellowship...the way it should be! There were many events in which to participate. I even won a door prize that I'm sure will make its way to a great Memphis hiding spot for some of my friends to find and log!

Some Activities Included:

A poker run-coordinates to be given out at time of sign in. Kids cache-Especially for those 12 and under. Searcykid has some special prizes for these young cachers and we are sure they will have a great time. GPS Accuracy Contest-Sign up when you arrive and get your coordinates and flag. Then go see how close you can place your flag to a predetermined spot. Workshops-KD5JNL will be holding a 45 minute Geocaching 101 workshop starting at 9:00 a.m. From 10:00 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. come learn all about going paperless. At 11:00a.m. Team Pink will hold a workshop on GSAK(Geocaching Swiss Army Knife). Geo-bingo-Get your bingo card when you sign in and then enjoy the fun trying to fill in the squares. Camo contest-Dress up a cache and win a prize. Travel Bug and Geocoins

A big Happy Birthday wish to Woodwalker and Ice Cream Man!!

“Let's take the good times as they go, and I'll meet you further on up the road...” Bruce Springsteen

ASU FOOTBALL

One of my recent travels has been across the state to Knoxville. My ASU Indians were playing UT. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the game from my friend, Prontopup...AKA, Joe, The Pup, and Cotton Man. I was expecting a blowout. What I got was so much more!

I decided to make a weekend of it and left with a friend of mine on Friday. We cache on the way...without a palm. That meant no hints! Sure, it took longer to find the caches, but they were found without "cheating." I actually DID use a PAF a couple of times. Thanks, again, Joe! The first PAF that I had to use was at a cache called "Not A Tax Shelter." I actually spotted the cache and didn't know it! Anyway, it took us about 8-9 hours to get to Knoxville. Part of that time was spent sitting in a traffic jam because of a horrible accident. Once in Knoxville, we quickly found the hotel and more quickly fell asleep.

On Saturday, we decided to cache a little before the game. We found several caches and then went back to the hotel to get ready. We ended up finding 3 more caches on the UT campus. The game was great...ASU did better than I thought! I was able to see Chris Walker play. He is the son of my friend, Gloria. He actually plays for UT! He is on the punt and kickoff return teams...as a freshman! Anyway, it was OK seeing all of the orange in the stadium. I didn't cringe too badly. The folks were actually very nice. After the game, we made the marathon walk back to the car. Then back to the hotel. Once again, we were beat!

On Sunday, we slept in a little. When we finally left, we once again began caching on the way home. It was a very long trip, to say the least. I was trying to get home before 7 so I could catch the Chicago Bear/Dallas Cowboy game. I should not have rushed(I'm glad they are benching Grossman...finally!).

Once again, I want to say thanks to my friend Joe, who made this trip possible for me. He even made up cute little maps to everywhere!

Wow...It's Been A Long Time!

So, I have been reading blog post by some of my friends, and I realized that it has been a while since I have posted one of my own! I really have not had too much to talk about, as I have been busy with work and volleyball. I have recently come back to the world of the living and it feels good! Let me talk for just a bit about my most recent "adventures."

I attended The Cooper Young Festival. I arrived pretty late as I had to work the ACT test at my school. I was not going to go at all but at the last minute a friend of mine called and said they were eating sushi at the corner of Cooper and Young. I LOVE sushi, so off I went. There were a lot of crazy looking people at the event, however, that is what made it fun. The booths were OK...nothing great and wonderful...

The next event that I will be attending is the ASU/UT game this weekend. You know that I can really care less about TN...sorry Pup...but I attened ASU, and Pup was kind enough to give me tickets to the game. I will have to write about the game in my next post. Suffice to say, I am excited about going!

Summer Celebration

I attended yet another great caching event. This one was located at Enid Lake in MS and sponsored by several geocaching organizations (G.O.W.T., M.S.G.A., DeepSouth, DeltaGeo,). It was Celebrate Summer in the Midsouth hosted by Lacey(Lacey38655) and Scott(SniperChicken). Cgeek and Hoot rode in one vehicle while Hogfanbam and I pulled my boat with the other vehicle. We stopped in Hernando to grab Elite Cachers #1 by Bomb280 and pick up some last minute things at the store. We arrived at Enid Lake after a short drive and immediately put the boat in the water. We anchored the boat and went up the hill to see everyone. After a wonderful meal and distribution of the milestone awards, we (Ash, Bruce, Wanda, Bambi, and I) went to hide a cache. We used the boat, of course, and spent the day taking people across the lake to find the hidden treasure. During this time, I was able to get to know some folks a little better. The kids had a great time driving the boat. The day was beautiful!!! Scott and Lacey planned an awesome event and I hope we do it again!

Congratulations to the following cachers who all received 1, 2, or 3K milestone awards:

Lacey38655
Sniperchicken
Bluecanary
Pushmataha
ADS1
Pater47
Slipnot007
Davidmac

The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing." ~Daniel J. Boorstin

7/7/07

I haven't spent much time talking about Geocaching in my blogs, as I have not done much caching during this time. The times I have gone out caching have been much more memorable than when I was caching constantly. Take, for instance, Pcsenn's 1K Event hosted by Prontopup in Dyersburg on 7/7/07. The Memphis folks started 7/7/07 out by having breakfast together. We were able to hear some of Mackheath's stories from his trip home, we were able to visit with Tuck Sackett one last time, Gaylemae told an interesting story, and we were able to finally meet some new cachers.

After leaving breakfast, we met in Dyersburg. Folks were not too sure what to expect at the event. I had been out of town without a computer and when I returned, at the breakfast, I got caught up with some issues. I was told that some folks were not going to attend Phillip's event because they might feel uncomfortable. Titansfan's event was even brought up in a negative light andI don't really know why. I and everyone at the breakfast thought his event went great! I guess it is all in how you choose to view things. At any rate, I think that everyone that attended Phillip's event had a terrific time. I know I did! Congrats, again, Phillip!!!

I was able to spend some time talking with some folks that I really had never spent time talking to in person. I REALLY enjoyed the conversation. We discussed a cache by B@ashful and Jimmylogan that had turned up missing. I tried for Stories in Stone on my previous trip to Chicago and couldn't find it. Luckily, B & J replaced the cache after lunch and a crew was able to "find" the cache before the ice cream event!

The Don't Forget Dessert event was hosted by Cgeek. The Turtle Sundae...Yummy! At any rate, we all got excited again about the possibility of doing a cache called Cache Raider by Canoe Guy that B@ashful and Jimmylogan got FTF on. They talked about what a neat cache it was and many of us were hooked. We all followed B & J in a 5 or 6 car caravan to the cache site. We had a blast! I am not going to discuss much about the cache as I don't want to give anything away, however, make sure to go prepared when you attempt this cache! Spiders and snakes...yuck!

This was a great day spent with awesome people. I was so sorry I was not able to make it back the following weekend for Bashful & Jimmylogan's Ice Cream Social. I hear it was a terrific event!

Travelers never think that they are the foreigners. ~Mason Cooley

What Happens in Vegas...

Las Vegas...what a city! Before I left, someone asked me why I was going to Vegas when we had Tunica less than an hour away. They said, and I quote "Vegas is just like Tunica." Well, I won't be too hard on them since they are one of my friends, however, Vegas is NOT just like Tunica! First, you have the mountains. I know, Tunica has the river...but the MOUNTAINS...beautiful! Then, all the beautiful hotels, casinos, restaurants, pools, and shows...I couldn't get enough! The first night there, we saw Spamalot. I don't think I have ever laughed so much during one show. It was great! I saw Lionel Richie on the last night. It was his opening night and he put on a great show. He looked just like he did back in the day and the women were going crazy over him. It was full of energy!

So far, from March to now, I have been to Florida, California, Chicago, back to Florida, back to Chicago and then Las Vegas, Navada. Wow! I didn't even go on all the trips that I could have gone on. I had an invitation to Greece, Colorado, and Canada. I will have to save those trips for later! See what I mean when I say "Whirlwind."

Las Vegas - my favorite desert mirage. ~Val Saintsbury

Tuck & Spencer

I am going to dedicate this post to two guys that I have known for a couple of years. I met them through a hobby in which I participate...geocaching. I have mentioned this hobby briefly in a couple of my other posts. The reason for dedicating this post is that, these two guys are moving their families away from this area. Steve and Barbara Spencer (Spencersb and BabyBarbara) are moving their family to Oregon. Michael Tucker and his wife (Tuck Sackett and Tuck's Treasure) are moving to Texas. These two guys, along with 3 others, started GOWT...a local geocaching organization. Steve was the founding president and Mike the founding vice-president.


I will miss these two guys more than they will ever know. We have gone through good times with each other and we have also weathered a recent "bad" time. Our group has become stronger as a result of our experiences and now it is time to say good-bye. I wish both of these guys and their families the best of luck and I want them to know that they will be in my prayers.

"A farewell is necessary before we can meet again, and meeting again after moments or a lifetime is certain for those who are friends."
- Richard Bach -

The Boat

OK...now let me ramble for just a while on one of my favorite things to do...play on my boat! I think I have always loved the water. My parents had us taking swimming lessons at a very young age. I can remember going to the community pool on the first day it opened every year. My mom would also take us to the Michigan Dunes during the summer and I loved playing in Lake Michigan. As I got older, I realized that I really enjoyed boating and skiing. I love the water!

I purchased my first boat about 17 years ago and have bought another since then and that is where I like to spend a great deal of my summer. I wish someone would hide a bunch of caches around the lakes at which I like to spend time. I could do two things that I love at the same time.

I have been in a funk lately, and I took the boat out the other day. I had such a great time. It made me forget the drama of my life. The sun felt good, the water was smooth as glass, and life was great. I was so happy until I had to take the boat out of the water and go home. Oh well, this just gives me a chance to think about my next trip out. I can't wait!!!

“When the tides of life turn against you and the current upsets your boat, don't waste those tears on what might have been, just lie on your back and float.” -unknown

Naples, FL-Spring Break

Even though I went to Naples back in March, I'm just now getting a chance to write about it. It seems to be coming at a good time since my posts of late seem to be a little on the negative side. I will take this opportunity to remember a very good time. Not a lot of partying, just some relaxing good times with close friends.

The flights to and from were not so hot, but the company was great and so was the weather. My sister and her husband have a nice place down there, very close to the beach. The routine for the week was getting up, going downstairs to work out, and then out to the pool or beach...whichever we chose for the day. After that, showers and out for the evening. It was quite a break from my normal routine of burning the candle at both ends. It also came at a great time since it was during a time when some folks in a geocaching organization that I belong to decided they had nothing better to do than attack people that I care about on the forums. It was great getting away and not reading the "trash" for a while. I wish more of my friends could have been there to enjoy the great time!

“True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like leaves, found everywhere.”

Drama

My friends had always talked about a yearly trip they take to Florida. I have always wanted to go to experience this "great" time. I was invited and accepted. Turns out...mistake. This had to be one of the worst trips I have EVER taken. Part of it was my own fault, however, most of it was not.

Within an hour into the trip, there were signs of bad things yet to come. From that point, it only got worse, except for a small amount of time that included beach, sun, and "shipwrecks." I personally spent the last three years of my life drama free, except for a small amount of drama within a geocaching organization of which I am a member. This trip had enough drama to make up for the last three years. Anyway, the first day in Florida barely came to an end before new drama began. This, unfortunately, included me. It shouldn't have. I wish it didn't. Live and learn, right? So much drama went on, that at one point, one of my friends walked into the room and asked "Are we on TV?" It was very much like one of those reality TV shows. The next best part of the trip, for me, was the drive home and even THAT had drama.

At any rate, I think I'm going to go back to my drama-free life that I enjoyed before all this and hope that it won't take forever to recover. My lessons learned are to follow my gut and "walls are in place for a reason."

Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation. ~Elizabeth Drew

Friends

After family, friendship is one of the most important things to me. I consider myself very lucky to have the friends that I have. As important as friendships are to me, the loss of a friendship is devastating.

AMY GRANT lyrics

When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

Palm Springs-March 2007

This was a great trip! I had never been to California and I needed to add this state to my list of states in which I have found caches. I have to admit that Palm Springs was great, however, the flights to and from were not so much.

On the way out, I was delayed in Colorado due to the weather. They actually had snow. I left Memphis and the temperature was in the 70s. I was going to Palm Springs, were it was in the 80s. I was wearing clothes for that type of weather, not for walking from the plane, through the snow, to the terminal. Once there, I was told the plane was delayed. They were working on the problem. Once the plane was ready, we loaded on and had to sit and wait again for the plane to be de-iced.

I got into Palm Springs several hours late and was really too tired to do anything that night. My friends had already celebrated their first night there and weren't able to drive to the airport to pick me up. Luckily, there was the hotel shuttle, and my friend, Connie, gave me the information that I needed. It was dark when I arrived, so I didn't get to see how beautiful Palm Springs was until the next day. WOW!! What a beautiful place. It looks just like Memphis...NOT! The stay in Palm Springs made me pretty much forget about the bad flying experience. Much of my time was spent by the pool. Actually, MOST of my time was spent by the pool. I WAS able to snag a few caches around the hotel! As my friends always tell me, I'm a geek! I'm sure they mean this as a compliment! :-)

The flight home was much like the the flight out...delays! The first delay was in Palm Springs. A flat tire on the plane which took a couple of hours to fix. That, of course, made me miss my connection in Colorado...so you guessed it...more waiting there. I still managed to get back to Memphis ahead of my friends, who had delays of their own.

Needless to say, when it came time to go to Chicago a couple weeks later, I drove!

"Friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life." Thomas Jefferson

1 & 2K...Ain't It Grand?

One of my favorite things about my hobby of Geocaching, is the people that I have met and cached with along the way. I have cached with Amphimixus, Hoot Owl, Gibbenator, Cgeek, SarahAFS, Magicrock & Goalong, Byrd, JoeGPS, Nashville Joe & Abbys Grammy, Y&D, BDD, Sprout, Spencersb, 3, Hogfanbam and jbgreer, just to name a few.

One of my favorite people to cache with is Prontopup(Joe). Prontopup and I have the same philosophy when it comes to hiding and finding caches. We like for our hides to be interesting and we like to find everything. Most importantly, we love to have fun! For those of you who have ever cached with us you know what I'm talking about!

We figured out that we were both close to major milestones. He was getting close to his 1K and I was approaching my 2K. We decided at that point to hit those milestones at the same time. It took a lot of coordination, planning, and patience to do it. Joe had to practice the patience part. He also had to prod me along, as I hit a wall and couldn't motivate myself to go out caching. I was doing lots of traveling, but very little caching. As I finally caught up, we had to decide on the cache that we would do. We both wanted to do a 5/5 for the milestone. As we talked it over, however, we changed our minds. We decided that we wanted our milestones to be at a friend's cache. Our friends have always been important to us. Joe always says "Our friends are the family that we choose." We chose to do one of Bruce's(Abiectio) caches in West Memphis, AR for our milestones. The cache is called Greyhound. We had so much fun going after this cache. We had to travel through waves and waves of "poisonous I.V.s" to get to the cache. The moment that we had the cache in our hands, we both got this big, cheesy grin on our faces. We had done it...together!

Thanks Prontopup, Abiectio, Cgeek, and others that I have cached with to get me to 2K. I have enjoyed every minute of my time with you and I can't wait for the times to come!

"A friend is someone who dances with you in the sunlight, And walks with you in the shadows."
--Unknown

Chicago Road Trip-May 2007

Well, my first blog was about my family and my second post appears to include my family as well. My sister, Christine, flew into Chicago from AZ for a very short visit with the family. My parents always like to have all of the kids in at the same time, so I took off after school on Friday and headed north for a quick road trip. I stopped for gas, a restroom break and, of course, a cache. I made it home in time to see my mom before she headed off to work. I love my mom. That BTW, has got to be one of the best feelings in the world...seeing your mom for the first time after several months of being away.

It was great getting to see Christine! She is the twin of my sister Kate, and while they looked alike as little kids, they look very different now. Christine has dreds, which absolutely drives my mom nuts. Mom kept trying to drag Christine to the beauty shop to have them cut out, but Christine would not have it.

I was able to make it to Will's (my nephew) baseball game with my dad. Unfortunately, his game never happened due to the other team not showing. I was able to play catch with Will and some of his friends, though. Playing catch with 7 year olds can be quite exhausting. I had to chase after the ball quite a bit...their arms are still developing!

I also got to participate in the Walk For MS with Adrian's family. My brother-in-law, Billy, has MS and the entire family walked. My niece, Alexis(who is 7), wanted to walk two miles for her dad. Billy gave out after about a mile and everyone wanted to walk back to the car, except for Alexis. She was bound and determined to walk the whole way. I told Adrian that I would walk with her, so off we went. We followed all the people. The cool thing was that a lot of the people were walking with their dogs. Needless to say, Alexis got tired not too much later. I could hear the band playing and told her that we were near the finish line. As we approached, and we saw all the people, I got a sick feeling. Every single person had a dog. We had gotten mixed up in the adopt-a-pet walk that was going on in the same area. I asked someone where Centennial Park was and they told me that it was about a 30 minute walk from where we were. Alexis was not happy. We did manage to complete the walk and the family "oohed and ahhed" over Alexis walking so far. It was neat to see a little girl get so full of pride. She sure does love her daddy.

We all went out to eat Greek on Saturday night. The cool part was that my mom and dad actually socialized with each other. They have been divorced for a while and usually try to avoid each other. They didn't do that on this trip.

On Sunday, Adrian had everyone over for lunch. My niece and nephews begged and pleaded with me to take them caching. I told them that I would if it was OK with their parents. It was and off we went. We had a great time caching. When I cache with the kids, we take a lot of detours. We do a lot of playing at the cache sites and this trip was no exception. Each kid got to "find a treasure" with a little manipulation from Aunt Lisa.

Upon arriving back at Adrian's house, the kids wanted to go to Dairy Queen. That brought opposition from Adrian until she asked who was taking them and the kids replied "Aunt Lisa!"
Adrian's response then became "Oh, OK." Thanks, Ade!

I left on Monday and I was able to pick up a few more caches on my way back to Memphis thus turning an 8 hour trip into a 12 hour trip.

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. Thomas Jefferson

My First Post-My Family

Hi Guys!
This is my first post and I will try to muddle through it. I decided to talk about the thing that means the most to me (besides God), which is my family!

I have to say, I have to be one of the luckiest people in the world because I have such a great family. Luck does have a lot to do with that, in that, I am adopted and it could have turned out very differently for me. My mom and dad are the best! They are two very good people who have raised me with good morals. They taught me how to be a strong, yet caring, individual. They say that the job of a parent is to give their children roots and to also give their children wings. My parents have been very successful at this. I have four sisters and no brothers. I always wanted a brother, and I have brothers now in the form of brothers-in-laws(2).

My sister Denise is the next in line after me (I'm the oldest). She inspires me daily. She was very overweight as a child and dropped the weight during her teens and twenties. She is beautiful, inside and out! She is the mother of my oldest nephew, Mikey (10). Denise and Mike(my brother-in -law) have always helped me to stay close to Mikey despite the miles between us(most of my family lives in the Chicago area).

Adrian is the next in line. She and Billy(my other brother-in-law) are the parents of "miracle babies". Will and Alexis are twins that were born extremely prematurely. Will was 2 pounds 6 ounces and Alexis was 1 pound 14 ounces. They are now 7 and doing just fine. Adrian and Billy are great parents.

Christina is a twin with my other sister, Kate. Chris lives in AZ. She is filled with so much peace. I'm sad because I don't get to see her nearly enough!

Kate still lives in the Chicago area. She hates to have people talk about her so hopefully she will never see this post. She is a flight attendant for United Airlines.

One last thing to note...my friend Joe always tells me that our friends are our family that we choose. If this is indeed true, which I believe it is, then my family is larger than this and I am even luckier, because I have some wonderful friends!

"The family is one of nature's masterpieces."
George Santayana