8 Weeks Down

It has been exactly 8 weeks since my surgery! Hopefully , that means that I have only 4 more weeks to go. With each day that goes by, I can feel my leg getting stronger and stronger. I have been able to take in a couple of movies (P.S. I Love You and Charlie Wilson's War), go over to my friends' houses and play Wii (which I love), and go back to work full time! The good thing about low points in life is that they are usually followed by high points. This is where I am right now. I can even laugh at my situation now. I still miss my family and my out-of-town friends, however, I talk to most of them daily. I hope everyone is enjoying the new year!

My philosophical quote of the day (he he he):

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. ~Abraham Lincoln

Happy New Year!!

As I sit watching the bowl games and searching the internet, I'm noticing the tone of everything seems all very positive. Times Square showed over a million people getting along to watch the "ball drop." All of the text and voice messages on my phone today were wonderfully positive. The members in the forums that I visit are all sending positive messages. The negative folks in this world seem to be fairly quiet so far. That is nice. It makes me wonder, though, what makes these negative people so mean. I looked this up and found this quote by Martha Beck.

Why are people mean? Here's the short answer: They're hurt. Here's the long answer: They're really hurt. At some point, somebody—their parents, their lovers, Lady Luck—did them dirty. They were crushed. And they're still afraid the pain will never stop, or that it will happen again.

So, when I see these people reappearing this year, whether is is on the forums, in blogs, at school, on the street, etc, I will remember the above quote and instead of getting mad at them, I will feel bad for them and wish them the happiness they are obviously missing. In the meantime, I will continue to watch football, talk to my friends and family, go see a movie, hit some wheelchair accessible caches, read a good book, go out to eat, play on the computer, and do all of the other things that make me happy.

Oh, and by the way, I would like to wish everybody a very happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin

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