Sunday, June 19, 2011
Father’s Day today and boy am I sore from yesterday’s Tri! We live in a loft and the stairs and my quads are not getting along at all today.
It’s ok, though. I’m being well taken care of. We had breakfast at my favorite cafe downtown and all the kids have been in contact.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Kansas City to spend some time with my wife’s daughter, Rachel, who has recently become a part of our lives.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Whew! Finished the Willard Triathlon with no knee problems! Not a bad time either, all things considered.
The swim was crazy. There were a lot of people flailing and grabbing in the pool and it was like a little mini war getting through that part.
Then the bike ride went smoothly and I took it pretty easy on the run at the end. I was a little worried about my knee a couple of times, but it never developed any more than a slight nagging pain.
The most amazing part was having Ceecee there as my cheerleader this time. I’ve never had her there watching me compete before. She was always either also in the race or just not there before today.
Today, though, she was taking pictures, giving me encouragement, and I can’t tell you how much it meant to have her support and to feel that she was proud of me.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Ceecee ran a 5K called the “Run for Rediness” this morning. I chose to sit this one out and just support her. I’ll be doing a sprint triathlon next weekend and I don’t want to take any chances with my knee.
I haven’t pushed too hard and I don’t know for 100% certain that it will hold up for the tri, but I’m going to give it my best.
It’s funny, I went to a physical therapist, did exercises and tried a bunch of things and the only thing that really seemed to help was a cheap elastic brace that I got at Walgreens.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Had a good training day Monday and have mostly been having fun since then. Rode 15, then ran 3.1 Monday morning to get ready for the Willard triathlon, which will be June 18th. .
Yesterday, we did a movie marathon at our local dollar theater. It’s not really a dollar, except on Tuesdays. They call it “Time-warp Tuesdays,” and sometimes on a hot day, we’ll line up 3 or 4 movies and stay in there most of the day.
Tonight, they’re having a free performance of “The Taming of the Shrew” as part of the annual Shakespeare festival. It’s outdoors at a park near our loft, so we’ll walk down and see it. Should be fun..
Saturday, June 4, 2011
What a good idea we had at art walk last night!
We haven’t really done a lot of planning for our vow renewal ceremony, but we know we want it to be fun, casual, and only include some family and a very few close friends – those who have stood by us and would really understand what this means. Last night at art walk, they were giving out free samples of cake pops and they had them in a bunch of different fun flavors and colors. We both thought they would be perfect to serve instead of a cake at our ceremony, so we’re going to look into pricing and flavors!
This morning, Ceecee ran the medical Mile and 5K, just like last year. Well, other than her getting second place in the mile in her age group for the second year in a row, it was nothing like last year.
Last year, our marriage was going down the drain and she was making plans for a life without me. This year, we were together and very much in each other’s hearts and minds. This is just one of many restorations to come this summer!
Later today, we’re going to my Dad’s to celebrate his 81st birthday. Hard to believe we’re 300 days into the restoration tour. It’s all seeming to happen so fast now, but I’m making sure to document and savor it as much as possible while it happens.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The Summer of restoration started with a bang this morning. Literally.
I unexpectedly didn’t have to work at Macy’s and we decided to have brunch with Mimosas at the loft. When I was opening the bottle of bubbly, the cork shot up and off the ceiling. We had a good laugh and have spent the day mostly laying around.
I still have to work Monday and Tuesday, then no more second job. So much to look forward to this summer.
My parents surprised us with a blessing that I’m really excited about. One of our counselors at school has a timeshare at Big Cedar Lodge where my wife used to work. They sometimes sell rooms for a good price and they had a one bedroom for August 1-5 and my parents paid for it so we could take a second honeymoon!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Last day of school today, and it was a half day at that. Ceecee’s last day was yesterday. She also had her interview and she got the library job for next year, so that’s a real blessing.
I like my job and I love teaching, but this has been an unusually difficult group of students and we weren’t sad to see the year come to an end. In fact, and I don’t know whose idea it was, but all of us who teach in the west building met right outside as soon as the final bell rang We put Hawaiian leis around our necks, set up a plastic swimming pool on the sidewalk, and held up plastic margarita glasses while we waved as the busses went by.
Monday, May 23, 2011
I finally put my notice in at Macy’s. I haven’t needed the job for quite a while, but the extra money has been nice.
My getting that job was also a key step in getting my wife back because it showed her I was willing to be unselfish and sacrifice to make things better. It was easy work, but it’s time for it to end.
In fact, my wife has wanted me to quit for some time now because she’d rather have me home than get the extra paycheck. Our last day of school is this Thursday, and I’ve decided that I’m not going to work during our summer of restoration.
I’ll wrap up this weekend and then I’m done. We’ll have all of June and July to complete the remaining steps on the restoration tour and then we’ll be riding the Tour de Cox and having our vow renewal ceremony on August 6th!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Speaking of graduation, we found ourselves at another graduation ceremony this past weekend.
We drove out to western Kansas because my daughter from a previous marriage graduated high school in a small town called Bucklin. She also had her baby about a month ago and we hadn’t seen him yet, so this was to be our first visit as grandparents.
It was definitely a trip of good times and bad times.
Let’s start with the bad. During the graduation ceremony, they did this thing that was really cool. Well, for some people, that is.
There were a bunch of roses on the stage and the graduates could go and get roses and present them to parents, grandparents, etc. out in the audience. It was a powerful moment during the ceremony, but there was no rose for me.
I shook it off and went to talk to her and see the baby afterward. My daughter did let me hold Carter, but otherwise pretty much blew me off and it hurt.
My ex wife came over and started trying to talk to me and Ceecee stepped in and told her to back off and leave me alone. It was pretty cool that she was so assertive in a protective way for me, since she obviously knew I was upset.
The cool part was when we had left Bucklin and were on our way to Dodge City, where my in-laws are. I was thinking about the time I went to Dodge City during our separation and I brought back a Mexican cake and these special marinated steaks that we used to love to eat when we lived there. Kasey, my wife’s youngest daughter was with us and she mentioned wanting to go to the Mexican store and I looked at Ceecee and she said, “It could be a little restoration.”
It was so amazingly great to be on the same page like that, and it turned out to be really cool for Kasey to be able to share it with us. Last time, I had gone there by myself and things hadn’t gone well when I had come back. This time, we were there together on the restoration tour and things couldn’t be better.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
As much as we love the family, going to this graduation party was tough. It was also a necessary stop on the restoration tour, and in the end, we’re both glad we went.
See, a friend of mine has a daughter who is a true miracle child. She wasn’t even given much chance to live, much less grow up and graduate from high school when she was born at just 1 pound, 6 ounces, but grow up and graduate, she did. There was a lot of prayer and sacrifice that went into getting to this day and we certainly wanted to be there to take part in the celebration.
The problem was that the party was being held at the church we attended at the time we separated. That meant facing some of the people and the memories of that time of failure and loss, and my wife wasn’t sure she was ready to do that. In the end, we agreed to go, with the understanding that I would stay by her side and not allow her to be put in any kind of uncomfortable situation.
It all turned out well and made a statement of who we are as a couple now. It was also a confirmation of the prophetic words my friend had spoken to me during Ceecee’s and my separation, when he said, “When this is all over, you’re going to get a brand new wife.” He didn’t mean a new person to be my wife, but that Ceecee would be made new and return to me healed and whole.
The Restoration Tour 