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.
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!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Ceecee’s birthday had to be epic this year. I mean, it absolutely HAD to!
I keep thinking about last year’s birthday, when I took Ceecee to Old Chicago and had the kids meet us there with gifts, even though she had insisted we weren’t celebrating. She was turning 39 then and had gone on about not being old and going to run a marathon to prove she wasn’t.
That was around the time we were splitting up and I was trying to hold things together and understand what was happening. After we left Old Chicago, I had surprised her with a road bicycle, but it had been a difficult and painful birthday all around.
This year, we’re back together, and I went all out to restore her birthday and create new, happy memories to replace those ones.
My wife is a kid at heart, so i decided to give her a princess birthday. We both really hate those “over the hill” 40th birthdays and I certainly wasn’t going to use the “you’re getting old” theme, so I went the complete opposite way.
I bought princess wrapping paper, silly bands, and little girl party favors. I gave her gifts throughout the day, filled her car with pink balloons, and organized a silly little party at our downtown cupcake shop with a few friends. I also gave her a necklace to match her ring and the bracelet she got for Mother’s Day.
It was a beautiful day of restoration and a lot of fun to plan and be part of, and she loved it. The best part about it for me was when she said that she could really tell that I knew her well enough and had thought about it enough to understand what she would want and how special that made it for her.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Last year, my wife ran the May Day 5K in Republic, MO, while I watched, cheered, and agonized over the state of our marriage. I wasn’t in running shape at the time, but I had been doing the couch to 5K program and I did run the 1 mile fun run.
Today, we both ran the May Day 5K as part of the restoration tour.
Last year at this time, I could only wonder why my wife had decided we were through. I still had hope on the day of last year’s race, but things had to get much worse before they got better.
Today, it wasn’t our times or whether we placed (we didn’t) that mattered. It was that we were together, in love, and committed to restoring our marriage.
That’s the goal of this year of restoration. It’s to replace the painful memories with new, happy ones. It’s to heal the hurts we caused each other and repair the damage of our past mistakes by creating a new present that will become our new future.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Yesterday was an even more stressful day than usual for Ceecee at work. They tend to get that way the closer to the end of the school year it gets.
I knew she needed something to pick her up and I came up with an idea as the day went on. She’s a kid at heart, so I decided to let her get out of her “grown-up” responsibilities and just let her be a “kid” for a while.
During my free period on the afternoon, I ran over to the dollar store and picked up some sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and a coloring book and crayons.
After work, we went to this little hole in the wall place downtown that has the best greasy sandwiches in town (yes, we’re not supposed to be eating that stuff) and got orders to go. then we walked to a nearby park where I gave her the things I bought and let her “play.”
The park is adjacent to the local Double A baseball team’s stadium and we saw that they were getting ready to have a game, so we walked over and bought tickets, purely on spontaneity. It was a great afternoon and evening of fun, and it just came out of loving her and knowing her so well. It was simple and inexpensive, but it made memories and reinforced my love and the idea that I will always be there for her.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Took our bikes down the South Creek Trail today and enjoyed the nice weather in the early part of the day. This is one of the places where we go to train and it’s a pretty ride and a great place to run. We also brought a picnic in backpacks so we can eat in the park after our ride.
Later today and tonight, some severe weather is supposed to move in and my wife especially still gets quite scared when there is even a chance of tornadoes. I know this, so I got us some movies and some foot cream and I’m going to set her up in comfort for some pampering tonight to help her relax and keep her mind off the weather.
The Restoration Tour 