Posts Tagged ‘health’

Day 152 and Counting… Art Walk, Swimming, and Testing Out the Knee

Posted: February 4, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Saturday, January 8, 2011

First Friday Art Walk was a lot of fun last night.  The weather was great and we didn’t really have any plan.  We just walked around and took it all in.  There were some kid rockers playing “crazy train” in the downtown library.  None of them looked older than about 13, but they weren’t too bad.

Ceecee has still been swimming a lot and we’re working out pretty regularly again.  We don’t have anything specific that we’re training for, so our workouts lack direction somewhat right now.  I’ve been trying to gradually increase my running distance and testing out the knee.  So far, so good, but I haven’t pushed it, so I don’t really know.

Day 142 and Counting… Restoration in Old Dodge City

Posted: January 25, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Had a nice run through the streets of Dodge City this morning.  It’s one of our least favorite places for a plethora of reasons, but it’s where Ceecee’s Mom and Step-Dad live and close to my daughter as well.  We’ve hardly worked out or trained at all recently, so we decided we better do some running while we’re here.

Dodge City was where we lived when my spiritual decline really began.  We only moved there because we felt that God was calling us to.  We went through a painful church split and a number of other things that caused a lot of bitterness for me.  We were victims of numerous property crimes, had some falling out with people we had been close to, and got into financial difficulties with two houses that we owned.

Although it was wrong to do so, I blamed God and began to shut down.  I started shutting off my emotions toward Ceecee as well, although I didn’t entirely realize it.  We finally left and moved to Missouri as kind of a plea to be allowed to go and try to start over somewhere else.

This afternoon, we went walking downtown and through the old neighborhood.  We reminisced and romanced and it was wonderful to be in a place where we had gone through so much frustration and pain, but now had overcome it and were in such a different place, both literally and emotionally.  We had endured everything that had come against us and come out of it more in love and better people than we had been before.

Day 140 and Counting…Recalling Better Days

Posted: January 24, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Monday, December 27, 2010

 

Back in our beloved St. Louis.  We stopped to eat at Guido’s on The Hill, which we always enjoy.  It brought back so many good memories, but especially of the day while we were separated and we brought my daughter to St. Louis.  That was the day when we sat at Guido’s and Ceecee began to recall good memories from our past, not the painful and difficult ones she had been stuck on for so long before that.

We all laughed a  lot that day and it seemed like something had changed in the dynamics of our relationship.  Ceecee confirmed later that I was right and that she had indeed begun to entertain a little hope that day that maybe things could work out for us.

Tomorrow we hit the road again, going west this time.  We’ll be staying in Dodge City, Ks as the tour continues…

Day 136 and Counting… Faux Christmas Morning

Posted: January 21, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Thursday, December 23, 2010

The drive to Tennessee today was fun and uneventful.  We had a small Christmas this morning with just the two of us before we got on the road.  We opened our stockings (yes, Santa still fills them even with no kids in the house) and exchanged a few gifts.  Even that was part of the restoration tour as we exchanged cycling jerseys we had bought for each other.  The meaning in that gesture was something that only we would understand and it also kept us pointed toward next August’s Tour De Cox, the day we will also renew our vows as the culminating moment of the restoration tour.

Day 134 and Counting… Custom Orthotics

Posted: January 17, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The prevailing conclusion among the physical therapists about what’s causing my knee pain is my feet. They are blaming it on a combination of my being flat-footed and having a left leg that is slightly shorter than my right. Custom orthotics is the proposed solution, so I got fitted for them today.

They also have suggested that when I got a video analysis of my running gait done and changed both the types of shoes I was wearing and the way I ran, that I may have messed myself up that way. Bottom line is that I still haven’t and probably never will get a definitive answer to what the problem is. They’re just hypothesizing and trying things.

I’ve gotten new shoes again, custom orthotics, and instructions to try to forget everything I was trying to change and just go back to running without thinking about it. It’s frustrating, but maybe it will all work. I haven’t really been trying to run while doing therapy, but he wants me to start with a half mile or so and try building up and see whether it hurts.

Day 113 and Counting… Harry Potter and Holiday Food

Posted: January 8, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Ceecee has been cooking out of the Harry Potter cookbook. It’s been pretty good stuff! The first thing she made was bangers and mash. It turns out bangers are sausage patties and mash is mashed potatoes. Then there’s an onion gravy that goes over top of it.

She also made some amazing almond brittle! The Christmas season is under way now, and I’m sure there will be all kinds of wonderful things being cooked and baked in the loft during the next few weeks. It won’t be good for our fitness goals, I’m sure, but we usually kind of excuse ourselves during this time of year and then hit it hard when January comes.

Day 110 and Counting…A Surprise On The Way Home

Posted: January 6, 2013 in Love and Marriage
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Saturday, November 27, 2010

This morning, we caught the train back to St. Louis. Everything in Chicago was beautiful and we’re living the dream, literally. Although it would be hard to ever top that very first visit back in 2003, and we have so many great memories through the years that followed, I’d say this was our best trip ever. It’s like the old and familiar plus the new and exciting melded into one experience. We had the joy of “new love” in the context of all our past experiences and memories. It really defies description and will simply live in our hearts as a healing and restoring experience that we will always carry.

While we were on the train, we got a call from the furniture manager at Dillard’s, where Ceecee used to work. She had picked out a sofa for us while she was still there, but we were waiting for it to go on sale. Now that she doesn’t have an employee discount anymore, she told the manager that if it ever went on clearance to call us and we would buy it. We didn’t expect that call today, but I told him where we were and he said he’d mark it sold and we could come in tomorrow.

Day 107 and Counting… In Chicago!

Posted: December 19, 2012 in Love and Marriage
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Ceecee wrote on her Facebook, “I love waking up to your face, even on a train.” Obviously, we didn’t sleep last night, but we really only napped on the train. We took a cab ride (wow, what a nearly terrifying experience) to our hotel and were surprised that they already had a room ready and they allowed us to check in early. We’re right downtown in between Michigan Avenue and State Street, where the Thanksgiving Day parade runs.

Today, we walked around a little bit, then gave in to our tiredness and just took a nap in our room during the early afternoon. After that, we walked to Navy Pier and did something we never do. We ate at the McDonald’s in the Navy Pier food court.

I’m not really sure why Ceecee wanted to eat at McDonald’s, since that is NEVER a part of our diet, but she did. She ordered a happy meal, which isn’t at all surprising since she’s always been a kid at heart and probably always will be. While we were in there, it started to rain and hail and we were on foot, so we just hung out inside the mall at the pier until the weather got a little better.

When we left Navy Pier, we stopped at Fox and Obel, a gourmet food store owned by two foodies who are former lawyers. We always go there when we’re in Chicago. They have a bistro, a café, a grocery store, deli, bakery, and more. We got some bread, cheese, deli meat, wine and snacks to take back to the hotel. We’re staying in tonight and we want to be up early for the parade and a very full day tomorrow.

Day 106 and Counting…Taking Amtrak to Chicago

Posted: December 17, 2012 in Love and Marriage
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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Had to work at Macy’s this evening after teaching today. Tonight, we leave for St. Louis where we’ll board the train for Chicago.

We’ve always driven before, but my wife loves riding the train and she found out Amtrak has an early morning train to Chicago that’s less than $50 per person round trip – even over thanksgiving weekend! We’ll leave early Wednesday morning and come back Saturday. That way we don’t use gas, don’t have to worry about weather, and don’t have to pay for parking in Chicago.

The only decision is whether to try to nap for a few hours or just stay up and try to sleep on the train. We’ll have to leave by 1:00 AM to be at the station in time to make the 4:45 Am train. I’m probably too excited to sleep. This will be a major stop on the restoration tour and it’s going to be epic!

Day 103 and Counting… In Walmart and Still Smiling

Posted: December 14, 2012 in Love and Marriage
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Saturday, November 20, 2010

For some time now, I’ve been lusting after the new Bianchi road bikes at one of the bike shops in town. Today, I finally got one. My wife has a Masi, so we both have Italian bikes now, but I’ve just always had a thing for Bianchi.

We’re having a very small thanksgiving meal with some family this weekend, because we’ll be taking the Restoration Tour to Chicago on Wednesday and be spending the actual holiday there. We also are taking part in an outreach our church does where they give you a list and you go to the store with a plastic bag and you buy all the ingredients for a traditional holiday meal except the turkey.

Everyone brings their bags to the church and another local charity provides the turkeys. Needy families are identified through the public schools and they are sent an invitation to receive an entire meal for their family.

Ceecee and I don’t usually shop at Wal-Mart because we find it very aggravating. We finally decided that instead of complaining about it, we’d just quit going and shop elsewhere. Today, we shopped at Wal-Mart for our bag from church, mainly because we could get everything in one place and they want everyone to get pretty much the same stuff, so no one feels slighted.

The store was really crowded as usual and there was little or no service from employees, as usual, but it didn’t bother me. In the past, I would become upset and very negative and my wife would often get the brunt of it, even though I never meant for that to happen. Today, I have a new peace inside and I realized that it just didn’t matter. It was pretty nice to go through the whole Wal-Mart experience and be able to keep smiling.

It’s little things like that, as well as the big things that continue to show that I’ve really changed. Not just on the outside, but on the inside, where the changes are real and permanent. Anyone can temporarily change their behavior, but that’s only an outward change. Willpower can only take you so far. Only God can truly change a heart and I’m so thankful that He has and that I let Him.

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