Change Yourself. Change the World.

It is easy to describe where we went and what we did and to share a few photos. It is more difficult to capture the mood, the moments, and all the silliness. Most of the time ‘you had to be there’. But it doesn’t hurt to try…

#1 One night we sat down to play cards. Sue put on some background music – one of her favorite singers. To put it kindly – not everyone was impressed. My Aunt Jeannie sat down, paused, and then abruptly stood back up, ‘I’m changing this’. It even made Sue giggle but she protested, ‘You guys, she’s gooood… And she’s dead.’ The woman continued to wail as Mark shook his head at Sue and said “This is… baaaad.” Sue couldn’t help but laugh with the rest of us but still defended the bellowing woman, ‘This is one of her best songs… She is one of my favorites… She’s dead…’ Anne quickly replied, ‘Was this right before she died?’

#2 My aunt Jeannie (a phenomenal cook, btw) made ribs for dinner. She also made a very special vegetable called rapini. It looks like broccoli but if you expect broccoli you are in for a big surprise – like expecting celery when eating raw rhubarb. The Italians in the family love it. Aunt Terese and Judy ate a plateful. Anne and I tolerated it okay. The others had a different reaction. Mark and Todd made subtle faces at each other until finally Mark not-so-discreetly covered it up with rib bones one by one. But the best reaction was Sue’s. She didn’t say a word or make a face or react in any way. The next morning we were walking Jesse through the forest. The weather was gorgeous. The birds were singing. The squirrels were playing. We were enjoying the quiet of nature when suddenly out of nowhere Sue says ‘Those vegetables aren’t allowed in the house anymore.’ Hahaha!

#3 At the end of our vacation we visited Niagara Falls. Someone had the bright idea of seeing the IMAX… First of all, after purchasing our tickets Sue found discount coupons in the lobby. The girl at the counter said, ‘Sorry. You already bought your tickets.’ What a dirty trick! But we found out why they pinch pennies. The theater was empty and old and dilapidated inside. The sound was so loud it made the entire screen shake violently. But not even the footage shot by helicopters flying up and down the falls was as nauseating as the movie itself. I bet it was impressive when it first aired… IN 1986! The same movie for 26 years! Awful re-enactments of daredevils going over the falls. Those actors would be rejected by a backyard Renaissance Festival. The movie was a prime candidate for Mystery Science Theater 3000. I don’t know how we managed to hold back the groans scene after ridiculous scene. But the best part was at the end. A live girl came into the theater with a microphone to announce to the empty theater that we could buy a copy of the movie in the lobby!

Surgery is first thing tomorrow! Not sure when I will post again but hopefully soon! I have had a few people tell me it only takes a few days before you are at least halfway functional again. And one said she has a picture of herself answering email the same night! (Ashley, you’re crazy!) I hope that will be me too! Wish me luck!

I heard two amazing and inspiring stories this week. First…

My cousin Andrea is on a Semester at Sea. She met an elderly woman who had saved money for five years to make the trip with her husband and deliver crafts to underprivileged children around the world. She asked Andrea to deliver a few items in Brazil. But Andrea asked why she doesn’t delivering them herself? She replied that her husband had died a few months ago and she was living off his pension. She couldn’t afford to make the whole trip and would not get to see the children in person.

Andrea was so upset by this story she talked to the Dean of Students and purchased the trips into the cities for the woman so that she will now be able to deliver the gifts in person. Not only that but they started a fund raiser for other lifelong learners on their ship to allow them to visit more cities around the world as well. What an impact such a small gesture will make on the lives of that woman and the others on the trip as well as the children that get to meet her! So proud of you Andrea!

Being hurt is making me bored out of my mind in the diet and exercise department. I decided I need something different to keep my attention longer than a couple days. My sister mentioned she is checking out this jump start book put out by the Biggest Loser. It spells out 30 days of meals and exercises. She’s lost 9 pounds so far. Well, what the hell. 9 pounds is about all I’d need. I’ll consider it a 30 day experiment. The diet has slight differences from Paleo but when you just had double pepperoni pizza and girl scout cookies they don’t seem too bad. And exercise-wise, any movement I can do that doesn’t hurt will be welcome at this point.

So, I started it this morning. First workout was 20 minutes of walking on the treadmill followed by stretching. Since that isn’t nearly enough to break a sweat I put my knee in a brace and set the incline as high as it goes. Kind of a test to see how bad it hurts afterward. I am icing it now. So far so good.

We watched football yesterday but the most interesting game of the day was my 12 year old nephew Dylan’s basketball game. He’d be the first to tell you they played terrible. They failed to score in 10:00 despite what seemed like a hundred attempts. The refs made it even worse by  calling fouls on every drive yet allowing the other team to practically break into tap dancing without calling travelling. Over… and over…driving the crowd crazy.

With the score Blue 35 to White 23 and only four minutes to go it seemed pretty much over. I told Todd he could leave early to pick up drinks on the way home for the football games. When suddenly out of nowhere the whistle blew and the ref signaled travelling! The crowd erupted just relieved they finally noticed!

White ball. White takes it down. Scores and draws a foul. Free throw goes in. 9 points behind.

Blue takes it down. Whistle blows. Travelling called again! Crowd goes crazy!

White takes it down. Swish! A 3-pointer! 6 points behind. 2 minutes to go.

Blue takes it down. There is a shuffle for the ball. Whistle blows. A foul? NO! A 3rd call for travelling! YES!

White takes it down. Ball goes out of bounds but gets touched by Blue. White ball.

White throws it in from the side. The ball goes up but the whistle blows… SWISH! Yet another 3-pointer but it DOESN’T COUNT! AAAA!!! The whistle blew the ball dead because the clock didn’t start! Do over! UGH!!!!

43 seconds to go. White re-throws the ball in. SWISH! Are you kidding me? The FOURTH 3-pointer in a row?! In less than a few minutes?! Score is tied!

Blue takes it down and misses. White takes it down and Dylan is fouled. Dylan at the foul line with less than 16 seconds to go. Score is tied. Dribble. Dribble. He shoots.

He scores! White is fouled again and makes another free throw. Blue launches the ball in the last few seconds (and yikes it almost goes in) but NO! The victory goes to…. WHITE!

They played awful and whadoyaknow? Pulled a Tebow right at the end!  Hahaha. Great job, Dylan!