Cooper and Leah

These pics are of Cooper and my friend Lori's Boxer, Leah...just wanted to share!

Two-Time Silver Medalist

Last night I competed in the first ever ( I think) Backyard Olympics hosted at the Eden House. We had a 3 event competition consisting of Badminton, Bocce Ball, and Ladder Ball. Countries represented were Morracco, Djibouti, Norway, Germany and Kazakhstan.
The first match of Badminton was Morracco (Charlie, Melissa & Grace) vs. Djibouti (Adam & I). This was no problem for Djibouti, thanks to a 21-month old wandering around. Second match was Norway (Ali & Craig) vs. Germany (Brian & Laura). Germany won. Djibouti held on in the final match, but Germany won on an ace for the Gold.

Bocce Ball was a close one for Djibouti too, but Silver once again. With Ladder Ball there were some struggles as the sun was setting and one member of Djibouti (who shall remain nameless, though it's not me) says he has poor night vision, whatever, we lost.


Good times on a nice Friday evening.

Time to play catch up...once again

Well, no pictures to share with you, so you'll have to use your imagination. I am having some computer issues and there doesn't seem to be enough space to load my pictures at this time. So, on with such awesome detail, you won't need pics! *pics added now!

I made it to "Tentback Mountain" and back. My adventure started at 3:30 am the morning of Friday May 18th, when my dad picked me up for the airport. Yeah, you read that right, 3:30! What a guy, am I right? My flight for Mpls. left at 5:12, then from there I boarded the plane to Newark, NJ. My flight landed on time and my ride, Gail, was there to pick me up. She had her E packed beautifully with just enough room for my backpack. We drove about 3 hours NE (I think!) to Massachusetts. Along the way, we met up with Justin, Pat and Rachel. We had three black Elements trucking into the campsite. The campground was beautiful, what we could see through the rain. Yeah, it rained...the WHOLE weekend!
Once we were parked, we started to unload and create Tentback Mtn. There were tarps and screen tents set up all over to create what coverage we could. It was a bit chilly too.
Friday the rest of the troops started to roll in and get camp set up. We got a fire started and then plopped our asses in front of it, beer in hand and started telling stories and laughing. I think I laughed the majority of the weekend.
Friday night was damn cold in my tent, well it was actually Carly's tent, but it was my abode for the weekend.
Saturday I awoke to rain, wind and cold temperatures again! Imagine.
As more people started to join in on the day, we shared a lot about our lives as well as our cars. It was pretty cool to see how everyone had modified and personalized their E's. It was also a lot of fun to meet the new people, but great to catch up with those I'd met in St. Louis.
Saturday evening/night was a blast. We had a huge fire and about 40 people around the campfire. One of the members, Harry, busted out his guitar and serenaded us all. It was priceless really, all of these people are friends because of a car...and the desire to care about and make an effort to make new friends. Amazing really.

Sunday was more rain and we talked about packing up and heading to someone's house, but we stuck it out and it was great that we did because we saw the sun! For about 3/4 of an hour the sun, glorious sun, was shining on our site. Though we continued to sit around and wait for the eventual rain.
Many of the campers cleared out on Sunday, but there were a few of us that stayed through Monday.
Gail, Carly, Rick, Jurn, Charlie, Colin, Jake and I made it to Monday morning when we took down camp, hugged and said our goodbyes.
I am glad I went. I am glad I know each of these people. I am jealous of the commitment this Northeast Crew has to one another and to having fun.
Because after all, that's what it is about. Adventure, Laughter and Fun....and I had it all.

Loss

In the last few months I have lost 3 people that have meant a lot to me. First, my "grandpa" Don Johnson, next my good friend Trichelle's mother, and lastly my Grandma Iris.
Sometimes I don't understand my own emotions and what I am or in some instances am not able to deal with. I help people, that's my job. I help them sort through their feelings and emotions about life, death, friendship, substance abuse, and other mental health issues, and yet I have struggled with my recent losses.
It's hard enough to say goodbye to someone that has led a life filled with 80+ years of experience including children and grandchildren, but sitting with my friend Trichelle and watching her mother die over the last few months is heartbreaking. I can't imagine the rollercoaster ride she's been on and I wish I could have done more to help Trichelle.
My mom lost her mother when she was very young too, I had never really thought about how hard that must have been for her until Trichelle's mother passed and then to have attended my grandmother's funeral earlier this week, I realize how valuable our relationships with our mother's are.
To celebrate my grandma's life, we gathered in Pierre, SD where I got to hear about what a great woman she was throughout every phase of her life. I only knew her as my grandma, but I learned of her as a mother, a sister, an aunt and a friend. No matter what hat she was wearing, she was loved and respected.

I have learned a lot over the past few months and most importantly I think I learned how valuable good friends and family are. I've known this of course, it's not like a lightbulb just went off, but I really know it now, in my heart and at my core. I am blessed to have great friends and wonderful family with whom I can laugh and cry...sometimes at the same time.
Bless you my friends and family.