AZ Distance Classic, Pt 3: Meeting the Future Daughter-In-Law

While my first reason to go to Arizona was to run the Distance Classic a secondary reason was to meet my son's fiance. I had met her in passing only a couple of times before they moved to Tempe. You have to understand that as kids I teased the son and daughter about boyfriends and girlfriends thus I rarely met anyone that they were dating. Anyway, they officially got engaged late last month and the timing was just right that they could come down and meet me in Tucson.

I'm happy to say that they seem to be a good fit for each other and that oddly enough she and I share some pretty close views on things such as cooking, being on the messy side as compared to the son's neat freak side, preferring to camp with a trailer/RV versus tenting, etc. You know, the important things. lol! Conversation never seemed forced and I was able to openly joke about how to keep the boy in line...you know..."Just give me a call and I'll reach through the phone line to smack him upside the head."

We all had a really nice day visiting Biosphere 2 (pretty cool...especially for the science geek in us), eating lunch at Joe's Crab Shack and dinner at Sushi on Oracle (highly recommended if you're in the Tucson area...the place is tiny, try to get there before the rush). It was really quite a quick visit but it was nice having a cheering section for the race and people to hang out with for the last half of the day.

We parted ways around 7pm...the boy will hug his mom but he won't give me a kiss on the cheek unless I keep at him...which I do just to be a pain!! lol!! And he's supposed to be a momma's boy...hmmmmph. Well wishes all around and a hug for the future DIL and they were off for the hour or so trip to Tempe.

As for me it was back up to the room to pack, play on Facebook and try to get some sleep before my 6:10am flight to Albuquerque. I did manage to fall asleep around 10:30pm or so but 3:30am comes awful quick! I'd like to say that the morning was uneventful but I left the base at 4:30am and what should have taken 20 minutes to get to the airport ended up closer to an hour since I got lost after my GPS lost the signal. Grrrr. I always seem to get lost when I rent a car and it's time to return it!! I made it to my flight with a little time to spare so no big drama there. Just glad to be home for a few days before leaving for my double in Midland, TX and Ardmore, OK on Friday. Hmmmm...2 back to back races...at least they are pancake flat!!! lol!

Arizona Distance Classic - Part 1
Arizona Distance Classic - Part 2

28 years ago today...

Jan 1984.
Troy 20 y/o, Beth 19y/o

Twenty eight years ago yesterday I turned towards the old man and said, "Why don't we get married?" There was a lot going on at the time and he didn't want to head back to Idaho at the time. Did I mention that we had only been going out for 10 weeks?Anyway, on this day 28 years ago we drove to the Sacramento County Courthouse and waited about 2 hours to get married. In that time the old man smoked 2 pack of cigarettes. I laughed through the whole ceremony...I'm sure that the official doing the ceremony thought that we were making a big mistake. So after making it through the ceremony we were cut loose from work (we were on the night shift) and headed down to my hometown to hang out. We dropped the marriage bombshell on my mother (who didn't care for the old man for another several months when she realized that he was a handy man around the house) and settled in for the night. The next day we headed down to the Oakland Coliseum and watched the Gap Band and Atlantic Starr in concert. And that folks was our wedding weekend.

Sept 2011.
Troy 47 y/o, Beth 47 y/o

Almost three decades later we've had the ups and downs that are to be expected in any relationship, unfortunately more downs than up in the last several years. However, we still hang in there since we're best friends...the whole "lovers" thing has kinda gone by the wayside due to age and medications. lol! It's quite amazing when you look at the record of marriages and divorces in both of our  families histories. Not so great. We know each others good points and negative points yet still accept each other as who we are no matter what. We don't fight often...but when we do the bad feelings can last up to a week or more (especially on my part). I've learned to be forgiving and he's learned to be accepting of my "bipolar-ness." So onward we go into the future...looking to set a record in each of our families and see what else the future has for us.

26 Years, AIDS & Cancer Fundraising...Oh my!

Happy Birthday to our girl who turns 26 today! The picture on the left is of her when she was about 2 years old. the one on the right she's 24-ish. Everyone says that we look like each other, but the only time I've ever seen it was when we were toddlers. Really, when I put our pictures at this age together the only way you could really tell us apart is that my hair is black instead of brown. She's been a daddy's girl since birth...literally. After 20+ hours of labor before finally delivering her she cried...and cried...and cried through the night. Her dad came in the next morning after a few hours of sleep and touched her cheek and she went silent. Really?!? Our relationship has been a rocky one but things seem to be smoothing out and not as tenuous as my relationship with my mother. That's a good thing!

Today is also World AIDS Day. Wear red or a red ribbon to support the fight against AIDS. Education, research and advocacy needs to continue. The whole topic seems to have gone onto the back burner as far as how much it's in the news anymore. Remember back in the 80's when the epidemic first was announced...you couldn't go a day without hearing about it. My fear is that it will go so far into the background that people will tend to forget that it still exists. So, let's keep AIDS on our minds and remember that while we have medications and treatments to control the symptoms, we still don't have a cure.

My fundraising goal for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training has been reached and exceeded!! I'm still taking donations for this organization so keep them coming. You can donate online at http://bit.ly/TNTBeth using a debit or credit card. If you'd prefer to mail in a check or money order, please post a comment requesting the address or contact me  at ClovisTNT(at)gmail.com. I may be doing at least part of a century ride (100 miles) in Santa Fe with Team in Training in May...haven't quite decided yet, but I'll be sure to let you know!!

For the next few months I'll be doing fundraising primarily for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. I've put a challenge to my former students who in 2007 helped me raise $1,600 at which point I allowed them to shave my head at that years event! I've challenged them to help me raise $2,000 for the 2012 event and if I reach that goal, I'll let any students who show up to the event take part in the head shaving!! I think they can help me to do this! So, for now, I won't cut my hair until May other than a light trimming just to shape it up a little. You can help by donating at my fundraising page at http://bit.ly/RFLBeth . If you prefer to mail in a donation, there's a link for a downloadable donation form...just fill it out and mail it to the address on the form.

I think that's about it for now...a lot of news for one day but most of it is good!! Have a great day everyone!! :D

A moment of candor...or is it just frustration?

I'm not one to shy away from putting my life on the internet. Facebook has been my saving grace through many a crisis in the last 2-3 years as it gives me a place to vent when things get rough. I've lost contact with some people because they think I'm too open about things, but that's how I am so deal with it or un-friend me!

Anyway just last week the old man got laid off from his job. In 2008, he retired from the Air Force after 26 years and went into a major depression which brought out his inner demons as far as addiction is concerned. He started drinking and wasn't motivated to do anything within months of retiring and not finding a job. I found him the job that he was just laid off from and hoped that would bring him out of his funk, but unfortunately it didn't. He ended up drinking excessively and actually ended up hospitalized for a BAC of 0.43 where he was at the point of basically being non-responsive. Rehab followed and things seem to be okay other than a relapse early in 2010.

Anyway, with the layoff he's not had any gumption to do anything. I mean, I might be slow getting around to things, but I do eventually get things done. All he does when we don't go to the gym or run is sit and watch TV and/or read. Granted it's only been a week, but he's talked about going back to school to use his GI Bill and looking for a job...neither of which he's really followed up on. Last week while I was running around with my head cut off trying to get ready for the 5K fundraiser he never asked if I needed any help. Today I had to ask him to take the trash out even though the took the bag out of the trash and set it next to the kitchen trash can. I need to light a fire under his ass even if it's just to get him to apply for unemployment or start back to work on the living room (which is still sitting in demo mode after 2½ years...I blame depression on both our parts and alcoholism on his part).

Ugh. I'm stable so far, but this is one of the worst times of year for my moods...hoping that this phase for him is just temporary because I don't need any additional stress right now. Really, I should get my meds back on board...