I could almost repeat last week’s post. I traveled back through east Texas, into Louisiana and then back to League City. A pretty long week in terms of work and hours; but a good week nevertheless!

Saturday, Bay Area Running Club hosted the 9^th Annual Pub Crawl. This “event” covers 6 miles and bars, ending at the bar on Clear Lake where we celebrate by…well…drinking more. I wasn’t up to the distance but I did drive to a few spots to hang with my friends. We had a blast.

The theme this year was Woodstock’s 40^th Anniversary. Lots of folks dressed the part although most of them are too young to remember the music festival…I’m not! My club members even carried a 15 foot joint along the route, kind of like Cheech and Chong.

I’m back in Frisco this week, working from the apartment. Ginger will be up this Thursday. Can’t wait!

Some of these people actually ran...

A good week...

My week began at home in League City. On Tuesday I drove to Bossier City, LA. I always enjoy the trip through east Texas. A lot of people don’t realize how pretty the scenery is. I saw hills, pine trees, more hills, farms, ranches and some of the quaintest small towns you’ll ever see.

The roadside farmers are everywhere selling tomatoes, melons and other home-grown vegetables. Trust me, they’re worth stopping for.

I made it back to Frisco Thursday. It’s starting to feel like home (#2 of course). Ginger and Brittany arrived Thursday evening. We found a cool little seafood restaurant nearby…really good food at low prices.

Last night (Friday) Alison and the boys came by for dinner. Unfortunately I was so wiped out from the week’s activity I sat around and yawned all night. Didn’t slow Trent down though! He’s a bundle of energy all the time. Add ice cream for desert and you have a nuclear kid! He is so happy. Carter was his usual, laid back self. He always looks like he has something to say but hasn’t figured out how to talk yet.

Brittany left for Graham around 9:00PM. She’ll head for Lubbock tomorrow morning. Hard to believe she’s a junior already. What happened to high school?

Ginger and I will head back to League City tomorrow. Then another Bossier City/Tyler run for me next week. Life goes on…

The "kids" playing on the slide...

Alison & little Carter...

Carter flirting with Aunt Brittany...

Another Birthday?

It was 8 months, 7days ago (almost to the hour) when my doctor told me I had cancer. Not a day I’ll ever forget! A week later at the hospital, after surgery he changed it to really bad cancer (as if there were a really good cancer). My nurse told me to go off and become a miracle. Thinking its gong to take a miracle to survive was a little deflating.

A month later after another surgery at MD Anderson my doctor confirmed "really bad." They used words with lots of syllables like papillary, carcinoma and so on. They even scheduled me for another surgery that began with the word radical. Hmm...this is getting better?

All of the above occurred over a 6-week period. What a whirlwind!

One of my early prayers was “let me see Brittany graduate.” I was asking for two years. Seemed reasonable! Then I began to get greedy, asking for extra years to see the grandbabies grow up. They do need a grandpa!

As the days went by leading up to surgery I would not allow myself to think too far into the future because when I did a sense of disappointment and sadness set in. I had to be realistic…this was a complicated procedure that didn’t…well...you get the point!

Here I am one day before another birthday not caring too much about aging, looking forward to upcoming vacations and generally enjoying life. My immediate concern is ensuring I go to Carlos’ Beer Garden tonight for burgers and beer. That’s the “one day at a time/live for the moment” thing I’ve become accustom to. Not a bad way to live!

So…Happy Birthday to Me!

Didn’t plan on making it this far but don’t plan on leaving too soon either! Hey, that sounds like a country song.