Happy Holidays

I love this time of year.

Oh sure, I could do without all the snow. And the lead up to the holidays is hectic. Please don't get me started about the madness of drivers around the mall!

But that is all behind us now. That is, unless you need to return that sweater from your auntie. If you do, please know that there is a special place for people like you today.

I'm pretty lucky. I don't have any returns to make. Then again, my auntie doesn't send me anything...hmmm...wait a minute...d'oh!

"Seriously now," you say.
You're right, I digress.

The holidays are a wonderful time to relax and enjoy spending time with family. It warms my heart and feeds my soul to be with family and friends this time of year. And that is exactly what we did. After we got over the flu. Yep, the little flu bug thought it kind enough to visit us. The little fella was like a bad guest, and overstayed its welcome by three days.

"Please, spare us the details," you implore.

I'll spare you the details. "Whew."

It finally left our house in time to enjoy the holidays. I'll spare you the details of our holidays. Personally, I like hearing how friends spend their holidays. Mostly, I like hearing the family traditions. But...well...ummm...not too many people, shall we say, share my feelings. "Whew, dodged another bullet!"

But, if you'd like to share yours, I'd love to hear about them. If you're so inclined, post a comment about your family traditions. I'd love to hear about them. If you'd rather post a note about the traffic problems around the mall, go find another blog.

I hope that your holiday season is spent relaxing with family and loved ones. If for some reason you can't be with your loved ones, please know that my family and I are thinking of you. And reminding ourselves how lucky we are to have friends like you.

Who are you?

I don't know that anyone would confuse me with being creative.

Funny? Sure. Goofy? You bet. But creative? That's a stretch.

Given the chance, I'd probably eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. Come to think of it, I DO eat the same thing for breakfast every day.

My idea of being creative is, maybe, mowing the lawn in the opposite direction than I normally mow. Seriously, there's not much creativity to be found here.

But I have some creative friends. One in particular recently caught my attention: Camille Claudel.

I don't know anyone named Camille Claudel. And yet, a donation was made in her name to my account. If you know me at all, you know by now that I need to know where to send the thank you card. So, I looked in the usual locations for Camille's name.

I checked my Outlook contacts, business cards, Holiday card mailing list, school registry. No luck.

I checked the city's employee list. There is an employee that shares the last name. But, his first name isn't Camille. And he doesn't cross-dress (not that there's anything wrong with that!).

So, now I'm perplexed. And a little nervous. Nervous along the lines of wondering if I need a PPO against this "suspicious person." Until I did a Google search. You gotta love Google.

It turns out that Camille Claudel is a pretty famous art student of a particularly famous artist named Auguste Rodin. Doesn't ring a bell? Don't worry, it didn't for me either...not at first.

Until a friend pointed out to me that my picture from the first blog of the new season looks strikingly similar to Rodin's "The Thinker."

I told you I'm not creative. Nor, it turns out, very smart.

But I am smart enough to know that the real Camille Claudel didn't make the donation. She passed away some time ago. So, who is this Camille Claudel?

It is taking me some time to put things together. But I think I have some ideas:

It could be one of my students from UM-Dearborn, where I teach as an adjunct professor. I know I shared a story or two during class. So maybe one of them wanted to make a donation, but go unnoticed so not to "unduly influence" their final grade?

Or it could be someone from the Paint Creek Center for the Arts. I've been working with the good people at Paint Creek on a possible partnership for the Old Stone School house. We have some really cool ideas coming together that might lead to an awesome artist community in Troy. I'll probably write about that another time. I know that I mentioned a few things about my training with a few of the Paint Creek board members. Maybe it is one of them?

I may never know who you are. And I may never know the names of the anonymous donors at the grocery store, or during a spin-a-thon, or during a bucket drive. But, know that it means a lot. And know that I am adopting the name of Camille Claudel in honor of you and all anonymous donations, by including the name on the t-shirt that I wear at the race.

Fudge

"Only I didn't say 'Fudge.' I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the 'F-dash-dash-dash' word!" -Ralphie Parker

I don't know if there has ever been a list of the quintessential Christmas movies ever made.

Oh sure, we're all familiar with "Miracle on 34th Street." And who doesn't watch "It's a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve?

To me, they pale in comparison to Ralphie Parker and his "Christmas Story." That movie, in many respects, captures all that is right and *ahem* challenging about the Christmas season.

Our hopes, our dreams, and our disappointments come to life on the silver screen through Ralphie's narration.

The lessons aren't limited to Christmas. Oh, no. I have drawn more lessons from this movie at times I never thought. Or expected.

"Like during Saturday's brick?," you ask. Yes, like during Saturday's brick. You could say that Ralphie and I became one.

This was my first brick session for the season. So, I expected a little bit of a challenge. But not this much of a challenge.

The bike went reasonably well. While the single-leg pedaling was a challenge, I got through it. And the run outside was okay. It was a little cold. But, again, I got through it.

It was after that when the spirit of Ralphie made his appearance.

You see, it turns out that I've been doing brick workouts all wrong. Apparently, I'm not done after riding my bike for 90 minutes and running for 60 minutes. Who knew? Not me, for starters.

After doing all that fun stuff, we go right in to resistance training. Ugggh.

Except I didn't say Ugggh. It sounded a lot like Ugggh. And pretty close to Fudge.

I mean, really? It's not like we're training for an Ironman or anything! Oh, wait, ummm. That's right. We are.

Sorry, Ralphie.

Over? It's Just Beginning

"Over? Did you say 'over'? ... Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" -Bluto

"Now what?," we pondered after we finished the Nation's Triathlon. We spent every Saturday and most Thursdays together for an entire season. And now we're done?

"Is it really over?"

Pete, Ron and I spent some quality time searching for answers. Ron started another mission project in Africa, and is leading the effort to open a new church in Washtenaw County.

Pete and I weren't as ambitious. Maybe we could spend some time with our children. Maybe even go out on a date or two with our wives.

Respectively, that is. Don't get me wrong, I like Carol and all...Anyhow, I digress.

Pete, Ron, and so many others from the Nation's Triathlon team agreed that we still wanted to be part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Our race was over, no doubt. But the fight against blood cancers is not. Along the way, we met so many families and friends that shared stories of how this disease has impacted their lives.

You shared stories of brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles that have battled and won. And, in private, you shared stories of loved ones who weren’t so fortunate. It is for you – and our loved ones – that I am joining again with Team in Training to compete in the Gulf Coast Half Ironman Triathlon.

I am not doing this alone. I am buoyed by a great group of teammates. Pete is back. As is Andi Duncan, who teamed with us in Washington DC. In all, there are about a dozen of us that will take on the Half Ironman in May for Team In Training.

I also have the love and support of my family. The kids have already gotten after me, after I missed out on a run.

I have my personal hero, Eric Jones. Some of you got to know Eric through my earlier postings. He still is battling through the after-effects of lymphoma. He's making progress. And he continues to keep an amazingly positive attitude. What stength.

And I have you. I can't thank you enough for your kindness and compassion. Without you, it would make for a long and arduous journey. Knowing that you're by my side, I will be inspired through to the finish line.