God’s Dominion

As they get older, many people complain about how they can no longer keep up with the younger crowd.  I just turned 37 and don’t really seem to have that issue.  I play soccer, basketball, and football with guys 10, 15, 20 years younger and don’t really have a hard time keeping up.  As a matter of fact, sometimes I’m even able to do better.  My age kicks in when I wake up the next morning.  I injured my knee pretty seriously back in late summer (strained ligament).  It was very painful and I wouldn’t recommend it for anybody.  Anyway, after playing some basketball over the weekend, it’s still in pain.  I apparently also did something to my back as that now hurts, too.

The doc told me that my knee would heal in a few weeks with the cortisone shots that inflicted as much pain as I would imagine sawing off a limb would, and it is much better as I can walk, run, and play, but afterwards or even during the game if I cut wrong, it still hurts pretty bad for a couple of days.

Moral of the story: don’t get older.  If you do, stay in shape.  I’ve always been pretty active which is probably why I can still play with the high school & college kids, but I still pay for it later.  Laterz!

Well, this past Sunday at my soccer game, I had a minor collision with a player from the other knee where our cleats clipped and my knee was pushed sideways.  In case you were curious, knees don’t go sideways.  That caused a lot of pain.  This morning I decided to go to the doctor.  He told me I had strained ligaments on my left knee and gave me cortisone shots (cortisone is a steroid, so I hope I don’t have any athletic drug tests in the near future).  For those of you who have never had them, they were much more painful than the original injury.  The doc tells me that the shots will improve my healing time from 2 1/2 months to 2 1/2 weeks.  I’m cool with that.  If I’m lucky, my team will go far enough in the playoffs that I’ll be able to help.  Either way, I’d appreciate any prayer for a speedy….and less painful recovery.  Thanks!  Laterz!

So, this weekend I went camping.  Yes, camping.  Yes, in a tent.  Yes, it was cold.  Believe me, I wouldn’t have chosen to in March, but it wasn’t my choice.  I actually had a good time and the weather was nice during the day.  It was frigid at night, though.  I didn’t even have my heater with me (that will only be funny to a few of you).  We went up near Wilmot, so we were nearby.  It looks like I will be camping quite a bit this year.  I enjoy camping, so I’m not complaining.  Well, I guess that’s about it.  Laterz!

So, those of you in the area know that interstate 94 has been under construction for 118 years (okay, maybe not quite that long, but it sure feels like it).  Well, it just so happens that I take that route to get to work, at least until it warms up and I can start taking the train (I have to bike 3 miles to work from the station).  Over the past week or so, I’ve noticed something rather interesting.  It seems that they change the traffic pattern every day.  Why would you do that?  The result is that we get traffic backups at random spots.  They’ve been using “express lanes” which are separated from the other two lanes by concrete barriers.  So, people are driving down the street thinking they know where the express lanes are when suddenly, one appears in front of them and they’re in the wrong lane.  The result is a massive backup while people change lanes at the last minute to avoid or enter the express lane.  What’s up with that?  I realize that Chicagoland has only two seasons (winter and construction), but that construction season comes every year.  You would think they eventually figure out how to run it.  Guess not.  Laterz!

I remember when I was consulting that many people would ask me if I thought it was hard dealing with the uncertainty of being a consultant compared to the security of a full time job.  I would politely inform them that a full time job was no more secure than consulting.  The difference was that I knew when my last day was when I started.  They didn’t.  People would nod, obviously thinking I was nuts.  With everybody getting laid off and people talking about how little security there is in their jobs today, I wonder if those same people still think I’m nuts.  Now I have a full time job, but I don’t feel any more secure than I did when I was consulting…except that I’m making less money and I have to save vacation days.  Yep.  Much better.  Laterz!

Ever have something happen that was good, but seriously complicated your life?  Some people would say that about life events like winning the lottery, having a baby, or getting married.  If you take one look at my February calendar and compare it to December, you would see that.  My life become very complicated almost overnight, and no I didn’t marry or have a child (no, seriously….I didn’t).  Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t change a thing (except maybe my income!), but it certainly has made things more difficult.  So, if I skip days or ramble….it’s because my mind’s elsewhere.   Laterz!

Have you ever thought your life would make an interesting book?  Yeah, me neither.  If you’re like me, you probably think you live a pretty ordinary life.  I actually think it’s humorous when people react to some of my stories like they’re so amazing.  I’ve traveled quite a bit (been to 12 foreign countries), but most of that travel was when I was in high school.  I’ve been on TV twice (and my church was once on TV, but I didn’t make the cut for that one), but it was probably a grand total of about seven minutes.  I’ve lived in three states, but visited roughly 1/3 of the states.  Guess that’s about it.  Did you enjoy my book?  Yeah, me neither.   Laterz!

Sorry for the delay.  I’m much better now, thanks for asking.   I had a really busy weekend between church training, church itself, a pinewood derby, and a trip to Key Lime Cove.  I had a good time, but it probably wasn’t the best idea after being sick!  This next weekend I’ll be at the jr. high winter retreat.  It should be fun, but I’m hoping it warms up at least a little bit.  Well, I’ll continue my regularly scheduled posts tomorrow.  Laterz!

No real posting today.  I’m still sick.  My sore throat is a bit better, but my nose is leaking, I have a fever, and I have a headache.  Hopefully you’ll get a real one tomorrow.  Laterz!

Well, I woke up with a sore throat and….uh, other illness symptoms, so I decided to stay home.  Of course, I’ll be awaiting the inevitable “You get sick too much.  You should go to the doctor.” from my mom (despite the fact that I’m sick as often as the average adult male in America).

Meanwhile, it seems that Thursday may come and go relatively quietly this year.  This may be the first time in awhile my mom hasn’t tried to throw some huge bash for my birthday.  I might actually get to enjoy a nice quiet birthday this year.  I don’t mind when we just go out to eat (the same thing we do for my mom’s, dad’s, and brother’s birthday every year).  I just hate it when she turns my birthday into some big production and invites 30 people over even though she knows I don’t like it.  Of course, I’ve purposely kept my January as busy as possible (with plenty of help from CF) in order to make it hard for her to do anything.   Well, I’m going back to bed.  Laterz!