"You See....Your Dad....he's on the Naughty List"

Just Kidding (Quoted from one of my favorite movied of all times) :)....my dad certainly isn't on the naughty list...at least probably not this year....however you may not want to ask his nurses after some of the jokes/pranks he's pulled on them this year.  One consiting of him hiding a kitten under his blanket so when they pulled it back it jumped out at them and scared them :)

“Ohhhhh A Christmas Tree!!!!!!!”

“I just like to Smile….smiling is my favorite”

“What’s a Christmas Gram?...I WANT ONE!”

“SANTA….I know him…..I know him!!!!”

If you want me to continue I will….I’m certain I can probably site the entire movie to you if you’d like J  If you don’t yet know, It’s Elf….seriously the best Christmas Movie of all time.  Which is why also, this moment while running the “Run it Anyway Marathon” was at the top of my best things to ever happen list J

Christmas is my favorite holiday simply because of the spirit of Christmas.  No, I’m not talking about the grumpy people at the store…..but the sense of hope and excitement in kids.  It brings out the good in people on most things because others put others before them and try to make sure others are taken care of.  I ALWAYS tell myself I’m going to make all these wonderful handmade items I see that I’m inspired by and then of course a few days before Christmas I’m aggravated I didn’t have time or find the time to make it “as special” as I’d hoped.  So here is to good intentions J

I cannot express how much my dad laughs at Christmas Vacation movie…I will probably argue that’s the 2^nd best Christmas movie.  Most movies are the “heart felt warming blah blah blah” (Which is fine..I enjoy my Lifetime and Hallmark movies this time of year)…but Christmas Vacation is hilarious.  We all know we have one Cousin Eddy in every family and you can’t help but laugh.

 

(Well....you know the famous line here I won't quote to avoid offending anyone by the language) :)

Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead? 

I’m looking forward to filling my next few days with more Christmas movies because I haven’t had enough of them.  I can’t wait to stuff myself to the point where I can’t move at my Grandma Nelson’s house on Christmas Eve and catch up with everyone.  It’s easy to tell yourself ‘That’s why I run” so I can eat as much as I want.  Dad always use to say “I run so I can eat”.  He does love his sweets J

 Another thing I’m excited about is this picture I was finally able to find to surprise dad with for Christmas.  Don’t worry…he won’t see this blog unless someone shows him and mom and them know they aren’t allowed so I’m sure we are safe to share J  I want dad to see just where our journey took us this year and how involved we got to be with such an influential person in the Parkinson’s Community, so he can see this picture and be reminded we all continue to battle this together.  Michael J. Fox is beyond a positive person, he’s a symbol of hope to so many who didn’t have a thought of hope at this disease.  They have literally moved mountains in the world of research in their quest to find a cure and continue to progress further every day.  I just wanted to hug Michael J. Fox and fight back tears at just how much it has meant to us to get here.  Our family isn’t much of a crying and sympathetic of moments as we’ve all been raised to be “pretty tough”…..so it goes unspoken with some of our struggles we face seeing our dad battle this….and I hope this picture keeps dad smiling on his bad days so we can continue to hope that “tomorrows” will be better.

 

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas……and thank you so much for everything this past year…..and I mean it J   

Where in the World is Team Spangler?

COLUMBUS!!!

 

We had some support for Team Spangler in the Columbus Half Marathon this past weekend J  Shaun Snodgrass and friends sported Team Spangler shirts for the run! 

If anyone ever needs to know a sports fact, ask this guy J  I think he kept me straight about statistics most days when I couldn’t remember numbers from specific games.  Of course Shaun had to move to Columbus about right after I moved back to WV for me to have a WV friend nearby J  I think Dad and Shaun spent MANY conversations on reflecting about sports, memories, strategies, and opinions J 

Thank you Shaun for helping us in this journey J

"Change the World" **Charity Miles**

Today I wanted to just send a little note and update on a program I have discovered through this adventure of mine.  The more I have read about the creator and program of Charity Miles the more I love this concept!  (That isn’t just because they sent me a free t-shirt either) J

For those of you who want to “get involved” here is a little way to get out and bike/run/walk and make a difference.  As much as I would love to say Choose Team Fox, this gives you the options to pick something as dear to your heart as Team Fox Is to Mine.  I have mentioned this app before in the blog, but here is a video which helps explain this program much better than my “wordiness” of words.  (Plus we all pay more attention to pictures) J …it’s a proven marketing fact.

Check out the video here:

Charity Miles Video

Also their website is: http://www.charitymiles.org for more direct information

The sponsored Charities represented are:

·         Achilles International

·         Autism Speaks

·         Feeding America

·         The Global Fund

·         Habitat For Humanity

·         The Michael J Fox Foundation

·         The Nature Conservancy

·         Pencils of Promise

·         The World Food Programme
(More to Come) 

Now…my next mission is to get an IPhone (Android works as well), so I can jump in on this madness of lovin’ this program and start practicing what I preach, but in the meantime I’ll feel better if a few others jump in too.  I think the concept of incorporating fitness into fundraising is wonderful (Also truly appropriate for dad’s career as a coach, Health & Gym teacher) J…  He always use to do the project where you could “Run Around WV”…he knew how far each lap around the gym was and then turned the laps into distances so kids could keep track of their travels. Now with GPS options on phones, you don't even have to do any of the calculating...you just have to run/walk/bike!

I would love to hear from you if this program worked for you and keep me updated on the progress J   As the creator Gene Gurkoff mentions, together we can “Change the World”.

As for yesterdays run…yes I ran and didn’t bike for cross training….please don’t tell on me…..  I attempted to defeat mother nature and sneak a run in between storms…I should have known she’d only teach me a lesson by sneaking another storm in on me while I was about a mile away from home, apparently it appears a monsoon was her inspiration.  Needless to say it turned into a great 35 minute run, finishing with a torrential downpour J  Can’t say it was the first time nor will it probably be the last J

If you don't want to listen to me telling you to get out and do this....I'm sure dad is here :)


**Team Spangler**