Wild "Blue Thunder" Wednesdays

I’ve joked about my little basketball team having such “Wild Wednesdays” since the start of the season.  I don’t’ know what it has been about Wednesdays but they usually act like they’ve eaten 100 pixie sticks full of sugar before entering the gym and bouncing off the walls.  They even ask me themselves if they are all “nutso” today.  I’m almost sad to say today is our last regular “Wild Wednesday” practice because Saturday’s game is our last of the season.  I didn’t think I’d enjoy all this as much as I have so now I’m not certain what I’ll do without them.  We have a surprise planned for them next Wednesday to celebrate our teams season but you’ll have to stay tuned for that J  I guess after seeing how much I enjoyed all the kids it’s a good indication why my dad has enjoyed coaching all these years as well as both parents being teachers. 

            Monday we had a hectic schedule and I wasn’t able to actually get much of a run in.  We had to be at a Boy Scout banquet quickly after work so I’ll hopefully call it my “off day” running for this week.  However, the banquet was about individuals who are involved within the community and highlighting them for things they have done, and I couldn't help but think of how appropriate it was with things going on with me right now. Other people's stories always influences you to be a better person and realize there are always opportunities where you can do more for others.

            Yesterday (Tuesday) we went to the track meet here in Ripley to watch a little bit of a small quad meet they were hosting.  I almost hate to say this, but I never realized how sorry I should have felt for putting my parents through that J  Not actually “RUNNING” in the track meet sure puts a different perspective on attending one, sometimes I forget how much actual “dead time” there is at a meet for a spectator.  I was also usually the kid who runs the races that practically started the meet (3200 meter) and sometimes finishes the meets (4x400 meter relay) because being a distance runner they spread out those events for recovery time.   I think I partially felt the way I did because sitting in the bleachers not participating made me actually feel lazy and guilty watching other people do all the running. 

            We left a little early because I apparently I started to feel so guilty for not running I had to make sure I got home in time to actually run J  So with enough daylight to spare I ran on the trails around our house for about 30 minutes, I’m hoping to get a few long runs back in later in the week to play a little catch up on mileage.  I’m just trying to get a “base” of mileage going right now since it’s been awhile since I actually trained for running. Hopefully soon I’m hoping to get more of a structured training plan together still with the time we have before the marathon.

            I tried to go through some pictures I had with me to touch on dad coaching us when we were younger in basketball and I found a few of these.  I know there are more so I’ll be sure to locate them and share in the future.  But with my kids little basketball league ending soon I thought this would be a good thought for dad today J

I’ll end on a quote today…Since dad loves quotes and always wrote them on things he distributed to his players….I’m going to keep searching for fitting ones for him J

"My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me." -- Jim Valvano, Basketball Coach

Tommy (Blue Shirt) and Dad (Red Shirt) were the coaches, Thats Me in the very front with the ball (I was the manager, and yes very aware I have pink socks on haha)  Tara is in the front row all the way to the right.  (Sorry Kelly you weren't old enough for this yet)

Me and Mendy with a Little Cardinal Award we received I believed when dad was our coach. We were always inseparable on teams.  (Yes I'm aware I'm going to be embarassed by some of these younger pictures) :)

Weekend full of Cake!

We had a great weekend!  I was looking forward to work being over on Friday with all this nice weather we’ve had it’s hard to have to be indoors!  We had a fun basketball practice on Friday to get ready for Saturday’s game and the kids were ready to run their new plays.  They also had to update me on all the gossip of the game for Saturday with the other team’s game plans discussed at school. 

            I actually took Friday off from running as my foot has been bothering me a little bit and figured a day off of running was ok at this point with past mileage.  I did play some with the kids so that may count for something J  I also worked on some projects and cards to get ready for a few of the little craft show events coming up I’m hoping to use to help raise a little bit of money with a portion of things going towards fundraising, so I still ‘did something’ towards this which is my daily goal.

            Saturday we had the 10am game.  The usual ref couldn’t make it this week so I offered to help ref the game before ours, and I didn’t realize what I’d gotten myself into.  I’m a pretty analytical person so most situations I found myself stuck at figuring out what a good “give and take” of calls might be.  You can’t call every walk and double dribble or the kids wouldn’t really get the chance to play back and forth.  Sometimes I’d feel like the kids may have fouled with a reach in of some sort…but yet the kid that was fouled I’d let walk/double dribble to get there so I was stuck sometimes as to when to blow the whistle.  Apparently Brock thought it was entertaining because I guess I would call a foul and then tell the kids I was sorry.  When he told my grandma this story later in the day, she chuckled and said “Refs never told you they were sorry did they?” I had to laugh and say they might have a couple times,  I remember at Williamstown one year I had 4 fouls quickly, and dad told me if I fouled out I’d be walking home.  Later on after I was out of high school I had one of the refs tell me that story and laugh and say they all honestly figured they’d have to give me a ride home that night.

            Our Blue Thunder scored another win with Saturday’s game and it was exciting that several of the kids scored during the game so the points were spread out..  We did sneak in a few shot opportunities for our 2 kids that haven’t scored yet…The play "Chicken" worked pretty well and the ball rolled around the rim about 5 times before it decided to pop back OUT of the basket…so we need to figure out a new trick there.  The other play (Mudpit) worked well too and our little player caught the ball and even made a few nice passes during the game, his highlight was he made a basket during warm-ups shooting the ball the RIGHT way (not a granny shot) and that smile was enough to make the rest of the day great no matter what.  He said “coach we were feeling it today weren’t we”, so he “knuckled bumped” with me and kept on going. 

            After the game on Saturday we picked up a cake my friend Brie made at The Tasty Cupcakery here in Ripley for Dad’s little birthday party we had him.  She couldn’t have created and come up with a more fitting cake that touched on all of dad’s favorites J  Even better, it tasted as good as it looks!  We had a fun day with everyone there and Carter (my nephew) providing some entertainment with his famous embellished stories and Sophie (my niece) showed off her new jump rope tricks.  I took Saturday technically off from a long run as this foot and IT band just doesn’t seem to like me right now.  The officiating of the game and the long walk through the woods adventure with Sophie hopefully count, the hills on our trail behind the house def count for something! :) 

            Walking on the trails with Sophie reminded me so much of high school Cross Country.  I grew up on 72 acres (none of which is “farming” land), and when I was in high school we created our own little cross country course at our house.  On Friday’s we’d usually come to the house and run through the trails in the woods there and finish off with “Pitt Night” where we’d roast hot dogs and all the highlights of a good old cookout.  I’ll have to share more of those stories sometimes as we had lots of laughs and pranks at those practices, but I couldn’t help but want to run through the woods but Sophie quickly reminded me “her shoes would get dirty” J 

            We stayed in Ritchie County Saturday night and on Sunday morning I went for a run down the back roads behind our house.  I ran for about 40 minutes between the gravel roads and some softer ground.  It was so nice and peaceful that far behind a main road and running next to a creek didn’t make me think too much I was even working very hard to actually run.  It made me wonder if Central Park will be this peaceful during the final stretch of the marathon? J Another highlight of this weekend was a donation my Grandparents gave me to start the fundraising kick off so I’m excited to just keep building on it! 

            Dad and I’s joke this weekend was when he tries to spell things to me on his ABC chart Sophie made him it tends to be quit comical. (He can’t speak so the chart helps us communicate with him sometimes when we can’t understand his words)  I’m a terrible speller…as well as him being a terrible speller so when we are working together on this project we usually end up just laughing.  Several times Brock yelled across the room what dad was spelling while I was standing there confused.  Dad then started to spell something with “I D”…  and I cut him off and said dad if this next sentence is telling me I’m an idiot than you’re in trouble!  We started laughing so hard I’m not even sure we made it through that sentence. 

            222 days till the marathon J 



All of Dad's Favorites On One Cake :)















Since Dad LOVED to cut all the grass that consumes our big yard he had a cupcake display for that :)



How to Bribe Dad....

HAPPY FRIDAY! 

Yesterday was a decent day of running, however I’ve been saying for a short while I need to get a new pair of running shoes, as runners say “These have too many miles on them”.  Shoes are like tires to distance runners; you can start to tell when the sole just doesn’t take the impact of the ground as well like when tires start to get baled.  I suppose that little adventure will be added to the list because yesterday my feet were not happy with me.  I remember at running camps (yes those exist) there would be guest speakers who talk about keeping logs of the miles on their shoes (usually reccomend 300-400 miles) and switch them out and all their routines of it, apparently I didn’t take very good notes on that, I just wait for my feet and legs to start hurting.

                I should log some extra miles yesterday from going to run errands at Wal-Mart…I’m pretty certain just walking around that store getting groceries along with everything else you get side tracked by could tally an additional mile to my training.  I got home and ran on the road for about 35 minutes while chatting with Holli on the phone, we had to get caught up on all our projects and updates.  I did have about 4 sets of neighbors wave at me so at least I’m making a few friends through this process J  

                Yesterday I had made a note about mom bribing dad to go to the beach with food due to his birthday dinner request. I had found this picture while going through some things and it reminded me of this specific story that fits dad well. It isn’t that dad didn’t enjoy the beach; I think it was the driving to get there.  We grew up going to the Outer Banks in North Carolina (Nags Head to be specific) with my grandparents on my mom’s side.  They had a condo there (where they would fly a WV flag proudly on the porch during that week so everyone would know the blue and gold pride) J.  Located nearby was an “All You Can Eat Buffett” restaurant called Sound Side (I actually don’t think it exists anymore, dad probably put them out of business) J.  I do believe it was dad’s favorite, for obvious reasons.  Dad loves his seafood!  As a kid, we enjoyed Sound Side because it also had an arcade area for kids to play in and get tickets.  Since I have found a passion in the marketing industry I look back realizing what a fantastic idea that was for obvious reasons, such as my father.  Dad was able to eat all he wanted while we kept ourselves entertained. 

                My grandparents will bring this story up every now and then and we can’t help but laugh, but we can remember us kids eating our share of the all you can eat buffet then racing to go to the games after papaw sneaking us money.  We’d run around being the wild children we were while dad kept eating his shrimp, crab legs, clams, hush puppies, you get the idea.  One particular year we spent all our money raced back to the table and dad was still enjoying all of the above.  Papaw would sneak us a little bit more money, and that pattern just kept going on until dad was ready to go J  When this story surfaces is when dad jokes about him taking up the love of running so he could eat more J  I think mom would have to stick a shrimp on the end of a pole and  place on the hood of the car so dad would just keep driving until we got where we were supposed to be and he could enjoy all the seafood he could handle J  The next morning we’d wake up and dad and I would go for a run together before it got to hot…and do it all again J 

Me, Dad, Mom, Kelly, and Papaw Nelson posin' outside the resturant.  :)  (I'm not sure where Tara is, probably already playing skeeball)

NYC...OR BUST

              Ok it’s even more “official” now as yesterday I received the first “Team Fox” email distributed for the NYC Marathon now that their NYC ½ marathon is over.  I have completed the necessary paperwork for now and faxed it back to them.  In a few weeks we should have a link directly to our own fundraising page and ready to go!  This all just happened on the most perfect day of all…. Dad’s Birthday!  It’s funny how things work sometimes.  We’ve been making and getting donated cards for a little fundraising start with a few events I have coming up shortly to work with as well as organizing some other options to have in the near future so stay tuned J

Yesterday I was surrounded by Blue Thunder for our usual Wednesday night practice and we hosted a Girls against Boys game where I was talked into being on the girls team.  I’m afraid however my competitiveness spirit has spread, these little ones are vicious J  I’m going to have to ask dad this weekend just how I was at that age, just to make sure it’s safe.  We have 2 new plays for our final 2 games in hopes of getting our last 2 players to score….prepare yourself….. They’ve been named “Chicken” and “Mudpit” (it’s best to not question things sometimes and go with what makes them laugh and a short cut to remember the plays).  Just realize “Mudpit” was suggested as “Armpit” first…so some minor adjustments were made.

I ran after practice yesterday but only for about 3 miles (I’m hoping my full court playing counts for something).  Today I will be able to get a longer run in and looking forward to it. 

There is a picture I must share with everyone today taken by my sister Kelly last night.  Andy (who might I add I claim as an adopted brother) made dad his choice of a birthday dinner and if you know dad you won’t be surprised at his request (if you don’t know dad you’ll find it funny) Andy whipped up sauerkraut, sausage, beans, and cornbread and to top it off a blackberry cobbler.  Another great highlight about yesterday though was dad was able to get in the wheelchair and enjoy the view from the sunroom while having his birthday dinner.  We’ve always laughed about dad’s food choices, as well as his food combinations but one thing is for sure….he isn’t picky J  Mom would bribe dad all those years we grew up going to the beach by endorsing  the “All You Can Eat Seafood Buffets”  that we could take in while we were there.  He has teased in the past that’s why he started running…..so he could eat more while we were at the beach J 

I’ve got a picture I’ll share tomorrow along with a funny story regarding one of the famous buffets we always visited while being in the Outer Banks.  So dad…you better be ready J

Mom and Dad Enjoying Dad's Birthday Dinner in the Sunroom/Dining Room

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!

Today's blog is all about wishing dad a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :) 

(Don't worry I did run  yesterday too....we took a nice little adventure for about 45 minutes through the woods and on the trails to enjoy a perfect weather evening with a break in the springtime rainy weather)

So today dad I hope you have a "Rockin'" Birthday (I figured this picture would be appropriate) and we'll celebrate Saturday with your own party :)  I love you!

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

                I know I closed off a blog once by the statement; ‘Laughter is the best medicine”.   I kept thinking about it regarding lots of things and wanted to bring it back up.  I know through some of my blogs you will think my dad is a very “serious” person given the coaching and teaching positions he has served on while always pushing to be better.  However, seriousness aside my dad’s sense of humor is what has drawn so many people to love him.  Dad has such a balance of saying what needs to be said but making it not as hard to take by cushioning it with some sort of laughter statement.  People who aren’t happy will not put their best foot forward, but also in order to give your best there are still some constructive criticism you have to be able to take.  I think now that I’m older (yes I know I’m still young…but older then I was when dad coached me) I look back at a lot of ways dad handled different situations and realize he got the most out of the kids because it was the approach he took in teaching as well as educating.

               
     Upon researching a few quotes (we all know dad loves his quotes) I found these two I couldn’t decide upon which one to use so they both made the cut: 

                “A keen sense of humor helps us to overlook the unbecoming, understand the unconventional, tolerate the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected, and outlast the unbearable” – Billy Graham

                “A sense of humor is the part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

Both of those have so much meaning to the situation we find ourselves in now.  Dad was given a challenge by the diagnoses of Parkinson’s Disease that many could have given up on because of it.  Dad still placed himself in the center of so many kids lives by sharing in a passion he loved by coaching and teaching all while battling this challenge and never skipping a beat while continuing to share laughter.  Dad got the most out of each one of those kids by including them by giving them reasons to laugh by his leadership and all while motivating them to give the best of their ability. They got things done all because most of them believed in themselves as much as they did in each other.        

      The optimism dad shared with us every day is why I’m doing this for Michael J. Fox’s Foundation, after all his book is titled the “The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist”.  Need I explain any further?

I actually entered middle school/high school somewhat with a shy characteristic (I know hard to image), rather it be through my nervous tendencies or what I’m not sure of.  Dad….well….he never actually at any point had a shy approach to anything.  I realize there was never going to be any hiding for me even if I wanted to upon entering the new consolidated Middle/High School we had.  See, both my parents are teachers, one at the grade school I grew up attending, and the other at the middle school connected to the high school I was at.  One day during the start of school an assembly was running behind, therefore entertainment for the students was needed to keep everyone occupied and under control.  So there I was sitting in the auditorium around all my new friends when a rather scuffled woman’s voice echoes throughout the room with a “HELLLLLLOOOOOOOO” walking down the center aisle.  As everyone turned around it quickly hit me, this southern bell cross dressed woman was my dad.  Apparently the only skit they could put together within minutes was this!?!?  As the whole room echoes with laughter everyone is well aware at this point it’s “dad” so I could either accept it or suffer through it J  I might as well join in with the laughter.  Don’t worry, this wasn’t the only time he amused the entire school with his entertainment skills.

As I was going through some pictures last night looking for things to include in this blog I ran across a picture of dad on vacation several years ago and it hit me….maybe the apple really didn’t fall far from the tree.  This picture reminded me of a picture Brock had taken of me on a little day trip to the aquarium a year ago.

We joke in our family about where I came from.  (See, we joke/laugh about everything) J  It really makes the hard times just a little bit easier.   You may question the same thing when comparing me with my sisters, I know the height difference is obvious, skin tone, hair color, eye color but I’ve been assured we are all the same J  Maybe it’s just because I’m “THE MIDDLE CHILD” and I can guarantee my family is rolling their eyes at that statement.  It does tend to be the perfect excuse for things J  Over the years though I’m pretty certain it’s safe to say, I’m definitely my dad’s child J 

Ohhhh….I can’t forget…I did run yesterday J  After another springtime rain when I got home from work I took my 4 legged friend with me and ran the trails that’s actually on our property.  I stayed a little closer to home and just did several laps consisting of about 30 minutes in case the rain decided to sneak up quickly again. 

I would also like to send a quick little thank you to Chelsea (Jones) Culberson for making and mailing me some handmade cards to add to our card fundraising project I'm organizing and also our cousin Carrie (Milam) Ford for surprising me with LOTS Of card donations for us to get going on to sell with proceeds going to this cause. She has also sold some for us to get us a little start to fundraising.  THANK YOU! J  I have appreciated so many of the notes so many of you have sent; they truly do mean the world to us.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow.....

             **I first want to start this off by saying Dad’s birthday is this Wednesday (March 21^st) so if anyone would love to surprise him with a birthday card feel free to Email me at MissySpangler22@yahoo.com for their address, I’d love to get a bunch of cards to fill the mailbox for him.

Another great weekend of basketball and running J It’s starting to sound like my high school days again!

            After work on Friday I had basketball practice with the kids. We are usually short a player to make the teams even with numbers so I get to play, which always ends up being funny (I tease them I was never the “tallest” player in a game before so sometimes I enjoy it too much). Somehow though the team I’m on always gets labeled the “old people” team. (I try not to take offense to it). It was a practice pretty full of laughter so I assumed we were ready for Saturday’s game. I got a little run in when I got home due to daylight knowing I’d have more time on the weekend to get longer distance in.

            Saturday’s game was great (we won). One of our little players made their first basket of the season so that’s always enjoyable to share in the excitement. We now only have 2 players left who need to score so its time I come up with a few special plays to see if we can help make that happen with the 2 games we have left in the season. I know I talk a lot about the kids, but I really didn’t realize how much I’d enjoy doing this once I got over my fear of being a competitive monster (I’m still not over the fear, maybe just containing it a little bit). We stopped by my friends Cupcake Shop (The Tasty Cupcakery) here in Ripley for lunch as it was her first day open at her new location. She has offered to help in this venture by highlighting a special cupcake dedicated to our cause with so much of each sale going towards the Team Fox NYC Marathon fundraising so it’s a perfect excuse to eat more cupcakes J

            I went home and thought it looked like rain appearing soon so I laced up my shoes and hit the pavement quickly. I wanted to run around an hour today since I had time and the weather was as nice as a runner could ask for. The trails were still pretty wet so I was back on the road, this time pushing a little bit further than usual. I have now gotten to a point in the running where my next little stretch of new road to tackle is a little gradual hill which my legs just love to discover. (Slight sarcasm there) I did pass a duck randomly who waddled next to be for a tiny bit and I was hoping I didn’t have any cars approach me soon because it would have looked as if I took my duck running with me this time.

            About 15 minutes after I returned home a downpour occurred with sunshine still consuming the sky, which only meant one thing. I went to sit on one of the rocking chairs on the porch and sure enough, there was not only 1 rainbow but a double rainbow. You just can't help but smile at a rainbow....(I’ll attach the picture, but the 2^nd rainbow doesn’t show great in the picture).

            Sunday I logged into Facebook and saw an update from Team Fox highlighting that the NYC ½ Marathon was happening yesterday. They had around 60 runners participating in the race for Team Fox and it got me a little excited just thinking about it. Due to the rain it looks like I was back on the road for another longer run, I didn’t think I’d go as far as I did yesterday but I called mom when I got to the bottom of the hill and just kept on running and chatting. (I know it seems weird) I went probably 400 meters longer then yesterday before I turned around I felt decent and might as well go a little further since I have a day to do so. Mom was easy to keep on the phone today as she’s been stumbling around from twisting her ankle last week and still not able to walk very well on it. Don’t worry, I walked her through everything that dad would want me to tell her from all my past experience with ankle injuries. When I talked to her right after it happened I was telling her she had to “shock it”, she didn’t understand my lingo and I told her if dad wasn’t going to nag her about doing it I would because he made me do it no matter how much I never wanted to. I think mom said dad was chuckling when she told him that’s what I told her and was making her do it. Dad and I spent many times sitting on the edge of the bathtub with a bucket of ice on one side and a tub full of hot water on the other side going back and forth repeating to try to minimize the swelling.

            Another story I’ll share today since we are talking about “injuries” and it makes me look back and laugh. In high school I had fell on my hand wrong (left hand thankfully) in a basketball game and I knew it was bad, dad knew it was bad because I think I probably actually cried. (I know…no crying allowed) The secret he would say was if I went “quiet” then something was usually really wrong, because I’m hardly ever quiet. It was close to Christmas break and my hand ended up in a cast, apparently the doctor didn’t let us talk our way out of it. I sat out a game against Williamstown and by the end of the game there were little pieces of my cast all around my chair because I had picked layers off of it during the game. Obviously, I wasn’t good at sitting still.

            Thankfully Christmas break came which meant a little break in the game schedule, it also meant that mom was out of the house finalizing some Christmas shopping. Mom should have known by then not to leave dad and me alone together at the chances of who knows what happening. I can’t quit remember what dad and I were watching on TV but either we got bored or something inspired us that I didn’t actually NEED the cast anymore. I’d convinced him I’m sure that I was fine and it’s already healed. Therefore, we proceeded to the shower and began getting the cast wet so we could remove the layers….a saw came into play too at some point to finalize the removal of the cast all in nick of time before mom got home to see the finished project. If I do remember correctly I don’t think she was as “happy” as dad and I appeared to be. Dad convinced mom we were still going to be “easy” with it…we just didn’t think the cast was necessary.

            Our next game was a holiday tournament at Ravenswood and I knew everyone still thought I had my cast on and I kept my hand covered with a jacket prior to the game so our secret was still safe with the team. Dad later admitted to me that was one of the worst he'd felt when the other coach was speaking about him being sorry about my hand and dad knowing I was going to come out to play. I suppose at that age we really thought we had the biggest surprise ever and whatever made us pumped up for a game, a good coach wouldn’t ruin it for the kids. I think dad said he then just tried to avoid everyone prior to the game so he wouldn’t have to talk about it. We went on to win the game and the season was happily ever after J (Ok that might be a bit dramatic….but at the time that was all we wanted)

From one side of the house to the other on Saturday :)