Chattanooga

I made it home from Jacksonville yesterday in time to get some work done in the office and then head to ballgames. Shelbi is still out of commission with the concussion and in fact, we are making her stay at home a couple of days to rest and get better. Her headaches just seem to not be going away so we prescribed rest.

Morgan played and ended up hitting the floor hard right on her right elbow but does not seem to worse for the wear. JV won last night against White House and varsity lost by four. We had a very poor second quarter and never recovered.

I headed to Chattanooga today for a meeting of Southeast youth ministers and am looking forward to seeing some old friends and meeting new ones as well.

I did get a 10-miler in yesterday in Jacksonville and enjoyed the run thoroughly. Still pretty much on schedule even with all the travel.

Sondra's dad seems to be handling the oral chemo as far as we can tell.

Looking forward to the new season of Lost starting tomorrow.

Jacksonville, Florida

I flew to Jacksonville yesterday to participate in a meeting that goes through Thursday called RecLab. It is an event my company has done for about as long as I have been alive. It is good to connect with student ministers and church recreation leaders from around the country.

I had a good 5-miler today along the St. John's River and it was a little cool and breezy, but fun to run along the river. I have a lot of writing to do so I will not blog long, but wanted to do a quick update.

Continue to pray for Sondra's dad. He seems to be doing okay after starting the oral chemo last week.

I fly home tomorrow and will be glad to get there.

Still Pretty Cold

It really is winter without the snow in Nashville. It is windy, cold and damp in the air but no falling precipitation. Both jv and varsity girls' teams won yesterday. Morgan nailed a big three-pointer at the end of the first half which was pretty fun. Varsity beat Goodpasture by 16. Shelbi was not able to play due to the concussion and she seems to be getting better each day. Hopefully she will not be out too long especially with so few games left in the regular season.

Made it back from the youth ministry meeting in AL yesterday in time to see about half the jv game. The meeting was okay. It was good to see so many friends involved in student ministry on the national level. I head to Jacksonville, FL tomorrow, back on Tues. and then off to Chattanooga on Weds-Fri. Sort of a busy time but should not miss any games. I also have a lot going on at work and am still trying to finish this book on student leadership that I am writing. Crazy time. I will get it all done though.

Will update you in a couple of days on Sondra's dad and how the oral chemo is going. Thanks for praying for him and my mother-in-law Joyce.

Thursday Travels

I headed to Shocco Springs, Alabama close to Talladega for a meeting and got here around noon. I did get my 5-miler in before I left and it sure was cold and windy. We are in a series of meetings with youth types from all over the country and from most of our agencies. It is a good group.

I called home and Morgan is driving now which helps alot. It looks like Sondra has come down with the 24 hour bug that is going around that involves nausea and chills. What a drag! We did get word today that the cancer has not spread to Sondra's dad's lungs. What a blessing. He starts oral chemo tonight and does that for a few weeks. Continue to pray for him.

Shelbi is doing much better as well. Still has a headache but made it through school today.

I head home in the morning and will try to update what is going on on Saturday.

Oh . . . Those January 22nds

It was a year ago yesterday that Morgan had to have emergency surgery to clean up all that ruptured appendix stuff that invaded her belly. We have joked around the Turner house about Januarys the last two years. Two years ago it was ACL surgery for Shelbi, last year Morgan's emergency surgery and last night it was a trip to the ER. During the varsity game, Shelbi decided to break her fall with her head and ended up with a concussion. (Shelbi is on the right, Morgan on the left.)

Vanderbilt ER was pretty busy but we got in pretty quickly, received wonderful attention and care and were home before it got too terribly late. We had to check on Shelbi a few times during the night and she seems to be doing okay so far, but we need to keep monitoring her today. By the way, our girls won after being down 21-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Sondra's dad has more tests today to see if anything has spread to his lungs, but there are cancer cells in his liver and they will begin oral chemo very soon after they get CT results from today's tests. Thanks for praying for them.

Winter Running

Monday morning's run was pretty cold. I think it was mid-teens but the sun was shining and the wind was not too bad. Today's run on the other hand was mid-30s, rainy and windy and I did not want to complete the 12 miles that was on the schedule - but, I did. Glad it is over.

Remember to pray for the Burgess family. Rick is part of the Rick and Bubba duo radio show and he and his wife Sherry lost their youngest son Bronner to an accident at their home on Sat. night. The memorial service is today at 2p at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. For more information you can click here www.rickandbubba.com

Our girls play at home tonight against district foe Portland. Needs to be a win and I will be on the microphone to keep me from yelling from the stands.

We are still waiting to hear the results from the biopsy on Sondra's dad. Please continue to pray for my in-laws, Bernard and Joyce Holmes. Should hear something mid-week at the latest.

It's Cold

I realize that temperature is relative, but I have to tell you, it is cold in Tennessee right now. We were down to 11 last night and I think we got to 24 for a high today. It was pretty cold yesterday as well and windy. I did my 16-miler (well 14 outside and the last two on a treadmill at the Y) and it was pretty cold. The greenway is pretty hilly and thankfully there are some trees so the wind did not blow on me the whole time.

We saw many basketball games yesterday. Shelbi's little team she helps coach played at 10a and then there were many other games that had kids playing them that we knew so we stayed to watch some. Our girls won Friday night on the road up at Greenbrier and did not play overly well, but a win on the road in the district is always good.

Today has been pretty good, just cold. I wrote quite a bit and watched some football (Pats have already won and the Giants are leading by three against the Pack). We still have a bunch of Morgan's friends coming over tonight for her 16th birthday party. I think I am ready for them to come over. We will see.

I have some travel this week and need to get my writing done. I am a writing machine right now. Pray that it makes sense.

Crunch Time

Crunch time can mean a lot of things, but right now it means I need to finish a writing project dealing with leadership. I enjoy writing, but it can be taxing as well. I really need to hit a deadline this next week so I may disappear from the blogosphere for a few days.

Before that, let me catch you up on what is happening and is to happen. Yesterday was a month since mom passed away and I find it really odd that life just really goes on. I guess I knew that it would, but my perspective on things has changed some. (I will save that for another blog entry.)

The girls play Greenbriar tonight at their place and then I have a 16-miler scheduled for the morning. It is supposed to be pretty cold so I may head to the YMCA and do some of that run on the treadmill. Not an exciting proposition but running in the cold that long can get weird for me. Sunday we are having a birthday party for Morgan and it looks like half of DCA will be there. Sixteen is a pretty big birthday though, so you do what you have to do. I hope to catch some of the football games too and get my writing done. It will be a busy weekend.

There will be a memorial service for my cousin, Bobby on Sat. at 1p in Kansas City. I am not going to make it for this one. I regret that in some ways but it is just not feasible. Please remember his wife and daughter and pray that all goes well at the service tomorrow. It is a sad time for all of us really. Bobby just could never get past his use of drugs and alcohol.

Threat of Snow

It seems like last week we were enjoying 60s and 70s weather and this week it is winter again. Getting out and running has been a challenge but since I am in training, I must get out on the road and make it happen. I did a 10-miler yesterday with some speed work in there some but I did not go all out with it being so cold. I was not interested in pulling some muscle that I am not even aware I have.

Our girls lost by two to Harpeth Hall on Monday night. We really are in a little bit of a scoring funk, but I was really excited about the defense we played. Scoring will come and it was not a district game so the loss does not hurt us overall. We play Greenbriar at their place on Friday. Greenbriar lost to Goodpasture last night by two, which is pretty weird.

The forecast is calling for a little snow tonight but I think it is going to be too warm. The grocery stores will be overrun though and there will be no milk or bread to be found anywhere.

Monday, Monday

The weekend finished pretty well with some folks coming over to celebrate Morgan's birthday on Sat. evening. We had been to Sakura for some good japanese cuisine and then home for cake and football and fellowship of course.

New England looks really good and I think Jacksonville had the best shot a beating them of any of the teams left. Yesterday's games were interesting to say the least. Payton could not figure out the Charger defense in the last quarter and the Cowboys loss was not totally unexpected to me. Romo should not get all the blame for the loss regardless if he went to Mexico last weekend with Jessica Simpson. I though TOs crying response taking up for Romo was over the top but what do I know.

A happy birthday to my buddy, Shelby Baucum, who celebrated his birthday yesterday. I tried to call you at home and your machine cut me off but I did leave you greetings on your cell phone. Hope your birthday was good. (Those of you who do not know Shelby are missing one of God's great treasures. Shelby has impacted my life in many ways for the last 20 years. He is struggling with some health issues, so please pray for Shelby.)

The girls play at Harpeth Hall tonight. We lost to them in OT the first game of the season, so tonight will be another good test for us.

I went with a couple of guys from our SS class yesterday afternoon and saw I Am Legend. It was pretty interesting. I thought Will Smith did a pretty good job.

I ran 5 this morning and it is feeling like winter around here now. I guess it should since it is mid-January.

As the World Turns

Or something like that. I am not a soap opera guy at all but must confess I did watch some when I was in college. Erica Kane and then Luke and Laura captured my attention and one semester I made sure my class schedule did not conflict with those shows. With TiVo and heck! even a vcr things are sure different. I was in college a long time ago.

Our girls played pretty poorly last night and lost to a pretty good Station Camp team. They beat us by 15 but they are not that much better than us. We really just did not execute well at all. We also ate a late dinner after the boys' game and got in bed around 1130p which is late for a guy like me.

I was up and running by 7a today and ran 14 from our house to and on the greenway and back and then we headed for a quick Panera run, stop at Home Depot for some caulk, and then to get my hairs cut. It was busy. Also bought a couple of cd towers that needed to be assembled and got them loaded with Shelbi's help. Shel and I watched the Vandy/KY game as we worked and Vandy blew it big time if you ask me. They freaked in the 2OT and got their first loss of the year.

My brother called to tell me that my cousin, Bobby, was found dead today in his home. He had lived a pretty tough life in his 48 years and it is a sad story. It looks like his years of substance abuse caught up with him. It sure is a sad situation. I may be headed up the middle of the week for his funeral.

Sondra's dad got some results back on a CT contrast he did earlier in the week and it appears there is something in his liver and in at least a couple of lymph nodes in his abdomen. He has a history of cancer and there will be a biopsy this next week and a course of action planned. I would appreciate you praying for Bernard and Joyce Holmes, my in-laws.

It looks like it might be our turn again. I was hoping for a little longer lag time, but know that we will continue keeping on. Thanks for praying.

Back In Nashville

It was good to get home from New Orleans last night with only a short delay in leaving. There was a large storm system moving across the country and we dodged most of it thankfully. My time in New Orleans went really well and the classes were wonderful. I did not run yesterday due to heavy rain in the morning but did pick up 5 today so I am even for my mileage for the week.

This morning was spent taking our youngest, Morgan, to get her driver's license. We had a good time together and she is just really a great girl to hang around with. We were there about an hour and then I dropped her back at school and hustled to work.

Hard to believe we have another licensed driver in the house. Makes all four of us legal to drive. Tonight our girls play at Station Camp and they are pretty tough. They will be a good test for us and we would like to steal a win on the road.

New Orleans Wednesday

I am in New Orleans teaching at our Baptist Seminary here and did some post-Katrina work on a house by putting in light fixtures and some other assorted things. It was a lot of fun. I teach later tonight and tomorrow and then head home.

Sondra's dad, Bernard Holmes, was having a CT contrast scan done today due to some elevated cancer cells in his blood test last week. He has battled cancer a few times before and we would ask that you pray for him. They will know results on Friday I think. Seems like - here we go again. I am praying that things are not as serious as they might appear to be.

I did a 7-miler this morning and will do 5 tomorrow here in New Orleans. I was supposed to be off today and run 12 tomorrow but cannot fit it in before I start teaching. Hard to believe I am training for another marathon. Sort of in the "I am looking forward to running Country Music, I think." We will see.

70 Degrees in January

It is nice to live in a place that can be frigid one day and really nice and warm the next. Looks like we will hit 70 degrees today and it was nice to get out and run this morning and not have to put on fourteen pounds of clothing.

The weekend went pretty well. Attended church and taught SS yesterday and I have to say that our younger marrieds class is just pretty amazing. It is a joy to prepare and present to them each week and their transparency in what they are dealing with is refreshing. I am blessed to be a part of their world.

The Titans/Chargers game went better than I thought it would and even though the Titans lost I thought they placed decently. Next year we will have a little more offense rather than just Bironas kicking from all over the field.

It was back to work today and preparing for an all day meeting on Tues and a teaching trip to New Orleans Seminary Weds/Thurs. I am announcing the guys' varsity game tonight and then home for a night's rest and 10 miler tomorrow. I have decided to run the Country Music Marathon in April and training officially started today.

Cats Roll

Our girls won pretty big last night in the varsity game and Morgan even got some playing time a hit a big 3-pointer in the 4th quarter. I thought Goodpasture would have come out a little stronger but our girls came out and never let up. The varsity guys won as well.

The fun part for me was that they gave me a microphone and I called the game from the scorer's table. It was not play by play (which I like to do), but was still a lot of fun. Looks like I have a permanent job doing it now at least through the end of this season. It is good for me because I do not holler at the refs from the stands (hard for some to believe I am sure).

Today has been sort of lazy. I have been watching basketball and now the NFL playoffs. I did manage to run 5 and even grilled some steaks for dinner. Pretty good stuff.

Got my blood test results back from my physical and all is good except that my cholesterol is elevated a little. It is usually border line and must be genetic with all the exercise and fairly good eating that I do. It might be the stress lately that has it elevated right now. I am to give it six months and then have it checked again. I think it will be okay come June. I really am not interested in going on any kind of meds to help control it.

Please remember my friend Mitch whose dad passed away and his service was today. Mitch, Christy and Graham drive back tomorrow so pray for their safe travel. Also, please continue to remember my dad. He is in the process of getting some of the paperwork done concerning mom's death and I am sure it is a pretty emotional time.

District Play Starts Tonight

I love basketball and the girls play tonight against Goodpasture, one of our district rivals. The odd thing is that we know many of the families over there so it not a strong rivalry for us as families, but huge from the school perspective. Don't get me wrong, I want to win, but in a good, clean way.

One of my best friend's dad died on Weds. and his visitation is tonight and funeral tomorrow in North Carolina. I really researched and tried to get over there for at least one of the times, but cannot work it out. Please pray for my friend Mitch Fuller and his family.

Sondra's nephew, Ben had ACL surgery today and I am waiting to hear how it went. Will do my best to update that tomorrow.

My Baltimore/DC trip went well and other than flight delays, it was a great success. It was sort of crazy to be flying with so many traveling for the holidays, but it is really good to be home.

Dad seems to be doing pretty well and I ask that you continue to pray for him and us.

Football, Physical and Nashville Airport

Yesterday was a good day of football as Missouri wore out Arkansas and proved once again that they were cheated out of a BCS game. Now if Kansas gets killed tomorrow, my bitterness over the MU snub will subside. UT got a pretty good win and Michigan beating Florida was really sweet. I know Justin Heap is glad to know that Coach Carr went out a winner at Michigan.

I had my annual physical this morning and other than losing some chest hair (EKG sensors that have to be crazy glued to my chest evidently), all seems normal. I weighed exactly the same and my ekg even looked better this year than last. All the checks and balances seem to be in the good range and the pokes and prods all proved good. My doctor once again told me to just keep doing what I am doing.

I spent a few extra hours in the airport today since the flight to Baltimore was delayed by 3 hours before we finally got off the ground and to this cold place. It was cold in Nashville too so cold is cold where ever you find yourself. I did run 5 this morning and it was pretty darn cold.

I have a meeting in the DC area in the morning and then I head home mid-afternoon. Looks as though 2008 is going to be a good one. Although, Morgan woke up this morning with a stomach ache and blew a little. Seems to be better tonight. And, on another note, dad seems to be doing pretty good. I know that he misses mom but he is handling pretty well right now. Thanks again for praying for my dad.

Happy New Year

Praying God's best for each of you this year!