The Way

Training for the Detroit Marathon began officially for me today. I know the routine and 16 weeks is a long time, but I am looking forward to it. The first official 5-miler today was hot, humid, and finished in a down pour. Running on the trail in Santa Rosa is better than running at home since I am on vacation. Yesterday's drive down was pretty crazy for about an hour driving in one of the heaviest rain storms I have been in in a long time. We did make it safely though. I am gaining some much needed rest and enjoying a week with no brain drain. I am doing some reading and watching Wimbledon right now but that is not overly taxing. Hope to hit the beach in a little while but need it to stop raining and clear off. Not a problem though. I am at the beach, I am not working, and all is good.

I am so ready for vacation. Not that life has been overly crazy or anything, but I am ready to get away. Yesterday we took Shelbi to Union University to get her registered for her fall classes. She ended up with 15 hours and a pretty decent schedule. There were a lot of folks there that we know and quite a few friends of mine from work have students beginning their college career at Union this fall. I did a 6-miler to the Y via the greenway and met Sondra there and then we headed out to Panera for coffee and bagels. What a great time each week we have just catching up with one another and enjoying one another's company. Today we have spent time doing laundry, cleaning the house, bathing the dog, and just generally trying to get everything together so we are ready to leave in the morning. We have friends watching the house for any of you reading this thinking it would be a good time to hit the Turners while they are gone. You would be surprised and disappointed. Dad continues to fe...

I realized that I had not posted since Saturday and my readers must be anxious to hear what all has been going on in our lives (delusions run in my family). All is pretty well. Sunday was a good day of worship and a good nap along with North Carolina losing in the CWS. Fresno St. does seem to be the real deal especially after the 19-10 win over Georgia to force game 3 in the championship. I have to admit that I have been enjoying the college baseball world series. Dad is having a colonoscopy this morning as a follow up to the diverticulitis bout he had about three weeks ago. He did admit on Monday that he was not feeling totally back to normal so I am praying they find out what is going on with his system. Sondra's parents seem to be doing pretty well and her dad is to have another chemo round this week. Please continue to pray for them. All in all he is tolerating the chemo pretty well of which we are grateful. We are headed to Union on Friday to get Shelbi registered for her fres...

Okay, so actually this post is about Friday and Saturday and a little bit of Thursday. Sondra and I got to attend a private screening of Fireproof and I have to tell you that it is really strong. One of the best movies I have seen about protecting and fighting for your marriage. It was very well done. Sherwood Baptist Church does it again. Friday was a full day of work and very productive I might add. We had some good friends, The Drummonds, over for dinner and watched some College World Series. Carolina winning with a grand slam in the ninth was really pretty cool. They are trailing Fresno St. right now though. Come on Carolina. Larry Mizell, sorry about your LSU Tigers. Today I ran 6, met Sondra at the Y, and then we headed to Panera for our Saturday morning time. Big fun of coffee and bagels. My favorite time of the week hands down. We try to do this every Saturday that I am in town. I have to tell you that my wife is just an amazing woman and she is all mine. This afternoon we went...

Just like 1985, the Royals own the Cardinals. Who would have thought that the Royals would sweep the Cards in inter league play. Hard to imagine and harder to believe. My wife and I are headed to a screening of Fireproof tonight. Looking forward to it. Latest word from our parents is that they are doing well. Dad heads home tomorrow from his mission trip. Okay, Tiger is tough but I have heard and seen enough already. Please hear me, "I am a Tiger fan" but enough is enough. And . . . some guys at the YMCA and I have decided to take up a collection and send it to him since he is going to be out of work until next year.

Pretty big fun this weekend watching the US Open. Rocco played like a young man who did not have a care in the world. He worked the ball and the crowd and seemed to enjoy every minute of the championship. Tiger was definitely not up to his usual self. Some of the shots he hit on Sunday, my guess he has not hit that poorly since he was 5 or 6 years old. It was fun golf to watch. Father's Day was good. Sondra fixed me waffles with pecans, strawberries, and bananas. They were awesome. I spoke to the men's group at Gladeville Sunday morning and they were a great group. Helped teach our SS class at New Hope, lunch at Cinco and then Sondra and I headed over to a friend's pool for a couple of hours and then the US Open. It was a good day. Shelbi is still in Mexico but is headed home today and Morgan took care of me with a shirt, shorts and a card made by Shelbi. Big fun all around. Dad is on a mission trip and Sondra's folks seem to be holding their own right now. Please conti...

Okay, so yesterday I took the day off from work, ran 10 miles, and spent four hours finishing the power washing on the deck. Glad that is done. It looks really nice and now I just need it to dry so I can put some sealant on it. What a job! Got to watch Tiger play yesterday on tv and he pretty much dominated the Open. Rougher start again today but maybe trying to get something together now. Sondra and I were supposed to go to the lake today but we are finally getting some rain here so we decided not to go. Morgan loaded up and went but we decided to go see the new Shyamalan movie, The Happening. Pretty average and sort of scary. He sure has not produced anything like The Sixth Sense, Signs or The Village in a long time. I did not see Lady in the Water or whatever that title was because I heard it was pretty stinky. I also started watching the first season of The Office. Sondra watched an episode with me and she laughed until she cried. Tomorrow is Father's Day and I am reminded aga...

I made it back from the SBC in Indy today and some of the flood waters had definitely subsided some but more rain is predicted and it will flood again. The ground is totally saturated so it will not take much to flood again. The convention finished up pretty well I guess. It was great to reconnect with so many folks that I seldom see. Buddies from seminary and ministry opportunities past are all good to see again. It was big fun. Shelbi is doing well in Mexico as far as we know. We got a general report and they all seem to be doing well. Sondra's dad was to have another round of chemo yesterday and I think all is well so far. It is good to be home. I am planning on taking the day tomorrow to finish power washing the deck and then on Saturday we are possibly headed to the lake with some good friends. I look forward to that. Last night three of us from work headed over to Cincy from Indy to see the Cards play the Reds. My first time to be in the Great American Ball Park and it was ni...

I drove to Indy yesterday and will be here until Thursday it seems. Our annual convention is being held here and I have to say that I really like Indy. Pretty clean and easy to get around. Driving up yesterday I got to see firsthand much of the flooding that is taking place. Floodwaters closed I-65 on Sat and part of Sun but had subsided by the time I rolled through. There were a couple of exits closed with some serious water covering the roads however. Barns, houses, fields, crops and irrigation structures were all submerged along the way. It did seem a little ironic to see the irrigation units barely sticking out of the water. I would comment on our convention but there is really not a lot to say. Just praying that we can get back to the main thing being the main thing. It is good to connect with some old friends here though. There is a little 5k race on in the morning that I plan on running if the weather holds. We will see. I have no aspirations of running very fast, just to get in...

This has been a quick week. Dad made it home for the hospital yesterday and is feeling quite a bit better. He is still pretty weak but getting home, having his dog back in the house, and just relaxing has been good for him. Morgan has been in basketball practice and camp this week and tomorrow heads to Austin Peay to be involved in a Rotary Scholars program this weekend. It is a good thing on leadership and will help her resume' look better. Shelbi is enjoying some time off from really any responsibility and is getting ready to head to Mexico next week on missions. Sondra spent the day at the pool today which is really good. She definitely deserves a day off. I continue to work to provide for the family. It is what I do along with getting in a few holes of golf every now and then. I did run 12 miles today and it is really hot in Nashville lately. We have had a couple of 90+ degree days with more coming. We jumped straight to summer it seems. Looking forward to a weekend at home and...

I talked to my dad yesterday and he had been feeling pretty poorly, sort of feverish and his stomach bothering him pretty badly. After I talked to him around 530p, (he had just told me he was feeling better), he drove himself to the hospital feeling very poorly. After tests last night it was determined that dad was pretty sick with diverticulitis (who knows how to spell that stuff) and he would need to be in the hospital a couple of days for strong rounds of antibiotics. If you have time, pray for Charles. Just talked to Sondra and evidently her dad has fallen a couple of times in the last two days. We called to talk to them but they are having severe storms and will need to call them back. Needless to say, thanks so much for praying for our dads.

Prince Caspian on Friday night with Sondra and Morgan. We got a late start, had to sit close to the front, but the movie was really good. Very entertaining but quite a bit added to the book. They did a good job with the story though. Saturday was a 5-miler and it was pretty hot at 8a. I was glad that only 5 was on the docket. I got 40 miles for the week and official training starts June 30. I am headed to Detroit for their marathon on Oct. 19th. Training in the summer is always not so fun, but I need to get one going if I am going to run a marathon this year. My plan is to run a 3:30 and head to Boston next April. We will see how it goes. Sondra and I headed to Providence to do a little shopping and I mostly sat and watched people. Man, people are just fun to watch. Got home and Kevin and Hannah were over for awhile and Kevin and I watched the ultimate fighting stuff in prime time. Actually the girls' fight was the best but the last fight with Kimbo and who ever else was pretty gru...