Tubing

We hit a patch of good luck in the middle of this too warm weather. The whole crew with Big Al and Pop went snow tubing. Now tubing is one fo the funnest things you can do. It is also kind of scary.
We hit the jackpot though:

1)New runs that are extra fast
2)Snow melted and the refroze--ice like extra fast
3)Our runs carried us to the bottom and then accross the rocks at the bottom and half way to the fence.

So we had the longest, fastest runs ever. "Chance favors the prepared mind".

Hell,through a child's eyes

So I got a small vision of hell or as I like to think of it, my ultimate future.
I got up this AM a little later than usual and went for swim training. Now Holidays are a little wacky because I have to negotiate the master's swimmers (too fast for me), the family swim (too much pee for me) and , lastly, the water aerobics class.

The water aerobics presents several challenges. First they take up a bunch of lanes. Second the actually work out while wearing sunglasses and clutching Gucci bags. Third, there is always one wearing the swim cap with the floppy strands coming off the the skull (Ala Esther Williams). Finally, they often rotate in a circle and create massive, tsunami like waves that have been known to toss lap swimmers out of their lanes.

Now its great that they are out there and I, myself, can also be a horrifying site but this is more than a man can take...

So today as I was finishing my mile, the class began to set up.

As I glanced over to the bench, I saw a young boy who had been brought by his mother and was being made to watch and wait for the completion of the class. Is there anything a kid would want to do less? Then I realized, this is what hell might be like. In the words of Joseph Conrad, "The Horror. The Horror".

I think I will ride my bike tomarrow.

What Have I learned? Patience and Persistence

We went to see Santa Saturday. Now we usually go down to Carew Tower to see Santa. This is as close to a tradition as my ADD mind can come to. Why Carew Tower?
1)It is downtown. We are downtown kind of people, so that makes this the "real Santa".
2)We go to lunch afterwards.
3)Carew Tower was the model for the Empire State Building, so we pretend we are in NYC.

Now, many of you also know that I have evolved over the years. I have moved from a kind of general belief that things will work out to a third reich kind of event planning. For instance, the man who once moved from Mass. to Pgh, into a fourth story apartment, with the idea that I would arrive and "hire" some kids from the local basketball court to move me in now, that very same man, loads the kid's gear in individualized baggies, complete with back up gloves, in order to hit the slopes exactly at the first lift for two hours of skiing, followed by premade, customized lunches at 11:30 and a trip home for nap at 1:15. You know, that guy.

The plan was ,Santa starts at 10 am according to researched website. We will arrive at 10:30, thereby showing how relaxed we are. Quick talk with Santa, of course, I had the kids practice ahead of time. Who will be in downtown Cincinnati on an early am? 10:55--we leave Santa and casually stroll around the ice rink. 11:25--arrive for our lunch reservation at Palomino and beat the crowd so that we are guaranteed a window seat.

So what did we find:

1)11:10 Santa arrives
2)Santa works with ONE (1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1)-twelve year old kid who sets up the picture, takes the pictures,prints the picture, sells the pictures and organizes the line. Kind of like a McDonalds with one employee for fries, shakes etc
3)People at the front of the line with vouchers that let them go to the head of the line because they got turned away last night
4)Line down the entire length of the hallway
5)Did I mention the kids?
6)Notice in the picture that red eye reduction only partially works for Sanata

But you know what, it was great.

1)Got to meet the guy in line behind us
2)Saw some kids get their picture taken
3)Chance for us to be together
4)Chance to teach the kids that you can't plan for everything and you need to be "Semper Gumby".
5)Got to do fun stuff like make a mad dash for a double potty break and still get back to the line before our turn.

I would not have been so patient in the past. I would not have been so persistent in the past. Traithlon requires both of these attributes and they just might help life a little.

Ok truth be told, we were still earlier than most folks and actually started near the front, As for the folks in the back of the line-- I understand many of them converted to Judaism and Islam after a fight broke out between two families that were contemplating conversion (?) to Buddhism.

Lisa is Outstanding in Her Field

I feel my comedic talents are being underappreciated. Let me explain and you decide.

The other day I pulled off a joke. Lisa had a routine appointment at the doctor's office. She actually forgot her original appointment a week earlier which is a great sign--We now have the luxury of forgetting.

So she went to her new appointment. I was working nearby and decided to suprise her by being there--We now have the luxury of not needing me to translate medical talk. There is no need to translate, "You're fine! Get out of here".

So I showed up ahead of her and sat in the waiting room. She was a little late because she was sending me a paging voicemail from the parking lot (Remember she thinks I am somewhere else) with some additional Christmas suggestions.
So she walks in and signs in. Remember this is an oncology office with all kinds of oncology things around including the obligatory, "help complete a puzzle " table. So she turns around and the first thing she sees is me, listening to her voicemail and shaking my head, NO , in a modified cartoonish nature.

I thought this was brilliant but Lisa thought it was only moderately funny. My contention is that Lisa has grown too accustomed to my jokes and is now taking them for granted.

My case

1)Joke required set up and planning
2)Joke was a "sight gag"--generally recognized as one of the highest level of joke
3)Pulled off a joke in an oncologist's office without getting thrown out
4)Used Lisa's own action, the voicemail, as part of the punchline
5)Joke was a new variation on the classic , "husband turning down wife's request to spend more money" genre.

You be the judge.

Get up and running

I am having trouble getting back up to blogging speed. For instance, it looks like it makes a difference if you put in www.teambigwave.blogspot.com vs http://teambigwave.blogspot.com.
Oh well I will get is all straightened out.
So I talked to my coach, Walter, this week. Wait let me back up. I actually have a zillion coaches. It takes a whole drama to get me going. For new readers it includes:

Walter-Tri Coach
Marcus-Nutrition
Barb-Swimming
Nick-Strength
Bob-Head TNT coach

Anyway (s), Walter is trying to get me back on track. Like always he has a plan and it actually involves me doing a little less racing than planned but more training and weight loss. I do well with coaches because I want to please them but I need to figure out how to motivate myself.

The Christmas Pageant Pain

Since we were discussing pain, I thought I would go to the Christmas Pageant.
So Christopher and his kindergarten class had their Christmas Pageant today. A classic with all the great holiday trappings--kids mumbling into microphones, line cues from the teacher and wacky costumes. Well that's a little bit of an exageration.
Actually the play was amazing. The kids are really talented and have stage savy like little DeNiros. I was impressed.
But I was most impressed that we all made it there. Lisa, me, Andrew, Christopher --along with Gerry, Ginger and Chase. What pain did we all go through to arrive at this pageant? Lisa most obviously and the rest of us by extension. But it makes the situation more valuable and more real.
So our Team in Training season begins and our goal is to reduce pain. To raise money so that others will not suffer in the future and so that some will suffer less in the present. That's why the pain is good--it is a manifestation of our will to live and our will to do good.
Ok I like the pain. I'd prefer not to throw up but if I have to......
Stay tuned and we''ll keep you up to date. Oh and once I get back in the flow--the blog gets really funny and wacky.

Ad Altiora Natus

Don't look now!

We're Back......
Time to kick off the 2007 season. We have a lot planned for this year. To start off, we have 5 people headed for St. Anthony's triathlon in April.

So tonight I was talking to Walter who helps me get ready for all of this. I have some big plans for 2007 and I will unveil thm soon. But for now, all I can think about is PAIN.

The pain helps me--the pain scares me. This season is going to be Mucho Grande.

The pain reminds me to do some things today to help myself tomarrow. I like the pain.

Remember, 500 years of peace and prosperity brought Switzerland the cuckoo clock. We need some kind of pressure to transform ourselves and to help others.

Teambigwave is off and running-come along