Some days are better than others!

     Thursday hit us with a breath of fresh air, literally, as it finally cooled off to a comfortable temperature over night!  We are both preparing ourselves for a busy weekend as Kelli's off to Great Falls Friday night for her old college roommates bachelorette party, and I am off to Kalispell for the annual MDM golf scramble.  She's coming over to meet me Saturday morning and we're going to spend the rest of the weekend enjoying the Flathead valley.
     In light of the fact that I'm not getting any younger along with the fact that the first 25 years of my life were spent as a human test dummy, I have been doing yoga each morning before work for about three weeks now.  It seems to be helping as not only do I head off for work physically refreshed but I also seem to be much more relaxed and ready for what the day is going to throw my direction.  In my line of work this is a good attitude to have as my day can literally go to shit in a second!  Today was off to a better start than usual however as when I got off the interstate there was a transient on the corner, as there always is, but instead of the usual plea for money, work, or food this guys cardboard sign simply read "smiles are free".  He was cheerfully waving and smiling at every single car that passed him by.  As I passed him I smiled back in return and kept on going, smiling and driving!  I don't know what kind of cheer this man had in his smiles but it was certainly contagious, I kept smiling nearly the rest of the way to the shop!
     My day of cheer continued as my first stop for the day was a leak under a kitchen sink of a little old ladies house.  The repair was fairly simple and she sat there watching me work and chatting the whole time.  This is one of the perks of my job as I'm kind of chatty kind of guy who's never met a stranger:)  Once the repairs were done I filed out her paperwork and she began to write out a check for the work.  The total bill was less than a hundred bucks but when her daughter asked her if she was going to have me look at her toilet issue the mother said she was not as she couldn't afford to have it done this trip.  Naturally I asked her as she finished writing out the check what the problem was with the toilet, turns out she accidentally flushed a toe nail brush of some kind down it and now it was clogged.  She went on to tell me how a friend of hers recommended she try bending a metal clothes hanger and fishing it down the toilet to try to unplug it.  Now I don't know if you've ever tried getting a clothes hanger down around a toilet trap before but it is nearly impossible!
     When she handed me the check I told her "I'll tell you what, why don't you sign the bottom of your invoice here and while your doing that I'll grab my closet auger from the truck and fix that toilet quick, it will take me two minutes with the right tool"  She literally started crying and simply said "are you sure, I don't want to trouble you".  I told her it wasn't a problem, grabbed my auger, and had the toilet cleared out in about two minutes.  She was so happy she started crying again!  I told her she should be good to go now and she asked me if it would be alright for her to give me a hug, I told her of course it is and three hugs later I was out the door and on my way to the next one.  I told her it was my pleasure to take two minutes out of my day to make her day, she fought back more tears as she told me I made her month!
     And just like that the smile that the man off the interstate had given me was right back on my face!  I love helping people out like this as I understand as much as anyone how sometimes the smallest acts of kindness can be all it takes to turn your day around.  I know its people like this lady who remind me that my job isn't as bad as I like to make it sound at times!  I only hope that I wasn't the only person who received a free smile this morning and passed it along throughout the entire day!


Remember, the smallest action will often bring the largest reward!

Weekend fun!

Kelli and I took advantage of our only free weekend in the next month by simply relaxing and enjoying some of the fine summer activities our town has to offer! Between golf tournaments, camping trips, and weddings our month of August is packed full of traveling weekends so these two days felt very relaxing!
We visited her parents down in Stevensville and checked out their recently finished yard, the house they bought didn't have one at all so they gave the place a much needed turn around with about 10000 square feet o sod! Kelli and I lucked out and they had just enough sod leftover to resold our yard where we has to dig up our sewer line last winter! So we hauled that back home and got one of our small projects finished.
The highlight of our weekend however was attending the outdoor cinema on the north side! They showed Office Space which is a hilarious movie, and there's something extra special about watching a movie under the stars!
All together it was a fantastic weekend full of rest and relaxation. I know well have tons of fun on the road in the weeks to come but there's something to be said about spending a good quality couple of days doing as little as possible!

Remember, life is measured by the moments that take away your breath!

My how time flies!

     Yesterday was the one day out of the year in which I get the privilege of doing whatever I want, my birthday!  Ever since turning 25, each birthday just feels like another year for me, this one however carries some significance as I turned 35.  I have been reflecting all week on all of the things that have changed for me in the last ten years and try as I might to take this birthday just like the previous ones, as just another day, I can't help but think of how quickly time flies!  It seems as though just yesterday I was a lost young man, in desperate need of some guidance.  When I think of all of the events in which have been included in this change I cannot help but feel exceptionally blessed!  
     Many of you who knew me ten years ago probably would have made a pretty good sized pocket move that I may not live to see 35.  I know that sounds harsh but I understand now more than anyone just how messed up things had gotten for me.  My daily life is consumed with constant reminders of where I have been in this journey we call life, from check ups with my Dr. for the ear surgeries I had, to the scars on my neck that I reveal each time I shave.  Every time I encounter one of these reminders my mind flashes back, replaying the highlights of the past ten years, which always brings a warm smile to my face!  
     So when Kelli asked me how I wanted to spend my day I chose going to the baseball game with our friends Bryant and Hailey, of course this included some ice cream at the stadium!  While sitting there last night in near perfect temperatures, in the company of the most beautiful girl in the world along with two of our closest friends, enjoying a cup of Coldstone ice cream, I felt like the luckiest man alive!  I know I use this sentence quite often to describe myself, but I truly do feel as though I am!  When I think about all of the blessings I have been given, in what I often refer to as my second lease on life, I don't know how I could feel any other way.   


Remember, we are all only as old as we behave:)  I know it's a common saying but it is so true!

Luckiest man alive!!

     There is a good chance that I have become the luckiest man on the Earth!  So far 2012 has been a fantastic year for our family and it looks like it's only going to get better!  A couple weeks ago you may remember from reading this that Kelli and I along with a couple friends of ours bought tickets to go see my beloved Cowboys play the Seahawks in Seattle.  We're both super excited about this trip, for not just the game but to take in Seattle as well. Being married to a die hard Cowboys fan can be a bit overwhelming at times, such as when I'm studying game film two days before a home game, waiting for coach Garrett to call me and ask my opinion.  Because of patterns like this it is inevitable that Kelli would become a Cowboys fan as well, little by little she becomes more and more of a fanatic like me, I even caught her yelling at the TV a few times last season!
     So on Sept. 16th be sure to watch for the balding blond guy half way up the North endzone completely covered in blue and white body paint, it will likely be hard to tell but thats me!  With as much fun as this game will be it just got trumped tonight by the Action man!
     On Dec. 2nd, which happens to be Sunday night football, we will be in Cowboys stadium to watch the home team clobber the Eagles!!  Our seats haven't been locked in yet but one thing you can count on when attending an event with VIP Action, they will be good!!  I have always wanted to go to a home game in Arlington and sit amongst all of the fellow fans and soak up the entire experience, the fact that it's going to happen is still a little surreal!  And man does Action know how to pick a game, every year the Philly game late in the season has alot ridding on it as far as playoff hopes go, I can only imagine what the atmosphere will be like for Sunday night football in primetime!!  Basic english cannot explain to you how excited I am for this game!  
     I told Kelli this evening, "do you realize we're now going to attend more Cowboys football games this season than Griz games!?"  She laughed and said, "yeah thats because the Cowboys tickets are easier to obtain!"  Anyone who has tried to attend a Griz home game knows what she means!  So with two Cowboys games on the schedule for this fall and an entire summer of fun yet to be had, I'd say the Mayans can believe what they want, if I can somehow squeeze a round of golf in Northern Ireland by Dec. 21st I'd be ready for the world to end:)


Remember, keep your dreams alive, someday they just may come true:)!

Pegged!!

     Missoula, MT is no different than any where else in the country right now as we are struggling to make it through this heat wave!  Kelli and I have only lived here for two summers, but during that time we had never seen the dreaded triple digits until today!  Well at least according to the temperature gauge in my pick-up, which read 101, we all know the level of accuracy in vehicles is not perfect but for the sake of argument I'm saying it was a hundred today!  It felt like 200 to this kid!  I find that when your gene pool consists of a portion of James river valley DNA, that one does not require thermometers to decipher the temperature outside, we simply use what I like to refer to as the sweatometer.  You see all of us that have this genetic make up have the ability to sweat our own weight in fluid on any given day.  It seems as though I sweat every single day of the year, the only change being the amount, though most days are rather mild, some are rather damp!
     Today was one of those days where my sweatometer was pegged!  I went to a job this morning around 10:00 where there was a pinhole leak in a copper line on a water heater.  Under normal circumstances this would be a relatively easy fix, cut out the hole, replace it with new pipe, and I'm done.  Well this water heater was heated by a boiler, sparring you all a lengthy paragraph on how an indirect water heater operates I'll just tell you that the boiler fed a 10 unit apartment buildings hot water and continued to run the entire time I was making the repair.  This meant that while it was already warming up into the mid 80's outside, it was nearly sauna temperatures inside!  Any water that ended up on the floor of the room evaporated almost at a visible rate!  I worked as fast as I could but murpheys law was in effect and everything that could go wrong did go wrong, making what should have been a 20 minute fix take nearly an hour!
     When I finally finished and stepped outside, the perspiration had completely taken over occupancy of every dry piece of fabric on my shirt.  I briefly thought about faking an injury just so I could spend a few minutes in an air conditioned waiting room!  This thought vaporized though just as quickly as the water on the floor and I headed down the road to the next job.  
     There are a few days every summer when I cannot wait to get home to take a cold shower and slip into a pair of shorts while I wait for the sun to disappear behind the mountains so things can cool back off.  I often find myself thinking during the apex of one of these days that I would make a really good eskimo!  But then who am I kidding, six months from now this blog will be talking about the cold weather blues and how I'm convinced I could make a pretty good Hawaiian!  So tomorrow I better just go prepared and take an extra shirt to get me through the afternoon!  I hope you all are able to keep your sweatometers in check during our little heat spell, and if your one of those lucky people who just doesn't sweat not matter how hot it gets, please don't tell me how much you like the hot weather, I may just let you read my sweatometer and give you a big hug around 2:30 in the afternoon!


Remember, you can only remove so many clothes to stay cool before you run out and are no longer allowed in public places, you can always put more on to stay warm:)

Oh so close!

     As you all know Americas birthday was yesterday and we took advantage of having the day off and perfect weather conditions to float a section of the Blackfoot river with our friends Bryant and Hailey.  The cloudless skies and mid 70's temperature made for a wonderful day of floating and of course I brought my fishing gear along for the trip and made another attempt to land my first fish on a fly rod.  I enjoy going with Bryant because it seems like I learn something new every time, he's like having a guide along with you, maneuvering his raft perfectly into position to accommodate my lack luster casting abilities.  After an hour or so on the water we were having no luck with the fish so we stopped for a picnic lunch in a bend and soaked up some vitamin D.

     As we continued down the river, Bryant had me tie on a streamer in an attempt to lure a big brown trout out of his lair for a lunch of his own.  Moments after switching to the streamer I had a nice fish come after the fly but didn't hit it, just seeing the flash of colors swoop at the fly though got my heart racing a bit and had me trying even harder to place the streamer in the perfect spot.  About a mile down river from our lunch stop I casted the streamer next to the bank and stripped it into a shelf of deep water behind a rock, it was attacked instantly and the fight was on!  I had a bunch of line out from stripping in the streamer so I let the fish slowly take it out while Bryant worked at getting the raft stopped and the net ready.  As the fight continued he darted towards the front of the boat, coming nearly out of the water and flashing all of us in the boat before heading into deeper water.  My line tightened up as soon as he got to the front of the boat and he began making a run downstream, when all of the slack had ran out my drag was set too tight on my reel and in a slit second he had discarded my streamer and was gone.  I was literally shaking with excitement as our boat continued down the river and we all replayed the action.
     I have no idea how big he was, the girls and Bryant all said he was big, I know he felt like he weighed 30 pounds!  Bryant often tells me about a big fish in the Blackfoot that has eluded him many times he refers to as Walter, I now have my own elusive friend in the mighty Blackfoot, Carl.  

     
     That pretty much ended our fishing action and we floated the rest of the way relaxing as much as possible.  We followed our day on the river with a fun bbq back at our house with our float crew and Kelli's parents.  A small fire after dinner kept us cozy after the sun went behind the mountains as we watched a few of the neighborhood fireworks display.  The only time my mind could stop thinking about Carl was when the boom of a firework would startle me into looking up!  When the fireworks came to a stop and we finally settled into bed I couldn't help but think about getting back on the river.  I drifted asleep with visions of a big cutthroat turning back and smiling at me on his way down the river, the look on his face telling me thanks for the fight, better luck next time.  We will meet again Carl, oh yes, we will meet again!

Remember, a bad day chasing fish on the river is still better than a good day at work!:)

America's team is visiting Seattle!

    Last weekend we took advantage of having the Dobsons living on this end of the state by carpooling with them to Kelli's cousin Nichole's wedding in Bozeman.  It was a very brief but fun trip as we got the chance to catch up with many of Kelli's family members as well as a few of our Eastern Montana friends.  After the reception a few of us had a pool party back at one of the hotels where I sat in the hot tub sharing some stories with Kelli's cousins, molding the minds of the future:)  It was a really fun weekend and I can't wait until the next time we all can get together!
     Our good time this weekend was capped off by going over to our friends, Bryant and Hailey's, for a pizza dinner on the patio followed by purchasing tickets to the Cowboys game in September over in Seattle!  When this seasons schedule came out I immediately became excited as the 'boys only come to Seattle every few years.  They play the 16th of September and we will be there!!  I should be easy to spot on TV as our tickets are in the lower end of the "hawks nest" in the North endzone, I can't imagine there will be too many Cowboys fans in that section!  I haven't seen my team play since the Christmas game Action took us to in Arizona back in '94 I believe, I'm not sure of the exact year but I know I'm close.  Ticket prices have changed slightly since then as we put all four of them on one credit card and the grand total was nearly more than one of my paychecks!  I looked at this and wondered how anyone could take their kids to a game anymore!  Our hotel is conveniently located across the street from the hotel that the Cowboys are expected to stay at, don't forget I'm a fanatic, we know these things, so I told Kelli to bring some extra bail money as there is a pretty decent chance that I will get tackled by Damarcus Ware while trying to snag Tony Romos autograph!  She simply requested that I go after Jason Wittens signature instead, her favorite player, making the bail money worth it!
     Wether I go to jail or not one things for sure we will have a fantastic time!  Neither one of us has been to Seattle, other than the airport, so the trip will be fun in many ways!  The only problem with booking this trip now is it's all I can think about and we still have an entire summer of fun planned!  We will surely enjoy each day of the countdown, one at a time!  75 days to go!:)


Remember, it's okay to act like a kid again at any age:)