Jabulani Jonny

I need a fitness goal.  I’ve been reluctant to set any hard goals and deadlines because I’ve been slack in my fitness as of late and I’m fearful of not reaching those goals.  Isn’t that the lamest thing you’ve ever heard?  So I’m spurred on by Los’ RagamuffinTop Challenge. 

I’m inspired by that challenge.  In light of that I’m announcing a goal and training regimen to my blog readers.  To be followed by weekly updates on how I’ve done, where I am in my progress and whether I’ve died along the way. 

To that effect, I want to train for The Atlanta Half-Marathon on Thanksgiving Day following MarathonRookie’s Half-Marathon Training schedule.  I enjoy running, but have always had knee issues so I’m giving myself plenty of time to work out the kinks. 

Here are my current stats & goals:

1.  Current Weight: 193lbs  (yikes)    Goal:  180lbs by Sept 1st

2.  Current Miles/Week: (umm…yeah)    Goal:  26 at the peak of training

3.  Goal:  Run the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day…and live.

So today I got started.  Over the weekend I picked up a new set of Nike+ kicks and the Nike+iPod sensor to let me track my runs and progress.  I started today with a 3 mile run/walk.  I say run/walk ’cause I’ve got to give my knees time to cooperate without falling off.  So here’s to a new leaf and a new challenge.  See you at the finish line. 

Well, not much has been going on this week, hence the lack of posts.  I have been very good about getting up and exercising each morning.  I'm pretty stoked about that.  It's time for me to get back in shape, as I've allowed myself to settle into the banker lifestyle over the last couple of years. 

This Sunday Sunette leaves for a week long course up in Philly.  That means it'll just be me and the boy at the house for the week.  Luckily we've been able to round up some folks to help keep him while I'm at work.  I'm a little nervous with her being gone, but I think we'll have a good time. 

Gotta run, just a quick note as I grabbed my large latte from Fountain City Coffee and head into the office. 

Tonight we had a going away dinner for our great friend, Elizabeth.  Her job, the charity Food for the Hungry, is moving her to Nashville.  I’ve known Lizzie for 10 years.  We had an acoustic trio for several years, playing around the Columbus area and making some great music.  Unfortunately, for some reason none of us can really explain, the trio kinda fizzled.  Danny moved to Baltimore, we all got jobs and things just kinda moved on.  I always long for the synergy that we had in that group, we made some pretty stinkin’ good music.  I might be biased, but I’ll take this opportunity to introduce you to it.  This is Elizabeth, Dave and I when we were taking some shots, planning on "getting the band back together".  Dave is the percussionist, Lizzie’s in the center of course, Danny, who played rhythm, was in Baltimore so he wasn’t in the shot, I played lead and am on the right.   

I’m gonna miss Lizzie and the wonderful music that we made.  So, to honor her, our friendship and the music I’m going to post 13 of our original songs that I recorded several years ago.  That way you can download these tunes to your iPod or whatever and sing along.  Let me give you the background.

A couple of years after we stopped playing together regularly, Danny let us know that he was heading to Baltimore.  We had about 25 original tunes that we had never really recorded and I decided that we would meet at Lizzies cabin, play the songs and record them live, since that was the most true to our nature and the music.  So we met on a Tuesday night, I pressed record on a little Roland VS-1680 recorder and we played through 13 of the songs in an evening, no practice runs.  Just play and record.  I then came back and added bass and percussion to it to fill it out.  The CD is raw and organic.  There are definitely some human elements on there, but I love the tunes.  I think the energy of the group comes across and I don’t think I could replicate that with a studio redo.  So that’s the story, two years of not playing together and we get together to knock out some songs, which is what’s presented here.  I call it Two Years on a Tuesday Night.  I hope you enjoy.

FYI, these files are M4a so if you’re not in iTunes, you’ll need to download a codec pack for Windows Media Player from here.  I’ll also zip these files up in a folder with the album art and make it available in the sidebar for download.  For those using an RSS reader, there are embedded audio files below.  Come on to the site, it won’t hurt.   

Looking Back

February Blues

That last one was about as impromptu as you get.  We couldn’t even remember the words, and it was Danny’s big chance to solo.  It fit perfectly.  I’ll put a link to download the whole album in the sidebar.  Grab your free music and enjoy. 

Elizabeth, I enjoyed making music with you.  I’ll always hear your harmonies when I write.  Godspeed, and here’s to the day when we can play these songs again. 

Spending a lot of time in the hospital has had an interesting effect on me.  I think the effect has been multi-faceted.  I'm not sure if it is a by-product of the stress that we have been under since we found out about Elliot's diagnosis, way back in the 20th week of pregnancy, or if it's just related to not working certain parts of my brain during our long hospital stays. 

For instance, as we were faced with more and more issues to overcome and negative doctor's reports, the more my vocabulary suffered.  Strange I know, but it's true.  I really struggle with getting "stuck" on a word now.  It's a little embarrassing, especially when I have to give a presentation in front of the board of directors for the bank that I work for.  I mean, we're talking the CEO, CFO, COO and everyone else of importance of a publicly traded company and I can't get the word "inventory" out of my mouth.  Instead I'm reduced to saying, "uh, buildings…and uh, infrastructure… moving on…".

That's just one example.  Easy words that I know and use quite often, I can't think of, they elude me and I'm stuck trying to describe the word to someone and it only goes downhill from there.  

In Philadelphia, during our two month stay, I was a voracious cross-word puzzler.  Hoping to keep my mind sharp for when I did go back to work.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure that it worked.  Getting back to work feels like swimming through cotton.  Lovely.

So I'm trying to work through my head issues, but I don't know if I'm seeing much success.  I should read something, a book, not a magazine.  I tried reading "The Invisible Man" at CHOP, but it was lost on me.  I got about half-way through it and got bored.

I'm thinking about The Kite Runner.  Yeah, that sounds good.  However, I don't have it right now….so maybe just one more game of CounterStrike.  

Are you in a mental rut?

It’s going on 6 weeks for us here in Philly.  We’re itching to get home, to our new home that our dear friends have spent hours painting for us and moving us in.  I can’t even think of how we’re going to say thanks to everyone who has contributed. 

There’s a lot that we’re missing about home, but one thing that I’m jonesin for is playing guitar.  Whether it’s playing with my buddy John or playing at church.  I play lead guitar for our church praise & worship band and that’s my primary outlet.  I absolutely love it.  I’d like to think we have a pretty decent band.  In fact, below is a recording I did of a jazzy praise song that our leader Jay Lesley wrote.  He sings and plays acoustic, I’m on electric and a guy named Charles Robinson is on sax.  Charles is amazing, probably the best live sax player I’ve heard, and I’ve heard a few.  Charles should be a full-time musician, that’s what his God given talent is.  So if you’re a famous praise & worship leader, traveling the globe, leading people into God’s presence, and you need a phenomenal sax player.  I know where you can find one. 

This song is called Zephaniah 3:17.  I recorded it back in May and did a rough mix on headphones while I’ve been up here in Philly.  Let me know whatcha think.

…at all.  I’ve been working like a mad fiend hound on finishing our bonus room so we can get the house on the market.  I’ve pretty much been working on it for the last 2 weeks, every day, every spare moment.  Hopefully it’ll be done by this Friday and we can get the house on the market and get moved to Columbus before the baby comes.  Hopefully.

We did have another doctor’s visit this past week to check on the baby.  The news wasn’t great, but we’re still hopeful.  Basically put, when babies are in the mothers womb, there’s a hole in the septum between the upper chambers of the heart that allows blood to mix between the chambers.  The hole is there naturally and closes after birth.  A baby with Hypoplasic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), which is what our baby has been diagnosed with, needs this hole after birth to allow blood to mix and to find its way to the lungs.

Well on Wednesday we found out that this hole is much smaller than it needs to be and there’s no blood mixing back and forth.  That’s not good.  It means that there will probably have to be an emergency procedure done on the baby immediately after birth.  They will have to go in and put in a heart catheter to open that hole to allow blood to flow back and forth until they can go in and do the first of the three heart surgeries to repair the HLHS. 

We’re defying odds here.  Out of 100 babies born, 1 might have congenital heart defects, which might be a heart murmur or it might be HLHS.  HLHS is probably one of the rarest of the congenital heart defects, and probably the most dangerous, from what I can tell.  Out of 100 HLHS babies born, maybe 10 have this obstructed atrial septum, which is what we found out on Wednesday.  So if it is rare and dangerous, we’ve got great odds for it.  In fact I’m thinking our odds are pretty good at birthing some kind of rare rattlesnake, that seems to be the way the odds are going.

Look, I’ve never been overly outspoken on my Christian faith on this site, but we’re really having a hard time with all of this.  Where is God?  We’ve prayed for 4 years for a healthy baby.  We’ve prayed every day for this baby we currently have.  What’s going on?  It feels as if he’s absent, just standing by.  I know for you non-believers out there you’re probably saying, "see…told ya."  However, I’ve seen too many acts of divine intervention to write God off.  My dad was miraculously healed of terminal cancer overnight, after praying for healing.  So…I kinda can’t just disregard that.

But I’m not seeing God in this.  I’m not seeing purpose in this, and I’m having a hard time.  If this baby doesn’t make it, I’ll have a very hard time defending God to those that don’t believe.  This is our trial, our struggle, our Lazarus, and if something doesn’t happen….it just wouldn’t be good.  So, that’s me being honest, saying the things you’re not supposed to say as a Christian.

As a Christian, you’re supposed to say, "it’s dark, but I know God’s light is gonna shine","I know God has a purpose for all of this", "I’ll have faith in His sovereignty".   I’m not saying that and I don’t really need to hear that from other people. 

So God, here’s your chance to do something huge, something that’s unexplainable.  There are tons of people praying for this baby and tons more awaiting the outcome.  What’s it gonna be?

to me.  I know that last post made it sound like I was bummed at my job.  I'm really not, it was just an interesting observation  I thought. 

Anyway, today's my B-day.  My wife has given me a wonderful gift.  Some of my favorite memories are the fly-fishing trips I get to take with my buddy Carl from Callaway Gardens.  If you didn't know, I'm a contract fly-fishing guide for Callaway.  I used to work there full time back in the day and Carl and I became fast friends.  He's an amazing guy and I really treasure the trips we get to take.  It only seems to happen once a year unfortunately.  

Well last year he and I took an amazing trip to Unicoi Outfitters in North Georgia for some trophy trout fishing.  Carl was going to be writing a magazine article specifically on Unicoi Outfitters and the fishing they provide.  I was the lucky guy that got to tag along and be photo fodder for print.  Needless to say, it was one of the best two days I've had in my life.  Amazing locations, amazing fish and amazing people.  

I was going to insert a pic here of a huge brown trout I caught last time, but alas, I'm posting from work and I'm behind a corporate firewall that won't let me upload the pic.  Doh. 

Well this morning I awoke to breakfast in bed and a card.  In the card was one of the best gifts I've ever gotten.  A voucher for 2 days of fishing with Carl on trophy trout waters guided by Unicoi Outfitters.  Holy mama-sita.  That is a phenomenal gift.  I'd take that anyday over some toy or gadget, and that's saying alot if you know me.  

So, thanks hon!  You're a wonderful bride and……..

mother-to-be.  You read that right folks.  We've got #1 on the way.  August is the time when life forever changes.  I hinted at some changes several weeks ago, so now full disclosure.  We're about 18 weeks along.  Your thoughts and prayers are coveted.  

So I guess that's two birthday presents.  I'm a lucky guy.  

Back in 2001 I had just finished a CD and was working as a fly-fishing guide/singer-songwriter.  Sunette and I had been married for a year.  I was making no money and providing no security.  I remember a day when I took my truck to get fixed at a downtown garage.  As I was sitting in their lobby looking out the window I saw a young guy and 3 young ladies walking down the sidewalk.  They were all dressed in business attire, guy in a tie and long-sleeve shirt, ladies in business suits or skirts.  I looked at that guy and envied him.  That looked like such a great place to be, going somewhere, professional, secure. 

That was 6 years ago.  I’m that guy.  I work downtown, wear a tie everyday, have security.  I’m a commercial lender for a large bank in the southeast.  Kind of in the cat-bird seat as far as future advancement.  So, what do I think now that I’m here? 

Well, the security is nice, I’ll admit.  However, I lose my purpose when I walk through the door every morning.  Unless I look at my purpose as being to provide for my family, which I guess that kinda is my purpose.  Atleast a part of it. 

So, was there ever a moment that defined where you are right now?

Well, we’re 14 days into January and already this year looks to be shaping up nicely.  There are things going on behind the scenes that I can’t delve into right now.  Give me about a week and I can reveal details.  Suffice to say that 2007 is going to be a year of change and excitement. 

I haven’t spoken much about it on my blog, but I’m involved with a small company by the name of Zelosport.  My step-father invented a board game called Finger Football about 15 years ago, which was based off the old school-house game of paper football.  This idea was shelved for several years, until about 3 years ago it was reborn and given new life.  Spud, my step-dad, had been looking for the proper material to make the football field out of.  It used to be a hard field and that just wouldn’t work, for packaging and shipping reasons.  Well he discovered a material that has no memory and lets you roll up the football field into a tube.  Perfect.

Since then, the game has picked up steam.  We are now in several hundred retail locations in the northeast like Modell’s.  We are online at Toys-R-Us.  We also were on Home Shopping Network in December and sold out of 500 games in about 5 minutes.  I say all that to convey how much excitement is building everyday I see this thing evolve. 

Well this week was a major evolution.  We’ve gone from one employee, my step-dad has been doing this full-time for a year, to three.  Holy cow.  2007 is going to see big things from Zelosport.  Three will promote exponential growth and I can’t wait to see what happens. 

Alright, so that’s two things, kinda, for 2007; one’s still under wraps.  A couple more things, one of my best friends ever, like a brother, is moving back to town.  Eric, at Double3, is coming back to C-town after being in Atlanta for several years.  He and I were close friends in high school, went to college together and have been involved with Zelosport together.  He’s all the design stuff guy.  So that makes this year good.

And another thing…another of my close friends, John, is moving back from B-ham.  John and I are old guitar playing junkies.  From high school, through college.  We get to see each other about twice a year and play guitar until the weee hours of the morning.  Well no more.  He’s back in C-town as well and we will be seeing much more of each other. 

So there you have it.  If 2007 of my life were going to be a wine, you’d wanna get this year.  I’m not sure what I’d call my wine though if my life were the juice of the grape.  Although I’m not big on white wines I’d say this year is shaping up to be a big robust, fruity white.  Whatever that shakes out to be.  So pour up a big glass of ChamPayne, let it roll on the tongue, take a big breath through the nose to let the bouquet linger and enjoy what 2007 has in store. 

I'm not sure how many of you listen to public radio, but I've been listening for probably 6 years. One main reason is that Sunette and I don't have cable and my commute has ranged from 50 minutes to 30 minutes since 2000. That leaves plenty of time to listen.

Well, one of my favorite shows on NPR came on Sunday nights and was called "This American Life". Some of you may be avid listeners, but those that haven't heard it…let me introduce you to my favorite podcast. I haven't been much into podcasts since I got my 60gb 5g iPod back in January. However, I've discovered some great home recording podcasts and this little gem.

"This American Life" is an hour long show where they pick a topic and then basically do a radio documentary in 3 acts on that topic. For instance, one of my favorite shows is one they did on Hamlet. They found a maximum security prison where a group of prisoners where doing a drama presentation of Hamlet. Some of these guys were in for murder and all kinds of stuff. The guy that played Hamlet was in for murder and his thoughts on playing a murderer, as a murderer where just riveting. I know that sounds like a heavy subject, but this show does an amazing job of interjecting very funny elements, then completely dropping a serious bomb on you.

So, go grab the podcast from here , or use iTunes and search "This American Life". This is fantastic and enlightening entertainment. Join the club.