Day 86: I consider my self, the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

Today has been a good day. No, wait; today has been a GREAT day. It has been one of those, things just went perfect, I am glad that I was born, God is good kind of days.

It started this morning at 0748. I got this new Timex, Indiglo, travel alarm clock. I slept in last Saturday and didn’t want to do that again so I spent $7.95. Because the clock is new, I wasn’t sure how long the snooze button would delay the inevitable. It turns out four minutes. Which sucks because you can’t really get back to sleep in that amount of time and it also means I have hit the button about 12 times to get my needed pre-get-out-of-bed-hitting-the-snooze-waking-up time. This morning I only hit the snooze four maybe three times. So just after 0800, I hobbled out of bed.

Hobbled because my body had rejected any sort of movement this morning. It went on strike because of the additional exertion it endured yesterday. Something came over me and I decided that yesterday was the day I start my exercise. The early afternoon included a short run, about five minutes worth, and then some push-ups and that is it. The real problems of today were caused by the futball game yesterday evening with the kids. After club, Corrigan asked me to join the kids. I would have regardless. It is no fair that my body has to be subjected to the same physical breakdowns of this fallen world. I would much prefer it to stay in line with my heart and mind and never grow past the age of 22. It also didn’t help that there were some girls playing that needed impressing so I was forced, force I tell you, to put on a good show.

This morning, I literally had to drag my sorry butt out of bed. My left knee wouldn’t bend because I pulled something in my hinter (that is German for butt). Both of my feet need a serious massage due to the cheap, none supportive, shoes I bought for a great price last Saturday. My right thigh is killing me, both groin muscles prevent any sort of normal walking, and my lower back feels so weak that I can’t pick up more than 10 kilos. My hammies are screaming at me. My ITBs need a good stretch and to top it all off, I think I twisted my ankle for like the two thousandth time. I really could use a 90-minute full body massage from Pam back at Green Lake Massage.

After the game, Megan, Jen, Randy, Austin, and I went out for ice cream. It was worth it because Meg game me some of Tom’s prescription Motrin, 800 mg ibuprofen.

I compromised with my body and promised that I would never do that to it again. Don’t tell it I lied. It allowed me to function enough to get out of the house and over to Chris’s office. I didn’t have much to do because I was picking up a couple guys at 1200, so I went outside and soaked up some rays while reading II Thessalonians. It was so exciting because I think I actually understood a little of what Paul was saying. Usually, I read a book of the Bible and have no clue what is going on. I can pull out the simple things; love one another; abstain from sexual immorality. It is the bigger, deeper things that fly completely over my head. But this morning I think I got it. Paul was encouraging the Thessalonians in their faith. He wanted to make clear that Jesus hadn’t come back and that they still need to live and work here on this earth. There is more, but that is the basic idea. I was pretty excited about that understanding because for weeks now, I have been reading the word with much confusion.

At 1200, I picked up Josh and Kyle and we headed back to the Swope’s for some Axis and Allies. If you have never played that game, it is awesome; my favorite game of all time. I won’t try to explain the game, just trust me; it is great. One unique thing about the game is that it is complicated so all participants have to be rather skilled or it just isn’t fun. The last time I played before today, I whipped up on Brent Rollins, three straight games. Today was different. Josh and Kyle were worthy foes.

It was two on one, me versus them. I was the allied powers, which I admit has the advantage in the game. It started off well and I started to think that it was going to be another easy day; maybe we would get in more than one game. But right as Germany was on its last breath, Japan pulled a fast one and obtained this super powerful technological advantage. Three hours into it, I had the game wrapped up, but then the tide began to change. I spent the next three hours battling for my life and was very close to throwing in the towel. There wasn’t much hope. Times were desperate. I was forced to put my full mental abilities into the game and finally I figured out the necessary strategy that allowed me to eek out a W. Kyle and Josh said that, despite the loss, it was the greatest game they had ever played. I would agree. We will play again.

With the game over, I drove the two back to Kyle’s place and then returned home for the evening. I had to stop and make plans for the weekend, it will include swimming, but it was important that I get home quickly because I had a cheesecake to prepare.

Let me go back for a second. As you guys know, I have never been a big fan of that thing people call “a job”. Job just sounds bad to me and that is why it has been a good five years since my last real one. Knowing that I must be productive, I have been looking for a compensating activity that doesn’t include work. I have found it. Today I spent 6 hours working, and working hard. The time spent with Kyle and Josh fell right in line with the “job” description of my current assignment. This is awesome; I get to do what I would do without any prodding, and I can even call it work. Life is perfect and that is the real reason today has been so grand. I have definitely found my calling.

Of course my realist father had to bring me back to “real” life and point out that all of what I did today was good but there is a lot more to this line of “work”. He pointed out a lot of the down sides to what I will be doing. Thanks dad. I know all of those things, but today, right now, life is good.

The evening was awesome too. I am preparing dinner tomorrow. The main dish is stuffed peppers. I also prepared dessert. I made my favorite cheesecake recipe and was actually in the cooking process at the beginning of this blog. Since then I have pulled them out of the oven and, much to my dismay, they are over cooked. The stupid German stoves have yet to cook anything right for me. The temperature is not right; the heating is uneven; they just don’t work. There is nothing I can do about that now, except complain, but hopefully, even over cooked, they will taste decent. Either way, my day has not been ruined.

Now, I must get some sleep. I mentioned in my previous post that Adam instructed me on how to reply to emails. Unfortunately, it is way late, and I am way tired. I don’t imagine that I will have much time tomorrow to respond, but I will give it the old college try. If not, then definitely Saturday… after swimming.

Until then and tomorrow.
Jason