the things you choose to be

This story is a couple of years old – but if you’ve never seen it, it’s definitely worth the view.

ESPN also did a story on Jason.  You can see it here

We got to hang out last weekend with some of our favorite people.  The Ferros and the soon to be Vickerys drove down to spend time with us in OK.  Joses and Julianne came to the B&B to hang and actually got engaged while they were there!  It is a pretty magical place.  Even more so now that I don’t work there   If you live in OK or if you’re driving through OK sometime I’d encourage you to stay – you can check out the website at lindleyhouse.com – I recommend the honeymoon suite.  Make sure and tell them Clint sent you.

For the weekend Joses and JuJu helped us move the last of our stuff into our new home in Mesta Park.  Josh and the Swiss Miss arrived later that night.  On Saturday we took them to the Bricktown Canal which I’ve previously posted about here.  We also went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial.  It is a very meaningful and captivating experience.  The Memorial in and of itself is worth a trip to OKC.  The museum is a must even though it costs $10 a person.  It was worth every penny (especially since Joses paid for it).  Visit the museum and then walk outside to the memorial.  You need a solid 2 hours to really get the full experience.

Yesterday was weird.  I went to lunch with a friend.  He had had some medical problems recently so I was asking him about what had happened and how he was.  As he was describing all the blood he lost and all the blood he had received I began to not feel so good.

Last thing I remember, I leaned forward on the table and asked him to stop talking about it.  Next I was having a dream about doing something important and nothing was making sense.  I opened my eyes to see my friend standing over me.  At first I didn’t know what he was doing there.  After a few moments I began to reorient myself and realize what had happened.  The paramedics and Carey showed up at about the same time.

I had had my second vasovagal syncope episode.  The first one happened 13 years ago in a movie theater on a date with Carey before we were married.  Here’s a short definition:

“Vasovagal syncope occurs when your body reacts in an exaggerated way to such triggers as the sight of blood or extreme emotional distress. The trigger results in a sudden drop in your heart rate and blood pressure, which reduces blood flow to your brain and causes you to briefly lose consciousness.”

Seeing, talking, or thinking about blood, needles and/or medical procedures is a trigger for me.  The only way to avoid an episode once it starts is to lie down.  So if you ever see me lie down in a weird place, don’t think anything of it.  I’ve had to do it on a couple of occasions like visiting a friend in the hospital and the birth of a couple of my children.

The good news is that I’m completely fine – except that I think I strained some muscles in my chest when I fell back.  Hopefully it will be another 13 years or more before this happens again because it really scares the people that are with me.

What am I doing right now?  Eating a cookie.  Why?  Because I’m waiting on an airplane.

When life gives you flight delays – eat cookies.  And this is an exceptional, very large and chewy oatmeal raisin cookie.

We sat on the plane in OKC for 2 hours.  When we arrived in Denver, my connection had already left.  The next flight leaves at 10pm mountain time which puts me in Los Angeles at 11:30pm pacific time which is way past my bedtime.

I’m spilling crumbs on the laptop, so I’m going to focus on the cookie.  Hopefully I’ll be able to find the room I’m staying in at the college when I get there tonight.  If not, I’ll go get another cookie and sleep in the rental car

Well not really the worst – but perhaps the craziest or the most stressful. Let me tell you a story.

Thursday morning of this week (2 days ago) Carey walked into the room and out of the blue asked me if I wanted to go to Cancun the next day!  Someone – who shall remain nameless, but has taken a giant leap up my most favorite people list – offered to pay for us to go to Mexico for 4 nights!!  I wasn’t doing anything the next few days so we jumped at the opportunity.

After an afternoon of packing and trying to get Debby and the kids ready for our absence, we hopped in the car and drove to Ft. Worth to catch an early flight the next morning.  On the way down, our realtor called and said “I have great news – the closing for your house is tomorrow afternoon”!  That sounded wonderful except for the tiny issue that we’d be in Mexico.

We arrived at the airport at 7 am the next morning and started trying to get the documents we needed to sign and get funds wired to close the deal.  10 minutes before we boarded I received the documents we needed to sign.  5 minutes before our plane boarded we discovered that we couldn’t wire the funds over the phone.  On the airplane I forwarded wiring instructions to Carey’s mom and then I had to shut down my cell phone.

Once in Mexico, we sign the documents and fax them from the hotel.   Also discover that Debby got the funds wired.  Big sigh.  Eat some lunch.  Come back to the room to discover that the fax didn’t go through.  It’s after 4 pm now and the documents need to be there by 5.  Go back to the front desk and wait on someone to help us.  Someone takes us back to the fax machine and we watch as they fax our papers.  Back to the room to wait on a confirmation e-mail.  At 4:30 we receive an e-mail saying that we have sold the house.  Much rejoicing, much thanking God, followed by a nap on the beach.