Priorities

Last night we learned again that our #1 priority is the health and happiness of our son. I write this as he is out running with his teammates. He has a matching pink hair band on his noggin. It matches the hair band worn by one of the adorable teammates. Jr. High!

It's a good life...
Dave

Random Thinking on Age and things

Events
1. I find out that the mom of our house guest is 47 years old. He's 28. I'm 47.
2. Marco tells me I'm safe until I'm 50. Once I'm 50 I'll be considered old.
3. A "spam" email I received - 50+ (age of course)  matches for singles

I don't feel 47 but I'm not sure how a 47 year old is supposed to feel.

I wear shorts and a t-shirt to work every day.

Lane 3 at masters is all women except for me. Either I'm the lucky guy, the "I'm ok with this guy" or I need to move up to lane 2.

I think I only kept up with baseball because of my Dad. Sure I can tell you who's in the World Series but I can't tell you much else. I do however know that the All Blacks won the World Rugby Championship.

My Friday Lunch ride was so fun, I've decided to make it a regular event. Not because I rode at lunch but because I rode, at lunch then rode back to the office.

It's a good life...
Dave

5 things I learned today

1. I took 1 week off of running. It felt great to not do anything. It felt even better to be running again today. 
2. It's good to have people with different opinions on your team. I just wish they would all agree to mine:)
3. Larabar Sucks - 15-20% smaller bar same price. 
4. I have to agree with one of the commentators tonight. The winner of the Republican Debate tonight was President Obama. My gosh if they continue to cat fight like that the stand no chance of winning. 
5. Scout the wonder dog is on antibiotics right now for this nasty growth (which will be removed) on her back. Each morning I call her over for her pill. Each morning she acts as if I'm going to torcher her. She comes to me with her tail between her legs, her ears down and her sad face on. I open her mouth and put a huge helping of Peanut Butter - pill included into her mouth.  Then she walks off wagging her tail like she got away with something.  I think she's playing me. 

It's a good life....

Dave

Do we take our life for granted?

We made the decision 13 years ago to have a small family. Our goal in doing so was to give our one child a life that maybe we didn't have or one that we simply felt he deserved. A big part of that life is shaped by how Mary and I grew up. It's not chance we found each other. She the teacher with the big heart for all things Latin America. Her second language, her choice of work place and her choice of travel destinations. Me, born in Bogota, Colombia, living in Sao Paulo, Brazil learning what poor looks like. If you think you are poor just search, Favela.

Through the 13 years we hosted two exchanges students one from Portugal and one from Colombia. We've Traveled to Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, me to Brazil, Argentina and Mary to Cuba. It is Cuba where this story starts.

Last week we began hosting a Cuban defector. He made his way to the border of the USA, walked into the immigration office, asked for Political Asylum and it was granted. I am withholding his name and pictures to protect his family still in Cuba. With that I give you some thoughts/statements from our guest. This his first trip out of Cuba in his lifetime.

• Oh my that's the first time I've ever seen this - A grill with steak on it. 
• Nobody here talks about Cuba - We're told that it's all you talk about. 
• It's so nice to see you take the time to sit at the dinner table together - We are told that you don't have time to spend time with your family, you work all the time. 
• At Target - oh my god, it's so big! 
• Is everything on this menue available right now - looking at the menue board on his first trip to McDonald's. 
• Watching me prepare my lunch for the week - it will be ok at your office, nobody will steal it? 
• Today being his first day out and about in San Diego - Public transportation the entire way - I'm scared. 
• He's been to 3 cross country races in just over a week. 
• He sleeps in our game room. The game room that Marco gave up for our guest. The game room Marco gives up with his heart and a smile on his face. 

We take the freedom we have to do whatever we want as our given right. We know nothing different. It's not until we have experiences like this do we learn that we've got it really good. 9% unemployment is horrible but it's better than fearing that someone is always watching you, that the enemy is 90 miles away and talking about you all the time. It's better than 1 chicken breast shared between 3 people for dinner. It's better than being told what kind of windows you can have on your house. 

It's a good life...

Dave

How Lucky

Since my last post I've been places. But more important than the places I've been, it's the moments I've had. My favorite part of any day is the morning. Two of my favorite mornings caught in picture.

 This picture is from Vista, CA. We were setting up the cross country race course. The anticipation of 100's of kids racing their hearts out. The frenetic pace that is a multi-race cross country event. But in the early morning we caught the sun coming up. 

The Ironman World Championships. Mauna Loa in the background. Sunrise and the start of the longest day in sport. 

Yes, you got it this is a Sunset. Ironman week is crazy. The sun sets like this almost every night. This is the first time I had the time to catch it. This is Sunday night almost a week after we arrived. Taken from the Zoot house. Not the start of a new day, but the end of the week that was. 

It's a good life....

Dave