"picture" my week...

Laughter is the best medicine

Brother Keith did an absolute wonderful job with the funeral service. From the first time I met him I knew I'd like him and he'd do a great job. For him to come out to the house Tuesday night and sit and listen for over an hour to all our stories about grandpa. To walking around at visitation for over 3 hours talking to everyone to find more stories he hadn't heard. He even came up to the hospital in the morning before the funeral to be with Steven. He was everywhere. It was at visitation that I sat down with Brother Keith one on one. I told him how amazing my grandpa was and he quickly had a story to share with me. He told me this... "there wasn't a person in this town that didn't know about you. He talked about you to anyone who would listen. If you were playing on tv, he called everyone. He would get newspaper articles about you and hang them on the church bulletin board. He was so proud of you and I hope you know that." of course after I wiped away all the tears I told him thank you. 


This week was hard, but in the middle of it all we had our laughs. Grandma usually provided them but anytime we could get her laughing we did. Here are just a few examples...


Scenario 1: My moms jewelry is laying on the Kitchen table grandma walks in while mom is doing the dishes and says "well heathers necklace and earrings sure are pretty, we should just take them from her" my mom replies with "No mom those are mine and you can't steal them." Grandma giggles.

Scenario 2: My mom gets a condolences gift from a friend. Grandma finds it and talks about how pretty is it and then asks if she can have it my moms says "no mom that's what Debbie got me to remember dad."  Grandma continues to talk about how pretty it is and then asks again if she can have it. My mom replies again "well mom how about we share it?" grandma says oh yes that would be lovely. And then once again tells us all how pretty it is. She turns to my mom and asks where she got it. Mom replies "Debbie got it for me to remember dad" grandma says oh well isn't that nice, can I have it? Finally my mom says yes, and grandma says well it's just so pretty I want to put it up somewhere I can look at it everyday. I am sure this scenario will start all over again in the next day or so. 

Scenario 3: My mom and grandma are in the bedroom getting dressed. Grandma has to put pantyhose on and mom has to help her, this is a 30 minute ordeal. Once they get grandma all dressed she comes out. We tell her how pretty she is and then ask about her pantyhose she looks down lifts up her skirt a little and says "well I didn't even know I had them on"

Scenario 4: My uncle goes into the hospital after visitation we don't tell grandma until the morning. She understands but for the rest of the day she tells us Lloyd is in the hospital. We tell her no it's Steven. She says oh well I need to go see him. So we take her after the funeral to see him. The rest of the evening she tells us Lloyd is in the hospital. We tell her no it's Steven she says oh well I better go see him...

Scenario 5: Grandma has a cup of coffee while sitting in her rocking chair. She spills it all over her mid region. No big deal but she doesn't want to change clothes so ok we aren't going to fight her. She then wants to take a nap so we go put her down for one. An hour later we are sitting in the kitchen and her she walks in. Looking a little confused we ask her if she's sleep walking she says "well I just might be" we laugh she laughs, confusion gone. She then feels her oversized flannel shirt and tells us it's wet while looking down at her pants and seeing they are wet to, confusion is back. We quickly remind her that she spilled her coffee but then ask her if she thought she might have peed her pants she replies while giggling well I just wasnt sure.

Scenario 6: We are telling stories about the past and I remind grandma about the time she whipped me with her brush. I told her it was when I was little and I think Kyle and I were fighting. She looks up at me with the cutest face and says well I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that and gives me a hug.

Hate is a strong word...

I Hate Cancer. Just this past Saturday we had our "Think Pink" game in Support of Breast Cancer Awareness. There was this cute elderly lady that is Cancer Survivor who was our honorary coach for the game. She is Lucky. She beat the devil, she beat cancer, and she can Live to tell about it. More often than not, this is not the case, which is why once again I will say, I Hate cancer. As I talked with this lady, a thousand Miles Away, someone wasn't as lucky as her. Robert Cosby, most affectionally known as My Grandpa was taking his last breaths before walking with Jesus. Like many, we know he is Better off, he has no more pain, and he has Eternal Life with the Lord Jesus Christ!

RIP Grandpa
Love you

"Let us love the world to peace."

"We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate--- thereby making the present comfortable and the future promising." 

-Maya Angelou

Birthday Fun Day

All weekend I was checking the weather for today, to see if I would be able to enjoy the outdoors or have to stay inside. The forecast called for overcast, cold, and a chance of snow flurries. Well weather man, you tried to ruin my birthday but it didn't work. I woke up this morning to the sunlight beaming in through my window. I went outside to to a beautiful sun shining down and not a cloud in the sky. 

I thank her for that.

I enjoyed my free coffee at Starbucks and caught up on my internet addictions. From ESPN to CNN, to Twitter and Facebook. Which reminds me, I never knew I had that many friends that cared to write on my Facebook wall for my birthday, I am very honored. 

I thank you all for that. 

I did some office work and I ran my typical errands; Walmart, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, DSW, (you get the idea). I was pleasantly surprised with myself when I spent a combined 20 dollars at all those places.

  I thank my inner self control for that. 

With Valentine's Day, I have seen numerous commercials for those "edible arrangements" and I always thought they looked delicious. Well to my surprise there was one delivered to my apartment this afternoon. As you can see below it looks absolutely amazing and I can't wait to dig into it. 

I thank my Mom for that. 

Finally, I stumbled upon this breath taking view this evening. With the sun setting, still not a cloud in the sky and most of the snow on the beach melted away, it was absolutely beautiful. Watching the sun fall into the horizon, the waves of the ocean gently roll into the beach, and the birds quietly chirping away, there was a moment I knew I wasn't alone. My family, my friends, they were there, in my heart they were there. There was also someone else, with what felt like a hand on my shoulder, saying Happy Birthday and letting me know she was doing well. 

I thank God for that...

"Love is..."

Happy Valentine's Day

February

Maybe I am biased but I definitely think February is one of the best months there is. Its unique, with only 28 and occasionally having 29 days, its an individual. I think that goes the same for people who are born in February, they are unique. Think of all the great people who were born in February, Abe Lincoln, Jennifer Aniston, Johnny Cash, Babe Ruth, Chris Farley, Michael Jordan, Heather Ezell, George Washington, Garth Brooks, Brittany MacFarlane, Ansel Adams.... the list could go on. Not to mention Valentine's Day is in February, who doesn't love Vday chocolates and flowers, this lady is sold! Finally, this is the time where College Basketball because intense. Every game counts, every possession could be a trip to the NCAA tournament or a ticket home for Spring Break. This is the time great teams are separated from good teams. This is where you find out who really wants it. Who is going to pay attention to the details and who is going say "I'll get it next time".  Now I won't lie nothing compares to March Madness but the February Frenzy comes pretty close.

Week and then some in Review...

Continued my Caffiene addiction... I believe its worse than ever.

"People who have never had an addiction don't understand how hard it can be." -Payne Stewart

Explored the Raleigh-Durham Airport.

"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." -Ansel Adams

The stairs at NC State leading up to the court. I loved it but there was one word missing... Communication!

"Communication is the real work of leadership."

-Nitin Nohria

I spent Super Bowl Sunday at Applebees drinking out of a bendy straw and watching the game.

"I'm going to Disney World!"

-Aaron Rodgers

I was surprised when I was sitting in my office and found the Iowa State vs. Oklahoma game on TV up here. Right before practice I got to watch Kelsey and Debbie's halftime special!

Kelsey Bolte for All-American!

Got some shots up on Kay Yow's court at NC State.

"I feel like I had zero control over getting cancer, but I have 100 percent control over how I will respond to dealing with cancer." -Kay Yow

This was me playing with my iPhone for endless hours and taking random pictures. One of my favorites signs is this one, my roommate and I in college found this sign one night.

"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted." -John Lennon

Just a little coffee shop in North Carolina.

"Enjoy Life Wide Open." -Larry's Beans

Lastly, I enjoyed some ME time...

"Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen." 1 Timothy 6:12-16

Manic Monday

My title doesn't really explain my day but I still saw it fitting. Today was a day off, and after yesterday's Super Bowl Sunday Funday activities it was a much needed day off.

After our game yesterday I called around to see what local places were having specials for the big game. After a very rude conversations with a restaurant that I will not name Chilis, I called Applebees to find out they were having all kinds of deals! So I went there and spent almost 3 hours sitting at the bar watching the game. The best part was talking to this sweet couple that sat down next to me. After a couple ice breaker questions, I found out they had just moved here from St. Louis, who would have thought. I swear it really is a small world. In the end I was very happy to see the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl but I wasn't very happy with the commercials this year. I did have a favorite though...

As of today, I slept in until almost 10:30, which is a big accomplishment for me. I usually can't sleep in past 9:30. I will give credit to the busy day I was part of yesterday, along with the Super Bowl activities. After sleeping in I went to the Post Office to pick up an AMAZING package and drop of a couple pieces of mail. Then it was off to Starbucks and AT&T. I picked up my typical iced coffee then walked over to at&t to purchase my new iPhone. Since my birthday is coming up I thought I would treat myself to a new phone. Happy early Birthday to me! So needless to say the rest of my day was shot, as I have spent a majority of it setting up the new phone and downloading new apps. I have been so preoccupied with the phone I have forgotten to eat breakfast and lunch. It might be time to eat, especially after that noise my stomach just made, it thinks its time to eat as well.

The purpose of life is a life of purpose...

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

-E.E. Cummings



It happened...

It finally happened, I let 3 days go by without blogging. How could I let this happen. Ah yes I now remember, it was the lack of down time combined with 70 degree weather. On Monday we traveled down to Raleigh, North Carolina to play a make up game against NC State. We left 20 degree weather and arrived to NC for 60 degree weather. It was absolutely beautiful and I didn't want to leave. Although the outcome of the game didn't go our way it was a great experience for our players (and even for me, yes I still act like a college kid sometimes). To play on Kay Yow's court and be inside that building that is full of tradition was a great experience. The day of the game it was about 50 degrees out and I put in a lovely run outside in downtown Raleigh. It was the best run I have had in awhile, mainly because I got to run outside. The one thing I learned from this trip was today, when we flew back to CT and then practiced a few hours after we got back... I am not as young as I use to be and flying and trying to practice on the same day don't work well with my body. Especially my hips and knees, I needed an ice bath more than our players did after practice. And with that, its time for another round of icing and some tylenol pm.

Killing time in the airport

Kay Yow Court