Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 137)

owl_girl - 2012-10-05 8:09 PM My friend's memorial service is tomorrow.  On Sunday, I'll be volunteering at a 5K that one of the injured ladies directs as a fundraiser for her school.  This is going to be a tough weekend. 

I'm sure there will be lots of tough times ahead.  This is so tragic for us who are experiencing it from afar, so I can honestly say I have no idea how difficult this must be.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the families and with your entire community.  So senseless and so hard to understand.  We're here as much as we can be.

Woo hoo!  You'll be back at it in no time!

wbayek - 2012-10-05 8:55 PM

owl_girl - 2012-10-05 8:09 PM My friend's memorial service is tomorrow.  On Sunday, I'll be volunteering at a 5K that one of the injured ladies directs as a fundraiser for her school.  This is going to be a tough weekend. 

I'm sure there will be lots of tough times ahead.  This is so tragic for us who are experiencing it from afar, so I can honestly say I have no idea how difficult this must be.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the families and with your entire community.  So senseless and so hard to understand.  We're here as much as we can be.

Tracy I don't think I could have said this any better than Warren just did and I totally agree. I know things are tough for you right now but hang in there. We're here to support you in whatever way we can.

strikyr - 2012-10-05 6:18 PM

wbayek - 2012-10-05 8:55 PM

owl_girl - 2012-10-05 8:09 PM My friend's memorial service is tomorrow.  On Sunday, I'll be volunteering at a 5K that one of the injured ladies directs as a fundraiser for her school.  This is going to be a tough weekend. 

I'm sure there will be lots of tough times ahead.  This is so tragic for us who are experiencing it from afar, so I can honestly say I have no idea how difficult this must be.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you and the families and with your entire community.  So senseless and so hard to understand.  We're here as much as we can be.

Tracy I don't think I could have said this any better than Warren just did and I totally agree. I know things are tough for you right now but hang in there. We're here to support you in whatever way we can.

Thank you so much, guys.

Tracy, yes it will be a tough weekend, you'll be in our thoughts.

Jeff, congrats on quick recovery.  Now don't start going to quick, it is still healing.

Well our time in Florida is almost gone.  We are leaving today and then that is when the fun begins,  Well, it's ben pretty fun so far but now the anticipation of Lis seeing what comes next will be killer.  the car ride will take 8.5 hours if we don't stop.  I'm figuring on 9.5 with stops.  Now I just need to figure out how to get her out of here early so we can get there sooner........She wants to hang around here longer to enjoy the beach before we head "home."

I have been keeping up with the posts, so very quickly (because I have to post and run because Lis is siting here....):

Tracy, I hope this weekend can be a time of remembrance and celebration of those lives that would never have been the same without your friends.  All of us are impacted by so many people and I pray that your friends' life has been an integral part of others.  I'll be praying and thinking of you and all of your athlete friends and families.

Jeff, it's great to hear things are doing so remarkably well already..................And yeah, what about that one armed swimming?  Is the pool opened today?

Dina, enjoy your trip and have safety and healing.

I'll stay up on my reading but probably my posting will be infrequent until I get home later next week.

We arrived in Pigeon Forge Tn. late last night, much later than planned.  Lis wanted to ride a wave runner out into the Gulf to see the dolphins, so we didn't leave Destin until after 1PM Fl. time (2PM Tn. time).  The time change put us behind the 8 ball so to speak, as far as arrival time.

She had no idea where we were going until we turned off of I-65 North in Birmingham Al. and then it took quite a while until she really figured out what was going on.  I would say were were about 3 hours out when she got a good idea what was happening but she still had virtually no idea where we were going.

Now we have cooler temps than was forecasted for the stay here but I did pack clothes for her to attempt to stay warm.  She is very happy and excited that I took the time to go through all of this planning, so I would say that success has been achieved.

I'll catch up on reading throughout the rest of the trip but may not post until we get back.

That's good stuff Dirk.

Wish me luck in my other "mentor" group as I head off on a two day mini-retreat with my oldest son, just the two of us, to do some life bonding as he's transitioning from boy to man, and I'm trying to transition from dictator to counselor.  I still can't believe I have an almost 16 year old!

Dirk I'm glad to hear that you and Lisa are enjoying your Anniversary get away and that everything is going according to plan. I'm sure your wife really appreciates the effort you put into the trip to surprise her. I hope you both enjoy the rest of your time away like you have while you were in Florida.

Warren good luck and enjoy the retreat with your son. I think it's great that you are both getting to spend time with each away. I know exactly you how you feel too I see how fast my kids have grown up and I think to myself where has the time gone! My girls are 24 and 18 and my son is 16 now. Geez it makes me feel old thinking about it as I can still remember when they were younger lol. 

I hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend.

Hey Dirk, forget about us here for a while, have fun with Lis!!!!!!

Warren, enjoy your time with them, they grow up so fast, our son is 14 and I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and worked out hard!

X2, Tracy glad to hear the fundraiser went very well. That is a very nice and thoughtful thing for the community to do coming out and supporting your friends.

We are down to our last day in the mountains.  We were able to extend our stay one extra day because I scheduled Lis off through Wednesday and the cabin was available for an additional day.  We'll leave tomorrow morning and begin our 8 hour drive back to the homestead but we aren't going to be looking forward to it.  It has been a wonderful trip so far.

The only down side has been the fog here in Pigeon Forge.  Every morning it has been thick to really thick, so we haven't been able to see the sun rise over the mountain tops at all.  Yesterday was the worst day.  It was raining most of the day and foggy on the mountains all day as well.  The fog obscured so much that there were few photo ops to capture any far away views of the mountains.  I did get some pics of other things close in that were pretty impressive.  I'll try to throw up a few pics.

Ok, I can't find the site I was looking to use to re-size the pics.  I have it bookmarked at home but not here on the laptop.  I'll try to get some up later or when we get home.

Dirk glad you and Lisa are both having a great time and sorry to see that it is coming to end. I have posted the link for the pic resizing. I hope it helps and can't wait to see the pics.

http://www.resizemypicture.com/

No updates at all.

Jo, that is a dream come true...NO ELECTRONICS!!!!!!!!!!!!

So glad you are feeling better.

hi folks.  I'm back in to the real world now (back at work).  So I also returned to training this morning. 

I did almost my normal Thursday workout, just a touch shorter.  Feels good.  I can tell that in the 10 days since my last workout that my body has lost its edge a little...in that this workout feels like I did more than I did. 

Dirk is also back to real life, so we have that in common!

I'm also afraid that my silence regarding Tracey's tragedy can seem uncaring.  I just don't have anything to say that can make it better or that doesn't feel like unnecessary platitudes... But I share everyone's sorrow...as much as we can over people we didn't know.  I don't suggest I feel anywhere near the grief that Tracey feels. 

Carry on.

You're fine, Jeff.  I don't feel that you are uncaring in the least, little tiniest bit.  You have your own challenges going on, too.  We all do.  Honestly, there is nothing that can be said.  The whole situation leaves everyone speechless.

Over the past couple of days, I've been thinking about my two physically active friends that I have lost in the span of four weeks.

One of my friends, David, had been ill for many, many years with cancer.  He was an inspiration to everyone and was able to ride his bike until about the last month of his life.  Although we all knew the time was coming that we would lose him, we were able to mourn and accept that we would lose him soon.  Somehow, it was easier for all of us.  I am sad that he had to suffer during his last month.

My other friend, Suzie, was absolute light to everyone she met.  She lived her life for her kids and her family.  She lost her life doing something she loved.  It was quick with no pain.  Her loss is difficult for all of us but I take comfort in the fact that she did not suffer.  Those of us that are left with a hole that would otherwise be filled by her presence need to carry on while mourning in our own way.

I'm not sure which is better.  Both losses are incredibly difficult and need to be treated differently.

On a good note.....one of my friends is going home today!  The other will be going home soon!  Yay!

Jeff, Wow! Your retirement was very short lived. I am glad to see you are doing well and back to training already. I am convinced now that you must be Superman.

Tracy that is great news, I am very happy to hear that one of your friends is going home today. I hope your other friend is recovering well and hopefully she will be home soon too.