The Christmas Story

I put this story together a couple years ago to tell my children the story of the birth of Jesus in a language they could understand. We read this story every Christmas Eve. Feel free to pass it along.

Send me your comments. Joe

AJA Press

Book Review: Living Life In The Zone by Kyle Rote Jr. and Dr. Joe Pettigrew

It's a New Year, and time for New Years Resolutions. Right? Well, no. Normally, I don't make resolutions. It prevents me from failing to keep them. Instead, I make commitments. Not resolutions. Not things that I will do EVERYDAY, but rather things that I hope to get done during the year. Last year, I committed to read through the Bible, and I did. Sure I missed some days, but I actually finished the reading nearly a week early.

This year, I have committed to expand my Bible study beyond just reading the Bible, into doing something a little more -- involved. Enter Kyle Rote Jr. and Dr. Joe Pettigrew with their 40-day devotional, Living Life in the Zone: A 40-Day Spiritual Gameplan for Men. I received the book from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Bloggers Program and began it immediately. Like many Christian devotional books, Living Life in the Zone: A 40-Day Spiritual Gameplan for Men follows a 40-day plan, calling on the Biblical significance of a forty day period (see Noah, et. al.). But Rote and Pettigrew do something that I haven't found in many of the devotional guides and Bibles that I've researched -- they tailor their devotional to the life of a man.

Calling on their vast experience of working with the men of professional sports as part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Rote and Pettigrew present the life of a man in terms that men can understand. They cover topics such as living a healthy Christian life at work, loving an imperfect woman, dealing with daily stress, and even the oft-taboo topic of improving your sex life from the perspective of a Christian man. I have tried to carve time out of my day every day to spend a little time in the Word under the tutelage of Rote and Pettigrew, and found deep insight into things that I have just taken for granted for years. By spending just fifteen minutes a day pondering the thoughts and words of such pro sports greats as Roger Staubach, Joe Gibbs, John Wooden, and Coach Tony Dungy, I've found myself trying to live more like the man God wants me to be.

It's only a 40-day devotional, and won't require a major commitment on your part to get through this little book. But it just might cause you to make some major commitments you hadn't considered before.

Send me your comments. Joe

AJA Press

Disclosure(s) of Material Connection:

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Hook, Line, and Sinker

It has been one week since we added a little Chihuahua puppy named
Nacho to our family. Both the puppy and his name were chosen by my
son.

Neither my wife nor I ever thought we would own a Chihuahua. I
certainly didn't think I would become so attached to one so quickly!
But this little guy has certainly captured my heart.

We had agreed after the passing of Maddy, our beloved Dalmatian of
nine years, just three weeks ago that we were going to wait at least
until spring to get another pet.

Tonight, there is snow on the ground, and little Nacho is curling up
beside me to go to sleep. It's a testament to the powers of persuasion
of a little boy and a little puppy.

=====
Posted with Gmail Mobile.

Working Sundays

For the first time in 15 years in Retail Management, I work for a
company that has adopted a set Management schedule for every store in
the chain. This set schedule has me working 7 of 9 Sundays during the
holiday season, after always having Sundays off.

Sundays for me are family days that begin by taking the family to
church. We then do activities together at home or go to lunch, and
just basically enjoy the day as a family.

Today, I'm at work, wondering which bean counter in corporate who has
never worked a day in a store made this set schedule. My family is
home without me.

Later this week I'll be meeting for the second time with two different
companies about a career change. My motivtion for changing is
increasing.

===
Posted with Gmail Mobile

Our Annual Fall Pumpkin Hunt (and More)

Every October, we take the kids to a local pumpkin patch to pick out the pumpkins they will carve into Halloween Jack-o-Lanterns. Since moving to Indianapolis two years ago, we have had to find a place to do our pumpkin hunting, and I think that this year we have finally found just the place.

This morning we got the kids up and ready and headed out to Tuttle Orchards, a nearby fruit farm. We got there early enough to avoid the rush of families whose kids our out of school on fall break. Rain threatened, but the temperature was perfect and the sun was not out to bake us, which made for the perfect pumpkin hunting conditions, if the rain would hold off.

After checking in and paying the modest admission (a total of $10 for our family of four), we started off in our traditional way: letting my son guide us through the corn maze. Posted throughout the maze -- something that Tuttle Orchards does differently from other places we've gone to in the past -- were signs with short multiple choice apple trivia questions. Choosing the correct answer would point us down the correct path, while choosing the wrong answer would send us off in the wrong direction.

After successfully navigating the corn maze, we grabbed a wagon and headed out into the pumpkin patch to let the children choose their own pumpkins. Sure, we could run over to Meijer, Walmart, or Kroger and get our pumpkins -- and they might even cost less -- but there's just something special about trudging through the tractor tracks to the back of the pumpkin patch and trying to find just the right pumpkin that makes the whole thing worth it.

We've picked out our pumpkins this way for every year of my son's young life (except the first, when he would have been only two months old), and have continued the tradition since my daughter was born, and they both look forward to it with great anticipation -- "Are we there yet?" the entire trip from the house to the farm.

Of course, my daughter is always the first one to select a pumpkin. I don't know if it's because she's better at spotting the perfect pumpkin, less picky than my son, or just more eager to choose her pumpkin and get on with other activities. As she's enjoying her ride in the wagon through the pumpkin patch, she'll suddenly pipe up with "I want that one," and the whole caravan will come to a stop for her to jump out and run to her pumpkin choice.

Our number one pumpkin hunting rule is that the kids cannot select a pumpkin that is too heavy for them to pick up. It's just that simple. It can sometimes be more of a challenge for my son than my daughter, as she likes the little dainty looking pumpkins and, like most boys, my son wants the biggest one he can wrap his little arms around. So to ensure the rule is followed, they have to heft up their pumpkins and load them into the wagon by themselves. My stubborn son, of course, always finds some way to get the biggest possible pumpkin he can without breaking the rule.

Something new this year, since we were at an orchard and not just a pumpkin farm, was apple picking. Tuttle Orchards has a large apple orchard with over twenty-two different varieties of apples -- meaning there is almost always something in season. Best of all, they give you a basket and let you head off into the orchard to pick your own apples for just seventy-five cents a pound. Again, at the grocery store you can often find apples for forty-nine cents a pound, but grocery store apples have been picked by someone else, waxed, and shipped around the world to reach the grocery store -- likely picked early and artificially ripened, as well.

Again, there's just something special about going into the orchard and picking your own apples straight from the tree. We picked Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Ida Red, and Jonathon apples. I ate three apples before even leaving the place, and they were by far some of the most delicious apples I have ever eaten! I only hope we get such delicious apples from the two trees we planted in our yard this year.

After letting our kids run through the sunflower maze and play in the kids area, and a visit to the farm store (where I picked out some good peanut butter fudge) and the greenhouse, it was finally time to load the kids up and head home.

Thankfully, the rain held off, and we had a wonderful family outing together.

We plan to carve the pumpkins this Sunday, so check back for more pics this weekend.

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

AJA Press

Walt Disney World Vacation - Day 2: The Magic Kingdom

Follow prior Disney vacation posts here.

The second day of our vacation -- which was also our first actual day at Walt Disney World -- took us first to Downtown Disney, an area of shops and restaurants where it can be very easy to blow a rather large chunk of your vacation budget on souvenirs before you even make it to a park.

It also happens to be a great place to pick up a set of the world famous mouse ears that nearly everyone buys when they visit one of the Disney parks. My daughter was quick to choose a set of Minnie Mouse ears in -- her favorite color, of course -- pink. My son was much harder to convince and didn't pick up his ears until later in the week.

What turned out to be a week of many, many, many character greetings -- pictures, autographs, meals -- for my daughter started with her posing for a picture in front of a large plastic Buzz Lightyear at Downtown Disney. The "real" characters soon followed, when we arrived at Magic Kingdom, barely made it through the gates, and ran into the largest Pluto I've ever seen. I have one question: how does a mouse have such a large dog? Good thing it wasn't Clifford. I made the mistake of buying a drink for my kids to share while they waited in line to meet Pluto, and the beginning of what would be lots of fussing throughout the week soon followed.

Just around the corner from Pluto stood Chip and Dale (you try to figure out which is which, and let me know what you come up with). My daughter didn't even know who they were until they stood towering over her, but she was thrilled to meet them, anyway.

As we made our way down Disney's Main Street USA, exploring the Magic Kingdom for the first time as a family (my wife has been there before, but with only vague memories, but for the rest of us this trip was a first), we soon found one of my little girl's favorite characters: Ariel. She was quite excited to get to meet the Little Mermaid.

Being guests at one of the Walt Disney World resorts rather than staying at a hotel in Orlando paid off in many ways during our trip, starting with what Disney calls "Extra Magic Hours" at Magic Kingdom. Extra Magic Hours is when a park stays open late -- often as late as midnight -- just for resort guests, after closing to general ticket holders. We enjoyed roaming around the Magic Kingdom until nearly midnight, riding rides with virtually no wait, and just basking in the Disney magic in the air.

The evening ended with an intense fireworks display over Cinderella's castle (sorry, no video of this one), and the family making our way aboard monorail and bus back to the resort for a very late night (which would be followed by a very early morning).

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

AJA Press

Walt Disney World Vacation - Day 1: Coke Museum

Having just returned from a week at Walt Disney World with the family -- our first real vacation -- I have lots of thoughts, pictures, and video to share over the next several days. You can keep up with the content here.

Thanks to somewhere between twelve and eighteen months of planning and preparation -- for which I am extremely grateful to my wife, who did all of the planning -- we took off on our first family vacation with what will likely be one of our biggest, a week at Walt Disney World and their Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. We loaded up the car and headed out on Friday night at 10:30 PM, ninety minutes ahead of our planned departure. The goal? For the kids to sleep for most of the drive. We kept them both awake until time to leave, then loaded them into the car and rolled out. They fell asleep shortly after.

Our agenda called for us to drive roughly half of the thousand mile trip before making our first stop at the World of Coke Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. Along the way, our three-year-old daughter had her first bout with car-sickness, throwing up three times in rapid succession, all over herself, the floor, her car seat, and a blanket and pillow she was using. It was, as I'm sure you can imagine, quite disgusting! After a quick stop to clean the car, and my daughter, up and to give both the kids some Dramamine (should have thought of that sooner), we were back on our way with ninety minutes left before arriving at the Coke Museum.

If you've never been to the Coke Museum, it's something I highly recommend if you find yourself in the area of Olympic Centennial Park in Atlanta. The World of Coke Museum is like Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory for soft drinks. Literally anything and everything Coca-Cola that you could possibly imagine await you at the World of Coke Museum. My sister described it as Coca-Cola Brainwashing, but I would say that you probably aren't even at the Coke Museum unless you've already been brainwashed by the best-selling soft drink in the world. However, if you do venture into these hallowed halls without already having been brainwashed by Coke, then you are sure to come out with a freshly washed brain.

The museum features every type of Coca-Cola memorabilia one could possibly imagine. Signs, shirts, games, ad posters -- you name it, they have it. The World of Coke is rich with history and the heritage of that fizzy refreshment we have all come to know and love.

What turned out to be a week full of a new dimension of entertainment for us began with a 4-D audio-visual presentation that set out to reveal the secret formula of Coca-Cola. That's four dimensional, which added not only the dynamic third dimension made popular by movies like Monsters vs Aliens and Up, but also the fourth dimension of feel. That's right, you can literally feel the action, as water sprays and seats rumble and wind blows through your hair. Quite simply put -- an awesome experience.

But the most anticipated -- and most enjoyable -- part of the visit for myself and at least my son, was the opportunity to taste up to sixty-four different varieties of Coca-Cola products from around the world, including my all-time favorite (available only in Germany and Austria), Mezzo Mix. Unfortunately, I felt the fountain version of Mezzo Mix at the Coke Museum was over-carbonated, a problem which was not the case at the Coke Cool Club at Epcot Center.

After our visit at the World of Coke Museum, we had planned to have lunch in Atlanta, but quickly escaped the city instead. I have long had a hatred of the airport in Atlanta, and the highways of Atlanta turned out to be just as bad. I must admit, I literally hated driving through the streets and highways of Atlanta.

After stopping for dinner at Fuddruckers (a first for my wife and kids), we made our way to Lake City, Florida, where we stayed the night just a few short hours from Walt Disney World in Orlando, getting a good night of rest before meeting the mouse on Saturday.

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

AJA Press

A Happy Fathers Day!

It is the very thing that completes me -- being a dad. It's what I do, who I am, why I am. And today, the world celebrated me.

Okay, my kids celebrated me, but hey, they're my world. The festivities started last night, when my son kept asking me to come in (from putting air in his inflatable pool) to watch the Reds play the White Sox with him. When I did, he ran upstairs and had a few words with his mother, then he and his sister presented me with an early Fathers Day gift: razors, barbecue chips (to eat during the game), a bag of Jolly Ranchers (he had just been introduced to them on Friday at the vet), and the best homemade greeting cards ever!

We munched on the chips and had some Jolly Ranchers last night while we watched the Reds lose to the White Sox. Then my son and I "camped in" together, meaning we stayed up for a while and slept in the living room.

This morning, when we woke up, the first thing my son said to me was "Happy Fathers Day." I was touched that he remembered to say it. While my wife was in the kitchen making homemade sausage gravy and biscuits and eggs for breakfast, I went up to wake up my little girl. The first thing she said to me, too, was "Happy Fathers Day." That was the real shocker, as she's only three years old.

After breakfast, we took the kids and the dog to the park to play and run and get some exercise, before loading up and heading to visit the in-laws in Terre Haute. The kids were pretty well behaved today.

After returning home, I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with my own father. We had a nice conversation, and he sounded to be doing quite well.

Fathers Day sadly comes only once a year. But being a Daddy comes every day, and I thank God for giving me the two greatest kids to be Daddy to!

Your comments?

Joe

Maddy's Cancer Battle

AJA Press

Our Maddy Recovering Well

Our Maddy has been home for one week now after her leg amputation surgery, and she has been improving quite well. She spends a lot of time sleeping, but her last dose of pain medicine and antibiotics was today, so hopefully she'll bound back with more energy soon. The pain medication she's on is known to cause drowsiness, as are most pain medications.

She is quite energetic at times. We've been trying to take her on a short daily walk down to the end of our cul de sac and back, and she loves it. She even tries to pull on the leash and lead the walk, just like she has always done.

We'll be headed back to the vet on Friday (probably) for a check up and to have her stitches removed. It's amazing how quickly animals rebound after such major surgery as the loss of a limb. Could you imagine if you lost a limb? Could you bounce back so quickly as this? Share your thoughts.

Joe




Maddy's Cancer Battle

AJA Press | #TCOT
podsafe music network | ioda promonet | magnatune | airplay direct
ariel publicity | kennedy resource development | populuxe records | indie heaven
miles high productions | iris distribution | chavis records | after hours music

Our Maddy Has Cancer

Earlier this week, I took our beloved eight-year-old (she just turned nine yesterday) Dalmatian, Maddy, to the veterinarian. She has a swelling on her right front leg that would rise and fall, and suddenly quit falling, swelling up more than ever. I posted the bad news on Twitter after delivering it to my wife: the dog who was our first child has cancer.

Canine Osteosarcoma, to be exact. From Wikipedia:

Osteosarcoma is the most common bone tumor in dogs and typically afflicts middle-age large and giant breed dogs such as Irish Wolfhounds, Greyhounds, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers and Great Danes. It has a ten times greater incidence in dogs than humans. A hereditary base has been shown in St. Bernard dogs. Spayed/neutered dogs have twice the risk of intact ones to develop osteosarcoma.

The picture above is an X-ray of a healthy dog leg. The picture to the right is our Maddy's X-ray. In the far right of the picture of the healthy dog leg, you can see the large bone that is missing in Maddy's leg -- literally eaten away from the inside out by the cancer cells. The two bones in the healthy X-ray are the ulna and radius, though I couldn't tell you which is which. In Maddy's leg, one is completely eaten away and the other is very, very deteriorated. The large swelling, I understand, is a result of her body trying to fight the cancer.

The vet, who we have used for the first time but who came highly recommended, prescribed prednisone for her, to fight the inflammation and help relieve the pain. I'm not convinced yet that it is doing either, though all that I have read about it says that it takes several days of continuous use to have the desired effect. So far, it seems to have only succeeded in causing her to be more thirsty and urinate more.

We haven't yet decided what course of treatment to take. The doctor mentioned three options: amputation of the leg plus chemotherapy; amputation alone; pain management only. He seemed to believe that her case was too far progressed for amputation and chemotherapy to do much to prolong her life or improve the quality of what time she has left, which he says may be as little as three months or as many as six.

Again, studying the situation seems to suggest that amputation would greatly relieve her pain and improve the quality of the time she has remaining. It also seems that amputation plus chemotherapy might give her as many as four to ten months more life. However, all of the studying in the world doesn't necessarily apply to Maddy's case.

My wife and I are currently struggling with watching our Maddy. We keep hoping that she will just get better. It's hard not to do that. And we struggle with whether to try to just help her manage the pain, amputate the leg, or amputate and treat with chemotherapy. The struggle for me is that my own mother lost her fight with cancer several years ago. She started chemotherapy and ended it shortly thereafter, convinced that the treatment only made her feel worse and wouldn't prolong her life or add any quality to it. Reports suggest that chemotherapy in dogs does not have the same dramatic side effects as it has in people. I just don't know.

What I do know is that we love our dog, and we don't want to lose her. But we also have faith in God, and know that everything that happens is for His purpose. Sometimes, though, it's hard to accept that His purpose might mean taking away a loved one, like our Maddy.

Yesterday was her ninth birthday. She's been with us since she was six weeks old, long before either of our children were born. We had a birthday party for her today, and pampered and spoiled her. She had a hot dog to eat, plus two new hot dog squeaky toys. She had several doggie cookies, and one real cupcake, which she absolutely loved.

Tomorrow, I'll be speaking with the vet again about his thoughts on amputation, chemotherapy, or just pain management. I just need to make sure that whatever decision we make, we are making as informed a decision as possible. I need to make sure that we aren't making a selfish decision. I don't want to prolong her life just to keep her with us longer if it will be a miserable life for her. But I don't want to just manage the pain if more aggressive treatment might add some quality months or years to her life. It won't be an easy decision to make, whatever we decide. I just wish Maddy could tell us what she would choose.

Your comments?

Joe


Maddy's Cancer Battle

AJA Press | #TCOT
podsafe music network | ioda promonet | magnatune | airplay direct
ariel publicity | kennedy resource development | populuxe records | indie heaven
miles high productions | iris distribution | chavis records | after hours music

In Defense of Amazon #AmazonFail

The Wall Street Journal reports: Amazon.com Inc. said an internal cataloging glitch inadvertently removed more than 57,000 books from its sales rankings and main search page. []

I am an author, though not one whose work would be affected by a "blunder" such as this, even if I was a best-seller. I am also a father, and as a father, I prefer to be able to sit with my children and look at books on Amazon without having to worry about titles that I consider objectionable popping up and my kids asking, "What's that, Daddy?"

What would I consider objectionable? Probably several topics that would cause many to say I'm in favor of censorship. For example, I would prefer that my children not be unexpectedly presented with books about any sexual persuasion, or covering any sexual topic at all. I would prefer my children not be presented with material displaying any form of nude "art," to include even the famed statue of Michael, for example.

Does that make me in favor of censorship? I don't think so. I'm not saying that Amazon shouldn't offer material with such topics to its customers, just that maybe it is material that shouldn't pop up in general searches. Just as I favor a triple-X domain that would protect my children from accidentally stumbling onto objectionable content, I favor systems that would make what I consider objectionable content just a little less likely to pop up when I and my family are looking for books online.

None of these things make the content impossible for those who want it to find it. It is still there, and they can find it if they use the right search techniques. I do not consider it censorship to make something available only to those who want it while at the same time protecting those who don't want it from having to be exposed to it.

I ask you, does it make more sense for someone who is looking for content of an adult nature to have to search for it by adding "Adult" to their search term, for example, or for someone who doesn't want to be exposed to it to have to spend money on filtering devices, etc., or avoid the Internet altogether? We can enable everyone, or just those who suffer from moral bankruptcy. Sorry, that might be harsh, but that's how I feel. If you don't like it, next time you search Google for content, try entering "-Average Joe American" into your search and see if it helps you avoid my content. Or you could just avoid the Internet altogether, which is apparently what I'm expected to do if I want to protect my kids from things that we find objectionable.

Whatever the cause of the recent Amazon "blunder," even if it was completely intentional on Amazon's part, I say "Good on ya" Amazon. It is possible to serve everyone without offending everyone, if those who are so in favor of the further decline of society would just learn not to be offended when the content they want is appropriately categorized to prevent young innocents from being exposed to something that, in my opinion, we have every right to expect them to be protected from.

Your comments?

Joe

podsafe music network | ioda promonet | magnatune | airplay direct
ariel publicity | kennedy resource development | populuxe records | indie heaven
miles high productions | iris distribution | chavis records | after hours music

Average Joe Audio Blog

Sunday, March 22, 2009 5:56 PM Posted: 22 Mar 2009 10:56 AM PDT Download - Cinch from averagejoe on Sunday, March 22, 2009 5:56 PM This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Subscribe to the feed version of averagejoe - Cinch in a feed reader.
If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: averagejoe - Cinch, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Family Day

Taking the kids to the playground.

Week of Caring

Taking advantage of a slow day to leave early and spend some time with the family.

Week of Caring

Wife is feeling a bit better. Taking the family to Brown County to enjoy the spring weather.

What Is "Week of Caring?"

So what, exactly, is the Week of Caring?

Too often it can be too easy to just stumble our way through life, plucking our way through a daily routine, taking life as it comes, and settling into complacency. It can be too easy to take for granted those who we love the most. I know, I've been there. You probably have been, too.

So, this morning, I decided it was time to take a week and overtly care for my wife. To be very obvious that I love her. Not just in words, but in actions. So I'll be posting here this week (often as part of my MicroBlog) about the things that I am doing to show my wife that I love her -- that I care for her.

What might those things be?

• My wife is feeling a bit under the weather today, so I left work at lunch time (actually took a two hour and fifteen minute lunch) to go home, make lunch for the kids, and check in on her. I discovered she had a low-grade fever of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit and gave her a fever reducer. I then cleaned up all of the lunch dishes and put my daughter down for her nap before returning to work.
  
• At the end of the work day, I left about an hour early to return some library books on the way home, then make dinner for the wife and kids. I then cleaned up the dinner dishes and went to Dairy Queen to get a quart of soft serve ice cream, because my wife said she thought it would be good. I then sat outside with the kids while they played in the yard -- all the while letting my wife continue to rest -- watched a little TV with them, then put them to bed.

I can't share everything here -- not in advance, anyway -- for two reasons. First, I don't know what all I might find myself doing this week to show my love for my wife, and second, I don't want to tip her off to what she can expect. Tomorrow, if my wife is feeling up to it, we'll be heading to Brown County, Indiana, and possibly Edinburgh, to spend a little time out as a family, enjoying the awesome weather forecast for tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates.

Your comments?

Joe

podsafe music network | ioda promonet | magnatune | airplay direct
ariel publicity | kennedy resource development | populuxe records | indie heaven
miles high productions | iris distribution | chavis records | after hours music

Spring Time

Enjoying the beautiful spring weather on a walk with the family.

The YMCA and My Bicycle

The wife and I were up until midnight last night, talking. Among other things, we discussed just how we can find ways to spend more us time together. One of the conclusions we came to was working out together.

My wife currently does yoga at home, runs on the treadmill -- even has an elliptical machine. But the way it works now, I come home from work, spend time with the kids after dinner while my wife does yoga or runs on the treadmill, then we bury our noses in our computers, and eventually go to bed. I haven't been getting myself any real exercise.

So, today we headed out to the YMCA  and took advantage of a special promotion they're running over the weekend: no registration fee if you sign up by Monday. It usually costs $100 registration fee plus the monthly membership fee to join the Y, so this promotion saved us $100. After a brief tour of the facility (there are several in Indy, at all of which our membership is valid), we signed up for membership.

I then picked up my recently repaired bicycle (a Specialized Crossroads 21-speed), which I am quite excited about. I bought the bike used from a neighbor very cheap last fall, and even after having some minor repairs done, I still have very little money invested in it. My plan is, on days that we don't go to the YMCA for a workout together, I'll go on a bicycle ride around the neighborhood for exercise.

We later returned to the Y for an hour-long workout. It was nice, my wife and I on the ellipticals together, running on the treadmill, the bicycle machine. According to the machines, I burned about three-hundred calories in the hour. Now, two hours later, my muscles are relaxed and rested. I'm sure tomorrow I'll feel it, but it was refreshing, and it was something I enjoyed doing with my wife.

And I can't go on for so long about the YMCA without sharing this:


Direct video link.

Your comments?

Joe

podsafe music network | ioda promonet | magnatune | airplay direct
ariel publicity | kennedy resource development | populuxe records | indie heaven
miles high productions | iris distribution | chavis records | after hours music

Happy Valentines Day!

Okay, so Valentines Day is almost over, but Happy Valentines Day, anyway.

I had to work today until five o'clock, so my family celebrated Valentines Day on Tuesday by going to Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Of course, there was more tonight. On the way home from work tonight I stopped at Papa Murphys Pizza to pick up a heart shaped pizza for the family. It's sort of a Valentines Day tradition for us. The family and I had a small Valentines Day celebration after I got home. For my wife and I, Valentines Day (like every other holiday) is all about the kids, not us. We're getting ready to watch a Charlie Brown special on TV.

I'm hoping to get a new episode of The Joe Show / Soapy Joe out soon. I have received several submissions from artists and have some great new tunes to share.

Speaking of sharing, my first novel will be available soon -- in paperback on Amazon, in PDF and Palm DOC eBook formats, and even in Audiobook soon. Best of all, the sequel will be out this fall. Stay tuned for updates, plus a great discount code and some bundle specials.

Hope your day was a great one!

Your comments?

Joe

podsafe music network | ioda promonet | magnatune | airplay direct
ariel publicity | kennedy resource development | populuxe records | indie heaven
miles high productions | iris distribution | chavis records | after hours music

Lift Them Up In Prayer -- UPDATE with Link

A nice, relaxing, enjoyable second day of vacation today took a somber turn, when what was an otherwise enjoyable church service ended with the announcement that four young children lost a father in Afghanistan today.

UPDATE: From Chicago Sun Times

I haven't seen anything about it in the news online yet, so I don't know the details of what happened, but two of the members of our old church, which we attended tonight because we spent the day visiting the in-laws, lost their son-in-law today in Afghanistan. He left behind a widow and four young children.

Your prayers, please, for the family.

Your comments?

Joe

podsafe music network | ioda promonet | magnatune | airplay direct
ariel publicity | kennedy resource development | populuxe records | indie heaven
miles high productions | iris distribution | chavis records | after hours music