I’m Surrounded Good People

In my last post I talked about the Team Captain meeting. Over the past week I have been to a couple of meetings for Boy Scouts. On January 30th I went to a BSA Scout Leader meeting. There must have been over 100 people there. Then I attended the BSA monthly roundtable meeting in Allen last Thursday. Once again there had to be over 100 people in attendance.

I am constantly humbled at the service people are willing to give to others. I know many who help the MS Society. I have also been involved in Scouting for many years. I’m thankful to be surrounded by so many good people who impact my life and make me want to be a better person.

Team Captain Meeting

We had the first Team Captain meeting a couple weeks ago.  I can’t believe how fast time has gone since the last ride.  But I am excited to get started for 2010!  The BikeMS ride for me is my most important ride of the year.  It is my annual “I beat MS this year” ride.  For me it is a huge moral victory to know that I am winning and still able to ride 150 miles.  The Team Captain meeting was great.  There is a new Team Captain Coordinator (I’m not sure it that title is correct), Tracy Brinton.  She has some good ideas and seems like she’ll be fun to work with.  It did seem different not to see Kelly Dooley there who was the former Team Captain Coordinator.  However, Kelly is still around working in a new role with the Club 100 top fundraisers.  So I guess Kelly won’t get rid of me, or I won’t get rid of him (not sure which way that works) since I was blessed to be a member of Club 100 again this year.  Good luck Kelly in your new role and welcome Tracy.  It is always fun to meet some of the other team captains and members of their teams.  I’m always humbled as I meet others who so unselfishly give their time and talents to help others.  It was great to get to meet Connie, one of the other Ride Ambassadors.  You can meet Connie on her blog – Connie’s Bike MS Blog.  Let’s get riding!

First Ride of 2010

Well after a couple of weeks of very unfriendly cycling weather I got out for my first ride of 2010.  I invited my friend Brian to see Avatar in IMAX 3D.  Then he suggested that we go for a ride after since it was going to be a warm day.  I’ll have to say that the movie and the ride were great.  It felt really good to get back out and stretch my legs.  I’m glad to have friends that keep me going!

Thanksgiving Weekend

It has been a wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend.  I really enjoyed having the kids home from school.  It seemed like everyone had been running so fast in different directions that we hadn’t been able to enjoy being together as a family.  We worked hard at the beginning of the week when Lowes called and said our carpet was in a week early.  We lucked out and had the new media room complete before my sister and her family and my parents came for Thanksgiving.  It was great to have family here for the day.

I have so much to be Thankful for and feel my life is truly blessed.  I have a great family who supports me in everything I do.  I have a wonderful wife and kids.  I have great supportive friends.  My family and friends make living with MS easy.  They let me push myself until I drop and then pick up the slack.  I try to do everything I have always done so I can prove to myself that MS isn’t winning.  So far, I am winning!  I am thankful that I have a good job with good benefits that allows me to have access to the best health care.

I can’t believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone.  Now we are moving into the Christmas season.  This is absolutely my favorite time of year.

 

Whew! What a weekend.

It has been a busy weekend.  Emmi, my oldest, was in the play that her High School just put on.  They did Shakespeare’s Mid Summer’s Night Dream.  She had performances every night starting Thursday and going through Saturday.  Ruth, my wife, went to opening night on Thursday and I stayed home with the other kids.  Then on Friday we all went.  They did a great job.  I still don’t get Shakespeare sometimes, but I really enjoyed it.  The costumes were great.  I don’t remember our High School plays or musicals having such good costumes or sets.  I miss the energy of being young, Emmi has been at school until 6:30 every night for the past two weeks and 9pm the week of the play.  And on top of all that, she had her Certified Nursing Exam on Thursday.  She had to be at the rest home where they administered the test at 6am on Thursday.  She sent me a text about 2pm that she passed the exam.  Now she is a CNA.  They certainly didn’t have programs like this when I was in High School.  I’m so proud of her.

While Emmi was at her play on Saturday, Jaxon and Jaiden helped me paint the game room.  Now that the kids are getting older, we thought is was time to retire the Little Tykes and make the game room a media room.  We got the bulk of the painting done and just have some touch up and the trim to do.  We’ve got carpet coming the first week of December, so we’ve got a deadline.  It sure is fun to paint when you’re not worried about the carpet.  We wanted to have it done for Thanksgiving, but it looks like we’ll miss it  by a week.  The new media room is Christmas this year.  The kids are all excited.

Seems like forever since I’ve been on my bike.  I want to get out this week during the Thanksgiving break.  I can’t wait for all of my family to be at our house this year and hope you all have a great Thanksgiving week.

Welcome to my Blog

Thank you for visiting my blog!

 

I’m honored that the MS Society has asked me to be a ride ambassador.  I look forward to having you accompany me on my preparation for the 2010 ride.  The Bike MS ride is my favorite ride of the year.  I have made many friends through the ride and I look forward to riding with them.  We have had about 30 people each year on our team and hope to add some new friends to the team this year.  Come join us, we have fun riding and have a party at the overnight at Texas Motor Speedway.

 

As a person with MS, I am always in awe with the Bike MS ride.  It is truly amazing to see thousands of people come together to help those with MS.  I do worry about what my future with MS may mean, but I can honestly say that my life is better because of the friends I have made through the ride.  Working with the MS Society, my team members, and our sponsors I have seen the good in people as they work together to make a difference in the lives of others.

 

I, along with four other cyclists, have been asked to participate in the ride ambassador program.  The five of us represent a cross-section of those who participate in the ride.  I have been asked to represent those who ride with MS.  The other ride ambassadors represent NON-TRADITIONAL RIDER, TOP FUNDRAISER, TEAM CAPTAIN, and NEW RIDER.  You can visit their blogs and follow their stories as they also prepare for the ride.

 

If you don’t already ride, I hope you decide to join us.  TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

 

 

Starting Tysabri Tomorrow

Well, tomorrow is the day.  I will be going in for my first Tysabri infusion.  I have mixed emotions.  I am hopeful that I will experience some of the great successes that I have read about, but the potential side effects will always be in the back of my mind.  Of course all medications have side effects.  I really had to weigh the pros and cons on this one.  I am glad to finally be starting treatments again.  I had to have clean out period of at least 30 days before I could start Tysabri and it was 60 days yesterday.  I’m ready to get started.

I was just looking back at some team photos.  I found this one that was taken on our final team training ride before the 2008 ride.  It was an exciting time as we approached our first ride as a new team.

Welcome to my blog

I have been asked by the local National MS Society to be a ride ambassador for the 2010 ride.  Over the next few months I hope you will enjoy following me as I prepare for  the ride.  I do have MS, but since my first Bike MS ride in 2006 I have been hooked on cycling.  I also started my own team for the 2008 ride and will also be working to make the ride enjoyable for my team.  Performance Bike is our gracious team sponsor.  If you are interested in riding with us, check out our team web site at www.ridersagainstms.org.