Wet weekend

We had a great weekend (INDOORS!!). We played some games (Battleship was on Grif's mind), did some cooking, etc.....
We went to CiCi's on Sat with our Sunday School class and invited the children from the homeless shelter to come, our treat. It was sad, that kids have to deal with what these kids have/ and will have to deal with. We will be doing this again. I LOVE being part of a bible study class that acts the bible and not just studies!! I hope we do A LOT more like this soon!!
Sunday bible study and worship were wonderful!! The pastor is preaching on relationships right now, and I am learning something every week!! I want to be a better husband for the greatest wife in the world!!
This is the last week before spring break!! By Saturday I will be at the beach!! WooHoo!!

Cooking: I tried to make eclairs for the first time ever. Success!! Way good. Had to take the rest to Bible Study class, because I did NOT need them in my house!! Next on the agenda is petites fours and glazed cookies like a Agan's Bakery!! I can't wait. The recipe for both looks a little difficult, but fun!!

I have decided I am going to do another triathlon. Frank Bennett was talking about doing one, and I asked to join him. We are looking for the right distance on the right weekend this summer. I think I will be in better shape than the one I did in 2002 at Callaway Gardens! I'll keep you updated.

C

Today is a PERFECT example.....

Would you like a look into my brain?? Today will give you a perfect example!!

When things are going on in my life, I think about other people. Almost, I guess, as a way to keep the real high moments in perspective and the real low moments from overtaking me?!?! I don't know, it is just what I do. Example is when I was in the hospital with my heart attack, I would often think of a parent out there in the world, watching their child take a first step. Or a person who unlocked the front door on their new home at that very moment I was laying in a hospital bed. Anyway, you get the point.
The existentialism of it all, if you will.
My God holding two opposites in his hand at the exact moment!!
Today, holds another example...

A few moments ago, the family of Boyd Lowery, laid him at his final resting place. Boyd is a man I have known, loved and respected ALL my life. I can't remember not knowing him. I grew up at Atco Baptist Church. He was a deacon. His children, Elizabeth, Billy, and Kenny, were older than me. I can see his smile in my mind as I type. He was a man that showed me another example of how to be a Godly man, a good father, and a great husband. I will miss Boyd, and I will be praying for Shirley!! She is an awesome Godly woman. I am sure she is having a tough day. But at the same exact moment, my sister Janet is in the hospital about to give birth to her first child.

I will soon be an uncle. But, this is just another example of how GREAT our God is!! God is currently holding the Lowery family close. God is pouring grace on them in their grief. At the EXACT same time my God is holding my sister close in what will be one of the absolute GREATEST days of her life!!

Two families that both love the same God. It is just amazing!! God is just amazing. You may read this and think, Craig is off his rocker, but that is the way my mind works!!
C

I feel good.

I have appreciated all of my friends and family constantly asking how I feel, so I thought I'd give a quick update.
No smoking since Jan 11th.
Cholesterol down to 129, LDL - 59, HDL - 40
Mood swings have gotten better
Cardio workouts 40 minutes per day 5 days per week
No doctor appointments until August!!
Weight down around 210.
I feel great!!

Wow - what a weekend!!

I had a phenomenal weekend!! It was great. It was amazing.
Friday I got home, and Donna had already taken the kids to my mom's!! We went out on a date night. Hearth & Harvest!! mmmmm. The food was incredible but the company and conversation was indescribable!! What a woman.

Saturday Donna took Grif to baseball practice while I dusted off and charged the battery on the lawnmower!! I worked in the yard for about 6 hours (of course there is another 100 hours that could be spent out there!!). We played in the yard with Grif and Bailey for a long time!! It was a blast of a day. Then I cooked dinner. Pork chops, field peas, corn. mmmmmm.

Sunday was a blast at church. Praise team practice/soundcheck was smooth. Bible study was incredible!! We were supposed to be studying Nehemiah, but God spoke to Shep this week and he shared that with us, and at the same time, God moved Shep out of the way and spoke to all of us. It was a wonderful time with the people Donna and I are getting to know. I can tell you that I don't know what God is planning for Shep and Andrea, but just as outside looking in, something is going on!! Something BIG is going to happen, soon.
Shep spoke at length on serving two masters, God and Money. The fact is, that cannot be done. A lot of people are struggling right now. Shep was testifying as to how God shined a light on his lack of joy or happiness as compared to a different time, with the only difference being less money.
Funny that a friend of mine had gone to Mt Paran yesterday and Dr Cooper had preached on the very same topic and was relating the loss of money with the story of Gideon.
No, you have too many soldiers, that won't show my glory.
No, you have too much material wealth, that won't show my glory.
I don't know what I am saying, but God is saying something to us/me on this subject!! More later.
Worship was incredible!! Doug preached, filling in for our Pastor. Doug is wonderful at preaching with humor. He is gifted from God in getting a point across!!
I had decided I was doing something special for dinner!! So I got recipe books out and made a decision. (Kudos to the Mayo clinic online!! Great source for healthy recipes!!)
Anyway...
Balsamic glazed Salmon over a garlic mash. Roasted vegetables with a crescent roll.
It presented as a gorgeous and colorful plate!!
Then for desert, I invited a couple of neighbors over, so I wouldn't have too much left over!! (Not good for me AT ALL!!) I did a Barefoot Contessa, sticky bun recipe with a scoop of ice cream!! Oh my goodness.

This morning was tough getting out of bed, but I had cardiac rehab, and with a great workout, it was going to be my last class!! Everything was perfect!! 4.5 MPH at a 2.5 degree incline for 20 minutes and my heart rate never got over 125!! WooHoo, I is a graduate of cardiac rehab!! Yeahhhhhhhh. Of course, I still have to do it on my own, but it is better than paying someone else, and having to drive down to Northside Hospital!!

What a weekend, Oh and a BIG thank you to Andrea for "dragging" my wife into choir!! It was even more amazing to worship with my baby up there worshipping too!!

C

It's gonna be a good day, tater!!

My day started off a few minutes late!! I couldn't roll out of bed. I almost blew off working out, but I made myself get up, get ready and go!! It turns out, it was the best workout of the week!! Funny, considering leaving the house, I would have sworn I was heading for a bad workout!! Turns out that I didn't know THE plan, huh? Isn't it funny how that happens to all of us. And how often. It was perfect. My workout was beyond good. My energy got up in a hurry, my legs took it well, and my heart rate got to a "perfect" level!! Sweet!! I asked God for help on the drive to the gym. He was there the whole workout. He is ALWAYS there. Sometimes I just CHOOSE to forget that fact!!
While I was taking a shower, I was just smiling. It was a cool feeling, that my thoughts of what was to be a bad thing was turn completely around, FOR ME. All for me. I don't know why he loves me, I'm unworthy of His love and favor, but I am amazed, in awe, and this morning, smiling with a knowledge of grace.
Have a great weekend all!!
C

Doctor's Appointment

Went to the doctor this morning for him to get a general "how are things going" visit. He seemed very pleased, as I went over everything that has happened since my last visit in January. I have lost a couple of pounds since the heart attack. I havn't smoked. I've taken all my meds. Eating "better". Eating less. 45 minutes of cardio 4 days a week. Blah, blah, blah....
He was smiling pretty good, and this doctor doesn't smile, so he was happy.
Then, I got some questions off my chest that I have been wanting to know the answers to, but have been a little afraid to ask. That didn't go very well. But, such is life..
We determined, through a little back and forth questioning, that some of the mood swings I am experiencing is related to a minor case of depression. Whatever...
I can monitor and see how I progress... or
I can add another pill to my list of daily meds... or
I can go talk to someone...

I told him for now I have to go with option A. The other two don't even sound remotely appealing!!

Anyway, the Doctor is very happy with my progress, so there is an update for anyone interested.

Addicted

Well in my life, there have been a lot of addictions!! Truth be told, I probably have an addictive personality.
But these new addictions, I think are going to work out good!! I have become addicted to working out. I would have never thought I was capable of enjoying that, but so far, I am LOVING the gym. Which I believe leads to my next "addiction", eating better. I am beginning to think that just from a psychological aspect, if you are taking the time to work out, you will be less inclided to eat bad junk that will basically null the effort you spent at the gym.
No more smoking addiction, eating too much, now to be replaced with a healthier lifestyle.

Update on one of my goals, which is my temper.....
Yesterday, driving home, I got sooooo angry, at people driving the same speed next to each other on 75, so noone could get around them!! I don't really understand this "new" temper thing, but I breathed through the anxiety, and I didn't shoot anyone, so I thought that was good. LOL.

Work is busy, and I thank God for that!! I also thank God for good days, and am VERY appreciative of days that don't involve a mood swing large enough to make me think I'm nuts!!

Anyway, thank you for letting me vent on here when I need to and in person when I need to!!
Happy St. Patrick's Day, (although that isn't exactly something I've ever celebrated!! Even back in my drinking days!! Who could possibly like green beer?)
C

Publish this time?

This isn't the first blog I've written today, but it is the first that I will post.
We are going through another rough time. I don't like some of the "newness" of my life. I've been a jerk to my wife, a child throwing a temper tantrum to my God, and just generally not a fun person right now!! But, this too shall pass, and I'll walk through the exit better for it.
Being molded is painful. Introspection isn't much fun either.
I can't wait for Sunday. We missed church last week due to the wedding, and just am in need of worship with my family.
C

Morons??

I am smiling this morning!! Too funny really. My 45 minute drive took an hour and a half!! But, I didn't call even one of the culprits a name!! But the treadmill did get a little extra stomping this morning!! LOL.
I really like the LA Fitness next to my office. It is less than 6 months old and it is an amazingly clean club. Maybe it is the area of Marietta where it is located, but the patrons keep it really clean!! I see probably 9 out of 10 people wiping off every piece of equipment AFTER they use it!! Pretty cool.
Anyway, 25 minutes on the treadmill, 15 minutes on the bike heartrate for the 40 minutes total stayed around 100. My therapist will be so happy. Ha.
Bailey had final exams on Monday and Tuesday, and did VERY well!! She is such a smart young lady!! She is growing up wayyyy too fast!!
Work is very busy and that is a blessing, so off I go to get back to it!!
C

What God has joined together let no man put asunder!

We had a great weekend of celebration with Donna's side of the family!! How great it is when God brings two people together, that just seem made for each other. John and Sarah's wedding was wonderful. Everything about it was beautiful. We took our time getting there on Friday and arrived in Cullman, AL around 2 local time. We checked into the hotel and ran out to get Griffin some new navy slacks, he went off and outgrew the old ones!! (Isn't that just like a kid??) We then went to "downtown" Cullman. Now, if you have never been to Cullman, AL let me set the scene for you!! Imagine downtown Cartersville square that has been restored with all the new shops and such and then multiply that by 4 or 5 streets. 1st Ave, 2nd Ave, 3rd Ave and so on all with beautifully restored buildings with quaint little shops, deli/coffee, jewelry and so forth. We went downtown to see Sarah's mother shop. She owns a very cute place called "Monograms". It might be on the internet if you care to google it, anyway it is similar to Rush Home, but more items that can be monogrammed, obviously!! LOL. Also a big selection of the "Wedgewick" candle and smelling good items!! A large selection of sometype of charm bracelets that Bailey likes? Sorry, forgot the name. And then a large notecard area with cute return address stamps and all like you would find at "Write on Main". A lot of ladies I know could spend HOURS in there, thats why I took so long with the description!!
Anyway, the rehearsal dinner later on Friday was wonderful food, funny stories, and a few tears by some people (no names mentioned). Desert might have been a piece of pecan pie, but I can't remember because I'm not allowed to like desert anymore!!
The brunch Saturday morning for us "out-o-towners" was delicious!! (Have you ever heard of a french toast casserole, mmmmmmm, well it would be mmmmmm, if I liked that sort of thing!! LOL) The wedding went off perfect. A gorgeous OLD, OLD, Methodist Church downtown, with I don't know how many thousands of dollars of woodwork!! Amazingly beautiful as was the bride and groom. The reception was wonderful with dancing, great food, and bad, bad cake (wink). The groom's cake was yellow layers chocolate icing!! The bride's cake had one layer white on white then another layer of white on chocolate then another.... nevermind, I don't really remember either cake!!
Sunday coming back we took our time and didn't get home until almost, 4!! We missed being at church!!
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Rehab went well Monday and I am on my own for the rest of the week's workouts. I was at L.A. Fitness by the office this morning with all the early birds. It's hard with my "manly ego" to get on a treadmill and walk the correct speed to get my heartrate to the correct level, when everyone around you is running and such. But, I MUST take it slow, and listen to the guy that went to school to learn about my heart!! I have set some goals for myself for the rest of the year. Before basketball season last year I had gotten up around 230!! WOW. During basketball and softball seasons last year I had lost about 10 pounds, which is about where I was when I had the heart attack, 220.
So, with that in mind,
Goals:
1. Be able to run 3 miles in 30 minutes, with my heartrate not getting above 110. (that's gonna be tough, but most goals are, I guess)
2. 190 pounds. Not for dieting purposes or vain purposes, but because it WILL be a healthier wieght for my heart. (Might adjust this even lower, if it goes well)
3. Influence 1 person to stop smoking. (I don't know who yet)
4. Be open ALWAYS for God to use me.
5. Play a HIGH level of softball!!
6. Hold my temper. (One of the changes in me that is not cool at all, either from the medication or the psychological side effects, has been a VERY short fuse!! I don't like this, because I am constantly calling other drivers, morons or idiots (and they maybe, but it isn't my place to judge that!!). I also hurt Donna by snapping at her, or the well timed sigh. It is just stupid and it is not who I am as a person and definately not as a husband and a father!! I would rather hurt myself than cause emotional pain to my wife or children. So, I will be watching my new temper!!)
7. Become closer to God. ( I am going through a daily devotional, which is something I have never done, in an attempt to be in The Word more, if not constantly!!)

That is all I have time for today. Oh wait goal 8. update my blog more frequently, so I don't have to write a book everytime I get on here!! Haha.
Sorry for being so verbose.
C

Monday it is

I must say that there was some disappointment at the house yesterday afternoon and this morning that the weather didn't get bad enough for a snow day!! The kids were not happy either!! Too bad!! Another near miss....
We had a great day yesterday!! Don't you just love Sundays? God has built something deep inside of us that Sunday is his day and therefore the best day of the week!! Don't believe me? Look around at your friends that don't go to church. They try to get all their "honey-do" list finished on Saturday so that Sunday they can play. Even non-church going people love Sunday. Whether it be sleeping late, or watching sports, or doing something special with their children. Sunday's are just awesome!! If you are part of a church family, it is even more amazing!! This Sunday I was in desperate need of a recharging!! To worship with my family. To hear from God through a friend's voice. To sing. To listen. I WANTED to be with my church family!!
In Bible study, we started the day with a pop quiz!! Anyone with a failing grade had to take their paper home to be signed by their children. Joking!!!! Shep wanted to get information from the class as to where we are in our walk, so he could know which direction we need to go as a class. It will be interesting to see what direction God sends our class through him. Anyway, during the pop quiz, I made a joke that "this quiz wasn't fun anymore" because the questions were convicting and a tough introspection!! That got Shep going on "the joy of the Lord is my strength", because he and Andrea had a tough week. (Which I could relate to!!) Their words were tough to hear that they felt the joy of the Lord was a million miles away. We had some very good discussion on the subject of joy, how it relates to happiness, and so on...
The just moments later, in worship, one of the first songs we sang was: I stand and lift up my hands, for the joy of the Lord is my strength!!
Too funny!! Ok God, you have this hard headed stubborn boy's attention! Speak away!! It was an INCREDIBLE worship service!!
After lunch, my grandfather calls to check on me. I havn't been to see him in a month and need to get by there!! But we talked for a few minutes, and he was asking about my tests and I told him everything. He gives me that calm, reassuring voice (that only he can do) and says, well you need to be concerned, but don't worry. Too funny!! Be concerned to action, and taking care of myself physically, but don't worry!! I'm telling you that God took every opportunity to tell me yesterday that He is in control.
I need to let go.
Thank you God for an awesome day of "recharging" and for speaking to me clearly enough to get through my thick head!!
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I love to cook. It is one of my joys. I love everything about it. I love the planning, the preparation, the actual cooking, the presentation, and the serving!! I like the look on my family's faces when they are sitting at our table and eating something that could be served at a fine restaurant!! (I probably missed my calling in not being a chef!!) Yesterday afternoon I broke out the cookbooks!! (That makes Donna nervous!! I love it!!)
I used a couple of Emeril's recipes yesterday!!
Pecan crusted chicken
Augratin Potatos
Steamed broccoli
Home grown purple hull peas
Home made biscuits

As all of that was cooking, I was also working on dessert!! I made a pound cake. mmmmm!!
But I wanted to do something special, so I found from Emeril an easy, easy, easy recipe that I thought to the eater would look diffucult!! I made pralines!! mmmmm. When Donna walked into the kitchen and saw those, you would have thought I handed her a million dollars!! She freaked out. Hugging and kissing and interupting my cooking!! LOL. She must like pralines!! Anyway, for desert I had put some plates in the freezer for an hour or two, and served a small slice of pound cake, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a praline standing up in the ice cream. Oh my!! My baby loved it, which of course made the entire effort worth every minute!!

What an incredible day!!