It's Father's Day Weekend. I can make it that way for a entire weekend, can't I? Lots of updates, so here goes...
My demo on Thursday went great. Still no news on the site's decision; but, based on the immediate feedback from my Senior VP and Regional Account Manager, my demo went great. I think I did pretty good considering the room had a horrible echo that was only heard when the mics were not muted on the hospital side. Whenever they took their phone off mute to ask questions, the echo was three fold. That was also made worse due to the Middle Eastern accent of a few of the physicians asking questions. I guess that 6 months of talking to Tricia on a satellite phone while she was in Honduras finally paid off, royally!!! I was able to pick up key words and did not one time as them to repeat their questions. I used a good many "I think I heard you say" statements and I was correct 100% of the time. My VP was mightily impressed and I think the demo was a success, considering it was my first for the product too! God is good and he helped me through that stress and my mental prep all week worked to mightily to my advantage.
So, that's the good news of the week. The bad news of the week came from Mom. Seems the surgeon's tissue samples from the margins around here small tumor came back as pre-cancerous. She is more than likely going back for a complete mastectomy soon. She was not in good spirits after that; but, the bright spot is that she will likely NOT have to undergo radiation therapy if she goes forward with the additional surgery. Thank you for continuing to pray for her strength.
We were heading to Ohio tomorrow; but, Missy's father-in-law passed away after a struggle with stomach cancer. Missy is Tricia's sister and that is where we would be staying next week. For now, we have postponed until we can find a better time, maybe a longer trip in the Fall for Thanksgiving? Who knows? John Hagopian, Missy's father-in-law, was a good man and it was a joy to get to know him the few times we met. I know how Missy's husband is feeling. Losing a parent is never easy; but, we never want them to suffer and there is peace in the end. There is a better place. Funny, I look at this paragraph and see it's right next to a paragraph about my Mom and cancer. All the more reason to treasure the time we are given together.
This week and last week while we were at the beach, my devotion from Rick Warren (Purpose Driven Life) has been about being a good father to my kids. As a human father, I know I have failed in many ways; but, I also see some of the right things shining through in my boys. Miles and Dylan are growing in their faith and are learning about hard work, responsibility and humility. I think I struggle the most with my expectations of them. I need to give them more credit for their progress and watch my words to them more closely to encourage more and be less critical. Fathers: Help Your Children Know God. Dylan and Tricia are making blueberry cheesecake for me right now. It just doesn't get any better than that! I guess I most be doing something right! I know I need to include them daily in my prayers for this season of parenting young boys will soon be past. Tricia and I also watched "W" this week. It's the Oliver Stone movie about the now-ex President George W. Bush. I have read some about his relationship with his father and the effect on his political career; but, Stone really put the focus on that in the movie. I know I still feel the sting from some of the words said to me by my father growing up. While I know I will still make mistakes, I pray for and strive for a closer relationship with them so they will at least they will know the real me and how much I truly love them, regardless of how I sometimes fail to show it or say the right things to them. Wow, this blog got heavy didn't it? Time to change the subject!
I got into another free show last night, Toubab Krewe. I was able to get on the guest list for handing out flyers and posters. I guess it worked, there was a big crowd last night at the show and I danced almost the entire first set. It's not really a dance more than a shake and move around. They are a high energy instrumental band that focuses on African instrumentation (mainly from the country of Mali) including kora (21-string harp-lute), kamelengoni (12-string harp-lute),soku (Malian horsehair fiddle). I left after the first set because I had danced enough and the smoke from all of the cigarettes was getting to me. I suppose the club is not in the city limits of Greenville, I can't understand why smoking is still allowed there. Another reason why I love the Handlebar so much better. I should have the full show recording soon and can enjoy the rest of the show from the smoke-free confines of home :-).
Speaking of shows and music. Yesterday was a sad day for music fans in the Southeast. One of the best places to see music suffered a near complete loss. The Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia burned. This was a musical second home for me while I was at Clemson. I can't tell you how many shows I saw there; but, I know I experienced my share of music magic in that hall. Widespread Panic in the late 80's and early 90's, Govt Mule, The Radiators, Phish with Giant Country Horns in 1991, and the Derek Trucks Band when they recorded their Live double album there (I can hear myself yelling song requests between tunes on the album). I can remember driving by myself in 2002 to see the Widespread Panic movie right after their guitarist and found member died. It was like a funeral and celebration and a lot of emotion was felt that night. Just a shame that happened. It's as if part of my life just disappeared into ashes. I hope they can rebuild and I look forward to hearing more live music there again in the future. I wore my Ga Theatre shirt proudly last night! Georgia Theatre burns
It's some kind of hot down here in South Carolina this weekend. It was almost 100F yesterday and the temp is showing 100F right now at 7pm on my outside reading. I mowed the full yard and did some weed-eating yesterday. It took a lot of water and laying around after a cool showed before I had the energy for Toubab Krewe, another reason I left during the set break.
On the reading front, I have a new book from the library about Andrew Jackson, written by the editor of Newsweek called American Lion. I look forward to starting that tonight.
Lastly, we went to Miles' Purple Belt graduation today. He has improved so much in his moves and focus. This was by far his best graduation ceremony. It was also special because several new black belts were awarded today. There's a lot of work to obtain that belt, which is traditionally considered the first level of marital arts training. We look forward to Miles getting that far and making a decision on his next level of training.
Well, that's enough for today. Pictures posted below. Have a great weekend and STAY COOL!
See ya!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrsoulmark/MilesPurpleBelt#
Speaking of shows and music. Yesterday was a sad day for music fans in the Southeast. One of the best places to see music suffered a near complete loss. The Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia burned. This was a musical second home for me while I was at Clemson. I can't tell you how many shows I saw there; but, I know I experienced my share of music magic in that hall. Widespread Panic in the late 80's and early 90's, Govt Mule, The Radiators, Phish with Giant Country Horns in 1991, and the Derek Trucks Band when they recorded their Live double album there (I can hear myself yelling song requests between tunes on the album). I can remember driving by myself in 2002 to see the Widespread Panic movie right after their guitarist and found member died. It was like a funeral and celebration and a lot of emotion was felt that night. Just a shame that happened. It's as if part of my life just disappeared into ashes. I hope they can rebuild and I look forward to hearing more live music there again in the future. I wore my Ga Theatre shirt proudly last night! Georgia Theatre burns
It's some kind of hot down here in South Carolina this weekend. It was almost 100F yesterday and the temp is showing 100F right now at 7pm on my outside reading. I mowed the full yard and did some weed-eating yesterday. It took a lot of water and laying around after a cool showed before I had the energy for Toubab Krewe, another reason I left during the set break.
On the reading front, I have a new book from the library about Andrew Jackson, written by the editor of Newsweek called American Lion. I look forward to starting that tonight.
Lastly, we went to Miles' Purple Belt graduation today. He has improved so much in his moves and focus. This was by far his best graduation ceremony. It was also special because several new black belts were awarded today. There's a lot of work to obtain that belt, which is traditionally considered the first level of marital arts training. We look forward to Miles getting that far and making a decision on his next level of training.
Well, that's enough for today. Pictures posted below. Have a great weekend and STAY COOL!
See ya!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mrsoulmark/MilesPurpleBelt#
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