Real Men Wear Pink

Loneliness is such a sad affair, and I can hardly wait to be with you again.
What to say, to make you come again?
Come back to me again, and play your sad guitar

Don't you remember you told me you loved me baby?
You said you'd be coming back this way again baby.
Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh, baby.
I love you, I really do.

The Carpenters

(Leon Russell, Bonnie Delaney)

So I figured I would start this weeks blog by talking about some of the music I never got to see live, that I wish I had. Obviously the Beatles is going to lead the list for most people that didn't see them, but for me the list starts with The Carpenter's. I just adore Karen's voice and it never ceases to bring a smile to my face.

Why do I bring this up. I had Karen in my ears as I did the Komen 5K Breast Cancer on Saturday. I believe the number of racers/walkers/funwalkers numbered around 13,000. The workers, well a little short to handle that number. It was somewhat hard to figure out where to go and when to start so I just started and went on my merry way. The crowd was so thick at time that I almost expected a cowboy to mosey over and start to brand us. I'm not a big fan of crowds, even less of a fan of sweating in big crowds. But I made my way around the 3.2 mile loop, ear phones on , eyes down, in a respectable time, although about 5 minutes slower than my tri time. I got passed by at least 100 kids under 13, a few people in blue jeans, and one lady in a walking cast. I will say that I was inspired by the unconditional and irrevocable love that so many of the racers expressed with their signs and balloons, and outfits. It was in no way a sad event, and I was impressed by the numbers, and families, and teams who joined in.

I was called a "dork" by one of my friends for wearing a polo shirt for the 5K. But I wanted to sport the pink. If you look close you can see the capital in the background.

I have just about finished my first week in the fitness challenge I am doing with four other ridgers. 2nd place for me and I picked up points for swimming, jogging, bike riding, lifting weights, sit ups and volleyball. Congrats to my fellow competitors. Between the five of us we did over 100 units of exercise with one unit being a mile walked, 2.5 mile on bike, or a half hour of weights or sports. Not bad :)

Speaking of volleyball I had a full week of 6 nights of play. This is my undefeated Wednesday night team. We play 5 people against 6 and as you can see by the picture I get to sweat. I have done some things on the court this summer that I haven't done in the past and it sure feels good.

Here is my Monday night team. We are in first place on Monday, but do have a blemish on the books. And just so you dont think I am only talking about the good teams. I'll add that my Tuesday team is getting spanked and is 0-3, Thursday is coming together and is 4-2, Friday is two weeks in and we are 3-0, and Sunday is my good friends and we are improving by leaps and bounds but are 3-5 on the year. Thanks to the Ridge for giving us t-shirts to wear. There seemed to be a surplus of shirts when the name change made most of the ridge stuff obsolete. So green Battle of the Bulge shirts got worn for all 3 victories tonight.

Nothing else too profound this week. With 6 nights in the sand I am never home at night. I am really happy though and so glad to be playing so much. Nothing major on the immediate agenda. Going to St Louis in just over two weeks to se The Eagles and The Dixie Chicks together in concert. I need to make a trip to Arlington Park soon as I haven't seen the horses run in awhile. Both stores are making a little money and it should be a very fun summer. I have been a bike riding fool and hope to keep cycling away the summer. Hope all's well with you guys. Peace, Jim