I'm learning how to use my 24 hours

We are all busy. That is the phrase we have all said and the way we feel a lot of the time. For me, I always thought I was busy but once my new year, August 21, started I now know that I truly wasted a lot of valuable time. For most days I don’t even allow myself the time to check my social media pages and over the past week not even take the time to write a blog. The diversification of my day is what I find most interesting these days. I normally start at the barn where I do what you do to take care of the horses and the stable. Once that part is over I change clothes, freshen up a little, and then head to Lakeland to the FSC campus. After arriving at FSC I handle any paperwork that I might have and try to sneak in a little lunch in the cafeteria. That time period is the only one during the day where I kind of actually let my guard down and just enjoy the surrounding of the students and the occasional staff member who might join me for a quick bite. It is after lunch that the tennis part of the day begins. I try to get in my workout before I meet up with the team to put them through their paces for the day. Around 3:30 it is time to head down to the beautiful new tennis facility to get set up for the boys. Practice usually goes until roughly 6pm but there is no true ending time. Whenever practice is over it just means that within the next hour to hour and a half that I will hop back in the KIA and head to the house. It is always nice to make the 45 minute to 1 hour ride home as I have time to decompress and ready myself for the next day. Once I walk through the door and see Michelle and Brianna doing their nightly dance of homework, showers, and dinner I realize my family really only uses the house as a hotel room and not as a place where we want to be most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, we love our house but do not want any more because we enjoy the going more than the staying. Please don’t misconstrue what I have stated above. I truly love the life I lead and could not imagine it being any other way. Being able to work on two completely different things is just what I need to keep the fire burning inside my belly. Knowing that every day I must focus on my time and steal moments of solitude when I can has made me a much more disciplined person and made me choose what is important to me. If it cannot make me better in my pursuits it is pushed back and touched only when there is time or forgotten about all together. This may make me selfish but at this point in my life and career I am okay with that. Speaking of working hard you should see what the men’s tennis team is doing this year. They are like animals with their effort. The entire goal of the Fall was to take their comfort zones, throw them away, and make them understand how much more they had to give. Well, they are doing it and it is amazing to watch. Their discipline has made me even more disciplined and I will not let them down because they deserve my effort as well. We all say that we are going to make changes and then we realize how hard it is to do it and we revert back to our comfort zones because even though it doesn’t move us forward it is much easier than going through the pain of progress. I don’t have that option anymore so pain has become my friend and occasionally I even by him a beer.

Change is going to happen, did you cause it or are you the cause?

It’s funny how one day I am contemplating what makes me giggle then the next I am knee deep in the discussion of why we make changes. The word change evokes multitudes of thoughts. It can be as simple as the stuff we keep in the console of our cars or what we need to do with our clothes after a hard workout but the change I am speaking about is the paradigm shift that is occurring with the FSC tennis team. Change is part of life and happens every day but as a society we like things as our perceived normal and really don’t embrace it when something takes us out of our comfort zone. I am a creature of habit. I coach in a laid back style with most of my process being done on the practice court and through conversation with my players. This style has worked for me well but over the last couple years I have become too comfortable and putting the emphasis on what the players wanted to do versus what they probably needed to do. Being a realist I also decided that if they truly wanted to make changes with where they were they would initiate the process on their own. I was wrong. We have steadily declined in the national rankings over the past 3 years and that has not settled well with me. I really hate losing but really hate not reaching the full potential that I see available in my team. This led me to research my methods and see what I could do to help facilitate a change in the direction the team is headed. As creatures of habit change is a painful and not always fun process. We get comfortable with where we are and the way we approach what we do. We always feel that we are doing everything we can do and that maybe we just don’t have what it takes to make the next step. When we are honest with ourselves we know that there is more we can do, we know we can work harder, and we know that there are sacrifices we can make. But, damn that word, we then think what happens when I make those changes and I still don’t succeed? That in itself is one of the main reasons we stop right there. The fear of failure when we step out of the comfort zone keeps us from changing. If we keep the status quo we can justify our failure but as soon as we put in the extra’s and still fail what is the excuse then? That’s the problem; there then are no excuses and we must admit we failed. Change will happen but it doesn’t mean it creates success. Sometimes change teaches us that we need to make other changes but failure isn’t the problem. Failure is a great teacher because when the pain is great enough we will change out of necessity. The FSC men’s tennis team is my job and I too enjoy being comfortable. The process of changing the way I approach coaching is one of the most challenging and uncomfortable things I am currently tackling. I want my team to be as successful as they are capable of being but more importantly I want them to be as successful as they think they can be when they know they have done the work necessary. If I fail as a coach I can live with that when I know I have done everything possible to be successful. Sometimes success isn’t the wins or losses but getting people to become uncomfortable and realizing their comfort zone can be moved and that in time they will be better.

Things that make you giggle

Some days we see things that baffle us, amaze us, or just make us giggle. This past week I had a couple of those moments and boy do they make you glad to be a part of society. The first was the senior citizen couple on their Harley I saw Thursday. They were just enjoying a great Thursday morning ride. They had the wind in their hair, or at least her hair, and no worries about what was going on in the world today. They turned off the highway with the women’s hands flying through the breeze like a kid with his hand out the window and the world they had created in front of them. Friday on campus was fairly uneventful. The barn was my first stop of the day and once the horses were fed it was time to head to FSC. The only thing that had any importance for work on this particular day was the team meeting to introduce the men to what they could expect. College campuses are a great place to keep a smile on your face. People watching is almost as good as the mall or airports because the youth do amazing things and the older folks like me also do some amazing things just to try and keep up. One of the best examples of putting a grin on my face happened as I was leaving campus for the afternoon. It also made me feel really good about becoming older and still having an eye for the ladies. Not for any other reason than just knowing that I will find them pretty. Here is how it went down. Two young ladies were walking towards the cafeteria while two male students and a father were walking towards the library. The son was giving his father a tour of the campus when they crossed the path of the two co-eds. The two guys just kept on strolling through discussing the buildings but the dad; the dad did a complete 180 and strained to get a look at the two ladies as they strolled by. The old geezer was just truly checking out the girls and more than likely dreaming of days gone by. I walked out to my car and I think I smiled all the way home. The last thing that really made me giggle happened Saturday morning on the way to the golf tournament. Is it really a golf tournament when you are there to hit and giggle with your dad and brother? We want to win but really when they have coolers of beer every 3 holes we definitely have a major handicap. We shot 8 under but really don’t have a clue where we finished. That however is not why I am telling this story. On the way to the course I had to stop at the ATM to fill the pockets for the day’s events. Going to the ATM at your local bank is really an easy process. Pull up to the kiosk, put your card in, press the buttons, get your money and then haul ass. Well, the lady in front of me decided to make the process a whole lot more difficult. She pulled up, rolled down her window, and then opened her door. Okay, no problem, she couldn’t reach the buttons from where she was. She was going to get out to handle her transaction. No, she got out and then stuck her head through the window and used the ATM. I actually couldn’t believe what I was seeing so I contemplated taking a picture. After 3 minutes I had contemplated enough and snapped a picture just so I could have proof. Yes, it’s now on facebook, instagram, and twitter. I took out her license tag out but really, I needed that laugh at 8:00 am in the morning. We all find pleasure or awe in different things. Sometimes two different people find two different emotions from the same thing. Don’t walk with your head down, there is too much out there to see.

A low key Thursday

The meetings are now done and that can only mean it is time to get down to the business at hand. The funny thing about that is that we cannot actually start practice until next Tuesday. This NCAA mandated delay really has dampened the excitement the team has surrounding it. They have decided that they will begin their workouts tomorrow through Sunday to enable them to stay on track. As a coach this is exciting and calming as this means motivation should not be a problem. The gauntlet has been laid down by the players for me as well. I too will begin the process of getting back in shape and will start tomorrow as well. Today was horse transport day as Brianna had her weekly lesson this afternoon. The way it works now that we are back to work is that I take the horse she is using to Mrs. Kathy’s barn on my way to work, drop it and the trailer off, and pick both up on my way home. Today was pretty non-descript minus the cool retirees on their Harley. They pulled up beside me while we were cruising down hwy 60 and looked over the horse for about a mile then pulled up beside me and gave me two thumbs up. They looked so adorable on their bike just cruising enjoying the day. The wife was very animated on the back and that just put the biggest smile on my face. Johnnie didn’t really like sitting in traffic out on the highway while the repaving was occurring. It feels good to be back into the normal working day. The addition of the barn really hasn’t affected much because we are used to getting up early. The only thing that’s really different for me is that I don’t get to hang out on my off time as much as I used to. I actually kind of like the new responsibility as I am learning more everyday how important my time is. There is no wasted time anymore and I am getting more done as my dilly dally time has been cut drastically. It’s only 10:23 and I don’t have anything else to do so I am going to bed a little earlier. I’ll let you know how the workout went tomorrow and any other interesting things that occur from my perspective. Hug your loved ones and never take them for granted. In a blink of an eye what was your normal can be taken away and your regrets become your memories.

Can the positive vibe stay around for 4 months?

The year at FSC is now underway. The freshmen have been moved in, the orientation events have been completed, and the athletic meetings are almost complete. For the tennis programs the pain, I mean the conditioning, begins in earnest on Tuesday. It is weird to see the attitude of the players as they embark on this new season. I am so impressed with the beginning desire of the guys and it is my wish and my goal that the attitude that is presently being displayed continues through these next tough months. There will be great moments and there will be tough moments but in the end the effort will produce the results they are worthy of with the effort they put in. Since the race on Sunday I have finally stopped feeling sore but man, Monday and Tuesday were a little tough on my 40 year old body. I will not use that as an excuse but it sure seems like a reasonable explanation to the soreness I was feeling for an afternoon trail ride. The actual first race of the harescramble season isn’t until September 23 so I have plenty of time to toughen up a little before the real battle begins. On the tennis front, I had a chance to talk with Tony today and he is all in for being my personal coach during my comeback training in pursuit of the national 40’s ranking. On a completely random thought for the day, I haven’t had a haircut since the beginning of April. I usually get my hair cut every three to four weeks but since this summer really wasn’t normal I just stopped going. Well one thing has led to another and I have decided to attach my next haircut to a personal goal. I have had a goal to get to 180 pounds and was heading that direction at the beginning of the summer but do to a new direction, the barn; I actually gained about 15 pounds. I weighed at the team physicals last night and came in at 199.6. Tomorrow I am going to make a bet with my team and if I get down to 180 pounds I may let them shave my head or maybe we will all shave our heads. It’s kind of funny because my hair really isn’t that long but I have received more compliments for having my hair “long”. Lastly, I have determined that the only important thing to watch on the news is the weather forecast. The rest is just a well scripted negative spin on everything possible. Why do we enjoy being scared? Why do we like being told how bad things are? Why don’t we enjoy positive stories? Obviously we must enjoy the negative because if we didn’t they wouldn’t broadcast all the negative stories. Just my opinion but hey, it’s my story.

Be prepared but be ready to change

The word preparation is something we use in athletics a lot. We get ourselves in shape to handle the stresses of our chosen sport and prepare our skills to be the best we can be during our competitions. We also use preparation in the education setting as well as in the world of business. The past four days have led me to use preparation in all those elements and also taught me how important preparation is once we get older. Friday was the Pod’s 10th birthday and she got to spend it hanging out with me at the barn and FSC before enjoying a great birthday dinner at Manny’s. She and I were getting our day ready while heading to FSC and we were talking about where we wanted to eat lunch. She is the funniest little kid because nothing is too good for her. I told her since it was her birthday she could choose where we ate. As we motored towards Lakeland she pondered her choices and informed me she wanted to go to Krystal. Yes, that is right she wanted to eat at the little burger shop. I even suggested we go to Jimmy John’s but she felt like since we just ate there we should go someplace else. Lunch would have to wait because even though we had our office plans prepared those in power had a different set of plans once we arrived on campus. As soon as we hit the doors the AD grabbed me and said we needed to go to the city courts to look at their court canopies to make sure something like that would work on our beautiful new facility. We diverted from our original plans and went to the courts. Job done, we thought, but the next thing we knew we were at our new complex looking at it and confirming our findings from our trip to the city. Once we finished we decided to head to our Daddy/daughter lunch at Krystal and regroup. We discussed my work schedule and how you must be flexible and ready to move in a different direction at the drop of a hat. She thought it was funny how we hadn’t even been into the office and had already worked around the campus for a few hours. After we finished our delicious little burgers we actually went back to the office to do a little work. Dinner was the next thing on our agenda and Michelle had planned on Manny’s for over a week. We had called to confirm our number and when we all arrived at 5:30; the restaurant was not ready for us. Oh well, the salad, rolls, and steak made me forget about the inconvenience they had caused due to their lack of preparation. Saturday brought about a little excitement in the Heath house because it was the first time in over a year that we were getting packed up to head to a race. We all got up and went out to take care of the horses and then it was back to go through the checklist of items needed for the trip. We hadn’t done this in so long we had to go back to basics and really think about what we needed to take. We had our room reservation, we had the vehicle, the trailer, and the bike, but what else did we need? At noon we loaded up in the Expedition with race trailer in tow and began the drive up to the Lochloosa State Park for the first endure of the season. I had decided that I wanted to sign up in a row near the back because I knew I needed some space to get my bike legs and feel back. Luckily, I was able to get a decent row near the back so we unhooked the trailer and headed back to Ocala for a nice evening in the Comfort Suites. We normally travel with Brianna but she had decided, and I was really proud of her, to stay home so she could work with her horses Saturday evening and Sunday. The only good thing about her staying at home is that we can eat seafood without worrying about her allergies. We take her with us when we are going to seafood restaurants but we usually don’t choose to eat at them because of her potential reaction. We gorged on some good seafood and then curled up to a very funny movie. Tomorrow would be where the lack of preparation would rear its ugly head. Sunday came and it started out as such a great day. We packed up and headed down for a good breakfast in the lobby. We headed out to make the 35 minute drive back to the track and got there just in time to set up and get to the rider’s meeting at 8:15. So far all my pre-race preparation as related to equipment was spot on. Jason and I were set to leave the start line at 9:35 for our 60 mile race. Three stages of 18, 24, and 18 miles made up the course for the day. I had already determined that I was going to just ride to get my feel back and when the clock struck the appropriate minute we headed out. The first 18 miles went pretty smoothly. I got a little arm weary mid-way through but soldiered on and lost just enough points to be disappointed. Before the second stage began I ate a snack and drank just enough to prepare me for the next torture test. The second loop was going to be tight and long but I felt like I was ready. After about 5 miles into the second stage I was ready for it to be over. After 12 miles I was riding pretty well but was getting exhausted because the stage was just so tight and my thinking was a little slower than it needed to be. About 19 miles in I think I hit the wall. I felt that at any moment I was going to break out into full cramping. By the way, it is very hard to stretch while balancing on two wheels while trying to navigate around trees that are 33 inches apart. It was also at this point that I realized I had drunk all the water that was in my camelback so the last 5 miles was just sheer determination and possibly some stupidity. I finally reached the finish and dropped quite a few points but really didn’t care. I just wanted to drink and eat before the last stage. I ate a 6 inch sub, and maybe 4 bottles of water but I knew my racing was over. The last stage was just going to be a nice trail ride to get more time on the bike. Right before we went out for the last loop the bottom dropped out. Oh neat, not only have I not ridden in a year I was going to get to ride in a downpour. Well, amazingly the rain stopped right before we got to the line so the course should have great traction. As I began my 18 mile putter around the woods I just knew I wasn’t racing for a high finish but just a finish would be good enough. With 10 miles to go I was done physically and mentally but I had one more test presented to me. It started to rain, no that’s too light; it actually started to pour, and it never stopped. The course turned into a swamp and vision became pretty much nonexistent. I was determined to make my goggles last as long as possible but this would turn into a futile effort that I lost with about one mile to go. Before that I had cleared a couple of check points and they had wiped off the goggles for me so that I could plod along a little further. When I cleared the last check the gentleman was so polite and told me I only had 5 miles to go. I thought that I would just breeze through but for some reason that 5 miles could have easily been a full marathon. I finally crossed the finish line, I think, and headed back to the trailer to start the drying process. The rain never stopped so we got loaded up and dried as much as possible. The day was awesome even though my results were subpar. I don’t know if they were actually that bad considering I hadn’t ridden in over a year, my physical preparation was nonexistent, and I rode in a driving rainstorm for 10 miles. I was pleased because I completed the 60 miles and could walk and drive myself home. Today was my first official day at FSC for the new school year and I had prepared to show up around 10:30 since I had barn duty in the morning. The best laid plans are just that, plans, and mine changed when I got to the barn and realized that we had a mower back on property. This meant that I could finally use the manure spreader and get rid of our rapidly growing manure pile. I finally got to the office and was prepared to get some good work done but I should have prepared to talk to returning players and new players the entire day because that was how my day unfolded. It is great hearing about people’s summers and what they are expecting for the new year. I am prepared for Tuesday so we will see if my plans come to fruition or if I will have to adjust on the fly once again.

At least Moe's was good

After the last two days today would just be a normal day in my life. Brianna got picked up from the barn around 8:45 so that she could hang out one more time with her great-grandparents before the new school year starts. She also was going to get her hair trimmed since it has been about one year since the last time she sat in a salon chair. She is very hesitant to get her hair cut because they always want to cut more off than she wants. Today she was adamant that she was only getting the tips trimmed and went so far to have her ggpa sit behind her to make sure they abided by her wishes. I headed to FSC to handle a little paperwork and see any players that may have come back early. The best laid plans are just that, plans and boy do plans change. I got to school and grabbed the paperwork I needed to fill out and as I moved my way down to my office I ran into an old friend and recent intern at FSC. Tommy Chasanoff was stopping by to visit and immediately invited me to go to lunch with him, Kevin the trainer, and Tim the assistant SID. You just cannot pass up moments like that. Tommy is a great kid who has a neat perspective on things and plus it is fun to occasionally shoot the shit with some good guys. Once we got back from lunch I headed off to my meeting which started promptly and ended promptly. I spoke with Trish, the women’s tennis coach, packed up my stuff and headed back to Babson Park to pick up Brianna for the big teacher introduction day at the elementary school. That’s right; I guess I went to Lakeland today for one 30 minute meeting and lunch with some good conversation. At least it is early in the year and I have my stuff together so wasting an afternoon really wasn’t all that bad. Once I got back to BP I met up with Michelle and Brianna and we excitedly headed to the school to meet her teachers for her last year at the elementary school. For Michelle and me this is a weird year for us. We have been actively involved in Babson Park Elementary since my little brother and sister went there and one of them has just graduated from college and the other is a senior in college this year. After this year we will not have any reason to go back on the campus for the first time in almost 12 years. We met her teachers and decided we would have a nice dinner as a family before we headed out to the barn for the evening feeding. That is a rare occurrence when we actually eat before the horses do. Tonight was one of those nights and after a five star meal at Fat Boy’s we quickly knocked out the nightly chores and got home so that we could prepare for the upcoming weekend. Now the fun begins. I haven’t been on a motorcycle in a year but really want to compete well in the harescramble series so we are packing up to hit the first endure of the year up in Lochloosa. I am going to blame Jason Croley for this one because I was pondering it but he pushed me over the edge when he called the other night to ask if I would be interested in riding it with him. For those that are competitive you understand that training for your particular event usually makes for a better performance. Yeah, I’m not even close but I’ve got to start somewhere. The race is going to be 60 miles so I guess my feet will be wet by the time I’m done and I’m sure there will be some sore muscles and other areas on the body that I will not mention at this time. I am really excited to throw my leg back over the bike but really don’t have any expectations except I want to start getting the feel back so that I can once again be competitive while dashing through the woods. Oh yeah, one last thing, people are crazy but enjoy the ride because you too are one of those people as we all are.

Another day with the Pod. I could get used to this.

Who says lightning can’t strike twice? Yesterday was a great day with Brianna and today it happened again. Even though our lives take us to different areas there are times when the paths do cross and it is at that moment I remember how lucky I am to have Brianna in my life. She rolls with the flow so well and her diversification to enjoy so many different things continually astounds me. Early this morning, about 6:15, we were out at the barn taking care of the things we needed to take care of. The three of us breezed through our tasks and then it was time to disperse. Michelle headed to work and Brianna and I loaded up the trailer with Yonka to head to her back to back lessons. By 7:30 the two of us were sitting at a different barn preparing the horse for the next couple hours of work. Okay, she was preparing the horse I was just sitting in the shade anticipating the next part of the day. By 11:30 we were back at H&W Stables unloading the horse and heading off to the house to quickly change clothes. Brianna was introduced to golf a couple of years ago and has sporadically played when she can. I can’t figure out what the draw to it is for her but it is cool that she and I can go out and do something together and be “competitive” with one another. With her enjoying a round of golf occasionally, usually 9 holes for her, it happened last summer that we were looking online at the virtual view of Southern Dunes and she became transfixed with playing the course. Well, summer went by and we never got the opportunity to hit the tough links the course has to offer. In a weird twist, at another golf tournament early this summer I won a foursome at, yes you guessed it, Southern Dunes. When I told her she was so excited and couldn’t wait to pull out the clubs. Summer swept by and with other things taking precedence it couldn’t happen until today. She rushed into the house, put on her best outfit for golfing and even wanted to wear her brand new shoes to play at this special course she had only seen on the internet. Our tee time was for 2:12 but by 2:00 we were getting ready to bomb drives off the first tee. Southern Dunes is a beautiful course and really seems quite manageable if you stay out of the bunkers. We finished the front nine and her only comment was that she wasn’t going to stop until she hit a drive she liked. On the eleventh hole she burned a drive and I said “you nailed that one, is that going to be all for you?” Her response was simply, “no, this is too much fun and I just don’t want to quit.” Some shots were good and there were moments of very slow play but man I wouldn’t have traded it for much of anything. We finished the last hole and I asked her if she was tired and she looked at me and said that she was sad. “Why,” I asked and she said as serious as possible, “I am a little tired but do you think they would let us play again?” I told her that we would try to come back but what she actually meant was that she wanted to know if they would let us play again today. I guess she really did enjoy her round of golf. Tomorrow ends my two day run of hanging with the Pod but I will play pictures of the days in my mind as I get set to delve deeply into my new season. We will have special moments throughout the next 8 months but these past two days are just what I needed. I’m sure she knows I love her but with these last couple of days I really got to show her because it was just us doing the things we needed to and wanted to and just enjoying the moments we got to share. I’m not always around or the best parent but I always try to let her know I love her every day. Whether it’s your children, spouse, or family members make sure they know you love them every day. Just telling them doesn’t always cut it. Sometimes the simplest of gestures make the largest impressions. Thanks Brianna, I love you and thoroughly enjoy spending my free time and not so free time with you.

A special day with the Pod just doing normal things

The littlest things sometimes create the greatest joy. Today was one of those days. It is on a very rare occasion, yes that is a sad statement, which I get the opportunity to spend a day with Brianna where we are not at one of our events or busy with just day to day experiences. We started early at the barn and with her help we finished up 15 minutes quicker than normal. She hurriedly got changed so we could go to a kid’s favorite place; the dentist. After a quick cleaning and two already loose teeth pulled she actually left with a smile on her face although she had two gauzes implanted firmly to her gums to soak up the leftover blood. Once the business end of her day was completed we headed to FSC to start my business. How do you get a kid to handle office situations like a champ? You promise to take her to her favorite sub shop after the work is over. Taking Brianna to work is always like show and tell. Since we live so far away the family rarely gets over to FSC to meet and greet. After filling out paperwork, twice since I messed up the first time, we headed off to lunch. It is great seeing the excitement of a little girl and when we pulled into the parking lot next to Jimmy John’s Brianna was smiling from ear to ear, with two less teeth, almost drooling in anticipation for her Slim 2. It’s not that the sandwiches are special it’s that they are a treat and sometimes that is all that matters. We talked about life, bread choices, and salt and vinegar potato chips. After enjoying our freaky fast subs we decided that we would head to Orlando and hit the adidas outlet for our school shoes. Yes, I need school shoes as well and since we are under contract with adidas at FSC it makes sense that the family also wear the brand. Brianna is at that odd stage where kids’ shoes and women’s’ shoes merge. Although her choices were limited she found two snazzy pair and was so excited when I told her she could get both pair. I found two pair as well and got some fresh new coaching shorts along with 4 pairs of socks. We were both amazed at how crowded the outlets were and how many international people were shopping there. I joked that since we were out shoe shopping we should go get a mani/pedi and she said that she would pass because that just wasn’t for her. After we extricated ourselves from the parking garage we hit the hwy towards Babson Park to end the day where we started. Both of us were hoping we could beat the weather so that she could ride her horse but the weather got the best of us. With her positive attitude she simply stated that it was okay because the rain would be good for the rain and the soil. It’s funny; before we owned the barn we looked at rain in a completely different way. It is now deemed a money saver versus an inconvenience. Today was a great day with my Pea Pod. I am lucky that I get to have these every so often. In a weird phenomenon I get to do it again tomorrow. We have horseback lessons early then we are hitting up Southern Dunes for a little golf. Having a child that rolls with the flow is such a cool experience.

Horses, People, Feherty, and Entertainment

As I go through my day I contemplate what is going to strike me when I sit down to put my thou ghts on this piece of paper. Most of the time what I think I am going to write about just slips out of my mind and a random thought enters and the writing begins. It is no different this evening. I sat down to enjoy some cuddle time with Michelle, both of us working on our computer, and we realized there was nothing good on the television so we decided to watch one of the many shows we have DVR’d throughout the past few months. Tonight’s choice was the season premiere of Feherty which made me think about what entertains us. We all find entertainment in different ways. As I reflect on today I kept myself entertained a multitude of times. I am going to run through some of them and as you scroll through see if you also find entertainment in some of these same ways. Today started at the barn taking care of the horses. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know shoveling poop isn’t always glamorous but it is amazing what horses can accomplish in a 12x12 stall from night time until the morning feeding. Seeing my pet dove, Eugene, coming in to eat, the barn cat running to hide, he is very anti-social, and then the tranquility of the morning mixed with the smell of poop is just a really good experience. After finishing up it was time to head to FSC to knock out some early year work, catching up on email, which means my daily stop at either Circle K or Race Trac. Convenient stores are great places to people watch on the go. Today was no different. My drive to work has now become a massive construction zone. From the time I get on Hwy 60 until I pass Edgewood Drive in Lakeland it is all construction of one type or another. This leads to workers and slow times at one of the three stores I can stop at on the way to work. Today was one of the road crews having their break at the same time I needed to get my Polar Pop from Circle K. The most interesting part of the stop was the guy that came in, purchased a pack of cigarettes, a drink, and $2.48 worth of gas for his mid 90’s F150. Not even one gallon of gas but he got his smokes. Once the drink was securely in my cup holder I needed to finish the trip to FSC so up Hwy 98 I went. FSC is also going through a construction phase which is amazing and somewhat inconvenient but for progress to occur there must be a little inconvenience. This is when the entertainment becomes personal. There are multi-million dollar projects going on all over campus and the end product is going to be beautiful and people are still complaining that they can’t do certain things or get to certain areas. Why are we so impatient? For God’s sake, we complain because we feel that improvements need to be made and they come to fruition and then we complain because we are either inconvenienced or the project isn’t what we wanted. Just listening to people complain, maybe that is too strong of a word, is fun. Sometimes prodding them along adds to my joy for the day. That seems kind of cold but if people are going to give me what I want I am going to push to get my fill. After scrolling through all my old email I headed home but first I had to have some lunch around 4:30. Yes, I forgot to stop and eat so I decided I wanted a Peach milkshake so it was off to Chic-fil-A. I know, they are under a fire storm for the stance of their COO and the comments he made. Whatever, we all have opinions and that shake was damn good. Does that mean I support them because I like their milkshakes? I hope not. I hope it means I like their food and nothing more because I also like adidas shoes and they are made in sweat shops in Asia. Oops, I digressed from being entertained but I also find our taking everyone so seriously very entertaining as well. Well, Feherty is over and it was really funny. He is politically incorrect so if you can’t stomach it please don’t watch it because you will be offended and we will all have to hear about it. Oh wait, complain about it and somewhere, someone will be entertained by your diatribe just as I am on a daily basis.

Don't forget to set your alarms Teachers!!

Oh no, my summer is gone! That is the phrase being said tonight by almost every teacher in Polk County as the realization that tomorrow morning they will trudge, I mean gleefully, head off to their classrooms for the first official day of preparation. It seems that in early June the summer will last forever and then it happens; that moment you realize that your time on the sofa, sleeping late, or whatever it is that you enjoy doing while not standing at the white board is over. Many of us have starts that jolt us back to our norms. Why do they sneak up on us? We know the day is coming but we are still shocked that it actually occurs. Maybe we are not shocked as much as disappointed that our free time is over. Maybe it’s because we had so much fun doing our family outings or traveling to destinations of our choice that we are sad they are coming to an end or perhaps it’s because we didn’t do what we had said we were going to do with the free time we knew we had. Sometimes I think the actual reason is because the teachers are going back to a job in which they are unappreciated, underpaid, and looked at to make miracles happen to kids that don’t care or come from families that don’t care. What ever the reason tomorrow morning is a sad occasion for thousands around the county. A week from now our children will be feeling some of the same thoughts but they seem to go with the flow more easily than their older counterparts. I feel for teachers and understand their pain but also understand they made the choice to do this as a career and understood what they were getting into before they signed their contract. Oh wait, they haven’t had contracts in years. We all loathe parts of our jobs but we must get up and do our best within the constraints we are dealt. It does us no good to complain and make no efforts to make change. When we complain without attempting to effect change we are just whining and then people believe we hate what we do and question why we are in the job in the first place. If you like, or love, what you do show it. Every day will not be great but it is up to you to do the best you can every day with what you are given. As you wake up tomorrow make the commitment to complain less and realize that you chose what you are doing and that you will do it to the best of your ability and if that is not good enough for your satisfaction or those that you answer to you will find another option. The worst thing you can do is to feel that you are stuck doing a particular job because if you are not doing your best you are cheating someone, either the kids, the county, or yourself. Good luck and I appreciate your dedication to the youth of Polk County. Make it a great year.

It was that close!

Getting beat really sucks. Getting beat when you tie sucks even more. It is not like the Olympics but for me if we are keeping score I want to win. Today was the annual golf outing to start the year at FSC. We played at the beautiful Lone Palm Country Club and today’s tournament was a four man scramble format. After 18 holes we were at -10 and feeling really good about our opportunity to win. We found out at lunch that we had tied with the baseball coaches’ team. Just like the Olympics there are rules for how the tie would be broken. We felt like winners and then the results were tallied. Scoring would be based on matching cards. Starting with the hardest hole on the course they would look at the scores and who ever had the lowest score would be deemed the winner. It didn’t take long because on the first hole we carded a par and the baseball team carded a birdie. We lost on a tiebreaker. We did our best and produced well enough to win but got beat on a technical tie-break. Sometimes no matter what you do it is not enough to take the victory. I have tried for 6 years to win this tournament. Guess what? I will be back out there next year to attempt to win in year 7. The difference between the Olympics and our own personal competitions, besides the worldwide exposure and country pressure, is the fact that most of the time we have another chance to feel that exhilaration of winning wherein the Olympics that one shot may be the only time they get to showcase their talents on the worldwide stage. Tomorrow I will get up and go shovel poop and the fact that I lost a funsy golf tournament will fade with the next challenge that enters my brain. The Olympians that get beat by a hair will have those thoughts racing through their minds as they move to the next step of their training or even worse, as they become a normal working past athlete. How they deal with “what could have been” will shape them for many years. Competing is such a great way to find out how tough you are in good and bad times. We compete throughout our lives and there are those of us who love it and others who could care less. To complicate matters some of us compete better in sports while others are better at the business climate. Find the thing that makes you hate to lose and go get it.

Why are we amazed by others dedication? Why not be amazed by our own?

First day of the new year at FSC is in the books. Man, our staff is getting bigger. I actually had to sit in the back of the room for the first time in six years. The meetings were painless and I learned a couple of new things that I will need to keep up with for this year. On a side note, insurance has gone absolutely insane. We got a report today that the optional student policy has increased in price by 120%. I can now only imagine how our own insurance will rise this year. Oh well, I’ll deal with that when we find out. I’ve got to have it so I cannot really just bury my head and not be willing to pay for it. I actually wanted to talk more about the Olympic life and I will go that direction. We watch the athlete’s and are amazed by their athleticism or their skill and the dedication that they exhibit to get to this level. We are baffled by the way they sacrifice just for the opportunity to be on that stage. We think that their sacrifice is above our capability and that our lives are too busy to allow ourselves that type of discipline. I personally feel that we are too scared, maybe lazy or not dedicated enough, to allow ourselves the opportunity to see what we can do if we sacrifice towards a particular goal or goals. Four years is a long time to give up all that comfort you have wrapped yourself in but what if you knew after those four years you would be in a better place. That is the problem; you could put in those four years and fail completely. Would you have been a failure or would you have found out that you need to work even harder, or maybe, just maybe you found out you just didn’t have what it took? If the latter is the answer does that truly make you a failure or could it just mean that you saw it through the finish even though it wasn’t the finish you had at the beginning? Who really knows, but most of us will never know because we are unwilling to take ourselves away from our shelter and comfort to see what we are truly capable of achieving. I know, four years is a long time. Heck, two years is a long time to pursue something so why not start with baby steps. Pick a small thing you want to accomplish and sacrifice for one month to achieve it. The problem with that is that you might not see the results you want after one month and for many that is enough to throw in the towel. We have all made sacrifices before because what we wanted was big enough to warrant the choice. There have been times we have sacrificed because we have had to and sometimes we did it completely by accident. I propose that you truly attack something you want to do and sacrifice for one year. If you can do it for a year it will become habit and two years will be a breeze. After two years it will be your lifestyle and results good or bad will become clear. Find that thing or things that you truly want, set your short-term, mid-term, and long term goals, write your action plan and go for it. Make sure you have evaluations of progress set and don’t turn back. 2012-2013 plan for me: top 10 overall for FTR H/S Senior B class. Complete the Tough Mudder in December. Regain my game and begin competing in the over 40 class in the men’s tennis circuit. Oh yeah, work with my team at FSC to help them achieve the goals and dreams they have and push them to heights they want to get to and don’t truly know if they can get there. There was a movie titled the Peaceful Warrior and one scene of the movie talked about how important the journey was when chasing a dream. We all remember the journey even when the goal has passed. Enjoy your journey, it makes the grind bearable.

We are okay.

We all feel our lives and our problems are the most important. We face them every day and think how tough we have it and everyone around us must feel so badly for us. The reality is when we take time to look at those around us we realize that our problems aren’t nearly as difficult or important as those around us. There are times when our problems are as real as they seem and it at these times that we mustn’t feel pity but dig down and find a solution to the dilemma. If you are having a bad day call up one of your friends and see how they are doing? Most of us are looking for someone to dump our problems and concerns on because dealing with them ourselves seems impossible and we don’t want anybody to feel better than us. Michelle and I have had some issues at the barn but our problems are minuscule compared to others that we have the pleasure of surrounding ourselves with. We love spending time with them but most of them know that we aren’t going to feel sorry for them. We will console, guide, listen, and sometimes even suggest, but we will not pity them. We do not gain control over our situations until we take them on. Please don’t get me wrong, there are times when our situations or problems are amazingly tough and the outcome will not be positive. When this is where you are the best you can hope for is that even though the situation is negative and cannot have a good outcome, when it is over you move on from it and do your utmost to make sure it doesn’t happen again. The Olympics are playing in the background tonight and I find it amazing that for four years of training you get one shot at immortality in the sport you have dedicated everything to and that your moment may be a one time opportunity. I have more thoughts on this and will probably write more about this in the near future. FSC officially starts tomorrow with coaches meetings. This is kind of kicks off the new school year. The expectations are high and I believe the attitude of the coaches will reflect the efforts of the school and the administration to give us what we need. Start your engines, play ball, and don’t forget to take off your hat for the national anthem and the meetings.

A little couch time

What a Sunday! I had prepared for this day since Friday and was ready for this ultimate relaxation exercise. Michelle wanted to sleep in so I decided that I would get up early and head out to the barn and handle the morning duties. After a relaxing poop scoop and feeding I headed to the house to do something I have wanted to do all summer but haven’t really made the time for it. I decided to wash my car, yeah I know it was supposed to rain, so I got out all the stuff and started the scrubbing process. My car is really nice but after washing it I realized that besides being a little shinier it really didn’t look much different. So far I have done nothing but work but it was so relaxing to know that I was doing what I wanted to do instead of what just needed to be done. Once the car was sparkling the real down time began. I watched golf, racing from Mid-Ohio, and Olympics of many varieties. Michelle decided to sit down and I lost control of the television but it was worth it to just sit on the couch with nothing to do and just bask in the moment of relaxation. Since I wasn’t focused on the television anymore I decided to prepare for the upcoming Fall season with my real job. I can honestly say that I am pumped for this year’s team and decided to go ahead and get the entire semester’s calendar of workouts ready. Michelle said that I cannot do it because that is not me. I said that I wouldn’t actually put the real workouts in but the shell of the schedule is now complete. So now, I know what I will be doing pretty much everyday through January 7, 2013. I guess that is cool but I sometimes think it makes me boring. Maybe boring is the wrong word but it really takes away the spontaneity of the moment. Oh well, when you are trying to be the best boring gets the job done. Tomorrow sees me back at FSC with a recruit on campus so I guess that signals the beginning of the new year. It’s been an eventful summer, one that will shape my life for many years to come. The dedication required for the new venture with H&W Stables will also require me to dedicate myself in my other pursuits because my time will be more precious than ever before. Sometimes that type of pressure is the requirement needed to better guide you along your path. Needless to say, those moments on the couch will become less likely but when they occur I will relish them knowing that I have earned the right to veg, if just for a moment.

Who deserves help?

Today was a weird feeling day because it was the first Saturday in over a month where there wasn’t an overriding reason to be at the barn all day. This was a good thing and a bad thing as having the free time has allowed me to think a lot more about things that probably cannot be changed by my thoughts alone. The main thought that was running through my head was help. We all get help whether we want it or not. I am not political but I am sick of hearing about how you did it on your own and then how the other side says that without government you couldn’t accomplish anything. Come on people, we need government for some things and we also need hard working people able to use the skills and rules placed by government to go out and take the risks to go out on their own. Also, I understand that sometimes people need a hand to get back to their feet but I am a little worried that we have become a society that constantly looks for ways to give assistance without demanding that people at least give a damn and put forth some effort to help themselves. We love the way we feel when we help people. It is human nature. Altruistic measures are not necessarily for those that receive them but more normally to aid in our own self worth as the giver. Please do not misinterpret my thoughts as I feel that as humans it is important to help our fellow man, especially when they cannot do it themselves. My main problem is that most of the time I see people receiving help that will not go out make themselves helpful. Most of the time I am witnessing people who feel they are entitled to the help and when the help doesn’t come they complain instead of looking for a viable solution to their own problem. Help is a societal necessity but here in America so is working through bad times. We are also allowed to fail here. When we lose we have the ability to attempt it again. We are also allowed to look for help while we attempt to strive for better. It is not up to others to help us but for us to warrant the help that others offer.

Ready, set, go!

Today is Friday, August 03, 2012 and I realized that I had set a goal to write a post on here every day for a year and I failed. I am not going to quit and I am not going to make excuses, I just failed to accomplish what I had set out to do. That being said the past couple of days have been a great relief and have rejuvenated me to prepare for the upcoming year. Although Michelle and I missed doing the triathlon due to the barn we have committed to doing the Tough Mudder in December. I have probably already stated this but I will be racing the full FTR harescramble series this year. The first race has been postponed so I guess instead of starting at the end of August I will begin that journey in mid September. My wife and daughter would love to see me on a horse but I have some unfinished business on the tennis court. Since I am now forty I have decided to train again for the over 40 nationals and will achieve a national ranking before I hang up the rackets. My team at FSC is one of the reasons for this and I expect that they will push me in my goal as I will push them towards their goals. For a little update on how my world has been spinning here we go. We finished all the remodeling at H&W Stables and had our open house/grand opening last weekend. We even celebrated Michelle’s birthday during the opening. Michelle and I didn’t get to compete in the triathlon but we did get up early to assist with the jet ski and the lifeguards. It is pretty cool to go out to the barn and just hang out. We do have some upcoming projects but we have chosen to let some time pass before we begin to tackle the next steps. The next step for me is going back to my job at FSC to begin the next year. I snuck over this week and had a chance to view the new tennis facility. The only word that comes to mind is wow! The place is amazing and I feel honored to be the head coach. Our new facility is not the only progress happening on the campus. They have redone part of the men’s freshman dorms, they are completing the new campus green (our former facility), the gym lobby is getting a new makeover, the chapel is doubling in size, and the coffee bar located in the library has also doubled in size. From the comments I have gotten from the guys on the team they are ready to get started. As far as the family front is concerned we are all doing well and the ladies are gearing up for the upcoming school year. Michelle and I will celebrate our 12th anniversary on the August 12 and our little baby will become 10 on the August 17. Rather than be sad that my little girl is growing up I am excited to watch her become the girl she is becoming. The horseback season is nearing and I am sure that will take up much of her time and of course I will be there when my job with my team doesn’t conflict. That is what makes her so cool is that she wants me there for all of her events but understands that our life keeps us away at times. Then next month and into October make time at home a rarity for me. Between tennis tournaments with FSC, a race thrown in for me, and throw in a student athletic advisory committee weekend in early September and that means that I will sleep in my bed on weekends come sometime in October. I really do love the life I have chosen and cannot imagine it any other way. My goal is to get back to the normal writing schedule with great insight and true nonsense which I am really good at dishing out. Thanks to all those that have supported the family during this massive endeavor and be ready to be surprised by what my family is capable of and will accomplish over the next year. You have to want what you want as badly as you want to breathe and be ready to miss sleep when necessary. We love breathing and sleep has become a luxury so the rest of this will be a great journey.

What's Next?

All things worth doing take time and hard work and dedication to the process. That little phrase has been in my head for about four weeks now but today it really hit me that we are at a place at H&W Stables where we can see what we have done. In fact, Saturday we will be hosting some horse industry folks at the barn to show off what we have been doing. We cannot even total the man hours we have put in, the hours of sleep we have lost, the terribly bad diet we have maintained for the past month, but we can see that the work has paid off. Since Thursday the entire mood of the crew has shifted to a more achievement mentality versus the mentality of completion. That being said, we are not satisfied and have begun setting our sights on the next set of goals. Some of those are what we want the final product to be, some are management issues, and others deal with the day to day operations of the facility once Michelle and I go back to our real jobs next month. The other cool part of being this far along is that normalcy, whatever that is for me, is beginning to be something I can actually see in the not too far off distance. My normal summer consists of training, hanging with the family, and golfing on a regular basis. This summer has not been that but it has been quite an adventure. We did get to compete in the obstacle course race at Dirty Foot and I have been able to play golf on rare occasions but I am really saddened that I will not get to compete in the Scenic 17 Triathlon this year. The past four weeks of no training has put a damper on that part of the summer. I cannot be too upset though because after a year of not racing I am excited to say that in just over one month I will put the helmet on and line up in Senior B in Lake City to race my first harescramble in over a year. I have decided to act my age and race in the 40+ class but I still get to compete. The bike is prepped and ready and I think Michelle and Brianna are just as excited as I am to be on the bike again. I started my preparation for the first race today. I didn’t get to workout but my diet was much improved over the past month. See, I have now seen what can happen in a four week time span and sometimes you need to see things with your own eyes to know that it can be done. I may not get as much bike time but I will be in the best shape physically and diet wise that I can be when the horn goes off August 26. I have heard that in order for change to take place you must be willing to commit to it for 21 to 28 days depending on what you read. Most of us never allow the process to be seen because we want things quickly and if we don’t see the change fast enough. After this experience I now realize that if you are under pressure to make changes you will. Maybe we should not allow ourselves the option of backing out. If we buy the change we are less likely to just quit even when things get difficult or the changes don’t happen fast enough through our eyes. I never realized that buying a barn would change my perspective on allowing a plan to take hold but I bought into it and was damn sure I wasn’t going to lose my investment. The pain of failure was greater than the pain of the schedule and the monotony of the work. With about one week of vacation left I would normally begrudgingly be getting ready for the year ahead but this year I am truly pumped for the year ahead. I have an awesome new barn that I am a part owner of, I have a great family who is massively supportive, a great team at FSC to get ready, and did I mention that race season is right around the corner. I guess this summer really hasn’t been that bad when I think about it that way.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel

Seven days, one week, and a lot of time on 8.5 acres must mean that we have been busy at H&W Stables. Actually, the last week has bought a bunch of closure to much of the work at the barn. Last Thursday we decided to make a big push and I vowed that the front half of the barn would be fully operational by the following Thursday. Well, after today’s work we have accomplished that. Friday was golf day and man was it fun. The actual golf was not one of my best but the fun had with Tyler was really good. We played at Diamondback which is a tough tract and you don’t go into the woods to find your stray balls. We didn’t see any real rattlesnakes but we did run across two snakes just chilling on the golf course. After the round we decided to stay at the club and enjoy a good clubhouse lunch. I indulged in an ice cold beer and invited my brother, newly 21, to have one as well when he informed me that he didn’t have his ID with him. Seriously, how can you be 21 and not have your ID with you? More importantly, you drove around without your license for how long? After some lunch it was time for me to head back to the barn where I was met with a small water leak. One of the pasture waterer’s decided that it didn’t want to be attached to the hose anymore. This was a relatively easy fix and once it was handled it was back in the barn for some wood cutting. Saturday, although unknown by the rest of us, was the second to last day of major work on the barn. Ken framed out the office door, I started working on moving air through the back stalls with Michelle, and Ruthie painted. The barn was originally set up to handle stallions but since we will not be boarding any of those we decided to get some air moving through the stalls. This meant that we had to remove seven walls and then put them back up with slats put in to allow the flow of some air. Each wall was ten feet wide and was made with steel supports with 2x6’s as the actual walls. Michelle and I cut up 2x2’s 2 and ½ inches wide to put between each 2x6. After that process we then secured the 2x6’s with a 1x4 across the entire stretch. We got three done on Saturday along with the other work. Sunday was the day of celebration. The only bad thing was that by the time we finished on Sunday and realized that we were done with the big projects we were all too tired to actually party. Michelle and I finished up the airflow panels, we started mowing, and the painting wrapped up and all of a sudden we were done. Monday would bring a new process to the barn, clean up. Monday came and with it brought a new step in the renovation process. We started by loading up all the scrap metal and heading to the recycling business. We dropped off around 500 pounds of scrap metal and claimed our massive booty. Well, it wasn’t much of a booty but at least the trash was being moved off the property. More mowing took place, this will become a pattern over the next couple of days, and the pace of the day was decidedly slower. Tuesday was dump day. Michelle and her mother took a fully loaded truck over to the lovely county dump for the things that that didn’t get us paid the day before. One day you get paid and then the next day you are paying. That’s the way life is. I mowed more and then Ken came over and started the weed eating process. This particular process would take one solid day if we started in the morning and went until late in the day. There are fences everywhere, sprinkler heads, and bushes and trees throughout. After the first round of weed eating we will be employing gallons of round up to handle the issue for all the areas except the trees and bushes. Today was waterer Wednesday. We finished the last three waterers and spent the rest of the day shopping for other supplies that will be needed for future days. Tomorrow we will mow some more and set up the office. The week was a blur but it really looks like we will be open and beautiful in just a couple of days. Bring on race season, it’s about that time.

Roofing, real cowboys, and an easier pace

Wow, five days goes by fast. It is already Wednesday evening and the last time I posted any update was on Friday. The big projects are beginning to reach an end so now the little projects are taking over. This means somewhat easier days but still fairly long. Saturday was one of the last busy days of heavy lifting. Ken and I tackled the back of the barn with the hanging of a little more Hardy board. This project really wasn’t too bad minus the fact that we had to fashion some backing panels so we could secure the boards to the wall. We also finished last bit of trim boards to the hay barn when we realized that we were going to need to add some corner trim to finish it off. Those boards have been obtained, painted, and are ready for the barn. We will probably finish that off tomorrow which will pretty much finish the main barn and hay barn as far as big outside projects are concerned. Sunday began some slower more meticulous days at the barn. This is a huge relief because we have really put a ton of sweat equity into the facility up to this point. I had the great task of slinging poop from the poop pile to the pastures. This is not a bad process and isn’t nearly as gross as it sounds. Horses eat grass, grain, and hay so their poop is really pretty natural and only stinks at the initial drop. Speaking of little jobs that are now being done is the blue tape removal task. We have painted nearly every inch of the exterior of the barn so blue tape is everywhere. This isn’t a hard task but it means moving the ladder and getting all the tape from the nooks and crannies where the ladies put it to get that nice straight line. Monday wasn’t that hard of a day because we had some great help but damn it was hot. Monday morning at 7:30 I was on the tin roof of the barn to help repair the one major leak we had in the facility. It isn’t real high and the pitch isn’t that bad but for all those that know me know that I am not fond of heights, ladders, or roofs. Well, I tackled all three and spent most of the day on and off the roof to finish up the fix. We added 40 feet of flashing and some more Hardy board panels to block off the leak. Michelle and I had the realization that roofers just don’t make enough money. The funny about fixing a roof is that you don’t know if it worked until it rains. Since we had to wait for the afternoon rains we did some general maintenance things around the barn and got prepped for our light day we were going to have on Tuesday. The rains came and the roof worked pretty well. We found some small leaks not related to the repair but we now have a much drier barn area. After the rain I threw more poop and Michelle and her mom hung a new light out by the wash racks. We got home around 9:30 but that was okay because Tuesday was going to be our theoretical off day. Tuesday morning brought the normal feeding schedule but then it was time to load up the trailer and head to Mrs. Kathy’s for Brianna’s lessons. Yes, that is right she was going to have three lessons during the morning. The first started at 9 am and we finally pulled out of her barn around 1:30. During the time in between Michelle and I thought we would sit back and relax basking in the fact that we were off from our new normal tasks. Well, that lasted about 10 minutes and Mrs. Kathy asked if we could help her with a few projects. Being a good barn buddy you help each other out so of course we went to work. We took a fence off that two horses had run into and straightened it and then we tackled some waterers that had seen better days. After Brianna finished riding it was time to load up and bring Brianna’s new project back to the barn with us. We showed up with one horse and left with two horses. Brianna and Mrs. Kathy had made a deal with a little pony named Lady J. Mrs. Kathy wants her trained a little better and Brianna needs to work with a horse that isn’t so well trained. We stopped at Wendy’s to get a quick bite, we got it to go, and then got the horse and pony show back to our barn and got Lady J somewhat acclimated to her new surroundings. Brianna scurried off to spend some time with my mom and her two cousins. Michelle and I decided to spend the rest of our off day doing work for the barn just not at the barn so we headed to Home Depot to get some more pipe so that we could add another pasture waterer since we are turning our obstacle course into an alternative pasture. After getting done at the first stop we then landed at Tractor Supply to get the actual waterer and 40 gallon tub. Since Brianna was spending the night with my mom and her two cousins Michelle and I decided to have a romantic dinner at Fat Boy’s before heading back to the barn for the evening feedings. We were home before dark and just vegged at the house thinking that off days will never really be off days again. Today Michelle and I had the barn to ourselves, kind of. We took care of the morning feedings and then went and got some breakfast. I told you the projects were becoming smaller. We got back and immediately started working on the new waterer. We were slightly interrupted when Gramma Welch and Grampa Welch bought us out our lunch. They had prepared us some incredibly good tuna salad that we devoured and then headed back out. We did some pasture maintenance and then were interrupted by the farrier. It was time to get all the horses hooves done so we spent about 2 hours holding horses and talking with the farrier. He was really cool and still runs cattle and ropes in competition even though he is not a young guy. We got back to field maintenance when we were interrupted again with some more grandparents stopping by to drop off drinks for us. After this delay we got back to working on the pasture and then it was time for the evening feeding. When finished our peaceful day alone with some more interruptions. Michelle’s grandparents came out to the barn to have ice cream, yes we have lots of ice cream at our barn. My mom bought the kids out to see the horses and then they left and finally, Jim came by to show us a cool video. This was an awesome distraction. He bought us a DVD of an 80,000 dollar cutting horse doing its thing in competition. We spent about twenty minutes watching some different runs and even though I don’t know anything about horses I can tell you that that was an unbelievable horse. We finally shut the gate about 8:30 and headed to the house to wait on Brianna. Man, these slow days are really cool but they are still long. It is really exciting to be working on some other things and makes going to the barn fresh every day now.

3 days brings a new perspective

Another three days have come and gone but the work is still the same. I really cannot complain because the past three days have had some great diversity so the work is not as monotonous as the past two and a half weeks. On Wednesday, the 4th of July we had all decided that we were going to shut down early enough to actually enjoy some fireworks from the porch at GGMa’s house. During the day we started working on some of the different projects. I began the process of reworking the automatic waterers and how they will be hung within the stalls. More work was done on the hay barn and discussion began to occur on how to handle a leaking roof joint. We made another trip to Home Depot and to Lowe’s to gather the waterer supplies and more odds and ends. We did shut down and enjoyed a variety of fireworks and a couple of cold beers. This one event has changed the perspective of all of us involved in the large project we have undertaken. We have all realized that as much as we have dedicated the vast majority of our waking hours to the ultimate goal we have forgotten to sit back and enjoy life. Thursday was back to the grind but with a renewed purpose and insight. I worked on installing the waterers and got two of them all hooked up. I probably could have gotten them all put in but there were some distractions that took place. Some of them were work related and others were just simply enjoyable. Brianna had one the horses out in the arena going through her paces and one of our boarders had her horse out as well putting it through a good workout. The bathroom finally is done thanks to a new toilet seat, a fresh coat of paint on the mirror frame, and some trim board on some panel that the ladies didn’t like. Yeah, one thing is done. Hey, I’ll take it. We also got some advice on how to repair the roof and will tackle that project on Monday. It was a little weird because it was so hot, like before the 4th, but the work didn’t seem as tedious as it was previously. Last evening was really cool because we wanted to test our arena lights so we opened up for a night ride. Brianna, Michelle, Ruthie, and one of our boarders came out and rode from about 8:30 to 10:00. Even though that put us there really late into the evening it was cool to see that we have the option of opening our facility for more convenience for the boarders. Friday, ah Friday, came and this was a complete change from our past three weeks. I still got up and headed to the barn for the morning feeding and stall mucking but that’s where the normal changed. Finally, after a two week hiatus I got to play golf again. I headed to River Greens in Avon Park to meet up with the Webber crew and we teed it up to continue our summer competition. After 17 holes Brad and I were tied so the 18th was going to decide it all. After the round, which I did win, Brad and I were amazed at how well we both shot. Normally we are in the low to mid 90’s but today we both shot under 90. I actually shot an 84 which is my best round in a very long time. Since the day was kind of an off day from the barn I headed back to the house to meet up with my loves’ and actually just hang out at the house. We did run to Frostproof to pick up the roofing needs from Bagwell Lumber but other than that it was a good lazy afternoon at the casa de Heath. Around 6:30 we headed back to the barn for the evening feeding but did nothing more. Once we got home Michelle crashed and Brianna did my hair. During the summer I let it grow out and she gets a kick out of putting as many hairclips in it as she can. She has been doing it since she was a very little girl. She went to bed around 10 while Michelle is still passed out on the floor. It was almost a normal day from our past. Tomorrow we will hit the floor running and see how much work we can get done. I think we will start taking some breaks and my goal is that we work harder but also take some rest days so that we can maintain the positive feelings we have felt from our little break. When you train hard you must balance your work load with your rest periods. I also think this is true when it comes to work projects as you need to sit back and actually realize you are accomplishing things. If you just keep pounding out work you become engrossed in continuing projects instead of finishing each goal. Just my perspective.

Slowly getting there and funny observations

Hey, I only missed two days this time. The last time I put words to paper it was Saturday night. Sunday at the barn started as a normal day but it appears the heat is getting to all of us. We began by finishing up the final trim boards on the front and the side of the barn. We also began remodeling one of the stalls for Brianna’s big boy because the stall we initially chose just doesn’t seem to match his size. Some of the paneling that we had installed now had to be disassembled for airflow purposes. Sunday was also a day to see strange things and revel in the fact that individuality is such an awesome thing to admire. We had to make a trip to Lowe’s and while we were there I saw one of those sites that just make you scratch your head. Picture a guy about 6’4” and 260 with a great grey mullet with a pierced ear with a nice dangly lion head earring. Okay, now add to that he is wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt and Harley-Davidson jeans. At this point you are thinking a real bad ass. Hold your horses because the bad boy points are about to go away. As you continue down to his footwear notice that he is wearing, not squared toed leather riding boots but Sketcher’s Shape Ups. Yep, the bad ass points just got wiped clean. That was enough to make a hot day more enjoyable but there was one more special moment while on the way home. We stopped by our favorite convenience store, Race Trac, to get a drink and when we hit the line it happened. The woman in front of us was talking with a friend about the fact that she was struggling losing weight. I really wanted to ask her if I could help her with her problem but figured it would have led to a confrontation that would not have been enjoyable. I think the problem with her weight loss struggles may have been attributed to the 52 ounce Coke Icee she was proudly holding while having the in-depth conversation with her friend. Work at the barn gets spotty because we have had lots of guests. Some are family and others are friends but most of the time we welcome the distraction. Sunday finished with some positive progress and the realization that much work was still ahead of us. Monday rolled in and we all overslept. We got to the barn around 7:45 and rushed to get the horses fed and moved out to the pastures so we could begin our work. We had a nice session until about 10:45 when we headed to Circle R Ranch and Livestock Supply. We went there to look at entrance gates and openers and of course other items on our wish list. Once we finished it was lunch time and just plain hot. After a nice break we started back to the tasks and Tyler showed up so he and I headed to Home Depot to pick up all the parts and pieces to reconstruct the front water supply. We got all of our stuff, of course we forgot a few things that we will have to go back and get to finish completely but we did obtain enough to get the shut off valves all installed. We stopped at Tractor Supply on the way home because we needed some supply lines that we couldn’t find and while there we ran into the interesting story for Monday. While looking for hose a nice lady happened by and began conversation. To make a long story really short she was aware of our barn, in fact she used to run it, and was somewhat negative on the former owner. No big deal, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I will listen and move on. She also knew Yonka, she owned him at one time, and had determined that he had been stolen from her a few years ago. I don’t know anything about that as he is registered with the American Paint Horse Association legally through my wife. Well, she was just too curious so about 20 minutes after I got back to the barn, without supply lines, she and her husband showed up to snoop about and check on Yonka. This interaction with Michelle was entertaining and in the end the lady and her husband were very nice and appreciative of what we are doing with H&W Stables. That pretty much ended the work day since by the time they left a massive storm came in and we were running around dodging lightning to move horses for the night. Tuesday was kids’ day at the barn. Mother-in-law and father-in-law Welch needed to do their real jobs so we were left to our own devices. We did our morning duties and then loaded up our trailer with Yonka and headed to Brianna’s lesson with Mrs. Grinstead. While Brianna rode and rode Michelle and I just sat in the shade and tried to rest. We also went and played with the little foal. He is really growing and has quite a personality on him. Finally about 1:30 we were heading back to our barn but first we had to grab some lunch. Horse in tow, we hit Micky D’s and it is amazing the looks you get from little kids when you show up at McDonald’s with a horse. It is fun putting a smile on people’s faces and Yonka is a good looking Paint so people just want to check him out. We got back to the barn, moved some horses around and then got down to business. We had one minor distraction with an out of town family member that hadn’t seen the barn so we gave her the $5 tour and then got down to business. Michelle and I started connecting all the front water pipe back for the watering system. We added a shut-off valve, and drilled two holes through the front wall for drainage pipe and water faucets out front by the wash racks. The two holes really weren’t a big deal but during one of them we had a couple of funny moments. The drain hole goes through a 6x6 post, two panels, and then exits out of a 2x6. No big deal except that while drilling the final portion the bit fell off and disappeared in the wall. How do you lose a 1 ¼ inch hole drilling bit? Quick answer is you let me mess with it. To get it out we had to remove the outer trim board and snake it out of the wall. Awesome, it worked so we tried it again. After the second failed attempt I just decided to drill from the outer wall and miraculously hit the existing hole perfectly. Once that debacle was completed we motored along and got all the front stalls completed minus actually installing the waterers. Hey, I need something to do in the shade tomorrow. The reason for all this work really hit home today. As Michelle and I were working today Brianna went out and worked both of her horses. She put Johnnie in the arena and rode him bareback for almost an hour and then went out and got all the horses to bring them in for feeding time. Even though the work at this time is tiring and somewhat frustrating watching your child enjoy her horses anytime is becoming worth the effort. Have a great 4th of July and please take a moment to remember why we actually celebrate the day. It is also okay to have a BBQ, drink some beer, and watch fireworks. If you are bored and in my area, stop by and check out the barn.

4 days; lots of progress and our horses are actually at our barn

Wow time flies. The last time I allowed myself time to sit and write is was Tuesday evening. I will never complain because the ultimate goal is visible and things of value are hard work. Since I last wrote the complexion of the barn has changed drastically. Wednesday was the cutting day. We cut out the windows from the front of the barn and began cutting the trim pieces for painting. We also began the mowing process. If you haven’t had the opportunity to mow 8.5 acres on a Craftsman lawn tractor you should allow yourself the joy of such an experience. Wednesday I mowed for around 3 hours and made a dent but not much more than that. Thursday was another busy day as we began the actual window hanging. The ladies started the caulking process of the entire barn. This all sounds easy but the barn is large and the roof has a nice peak which means being very high on a ladder while working with a temperamental caulk gun. The window framing was not too bad but Ken and I had to use some creative engineering to secure the four windows in their slots. Thursday also was one of those what the heck is that doing here days. I was out on the mower moving some stuff around and while I was coming back I notice water just pouring out of the ground. Somehow I had ruptured a pipe that was just buried under the ground. That’s not abnormal but the fact that it was about 3 feet off the fence and just kind of out in the middle of nowhere was the odd part. Since we are new to the barn we don’t have all the things we need to handle the day to day issues that come up but thankfully we had enough scraps laying around to fashion a secure fix. You know when you buy someone else’s stuff you are going to find things that make you scratch your head and I have find my first one with this pipe. Friday was a massive day where the transformation began to actually look like progress. The first coats of paint were placed on the front of the barn and Ken and I began adding the trim boards around the windows. The barn is being painted chromium and the trim is black. As these pieces were being added you could actually see that what you had pictured in your head was beginning to take shape in reality. The ladies are doing such a great job with the painting and are not taking any shortcuts with the process. They are even taping off things just so the painting looks professional to the point that I, by the way I am not fond of heights, was on top of the ladder taping off the peak of the barn roof so the paint wouldn’t hit the metal flashing. Darkness hit us too soon which didn’t stop the ladies as they painted until about 9:30 last night. Today came fast and for Michelle and Brianna they just ignored the alarm to get up. I pulled myself out of bed and headed to the barn to handle the feeding and mucking by myself. What a peaceful way to start the morning. I had the iPod playing and was just getting ready to enjoy the paper when Michelle called and said they were ready to come on out. Well, there went the serenity but the work must go on. The ladies continued the painting process, Ken and I finished the last trim boards on the windows and began the trim boards on the actual barn itself. We cut, painted, drilled, and screwed until about 4:30 and then it was time to shut down for the day. Before we left Tyler met us out there and hopped on the mower to try and get some more of the pasture down to size. We were not knocking off to go home and relax, we were heading to the barn where the horses were currently at to pick them up and bring them out to H&W Stables. After hanging out with Mrs. Kathy for awhile we left her barn to head back to ours. Yonka and Johnnie are hanging out in the arena for the evening so that the current boarders can get accustomed to their new mates. After having a nice dinner on the porch we shut the doors about 9:30 to head to the house. As you can tell the place is taking shape. I am really proud to be part of this project and am truly excited that Brianna and Michelle now have their horses with them. Brianna was almost beside herself with joy tonight when she put the boys out into the arena. She was asking if we could just spend the night in the office so we could be close to them. Great idea but we nixed that with the promise that once we were done with the majority of the work we would spend a night out at the barn and watch some Netflix and eat some popcorn. Tomorrow should be another exciting day and I am guessing we will not have much help from Brianna since she has two distractions to keep her busy. By the way, it is very warm outside so make sure you stay hydrated. Actually, just go to the pool or sit inside in the air conditioning. The work can wait until the Fall. Just kidding, it’s great training for the tough mudder in December.

Real Work and Business Work

I missed another day on the blog but I have no excuse. Since the weather has been, let’s say, replenishing I decided to go to my actual job on Monday. The weather in Lakeland was equally as drab as I had left in Babson Park. The reason I headed over to FSC was to handle some positive paperwork. The men’s tennis team qualified as an Academic All-American Team for the school year 2011-2012. The team’s GPA was a staggering 3.6 with 15 players on the roster. I also checked up on the new tennis facility and it is going to be awesome. The layout and styling is just second to none. While there I caught up with the women’s coach and I now know my schedule from the first week of September through the first week of October. No matter how long I do this job I don’t think I will get used to knowing what I am going to be doing so many months in advance. Once the work was done I headed towards Babson Park to do a little work at the barn but first I bought into advertising and headed to Firehouse Subs and had to try the new pulled pork/slaw/King’s Hawaiian Roll sandwich. It was good but I am still a bigger fan of the Steamer. Getting back to the barn around 5pm I actually took time to notice how green and high the grass has gotten due to the rain and the assistance of the fertilizer. There wasn’t much work to get started on so I just assisted with the evening feeding and stall mucking and then it was time for another late night dinner. It’s amazing that there was no work to really do and we still didn’t get to dinner until 8:30. This has become an odd summer but one positive is I am really getting to spend some good time with Michelle. She is working so hard to get the business side set up and I am getting to see her skills shine through. We got home around 9:30 after a great dinner of ribs from Fat Boy’s and just knocked out a load of laundry and some vegging on the couch. Tuesday brought back the normalcy of the summer which meant an early morning at the barn. I was flying solo this morning as Brianna had the first day of her horse drill team camp and Michelle and her mother were heading to the dump and then to business meetings for feed and hay suppliers. After finishing the morning chores I needed to move a large water trough from one field to the next. This in itself is not a difficult task but when I got out to the field I noticed that one of the lines had a small leak in it. No big deal except that it decided to pour off and on the entire time I was making the fix. With the leak fixed and the trough moved it was time to let a couple of the horses enjoy some of the lush grass. Today one of the luck horses was Theo. We all call him Houdini because he has the ability to push down the fence and ease his way into the neighboring grove. He only does it when he knows you aren’t paying attention so of course I gave him the look and kept a fairly close eye on him while I tended to my next task. I had to remove all the old hay out of the hay room so that we could receive our new load of 29 bales of hay. During this little exercise I also found our cat that we thought had left. He had found the hay room much more to his liking and I think he actually did his job because when I moved the mule there was a nice clump of grey and white fur. Maybe this critter will earn his keep around the property and if he does he can stay down there as long as he wants to. As soon as I got the room cleaned out Ruthie showed up with the new order and I unloaded 29 bales and stacked them one by one. I know I haven’t been in the gym but working out here is giving me a fairly good workout on a daily basis. Between rain showers/downpours I finished up the pressure washing so when it actually decides to become the Sunshine State again we can get the barns painted. Around 6pm I got the final feeding and mucking out of the way and decided to rehab one of the stalls. All was going well when it was pointed out that if I had a different tool it would probably be easier. Isn’t that the way it always is; you are doing what you think you need to do and then someone shows you it can be done more efficiently. How do you respond? My response was please get me the tool because I’ve got a lot more rehab to do. Just to wrap it up, this weather is really cracking me up. It rained, has rained, and will rain some more but the teasing with blue skies for 5 minutes is just mean. I do feel bad for those that are enduring flooding but my only complaint is that it is holding back my work. I guess our perspectives are very personal.

Waffle House and a rainy day

To state the obvious it rained a lot today which kind of worked out in my favor. Don’t get me wrong, I am thoroughly enjoying rebuilding the barn with the family. It is really neat to see the changes taking place but when the alarm went off at 2:30 this morning I knew it was going to be a long day. Michelle and I made our delivery to Orlando and then we came back to Polk County and had a great breakfast at Waffle House. When you eat breakfast at 5:15 in the morning, even at Waffle House, you can have a restaurant to yourself. We beat the senior citizens to the feeding table this morning. By the time we left around 5:45 the old lady karaoke singer was meeting her old man husband, the security guard for some coffee and omelets. As we were walking out the door the old dude in his RV hauling Dodge dually was easing into the parking lot for early grub. Once we got back to Babson Park we headed to the barn for the morning feeding. The rain was becoming harder so we did what we needed to do but nixed the idea of staying and working. After awhile we were back at the house waiting on the ever present rain to pass. That just wasn’t going to happen immediately so Michelle curled up on the couch and immediately fell asleep. I started scrolling through the DVR and found last weeks 24 Hours of LeMans and figured I would watch the race. I really enjoy the endurance races and with the current schedule I have been keeping I just didn’t have a chance to watch it live. Even though I followed the race on twitter and facebook I still want to see the action, albeit later, and it was just nice time filler. Once I had seen the first segment I switched over to watch the tape delayed F1 race from Spain. At some point right after the race was over I flipped over to watch golf but there was wall-to-wall coverage of the bad weather hitting our area. I guess it was riveting because the next thing I knew the phone was ringing and when I finally came to I realized it was around 3:30. Oops, I guess the lack of sleep, boredom, or other factors finally took their toll on me. Michelle and I got ourselves going and headed to Wal-Mart to return some items we found out we actually didn’t need at the barn. Going to Wal-Mart is not my favorite trip but the only thing that makes it worthwhile is the incredibly cool people watching I get to do. Once we finished up our returning, shopping, and viewing the different world out there we headed to the barn to see if there was anything we could do and to feed for the evening. The rains continued to fall so work was minimal. The one positive with this rain is the fact that the pastures are getting much needed water. This is such a conflict of interest for me. I coach college tennis and need it not to rain so that I can do my job. On the other hand, I now need it to rain so that my pastures have enough water to sustain growth for the horses to graze on. Maybe we can work on a special agreement with the powers above so that my needs are met on the timeframe I need to do both jobs. We got the horses fed, worked with Brianna on driving the mule, and set a massive rat trap. Those damn traps are huge and scare me like the dickens. I’m always scared my fingers are going to fall victim to that massive spring loaded kill lever. Our new barn cat has disappeared so in a weird way we are all sad. I don’t really get it because he stayed around for 2 days, ate, and seemed to be adjusting well. I think something scared him or got him because his food has been eaten but he is nowhere to be seen. We have looked high, low, and everywhere else in between. I hope he comes back because even though I am not a massive cat person he was a cool cat. If he is gone we will go get another one because you can’t have a barn without a barn cat. We finished up early and Brianna even made the comment that she was excited we were leaving before dark. With the rain still coming down we settled in for a night at the house and a comfy bed waiting for my butt to hit it and get some more rest. Tomorrow brings the start of the second week and more work to knock out. If it ever stops raining the barn will finally get its new coat of paint. When it rains, put on your raincoat and go enjoy the change of scenery.

I didn't forget I just needed to rest.

Thank you for your patience while I was away. We just finished up a load of laundry and are sitting on the couch getting ready to crash for the night. We are getting up at 2:30am to run to Orlando airport in the morning then heading straight to the barn to keep working on H&W Stables. Everywhere I have read or anyone I have spoken to has said that anything worth having is worth working for. Well, we are busting our butts to get this stable up to the standards we are looking for. The barn was in good shape before we obtained it but we are just doing deferred maintenance and making some adjustments on other parts of it. It is Saturday night and I have not written on Thursday or Friday. It was not that I didn’t want to write or have anything to write about it was just that I needed to get caught up on some rest. Thursday was spent putting on new locks, more pruning, pressure washing, scraping and prepping the walls for the new paneling, and removing the front stall windows for the new paneling. The work on this day was not mind numbing just tedious and man do I appreciate people who do this for a living. Oh yeah, we got our barn cat this day as well. His name is Luke, came from the SPCA, and at the moment he is a tad bit antisocial. He has stuck around so far but he hasn’t killed any critters yet so we are still having to feed him. Just kidding, we will feed him anyways. Friday we got the office all set up which was a nice touch. It is pretty cool to have an air-conditioned office to eat in, work out of and just sit and chill for a bit. We also moved some dirt from around the stables, got the pastured fertilized, weeded the arena and round pen, and odds and ends that took up a great portion of the day. Today was a big day on the progress of the stables. Ken and I put up all the paneling on the front of the barn. One window has been cut out, the bathroom is up and running again, the out buildings have been scrubbed and are ready for paint, and we have a few less spiders and wasps. The pest situation is funny in itself. We have all become a little less crept out by the creepy crawlies and flying critters. When you see spiders the size of your palm on a daily basis you begin to become immune to them. Even Brianna isn’t as jumpy as she has been. The wasps nests are being eradicated one by one and some of these bugs have been working very hard for a long time to build their castles. The funniest moment of the day was with Michelle and Ruthie working in the pump house. There is a rat living in the pump house and he introduced himself to them multiple times throughout the day. They hung tough and our silly cat has yet to find it interesting enough to battle it out with the rat so they have insisted we kill the rat. The best part was that Michelle kept sneaking up on her mother and touching her lightly to make her freak. You could hear the shrieking over the hammering every time. You need that levity while working that hard. The place is going to be beautiful when it’s complete and we will all be very glad when we can sit on those rocking benches, drink a big glass of sweet tea, and watch people enjoying their horses. Well, Michelle has passed out here on the couch and I guess I should head to bed since my alarm is going to go off in less than 3 and ½ hours. We are shutting down early tomorrow so we can regroup for next week so I’ll post some pictures of some of the construction. It is pretty cool to see the before and I cannot wait to see the after. Work hard for what you want and don’t be afraid to sweat for it.