I'm a Star! At least in my own mind

I have fans. They may only be my family and friends, but it is great none the less! Check out an email I received from one of my students today. I am a legend in my own mind thanks to my family and friends.

"Chris, I have my final for Monday night finished (yesterday) and had all my Foundations posts done had a whole day today where I didn't have to do anything for school. So I decided it was a great day outside and went to Lake Hefner Park to walk the walking trails. I saw at least 5 different chalk writings with your name on them. I especially like the "We love you Chris Bray! You're our hero!" and the "Chris Bray is awesome! (Heart shape) Chris." I just can't seem to get away from you! Good thing I like you. :0)"

An Ironman on 4 Peanut butter and Honey sandwiches

Well, I did it. I completed an Ironman. I swam 2.4 miles, biked 112 miles and ran 26.2. To be honest I really can't believe I did it. A lot of people have asked me how I did it since finishing the race. I tell them anyone can do it with 4 Peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

I love Peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but this post isn't really about that. It is about how great they are to eat while you are biking or running. Everyone around me had fancy goo's, gels, bars, space nuts and all other kinds of high dollar, high falutin' stuff that was supposed to propel their bodies to the finish line. I had 4 Peanut butter and honey sandwiches made with love from my wife. I ate one after the swim. I ate another one half way through the bike, I ate another one near the end of the bike and I ate the last one during the first thirteen miles of my run. I made it just fine. I think that was the secret of my finish. 4 peanut butter and honey sandwiches made with love at 4:30 a.m. the morning of my race. Maybe add in a bit of training and then you can run the ironman also!

To be honest the one thing that I took away from the race was the experience of it. I am finally realizing (late 30's is better than never!) that experiences are what life is made of. I had a phenomenal experience racing the ironman and having 13 hours and 18 minutes completely by myself to think, reflect, and pray (lots of that! ) It was incredible to have such quiet time to contemplate. I am now more than ever seeking after experiences for me and my family. Experiences and memories not things.

Check out some pictures from the race. Okay so I couldn't help adding the swim one. The poor guy who forgot his wetsuit.

My pet

I don't really like pets, I never have.  I blame my mother who never groomed her cat (cat hair everywhere) and who never really potty trained her dog. (you fill in the blanks with that one)  Needless to say we have no animals in our house.  (If you don't count children after a slurpee run)  I also have really, really, really bad, bad allergies (I think) to all animals so that helps with explaining to the girls why all their friends have animals but they don't.  And then I realized yesterday that I do have a pet and I have had one almost every year since Gale and I got married. So I would like to introduce our family pet, (but really my own) to the world.  Meet Charlotte

   

Charlotte lives right outside the door to the side of the house.  I pass her everytime I go to my car.  I really like her cause I never have to walk her, pet her, groom her or any of that gross stuff.  I do have to feed her, but that is easy I just turn on the flood light which is right behind her web and she gets more than her share.  It is so easy.  Sometimes I forgot but it doesn't seem to bother her.  If I feel like I haven't given her enough attention I catch a grass hopper or a moth and throw it in her web.  So fun!  She likes me too because she builds beautiful webs and if I get close enough to check on her she shows me how fast she runs by climbing her web.  Sometimes she wants to play hide and seek (she always hides under the rain gutter, but I pretend like I don't know where she is).  I love Charlotte and I can now say I am a pet person!

Instead of

Today Instead of...

1. waking up tired and barely comprehending who I am and where I am I smiled at everyone in the house and said good morning with a big hug.
2. thinking of all the things I had to accomplish in the day I just talked with my girls at breakfast.
3. screaming at the kids to get ready for church I just kept quiet and helped.
4. getting mad at the girls for fighting, touching each other, bugging each other etc. I smiled and winked at them in the rear view mirror.
5. taking a nap I played with my girls.
6. worrying about the house being clean we invited some friends and their children over for dinner.
7. sitting back I said hello to everyone first.
8. worrying about all the stuff I need and want to accomplish in my life I just sat still and didn't worry.
9. lecturing my children I just sat and asked them questions and listened to them.
10. telling my wife I loved her 3 or more times a day, I showed her by saying things I never say to her.
11. thinking about the future and the past I just thought about today.

And the funny thing is....It was the best day I have had in a long time!

Elle the smunchkin; or my Ellie Pie

Elle-

This is my letter to you on your 7th birthday. I LOVE you so much. I can not imagine a green-eyed little girl who I love more. You are my favorite Elle in the whole world. There is so much to love about you I can barely write them all in one post.

We waited four years after Olivia to have you, so when you came into our lives we were ready and excited. A better baby there has never been on the Earth. You have been so sweet and kind since the day you were born. Your eyes were always deep pools, that your mom and I would look into for hours wondering what was going on in there, and the interesting thing is that nothing has changed. You have such a deep thoughtful spirit in that little body of yours, you understand so much more than we give you credit for. Your one dead give away is your tender heart and soul. Whenever you feel something, you feel it so deep that your green eyes let loose a waterfall of emotion. You can never hide it, and I'm glad. It gives me a glimpse into your soul.

I love how completely unique you are in our family. You don't seek after the spotlight, in fact you shun it and happily pass it on to your sisters. We love you for this. You watch everyone and everything and think about what is going on around you and then you will always talk about it later giving me your thoughts and feelings. It is worth the wait every time. I am always amazed at your thoughtful expressions and the way you word things. You have taken me by surprise so many times, as it has been said, "out of the mouths of babes!"

I love your laugh and contagious personality. You bring such joy into our family. Your laugh and sense of humor is so funny. I often can't stop laughing when you start. It is like an happy infection that you start. I can tell the kids at school like it also.

You have the most beautiful insides of anyone I know. You are kind, sweet, thoughtful, caring and you can clean your room. (please teach your sisters). You know just when to give me back scratches and you always do just the right thing for your sisters. You bring such peace into our home. I wonder what great things you will do with this talent. It is such a gift from God. How lucky we are to have it in our home.

You are also so beautiful on the outside. You often take my breath away with your green eyes and smile. You get your beauty from your mother.

Elle-I love you and I am so glad you are in my family. I can't wait to watch you grow up. Just promise that I will always be able to lay next to you every night and tell you Sugar Love stories!

Love Dad...

Back to School for Me!

I have decided tonight that I need a new blog look, so Gale the master blogger is going to help me with some changes in the next few days.

Tonight I taught class. It is on Contemporary Issues in Supervision. It is made up of mostly adults over the age of 25 who are returning to school. We started the class talking about the different levels of management, and the stress found within each level, the different pay structures, different types of compensation etc. One of my students asked me about suggested ways of reaching higher levels of management. We reviewed some of the basics of "how to get promoted" Having Emotional Intelligence, being great at your job (your skill sets, knowledge etc.) and the social aspect of any job (getting along with people, being a team player). But then I ventured off into reasons why individuals don't get promoted and even reasons why people are in the wrong jobs. We discussed it as a class and came up with some different ideas, but the main focus of the evening was about FEAR. How fear holds everyone back. I was amazed at what was discussed and how open the students were. I have never realized until last night the role that fear plays in people's lives. We ended up talking about it for close to an hour and a half. At the end I gave an assignment. Take one day and write down a fear when it comes to you. At that moment just write it down and move on and see how much fear you bring upon yourself in one day. Today I was receiving emails and text messages like crazy. FEAR was rampant! I can't wait until our next class that we can talk about it more. Here was one email I received:

"It's 11:18AM and I have recorded at least 6 instances of paranoid fear.
Write the book. Appreciate the class last night."

After class I spent the rest of the night thinking about all of the things I fear and how those fears keep me from becoming more of the person that I want to be. I decided I'm not going to fear anymore.

Tonight Chloe asked me to lay with her a minute while she fell asleep. I had to make one phone call and when I came back up she was asleep. So tomorrow I am going to take her up on her offer. It is not often that my 13 yr old asks me to lay down and talk with them as they go to sleep. Not letting that opportunity pass!

What?

Let's just say I'm completely and utterly dumfounded. It is amazing when something happens in your life that is so unexpected and so out of the blue that you can't even begin to fathom what is going on. Give me two weeks and I will post on it....by then I will hopefully have my head wrapped around the whole thing.