My Little Promise

The weather's surprisingly beautiful here in normally rainy Olympia, Wash. So rather than sit inside on my computer as usual or run like a banshee, I'm kickin' right here in town w/ the fam in the sun. Catch us at the park or anywhere else we wanna go.

I promised myself I'd go into hermit mode, but it's not really necessary. I can just set a little earlier and rise a little earlier. The sun is out and we are too!

More? Really?

I remember writing about how absolutely incredible 2009 was right about when the calendar turned to 1010. 2009 was certainly the best year of that decade and quite possibly the best of my life. Literally everything came together for the first time in my life - and for a sustained period.

That's a lot to live up to. By any safe assumption, 2010 couldn't be equal or better than 09' - that's like hitting the lottery twice.

But here I am finishing up the first quarter of the new year on track to exceed the highest points of 2009 by the third quarter of 2010. Better than resurrecting both my Naval and civilian careers, I've moved beyond just resurrection. I'm finally doing what I've been trying to do for at least 5, and in many cases 10, years. My daily life is literally so much of a dream, it's difficult to just manage it w/out becoming star struck at my surroundings.

Revelstoke, Tahoe, SIA and Denver, Vermont, New York State, New Jersey and then the NYC trip and hitting the ground running back here in Washington - it's just too good to be true. Then I get the o.k.

I'm going heli skiing Sunday! And the only thing I can think of is which skis I should bring.

I remember telling Admiral Tyson I just thought my trip in Thailand couldn't get any better. But then every day just got better than the last one - right through the end of the trip. That's become a trend.

I went skiing Tuesday night w/ Zach. It rained so hard we literally wore trash bags. It was hilarious hitting park jumps again - something I never thought I'd do again. Just a week later I'll be picking a line and having a pilot fly me there. This is all so much larger than life.

Mission Accomplished

I was there. Well, I was there at one point, just not when this photo was taken. My mission (getting the hell off that "cursed steel") was actually accomplished days before they departed on what turned out to be a 10-month deployment and one of the biggest black eyes in American history.

Good call eh?

Lucky is more like it. And tonight I'm calling mission accomplished one more time and hoping for some good ol' luck.

Just like in my endless boxing references, this one was more grueling and long than it was glorious and exciting. The fight I'm talking about tonight certainly isn't my finest. In my own defense, this is likely one of the most difficult opponents I've agreed to step in the ring against. I'm not sure if I didn't condition myself enough or what, but I'm certainly not pleased with my performance - even if I win the decision once the judges name it.

You'd think I've come so far from those mundane and petty days on the USS Abraham Lincoln. This stuff should be easy, but it's not. It's not easy at all. It all gets more difficult the more I want it. One of two things happens every time and I'm not sure why either does. I either get so much motivation and energy I win at all costs or I get paralyzed with fear and just can't put in the work needed to win and just stand there. After the first hard hit, I go numb and don't start feeling again till I've long lost the fight.

Let's hope I just get lucky with this one because I got scared and intimidated. The champ went the distance, but was it good enough?