Week 24 - Ace

I'm running a bit behind in this blog, so hopefully I will make up 2 weeks in time to post on time this coming Sunday. Everything has been so busy here that I haven't found the spare time to sit down and write out what has been going on. February always seems to be a very busy time of the year, regardless.

When I think about the word "ace", I usually think about luck. Aces bear respect in poker, are worth 15 pts if you drop one in rummy, and are a solid back-up plan or the root of your demise in euchre. To be an "ace", you're one of the best in your league, for example, the fighter pilots of the world wars. Most correct example of an ace is the man recently deposed of all his honors, since he also has just one of something else, although fortunate to survive a bout with cancer.

I am now accepting sponsorships for logo placement with Mudsock Cycling - call me.

Recently, Ace has been more of a brand-name recognition for me. I started using Ace Hardware for lab parts, plummer's putty, etc., since they are much closer to work than Lowes. The very first time I walked in, they were so helpful and cheerful, and they have only gotten better each time that I go there. They are reasonably priced and prepared to deal with our university accounting which can give larger companies huge fits. My wife and I recently acquired the remainder of the paint for our room (which will be Dr. Seuss themed), and visited our local Ace at home to get all the paint mixed up. Again, so helpful, honest about products, and happy to be working, the help at these stores is wonderful and a blatant depart from the careless entitlement of half the employees I encounter or who disrespect my wife at Lowes. So as we continue to prepare for the arrival of our newest family member, this post title is a cheer for the company that makes our little projects a reality. If only you could come help me build my bar ASAP, too.

Find us on Facebook!

This past week also marks the beginning of something which I hope will grow and flourish over the years. A friend of my brother's and mine wanted to start a bicycling group and came up with a local name from the history of the area: Mudsock, Ohio. Thus was born "Mudsock Cycling", and for those of you who want to claim you had the idea first, you're too late - We own the Twitter handle, Facebook account, web address and logo. But just because you're too late to have the idea, doesn't mean you are too late to join our group. We are gathering all those interested in just general fun bicycle-riding to join our Facebook group (as if I wasn't busy enough already). Eventually, this will turn into a cycling team with sponsorships and events, but for now we are just a group of guys and girls who like to bike. Check us out!



Our first event as Mudsock Cycling will be our appearance in the Sub 9 Death March this Spring in BFE, Indiana. For those of you who know as much as I did about the race before I signed up, the race goes between cemetery checkpoints in Indiana and just over half of the participants last year even finished the race. My goal is to be in the top 50 percentile - but given my winter bicycling "shape", I'll be lucky to post that well. Either way, it will be an adventure, and I am excited to embark on this trip with my older brother. I will miss my wife over the weekend, but it is good and refreshing to support personal activities so that you are more refreshed and able to focus on your spouse when you are with them. This will be a good opportunity to spend a day just relaxing - how better to do that than risking life and limb on a mountain-biking race?

Lastly, but surely most importantly, this past week was an ultrasound of the baby. We decided to hold off on knowing the gender, but have it in an enveloper in case we lose our resolve. When we got down that far, I had to avoid looking because I have enough previous experience with ultrasounding to know what I'm looking at. What's really important is how truly amazing it was to see our child and how it is developing. In just a few short weeks, it has gone from a lump the size of a brownie sundae to a full-fledged, yet still entrapped, human being. We could see the arms move and rub its face. We could see the eyes look at the ultrasound handle, and even the lens of the eye when it looked directly at the image capture. Legs, toes, brain and organs, our baby is slowly taking shape. It was a truly wonderful moment and we both felt like we were really part of something special that day. I know it isn't easy, but what a wonderful gift to be able to bring a baby into this world.