Happy Father's Day!

Dear Dad:

Happy Father's Day!

I tell you pretty often that I love you.  I don't tell you often enough WHY I love you.

Of course, I love you because you're my dad.  But really, being my dad doesn't have that much to do with it.  There are so many other reasons.  I am going to list a few, but only a few.  The whole list is so long that even you would be bored about halfway through.

I love you because you are a great husband.  You love Mom so much and you are not afraid to say so.  Because of you, I have a great husband.  I didn't settle for some asshole who would treat me like shit because I KNOW how a wife is supposed to be treated.

I love you because you aren't going to get all bent out of shape because I used the words "asshole" and "shit" in my letter to you. 

I love you because you really live our faith and don't just go to church because you should.  You love Jesus, and it shows.  You love the Church, and it shows.  You respect others' right to worship as they please -- and it shows.

I love you because you are really really fun to be with.  You have such a zest for life.  Remember when you came up to Madison to take me to the Ohio-Wisconsin game?  Remember how Wisconsin won and no one could believe it?  When the fans streamed on to the field, you ran out with them.  And we danced the polka and cheered and laughed and then went out on the town and drank beer until midnight. That remains one of my most precious memories.

I love you because you are so resilient.  Life has belted you in the chops more than once.  But you never let it keep you down.  You always keep God and family front and center, so when things get rough, you are able to weather through it.  I thank God for your example.

I love you because you never got bent out of shape about things like me burning out the transmission on your new car or me getting the car towed to Cabrini Green in the middle of the night or me promising a friend a ride to Barrington without asking you first. 

I love you because you totally supported me moving to LA after college even though it probably wasn't the most prudent thing to do. 

I love you because you are a wonderful Grandpa.

I love you because you are wonderful Father in Law.

I love you because you are a wonderful Man.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Also, because you are handsome.  Love you!

June Bug

I have never hated a June so much.

I should be spending my time playing at the beach with my kids.

Or writing witty blog posts.

Not spending 8 hours a week in Stats class.  (6-10pm Monday & Wednesday).

Not moving my office from one room to the other.

On the one hand, I know I am super lucky.  I have access to an excellent University just down the road.  I have the resources to pay for the class, and my wonderful family carries on while I am in class.  (Especially my saintly husband.)

I have a job.  A job I like.  With people I like.  WHO CARES if my computer is sitting on another desk?
WHO CARES if things are chaotic for a few days?

Finally, if this is all I have to complain about, then I am the luckiest friggin' person IN THE WORLD!

Still.  I can't wait for July.

The real reason why I love Victor. . ..

I've written about Vic before.

He owns V-Fit -- the fitness studio where I work out.  The place where I was first able to do triceps curls and "real" push ups.  The place where I have been able to drop my blood pressure, blood sugar, and bra size.  The place where I have met wonderful friends who encourage me to try, fail and try again.

That's not why I love Vic.

Vic assigned me to work out with Gabe.  Gentle, kind Gabe who doesn't shout, doesn't sneer and doesn't take excuses.  We call Gabe the "Silent Assassin" because he very quietly kills you with his workouts.  I call him "Silent but Deadly".  Seriously -- he worked my back & shoulders two days ago.  I am still sore.  Did you know your armpits could hurt?  Despite the pain, Gabe has been a wonderful coach, mentor and friend.

That's not why I love Vic.

Vic is slightly hot looking.  If you like guys with perfectly tone bodies, chiseled bone structure, shiny black hair and the deepest, dreamiest brown eyes since Greg Afuso.  And he's mostly straight!  (Just kidding. He's all the way straight.)  (He is pretty Metro though.  I love Metro guys!)  On more than one occasion, friends of mine have seen Victor and come to me drooling.  "HE is your trainer!  OMG I want to work out with you!"  Of course they never show up, the cowards.

That's not why I love Vic.

It was yesterday that I realized exactly why I love him. 

Yesterday was the 5K I ran for June.  As you may know, I have run one 5K every month since October 2010.  Yesterday I finished my 9th.  Wow.  Nine.  That's a lot. 

That's not why I love Vic.

It was one of the most enjoyable 5K's I've run.  It was at sunrise on the beach.  Sounds romantic, right?  Sunrise in June is the only time you can run without getting heat stroke.  But it was still pretty frigging hot.

I haven't done a lot of running on the beach.  It's more challenging that running on the road.  For one thing, you have to scoot around to find sand that's not too soft.  We were kinda zig-zagging all over the place.  I am pretty sure we covered more than 3.1 miles.  Felt like 10. 

I was proud of myself becasue I ran the whole first half no problem.  At the turn around, I was running pretty close to the water.  By then my feet were sore and hot, but I still had more than a mile to go.  A wave came in and soaked my feet. 

I wasn't happy to have my expensive shoes all wet, but lemme tell ya -- that water felt GOOD!

I kept running in & out of the water, until my shoes got so waterlogged it was like running with 15 lb weights on my feet.  Gabe makes me run with 15 lbs weights on my feet, so I know what I am talking about.

It was the beach.  The water felt good.  My shoes were heavy.  I was going slow.

I figured "Fuggit -- I'm taking my shoes off".  So I did.

Running in bare feet in the soft South Texas surf felt WONDERFUL.

That's not why I love Vic.

I love him because he put on this 5K to help the victims of the Mississippi Floods.

He raised $800.

I realized yesterday that Vic is always doing that.  He set up a scholarship for students to attend Del Mar College. He raised money for Tsunami victims.  He participated in Toys for Tots. He hosted a run for Metro Ministries.  He finds ways to raise money for those in need.

I love Vic because Vic is a giver.

He's not rich yet.  He's still building his business.  But he's not waiting until he has "extra" money to give.  He gives now.    I met Vic when he donated his services for the Mayor's Fitness Challenge last summer. The retail cost of that challenge was over $2000, just for me. We had 13 people in that challenge. Vic -- who was just opening his business -- essentially gave us $26,000.00.

So not only did Vic give me a safe and comfortable place to become my best physical self, he gave me and my community thousands of dollars. 


Vic's business is growing.  He and Gabe are expanding into another location, they are increasing their clientele, and they are bringing new and exciting services to our community.  That's not an accident.  The great sales and self-actualization guru Zig Ziglar said "You can have everything you want in life as long as you help other people get what they want in life."  Vic is helping me get what I want in life.  I hope he earns MILLIONS.  Billions. 

In fact -- if you live in South Texas, check out V-Fit.  Take a couple of classes.

You will love Vic too.

My very first day working out with Vic

Just one of many successes since I started working out with V-Fit





I loved this movie so much I could marry it. . ..

Guess which one is me???