Birthday Ramblings

I had a birthday recently and it was the first time where a "milestone" really made me think. Turning 30 has had an impact that 18 and 21 did not. The 18th was no different as I had and still have no desire to smoke. A 21st birthday is not a big deal for someone who lived in Europe growing up... I was 14 when Herr Mueller brought in big mugs of something sweet after SV Morlautern(my German soccer club) pulled a nice upset. But 30 has had me thinking for weeks now and will for weeks more. I have a number of different things to share, I'll start light.

My hair-For those of you fellas who are not aware, male pattern baldness is genetic-look at your Grandpa on moms side. I have not seen a picture of my Grandpa Fass with a full head of hair. My mom tells me he was working the comb over in his 20's. The shower drain is telling me this is coming and I have decided years ago I will be Mr. Clean long before I will be Mr. Comb Over! This could still be years away or maybe months away, I don't really know.

My right leg-A friend of mine just moved and his church had a goodbye picnic for him. We were playing volleyball with its many picnic benefits(social,easy) when some people wanted to play kickball. It brought back memories and I just had to play. I had a lot of fun and went to bed feeling young at heart. I woke up feeling stiff in quadriceps. I don't know if it is from running the bases or what but wow! A not so gentle reminder of my age.

My health-It's not that good right now. I have never eaten well(make that healthy) and as a result I am just not pleased with the weight I have put on. I know this sounds cliche but around the the fourth of July I was going through pictures and I found some......from college. When I was looking forward every night to running the hills by Rosenblatt. I loved it then. The picture is now 10 years old and I haven't enjoyed running hills for some time now. At Borders a few weeks ago I read Body for Life by Bill Phillips about eating right,excercise,blahblahblah. A week ago I started a 12 week program they have so we will see what happens. I took a "before" picture which may make this blog if I like the "after" picture. Its pretty common sense and similiar to the South Beach diet if anyone knows what that is. I try to eat 6 small meals a day, knocking out a lot of water. I have remained siezure free though and and that been huge.

My friends-On my birthday I got a call and when I saw the number my heart smiled. It was a good friend from college who I roomed with later. We talked about our lives and I realized I had not kept up with many of my friends. I have been blessed to know so many great people and want to do a better job of staying in touch. Ironically enough Jeremy didn't know it was my birthday but was just calling to make some future plans. After hanging up with my friend I left for a party to goodbye to John, a good friend of the last two years. Next weekend another friend Lynette has a commissioning service before she leaves for China. As a military brat I became accustomed to making friends and watching them go. But as I get older I realize life is still very much the same. God puts people in our lives for a time and then he pulls them away. A few months ago I did not know John or Lynette was leaving and it came as a surprise to them. It is often too late when we realize how blessed we are to be surrounded by good friends until we are no longer surrounded by them.