Last spring after returning from Afghanistan I went to the VA thinking I needed knee replacement surgery only to discover my bone structure was perfectly healthy and the pain was likely from scar tissue or muscle weakness in my left leg. Once I received that news in July, along with a little motivation from Pastor Mike’s promotion, I started running again for the first time since I re-broke my leg in 2002.

Since July I have reduced my permanent profile in the Army from a 3 which didn’t allow me to run at all, to a 2 which allows me to run at my own pace; I completed a 7 mile road march and have consistently ran three to six times a week.

Today I took another significant step…I completed the Turkey Trot 5k in 29 minutes flat, running the entire time (my only goal was not to walk). In the next twelve months I want to eliminate my profile altogether and complete a full marathon next November in Kansas City along with my Commander MAJ Brand and the Regimental Deputy Commander LTC Winkler.

Much like my finances three years ago, I finally became sick of my lack of responsibility. I realized that the only thing holding me back was a lack of effort. I found it very hypocritical for me to stand in front of future leaders in the United States Army and yet be unable to even run with them to chow. My victim mentality is gone replaced with excitement for what lies ahead!

Happy Thanksgiving!

When I first heard of this attack in Kabul a couple of weeks ago, I feared the worst for our friend Dave; however, when I initially read the article I missed that one of the dead was British…I only saw the South African and knew that Dave was British so I thought he wasn’t involved. Yesterday I received a phone call letting me know that Dave was in fact one of the two killed. Very sad.

All of us from our unit worked real close with Dave. DHL flew all our mail in and out of the country and screened our outgoing packages. Dave’s office was literally next door. I talked to him every day I was in Bagram.

Here and here are a couple more articles about the attack.

Amy left town early Monday morning leaving the kids and me to fend for ourselves until her return Saturday…and we are having a great week! Jeremiah lost his first tooth on Monday at lunch, even though he promised his mom he wouldn’t lose it until she got back. Here is the picture for Mommy.

The kids go to sleep without argument every night at 9 and they need every last minute of sleep they get. At 5:30 each morning I go in and wake them up then get in the shower. On Monday and Tuesday mornings I exited the shower a few minutes later only to discover lifeless bodies spread across the house…but not this morning. As soon as I shut the water off I could hear the kids knocking on the bathroom door; by the time I was dressed and opened the door they were both ready to go, jackets and back packs in tote. They didn’t want to be late to Primetime, the YMCA before and after school program.

This is our dry run for when Mommy gets mobilized…as much as we don’t look forward to that day, we are prepared!

I am thoroughly enjoying my return to the classroom as I pursue my Masters in Organizational Leadership at Evangel. As part of my Foundations of Leadership course I was assigned a project to interview a leader of an organization in order to understand their leadership philosophy along with the traits and attributes they felt were critical.

Today I traveled to Jeff City to meet with Treasurer and former Republican candidate for Governor, Sarah Steelman.  My six year old Sarah is a huge fan and was understandably sad about the Republican primary results (and excited her daddy was able to meet her).

I was impressed with Treasurer Steelman’s courage and values. She described her most critical challenges as standing up against members of her own party including the governor. Her strong ethics and persistence are commendable. I wish only the best for her in her future endeavors.