Greetings and Salutations Faithful Stapleton Blog Readers
Here we go with another marathon update . . . .(in chronological order of course)
The week after my last lengthy update on June 5th, Petey had surgery to have a tumor removed. He did pretty well with the surgery and the tumor was benign, so Jess & I were very thankful. We both felt like a couple of heels over the entire matter. The tumor was exterior and looked like a skin tag for lack of a better term. It did not look like a mole or anything dangerous so we let it go for a while until we noticed it growing and we took him in. Our outstanding vet Dr. Chevalier did the surgery and took care of our boy with her usual professional and personal skill.  The rest of June went pretty much normally or at least what has qualified for normal lately. I continued traveling way more than I would have liked and Jess continued making progress on getting her teaching certificate and looking for a job.
In July my hectic travel schedule continued, Jess & I celebrated our 10th Anniversary, and Ricky & Megan got married. (So now my mother-in-law has another set of ovaries to concentrate on) The wedding was very nice and we all had a great time.
In August my travel continued most of the month, but Jess & I actually took a vacation. We slipped down to Myrtle Beach for a week and had a great time. (Plus the room at the new Hampton Inn in Myrtle Beach was free, courtesy of my hotel points. These things make my cheap heart pitter patter). While at the beach we did our usual things and I got to indulge myself a little.  Jess had a few headaches while we were there so I took a boy day and went to Charleston, SC to see the USS Yorktown. It was a great day. I really enjoyed seeing the ship and going through the history that fills its hull. I did not take too many pictures while I was there. It was kind of odd but knowing the story of the ship (before I read all the signs on board), I felt a sense of reverence while walking through the ship for all those who has served and given their life on the ship. As a result, I felt more like taking it all in as opposed to snapping pictures.
The Yorktown is anchored in Charleston harbor, so I got to try something neat. I got to stitch together a panoramic shot of the Cooper River bridge you can see the shot here. While at the beach I also went para-sailing again and had my usual great time. (Even got some good storm shots from the boat.) Jess and I also had a great time at the House of Blues murder mystery night. I was one of the 4 people who figured out why and who committed the murder. Posted below are a few shots from the vacation. I just did not take too many pictures this time around.
Immediately after getting home from vacation I had to leave for Indianapolis to attend my company’s annual conference. During this time, Jess was getting her final notice on the jobs she bid for and she landed a full-time teaching position at Huntington High School. Like any good husband I took a picture of her first day of school, but she still refused to go to the bus stop for me.
That brings us to September. I, of course, traveled and Jess settled into her teaching job. She is doing really well and loves her kids, I am so happy that she found a job that uses her gift. She really was put on this earth to help those who cannot help themselves. The only thing out of the ordinary that I did in September was attend banking school in Columbus. This was a grueling (Not in a 6 o’clock news anchor kind of grueling I really mean it!) 6 day course from 8am to 8pm everyday with only breaks to eat and service nature. A large portion of the school was focused on a banking simulation. This is where you have an imaginary bank and market forces that you operate in a computer model for 6 consecutive quarters. The group elected me CEO of the bank and with their help, we grew the bank over 90 million in assets and never got in trouble with the regulators. It was really a great week and at the end I did receive a diploma and my very first press release.
The rest of September was spent working and getting the church website ready for the New Testament Challenge. During the course of getting the site ready, I decided to redesign it as well; I am really pleased with the results.
On the night of September 30th, I was staying Clarksburg and received a message from Laura about 5:30 that said Mom was being admitted to the hospital for an MRI. So I called back and Laura indicated that Mom had been in abdominal discomfort for a couple of days and she had finally decided to go to her family doctor. (See that stubborn gene I come by naturally) At about 9:30 that night I get a call that they are taking Mom into emergency surgery to do some repairs. (I guess when you get to 76 things start to wear out. Man nothing lasts any amount of time anymore.) So I packed up and headed back home to be with Laura & Mom. The surgery ended about 12:15 on October 1st (Happy Birthday Laura) Mom came through it with flying colors and was doing very well. Before Laura and I left to go home, we went back to see Mom in recovery and learned very quickly that you can indeed bark orders at your children with a tube down your throat on a ventilator.
Mom continued to remain in the hospital recovering until October 9th when she got to come home. She is doing pretty well and should be back in fighting trim at about the time she has to go back in to have all her innards put back together again around January. Overall we are really happy with her care and recovery. It has taken the wind out of her, but she is coming back strong. On most days, she could wear out a lot of people 15 to 20 years younger than herself. In fact when she was in the hospital they accused her of being 60! That, of course, made her day!
I will never forget what Mom told me one day about getting old “The day that I sit down and stop doing things (moving this, lifting that), I will just cease up and die”. Having always taken that statement to heart, I intend to remain active as long as my bones and muscles will move me.
I’m not talking about running 10 miles everyday. I’m talking about doing as much for yourself as you possibly can without asking for any help. How many people do you know that just retire, quit being active, and die within a couple of years of retirement? I have no intention of being that person.
So just to sum up: I travel way too much, Ricky & Megan got married, Jess & I took a vacation, Jess is now an official school teacher, I can indeed run an imaginary bank, Mom is alive, well, and recovering, and the Stapleton family is grateful for all the blessings we have received.
Do you feel cheated that you read everything above? I hope not. A blog post is about the journey not the destination.
Until next time, stay warm, stay safe, and stay cool (although that one can be subjective).
That’s the news and I am outta here!