Another Season Down.

Another season of kickball has come to an end. I do realize my documentation of fall kickball here on my blog was……….what should I say……..nonexistent. There are many variables as to why I didn’t find time to share with you the great details about the Budweiser Brawl, but none of them had to do with the fact that we only won 2-3 games the entire season, I promise.

At the end of each season we have a kickball party, this season was no different. As with any evening in which we venture out on the town it typically starts out calm, and somewhere turns in the opposite direction of calm, what is that called…………….mayhem! I am positive the fact that beer was free from 8-10p and from 10-12p shots were only $3 had everything to do with the quick decline of judgment. However, when you are the only sober turkey in a bar you are bound to get some priceless pictures and that I did. Here are a few……………

When the night starts like this..........



and this.



You end up with results similar to this......



and this.




Yet somewhere in the mix we got pictures like this.....



and this.....



and this!!



It was an incredibly fun night!!!

Love ya!
JB

Pink Power Lunch

Tuesday 11.16.10 was go time. I spent the past month working on the logistics, getting speakers, working with the venue on strategy and preparing to execute our 2nd Annual Pink Power Lunch. A lunch and learned geared towards HR, CEO’s and executives in local organizations to educated and empower them with knowledge.



This lunch was not about fundraising it was about experiencing the power of knowledge, friendship and community…….to experience the power of pink. This Pink Power lunch was uniquely different than many other breast cancer presentations that our guests had attended in the past. On Tuesday the lunch brought together dynamic men and women of the Tulsa community to become educated and enlightened about the realities of breast cancer and the impact it not only has on the life of the patient but how the reality has changed the way some businesses approach healthcare and the health of their employees.

Our most essential tool for a better and brighter future for all is knowledge. With that said I made sure we had speakers that could talk with our guests about what they could do within their organizations to bring Breast Self-Awareness to their employee’s year around, not just during the month of October. Our hope was that they were able to walk away from the lunch feeling empowered to make knowledgeable decisions about their health and the health of their employees.



From the feedback I have gained, I think our hope was reached. I will not bore you with all the details about the topics discussed, but it was a well rounded, educational and thought provoking 1.5 hour.

McNellie's Pub Run

I run in the McNellie’s Pub Run this past weekend. Now I have run a race or two or twenty in my life, but I had yet to run in anything with the words ‘pub’ in the title. I didn’t just fall of the turnip truck that actually happened two weeks ago, so I was aware that in a ‘pub run’ there would be beer. I however did not have prior knowledge of the men sporting (fashionably I might add) kilts,


the cast of Reno 911,

or men confused as to whether they were at a triathlon or a run,

being present at this ‘pub run’ but yes all of the above plus much more were present and ready to run.
For participants interested in registering for this race there were three choices……..1 mile fun run, 4 mile run, or the 4 mile Guinness Challenge. As a side note I was the only one out of our group of friends that registered for the 4 mile run, I was not interested in incorporating Guinness in my 4 mile jaunt.

We don’t need to cover the harassment I endured due to that decision, I will say though I was quite happy with my choice. This run was a learning experience for me………….
1) Someone who does not register for the Guinness Challenge should be prepared to not have the opportunity to hydrate during the run.

2) I don’t like to run without adequate water!
3) One should not expect the workers at the water stops, or beer stops as most like to refer to them as, to have the slightest idea of what water is.

4) I see mirage of lakes when I don’t get enough water!
5) Anyone who wants to make it through the race without feeling as though they are going to pass out, well they need to plan on drinking beer.
6) I loved running at a slower pace than normal.
7) The Culligan Man should not be at the finish line for I drank him out of water.
8) I wanted to eat a hamburger when I was done.
9) I completely enjoyed having a fun new running buddy for the race.

10) I have a lot of work to do to catch up to Matt and the speed demon he is.

It seems to me the one lesson I learned loud and clear is that I need to hydrate extensively before the pub run or I may end up dead on the side of the road due to dehydration.

My time was not the best in this race, but I will say it was one of the more fun races I have run in. I finished with a smile on my face!

I plan to do this race again next year.

Promise Partner

Susan G. Komen for the Cure has many visible partners from Yoplait to AT&T to BCBG to Zeta Tau Alpha to New Balance and hundreds more. My co-worker, Lindsay, and I were provided a great opportunity this past Tuesday as we were invited to visited one of the Komen national sponsors…….American Airlines. Komen has had a long standing partnership with American Airlines which led to a joint agreement ending in the Komen ribbon adorning a handful of American’s planes. One of the 757s had landed in Tulsa for an inspection on the landing gear and we got the call………One of the Komen planes are out at the maintenance hangars would your office staff be interested in coming out to see? Lindsay and I jumped on the opportunity. You may be thinking, it is just an airplane isn’t it, doesn’t it look like any other. The answer is yes, however if we had not gone out there we would not have had an airport adventure of a life-time.

We learned the history behind how the design of the ribbon on the plane was going to be laied out. Get this…..an American Airlines engineer was sitting in his office, he took a piece of ribbon, a model airplane and a fan. The engineer was interested to see how the ribbon would contour to the plane with the nose of the plane facing the fan. The result from the ribbon, model airplane and fan test is now seen on a small fleet of AA planes. As an interesting side note, American Airlines has only one other time put any decal or color other than red, white and blue on their airplanes. They have one plane with a yellow ribbon as a token of appreciation for the all the amazing veterans that have so bravely served our country.

Upon walking into an AA plane proudly displaying the Komen ribbon you see this………..



Lindsay and I spent a lot of time learning the history of the how the ribbon decal was placed on the very first Komen American Airlines plane.




We learned what the maintenance crew inspects and fixes on AA planes, we more or less learned the ins and outs of the American Airlines base in Tulsa.

At the very end of our time on the base, Lindsay and I got to see the inside of an airplane that is having a face lift. It was quite odd to be inside a plane that didn’t have a lot of guts. In fact Lindsay equated it to being in a surgical wing of a hospital.





All the steps their mechanics take to make sure we are safe in the sky is amazing, I will never again be nervous to fly American. They may have massive delays, but by golly their planes are safe.

Happy Flying!!

Couch to 5K

I am not a persuasive person, nor do I have a bone in my body that is good at selling. However, I happened to, by the grace of God I am sure, convince one of my co-workers to start a couch to 5k training program. ‘Couch to 5k?’ I hear you questioning what that phrase means…….let me share. An individual that is interested in art the art of running and possibility becoming a runner themselves needs to start somewhere. The fastest way to get someone to run, literally, in the opposite direction of any running program is to start them out too fast. There are some people that function best by just being tossed out there with the sharks and learning to swim. However it has been seen over and over again if you do that with ‘couch potatoes’ the sharks will get them and they will never see a running trail again. So the key is gradual.

Lindsay came to me and said, “I want to shed a few lbs and get in better shape can you help?” I said “heck ya!” I typed her up a workout program that she was going to take to the gym with her and her goal would be accomplished in no time flat. That is what I thought, but some people are not gym maniacs like me; Lindsay was going to need a bit more supervision on my part to reach her goal, which is where my nonexistent persuasive skills kicked in. Next thing I knew we were lacing up our running shoes and hitting the pavement. She has already come such a long way; I can’t wait to cheer her on in her first 5k race!!!

Love,
Coach J

Is it finally fall?

The weather in my neck of the woods is starting to get cool and feel a bit like fall. You see the calendar told us all that the beginning of fall occurred on September 22, yet Mother Nature has just now embraced the idea of letting summer go.

I am not exactly ready for the incredably cold weather that Oklahoma likes to provide in the dark months of winter, but I am ready for fall. When the days are plesant and the nights are crisp, when sweatshirts and jeans are appropriate at football games rather than shorts and tank tops. But most importantly I am ready for fall tempts so the leaves begin to change.

I love the colors of falls, the organges and reds and yellows and greens.

I have never been one to jump at the chance to take a senic drive, yet during the fall my friends I would take a road trip across country just to look and take pictures of the fall colors.

Happy Fall Ya'all
JB

Covert Mission

For the past month I have been working on a covert mission. Seeking advisory only from those I trust the most. Maybe trust is not the right word, a more accurate description would be seeking advisory from people I knew would provide me with correct information and tossing up prayers they could be trusted with top secret information. Once it was all said and done my advisors were more than trust worthy, they were highly instrumental in throwing Matt a surprise birthday party he will not soon forget.

The pictures will do a much better job at expressing how much fun was had than I could every dream of doing myself……enjoy!!




Surprise!!!








Friends....




The Ghostbusters were not on the invite list but we let them join in on the fun nonetheless!!



Slimmer had to stay in the car but we all went to visit him.



Food (can't beat cupcakes from my kitchen)......




and way tooooo much fun!!!!

It was a wonderful evening, filled with friends, fun and a happy birthday boy....mission accomplished!



Love ya,
JB

It was 1977

Matt and I celebrated his birthday last night with presents,

yummy Italian cuisine, a movie and some wine.

Wait, let me step back a few hours and even days. I was about ready to jump out of my boots all day due to excitement over one of his birthday gift. I am not a creative genius, we all know this, but my brother he is….no lie! I wanted to do something special for Matt, something unique, something that would be timeless and something he would value. That was quite the list of stipulations this birthday gift had to align with, that being said I pulled in the big guns. Urban Script was going to help my crazy mess of an idea come to fruition.

I called my brother………..

What up G?

Nothing just working, what are you doing?

Oh nothing, just sitting around twirling my hair.

Ummmmmm, okay.

Hey, I have a random question for you.

Yes.

Sit down and brace yourself, are you ready, I mean really ready? I have been thinking, earth shattering I know and even more shocking I have an idea.

You are so weird! What is your idea?

Can you help me with a brain child for Matt’s birthday?

What is that?

I want to do something regarding his initials or year he was born, calligraphy and all the important milestones in his life.

Okay I will see what I can draft up.

Great thanks! Talk to you soon, love ya!

Love you.

My brother is a man of few words. And I would like to state for the record it has nothing to do with the fact I spoke for him as a child, anyone that tries to tell you that, run far and run fast, they are lying.

After many phone calls, emails, questions asked of Matt and having a creative brother I was able to give Matt a birthday gift that I felt met all the objects laid out at the start of this project.