I am my Parents

"The apple does not fall far from the tree."  Man, it's weird.  I constantly find myself doing things, stopping, thinking, and saying to myself, "Jesus, I'm turning into my parents."

I love my Mom and Dad.  They are the two most influential people in my life and I think they did a pretty good job turning four hooligans into men.  However, sometimes they drive me freakin' nuts, not as much now, but when I was a little younger.  Now, I find myself doing those things that used to drive me nuts and it's driving me nuts! haha.

My Dad is like a shark.  No, he won't eat anything and is not a killer; but if he stops moving he'll probably die.  The man is in constant motion.  I've never known him to wake up past 6:30 a.m.  If he makes to that time in bed then he's really tired.  As soon as he's up it's go time.  When I was a kid I couldn't keep up.  He would have us up at the ass-crack of dawn mowing the lawn or washing cars.  We all hated it; but now I find myself kind of doing the same thing.  I think this leads to his greatest attribute, work ethic.  He's a machine.

I used to hate when my Dad turned the AC off in the house (first world problem).  It would be cool at night and heat up during the day.  He was constantly on us about turning off lights and wasting energy.  That's because he had to pay the bills and we didn't have a clue what that meant.  NOW, I find myself wanting to turn off the AC.  I think about it as a energy saving thing mostly.  In the back of my mind, however, I'm thinking about lowering that bill too.

My Mom is relentless and tough.  If she wants something she's going to keep pushing until she gets it.  It's not just a selfish trait either.  If she wants something for one of her precious little angels (I'm angel #1) then she'll get it.  It was awesome and embarrassing as a kid, haha.  Looking back though, she made all of our lives better.

Mom's also tough as nails and I think I got a little bit of that (only a fraction).  When I was in high school Mom had breast cancer, went through chemo therapy, lost her hair, and beat cancer.  As a teenager I didn't really comprehend what was going on.  I don't think we supported her the way we should have and she didn't complain to us one bit.  She still took care of us and made sure we had everything we needed.  I can only imagine how tired and sick she was and she played it off so well that her kids didn't really notice.  As people say in the military or sports, she's hard.  

So the things that drove me crazy as a kid and young adult are the same qualities I inherited from my parents.  I'm a better person for it.  Although, I do feel a little sorry for my future kids, haha.

Have a good one,
Jimmy

Not Rowing

So this is the longest period of time I have not rowed since 2008.  Yesterday I did sit in an 8 to show some kids the difference between placing the blade WHEN you get to the catch and placing the blade AS you get to the catch.  But, that's it.  I've gone cold turkey.

Cold turkey is a tough way to go.  I've spoken to members of my family who used to smoke.  They tried many different ways to quit.  It was cold turkey that did it the best.  If I were to go out in a single three times per week I might start to think I could add a fourth day and then that would snowball into rowing six times a week and I just can't do it.

Actually, it's been nice.  I get to go out with Shaunnah whenever I want.  If we want to go out and get a drink at 9 pm we can!  Every other weekend for the past four years I was always thinking about rest and trying to do my best to be ready to rock n roll the next day.

However, I do have a lot of energy.  Those who know me, know that I'm like my Dad (post later on the scary notion of turning into your parents) and am not good at standing still.  I need something to do, something constructive.  I think sometimes it drives Shaunnah a little nuts, but I'm just getting her back, haha.

SOOOOO, I've been running.  Running a lot.  I'm not really training for anything; but I have developed a routine of working out and think it's important.  Everyone should force time into their schedule to take care of themselves.

I've also been on the job hunt pretty aggressively.  Networking, writing cover letters and refining the resume are daily adventures.  I'm new at all of it because in the Navy you don't really need a resume.  You give them your listed preferences and then they order you to go somewhere.

So basically, I'm doing my damn-est to keep busy and not go crazy.  The most comforting part is that I'm fine.  I miss rowing, a little; but I realize that rowing has never and continues to NOT define me.  My definition (whatever that is) made me a good rower, not the other way around.

Now I'm going to meet my wife for lunch.  Have a good one.

- Jimmy