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Showing posts from 2006

Introducing the newest line of O'Connor...Liam

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On November 18, 2006 the world got just a little brighter. On that day, despite the common belief that it would never happen, I became a daddy. Liam John Hays O'Connor was born at 9:39 AM in Missoula's Community Medical Center. Liam and his mommy were both fine and the little guy took to her right away. The past month has been an unbelievable journey, both surreal and exhilarating at the same time. Liam is a good little boy; he sleeps, poops, eats and coo's in no particular order. My mother and father were able to be here for the delivery and my brother and his girlfriend came the day after. So we had our first Thanksgiving together as a "recomposed" family, in our own house we bought together in October, with our new son and family all around. Pretty grand experience, that is certain. When I catch my breath I will share some of our funny stories and my feelings on going from zero to family in 6 short months.

A dream realized

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Montucky Recipe Corner MTF Surprise Ingredients: 3 Full Sarasota days (partly cloudy to sunny is best) 32 Finely manicured fields (with Frisbee central, gear central, first aid, food and beer tents) 60 Ultimate teams (using 16 mixed teams leads to the sweetest taste) 200 + Missoula Ultimate community supporters 7 Family & friend support crews on-site 26 Mental Toss Flycoons players (big smiles, big ups and hot defenders required) Directions: Start by nurturing free-spirited, athletic and Ultimate Frisbee loving players in the early spring to begin training (this can lead to confusion and misunderstanding, so mix gently at this stage). Next, slowly add conditioning and some structure to the mix; blend well with Ultimate tournament appearances in Montana, Utah, Washington, Alberta, Wyoming and Oregon: for best results win as many of these as possible. While some recipes in the past have called for setting this mix aside, to get the real surprise, throw in some activities like part

And so begins another chapter...

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Avid readers of "My Mind: Lifesized" (all three of you) have undoubtedly noticed the lack of musings from me this past month and further, a trend of longer time between posts over the past 6 months or so. I feel bad about that. Frankly, I feel bad because it's not as if life has stopped for me or thoughts aren't racing around my brain anymore, but life certainly has changed since February, that is for sure. In my own mind I've always thought of myself as a free-spirited adventurer and at some point in the past decade or so I sort of gave up on the idea of settling into a life of marriage, kids and becoming a "consumer". I started thinking more in terms of my future as one filled with loads of solo travel and possibly even becoming a traveling vagabond. I imagined villages and trek's and late nights in new friends homes and ruins and becoming a culture sponge. Well life is what happens when we're busy dreaming and planning what you want life to

Ultimate Training

Ultimate Training

Bye, Bye Appendix

I am home now,after spending the last two and a half days in various parts of Saint Patrick Hospital & Health Center here in Missoula. And with the help of a little Percocet (actually the generic equivalent as directed by my health plan), I am sitting at my dining room table while I wait for my pudding to set (liquid diet you know). Oh, the pudding is accompanied by prune juice and a stool softener (sounds fun, eh???). Earlier this afternoon Melanie and Jack Puckett stopped by to cheer me up with a Smith river scrap book and two great magazines. The story goes like this...about a week ago I started feeling 'funny' in my gut but thought it was either something I ate or some kind of virus. The funny feeling slowly shifted to an uncomfortable feeling and by Monday night I left Ultimate Frisbee practice early 'cause I just didn't feel right. I was pretty crabby at work on Tuesday and couldn't sleep Tuesday night. On Wednesday I asked a nurse in the early AM what mi

Tester Time

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I had pretty much forgotten all about active participation in a political campaign until last winter, when I met Jon Tester. Jon had announced he would be running in the Democratic primary in an attempt to become the candidate to face off against longtime Montana Republican senator (and huge Abramhmoff lackey) Conrad Burns. Jon is not your typical politician, which is one of the things I liked about him right away. He is a farmer from Big Sandy, Montana ...and an organic farmer at that. One of the first things I liked about Jon was his candor and demeanor. I soon found out he was a third generation farmer and that he had gone organic way before organic became cool or corporate...the chemicals were making his wife sick. I also liked how he conversed and his straight forward attitude. Jon is the kind of person you meet that you like immediately and can tell is a "straight shooter". He's served in the Montana legislature and has worked hard for rural Montanans. Here

Bozofest 2006

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So this past weekend I headed over to Bozeman , Montana for the 21st annual Bozofest Ultimate Frisbee Disc tournament. Bozofest is always a super fun time, even for a Hoosier who grew up with the belief that Memorial day weekend was about two things, honoring those who died defending our country and the Indianapolis 500. When I moved to Missoula 4 years ago I went over to Bozofest and spent much of Saturday on the telephone with my Dad, getting updates on who was leading the race. Missoula took two teams over to Bozo, the Flycoons and the Killer Bees. Both teams had great talent, with the team I played on (Flycoons) hoping for our second win in three years (we placed second last year). Saturday was quite possibly one of the most miserable days I've ever played Ultimate in, with temperatures in the high 30's to low 40's (F), constant rain and just enough wind to make your teeth chatter. Despite the weather, we had a great day, going 5-0 against teams from Minneapolis, M

Good River, Dude

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I am sitting in a hotel lobby in Helena, Montana's capital, winding down from a three week whirlwind tour of work and fun. Yesterday I moved from President - Elect to President of the Montana chapter of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) ...nationally there are 22,000 members, so now I am a true muckity-muck. I came to Helena on Tuesday, after arriving back in Missoula Sunday night from a 60-mile float trip down the beautiful Smith River. It was strange, having been on the river and in the wilds for 5 days, to turn back around and head over here and be "professional" again...I still have a faint "floating" feeling 5 days post river. The Smith River really is amazing, flowing between the Little Belt and Big Belt Mountains of Montana, through canyons and open spaces full of wildlife of all kinds. As my friends and I said throughout the week, it was "good river, dude." My friends Andy & Melanie Puckett have been trying to convince me

A Special Easter

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Easter has always been a special time for me; growing up it meant Easter egg hunts in the morning and at least two more (at each set of grandparents) with special meals along the way, new clothes for church and lots of candy. As an adult I've gotten to share the fun of Easter with my family and especially my two nieces, but since moving to Missoula my Easter's have been rather uneventful...until yesterday. I thought my Easter would consist of a leisurely morning, some yard work, some exercise and then a nice dinner with my second family, the Simmons. Little did I know when I woke up how much fun and what a great day it would turn out to be. First I was happily surprised to get an invitation to breakfast from my little friends, Macy and Coley Schmidt (and their Mom, my friend and co-worker Jen). We watched ducks swim in the creek below and I got to hear all about what the Easter Bunny brought the two kids. Quite enjoyable and a fun way to start the day. But then the next su

Fundamentalism in Government

Recently I finished reading Jimmy Carter's latest book, Our Endangered Values. Carter is a unique person...he is a Christian man of great faith, but he served in a way that his personal beliefs were known but did not interfere with his ability to fulfill his role as President. I found the book to be extremely well thought out and quite extraordinary. Chapter 10 of his book is entitled Fundamentalism In Government...something Carter feels is threatening our way of life, despite his personal beliefs. I thought I'd share an excerpt: Among America's senior political leaders there are examples of threats to our country's basic separation of powers. Some of the more conservative officials in Washington demonstrated their frustration with the independence of the judiciary by injecting themselves at the last moment into the highly controversial Terri Shiavo case after nearly twenty judges, most of them conservative jurists appointed by Republicans, had maintained their fift

Lubrecht Experimental Forest

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I was feeling so guilty about not getting outside to exercise and have fun this weekend, that after my post yesterday I piled Allie the wonder dog and my gear into the car and headed about 45 minutes up the Blackfoot Valley for some cross country skiing at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest. The Missoula Nordic Club has a great website which shows locations, conditions and directions to places all around the area for Nordic skiing. Lubrecht happens to be one of the few places where dogs are still allowed (I guess all that yellow snow and messing up the trails was their undoing everywhere else) and it is within easy driving distance of Missoula. They offer beginner, intermediate and difficult trails. It was a beautiful day and the wind died down just enough to make the 3.4 mile loop (5.5km) exhilarating. I have absolutely terrible form and am slow as molasses, but I have a good time and work up a sweat every time I slap on the skinny skis. Allie had a tremendous time, running up ahead

Brrrrrrrr.....

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It has been an awfully strange winter in the northern Rockies. It was very cold in December, unseasonably warm in January and was spring-like just a week ago. Just last weekend I enjoyed a 'bluebird' day up at Snowbowl, with great temperatures and a bright, sunny sky. But it was -19F here two nights ago and -11 last night (at 9:00 AM this morning it was a balmy 0 degrees), causing Snowbowl to close the upper mountain (-50 wind chill) and putting a damper on outdoor activities for most people. Today I was scheduled to travel about an hour and a half northeast of Missoula to a place called Holland Lake with my friend Phil Gardner for some cross country skiing and hiking. The lake sits in the Flathead National Forest and offers views of both the Swan and Mission mountain ranges...it is absolutely breathtaking (here is a photo ). Unfortunately, the cold and wind forced us to cancel. It is very strange, as the sun is burning bright and there isn't a cloud in the sky, but

Cheney-gate

You know, I don't consider myself a pinko commie or bleeding heart liberal but I gotta say, I am so damned fed up with the way our country is being administered right now that I'm ready to start the no justice, no peace chant again (oops...I blew it. Yes, I did march on DC in April 1987 for peace and justice in Central America and south Africa). Our President has successfully eroded so many civil liberties that one could argue we aren't even really a democracy anymore. And Cheney...what a lout. This business of him not letting anyone know about his shooting a fellow hunter for 24 hours and then controlling the release of information smacks of a complete disregard not only for the public but for the rule of law. But then again, the law doesn't mean much to Cheney, who consistently skirts rules and regulations for his and his fellow fat cats benefit (lets not forget the secret energy policy meetings attended by his buddies). I think it is ironic that President Bush&

Royalfolio

Recently I moved my office into another suite, down the hall from the other two suites our medical practice occupies. It was a long drawn-out process taking about two weeks with more frustration than trauma, as I waited for phone lines to be identified and connected, paint to be rolled on and new locks installed. Overall, I can't really complain too much about the move, there are a hell of a lot worse things that can happen than a move down the hall. As with my previous experiences in 'moving', it allowed me to take an inventory of all my *stuff* and decide what to keep, throw out, re-organize or bury for future fun. It was in the midst of this shuffle, somewhere between throwing out some 2000 resumes (from my recruiting business which is rather shelved these days)and finding a little penguin statue sent to me in 1995 by a friend from New Zealand, that I came across a brown resume (portfolio) cover purchased for me by my Mom & Dad in 1984. Although a little faded, I

New Additions

I've spruced up my blog with two new additions...a guest book and a calendar. They are both simple and easy to use and I'm allowing visitors to post to my calendar (at least for now). Both items have clickable icons in my sidebar.

End of An Era

Western Union, the company known for telegrams and money transfers, sent their last telegram on Jan. 27, 2006. The widespread use of e-mail and the prospect of new technology, signaled the end of an era. At the height of business in 1929, more than 200 million telegrams were sent around the world. Slightly fewer than 21,000 were sent last year.

Out of Bounds

For those of us who grew up without mountain ranges as our back yards, the idea of hiking into the back country in the middle of the winter to ski or snowbaord is not a natural one. Sure, you see this sort of thing on the TV or have the occasional friend who escapes the frozen Midwest to hit a ski resort, but the people who undertake such adventures are looked upon in great awe. Since moving to Montana in 2002 and learning to snowboard, I've slowly learned to take on more difficult terrain and enjoy it. Saturday was no exception to this trend as I tagged along with a group of friends and they showed me all kinds of terrain I hadn't boarded before. The biggest treat of all was an end of the day journey out of bounds that involved a 25 minute hike up the mountainside through forests full of fresh snow (powder). By the time we got to the top my heart was pounding so hard I could hardly hear their instructions on what to do next; we had to traverse across the top of a small c

State of the Union Funny

If you are here in the US and happened to watch the State of the Union address by GW last night you probably got a good laugh out of the hot news flash from our ever-truthful and forward-thinking Executive Branch - "We are addicted to oil" - it just doesn't get much more profound than that...

The Survivor

Today I met a survivor of a horrific plane crash that happened in Missoula last year. At the time of the accident I recall I didn't pay much attention as it was a twin engine plane with two people on board and they both survived...it wasn't until today the story took on a whole new meaning for me. First, some background. As most everybody knows, I run a surgical practice out here (Urology). I'm the Practice Manager. I also operate my business that I started in 1995, Motion Medical Solutions and I'm still a minority owner in a small medical supplies business in Indianapolis, eWellness (my personal joke is "one day I'll actually make some money in one of these endeavors"). In 2004 eWellness began selling a new line of cold therapy products called Game Ready in Indiana that were intended for use by athletes. Last year, the company began to focus on physical therapy and post-operative applications for the product and eWellness began to 'rent' the produ