My Mind: Lifesized

I am so far behind on posting it is ridiculous. I wrote this and stuck it in my drafts folder two weeks ago. Saturday Jen and I had big plans to workout together…they were thrown for a loop when the Purdue University men's basketball team managed to get into the Big 10 semifinals against #1 Ohio State and the game was aired nationally. Since I hadn’t gotten to see my beloved Boilermakers play all year I decided to alter my plans and fit the game in. So my friend Rick Simmons came up to my chateau on the hill to watch the game. Jen went for a run and Liam stayed with the men. It was a very good basketball game for 35 minutes until Ohio State pulled away at the end. Jen slipped off a sidewalk coming down from a neighborhood higher up the mountain and sprained her ankle so I went and picked her up and decided to head off to the gym on my own, leaving her with her ankle elevated and Liam feeding…what a woman! So I hopped on my bike and rode the whopping 2.7 miles downhill to the ...

Catchy title, don’t you think? After last week I needed to find some humor somewhere, so as I was driving away from the airport Friday morning from a canceled flight, I thought I could write a book entitled Losing Weight the Rotavirus way. I was on cloud nine Sunday night after the Colts completed their unexpected run in the playoffs with a nice Super Bowl win and was looking forward to exchanging barbs with my Chicago friends on Monday as I lay down to sleep. Unfortunately I woke up at 5:00 AM with a rumble in my tummy that indicated I needed to make a quick dash to the toilet. Thinking I must’ve gotten hold of some bad food, I proceeded to get ready for work since I was already awake. After 4 more trips to the bathroom in less than an hour I knew I was headed for a miserable day in the least. I’ve got a bathroom right next to my office so it didn’t seem to bad at first, but by Noon I’d worn a nice path in the carpet between my desk and the loo. I decided to stick out the day (m...

Vote for the Colts It is very strange to me that the Colts are actually in the Super Bowl. Indianapolis is never center stage. Except for the old days when the ABA Indiana Pacers were tops and the Indianapolis 500 was THE sporting event in the world, Indianapolis one claim to fame from a sporting perspective was the Pacers vs. Lakers blowout NBA finals. Although Butler University is enjoying great success (Hinkle Fieldhouse is still one of the best places to see a basketball game), Indianapolis has always been the red-headed step child to the sporting mecca of Chicago. So now here we are, against Chicago. I really hope Indianapolis wins. Why? Well, they aren't a flashy team with star players (except for Manning) and they don't make headlines. No players are adting movie stars, no one is getting arrested (at least lately), nobody makes the headlines. On the whole, they are a humble lot and they aren't like many of the other players of this generation who are all about ...

Recently I started my workout routine again. It has been slow going but I am determined to start the Ultimate Frisbee training season in better shape physically and mentally this year. I'm hardly an impact player on our team, and admittedly last year I was hardly a role player either but I am hoping to keep this pipe dream alive and hope to try for one more year of playing mixed club before moving along to the pastures of the masters division. So I began doing the Crossfit warm up and workouts about three weeks ago. After a week of slow going, things started to pick up and I am now feeling like I'm getting back in shape a little. I need to work on the cardio big time and I also need to concentrate more on what I am putting into my body. I'm a big fan of protein and love the Zone bars. Last week I made a sideways remark about the price to Jen and said I should try to make my own...she called me on it and so I spent a little time surfing the net looking for homemade p...

Each year I make a "Best of" compilation of the best new music I've come across issued that year. This annual tradition dates back a couple of decades to the days of cassette tapes when I'd trade my best of tapes with Pat Gallagher, a fellow Purdue student and the first person I knew who listened to The Replacements. Pat always seemed to be the man when it came to new music and I miss getting his compilations. In the past three or four years, I've been exchanging compilation CD's with Mark "Weed" Need, who happens to be the hippest law professor I've ever known and surely the hippest Indiana University has ever employed. Although Weed's compilations tend to lean heavily towards the alt.country genre, they are still fabulous gifts and lead me to broaden my musical horizons each year. Alas, 2006 was not a banner year for me in the realm of discovering music. Not only did my spending priorities change from those of my single-man lifestyle, ...

We know a couple of things already about Liam; he loves to take a bath and he loves to snuggle after a bath. He also loves to hear sounds like clucks and whistles and tongue blows. He is fascinated by his aqua mobile sent by Aunt Nancy. Of course everyone thinks their baby is perfect and we're no exception. About a week ago, Liam decided to answer my repeated clucks with one of his own. Now he waits to hear a cluck and then will smile and cluck back. He is tracking and holding his head steady by himself. We think he's awfully advanced and suspect he will start talking any day now...or at least making sounds that I can pretend are words.

This morning it was -8 degrees (-22 Celsius) here in Missoula, which was nothing compared to the -30 in Butte and the -47 in West Yellowstone; in short Montana has been hit by a deep winter freeze. Despite the fact that it is too cold to enjoy many things outdoors, the sun is shining brightly into my kitchen window and I am enjoying looking out and over the house behind us into the Sapphire Mountains looming nearby. I converted my old blog to the new Blogger platform yesterday, changing the layout in the process. during the conversion I was looking at some statistics and saw just how sharply the number of posts I make has dropped off, from almost daily to not even monthly anymore...so I'll add that to my list of resolutions for the new year...that I will once again start posting regularly. I thought I'd start by posting some of the highlights of my crazy 2006: In 2006 I got almost 35 days of snowboarding in, including my first out of bounds experience. I enjoyed another seaso...

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.

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...

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

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...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...