CrossRoads Blog

If any anytime before the last couple of years someone would have told me in one year I’d be making my 5th trip into Oklahoma I would for sure have told them they were nuts. I couldn’t have imagined 5 trips in my life, let alone one year. Ahhh… what a difference a Grandchild will make in your life!

Kimberly and I were again lucky enough to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with family. I think this trip she and I were as much looking forward to seeing our Sons and the rest of the gang in OK as we were seeing young Mr. Michael III again.

We came up to McAlester after a great visit with Clay and Kathy down in Texas. It was nice to have a relaxation type of week for the Holidays after all the running around it seems we have been doing lately. I swear sometimes I don’t know how the rest of the world does it – I work at home and never seem to have enough time to do half the things I need to get done in a day.

Of course upon arrival it was all kids and grandkids. For that matter, aside from pigging out on just about everything in sight (what else is Thanksgiving for anyway) the whole week was about kids and Grandkids and Parents, and family.

The good news with all the food we ate, (including an amazing cake my Mother cooked) we found a great gym in McAlester. In fact, it was super nice, had some great equipment and the lockers and dressing areas were almost spa quality. This was really a great find and something we will take advantage of on all our McAlester future trips.

The week was pretty chilled out. We had a great Turkey Day (we won’t even mention the Lions), and did a little Xmas shopping with M3, Zac and Antoinette up in Tulsa on ‘Black Friday’. We had a nice Dinner with everyone at Pete’s Place (the local Italian restaurant), hit up Wal-Mart about 20 times, played a little with the rugrat, had a nice 10 mile run around a new neighborhood, and did a little ‘good for the soul’ yard work with the old man.

Family….does it get any better?

Kimberly (in Mom and Grandma mode) wanted to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday with her boys and the grandson because with Mike’s new job they would not make it out for this coming Christmas. So road trip time it was again. Everything seemed to work out perfect. We would head to Texas the week prior, I could do a little work with best buddy and business partner Clay and we could weasel a little golf as well. We decided to go to Texas the week before the holiday because Kathy was in town that week – the following she was off to Germany.

The first night in town was a quick reminder of one of the things I miss most about that place – Meat. Man-o-man did I quickly get into a meat fest. Clay’s Dad was celebrating his birthday and the whole family was going to celebrate at Texas De Brazil. I would absolutely recommend this place. Not so much for all the meat (served Brazil style) though it was good, but more for the vegetable/cheese/everything (if you can call it that) bar. It was outstanding. Anyway… enough about food (though you know I didn’t make it longer than 30 minutes in Ft Worth before I hit Angelo’s).

We had a near perfect week. We had a chance to golf twice, both with clients/friends and also with family. I stunk up the place one of the rounds, but got back a little in the groove the second time out. I just need to get out more I guess. After one of the rounds a friend of Kathy and Clay’s at the club was having a birthday party and we all went over and had a drink and then hit this place with some great fish taco‘s called Fuzzy’s.

One of my favorite nights we spent in Fort Worth was when we put on the duds and got our Havana vibe going on. Clay and Kathy have been going to a local club called Embargo. On Thursday’s it’s all about the Salsa Dancing and they even do a free lesson before things get heated up for the night. I did get into the groove a little bit, but I especially enjoyed the club and the overall groove of the night. The place is really designed and decorated in a unique way that makes you feel you truly are in Havana circa 1960. There was a great live band (even on a Thursday) and we had a chance to meet some very cool and fun friends of Kathy and Clay’s. Fun, fun stuff.

Our last full day there we hit the TCU vs. Air Force Football game. It was enjoyable to see a college game this year, but the best part was all about the tailgate. Clay’s folks and some friends who work with Clay’s Mom (at TCU) all get together before every game and tailgate. (oops I’m talking about food again…) Well, I have to say the spread they all set out was something. I made some chili for my contribution, but there was everything and anything you wanted. We tailgated before and after the game. Another perfect day with the Reeves.

The only downside about the trip is leaving Clay and Kathy. I sure do wish we lived in the same town. And as much as I love Texas food – it’s them boneheads that gonna’ have to move this way

PICS HERE

For those who maybe didn’t know, Kimberly has been training very hard over the last few months for her upcoming PF Chang Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon. The event is getting very close now and her run schedule is ‘amping up’. As part of her training she works with a team up at our Country Club that all practice and train together. This week for one of their training runs they decided to all do an organized event together. Seeing it was local and on a Saturday morning, I decided to participate as well.

The event called Learning for Life has a 10K and a 5K. We did the 10K because the Arrowhead group was looking for about that many miles today. It’s a great smaller event that is focused on supporting youth groups. A lot of the adult runners seemed to be local police and fire officers (as it was also part of the event). In fact, Kimberly ended up running a big part of the race just behind the local SWAT team.

We had a great time. It was right up the way from us at the Peoria Stadium where the MLB players do spring training. The course ran along 83rd street to the viaduct, down past 75th a little then back for the 6.2 miles. After the run they had a magician and other activities for the participants. I got Kimberly a charity Police Bear.

For the first time of any run we have done together Kimberly and I both got a medal. I came in 6th overall and second in my age group a little over 49 minutes. Kimberly was FIRST in her age group! This was of course something she pointed out to me a few times… . Then again, I had to remind her that this was my second top 10 overall in the last 3 races!

The other night we finally got around to using the Arizona Broadway Theater Tickets that Kerry and Mike had gotten us for Christmas last year (or was it for Kimberly’s birthday?). I guess that shows how busy we have been in 2008. I think last year we got up to see shows three or four times. This year, we had free tickets sitting so long we had to use them before the November ended and they were no good.

We of course we very happy we did get out. The show was enjoyable, and the food much better than it had been in the past. Plus, it’s always nice to get a little dressed up and got to live theater. Kind of makes you feel special even if it is less than 5 miles or so from the house.

We saw Cabaret, the play that was adapted from the Movie starring Liza Mannelli. Kind of backwards from normal on that one. It was actually a little more risqué than I had expected. It was a little funny seeing the mostly over 65 crowd get their chuckles on with all the gay and lesbian jokes and innuendo. Guess it’s a changing world - thankfully!

By Kimberly

Today is a day that I am not only proud to be an American but am also proud of Americans. I am not proud that we elected a black man but am proud that we elected the right person for the job and that skin color did not get in the way of it. As I watched groups of Americans cheer and cry as Obama won I knew that although I am understanding of some of those tears coming from fellow Americans of African descent I could never really understand exactly how they felt. Decades of prejudices had marred so many people’s past and to finally see a victory of a man who has dealt with those same prejudices but overcame them all from a black Americans perspective must have been amazing. From the view of a white woman I was so proud of fellow white Americans who have finally backed up what they have claimed to believe for so long. That a man should be judged by what he does and not the color of their skin.

It made me teary to know that for all Americans justice was ours last night and that we are beginning to live the dreams of the late great Martin Luther King Jr. who said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

King’s entire speech is worth a reread on this day. As you read I hope it brings to you not only a reminder of some of Americas ugly past but I hope it inspires you by the knowledge that we have overcome so many of our errors and that together all of us with all of our many backgrounds and descents can and will come together as one single group, Americans.

See here: KING’S DREAM

It was going to be hard to top the first few days of Pat and Beth’s visit seeing it included Grand Canyon and Vegas, but we sure tried. We arrived back home early in the week and mostly chilled for a couple of days, though we did get a nice dinner in at Buca Di Beppo and Kimberly and Beth did a little shopping too.

Before you knew it the weekend was upon us. Halloween fell on a Friday this year. We did our normal Halloween night gig and setup all the decorations out front, made a bunch of crock pot food, took out some chairs and spent the night in the front yard saying hello to neighbors and trick or treaters. I think it had to be one of first times Pat and Beth could hang outside and be somewhat warm on Halloween (can get a bit nippy late October in Michigan).

The next morning we were off to Sedona with the Cousins. I just love showing family and friends Sedona when they come visit. It’s an amazing place – about as close as you can get to being in the Grand Canyon without doing it. Actually it’s really not Sedona as much as it is Oak Creek Canyon, but that’s another Blog.

Anyway, as we got into town we did a quick little stop at the Chapel of the Holy Cross. The church has such a beautiful location and has a great spiritual aura. We left the Church and headed up Oak Creek to our favorite hiking spot ‘The West Fork’. We really, really love the West Fork but I do have to say, there are times of year it is getting too crowded. We may have to find another spot to show family and friends – though it will be tough to match this place for sure. We had a nice hike out, after a few miles and several creek crossings we had a picnic lunch, took some pictures and then headed back into town for some tourist type shopping before driving home for the night.

On Pat and Beth’s last day we took them over to Cave Creek for the Art Festival. How perfect were they could get the ‘old Western vibe’ of Cave Creek (and a great lunch spot) and also all the ‘upscale side artistry’ that you have at the festival.

We left the festival mid afternoon and headed over to Kerry and Mike’s for dinner and fun. I want to in particular point out the picture here that shows everyone getting a good grin except for me. In my picture in case you do not notice, let’s just say I am ‘waving with one finger’. It’s a long story and it includes a weird orange substance, 2 shirts, Kimberly getting some stuff on me, and everyone in on a joke that I only figured out seconds before these pictures were taken - hence the laughter for all but me . It was all in fun of course as was the rest of the night. It was nice for the Cousins to spend some time with Mike, Kerry and Josh too.

The next day they were off back to Michigan. I hope they enjoyed the visit as much as we enjoyed having them. And we all hope it won’t be long before we get to see them again!

SEDONA PICS HERE