6:20 And Still Going Strong.

People have said many nice things to me today. A very good friend of mine nominated me as a local "Hero". As usual it is hard for me to take such a compliment. I want to share what she wrote because it made me feel very proud.

A year ago, my nomination began to live the life of a hero. On 9/18/06, Christa Ballew-Matthews died due to inflammatory breast cancer. She left three young children (9, 6 and 3) and a loving husband.

Since then, Marty Matthews has greeted each day as an opportunity to live and teach the lessons Christa's life embodied. While others might give up, Marty remains steadfast as a parent and friend.

Like all truly great heroes, Marty isn't perfect. He reminds me every day of how the best inspirations are folks who meet the challenges of life head on with grace.

Thank you, Susan, for the very kind words. No "qualifiers" this time, just a humble thank you.

Peace and Good Cheers,
Marty

3:15 And All Is Well.

A friend of mine sent me this earlier today. I'm sure that it is one of the many stories that people have about Christa and believe me they are always nice to hear.

Today is a very special day for the four of you as you remember Christa's passing and celebrate her life and memory. While I spent only a short amount of time with her, I do want all of you to know that I found Christa to be a truly remarkable spirit and I enjoyed my conversations with her very much. Every single time I see a box of chocolates I recall Christa telling me of her mother sending a huge box of chocolates and the purpose behind it. Everyone who enters our lives leaves a memory and I am certainly glad to have one of Christa.

Thanks for sharing your memory Leslie. I hope to post more later.

Peace and Good Cheers,
Marty

Two In Twenty.

Sounds as if my last post has got people worried.
I have had two calls of concern in less than twenty minutes.
Really, all is well and there is nothing to be concerned about.
The previous post has more to do about getting my day to day life more organized so that "hopefully" things run a little more efficient.
Sorry for not being clearer.

I will try to post more later.

Peace and Good Cheers to All,
Marty

Almost A Year.

A friend of mine posted this on their blog a little while ago. It sums up some of what I have been thinking over the last week or so. I hope they doesn't mind me borrowing it. I'll leave it anonymous as to protect the innocent.

I think that more to the point is that I’ve resumed where I left off about a year ago when there were a couple of deaths in the family, people who served as reference points and people for me to look up to. A year later I haven’t really pressed on as much as I should have, and I have to face the fact that I’ve racked up quiet a few poor choices in the process. Some of these decisions were major ones that require some drastic course corrections on the sailboat of life. I alone am responsible, but I like to make up excuses.

To all who are concerned, I'm doing well. Reflecting on the past year. Both the good and not so good. Not that I have many things to complain about. It is however, time to try to get my "sailboat" headed in the right direction. I think I can feel the "winds of change".

"Left at the first star and straight on until morning."
Peter Pan

Peace and Good Cheers,
Marty

Pictures From Labor Day Weekend.

Here are a few of the pictures from our trip to the lake over the labor day weekend. We all had a blast. As you can see it was perfect weather for swimming.

Rub-a-dub-dub.

You know the rest.

Rowen was supervising the water activities.

Rowen kicking back and relaxing.

After four hours of swimming in the lake, the kids decided to spend a little time in the pool. I think this was the "rinse" cycle after the lake and before the bath with soap. I'm sure the chlorine will kill almost anything. :)

Peace and Good Cheers,
Marty

Smile For The Camara.

Today after work, I have to take Eilish and Elora over for their first "cover" shoot. The girls are having their picture taken with Miss Missouri for the cover of a local magazine that is sponsoring a "Roll For The Cure" in October. It should be fun for them. As soon as I have a picture I will post it.

As all of you know, October is "Breast Cancer Awareness Month". If you feel that the only way that you can support breast cancer research is by buying something pink then please do. But if you really want to maximize the dollars for research, don't buy the "pink thing" and just write a check to one of the many fine organizations that are doing the vital research. Or better yet, organize a team and join a Walk For Life. A friend of mine and I will be organizing a team in memory of her mom and Christa, who both were taken by Breast Cancer.

I hope this hasn't been to preachy for being my second post back from "getting coffee". It is just what is on my mind this morning. Have a good day all.

Peace and Good Cheers,
Marty

Meet "Big Bertha".

Imagine this thing being pulled behind a boat, at 25-30 miles an hour, over choppy water, with Elora and I in it. Did I mention that she is doing everything she can to bounce the tube so it will "catch air". I asked her afterward if she was trying to bounce me out. She said she was. I informed her that if I had fallen out she would most likely have to. She said she was OK with that.
I can tell you I used muscles this weekend that I forgot I had.
I'll post pictures later.
I hope all had a good and safe labor day weekend.

Peace and Good Cheers,
Marty

Went out for coffee, be back soon.

It's scary isn't it, two post in less than a week.

My mom sent me the picture above. It was taken when the kids were visiting at the beginning of the summer. Pictured are my two cousins on my Mom's side, my nephews, and of course my kids. They had a great time playing with each other and we practically had to pry them apart when it was time to leave.

I just bought three of the activity/chores charts above. I'm hoping that this, along with a small bribe, will motivate the kids to start helping a little more around the house. They should arrive in a couple of days. I bought them from Amazon.com.

Everything else is going well. I 'm looking forward to the short week. We actually get July 4th off so I'm planning on taking the kids to see Transformers during the day and then the fireworks in the evening. It should be fun.

That is it for now.

Peace and Good Cheers,
Marty

P.S. I was roughly 15 minutes shy of a week. For those who are counting.

I'm Back! Did You Miss Me?

Good morning all.

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog. Actually it's not that I've been neglecting it, the truth is I've been letting work impede my blogging time. We have been short a key holder at work so I've had to work a lot more opening shifts. Having to be at work at 8 am hasn't allowed me the time to go sit, drink coffee, and blog to my hearts content. I know you fill sorry for me, but my mom has informed me that this is what most people have to do.

Everyone is well here. The kids are going to day camp at the gym. Their having a good time and coming home exhausted. Yeah. Besides day camp, I have Elora seeing a tutor once a week so she can maintain her reading level. last week was the first meeting and she seemed to enjoy it. Eilish does pretty well at reading in her spare time. She enjoys it.

The kids visited Grandma Gretchen the first week after school got out. My sister drove up from Austin with her boys so there was a full house to say the least. They had a blast. Hopefully they will get to visit Grandma Sue sometime in August.

Gonna close for now. Hopefully it won't be as long until my next post. I hope everyone is well.

Peace and Good Cheers,
Marty