Blog – Page 66 – Operation Jack

Halfway To 18 … Really?

June 28, 2010 by operationjack 4 Comments

I was going to write my standard weekly recap for Monday, since it’s Monday, but for reasons that I’ll explain, I had to stray from that for today. I have some nuggets from the weekend for tomorrow. Today, I’m going to be talking a little bit about my son Benjamin’s birthday. He turned 9 yesterday and we had a great day, which is going to be the subject of today’s blog.

But first, just in case this is your first time here, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. So, I’m trying to run 60 marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far, so good. I’m through 31 of 60 marathons, I’m reaching people, I’m raising money … we’ll see how it all works out, but all I can do is try, right? And I’m trying.

On Saturday, marathon No. 31 of the year was the Seattle Rock ‘N Roll Marathon. I was pretty happy with how the race turned out. I posted a race report here, although I don’t think it’s too interesting to read, because it’s a fairly technical report of how I executed a race according to plan. If you’re not a runner, you’ll scan over it in about 20 seconds. If you are a runner, you’ll probably do the same.

I Really, Really, Really Need Your Help!!!
There’s a contest sponsored by Chase called Chase Community Giving. They’re going to give $20,000 to 200 small charities. The recipients will be the charities that receive the most votes in the contest on Facebook. You can only vote once, so it’s not a “vote early, vote often” thing. You just need to vote once and encourage your friends on Facebook to do the same.

We’re currently in 130th place, so we’re in the running still, but we’re slowly slipping. When I wrote this last night, we only had 365 votes. So I know we have a ton of votes we can capture. If you haven’t voted, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE HEAD OVER HERE and vote. And even if you have, please head over there to re-post it on your wall or send it out via Twitter (or both). If you ever can’t find the address, it’s in the Chase button at the top left of every page on this site.

I know you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t believe in the cause. This is a really good way to raise a large amount of money and it won’t cost any of us a nickel. So PLEASE, make sure you vote and spread the word! Let’s get 200 votes today!

On To Benjamin …
I can’t believe he’s already 9! Halfway to 18? It blows my mind how fast time flies. I don’t even want to think about the fact that he’s going to be a teenager in four years.

Anyways, his birthday really started on Saturday night in our house. His actual birthday was yesterday, but we had some friends over for a sleepover party Saturday night. After my race on Saturday, I basically went straight to my motel, checked out within 20 minutes and then went straight to the airport. Side note: I didn’t have a rental car, so the three-mile run from the rail station to my motel while carrying my gear-check bag after the marathon … yeah, it wasn’t fun.

Anyways, my flight landed, I stopped off to pick up pizza for the kids on the way home and I walked through the door about 10 minutes before the first of Benjamin’s friends arrived. Perfect timing! From then, it was nothing but that, “Ahhhh, life is good” feeling through the end of Sunday.

Benjamin wanted the sleepover party for his birthday for the past year, so when I set up my schedule, there was no question I’d be running a race that would have me home in time. He had an absolute blast, which was awesome. He had a tough year in school with some of the kids in his class, so it was so wonderful emotionally for me and Tiff to see him have has much fun as he did during his party. They ate pizza, cake, had an ice cream bar, ran themselves ragged playing ball in the back yard, played against each other with their DS game systems, watched a movie, stayed up being silly until 11:30 p.m. and then woke up being silly at 7 a.m. before feasting on donuts for breakfast.

Benjamin had an absolute blast, which pretty much made my month. He’s a good kid and he deserved it. We had family over yesterday and it was nice to see everybody. He had a great time at his party and he didn’t get in any trouble for anything and he didn’t have to do any chores. One of his gifts was a Monopoly game and we started a game (just me and him) at about 7 p.m. It was his birthday, and I let his bedtime slide and we played until the game was done at about 9:45. That’s why there’s no weekend recap today. I allocate at least an hour or so for those and I wanted to get some sleep.

So all-in-all, he had a perfect day, which makes me happier than I can really explain in writing. I won the game — he had two monopolies with hotels, but I had the reds on the back row (Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky) and built hotels and gradually put him out of business. I won the game, but he had a great time and I’m glad I put my weekend blog off for a day.

Oh, one side note: I picked up some flowers for Tiff yesterday. I know it’s Benjamin’s birthday, but it’s still the day that she gave birth to him. She deserves the flowers, so she gets them on each of the kids’ birthdays. Yeah, she’s special to me like that!

OK, here’s some pictures … have a great Monday!

Proud mama, proud papa, birthday boy.

“>
Me and Tiff in our aprons before everybody arrived for Ben’s birthday barbecue with the relatives. Yes, that’s a sweet In-N-Out apron I’m wearing.

I hopped in my DeLorean, got it up to 88 mph and went to 2011. This is what that year looks like.

Jack playing in a tent in the playroom. The kids slept in there on Saturday night.

Me and Ben after the game.

My rad new trophy.

Race Report: Seattle Rock 'N Roll Marathon

June 26, 2010 by operationjack 3 Comments

After about a month of struggling in my marathons, I finally executed a plan well Saturday in the Seattle Rock ‘N Roll Marathon. Despite treating it as somewhat of a training run, I finished with my eighth-fastest time of the year and regained some confidence I’ve lost.

I went into the race with one primary goal, to run consistent miles in the first half and reach the midway point at as close to 1:35:00 as possible. I’m running the first half of the Missoula Marathon in two weeks as the 3:10 pacer, so I’ll need to run the first half in 1:35 flat with consistent miles. That’s not something I don’t have the ability to do, but it’s something I could mess up on if I’m not careful, and I don’t want to do that. When I’m pacing somebody else’s race, I take that seriously. If I wreck my own day, so be it. But I don’t want to wreck somebody else’s day, especially when they’ve trained hard and paid good money to go out and try to qualify for Boston.

1:35 doesn’t faze me, because I’m frequently ahead of that. But last week, in my first race after agreeing to this pacing role, I had a nice blow-up and went 1:37 for the first 13.1. So my goal for this race was to run the first half like I was the 3:10 pacer. I wanted even splits and I wanted to hit 13.1 somewhere between 1:34:40 and 1:35:00.

I’ve paced three times before and done well, but at slower speeds — 3:30 and 3:40, which are pretty easy for me to maintain the right pace. But what I had to Saturday was a little more difficult. I had to give a little bit on the uphills and take a little on the downhills instead of keeping a pace like a metronome. I don’t have the ability to do much more than that, but I know that if I run that way in Missoula, the people running with me will be running within their ability (if they have 3:10 ability), so I won’t be harming them.

3:10 pace is 7:15, so I figured I’d aim to lock in at around 7:13 to make up for the tangents. I stayed under control early and had no problems. I ran consistently, got into a groove for the right effort and began to go with my strategy of giving a little on the uphills and taking on the downhills.

I was on target at mile 8 and remember I put a lot of pressure on myself — I told myself that my next 5.1 miles were make-or-break, essentially worth about $100 for the charity. If I stayed on track and hit the half correctly, I’d know I can do this. But if I failed, I wouldn’t have the confidence I needed. If I don’t pace, I don’t get a comped entry.

I kept going, knocking out miles 9 and 10 without any problem. But right after that, we went into a tunnel that must have been well more than mile long. In there, I lost satellite reception and had to guess my pace. We came out at about 12.5 and I thought I was on target. When the satellite kicked back in and added the distance, I was still at my 7:13 pace. But the mile markers seemed off, which was the case a few times in the race.

I was a little unsure where 13.1 was. I thought I reached it right between 1:34:40 and 1:35:20. But I think I crossed the “official” 13.1 mat somewhere in the mid-1:36s. I wasn’t concerned, though, because I aimed to run in a specific way at a specific pace and I hit my target exactly the way I wanted to.

My plan going in was to hold a steady effort for as long as possible and give it a go at mile 20. It looked like there was a long gradual uphill in the several miles preceding 20, but there was a pretty quick finish. Heading into the race, I thought if I was really able to power the last 10K, I thought a 3:08 or 3:09 was possible. If I stayed strong I kept it on cruise control but didn’t have much kick, I was looking at a 3:10 or 3:11. I really expected a 3:12 and really didn’t want anything slower than a 3:15, because that would have been a collapse.

I stayed strong after the half, not really picking up, but I maintained and felt strong. I moved pretty well up the inclines on the way to 20, although I didn’t have a big answer on the declines. There was a climb we peaked at about 19, so once I crested, I decided to give it a go. I didn’t have a ton, but the wheels were turning pretty good for that stage of the race.

With six miles to go, I needed to average 7:00s or so to go sub-3:10 and every 10 seconds more per mile would have been a minute above 3:10. I went 6:45 and then 7:08, but started to fall apart there. I slowed about 30 seconds a mile at 23 and saw my time slipping away. I knew 3:10 was gone and it would be either a 3:11 or a 3:12. The mile between 24 and 25 was about 1/10 short on the course, so I was sure how long the course would go, and I knew that would make all the difference. I went with all I had, trying to get that 3:11, but the 25 marker was short and I didn’t have enough to get there.

I don’t know what my official time was, but I went 3:12:20 on my Garmin. I’ll totally take it. I think I was about 90-100 seconds slower on the second half, which put my first half at somewhere around 1:35:20 and 1:35:25. Not good enough, but I’ll perfect it next week.

As for the race, I’ll give credit when credit is due. I expected to be disappointed, because I always am with the Rock ‘N Roll race series. But I thought they pulled off a good event. The course itself was pretty nice, running through neighborhoods, forested parks, along the water, across bridges, through tunnels, past a shipyard and into the downtown area. There was a little bit of everything, and it was a nice view of a nice city. A few too many out-and-backs to make the distance, but it was still a good course and they put on a good race.

So, I’ll call it a good day, which is nice, because I haven’t had many of those lately. But mission accomplished … another race in the books for Operation Jack. 31 down, 29 to go.

Me and my friend Ryan Gillia after the race. You think I’m nuts? He ran a 100-miler two weeks ago!

Weekend Preview: Seattle Rock 'N Roll Marathon

June 24, 2010 by operationjack 1 Comment

It’s Thursday, again, which means it’s time for a weekend preview, again. I’m running a marathon again and having a contest again. Wow, that was annoying. I’m heading to Seattle this weekend for the Rock ‘N Roll Marathon up there. I’m having my weekly contest, but I’m also going with something different this week, too.

Just in case this is your first time here, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, Jack (6 1/2), is severely autistic. I wanted to do something to make a difference in the autism community and try to create a legacy for him, so I’m running 60 marathons this year to try to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. So far, I’m through 30 of the 60 marathons and I’m reaching people and raising money. I guess it’s working?

Anyways, I have a weekly contest where I have people guess my time in my race for the weekend. Since this is a charity, it costs money to enter. But not a whole lot of money. If you think my time is going to be 3:10, you donate $3.10. To donate, you can click here or you can click on the “Donate Now!” link at the top of any page on the site. I’ll give you a little bit of insight into how I think I’m going to run to help you with your guess.

Winner is the person who comes the closest without bidding under my time. If I choke and everybody bids under, it’s the person with the highest bid. The prize is your choice of an Operation Jack t-shirt, tech shirt or sweatshirt.

Last week’s winner was Sarah Emerson, an Operation Jack supporter out in Maine. She plays every week and finally won last week. I hope she keeps playing and tries to win the entire collection.

I Need Your Help
There’s a contest called Chase Community Giving through Facebook. Bottom line is you can vote once with your Facebook account and the top 200 vote-getting charities will receive at least $20,000. Right now, I think we’ve slipped somewhere to around 80th or so. We were in the 30s and then in the 60s. Not a lot of votes separate the positions, but I’d love to reverse this trend!

Please, please, please, take a minute to help out! Even if you’ve already voted, I could still use your help in posting it on your wall. Thank you!

Does Anybody Want To Race Me?
OK, so if you’re running this weekend, we can have a virtual race. Send me an email and we’ll figure out the details, but I’m handicapping myself at 3:15. I’ll handicap you based on your estimated finish time, goal, recent results, etc., even for a distance other than a full marathon. Say you’re going to try for a 2:15 half. I’ll tack an hour onto your finish time as a spread. So if you go 2:12 and I go 3:09, I win. But if you go 2:17 and I go 3:21, you win. Make sense?

I’ll pick the spread to make it fair, and like I said, I’ll do it for pretty much any distance between 10K and a marathon. You pick what you want the bet to be, but basically, I have three main donation levels. One is $26.20 and that gets a t-shirt. $60 is a t-shirt and a tech shirt and $100 is a t-shirt, tech shirt and sweatshirt. You pick the level you want to bet. You win, I send the clothing to you. If you don’t win, I send the clothing to you, but you have to make the donation.

If you want to do this, send me an email or hit the Contact Us link and drop me a line.

This Week’s Race
OK, here’s the deal. On July 11, I’m running as a pacer for the 3:10 group in Missoula, Montana. I’m only pacing the first half, so I’m going to run even splits and get to 1:35 and then I’m going to run the rest of the race on my own while somebody else takes the lead for the second half.

I’m not worried about hitting 1:35 in the half. I absolutely have the ability to do that, and it’s not really a huge stretch for me. But when I’m a pacer, I take it very seriously, because I don’t want to impact anybody else’s race. I would guess that I’ve hit 1:35 or better in a good 80% of my races this year, although I don’t really aim for that, so if I did, I’m sure it would be a higher percentage. My fastest first half this year was 1:30:03, and for 13.1 miles, five minutes is quite a bit of time at that level.

But here’s the thing: I blew up last week and went 1:37 and it freaked me out. So my goal on Saturday is to run tight splits for the first half and hit 13.1 in 1:34:50 to 1:35:00. That is, by far, my biggest goal. Not faster, not slower. I presume I’ll be able to hit that and then I’ll be in a groove. There are some uphill climbs that look moderate in the second half, but the last 10K looks pretty quick.

I never know how I’m going to feel once I get running, but if nothing goes wrong, I think I can run this race conservatively and go 3:10. It’s going to be a similar execution to what I did in Tampa, where I went out with a goal of running in the 7:10 range and not straying, and I did just that until stiff headwinds slowed me down over the final few miles and I went 3:09:44.

I don’t think there’s any chance I’d go any faster than 3:09, unless I was absolutely flawless, in which case I could be in the mid-3:08s. But 3:07 or better will absolutely not happen. I’m not feeling fast right now, but I do feel strong, so I think there’s a good chance I could kick well over the last 10K if I’m in range for a good time.

That being said, if I was betting, I’d go with a 3:12. But I think I really have a chance at a sub-3:10 with the way I plan to run. So, that’s all. I really, really hope you play along! The hot summer is beginning and I could really use your support! And if you’re running this weekend and you want to race me, let me know! Or keep it in mind for a future weekend if you have something on the calendar down the road.

That’s All For Today!
Have a great weekend! I’ll have a race report posted at some point on Saturday!

What I Would Have Normally Posted On Monday

June 23, 2010 by operationjack 5 Comments

Normally, I post a weekend recap on Mondays. But I went with a Father’s Day edition of my blog instead. When I go with something different on Mondays, I run the weekend recap on Tuesdays. But on Monday night, I didn’t have time to write a blog (you’ll see why in a bit), so I’m finally getting to some of these things today.

So anyways, here’s my standard introduction, just in case you’ve never been here before. I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I’m attempting to run 60 full marathons this year to raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. So far, so good. I’m raising money, bringing people into the charity and I’ve completed 30 of the 60 races. Only 30 to go!

Moving along, …

Please, please, please, take a minute to help out! Even if you’ve already voted, I could still use your help in posting it on your wall. Thank you!

Why It’s Called Grandma’s Marathon
If you’re not too deep into the marathon community, you might not know a lot about Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn., which I ran on Saturday. It sounds like some small-time race in the middle of nowhere, but it’s actually a pretty big race. It’s not a top-tier major like Boston, New York or Chicago, but it’s as big of a deal as just about any other race in the country.

The race is put on very well, it’s a nice course, and they get some extremely fast elites in there. 2:20 doesn’t get you in the top 10 at Grandma’s. Anyways, it got it’s name from a restaurant right near the finish called … shoot, I don’t remember. Oh yeah — it’s called Grandma’s. I took a picture of it because, well, I was there and I had my camera.

I was bummed I didn’t have time to eat there. I had a sandwich at a place called Jimmy John’s a little later.

Hanging Out In The Dorms!
The one downside about Grandma’s Marathon is that all the hotels raise their prices a ton. Rooms are $200+ for dive motels. The University of Minnesota-Duluth (I think that’s what it’s called) charges something like $189 for two nights for a dorm room. But the University of Wisconsin-Superior, which is about a mile from Duluth, offers a dorm room for $100/night, and checkout isn’t until 6 p.m.

So, that’s where I stayed. It was awesome, in a I-got-to-turn-back-the-clock kind of way. I lived in the dorms for two summers at Kansas State and had a ton of fun. When I walked into the room on Friday night, it had same type of old, sturdy dorm furniture I remembered. It had an old, musty odor that I hadn’t smelled in 13 years. I had to shower in the community restroom down the hall. There were goofball college students manning the front desk downstairs.

It was awesome. I wanted to bust out a fake ID, but I don’t have one any more.

I’m going to look back on these parts of 2010 fondly.

I Took A Picture, Otherwise You Wouldn’t Believe It
I saw a liquor store in Minnesota advertising free wi-fi. I wanted to go in there, hang out and write my race report, but I was in a hurry to get to the airport.

I love drunk tweeters.

Monday Night: Family Movie Night!
On Monday night, we took the kids to the movies. That’s not that big of a deal to most families. But it was for us. It was Ava’s first trip to the movies. AND, it was Jack’s first trip to the movies! We have someone who helps us with Jack and she came along just in case.

He started to throw a little bit of a fit on the way in, because we made him leave a musical toy in the car. He had no clue what he was in store for, so he was a little upset. When we got into the theater, though, he was fine. He had a good time eating popcorn and Good & Plenty’s and actually sat still and had fun for about an hour.

However, he got a little restless after a while. He stood up and started spinning around to get dizzy and fall over. Then, he started shouting, “Juhhh gray!”, which is his way of saying “Just great!” He learned that from a movie or TV show. We like hearing that, because when he says that, he’s in a good mood. Anyways, he started to get a bit frustrated, so our helper had to take him out for a little bit of a walk. When she brought him back in, he wasn’t having it. So she took him home and put him to bed.

But he had a great time. So did Ava, although she’s not great at the whole “whisper” concept. It was a great time, though. We don’t get opportunities like that very often, so it was a pretty cool deal.

Oh, My Silly Work
They had a surprise ice cream party for me yesterday to celebrate me completing 30 of the 60 marathons. It was very nice, but I’m really shy about praise and to have everybody focusing on me like that was pretty embarrassing! Still, it was pretty cool and nice of them to do that.

They shipped in ice cream from a place called Graeter’s and it was ridiculously good. I could tell it was going to be good when I read the label. Normally, the ice cream I eat has about 130 or 140 calories in it per half a cup. This stuff had 310 calories! It was amazing. I had cookie dough flavored ice cream with cupcake flavored Magic Shell. As George Strait would say, there’s a difference between living and living well. That was living well.

The streak is at 143 days now.

OK, That’s All For Today
My wife tells me my blogs have been too long lately. And I’m getting tired (I write these the night before). So that’s all. Have a great Wednesday!

Weekend Recap: Father's Day Edition

June 21, 2010 by operationjack 3 Comments

Normally, Mondays are when I write a weekend recap in my blog. But since yesterday was Father’s Day, I’m going with a Father’s Day special. I’ll have a weekend recap tomorrow and 10 random things on Wednesday.

Just in case this is your first time here, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 6 1/2-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I’ve wanted to make a difference in the autism community, and I do fairly well recovering from marathons, so I came up with this idea of running 60 marathons this year to try to raise money and awareness for a charity called Train 4 Autism. I ran the idea by my wife and she made the decision that we’d do it (I say “we”, because it’s a family effort — not just me). No sense looking back and wondering what if. And no sense not stepping up when somebody needed to step up — I’ve been given a gift, so it would be a waste to not take advantage of it. We named the endeavor Operation Jack, after our special guy.

So far, so good, kind of. I’m on schedule with the races. On Saturday, I completed my 30th marathon of the year, struggling through Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minn. I’m building chapters and raising money. I’m not hitting the numbers I’d hoped for, but I think I’m making a difference and if you look at the spelling of my last name (F-e-l-s-e-n-f-e-l-d), you won’t find a “q-u-i-t”. So, I carry on. With Operation Jack and with this blog.

As I Mentioned, Father’s Day Edition
Ok, so Father’s Day is a big day to me. My dad is a very special guy to me. I’m not going to say he did a perfect job raising me, because nobody is perfect. But he sure did try his best and I think he did a great job. I’ve always thought that, but I feel like I can say that more confidently now that I’m 35. Speaking of which, even though I’m halfway to 70, he hasn’t stopped being a dad. I remember when Tiffany was pregnant with our first child, Benjamin, we were worried about him reaching 12 weeks and then 20 and then 32. The worrying was making me sick, so I asked him when that would stop. “I don’t know,” he told me. “You’re 26 and I haven’t stopped. But when I do, I’ll let you know.”

Anyways, his dad, my Grandpa Milt, is still around, which I’m so grateful for. He’s everything you want your grandpa to be. Incredibly loving and friendly. We named Jack after his dad as a tribute to him. Quick funny story: My dad’s grandpa’s name was Jack Felsenfeld, and now that’s his grandson’s name. The first time my dad saw Jack, he picked him up and said, “Well, well, well … Jack Felsenfeld … who’s the grandpa now?”

OK, so for Father’s Day, a few weeks ago, Tiffany asked me what I wanted to do, so I told her that I didn’t care, as long as I could get together with my dad and my grandpa and the kids. So that’s what we did. It was also my brother’s birthday, so we had a family get-together at a restaurant that was pretty nice. We took this picture afterwards, and it’s one of my favorite pictures ever.

Four generations: My grandpa, my grandma, me, my dad, my brother Josh, plus Ava, Benjamin and Jack. I love this picture.

My grandfather on my mom’s side passed away in 1983 when I was only 9. I remember him, but he barely got a chance to know me and didn’t see me grow up like my Grandpa Milt did. I was at a funeral last year in the same cemetery he’s buried in (along with my grandmother he was married to, who passed in 1982). I went over and visited their graves and couldn’t help but wonder what they think of me and my family as they look down on us. Someday I’ll get a chance to ask.

So moving along, I never used to feel like I deserved Father’s Day gifts from my kids, because I didn’t feel like I did a good enough job as a dad. Every year, it was the same story. I would talk to Tiff after the kids went to bed and get upset, because I didn’t feel like I deserved anything. I wanted to be a better dad and earn the holiday.

But I’m finally starting to like Father’s Day as it applies towards me. I don’t want to say that I’m a good dad, because I think that’s such a huge, important compliment, and I’m not about to be so arrogant as to bestow that upon myself. But I believe that I try hard and my kids are well off with me around. I know they like me, I know I fight for all three of them, and I know the most important thing I’ll ever do on this planet is raise them to be good people.

It was nice to spend yesterday with them (that’s why I picked Grandma’s Marathon — I wanted to be home for Father’s Day) and I feel like I deserved to celebrate. Tiff and I struggle with time and finances, and we struggle with Jack’s issues, but I really feel like I am so blessed to be a father. I am so blessed to be their father. I frequently take a step back, I look at what I have, I think, “this is the life God has chosen for me,” and I’m pretty happy about that.

My Father’s Day Started Friday
Ava is in the same preschool that Ben went to for his last year of preschool, and she’s been there for three years now, so I’m pretty used to the routine. On the Friday before Father’s Day, they have something called “Donuts With Dad”. They bring in donuts, the dads eat with the kids, then go out to the playground for a few minutes before heading inside to hear the kids sing a cute little song.

Then, we head to the classroom, where we get the artsy-craftsy gifts the kids made. Tiff gets Muffins With Mom, I get Donuts With Dad. We have this routine down.

So when I was planning my flight to Minnesota, I definitely planned it around that. Unfortunately, it did a number on my travel schedule. Instead of a direct flight from John Wayne Airport, which is about 20 minutes from my house, I got to drive more than an hour to Ontario and I had to switch planes. Minneapolis is a 2 1/2-hour drive from Duluth, so on the way there, due to the later flight, I got into town at about 11 p.m. the night before the race instead of early in the afternoon. And on the way back, instead of a direct flight into John Wayne and a quick drive to be home before 8 p.m., I got to switch planes, fly to Ontario and make the drive home.

Nothing like a marathon on 5 hours of sleep, a 2 1/2 hour drive to the airport, two flights to get home and then an hour drive to finally walk through my front door about 20 hours after I woke up. But I wouldn’t miss Donuts With Dad for anything!

On Wednesday, Ava woke up before I got back from my run and told Tiff she wanted to talk to me. So when I got in, she told me (in her cute little voice) that she really wanted me to go to Donuts With Dad. She so totally owns me, it’s not even funny. Of course I was going, and I told her that if I had to, I would miss one of my Operation Jack trips before I missed going to her school. On Friday morning, I took Jack to school and then came back home. She woke up while I was out and was so upset when she asked Tiff where I was and found out I was gone. She thought I had already gone on my trip!

But we made it to Donuts With Dad. Between the two of us, we ate three donuts. She had a half a donut. We played on the playground, they sang their song and I got my gifts. One of the items was a framed poem with one of her handprints. The poem talked about her growing older and me being able to keep her little handprint around as a reminder. I’ll admit it — I started getting a little watery-eyed.

I don’t have a favorite kid. But I do have a favorite daughter!

My First Born
Benjamin misbehaved quite a bit on my birthday last year. Kids are kids and you can’t expect them to be perfect, but he sure did misbehave that day. So the first time he slipped yesterday, we told him gently not to do to Father’s Day what he had done to my birthday.

He had a few slip-ups, and he started to get a little silly at dinner, but all-in-all, he had a good day. When I tucked him in at bedtime, I told him that nobody can possibly be perfect — not me and not him. I also told him that while neither of us were perfect yesterday, he was still well-enough behaved. We both agreed that he’s a good kid, that I wasn’t perfect and we had a nice day.

We used to butt heads a lot when he was going through his “terrible” phase about five or six years ago and when I was worse at this parenthood thing than I am now. But it’s gotten infinitely better and he’s a great son.

And Of Course, There’s Jack
Do I really need to go into detail about Jack here? I have no idea what he understands, although I’ve been told by his therapists that he understands a lot more than we think he does. When I tuck him in at night, I frequently tell him that I’m proud of him for how hard he works to fight through everything, because I am. I also tell him I’ll always have his back and I’ll take care of him until the day I die, because I will.

That’s All For Today
Sorry the blog was a little long. That’s what was on my mind today, though. I’ll see you tomorrow with a weekend recap. Have a great Monday, everybody!