My cold water challenge

I volunteered in the player locker room at the ATP tennis tournament in Mason, OH (Cincinnati) for 20 years.  One year, 98 or 99, Rafter won a long, late semi-final match and had the final match the next afternoon.  To help his leg muscles recover faster, his coach wanted him to quickly alternate between a really hot shower and a tub of ice cold water.  We didn’t have a tub, so we grabbed one of the tall cardboard boxes used as a towel bin.  We put in a couple plastic bags and started filling it with water and bags of ice.  As it filled, we had to wrap the whole box with tape to keep it together.  The water had to be 32 degree as there were inches of ice floating on the top when we were finished.

Rafter got in the hot shower for a couple minutes, then we helped him into the ice water for 2 minutes.  Ice and water spilled over the edge as we lowered him in.  The cold water went all the way up his legs, close to the family jewels.  He repeated this several times, with his coach’s thought that the expansion and contraction of his blood vessels would help remove the lactic acid in his muscles.

While Rafter was in the tub, he said he would pay someone $20 if they could stand in the cold water for 5 minutes.  I asked his brother, his coach and a couple of other players and coaches and had $90 waiting for me if I could stand in the cold water for 5 minutes.  I hopped in and used a little secret to last the whole 5 minutes.  I kept my legs as still as I could.  If you stay still in cold water, your body will warm the water next to your skin and will act as an insulator from the colder water… as long as you stay still and not circulate the water.  It was an easy $90! :-)

I don’t have a picture of the cold water challenge, so this will have to do…

The rings and bracelets I make for you mean “I LOVE YOU!”

My mom always appreciated the home made cards we made for her.  And the homemade Christmas ornaments we made in grade school art class.  She loved the flowers we picked for her.  She didn’t want us to buy anything for her birthday, or Valentine’s day, or Christmas, or Mother’s Day.  She wanted something we made for her.  A dinner, a card, a present, just anything we made.  That definitely showed more LOVE!

I loved the toys my dad made for me and my brothers, much more than any toy bought at a store.  The wooden guns with a clothes pin that shot rubberbands, the wooden paddle boats powered by rubberbands.

I love making rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. for my girls.  And seeing the excitement in their eyes when I give them a gift I made.  Of course if I had 3 boys, I would probably be making guns, swords, and cars.  Making a gift for someone (regardless of the occasion) is a great way to show them how much you care, and how much you love them.  A great lesson I learned from my parents.

{What did you make for your mom or dad?}

If You Are Unhappy

Just before my 19th birthday, I packed up my ’84 Honda Accord full with everything I needed to live for 3 months and drove to Connecticut to start a co-op job working on submarines at General Dynamics. My mom handed me this story and to this day, I still have hanging next to my desk. How thoughtful she was to give me some important life lessons as I embarked to live on my own for the first time. The lesson goes a little something like this…

IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY

Once upon a time, there was a nonconforming sparrow who decided not to fly south for the winter. However, soon the weather turned so cold that he reluctantly started to fly south. In a short time ice began to form on his wings and he fell to earth in a barnyard, almost frozen. A cow pass by and crapped on the little sparrow. The sparrow thought it was the end. But, the manure warmed him and defrosted his wings. Warm and happy, able to breathe, he started to sing. Just than a large cat came by and hearing the chirping investigated the sounds. The cat cleared away the manure on the chirping bird and promptly ate him.

The moral of the story:
1. Everyone who shits on you is not necessarily your enemy.
2. Everyone who gets you out of shit is not necessarily your friend.
3. And if you’re warm and happy in a pile of shit, keep your mouth shut.

Banana, mint, mushrooms… ummm… no thanks!

I like peas, I like carrots, I love corn, but please don’t mix them together. I like bananas, but I don’t like banana flavor in any of my other foods. I don’t like mint flavor, I don’t like mushrooms or mushrooms flavor. BUT if I was at a friends house or my mom’s house, I would eat any and all mushrooms on my plate. And I would say thank you!