2009 Orem Open - Racquetball tournament - game 1

This week is the Orem Open in Orem, Utah. The rec center is where we often play racquetball as a family and where I go during the days now on lunch break to play twice a week. So its familiar territory.

I signed up for this tournament, the first since separating my AC joint. I have not been playing as much racquetball as I did last year, due to the injury and changes in my schedule. I sure miss it. So this is my chance to test my body and endurance at a tournament level. I entered this tourney in a higher level than I was playing last year. So, I was a bit worried how the shoulder and arm would hold up.

To make matters worse, Monday at lunch I went to the gym to run on the elliptical, then Monday night I worked extra doing releases, and was tired. The next day, Tuesday, I played racquetball with a buddy of mine at lunch time, then went to a Racquetball League form 7pm until 830pm. After the league, I started backing up databases for an hour, then proceeded to work on a Billing Staged Run for work, until 2am in the morning. The next morning, Wednesday, we had a Company Kick Off event, that started early, at a distance from my home, so i had to go a bit earlier than normal to 'work'. I ended up working until 5pm that day, and ran home to eat some dinner and take a nap. I was so tired. I didn't see myself playing well at all after the last few days, and what was four 8 hour days of work already by Wednesday.

So, I'm tired. But jazzed about playing again. The nap was awesome, and actually helped incredibly. I showed up to the tourney, saw old friends from the rball community, caught up on what we've been doing. Soon, it was my turn to play. I got ready, and started warming up. I was able to use my free ipod nano I won from SQL Server Central.com as SQL PASS last November from Steve Jones. I warmed up and we started to play. My shoulder isn't in the best shape, but held up well, and I was able to bang out some great shots. I led the first game for my first 11 points, then gave up the lead, and kept the game close, until my opponent ended up winning me by a couple points. I was ecstatic. I had done so much better than expected.

The next game was on. I ended up running 11 points with my opponent not scoring at all. But i couldn't hold it, and gave up a few points, maybe 6 or 7 points, before winning the second game. Woohooo. I'm on a roll now.

The tie breaker was a game to 11 points, where the other 2 games are to 15 points. So, its nice to not have play as long on the tie-breaker, since I'm usually so tired by the third game. I started the tie-breaker strong, but as usual, made mistakes, and let a lot of points get away from me. I was able to nail down some solid serves, and even got quite a few aces. The last point, I could taste it, but ended up skipping my shot, giving my opponent a chance to loose. I was able to gain the serve back, and was excited. I stood up to hopefully get my last point, and pulled out one of my favorite serves. A Z drive serve with my forehand, from the left side of the court. The Z ends up in the back left behind me, and hopefully bounces oddly in the corner, preventing a return, if any. I aced this serve. Last serve of the game, and it was over. Woohoo.

So I won my 1st match in the Orem Open in C division. This is a huge accomplishment for me, and I treated myself to a chocodile from a gas station on the way home. My entire family came out and cheered me on. They always are such a great support to me, and help me and coach me and simply love me, no matter the outcome. I love to play this game, and am excited that I'm doing it again, even with this shoulder injury nagging at me. I am sitting here now typing this with an ice pack on my arm. Soon, I'll put it on my shoulder, and cool it down.

I play again tomorrow at 6pm. I'll post those results in a new post.

Words Words Words and Wordl

On my Work related blog, I recently posted a blog about using Wordl. This is a word jumble tool that lets you input a website, or a series of words. For work related stuff, I had the idea of doing some Wordl's about my resume, my blog, twitter, etc.
But over here, on my family blog and hobby blog, I wanted to do something a little more non careerish.

So, I did our family mission statement. Not 1, but 3 different views of the words that make up our family mission statement. I liked the results.







Then I posted a few other documents I had that were church related.

Here is the Wordl from 'The Articles of Faith'




Here is the Wordl from 'The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood'




Thanks to the internet, and the Guttenberg project, I was able to pull text versions of the Book of Mormon into Wordl and produce the following jumbles.


Book of Mormon Preface




Book of Mormon - 1 & 2 Nephi



Book of Mormon - Jacob



Book of Mormon - Words of Mormon



Book of Mormon - Mosiah



Book of Mormon - Alma




I would like to add more to this as I find ideas to do Wordl jumbles on.
Let me know ideas, if you have them, in the comments section and I will publish the results.

How we spent turkey day

This year, we shirked the shackles of normalcy and chose to go away from home for celebrating Thanksgiving.  Having recently visited Moab, and unable to get the taste out of our souls, we decided a return trip was in order.  This time, we were able to find a place to stay within Moab, thus alleviating us of the need to travel back and forth from Green River, like we did last time. 

We planned on visiting a few different parks while there, but ended up only visiting Arches.  My parents came along with us for this trip.  They came down to our home on Tuesday and we all took off on Wednesday mid afternoon.  We ran by Walmart on the way out of town and had our oil changed while waiting.  Well, actually afterwards, and since they delayed too long.  But they got to suffer the wrath of Christy when it wasn't done in time.  

We headed south and it got dark as we went thru the canyon from Spanish Fork to Price.  As we approached Price, it was rather dark, and the weather started getting worse.  A little rain, then more rain, then snow.  As it was dark, i noticed that my lights didn't seem to be working on low-beam.  So i shifted it to high-beam.  Before switching it, people kept flashing me with their lights, to let me know mine were not on.  As i switched to high-beams, of course people let me know my high-beams were on now.  After stopping at the local k-mart, and getting some light bulbs, i weathered he storm to install them, as the rain had turned to snow and covered us with its icy coldness.

Once again able to see well in the deepening dark, we took off to get to Grog's for dinner.  After 

waiting a half hour for the food ti arrive, we ate a scrumptious meal.  I had been regaling my family with tales of Grog's for some time now, and they were not disappointed.  A trip was planned to get back to this establishment and eat again.  Sometime in the spring, maybe, we'll attempt a return visit.  Yummy food.

Luckily, while in the eatery, the weather ran itself out and we had an uneventful trip from Green River to Moab, as far as the weather is concerned.  Once there, we located the Lazy Lizard Hostel and retrieved directions and keys to our home away from home for the next 3 nights.  The office was connected to a living room area that was full of hippie types singing and playing instruments.  All seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.  We went a few blocks away and found Gramma's house.  It was a cute little manufactured home and looked like a grandma lived there.  Walls were thin, but heat was sufficient.  Rooms had beds in them, and each room was connected to its own bathroom.  We had 3 rooms for us all to spread out in.  We unpacked, collected our stuff and went to bed.  

The next day we awoke and the weather had not gone away, but was fully enveloping the valley with a constant drizzle. The valley's roof seemed to hover just above the level of the walls surrounding us.  As we approached Arches, we realized that we'd be in the clouds most of the day, and in the rain.  We tried to dress the part and go outside and still see some of the park, but the low lying clouds and rain prevented us from seeing much of anything that wasn't close up.  We spent a few hours anyway driving and attempting to see as much as possible.  This was thanksgiving day, and we were amazed at the quantity of people out in the weather anyway.  We wanted to goto Zax for yummy  pizza, but they were not opened on Thanksgiving day.  We called a bunch of other places, and found quite a few closed.  We did see a place opened up, and excitedly went in to get fed, but were rebuffed, being told that we needed reservations.  So, we headed to Denny's instead, and had a great meal with the family.  After the meal, we found the local theater and watched the new Bond film and Bolt, splitting the family in two to see both.

   

   

The next day, Friday, we were able to get back to Arches, with only the memory of the former day's rain littered about the ground, and soaked into the rocks.  Everything remained a bit wet, but the sky was fairly clear and totally different than the previous day.  We were able to see the park in a completely different light than the day prior.  We visited  the Devil's Garden area and hiked up to a few of the arches in the area.  Some great rock climbing was had by myself and Alyssa as we found another escape route from Navajo Arch.  Being up there in the arches, seeing so many different arches was incredible.  The trail was fairly easy, and lead us up past Landscape arch.  This arch was incredible, with its football length size, and 6 feet in the narrowest point height.  Amazing that it has not succumbed to gravity or erosion yet.

    

The next day (Saturday), we found the park even more dry and still different than the prior day.  The sky was clear of clouds for the most part.  The temperature was a it cold, enough to force sweaters on us, but not enough to be truly cold.  We went out to the windows area of Arches and walked out to north and south windows, along with turret arch.  All of these gave us great chances to climb rocks and see incredible views.  The canyons beyond and to the north of us still clung to the mists of the morning, and provided an incredible views.  At turret arch, we were able to climb up an enormous pillar nearby.  Alyssa made it all the way to the top with me.

After visiting turret arch, we headed down to another arch just south of there.  Kylie and I went around to another area nearby and climbed up into it.  Its an arch in its infancy.  Incredible to see the layers of rock, the scattered clumps of dirt and rocks.  We went over to the actual arch and climbed in and around it, getting great views and incredible memories.  

After this last arch we retreated back to the beginning of Arches and took some pics at the main sign.  Then, it was on the road again, all the way back to Green River, where we stopped for a lunch at the infamous Ray's i have always heard about.  Having never eaten there, and having talked it up to my family, i was nervous that it would suck.  Far from it.  Some of the best fries I've ever had, along with an incredible juicy burger.  My fears were laid to rest, and we had a great meal again.  When we ate, we ate out well.  After eating and filling our bellies, we took off, and went back home to Pleasant Grove.  The sun descended as we travelled, giving us some incredibly vibrant colors across the mountains and mesa's. The sun made its final descent, leaving us once again in the dark as we traversed the mountains and valleys to reach our home.  Once home, the journey ended, we were sad at is end, yet happy to be home once again.

Update : Day 50, after tearing my AC joint

This week, I went and play racquetball with the family and Bishop Paas. I was thrilled that I could play, albeit not at my high level of last season. I was able to swing and get to the ball, and return it.
Today, I went out to 5 mile pass and road my dirt bike. It's the first time i was back on it since Iwent down 50 days ago, tearing my AC joint. I went back to the rock that threw me down. I rode around with Kent, Kevin, JT and George. Tyler was even there riding with his dad.
We road simple trails and I was able to do it, with a little bit of struggling. I was and am thrilled I have been able to heal quickly and get back into action. I need to strengthen and get better, but I'm back baby!

Here's a picture of me out riding.

shoulder update

On September 20th, i went to the hospital and had an x-ray.

1 month after my accident, i visited the doctor. this was the monday after christy's bday, so October 13th, 2 weeks ago. He saw my shoulder x-ray and commented that it was healing up a lot better than he thought it would have. The bone was dropping a lot more than he had hoped, and was on its way to healing well. He told me i could stop using the sling and start using the arm and strengthening it. He also said that withing a month, i could probably do whatever i was strong enough to do.

So, i took off the sling, and started moving. Within a few days, i was getting a lot more motion from my arm and shoulder. Soon, i was able to bath most of my body without wincing a lot. I could even put a shirt on a lot more easily now. Day by day, i was amazed at what i could do, and what actually still hurt a lot to do. The shoulder stopped hurting, except when touched or bumped. The other muscles started aching, from inactivity, and the resumed activity they were now suffering. So, wierd pains started appearing. I would get a knot in my back muscles. My upper peck would get stiff and sore. My tricept would stiffen up and ache. It was odd, and random. With increased activity, i was sure to have some side effects of pain and achiness.

I have continued to work thru it, and try to make a pattern of it, and avoid the worse of it. I even went to the gym in the first week, and got some advice on strengthening it. After a few simple exercises and a few days of ouchiness, here i am.

Continually rehabilitating, stretching, strengthening and hoping to get back on the bike and a racquet in my hand before the snow hits. My goal was to be moving in a month, hopefully back to ability to play soon after that month expired.

I have hiked to Delicate Arch, Mesa Arch, camped with the family, been to the gym, started doing pushups, mowed some of the yard, and relearned to dress myself. These are all goals i have acheived in sooner time than some thought. I must be patient, and not hurt it, but continue to get better.

I fell over, again

3 saturdays back, on a dirt bike day with the family, i took off from camp, and road away a bit fast. yearning for some speed and that thrill of excitement that my dirt bike give me, i went up a hill near where our staging area was. I had just been riding with trey on the front of my bike, and had been going slow, and needed some speed. Up the hill i went, twisting and turning, and pushing the bike just a bit, that i was on the edge. Its a great feeling to be on the edge. Sucks to slip off it, but awesome to ride up close to it. Up the hill i went, and then down. The downward slope was easier than the uphill. I had the impression that i shold turn around and reverse the path i had just followed. But i ignored that idea, and kept going down. I hit the bottom and made a turn to the left, onto a quad track. around the bottom i went, and started up the shallower side of the hill i just climbed a short distance away. on the top of this hill, i remember there was a rock on the trail, and i had the thought that i needed to ensure that i missed it.

As i crested the top, i saw the rock, and realized i was a bit closer than i had wished. I missed the rock with the front tire. Apparently i didnt miss it with the back tire. I went down, and went down hard. My right shoulder must have gone down first, and then i rolled onto my back, and skipped like a rock gliding across the surface of the water for a couple bounces. I distinctly remember bouncing. The thought went thru my head that i was glad that i had my chest protector on, and was being protected on my back as well. When i stopped moving, i was a bit hurt, but worried i'd pass out or something, if it was worse, so i yelled, screamed outloud. This was to make sure that my family and friend Kevin could hear me, in case it was worse. Now i got mad at myself. I had gone down again... i hate wrecking and making mistakes. I hate getting hurt. But love to ride, and ride hard. Its an eternal struggle us suffer and enjoy.

I got up, and started to brush myself off. I went to my bike and tried to lift it. My right shoulder hurt, and i couldnt use it well, so i lifted with my legs, chest and left side. I got the bike up, and leaned against it. At this time, Kevin rode up and asked how i was... I lied and said fine, or i told the truth and said i was hurt. I really can't recall, as a wave of shock was overtaking me, and my breathing was starting to freak out. I asked him to get the kickstand, because i didnt think i could walk around the bike, and hold it at the same time. I continued to go into a mild shock. An interesting feeling when you are aware of its approach. Kevin looked at the rock i had jolted out of its hiding place, and mentioned, as he rolled it off the trail, that i had moved it some 3-4 feet. I started pulling my gear off, so we could look for signs of damage on my body. I actually tried to take the chest protector off, before my helmet. doh! i got my gear off, and we loked around, me looking in the front, he looking on the back. He laughed and pointed out that my jersey, which is full of venting holes, had made am impression on my back, and i was pockmarked with little holes. This was thru my garment that it had been pushed, and made its impression. I had a couple cuts and some road rash on my back. So, thru the chest protector, thru the jersey, and thru my garment, i had hit hard enough to gain road rash. Wild.

My arm was ok, but my shoulder hurt a bit. i lifted it and moved it around to test it. seemed just a bit sore... but i had a bump on my shoulder. I looked up and saw my kids and wife approaching. In an effort to be brave, and strong, i put my gear back on and got back on the bike and drove it back to camp. Telling them as i passed them that i was fine. I lied again. Apparently i wasn't fine, but still in a bit of shock. I got to the trailer and stopped my bike and got off. I had to walk 40 feet to a chair to rest, and knew i needed to rest a bit. As i walked to the chair, i realized that i was not going to make it, and i sat down about 5 feet from my bike. When i was ready to move again, Kylie had gotten back to camp and was near me. I asked her to help me to the chair over there, and she abliged.

I sat down and started taking my gear off. As i unclipped my boots, i found i was unable to pull my feet out, since i had nowhere to put my socked feet without getting them dirty, so i just kept them in the boots, but slightly elevated. I was still experiencing a mild shock and my breathing was wigging out. Soon, my legs and arms started to shake. My legs more wildly than anything else. As my daughter approached, she noticed this and asked what was wrong. I told the truth this time, and said i had no idea. She pulled one of my boots off, and that leg stopped shaking. I realized that i had simply been elevating my foot, and it was just a muscle twitch. Whew. Kevin loaded up all our bikes (1 wr250f, 2 ttr 90's and 1 pw50) and the rest of the family loaded up the rest of our gear. They put all my gear into my bag, knowing nothing was in the correct location, and that it would kill me later that it was all unorganized. I knew that this was true, but was unable to assist and organize it.

I simply sat in the chair, looking out at 5-mile pass to the north, alone, with all the activity occuring behind me. When we were all loaded up, they all cmae to get me and put me in the truck. I asked Kevin to give me a blessing, and my family gathered around as he performed this blessing on me. Then I went to the truck and tried to get in. I wish i had a lift at that moment that could pull me in, as i had a heck of a time getting into the truck. I got an ice pack from Kevin and put it on my shoulder. At this point, i realized i had done some damage and possibly broke something in there. It hurt tremendously at this point, and my body was wigging. Luckily Kevin had held onto a pain pill form one of his previous accidents, and had one with his moto gear. I took it, and im sure it helped curb the pain. Though i really couldnt tell, as the pain was pretty intense anyway. With much help from Kevin and my family, we were loaded and ready to go home, or to the hospital. The decision would be made en-route. We took off, and i felt every bump and hole in the road, which were many until we actually got to the road. As we went out of 5-mile pass, i recalled the accident i had there close to 2 year prior, but this time i was sitting up, in my own vehicle, and able to watch out the window, instead in the back of an ambulance. We went home.

It was a Saturday night, and i had church meetings in the morning. I needed to get some help to unload the bikes, as my wife and children couldnt alone. I needed to know what to do about my shoulder and other injuries, and needed to see someone about them. Along the way home, i made some calls to home teachers, to see if they could meet us at our house and help unload. I called one of the counselors in the bishopric to report on some task i had to perform. I then called our former home teacher, current chiropractor and bishop. I told him what had happened, and asked if we could stop by his house and have him take a look at me. He agreed.
We reached our home, and it was real hard to sit in the truck and let others unload my gear and bikes. I felt weak and helpless. But then i remembered that i was in pretty severe pain, and wouldn't be able to help much anyway. Once all unloaded, we ushered the children inside with instructions for the rest of the night. We took off to see our neighbor and friend, to let him look at my bones and suggest what happened, and what to do. After looking at it a bit, and referencing the interned, he told us he thought it was a torn AC joint in my shoulder. He proceeded to call another member of the neighborhood and ward, a doctor of anesthesiology. He came over and agreed. He had just gotten off a long dirt bike ride, and we talked about that for a bit, and it was the best i had felt since going down earlier that night. I actually stopped hurting for a bit, as we discussed his long bike ride, the different bikes he had used, my bike, etc. An effective painkiller, i would have never guessed, talking about dirtbiking was. He suggested writing me a perscription for a painkiller, and we agreed that in the morning we would retrieve the script and get it filled. We went home, and i sat on the couch. I took some alleve and a sleeping pill i had left over from my previous bout with dirt bike induced pain. I have slept on that couch, and spent a lot of time on it for the next few days. I put ice on my shoulder for a few days, on and off, and took pain pills on a regular basis.
Being that i was on-call at work, and that Monday was going to be a big day of tasks, some of which were assigned to me, i was loathe to skip it. I went in a bit late, after 9am, and got busy working. I could scarecly drive, as i was only able to use my left arm. But i made it, and got to work, and got setup at my desk. I had to move the mouse closer to me right arm, and was successful in using it, as long as i didnt move my right arm much. I sat still and started performing my tasks. I was real tired and sore in short order and really couldnt work much more. Luckily, my coworkers and boss noticed this and sent me home a bit later. I had a dr appointment around 1ish and i swung by to get him to look at me.
I got x-rays and saw the doctor pretty quickly. He showed me on the X-ray and on a model what i had done, and how it would heal. My sweet wife had swung by and gotten me pain pills and a sling earlier, and i was using both these presently. The doctor complimented my sking and said it was perfect for what i needed to be doing. Keep the arm still, let it heal. Come back in a month, and we'll look at it again, he said. He gave me another prescription for another pain pill. I took it, and went home to sit on the couch. I wasnt allowed to go to work the next day by my wife, and the next day my boss said he didnt want to see me there either. So i had 2 days of sitting on the couch and watching everything i could on the TV and DVR. I got pretty bored, but was unable to do much else but sit and prop my arm up, and try to sit still. I slep on the couch/lazy boy.
When i went out, i put on the sling. I could drive, but with some difficulty. Showering was ok for everything i can reach with my left arm. But some things were unreachable. Drying was equally difficult, and i often needed help with both these tasks. Dressing myself, especially my shirt, was next to impossible, and i needed assistance with this as well. As the days went on, i measured my new movements and abilities with how much further i could reach in the shower, and once i was able to put deodorant in my left pit, with my right arm, you'd have thought i'd won the lottery. within a week, i was able to do most of these things by myself again, thought i greatly enjoyed and appreciated the assistance my wife provided. Everything is still a bit hard and energy consuming. My arm gets sore from being held still, and the muscles in my bicept and tricept seem to get sore from inactivity and imobility. I tend to have to stretch them out and rub them a lot, but not move the shoulder much. I've gained a lot of movement, and i can feel the bone in my shoulder sticking up where it shouldnt be. My arm can be lifted a lot more than the first week, but stop before it hurts, unsure of how far i should push it. 1 more week, and I'll see the doctor again, and hopefully get some answers. I have stopped needing the heavy pain pills at night, and stopped taking them during the day by the end of the second week. I have almost stopped taking the extra strength aleve and tylonol during the day, most days. I had to take some today, for example, but its not every day.
In any event, i feel that i am on the mend, and cant wait to be good enough to get back on the bike again, and see how she faired. The handlebar is bent, and may need to be replaced. The radiator gaurd on the right was bent, but now looks like the left side, from a previous accident. The bark buster is all busted up, and needs to be readjusted. But i want to be able to ride before the snow hits. I hope that i can.
So, moral of the story... stay on the bike. Unlike everyone that keeps telling me i need to stop riding, i answer them by saying i need to stay on the bike and stop falling off. Truth be told, i need to slow down a bit, find other ways to experience that adrenaline rush and high from riding, and stay a bit further from the edge. I love it, but being hurt during riding season sucks, even more than simply being hurt and unable to apply my own deodarant to the left side of my body.

rball season is upon us

the weekend after labor day was the first tournament of the year. I signed up in 1 division, and hoped to do well. My back has been hurting me for a few months now, and we finally figured out it was probably my chair at work that caused it. So bending over still caused me pain. I had not played in a month during august because of it, and was bit rusty. I started waring up for the first game, and was suprised i was moving well. I had taken some advil and sprayed biofreeze on my back in preparation. When the game got underway, i started off well, and was dong well against my opponent. I had a couple instances where i bent too far over, and it hurt a bit. But i recovered. I kept playing, and got tired, soon. about 6 points in on my side, and my opponent caught up and surpassed me easily. I never did catch up. He took the first game, and we went onto the next game. I played better in this one, but still was down, and never caught up. so i lost my first tournament game, heartily. Sad, since i felt that at my height last year, i would have easily done a lot better, and probably won the games. Oh well, goal was to play, see my rball family of friends, and get back into the sport after a frustrating month of back pain. Those goals were accomplished. I hope to practice well, and get ready for my next tourney in november.