Fun times were had by all

I'm not sure why I titled tonight's blog that but it sounded good. I want to start off by sharing my million dollar idea I had at the wedding reception last weekend. I forgot to include it in my blog last time so I will bless you all with my infinite wisdom now. Sitting at the reception last Saturday talking with Desi's friends and Luke, the groom, came up and joined us and asked why none of us were out front playing. We all just kind of looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. So after a few minutes, Luke said "well. I'm going to go play some more testicle toss." After he left, I looked at Desi and asked "Did he just say testicle toss?" She said yes and explained that some people refer to ladder golf as that. Once we went out front and I saw what ladder golf is, it all made much more sense. Anyway, before we went out front and we were sitting there chatting, I came up with my million dollar idea. Actually, it's not really going to make me a million dollars but maybe it will raise a million dollars. So there is this little town next to Iron Mountain called Spread Eagle, Wisconsin. True story. So I am going to have an annual "Testicle Toss Tournament" in Spread Eagle, WI and raise money for prostate cancer research. Ta dah! You can all stop reading and take a moment to revel in my comedic timing and my ingenuity. Two for one... This week's adventures took me to Madison, WI for a site visit and the only thing I can really comment on about Madison is that is was freaking HOT. I mean 100+ hot. So needless to say, I didn't spend much time outside. It is a beautiful city and is surrounded by lakes so I would like to go there sometime when I'm not working and explore. My run that morning (Tuesday) was tough though. It was already 80 degrees at 5:30am and downtown Madison is mostly hills so...yeah. But I did it and that is the important thing. I also had the pleasure of going to Price County, WI this week for an outreach event. One of the things I love about my job and working for VA is getting to go to events like this and talk with the Vets and hear their stories. It really is a humbling experience. BTW...there is apparently a POW who is still being held by the Taliban and has been since 2009. He is the only remaining POW from the current conflicts. If you want to know more, do a google search for Bowe Bergdahl. It's kind of interesting. Here are some pics from my trip to Price County.

Okay, I had to take a pic of that because SERIOUSLY? Who needs to be reminded to not leave thier child unattended in a public restroom on a changing table? Amazing, really. But here are some other pics. Turns out there is a Wisconsin Concrete Park with nothing but statues made from concrete. And it's not a little park. I didn't check out the whole thing since I was in a government car and I am a responsible gov't employee. I just pulled over and took these pictures. I thought it was kind of cool and I might have to go back sometime and check out the whole thing.

But my favorite part of the trip going down Highway 8 (which I've done a few times now) is this (I had to break it up in two collages but it's all in line in person). It's in front of a few houses and I think was a group effort by the neighbors.

So that brings us to yesterday... I want you all to know that one of the areas I have been working on in my leadership program is my Emotional Intelligence (aka not getting worked up in stressful situations or letting my emotions get the best of me). So I called the bike shop where I had stopped a few weeks ago to order a new battery for my bike. They told me they would call me when it came in and they would come pick up my bike and take it back to the shop and change the battery. Well, when I called yesterday, they apparently had never ordered my battery. Hmm...okay. So after work I took my happy ass over there and politely let them know how unhappy I was and long story short...they ordered my battery, gave me 15% off and one of the guys helping me said he would personally come to my house and replace the battery so that I didn't have to have them come pick it up, etc. All that and I didn't even have to yell. See, I am growing! :) I'm off to Denver tomorrow for leadership, speaking of. It should be an interesting week for many reasons. It's the assessment center week which basically means they throw us into mock scenarios where we are the leaders and have to deal with situations and they critique us, etc. The other reason is because we are going to be in Aurora. If you don't know why that is significant, turn on your TV. But I do get to see some friends I haven't seen in years so very excited about that!! And thanks to Tania for watching Rolo this week!!