Back from vacation

We had a great week at Folly Beach, but I was correct - it was a "transition year." There is a very good chance that our next family vaction will NOT be at Folly Beach, but perhaps in the mountains, or something else. The primary driver here is that the kids are getting older, and it is a little harder for them to just play together. Their interests and the way they play on the beach are very different than they were when they were all younger. We could have them all bring friends on the vacation, but that changes things too much, I think. So we're looking for some other way for us to all get together and have common experiences. The grown-ups are just fine at the beach - relaxing, reading, playing in the water, etc. But the kids need something else, so we're now beginning the search for whatever that is. There is one thought that perhaps a "mountain retreat" with lots of options would be good. We have a little time to sort this out - but not much!

So now it's back to work (ugh!) and stepping up the training for the 10K on Labor Day. I was able to run the new Cooper River Bridge one morning while in Charleston. It's really beautiful - but without the old ones there the silhouette of the city will be radically different - those 2 old bridges were a signature part of the look of Charleston. Ah, well, everything changes in its time.

The show was great - I got home late!

Kansas put on a really good show. While I was disappointed to learn that Kerry Livgren (primary songwriter) wasn't touring with them, it didn't sound like much was missing. As I had read online, Steve Walsh has lost a little bit off the top of his range, but he still sounds like Steve Walsh, and that's pretty good!

I have to be honest, the Producers had an off night. It was really cool, though, to meet "Wayne Famous" - I bought their debut LP back in 1981, and I still have it. (don't have the record player hooked up, though)

I had a great time overall the whole night. Though the re-entry trip took a brief wrong turn on I-65! We got it straightened out as soon as the road would allow.

Thanks to my friend Jed for hooking us up. And thanks to Carla for keeping me awake! (BOSTON!)

Almost time for the beach!

We leave next Monday to go to Folly Beach with all of my siblings and my mom. Dad comes out in the evenings, after his round of golf. It'll be the 4 of us, plus my Mom, plus my younger sister Melissa, her husband and 3 boys, and my even younger sister, Melanie. (I'm 2 1/2 years older than Missy, and almost 9 years older than Mel.) Missy and family live in Cary, NC. Melanie lives in Centreville, VA (suburb of DC). We have assembled at Folly Beach (about 15 minutes from the house where we grew up) for the past several years. It's a very non-commercialized beach, which is nice. Although as my oldest nephew is now 15, I'm wondering how much longer he's going to hang around with the rest of the young kids. I guess all things change... Somehow, I feel this will be a transition year in that regard.

It's also kinda nice to know your way around town while on vacation! Charleston is a beautiful city, and it has a lot of REALLY GREAT restaurants. One evening the 3 Polutta kids and spouses (as applicable) will go out to eat at a good restaurant while Mom (Nana) and Dad (Pop Pop) keep the grandkids. It's always a treat. My favorite restaurant we've done was called My Tho (pronounced "mee tah" - there's a "long vowel" symbol over the o, but I don't know how to do that in Blogger), it was a Thai-American-Continental blended cuisine restaurant. Sadly, I must point out that the operative word in that sentence is "was." It was a great place, but was not open the following year. Bummer.

For some bizarre reason, the rentals at Folly run from Monday to Monday. I have no idea why. I'd prefer a Saturday to Saturday, but mostly for this reason: I've become fond of having a day at home before having to return to work. Nice decompression day, find my bearings again, etc. Nonetheless, it'll be good to see family again. I'm hoping that I'll get up early one morning and run the new Cooper River Bridge, hopefully with Mom. It just opened to foot traffic last weekend, and opens to cars on 7/16. Mom walked it twice last weekend, and was interviewed for the local news both nights!

This will probably be it for vacations until the holidays. Gotta enjoy them when you can...

Being watched

Warning - rant ahead...

Apparently there are folks at BH who are watching me quite closely. As a friend who would know said, "Under a microscope." Someone noticed that I was not ther last week - and asked one of the elders about it. They were "suspicious" that I was with that "other group" (meaning Grace Pointe). Well, I was at GP. Two things were said to me in response. 1) You make it hard to defend you. 2) You can't have it both ways.

So I'd like to know - defend me against what, exactly? Also - what two ways are we talking about?

For me to be defended, that would imply an accusation of wrongdoing.

For there to be "both ways" would imply a division of right/wrong where one does not exist.

Somehow, somewhere, someday, the leadership at BH is going to have to take a firm, public stand. "We're going to SHEPHERD people. Not enable judgementalism or legalism. We're going to rise above pettiness, and we're going to REQUIRE that our those who should be spiritually mature ACT LIKE IT! We're going to unite on Jesus!! Only Jesus!! They'll KNOW we are Christians by our LOVE!"

Anyone have any advice on the loving way to handle this? Should I confront, or ignore? Or what?

Hill training - quick update

So I ran a first hill training run today. Just 4 miles, with a big hill in each mile. Had to walk just a bit up the 4th hill (the 4th mile).

This is gonna be intense...

US 10K Classic

Well, I've decided to run in the US 10K Classic on Labor Day morning. (www.us10k.org) It is here in Marietta, GA. I'm signing up with a group from Grace Pointe. Don't know how many of them will be there, or will actually run (jog) the course. Well, at least we should start together! But there's one thing about this race...

The course is FULL of HILLS! BIG HILLS! And the whole course is net uphill - by a lot!

I've run the first leg (probably the first 2 miles) of that course a few times before during my lunchtime runs, back when my company was at our old office. That office was near the start of the race, and I would sometimes run up (!) to the Cobb Parkway intersection with Windy Hill. It's QUITE a climb.

So I need to adjust my training to include more hills, more frequently. I still have the GIANT MEGA-STEEP hill near my current office, which is at the end of my normal run there. It is too steep, honestly, for me to run the whole thing so far, but I'm working my way up to running more and more of it. It will help me to have an occasional training partner, and my friend Carla is also signing up for the race, and needs the hill work at least as much as I - she runs on a treadmill most of the time. So we'll be shooting to run together most Saturdays, I guess (hope). I will definitely need the work! Perhaps we will be able to push one another to a better time. There are some convenient hills (say what?) for training near my neighborhood.

I've been thinking about the goal I want to set for myself. I'm still fuming over missing my half-marathon goal of 2:00:00 back in 1998 by eleven seconds! And that was due to my over-hydration before the start, which meant that I spent nearly the entire 13 miles needing to pee REALLY BADLY. Anyone who has run any sort of distance understands just how much focus is required just to keep moving properly. I had far too much of my focus diverted to keeping the valve shut and missed my goal by eleven stinkin' seconds. My legs felt fine, my breathing was fine. GRRRR!!

I haven't been tracking my pace recently. Perhaps I should track that during the hill training and use that as a basis. I'd like to shoot for 45-50 minutes as a goal. That's between a 7:15 and 8:00 mile pace. I'm not looking to set any land speed records here - just want to have fun with it and have a good reason to continue to get in better shape. I have my weight below 170 for the first time in quite a while.

My "grown up" name

Warning: Long Post!

Somewhere along the way I decided that I wanted to be called by my full first name, Michael, rather than the nickname (Mike) I had had ever since ever. Here is an attempt at explaining why, hopefully without wallowing in self-pity.

Somehow in my head being “Mike” refers me back to my childhood, especially my middle-school and high-school years - which I hated. Deeply hated. I was young anyway, with my late birthday (10/22 - 8 days before the “wait a year” cutoff for school at the time), then having skipped the 2nd grade. So I was the “little boy” and the “smart kid” – neither of which helped me socially. I was 12 when I started high school. Too young, to be sure, but there weren’t a lot of programs for the “gifted” back in the early- to mid-70’s in Charleston, SC. (For the record, I'm NOT blaming my parents for any of this...) On top of that, playing the cello helped me be even more odd – I remember one signature in a middle school annual that said, “To a guy and his cello.” Another – “To the brain of the class.” So this is what I was known for, and I came to hate it. Well, I still liked the cello and symphony and stuff (of course, it’s MUSIC!!), but I hated being the “brain” because it wasn’t cool - okay, being in strings wasn't very cool either at that time... My grades suffered in high school because I did not care about them. I wanted to be more accepted, and I viewed my braininess as an obstacle to being accepted. I know now how lame that is, but that was then. I was a classic “picked-on” kid, made fun of by a lot of kids. With a last name like mine, an easy target. Additionally, being a MOTC (member of THE church) didn’t help me much in this department either – as someone said recently at BH, “Well, we are kind of weird.”

(As an aside, this last thing is a big part of why I am still repaying the debt I owe to Palmetto Bible Camp. It was there that I started to grow my own faith, where I could be a different person than I was perceived to be in Charleston (except for a few folks from my home church who tried to ostracize/ridicule me at camp too, but it didn't seem to stick), where it was good to be good, where my gifts could flourish a bit, where worship wasn’t stuffy and boring while wearing uncomfortable clothes, etc.)

I was a pretty good athlete for my age and size, but I was behind the curve there relative to my 'peers' mostly due to age, thus the qualifier. Frustratingly, I was somewhat in the shadow of my cousin, Robin, just 3 months younger than I, but “tall, dark, and handsome.” 6’2” (like I always wanted to be), and between the two of us (and we were together a lot, living around the block from each other) he was almost ALWAYS the one the girls preferred. I didn’t resent Robin so much, I just hated rarely being chosen. (For the record, I love my cousin and respect him a lot. We get along very well.)

So “Mike” is that puny kid who was almost never comfortable in his own skin, a "brilliant and talented" bundle of insecurity. “Michael” is a part of my feeble attempt to move beyond that. I can't say how well it has worked, but I still prefer "Michael" to "Mike." I just think it sounds better, too.

Heritage and...

As I think, study, pray, read, and dream I wonder about the future of our tribe - the "church of Christ." (have to be sure to have "church" un-capitalized and "Christ" capitalized!)

I know that MANY others have thought and expressed thoughts on this topic. I have no grand revelation to share. It's just what's on my mind, and this is MY BLOG (!) so here goes.

I am thankful for our tribe and our heritage. I am thankful to have been raised in this tribe. I have many wonderful people in my life specifically due to being a part of this tribe. I have many fantastic memories of worship experiences and revelations. I have a love of Jesus and a desire to follow Him. (though my love and my desire are far short of my desire for them - if that makes sense)

Yet when I look back at what my tribe has prepared me for, I'd have to characterize it as "preservation of our tribe." Not furtherance of the Kingdom. Not mission. My heart is yearning for a different walk. A deeper walk. A "getting over myself" kind of walk. Yet in many ways I feel paralyzed by fear. "A spirit of timidity." A reluctance to truly engage the Enemy. (yeah, I capitalize his name too) An addiction to lifestyle - I like being an upper-middle-class American a WHOLE LOT. I'm comfortable with being comfortable - yet in my spirit I know that I am NOT comfortable, and I'm not comfortable with being comfortable.

I don't know where this is heading - either this post, or my walk. Maybe that's a start...