Sometimes you're the Monkey and Sometimes you're the football!

You can find the greatest treasures in the weirdest places. Shawn was my reason for visiting North Dakota but John and Juan are the reason that I stayed. John “My New Haircut” D, a crazy Jersey kid who loves his hometown and reminds me of the dudes at the Jersey Shore. And Juan “the jumping bean” P a cool Texan with a passion for running and going big like his state prescribes.

I thought my first night in Minot was a blast with quotes like “She was 50” “Yeah it is a nice shirt” and the quote of the night “and don’t touch anything on the way out.” But with John and Juan the party was only going to escalate. After a rough Thursday we all took most of the morning to recover. We woke ourselves up with a dominant Rock Band Performance, 3J plus Kevo coming to a city near you album coming out late 2010. After the third Encore and signing autographs we went out to the “lake” nearby for some swimming and football. The water wasn’t that bad, but we ended up just throwing the ball around and standing in the water because we were all a little run down from the late night prior. It was getting a little late so we decided to head back and get ready for the night to come.

We are watching a little TV back at the guys crib and we get to talking about books, my blog, and it comes up that John is writing a book. At first glance you would almost undoubtedly assume that John has a way with words but strictly when it comes to the ladies. Well, you would be wrong. His words, although crass at times, are chosen beautifully. I won’t give it away but what he read to us is about life. How parents these days don’t instill values and how it has trickled down into society. It’s rough for sure, but his ideas are so profound. One thing that I found interesting and extremely intelligent was his ideas about religion. I’ll try and paraphrase him “why not get religion into your kids lives (at a young age), even if you don’t believe in god the bible has so many life lessons and stories about morals and values that so many children are missing today.” Instantly I thought or David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah, and Jesus’ birth. These three stories most, in my life, have always influenced the way I see things in a positive way. John I think your dead on here. I better get an autographed copy when it’s published.

Later on I got to know Juan a little bit. This is an impressive man, looks like the Air Force knows how to recruit. This guy has run two marathons. The First in Texas where he qualified for the second, The Boston Marathon. To qualify he had to run at least a 7 minute mile for 26 miles. That is ridiculous I’m not sure I could run a 7 minute mile for…one mile. But that wasn’t even what I liked about him most. Juan has a great relationship with his sister. He really looks up to her and just talking with him you know she means the universe to him. I truly hope that I can be that for Franklin one day.

Side note: Franklin as a sophomore made and is starting on his Varsity soccer team. They are a young team this year, but it is still an outstanding accomplishment. I’m so proud of you kid.

After our laid back afternoon we decided on a place to go out but tonight we were going to spice it up. We all wore some goofy head gear out, mine was actually a cool hat, and we switched every thirty minutes. Also after fine tuning the tricks Steve from Wisconsin taught me I tried them on strangers at the bar. We were a big hit. I mean how could you not want to talk to a kid with a coon skin hat or bicycle helmet on (always wear protection) out at the bar? Juan and John showed me an awesome time out in Minot seeing how great life is to them is a joy. Working, enjoying your job and being able to savor the things that life has to offer. Fellas don’t forget the Minot female curve, the tundra wookie, and I’m taking the bottle trick back to the east coast. *Raises Glass* Here’s to the 3 magicians!

One Mile at a Time.