Finding The Words

You probably thought I forgot about this blog thing.

It's been here, quietly growing weeds and gathering dust while I found other things to occupy my time. But some recent events and some compelling writing from some great people made me realize that I needed to knock at least a little dust off.

Anything happen since I've been gone? Dictator deposed? Oakland occupied? I guess life goes on.

In my world, it definitely does.

I started a new job not long ago with some amazing folks in a small tech company in far, far, far northwest Austin (25 miles from home). It's been years since I've had a commute to an "office," so it's been a major readjustment on my part. I certainly don't want to bitch about it — after all, I am definitely sympathetic to the point they I actually have a job — unlike around 9 percent of the rest of the country. But it is still a sea change for me; I'm flummoxed by traffic now, wondering why we can't just keep going; why traffic suddenly comes to a stop for no reason and mysteriously picks up five miles later. If everyone just drove 80, we'd all be there in no time, right?

Well, maybe. I just finished my third defensive driving course in under a year. I'm known for speeding, but this last time, I was doing 65 in a 55, nabbed a few yards from where the sign dropped to 55 from 70. It was within 10 miles of my home, the beginning of a drive to Houston to see my family. Was I speeding? Technically — if you consider 65 in a 55 a misdemeanor offense. (I, on the other hand, thought that my doing 90 later on in the wide open roads of SH 71 was much more offensive.)

I just opened a new checking account with Charles Schwab, and it seems as though it's going to rock. My old bank has been good to me for many years, but with this debit fee nonsense, I started to look at my financial picture more closely and decided that I would be better off with a national online presence and some money in credit unions. (Daddy's gonna need a car in a year or two, so those interest rates are gonna look pretty sweet, I hope!)

Money came into sharper focus after a trip to Las Vegas to see my parents take their first flight and gamble to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary. My sister and her husband arranged the trip, and it was so much fun in all the right ways: my playing blackjack semi-successfully; allowing myself to be a tourist for an hour or two, watching my parents' smile — a smile that I have grown to cherish since I was a kid, but have missed in recent years. It was a great time, except for the expense of it. Oh, Lady Luck, why do you hate me so?

But most jarring was an emergency surgery this past week. I woke up bright and early Monday for the dreaded commute after a return from Las Vegas Sunday. When I woke up I noticed a dull pain in the lower right of my abdomen. "It's probably nothing. It'll go away," I told myself. Stupidest words in the English language, by the way, but I couldn't figure out why I would have pain there. My liver isn't there, I have no gallbladder, my heart isn't there, so who knows?

It was as I was making the long drive to work that the pain got more intense and I felt waves of nausea. I pulled over and made some calls to friends, nurses and finally my own doctor. They all said to go in for an exam. My most excellent doctor suspected appendicitis (so that's where it is!) and a blood test confirmed an infection. A CT scan later, and it was definite: I was going to spend my afternoon in the operating room in surgery getting the appendix removed.

I spent the night in the hospital (which I had never done, barring a sleep study) and found myself surrounded with nothing but love. And I guess that's why I came back by here to check on the weeds and the words.

Too often as life goes by, you take things for granted. We don't worry about our health. We don't think about our friends. We just assume that tomorrow is a given.

I didn't have a near-death experience or anything that melodramatic, but the trip and the surgery opened my eyes to all that I had around me. I had the love of everyone close to me for a weekend, making a trek down The Strip in the heat worth every step; I had friends show up at the hospital unannounced, making the trip across town when they didn't have to. I had someone take care of me and make me promise to return after the surgery. In fact, two days from now we'll celebrate our own seventh anniversary — something I would have never imagined a decade ago.

I'm a lucky guy. My wish as we close this year is that you look around for the luck you have in your life as well too.