Thanks to your donations, you have helped wounded heroes just like John Fernandez. John, West Point Class of 2001 and former Captain of the Army Lacrosse Team, lost the lower portion of his legs in Iraq in 2003.
The last week or so has been hectic for me with the recent great flood of Houston. I did make it out to see Owen Temple last Thursday evening and he provided me with five autographed CDs, four of which have been auctioned off for the Wounded Warrior Project. Two went for $100 apiece (thanks Luke Nichols and Jimmy Beasley), one went for $250 (thanks Carter and Jessica Smyth), and the last CD went for an unbelievable $560 to my childhood friend Aaron Cox. It's very reassuring to see the kindness of people when it comes to helping others less fortunate. When I return from my race on May 16, I will post a list of all donors to acknowledge everyone on a job well done. In the end, I am thoroughly impressed at the amount of support that I have gained from folks all over the world: Italy, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Ireland, California, New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, all over. Donations are coming from friends I've known since 3rd grade, family members, former Soldiers, current Soldiers currently serving in war zones, the list goes on and on. It makes me very proud to call each of you my friend, and I know the more than 31,000 Soldiers that have been wounded or have given their lives in Iraqi or Afghanistan appreciate your kind and caring nature as well. Because of all of your kindness, we have surpassed our goal of $2,000 and currently stand at $2,100 !!! Thank You !!!
I am thoroughly excited. Regina and I took complete and total advantage of the VA's current plan to refinance the homes of Veteran's with the VA Streamline Refinance Plan. We went from a whopping 6.25% to a nice 4.75%. The best part about it was the check in the mail we received from our former lender for our abundance of escrow. Of course, something always happens, and Tuesday morning when I drove to work in the wee hours of the morning, it sounded like I had a weasel caught beneath my truck. On the way home, same noise. I stopped by the mechanic shop where we have been paying their lease and all of their utilities due to the massive amount of damage to both of our vehicles due to the effects of road salt (thanks New York!!!) and he confirmed that my U-joints were grinding. 3 hours and $400 later, brand new U-joints, no more noisey truck.
So, with the remaining money, Regina and I split it 50-50. I think I am going this weekend and buy a nice road bike for a couple upcoming duathlons and ultra bike rides. If anybody could recommend a nice, quality road bike, please let me know. After this May race, my next event (tentatively) will not be until October at the Du the Bear Duathlon (http://www.out-loud.org/duthebear.htm) on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 8:00 am in Houston. I am going to be looking for another run to do in between now and then. If anybody knows a good run in the area around the July or August time frame, please let me know. I also have the Houston Half Marathon in my sites in late October as well. In the near future, I plan to complete a 50k (32 miles) and a 100k (62.5 miles) and eventually a 100 mile run to honor the men and women who have sacrificied so much for each of us.
Again, thanks folks, every penny counts, every handshake counts, every "Thank You" counts!
