Confessions from a squealer

SQUEALER: n. (pron. Skwee - lur) A fan \ spectator at the Flying Pig Marathon.

What a day ! I could have never imagined a day in downtown Cincinnati could have ever been so life changing without getting shot. I must admit that with as enormous of a part of life as my interest in Nascar has been, (and in many ways still is) Syl pointed out to me that it has not been a subject of conversation once with me since the stock car race ended late Saturday night. pretty amazing, huh. Fact is that as big of a motor sports fan as I am, and as many races as I have attended, I have never been treated to the pure inspiration, heroism, and motivation that I was while standing in the rain at the "finish swine" Saturday. I watched my dearly beloved best friend and companion Sylvia, and our dear friend, Sylvia's teammate and my " newest sister, " Maura accomplish a very lofty goal. That will truly be a highlight of the year to me. But it was only the beginning. I saw people who would dream that excessive weight, diabetes, and a missing limb was all that was wrong with them cross the finish line, something that I couldn't do this year. This humbled me. I watched blind people with an escort cross the line. I watched people with all manner of challenges cross the line. There was an electric wheelchair bound man whose chair lost power on the course during Syl's event that was pushed across the line by a group of complete strangers but fellow competitors. Perhaps one of the most memorable moments was when a severely impaired, elderly man for whom it was a struggle to even walk, crossed the line to the wild cheers (er, squeals ) of the fans there. All of this has truly changed my life.

With this in mind, I would now like to make it public and official about my intended entry into next years 5k event. With the support of two beautiful women in my corner, and a year to train and condition, I see absolutely no reason why I couldn't cross the "finish swine" next year.

I also wanted to thank my team, Pink Princess Racing, for all the pride, motivation, and encouragement.

I love you guys

-MOSL

LOFTY GOAL ACCOMPLISHED!!

THEY DID IT! Sylvia and Maura both completed their races today. In a true to life Olympian fashion deserving of American Gladiator status, my beautiful and very loved wife, and my sister from another mother participated in their respective legs of the 2008 Flying Pig while battling harsh elements and physical pain. ( it rained cats and dogs and Sylli got blisters on the arches of her feet. ) Maura was up first leaving the starting gate among a vast multitude of runners to compete in the 10k run at 8:00am. She completed it in a personally exciting fashion having slowed to a walk just 2 very brief times. We celebrated her moral victory, she cooled off, we rested, and then it was time for Sylli's turn. Maura decided to join Sylli on the 5k walk. I was very pleased about this decision because it meant Syl would have company as she walked. As I watched my wife standing with our dear friend at the starting gate, my heart soared with pride honor , and love. The starting gun fired at 11am and a life changing adventure was under way. I found refuge fron the rain, then made my way to the finish line after the rain began to let up. I couldn't have been prouder of my wife as she strolled across the finish line after completing 3.5 gruelling miles in the pouring rain. Once again, my heart soared. I am so happy, and proud of "The sweat sisters" for completing such a lofty goal. Todays experience I think is going to become a launching pad for me to correct some of the problems in my life, hopefully culminating in my crossing the finish line physically with her next year rather than just in my heart as I did today.
I wanted to close this post by giving praise and thanks to Our Heavenly Father for showing such a God given friend as Maura into our lives. Her inspiration and strength made today possible.

Prince family, We love you guys

It's almost here

As self appointed crew chief for Rupert the Round Racing, I wanted take a moment to say how proud I am of my walker, and my runner.

First of all my walker, my darling Sylvia. Sweetie I so admire your courage and determination to enter The flying pig. I am going to be excited to cheer you on as you take on this monumental task. Your dedication to achieving this goal has been fabulous, as well as inspiring to me. I promise you that there will not be a husband in that crowd that will be prouder than I will be of you.

And now my runner, our dear friend Maura. I am so thankful for the close, sisterly bond of friendship, camaraderie, and inspiration that you have forged with Sylvia, as well as the fun friendship we share. I am very happy for you as you finally reach the culmination of what is a very lofty goal that you and my wife have strived for for the last few months. I will be happily cheering you on as you compete in your race Saturday. I am very proud of you also.

I will be praying that you will both be free from harm or accident, and feel the full excitement of a job well done as the two of you participate in your respective races.

Way to go you two.

todays news

Shortly after my hobby of Nascar memorabilia collecting began, I was also interested in collecting trading cards of my beloved sport. One night while shopping at the Tri County Wal-Mart I stopped to check out the sports card sale display there at the store. A gentleman soon joined me who was very interested in an assortment of different trading cards advertised at two packs for a dollar, I could see that this gentleman's quest was becoming more and more frustrating for him until he finally asked me "Do you see any of these two for a dollar cards? all I can find are these card packs marked fifty cents each," After experiencing a moment of stunned silence, I finally looked at him slightly smiling and said "aaand," to which he replied a fairly embarrassed "oh" and quietly left with his selection.

This brings me to todays news in the report about the 2008 opening of Kings Island. The story talked about how the park's visitors will find changes this year to get used to. namely the name changes to the movie based rides, Top Gun is now "Flight Deck," Tomb Raider is now "The Crypt," and so forth. I wonder what would happen if Souvenier stores became Bric-a-brac shacks, if the cafes and restaraunts became Leave and Heaves or the restrooms became Heave and Leaves. Talk about revenew losses. Knowing full well that intellectual giants such as my friend with the trading cards do exist, I tend to worry about all the folks who will pay for a fun, thrill packed day at K.I. only to leave in sorrow because they couldn't find their favorite rides. I don't worry too much though because these same people will probably have problems finding the entire park since "Paramount's Kings Island," is now just "Kings Island."

Maybe this is just me because I fail to see why an amusement park ride's name matters if you know how to get to it and enjoy it.

(This has been another warped thought from the management of M.O.S.L.)

Quote of the week:

"I am just like Rocky Balboa."

-Sen. Hillary Clinton

( I'll buy that, after all she is getting the tar beaten out of her by an African-American opponant.)

Quote of the week: (special edition)

The MOSL would like to bid a fond farewell to the beloved Hollywood icon who gave us many memorable quotes such as ;

"Ramses, Let my people go!"

"Get your hands off me you (*flippin) dirty ape!"
(*word edited for content)

"We keep you alive to serve this ship, so row well and live."
and the immortal,
"Soylant Green is made of people!"

We will miss you Charlton,
Thanks for the memories

Spring!

At last winter's ended sring is now here. It is such a beautiful time of the year.
Trees and flowers are blooming, the grass starts to grow. Overcoming the death that comes with the snow. The sun comes out, temps no longer fall, and in parks everywhere, grown men in black pads yell "PLAY BALL!"
There's baseball and racing every where. To find my favorite's no difficult trick. While one involves powerful cars, the other's hitting a ball with a stick.
So put away your knit cap and parka, Time for flip-flops and shorts to come out. While we've all been too cold for months now
soon too hot's what we'll all pout about.

Have a happy spring everybody.

-MOSL