(almost) 12 pains of Christmas

Preamble:

YHC slept great last night until about 3:45 when I woke up wondering if I’d planned enough fun for the morning.  As it turned out, we had plenty of fun and even left some for next time.  Thanks to all for working hard and trusting me to lead this morning.  I am stronger and healthier because of you guys pushing me to get better and that’s a pretty good Christmas gift if you ask me.  I can share my Amazon wish list with anyone who feels like adding a little on top.

Warm-O-Rama:

With a chance of rain YHC didn’t want his PAX to start with a bad hair day so we jogged over toward the pavilion parking lot (still with that new asphalt smell) and did rounds of windmills, weed pickers and SSHs.  Everyone was so excited to see what the VQ had in store they practically begged me to move on to the Thang which I happily did.

The Thang:

With Christmas upon us and almost 12 days away, we had an exercise for each day.  Drawing upon all my Excel skills I was able to calculate our rep counts that would hopefully allow us to finish all 12 days with no time to spare.  We added an exercise each ‘day’ plus we did the exercises from each previous day, just like they sing it in what is now my 1,245^th favorite Christmas song.  Here’s what we did (planking/air chair for the six between each ‘day’ so we started each day together):

• Day 1 – Run around the parking lot
• Day 2 – Burpees (8) + run
• Day 3 – Two-count Bonnie Blairs (12) + Burpees + run
• Day 4 – Merkins (16) + Bonnie Blairs + Burpees + run
• Day 5 – Big boy sit-ups (20) + Merkins + Bonnie Blairs + run
• Day 6 – Dips (24) + BBSUs + Merkins + Bonnie Blairs + run

At this point guys had lost count of days causing them to do things out of order and begin to question what day it was.  Daydreams of eggnog were mentioned and deals were being offered to trade days for extravagant gifts but YHC was not tempted.  We were half way there…sort of.

• Day 7 – Two-count flutter kicks (28) + dips + BBSUs + Merkins + Bonnie Blairs + run
• Day 8 – Monkey Humpers (32) + flutter kicks + dips + BBSUs + Merkins + Bonnie Blairs + run
• Day 9 – LBCs (36) + Monkey Humpers + flutter kicks + dips + BBSUs + Merkins + Bonnie Blairs + run

Running short on time we fast-forwarded to day 12 and day 11 as follows:

• Days 12 & 11 – SSH (48) + squats (44) + Burpees (8) – burpees were added via special request from a PAX who shall remain nameless
• We then moseyed back to the ranch

Brownie led us in Mary with some Mountain Climbers which was actually our Day 10 activity, the only one we missed at the pavilion.  So we officially covered all 12 days in case anyone was concerned.  Spandex surprised us with cofeeteria as we wrapped up which was an awesome gesture on his part as he recovers from injury.  And thanks to Viking for bringing us the mix this morning…well done as always.

COT:

Cheneral’s M is having surgery on 12/11 so we pray for a successful procedure and a quick recovery.  Tebow’s cousin Amber is in need of a new liver.  Please pray for her and her family and for a donor match in time to make a difference.  FNG Mark is having his gall bladder removed tomorrow and we pray for him to bounce back quickly.  I know full well that there is a lot going on in each of our lives right now (and always) that we simply don’t feel up to bringing to the COT but I pray that in the coming weeks each of you will feel the peace that only God can bring.  I’ve felt that Peace at times in my life and it truly ‘transcends all understanding’ as the apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:7.

Speaking of Christmas, @Cheneral invited us to enjoy Christmas Eve services at 5 pm at Christ Fellowship Church where he is on staff.  https://christfellowshipga.org/

Naked-Man Moleskin:

Name-a-Rama

We welcomed three FNGs!!!  My middle son came out and is now fondly known as @Clog.  Cheneral brought two others who are in ministry at Georgia Tech.  Welcome @Sludge and @Slippage .  As a reminder of how God works, my son just transferred to GT this semester and was struggling to connect with an campus ministry, especially since he doesn’t live on campus.  The two FNGs Cheneral brought are in the Campus Outreach ministry at GT so that connection was made today.  Then we learned one of the FNGs is training for an Iron Man which my son has set his sights on as well.  It looks like they may start training together when possible.  God is amazing, isn’t He?!!