First day of two-a-days and a dream come true!

So the first day of two-a-days is done. 4.5 miles on the Duvall trail this morning and another 2.5 miles in the gym tonight. I'm also starting a whey protein regimen tonight. Hopefully that will fill me up a bit and help shed a few more of those pounds I have left towards my goal. But tomorrow is going to be harder. I am speaking at Skyline High School tomorrow so I will have to get up at 5am to get my morning run in at the gym. I'm not used to running that early unless I'm at an active duty school or something. I can already tell I'll be tired tomorrow evening.

So the high point of my day was receiving my ticket to go see Ozzy in concert again. I'm not expecting too many people to understand, but I love seeing Ozzy in concert! This will be my fourth time seeing him and the second time in three months (he was just here for Ozzfest in Aug!). I am so psyched!!! Ozzy was the first tape I ever bought (do you even remember tapes? Yes I'm old!), the first concert I ever saw, and for the last three years he's been the last concert I've seen. But not for long...

Big surprise!!!! VANESSA CHARLTON is coming to town!!!!! So many of you won't understand until you finish reading about this story. While in Germany on annual training in 2004, I had to have emergency gall bladder removal surgery. I was sent to a German civilian hospital and during the surgery, the doctors lacerated my liver and bile ducts. I was slowly bleeding to death internally and needed a second surgery. During that second surgery I went into Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and fell into a coma. My parents were placed on active duty orders and flown to Germany to make the decision to pull the plug.

Every day for three or four days they met with the doctors and evaluated my condition. I wasn't getting any worse so they would 'give it another day'. My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) flew over also. She has some knowledge of how the brain works and so she started playing music to me. After a few days she went out to the Chech. boarder and picked up a few pirated cd's with music she knew I liked. Unfortunately there was no change in my condition, until one of my favorite songs played. Alarms on the medical equipment started to go off and nurses and doctors rushed in. After about 5-6 days of being in a coma my brain started to show signs of life. From the point that that song played, I started to recover.

I wouldn't come out of the coma until after a total of ten days, and that would only lead to 9 months of rehab and the diagnosis of my disease. But I would eventually get better. Within five months of returning home I made that girlfriend my wife, and we are still happily married. That song holds a very special place in both of our hearts for if she hadn't have played it, I might not be here today. That song was 'A Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Charlton. It has been a dream of mine to hear her perform that song live, and now that dream will come true.

Sorry Ozzy, until you come around again, Vanessa Charlton will be the last concert I see should I die. But that's ok.

I gotta run....