Life is Messy Woman yell for help while Baby screams into the night - Heroin in Juneau Alaska

As I was jogging tonight I though of my trip to Alaska or rather a part of it I must have put somewhere deep in my head to forget.

I had just got back from my visit to Glacier Bay and was staying in Juneau. I went shopping after a little hike and was walking back to my hotel groceries in hand. It was a pitch-black night about 50 degrees the mountains creeping in from all sides. I had my bear spray on my belt since I knew there were bears all over this town. I heard a woman yelling then it turned to screams for help. I hear a baby start crying and smashing noises. For a second I though I must have been hearing things. I was hearing something it turned out to be a bad case of domestic violence 100 yards ahead of me. Across from my hotel there was a house and a lot that looked abandoned. There was a truck camper in the lot, a little one like you fit on the back of a pickup truck. I don't know what all was inside the little camper but as I walked quickly towards it I heard a woman screaming for help and a baby screaming in pain. I also heard smashing and a man yelling. I almost rushed right in with my can of bear spray. Really I was a second from doing it bear spray in hand. Then I thought about my kids and family. 

I quickly called the police and told them what was going on and where I was. Picture me standing shaking, bear spray in hand, across the street from a trailer with what sounded like a woman and child being killed. I remember my cousin saying that Heroin had gotten bad in Juneau. I think this was part of the result. I started yelling that I called the police and a drunk man came out of nowhere and started yelling at the people in the trailer to stop. I yelled more and less than 2 minutes later 4 squad cars rolled up silent but lights flashing. 8 police got out, I yelled where to go and they all extended beating sticks. I could still hear the baby crying and the woman crying for help so I don’t think they were dead. I darted into the lobby of my hotel as the police broke into the trailer. After that I hid. I was scared someone would come for me. My hotel was across the parking lot from the camper and my room access was outside facing the camper and the police. Anyone looking would know where I was. 

After that nothing happened. Silence filled the night. I am still alive and I think the woman and child are. I know their screams will haunt me for the rest of my life. I don't know if I did exactly the right thing but I think I did. 

Life is scary and messy, embrace what you can and be safe.

Death of the last Grandparent , Driving 4 kids around Driving me Nutz, Fall Weight loss and more!

So I learned last week that my last grandparent, Helen Hinton had passed away. She was 90 years old. She was a loving person who always saw the best in life and lived unconditionally. I was not close to my dad growing up for many reasons. He and my mother separated when I was 3 years old. Good or bad that was how it was. I saw my moms family a lot and my dads family a lot less. Over the years I lost my grandparents on my moms side, my grandpa Hinton passed away a long time ago in his 60's. He was a green beret in a select group named Merrill's Marauders he picked up some nasty jungle rot in his foot and passed before his time. Grandma lived alone in Winthrop Minnesota and as I got older I started to visit on my own. Usually 3-4 times a year I would drive down with the kids and bring lunch. It was a good time to connect. On January 1st of this year I got the call that she had a stroke and would be in the nursing home. Well it kinda sucked. She hated being there but she needed full time care. Me and the kids visited 5-6 times over the 9 months she was there. a week and a half ago I got the call that she had a massive stroke and would not be on the earth much longer. I packed the kids up in the car and we went and visited one last time. Although grandma could not talk I know she could hear me  and I could feel family members that have already passed smiling down from Heaven ready to welcome her home. 

We learned 3 days later that grandma had passed away. We celebrate her life tomorrow night and a Catholic funeral will follow on Friday. I am happy I have no regrets about my visits with grandma and she will be happy in Heaven. A note of advice - make the time in life to visit loved ones, even if you think life lasts forever you never know what will happen and you can always work more tomorrow.

On a more annoying topic driving 4 kids around AHHHHH!

I traditionally resist signing my kids up for things that are to far away or that require a large time commitment of parents sitting and waiting. You just can't do it when you have 4. In the past we have had grandparents help drive to and from tennis and swimming lessons and other special after school events. This year our oldest is going youth ministry at our church, service work feeding the poor and helping run club on Sundays. This means at least 3 days a week to and from our church 30 minutes away. Then our youngest is in preschool 2 days a week and at the YWCA 3 days a week. each one of these is 2-3 hours and requires drop off and pickup. Leaving me about 2 hours or less of time to get work done. On top of my day to day kid driving there are special events, these seem to happen at least 2-3 times a week. Either a choir or orchestra concert, meeting with teachers, come club after school or a field trip or sporting event. Then there is all the stuff that I want to do, like Twin Cities Startup Week this week  #TCSW I swear we need Uber for kids =) 

Only partially kidding on that, if you have kids you either know what I am talking about or you soon will. Funny thing about this is when I talk to my mom about it she says she never did as much running around for family stuff as I do. What has our generation done to itself?

My weight oh my weight. 

I have not gained weight since last week but I have also not dropped weight. I have been working out more. Adding in power lifting and trx as well as a little running. I am holding off on a lot of running until I lose a little weight. I have been doing 40-60 minutes of cardio on a non impact arc trainer 3-5 days a week. I am also still kickboxing with my oldest every week. I think or rather I know I need to keep decreasing my portions and stay away from sweets. This is really hard with the funeral because I tend to stress eat. I will make it through somehow.

I hope you are having a great week. Wherever you are on your parenting and weight loss or workout journey I wish you the best. Come lift with me anytime!

-Gabe

Coffee with Mushrooms and Fasting oh My ( Organo Gold W Ganoderma lucidum/ Reishi )

So I have been working on losing weight with little change and I am always looking at ways to make some extra money in my spare time. In a family with 2 adults and 4 kids things are always expensive. After messaging with a friend on facebook who I met through a beach body p90 group I decided to try a new coffee - Organo Gold.

It is very interesting the idea is basically blend organic good coffee with powdered mushrooms. The result is a fairly smooth less caffeinated coffee with the benefits of an ancient mushroom. I tried it for a day and it seems like something I can get into. That was Friday.

Then we went to the cabin for the weekend. Caught some fish and hung out in the beautiful Wisconsin fall weather and Sunday we headed home.

Sunday night about 3am I woke up dizzy. More dizzy than I have ever been in my life. I was laying in bed spinning and when I tried to get up I almost fell down.  I got up for a little while and went back to bed. When I woke up a little later I saw the news of the shooting in Las Vegas and decided to do something I haven't done for some time. I fasted!!

When I was a child my mother and I would fast a whole day and pray to get in touch with the great spirit and as a kind of giveaway. I didn't eat anything all day and I prayed about the world and the future.

Well when I woke up Tuesday morning I was feeling great, I had lost 8 pounds since Saturday and everything was good. I don't know if the dizzy spell was a detox from taking the Organo Gold or not. I am willing to give it a try again. I know that I felt better mentally after fasting for a day. Both because I spend the day busy and praying and because in todays world it is  not often that many of us actually feel hungry.

I am not going to starve myself as I get back on a roll with eating less and exercising more but it is interesting to really feel your body hungry. Many people in the world feel it all the time.

Tonight I am back to kickboxing at the gym. Come join me sometime!

I hope to write next week and have my weight keep going down. Where ever you are in your journey keep up the good work and focus on Self love, Love you as you are and it will make positive change much more possible.

Peace,

Gabe