December 26

We had a nice breakfast today to celebrate the end of fantasy football season. The team known as J3 (Jeremy, Jay and .. Todd) won, becoming the first 2 time winner in the 5 year history of the McAllen Fantasy Football League (MFFL). As per our tradition, the winner buys the group breakfast. The trophy was presented and money distributed. Actually I had to follow the Commissioner home to get my check for $355 which is going toward my Las Vegas fund.

This afternoon we had lunch with Sam (today is his birthday) Lori and Lauren. Then we saw the movie "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. I thought it was good, three stars. Easier to relate to after being married with kids.

This evening Susan was hard at work on our Vegas trip. She decided that the Mandalay Bay was a better hotel for our purposes so we were able to change that on Travelocity. I'll still get to play golf at Shadow Creek, so all is well. We are also going to see Viva Elvis on New Year's Eve. Very Vegas!

Christmas Day 2009

We had a Christmas visitor last night. Not Santa, but a young woman speaking Spanish. She rang our doorbell at midnight, awaking me from a long winter's nap, and with a bit of a start. I had dozed off on the couch and gone to bed early after a big dinner and opening presents Christmas Eve as is our custom.

I thought that the person at the door (a shorter female I could see through the glass) might be some friend of Sarah's. This person had arrived in a Ford pickup (not a sleigh) and had a cell phone in hand so she was not helpless or desititute.

She was looking for Enedelia. No hay Enedelia aqui. Isn't this 312? Yes, but.... My best guess was that she was looking for some friend/relative of Mariana so I gave her that number and she seemed content and left and drove off. I hope she found the right 312 and there was room at that inn.

This morning I went for a run. It was so quiet you could hear birds chirping and even the stop lights flashing. Getting home we had breakfast and then opened our stockings. Then lunch, then dinner. With visitors, meal times come fast and regularly for this cook.

We did go visit our friend Javier working in the hospital emergency room today. Thanks to those who do that work on these holidays. They are the "necessary personnel" of this life.

Christmas Eve - Another memory

A few years back I had the opportunity to go inside my old house growing up at 6142 Olympia. The house was being remodeled and the door was open and no one was living there so I took Sarah for a visit.

Walking through the house, the area that I remember most vividly was the front room where we placed our Christmas tree each year. We lived in that house through the 5th grade for me (1976) and always had the tree in that same place. We used to have Christmas home movies and I can picture us unwrapping the presents since our custom then was to open them on Christmas Day (preferably in the pre-dawn hours about 6:30 a.m.!)

I recall my sister Elizabeth decorating the tree one year by hanging several balls on the lighting wires. It was a nice touch seeing the wire sag under the weight.

When I was about 8, I received a fine present of a hand made workbench by my grandfather who I called "Pawpaw". He had the Cadillac of workbenches in his garage as far as I was concerned and spent a lot of time there. He had all the tools and all the gear.

He made a workbench for me sized for an 8 year old boy. It had some tools with it: a screwdriver, a small hammer. And most importantly, little jars with the top nailed on the top shelf of the bench to keep nails and screws in, just like he had. He obviously had noticed that I admired his bench and he decided to make one custom for me.

Entirely hand made - he must had started early to finish it in time - brought it from Beaumont to Houston in his car - sized for me at that age - no buying something off a store shelf for him. What an effort he made!

I had that bench out in the garage until we moved. I am sure I grew bigger than it and it became a little small. But I do recall it being there until we moved. You can imagine it was built to last.

I have my own bench now. My friend Dale made it for me when we lived in Houston in the 90s. Sometimes it seems it just is a place to put things on, but I do enjoy using it now and then for working on something. Pawpaw's work made an impression!

Here is a nice holiday memory video from Darius Rucker about a memorable present when he was 12. Who knows whose life will be changed on Christmas Day?

http://www.cmt.com/videos/misc/466821/2009-holiday-memories-darius-rucker.jhtml?id=1628668

The Decade in Review

I received my Rolling Stone magazine recently with "00" on the cover. The issue was dedicated to a review of the 2000s. This decade went quickly and is also worthy of review on This Blog.

Global terrorism hitting the big Western nations affected all of us in the world. Sept 11 2001 was a defining moment we still live with. Not just Americans - when we were in London there was a 9/11 monument. Britain has their 7/7 and Spain the subway bombings. Many soldiers are in Iraq and Afghanistan as a result. Many lives lost.

We are still recovering from the global financial meltdown. Remember Enron? A top performing company in 1999 is down the drain. Home foreclosures, bank bailouts, low interest rates. Financially no one is better off than they were 10 years ago.

Consumer spending is still riding high. With flat, noninflationary pricing and no real investment competition, the ability to buy consumer good and keep the economy churning has reached mainstream status. Retailers always find a way to get in everyone's pocket.

Our move to McAllen TX from Houston in 2002 was a defining step. While its nice to be in a smaller town, I've done more traveling since moving here than I ever did. Prices are certainly low but McAllen is a worldly places and many here set a good example of getting away. That's been a plus.

In the legal world, I have expanding by choice into new areas that I desired to get into: bankruptcy, mechanic's liens, debt collection litigation. I've worked with various Fortune 500 companies, a long time goal. I've continued in two towns to create a significant base of physician clients. I've created two practices in two distinct regions in my career. As I told a friend who was looking for a challenge: "You could move to a new town and start your own law practice!" He wasn't as tough however.

Tort reform has certainly reformed the old way of doing things locally. I've witnessed the change in McAllen - the old dogs have had to learn new tricks which they have not done. The old guard is still holding to old ways but I think I'm on the cusp of what is new. The good old boy network is crumbling and aging and I'm poised to springboard past it to a new network based on more significant traits of a person: content of character to paraphrase MLK.

End of the week

This week has gone by fast. I had expected that there would be a slowing of work but I've been getting lots of new work. I haven't counted but I'm definitely closer to the 52 new matters for the year. Plenty of time to count later.

Today there was a meeting at the court of the judges and attorneys. It was the first time we had got together like that. Informative and collegial. It was something different to be a meeting like that.

There was a Tamale party at the Chamber of Commerce today. I did enjoy talking with my friend Monica from church there. We have a similar life outlook. She is an agent for Met Life.

We're schedule to view our family photos next Monday so I'm looking forward to that. Not easy to get everyone together but we did manage to do it for the photo and it was a lot of fun to take those photos. It was in the nice backyard of our photographer.

We're all scheduled for vacation in Las Vegas starting Dec. 30, so that will be a nice opportunity to all be together also.

Austin in Feb 2010

I've signed up for the Austin Marathon in Feb. 2010. I changed the Houston Marathon to the Half 13.1 and will still plan on a visit then.

But Austin will be a new course, different sights. I'll run right by my old school and through the old neighborhood. Plus I'll have another month to train.

Weekend in Houston

I went to Houston for the weekend to visit my parents. I was supposed to leave Friday but it SNOWED in Houston.

Dad called to suggest I come later and I was able to change my flight via Southwest with no penalty due to weather. So I stayed home Friday night (which was enjoyable) and left Saturday at 10:45. Actually with two days of flights put into one, I didn't leave until 12:00 p.m. arriving 1:00 p.m We had lunch at a favorite place Southwell's and then went to the Houston CC to hit some balls. After we went out and met Richard and Kenny. Richard was to provide me some rental clubs for our game Sunday. He promised to "put a set together" for me. Callaway, Ping, Cobra? I chose Ping.

After Susannah came over and we had dinner at Ed and Kate's before the UT/Nebraska Big 12 Championship came on. I watched the 1st half there and then went to Elizabeth's to watch the rest. Mom & Dad tend to go to bed early.

What a finish! Talk about winning ugly. But that is what teams of destiny do - they win games that others would lose. UT 13, Nebraska 12. Looking forward to the BCS Championship on Jan. 7 2010.

This morning I got up to go run. Have not done so since Wednesday. I enjoyed a 6 mile run, got some Starbucks and got home just in time to change and head back to the golf course with Ed.

We teed off at 10:00 with Richard and his daughter Laurie. That was a pleasant surprise. It was cool and misty all day but we did get in 18 holes and I hit the rental clubs well. Shot 87 from the "forward tees". Memorial is still long enough from there. Aftewards it was straight to the airport where I finally got a real meal at Barry's Pizza and caught the 3:45 flight to HRL and then back home.

Dad & Daughter

I had a nice day with my dear daughter. She sent me a text during the day to pick her up early at 3:00 p.m. One of the benefits of being a good student: get out of school when you like :) So I went to get her since she had advisory during the last period (study hall). She need to leave early to....

go shop at Wal Mart for large candy cane props for the Color Guard parade on Friday.

Then later just as I was settling in, she announced we should go to Target to get warm clothes for the parade since its been cold. So off we go. She had fun shopping and showed off the whole outfit she got for tomorrow.

We got to talking about loud sneezing, a trait we share. She told me about sneezing loudly in class during someone's presentation. I told her about sneezing during the Briargrove Elementary spelling bee.

I was in the 4th grade and we were watching from the audience for the 5th grade championship. It was the finals. A word was asked: "superfluous".

S-U-P-E-R- F...[AAAAHHH CHOOOO!!!!]

{entire audience looks around at me]

Teacher: Please start over

Student: S-U-P-E-R-F-L-O-U-S

Teacher: Wrong

Everyone in the school blamed me for that. "She had it right before you ruined it" True or not, that's what they thought. I didn't even know the person. I recall I did know how to spell the word.

Now its 11:45 pm and I'm cooking pasta for her while she does her homework. She complimented me that I was always around. I told her many children could not say that so I think we're doing OK

Another Blog - Go Turley Go!

I've created another blog to hold the info from my old Yahoo 360 blog from 2006 to 2009. All valuable, copyrighted, original writing by Mr. Gregory Turley. It has a unique place in American History and I expect that it will inspire future generations for the better.

http://goturleygo.wordpress.com

Don't worry - you'll continue to get regular updates here and I expect to merge the two at some point.

From Jeff Galloway

In response to a mean-spirted comment about slower marathon runners.

From Jeff Galloway, someone who has done a lot to inspire many to attempt the marathon (including me!)

Amen!

______________

Almost all of the runners I hear from respect anyone who takes on the marathon challenge because it tends to change one's life for the better. I've spoken to hundreds of very accomplished people (CEOs, engineers, inventors, artists, professors, even professionals in other sports) who place the finishing of a marathon at the top of their list of lifetime achievements.

While we are experiencing an epidemic of obesity due to inactivity, one-tenth of one percent of the population gets off the couch, and makes the difficult journey to the marathon finish line. The challenges experienced during the extended training and the race itself force almost every marathoner to dig deeply. Most discover hidden resources which empower them to confront other challenges in life. According to several experts that I have interviewed, each back-of-the-pack marathoner influences several dozen sedentary citizens to change their health behaviors for the better.

The finishing of a marathon bestows a unique sense of worth that can last for a lifetime - regardless of finish time. We need to salute the efforts of those at the back who did not inherit the genetic material to run on a collegiate cross country team, but who inserted training into busy career and family schedules, improved their health and inspire others.