Wedded bliss

Yesterday Michelle and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary, and it is impossible for me to overstate how blessed I am in being able to share my life with her. She is the most giving, selfless, and loving person I know, as well as a lot of fun to be around, and possessing a great personality (and very beautiful, besides). Though my life seemed to be going down in flames in the early nineties when my wife Deb divorced me, then my father died not long after, and finally I suffered the accident that nearly ended my own life, still God had a plan and blessed me indescribably with Michelle.

Baseball

I am a huge and longtime fan of the Detroit Tigers - my first game at beloved Tiger Stadium (now torn down, and replaced following the 1999 season by the newly built Comerica Park) was in either 1965 or 1966, with the youth baseball program in Addison. (I then played on the Indians in the Pony League, precursor to Little League.) So their stellar performance this season is filling me with great glee. As of this writing, they are just coming off three consecutive 3-game series sweeps of rivals in the Central Division ... first the Chicago White Sox, then the Cleveland Indians, and this past weekend the Minnesota Twins. Their current nine-game winning streak is their longest since 1984, which is their most recent World Championship season. And their magic number for clinching the Central Division title (which would be their first divisional title since 1987) is now down to eight.
Accordingly, I was quite excited when they put playoff tickets on sale this morning at 10 AM, online. But it proved to be a frustrating experience. After being shunted to a Virtual Waiting Room for over a half hour, and finally getting through that, for the next 45 minutes I kept repeatedly getting the message, "We're sorry, we were unable to process your request due to high transaction volumes. Please try to submit your request again." And then, finally, I was told they were all sold out. So, I am now consoling myself that what I am left with will be, on the whole, a less expensive and more comfortable experience.

Academia

Since it had been my goal from the age of 16 onwards to earn my doctorate in music and teach college choir, I enjoyed hearing my students call me Dr. Borton. But now that I hear it no more, and am working with medical doctors, I'm reminded of a joking statement made my academic doctors - "Hi, I'm a doctor ... but not the kind that helps people." A few weeks ago, when I mentioned this to my friend Jerry Blackstone, who heads the choirs here at the University of Michigan, he replied, "Yeah - I'm the kind that screams at my choirs when they're not singing right!"

Transitions

I am allotted a full hour lunch break at work, and many days I've been using it for a brisk walk. This week I've discovered a walk I especially like ... a round trip of nearly 3 miles (which I'm doing in 51-52 minutes), down from the big hill on which the hospital is situated, east on Fuller (a main thoroughfare) to the North Campus of the University, and then up to the School of Music, where I earned my Master of Music degree (in choral conducting) in 1982, at the age of 25. This is a scenic walk, crossing the Huron River at one point, and then especially nice as it goes onto the paths of North Campus. And I like it, too, because it provides a kind of symbolic bridge between my new life and my old.











This has been a difficult transition, as all I had ever wanted to be from the age of 16 onwards was a college choir director. At least I got to do it for a few years! I earned my Doctor of Musical Arts degree (again, choral conducting) from Michigan State University in 1988 (age 31), and taught at southern Michigan's Olivet College until my May 1993 accident at the age of 36. But, with God's unfailing support, and the love and support of family and friends, I'm getting through it!

Work

My job (which I continue to think of as "new," even though it's been over a month now) continues to go well. It's still a nice challenge to have my keyboarding, listening, and spelling abilities all taxed, particularly late each afternoon, when the work really comes pouring in (typing of "consults," as outside physicians contact us, asking for a consultation from one of the University's faculty in Pathology, and it's my job to transcribe the faculty's dictation), and my colleagues seem to be depending on me to do increasingly more, and increasingly well. This is a good feeling - though still somewhat dizzying to be back to full-time work for the first time in 18 years! And it's all made much more feasible by the total support and help of my wonderful wife Michelle.

New job going well

My new position, transcribing consults for the Pathology faculty in University Hospital at the University of Michigan, is going well. I began on July 13, and what was originally promised as a one-month temporary position has already been extended to "at least through the summer ... and we'll hope to be able to keep you beyond that if the budget permits." They seem pleased with my work, and I am enjoying it very much. And my colleagues - Beth, Laurie, Benita, and Mary - are absolutely terrific, both friendly and helpful. In the early days of the position, they wanted me to work 8-5 in order to undergo training for various responsibilities that went with the position, but I was told that eventually they wanted me to work 10-7, and today is the first day of that new schedule (though I did have a one-day trial of it last Friday). So, all praise and glory to God for bringing this about!

New chapter in my life - I got that job!

I have borrowed the title for this post from an entry in the blog of my fellow grandfather to Isabelle, Wes Loewen. For the last several years, I've been training to enter a new career - as a medical transcriptionist (that is, one who takes physician-dictated recordings and turns them into written reports that then become part of the permanent record of the patient). Since finishing the training late in 2010, I had applied for numerous positions, but was universally turned down due to lack of experience. Then, a few weeks ago, I learned that a friend from church heads the Pathology department at the University of Michigan, so I asked if he could speak up for me. He had a meeting with their Human Resources person, and last Friday I got an email out of the blue saying that they'd like to hire me for a temporary position for a month or so, and wondering if I could come in on July 5 to check it out. So I spent the entire workday yesterday at University Hospital, doing sample reports, and by the end of the afternoon the supervisor came down to my cubicle to say that she'd received great reports on my speed and quality from neighboring workers, and she wanted to offer me the position, and extend it "at least through the summer - and, we hope, beyond, if the new fiscal year permits it." So, at long last, an 18-year drought in my full-time work history comes to an end - and I praise God for bringing this about, both directly and through the help of his children.

Firecracker 5K

I was happy to start off this holiday (the 104th anniversary of Dad's birth) by running the Firecracker 5K in downtown Ann Arbor. Conditions were splendid - 70 degrees, so it was warm but not hot, and with broken overcast. It was a course that did a one-mile loop from the starting line and then back to it, at which point Michelle saw me and got a picture; then there was a larger second loop that included a very special passage. In the latter part of it, we crossed the Diag, the hallowed central portion of the University of Michigan campus, replete with a metal block M sunk into the ground. As I crossed beside it (careful not to step ON it) I looked at my watch and quickly calculated that perhaps I could finish in under 33 minutes, which would have easily broken an 11-minute pace ... pretty good for me under recent conditions. But, alas! when I crossed the finish line my watch showed 34:08 (a pace of 11:00 even). Still, though, I'm glad to have done it, and improved somewhat on the 5K I ran in Lansing back on May 14 (34:34), and greatly over the 5K I ran at St. Olaf on June 4 (in a miserable 36:56).

New Chapter

For several years now I have been preparing to enter a new career as a medical transcriptionist - one who takes physician-dictated recordings and turns them into written reports that become part of the patient's permanent record. Since finishing the training late in 2010, I have applied to numerous positions, but have been uniformly turned down because they want someone with experience. However, recently a friend from church who is head of Pathology at the University of Michigan made some inquiries for me, and this past week I received an offer for a temporary position working for them. It may not be permanent yet, but it's an excellent first step, and way to gain that needed experience!

Comerica Park

Over the last few years, my friend Tom Brown and I have developed a tradition of celebrating his (June 20) birthday with a Detroit Tigers baseball game. This year, when they were out of town on his actual birthday, we went on June 25, taking in a great game in which they beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-0. This picture shows Tom and I in our seats just before the game began.

Izzy G.

I am finding that I am missing my granddaughter Isabelle Grace (whom her parents call Izzy G. :) fiercely right now, just having received a Father's Day card (or Grandpa's Day) in the mail. It is a VERY cool custom made card, replete with pictures of her, and her coloring decorating the card and the envelope.

This picture is one about which her mother said, "I came out into the living room to find Izzy not only naked, but sitting in our ottoman. Yes, my girl climbs into ottomans to hang out. I love her."

The second lovely picture of her is one that her mother took in mid-June 2011, and captioned simply, "Beauty."

New relatives

A few weeks ago, I gained some new relatives, with the birth of triplets who are my first cousins twice removed - Beau, Gigi, and Carlos Harris.

"Raindrops keep falling on my head ..."

This has been a tremendously rainy spring ... as I heard one of the Detroit Tigers' broadcasters say on the radio this afternoon, "the soggiest spring in recent memory." It has made for challenging runnin - my friend Roger Kappler emailed me today that he feels as if he is training for a Mud and Rain 5K. But I'm trying to keep after it as best I can, and am in the process of psyching myself up now to go out and run a few miles in the rain this afternoon.

Glass half full

Despite the sadness I can't help but feel at the departure of Christy and her family from Michigan, I am trying to find the good features in this change, as well ... and one thing that has strongly impressed me is that it will be WONDERFUL to visit them in Colorado. This picture is from when we were there for their wedding in July 2008, when I "bonded" with a neighboring horse through the fence adjacent to the home where they live.

Life's changing circumstances

This is kind of a bittersweet weekend for me. After being married in Colorado in July 2008 and living there for over a year, my daughter Christy and her husband Reggie have lived in Michigan for well over a year now (and my granddaughter Isabelle, shown here with her "Grandpa AB," was born in Lansing on Feb. 19, 2010).
However, they have hoped to be able to get back to Colorado. Christy and Reggie have both recently procured good jobs there, and Reggie has, in fact, had to be there for a few weeks now. Yesterday afternoon Christy and Isabelle flew out to join him. And while I am a bit sad to see them go, I'm utterly delighted for them, to see the way God has led them and their life is moving forward.

Easter - the resurrection of our Lord

Easter is coming up this Sunday, and it caused me to see what Wikipedia says about it:

"Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday (also Resurrection Day or Resurrection Sunday). The chronology of his death and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between AD 26 and 36, traditionally 33.

Praise God for this centerpiece of our faith!

Shamrocks & Shenanigans

On March 13, I ran a 5K race in Ann Arbor - this picture is as I struggled to top a large hill a little more than halfway through the race. The shirt reads "Lucky and Charming" -- though some might debate its accuracy! -- and it was amusing to hear a volunteer call that out to me as I passed.

Music City

I am currently in Nashville, Tennessee, on a church mission trip where we will be working to repair damage from last spring's severe flooding. When I was here on a similar trip in October, we were told that the damage was so extreme that they expected the work to continue for 2-5 years yet. This picture is from our lunch during the drive down from Ann Arbor yesterday, in Newport, Kentucky (across the river from Cincinnati).

March 31 - a big day!

Today is the birthday of my dear wife, Michelle. She is 10 years and 2 weeks younger than I, so, this morning, when I told her kiddingly, "You're getting old, like me!", she grinned and retorted, "Yeah - but I'll never catch up to you!"

Family dynamics

My Dad (b. July 4, 1907) was just shy of 50 years old when I was born, the eldest of three in his second family, and this sets up some interesting relationships. I was reminded of that this past week when my 86-year-old first cousin Curtis Link died. His mother, my Aunt Mildred, was one of Dad's older sisters, born in 1902 (dying in 1981), and I remember her clearly, even though by the time I first knew her she was already quite old, being 55 years my senior. Curtis was born in 1924, and I appreciated being at his service on Wednesday and hearing his daughter Kristi and granddaughter Amy reminisce about him. Curtis's father, Joe Link, died in late 1957, when I was not yet 9 months old, but I heard Dad speak glowingly about him very often.

Feb. 19 - a forever more significant date

My beloved granddaughter, Isabelle Grace Loewen, was on born on February 19, 2010 ... so today, as she turns one, I am moved to reflect on how special this date will always be from now on.

Aging, aging ...

I'm wondering if, at the beginning of the calendar year in which I will turn 54, I am slipping into a new phase in my life. So far, of the 15 days of 2011, I have already taken rest days from running on 6 of them. I like to think of myself as running every day but Sunday ... however, this is clearly not true in recent days. Well, I'll just do what I can, and not beat myself up over it.