It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To!

This is a bitter sweet blog. This morning started with tearful phone call crying to Jen and begging her to come and get me. I felt like a little kid that was homesick at camp. My knee hurt so bad and I couldn't bend it. My knee was the same size as my quad. It hurt to walk, sit, or do anything. There was no urgent care in York so we decided to look elsewhere. I climbed in the support van and very teary eyed watched my friends ride away. I took up residence in the back seat and longed for the day to end. (Side note: I did find out that there are more than 4,710 squares on the backseat. When I was in wrestling I used to count the lights in a gym, Now I count squares on a seat.) All day we were trying to locate a facility that could treat my knee and we were having no luck. Jen, being the persistent, overprotective, caring wife that she is got ahold of my doctor in Burwell who asked what it looked like. After explaining it to him he thought that staying off the bike might not be the best solution. He gave a regimen of Tylenol and Motrin and told me to ice like crazy. He told me that it will hurt, but I need to ride to get that fluid moving. The Don Francisco song “He’s Alive” comes to mind. Some of the lyrics are "He's alive! He's alive! He's alive and I am forgiven Heavens gates are open wide..." That is the feeling I have. I feel like a have a new lease on life. Tonight I am going to go ride a little around the church parking lot to see how things go and see what I am in for tomorrow.

Thank you for all your prayers. Tomorrow we are heading to Nebraska City and I will be donning the red jersey again!! GO BIG RED!! Hopefully I can listen to the game during the ride. Unfortunately I need to apologize about the post last night. My Vikings lost. May we have a moment of silence.... ....Ok shake it off and lets RIDE!!!

Pastor Busch

Single Parenting, Day 4...Nothing like having a good cry!~

Howdy friends and family! Wow...what can I say what a day! My morning started before 7 with a phone call from Dave, who was crying on the phone because he was in so much pain...now for those of you who know Dave, he is not that type of person! To make a long story short, his knee was in so much pain he didn't think he was going to make it! But, being the person that I am, I strongly encouraged him to ride the van, suck it up, and push through...and he did!

Meanwhile, on the homefront here in Burwell, we had our very own minature soap opera taking place. Jacob tells me at 7:15 that he actually did have homework and it wasn't done, Caleb is begging me to read books for AR, and Jalise was in no mood to be put down so that I could do any of that!

After a very short and intense 45 minutes, Jacob and Caleb were off to school leaving Jalise, Isaac and I searching for an Urgent Care facility that we could schedule Dave an appointment at! Note to self, large towns are very expensive when it comes to medical care. Because of that, Dave took stock in Motrin and Tylenol and BioFreeze to survive the day.

The afternoon also proved to be a trying one. I had an agenda that consisted of finishing up all the laundry and starting in on the basement and working on my sermon, only to wind up not accomplishing much because of a check in my spirit about a phone call I needed to make, a very tired and cranky baby who would not take a nap, then dealing with a backyard full of kids after school...

As we were getting ready for bed, the boys were packing up to go to Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house for the next two days, and I went down to check on them in the room only to be greeted by a wall of toys, clothes, and shoes and a stench that only boys can create...and that's when the smoke started rolling out of my ears. I quietly walked away fuming, muttering under my breath, "Just you boys wait until you get home and find your room empty! Ha! Then who will have the last laugh...!"

Tonight Julia and I are going to watch a movie and have one of my all time favorites...Coke Floats and Kettle Korn! Julia has never had a coke float so this will be a fun time!

From my emotional, fuming, coke floating picture window to yours, have a great night!

"Can't Touch This"...In more ways than one!

Here I am again, but this time I am in much agony..thus the title of Can't Touch This. If you rewind with me, I crashed during the Calamus Half Century Bike Ride in June and skinned my knee pretty bad. I had a nasty infection, but it eventually went away—or so I thought! Last Friday, after finishing up my final week of intense training for the ride, my knee was a little sore and I wasn't sure why until Tuesday night. The infection came BACK!!! Now my knee is huge and extremely painful. If I sit in one position for long it is hard to move. Fortunately, for now if I start riding it seems to get the idea to work and it hasn't caused me any problems riding yet. However it is the biggest it has been. Enough of that for now.

The ride today was an awesome one! I rode the farthest I have ever ridden. Yes 100.2 miles in 6 hrs and 20 minutes. I averaged 16 miles an hour. I took it easy the first 40 miles and was trying to conserve my energy because I was not sure if I would have the umph to go all 100. The first 25 miles we rode South and into the wind and then we turned West and the wind was behind us. Some people took off, but I just took my time and hung out with some of the riders. Around the 40 mile mark, I was tired of loafing and decided it was time to kick it down. At 50 miles we turned into the wind again for a 25 mile jaunt, and it was time to ride!! There was one guy ahead of me and about 12 miles from lunch I saw him a half mile ahead and I decided it was time to catch him. Other than a 4 mile hill it was a fun ride and I caught him just outside of Seward. Here we stopped for Chinese food. It is my favorite type of food and it was good, but I do not recommend it when you are on an intense physical endeavor! My stomach did not appreciate it.

After lunch we had 30 miles left and the wind was at our back. Kelvin Nygren and I decided it was time to ride and we put the hammer down. Traveling 20 - 22 miles an hour those 30 miles just flew by. We arrived in York ahead of the pack and desperately in need of a bathroom! (Thank you Chinese food—NOT!) Here we were treated to a police escort through town and I was blown away by what I saw at the church. Jen was here!! She totally surprised me and came to York to greet me. I have the best wife in the world. When we got to the church Jalise and Isaac were there with her. Jacob and Caleb couldn't be there because of school. The church had music playing for us and Jalise was dancing it up with other Pastors to the song Can't Touch This (another reason for the title!)

After seeing my knee, being the good wife she is, Jen called the doc and he called a prescription in for me and hopefully my knee will start getting better. Thankfully tonight I have a football game as a distraction since my wife left…we are heading to Toby's room to watch the Vikings beat the Saints and then go to bed.

Tomorrow we head 55 miles to Crete. Unfortunately it looks like another wind in our face day. Please pray my knee gets better. I really want to ride and I don't want to damage my knee. Thanks for all your support!!

Pastor Busch

Single parenting...Day 3...a Day of Travel!

Howdy friends and family! Today was a day of surprises for Daddy! Jalise, Isaac, and I were able to travel to York (via Grand Island for 15 month old pics for the little lady) to surprise Daddy when he rode into town! Such fun!

We left shortly after the two oldest Busch boys had gone to school and headed to Grand Island Sears Portrait Studo for pictures...and today was the best session we have ever had with her! She did great! After that, we were able to meet with Pastor Garrett for lunch at Perkins and then head to York!

We arrived at the church about 15 minutes before the riders came in! When Dave rode up the hill I was so excited to see him....Jalise was just about jumping out of my arms screaming because she saw her Daddy and Isaac was holding a welcome sign!

We were able to spend about 4 hours with Dave...2 more than originally planned because of the infection in his knee...It was great to be able to see him and love on him though.

Our ride home was uneventful other than driving through the plague of frogs, missing a possum and a racoon! We got home later than planned, but it was so worth it to see Dave!

I have many more pictures posted on Facebook. Be sure to check them out too!

With much love from our picture window to yours, have a great day!

Exhausted and Poopy!??!

Today I am totally exhausted. Today we rode for 70 miles and 50 of them were into the wind. We started out with some really cool rolling hills. Most people hated them, but my riding partner, Dale Ackerman (the guy in the picture to the right) and I loved them! We cruised right through them! At one point we reached a top speed of 36 mph! After we turned South at Pender, life got difficult. We rode into the wind, but Dale and I pressed on. About 10 miles before lunch, my gas tank hit empty and I had to drop out of the lead. I kept in sight of the leaders, but I couldn't catch them. At this point pedaling wasn't a physical activity anymore it was a mental command. "Put your foot down! Now the other! Kind of like Dora from the movie Nemo—just keep swimming—or should I say just keep pedaling!!"

We stopped at West point for lunch at the Pizza Ranch and met some dear friends--the Libby's . Karen Libby said she had been following the blog and just had to see my amazing calves! AARRRRGGGHHHH.

We took off out of West Point and it started to rain! “Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse powered bike!” (Oh dear, Christmas has come to my head!) One funny side note was that as I approached Ariannah Denny I quietly rode up beside her and in my best British accent I said, "Excuse me, do you have any Grey Poupon?" She laughed so hard she almost wrecked. Then I took off in chase of the lead again.

My riding buddy, Dale, and I were setting some record paces in between stops. It was fun to just see what we could do. During one of the legs of the ride, Dale got a flat tire and it took 15 minutes for the next riders to catch up to us. After we changed the tire, we both agreed it was time to chase them down and we caught them at the next stop. It was fun. The sad part is that Dale left today. He had obligations to fulfill and could not complete the ride, so I am looking for someone else who likes to push hard and go fast. Tomorrow we are going to ride 100 miles--the infamous Century Ride. We will end up in York, Ne. The cool part is that if the wind holds, it will be at our backs for part of the trip. Dear Lord, it’s me again…please let the wind be at our backs!!

Tonight I am a little saddle sore and stiff, but my wife is continuing to encourage me. This evening I received a kite and a card from her! Between Jen’s surprise encouragement and a good nights sleep I hope to wake up feeling refreshed and ready to ride! Thank you for all your prayers and those that have helped make this trip happen!!

Pastor Busch

Single Parenting-Day 2-The View From My Picture Window...by Jen

Howdy Friends and Family! Well my morning started earlier than Dave's! It started at 4 a.m. with a wake up call from none other than 15 month old Jalise Raelynn! She woke up happy and ready to play! Well, since we all know that is far from my hour of conscienceness, this was not an option. I took her back to my bed and tried to sleep but of course, she had other ideas. Slowly but surely, Jalise let sleep overtake her but not without a few of her own antics of course. Around 4:45 a.m., I felt a pair of little feet on my leg. Now to most, this would be no big deal, but when a certain little girls jammies consist of footed pants, this gave me reason to investigate further! Feeling that nothing was missing other than a pair of pants, I drifted back to sleep...only to be awakened again 20 minutes later. This time though, I felt something much different...something one should not feel in the middle of the night while cuddling with said daughter! If you have let your mind wander, many thoughts may be cruising through...well put the brakes on and continue reading...Jalise had decided that she no longer wanted to wear her diaper! She had successfully taken it off and peacefully fallen into a deep sleep! Believe you me, that diaper had disappeared! I searched as best as I could in the dark, but finally gave up and went and got a new diaper and redressed that sleeping little girl! She didn't even stir!

Soon enough, the alarm went off and it was time to get the boys moving toward school. Thankfully lil Miss Jalise slept on and I was able to get some much needed cleaning done. Jalise woke up around 8:30 and we went through our morning preparations for the day...got her bath out of the way, lotioned, but left her to run around in her diaper...Needless to say, Big Mistake!

As I was finishing up picking the toys out of the bathtub, Isaac came running to the bathroom screeching something about Jalise being poopy and needing a change. Thinking I had a minute, I turned to tell him that it would be ok and I would change her as soon as I was done, only to be greeted by Isaac holding Jalises poopy diaper and Jalise standing right beside him, covered in poop! She had painted herself! Welcome to bath number 2! As soon as we were finished with that, she was dressed for the day with pants and a onesie! No more stripping 15 month old Busch girl!

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, other than a well child check for Jalise and a nice thunderstorm. Today was her 15 month birthday, and she weighed 20 lbs and was 30 inches long. We did find out though that she is battling her first case of tonsillitis--but thankfully we got on top of it before it was out of control!

The boys came home from school, homework was finished, books were read and believe it or not...I grilled steak! The boys were so surprised that I actually made steak and mashed potatoes and green beans! They thought for sure that Daddy was hiding somewhere! He wasn't and that became a reality when we SKYPED with him tonight and the boys and Jalise tried to touch him through the computer. Jalise waved to him over and over and tried to get him to come to her, but with no avail. Soon enough we will see him again and be able to hold him in our arms!

Thanks again to those that have called to check in or email! We appreciate it! If you are following our blog, leave us a comment on here! We would love to hear from you. You can encourage Pastor through the comments here!

Soooo, from our early morning, stripping, poopy picture window to yours, have a great night!

Day 1...Catch me if you can!

I made it 73 miles (this was our goal) and we had a great wind at our backs. We stopped every ten miles and it was an interesting day. We started off at around 7:30 with a group picture and we rode as a pack through town. At a stop light I went to take off and my back wheel had come loose so I had to stop and get it tightened back up. I rejoined the pack outside of town and as I was making my way to the front, I dropped a water bottle and had to turn around to get it. Talk about a discouraging start to the day! After I got all the mishaps out of the way I was ready to ride. (That would be me hanging from the Nebraska sign!) After one of the stops I thought I would ride with the guys in the front and I never looked back. We were riding around 24 mph and it was a blast! I had the privilege of being the first rider across the Missouri river and was part of a flying diamond pack that got to the church first, but I will tell you more about that later. We ate lunch at a little restaurant called Grannys. The special of the day was hot beef and when the waitress told us she baked her own bread we were sold. They were huge and boy did they taste good. Go figure the first rider to the restaurant was the last one to leave. I had to play catch up again, but it wasn't long and I was up in front and a group of three guys decided to follow the lead of Pastor Kevin Roach (pastor of River Hills A/G) as he led the charge to his home church. For ten miles Kevin, Kelvin Nygren, Dale Ackerman, and I rode in a tight diamond formation. There was one in front, two in the middle, and one in back. We were going around 24 mph and we left the pack behind us. It was a surreal moment--all of the riders said it just felt right. We wished we could of gotten a picture of us all riding with in arms reach of each other. It is a moment we will not soon forget.

Upon reaching the church we inspected our bikes and I found out that my back tire was cut and needed to be replaced. Not a fun time! There was an awesome potluck service tonight at the church and then some awards were handed out for the day. I was given the fastest rider award for the day and Jen surprised me with a belated anniversary card! It was so cool. Everybody is saying that I have the biggest calves on the ride and they made me get on a chair and model my legs! It was a little embarrassing, but oh well I guess it was alright, it helped me get the job done!

Tomorrow we head down the road to Fremont and the current forecast is a slight chance of showers and we will be riding into a 0 to 15 mph head wind! It should be interesting. We are looking at riding around 80 miles tomorrow!

Thanks for those that called and expressed your concern. I appreciate all your prayers!

Pastor Busch

Day 1--The View From My Picture Window...by Jen

Howdy friends and family! For those of you who have been following along on this journey that we are on, you will know that I set out a hefty "to do" list for myself today since Pastor is gone and wasn't quite sure how well I would sleep in an empty bed. My sleeping was short as I shared my bed with Jalise last night but my to do list...To all those who were cheering for me...I DID IT! :) My list consisted of cleaning up the living room, getting ALL the laundry done and hung on the line to dry, unloading the trailer of all our camping supplies drying them out/putting them away, repacking the trailer--which was no easy feat (rolling an extra large tent all by myself and making it fit in the bag was a site!), moving the trailer back to the church, figuring out how to unhook it from the van...oh yeah! Well, I did it!

I also was able to take in the first home game of the Lady Longhorn Volleyball team and cheer for our Julia Nielsen...(our foreign exchange daughter!) She had a great game with an awesome spike! (I will post the picture tomorrow!)

Tomorrow's list consists of more of the same...cleaning, cooking, except add a dr. appt in there for Jalise! She turns 15 months old tomorrow!!! Hard to believe that!

As far as I am concerned, we survived Day 1...we all miss Daddy, especially the boys, who think he is going to be home from work soon. Today at lunch we heard a motorcycle and Isaac said to me, "Oh Daddy is coming home! I didn't know he rode his motorcycle! What did he do with his bike?" Nothing like breaking a little guys heart for a moment...but then at supper I told them he would be home in 6 sleeps...that made it a little easier for the moment. Tomorrow night we will be able to SKYPE with him so that will help too!

Thanks again to those who have called or stopped by! From my very busy single parenting picture window to yours, have a great night!

Love to you all!

Jen

Picture of the crew leaving South Dakota .

Quick update from Jen...Pastor Dave called at 1:40 p.m. and said that they had safely made it to South Sioux...it was a chilly ride this morning. I have posted a picture below of the crew.

Bike Ride drop off

Well the great adventure has begun. I (Pastor Busch) am presently sitting in a motel in Yankton, SD. The past few days have been a whirlwind. I have been camping with my family, my brother and his family and my parents in the Black Hills, so I rode around out there a little bit and I now fully understand why they call them the "hills." I think there are significantly more up hills then downhills. At least that is the case where I was riding.

Now I am getting myself ready to ride in the morning. We have around 65 miles tomorrow and we leave at 7:00 in the morning. I hope that it is warmer than it has been in the past few days. There are a bunch of people riding and I am by far not the youngest. In fact I would say I am in the upper crust of the age group. It looks like tomorrow we are supposed to have a tail wind and everybody is excited about that! Thank you for all that have been and are praying for us as we embark on this journey!

Pastor Busch

Now for Jen's entry...I left my man in South Dakota tonight and came home with a trailer and a tired family after camping for a weekend in the hills. I miss him already. This will be the longest we have ever been apart! Tomorrow I will attempt to unload a trailer, dry out a wet tent from camping in the rain (it never fails when we camp that sometime we will get rained on) and get many loads of laundry done and the house picked up. **NOTICE I SAID ATTEMPT!**

The ride home was noisy, as Jalise had more than enough of her carseat about 45 minutes outside Yankton. We arrived home at 9:15. Thankfully we missed two deer this time! So for now, goodnight...we shall see how sleeping in an empty bed goes...