I figured it out.
Yes, I figured out what I did today -- sometime between 4 and 7:30 a.m. this morning, that is.
Perhaps my best friend, Bill, was going to the B-CS Marathon in College Station to support the approximately ten runners in his training group that were running the marathon or half marathon.
I always enjoy the time that I get to spend with him.
And was possibly looking forward to hanging out with him earlier today.
Meanwhile, the 30K in Sugar Land is a race that I announced a couple of years for race director Andy Stewart.
I haven't continued just because I didn't have fun as there were a number of impediments - and absolutely nothing negative on Andy - for me doing the things I do well.
The biggest is Sugar Land's noise ordinance and no amplified sound prior to 7 a.m.
There's a rhythm that eminates from making pre-race announcements into the rest of the day and without being able to do that, it takes a lot of the good feel out of the job that I was doing.
I was meeting and exceeding Andy's expectations, but I didn't enjoy the process with the site logistics.
I had a friend that was participating in it and, of course, I knew many people that were running it.
To be in College Station for the 7 a.m. start, I would had to have been up and leaving shortly after 4 a.m.
And the time logistics were similar for the 30K and its 6:30 a.m. start.
As each half hour passed laying in bed, while still needing more sleep to recover from Friday evening and Saturday's adventures, the goals for the day changed.
At about 7:20 a.m., I realized that I could get up, get showered and make it to The Church Project for their 9 a.m. service.
I texted my friend Leanne and asked if she and her husband Jim were going to be there and she affirmed that they were.
I arrived just before the service started and a few minutes later, a mutual friend, Dawn, showed up.
While I have always enjoyed being in church - and sitting - with my family, especially my daughter, there was a different comfort in worshipping God together with my friends.
Even though I have visited there two or three times before, I had never heard their Pastor speak before and his message didn't disappoint.
It was from John 1 and spoke about how darkness is real, being without Jesus is being in darkness and that our entire life is darkness unless we let Jesus into it.
It supported his point that in this Christmas season that we as believers and followers of Jesus Christ have the light that the world needs - and that we need to share it more than we ever have in the past.
Leanne was adamant about me getting to meet their Pastor and I enjoyed the exchange.
They invited me to go to lunch with them at Cilantro's and as always, we had a great visit. Like Bill, Leanne and Jim are among my very best friends.
I made it home, visited with my daughter for a little bit and then went to a pair of women's college basketball games.
First, I saw East Tennessee State University take on the University of Houston at Texas Southern University's gymnasium as Hofheinz Pavilion is undergoing renovations.
Then I went over to Houston Baptist University to watch them host Huston-Tillotson University, which is located in Austin.
The trip in for ETSU was so that Montgomery HS star Malloree Schurr was able to play in front of family and friends.
That's one of the college basketball traditions that I love.
It was really no contest as UH, which is pretty good this year, easily won a physical 88-69 contest with the Buccaneers.
Over at HBU, the Huskies struggled against Huston-Tillotson, which is a member of the Red River Athletic Conference. (Prior to returning to NCAA Division I athletics, HBU was an RRAC member.)
Huston-Tillotson held the lead early in the third quarter and then later tied it at 70-all before dropping a 76-72 decision to the Huskies.
I then made stops at Barnes & Noble - to pick up a new book after finishing my most recent purchase, "Coach Wooden And Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off The Court", written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - and HEB before making it home.
I had dinner, helped Waverly with some HR forms that she needed to complete (more on that in a week or two) and sat down to punch out the content here.
I'm glad I made it to church. I need to be there more often.
If you're willing to allow God to feed your soul, it is a place to be fed, spiritually.
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