Shar-Pei Diem

For a Great Cause...

I am posting this on behalf of my cousin Theresa...

This year I am training to run my 8th Houston Marathon on January 18th, 2009.

My goal is 10 and yes, you can call me crazy.

This is the first year I have decided to run for an extra special reason: I am running in memory of my mom (it has been a little over a year since her death). I am also running for the Sheltering Arms Senior Services (Sheltering Arms Day Center to be specific)

Sheltering Arms Senior Services is a nonprofit organization committed to the health and well-being of older adults and their family caregivers. Its comprehensive services help older adults live safely and independently in their own homes. 

The center is designed specifically for adults who have Alzheimer's disease or other forms of memory loss. The center improves the quality of life of participants and helps caregivers maintain their loved ones at home. 

I couldn't think of better way to honor her than by running to assist the organization that made such a big difference in our lives! 

If you would be so kind to join me in honoring my mom, (no, you don't have to run)... please help by making contribution! 

Please remember anything will help...no donation is too big or too small.  

My thought was if I could get 20 friends/family to donate at least $10 that would be $200 to help a senior affected by Alzheimer's make their life a little easier. 

Please use the link in this email to donate online quickly & securely. You will receive email confirmation of your donation and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation.  I thank you in advance for your support, and really appreciate your generosity!! 

http://www.active.com/donate/shelteringarmsSS/TheresaBueno 

Please forward this email to as many people as you can to encourage them to donate as well.

Thanks again for making difference,

Love ya, Theresa

PS-If you would prefer to make your donation by check, please make it payable to Sheltering Arms Senior Services and mail to me at: 2321 Westcreek Lane #25G Houston, Texas 77027. I will hand deliver it to Sheltering Arms 

From JFLO---

Please help my cousin reach her goal or maybe even pass it.

My Aunt Frances passed away in June of 2007 and although they never had any boys, she treated me like a son (ok…I was her “mijo”) and I truly do miss her.

It was very tough to see her go as she touched so many people’s lives.  More so, she and my mom talked almost EVERY day and it was hard for me to watch my mom lose not only her sister but her best friend. I watched my cousins (Theresa & Frances) spend the last few years of Aunt  Frances ’ life, catering to her and making sure she was taken care of.

My cousin does not know I am doing this but if you choose to make a donation, feel free to leave a word of encouragement and support. Let her know John David sent ya!!!

Christmas Greetings...

Special Christmas Greetings to those of you who come across my blog today.

(Its 333am and I am unable to sleep....and NO...Santa has not stopped by yet)

This is a mixed holiday message as I want to say HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to those of you who are enjoying it with loved ones but I also want to say MY HEART IS WEIGHING HEAVY FOR YOU to those who are struggling to get through this time frame.

So I will simply say this: May God watch over you on this day and bring peace to your heart.

Have a blessed Christmas...

JFLO & Ripley

PS-Please say a prayer for my parents. Dad is barely recovering from the flu but mom is battling it now. Oddly enough Ripley will not leave their sides and when I call to check up on them, all they seem to want to talk about is Ripley....gotta love 'em....

Home...

Well, John Boy is back home.

My trip to Brookings, SD was pretty nice. I do have to say that hidden in South Dakota is one awesome looking gym which is home of the SDSU JackRabbits.

Getting from Houston to Sioux Falls was an experience as I had a 2+hr delay leaving Houston, missed my connecting flight so I got a chance to watch MNF in the Minnesota airport before departing to Sioux Falls extremely late. I sat in the hotel Tuesday wondering when to leave for my game (45min drive normal conditions) as it was steadily snowing and snowing and snowing!!! Of course I did manage to get a workout in at the hotel but I could see why people would be hard pressed to NOT workout if it was cold outside.

Since I am a fan of cold weather, I was prepared (just ignore my first step off the sidewalk going to my car after it had snowed 2inches. What was I thinking that it would be solid lol)

I find it amusing when I get asked "Where are you from?".....I say "Houston" and they say "TEXAS???". Yes the smart ass in me has so many answers but once I put the stripes on, I sort of have to cowboy up and lose that side of me (im pretty sure many of you would love that chance to heckle me and know Im not going to say anything back lol) I am pretty sure Brad will be getting the same response tonight as he has a game in North Dakota. It is not everyday these schools have officials all the way from the SOUTH!!!

Total fun and I now can scratch South Dakota off my list of places I have never visited. Up next, Northa Dakota on January 2nd...

Peace out...

jflo

On the road and adapting to change....

And so my journey begins…for those of you who do not know, I am a college basketball official who is assigned to a couple of D-1 conferences. It is one of those hobbies that I totally LOVE and ENJOY (yes, even the being called names part of it)

 

This season for me so far has been pretty good with it only to get better as we are starting to enter conference play within the next week or so.

 

As luck would have it, I have a Tuesday game at South Dakota State Univ. which is located in Brookings, SD. Here is the start of my journey…

 

To say “hey, I have a game at SDSU” may not mean a lot to the non-officials out there but just ask Brad or Brendan or any other official and the wheels start to spin:

*When is your game?

*Where you flying into?

*Who is your crew?

*Are you meeting them at the game site or riding together?

*What is the weather like? (not only here in

Houston

but along the route)

*Where are you staying?

*How do you get to the site?

And so on and on…..

 

Since my company has offices in\around the

Rocky Mountains

, I pretty much monitor weather and call me foolish or just plain stupid, I LOVE COLD WEATHER….just not the drama that comes with it……

 

Sooooooooo here is the local news for

Sioux Falls

(where I will be flying into from

Minnesota

via

Houston

) and then drive to Brookings on Tuesday. Seems like that area was just hit with a blizzard and white out conditions and a TAD BIT CHILLY!!!

 

Here is the local news station: http://www.ksfy.com/

 

So as I sit here at the airport….I just found out my flight is delayed thus impacting my connecting flight in

Minnesota

.

Think I may have shocked the Customer Service people as I showed them my ticket, they said it was delayed thus impacting my flight BUT she said there will be another flight out to get me to my destination.

Which in turn I said “oh ok….thank you….have a nice day”

 

I realize it is not their fault and expected some delays traveling to this region.

 

This was the main reason why I decided to leave the day before instead of DAY OF GAME!!!!

Just get me to

Minneapolis

first as my other 2 officials will be driving from there on Tuesday. Ideally, I get into

Sioux Falls

tonight and just use a well awaited vacation day to relax and mentally prepare for my 7pm game on Tuesday…

 

The one thing I AM mad about is that I had to pay 15.00 for a checked bag. My carry on has my officiating gear which I guard with my life!!! Lol I flew NorthWest as it was tons cheaper and although I am Continental loyal, I still have issues with paying for a bag. But this has been par for the course as I had to PAY to watch Brad and Brendan officiate the other night. GRRRRRRRRRR!!! Should have used the “Im with the band” line….lol

 

Well, I will update more later. If you did not know,

Minnesota

has a nice big airport (and mall) where I may or may not have had spirits last year and took tons of pictures of their Moose shop. They had this HUGE ASH FAKE MOOSE that sort of reminded me of Ripley…..

 

More to add to the journey later…

Peace out

JFLO

 

By the way, for those of you who have asked about the Berry Storm....I was NOT IMPRESSED....RIM had years to make something to compete with the iPhone and they failed IMO. So I did not get it. I need my keyboard!!!

Random Thoughts

Have so much going through my head that I will just post random thoughts and hopefully you can just follow along...

1. Thinking of Brendan and his family on today...
2. Special prayers to others who has lost loved one's during this time frame as I know the holidays are just around the corner
3. Two words: Blackberry Storm....hehehehe
4. See #3
5. My wrinkly baby is being spoiled by his grandparents....they took him to vet, dip and bath in a matter of three days ONLY TO FIND OUT TODAY....they stopped at PetSmart and bought him a puppy paw print carpet for his crate so he can sleep better at night...OMG!!!!
6. I need to follow in Brad's footsteps and start a new music post as I have found some WICKED mixes that most would either enjoy working out to or running to....
7. I miss my karaoke buds
8. see #7
9. Special kudos to my friend who made a drunken bet on red #3 and it hitting!!! (35 to 1 baby)
10. Cna you say BELLAGIO???
11. See #3
12. Normalcy....i need it....
13. GO TITANS!!!
14. Guess who will be in Austin on Turkey Day!!!
15. And while I hate to admit this....GO OKLAHOMA STATE!!! BEAT OU!!! (and if you dont know why I am saying this then you are not following the BCS)
16. Woooohooo South Dakota State Univeristy!!! (yes have game to officiate there)
17. Do I need to stop? Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh see #7

Ok....thats enough for now

Oh wait...Special shout out to DropBox!!! check it out!!!

Have a very special and blessed Turkey Day....

peace out

jflo

In Honor of Veterans Day...

To all who have served and continue to serve....THANK YOU and GOD BLESS....

To Dad,

I never really get a chance to say THANK YOU and the simple fact that I really do admire all that you have done and all that you continue to do. You inspire me more than you can ever realize and you always seem to find just the right words to say at the right times.

Thank you for all the hard work and sacrifice...not only for me and our family but for the community, city, state and country.

It makes me really proud to tell people that you have given 30+ years of service to the USAF, USAFR, TXANG and Texas State Guard and retired as a Chief Master Sergeant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/

 

Veterans Day Proclamation

http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/proc2008.asp

 

 

Special Event Reminder: "Beat The Hell Outta Melanoma"

Hey all...

I have so much to post but instead I wanted to focus a very special event that if you have the chance to attend, please do so. If not, how about making a contribution.

Unfortunately I will be out of town officiating my first college game of the season. Without going into much detail, I will simply say the people involved in this event are very special and while I may not have experienced knowing Julie like others, I truly can say she has touched a lot of lives. YAY GOD!!!

 Here is the site: http://www.bthomelanoma.com/

November 9, 2008 (Sunday)

11:30am-3:30pm

Clear Lake Park Landol Pavilion

Her Story

Julie Michelle Koch Lyons

July 26, 1972 to November 24, 2007

Julie Lyons (35) was diagnosed Stage IV Metastatic Melanoma September 2006. Her valiant battle with cancer was chronicled on the Lyons family blog from the beginning. Julie stated "we are scared for what we are facing and sometimes faced with doubt. I know that it will also sometimes seem too much for us to bear, and even too much for those following our journey. Sometimes it WILL be too much for us to handle, but it won’t be too much for God. I believe this and I pray on it."

From the day she was diagnosed, Julie put her complete faith in God. Her blog, created to keep family and close friends current on her situation, quickly turned to a following of hundreds of people from all over the world. Her words and her fight encouraged complete strangers to make their appointments for skin cancer screenings. Others found a renewed Faith in God. Some made new friends through emails and blogs.

This event was planned in 2007 in part to donate to the centers that treated Julie, as well as assist Julie in her expenses. It allowed her to visit Switzerland for a treatment that was not offered in the United States. In a matter of days and through the help of friends and family, the couple secured passports for the children, plane tickets and a place to stay. While the trip was intended for healing, it was a family vacation of sorts; the last the group would have together. They bonded and created memories for the kids which will last a lifetime. Julie always recognized how fortunate she was to have the support she did. She also recognized that others were not always as fortunate and didn't always know what direction to go. Julie asked that an endowment be established in order to help other melanoma patients to seek the treatments they need for healing.

And so, the event goes on.....

Posting and pictures from last year’s event: http://www.lyonsfamily.org/?p=284

Peace…

jflo

Have a Great Weekend!!!

During the course of my "funk", I managed to receive some very resourceful information from Purpose Driven Life. I have been meaning to share it and what better time than now. For some of my friends out there, Im sure this will help.

Have a great weekend...

Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. Proverbs 4:23 (GNT)

*** *** *** ***

One of the great psychological discoveries of the past century is that your thoughts control your actions.If you want to change the way you act, you must first change how you think.

Actually, thousands of years ago, Solomon pointed this out when he wrote, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” (Proverbs 4:23 GNT).

The Bible says our thoughts influence six areas of our lives:

· My interpretation influences my situation. It’s not what happens to me that matters as much as how I choose to see it. The way I react will determine whether the circumstance makes me better or bitter. I can view everything as an obstacle or an opportunity for growth – a stumbling block or a stepping stone. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4 NIV).

· My impressions influence my depressions. In other words, my mind affects my mood; my thinking determines my feelings. If I’m feeling depressed, it’s because I’m choosing to think depressing thoughts – about my work, family, or anything else. While you cannot always control a feeling, you can choose what you think about, which will control how you feel.“Hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught . . .”(Psalm 55:2 NIV).

· My beliefs influence my behavior. We always act according to our beliefs, even when those ideas are false. For instance, as a child, if you believed a shadow in your bedroom at night was a monster, your body reacted in fear (adrenaline and jitters) even though it wasn’t true. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you are operating on true information! Your convictions about yourself, about life, and about God influence your conduct.“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” (John 8:31 NIV).

· My self-talk influences my self-esteem. You are constantly talking to yourself unconsciously. When you walk into a room full of strangers, what do you tend to think about yourself? To develop more confidence you’re going to have to stop running yourself down! “Ashe thinks in his heart, so is he”(Proverbs 23:7 NKJV).

· My attitude influences my ability. Winners expect to win. Your perception controls your performance. Mohammed Ali only lost two fights in his career. Before both of them, he said something that he hadn’t said before other fights: “If I should lose this fight […].”“All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23 NKJV).

· My imagination influences my aspirations. In other words, your dreams determine your destiny. To accomplish anything, you must first have a mission, a goal, a hope, a vision. “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV).

 

One last note:

Thank you to all who sent special words of encouragement and support. Looks like the man upstairs has provided me with a way to appreciate what I have even more...

I am on my way to Baton Rouge for the LSU game tomorrow with Brad and Brendan. The same day I found out about Tom, I received an invite from Brad to take a road trip. So what better way than to spend time with my brothers :)

In typical travel fashion, Brad was not only an hour late but he managed to let Brendan's dog out of the house which ran roughly 3 long ass blocks before I conned her into playing a game of chase with me.

YEs, my dumb butt went and did a mad sprint just to get his dog back to the house. Almost wanted to throw up after I got done. Should have been a camera around. lol

Have a great weekend, I know I will.

Peace out

jflo

Celebrating Life and Death…

First of all, THANK YOU to all of you who managed to send me Happy Birthday Greetings. I do not forget stuff like that and it means a lot to me.

Oh and a special wrinkly thank you to Ripley for his birthday text. It is amazing that he can text with them paws but looks like technology has advanced so much for his kind. Lol

So, yes, October 23rd is JFLO’s birthday!!! (insert Home Simpson “wooohoooo” here)

In honor of my birthday, I wanted to take time to recognize someone who has impacted my life.

His name: Thomas Brow.

Yesterday I received an email that Tom had passed away and to be honest, I was totally crushed.

Why?

See, Tom was THE person who introduced me to basketball officiating. Thanks to Tom and his “selling” officiating to me, I have experienced so much that it took me reflecting on Wednesday to truly understand what this man meant to me.

The whole sequence of events that led me to becoming a basketball official is something that I can never forget. When I meet people and they find out I am a college basketball official, one of the first questions is: “how did you get into officiating?”

 

The story to me is precious and I take great pride and joy in telling it because it seems like it was yesterday Tom was asking me if I was interested in officiating after working a church league game in which I knew nothing about officiating. (if you ask some officials, they may say I still know nothing lol)

It’s through his help and guidance that I have been able to make something special out of officiating. Furthermore, I had to sit back and look at how Tom’s influence help impact my life: (check it out)

• It has been through officiating that I developed a close bond to a sport that I had only looked at from the eyes of a player or a fan. Before you know it, I was off and running (literally) looking at the games from the eyes of officials. Nothing for me to attend a game now and get caught up looking at the officials, their calls, their on court mechanics, their communication and yes, even their tennis shoes!!! (Im Nike loyal for officiating)

It has been through officiating that I developed a close bond to other people who were willing to take me under their wing, teach me, provide me with some brutally honest evaluations and have me come along for the ride to some of their games just so I can learn from the best. I learned that we are not all cut out for this job but its a deep burning passion inside that I have to be the best.

It has been through officiating that I developed a close bond to fellow officials in the same boat as I am in. Wanting to move up, wanting to be the best, wanting the exposure and the opportunity to make the most out of the situation.

It has been through officiating that I met two very special people (Brad& Brendan) who I have laughed with, cried with, played jokes on, pissed off (never pissed on, yet), called names, attended officiating camps with but most importantly have pushed and supported them in their officiating endeavors along with being there for them just as friends. These two guys (along with their spouses and friends) were there for me (among others) when my neighbor and friend Brian was killed. It was in Brian’s eulogy I recall saying…“Good friends come and go but TRUE FRIENDS are a dime a dozen”. I have always been the type of friend who will genuinely do things without expecting or asking for anything in return. Do it because you want to not because you feel obligated to. So we relied on each other alot in 2007 as Brad lost his grandfather, a cousin, close family friends and we tried our best to help Brendan as he was watching his wife Julie slowly battle with cancer in move on in body November but know she is around us in spirit. I will never forget the night she passed away as I was working a high school tourney (only one I worked all year) and was rushing to the hospital to bring them pizza only to get a text from Brad that she had passed away as I was 10 minutes away from the hospital. The day of her rosary and burial, I could never forget the amount of officials who showed up for support. Officials we have developed bonds with over the years and not only having each other's backs on the court but in real life. And then that evening after the burial, I had a Division 1 game to officiate but after that game I made it a point to stop at Brendan’s house and hang out with Brad, Carrie, Natalie, Derrick and others till the wee hours just to let Brendan know he was not alone. The unique bond I have shared with Brad and Brendan has been a total blessing in disguise as I see these guys as family.

So to sit back and think about how Tom impacted my life stretches beyond officiating. It opened my eyes to so much more.

• It has been through officiating that I have developed a deeper respect to the world of officiating in all sports at all levels. It has been through the sacrifices, the training, the videos, the lectures, the listening, the watching many people outside of the officiating world who do not realize it is not always about blowing a whistle, throwing a flag, or calling a strike. Much of this is about personal development, identifying what is important in your life, prioritizing and establishing goals\objectives and doing what it takes to meet them.

See, I want to be the best official possible for as long as possible without stepping on anyone’s toes. I realize this hobby is big enough for many of us to be successful. For me success is not working the NCAA Final or being in the NBA or working the conference final. Success to me is knowing that I gave it 110% on the court and knowing that others see my hard work ethic and continue to let me develop into something more. It has never been about the quantity of games but the quality of games. I love this hobby and believe it or not, I do it for stress relief….Yes, I said stress relief. Funny huh?

We get yelled at by coaches, called names by fans (yes, being Hispanic, I have heard every reference to Taco Bell’s menu and then some) can be on the receiving end of a cheer one second and then the receiving end of boo’s and a “hey ref you suck!!!” another second. Depending on the conferences you get hired to officiating in, you get to travel to some of the most remote places in the U.S.but at that place and time, THAT GAME is the most important game to the people involved so you learn to appreciate the game even further. Yes, we get paid to officiate but to me it has never been about the money. It is a hobby that I love and a hobby that was helped along by Tom's influence.

It has been through officiating that I have managed to meet some of the top talent in the world. Officiating summer AAU tourneys from Vegas (where I worked the finals one year of the Big Time Tourney) to Florida to Georgia to Louisiana with the likes of Lebron, Carmelo, Sebastian, Big Baby, Daniel G to name a few, officiate a Pro-Am league during the summer with the likes of Sam Cassell, Rashad Lewis, Kevin Granger, Kenny Smith or walk on to the court for a Houston Comets\Rockets practice or how about having The Franchise Steve Francis remember me at a Rockets game (as he was with the Knicks) or the picture of Yao Ming shaking my hand at the open practice. It has become second nature and totally funny to hear people make a big deal about these stars but I would not hesitate a second to call them for a foul or travel. No being awe struck here.

So now do you see why Tom IS special to me. I refuse to say “was special” because in my heart and my mind he will always be with me.

So Tom, from the bottom of my heart (a heart that is heavy right now) I want to say THANK YOU.

There is no doubt in my mind you will be here the rest of my officiating journey.

I dedicate my season to you and your family

Peace…

jflo

PS-On a birthday note...How cool are my parents? They got me the following cake...Thanks mom, dad, amanda, loretta and Ripley.

Yes, basketball players and an official...a non-tan official!!! but the icing on the cake is the place spelled my name wrong!!! Just call me Jhon!!!

PSS: Yes, Yao Ming shaking MY HAND thank you very much!!! lol

 

Wave on Wave...

For those of you who like country music, you may know this song by Pat Green

 

Oddly enough, its not the lyrics that run through my head but the words “wave on wave” as things lately have been coming at me like waves which has required me to do a lot of thinking, soul searching and most importantly, seeking spiritual guidance.

 A wave of emotions hit me pretty hard today as I found out my officiating mentor passed away and it came as a total shock to me. I had heard he was sick but did not know “how sick” he was. So when I was informed of his passing, it took the breath out of me while at work that I decided to just go home and do some reflecting

 All I can really say is that every year I would go out of my way at our NCAA meeting to make sure I would find Tom, shake his hand and tell him “thank you”.

It was not just some ordinary “thank you”…...my thank you had meaning, it was from the heart, pure and was expressed with so much gratitude that I could never give him enough thank you’s to express how blessed I am to have him introduce me in the world of officiating.

During my reflection though, I realized something...HE NOW TRULY KNOWS HOW I FEEL….

It has been through officiating that I have met so many wonderful people, gone so many wonderful places for officiating camps and have visited and enjoyed in the experience of being called every name in the book, getting yelled at and being 50% right during a game!!! Yup, would never change it for anything in this world.

After being a little bit selfish, I stopped to think about Tom's family and what this is doing to them. So I ask for special prayers to be sent their way.

Today’s wave of emotions also led me to something else….

Know these lyrics?

I need a spirit who can touch my life
I need a voice to speak the truth
I need a soul who will be on my side
I need a heart I'll never lose

Amazingly enough, the only person who can blurt out the song title and artist was someone who has known me for roughly 18 years and truly has been a genuine and sincere friend.

As luck would have it, I was treated to a pre-bday dinner by my BFF and her daughter. This was a blessing in disguise as who of all people would be able to not only understand but add her own dash of spice into brightening my evening.

To top it off, she managed to have the people at Pappasitos sing Happy Birthday to me AND put that damn sombrero on me (thank goodness I left the camera at home)

Sitting across from me was a 5 year old with such innocence and happiness with her colors, chips and shy demeanor. It took the focus off of everything else to make me appreciate some things in my life. Could not have asked for a better evening.

Which leads me to my next topic…..as mentioned above, I have asked for some spiritual guidance and oddly enough, the signs in front of me have been quite visible that I needed to be hit on the head a couple of times to see them. Lol.

A recent chain of events has led me to realize something that I need to do and this is something I have to take from the officiating world.

It is said that when you are having a rough game (nothing seems to be going right for yourself) that you need to GO BACK TO THE BASICS. Well, what are the basics when we are on the court???

 

• Stay in your primary
• Referee the defense
• Call the obvious
• Trust your partner

Strange as it may sound, this makes more sense to me than you can imagine. So going back to the basics is mainly my word for PRIORITIZE. As for the rest, here is my spin although I have more to add but will save the detail:

• Focus on what you can control
• Address the issues coming at you instead of going out of the way to find issues or trying to solve other people’s issues
• Be true and honest with yourself. You can never cheat the man in the mirror
• Not everyone has it out for you. Trust in those who are trustworthy and learn from their experiences and use them as a foundation moving forward

This may not make sense to everyone but that’s ok. Sometimes we just have to really slow down to appreciate what we have in our lives. This funk allowed me to slow down enough to help me understand some things. I am truly a blessed man and I am thankful.

I leave you with the following….

Life ain't always beautiful
Sometimes it's just plain hard
Life can knock you down, it can break your heart

Life ain't always beautiful
You think you're on your way
And it's just a dead end road at the end of the day

But the struggle makes you stronger
And the changes make you wise
And happiness has it's own way of takin' it sweet time

No,life aint always beautiful
Tears will fall sometimes
Life aint always beautiful
But it's a beautiful ride

Peace out...

jflo