Happy Birthday Mike!!!

Today is Mike's birthday!!! Just as exciting, of course, is that it is also Olivia's birthday... but for the sake of this post, we'll focus on Mike. :)

Many of you know that I have been working like a mad woman on a certain project for him. For those who don't know, I'll fill ya in--
Mike has been an avid martial artist since he was very young. He started karate lessons as a cute, skinny little kid and ultimately earned his black belt in tae kwon do. Martial arts has continued to be a passion of his in various forms. Once he became a chiropractor, though, he realized that he could no longer compete for fear of injuring one of his hands. Still, he has enjoyed practicing any way he can and for as long as I've known him, he has longed to be even more involved in the sport. He has purchased punching bags and other equipment, most of which have taken up residence in our cluttered and messy garage. For the past couple of years, he has done the best he could in there to get a good workout, but his goal of doing more has continued to make his list every week. Unfortunately, his work and marketing schedule, combined with increasing family and church activites has made it impossible for him to regularly take classes. With all of that in mind, I decided that I could at least try to help him reach his goals by giving him a better work out room at home....so, for the past week, I have been transforming our garage into a full-fledged martial arts studio for Mike. Here's the result:

I began by completely cleaning out the garage. That was a pretty big job itself!
Next, I painted the walls. Another big job!
Following that, I scoured the floors to remove the spilled trash stains and other nastiness. No small task there either!

I then assembled the padded martial arts flooring that I ordered online. Cool, huh? He has a friend who works out with him on occassion so this will give them a surface to spar and grapple.

I also hung the mirrors, posters, and hooks for gloves and such, both for a decorative touch as well as function. Now maybe he won't search for his gloves amongst a huge mess any more! (Assuming he puts them back in their places!)

I put together a big set of shelves for the stuff that needed to remain in the garage. The shelves and I fought a little, but I won... for now. As I told Nora, if you hear a big crash coming from our house, then we know that the shelves won the ultimate battle.

And I arranged the bags and such that he already had in a way that will give him the room he needs to move around and get a great workout. There are still a few things back there that will not remain, and I'd like to find some posters for the back wall as well, but this is the general idea of it all. Cool, huh?

Yes, it was a whole lot of work... but when I saw the look on his face tonight when he saw it, it was all so very, very worth it! It was seriously like seeing a little boy open his presents on Christmas morning! He was so excited and couldn't stop looking around at all of it. He was completely surprised, which was even more fun. He never would have expected any of this so I was thrilled to have done it for him. Huge success!!!

That was not his only present, though. I also had some photos taken by a professional photographer who is a patient of his and Lacey and I gave those to him at lunch today. They are truly beautiful photos and we cannot stop staring at them! Unfortunately, I don't have them digitally but I'll try to get a few images to post for ya. They're just stunning and they were also a surprise for him. Fun all around!! The day was good, though we didn't get to spend much time together. Mike was taking his CEU classes that were in Arlington this weekend. We did join him for lunch and then he and I enjoyed a quiet steak dinner followed by apple pie (his new fav!) after Lacey went to bed. Good day. Hopefully at the end of it, he realizes how much we love and appreciate him. If that was accomplished, then everything was more than worth it.

And now, to bed I go. I'm EXHAUSTED!!! :) Happy Birthday, honey!!!!