A Segment I Like to Call...."If Josh Had Been There"

Often times I see people do things that either make me wish that Josh were there, or glad that he wasn’t. I’ll offer a few recent examples to give you an idea of where I’m going with this.

· A woman with a bag in her hand walked away after her dog pooped without picking it up.

· A kid throw his McDonalds bag in the trash and misses – then just left it.

· An impatient old man cuts in front of me in line at Costco to quickly get his Polish Sausage and churro.

· A car full of teenagers yells graphic obscenities in front of a movie theater where several young children were present.

· Someone parks really badly so that the next space is un-parkable, and does not fix it.

I learned early in our relationship that being inconsiderate, crude, or unfair is absolutely intolerable to Joshua Dery. He does not care how big you are or how many of you there are - he will say something, and you will listen. He is the flipping Chuck Norris of manners. The first few times I found myself in situations similar to these with Josh, I was pretty sure that I was going to die of either embarrassment, or we were going to get shot.

Nowadays, I so appreciate that Josh will speak up, that he will patiently, but firmly take the time to expect more out of people. More often than not, the offenders will apologize and by the end of the confrontation will tell Josh to take care and have a good night. I thought of all this today as I observed someone leave their dirty dishes in the sink at work and just walk away.


Oooooh, if Josh had been there….

10 Random Things

I read all magazines backwards except for the Ensign.

I have several nervous habits that I rotate in and out. Currently I’ve been picking at my eyebrows/eyelashes.

I like country music, but only in the summertime.

I’ll share a fork, a spoon, a cup, or a straw with just about anyone, but it grosses me out to share shoes.

If it’s in the can, I prefer Diet Dr. Pepper. If it’s on tap, I prefer Diet Coke.

I almost always have movie quotes going through my head while I’m blow drying my hair or putting on make-up.

I don’t think anyone can write or sing on behalf of both genders, better than Billy Joel.

I struggle a lot with pessimism.

Most of my friends and co-workers still call me “Riggs” – and I love it.

Two current food addictions: 3 Musketeers with Mint and Dark Chocolate, and Fish Tacos

Breaking news: Studio opened 4 months ago

I wish to express to you what we as a couple, as individuals and now as business owners have gone through in the year since we wrote the biggest check we have ever written to the Fitness Together Franchise in January of 2008.

I won't. I can't.

However, I do wish to tell you all that in the 4 months since we have been open, we have seen a huge response to our marketing, we have built an impressive resume of clients, we're hitting numbers that we were told we wouldn't see until after our first year, we're growing, we're super busy, we're exhausted and we are loving every minute. (except the minutes between 5:15a and 5:29a when Josh is hitting the snooze button)

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us, paid for us, listened to me whine through heaving sobs and just stood back while I un-leased a category 10 freak out. Circumstances along the way were such that I was truly pondering cutting our losses and turning back but all credit for long-suffering, patience, and sanity is due to my co-owner and co-lifemate, Josh. After everything we’ve been through together I’ve been impressed and blessed to learn along the way that his biggest and strongest muscle is his heart.

We’re doing great and feeling fine!