by Dan | Feb 8, 2026 | Etc.
We got to have the grandkids this weekend. Connor and Tessa wanted to help me work out. Sarah took the dog for a walk outside, and then I rode the stationary bike inside. A few minutes after I got started they both came running downstairs and wanted to workout too. Tessa started by riding with me on the bike, and then they wanted to be on the treadmill. I don’t let them go faster than 1 mile an hour, so it is pretty slow. I just had to laugh watching Connor. He starts off just walking, then starts getting a little more confident, and “cocky”, and tries to get fancy while I am taking pictures of him, Follow this sequence of his pictures and I am sure you will get a laugh also!
You have to pay attention on the treadmill! This is why they only get to go 1 mile an hour on it. Then, of course, they both had to get on it. Tessa now was hanging on, and Connor was walking backwards (still too confident!)
Of course afterwards, they worked up an appetite for breakfast, and then later Tessa helped Sarah make chocolate chip cookies, and she had to clean the spoons!
Never a dull moment when the grandkids are around! Caleb is going to have his first surgery this coming week.
He will get his lip fixed. Excited, and nervous. We are so used to him now that it will be hard seeing him with his cleft lip closed! Just praying he does ok. Just like our kids, you are always going to worry about the grandkids too! We want to be working out with him later when he gets bigger too! He got up early this AM–a few hours earlier than usual. I guess it was time to eat! Now, after I got done changing him, and getting his bottle ready, and listening to all of the screaming, we had a little talk while he was eating. As soon as he saw the bottle coming, the screaming quit, and he latched on, and then just looked at me while he ate. It was a good time to have a talk. We talked about he virtues of patience, and the true difference between “hungry” and “hangry”. Afterwards, he just melted into my chest, arms sprawled out, and fell asleep. It was Caleb’s way of saying “Thank you Grandpa Dan. I sure love you!” Don’t worry Caleb…all is forgiven. I will catch up on sleep later. Payment in snuggles is priceless!!! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day of newest streak: # 711
by Dan | Feb 1, 2026 | Etc.
We had our annual Family Medicine Conference out in the Black Hills these past 4 days. It took place at the Deadwood Lodge. Friday night Sarah was honored with becoming the South Dakota Family Doctor of the Year! She has accomplished great things in her career of 32 years in Watertown, 35 years as a physician. She has delivered well over 1,000 babies! Babies she delivered were now coming in as moms to deliver their babies! She stopped doing OB at the end of January last year. She always wanted to do at minimum 2 years of just clinic after completing OB. She will decide when she will retire. Doing OB takes its toll physically on you, and she called it a career with this last year. She has been a past president of our South Dakota Academy of Family Physicians. She has spent all of her years teaching other students–medical students, residents, nursing students, etc. We even teach other Family Physicians on topics we have to do to maintain our Board certification. These sessions with the Family Doctors are questions/lectures that can take up to 4 hours at a time. We have done 30 of these sessions.
Our kids were not able to be present Friday night when this award was presented. I had each of our kids write a letter to her congratulating her. I read one of them Friday night. It was hard to choose which one to read, but I chose the one from Molly. She works in the health care field as an Ultrasound Tech, and knows what call is like. She has 3 kids herself and knows the struggles of trying to juggle everything as a mom, with all of the other duties of work. I made it through reading it but had several moments of “choking up”. There was not a dry eye in the house! Sarah had more tears after reading the letters from Megan and Nick! Thanks to all of our kids for doing this!
We are so proud of you Sarah! You have worked hard all of these years with your career. You have left a mark with the lives you have helped take care of all of these years and will continue to do yet. But your mark as my wife, and as a mom and grandma, will especially never be forgotten. We are beaming with pride with you being chosen as South Dakota Family Doctor of the Year!!!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day of newest streak: # 704
by Dan | Jan 25, 2026 | Etc.
Maybe in another week I will be able to start walking more, and slow riding on the bike. No running yet for at least another month. I have been working out with my arms for the past 2 months so I let the clot dissolve in my leg without causing more problems. I am at least staying sane by doing some exercise. I can’t wait to start incorporating things with my legs again though.
At least the garage is heated so our “Reiflex Center” is in the corner, and we can go out anytime we want. Different varieties of weights, and right now still using lighter weights but doing more repetitions. Who knows, maybe in the long run this will turn out to be a good thing and I can build strength and stamina with my arms and chest. At least when it came to running, the longer the run, the more fatigue my arms would get, not just my legs. The arms, shoulders, and chest help propel you forward on those runs as well. So look out…if I am in a race later, and I am beside somebody, they might just get conveniently “bumped” out of the way! Ha!
The repetitions are good as well for helping with stamina, so I have to keep looking on the bright side. I could have just said “forget it” and done nothing. But, that is not me. Somewhere in everything there has to be a positive. You may have to search for it, but it is there. Whether physically or mentally. As the saying goes: “What does not kill you makes you stronger!”
So, bottom line, everybody needs to figure out a way to keep moving. “Use it or lose it!” If you don’t, it is probably just another convenient excuse we have created to justify not doing it. Control the things in our life we can control. The other things we can’t control. But, we have to learn to deal with them. Good and bad. I did not choose to get another clot. And, after getting past the initial anger, I am becoming more accepting of it, but I am not letting it stop me from what I want to do. Do I need to make some concessions for right now? Yes. Do I need to keep using it as an excuse? No. Then you let the bad things in life make the decisions for you. Stay in control…at least of what you can. Keep working at it. Keep striving! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day of Newest Streak: # 697
by Dan | Jan 18, 2026 | Etc.
One thing is for sure, when you have kids, you are always a Dad! You are there for questions, worries, advice, support…and then when they have kids, being a grandpa and taking care of the grandkids. I am loving this role. Especially with getting close to retiring, I am going to have more time for this as well. I still have lots of projects I want to do, but will weave in all of these other things! It is nice when they text, or call, because they want some advice. It is nice to know my opinion matters!
Sarah and I are both fulfilling that role. What parent is not going to do what they need to do to help their kids? We will always be there for them. We want the best for them. Even if at certain times it may not be something they want to hear. Those years of experience come into play. We always have our kids at heart. And now, the grandkids.
I think that has been passed along to the kids too, because they get along so well with each other. They are all married, but they care about how their siblings are doing? Best news a parent could hear. Aunt Megan is always their for her nieces and nephews as well!
Sarah and I have always tried to be there for our kids, and we hope they realized this…always! They will always be our kids! Dr. Tracy told me years ago that when the kids are small, their problems are small, but when they get big, the problems get bigger! How true! It is fun now to start helping with the grandkids as well.
We will definitely be helping more next month when Caleb gets his first surgery. We all know he has multiple ones coming, but that does not make it any easier. The grandkids are no different…we are always going to worry about them too. Stay involved in their lives. Make your presence count. Keep making memories. And, keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day of newest streak: # 690
by Dan | Jan 11, 2026 | Etc.
When it comes to the grandkids, you remember what the joy of opening presents is really like, and what it was like when you were little. The smiles on their faces, the screeches and laughs, and the energy…wow! It made for great entertainment for the rest of us as well.
Tessa and Connor got to help pass out presents. Then they got to dig into theirs with everybody watching. Grandma and I took turns holding Caleb, but he was defnitely intrigued by it all too.
It was a great Christmas. Unfortunately, the bulk of us came down with the stomach flu late Sunday night, into Monday. I guess that is the risk you take anytime you get a group of people together. Sometimes, you take the bad with the good. We all survived. Getting sick was certainly not fun, but the rest of the weekend was a ball, and that is what we need to focus in on. It made up for the rest. The Caleb snuggles were priceless! We all got to experience these!
I tell you though, at the end of every evening, I took over with Caleb. After eating, he just snuggles in, and falls asleep on your shoulder, so it was a great time for me to do the same! I loved every minute of it too! It truly is fun watching your grandkids just have a ball with everything. It brings back all of the memories of when I watched my own kids at that age. But now, I get to see my kids have the same look and smile on their face watching their kids do the same. Priceless! The true joy of holidays. I would not change it for anything. Now it is time to get back to more seriousness with working out, and the progress continues. I will start showing you what I have been doing as alternatives ways to work out. It is a lesson for us all. Be creative. Don’t let tough times get you down. This is just when you show that you are “tougher”. I will be back to running in another couple months. Then look out! But I still have great times making moments and memories. This last picture was a sure sign of have fun until you run out of gas, then enjoy the relaxation!
Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day of newest streak: # 682
