Two Goals Finished!

I finished two of my "40 by 40" goals!!!!

I finished the book "Numbered Account" by Christopher Reich.  It's a book that I've started and stopped on a number of occasions.  But this time I buckled down and finished it.  I wish I could say that it was an good read and that I could recommend it, but I can't. 

The premise of the book is the main character is an American who's father was murdered while working for a Swiss Bank.  The American, Nick, goes to work for said bank to find out who the murderer is.  It's a fairly straight-forward book without any plot twists or sudden revelations at the end.  If a book is one that I really like, I'll plow through it and be anxious to read other things by the same author.  With this book, I had to force myself to get through it, but at least I did finish it.

The second goal accomplished was building a snowman.  On Friday we had 7 inches of snow fall here in Ames.  My friend Amanda texted me that she and her boyfriend Travis were getting ready to build a snowman.  I sent her a message back that I was in. :-)  They both came over to the house and we spent about an hour building our masterpiece.  

So I have two of my goals finished.  I'm hoping to polish off a couple more goals in the next few days.  Stay tuned!

My Tim Tebow Problem

Ok, I admit it - I have a crush on Tim Tebow - and I hate myself for it.  You see, I'm a graduate of Florida State University (Go Seminoles!).  Who did Tebow play for you ask - The University of Florida.  Ugh.  So there's strike one.  I also have an issue with his religious proselytizing.  I don't have a problem with anyone having religious beliefs, but Tebow has a habit of putting his religious beliefs out there - all the time.  Strike two.  I'm still working on finding a Strike Three, but I know it's there somewhere.

But for as much as I can't stand that he went to Florida and it's a wee bit of a religious zealot, there is something so flipping hot about the guy.  As much as I would hate myself the next day, if given the opportunity, I wouldn't say no.

Lots to say, nothing to say....

It's been a while since I've blogged.  There's been quite a bit going on but I just haven't had the motivation to post.

The weather here tonight is really nasty.  A wicked, winter storm is hitting the state today and it's just miserable.  The scary thing is that Matt is flying back from San Francisco today.  He was out there on a mini-vacation and is now on-route home.  Unfortunately the storm has messed up his flights.  He was originally supposed to fly from San Francisco to Minneapolis then to Des Moines.  Minneapolis was SLAMMED by this storm, something like two feet of snow, and flights in and out of the Twin Cities were cancelled.

So yesterday I got to play travel agent and rebook Matt's flights.  I got him a flight to Detroit and then from there he'd head home to Des Moines.  Well the storm wasn't supposed to hit Iowa this hard.  We were worried that Matt's flight to Des Moines would be cancelled and he would be stranded in Michigan for the night.

Matt's flight home should be landing in Des Moines in the next 10 minutes.  Once he gets in though, I'm going to tell him to get a hotel room and stay down there for the night.  The winds tonight are supposed to be close to 50 mph.  It's just not safe to be out on the roads.



UPDATE!!!  Matt's flight was about 1,000 feet from landing in Des Moines when a wind shear warning forced the pilot to abort the landing.  The flight was diverted to Fargo, North Dakota of all places.  Matt ended up spending the night there before flying back to Des Moines this morning.  It was so nice to see Matt when he finally was able to get back to Ames.  But needless-to-say, he has nothing good to say about Delta Airlines.  I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I really miss Northwest Airlines.

I went back to the gym today!!!

Thanks to physical therapy my lower back is feeling much better.  I decided that today would be a great day to start up at the university rec center.  My physical therapist limited me to using the stationary bike as opposed to any running or weight lifting.  That worked for me as I was able to ride and read at the same time.

It was a small step, but one I needed to take.  It's been so long since I exercised that the task of losing weight seems very daunting.  It's as if there's this mountain that I keep trying to climb.  I start up the mountain, then for some reason take a break.  But when I stop, I slide all the way back down to the bottom.  How do I get over that mountain?

I also went to see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" today.  I read the book when it first came out and I decided not to reread it because while I knew the basic plot, I didn't remember many of the specifics.  The one issue that I had with the book was the same one I had in the movie - they spent waaaay too much time camping.  It just seemed to be filler and really slow the book down.  Overall I did enjoy the movie and am looking forward to seeing Part 2 when it comes out next year.

This is the true story of 7 strangers...

Matt and I were talking today about "The Real World" and how it is completely different from when it started back in the 1990s.  I was in college when the first season debuted.  It wasn't until grad school that I really started watching when the Los Angeles season was on.  It was must watch television during the LA, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, Seattle, Hawaii and New Orleans seasons (I don't include London because let's be honest - it was sooooooo boring).  There were issues and topics brought up on the show that we could relate to and the cast members actually had real lives.

Then came The Real World - Las Vegas.  In one season the show became nothing more than a chance to show 7 strangers get sh*t-faced drunk and hook up with one another.  This was a train-wreck of a season and, big surprise, it drew HUGE ratings.  So of course, every subsequent season has an endless progression of drunks, sluts and douchebags who are brought together to do what they do best .... nothing.

I really miss those days when The Real World was interesting to watch.  Now, it's a mess, and not even a hot mess, just a mess.

Goal #6 - Continue to not drink soda

In January of this year I decided to stop drinking soda.  Growing up in the south I was pretty much raised on Coca-Cola.  Over the years I have tried on and off to ween myself of drinking soda, but would always end up resuming my cola drinking ways.  I just felt I needed to go cold turkey and just give it up.  Now I drink iced tea, water, milk, etc.

The first few weeks were rough as I would get some wicked headaches and there was one day when I actually got the shakes during school.  Imagine the fun of teaching algebra while dextoxing from caffeine! I would usually fall off the wagon so to speak after a few weeks, but for some reason this time it took.  I haven't had any soda since mid-January.

I will admit that the one thing I miss about soda is the feeling.  I miss how an icy-cold coke feels in the back of my throat when you first start to drink it.  Now to specify, it has to be a Coca-Cola in a glass full of ice.  Just something about that sensation makes me crave a soda like crazy.

A few people have asked me why I don't just try having one soda every once in a while or just drink diet soda.  I have to be honest when I say that I know I have a problem with soda, the way that an alcoholic has a problem with just having one drink.  I know that if I have one, that I'm going all the way down the rabbit hole again.  I'm determined not to go back to that place.

Oh My Aching Back

Earlier this week my doctor reevaluated my back injury. To catch everyone up, in August I somehow managed to pull a muscle in my back. Over the next three months I ignored the issue until the pain went from an annoyance to a major issue. I was diagnosed with a severe muscle spasm in my lower back and placed on prednisone and a muscle relaxer to hopefully loosen up the spasm and allow my back to heal.

Well on Sunday of last week I played in my rec league volleyball tournament. I had a great match and went all out. Unfortunately the play aggravated the injury and by Tuesday I was having difficulty standing or sitting without considerable pain. So it was back to the doc to get more anti-inflammatory medicine and a new muscle relaxer (the first one made me feel horrible after I took it).

In addition to the meds, I also was scheduled for physical therapy. My first session was on Friday morning and it was, in a word, heavenly. My therapist, Chris, worked on my back for about 40 minutes and when he finished my back was pain free for the first time in 3 months! It only lasted for about 30 minutes before the little aches and pains returned, but it was a sweet taste of what I can expect once my treatment is finished.