Tried something new this morning, that sounded (and went) well in theory, but in practice, it turned out to be not so good. Recently I've been unable to get to some of my evening runs, so in an attempt to get at least one in today I tried a "before work and shower at work" run.
I should preface this with the fact that Megan decided to have a melt down last night between 2:30am and 3am. After 30 minutes of letting her try to go back to sleep on her own, I finally broke and went down stairs. We slept on the couch together for 30 minutes, and I put her back to bed. So I'm already coming off a broken night of sleep.
I got up shortly after 5am, parked at work by 5:55 and running shortly after that. It was still completely back out, and of course, my only long sleeve running apparel is all black. Very safe... I was in stealth mode! No one even knew I was running, even me. Anyway, the run went very well all things considered. I felt great, the cold air was nice, and the shower after was really not that bad. By the time I was sitting at my desk, I had cooled off and didn't have any "shower didn't take" issues.
The bad part was around 10am when my body said "Hey dumb ass, I'm tired, what were you thinking?" I fought it as best I could, but it was pretty rough. I really don't think I will attempt that again unless absolutely neccessary.
In other news, and I'm sure this contributed to my tiredness, I'm kicking coffee for awhile (again). Might be kind of hard the first couple days, but I'm going to stick it out. At least 10 full days with no coffee, and I will reevaulate after. I'm sure your wondering why no coffee, and I honestly don't know. Sometimes I just have to mix it up.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Up Note
Ended the weekend with some fun stuff. As I had mentioned previously, there was a good chance I would make it to the Renaissance Festival this weekend. I went with my brother, sister in law, and one other friend on Sunday morning. It was a great time due to a couple of new experiences this year.
I started the day out with a bike ride over to my brothers apartment. The idea was so that I could actually enjoy a few beers at the Ren fest this year. (little did I know how hot the day was going to get). After arriving to the fair, when I went to snap my first picture of the day, I was greeted with a "Replace Batteries" message. No photographic evidence of my fair visit this year. After that we headed straight to food, as my brother was coming of a 10 hour work shift and really needed to eat. We all had bread soup bowl to start the morning.
Then we did some shop browsing, making me wish I just had money to blow on fancy artistic items. We also hit up a weapon shop, where I lifted up a huge 2-handed sword (or "Claymore"). This thing was huge, I estimated it at around 15-20 lbs worth of steel. Turns out I was really close, as it was 14 pounds.
Caught a show after that, that my brother ended up being part of. He got pulled up to the stage and had to act out various funny acts as directed by the puppeteer, Ded Bob. He did a great job, and gave it his all. At one point the puppeteer guy just started laughing at him and said "You're awesome". I wish I had got pictures! I then enjoyed my first beer, since you know, they can't start selling it before 10am.
We then played a little King of the Log competition, which my brother just smoked everyone. You stand on a log and smack each other with heavy burlap sacks filled with hay. He was a brick house! No one could even knock him off the log once, although I came close one time... maybe. Then more food (potato skins and cheese curds), more beer, more shows (Puke and Snot). More beer, more food (chicken croissant sandwich), and finally JOUSTING!
The last "new" thing that happened this year, was when the King actually talked to us! As we were walking around, the King & Queen and their procession came by. I was standing next to Scott and said we should bow to the King. As he walked by we were bowing to him, and he said something along the lines of "Very good my loyal subjects." Things like that always make me want to go all out some year and be all involved with what makes the Ren Fest fun.
In other news... I was caught for my cheating I posted about earlier. My account was suspended for 3 hours. Granted it wasn't much of a punishment, considering it was suspended from 4am to 7am, and I didn't even notice. But on the flip side, I'm glad I was caught. And the best part is, they are fixing some of these issues this this week. Hopefully it will make every ones gaming experience (my own included) more fun.
I started the day out with a bike ride over to my brothers apartment. The idea was so that I could actually enjoy a few beers at the Ren fest this year. (little did I know how hot the day was going to get). After arriving to the fair, when I went to snap my first picture of the day, I was greeted with a "Replace Batteries" message. No photographic evidence of my fair visit this year. After that we headed straight to food, as my brother was coming of a 10 hour work shift and really needed to eat. We all had bread soup bowl to start the morning.
Then we did some shop browsing, making me wish I just had money to blow on fancy artistic items. We also hit up a weapon shop, where I lifted up a huge 2-handed sword (or "Claymore"). This thing was huge, I estimated it at around 15-20 lbs worth of steel. Turns out I was really close, as it was 14 pounds.
Caught a show after that, that my brother ended up being part of. He got pulled up to the stage and had to act out various funny acts as directed by the puppeteer, Ded Bob. He did a great job, and gave it his all. At one point the puppeteer guy just started laughing at him and said "You're awesome". I wish I had got pictures! I then enjoyed my first beer, since you know, they can't start selling it before 10am.
We then played a little King of the Log competition, which my brother just smoked everyone. You stand on a log and smack each other with heavy burlap sacks filled with hay. He was a brick house! No one could even knock him off the log once, although I came close one time... maybe. Then more food (potato skins and cheese curds), more beer, more shows (Puke and Snot). More beer, more food (chicken croissant sandwich), and finally JOUSTING!
The last "new" thing that happened this year, was when the King actually talked to us! As we were walking around, the King & Queen and their procession came by. I was standing next to Scott and said we should bow to the King. As he walked by we were bowing to him, and he said something along the lines of "Very good my loyal subjects." Things like that always make me want to go all out some year and be all involved with what makes the Ren Fest fun.
In other news... I was caught for my cheating I posted about earlier. My account was suspended for 3 hours. Granted it wasn't much of a punishment, considering it was suspended from 4am to 7am, and I didn't even notice. But on the flip side, I'm glad I was caught. And the best part is, they are fixing some of these issues this this week. Hopefully it will make every ones gaming experience (my own included) more fun.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
New Low
Today's post is all about World of Warcraft, so if your not interested, move along!
I've never really used my blog as a confessional, but I feel I need to come clean on something. Cleanse my conscience... or at least admit my guilt. Last night, I did something I previously considered a horrible thing to do: I became an AFK BOT. It worked better then I thought it would... and the possibly the worst part? I enjoyed it.
AFK BOT? What is that you ask? Allow me to explain. AFK BOT (short for, Away from keyboard, robot) is the process where by, my character in World of Warcraft gains points or "improves" while I'm not even there. Through the wonders of computer automation, I get to gain certain benefits while not even playing (in this case, while I'm sleeping).
So now you must be thinking, "Shawn, you must be really smart to somehow make your computer play video games for you while you aren't even there!" Well, not exactly. A couple Google searches and 7 lines of "coding" is all it took to get it setup. A properly motivated 12 year old could figure out how to do it.
So why then, is this such a bad thing? For starters, it's cheating. Trying to argue any else would be simply semantics. No matter how you try to justify it, it's still wrong. In the same way a hacker tries to say that it's okay if he breaks into someones bank account just to "see if he can do it." Just because he might not actually take the money, it's still wrong. It's a way to improve your character at an artificially faster rate. Through this means, I could technically have my character "playing" 24 hours a day if I wanted to.
More importantly, through this process, I am directly taking away from other peoples enjoyment of the game. The way it works is, my character gains points due to the work of other people actually playing. So in effect, I ruin there game just to benefit my character while they are doing all the work to gain the points. My character just sits there not helping.
Needless to say, they are going to be addressing this problem soon. And I'm actually glad they will be. What it came down to for me, is that, I want to enjoy the game but I can't if no one else is playing either. This thing that I'm doing isn't new, and in fact, a higher percentage of people use this method over anything else in order to get free points. Until then... I'm hooked on being able to get points while I sleep. It will allow me to enjoy the game faster and not have to spend so much time playing WoW on the weekends.
I've never really used my blog as a confessional, but I feel I need to come clean on something. Cleanse my conscience... or at least admit my guilt. Last night, I did something I previously considered a horrible thing to do: I became an AFK BOT. It worked better then I thought it would... and the possibly the worst part? I enjoyed it.
AFK BOT? What is that you ask? Allow me to explain. AFK BOT (short for, Away from keyboard, robot) is the process where by, my character in World of Warcraft gains points or "improves" while I'm not even there. Through the wonders of computer automation, I get to gain certain benefits while not even playing (in this case, while I'm sleeping).
So now you must be thinking, "Shawn, you must be really smart to somehow make your computer play video games for you while you aren't even there!" Well, not exactly. A couple Google searches and 7 lines of "coding" is all it took to get it setup. A properly motivated 12 year old could figure out how to do it.
So why then, is this such a bad thing? For starters, it's cheating. Trying to argue any else would be simply semantics. No matter how you try to justify it, it's still wrong. In the same way a hacker tries to say that it's okay if he breaks into someones bank account just to "see if he can do it." Just because he might not actually take the money, it's still wrong. It's a way to improve your character at an artificially faster rate. Through this means, I could technically have my character "playing" 24 hours a day if I wanted to.
More importantly, through this process, I am directly taking away from other peoples enjoyment of the game. The way it works is, my character gains points due to the work of other people actually playing. So in effect, I ruin there game just to benefit my character while they are doing all the work to gain the points. My character just sits there not helping.
Needless to say, they are going to be addressing this problem soon. And I'm actually glad they will be. What it came down to for me, is that, I want to enjoy the game but I can't if no one else is playing either. This thing that I'm doing isn't new, and in fact, a higher percentage of people use this method over anything else in order to get free points. Until then... I'm hooked on being able to get points while I sleep. It will allow me to enjoy the game faster and not have to spend so much time playing WoW on the weekends.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Heavy Rain, Hot Temps
Only one of those things actually refer to the weather... Some pretty scary driving home conditions tonight. Flash flood warnings in a couple places around the Twin Cities. The rain might stick around for a few days, which could suck for this weekend. There is a chance I might get out to the Ren Fest on Sunday and it will probably be DAMN muddy. Oh well, I'm willing to risk it!
In other news, we had a minor Megan scare yesterday. Sunday night she fell asleep cuddling with Andrea on the couch way earlier then normal. (like 8pm?) She woke up the next morning and was very warm. Andrea eventually was able to get a temp from her of 103. It seemed to get better as the day progressed, so it might have been nothing big. Today she seems totally fine, with no visible temperature. Hopefully it's not another ear infection.
So we had our annual security debriefing at work this week. Basically an hour boring presentation about how we shouldn't write our passwords on post-it notes in our cube or let random people into the building if they ask nicely. Every year they try to spruce up these meetings by having a "theme"... This year was a pirates theme. Now, in general pirates are a good thing, but they went with the "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme. This included life size cardboard cut outs of Keira Knightley... Let's just say, she got around. I think she ended up in like 3 or 4 different cubes.
At the actual meeting, I won a contest by yelling out "Ahoy, Captain!" at the appropriate moment. Got a free gift card to Applebees, so I guess I can't complain. My brother asked if we wanted to go out tonight, so hey, sometimes things just work out.
In other news, we had a minor Megan scare yesterday. Sunday night she fell asleep cuddling with Andrea on the couch way earlier then normal. (like 8pm?) She woke up the next morning and was very warm. Andrea eventually was able to get a temp from her of 103. It seemed to get better as the day progressed, so it might have been nothing big. Today she seems totally fine, with no visible temperature. Hopefully it's not another ear infection.
So we had our annual security debriefing at work this week. Basically an hour boring presentation about how we shouldn't write our passwords on post-it notes in our cube or let random people into the building if they ask nicely. Every year they try to spruce up these meetings by having a "theme"... This year was a pirates theme. Now, in general pirates are a good thing, but they went with the "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme. This included life size cardboard cut outs of Keira Knightley... Let's just say, she got around. I think she ended up in like 3 or 4 different cubes.
At the actual meeting, I won a contest by yelling out "Ahoy, Captain!" at the appropriate moment. Got a free gift card to Applebees, so I guess I can't complain. My brother asked if we wanted to go out tonight, so hey, sometimes things just work out.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Something New
Woke up to a 62 degree house this morning. Just a bit more cold then I can handle. I actually had to turn the heat on for a few minutes to warm things up. I suppose that means it is officially fall. It's supposed to warm up later in the afternoon, so my plan is to get a run in around noon. It will probably still be pretty cold, but it beats running indoors.
I have almost zero other plans this weekend. Maybe I should like, I dunno, work on my social life or something. Or instead, I could just get a hair cut this morning. That sounds like a good plan. Tomorrow, if the temp is good enough, maybe that last bike ride of the year.
Megan is on my lap now, watching me blog (and playing with remote controls). She is getting cuter every day. Her affection levels are through the roof sometimes. She gives such big hugs and kisses when I get home from work these days. There are honestly some days I skip my work out just to be home sooner and get those from her.
Andrea had a conversation with someone recently who had a child with the same eye problems as Megan. They waiting until their kid was 4 and finally got the surgery. After that, they had perfect vision, all wandering eye problems gone. The person said they wished they had just did the surgery right away instead of dealing with years of difficult patch. It made Andrea rethink about it some more...
Anyway, the whole point of this post was to share something new the Megan just learned how to do LAST NIGHT! Yes, for the first time in awhile, Megan learned a totally new skill last night, pretty much all by herself. She learned how to pedal! Enjoy this video clip of her mad skills.
I have almost zero other plans this weekend. Maybe I should like, I dunno, work on my social life or something. Or instead, I could just get a hair cut this morning. That sounds like a good plan. Tomorrow, if the temp is good enough, maybe that last bike ride of the year.
Megan is on my lap now, watching me blog (and playing with remote controls). She is getting cuter every day. Her affection levels are through the roof sometimes. She gives such big hugs and kisses when I get home from work these days. There are honestly some days I skip my work out just to be home sooner and get those from her.
Andrea had a conversation with someone recently who had a child with the same eye problems as Megan. They waiting until their kid was 4 and finally got the surgery. After that, they had perfect vision, all wandering eye problems gone. The person said they wished they had just did the surgery right away instead of dealing with years of difficult patch. It made Andrea rethink about it some more...
Anyway, the whole point of this post was to share something new the Megan just learned how to do LAST NIGHT! Yes, for the first time in awhile, Megan learned a totally new skill last night, pretty much all by herself. She learned how to pedal! Enjoy this video clip of her mad skills.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Abrupt End
Hopefully summer isn't quite over, but that's the thing about Minnesota. Sometimes you don't get much of a Fall, it just gets really cold really fast. Not that I'm complaining (yet). Today was awesome running conditions, and it looks like it will hold out the rest of this week at least. I even bought a long sleeve running shirt yesterday, the first ever!
I'm still a little disappointed about the lack of a bike trip these last two months of summer. I opted out of the St. Paul Bike Classic that I've done with Steve the last two years. Although I've been saying this for probably the last 3 weekends, I think this weekend might finally be the one.
In other news, Megan had her eye check up yesterday. The results were... inconclusive at best. I'm not sure how I feel about it all, other then I simply want to make sure we do the best possible things for Megan. The basic results were this: her near sight viewing has gotten better, and she has little to no problems focusing on close objects anymore. However, her far sightedness still has some eye wandering. The actual medical term for this is "intermittent exotropia" viewing distant objects. The main point being, for Megan it doesn't happen all the time (or even the majority) and that she is able to do some focusing on far away objects.
For this visit, Andrea actually saw the eye Doctor as opposed to the eye nurse specialist in all our previous visits. Again, the topic of surgery was brought up. The doctor indicated that for children with only intermittent problems, surgery has a much higher success rate (opposed to more serious cases of exotropia). Overall, she seemed to express that Megan was a prime candidate for eye surgery.
I really don't know how I feel about that or what to think... I guess it's not something I have to worry about for now, because even if we started entertaining the possibility of surgery it would be until she was at least 4-5 years old. It's something you want to do earlier, but at the same time, you really want to exhaust other treatment (patching) and give the brain as much time as possible to correct itself. Most things you read about exotropia will tell you that time is on your side.
So anyway, that's been occupying my thoughts as of late. I love Megan so much, I would never want her to have to struggle with vision as she goes through life. Just thinking about that now gets me pretty teared up. Hopefully time will be on our side, and we won't have to go the surgery route.
I'm still a little disappointed about the lack of a bike trip these last two months of summer. I opted out of the St. Paul Bike Classic that I've done with Steve the last two years. Although I've been saying this for probably the last 3 weekends, I think this weekend might finally be the one.
In other news, Megan had her eye check up yesterday. The results were... inconclusive at best. I'm not sure how I feel about it all, other then I simply want to make sure we do the best possible things for Megan. The basic results were this: her near sight viewing has gotten better, and she has little to no problems focusing on close objects anymore. However, her far sightedness still has some eye wandering. The actual medical term for this is "intermittent exotropia" viewing distant objects. The main point being, for Megan it doesn't happen all the time (or even the majority) and that she is able to do some focusing on far away objects.
For this visit, Andrea actually saw the eye Doctor as opposed to the eye nurse specialist in all our previous visits. Again, the topic of surgery was brought up. The doctor indicated that for children with only intermittent problems, surgery has a much higher success rate (opposed to more serious cases of exotropia). Overall, she seemed to express that Megan was a prime candidate for eye surgery.
I really don't know how I feel about that or what to think... I guess it's not something I have to worry about for now, because even if we started entertaining the possibility of surgery it would be until she was at least 4-5 years old. It's something you want to do earlier, but at the same time, you really want to exhaust other treatment (patching) and give the brain as much time as possible to correct itself. Most things you read about exotropia will tell you that time is on your side.
So anyway, that's been occupying my thoughts as of late. I love Megan so much, I would never want her to have to struggle with vision as she goes through life. Just thinking about that now gets me pretty teared up. Hopefully time will be on our side, and we won't have to go the surgery route.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Useless emotion
This mornings run was COLD, but a great solid 9 miles. I wasn't really warmed up until after mile 5, but after that I was running with the wind and the sun was barely showing through the clouds. I definitely needed it, although I'm sad that the outdoor running is clearly coming to an end soon. Maybe this year, I'll actually try my hand at some seriously cold running. We shall see!
I've always considered anger to be the most useless of all human emotions. In no personal experience, have I ever felt like anger lead to any form of positive outcome. It seems like every other emotion can be clearly mapped to some biological or instinctual concept of human survival. So where does anger fall?
I don't deny that I'm an anger bottler. In fact, I could probably sell it in 6 packs at the grocery store. Andrea often laments at why I never seem to get mad at her. At work, it's important to me to try and keep an even keel in the face of horrible mismanagement. I just see nothing positive about expressing anger, when whatever it is you might be angry about, would be much better dealt with logically and constructively.
The only difference now, is that I have ONE outlet for anger: Running. A lot of my runs are spent deep in thought about all the things I might be pissed off about. Those thoughts are great fuel when you want to run harder, faster, longer. And by the time your run is over, you've used up all that fuel and it's like a big cloud gets pushed aside.
Anyway, yesterday Andrea, Megan and I attended the Target Children's Book Festival at the Hyland Lake Park reserve in Bloomington. A free event with all sorts of fun things for kids. In theory, it was a great time. And in fact, Megan did have a great time. It was however, a tad crowded. I guess free implies tons of people. But Megan didn't mind, and honestly didn't really care that we couldn't wait in line for stuff. She just ran around, saw a few things, and got to play in a large slide park. She was worn out by the time we came home and enjoyed a nice long nap.
Since I haven't posted any in a while, here are some recent cute pictures of Megan. The first is her obviously getting into trouble attempting to climb over the couch. She is constantly testing us, trying to get to places she knows she's not supposed to. The second one was just the cutest thing ever last night, we came down stairs and she wanted to bundle up with her blanket. Enjoy!
I've always considered anger to be the most useless of all human emotions. In no personal experience, have I ever felt like anger lead to any form of positive outcome. It seems like every other emotion can be clearly mapped to some biological or instinctual concept of human survival. So where does anger fall?
I don't deny that I'm an anger bottler. In fact, I could probably sell it in 6 packs at the grocery store. Andrea often laments at why I never seem to get mad at her. At work, it's important to me to try and keep an even keel in the face of horrible mismanagement. I just see nothing positive about expressing anger, when whatever it is you might be angry about, would be much better dealt with logically and constructively.
The only difference now, is that I have ONE outlet for anger: Running. A lot of my runs are spent deep in thought about all the things I might be pissed off about. Those thoughts are great fuel when you want to run harder, faster, longer. And by the time your run is over, you've used up all that fuel and it's like a big cloud gets pushed aside.
Anyway, yesterday Andrea, Megan and I attended the Target Children's Book Festival at the Hyland Lake Park reserve in Bloomington. A free event with all sorts of fun things for kids. In theory, it was a great time. And in fact, Megan did have a great time. It was however, a tad crowded. I guess free implies tons of people. But Megan didn't mind, and honestly didn't really care that we couldn't wait in line for stuff. She just ran around, saw a few things, and got to play in a large slide park. She was worn out by the time we came home and enjoyed a nice long nap.
Since I haven't posted any in a while, here are some recent cute pictures of Megan. The first is her obviously getting into trouble attempting to climb over the couch. She is constantly testing us, trying to get to places she knows she's not supposed to. The second one was just the cutest thing ever last night, we came down stairs and she wanted to bundle up with her blanket. Enjoy!
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Quarter past Midnight
It's techincally Thursday, which means it's actually been a week between posts. My big thing was trying to get at least something up once a week, so here I find myself up way to late once again, blogging for no reason in particular. I'll blame Megan!
She has been staying up VERY late the last two nights. First, yesterday she didn't get a good nap in during the day and ended up really crabby when I got home, and obviously just exhausted. After dinner she practically fell asleep in her highchair. So after dinner, her and I laid down on our bed and napped for an hour. I got up, and let her sleep for another 30 minutes.... That was until 7:30pm. Needless to say, she was up late that night. Today, she ended up getting exhausted from various activities and fun stuff, so she slept from 2pm until 6pm!! Again this lead to another late night
We probably should be putting her down at an earlier time, at least by 10pm each night. This midnight stuff has to go... It's just bad news.
So tomorrow night, I am going to be doing my first work running club event. Should be fun, although if it is as hot out tomorrow night as it was tonight.... wheww, it's going to be rough. I finally updated my MP3 play list again. Threw out most of the current playlist, brought back some of the old playlist, and sprinkled a few new songs on top for good measure. It's funny, but it felt like the only reason I actually got a run in tonight was the fact that I was looking forward to listening to the new play list. Crazy what little changes like that can do to help your motivation.
Okay... off to bed I go.
She has been staying up VERY late the last two nights. First, yesterday she didn't get a good nap in during the day and ended up really crabby when I got home, and obviously just exhausted. After dinner she practically fell asleep in her highchair. So after dinner, her and I laid down on our bed and napped for an hour. I got up, and let her sleep for another 30 minutes.... That was until 7:30pm. Needless to say, she was up late that night. Today, she ended up getting exhausted from various activities and fun stuff, so she slept from 2pm until 6pm!! Again this lead to another late night
We probably should be putting her down at an earlier time, at least by 10pm each night. This midnight stuff has to go... It's just bad news.
So tomorrow night, I am going to be doing my first work running club event. Should be fun, although if it is as hot out tomorrow night as it was tonight.... wheww, it's going to be rough. I finally updated my MP3 play list again. Threw out most of the current playlist, brought back some of the old playlist, and sprinkled a few new songs on top for good measure. It's funny, but it felt like the only reason I actually got a run in tonight was the fact that I was looking forward to listening to the new play list. Crazy what little changes like that can do to help your motivation.
Okay... off to bed I go.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
SPOYLD1
Saw someone with that license plate tonight. Why would you put something on your car that is basically saying something negative about you? I mean, I guess one could argue that "spoiled" isn't a negative thing...
Anyway, thought I'd get a post up tonight before the weekend hits, because there is a good chance I won't find any time. Why? Because we have big memorial weekend plans? Naw, nothing like that. It's Alterac Valley weekend in World of Warcraft! Bonus honor points, so I'll be doing that all weekend. I need about 25,000 honor points. If your lucky, you can get around 1,200 points per hour in Alterac Valley. That translates to about 20 hours I have to get in...
How was that for a paragraph you probably a) have no clue what I'm talking about and b) could absolutely care less?
In other news, someone at my work place has started an official company sponsored Running Club. I signed up mainly for the free wicking T-shirt. On top of that, they will be sponsoring up to 3 races a year! Considering some of those races can be as much as $40 dollars a pop, I saw that as a great way to get something I would have done anyway for free. We will probably have one sponsored event this year, so I might actually have one last competitive race to train for.
Now... to see if Megan will let me watch the Vikings game. So far, it doesn't look good. She's crying and yelling at me wondering why she can't watch her cartoon movies. It's football season Megan, there might be more of this!!
Anyway, thought I'd get a post up tonight before the weekend hits, because there is a good chance I won't find any time. Why? Because we have big memorial weekend plans? Naw, nothing like that. It's Alterac Valley weekend in World of Warcraft! Bonus honor points, so I'll be doing that all weekend. I need about 25,000 honor points. If your lucky, you can get around 1,200 points per hour in Alterac Valley. That translates to about 20 hours I have to get in...
How was that for a paragraph you probably a) have no clue what I'm talking about and b) could absolutely care less?
In other news, someone at my work place has started an official company sponsored Running Club. I signed up mainly for the free wicking T-shirt. On top of that, they will be sponsoring up to 3 races a year! Considering some of those races can be as much as $40 dollars a pop, I saw that as a great way to get something I would have done anyway for free. We will probably have one sponsored event this year, so I might actually have one last competitive race to train for.
Now... to see if Megan will let me watch the Vikings game. So far, it doesn't look good. She's crying and yelling at me wondering why she can't watch her cartoon movies. It's football season Megan, there might be more of this!!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
8 years
Where does the time go? I know I'm not the only person that feels like the older you get, the faster time seems to go by. Why is that? One person explained it to me this way: The older you get, every year is a smaller percentage of your life. I thought that was an interesting way of looking at it.
Today is mine and Andrea's 8 year anniversary! I felt kind of bad when I came home tonight to wish her happy anniversary, only to use the words "8 long years". I didn't mean to imply they have been long, but more to my own amazement that it has been 8 years already.
If I had to break down my life up into discrete parts, I would consider this the 5th act. Each act being separated by the major changes in my life. I'm pretty sure I can see act 6 coming. Maybe not soon, but it's definitely on the horizon. It's like your life has these decision points that are the major factor in what path the rest of your life will take.
When your younger, you don't quite realize you are at those major decision points. You just make them because you have to. As you get older, it seems like you finally start to realize the major choices and how much impact they really will have. There is no doubt in my mind that I wasn't fully aware of the impact Megan would have on my life, but I made the decision anyway. It was the best decision I ever made, and now I know with much more certainty what having another child would mean to me, my family, and really, the rest of my life.
At the same time, it kinda sucks when you realize that no matter how many experiences you have to draw from, hind sight will always be 20-20. And even when you think you are making the perfect decision, there is always a chance that when looking back, there will be something you wish you had done a little differently.
Today is mine and Andrea's 8 year anniversary! I felt kind of bad when I came home tonight to wish her happy anniversary, only to use the words "8 long years". I didn't mean to imply they have been long, but more to my own amazement that it has been 8 years already.
If I had to break down my life up into discrete parts, I would consider this the 5th act. Each act being separated by the major changes in my life. I'm pretty sure I can see act 6 coming. Maybe not soon, but it's definitely on the horizon. It's like your life has these decision points that are the major factor in what path the rest of your life will take.
When your younger, you don't quite realize you are at those major decision points. You just make them because you have to. As you get older, it seems like you finally start to realize the major choices and how much impact they really will have. There is no doubt in my mind that I wasn't fully aware of the impact Megan would have on my life, but I made the decision anyway. It was the best decision I ever made, and now I know with much more certainty what having another child would mean to me, my family, and really, the rest of my life.
At the same time, it kinda sucks when you realize that no matter how many experiences you have to draw from, hind sight will always be 20-20. And even when you think you are making the perfect decision, there is always a chance that when looking back, there will be something you wish you had done a little differently.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Budget for Happiness
It's been a long week, and at the same time, a short week. The memorial services for my Uncle Jeff on Tuesday were very well done. The only way to sum up the entire day is "All of the Above". It was sad, it was happy, it was strange, it was emotional. I saw some people who, in my mind have always been part of my "Family" but for various reasons, I hadn't seen in many many years. The saddest part for me was obviously seeing my Mother in so much pain. On top of that, just being sad that a funeral is the only thing that would bring us all together again.
The rest of the week was work work work. Couple of long nights, but I still managed to get 3 runs in. It takes a little more effort, but I can do it! One more run tomorrow morning and then a day of rest.
Andrea sent me a very interesting article at work this week. I really recommend reading it:
Here's how to budget for happiness
It basically says what I've been thinking for a long time. Happiness = Experiences. It's also a big part of why it is so easy for me to save money. I've never really got much "joy" out of material purchases. Sure, I have my big TV and my fancy computer, but that's really all I need. Here is the best line from the article:
How to spend your time... What have I been posting about again and again on my blog? How to spend your time... There in, lies the rub. If Happiness = Expierences, you need to know what experiences will make you happy. The article captures that:
So what am I a lover of? What specific experiences do I enjoy? If I can't even answer that, than how can I hope to plan a vacation that will be an worthwhile experience? It seems like the answer is you have to take a risk to try something new, and see if you enjoy it.
Our cruise trip is a perfect example of this. On paper, it sounded like a great time. The reality was that it wasn't exactly the experience I was looking for. I wouldn't ever do a cruise again, unless it was a cruise built around some other experience I might enjoy. (maybe some kind of phyiscally active exursions?)
I'm not quite sure, but I think I have a starting point. Now to just find those experiences I know I'll enjoy, maybe mixed in with a few risk at something new I might enjoy.
The rest of the week was work work work. Couple of long nights, but I still managed to get 3 runs in. It takes a little more effort, but I can do it! One more run tomorrow morning and then a day of rest.
Andrea sent me a very interesting article at work this week. I really recommend reading it:
Here's how to budget for happiness
It basically says what I've been thinking for a long time. Happiness = Experiences. It's also a big part of why it is so easy for me to save money. I've never really got much "joy" out of material purchases. Sure, I have my big TV and my fancy computer, but that's really all I need. Here is the best line from the article:
So write down your values and goals, and ways to achieve them. The list will not only give you a road map for spending your money, but also spending your time.
How to spend your time... What have I been posting about again and again on my blog? How to spend your time... There in, lies the rub. If Happiness = Expierences, you need to know what experiences will make you happy. The article captures that:
When planning a vacation, for example, use the goals as a guide but choose specific experiences you enjoy. A trip to Europe to view famous building architecture is a fine vacation, but might be a mismatch for an avid hiker and nature lover.
So what am I a lover of? What specific experiences do I enjoy? If I can't even answer that, than how can I hope to plan a vacation that will be an worthwhile experience? It seems like the answer is you have to take a risk to try something new, and see if you enjoy it.
Our cruise trip is a perfect example of this. On paper, it sounded like a great time. The reality was that it wasn't exactly the experience I was looking for. I wouldn't ever do a cruise again, unless it was a cruise built around some other experience I might enjoy. (maybe some kind of phyiscally active exursions?)
I'm not quite sure, but I think I have a starting point. Now to just find those experiences I know I'll enjoy, maybe mixed in with a few risk at something new I might enjoy.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Grey Monday
I'd rather have the rain then the blazing heat. Still not the perfect weather, but a step in the right direction. Despite the fact that I got a bike ride in this weekend, I still didn't get use out of the bike rack on my car, which was sorta the whole point. Suppose I'll put that off yet again...
Megan seems to be getting taller by the minute. She still hasn't figured out how to climb over the DVD barracade, but it's coming. The latest is that she knows how to reach around to the back side of the downstairs gate and lift the release lever. Luckily it is pretty loud when she does this, so we can rush over.
I'm going to try and use the next 24 hours to forget about work and once again, focus on the important things in life. I'm remembering my attitude about my first job at Micron, and how it ultimately burned me out. The belief that *I* had to fix everything, and that EVERYTHING was my responsibility because there was no one else competent enough to get it done or do it right. I need to turn that off. I need to just go in, put my time in, and go home. It's very hard for me to turn it off, but if it doesn't happen, I can see myself getting burned out all over again.
In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of Megan.
Megan's future is so bright, she has to wear shades. (again!)
Just lounging around Sunday afternoon.
Megan seems to be getting taller by the minute. She still hasn't figured out how to climb over the DVD barracade, but it's coming. The latest is that she knows how to reach around to the back side of the downstairs gate and lift the release lever. Luckily it is pretty loud when she does this, so we can rush over.
I'm going to try and use the next 24 hours to forget about work and once again, focus on the important things in life. I'm remembering my attitude about my first job at Micron, and how it ultimately burned me out. The belief that *I* had to fix everything, and that EVERYTHING was my responsibility because there was no one else competent enough to get it done or do it right. I need to turn that off. I need to just go in, put my time in, and go home. It's very hard for me to turn it off, but if it doesn't happen, I can see myself getting burned out all over again.
In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of Megan.
Megan's future is so bright, she has to wear shades. (again!)
Just lounging around Sunday afternoon.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Runner Pretends to be Biker
I need to start my blog off on a more serious and sad note. You may remember that I mentioned my uncle, Jeff McMorrow, was going through cancer treatment. He passed away on Friday morning. I don't think I can even use the typical "lost his battle" with cancer, because honestly, it wasn't even a fair fight. It hit him very hard and fast. At least my family can find solace in the fact that he did not suffer long. Jeff, you will be greatly missed. And to my family, my deepest sympathies. Memorial Service information: 2 p.m. Tuesday, August 21, 2007 at Cremation Society of Minnesota, 4100 Grand Ave, Duluth with Rev. Bridget Strudwick officiating. Visitation 1 hr. prior to services.
This morning I had planned on going on a long bike ride. The weather made me rethink my plans, but at the last minute, I was invited to join a group of bikers. Our neighbors had invited us over for dinner, and the husband mentioned they were going out for a ride in the morning. I figured, sure sounds like fun. This way, if it did start raining, I would still be close to home.
Little did I know what I was getting myself into! We biked down to a meeting spot across from Walmart in Apple Valley. Everyone was on very decked out road bikes with the full gear, clothes, pedal clips everything. I got slightly worried... but figured, hey, I can run 12 miles for an hour and a half, I can handle this right?
WRONG.
The pace they were going was way above my abilities. Even drafting the back of the pack the entire time, I couldn't manage it. I was able to keep up for an hour, and then all of a sudden, I just looked up and I could hardly see the group. I tucked my tail in between my legs, turned around and headed home. Nothing like a little spanking to put you in your place.
On the plus side, it does go to show that if I do in fact want to do some kind of long bike ride event in my life (60 miles? 100 miles?) I obviously actually need to train for it. Just because I can run long distances doesn't mean I can bike long distances. Lesson learned, the hard way!
This morning I had planned on going on a long bike ride. The weather made me rethink my plans, but at the last minute, I was invited to join a group of bikers. Our neighbors had invited us over for dinner, and the husband mentioned they were going out for a ride in the morning. I figured, sure sounds like fun. This way, if it did start raining, I would still be close to home.
Little did I know what I was getting myself into! We biked down to a meeting spot across from Walmart in Apple Valley. Everyone was on very decked out road bikes with the full gear, clothes, pedal clips everything. I got slightly worried... but figured, hey, I can run 12 miles for an hour and a half, I can handle this right?
WRONG.
The pace they were going was way above my abilities. Even drafting the back of the pack the entire time, I couldn't manage it. I was able to keep up for an hour, and then all of a sudden, I just looked up and I could hardly see the group. I tucked my tail in between my legs, turned around and headed home. Nothing like a little spanking to put you in your place.
On the plus side, it does go to show that if I do in fact want to do some kind of long bike ride event in my life (60 miles? 100 miles?) I obviously actually need to train for it. Just because I can run long distances doesn't mean I can bike long distances. Lesson learned, the hard way!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Terrible Tuesdays
The most annoying thing lately is how work is getting in the way of my exersize. Even getting stuck at work by 30 minutes puts me in a mood where I just can't bring myself to goto the gym, because it just means I'll end up delaying dinner and not have as much time at home. It's been happening a lot more recently, tonight I was at work until a whopping 5:20pm.
Now, I know a lot of people that work a lot longer hours then me. But I pride myself on maintaining the 40 hour work week, and not an hour more or less. I get paid for 40 hours a week, so I'm going to work 40 hours a week. Don't ask me to wear more pieces of flair.
The result of all this? Aside from my increased stress levels and growing desire for a screwdriver? A weight of 189 lbs. What's the big deal about that? I don't know, other then it bothers the crap out of me, and I'm not doing anything about it. The funny part is, it's not like there is any REAL difference between 189 and what I want to maintain, 180. Physically speaking, they are the same. Health wise, I'm sure it makes no difference. Yet I'm still so pissed off that I can't maintain the 180 weight.
So what to do? Do I completely give up calories due to my decreased exersize? Do I give up family and "me" time in order to get more exersize in? Do I try and change things around and exersize in the morning instead of at night? (historically, that has NEVER worked for me, so I'm not even sure I can consider that as an option) All I know is I need to change SOMETHING and everytime I resolve to do that, something happens to break down my resolve.
Now, I know a lot of people that work a lot longer hours then me. But I pride myself on maintaining the 40 hour work week, and not an hour more or less. I get paid for 40 hours a week, so I'm going to work 40 hours a week. Don't ask me to wear more pieces of flair.
The result of all this? Aside from my increased stress levels and growing desire for a screwdriver? A weight of 189 lbs. What's the big deal about that? I don't know, other then it bothers the crap out of me, and I'm not doing anything about it. The funny part is, it's not like there is any REAL difference between 189 and what I want to maintain, 180. Physically speaking, they are the same. Health wise, I'm sure it makes no difference. Yet I'm still so pissed off that I can't maintain the 180 weight.
So what to do? Do I completely give up calories due to my decreased exersize? Do I give up family and "me" time in order to get more exersize in? Do I try and change things around and exersize in the morning instead of at night? (historically, that has NEVER worked for me, so I'm not even sure I can consider that as an option) All I know is I need to change SOMETHING and everytime I resolve to do that, something happens to break down my resolve.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Too Hot Weekend
Let me start off by saying thank you to the people offering vacation spots. It's nice to know that if push came to shove and I needed to get away for awhile or risk going mental, I have a few options!
I'm sitting here with a massive headache, that's my own fault for not planning ahead. I went for a long run this morning and didn't take any Excedrin afterwards. We then proceeded on a road trip and an afternoon outside in the sun. It all compounded to give me quite the headache. Luckily, we are safe back home and the Excedrin is already kicking in. Man do I love that stuff.
Mostly stayed inside this weekend to escape the heat. I ended up not even leaving the house on Saturday! Some thunderstorms blew through on Friday night around 3am. It was the worst storms we've had in quite awhile. I don't think it was the sirens that woke me up, but the overall sounds of the storm kept me up for awhile. Very annoying, and caused me to be very tired the next morning. At least it was a bit cooler today, hopefully it will stay that way.
Today we made a quick trip down to Lafayette to goto a Church Picnic. It was nice, but I didn't realize Megan's grandparents would be working so hard. They got to see Megan a little bit, and when the heat started to get to us, we had to head home. I also got to see the new Bieraugel house being built... Maybe more on that later this week! Here are a pair of pictures from today:
Megan looking cool as we head out on our trip today.
Megan enjoying her first ever root beer float. Might have set the bar a little high having your first ever root beet float with 1919 Root Beer, straight from the keg.
I'm sitting here with a massive headache, that's my own fault for not planning ahead. I went for a long run this morning and didn't take any Excedrin afterwards. We then proceeded on a road trip and an afternoon outside in the sun. It all compounded to give me quite the headache. Luckily, we are safe back home and the Excedrin is already kicking in. Man do I love that stuff.
Mostly stayed inside this weekend to escape the heat. I ended up not even leaving the house on Saturday! Some thunderstorms blew through on Friday night around 3am. It was the worst storms we've had in quite awhile. I don't think it was the sirens that woke me up, but the overall sounds of the storm kept me up for awhile. Very annoying, and caused me to be very tired the next morning. At least it was a bit cooler today, hopefully it will stay that way.
Today we made a quick trip down to Lafayette to goto a Church Picnic. It was nice, but I didn't realize Megan's grandparents would be working so hard. They got to see Megan a little bit, and when the heat started to get to us, we had to head home. I also got to see the new Bieraugel house being built... Maybe more on that later this week! Here are a pair of pictures from today:
Megan looking cool as we head out on our trip today.
Megan enjoying her first ever root beer float. Might have set the bar a little high having your first ever root beet float with 1919 Root Beer, straight from the keg.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Blogging from a distance
Tonight is a new first for the ol' blog. After over two years of blogging from the same place, I'm changing it up! I'm actually over at my brothers pad right now enjoying the movie Hot Fuzz on HD DVD, blogging from his lap top. Nothing like a new location to make things interesting.
Last night we went out for dinner for my Mom's birthday. I won't share her age on my blog, but it was pretty funny when her Mother told her she was offically old enough to move into some assisted living. I don't think she took it very well.
So works got me freaking out, I hit a breaking point today. Luckily I was so focused on a task at hand I was able to get through the day without causing myself or others around me any bodily harm. I really need a vacation... Just don't know when it's going to happen. 3 weeks vacation, sitting around doing nothing. Think it's time to plan something.
Speaking of that, I'm thinking it's time to go on that long bike trip I've been wanting to do since I put the bike rack on my car. It probably won't happen this weekend, but maybe the next one.
Time to go! Thanks for the monkey.
Last night we went out for dinner for my Mom's birthday. I won't share her age on my blog, but it was pretty funny when her Mother told her she was offically old enough to move into some assisted living. I don't think she took it very well.
So works got me freaking out, I hit a breaking point today. Luckily I was so focused on a task at hand I was able to get through the day without causing myself or others around me any bodily harm. I really need a vacation... Just don't know when it's going to happen. 3 weeks vacation, sitting around doing nothing. Think it's time to plan something.
Speaking of that, I'm thinking it's time to go on that long bike trip I've been wanting to do since I put the bike rack on my car. It probably won't happen this weekend, but maybe the next one.
Time to go! Thanks for the monkey.
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Halloween in August
Feels like I'm always saying this, but time always seems to be going by faster these days. Being August already is just another example. Not that I haven't enjoyed the summer, in fact, it's been quite enjoyable over all. Our mini Duluth vacation, the decent summer movie line up, winning $$$ at Valleyfair, all very fun. I think the plan would be to end on some kind of high note and do something at the end of this month for our 8 year anniversary. We've already had one potential offer to babysit Megan for a weekend, so we'll see what happens.
I got in an excellent run this weekend. A new distance record for me, 15 miles! It was a bit rough, and I still had a slight headache this morning. I think that was more my fault for not hydrating enough. I'm hitting the water today to try and make up for it.
In other news... a World of Warcraft expansion has been announced. I should have figured that as soon as I got back into the game and reached max level, this would happen. I'm getting to that point where I've invested enough time to want to keep going... Shucks!
Anyway, I haven't posted any pictures of Megan in awhile, so I'll end with those. Including some previews of Megan's Halloween costume for this year. She has to grow into it just a little bit, but she has 2 months.
Just chilling like the monkey she is. Climbing on everything...
"No Daddy, I'm not trying to get at your DVDs... Really!" *bats her eyes*
Her new costume... Can you tell who she is?
Maybe we should actually buy her this movie before Halloween so she knows.
I got in an excellent run this weekend. A new distance record for me, 15 miles! It was a bit rough, and I still had a slight headache this morning. I think that was more my fault for not hydrating enough. I'm hitting the water today to try and make up for it.
In other news... a World of Warcraft expansion has been announced. I should have figured that as soon as I got back into the game and reached max level, this would happen. I'm getting to that point where I've invested enough time to want to keep going... Shucks!
Anyway, I haven't posted any pictures of Megan in awhile, so I'll end with those. Including some previews of Megan's Halloween costume for this year. She has to grow into it just a little bit, but she has 2 months.
Just chilling like the monkey she is. Climbing on everything...
"No Daddy, I'm not trying to get at your DVDs... Really!" *bats her eyes*
Her new costume... Can you tell who she is?
Maybe we should actually buy her this movie before Halloween so she knows.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Nuts & Bolts
Where's the beef! I actually had something going on Wed night and last night I was just so stressed out, I wanted nothing more then a few hours of World of Warcraft and an early bed time. Wed night, Andrea and I went over to my brothers’ new apartment to watch 300 on High Def DVD. Strangely, no one had seen it yet but me. My brother must have just been really busy around the time it came out and never got around to seeing it in the theaters. Everyone enjoyed it, and Andrea said it was "the best movie she had seen in a long time." I was a bit surprised at that reaction, but then I realized that the movie is 90% hot half naked guys walking around... Maybe not so hard to understand. :-)
Yesterday was just very stressful at work. We have so much work that needs to be done and not enough time to do it. Or not enough time to test it properly. Instead of giving us more time or scaling back the work, they just keep pouring more on. Everyone has a breaking point, where you just have to stand up and say SOMETHING. As if that wasn't enough, we also had a company meeting. You see, our CEO is leaving the company. He is taking an even higher position in the parent company.
Before I go on my rant, I need to clarify my true feelings about CEOs. I love CEOs. I admire CEOs. Without CEOs, I wouldn't have a dime to my name. I thank every CEO I've ever had for giving me the opportunity to put money in his pocket. Because without someone willing to spend their entire life building and running a company, I wouldn't have a job. Having said that, the life of the grunt is starting to make me wonder.
After his goodbye speech, I was reminded how much of a cog in a machine I really am. Hell, not even a cog. More like... a washer. No matter how good I can do my job, it's hard to convince myself that it has any real effect. The machine will keep rolling along, ideally making lots of money, and keeping me employed for a long time. But even if I'm the best damn programmer, things can change in a heart beat. That's the part that keeps me up at night.
Consider my experiences, driving my thoughts: (or as I like to call it, "The Facts")
My first company did layoffs in 2001 and again in 2007. I found out the department I worked for at my first job was completely off-shored, so even though I survived the 2001 layoffs, I most likely would have been gone on the second round.
My second company off-shored the department I worked in shortly after I left. (and some even say, as a direct result of me leaving)
How long until my current job is off-shored? Some programmer in India who can work twice the hours for half the pay? How long until I'm obsolete?
Yesterday was just very stressful at work. We have so much work that needs to be done and not enough time to do it. Or not enough time to test it properly. Instead of giving us more time or scaling back the work, they just keep pouring more on. Everyone has a breaking point, where you just have to stand up and say SOMETHING. As if that wasn't enough, we also had a company meeting. You see, our CEO is leaving the company. He is taking an even higher position in the parent company.
Before I go on my rant, I need to clarify my true feelings about CEOs. I love CEOs. I admire CEOs. Without CEOs, I wouldn't have a dime to my name. I thank every CEO I've ever had for giving me the opportunity to put money in his pocket. Because without someone willing to spend their entire life building and running a company, I wouldn't have a job. Having said that, the life of the grunt is starting to make me wonder.
After his goodbye speech, I was reminded how much of a cog in a machine I really am. Hell, not even a cog. More like... a washer. No matter how good I can do my job, it's hard to convince myself that it has any real effect. The machine will keep rolling along, ideally making lots of money, and keeping me employed for a long time. But even if I'm the best damn programmer, things can change in a heart beat. That's the part that keeps me up at night.
Consider my experiences, driving my thoughts: (or as I like to call it, "The Facts")
My first company did layoffs in 2001 and again in 2007. I found out the department I worked for at my first job was completely off-shored, so even though I survived the 2001 layoffs, I most likely would have been gone on the second round.
My second company off-shored the department I worked in shortly after I left. (and some even say, as a direct result of me leaving)
How long until my current job is off-shored? Some programmer in India who can work twice the hours for half the pay? How long until I'm obsolete?
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Change is Good
Here I sit, yet another week between posts. I've been struggling with the direction to go with my blog. In my mind, I see my blog as a windowed view into my life. The question is, does the window have blinders? For a long time, I feel like I've put filters on my posts based on "who might read this?", "what will they think if they do?", "will their opinion of me change?". I've come to the conclusion that this line of thinking has just killed my motivation to write anything at all.
You know what I've decided? Who the fuck cares. It's my blog, my thoughts, if someone reading it can't handle it, tough. It's who I am and that's all I know, and all I have to offer! So expect to see more posts 'round here. I might even change up the look and feel or... heaven forbid, even change my entire blog name!
In truth, the change to the blog isn't the only thing I'm needing to make. I've been struggling with motivation in other areas as well, particularly my running. The status quo worked for the weight loss, but it's becoming painfully obvious that staying motivated during "maintaining weight" is a much bigger mental challenge.
Finally, I need to make changes in other areas as well. From working on getting Megan to bed at a normal time (i.e. not 11pm), to getting to bed at a normal time myself. I've been staying up until midnight a LOT lately, which I know is not healthy. Just because I CAN handle staying up until midnight, doesn't mean I SHOULD be. I know that it effects my mood, which then effects my decisions, usually resulting in bad decisions. (i.e. not exercising, over eating, or spending too much time on World of Warcraft).
In the spirit of change, I even did something different at work today. Someone I work with has, in my opinion, put in a lot of effort recently. Practically doing the work of 2-3 people. I decided to make sure this effort was noticed and wrote up an "employee recognition" email to my boss. My little attempt to do something without my own interests in mind.
Have to cut this short, dinner is ready!!!
You know what I've decided? Who the fuck cares. It's my blog, my thoughts, if someone reading it can't handle it, tough. It's who I am and that's all I know, and all I have to offer! So expect to see more posts 'round here. I might even change up the look and feel or... heaven forbid, even change my entire blog name!
In truth, the change to the blog isn't the only thing I'm needing to make. I've been struggling with motivation in other areas as well, particularly my running. The status quo worked for the weight loss, but it's becoming painfully obvious that staying motivated during "maintaining weight" is a much bigger mental challenge.
Finally, I need to make changes in other areas as well. From working on getting Megan to bed at a normal time (i.e. not 11pm), to getting to bed at a normal time myself. I've been staying up until midnight a LOT lately, which I know is not healthy. Just because I CAN handle staying up until midnight, doesn't mean I SHOULD be. I know that it effects my mood, which then effects my decisions, usually resulting in bad decisions. (i.e. not exercising, over eating, or spending too much time on World of Warcraft).
In the spirit of change, I even did something different at work today. Someone I work with has, in my opinion, put in a lot of effort recently. Practically doing the work of 2-3 people. I decided to make sure this effort was noticed and wrote up an "employee recognition" email to my boss. My little attempt to do something without my own interests in mind.
Have to cut this short, dinner is ready!!!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Staying Positive
Or trying to anyway. Aside from work, things are great. I just haven't been motiviated to post, as mentioned previously. I suppose the best news is about our roof, insurance company, and neighbor. Basically all three are positive!
Our neighbor is on board with getting the roof replaced, and he actually owns a large scale construction company and has contacts that will be able to do the job at a very good price. On top of that, our Insurance adjuster came to the house on Tuesday and agreed that there was significant hail damage and that everything will be covered. Things have worked out with the best possible outcome!
I got out to see Harry Potter this past weekend. It was okay, but I can totally see why my brother gave me the report that he did. It really was just a bridge movie, and it didn't seem to have much plot of it's own. I also got two good runs in this weekend before this crazy heat wave.
If all that wasn't enough, I also finally reached the maximum level in World of Warcraft! Yes, a huge goal, I know. I got a little crazy over the weekend and just got it done so now I can relax a little and start to enjoy the new things I get to do at the maximum level. Basically there is a small group of people I'm playing with, that my co-worker introduced me too. So now I get to join them in some of the things they do within the game. Should be lots of fun!!
But work... oh work... why must you ruin it all?
Our neighbor is on board with getting the roof replaced, and he actually owns a large scale construction company and has contacts that will be able to do the job at a very good price. On top of that, our Insurance adjuster came to the house on Tuesday and agreed that there was significant hail damage and that everything will be covered. Things have worked out with the best possible outcome!
I got out to see Harry Potter this past weekend. It was okay, but I can totally see why my brother gave me the report that he did. It really was just a bridge movie, and it didn't seem to have much plot of it's own. I also got two good runs in this weekend before this crazy heat wave.
If all that wasn't enough, I also finally reached the maximum level in World of Warcraft! Yes, a huge goal, I know. I got a little crazy over the weekend and just got it done so now I can relax a little and start to enjoy the new things I get to do at the maximum level. Basically there is a small group of people I'm playing with, that my co-worker introduced me too. So now I get to join them in some of the things they do within the game. Should be lots of fun!!
But work... oh work... why must you ruin it all?
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