Aren't Kids Sneaky Inspirations?

A great weekend for my wife & I. We went to see Ashley at college & got there just in time for her soccer game. They won, but she did not play. Being one of two freshman on the team playing time has to be earned. She played in their first two games. Go figure that the game she gets zip time is the game we drive 4 hours to go see. Oh well, we went to see her much more than we went to see her play.

After the game we went back to her dorm room; not as neat as it was when we dropped her off there a month ago. We met some of her new friends who were on their way out to go bowling. We took her to dinner somewhere she loves to go; Olive Garden- yuck! There we chit chatted for a couple of hours and just hung out. All seems to be going well with her at school. She adjusted much quicker than we expected. Not that we expected her to have any serious issues with the transition. It is very pleasing to know that your kid was able to leave home and take flight in a big way. Oh she has a long flight ahead of her, but so far she is soaring.

Here is a fun picture I snapped on the way home yesterday...

A tanker truck filled with coffee; wonder how many cups that equals?

We didn't take too  many photos on the trip, and I don't have anymore to share here right now; but there is one photo that I wish I had taken but didn't.

When we were in Ashley's dorm I was reading what she had scribbled on her white board. Allow me to note here that her white board looks marvelous as it was expertly hung by a master of stuff hanging a month ago. Ok, the hanging bit was not really the marvelous part. What was marvelous was what she had scribbled. Any guesses what she had written there?

Nope, not how much she misses us.
Nope, not when she is coming home next.
Nope, not even what she is going to buy us for Christmas.

She had goals writing on her board. Those objectives she considers so important that she wanted daily reminder of them. Huh, what a novel idea...

Decide what is important to achieve, commit it to writing, and display it in a place that when you wake everyday, you remind yourself of what is important to you.

Aren't kids sneaky inspirations? 

I'll be buying a white board today after work.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Squishy Time

Hope all had a great week and are set for a great weekend.

Myself, a decent week. Found some of my mojo, still need to find more; a week at a time for now.

This weekend my wife & I are off to visit our daughter at college and see her play in their weekend soccer game. Looking forward to spending away from home with my wife and catching up with Ashley.

Our daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan. Her college is nothing like Hogwarts however. Some colleges do pride themselves, and market themselves, in their similarities to Hogwarts. Apparently Yale University is considered to be the most Hogwarts like in America. A campus known for it's towers, courtyards, arches and gothic architecture. Under one library a tunnel leads to another library and onward through a vast underground network of passageways. The administration process places incoming students in one of twelve residential colleges, but no sorting hat is used. And to secure its spot as Hogwarts like, they offer a class called "Christian Theology and Harry Potter". I'm sure our daughter would like to take that class. And she can, just as soon as she applies to Yale and pays for it.

Have a great weekend whatever you do!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

In Short, In truth, Here I am

I've received a bunch, I mean a BUNCH,of inquiries as to ny whereabouts. I chose to reply to one of them, using that reply to organize my thoughts, and then after sending that email share them with all here via this post....

Hi Jody, thanks for checking up on me; I hope all has been well with you!

In short, everything is Ok here. Family is happy, healthy, everything is well with our home, work and school lives.

In truth, after we returned from vacation in early July I struggled to get my mojo back for forgoing ahead with my mission to slim down to 199. For a couple of weeks I kept doing the things I had been, but oddly the exercise was harder to get through, the meal discipline was harder to manage, the balancing of me-first in with my non-me priorities was harder to execute.

Even as I sit here and type now, I do not know why what was so easy, so enjoyable a year ago; I do not know why it suddenly got so hard. The best I can rationalize is that I was beginning to mentally burn out to some degree. Seeing that I knowingly decided to step back and take a break from what was proving difficult, I have no doubt that was it.

So here I am today, the weekend drawing to a close, August days away from closing as well. I've stayed away from the scale as its been a source of difficulty; difficulty in not seeing number continue downward. Today, I would guess it is 10 pounds greater than where is was a couple of months ago. Exercise has been very sporadic, my eating has been inconsistent from day to day.

Over the past couple days I've caught myself thinking more as I did a year ago. We (my wife & I) have put conscious effort into reversing the difficulty and regaining momentum. Over the next week we look to work on our consistency a day at a time. This morning we got off our butts and got them moving again in a big way with a 6.9 mile walk along a nearby forest preserve trail.

What is most frustrating is even through this difficult period, we have not forgotten how important it is to get healthy, to stay healthy. The reasons I started this mission some sixteen months ago have not changed. While the challenges and results of what we do vary from day to day, month to month; the reasons for living healthy lives are constant.

Understanding this, we must now harness the importance of these reasons in order to reclaim commitment and resume consistency.

I'll check in on your blog and those of others who I've missed this week!

p.s.. the picture at the top there is of my wife & daughter exchanging a tearful goodbye as we dropped her off at college nearly three weeks ago.


Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 385 - Prom for Squishy

There you see Ashley taking a moment to take a picture with me last night before she heads off to a friends house and then on to Senior Prom. It has been nearly a decade since I nicknamed her "Squishy". Since then she has dared to grow up, along the way I've always called her Squishy. Once upon a time she used to look like this...

Now, in the final days of her senior year of High School, she is just a a trio of months away from moving about 4 hours south to attend college. I'm trying to convince her to go back to kindergarten instead, but she isn't having any of that. She is all about moving ahead and making something out of herself from all the options she's worked to line up. Yeah grow up she has, but not so much to out grow being called Squishy.

Have a Great Weekend!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 373 - Catching Up Bits N Pieces

Hope all had a fine Easter. We got together with my in laws up at my sister in laws house and enjoyed a cozy feast. They served boy a pig ham and a bear ham. Both were excellent, the bear ham was surprisingly sweet in comparison. Good time, easy relaxing day for the most part.

So how are gas prices treating you? Yeah, I know; dumb question. This weekend I heard some one say that gas prices are already well over $5 in Florida; not sure I believe that. This morning I heard on the radio that Chicagoland continues to have the highest gas prices in the country which is typically true due to a number of factors the leading of which is the insane taxes the city and Cook county levy on just about everything.

This past week/weekend we took our college tour into Indiana & Ohio. The 1,015 miles we drove consumed a good bit of gas, probably 35 gallons. The $4.27 you see there was the price last Thursday evening in Elmhurst, IL where we stopped for dinner before leaving the area. Had we actually ventured into Chicago many of the pumps there on average run 20 cents higher. Once we got out of Chicagoland and on our way we saw no prices over $4...

We spent Thursday night in Cleveland, OH where we saw $3.84 as their highest...
We spent Friday night in Ft. Wayne, IN it was $3.97 for a high...
It was in Ohio's western farming communities where we saw the lowest price of our trip at $3.77...

Enough gas talk, just no way to put a positive spin on it as I see it. Other than, nope, not going to try.

So back to our college tour, Cleveland was our first stop to visit Case Western Reserve University. Cleveland is a decent city, but as I tweeted on Friday, they really need to invest in some street sweepers. They also have some cool lake front scenery, not that we saw much of it, in fact here is the view from our hotel room...

Case Western Reserve U. was the only stop on our tour where there was an actual admissions event planned for prospective students. Apparently they've done this before because they know the most powerful recruiting approach is not to show off their modern campus, or their many accreditations, or the many offerings of Cleveland itself. Nope, they recruit with Rice Krispy treats... 

Hence, CWRU will remain on his short list for now. From there we ventured back west towards home and did a few campus drive thru's of other colleges on his long list...

The Ohio State University

Ohio Northern University

 University of Notre Dame

Of these Ohio Northern was promptly crossed off of his list simply because the community was too rural and the campus didn't feel much more than that of a community college. TOSU & UofND will remain on the list for now. My guess is we will get back to Notre Dame for a scheduled admissions event next summer. As for TOSU, he will first look harder at another Big Ten school close to home; Northwestern. If he likes what he sees there, I'd expect he will drop TOSU off his list. We're just scratching the surface of what will be his college selection experience. There a no safe bets as to where he will go yet. 

Some other pics to share from our trip...

Rain, rained all day on Friday. Miles & miles of rain from Cleveland, OH to Ft. Wayne, IN...

 A train, a llooonnngggg train, caught us in western Ohio. While we waited we watched this white cat (see red circle) walk in the rain; that should sum up the excitement that is western Ohio...

 Dinner in Ft. Wayne was very good. The restaurant next to the hotel was Naked Tchopstix.

There I enjoyed a Mafia roll and Sashimi Salad...

 And the view from our hotel room in Ft. Wayne was a bit better than the night before as well...

So that was the essence of my weekend. A new week is here, back to work, back to enjoying life and making it a better life.  Tonight I have physical therapy for the knee & hip. Tomorrow I have a follow up with my surgeon and have my fingers crossed I get the green light to resume weight training.

What are you doing today, tomorrow to make a better life for you?

 

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 351 - Opening Day, Family Day, Now Sunday

Last day of spring break. For the kids, no doubt they are less than thrilled. For me, I'm Ok with it. Time to get on with the 83 things I have on deck at work, time for Cathy to get on with her own concerns where she works, and time for the kids on with finishing this school year.

Spring break has been fun sans the medical madness. Brief update on that madness, went for the MRI of the left knee yesterday. Hope to get results in advance of Thursday's blood test and oncologist appointment.
Back to the fun...

Friday Cathy & I went to Chicago Cubs opening day. Great time, minus the fact that the Cubs lost. It was a first for us in that we attended the game from a Rooftop venue. If you aren't familiar with Wrigley field, the apartment buildings along the streets along the outfield have stadium seating on their rooftops. The owners of these buildings have long cashed in on the fact that the games can viewed from the upper apartments & rooftops, and of course the Cubs get a piece of their action. Here is a cell phone pic which does no justice to the view we had...

As you can see the lights are on for the game, for an afternoon game. It was a dreary, cold, rainy day. Not rainy enough to delay or cancel the game, but dreary enough to make sitting outside less than enjoyable. Luckily for us these top floor of these apartment buildings are no longer apartments. They are bars complete with food buffet & big screens; food, drink and warmth all included in the price of the ticket. So this was our view of the game for most of the afternoon...

One bad pitch, hit over the wall for a grand slam, that one pitch is the only tarnish on our great day.

Yesterday we had the G'Mas & G'Pa over for dinner, no real occasion; just because. They wanted something special, so we smoked them pork shoulder and prime rib. I was off my grilling game  as I overcooked them a tad; shame on me. Cathy made up for my miscue with a fine job on the sweet potatoes and green beans. Along the way the the two G'Mas got together and made a bottle of wine go from full to empty. Conversation was largely a mix of the college visits to come, medical this & that and of course politics. A couple of pies for dessert capped off a great relaxing day with family.

So as I said, the last day of spring break is here, another day to make great. Off now to get in some exercise this morning before enjoying NASCAR this afternoon and Hockey this evening and who knows what else amongst it all.

What are you going to do to make this a great day?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 350 - Engagement + Opportunity

WARNING: Long Post Alert; I know the day after I mention I don't write long posts for a reason, I go ahead and write on. Feel free to curse me out as you read on, but do read on please...

This Thursday two of my boys & I visited Northern Illinois U, here they are...

Don't they look thrilled to be there on a nice day during spring break? It was a great visit all in all. I believe the boys liked what they saw and NIU will remain on their lists for now.

This visit was a reality check in a number of ways. Hopefully for them in some way it underscored the importance of taking time to be thorough in making the critical decision of where to invest their time (and our money) on their education. One can hope, although the 'sights' they wanted to see were walking all over the campus so not sure they came away with the same appreciation for the place I did.

For me, there were two distinct reality checks. For one, higher learning is a gift. Yes we pay for it, and pay allot for it, it is still a gift even though we buy it for ourselves and don't unwrap it on a holiday.

Just looking around at various kids deep in study, those focused on a professor working through a formula I long ago forgot, and that duo rehearsing their lines in hallway of who knows what performing arts hall we were in; they were engaged in something that can increase their opportunities for success. I say 'can' very purposely here.

Going to school and accumulating grades, class ranking, alphabet-soup test-score; these trophies of your academic career will do next to nothing to bring you success. Success does not come to you, so please do not wait for it to be brought to you.

Success MUST be achieved.

Success is achieved by PURSUING opportunity.

True, all of those things I just labeled as academic trophies, they can do something for you; just ONE thing actually. They can buy you opportunities. Or as I prefer to hear them referred to, 'tickets to the dance'. And we need opportunity, we MUST have tickets to as many dances as possible to succeed at that which we are passionate about.

So YES, go to college, graduate with the highest grades, class ranking & test-scores; striving for less from you're educational investment is to foolishly tear up dance tickets that are there to be had. Celebrate yourself silly when you graduate, celebrate like you've never celebrated before; you've earned tickets and celebration is in order.

When the celebration is over, you need to sit up & guess what, that degree you receive in the mail a few weeks after you walk down the aisle wearing that funny gown & cardboard hat, that envelope it comes in does not also have one ounce of success in it. Nope, NONE!

Opportunity is everywhere, degree or not; opportunity is there to be had by all. With degree in hand, much more opportunity awaits you and some will be amazing close too. But, just because you are at the dance does not mean you have obtained anything real, anything you can convert into the wants & needs your life craves. Nope, not just by dressing pretty & arriving at the dance, you still have no true success.

You want it success, you have to achieve it (repeating myself from above). You achieve it, by being engaged. The same way you engaged in school to earn your credentials, honor cords, and potpourri of awards. That same engagement, when applied to the opportunities you can now see... That same engagement, when performed for the dance partners that now recognize your presence...

That same Engagement + Opportunity = Success

 

For two, NIU reaffirmed that life is a gift. Sure, I acknowledge this is such a simple notion. And coming from one who is engaged in a battle with cancer, such a public proclamation of this notion is probably no surprise.

But it is not from my own walk which I refer to this notion. Some will recall that on Feb 14, 2008 a lone gunman (student) opened fire on the NIU campus and took the lives of 5 students. Another 21 people were injured in the tragedy.

The picture above is of the memorial that has since been erected to honor the victims of that day. Behind the brushed metal sculpture are five red granite walls (my cell phone camera could only fit in four), each wall features the name of one of the students whose life was taken that day.

Life is a gift, whether that life is short, long, or somewhere in between. Gifts should receive our earnest attention and be treated with our sincerest appreciation.

I can think of no better measure of attention and appreciation than the level of engagement we give a gift we receive.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 348 - From Cats To Waffles

The PET Scan itself was conducted well yesterday. I won't hear results until today at the earliest and more likely tomorrow. The waiting game continues on here.

Wednesday April 13th is my surgery date for the sentinel node removal/biopsy and as well removing more tissue on my forehead where the melanoma was removed nearly a month ago. So it'll be a couple of weeks yet before I know with a good degree of certainty whether I can breathe a sigh of relief of brace for a more involved battle.

But enough about the waiting for tomorrow or two weeks from now. Today is here, what is on tap today.

Waffles; my wife has caught a spring cold and wanted waffles for breakfast so I made her waffles. I also made waffles for the kids too. I chose to abstain from the waffle quorum call, instead went with a high-protein omelet.

College; as it is spring break we have time to work the tomorrow's of the kids. Two of my boys and I will head off to Northern Illinois University shortly for a college visit. One is a high-school sophomore and the other a junior. I don't think either really wants to spend their spring break time this way, but since the school is on both of their lists today is the day. Speaking of their lists, they include 69 and 9 colleges respectively. Our senior who selected her college a few months ago never had more that 6 or 7. When we ask our freshman (yes we have 4 in h.s., one in each grade) about his list, he jokingly says he is going to live at home and play xbox for a living. Thus his list is still a blank sheet of paper.

Cats; one of our cats is sick (yeah, our house is a sickly place at the moment). Nobody else is brave enough to give the cat is medicine so I have that chore twice a day now. It is just a cat; it's not like he has eyes that fire lazers! Even though it weighs a stout 14 pounds holding it down, wedging the medicine dropper between his teeth, squirting the medicine down his throat, and then holding his jaw shut for a few seconds to ensure swallowage (is that a word); it is not that hard. Meow!

Ok, off now to get in some exercise before getting gathered and setting out to NIU.

Final thought: Impossible and possible, the difference is measured in determination.

How determined are you today?

 

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 206 - Full Swing Pride

Fruit Count: 221 - And we have reached 199 and beyond in 6 days. Thanks to everyone who helped in celebrating my 199 days of blogging. Special shout out to Lanie for the idea of a fruit challenge and as well to Mandy for being the lead fruit warrior here. Mandy ate "nine" pieces on Monday to help put this over the top. If I were to give out a trophy for the challenge it would look like that. Then again, after eating as much fruit as she has, Mandy may prefer to not receive such a trophy. This was fun, good stuff.


You were all too kind for not busting on me more for yesterday's fruit picture. When I took it, posted it and went on with my day I truly had no idea what I had done. But some of you were quick to notice my odd 'arrangement' of that fruit, including my wife who texted me asking what I was doing. Oh the jokes that could have come from that.

I have been tagged again, this time from How I Am Losing It. She asked some profound questions, needed to give these some thought. That now done, here are my answers to her questions:

1. What is/was your proudest moment?
The usual answers here are the birth of a child, or a wedding, etc... and those certainly are proud moments. But I shall answer with one that is more specific to a real turning point in my life.

Whats-his-name was on 2nd base, I forget his name yet I do remember not liking him very much. Even though he had run out a single into a double he name may as well have been Mud. Up to bat was yours truly, and I had to go to the bathroom; bad! On deck was the big kid who was hitting like .875, surely he would knock in Mud. Swinging at the first pitch, running to 1st and then to the bathroom was the plan.

That first pitch came inside right at my chest dropping hard to the dirt. Missed me by a whisker of which I had none. A quick check of my crotch, whew; I amazingly didn't wet myself. Looking back at the pitcher as I got up with a "WTH" stare, he waved in apology, fine; he was off the hook.

What wasn't fine was the schmuck whose name I forget on 2d base, he was laughing at me in a way that could not be ignored. Change of plans. Next pitch, it was getting knocked as close to him as I could get it. The next pitch was right down the middle, the pitcher being cautious not to dust me again.

I had to go to the bathroom so bad I couldn't swing at full speed and keep from wettin myself. Thus the bat vibrated worse that usual upon impact. Wow, the ball flew right at the Mud, sailing over his head by about a foot. It kept on sailing too, finally stopping when it smacked into the left-centerfield fence.

I stopped at 2d base folded over in pain, I had never had to go so bad in all of my 12 years. As I gingerly stood up I first saw the other teams pitcher walking off the field and then saw my entire team rushing out towards me. It was the bottom of the 7th (and final) inning. The game had been tied. The loser was done for the season. The winner moved on to a one-game playoff. We had just won the game. All I could do was stand there, get mobbed by my team, and pee my pants.

2. If you could pick any profession whatsoever, what would you be?
Race car driver. What can I say, I am a guy.

3. What's the best advice you never took?
Never take time off from school once you start. It took me 19 years to complete my bachelors.

4. If you could have one do-over in life, what would it be?
I'd have taken a full swing and knocked that picth it over the fence. Never leave anything on the table no matter how bad you have to go to the bathroom.


I will come up with 4 names and questions to tag back tomorrow.

Gotta run - have a great day!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 167 - Fun, Need More

Our picture riddle yesterday was fun for some good guesses. The most popular guess was the tassel rope/cord on a on a graduation cap. And that certainly was close, but not quite right. My fave guess was it being "polypropolene rope to keep my black silk shorts up during runs", thanks Ann :-)

Becky over at First Steps did get it right with her guess of "the gold honor cord I got to wear around my neck at graduation". The difference being that this was the honor cord I wore when I graduated, finally, in 2007. Thanks to all for playing and congrats Becky on nailing the answer. Good times.

The picture there is me on that day. It is actually a photo of a photo, our scanner died; hence the cruddy quality. Look at the face! Easily I am 310 if not much closer to 320 in that photo. Cheeks, chin, even my ears are fat! Not sure what exercise to do to slim the ear lobes. And the gown, it was huge. They had three sizes if I recall; Small, Large & Tent. So glad I have left the tent sizes and a chin or two in my wake recently.

Thursday was fun for me in many ways...

• Blogging, fun; so many of you posting up good news I can't get enough. I need more time to comment and draw even more inspiration from you. Oh, read a good one today here at The Right Fit.
• Twitter, fun; some of you connected up with me after yesterdays post and we got busy chattin up being healthy and goofing off a bit too. I had to let it be know to FatGirlvsWorld that the Giants will fall to the Bears Sunday night. She'll get over it.
• Work, fun; yes it was fun too. Someone tried to ruin my day with a project delay & I disarmed them with humor and understanding. Once the chip was off his shoulder we got the schedule re-set in a way that satisfied all.
• Eating, fun; I kicked butt keeping temptation at bay and chomping down on good quality choices. Well, um, maybe I did have a few too many beans in my salad.
• Exercise, fun; knocked that ball so far out of the park that it filed a flight plan with Captain Kirk. Or do you prefer Captain Picard? Sit ups, Push ups and walking. Then round two was a one mile walk/jog combo for time, the first time I timed such a combo; 15:14 minutes. So we'll use that as a benchmark to improve on going forward. This and Lake Andrea will be my personal challenges for the near future same as Stanton Hill was over the summer. Thanks Jody for giving me the inspiration to have such a personal challenge to keep exercise fresh, fun and meaningful.
• Family, fun; my wife is gorgeous, sexy and I can't keep my eyes off of her when she gets home. My daughter was accepted to her first choice of colleges and raked in a good size scholarship to boot. So now I wont have to sell as much plasma as I feared. My boys, well they didn't get in trouble yesterday so a thumbs up to them too.

October is here, I am having fun, and I want more!

What do you want more of?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 154 - Cherry On Top Award

Lanie Painie has honored me with an award yesterday.



Thanks again Lanie! She definitely does have a beautiful blog, I mean, it has allot of orange on it. Orange is my favorite color! She has a bit of 'then some' too, she understands who she is,that she own her own choices including what she eats & how much she moves.





Ok, this award's rules for eligibility are:

1. Answer the question, "If you had one chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?
This is a really tough question. Certainly I'd change a number of things if I could roll the clock back say 30 years. Some people say they would change nothing in their lives. Seriously, I have doubts there isn't at least one thing all of us can find we'd change if given the chance. Ok, here is mine...

I would have completed my college degree in four years, not the nineteen it took me to do so. Now I know that is not a health related change. But if pressed for one I really have to choose between this and whether or not I should have kissed Tammy on the first date in 1982. A story for another day. Not completing my degree in my early twenties certainly reduced some of my career options early on. Now I did real well to succeed & climb the ladder despite not having a degree for many years, but I often wonder which doors weren't open to me for so long because I didn't have a proper ticket to the dance.

2. Pass on to six people and inform them of the award.
Hhmmm... Six who have beautiful blogs and then some. Ok, here we go:

1. Liz
2. Karla
3. Clyde
4. Jae
5. The Heavy Man
6. Christine

 Have a Great weekend!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 103 - Kodak Moments

A quick post with a handful of pictures from vacation. It has been fun a fun trip checking out the colleges and enjoying some family time. The exercise has been there, sure, not as intense as it is when back home but I have gotten it in. The eating on the other hand has been so-so. Not a train wreck as vacations of the old me, but I have taken a few more liberties with food than I had planned this week. When I hit the scale on Sunday I do not expect to be horrified, not at all. But I may see progress has slowed or stalled. We'll see on Sunday.

Ok, on to the pictures and then back to the family fun...

You met 'Altidore' yesterday. Here he is enjoying the ride to Decatur with my wife. Want an big-fluffy racoon? We picked up while in Iowa here in Iowa. I don't see him or the other big-round plush animals like him on their site here. But the have contact info on the site, drop them an email & I bet you could ask about the animal you want & they'd sell/ship it to you. last year my daughter got a big-round chicken. There were a half-dozen other animals there too.

In Decatur we stopped in for lunch at Garcia's Pizza before heading on to Millikin for the college visit. Cool pizza shop. Here is a picture of one of the tables, the top is a bunch of Star Wars cards set into the table. All of the tables there were this way but different cards, one was Simpsons, another Trivia Pursuit cards (which was a bummer as the answer side could not be seen), and so on. The pizza, not bad.

Hot Sauce, if you have followed me for a while here you may recall that I collect hot sauce. These are my recent additions picked up in KC, KS from our stop at the Original Juan factory store. Oh I could have spent all of the kids college fund money there, but stopped spending at what you see here.

Millikin banner nearby where we ate pizza...

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 102 - Pumped In Peoria

How has your week been so far? Been reading your blogs but on the road from my handheld browser I cannot post comments; which sucks! Friday I'll be back to doing that. Thankfully I can send posts to my blog via email for now & can see your comments, thanks as always for your thoughts!

Yesterday we had a great visit @ Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA. Today we are back in IL to visit Bradley U. & Milliken. Both will be hard pressed to beat what Coe is offering our daughter but we'll reserve further judgment until we've met with them.

The picture there is my son Andrew & I in the hotel fitness center last night. I'm not sure what you call that weighted ball but we had a fun workout moving that thing around. We also made use of their nice set of dumbbells & treadmills.

I have worked out three of the four days we've been on the road so far. Monday evening just my wife & I went down to the hotel pool & whirlpool to relax and forget we had kids for an hour. Too much time sitting in the car or at restaurants or where ever we've been for me to feel the exercise is equaling the eating challenges thus far. Two more days of this, we get back home late Thursday. Friday, Saturday, Sunday I will make up for slowed intensity. Promise!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 101 - Iowa's 10.1

Yesterday we enjoyed Kansas City a bit more before making our way
north into Iowa. We hit Des Moines for lupper (late lunch/early
supper) and checked out Drake University. Not sure how to explain the
college selection criteria of the teenage mind. But they unanimously
crossed Drake off their lists.

From Des Moines we headed east to Cedar Rapids to spend the night. We have an morning appointment at nearby Coe College. Only our daughter has any interest in vetting out Coe further, this is her 2nd visit. It is also Iowa's last chance to get any tuition dollars from our clan. Iowa, who out there has lived in, visited or just driven through Iowa?

Being from Illinois I've had my share of opportunities to visit. Here is a list of the 10.1 interesting tidbits I've picked up from my time in Iowa...
1 - According to the brochure Iowa became the first state to have more than 10% of its total generated electricity come from wind power. Hmm, and they call Chicago the 'windy city'.

2 - I have been told by several Iowan's that "Iowa" is the only state name that begins with two vowels. Does Vanna White know this?

3 - Des Moines is home to the reigning National Texting Champion. OMG

4 - Corn, One-Fifth of the worlds corn is produced in Iowa. It's true, says the waitress proudly at the Des Moines Machine Shed restaurant.

5 - Make the mistake of telling an Iowan that Iowa is land-locked and chances are you too will be promptly corrected that Iowa is the only state whose east and west borders are completely bordered by water,
albeit rivers.

6 - The current world record deer (white tail) was taken in Iowa, by a 15 year old. Being an avid hunter, I am so jealous.

7 - A joke I told a buddy from Iowa once, "Why did the Hawkeye cross the road?.... He didn't. He backed into it, the same way Iowa got into its last college bowl game".

8 - A joke that same buddy told me in return, "How do you get a University of Iowa graduate off your porch?..... Pay him for the pizza.

9 - John Wayne is from Iowa. In the early 90s while at a bar in Ames I mentioned that to the bar tender who obviously knew this. Being a bar tender he engaged the lame out-of-towner, me, and added, "When the
Duke heard he had six months to live, he moved to Minnesota, where it seems like a decade". My initial reply, "Really"! Yeah, not one of my genius moments.

10 - At the Amana Colonies, a German religious commune since the 1800's, there is an elderly gift shop clerk that likes to joke she used to make the Amana ovens. When you show her interest in the notion
she adds that she has recently moved up to refrigerator assembly. Jay Leno would steal that if he heard it.

10.1 - My all time favorite Iowa story... Again in the 90s while driving at 80+ mph I passed a pick-up truck going a slow 60-something. As I went by I caught enough of a glimpse to be certain what I had seen; a couple in the uncovered pick-up bed 'enjoying' the ride. Oh, the best part, the pick-ups bumper sticker read, "Iowa, Home of the Brave"! Yeah, I guess you could call those two brave.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 33 - Lasagna In Da House

Yesterday my son & I walked around Lake Andrea (2.25 miles) in 44:40, that's two full minutes better than the last time we walked it. The walk sure felt good, and we sweated good too as it was sunny & in the 70s. The new PR (personal record) or not it was a genuinely great time burning calories!

What exercise have you enjoyed recently?

School is ending in the next couple of weeks for our kids. The summer break is all but here. We have no firm/set 'big' vacation plans this year. Just a week trip to a few colleges in Illinois, Iowa & Wisconsin. Our oldest (girl) is a senior next year and the three boys are close behind her. Part of me is glad we don't have an extravagant vacation planned; too much temptation & opportunity to fall off our healthy mission. Don't get me wrong, I love me a nice vacation, but it is not what I need this year. And I don't need a super~duper vacation to have a blast with the family.

Who has vacation plans for the summer?

Tonight is lasagna night! Or better explained by being lasagna night it also means my wife is cooking. She is a good cook, but she doesn't like to cook & therefore doesn't cook much. She gets an urge to whip up her amazing lasagna 2-3 times a year. The kids wish it would happen 2-3 times a week ;-) This lasagna has not been modified in any way to be healthier than usual. So we can't pretend it is anything but what it is, an indulgence and a gift. So I'll enjoy me a savory portion tonight, just one, and no more. Which also means my exercise before dinner needs to be savory as well. Yeah, the words savory & exercise, they don't seem to go together do they? Nor do scrumptious, delectable or ambrosial; all of which also describe said lasagna. How about I just exercise my tail off without an adjective to describe it…

Go get yourself some Thursday...

Responsibility 199... Gotta Do It!!