So… someday I am going to stop starting blog posts with the word “So” but I am a product of my corporate culture and well, that’s just the way things play out sometimes.

At any rate, per what I had thought was a relatively recent post I’ve been exercising, dieting, and changing my life in general.  In fact, I’ve now lost about 12 lbs, and am only a few pounds away from what I weighed when I got married more than 5 years ago!  (Had a lot of carbs this week, maybe next week.)  ;)

So I’d been feeling better, walking every day – usually about 2.5 at work, or if I don’t get that in at work, about 1.25 in the evenings at home – and on the weekends sometimes 4+ miles.  And you know what?  I feel really good! 

Anyways, the other night I found myself kicking a nerf soccer ball around in the back yard with Erin and (shockingly!) Andrea.  I really had a lot of fun.  Andrea had mentioned that a co-worker of her’s husband (older than me) had joined an indoor soccer league and why didn’t I see if I could get on a team?

So I made a few calls to some of my prior haunts form 15+ years ago (when I last played indoor soccer) and low and behold and a rapidly dispensed credit card number later – I’m on a team!

Wow, that was quick, a little too quick, but better to get over the nerves and get over it.

So last night (Friday) was my first game with my new House Team (a facility team for people that don’t bring their own teams pre-assembled.)

Let me tell you, I made the right choice picking the Men’s Over 30 Novice League!  It wasn’t as humbling as I feared, nor as spectacular as I hoped, but I did “ok” and you know what, for the first time in 15 years – I’m pretty damn happy with that.

A couple of observations:

• I’ve gotten better at Defense!  ( I almost would have had too, lol. )  I don’t know if its age, a little more self-confidence, or spending some of the intervening years actually studying the game, but it was a bit easier to read the angles and cut off cross as well.  Although this is the novice indoor league, remember?  There isn’t a whole heck of a lot of passing going on in the first place.  hehehe
• Wow – my shot has completely gone to heck!  Better overall ball control, which is good, but my shot – gone!  But you know what, that’s something I can fix with practice.  Bought a new ball and a mini practice net for the backyard today, and to nurture my little future Mia Hamm as well.  ;)
• Conditioning – well, I knew this was going to be ugly.  And it was, well, “medium ugly”.  Two 23 minute halves definitely seemed a lot longer than I recall, but hey, I guess you get your money’s worth.  We played 3-5 minute shifts (indoor soccer is a lot like hockey that way) and it was a fairly clean game.  But Lord, that other team was fastI  I’ll be completely honest with you, I ran totally out of gas several times.  I’m good for a sprint or two a shift, but not multiple sprints on the same shift.

But the cool thing was, we won 6-2 or 6-3 or something.  I didn’t score an own goal, and neither did anybody else. 

Definitely working on conditioning this week and next.  There is a park down the hill from our house, and I’m thinking that if I could do my mile walk to warm up – I could start off by trying to do a sprint (or a series of sprints, fingers crossed) from one end to another, or as many as I could do in 5 minutes, say?  And that should help take it to the next level.

Overall, I didn’t embarrass myself, I had fun, and I’ll be up for the next game in the Men’s Friday Night Over 30 Novice (early evening) league.

Because it’s fun, and I suck at softball.

MO’B

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First off, per my most recent post – Mom and Dad are fine.  I successfully retrieved them from South Carolina, their injuries were minor, and they’ve both healed up well.  Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

So, on to the next set of misadventures!

I guess it has probably been around a month or so ago; I had a bit of a health scare.  Like the “Oh My God!  Maybe I really am going to die this time! kind of scare.”  The good news was that I was not in fact dying, to my knowledge, and am not in imminent danger of dying, etc.  So that’s a good thing.

But what this little experience did do for me is finally give me the life wakeup call I decided to listen to and not hit “Snooze” repeatedly on.  After all, you only get so many wake up calls, before you don’t wake up, I figure… (Insert Ominous Music Here…)

So hovering around my 35^th birthday (which just blew by not too long ago) I’m starting what I should have been doing 20 years ago – but the past is in the past, and all we can control is the now, and maybe a teeny bit of influence over the future – but then that’d be a totally different time / space continuity discussion.  And I’d be off topic.  J

In talking with my 3 Doctors of various specialties – the recurring theme would be Stress, Diet, and Exercise.  SHOCKING!  It all seems so clear to me now, how could I have missed it?  Yeah, well… remember that part about the snooze button? Anyways…

All three of my Doctors told me I need to find another job that is not as stressful, or at least doesn’t have the same amount of negative stress on my life.  That’s all well and good, but I’ve got some golden handcuffs, the country is in the middle of a Rec/Depression, and if I can make it 6 or  7 more months it’d be worth my financial while to do so.  So changing jobs is most likely, not going to happen – at least in the immediate future.

So I’m doing some work with my “Talkie Doctor” and my “Drug Dealer Doctor” to try and adapt to at least the point where I can function in life without having nightmares about work almost every night.  (I keep a log now of my nightmares and occasional dreams, I’m a pretty stressed out guy, lol.)

But what I also immediately started doing, was changing my diet, and exercising.  But this time, I decided I really was (am?) embracing the lifestyle change.

So I’m eating lots of fruits, vegetables, and protein.  Mostly chicken and fish, with some legumes mixed in.  For the time being red meat is fairly scarce in our house, same for pork.  I doubt it will be a permanent absence, but hey.  I found some vegetables I like, I found some fruits I like – and my goal is to try and eat at least one fruit and vegetable at every meal.  And If I need a sweet snack, go back to the fruit.  It seems to be working for me.  I’ve cooked up a few combinations I might not have explored otherwise, bought some food I might not have bought otherwise (mostly “whole” type foods, minimal processing other than prep) and I’ve dramatically reduced my bread and starchy carb intakes.  There are still some, but a lot less.

This seems to be working well, because on a day when I’ve successfully planned, I don’t really feel hungry – so I’m ok with that.

And I’m walking – almost every single day.  I’ve found a 2 mile route on the days I can walk at work at lunch.  I’ve got about a mile, mile and a quarter routes for the evenings when I can’t walk at work.  Let me tell you, the dog is losing weight too!  I even have (for the evenings) a bright, shiny, “Please don’t run my ass over” vest – so it will at least be easier to find my body if somebody does.

Now here’s the funny thing.  I kind of like it.  Most of you have heard of my funky shoes I wear now (Vibram Five Fingers) and I’ll admit, they’re not for everybody.  But old Frank and I walked 4 and ½ miles last Saturday and I had no feet, heel, or most importantly shin, pain when I got done.  They’re working for me.

And now for the hippy dippy part – it’s really kind of great to walk.  It’s a little intimidating, mind you – especially in our marginal area, with a lot of dogs, etc – but most of the people you see are doing the same thing.  And I like the Cicadas.  I know they don’t come out ever year, and some people find them annoying, but I’ll always associate them with summertime, their comforting and rhythmic buzzing lulling me to relax.

So I’m down around 8.5 lbs so far.  Only one emergency trip to a Quiznos’ bathroom I won’t be able to return to for a while, and I keep on going.

Wish me luck,

MO’B

They are generally ok thank God, but I am flying down to retrieve them and figure out return logistics and their stuff, salvage, etc.

Andrea has more details.

Thanks,

Mike

Wow, what a great read.  It is such an uncommon pleasure to discover a writer that does a fantastic job of remembering that Science Fiction is the setting not the story!

Feed (Newsflesh, Book 1) is just such a book.

The premise is this – the world has been decimated by a pandemic virus that reanimates the dead turning them into flesh hungry zombies.

As a result, people live in enclaves, where quarantine checks are part of their daily routine, and failing your screening means death.

The internet has become the prime source of information and entertainment, and the family Mason has made the cut to become the travelling media crew for the man running for President of the remains of the United States of America, and who just might be the man who can knit the pieces back together.

But not everybody thinks that will be fine and dandy.

A great read, regardless of whether you are a fan of the zombie genre or not, the tension of fear permeating the everyday life could just as well be applied to H1N1, bioterrorism, or Lyme disease.  Again, the science fiction is the setting, not the story.

I’ve seen a little bit of criticism that Mira Grant relies a bit too heavily on worldbuilding.  I could not disagree more, her attention to detail really lends itself to setting the mood that the characters of the book live in day in, day out, and how it has changed the world.  The world is not a wasteland, but its a lot scarier place.

Enjoyed it greatly, can’t wait for the next volume in the series.

Check it out,

MO’B