Great Quotes Out of Context

“I am not comfortable getting on my knees and having a strange man put something on my tongue.”

This of course was Lisa talking about going to Midnight Mass tonight at the local Catholic Church (they do a good show). Last year she stayed in her seat and everyone in her row had to step over her to get to communion. She thought this year she would just walk the circle with her row but decline the communion. I said she should try the wafer too which she responded - see above.

Sad News

Despite our repeated attempts at training him (including working with a dog trainer), Turk progressed to biting one of the kids. Qatar ended up with two stitches in his lip, and per Minnesota law Turk was reported to the police. We called the Humane Society and they took him back to be placed with a family without small children. It has been hard having one of our children scarred, and to lose a dog which had become part of the family. While it was an easy and immediate choice to get rid of Turk (even if we had to put him down), it still has an emotional toll on all of us; especially Lisa, Me, and our oldest boys. It hasn’t helped to receive a lot of thoughtless comments from friends and relatives that have totally discounted those feelings. I wish people would think a little more prior to opening their mouths.

While at the emergency room with Qatar I offered him something to read from the stack. His choices were a kid’s book called Puppies, or Reader’s Digest with the cover story about Fatal Hospital Mistakes. He declined both. Then the Doctor came in and scrubbed his hands, and then proceeded to shake mine. Overall the scarring looks like it will be minimal, and Qatar is trying to milk his injury for all it’s worth. Like saying he can’t clean the room because his lip hurts.

When Harry Met Lisa

Lisa is at a group visiting teaching meeting (about 10 of the women all get together and have a dinner with lesson) and one of them is demonstrating a Chi machine. Lisa has quite an exhilarating experience which led Renee to say, “I’ll have what she is having.” These machines have now become the must have Christmas present in our ward.

My Life

The secretary for my workgroup is retiring on Christmas Day, so we all went to lunch at the Country Club to celebrate. While there, a really old woman wearing huge glasses comes in with some younger gals (younger = 70’s) and sits at the table next to us. The old woman starts staring at me prior to sitting down and says “I know you from somewhere.” I of course say, “Yes Helen, we have been next door neighbors for years.”

Moments with JT: The Dryer

Prior to church JT finds me and says his polo shirt is wrinkled. Not having time I suggest he throw it in the dryer for 10 minutes. About 10 minutes later I see JT pull his shirt out of the dryer.
Me: JT, did you actually turn the dryer on?
JT: No, I can’t reach the buttons.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Gunnar has his braces off. The best part is he forgot his first appointment and ended up wearing them a week longer than he needed to.

Moments with JT: Captain Underpants

After JT’s bath he came downstairs wearing 15 pairs of underwear. After prancing around he demonstrates the utility of this by banging himself in the crotch with no effect.

The Trouble with Family

I live in the same ward as my In-Laws as well as my Brother in Law(with his family), my wife’s Cousin (and his family), my wife’s Aunt, and another family who is distantly related (let’s hear it for genealogy). Normally this is a good thing and being we are a very small ward we can control public policy :-)
Now earlier this year my Brother in Law was called to be in the Bishopric, and with that he has the responsibility of finding speakers each week. I got to speak yesterday, and that was the 3rd time in 5 months. I don’t mind it so much, but I feel sorry for the audience.

My Life 2

I have been growing a beard for about two weeks, and given that I need a shave by the end of days I do shave, it is pretty obvious I have a beard going on. So I am at the urinal at work when another guy starts using the one next to me. He feels the need to fill the silence with idle chatter, which is a whole topic in and of itself. But he says "You growing a beard?" What do you say to that?

Conversations With JT

Lisa, taking our sheets to the washing machine.

JT asks, "Mom, why are you washing your sheets, did you wet your bed last night?"

Almost a Miracle

You know when people find images of the Saviour or the Virgin Mary in their toast, it immediately becomes a worldwide news story. Last night I was shoveling out the plowed in driveway and a 3 foot tall chunk came out as an exact replica of the State of Illinois! I carried it into the house for Lisa to get a picture, but she was both unimpressed and without camera. That’s okay I guess as I am not sure of the shrine possibilities of a frozen Illinois.

The Rumors Are True

After saving three years to get a new TV, well we saved one year but I been asking for three, we finally purchased a 42 inch LCD – very nice. Anyways, people have been telling me that with a digital TV you pick up a lot more stations through your cable, including adult entertainment. So I spend a whole Saturday hooking it up (wall mount and such) and start the channel search process. So we went from 22 to 76 stations, granted most of them are just music feeds. But at the tail end of the spectrum we have all the on demand stations, and the funny thing is we pick up what other people are ordering. So at any given time we are receiving upwards of a dozen movie feeds, most being innocuous, but yes, they are the occasional mature selections playing as well. Luckily our TIVO is older and filter’s out all the digital choices, but we will have to figure something out before our older boys figure something out.

My Life

I am at the church Christmas party when a woman comes over to my table and asks me, “Did you bring the balls?” I considered all the responses I could have made (well I did bring myself and the four boys), but chose to be semi-mature about it. She of course was talking about the matzo balls from the potluck.

Shallowness of my Goals

I see a coworker at the gym and after a brief conversation he asked me if “I was training for something.” I replied I was just trying to look good naked, but don’t worry I won’t share that with you when I reach it.

I have switched back over to strength and mass building again. Today it was bench (3x5x165), lat pull downs (3x5x150W, 1x5x170N, 1x5x190N), and Deads (3x5x225, 1x2x245). I also did some shrugs, deltoid side raises, and dips, plus those thigh machines women do (I was killing time waiting for Lisa to get out of Yoga). I finished with 15 minutes on the treadmill at 10 minute pace. Great work out.

It's Only Fair

If Spouse A comes home for lunch, and during their limited time have to let the dogs out, proceed to slip on the steps because they were not shoveled correctly, then shovel the steps out in the cold; all because Spouse B is still in their pajamas, wrapped up in a blanket, sitting on the couch watching TV and didn't do it themselves because they do not want to be cold -

Is it Spouse A's God given right to warm up their freezing hands by jamming them inside of said Spouse B's pajamas?

I won't tell you who is who in this story, but let's just say Lisa and I disagree on this.

Impending Doom

Last Christmas was a wonderful day spent in a dehydrated coma only punctuated by the projectile puking. Now here it is 3 weeks away and already the 48 hour puking flu is making the rounds here in town, with several close relatives having come down with it. It is stalking me.

You Make the Call

Lisa is trying to get the walks clear and is looking for salt. She doesn’t find any and is going to wait for me to pick some up. She gets the distinct impression to check out the basement. Now we live in a very old house and the basement is unfinished, so the chance of finding any salt is zero. Walking away she definitely feels the need again to go to the basement. So she goes and finds ????

Well it wasn’t salt. Rather she finds a small but steady spray of water coming from a cracked water pipe coupling. I get home a few minutes later and turn the water off. After a few hours, a visit from the plumber, and $70, we are once again in good working order. That, like the JT incident, could have been a lot worse.

Winter in Minnesota

Driving some kids to early morning seminary I see a car run a fresh red light with a cop sitting right there. Given the time of day and the temperature the cop did not pursue. The next day at the convenience store an old woman almost backs into another car. Luckily one of the two cops who where there to get coffee starting honking his horn really loudly. The cop said he was worried it was going to happen with him there and he would have to get out and write a report.

Take away message – It’s COLD.

Funny because it is True

From the December 2007 US Food Labeling Law Newsletter (I am sure most of you are subscribers) we get this gem of a headline.

FDA Takes HARD Stance Against ED Supplement Maker

BTW, if you have any True Man Sexual Energy products, rest assure they work, but they are not natural. They are actually analogs of commonly known name brand ED drugs. Consequently they are being recalled.

From a Mind of a Genius

Zeke used the expression “I have to take a smell” when he needed to pass gas. It has caught on family wide.

Snow Day

Is it wrong to feel happy when church is cancelled for a snow day? It is all very exciting for me; and I wanted to let the kids get dressed all the way because they can use the practice, but Lisa said no.

Anyways, I sent out an email to a lot of members of the Ward today as if it was sent by the Bishop stating the following: Due to church being cancelled yesterday because of the weather, the Stake President has informed me that we need to make that day up prior to the next General Conference in April. Thus I have decided to hold an extra Sacrament meeting on Saturday March 1, 2008. Please make yourself available to attend at the normal time. If we do not achieve 80% attendance for this meeting it will not count as a make-up day. Fortunately, we are not required to have Sunday School or Priesthood/Relief Society that day.

Thank You for your continued support,

Bishop


I mainly just amuse myself; a self amuser so to speak.

Self-Promoting Shallowness

After reading an article at T-Nation that compares various lifts with each other (i.e. if you bench X amount, you generally should be able to squat X) I came to the conclusion that I am pretty much balanced except for my deadlift. That is to say, my other lifts all compare pretty well with each other, but my deadlift is weak. In a dead you are basically pulling a weight up from the ground in the lift with your legs fashion. Now I only started doing deads about 8 months ago, and I started with 85 pounds which about killed me. So this morning I decided to test myself a little. I increased my PR to 250 pounds (from 235), and I probably could have done more (say 260-270). Compared to my other lifts I should be around 280, so I am not as far off as I thought. I have a few more weeks on my rest phase of 10 different movements at 1 set for 8-12 reps, and then I go back to my increase the weight phase. That will be fewer movements per work-out with multiple sets for about 5 reps apiece. My current goals are to get to a bodyweight bench of 250, which would correspond to a dead of about 450; and a squat of 320.

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do;jsessionid=B98E11907CC5EB3EAC03521C8B92BA41.hydra?id=1823834

You Make the Call

Gunnar made the freshman basketball team and he brings home his randomly assigned jersey. Basically he said Gunnar had to have the large one. He is very excited because he figured out what NBA player had his number 41 (Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks). I am sure many of you that I went to high school with already remember that I was also number 41 when I played basketball. So I dug out my year book and we all enjoyed the twilight zone moment.

Cenneidigh grows up too fast

Cenny: Yeah, uh Mom, can you not buy me clothes anymore unless I am there with you to approve them first.

Sister Beck Lets Me Down

As most of you may know Sister Beck’s recent conference address really stirred a lot of people up. This household was no exception. We have four boys, so every Sunday morning after ironing my shirt I iron all of theirs. In 17 years of marriage, Lisa has never once ironed a shirt for me. Well I listen to the talk and tell her Sister Beck has just said ironing your kid’s shirts is part of her responsibilities. She refused to believe it and after review she showed me Sister Beck actually stated, “They bring daughters in clean and ironed dresses with hair brushed to perfection; their sons wear white shirts and ties and have missionary haircuts.” Lisa went with the literal interpretation that it did not say iron her son’s shirts. As I see it, Sister Beck did not go far enough.

You make the call

Was it coincidence or something more? Lisa is working (substitute teaching) so she arranges for her parents to pick JT up from his bus stop. I came home for lunch and started to not feel so well. After a long lunch time I decided to go back into the office and tough it out, but while there I change my mind and just go home (I am only 2 miles from work). I get home around 2pm. About 2:30 I hear a knock at the door and I find JT all by himself. It turns out his grandparents totally spaced picking him up and the bus driver also let him off the bus with no one there to get him. JT walks the 5 blocks home by himself (he is only 5). Because of events I happen to be home sick for the first time in eons, so I am there to let him in. This could have turned out really bad, but it didn’t.

Conversations with JT

Lisa and JT are at our local Hospital for the Flu Shot.
JT: What does that sign say?
Lisa: That this is one of the top 50 non-teaching hospitals in the US.
JT: What is a teaching hospital?
Lisa: That is where they teach doctors to become doctors.
JT (after thinking a bit): No, that is wrong. That is where they would teach people to become doctors.

Blind Love and Devotion

I was home teaching a young couple in the Ward last night (5 months married), and I asked if it was coincidental that they dressed exactly alike. They both had on brown shoes, tan khakis, and a white t-shirt under identically brown knit shirts. They both looked down at themselves and were amazed at what I said. She had dressed and left for work prior to her husband even waking up. She then hugged him and said we must just subconsciously be that cute couple still. Ahh :-)

New Euphemism for the Canon

From my son’s freshman science homework I came up with “Do you want to WORK my JOULES?”

Lisa was not amused.

Sampson the Sequel

It has been approximately 3 months since I shaved my head and it looks like I need a haircut. This is the longest I have had the hair on the side of my head for years, and the back is looking like a baby mullet. I figure I have two more years until it will be ready to cut, unless I go crazy first.

My new plan is to grow it out for those two years, but the last six months I need to quit shaving as well. That way when the moment arrives I will look bad enough to get on one of those cable TV make-over shows. I can get a free vacation and some new clothes to go with the haircut.

Why Are you So Damn Negative?

That of course is one of Gunnar's big lines in the school musical. They are performing How to Succeed in Business without really trying; and he is playing the role of JB Biggley the CEO. I was very impressed of the production value of the show, especially since I have only been exposed to the middle school plays until now. It was well worth the price of admission.

And I guess it was a little drama, because only two freshman were cast and the other one got a chorus part. By getting a second lead he bypassed a lot of upperclassmen. Gunnar's greatest talent by far is he is absolutely fearless performing on a stage. Couple that with he can carry a tune and is able to memorize extremely well, you got a great actor in the works.

FWIW, the young women playing the Heddy Larue part stole the show. And I swear the way she was flipping her hair it was as if she was channeling Miss Piggy.

Undecided

I am not sure if it was a good thing or not. A friend in the Ward had their parents visiting and they attended my Gospel Doctrine class. I spent the whole class opening up the book of Philemon, because it is too often neglected. FWIW I went with the more sympathetic Philemon sent Onesimus to Paul to be his servant interpretation.

Later that afternoon:
Friend’s parents: That GD teacher really knew his scriptures; is he a LAWYER.

I am not sure what to make of that?

Why I love Small Wards

In theory the lesson was about SWK's thoughts on Joseph Smith. Somehow we were talking about how well organized the church was, how a lot of charities are just fronts to rip you off, and if any of us were members of the Rotary. Let's see them correlate that.

Way to Go Idaho

Lisa passed her Tax final with a 96%. Only has to do the 2007 update class and she is well on her way to living the exciting life of a tax preparer. Of course I get to say things about the size of my deductions now, it is win-win.

Deep Thoughts with JT part 2

JT (to me): We only fart if we drink pop. If you never drank pop you would never fart.

Sunday School Insights

As I was ironing Zeke’s Sunday shirt before church and contemplating my upcoming lesson on Ephesians, I was thinking about the concept of foreordination. Even though Zeke’s shirt said it was wrinkle free, it was definitely covered in wrinkles. This is because Zeke does not take care of it and hang it up; rather he leaves it on the floor and ignores it all week. We are all foreordained to receive all the Father has, but only if we take care of the life we have here. And even though we take care of it, the Atonement will take care of all the wrinkles that still come up. So the shirt is not predestined to be wrinkle free, just foreordained and only predicated on our actions. Something to think about.

Deep Thoughts with JT part 1

JT (to Lisa): I have a penis and it is very powerful. Do girls have a penis?
Lisa: No they have a vagina.
JT: But is it as powerful as a penis?
Lisa: Yes.
JT: Mine is as powerful as the Red Power Ranger.
Lisa: Well it is as powerful as the Pink Power Ranger.

In hindsight I think this is a good analogy. Too often we see Red PR’s easily subdued and controlled by the power of the Pink PR. Of course there are a few Power Rangers immune to the power of the Pink PR, the well dressed rainbow PR.

Tuesday’s Workout

Did some sit-up sets and some Roman Chair sets (for back – not sure what the actual name of exercise is). Got on rowing machine for 1500 meters in 6:45.2. I kept throwing in several sprints based on time, like 30 seconds hard, 30 seconds rest. Next time I will go for 3000 meters and do 100 meter sprints, as it would seem to work out better. Followed up with 10 minutes on the Nordic Track with tabata intervals. Overall, a great and fast workout.

Monday’s Workout

I am cycling through another workout phase (I rotate various plans so not to become stagnant). Since I haven’t done anything over the last few weeks due to illness, I started out fairly light. Anyway, I am looking to do 8-12 reps of ten different exercise variations. They are to be done at a controlled rate with good form, and just one set per exercise. Basically it is a quick (30 minute), three day a week, total body routine. It should be a good one to get me through the upcoming holidays and into the New Year. I will change it up then. The ten exercises are bench, rows, pull-ups, overhead press, squats, biceps, triceps, lunges, deadlifts, and deltoids. For example, on benches I can choose flat, incline, or decline; and I could use either barbells or dumbbells. On the latter I could do two or one arm variations. So every workout will be different. I follow up with some interval training for 20 minutes. On my off days, Tuesdays & Thursdays, I can do more interval training and my core work (abdominals). It sounds complicated, but it is actually pretty easy.

So anyway, here is Monday. I went lighter rather than heavier, and some exercises I went to twenty reps until I stopped. That means I went too light and will have to adjust next time. These are not in order:
Flat Bench, barbell, 135#’s (9 reps)
Row, DB, 20(20)
Chin-up 100ast(5) – I am really weak here L
Standing Military Press, BB, 95(10)
Front Squat 95(12)
Standing Curl, BB, 50(20)
Triceps Cable Pull down, 80(20)
Lunges, DB, 30 (13ea)
Deads, BB, 155(20)
Side Raises, 10(25)

I finished on the treadmill with 5 minute warm-up, Repeated intervals of 1 minute fast, 2 minutes at warm-up pace, and a short cool-down.

Felt good, but very tired that night. Fell asleep at 9pm.

Where Have I Been

After finally recovering from the softball tournament, I had to go to a food labeling conference up in St. Paul. One of my coworkers in the car had a cold and spent the trip hacking away. The combined 3 hour car ride was too much. Just a few days later I came down with a nasty cold. The last two weeks has just been a task to get up and go to work. Anyways, I am hoping to get back to the gym again on Monday. It will be a task after two weeks off, especially the getting up at 4:45 am.

Corporate Softball Tournament

I signed up to play on my division’s team last Saturday. Now I played a lot of baseball back in the day, but that was over 20 years ago. So I went with 2 goals in mind. Not to hurt or embarrass myself. I think I did pretty good on both of those goals over the four games we played (we went 1-3). I made a lot of good catches including two great ones (crash the fence variety), and I made a few hits. The few errors I made were lost in the sea of errors that all of us made collectively. As for injuries I got one bruise on my palm from trying to distract the SS from turning the double play. He wasn’t distracted and he winged it, hitting me in the hand. Otherwise it was the walk of the dead on Sunday as I had to take Advil just to get out of bed. Now it is Tuesday and I have taken the last two days off from the gym and I am finally moving around without soreness. Overall it was a good time.

A Review

So I met with the counselor in the Stake Presidency. Here is the twenty minute interview condensed down for easy reading; and yes I am paraphrasing a little.
SPC: How you doing?
Me: Okay.
SPC: Well the SP thought I should ask if I came here; no reason. So see you.

And that was it. Very troubling. Either I have done something very wrong; so wrong I didn’t even realize it. Or they are feeling me out for something more and I am about to get really busy. I don’t know though. I had a beard at the interview and I try to wear coloured shirts to church. I even mention The Gospel of Judas in my Adult Sunday school class. What else can a guy do?

Science Experiment

Lisa learned that when you throw your Chipotle burrito in its paper bag in the microwave, you will actually start a fire. Big one with flames.

I am just glad it wasn't me, or I would have never heard the end of it.

Tuesday Workout or Bulgarian Split Squats are of Satan

Very similar to Monday but with a different 6 exercise.
Deadlifts and Incline dumbbell press
Bulgarian Split Squat and Mixed grip lat pull-downs
Romanian Deadlift and Swiss-ball Lateral Rolls

I had to quit during the second set of the last exercises, but it was the Bulgarians that killed me. Trying to do 15 reps with each leg for each set was almost impossible, and that was without any weights. The last set was more like 6 x 5. My thighs hurt (in a good way) for the rest of the day.

After Dark

After Dark by Haruki Murakami (Alfred A. Knopf), 2004, 191p

I realized a long time ago that most of my reading centered on American or UK writers. The most foreign I ever got was the occasional Australian. I figure a lot of these writers were translated into foreign languages, so conversely foreign writers must be translated into English. Not that it was a secret, I had just not thought about it before. So I actively searched out such writers to broaden my horizons and Japan was one of the first countries I went to. This was mainly due to having family there and figuring one would need to be conversant with their modern literature in polite society (yes, I am being sarky). I am so glad that I did because I found two of my favourite current authors through this process, one being Haruki Murakami (and the other Henning Mankell from Sweden).
The strangest thing with this book and his others is I cannot really tell you why I liked them; just that I did. I get engrossed by the characters and just cannot put the books down and at the end I really cannot tell you what is going on or the big questions being asked. Yet I have loved every one of the 12 I have read.
So I recommend you try one of his shorter ones and see how it goes. Maybe it will strike a chord with you as well. If any of you have a favourite foreign writer (as in their native language is not English) please let me know.

Speaking of Charmed

Lisa and I have seen the first seven seasons on DVD, so over the course of those viewings our kids have picked up a thing or two. Every time, and I mean every time, JT sees a graveyard he yells out “That’s where evil gets married.” On our recent trip to the capitol we visited Arlington National Cemetery. We had a very long talk about what not to say while there.
At one time in the past I may have inadvertently blamed JT for passing gas when in fact it may have been me. Ha Ha, very funny and very fatherly. Except JT’s mind is pretty sharp and he has taken this to mean that whenever or wherever he passes gas he can blame me very loudly. Good times. It proves the admonition of Paul to the Galatians, you reap what you sow.

Entering the Seminary

Back in my mission days we used to have a practice of scrying the BOM at the end of a member visit as a means of a spiritual thought. I am using the word scrying in the Charmed (TV show) sense, as when they would twirl the crystal over a map to locate what they were looking for. BTW, I only watched Charmed for the articles. Anyways, we would flip through the BOM and then jab our finger into them when the person would say when. We then would try to interpret the scripture we landed on as having some import to their life. Harmless fun I am sure, but it does smack a little superstitious to me now.
Well today was Gunnar’s first day of Seminary. I was giving him and another 14 year old a ride to the church when I decided to scry my IPod for a revelatory song. I hit the shuffle and blindly skipped ahead. For the other kid I got You Oughta Know by Alanis Morisette which has the refrain “You live, You learn.” For Gunnar though, I got The Clash’s Should I Stay or Should I Go. Interpret that!

Daily Workout Monday

So I switched up my workout today and like to have killed myself. Each pair of exercises was a superset with 3 sets of 15 and 75 seconds of rest in-between. I kept the weight low intentionally.
Squats (155) and Seated Cable Row (I forget)
Supine hip extension on Swiss ball and Walking lunges with a twist
Dumbbell push press (35) and Swiss ball crunch.
Since I have been doing Squats and Deadlifts all along (other leg/lower body exercise), I avoided Lunges because I do not like them. I started the lunges with weights but had to give them up (the weights) during the first set as I was about to collapse. I ended up with a bruise on my knee due to the strain. I have been humbled, and will never overlook lunges again

Good Father

Lisa has not been feeling well so I offered to take all the kids, minus Gunnar, to the big city with me for my errands. It is a 40 minute drive each way, so quite the commitment. Any way I am going to buy all the wood trim for the finish carpentry for Cenny's room remodel. So I am dressed in my dirty hat, t-shirt, and painter's pants (very stained). Since you are going Lisa says, go by the mall and exchange my stuff at Anne Taylor. Have you guys been to Anne Taylor? The sales lady was very nice, but you could see wanted the scruffy guy with the four little kids out of there pronto. It ended well and I went on to the home improvement store. The big one here is called Menards; well the kids have a slang term called Nards (like 2 veg - as in fruit and two veg). So Me-Nards was very amusing to the lot of them.

Start the Speculating

It is never a good thing when someone from the Stake Presidency says he needs to meet with you. Either you have really screwed up or he wants to give you more to do.

Of course there is an opening in the 12...

MIdlife Crisis Part 2

Lisa has now decided that she needs to bungee jump prior to turning 40. I said I would watch; maybe even take a picture.

The MTV Effect

I am driving the kids on some errands and Cenny says "You need to pimp your ride Dad. We could use an X-Box back here."

It was bound to happen one day.

As you can see from the following link, Tales From the Crib: NUT FREE, a topic came up that I actually know something about. It is one of those rare moments that make the education worth it, and I have something worthwhile to say.

Enjoying the moment, see you in 5 years when it happens again.

Daily Workout Thursday

Last day of the weight lifting to gain muscle. I started semi-seriously 6 months ago to get stronger and all that goes with it, and for the most part I think it went well. Increased my bench by 60 pounds, my squat by 75, and my deadlift by 140. So I am pleased, but I still need to drop some fat and will focus on that starting Monday. Basically I am following the program of Alwyn Cosgrove as laid out in his book. It will still involve weights, just not trying to increase my loads all the time and at a faster pace.

Anyway I was feeling quite tired this morning so I took it easy. Kinda like being trunky the last day of the mission. I did try pushing the squats thinking I would wake up, but then backed off again for everything else. I also went with 4x5 for most things.
4x5 145 Bench
4x5 225 Squat
4x5 185 Deads
4x5 95 Cleans with press
4x5 Dips with 52# assist
2x10 210 with chin grip cable pull down
2x5, 1x10 120 Row Machine

Lisa was done with the spin class and was standing next to me on the last exercise saying “Let’s Go!!!” I mainly do the last two exercises because I cannot do pull-ups YET. Also I did my usual 50 push-ups while watching TV last night (5x10 with feet elevated on the couch)

http://alwyncosgrove.blogspot.com/

Daily Workout

I did sprints on the treadmill this morning. Warm up followed by 20 seconds at 6 minute miles with 10 seconds off. Repeated for 6 rounds followed by a two minute rest pace and then 4 more rounds. Cool down and out.

Apples at the Chapel

The name. Once while arguing with Lisa she wanted to use the expression that I was preaching to the choir; instead she said I was selling Apples at the Chapel. It is now part of our family lore and I recommend that everyone start to use it in their daily speech.

I am Out of the Closet

I planned to build this blog up a bit before letting everyone know I was writing it, but I accidentally outed it by commenting on another blog and using the blogger login function.

Anyways, let’s hope for the best.

My Wife the Freak

Put all the kids in school. In our town we have one school just for kindergarten, so it is a very crowded place on the first day. You see the buses come up to the school and all the parents who put their kids on the bus 20 minutes before are standing there at the school to take pictures of their sweeties getting off the bus again. So our 5th and last child began school today and he was very excited. He has the same teacher who had his 3 brothers, so she knows what to expect.

This event has caused a large amount of stress for Lisa as part of her identity for the past 14 years is she is a SAHM. Without any kids that just makes her a maid. So here is the freak part. To redefine herself she has sign up for one to fulfill her true desires. Starting next week and running for 3 nights a week for the next 11 weeks she will be taking the H&R Block tax preparer’s course. That’s right, Lisa loves doing taxes.

Long Haired Freaky People

Cenneidigh got her hair cut for locks for love this week. And Lisa is about three months away from having long enough hair to cut for the same purpose. This, coupled with a friend who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, has motivated me to grow my hair out as well. The requirement is 10 inches and I just shaved my head last month, so I figure it will be at least a year until I get there. This is a post that could use a picture of a very cute Cenny with her new hair.

Two-Timer

We had the annual best ball 9-hole golf tournament at work last Friday. The team I was on last year got the special last place trophy, and this year with a new team made up of family members I repeated. We managed a 48 putting us 16 strokes behind the winners. With me, if I manage to get a ball in the air AND make it go straight at the same time, I have been successful. That rarely happens.

Patience

I am new at this and still need to learn how to add pictures, a side-bar, and embedded links. I will get there thanks to the handy dandy Publishing a Blog with Blogger book I got from the library.

Chewing for Gold

Some I am sitting in church chomping away on my gum when my crown pops off. Luckily I didn’t swallow it, because given how cheap Lisa is, I would have had to retrieve it. I could only imagine how fun that would have been. And I would always have had the thought in the back of my mind – Your tooth is covered in POOP!

Anyways, I didn’t swallow it and was able to get the Dentist to glue it back in on Monday. For him to look at it, scrape off the old glue, and then toss it back in was 75 DOLLARS!! That is a total racket.

But I am reminded of a story from my rec. therapist days at the juvenile jail. In the morning one young man complained to another that he needed to get out of his face as his breath smelled like “fecal material.” (Note: the word has been changed for your protection) Well a little later the young man with the breath problem retires to the joint bathroom. The after lunch the first young man goes to brush his teeth and comes out in the commons area to complain that something is wrong with his tooth brush. This is the moment when the second kid states aloud that he had stuck his tooth brush up his butt, and whose breath smelled like fecal material now.

Good times.

Great Quotes

A coworker talking about her husband says,

"It wasn't his dream to be a HS physics teacher, he really wanted to be a HS Earth Sciences teacher."

Signs that I am getting old

Between the five kids, Lisa and I have one starting at every school next week. The oldest begins HIGH SCHOOL, the next will be in 6th grade, the next two in Elementary (3rd & 2nd), and the youngest in Kindergarten. The youngest will have the same teacher the other three boys had.

Great Truths of Life 1

This Blog will hopefully replace the old newsletter, so I thought I would start off with some of my acquired wisdom.

You go to put on a shirt and you realize it is slightly wrinkled; enough to be noticeable, but not enough to get out the iron. The solution is to toss it into the dryer for a few minutes to freshen it up, but when you get there you find it is full with other clothes. No problem, just toss it in and let it go, because that is easier than finding a basket for the other load. Here is the truth:

No matter how long you leave the dryer running your shirt will never be on the top/front of the load when you open the door.