Success Warrior: The Blog That Embraces ADHD

Another Sick Day and Rambling

Trey still had a fever this morning (101 degrees) so we stayed home again.  It means I'm going to have to cram some things together tonight.  I have two city council meetings tonight with a bit over an hour of a break between them.  I'm going to use that time to go into work to take care of a couple of important things.  I'm hoping to get them wrapped up so that I can come home after the second city council meeting and spend some time with my wife. 

I think I slept funny last night.  I woke up with white paint on my face and a big red rubber nose.  A sure sign that I slept funny, if ever there was one. 

Plus, the right side of my neck hurts.  Maybe it was cramped in the clown car.

Speaking of clown cars, we had someone at the casino say that he lost his wallet and that it had $30,000  in it.  Have you ever seen $30,000?  Liar, liar, pants on fire.  The officer that took the initial complaint says the guy must have a clown wallet. 

Did you know that taking L-Lysine can help you absorb calcium better?  I just learned this today.  I've known that it can help with energy but I didn't know about the calcium thing.

On the other side of the coin, do any of you (or have any of you) taken melatonin to help with sleep.  What are/were your results?  Just curious.

May I say again that I love DVR.  You know, as much as I watch TV, but still.  Trey and I watched the first half of the Saints/49ers game last night while Tia worked on homework.  Today, since Trey is home, we watched the second half of the game.  Alex Smith looks like he's figuring it all out.  Of course, Drew already has it figured out but it was a close game and the wind made it necessary to use different strategies depending on which way the teams were going. 

I don't think that the bug that had my stomach last week has completely gone or maybe now I'm fighting off the strep throat that is in the house.  Tomorrow is going to be Clorox/Lysol day in this house.  Trey should be past the contagious stage and well on the mend. 

Anyway, I did my workout today and I have to say that I just wasn't feeling the love.  Drill Sergeant was in the same boat.  I really thought that we would be back to full speed and intensity today but that did not happen.  I dropped down in weights from where I was at the beginning of the month and still struggled to get out the same number of reps.  I don't know what's up. 

I do need to get better sleep.  I know that but that doesn't account for how little energy I felt today. 

At least I worked out.  My whole intense 2-month plan has been thrown out the window and now I'm just trying to maintain some semblance of fitness.  This has been a tough year.

That's been the theme for Tia and I for much of 2010.  Health problems for both of us, accompanied with the expense for health problems, and the disruption of being sick/injured and all the trips to doctors that are 120 miles away.  Sheesh!  I'll be doing good if I'm anywhere near the neighborhood of maintenance.

Not to wish the time away but I hope 2011 is a better year. 

Hey, I found out (and by "I", I mean that Tia found out and then told me) that if you take a doctor's note to the school when your son misses class, they don't count it as an absence.  If they would have told me that last year, I wouldn't have to have gone off on my rant when the school threatened to turn me into child services because my son was getting close to missing too much school for the year.

Oh, on that note, they tested his reading ability to start first grade.  He's reading at second grade level.  I pity the social service worker that shows up on my doorstep. 

I have been amazed at how quickly Trey is picking up on the rules of football.  I tell him things one time and then in a later game, he puts the knowledge to work.  He has figured out the scoring thing and today, because I hadn't told him about the possibility of a 2 point conversion, he declared that the Saints were going to win because they were leading by 8 and the 49ers could only get 7 points.  Math and rules all right there.  After I told him about the 2 point conversion, he said that the Saints were still going to win because they were playing better than the 49ers.  Nothing to teach him there.

Of course, as a Rams fan, I can't cheer for the Saints but anyone that smacks the 49ers around a bit has a little bit of good in them.

The Rams didn't lose by very much on Sunday.  That's how a Rams fan has to think.  We can't the numbers in the "W" column because there aren't any.  We just have to hope for some kind of improvement.  Losing by only 2 points.  Not bad.  I'm hoping that they win in the exhibition game against the womens' lingerie team but I'll be happy if they don't lose by more than a field goal.

Time to go get a new toothbrush for Trey so we can throw away the strep-brush tomorrow morning. 

Wishing You Success!

Easing Back a Bit

There's something going around, you know, the kind of something that camps out in your stomach while you camp out in the bathroom.  It hasn't hit me yet or maybe it has been trying.  I dunno.  Everyone in my morning class, including me, has run completely out of energy.  We took it easy on Monday.  Tuesday was supposed to be another Tabata session but there was absolutely no way.  We did a couple of easy circuits and I even dropped the weight down a bit from what I usually do.  Wednesday, we did a half-hearted, half-assed ab workout.  Thursday, today, we bagged it all.  The energy isn't there and exercising is only going to reduce the immune system's ability to fight off the bug, if that's what's happening.

It's a constant balancing act, this exercise thing.  You have to press forward even when you don't feel like it but you also have to rein back when you don't want to but it's what would be best for your body.  Unfortunately it can be hard to know which is which.

For now, it's backing off because it's too weird of a coincidence that all of us are wiped out at the same time. 

I'd really like to get a few more days of disk golf in before winter sets in but my schedule just hasn't allowed it.  Next week is booked too but maybe the week after that. 

Martial arts class was incredibly fun today.  We just did a lot of practicing and laughing and I was teaching them more about how to really make things work.  I have been teaching the new guys the moves that they need to do but there's a lot more to it than that.  There's a *way* to do the moves that makes them very much more effective.  It's fun to be all flashy and cool but in the end, it's really more important to understand how to deliver a lot of energy into the body of your attacker so that he rethinks his choice (or understands that he made a mistake after he wakes up). 

It's something that I haven't done as much with this class as I did with my previous class.  I spent hours and hours teaching them how to really do each little move so that they were really effective.  In the classroom where everyone plays along, things can look like they are working fine but it's a lot different out in the real world.  Plans don't last past first contact.  Breaking the moves down and working on them, trying to get them right, makes it more likely that they will work in some way out on the street. 

It was a fun class and I can't wait until next week so we can do it again. 

I may have to go for a hike this Friday before it gets too late in the season.  I'm going to be climbing a mountain, or part of a mountain, and want to do it before there is snow up there.  This will be more like a scouting trip.  There is supposed to be a road part-way up on the Utah side so I'll see how far the Hummingbird can take me (I miss my Jeep) and then Bailey and I will get out on foot and see how far we get before we have to turn around to make sure I'm back to pick Trey up from school.  I don't have any idea about the road or what the hike is like so I'm going to go take a look.  Then I can decide if it's something that I want to return to.

Now I'm going to go cut up some steak so I can marinate it a bit for shishkabobs tonight.  Tia put in a request for them so I'll be grilling them up tonight.  Might have to do some grilled pineapple too.  I haven't had that in about a year.  Yummy.

Look! Something Shiny!

My brain has completed derailed today.  I'm used to jumping from track to track but today, I'm completely off the tracks. 

So, instead of finishing my post about creating a fitness plan that matches your goals, personality, and time limits, I'm going to go play disk golf on the Wii with Trey.

Wishing You Success!

Jumping In and Backing Off

Right then.  I jumped in full force on my "destroy my body over two months" plan and accomplished my goal in two days.  Sweet!  I've had to really back off on my workouts for the second half of the week and I don't plan on doing anything too rigorous over the weekend.

I only made the two exercise videos because my abs hurt so bad that it pretty much hurt to breathe and there aren't a whole lot of exercises out there to demonstrate that don't require ab muscles for stability and even fewer that don't require breathing.  You're just going to have to wait until next week for new exercise videos.

Speaking of videos, check this out.  There will be a test on Monday.

I was able to make more martial arts videos.  Did you catch the VFF Bikilas making a cameo appearance in my martial arts videos?  How versatile are these shoes?  Run, climb, and kick people in the face.  Sweet!

We also had an extra practice session on Thursday.  I've got a couple of moves from that day that I'm going to need to video.  Actually, I'm eventually going to get all of them on video.

I also have a couple of ideas on some Success Warrior mindset stuff that people might find interesting, or at least funny.  Maybe useful and funny.  That is the goal in the end.  To get comfortable in front of the camera so that I'm just me and can provide information for people in a way that's fun to receive it.

<Can't Touch This>

I have enjoyed the Bedhead Briefings just for the fact that I'm sitting in front of a camera talking.  Nothing exciting or funny yet and I can't make any great promises at 5 in the freaking morning but I just need to spend time talking to the camera until it just feels normal and natural.  Sorry to those of you that are following along during the process.

<Stop!  Hammer Time!>

I wish I had more time for editing and actually knew anything at all about editing.  Oh well, just going to keep going like I am for now.  If there is anyone out there that doesn't want to be in front of the camera but wold like practice editing video, let me know and let's work something out to make these more interesting. 

Speaking of editing, check this one out:

Okay, I took the easy way out today with videos.  No apologies.  Got stuff to do.  I'll catch up with you tomorrow.

Wishing You Success

The Primal Blueprint Cookbook

My copy of The Primal Blueprint Cookbook by Mark Sisson arrived today and I've had a quick scan through it.  Very quick so I don't even have too many first impressions for you but I can say that the Universe is great at answering queries. 

My wife and I were talking this morning because she wants to incorporate breakfast into her plan but she doesn't have time to make or eat breakfast before leaving for work.  I asked her if she wanted me to cook something for her that she could take to work.  I usually have time to cook (not tomorrow - dangit!) so I figured that I could make something while I'm cooking up my eggs and then she could take it with her.

So, I'm glancing through the Primal cookbook, looking at the pictures mostly (but I bought it for the articles, I promise) and I see something that catches my eye.  It's not anything new at all but something that might fit the bill exactly.  Omelets cooked in muffin tins with the muffin wrapper and everything.  How cool is that!  She can tell me what she wants in her omelet, I can make it, and she can take it with her and eat it easily without the need for any utensils.  I have to run the idea by her but how can you not like that idea?  Make up a batch, throw 'em in the fridge, and nuke 'em for a quick bite to eat. 

Score.

Have you ever worked your ass glutes so hard that it hurts to sit down?  Crikey! 

And my calves still haven't healed.  It feels like someone kicked them, like they are bruised.  Now, normally, this is a distinct possibility because of karate class but last week, I was strictly on the teaching end of the hitting and kicking.  This week, I'm going to be on the receiving end a bit as I jump in with everyone else except my #1 student.  #1 went to do a take-down last week and missed the grab and broke his thumb.  All the violence that we share in my class and he breaks his own damn thumb. 

Tomorrow, I have physical therapy but can I just say that I am feeling much better and I have a new BFF.  Of all the painful and expensive procedures that I have had, do you know what has worked the best?

A tennis ball.

Can you believe that?  My therapist told me to go buy a tennis ball (you actually have to buy 3 tennis balls much to Trey's delight with the bonus 2 and now my neighbors delight since those extra 2 balls have now been whacked over the back fence into the neighbor's yard - you're welcome neighbor) and you place said tennis ball on the ground. 

Okay, I was going to insert more parenthesis but my wandering thoughts get long enough that I'm going to give this tangential thought it's own paragraph.  My physical therapist did not say to put the ball on the ground.  She said to put it in this sock thingy so that I could hold the ball in place by holding opposite ends of the socky thingy and lean up against the wall.  I suck at following instructions. 

Anyway, you I place the tennis ball on the ground and then I lay on it.  You move around until you feel the ball on a knot or tender spot and then you stop moving and apply gentle pressure on it for a while.  "A while" being subjective and based on how long it takes before you feel like the knot has released.

Last night, I'm doing this drill and on about the third spot, I feel a release like a soap bubble popping.  Completely non-violent but not the melting away that you might associate with a knot working its way out.  It was there and then it was gone.  And man!  Everything else seemed to feel better too.  I may have even had a vision or something.  There was a ray of light, angelic singing, and some hot chick holding a plate with a medium rare rib-eye on it.  Is heaven like Hooters?

This isn't to say that all the other stuff hasn't helped or done it's part or set this possibility up but last night is the best that my back has felt in 5 months.  The ball and I have a date tonight because I know that, at least for me, that was not a one night stand.

I mentioned this in the early edition of this blog this morning but it's worth repeating again.  I was goofing off between sets while Drill Sergeant was out puking (I keed Chili, I keed - this time anyway, she was just getting some fresh air) and messing around with some of the medicine balls and found a killer ab exercise that requires no motion at all.  It's a plank variation where you aren't moving but oh my gawd are your ab muscles twitchin' and pingin' off trying to keep you from bouncing your face off the mat (and thank goodness I have mats because I failed a few times). 

My abs still aren't quite healed up from last week's "goof off" but I think they will be healed up enough tonight to at least demonstrate both exercises, briefly.  Tomorrow is ab day too.  Last Friday, I sneezed and thought I was going to cry.  You too can have that wonderful feeling if you do these exercises.  I'm talking about working the abs like most people haven't worked them.  You will need a box (you have your box by now right - Come on! You're a SW Blog reader, you haveto have a box) and a couple of medicine balls.  The box adds a whole 'nuther dimension to working out, quite literally. 

I won't require you to get VFFs but I'm loving working out in mine.  One of the students is going to go get some now.  She likes to work out barefoot but likes the idea of having the traction on her feet.  My Bikilas have great traction.  I can dig in on downward dog like nobody's bidness.   And run trails.  And climb rocks. 

I think I'll be doing some more climbing on Thursday.  What I have eyed up is probably too step for Bailey so she may have to stay behind this time.  She's going to be bummed but I'll try to plan a more dog friendly activity the following day or next week.

Stay tuned.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

Disk Golf Today

So,

I was goofing around yesterday and did something a bit different for my abs.

I should never let me be alone with my thoughts.  Ever.  It's too dangerous.  My lower abs are damaged.  Not in a bad way (this time) but in a way where they would would rather participate in life for a day or two.

Hey!  So, you know what I did today, right?

In my defense . . .

Actually, I don't have anything to say in my defense. 

I didn't play very much disk golf, if that counts for anything.  My brother couldn't get a babysitter so that day was cut very short, in fact.  We got in one round and then kind of did a speed round that didn't really go so well except that I did have some really good drives today.

I tried out my Vibram Ridge and old habits die hard.  I tried throwing it like an Aviar and it floated right over several baskets.  Several.  Time and again.  Does it sound like me to not be aggressive enough?

We didn't keep score but my brother ceded the day because I was wearing my Vibram Bikilas.  No, not really.  Well, yes I was, but that's not the reason that he gave me the day.  I just seemed to be more on in the second round.  I won the first round by 1 throw and many of my drives in the second round were just pretty. 

I suggested that the next time we are so short on time that we give up all pretense of playing like we usually do, grab 2 disks, and see how quickly we can play through a few rounds.  That would make it different and a bit of exercise on top of that.  Maybe we could even sprint a few holes.  That might be taking it too far.  I will probably try that on my own though.  Standing on the desk.

Since we got done so early, I had some time to kill.  Okay, I never really have time to kill but I had already scheduled to use this time so I felt like I had free time.  On my way home, I took a slight detour out to REI, which is very dangerous but my wife had already told me no.  I made the mistake of calling her.

"Hi.  Hey, I'm going to zig a bit on my way home and stop at REI."

"No."

"What?"

"No."

"I didn't say anything yet."

"No."

"Fine, I was just going to look anyway."

Dammit!

I'm going back next week and this time, I'm not calling her.

"We're missing money from our account.  Did you go to REI?"

"Surprise!  I bought you a daypack.  Can I borrow it?"

I also found out that I'm going to be a kayaker.  There is a bit of problem with that and if you look at the pictures from yesterday's post very closely, you might pick up on what that is.

Anywho, I took a picture of a kayak with my Droid and texted (texted?  The English language is so mashed up) it to my wife.  This, of course, will only lead to future No's and may invoke her to put GPS on my car with a disabler if I get too close to REI.  I'm going to try to sell her on the daypack though with the old, "Hey!  It's not like it's a kayak.  Do you know how much those cost?"

When I go back for the kayak (and I will go back for the kayak), I'll have to hope she has forgotten about my argument or I'll have to come up with something better.  "Hey!  It's not like it's a powerboat . . ."

Today is my last low carb day.  It hasn't been any kind of struggle.  I just did it as kind of a preparation for the next stage, which will be primal + dairy. 

The thing is, unless I've completely lost my mind, I usually eat protein, fruits, and vegetables.  It's not like this is anything new.  I suppose the new part for the next 10 weeks is that I'm going to be strict about it. 

I usually eat this way but I'm also not any kind of purist about it.  For the next 10 weeks, I'm going to be better then usual.

I have also started reading The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain so that I have a better understanding of paleo.  It's not quite the same as primal but I don't think it will apply to me but I think it will be good for me to read.  You know, because I have a bunch of spare reading time.

Wait a tick!  In all my aimless rambling, I forgot that I did actually take a couple of pictures today.  We were playing so fast that there wasn't much time for getting the camera in and out of the bag.  It's too bad.  This late in the season, the Riverdale Disk Golf Course is tough.  All the greenery is in.  Well, you'll get the idea from the two pictures that I actually did take.

 
"I think I see the basket."

That's my brother out there in the thick stuff.  From there, he had to throw a tomahawk roller to get anywhere near the basket.  It didn't really roll though.  It took a lucky bounce off of a log and rolled to a point where he had a putt at the basket, which he made. 

I'm taking this picture from where my drive landed.  Not in the brush and trees.  Most of my drives were right on the mark today.  This is a weird drive too because I throw the disk with about a 75 degree dip down so that it just makes a big up and down arc, moving a little to the left as it goes.  There are all kinds of trees between the tee and the basket, to the point where you can't see the basket.  A lot of the baskets are like that.

 
Case in point

This is a tee pad for a different basket and I can't remember which number it is.  Not that it matters at all to any of you anyway.  The basket is about 300 feet up that path and then about 30 feet to the right of the path.  You can't see the basket.  You can't aim at the basket.  For a lot of people, it's wonderful if they get there disk past those sentry trees and any where near the path.

This is a tough hole and most of the course is very much risk/reward.  I haven't counted but I would say that you have an opportunity to birdie just about every basket on this course if you go for it and make it past the trees.  On the other hand, if you hit a tree way short or end up in some of the super thick brush, you're looking at a bogey. 

For people that are familiar with the course, I'm talking about playing from the red tees.  If you play from the yellow tees, you should probably getting a birdie or at least par every time. 

We came up on some guys that were kickin' it in the shade.

"You playin' off the red tees?" one of them asked.  My brother answered in the affirmative and the group had to briefly move from the shade because they were kind of ahead of the red tee pad.  My brother took the pad and let his disk fly.  It flew flat and straight, between a couple of trees, then faded to the left around a clump of big trees, going about 300 feet and landing in range for an easy birdie.

"That's why you're playing off the red tees," the guy said.

My shot wasn't quite as impressive but it landed close enough to give me a shot at the basket for birdie.  I hit the bottom of the basket for a gimme for par.

Now, back to the rambling for one more short bit.  I think I swallowed a piece of chicken bone and I think it's still stuck in my throat 2 hours later.  Besides driving for 100 miles to a hospital, does anyone have any suggestions (and besides suggesting not eating chicken bones, I've already thought of that one and written it down on a post it so that I can stick it on the next piece of chicken that I eat).

Tomorrow is some kind of lope.  I still thinking about going to the walking trail (can you lope on a walking trail?) but I'm also entertaining the idea of something rougher.

Stay tuned.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

Roughing It

I'm taking one for the team to write this blog post for you under the current conditions.  Check out my Facebook or Twitter profile for a picture.

One of the things that I like about our get-aways up here by Yellowstone is that there is usually some downtime for reflection.  That hasn't really been the case this time as it seems that just about every minute has been spoken for.  Things have finally slowed down and sadly, it's our last day here.  Then we have to return the desert and our broken air conditioner. 

I'm going to have to do some kind of diet detox when I get home.  I can say that without any need for reflection.  I have been eating s'mores and anything else that came my way. 

I called for a follow up with my doctor today.  Oct 12.  Nice.  I think that the trigger point stuff they did last time is on the right track and now I need to see if I can talk them into doing it where it hurts the most.  I should have been more on the ball at the time but I wasn't convinced they what they did was going to help since it seemed to make everything hurt more instead of less.  Now, a week later, where they did the injections feels better.  Not just kind of better but *better*.  If I can get that kind of relief on my back, I'm going to be able to turn and burn on my program.  That would be cool because I have a new plan for the next couple of months.

It's going to be a combination of heavy stuff (considering the class format) and intervals.  Not on the same day but alternating through the weeks, with a couple of recovery weeks, and a hell week.  I have the picture in my head but I haven't written the plan down yet.  I'm thinking about keeping the extercises to only 4 per day so we'll have to stick with some of the basics (push ups, rows, squats, etc.).  I won't be doing anything fancy for the next couple of months or doing funky combinations like I did for this month or last month.  Solid basics, done heavy on some days, and then done for intervals on other days. 

It's going to be draining so that makes me think that I better be serious about doing a diet reboot in the next couple of weeks.  Maybe I'll drop the carbs low for 10 days and then add the fruits and vegetables back in and stay strict Primal for those two months, at least as far as food goes.  I'll probably add glutamine back in to my supplementation for those two months to help with recovery.  If it goes anything like the movie in my mind, I'm going to need all the help that I can get.

I got my hot pink GymBoss timer.  I'll be using that for the interval days because I won't have time to look at the clock.  It's going to be "go, go, go," and then take a super short break.  Then go again, and so on, until I collapse into a pool of my own drool and sweat.  It's not going to be pretty.

I have an appointment with my physical therapist on Wednesday.  I hope she can help get the muscle situation figured out because I'm not going to be holding back or waiting for Oct. 12th or anything.  Oct. 12th is like a lifetime away and I'm glad that I don't have anything life threatening.  I asked for the earliest appointment possible and this is what I was given.  I'm not putting my life or fitness plan on hold any more waiting around for the doctors to figure it out.  Nothing *I* do makes it better or worse so I'm just going to go for it.

I think I'm going to do a bit of running too, at least until it gets too cold for me.  Trey starts school in a week and that will allow me to go and do a bit of running on a few days.  Nothing too far and nothing too fast.  I know that running isn't necessarily Primal but I enjoy it and I'll be going slow speed so it might still count if it's more of a lope.  I'm going to be looking into the VFF Bikila too.  If I'm running in those, it's going to be a different world so I'll be teaching myself how to run again.  That will automatically slow down the pace and the mileage. 

I am hoping to get a treadmill this winter so that I can keep running even when it gets too cold for me (which isn't really that cold since I hate having to put on layers to go run).  The upside to that is that I could keep running next summer when Trey is home from school.  Although, next year, he might be old enough to keep up on a bicycle.  That would be a great thing.

I'm hoping that he'll be old enough to start playing disk golf soon.  Tia was talking about learning too so that we could go as a family.  With a bit of practice, anyone can throw a Frisbee.  I was teaching them both how to throw a disk a couple of weeks ago because it's a little different than throwing a Frisbee.  Trey was doing pretty good yesterday when we were throwing them at the practice basket. 

Now, Tia is going for a ride with her mom and Trey is going to have a nap so I'm going to get a little private practice on the disk golf basket before I have to put it away.  We are leaving first thing in the morning so I will start the packing process tonight.  That means the basket will have to broken down and boxed up tonight.  So, while everyone else is busy doing their own thing, I'm going to put on my iPod, jam some tunes, and throw some disks.  I'm working on improving my putting so that I can attack the basket from farther away.  Right now, I'm prone to lay it up and take the gimme rather than risk overshooting the basket.  I should get to the point where I can confidently put in anything that misses, especially if I ever want to get to the point where I can play a sub-par game (which just doesn't sound right at all).

Speaking of which, my Vibram Ridge disk golf disk should be at home when I get there, or at the post office rather.  If we get home before the post office closes, I should have a new disk in my hand tomorrow.  How cool is that!

Enough rambling.  Time to go throw some disks.

Random Bits on Vacation

It was a bit of a drive yesterday but nothing too terrible.  I have found that driving is one of the "activities" that is hardest on my injury so while 6 hours in a car seems like a simple thing, right now in my life it's not fun.

We got up here in time to do a bit of visiting and relaxing and stretching out from the car trip.  I laid on the couch for a couple of hours while people watched a movie and just tried to relax.  Then I went to bed and slept, and slept, and slept, and holy cow, I haven't slept like that in a long time.  I don't know if it was the mental relaxation of being a vacation or just the cool air coming in the window (it was down in the 30's last night) but I just kept on sleeping.  I think I must have gotten about 11 hours of sleep.  I usually sleep for about 6 hours a night so you can see how huge this was.

Today, when I finally got up and moving around, we went out for lunch.  For this trip, I thought I would try out an app called FourSquare a try.  It gives you an easy way to "check in" where you are and then sends that info out to Twitter and Facebook.  Now that I type this, I suppose that since all my Twitter stuff goes to Facebook, I'm probably hitting Facebook twice with my FourSquare stuff.  Oh well. 

Anyway, all you do is open the app and it finds where you are by GPS and then gives you a choice of "gathering places" to choose from.  You click on one and you can type in a bit about what's going on and then hit send and you're checked in.

So, we went to lunch at Timber's Edge Restaurant, which I would consider a social gather place since there were plenty of people gathered around socializing.  I opened FourSquare and scrolled through the list.  Timber's Edge was not listed.  However, the Island Park landfill is listed. 

I wanted to put my karate class into FourSquare but it's apparently not a "social gathering place".  FourSquare is going to let me put it in sometime in the future.  Landfills, on the other hand, are apparently social hotspots.  Who would've known?  I know I'm not a very social person but how did I miss this movement of people hanging out in landfills and tweeting about it?

This afternoon, we went floating down the Snake River in a fishing boat.  Just a lazy meander down the river for something to do, especially for Trey.  It was fun and it was one of those moments that once again drove home to me just how impressive technology has gotten.  Up until a few years ago, cell phone coverage was pretty spotty up here for us.  Today, we were floating down the river and I was taking pictures with my Droid and then sending those pictures off on a cyber journey where they would almost immediately show up on Twitter and Facebook. 

Truly impressive (and if you'd like to follow along with my journeys, join me on Twitter or Facebook).

It was chilly this morning and I was going to be in the water so I thought I would try out my VFF Flows.  The Classics are my faves, no doubt but I thought the Flows would stay on better if I ended up in the river and they would keep me warm.  I was correct on all accounts.  I was in charge of getting the boat into and out of the water and the Flows stayed in place and kept my feet nice and warm. 

They were much easier to put on to compared to last year.  I think that it's probably because I have been wearing VFFs all summer.  I think my toes are getting used to spreading out to go into the VFFs.  It made it so much better for my mindset than last winter when it seemed like a struggle to get them on.  I now have a new motivation for my next job.  It should be a job that allows me to wear VFFs so that I don't have to jam my feet into shoes because of some dress code.  =)

Tonight, I believe we have another lazy night of visiting and I have promised Trey that I would play a game with him.  He has found a stash of games that we don't have at home so we'll be trying something called Pictureka tonight.  We'll see if we can talk some other people into joining in with us.

Tomorrow, I believe we'll be heading into Yellowstone for a while because Trey wants to go back.  I'll be taking plenty of pictures, some posted live from the Droid and many more to posted to Facebook when I'm back on my own computer.

Stay tuned.

Follow Up Doctor Appointment

I had my follow up appointment with a couple of my doctors today from The Procedure.  In a nutshell, it comes out to be bad news, bad news, weird news, going with who you know, lost time, and yet, it was still a good day.

I gave Trey the option of staying with his summer daycare person or going on a road trip with me.  I warned him that we were going to a doctor's office and that could mean a very boring time, not to mention the 4 hours we would spending on the road.  He thought about and still chose to go in with me.  He took his Nintendo DS with him to pass the time.  We left at 7 this morning and got back at 3:30. 

The first bad news is that I am still not supposed to lift heavy stuff.  I was hoping to get cleared from the light weight/high rep stuff since nothing seems to be happening good or bad.  No such luck.  Not even a, "ease your way up and see how it feels."  Nothing but light weights and high reps for the next little while (okay, the "little" part I put in there as wishful thinking).

The second bad news is that in two weeks, they are going to do another procedure on my neck.  This time they are going to go in from the back and do what they called a "shotgun" attempt at hitting the problem area.  Wonderful. 

Right before the procedure, I have an hour long appointment with a physical therapist to show me some stretches and stuff to do that might help with the muscle problems that are going on that were probably triggered by the spine stuff but now might have taken on a life of their own. 

The weird news is that I have golfer's elbow in my left elbow.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as golfer's elbow.  On top of that, I don't golf except for disk golf and that's a strictly a right handed venture.  The physical therapist is supposed to check into that because even the doctors said that was weird. 

As part of our day, Trey and I found ourselves near a pharmacy that I have used before so I thought that it would be convenient to just drop off my prescriptions while we were in the area and pick up the meds before we left.  They filled one.  It turns out that one couldn't be filled because it was too soon but they would hold on to it until it was time.  Another one wasn't filled because the instructions from the doctor were too confusing.  I kind of understand.

The instructions go something like this:  Here are two large bottles of pills and you are to take as many in a day as you can (up to a max) in a day without suffering any major side effects like extreme sedative effects or writing really bizarre blog posts (more than normal, anyway).  Increase the dosage at your own pace until you get to the max and then stay there.

As you can see, that's a lot of information to put on that little sticker on the bottles, even if you put half of the instructions on one bottle and the rest on the other bottle.  This was a large pharmacy that operates like a factory so I told them to give me the written prescriptions back and I would go to my pharmacy, going with who I know, and who in return know me.

The one prescription that was too early to be filled will be held on file and I can just pick up on the 30th.  I explained the other one to the pharmacist.  See, this is the second big difference with my pharmacy.  The first difference is that the pharmacist calls me by name.  The second difference, which lead to the first difference, is that I am able to talk to him about my prescriptions.  He's not in the back of this huge factory area being flogged while he fills out endless prescriptions and while the factory guy would come talk to me if I really wanted, it would probably be with an eye roll and a "I don't have time for this."  Anyway, I explained the doctor's instructions to him and he said he'd run it through and see if there were any problems.  If there were, he would call the insurance company or the doctor to get it worked out.  There were no complications and the instructions on the label say that I should work my way to the max as instructed by my doctor.  It easily fits on one label.

My lost timecomes from the fact that I am involved in a brand new project that I can't tell you about yet but trust me, you'll hear about it as soon as it's possible.  I had forgotten about my trip into Salt Lake today and had fully intended to dedicate two days on this project.  My two days off from work.  Now, this one is gone because by the time I finish this up and get a bite to eat, it's going to be time to teach karate.  After that, I'm going to visit with my wife because she wasn't able to go to the doctor with me today and while I did call her after the meeting to give her the short version, it really didn't do it justice.  We need to talk about everything the doctors said and the next procedure because she's going to have to drive me home.  The doctor read the first page of my pain log where I described in very short fashion how not fun the first time was.  He said that they were going to increase the dosage of the shot of tequila that will be poured in the sink.  Yeah, I'm not convinced but since I've grown attached to my liver, I'm willing to do whatever I need to in order to get off the meds.  So, it's going to be another shot in the neck coming at it from a different angle.  Yippee!

All of that aside, it was still a good day.  Trey and I had a great time together.  He was so well behaved that it was amazing.  As you can see from what's above, it was a day of talking with doctors, having them confer while we waited in the exam room, then they came back and we talked again.  Then there was a trip to a pharmacy and a trip to another pharmacy.  On top of that was the four hours in the car.  Through it all, he did great.  He was happy and patient and played his Nintendo to keep from being bored.

After the doctor appointment, we went birthday shopping for his mom.  I can't tell you what he picked but he thought it was a good gift.  He had it gift-wrapped and now he's one up on me.  He has her present and will be able to give it to her on her birthday.  I had my inspiration for her present a bit late because what I came up with had to be ordered and it's going to be hit or miss on whether or not it's here on time.  Again, he was very patient as he looked for what he wanted to give her.  He knew the general concept before we left in the morning but picking the right one took some time.

After that, it was lunchtime.  We went to TGIFridays.  I haven't been to one in probably 15 years or more and probably won't be going back anytime soon.  It was just super convenient.  Trey had the spaghetti and he liked it.  I had a chicken and shrimp thingy that wasn't terrible but not worth eating a second time.  Trey got a side dish with his meal.  He chose fries.  I have no idea why.  He doesn't eat fries.  I didn't intervene because he's allowed to eat them if he wants.  He didn't eat them.  Not that I worry.  Most kid portions in these places are big enough to be adult portions and some of the adult portions are enough to feed a family (Yes, you Famous Daves - Good Gawd!).

After that, in the midst of mystops, we made it to a Game Stop.  He had brought along some Wii games that he no longer plays in case we were close to one.  I actually went about 15 miles out of our way but he had been such a trooper that I thought it was worth it.  He traded in the old games and picked up a new game for his Wii and a new game for his DS at absolutely not cost to me (other than 30 miles of gas for the Hummingbird - less than a gallon).

With a brand new DS game, the trip home and the wait at my pharmacist's was a breeze for him.

Really, for a 6 year old, I was very impressed with him.  He's debating on whether or not he wants to come back the next time when they are going to do the procedure.  When the doctor was poking and prodding me today trying to find out where it hurt the most, Trey was wincing.  When we talked about the last procedure, he said he didn't want to hear about it.  I don't know how he's going to like being around for the IV and the aftermath.  It will also be an even longer day.  Last time, we arrived around 3 and got out of there around 6.  Next time, I'm going to have an hour of physical therapy first so that's a lot of time just sitting in a doctor's office, DS or not.

Without him going along, the day would have been a total loss but he actually made it all fun.

***

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Back At It, Ever So Gently and Disc Golf. Yay!

I worked out this morning.

I did the push ups on my knees and used 5 pound dumbbells for everything else.  I could still feel it in my shoulders (in a good way) and a little bit in my back (in a bad way).  It's several hours later though and everything feels fine so that's a good thing.

The weather is supposed to start turning nice tomorrow.  By nice, I mean that it's supposed to crack into the 70's (barely) and stop raining.  Wouldn't that be nice?

That was one of the best things about my vacation.  80's and sunny.  Loved it.  I come back to 60's and rain, which is exactly how I left it a week earlier.

Decent weather means disc golf.  I'm going to try to work in a few round into my schedule this week, if at all possible.  I need to get some practice.  I may be travelling to Minneapolis this fall for a bit of disc golf and it would be really nice if I didn't completely suck at it.

I was kind of able to catch up at work today.  That's the bad thing about vacation.  Stuff piles up while you're gone.  I have to update a lesson plan this weekend for a class on takedowns and handcuffing that I'm going to be teaching next week.  It's going to be a busy weekend for me as I finish catching up and getting ready for the next couple of weeks.

This is kind of a rambling post today and I think that sums up how these first few days back have been.  So many things begging for my attention, trying to catch up while trying to prepare for the summer.