Week Two of Insanity

I've completed one week of Insanity, and I have to say that I'm feeling great.  I am down five pounds, from 229 to 224.  I feel more energized.  I can see my body taking shape.  I can see some definition in my body.  It's really amazing.  I am so blessed and happy with this.

 As I think about these developments, I can't help but thank God for it.  God has blessed me so much.  He's instilled this drive in me to want to better myself.  We hear that verse all the time about the body being a temple.  It's true.  We should care for our bodies as best we can.  I'm not talking bubble wrapping ourselves, even though that would be completely awesome.  I'm just saying not overindulging on things.  I'm saying not hitting the McDonald's every other day and hitting chicken wings the other days.

I have to say it's been tough.  Some of my favorite foods have been put on the back burner and replaced with great tasting, low calorie foods.  Actually, some of the foods have a good amount of calories, but I burn them all in no time. The Insanity workout calls for eating a lot so that you have the calories to burn.

It's also forcing me to have some discipline in my waking up and exercising.  I wake up every morning around 5:20 or so and work out.  I worry sometimes that I wake up my roommates with the exercising, but my concern over my health is a lot more important than my concern over disturbing others.  It was time that I started worrying about myself.  Not in a selfish way, trust me, I've met some fairly selfish people.  However, it's okay to want something for yourself.  People have asked me why I'm losing weight, exercising, all of that because they think I look great.  Truth be told, I want to do this.  It's my body.  I can do what I want.

Stay tuned next week for another update on my weight loss and experience with Insanity.  If you need it, I'll let you borrow it.

Insanity

So, I've decided that I need to get myself in better shape.  I've started Insanity.  Well, I started it this morning, so I'm not even a full day into it.  I realized that I haven't been taking care of myself the way I ought to.  I'm not sure how I'm going to end up, but I know I'm doing right by me.

Over the course of the next 60 days, I'll be tracking my progress on this here blog.  I'll be sharing my weight and how I'm feeling each week.  As of now, I'm weighing in at 229 pounds and got ridiculously winded during my fit test this morning.  I've also decided to do better at eating food.  Mostly avoiding fast food and terrible foods is the key.  You can do it in moderation, but not buying fast food 6 days a week should be super helpful.  I even made a really good chicken dinner tonight that took about twenty minutes.  Chicken cooked in a mixture of lemon juice, ground pepper, minced garlic, and butter.  Place the chicken on a bed of brown rice, arugula, and sliced Baby Bella mushrooms.  I couldn't tell you how many calories that was, but I'm sure it was less than a number 3 with no onions at McDonald's.  

I'm pretty happy about this development in my life.  I'm sure that God has an awesome plan in all this.  

Malignant Case of Wall to Wall Moron

A couple of days ago, I encountered what I believe to be the worst case of ignorance ever.  I can honestly say that I've never been more upset about anything in my life.  

It started as I was heading home from work.  I got to my neighborhood a little faster than normal.  I don't know if it was my driving or just less traffic than normal, but thank God for it.  As I was driving up my street, I see two very tiny figures walking across the street.  I slow my car down and notice that these two figures are children.  Not just children, but babies.  They were no taller than my tires.  I stopped the car and jumped out.  Left the car running, mind you.  I swept the kids to the side of the road and into a yard.  The kids were a boy and a girl.  The boy had a shirt, diaper, and socks.  The girl had a shirt, pants, and no shoes.  It's winter time, by the way.  I asked them where they came from and if they knew where they lived.  I was hoping they'd at least point to their house or somewhere familiar.  Luckily another lady came out of her house and took one of the kids from my arms.  I asked the people outside if they knew who these kids were and who they belonged to.  No one had a clue.  We walked to a house with just the screen door closed thinking maybe we were lucky.  We knock, and a lady answers the door.  She kind of huffs and says, "he's a door opener.  Thank you."

I don't think the level of my aggravation could be measured.  For a lady to just say matter-of-factly that the kid is a door opener, seriously?  I'm pretty sure the lady was a babysitter more than a family member.  I just can't understand how any person can lose track of two 1 year old children and still be in business as a babysitter.  To not even panic when two babies are brought back to your home, I don't have words.

Seems like there is just stupidity being spread all over the world.  It's saddening and maddening.  Look, if you have stupidity running through you, get it fixed.  That means that if you spell simple words wrong like "this" or "that" or "my", feel free to log off of the Internet and find a dictionary.  If you care more about your hair than the safety of your children, feel free to give your kids to someone who cares.  It frustrates me how stupidity just permeates our society.  There's no care whatsoever anymore.  

Oh, I did call CPS as soon as I got home .  I gave them the address.  Hopefully, this lady's business is ruined, and she learns a very valuable lesson how to keep babies secure.  I know that sounds kind of cruel, but if you can't care enough to protect our children, you don't deserve to have children in your care.

The Future

Today was my birthday.  It was a good birthday.  Actually, I'll say it was great.  It started with getting a Burger King crown.  They aren't gold anymore.  They have cartoon children on them.  I swear one of those kids had hipster glasses.  Anyway, I wore my crown almost all day at work.  I felt like a king.  I don't know why I like Burger King crowns; they're just fun I guess.

After that I went to one of my past basketball players junior varsity games.  I saw 5 of my former players in varsity or junior varsity basketball.  It was amazing to see.  I have to say that I'm extremely proud of those girls.  They have grown up to be great talents and even better people.

That's what I want to talk about.  It seems like I've realized just how big of an impact I have on this planet.  Not saying I'm something to be revered or worshiped, however I do believe that I have a responsibility to make this place better than when I got here.  It's not just me, it's everyone.  We have a responsibility to help our children be able to fend for themselves at some point in their lives.  People always say it's the parents' job, and it is.  However, I also believe that we as adults have a job to pick up where the parents can't.  For every deadbeat parent, there are a slew of good parents out there that do a tremendous job raising their children.  But, they still need our help.  All of us have a responsibility to make sure that all the bases are covered.

We need to be an example to the kids out there.  We have to show them how to do this.  I often ask myself if I'm doing it right.  However, after tonight, there is no doubt that the kids I saw will be alright in the future.  We have a long way to go before I'm totally confident, but if we as people work together, we can make this planet a better place.    

However, for now, I'm saying Happy Birthday to me.  Again.

I Thought I Got Rid of the Crazies

Alright, obviously I've met some pretty nutty characters in my life.  In fact, I'd venture to say that I've been around more crazies than the law should allow.  It's pretty unhealthy to be around the crazies.  Crazies can cause stress.  Crazies can cause problems.  Crazies can eat you out of house and home.  Crazies can get you put in jail if they can convince the right person.  It's really touch and go how you handle these crazies.  I think I've become the authority on how to handle a crazy person.  It took a little training.  Some people don't get all the practice I've had, so they will never be an authority.  So it's best to just follow my lead on this.

It started in preschool.  There was this mean girl that rode my bus.  Everyday, she'd scratch me and bully me on the bus.  Me being the gentleman I was, decided to just ignore the behavior.  Mom saw the scratches one day and asked what happened.  I told her.  Mom said fight back.  So I did, and she never messed with me again.

Then there was that annoying whack job in 3rd grade.  I handled her kind of quickly.  I remembered mom's words about defending myself.  I stuck her in a closet.  It worked.  She knew better.

There was daycare in 4th grade.  Not my proudest moment, but if you'd have seen the nut job that messed with me that day, you'd understand.  The girl was a 5th grader, was about 6 feet tall, 409 pounds, and meaner than a hippo with a hernia.  She messed with me, so I hauled off and smacked her.  Told her to leave me alone.  However, she knew better than to mess with me anymore.

As I got older, I realized that throwing crazy people in the closet or whacking them wasn't the most sound strategy.  Plus, you could go to jail.  So I handled the crazies in more diplomatic ways.  There was the catfish incident that I detailed in my last blog.  I handled that like a Sherlock Homeboy.

I had a crazy set of roommates, mainly a mother and her son.  They were of no help to me.  They spent money on everything but important things, like electricity.  I realized that the best way to rid myself of them was to pray like crazy.  It worked.

I had a crazy ex-girlfriend.  Possibly the craziest of them all.  The things she did and accused me of were pretty nutty.  I just laugh.  It helps a lot.

I recently got a roommate who I thought was excited about the opportunity to live somewhere safe that wasn't a hotel.  Come to find out, she's bat-poo bonkers.  Talking to herself, not getting up to take care of basic physiological needs (read between the lines), and eating everyone's food with little to no reciprocity.  Actually, there was no reciprocity.  She made the biggest messes and called us filthy.  Kind of whack, honestly.  I evicted her, she's leaving tomorrow.  She says she is.  One of her personalities said she was leaving.  The others, we'll see.

Crazy is something I've dealt with all my life.  I don't want to make light of mental illness, but it seems like the ones I come across are kind of malicious.  It's like their crazy isn't really crazy, just down right not nice.  It's like they couldn't care less what they look like in the end, as long as they try to mess me up.

You're going to come across people that are wanting to put you down.  People who want to bring you down into the abyss.  You have to be strong.  Be smart.  Fight back.  Don't allow people to be your downfall.  God has a plan for you.  You stick to that plan, the crazies can't beat you.

Next time a crazy tries to bring you down, give the battle to God.  God has your back.

There's a Hog on My Roof

Everywhere, farmers are in a panic.  They're trying to figure out what in the world is happening.  Pigs are flying all over the world.  Your boy got a Twitter account.  Yes, that's right.  The man who swore he'd never get a Twitter account has one.  I don't know what made me do it outside of a friend who also swore never to get it.

I have to say that it's not so bad.  If you aren't too addicted to it, it's a healthy release.  I think I like using the octothorpe the best.  That's the real name of the pound key/hashtag button if you weren't aware.  You use that to get subjects all popular and stuff.  My hashtags don't work too well.  Oh well.

I should probably be a little more open to social media.  Social media is a way to get everything you want out there quickly.  I don't necessarily like my serious news from social media, but a good bit of cool thoughts and opinions don't hurt much.

I'm also following some friends and famous people.  I even found my first sports crush, Bonnie Bernstein.  She's so pretty.  Maybe she'll see my tweets and talk to me more.  I would love if any of you folks with a Twitter account to follow me.  You can find me ON THIS LINK HERE.  Also, share this blog on your twitter account.  I'm going to post a twitter button on the blog so that you can easily share this as well.

This is going to be a fun ride, this whole Twitter thing.  And maybe Ms. Bernstein will see how much I truly care.

Long Time, No Talk

I know it's been a while since I've posted a blog.  In fact, it's been over a month.  Over that time, I visited my family in South Carolina.  I can honestly say that I needed those two weeks like a linebacker needs a tracking device on his girlfriend.  You really didn't think I would overlook that story, did you?  I'll address that in a minute.

I first want to ask a question about this whole gun control debate.  Is it really wrong to want accountability from the people who buy and sell guns?  A lot of the mass shootings have been perpetrated by those who legally obtained their guns.  Yes, I'm aware that those who may not be eligible to own a firearm will find a way to get it anyway.  However, at the very least, let's attempt to figure out this epidemic.  I don't think a little more responsibility is too much to ask.

I'm sure some of you have heard this crazy story about the linebacker at Notre Dame who had a girlfriend die the same time frame he lost his grandmother.  Now on first listen, it's the worst story in the world.  To lose important people in your life is terrible.  However the twist is that this girlfriend never existed.  Like a complete fake.  The problem is whether or not this linebacker knew about it or was in on the faking.  Best case scenario is this kid is biggest doofus ever.  The worst case scenario is that this kid played with an entire country's emotions.  I've almost been the victim of that same thing.

A while back, about 6 years ago maybe, I met a lady online.  Nice lady, real pretty picture.  We talked on the phone, in chats, everywhere.  It was great, honestly.  However whenever it was a good chance to meet up, something would inexplicably go wrong for her.  I was pretty proactive.  I decided that I would go to her.  Drove to Philadelphia and found out where she was.  She conveniently drove away and her "cousin" met up with me.  Said cousin was the person doing all this. To put it nicely, said cousin did not look anything like the girl in the picture.  She looked like she ate the girl in the picture.  That is terrible, I'm sorry.  However, I'm not sorry about the experience.  If you're thinking that someone online is fake, research.  Figure it out immediately.

Alright, so my Packers went down this year.  I'll live.  My team doesn't stink, so I'm already happy about next year.

This Lance Armstrong thing is pretty cut and dry, honestly.  He cheated, which is the least of his sins.  The fact that he tried to ruin people who told the truth about him is incomprehensible.  He sued, he attacked, he lied, and he just flat out destroyed whoever got in his way.  Ruthlessness has become standard in everything that goes on.  It's all because of sin.  People are imperfect and will do anything to make themselves better.  The problem is being better is better if you do the right thing as opposed to doing the self-serving thing.  One day, people will get that.

Well, this was a fun time.  I'll probably post something again next week and try my best to stay consistent.  I missed this thing.