Twenty Years Ago

or somewhere about that long ago while still living in Southern California, I went up the 110 to the 405 interchange and bought an olympic-sized weight set and a bench.  It served me well for the first ten years;  perhaps I should say I served it well for that period of time.   I used to lift weights wih some regularity to stay in shape.  It was never an objective to become Mr. Universe.  I just alwas needed to work to counteract a DNA whose code for “muscle mass” became perversely inverted.

Back in 1988, I never thought I would go the shed and dig out that weight bench for my thirteen and twelve year old, who, unlike their father, do dream of being Mr. Universe.  There it was — underneath a pile of stowed away Little Tyke toys — a basketball hoop. a blue swing that I swung all of the children in, a cardboard box with my old turntable, an electric edger, and a spare tire to a car I no longer own. 

I pulled it out and wiped off the dust and spiderwebs.  It still looks remarkably well.  I found the bar up in the rafters of the shed.  It was there in the eaves, wedged amid my surfboard, spare lumber, a Winnie the Pooh sleeping bag, and assorted camping gear.  It did not weather nearly as well as the bench.  It’s a little rusty from years of idleness.  I may have to find some cleaner for it or pop for a new one. 

While the boys were at swim I set it up down in their bedroom for them.  It’s a little tight, but I think with some further re-arranging, it will work out okay there.  For old times, I thought I’d try a few repetitions.  Boy, just the bar at forty-five pounds felt heavier than I remember.  I had a few ten pound plates in the room and slid one on either side and did five sets of ten.  I am most confident that I will not be able to move in the morning.  Even at my strongest the most I could ever bench was about 225-230.  I think I mayjust have to start lifting again.  Heaven knows, I certainly need it, and it’s another way to spend time with the boys.

Fortunately, their mother’s DNA is superior to yours truly.  They are both good, strong lads who are strong, competitive swimmers. 

Walked this morning for nearly an hour.  It was a good walk with our youngest retriever, a female Golden, who is enthusiastic and not always coordinated. It began to rain about a mile into the walk, but it felt so good outside with the air so cool and clean.  I listened to my iPod and the time went quickly. 

It was a nice first day off since turning in my grades. 

 

 

220

I was down a couple of pounds yesterday, despite eating eartily and with little discretion on Mothers Day.  I am shooting for 200.  Wish me luck.

Washin’ Cars

Good day today.  I went in early and finished grading my American literature final exams.  Crunched numbers for three of the five classes I am teaching this semester.  I left the office around 1:00 and came home for the rest of the day.

I was talked into stretching out and taking a nap with my eight-year-old daughter.  Man, I was out like a light.  I think we slept for about an hour.  After waking, she and two of my sons helped me wash two of our cars; they both needed washing very badly. 

We took the Falcon over to a gentleman who does top-notch front end work.  I think he liked seeing a 1963 Falcon pull up in his driveway.  He said that he started working on cars in 1964 and had “worked on a bunch of these.”  I first need to get some new tires for the Falcon, have them balanced, and then run it back out to Mr. Tyler.  He said that he would charge me thirty dollars for the front end alignment.  Sounds great to me. 

 Yesterday, I weighed in at 223, down 1.5 pounds. 

Today I had the following:

Breakfast:  bowl of All-Bran
Lunch: Turkey, Cheese, Tomato sandwhich (6 points), orange
Snack: bag of popcorn

I should have a fairly relaxing weekend, with the exception of carting the brood to Mom’s house for Mother’s Day brunch Sunday.

Long Day Grading

Well it is getting toward the end of the semester, so there is much grading to be done.  I graded two sets of exams this morning, which was good.  Tomorrow, I need to get a set of 101 essays done, which should wipe me out for the balance of the day.

Breakfast: coffee and plain bagel
Lunch:  A few chips and a can of one-point Progresso Weight Watchers Soup, affectionately called iSoup around the office. 
Dinner:  Left over spaghetti and meatballs

Kids are swimming late tonight.  I will whip up some pancakes for them for when they get home.  Goodness they can eat after they get home from a swim workout.

I hope to get a good workout in in the morning.  Lord knows I need one.  I’m still tipping the scale at 224.5.  I need to get on this weight loss. 

So Far So Good

So far so good today with respect to my food intake:

Breakfast:  coffee and one plain bagel
Lunch:  Progresso Weight Watcher’s Soup (1 point — I love this stuff).
Snack:  bag of popcorn
Dinner:  Spaghetti and Meatballs (4 small ones), bread, salad

Worked out for thirty minutes on the Orbitrek;  it seems to be working better after several phone calles to Thane and a conversation with their product specialist.

The kids are all swimming the late workout tonight.  It’s been a quiet evening here just watching the returns from North Carolina and Indiana.  I have enjoyed watching the democrats implode here the last few weeks.  Really, I believe Obama has painted himself in a corner.  I can’t see the nomination going to Hillary, but she will not go quietly.  The whole MIchigan and Florida debacle is just amazing to me;  they brought it on themselves.  It makes one wonder, if the democrats can’t run a party or a primary, how is it they think they can run the country? 

Generally speaking, I think that the two-party system presents a false choice, doesn’t it?  It’s the powerful and priviliged who want to maintain their position.  It’s the little people out there like you and me — the invisible ones — who keep the country afloat:  the teachers, the clerks, the police and fire service people, etc.  We are happy to get by and raise our children;  there is a nobility there, at least it seems to me. 

Cinco de Mayo vs. Weight Watchers

Well it was a no-brainer as to who would win this battle.

My colleague at work cooked quite a spread of Mexican food for the department today.  She teaches Spanish and is a great cook.  Today it was quesadillas — chicken, black beans, cilantro.  There was Mexican rice, chips, salsa, and cheese dip, oh and some delicious little brownie treats.  I was doomed.  Needless to say, my attempt to get back on track with watching my intake and abiding by Weight Watchers was foiled. 

I do think that I have finally decided to part with drinking diet sodas.  Over the last ten to fifteen years, I have always liked to drink Diet Pepsi.  I would take some solace in the fact that they contained no calories.  Lately, though, I recall a report that links diet drinks to something in the brain that triggers the craving for starches and salty food.  I think I can shake the diet soda habit. 

Well tomorrow is a new day, and I will have another day to succeed/fail. 

Came home and washed the dog.  My wife bombed the house with some airborne toxin designed to kill fleas.  We’ll see. 

I have a busy week this week with finals upon us.  I have lots of grading to do, and I have to get a few exams ready to give.  This summer, I am teaching all online — four sections — and I must get a chapter of my dissertation written.  I just need to stay focused on it, and it will get done. 

 

Long Weekend

The weekend came and went quickly.  The kids had a swim meet that spanned Saturday and Sunday; however, my youngest did not swim long course, so we went Saturday and watched the morning session and then went north to my mom’s house.

A family friend that I have not seen in twenty-five years came to visit my mom, so the youngest and I went up and hung out Saturday afternoon.  We spent the night and headed back to the pool around noon, so we could watch the afternoon session.  

It was great to see our old friend.  She is on the faculty at Tulane, and it was so nice to sit and talk with her about her teaching experience there and her research.  It was satisfying to renew that friendship.  I am glad I went.

I did not do so well watching my food intake this weekend;  we had dinner at a friend’s Saturday night, and Sunday it just got worse;  I overate pizza at the swim meet and feel pretty bad right now.  I am trying to drink lots of water to flush my system.  

I did not play any music this weekend.

Newest Member of the Family

Well, almost.  I pick this up in a few weeks.  We have been on the lookout for an upright acoustic bass to anchor the bottom end, and this should do it.  The other day my friend told me about a Kay bass that he was eyeing;  it seems it was on the electronic bulletin board at his place of employment — a large governmental agency that goes by three letters. 

He decided to pass on it because he had just purchased an electric bass and a mandolin, so we are going to stimulate the economy a little by purchasing this at the end of the month:

It looks like it’s in really great shape.  The woman who is selling it has owned it since 1971 or thereabouts.  Her family had a bluegrass and gospel band;  we assured her it would be going to a good home.  My wife would really like to learn to play it, and I have assured her that I can have her up to speed in no time.  Of course, all the kids will learn it.  My two older boys were lobbying pretty hard for an electric bass; that will come in time.

I am looking forward to making the trip up country to pick this up.  It will look great in the living room, too, with the nice honey blonde finish.

Collaboration

Just finished recording some parts for my friend’s current CD project.  I love collaborating and getting to play along with him.  Eventhough he is across the country, the technology is there that allows us to collaborate.  We use the same software, which allows me to import his songs and then add tracks acccordingly.  When I am done, I can upload enormous, 24-bit .wav files to usendit.com.  Then he can pull my files into his project and edit, mix accordingly. 

Tonight I re-did a mandolin part, a guitar part, and (gasp) attempted to put a harmony vocal track on the chorus.  Hearing your voice on tape is pretty much the lamest thing in the world.  I did the vocal part for him to hear what I hear as a part that he could sing.  He has a great voice and is one heck of a songwriter and guitar player.  It’s amazing to me how much talent is out there undiscovered. 

I still need to pack up my gear, feed the dogs, and then I can relax. 

Pushing Away From the Table

So this all new to me — a tabula rasa;  it’s the first day of a new month, and I feel spring stirring in me.  I need to re-invent/re-create myself.  That’s what we Americans do.

I stepped on the scale today and had a rude, flabby awakening.  I am about twenty-five pounds too heavy.  I stand 6′6″ (in the morning) and today I weighed in at 224.5 pounds of rippling manhood.  The only problem is that the ripples are not muscle.  I am 42 and I just don’t feel well.  I am tired all of the time.

So today I am re-commiting myself to pushing away from the table and taking more control of my eating/drinking habits.  Wish me luck.