Page 41 - TGIF

It's been a really long week.  It's rather normal to look forward to Fridays when you have a 9-5 job....but this week was particularly long for so many reasons.  5pm can't get here soon enough and I think, looking at the picture above, that having a root beer or two tonight would be an excellent idea.

Page 40 - National Pizza Day

So I wasn't planning on having Primo's again so soon after the Super Bowl....but I also had no idea that today was National Pizza Day.  It's not like I am complaining, I just wasn't expecting to eat it again that soon....but who am I to go against a national holiday???

Page 39 - Santa Clarita

LM and I found a new show on Netflix to watch.  I had heard something about it in passing, I believe it was while we watched an award show recently, then saw it on Netflix and looked into it a little bit before trying it out.  My wife loves Drew Berrymore, and we both watch things about the undead, so it seemed a decent chance that we'd like it....and we did.  It was a little outrageous, and at times super funny.  No matter what, though, it was always entertaining.  Episodes are only 30 minutes long, so it's not a huge commitment.  We binged all 10 of the episodes from season one in a couple of nights, and will definitely check out the second season whenever that comes out.

Page 38 - Misguided

Sometimes it seems like I'm surrounded by people that want to add to the confusion and prolong the race, rather than getting to the finish line.  I understand having reasonable concerns, but going to the extreme about everything....le sigh.

Page 37 - The Aftermath

Staying up late, while eating a lot of bad food and drinking a lot of calorie dense soda is probably not the best way to prepare for the busiest day of your work week.  Then again, the Super Bowl only happens once a year....and this year it was a fantastic game.  It's really hard to argue against Tom Brady being the best QB to ever play in the NFL after last night's game, and at 39 years old he looks to be playing as good as ever.

Page 36 - The Storm

There was a lot to get done today for the party, mostly done by LM, but it wasn't too hectic.  Even with changing the start time of the party to 30 minutes earlier, only two hours ahead of time as noted by one of the attendees, we got it all done before anyone showed up.  We did very well too.  With 12 people and a dog coming over, we had almost the exact right amount of pizza.  Only five pieces were left at the end, and I ate probably about 3 or 4 pieces less than I normally would have....partly because of our prop pool.
a
I thought it would be cool to have everyone pick a few props off a sheet, and see how well we'd do. However, that meant that someone had to keep track of the correct answers during the game....and that got in the way of at least one refill run to the kitchen.  In the end it was a huge success, even with the printer problems I had right before the party, and LM was the winner....getting 20 of the 30 props correct.  I still can't believe that Peyton Manning wasn't in a single Super Bowl commercial.

Page 35 - The Calm

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, and our annual party.  Today is a day of rest for the most part, but we'll do a little bit here and there to make the preparations tomorrow a little bit easier.  It's a grilled cheese and milkshake kind of day.  Thankfully that came before the heating element went out in the electric fireplace....and even more thankful was the fact that we were awake and aware of the wire failure in the heater.

Page 34 - Responsibility

Some responsibilities are welcome, others are not.  Lately I've been presented with more of the former.  While in the long run, I know I will organize things in a way that it will barely be noticeable....in the short term, however, this could get a little overwhelming.  Although, if being overwhelmed means I get to sleep in an extra hour or so....I think I can handle that.

Page 33 - Groundhog Day

Page 32 - Deadlines

I'm usually pretty good at hitting, or beating deadlines.  I plan too much to not be, really.  But every now and again, I have to count on someone else to make my deadline.  Those days aren't all that fun.

Page 31 - A Full Chapter?

Going 31-31 with blog posts because of this whole "page a day" thing got me to thinking.  Now that I've made it through the first month, does that equal the first full chapter?  That seems like too short of a time frame.  That would mean I'm into my 483rd chapter of my life so far....and that seems a bit much.  So would a year be a full chapter?  That seems more likely, but then why would I do a calendar year for each chapter....and not a birthday to birthday year?  I guess I never really thought this out.
a
I guess it doesn't really matter.  Years, months, chapters....all user defined to one extent or another.  I could think of it one way today, only to think of it in a complete different way tomorrow, then another way the next day.
a
I never expected to use this picture in a blog post.  It was the second or third search result when I Googled today's title, and I am a huge fan of Klosterman's writing.  I bought this book, read it, then passed it on to a friend to read....like I do with all his books.  When I first saw it in the search results, I didn't really consider using it.  I thought it was cool that it popped up, just not something I would normally use.  After scrolling through the results though, I started to think that it was rather fitting considering this is the most I've blogged since I first started, more than a decade ago.  Much of my inspiration came from other bloggers at that time, especially poker bloggers, and especially, especially Pauly....who is the first one to turn me on to Klosterman.

Page 30 - The Stiffness Returns

Not a great night of sleep last night.  I woke up yesterday morning to find the stiffness I had in my neck and shoulder a week or so back had somewhat returned.  When I tried to sleep in bed last night, I laid there for about 90 minutes without ever finding a comfortable spot, then moved to the couch to see how that would work for me.  I was able to get a little sleep at least, but I've been tired all day.  At least work kept me awake the whole time I was at the 9 to 5, but I got super sleepy as soon as I got home.  And, as it looks as I type this....I should probably plan for another night on the couch.

Page 29 - It's No Pizza Day!

Thankfully nobody stole my pizza today....I just didn't have any.  That's the first Sunday in quite a while that I haven't.  This should aid in my progress for the week.  I'l still progressing, but still behind my pace weight.  It's possible that I'll catch my pace weight in the next six days.  If I stay on track, I should come pretty close by my next weigh in.  I'm still confident about my progress, though I would prefer to be slowly increasing my lead over the pace instead of creeping up behind it.

The SAG Awards were tonight.  It's always cool to see who gets the awards when the people in the guild are the ones voting.  The speeches were definitely interesting, considering the Muslim ban Trump just put into effect....and it was really interesting breaking down Brie Larson's reaction when she didn't have to give Casey Affleck another award.  At first I thought she was bitter against Denzel, but it was obvious after comparing pictures from the Golden Globes that she was actually relieved.

Page 28 - The Ban

"On Friday, Trump signed an order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and suspending all refugee admission for 120 days."

We're less than 10 days into Trump's reign, and it seems to get more ridiculous by the day.  It's still hard to believe that my country has been turned into a reality TV show.  I used to find reality TV entertaining, and in some instances I still do....but this is just sad.  At least the 'elected on name only' leader to the north gets it.

Page 27 - The Not-So-Great indoors

So my nap the other day cost me a proper dinner.  I slept too long.  I had no plan other than sleep when I slinked up the stairs and climbed into bed, so I didn't set an alarm or give LM a time to come wake me.  Because of that, LM had no idea when I'd be up and ready to eat dinner and, little did I know, she had something special planned for me for dinner.  Thankfully I didn't need a nap after work yesterday, and when dinner time rolled around I was treated to the sound and smell of grilled onions as well as the smell of the seasoning for her wonderful steak fajitas.  When I heard yesterday that I had missed out on a special dinner, I was hopeful that it was fajitas she was referring to.
a
Aside from a fantastic dinner, there wasn't much from yesterday to talk about....and not much I can think of looking ahead today.  It will be nice not worrying about what time to head to bed tonight, and not getting up early tomorrow, but the weather has gone back to winter norms after a week or so of unseasonably warm temps.  For the next couple of weeks, the temp is expected to be at or above 35 degrees only once....so it seems pretty doubtful that we'll get to spend much time out of doors.
a
Spending most of my time indoors at this time of the year makes it easy to get into a winter time funk.  I'm going to have to do some brainstorming to come up with things here or there to keep myself and LM from succumbing to the blues.  Having a set  destination for our June trip, which we don't as of yet, should help with that.  If it's someplace like Yellowstone, where we will be doing a LOT of hiking, I'll have a much bigger incentive to hit the gym every day just to get a few miles in on the treadmill.  There is a TON of stuff in Yellowstone that I want to see, and I am not going to let my current fitness level get in the way.

Page 26 - Uncluttering

After thinking about all my mental clutter yesterday, I've also had to consider the physical clutter I have in my life.  Just like I've always been a night owl, I've always been somewhat of a minimalist.  I've never been extreme with it, but I've gotten more and more mindful with what I willingly bring into my life through the years.  Even so, I still have plenty of physical clutter I can part with and just haven't done so yet.  This is where my procrastination ends up completely clashing with my minimalistic tendencies.  I probably have a few hundred things in the house that I don't want to keep per se, but I don't ever get motivated to get rid of either.
a
In the last couple years, I've taken interest in the Tiny House movement and those who are looking to live that way.  It's an extreme form of minimalism, but I truly believe that I could do something like that in the right area and situation.  The problem is, since I'm not doing that anytime soon....I have no motivation to get rid of the stuff I have at this point in time that isn't getting in the way of anything for me or anyone else.
a
Slowly but surely I have been taking some mental notes of things of mine in the house that have no real value to me, and most likely won't anytime in the future.  I've also been thinking of how to get rid of each of these items whether it's just tossing them out, donating them, or selling them.  Most of the stuff wouldn't have value to anyone else, so I'm afraid it's going to end up in the garbage.  No matter what, though, getting rid of any of it would be a good start.  I just need to motivate myself to do it sometime this weekend.

Page 25 - Clutter

Clutter isn't only physical.  Mental and emotional clutter can be just as bad....or even worse.  Right now, the mental clutter I have to deal with just seems like too much.  I have too much on my mental plate.  Maybe I need a mental diet to go along with my physical diet.  By the time I left the 9 to 5 today, my brain was fried.  Thankfully, it was an uneventful drive home.

a

When I got home, I was pretty much useless.  Nearly fell asleep within 20 minutes of walking in the door and decided it wasn't going to be worth it to fight that off....so I took a nap.  Years ago, I used to make after work napping a habit.  Usually three days a week or more I would nap for an hour or two after I got home.  But at that time, I was starting work at 5:30 in the morning and leaving at 1:30 in the early afternoon.  I lived a lot closer to work at that time, so I was normally able to get home and into bed by about 2:00.  Even if I slept more than 2 hours, I was still getting up from my name before most people were home from work.  I've always been a night owl, so it's hard going to bed early enough for a 5:30am shift (especially since I cannot stand going to work without showering in the morning) and this was a way to work around that problem.

a

That being said, I do go to bed early enough nowadays to get sufficient sleep for my current hours, so napping is no longer a habit I should need to consider.  Hopefully this is just a one time or here-or-there type thing.  Seeing as I've had a lot of mental clutter over the last month, it's no surprise that I'm so worn out right now.  I just need to find a way to organize this clutter, and dispose of however much of it that I can.

Page 24 - #AlternateMonday

Sometimes Tuesday just feels like a second Monday.  And since it's not actually Monday, but it seems like that....I guess calling it Alternate Monday is completely fine.  Just like a fact that isn't actually a fact, but seems like it is to someone is considered an alternate fact.  I wonder how long it's going to take for #AlternateFacts to fade away.  It's only been a couple days since it was uttered on meet the press, and it already seems like it's been in our lexicon for months now.  Maybe that is just another side effect of the 24 hour news cycle....maybe it's because I am just paying a lot more attention to what is going on politically right now.  Either way, it was ridiculous and I really hope this weekend doesn't set the tone for how this administration is going to work with the media for the next 4 years.
a
While I stayed true to the diet during the day yesterday, I did have a rich dessert after dinner that was anything but smart.  I guess because of the timing I could consider it another late night snack, which I really need to avoid to lose all the weight I want, but I'm sure there were a lot more calories in the brownie/ice cream combo I had than there would have been in either of my pretzel snacks that I normally have at that time.  That all being said, I still posted a small loss this morning over yesterday.  I lost .4 lbs. between yesterday and today, and have lost 3.8 total since I started.  I'm about 3 lbs. behind my where I should be according to my stated pace for my goal.  That doesn't sound all that bad, three pounds isn't all that much at all....but that's nearly 50% behind already.  I just can't let myself be ok with it right now.  If I get that close to my goal by the end of the year, I will feel a lot different about three pounds.  If I get a little more than 50% of my goal by the end of the year....I won't be as enthusiastic.
a
And yes, my uncle dying was so much harder on me that I could have expected....but I have no excuses for not being on this very obtainable pace.  There's a week left in January, and a couple days into that I'll have my 5th official weigh in of the year.  My pace weight for that weigh in is 10 lbs. lost.  I need to keep on the straight and narrow as much as possible to get there.  Hopefully reminding myself daily, damn near hourly really, that I need to make the best choices for my health will continue to work.  If not, I'll be completely honest with myself and find another way to get it done.

Page 23 - Monday, Yet Again

With only two days off per weekend again, I'm finding it really tough to get motivated for Mondays.  It's hard to complain about it, because I actually get to have weekends off now, but with Monday being my busiest day by far....it kinda sucks to drag myself into the 9 to 5 and start the week.  The flip side is that because I am pretty much busy from start to finish, Monday usually passes by pretty quickly....and the rest of the week seems a little shorter by comparison.  At least that's how it seems to me lately.

a

I've gotten back to my planned diet now that things have calmed down a little bit in my life, so being busy at the 9 to 5 was very welcome today, and I didn't really notice any hunger issues.  It wasn't easy staying away from cola today, as a matter of fact I broke down and had about 12 ounces with dinner tonight, but considering I had a LOT of cola over the weekend....I'm rather happy with only having that much.

a

I'm sure that will continue to be my biggest issue for me as I lose weight.  There are so many things that I drink cola with, and have a hard time changing that.  To me, it really adds flavor to my meals.  I know it's pretty much just sugar water and does nothing but terrible things to human health....but something that make food better is always going to be hard for me to quit, considering how much I like food.

a

LM and I watched Zoolander 2 after dinner tonight.  It wasn't a great movie by any stretch, but there were definitely a few hearty laughs for us so it was worth watching.  Just glad I never paid to see it.

Page 22 - Patriots -3?

After starting off the afternoon celebrating my great-nephew's 4th birthday, we went home to watch the Conference Championship games.  Usually this is the best weekend of the season, with the top 4 teams fighting it out for a Super Bowl berth, but it was somewhat anticlimactic this year.  Anticlimactic might not be great for your viewing pleasure, but it can be very good for handicapping....which it was this weekend.  Both games ended as expected in terms of totals and sides, so that made up for the fact that the games weren't fantastic to watch.
a
Since the Patriots always seem to win the Super Bowl by three points, as soon as it was apparent that they would be going to Houston this year I immediately guessed the line would be three.  By the time the game ended, I saw that they were indeed favored by three....with reduced juice.  At this point, even thought I love Tommy, I'm leaning toward Atlanta.  I don't recall the O/U I saw last night, but it seemed a little high to me....so I will have to keep an eye on that as well.