Football Epilogue

I made it through Christmas. I've had a couple of slower-paced days letting the busy-ness of the season subside. I got a couple of good workouts in and was looking to a relaxing second half of the week. Then it happened. I woke up around midnight with a sniffle and some post-nasal drip feeling as though it were eroding my throat away. It seems whenever I get a little time to relax, my immune system finds a way to catch up with me. Upon doing some reading , I'm finding this is common and part of our body's response where our immune system seems to turn off during stressful times and catches up with us when we have a break.  Frankly, its lousy, but I can see where falling ill while being hunted by pre-historic predators would result in being eaten. Even today's predators know to pick off the weak and ill from the herd. Really, for me it's about accepting that I'm sick and will likely get sick after a high pressure/stressful time. I had high hopes for thi...

In case you don't know what Festivus is, here's the wikipedia page . And in case you don't know what Seinfeld is, I'm so sorry. We are cele-boteurs of the Christmas tradition. This was the second of the post-divorce Christmases. While new normal has mostly set in, it's still a little bittersweet. There was added bittersweetness this year as both of the kids have pretty clearly transitioned to adolescence in the last year. Toys are less of a thing and the big man in red is definitely mentioned with a tap on the nose. The funny thing is, they both know who SC really is, but neither knows that the other knows. This makes for interesting glances and smiles. My daughter was a little sad to have fewer toys under the tree. I am letting her trade-in on a new toy; again reality is she's outgrown most of the stuff she wants, but probably needs to realize it for herself. One thing there's no shortage of today is cookies. I made use of my girlfriends gift of...

One of these things is not like the other. I took the record cold weather as an opportunity to be Mr. Mom and make some Christmas cookies. I usually make Krumkake . It's a piece of my Norwegian heritage preserved. The only dilemma is it is done one cookie at a time. It requires a few sacrificial cookies to tune the process and then off I go. It takes about 40 seconds per cookie. A few cookies in I also felt I needed a workout. Hence, I grabbed the dumbell and started doing miscellaneous lifts between cookies. I made over 100 cookies so this made for quite the circuit. I tried everything from burpees to wall sits to biceps curls and shoulder presses. Maybe it was a little silly, but I got a good sweat going and had a little extra fun in the kitchen. After the krumkake came gingerbread cookies. This was more fun for the kids as they got to cut them out and do the decorating. Here's that result . ...and my personal favorite Happy holidays and Merry Chistmas!

Yesterday was our holiday potluck at work. It's quite the spread. I usually go about the day with the intent of eating moderately. I usually fail, but at least I thought about trying, right?  I mean who can pass up rib roast, turkey and ham? And then everyone brings such wonderful sides ranging from salads to sushi to an enormous pan of mac and cheese. This pic was taken too soon and 2/3rds of the stuff isn't on the table yet. Essentially, my plate was made into a bed of sides that the meat rested comfortably on until devoured. We end up walking by the appetizer/dessert table for at least two days after the shindig is over. I did skip dinner yesterday evening, just having a banana and some other snack-type items. So the day did seem to balance out. Now I think it's time to go see how many cookies are left...or to find alternate routes around the building.

Part of the Lego robotics uniform this year was a pair of Zubaz ® accompanying an awesome tee-shirt . The '80s throwback had some eye rolls from a few friends, but I have to admit I thought it was pretty cool. Now that the competition is done, and the weather is in the single digits (Fahrenheit) they make for comfortable gym wear too. Today's workout was leg-centric with supersets between large muscle group lifts and cardio: Three sets of squats and 30 seconds jumping rope Three sets of deadlifts and 15 burpees Calf raises Two sets of lunges and 50 jumping jacks 20 minutes of cardio I've been building more consistency in the gym and am getting more comfortable doing some home workouts. As tough as it can be to find a rhythm, I feel so much better when I do.

Not us, but close. taken from http://twincitiesnace.net/ For the family part of my son's birthday, he requested to do a little volunteer work. His class had recently been on a field trip to help at Feed My Starving Children . We had done this before when the kids were younger and it was something he enjoyed. He simply found it fun and helpful. Thus he requested to do it to ring in turning 11. I volunteered for warehouse duty, resupplying the soy and rice needed to make the meal kits. With 14 tables going it was a good hour and a half of moving, lifting, shifting and pouring of the materials. About 35 minutes in I noticed a damp perspiration and the warmth of activity starting and realized I was getting a good workout. In the end it's a great experience and a simple way to get your family and friends and even coworkers working for and helping others.

My son had his birthday party this weekend. He had a Nerf dart gun war in my basement. Most interesting was his big gift from his mom's side of the family; the Terrascout. This toy seems to represent the state of the art. There's nothing like using it to distract me from my work. Check it out!