Football Epilogue

Ugh. It's been way too long since I've done some writing. Ultimately, it would be great to put in a couple thousand words a week. It's the same as exercising/playing an instrument/etc.; the more I do it the better I get and the better I feel. For me, writing has the effect of serializing my thoughts. It gives some manner of order, and priority to all the things buzzing around my metaphorical beehive. This is similar to making a list, but I find putting some prose to the thoughts adds some perspective and even some gratitude. So what's been going on lately? In a word: life. I'm finally starting to settle into the new job. I'm even starting to enjoy it. There's an entirely different set of challenges, however these challenges still rhyme with a lot of what I did at the previous gig. Now that I'm settling in, I'm able to start looking at side projects to augment my experience and pursue some of the academic interests I have. I'm happy that it's ...

 I've been having a tough time finding a cohesive line of thought for putting in my blog. I tend to like some structure to what I write, at least a minimal amount of pre-planning. However, that's been tough lately. I think a part of it is the new job. It has me in a state of heightened anxiety as I learn my role. For me, this means results in a distracted level of focus. This is perhaps due to part of my brain waiting in anticipation for the next thing to do. There's also a continual mental inventory going on to make sure I'm not missing something. All the while, I'm not sure doing all the things I need to be successful in the new role or if I made the right choice in making such an abrupt career lane change. Ultimately, making the change was the only way I could find out. All that said, I am enjoying the vast majority of the new job. I'm getting to explore a new technology space that has me opening textbooks to refresh on my knowledge of quantum mechanics. It...

That's a lot to carry around constantly. That's right! I've lost 25 lbs since the start of this Noom thing. All I can think is, "It hasn't even been two months" and "I'm not even changing that much stuff" and maybe a little "WTF?" These last five pounds have been a bit more of a challenge. Life has started to normalize with meal planning, etc. Still, it can be hard to find the time to do "all the things". The mix of work busy-ness, home projects and kids evening sports have resulted in some breaks in getting the daily 10k steps. This past week has also been a challenge due to some very hot weather. It's been in the mid to upper 90s °F (>35°C) here in Minnesota. Fortunately, the humidity hasn't been too bad, but the heat is still very discouraging. Here are some things that are working well: Workday food prep: fruits, hard boiled eggs and frozen power bowls, oh my! Water intake: I'm regularly getting ...