Sitting here waiting to start taking down the Christmas decorations, jamming the latest “Above the Bones” by Mishka and watching the two yougest kids ride thier new shiny bikes around the kitchen to living room ‘racetrack’ - hey, it’s cold outside and there is still ice out there!
It just doesn’t get much better than this (if only we lived on a beach somewhere…) ;)
Life is good. God is great; and we are blessed.
Every year around this time, well - really right after Christmas - everyone starts stammering on about New Year’s resolutions. I’ve got mixed feelings on the whole issue - while I like that it is a fresh new year and symbolically we can use it to make some changes in our lives - I also know the “stigma” that goes along with resolutions - Gym’s LOVE resolution time - everyone’s gonna go get in shape and join a gym - by mid-March, everyone is still sitting on the couch at home, watching TV and thier scales stay the same.
I have never really done any resolutions - I like to take note as to where I am in life and amongst the goals I’ve set out for myself - but if I find something that I want to fix, no matter what time of the year, I get to work fixing it. I don’t think I should wait all year for one time in the year to work on myself - I’m too imperfect to be able to fix it all in one shot!
We’ve all got things we want to change about ourselves, be it our attitude, looks, or outlook - but I would like to challenge you to start now - right now - don’t wait until a calendar says it’s time - when you find something that you don’t like about yourself, or that you want to work on - practice the ol’ firefighter’s advice - STOP! DROP! And ROLL! - meaning that you should get rolling right now on what you want to change, don’t wait!
A small change can make a huge difference, and the momentum that you gain turns it up exponentially, if you stick with it. I know it’s easier said than done, but seriously, it can be done.
Do you set resolutions at the first of every year? How does that work for you? Have you every truly followed a resolution all the way through?
I have to say that I love the summer time - I love getting our boat out on the lake and yanking my children around on a tube or ski’s or wake board - it’s tons of stress free fun, and I thoroughly enjoy it.
Having said that - I must admit that the Holiday season is my favorite, above and beyond those times at the lake & beach. It’s this time of year that always brings families together and usually brings alot of memory making with it.
We are a family that is somewhat frugal, and always like to find the good deals (I’m not a crazy black Friday deal finder - did that ONCE - and that’ll be all, thank you very much). We enjoy getting our children gifts and I absolutely LOVE to see their faces as they open up the gifts we got them. I also like to get my wife something nice - we don’t do the diamond jewelry or anything - but just something that makes her smile. The past few weeks, my wife’s been asking me for a list of some things that I want - and while I do have things that I want - I know we either don’t have the money for those kinda things right now, OR it’s something that I need to take some time to research EXACTLY what I want. See, I’m the kind of person that usually researches what I want, then save up the money and go get it - I’m a horrible person to shop for…
I’ve yet to give her a list, and it isn’t because I’m trying to be difficult - it’s just that I don’t know what to put on a list that is reasonable and fits into our budget. My birthday was a week ago, and she got me a nice gift - and really - that’s what I wanted - I don’t really need anything else - materially - so I guess my truest wish list, as it were, would be something like this: Family Health, Love, Blissfulness, Gratitude, and Laughter. My oldest daughter has signs and posters all over her bedroom walls that say “Live, Laugh, & Love” - and that pretty much sums up our family attitude.
I know you can’t buy those things - but my wife goes a LONG way to make sure these things are happening for our family. I guess what I’m trying to say is that my list consists of really only one line - My Wife & Family - I know that’s corny - but it’s the truth. So, pull out the wrapping paper and bows, and put a nice pretty bow on your forehead, baby, because you are what I want.
Nice Wiki with thoughts on Business practices.
Another article about scaling back to get more done (quality).
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de Saint Exupery
Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; love more, and all good things will be yours.
“Our culture lies. They say they want to encourage and reward individuality and creativity, but in practice they try to hammer down the pointy parts, and shame off the different parts.” – Sandra Dodd
Going through the traditional school system (in California, Washington and Guam) was never my favorite thing as a kid, but as a parent, I’ve grown to realize that the whole system is upside down.
Not the system of any particular state or nation, but system of education as a concept.
Traditionally, schools use this model:
1. Decide on what kids need to know to prepare them for adulthood.
2. Prepare a curriculum based on this.
3. Give students a schedule based on this curriculum.
4. Have educated teachers hand them the info they need, and drill them in skills.
5. The student reads, memorizes the info, learns the skills, and becomes prepared.
6. Students must follow all rules or be punished. This is actually more important than the info and skills, although it’s never said that way.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a great model. Mostly because it’s based on the idea that there is a small group of people in authority, who will tell you what to do and what you need to know, and you must follow this obediently, like robots. And you must not think for yourself, or try to do what you want to do. This will be met with severe punishment.
This is ideal if you’re going to be a corporate employee, and need certain skills in order to work for the corporation — mostly skills of obedience, actually. This isn’t ideal for the workplace of the coming decade, when people are less likely to be employed by a large corporation, and more likely to work for themselves. And have to think for themselves. And figure out, for themselves, what they want to do. And learn new things for themselves, without a teacher.
Things are changing faster than ever before. Every month, new technology is announced that alters the way people work, or will work in the future, and we need to be able to learn and adapt to this ever-changing landscape.
How are we to do that, or how are our children to learn that, if they have no authority telling them what they need to know, or how to learn, or what to do?People often grow up to be competent learners, and achieve great things, after going through the traditional school system. But this is in spite of the system, not because of it. We are pretty adaptable people, inherently curious, and we can learn without an authority, but the current school system tries to beat this down. It usually fails to some degree, but to the degree it succeeds, it harms people.
Schools fail not because they don’t impart knowledge or skills, but because they kill curiosity, smother excitement for learning, club down with a furious brutality our desires to be independent, to think for ourselves, to learn about things that actually interest us.
“I suppose it is because nearly all children go to school nowadays, and have things arranged for them, that they seem so forlornly unable to produce their own ideas.” - Agatha Christie
But Teachers are Great
Yes, I agree, they are. My wife was a middle school teacher, of English, and she worked tirelessly with her students’ interests at heart. She really wanted to teach them to love reading, and did everything in her power to do so. Unfortunately, she was frustrated by the authoritarian nature of school administration, and left. She now homeschools our kids, and is trying to give them the freedom to learn on their own.
My grandmother was a teacher for decades. My aunt is a teacher, first of elementary and middle schools, now of children in a juvenile detention center, and is wonderful at getting kids to love reading. My father is an artist teaching others to love art, and to do it well. I love teachers, and have the highest respect for them.
I just think they’re in a system that doesn’t work. That cannot work, given the nature of what the world has become.
How can we prepare children for a future we cannot foresee? How do we know what skills they will need, what knowledge will be important, in 10 years, or 15? We have no idea what the world will be like then. I sure don’t. Do you? Does anyone know how people will be working 15 years from now?
I submit this is impossible. And what’s more, it always has been impossible. The workplace now is vastly different than it was when I was a lad in shortpants three decades ago running around in the schoolyard, wiping snot from my nose and learning about the Cold War. People then didn’t have computers in the workplace, at least not most of them, and those who did have computers didn’t have anything resembling what we have today. Most people used electric typewriters, and fax machines weren’t in offices yet. Fax machines.
So yes, I love teachers, and think they are incredible at what they do. What I think they need to do, though, is not be teachers, but facilitators.
Don’t direct learning, because when students grow up they won’t be directed in their learning, they’ll be self-taught. Think about it: when you learn things today, as an adult, do you learn from a teacher, or do you learn things on your own? And isn’t learning on your own more fun? Don’t you love learning new things? Doesn’t that make the learning stick with you for longer than when you had to memorize things in school?
What we learn in school isn’t nearly as important as how we learn, because how to learn is the lesson of school.
“The founding fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on their parents. So they provided jails called school, equipped with tortures called education.” - John Updike
How to Learn
And the way we’re taught to learn is as receivers of information, non-thinkers. Follow the rules. Read pages 100-132. Do the exercises. Memorize the information. Spit it out in a test. Do this project, because we tell you to, not because it’s fun or interesting.
The way we need to be taught to learn is completely different. It’s this: learn about what interests you, gets you curious, gets you excited. Figure out where to get the information you need. Read about it, talk to someone about it, find out about it. Try it. Do it, make mistakes. Figure out how to correct the mistakes. Figure out how to solve the problems you encounter. Repeat.
In other words, find problems that interest you, and figure out how to solve them.
Sometimes, you’ll have to solve problems that aren’t so interesting, just to solve problems that do interest you. That’s OK. That’s how things work.
And here’s a secret: we already know how to do this. From birth. This method of learning is innate in all of us. It’s built in.
When a toddler wants to do something, like get a stash of chocolate you’ve hidden on top of the fridge, he’ll figure it out. He’ll find ways to move a chair to the fridge, or climb up onto a counter near the fridge, in order to get the candy. Along the way he’ll learn a thing or two about cabinet doors and fridge doors and why you shouldn’t lean too far in one direction on a chair if you don’t want to fall and get bruises.
When a kid wants to play a video game, she’ll learn things like how to set up and turn on the PS3, how to navigate menus, how to get started with the game, how to convince mother that she’ll clean her room later and that her homework is pretty much all done so that she can
play the game now.
Kids know how to solve problems, when they want to do something.
We don’t need to teach them to learn. We need to get out of their damn way.
And that’s the problem with schools. They can’t motivate kids to learn, because they’re forcing it. They’re trying to impart on them a rigid system of authority that kids naturally rebel against. In fact, this is the main problem kids face, and they come up with all kinds of incredibly creative ways to solve it, from skipping school and smoking pot to drawing incredible doodles in notebooks instead of listening to a history lecture to finding ingenius ways to communicate with peers, through technologies like texting and iPhones and through old technologies like passing notes and so on.
Creativity isn’t dead in our kids. It’s alive, but it’s being marshaled to beat the forces that are beating them down.
“No use to shout at them to pay attention. If the situations, the materials, the problems before the child do not interest him, his attention will slip off to what does interest him, and no amount of exhortation of threats will bring it back.” - John Holt
Turn Education on Its Head
So how to prepare our kids for tomorrow? Better people than I
It’s pretty much just getting out of the way of kids. Let them learn about what they want to learn about, and you know what? They’ll actually care about what they’re learning, because they chose it themselves. They’ll get excited about things, something schools usually fail to achieve.
They’ll learn how to deal with the delicious problem of freedom, a problem most kids don’t have these days. They’ll get some hands-on, down-and-dirty experience with autonomy, something they’ll have in spades as adults.
But what if they watch TV or play video games all day? What if they aren’t interested in math or science and never learn them? What if they’re totally unprepared for the workplace?
These are newbie questions in the world of unschooling, and I won’t answer them all here. You’ll have more, in the comments, I’m sure. I’m not the guy to answer those questions. Google unschooling and read up, because many smarter people have answered all your questions and more.
I’ll just say a couple things. One, we need to relax and not look at childhood as a time when every minute needs to be filled up with rigid rules and learning. It’s a time that should be enjoyed, and kids should play, and in playing they’ll learn. They’ll learn to play well and work well with each other. They’ll learn how to figure things out for themselves. They’ll learn to love the lovely freedom and its associates, autonomy and responsibility and choice and time management and, yes, passion.
Two, remember what we talked about above: we have no idea what the workplace of the future will be, so stop worrying about preparing them for that. In fact, stop worrying so much. Let kids learn how to learn, and learn how to be excited about things. That will prepare them for the future.
Three, also realize that we don’t need to be hands-off. We can be hands-on, if we’re facilitators instead of directors or dictators. We can help kids find things they’re interested in, expose them to worlds of fun (like science and math), teach them games that they might like, help them solve problems so they’ll learn how to do it on their own, guide them to resources and people who will give them mountains of information. Be there for them, as guides.
This is a huge topic, and one that I can’t adequately cover in one post. I’ll do another post sometime, talking about homeschooling and unschooling, and how we do it and how to make it work for you. But for today, I just wanted to throw out some thoughts on schooling, and get you riled up a bit perhaps. We could all use some good riling now and then, I think.
“To trust children we must first learn to trust ourselves…and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted.” - John Holt
In recent years there has been an explosion of research on happiness, optimism, positive emotions and healthy character traits. While psychology has traditionally concerned itself with what ails the human mind—such as anxiety, depression, neurosis, obsessions, paranoia, and delusions—, a new branch of psychology, aptly named “positive psychology”, asks the question: “What are the enabling conditions that make human beings flourish?” That is, the goal of positive psychology is to study what actively makes people feel fulfilled, engaged, and happy.
In addition, neuroscientists are studying how the brain can be rewired in such a way that makes happiness more likely. Below you’ll find six strategies from the fields of positive psychology and neuroscience that will help you increase your current level of happiness.“Omit needless words.” - William Strunk Jr., The Elements of Style
While minimalist aesthetics and products and the minimalist lifestyle appeals to a lot of people, they find it easier to like it than to live it.
Minimalism is something people might strive for, but they don’t know where to start.
I’d start with the advice of William Strunk Jr. in his classic minimalist treatise on writing (quoted above), but apply it to life in general, and everything you do: “Omit needless things.”
Our last game with the team in Southlake was this past Thursday, and it ended with what is probably now known as the hardest right jab I’ve ever seen or heard. Long story short: Our guy gets fouled, thier guy kicks the ball away, our guy asks WTF?, there guy says something not so nice about our guy’s mother (ending in the word “mang” if that tells you anything), then our guy jabs the dude right in the nose - thier guy goes down.
I have to say, it was probably one of the best jabs i’ve ever seen. I just don’t understand why thier guy would talk so much trash and say the kinda stuff he said if he wasn’t ready for the repercussions… I mean at least stay at a distance so you can dodge and weave… Thier guy had it coming and I can’t say I was disappointed that he got it - it sucked because they called the game because of it. But at the same time - it seemed like a befitting end to a lackluster season that often left us more frustrated than what I consider worth it.
At least now i’m down to only one late night a week, and if I can change that next season, believe me, I will.
Happy Monday, here’s to a wonderful week.
The humble push-up. Used by militaries all over the world to get their soldiers in fighting condition and middle school P.E. teachers to punish punk kids. The push-up is the ultimate bodyweight exercise. It requires no special equipment and can be done anywhere, anytime. The push-up often gets overlooked because many men find it too simple or too boring to perform. But by switching up your hand and feet positions and adding in a few twists, the push-up becomes a versatile muscle builder that will leave you begging for mercy.
Perfect Push Ups Workout Guide: 35+ Exercises | The Art of Manliness
Why should the simple act of thinking about who and what I’m grateful for make such a big difference in my life? Just a few reasons: * Because it reminds you of the positive things in your life. It makes you happy about the people in your life, whether they’re loved ones or just a stranger you met who was kind to you in some ways.
* Because it turns bad things into good things. Having problems at work? Be grateful you have work. Be grateful you have challenges, and that life isn’t boring. Be grateful that you can learn from these challenges. Be thankful they make you a stronger person.
* Because it reminds you of what’s important. It’s hard to complain about the little things when you give thanks that your children are alive and healthy. It’s hard to get stressed out over paying bills when you are grateful there is a roof over your head.
* Because it reminds you to thank others. I’ll talk about this more below, but the simple act of saying “thank you” to someone can make a big difference in that person’s life. Calling them, emailing them, stopping by to say thank you … just taking that minute out of your life to tell them why you are grateful toward them is important to them. People like being appreciated for who they are and what they do. It costs you little, but makes someone else happy. And making someone else happy will make you happy.
http://zentofitness.com/essentials-for-quietening-the-mind/
We all get caught up once in a while with a racing mind. Often after work or when doing something that we are fully engaged in, the problem comes when you want to switch off and your mind won’t allow for it. Racing with thoughts, images and dilemmas it can all be pretty confusing. This is not abnormal especially in today’s hectic and overwhelming society…..
Thankfully there are ways to quieten the mind that are easy to do and implement into your everyday life. Let’s have a look…..
I was reading this over on Dumb Little Man, and wanted to share it with you. There’s a full list over there, and I encourage you to go and read it; here are a few of my favorites from the list.
Too often we go through life on autopilot, going through the motions and having each day pass like the one before it.That’s fine, and comfortable, until you have gone through another year without having done anything, without having really lived life.That’s fine, until you have reached old age and look back on life with regrets.That’s fine, until you see your kids go off to college and realize that you missed their childhoods.It’s not fine. If you want to truly live life, to really experience it, to enjoy it to the fullest, instead of barely scraping by and only living a life of existence, then you need to find ways to break free from the mold and drink from life.What follows is just a list of ideas, obvious ones mostly that you could have thought of yourself, but that I hope are useful reminders. We all need reminders sometimes. If you find this useful, print it out, and start using it. Today.
Love. Perhaps the most important. Fall in love, if you aren’t already. If you have, fall in love with your partner all over again. Abandon caution and let your heart be broken. Or love family members, friends, anyone — it doesn’t have to be romantic love. Love all of humanity, one person at a time.Take chances. We often live our lives too cautiously, worried about what might go wrong. Be bold, risk it all. Quit your job and go to business for yourself (plan it out first!), or go up to that girl you’ve liked for a long time and ask her out. What do you have to lose?
Follow excitement. Try to find the things in life that excite you, and then go after them. Make life one exciting adventure after another (with perhaps some quiet times in between).
Be positive. Learn to recognize the negative thoughts you have. These are the self-doubts, the criticisms of others, the complaints, the reasons you can’t do something. Then stop yourself when you have these thoughts, and replace them with positive thoughts. Solutions. You can do this!
Play with children. Children, more than anyone else, know how to live. They experience everything in the moment, fully. When they get hurt, they really cry. When they play, they really have fun. Learn from them, instead of thinking you know so much more than them. Play with them, and learn to be joyful like them.
Find spirituality. For some, this means finding God or Jesus or Allah or Buddha. For others, this means becoming in tune with the spirits of our ancestors, or with nature. For still others, this just means an inner energy. Whatever spirituality means for you, rediscover it, and its power.
Be in the moment. Instead of thinking about things you need to do, or things that have happened to you, or worrying or planning or regretting, think about what you are doing, right now. What is around you? What smells and sounds and sights and feelings are you experiencing? Learn to do this as much as possible through meditation, but also through bringing your focus back to the present as much as you can in everything you do.
And let’s face it: Our culture has lost the ability to usefully disagree. Most Americans seem to avoid argument. But this has produced passive aggression and groupthink in the office, red and blue states, and families unable to discuss things as simple as what to watch on television. Rhetoric doesn’t turn kids into back-sassers; it makes them think about other points of view.
Jay Heinrichs in “How to Teach a Child to Argue” (via delayprocrastinate)
Today, my wife and I celebrate our 9th year of marriage. What a wonderful union it has been. She is an amazing women, and I am blessed to have her as my wife. Here’s to the first 9 years and an even better next 100!
Did the “Barbara”:
Five rounds, each for time of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
Rest precisely three minutes between each round.
This is a REALLY hard workout - I looked at it, and at first was like “ahh yeah man - this’ll be an easy one” - obviously, it was my first encounter with said “Barbara”… it is not easy, at all. Not one bit. My first two rounds were full, as RX’d; after that, I had to scale it - just couldn’t finish it. I mean I went ahead with the sit-ups and squats as rx’d - but the pull ups, and pushups were scaled back by at least 5 reps.
I’m as sore as I’ve ever been (on Crossfit) today. Good stuff. My average for finishing each round was about 3 minutes… i didn’t actually stopwatch it, but I was looking at a digital clock, so i don’t have exact times down to the second.
Seriously?!
Yes, Bacon Vodka.
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Your experience of life is what you think about your circumstances. When you take 100% responsibility you are powerful.
finally, American Idol is over. I am fully relieved of watching that show for the year. Whew. I actually kinda got into it this year - I mean the level of talent, at least when it got down to the final 3 or 4 was definately elevated from the past several seasons. I am so utterly relieved that Adam Lambert didn’t win, and elated that Kris Allen did! America did a great job on that one - at least now I know I wasn’t the only one who was not on the Lambert bandwagon.
So now, i know summer’s here, because there really isn’t anything to watch on the boob-tube. Time to go to the lake.
i’m SO not on the “Adam Lambert” bandwagon. The guy just doesn’t do it for me. I find him extremely irritating to watch. I really don’t understand why everyone is so googly for him… he’s got a decent voice, and he has tremendous stage presence; but … eh…
I think what it is, is that I grew up in the late 80s/early 90s with bands like Poison, Skid Row, Motley Crew, etc… and to be quite honest, the high pitch screaming is one of the reasons I haven’t listened to that stuff since then. I CAN NOT STAND it. And lets face it, that’s all the guy really does - it’s like he’s ripping KISS with the tongue stick out BS and every other band from back then with the screaming. And EVERY week on American Idol, he sounds exactly the same, but not in a good way. He’s a perfect example of someone who is riding ONE great performance, because since that one that got the media all stirred up, he’s been average at best - take away his mainstay screaming and he’s really got nothin’.
Hey, Adam - The 80’s called - they want thier screaming back. Thanks.
Why, oh WHY do i even watch that stinking show? (It’s gotta be my wife’s fault)
So, with certain family issues, I’ve not been posting. There are more important things that I’ve needed to tend to, and my mindset hasn’t really been one to post in.
The other side of it is that I’ve actually not Crossfit’d all week - in our soccer game last week, I seemed to injure the ol’ knee again - it’s better each day, but it was hurting me bad enough to warrant seeing a doc. I decided to lay off a few days to let it heal up before this week’s game. Although, i’m back on the wagon tonight.
In addition to Xfitting, tonight I will need to do these things:
and that’s about it. Should make for a fun evening. Hope you have a great day, and I’ll post my Xfit results tonight after the workout.
Did the workout from Z in the comments (modified a little for a personal challenge)
20 Push Press - #115
20 Burpee Pull-ups
Run 200M
Cash Out
50 Push-ups
This was a very good workout - I can already tell a huge difference in my pull-up power - Starting to get it down pretty good. I was sweating like a pig and loving it. Very good workout - This is a great one to remember on those WOD in which I can’t do due to equipment insufficiencies…
Modified WOD today - in fact, didn’t do the deadlifts at all - the whole not having a oly weight set yet kinda hurt me on that one. So here’s what I did:
3 Rounds
Run 400 Meters
35 Push-ups
25 Burpees
———————————————-
My time was some where around 20 minutes - We were all doing this same workout and had to share equipment. i’ll be happy to get my garage set up with more equipment so we can all kinda do our own thing whilst still working out together. I am actively searching craigslist - but I’m unsure that i want to go that route - I really want to get the rubber bumper plates rather than iron - would save my concrete and would really open up the maxing possibility, I wouldn’t be so hesitant to load up the bar…
Note: I didn’t do the Workout that Z posted simply because I had to help the rest of the gang get going - they are still getting thier form down, PLUS I actually went over to the crossfit kids site and had my little two doing some crossfit! It was alot of fun!
The official WOD was a rest day today - but I had a co-ed volleyball game which led to some decent cardio (when your team hits the ball every which way, you’ve got run quite a bit to get it) and a pretty decent plyometric workout with all the jumping/spiking/blocking. Looking forward to a great workout today - actually am going to try and do the deadlifts here in the gym at work. Then maybe hit up the workout that Z posted in yesterday’s comments.
“Angie”
50-75 Pull ups
50-75 Push ups
50-75 Sit ups
50-75 Squats
Sit ups should either be Ab Mat or full range anchored sit ups
———————————————-
My time: 14:42. This was intense - I almost lost my lunch a couple of times. I was pushing for a lot of intensity, all the while keeping my form in each exercise.
I subbed my indoor soccer game for the WOD. Tons of cardio and “lunges” heh. I enjoyed myself, even though our team lost - I really miss playing with my brother back with me - put us together with a goalie that knows how to play - you’ve got one heck of a solid defense… something my team is lacking. I don’t know how many 3v1’s a single person is expected to stop…
You know at some point you have to do this — I got to that point,” Madden said on his Bay Area radio show Thursday. “The thing that made it hard is not because I’m second guessing, `is it the right decision?’ But I enjoyed it so damn much.
Primetime football will NEVER be the same. Happy Trails Mr. Madden!
“Helen”
Three rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
1 1/2 pood Kettlebell X 21 swings (or 55 pound dumbbell swing)
12 Pull-ups
——————————-
“check out” (after the workout)
Max Rep Plank
12 Pushups
——————————
My time for this Helen was 18:47. Not a great time, but I finished all rounds FULLY, and held the plank for longer than a minute which is awesome for me… Have you planked lately? You’ll be surprised at the workout it gives alone… talk about hitting alot of muscle groups at one time… wow.
Since today is a rest day on the main xfit site, we’re going with one from the Midland (home) Xfit:
15 air squats, 1 pushup
14 air squats, 2 pushups
continue rep scheme until you reach 1 air squat, 15 pushupsPost times to comments.
This is the traveler’s version - since I don’t have some of the equipment for some of the workouts, I kind of cherry-pick the WOD’s to come up with a viable alternative and I really want to make sure I put together a challenge like the regular WOD - I really wish there were a Xfit gym next to me so I could go there.
UPDATE: I finished in 8:02 minutes. It doesn’t seem like much, but man, it still whoops ya.
ok, so last night I skipped the XFit workout in lieu of our volleyball league game. We showed up about an hour before the game time so we could get in a little practice. Everyone finally went to overhand serving and we actually made some good “passes” - listen to me talk like I actually know volleyball - in reality, i’m just trying to make sure I don’t look like a chump out there - anyway, we ended up winning in 2 games, and had quite a bit of fun doing so - these games aren’t real competitive because it’s a fun league, but it still amazes me how much drive/competitiveness I still have in me. I guess it’s one of those innate things and is something that just doesn’t go away - you are either born with it, or you aren’t. I really have to watch myself out there because I don’t want to come off as one of “those guys” - so I don’t ever voice my opinion that someone should have tried harder or made the play - but man I sure wanted to! haha
Anyway, after about 2 hours of jumping around and hitting the ball, I decided to not do the XFit WOD - I’ll pick back up this evening and keep going with it.
I’m working a little behind schedule as yesterday’s WOD for CrossFit was Rx’d as a “Rest Day” - since we had a track meet and a volleyball game on Tuesday, I took my rest day then so we pulled a “Karen” last night. 150 “wall balls” - yeah, looks easy right? Go do 50 before you answer that. WOW. Loving it.
I’m as sore as can be today, the legs and funny enough, the long back muscles are really sore… no pain no gain though, right?
Here’s the video on what a wallball is, and how to do it correctly.
Ok, so I’m doing the crossfit (Xfit) workouts (some are scaled due to my lack of ability and level of out of shape suckage I’ve ascertained in my 31 years) and loving it. So most people doing Xfit go on the boards (www.crossfit.com) and post thier results - which I might start doing at some point, but for the time being, I’m going to post them here for my own recollection.
If you like to work out, I highly recommend Xfit - at least check it out. If you think your routines/workouts are awesome - check it out. If you think you are tough, check it out. The level of intensity and amount of pain a “xfitter” goes through each workout is amazing. But you have got to WANT to hurt - because it’ll kick your butt up one side of the street and down the other, all the while stomping new mudholes along the way. It isn’t a joke. I can point you to some scaled workouts if need be - and these might seem simple and easy as I post them - but don’t you dare ridicule them until you’ve personally completed the workout - I promise, there ain’t nothing sissy about it.
So the last workout I did:
“Nicole”Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
Run 400 meters
Max rep Pull-ups
Results:
5 Rounds - Pullups: 6/8/5/7/6
I know I could probably do more on the pull-ups, but i’m trying to work my way into it since I haven’t really ever done pull-ups… Funny thing is, the sorest part of my body is my upper ab region.
So, we sold my truck; it’s great, but it means we now have to find our next vehicle. So off I go to search - but, I have one question… Since when did 90,000 miles become considered “low mileage”???!
We all have pet peeves, you know - those pesky little non-important things that others do that really irritate you, for no real good reason, they just get at you. Well, i’m running up against some of mine and just to save myself from saying something about it out loud, I thought i’d “journal” it here and vent it out.
In no particular order, here’s a few of mine:
So anyway, there are a few that i’ve been dealing with here lately - drives me crazy! I’m really just venting here, as I said, because I don’t want to get all medieval on someone. I’m sure I do some things that drive others crazy as well - but at least I recognise it. What’s the deal with people hanging on to the “idea” that they are the absolute expert? Why do people feel the need to be known as the best by their own appointment? Why can’t we just live and let live without the whole knowledge competition? Who gives a crap about how much knowledge someone else has, unless it will help that person out in some way? Seriously…
I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I’m a
Romantic Extroverted Self-Improver
Since moving to Ft. Worth, we’ve had to start using these rolling trash cans to dispose of our garbage, we have one for trash and then one for recycling. Basically, we fill these up throughout the week, and on Sunday night/Monday Morning, we roll them out to the street and they come by and dump the contents. Rinse, Repeat, etc.
Now, these things aren’t too large, and to be quite honest, I was concerned with a family of 5 as far as if we’d have to start holding back trash for the next week… But then we started looking at the handout they gave us when we first moved in. Do you realise what all you can recycle? I mean I am starting to care about recycling and that kinda stuff, so I read up on it, you know - the cans and whatnot - but when it comes down to it, basically, the only “trash” we really have is left over food containers and a few things like Styrofoam… maybe some food left overs as well… it’s amazing how much you can actually recycle - so if you are in an area that does this kind of stuff, take a look - you can easily fit into your small trash bin, while doing your part for my children’s future…This is something I’ve given alot of thought to here lately. I think it’s very valid, and I think a lot of people in my generation are starting to reflect on this as we all start up into our 30’s, and make changes as they see fit.
I’ve often said I’m always following my “dreams” but I really don’t think I even know what my “dreams” are/were - it is amazing to me how many of us are living “the dream” and we don’t even realize that dream has nothing to do with what we want… the first “mid-life crisis”? I think not, but I do think it is a good time to reflect on where you are now, where you are going, and how it relates to what you WANT to do, and your own happiness.
You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation.
You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931
My brother emailed this to me this morning, I got quite the laugh from it…
If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!! When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning Uphill… barefoot… BOTH ways!!! Yadda, yadda, yadda! And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they’ve got it! But now that… I’m over the ripe old age of thirty, I can’t help but look around and notice the youth of today! You’ve got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today you don’t know how good you’ve got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn’t have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!! There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter, —-with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents! Child Protective Services didn’t care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! No where was safe! There were no MP3s or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and/or the end and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We’d play our favorite tape and ‘eject’ it when finished and the tape would come undone. ‘cause that’s how we rolled dog!We didn’t have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that’s it! And we didn’t have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn’t know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister! We didn’t have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! —With games like ‘Space Invaders’ and ‘asteroids.’ Your guy was a littlesquare! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel! There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I’m saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards! And we didn’t have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove … Imagine that! That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You’re spoiled. You guys wouldn’t have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or before! Regards,
The over 30 Crowd
So this morning, I’m driving to work in the morning darkeness and I see something flashing in my rear view - my first thought was a cop, but when i looked in the mirror, it was a motorcycle. The guy had his brights on - now being a rider, I’m all about visibility, as in making sure other drivers know I’m there, but when it’s pitch black outside, you can’t run with your highs on… people don’t like that!
Anyway, no big deal, I slow a bit and let the guy pass me so I won’t be getting blinded by the lights - as the guy passes, I notice he is only wearing a bandana do-rag on his head. I know - alot of people choose to do this, and it’s Texas law that the rider has a choice of wearing a helmet or not (as long as he/she at least has enough insurance to cover thier funeral)… Personally, I think it is absolutely the most idiotic thing to not wear a helmet while riding… but in Texas, we all have that choice - I don’t get on a bike without a helmet, period.
Ok, so that’s fine and great - the guy doesn’t wear one and is relying on that do-rag to protect his melon… whatever… so the guy keeps on around me, then pulls into my lane in front of me; it’s then that I see something that just cracks me up: The guy has his helmet strapped on his back seat… What the heck man… you know ? The helmet doesn’t protect the melon via osmosis man…
I just found it pretty humorous.
After traveling for several months in one bag: two pairs of pants, a few shirts, a jacket, several books, and my iPod (which I used once)…. Coming home to 50 boxes full of Stuff, it felt like my world was once again being weighed down by things I didn’t need. It felt as if the things will consume more of me than I will ever consume of it. Thus, my new project: to simplify my life… starting with Stuff.
now that things are starting to settle down on the Tipton3 homefront, i’m getting back to my simplification kick - this is a great “how-to” type article, to help you see how “stuff” really does weight the average person down… We never think of it that way, but in all honesty, when you have a bunch of stuff to take care of/store/whatever, it ties you down and creates a cyclical pattern that makes us work harder and harder just to pay off the stuff we buy…
Anyway, I never lost sight of my simplification goals, I just had to push them back in the priority order with the move and all that… so now I’m back at it. Go read this article. now.
That should have been the “name”… Anyone else think UFC 95 ref’ing sucked worse than a candy cane straw in an orange (in the sense that the juice wouldn’t come out very good - those are tasty though!)? It was like someone told UFC, as soon as a fighter goes down in conjunction with someone else throwing a punch, stop the fight! I was in shock the first fight when Kos took a mean punch to the face and went down, before we could even see if he was going to do anything, the ref is jumping in… I mean come on bro - they don’t stop it that fast in boxing… Now I’m not saying that Kos wasn’t out, he looked to be rocked like crazy, but usually, MMA fighters are given a chance to recover - he most definitely wasn’t… The next two fights ended the same way - it really hampered my attitude during the rest of the fights, I just couldn’t (can’t) get over how fast they were stopping those fights - almost like whatever “commission” was sanctioning them was telling the refs to stop as soon as a fighter went down… sucked man. I am glad, though, that I didn’t pay for it - I would have been really upset in that case.
I digress…
The rest of the weekend was grand - went to the skating rink again on Saturday with the wife & kids - had a blast again… The little one’s are getting better and better - it’s alot of fun watching them… although, Ave took a few tailbone knocks… and we all remember how bad those hurt! I am thinking about getting her a football type tailbone pad - wish my dad had gotten me one of those!! hehe
Saturday night, Jess’ cousins all came over for a game night - we played WOW Cranium and got our butts kicked by the girls - we let ‘em win though - you know how we roll.. hehe - it was a fun game, and the acting was very funny. I do hate the “humdingers” though… uggh!
Sunday, after church, we ate some of the best roast I think Jess has ever made… it was so tender… very good. Then I proceeded to take a 4.5 hour nap… Woah. yeah, 4 and a half hours. Sad thing is, I think i could do that again today and still not feel caught up…
Anyway, it was a good weekend, and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.
Here’s to having a great week, and being even more blessed.
this is another one of those links I put in here for mainly my benefit… I just want to make sure I can find it again…
This is more for me than anything, but you guys might find this quite helpful, especially if you are (a.) non-geek and (b.) cheap/simplistic.
The PocketMod is a new way to keep yourself organized. Lets face it, PDAs are too expensive and cumbersome, and organizers are bulky and hard to carry around. Nothing beats a folded up piece of paper. That is until now. With the PocketMod, you can carry around the days notes, keep them organized in any way you wish, then easily transfer the notes to your PDA, spreadsheet, or planner.
How long has it been since you and Mr. roller s. rink were hanging out? Yeah, it’s been about 20 + years for me… but this weekend, we decided to take the kids and I’m sure glad we did. I had a great time, the kids were fascinated, and I got a great workout (including the blisters!)
I’ve forgotten how much fun it really is to strap on the ‘quads’ and go in circles… I think next time, I’ll take my Rollerblades… I’m significantly better on those than the roller skates…
I was impressed with the two small ones - we had to get them some ‘tightened’ wheeled skates so it wasn’t so “slick” (as Luke called it) and they went to town - they had a blast and really wore themselves out…
It was only $6/person and that was for the day…I would highly recommend it for all yous guys - it’s a cheap, fun way to spend the afternoon together and a great workout as well!
I feel good today. It’s just nice that it’s a friday, and I know I’ll get to just hang loose this weekend.
Last night I was in an off day as far as my hundred pushup program goes, and I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on getting the C25K started again. (I’ve been nursing the left knee and my back so i’ve held off on starting) I am sure glad I finally got on with it. I feel great today; I slept like a log last night (although, i could have used another 2 hours of sleep) :D
It amazes me how much working out helps with dealing/sluffing stress.
This weekend brings my wife family down to see the new house - so that’ll be some fun - but I plan on doing a little nap taking for sure…
We are finally starting to settle in here in our new home in Ft. Worth. Going from 5 acres down to 0.10 acres is quite a jump; but I like it - it means there isn’t alot for me to do on the home front, and after 3 years of doing nothing but work on a house I built on 5 acres of land - it is nice to go home at the end of the day and pretty much just chill with the family…
My new work schedule allows me to be HOME by 5pm (that’s out of traffic, sitting on my couch at home) so I have a little more time to spend with the fam which is what I’m all about. On warm days, sometimes we’ll go jump on the trampoline or go for a short little walk - but J and i have started working out pretty hard core. If you remember correctly, we started the C25K just before all of the transfer/moving started up; needless to say, we got off the program due to the chaos that is moving and starting a new job… Well, we’re starting back up as of NOW, and I’m actively looking for a 5k or 10k that we can sign up for around the end of March or beginning of April. Along with that, I’ve also started the 100 Pushups challenge (http://www.hundredpushups.com); along with my brother, wife, & oldest daughter T.I have to say, I’m quite sore today, but I am glad that I’m on a program again - need to get down to my summer cut because now that we’re so close to water, I can assure you my family and I will be at the lake pretty much every open weekend. OH YEAH!In other news, we’re coming down to the end of owning 2 different houses - as the company is about to purchase our old home in Midland so that will pretty much complete the transition and allow us some much needed, stress free living; along with all the rest of our debt being knocked out. A fresh start, so to speak. I’m pumped.So yesterday was my beautiful wife’s birthday. The kids and I got her WiiFit - which is what she wanted for Christmas, but I couldn’t find it anywhere over the past 2 - 3 months. So yesterday at lunch I thought I’d give it a shot to find one for her, and wouldn’t you know it, I followed the UPS truck into a gamestop and had the clerk cut open the box and sell me one of those WiiFits. AWESOME.
Anyway, I get it and a few little other things for her and she really liked them, or at least she acted like she did… :) When I got home we decided to go eat for celebrating her birthday, and she decided on TGI Fridays - now this is a place I’ve seen alot of commercials for, but never have been to one (We didn’t have one in Midland). So I rattle open the ol’ iPhone and find out there’s one a couple of miles from the house… So we headed on over…
Let me just say, that place is awesome! I had a cheesy bacon cheeseburger (I know, not real healthy, but I was celebrating!) and it had some fried cheese on it… OH WOW - any burger lovers need to head on over there and grab one of these things… VERY good. I think everyone in the family liked their food and I would highly recommend that place to anyone.
I didn’t watch the inauguration due to work, but let me tell you, I got my fill of it last night, and I actually got pretty upset at how the media was so disrespectful to “W”. Love him or hate him, the man was our president and deserves respect. I was appalled by the statements of alot of the media people, and I would challenge any one of them to go do that job - it isn’t like it’s a kush job… It will be interesting to see how well Obama does in there - I don’t wish him any ill will, I hope he can do some of the things he’s campaigned on - but I think alot of people are going to be surprised … That job isn’t an easy job - and I respect anyone who goes in there and does it. (well, anyone but Slick Willy).
Maybe now, our country can get back to the business of fixing itself, and get over all the glimmer/glam/show of it all. Will the real men please stand up. I’m so sick of hearing nothing but political vile, I’m ready for that part to clear out, and to hear about some things getting fixed.
Wow - I am sorry I let it go this long without an update - seems like there’s quite a lot going on at the moment with the move and house stuff…
I don’t know that I’d say I’m overly busy, it’s just a lot of adjustment stuff when trying to get into a new house - trying to get all the amenities and all that stuff tied back together (Internet, telephone, Television) and just the overall cohesiveness of everything. It’s funny but when you look at it, it is amazing how comfortable we get with our systems where we live. Most people don’t realize it, but we get all comfy in the environment(s) we create and then when you throw some salt in there, it changes it all up. I think I’m a pretty adventurous type guy, so changing is really cool to me - but there’s also something to be said about a system already being in place, and not having to adjust the routines.In my case - I’m happy to switch to new systems, but it’s been taking a while to get it all set up like I’m used to - the FiOS systems we have are awesome - but the DVR sucks compared to the one we had with AT&T - so I am trying to get used to that - I’m sure it’ll just take some time - but I’ve noticed, I’ve dropped out of watching some of my old shows - I think just because I need to figure out the whole recording setup - it’s very different and not near as user intuitive…Anyway - as far as the update goes - we’re in the new house (Still trying to sell the one in Midland) and hoping to get rid of 2 of our dogs - our new backyard isn’t near big enough for all 3 and I don’t think it’s fair to enclose ‘em in something that small when they are used to much bigger. So - if you know anyone that would like a good dog or two - send ‘em my way.I am loving my new gig - very cool people and a lot of learning going on - just what I want! That’s all for now - I’ll try and post more frequently now that I’m getting back into the swing of things.
