Challenging myself

Everybody experiences a period of insanity at least once in their lifetime. Usually, this happens right around finals week when you're cramming all night for those 2-4 hour tests the next morning. I've come to learn it's never a good idea to try to jam stuff you're supposed to REMEMBER into your brain at the last minute. Heck, I think our brains are supposed to be sponges, but it's not exactly via osmosis that we're learning here.

So, right now I'm trying to juggle my work obligations, community obligations, health obligations (volleyball!) and even trying to add to the workload something that involves actual studying - preparing for the GMAT, which I haven't even scheduled yet. The Graduate Management Admission Test, or GMAT for short, is a 4-hour adaptive test that's supposed to test your aptitude for solving difficult questions and be some kind of indicator as to what level of success you can expect in MBA graduate school. Frankly, I've forgotten more since I graduated with my BA than I think I'm gonna learn over the next month which is when the applications are due for Spring 2011. There's no excuse but to try and make the time to brain up whenever I can.

What's the lesson to be learned here? There's only so much I can do - and I'm definitely somewhere at my limit right now. Over the next few weeks I'm going to be making some tough decisions on what to cut back on - all the things I've committed myself to are good things, but I can't do it all - so time to figure out where to drop the axe. That's never a fun thing but I think overall everyone will benefit from having a fuller me present at the things I can commit to.

Cccccccold and HLAA young adults

I just went from:

to

Okay, so Kansas City's not THAT cold right now, but brrrrr! I did have the foresight on Wednesday to bring a jacket with me on the flight, but man oh man the weather in Orlando was faboo! Light breezes, low humidity and the perfect temperature for shirts n' jeans - yay!

It looks like HLAA has posted their sponsorship opportunities for the 2011 convention online. In there, it shows on page 6 that the planned young adult event will be a scavenger hunt - from talking with Nancy Macklin from HLAA, it would be throughout the Capitol Mall in DC, which is huge and an awesome place to explore. See the Young Adult Off-site event summary on the right side of the page here:

http://www.hearingloss.org/convention/2011Convention/2011Prospectus_6of20.asp

Thinking about DC - I really do enjoy visiting DC. Not so sure how much I'd like living there, even though I am a city boy and am used to traffic/smog/people. I love love love the Smithsonian Museums - especially the Air & Space (which happens to be the national favorite too - drat! Always busy, always packed. I wanna scope it all out by myself!)

Speaking of the Smithsonian museums - the month at the museum in Chicago is still going on! Check out the five finalists and vote before October 5th! I wish I was going to be in there... a month of science!

http://www.msichicago.org/matm

Scatterbrained

I think I left my brain at home. Well, of course I did!

It seems a bit more often lately I'm forgetting I'm supposed to do something important or follow up on something I promised. I write stuff down, I catalog it, I post reminders, but I keep missing something like a delivery date at work or even a simple emailing of a list of emails to my HLAA folks before heading off on a work trip. Heck sometimes I even go to bed and wake up remembering I forgot to feed my boys!

Boys with tails do not let you forget lightly. Sharp claws pawing the covers in the middle of the night are no laughing matter. Ow!

I'm wondering if I'm just too busy. I've got the largest stack of books sitting on my dresser ready to be read. I can tear through one of them in minutes, yet by the time I'm home from the office after spending an hour reading emails from the west coast, then working out, then cooking some tasty gluten-free yumminess, I'm done for the night. And weekends! At least some weekends I can do fun stuff when I'm not trapsing all over Orlando or Los Angeles.

I'm on my way back home from the AARP conference where I ran into quite an assortment of characters - Mickey, Donald, Goofy -- oh, oh, oh, you mean about the people at the conference -- elderly special-forces men who shouted that they heard on the phone fine while their wives were all "gimmie that CapTel phone!", magazine writers and bloggers who were all agape over the newest technology from Sprint, and even catching up with folks from the Deafness Research Foundation and HLAA National.

It sounds like HLAA will have some fantastic stuff lined up for the 2011 convention. I can't wait for them to publish it!

Psych!

Ah, hah, I'm laughing my tail off catching this show. So it's pretty witty and hits all my geek points, but the really sad thing is that this show also makes me think of the Gilmore Girls. Back when I was in college, I had a few unfortunate nights where I was forced to watch the aforemented show and the whole thing reeked of ADHD-infused talking heads that just couldn't stop delivering their lines as fast as they could or else their heads would explode and the world would come to an end and so on and so forth and nobody could ever stop to take a breath and would keep on talking until they keeled over fainting...... *wheeeeeze gasp!*

But, in this case, Psych just has me rolling in the aisles..... well, until they call an MBA a Monkey Basketball Association. :-p

I need a maid

"Life's too short to do housework." I see that slogan on a bunch of ads around here - touting maid services and every other week cleaning. The only thing I'd have to do is make sure my place is picked up on the day the maid service comes.

I do keep a somewhat orderly house - at least, I'd like to think so. Thing is, I could also spend all day every day doing chores and I feel like I'd never get anything done. Dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, laundry, bathrooms, kitchen counters, filing, landscaping, mowing, whatever, just so much to do!

Ever since I moved to KC, I've hired a neighborhood kid to do my lawn. That has been an excellent timesaver. I think it's now time for me to focus on just that little extra oomph on keeping the house clean with some help - and so I think starting tomorrow I'll get that maid service scheduled and give it test drive.

Anyone else ever tried a maid service?

Try to keep up!

Argh. I'm 6 days in on Insanity and my body can't keep up. Gah. So I was trying to get a 60 day workout in and my joints are complaining daily. Is this what it means to get old?

Hopefully I'll be back on the grind tomorrow with Plyo Cardio Circuit after a day's rest. Bring on the pain! (and, body, please try to keep up!)

Soreness

Lately I've been feeling like my body's about to come apart.

I workout to stay in shape. Unfortunately, the workouts I choose usually require the shape to be a bit..... contorted. So yesterday evening while I was jumping around doing Insanity Plyo, I got some twinges in my knee and hip. Now, no pain, no gain, I think is the motto, but in this case I think it's supposed to be no burn, no gain.

I gotta figure out how to minimize these aches by my next workout tonight - can't exactly be a walking, jumping, spiking, killing machine when the body ain't cooperating.

Back on track

I'm kind of a health nut. Not nutters, but close. I think that being healthy and strong and of sound mind and body kind of goes hand in hand with living long and enjoying life. I took a short hiatus from my exercise regimen over this past month, kind of due to injuries, hiking Colorado, and then trying to recover. The last time I pulled a formal workout was 8/7/2010, and now it's the end of August.

Time to start all over. Reboot!

Back on Day 1 of Insanity again. Guess I get to work on my summer body while summer's winding down. :-D It's not the end of summer until the pool closes for the season!

I'm such a paintbrush

I like to think that words and stories have many layers to them, like peeling back an onion, revealing many meanings behind a simple statement. Thus, "I'm such a paintbrush" -- which, while the statement prompted some people to call me a dork, really, sums up what I've been feeling lately.

I've been painting a room inside my house, one that hasn't been painted since I first moved into my home. One of the things I struggled with growing up was making the effort to do interesting things, take risks with creativity. Like, my room at my mom's home - I never took the chance to explore what it would be like to paint a room growing up. Without going into some long and rather droll story, the point is - I can do that now, and I really should take advantage of making this place my own instead of just some place I live, y'know?

Paintbrushes absorb and give color to all things. I think we're the sum of all who we meet, who change your thinking, who color your life. Well, I'd like to say that I've met many people who have colored my life, molded me into a better person. And I hope to keep on adding more color to my life. Even though I'm a superhero or famous or rich, there's more to life than those things, and what I'm getting out of life is making me happy.

Heck, maybe I'm getting just a bit too philosophical tonight. Really, you wanna know why I'm such a paintbrush? 'Cause I keep splattering paint all over me. No matter how careful I am, sometimes the color just doesn't end up where you want it to be. And no amount of wiping it off works. Seems like the paint is just gonna stay there forever. Oh, well, all you can do is move on and keep painting, right?

By the way, liquid blue is just awesome!

Taste the rainbow

In my search for new and exciting foods to eat, I happened to learn that Skittles are indeed gluten-free. Says so on the label (while not online, it is printed on the package directly underneath the ingredients) which means yay for me! Since I was taught to share while growing up, it was doubly awesome that my fellow Colorado traveler, Kel, also likes skittles (and particularly the new Crazy Cores, pictured above) I got to enjoy a double sugar rush on the road! That's always awesome, 'cause, well, I end up doubling over with laughter when mixing sugar with fun!

Speaking of doubles (and not the tennis kind) I was home today and found my leftover skittles were indeed spread out in a rainbow fashion around my office. My two cats decided that a bag was not the right place to keep candy, and instead the floor was better, and thus I had to clean up a colorful assortment of tasty rainbow pieces. Bad kitties!

Color is the order of the day. On birthdays, I often think of multi-colored candles adorning a cake, ready to be blown out. Thus, I do want to wish my August buddies a happy birthday, Kel, Chris and Sarah S. I guess that means soon enough I'll be facing my own annual tick when I step more firmly in to my 4th decade (hint: this century is the 21st century. I am not yet 40) later this summer. Yes, I am a summer baby. Some people are in denial that a birthday before labor day in September is anything but a summer b-day. Get with the program, people!

Off to make my night a bit brighter - I'm painting my younger bro's old bedroom a nice sheen of white in preparation for a real color to be put in. I'm having a hard time choosing one, to be honest. My main color is blue but I've already got an awesome blue for my office. I'm probably gonna end up just throwing darts at a color wheel. That sounds like fun, actually. But just so you know, getting paint in your mouth isn't very tasty. Don't taste that kind of rainbow, yo.

Boy, this mountain is high....

A while back, I came across the phrase "runner's high." Apparently, a phenomenon happens to a number of people who run where they get a sense of peace, euphoria, or a 2nd wind of sorts, when they've been running. Such a state exists and has been documented, and a number of people continue to run so they can achieve such a high. Well, not too long ago, I came across another such state called "Rocky Mountain high" where the euphoria comes during the course of hiking a mountain.

I already enjoyed mountain hiking before I heard that term. Last year, I hit a number of peaks, including Mt. Yale, with Kelly and another couple. That was a great time, exploring the great state of Colorado and braving the chilly nights above 9,000 feet above mean sea level (MSL). This year, I took a shorter trip and nailed Vail and Mt. Lincoln, the 8th tallest mountain in Colorado, the 23rd tallest peak the United States.

The most difficult part of this trip was due to weather and timing, we had to make the summit of Mt. Lincoln earlier in the trip than desired. Acclimation to 10,000 feet and above is vital to lessen the chances of altitude sickness. I was definitely feeling the effects of reduced air - some light dizziness, shortness of breath, and lack of energy. I'm not sure how Kel managed it - she kicked my tail up and down that mountain! Way to go!

I'm glad I was able to reach the top and see the fantastic valley surrounding the Mosquito range of the Rockies - it reminds me that nature is out there to be found and enjoyed. Sometimes it's a bit hard to remember that when we're struggling with details of the latest new technology to come out or the fight we're having with movie theaters over captioned movies. I'm coming back refreshed and ready to rumble!

GF Bread, part 3

Yeah, no pics 'cause I'm a hungry dude.

GF dough is amazingly hard to mix by hand. The stuff gets thick so fast, it's like trying to mix cement. Really dryyyyyy cement. Yeast, flour (a mix of cornflour, rice, xantham gum and other components that I won't bore you with), oil, eggs, and water - that's all that is needed!

However, fresh GF bread is TASTY. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I needed a 2nd opinion and so I twisted Kel's arm into being a taste tester. I think she survived.... she did eat all of her steakburger, however, steak on just about anything is tasty! ;-)

So, there you have it - I definitely prefer my homemade bread over store bought. It takes about 2 1/2 hours all told, from mixing to setting/rising and then baking and cooling. Add some slicing in and freezing (since it doesn't keep very well, the instructions are to freeze it as soon as possible after baking) and I've got bread for a week!

Now off to make some French GF toast.... :-D

Gluten Free bread, post 2

I'd forgotten how good hamburger buns are. Well, let me back up. Tonight's dinner was used toasted GF bread with turkey cheeseburgers and smoky BBQ sauce. Mmm mmmm! I've been mostly eating hamburgers by having a side of rice or mashed taters, then a veggie of sorts - perhaps a medley, perhaps some green beans, something like that. A pretty well rounded meal there, y'think? Well, I'm expanding that a bit more so that if I were to make bread, I'd be able to make my own sandwiches to carry the hamburgers in!

One of my biggest frustrations with GF dieting these days is that it's nearly impossible to eat out, especially when on the road. Suppose I'm driving back from a job in St. Louis, and I'm not interested in stopping at a sit-down restaurant that serves GF food. Fast food is my remaining choice - not healthy, but at least it'll save me time so I can get home and get a proper workout in, or perhaps a real meal. Thing is, the vast majority of fast food places have nary a thing on the menu that is GF - McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Sonics, Wendy's, Hardees. I might be able to get away with ordering a salad - but that's no good when I'm driving. Ever tried eating a salad at 70mph? Most of the food ends up ON YOU.

One thing I'm contemplating is ordering things like Arby's where they can serve to me without a bun and then using my own bread to eat. If I can make or get some good bread, then I'll be set! No need to starve when I can grab some meat and make into a GF sammich! The roads will be a tad safer too.... ;-)

GF Bread goal, step 1

Some of the steps I've taken recently to reach my goal this week:

1) Found some websites for recipes, getting an idea just how much work it'll take to get a passable loaf of bread going! (example: http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/glutenfreebreads/r/sandwichbread.htm)

2) Went out and got what I figured was as good as possible bread out there, to compare tastes with - "Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread." It's frozen for freshness, so I toasted a few slices and ate with butter - yum! So.... maybe I can make this work!

3) Went shopping and compared prices for the components I'll need - mixers, bread loaf pans, and even bread machines that do all the work for ya! Work smarter, not harder, eh? ;-)

Next steps - to put together a recipe and schedule time to bake!

Goal for this week in July (4-11)

Starting with this post, I intend to commit to and execute a plan towards meeting goals that I wish to accomplish in 2010. The year is halfway over and some of the things I keep reminding myself to set out to do keep getting deferred. Well, I'm going to defer no more and blog to keep track of what I want to do that week. I do open up my blogsite most every day to decide if I want to post or scan the RSS reader on other people's blogs. But mostly, since only I can be in charge of my own self improvement, I'm gonna use it as a way to keep myself accountable. If you wanna join the fun and keep me accountable yourself, fine by me!

My goal for this week, the first full week in July, is to bake a loaf of bread. Not just any loaf, mind you. A loaf of honest-to-goodness gluten-free bread, and hope that it'll taste somewhat better than stuff that passes for "bread" at the supermarket.

By the way, if you ever get a chance to eat gluten free bread from the store - don't! Of all the varieties I've tried, whether frozen or sitting on the shelf at the health food section of Hyvee, I've never found one that was even remotely passable. Tapioca bread, brown rice, white rice, it doesn't matter, it tastes dry and stale even when I open the recently shelved bag. My mom complains too - she'll get the frozen raisin bread and toast it twice, putting copious amounts of butter on it to make it salvageable. All just to deal with sammich bread!

From what I hear on the GF boards, fresh homemade bread is the only way to go. So, I'm gonna have a throwdown with my oven and figure out how to properly mix yeast with rice or potato flour. Most likely I'll start with a pre-mixed bag from Hyvee and see how it turns out. Maybe soon I'll start getting back into sandwiches for my lunches, or even being able to take my own buns to a restaurant and getting something decent cooked out of it!

In any case, I've got an idea where to start, and my deadline to cook is by Sunday evening. Let's fire up the oven!