Monday

I need another Margarita.

I'm right now right at that happy stage...tired, but feeling pretty good. This is a Mexican all-inclusive, but they are playing Michael Buble in the bar here. "Sway with me..."

So, I did work out this morning. My wife kicked me out of bed and told me to go work on "bringing sexy back". Just kidding, she's too sweet for that, but she did get me motivated and I lifted and did elliptical. Plus, we got to play some beach volleyball in the afternoon. Boy, didn't realize what hard work that is.

Yeah for Anna...she just brought me a lime margarita on the rocks.

The trip to Chichen Itza yesterday was awesome. Anna had always wanted to go see some ruins, and we did. I am in complete awe at the mathematical precision of the observatory and the temple. Small details, like the number of stairs, the number of sunken panels...the temple was literally their calendar. How did they figure all of that out? Would I be able to if I were alive back then? Could I have built a building that formed the body of a snake in shadows at the exact time of the solstices? With all of our technology, are we really that much smarter, or do we just think we are? Here's a question that bothers me...what worth would I be on an desert island? Seriously? How much knowledge to I have stored, what could I build, what would I remember...and what would I have forgotten?

Lol, you are probably wondering how much the Margarita's have affected me.

One interesting, yet sad thing, that I noticed was the inherent bias that our tour guide had against Christianity. Now, 75%-80% of Mayan descendants are now Catholics, but I get the feeling that they are still more loyal to their original Mayan religion than Catholicism. Well, there is a very good reason for that. The Franciscan Missionaries who were the first Christians the Mayans came in contact with, destroyed the Mayan's early writing and therefore, much of their history. They tore down some of the buildings, and used the stones, including the snake stones that the Mayans worshiped, in the construction of their churches.

That spoke volumes to me. Here, nearly a millennia later, a culture is still biased against Christians because they attempted to "Christianize" them rather than see what Jesus would look like in their cultural context. Mind you, I am not advocating integrating a culture's religion in with Christianity; polytheism and Christianity can never be one and the same. But, to destroy a culture, their writings, their history in the name of Jesus does not seem correct to me, especially still seeing the fruits of that poor decision so many years later. Not to say the Franciscan's were terrible people, but we should be able to learn from their mistakes.

Totally off subject, just throwing this in to make Anna wonder, but I think I know the perfect Christmas gift for her.

And speaking of, I should probably go push her around the dance floor to this music. Or take her upstairs and rub Aloe Vera on her back...she thinks she doesn't need sun-tan lotion here. Today it bit her in the ass. Or, more appropriately, in the shoulders and back.

Saturday

So, we are here in Cancun...and I am TIRED. The last 2 days have been great, just trying to relax. Yesterday was perfect for swimming, and yes, of course, I got burnt. See facebook for pics. :-) The story behind that is we thought we would be smart and only take carry-on luggage. Actually t worked out very well, except for one tiny detail. You have to have everything in small clear plastic containers...including suntan lotion.

So, we brought plenty of sunscreen, but yesterday I thought I was applying 70 SPF...when actually it was 30 SPF. So yeah, I'm a nice lobster today. I've had lots worse though, this honestly isn't too bad. I can still wear a shirt comfortably. :-)

Today it rained, so we had some bigger waves and I really wanted a boogie board to go ride them but they wouldn't give me one, rats. Oh well, probably for the best since the undertow was pretty strong. Hope it isn't raining tomorrow, we are supposed to go touring some ruins.

Went shopping yesterday too, that's a trip...everyone lies and tries to get you to buy their stuff. Needed a beach bag and ended up paying $20 USD, about $240 pesos. The guy started out wanting $400 pesos. I still think I could have done better, but I am not the world's best bargainer. It's still fun though. :-) Everyone who comes down here will certainly get a lesson in learning "No". Jim Carrey would go broke in a New York minute down here.

The hardest part for me is trying to de-stress. I am finding that you get in the "mode of stress" and even on vacation you can find things to stress about. Even though they are small, I find myself blowing them out of proportion and worrying entirely too much. I think I need to just sit for a while, no conversation, no books, no tv, and just stare at the ocean and or the stars..."finding my center" sounds so new age, but there is something to it that connects to "Be still and know that I am God" that resonates in all humans.

So far I have done pretty well in food choices, and not going back for seconds. I am allowing myself some dessert, but by no means more than half a serving. The drinks are nice though and kind of serve as my dessert. :-) The red wine is super strong (had that with my New York Strip tonight) but after a few glasses doesn't seem too bad. :-P Actually haven't worked out yet...but I have been keeping busy and active, that is for sure.

Right now I am sitting in the bar listening to the music...it's a girl on the radio singing "YMCA". It's cracking me up...

Day Three

Results from yesterday: Weights (core) 45 minutes, Bike 4 miles, Treadmill 3 miles.

I am also happy to report that I am noticing a difference, even after just 2 1/2 days. :-)

However, I have a HUGE roadblock in front of me...leaving for vacation to Cancun and going to an all-inclusive resort. Yeah, all you can eat free food, free beer, free margaritas...

They do have a workout facility there and I plan on making daily use of it, as well as making healthy food choices while I'm there. Lots of fish, lean meats, veggies, and fruits. Wish I could take my protein powder with me. :-(

Let's see, projects yesterday. Cleaning up the house for the trip (love coming home to a clean house...so refreshing), trimmed Kelso's nails and gave him his tick/flea treatment, laundry, and dinner. Yum, grilled salmon and steamed broccoli. Oh, and I got a new entertainment rack for the basement so I can organize my audio/visual equipment better. It was on sale for $30, originally $99. Will have to wait until after the trip to put it all together.

By the way, I do not know how my wife keeps up with everything AND have a part time job. Taking care of a house and the dog and keeping up with laundry, cleaning, and dishes...holy cow!!! I will no longer silently complain when I come home and there are dishes in the sink.

Pain. Working through pain right now...gosh, I've never been so sore it's woken me up several times at night before. Bleh. Hope that won't last long.

Well, I have a ton to do today, and class tonight. I'm not going to have time to work out after class tonight, so mowing the lawn today will have to suffice for my cardio workout.

Day Two

Results from Yesterday: Elliptical 3.5 miles, Bike 4 miles, lift weights 45 minutes.

For projects, yesterday's big one that I didn't think would consume most of the day was Kelso. I figured he needed a haircut. Here he is before.


























Here he is in the middle...
















And here he is after. He went from being a West Highland Terrier to being an Albino Jack Russel Terrier.







Then we went for a walk in the evening and met up with Lindsay and her black lab. Kelso was so excited to see Finley...he actually followed him into the water, twice!! And by follow, I mean jump off the ledge and start swimming to the middle of the pond. So, he got another bath at the very end of yesterday so he didn't smell like pond scum.

First Post (Duh, that's retarded)

I am fat.

OK, not like super fat, but I've got some of that spare tire stuff going on, and I want to get rid of it. I can blame it on school and work and the associated stress of not knowing from month-to-month if I will have a job.

Right now, I do have a job, but I'm furloughed. Basically, I get four weeks off unpaid (I haven't been there long enough to have vacation to cover it) but the great state of Kansas is going to help me through this time. Speaking of which, does everyone realize that unemployment benefits are considered taxable income? WTC!?!!?

Back to the fat. Gotta work on that. That's one of my goals during my break. I'm going to try two-a-day workouts, eating uber-healthy, and getting enough sleep for a change. I also have sundry projects that I want to work on, and I want to have devotions every day.

Goals. Need them or I will come to the end of four weeks and look back and wonder what the heck I did for two weeks. Thus the purpose of this blog, to catalog my activities and keep track of my progress.

Fitness Goal: Lose 10 pounds by July 20th. Bench more than 175 lbs. Lose inches off my waist (not sure what a reasonable goal there is but I want my pants to fit comfortably again.)
Starting Measurements: Weight, 179.2 lbs. Waist, 37 in.

Spiritual Goal: Memorize Psalm 18. I love that Psalm because it talks all about how we can do the impossible with God's help.

That's it for now. I'm going to start tackling my list.