A happy apple left us a note on our doorstep the other day.
The note read:
We are the apples bought at a store.
The buyer had too many and didn't want anymore.
He/she shared them with a neighbor who had too many too...
So, now they are sharing us with you!
We are good for a lady, a man or a boy...
So peel us or slice us and please do enjoy!
Love, The Apples
Just for the record, we ate the last apple on Saturday for lunch! Even the one with the face on it. He tasted the best. Burp!
You turn it over, and it's a portable HD camera.
Then, you fold it open even further and it becomes a Dell brand laptop.
When it opens up with the keyboard, you immediately are taken to the home page of Google.
Very original and creative. I'm so proud of you, Alex.
I'm really into this new record by Sara Bareilles. I highly recommend it. Just downloaded it on iTunes. Can't get "Love Song" out of my head! Plus, I'm really intrigued by the way she was discovered via song licensing and placements on commercials.
Hello, it's me again. Last weekend, the Nashville region experienced a gas shortage due to the pipelines from Texas being down as a result of Hurricane Ike. There were lines all across the city with 10's of hundreds of cars waiting to get their precious gas. I was hoping we could avoid them. Unfortunately, on Saturday, we were very close to empty on our mini-van. So, we tried to find the shortest line for gas we could find in Cool Springs on a Saturday afternoon.
By 3:30pm, we had found our spot. The Shell station off of Moores Lane and Mallory Lane. We squeezed into a spot. Then, we waited. And waited. And waited some more. We noticed a larger gas truck had pulled up and was unloading gasoline in the station. That seemed hopeful, since most other stations had run out of gas. We knew if we waited long enough, the gas would be delivered. Now, it was just a matter of how long do we wait.
As I returned back to the minivan I thought this was something I should share with the rest of the cars waiting in line - now a bit impatiently. So, one by one, I began informing everyone of the news. Every car seemed very appreciative. And I was starting to like my role as the good samaritan. So, after I informed about 20 cars, I returned back to the gas station and started sorting out who was going to go to which pump. In essence, I was directing traffic.
The pumps started opening up - one by one. Soon, after about 20 minutes, the line started to move. People were trying to cut in line and my job was to stop them and make them get into the back of the line. I was amazed at my boldness with these people. These people didn't like me very much. There was one guy who tricked me and told me he just wanted a soda. Later on, I would see him get gas at the pump after pretending to get soda. He had a big black Hummer gas guzzler. Shame on him. I promptly told him that he lied to me and yelled at him. He was embarrassed and making some excuse that he wasn't from here - he was from Texas. As if that would make me feel better about him cutting in line in front of hundreds of patient drivers.
One lady in line a few cars behind me was taking pictures of people trying to cut in line with her cel phone and threatening to report them to the police. She was mad!
The lady taking pictures of everyone and making threats to cars cutting in line, she thanked me later and shouted as she drove past. "You are our good samaritan!".
I was loving my new role as hero. I felt like I was being used to help the situation. After all, I'm type-A and I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Atleast I was out and about - doing something.
Meanwhile, my best friend from college, Don, shows up randomly and starts taking pictures of all of this. The boys love Don and he kept them having fun while they waited.
Krissy, my loving wife, of course, is making fun of me the whole time. She knows this is typical me. She is cracking up that I'm directing traffic and keeping things in order by kicking people out of line.
Well, we finally get to the pump and I join the family and help pump the gas. The kids are sick of me being gone. Kaden is crying because he is worried about me being out there. He just wants his daddy back. I get back, assure him that everything is okay, and pump gas. We finally get out of there at 6pm.
2 and 1/2 hours at the gas station. Atleast I wasn't just sitting there. I was doing something and felt really good. After all, I was the good samaritan.
I've actually been a bit discouraged about the program I'm following. I got down and started to veer off track this week. I've only worked out twice this week and it was mostly just cardio.
What I've come to the conclusion of is this: it's not the program that's wrong, it's me and my behavior.
Tell me if you ever feel this way: I start to not see results and then I start to get down. Then, I start to think there's something wrong with my plan, so I change it. Then, I'm completely off track, confused and still don't see results, so I give up. What happens is I start to let my feelings get in the way. I start to feel down and start to do not do things because I don't "feel" like it.
That's kinda how my two boys are sometimes. If they "feel" like doing something, they do it with gusto. If they don't, they whine and complain the whole time. That's where I was at - whining and not feeling like doing the workouts.
Well, I'm glad I realized this, because I was about to give up. After talking with Krissy and she confirmed it,
I've realized that the problem is not the plan, it's me. I've not been sticking to the plan. I've been snacking, binging, overeating, eating late at night and not eating the healthy foods often. There's not been a week where I've followed the eating portion of the plan properly. So, therein lies my downfall - eating. I eat too much, too often, too fast and too late. I'm great at breakfast with portions and self-control, but by the end of the day, I break down and pig out and pig out hard!!!
The challenge is going to be changing my behavior and my thought process. I need to stay disciplined and do what I'm supposed to do even when I don't feel like it - which is very often. So, herein lies my commitment breakdown. Just do the plan. It's a good plan. Just do it. Do it when I don't want to. Do it when I am not feeling like it. I need to just do it.
One other side note is that I've not found a suitable workout time. I've decided the best workout time is in the morning at 6 - 7am. Otherwise, it's not getting done. If I should miss one time, I will do it in the evening between 5 and 6pm or 8-9pm. This is my second choice.
Okay, so there it is. I'm back on my plan and sticking to it!!! On Election Day (Nov. 4), I still have a goal to be 190lbs, 34 in waist and 14% body fat. Here I go again!!!
This time, though, we have a purpose and a goal for the sale. We're expecting our third baby and we need furniture. The boys are moving into the bonus room, the baby is moving into their room. We have big remodelling plans for the upstairs we're about to take on. 
A fellow blogger friend has a challenge on his blog called the "100 Thing Challenge". He challenges you to remove everything from your life except 100 Things. 100 key things you must have to live your life. To learn more, visit his site. I'm not up for the challenge...yet. 1000 Things, maybe.
