Screw Five Hour Energy

Good Sunday Morning ya'll. I am up and at'em at 4:30 a.m. this morning. I generally am an early riser, but I hadn't been getting up this early for awhile. I suppose this morning stems from the fact Kathy and I conked out early last night. I am pretty sure we both fell asleep right around 9 watching the Last Air Bender. We were some really active people yesterday and I guess it took its toll on us. But I just have to say this, screw 5 Hour Energy, I can go all day without it!

I started off yesterday with a couple of cups of coffee as usual. Then I decided my legs felt good enough for another good jog in the park, so I headed out. I don't know if I mentioned it but my parents gave me back my old Mazda pick up I gave them when I bought their truck. My F150 has been eating the gas up lately and with prices like they are, I just couldn't keep shoveling out that much in gas with our meager budget. So I got it all insured and tagged Friday and have been driving it since. That makes it easier for me to drive down to the park and jog, which is my new zen lately. I got another excellent 3 miles in. And here is a complex aspect of yesterday's jog. I am this weird combination of overly competitive, sympathetic and empathetic. There was a younger guy there jogging while I was there, probably early 20's. Wasn't really overweight, not skinny but not overweight either. He was doing the trail in the opposite direction as me, and the first time I met him, he was jogging. Well competitive me said ok, be sure to meet him no less than half way around on the other side, so I kicked it up a notch. I get a good pace going and start to look for him on the other side of the trail, and he is nowhere around. I get about 3/4 maybe a little less around from where I met him the first time and finally run into him, and he is jogging again, but I deduce he had to have stopped or walked really slow at some point. So after passing him this time, I once again vow, make sure to meet him no less than half way around from here. So I once again set my pace and keep going. This lap I spotted him on the other side of the lake and it seemed he was at an appropriate pace to meet me at the half way point, so I make sure i don't lose steam on the hills between us. I get to where we should have intersected and he isn't there, and is nowhere to be seen. I finally spot him on a hill side on the side of the trail. I did take a great deal of pride in having beaten a younger man at jogging. That was competitive me. I also felt bad that he had to see that his level of fitness was less than mine and I immediately begin to worry that this little episode could go one of two ways. He gets it and starts taking steps to get in better shape, or he says this is ridiculous, why should I even try. I for all I am worth hope that he chooses the former. I know I chose the latter and it didn't really turn out well for me. It was one of those situations where you really want to stop and approach the stranger and strike up a conversation with them and see if you can impart knowledge upon them, but you just don't know how to do it and how they will take it.

So anyway, on to the rest of the day. In the past, if I had just finished a second long run (relatively long at least) for the weekend, likely that would have equaled me in the recliner for the weekend, not for lack of want but for lack of ability to move!! I love that my fitness and energy levels are through the roof! So I get home and obviously get out of my sweaty clothes. Once I got dressed, I transitioned directly into garage cleaning mode. My garage was a huge disaster area, and I had set my mind to get some cleaning and arranging done this weekend. So I got out there and got a good start on it, cleaning and arranging stuff and figuring out piles for Goodwill, piles for trash dump, and possible dump piles. I had a couple of things I put on Craigslist too but I haven't heard back from the people that were interested in them yet. So Kathy comes and tells me it is time for us to go to the Girl Scout Cookie booth sale. So I hopped in the shower real quick and we head out the door to go set up our booth for cookie sales. We were there for about two hours, and one of the things our troop does is make sure that we make a scene by our booth so that people notice we are out there and will pull in and buy cookies from us. So we all got out there by the road and acted like fools, holding up our signs and dancing and hollering and doing cheers. I became a professional "Herky" do-er yesterday. For those that don't know, it is a mid air splits I guess. I did that and I was trying to learn how to do the thing where you jump up and bring your legs up so you can touch both your sets of toes in mid air. I am not professional at that yet, but give me time. We had a blast! And I still had enough energy to burn that we came home and I finished the cleaning the garage for the most part. I got the bikes we don't use much hung from the ceiling, the scooters hung on the wall, my tool box and my work bench moved and organized, cleaned off our disaster area of a shelf system and organized it so it makes sense, finished sweeping the floor and arranged the piles. I took a trip to Lowe's and purchased some wall mount organizers for my tools that hang, like rakes, shovels, hedge clippers etc. I need one more of those and I will be good to go and my garage will be in the best shape ever! So we finally knocked off around 7, and I did something that felt odd, even though it had been so common place before. We decided to go out to our local italian eatery that we both love so well. It is great, but I had been getting the Italian chicken salad, which is essentially the same as I eat at home, a garden salad with chicken breast, but the breast is cooked so yummy, I wish I could get their seasoning secret! But last night, I said heck with it and I got the stromboli! oh it was so good. I also ate two pieces of bread they bring before the meal. I will say this. It was all good stuff, but it just didn't hold the pleasureful feeling for me it used to. It was not "emotionally fulfilling" like it used to be. It was just food and I was full by the time the meal was over, and not the good kind, it was the blech kind of full. I learned something last night, I just don't like that feeling anymore. I am changed I guess. I am sure I will still go out there and eat their good food every once in awhile, but it won't be a goal in life like it used to be. It won't have that excitement level, it won't define me. It seems that truth be told, my jogging has taken over as my defining activity, and that don't suck!

So I am not creative, not on whit, but I had this funny scene going on in my head yesterday, and it made me laugh. I think you guys may be the only ones who get it, so I am gonna share it. I have talked about this and have seen others talk about it in the blogosphere as well. for many many years, I was the "fat guy". That is just how I was known. In a lot of different groups of friends and acquaintances groups, that was me, "you know Shane, the fat guy from the party". So I am working away in the garage and it just occurs to me that some of the people I "know" seem to kinda have a freak out about me losing weight when I have seen them out and about. So, I imagined this scene. Open, a large room filled with people that know me, one of them running what is obviously a meeting of some sort. They call the meeting to order. " Okay, as you all know, we are here to meet about Shane, you know " the fat guy". The crowd acknowledges, "oh yeah, I know him". So the leader goes on to make it known that Shane has recently dropped 99 pounds and looks nothing like he is "supposed to". The din grows as people begin to discuss. The leader calls it back to order. So here is the issue, if he keeps it up, one of us is in danger of becoming "fat guy"!! And the crowd goes into a frenzy realizing that there is a situation they don't want to be in, chaos erupts!! That is about as far as I took it, but it made me laugh to imagine it. Not a Jack Sh*t kind of funny, but you know, humorous.

Ok, gotta finish the coffee and I think today looks like a walking instead of jogging day. I do believe Kathy and I will be hitting the hiking trail today and I want so save some legs for that. Ya'll have a wonderful and blessed Sunday!