Wonderfully Sunny Sunday

Today is one of those cloudless blue sky days full of bright sunshine. If it weren't for the cool temps (up to about 53 F or 12 C), it would be an ideal summer day. These days make me long for Spring.

Yesterday, the nutjobs from Westboro Baptist Church (you know, the freak cult who demonstrate at military funerals) protested near the Beirut Memorial and cemetery. Here's a link to the local news paper's report. Here's a link to the video clip. While I despise what this (dis)organization stands for, I'm glad to live in a country that supports their right to spew hate and derision.

This morning I slept in until 8am. After reading through the newspaper, I went to the gym to do my cardio workout. I ended up doing 60 minutes of elliptical (7.78 miles) followed by 45 minutes of treadmill (2.76 miles). Before I finished, I saw some Trivia Night friends (Micah & Jon) come in and workout. When I got home, I weighed-in and saw that I gained 0.6 pounds but stayed the same bodyfat. To me that means I gained muscle this past week. After all, that's what I'm after.

Last night after dinner, I went to a musical performance at the college. The Music Department presented The Atlas Trio (violin, cello, and piano). I thoroughly enjoyed it. Since they were staying with Jamie & Jerry, afterwards we all went back to their house and had a nice get-together full of singing around Jamie's piano.

Yesterday afternoon I went to see Untraceable. I thought it was very good. It was in the same vein as "Along Came A Spider" or "Seven". Colin Hanks was in it and I thoroughly liked his character. Joseph Cross was great in the film as well....I'd like to say more but it would spoil it. If you want a nice techno-thriller, look into this film.

Rainy Saturday

It's a cold, dreary, rainy Saturday. We might just reach 40 degrees F (4 C) today. Days like today make me want to burrow under the covers and sleep the day away. When I got up at 7:30 am, I was still SO sleepy. Unfortunately, we had to do the weekly shopping. I'm not so sleepy anymore, thankfully.

This week has been pretty good. Monday, we won Trivia Night. Coming in first and spanking the other teams is SO much fun. My night class is going well. The students are very bright and eager to learn. If only all my day students were like that.

My workouts have been going very well. I'm really enjoying the new routine. I have a feeling that the 6-8 weeks of this workout will produce great results.

Yesterday after class, I went to the movies with one of my students. Jen hadn't seen Juno yet and I offered to see it with her. She loved it and I enjoyed it more the second time.

In a bit, Dad and I will be going to see Untraceable. It looks like a great techno-thriller.

Winter Whoosh!

The title of this post refers to two things...the winter weather we're having and my weekly weigh-in.

Well, I didn't get any snow last night. All I ended up getting was a cold rain. Evidently, the cold front stalled and didn't quite make it to the coast. I'm not too sad. While I like snow, I hate how everyone goes crazy when we get even the lightest of flurries. Tonight we're supposed to get down to about 16-18 degrees.....BBBBRRRR!

When I got up this morning at 8am, Dad had a fire going. I love a warm wood fire. Talk about a sensory overload. After reading through the newspaper, I bundled up and went to the gym to do my cardio workout. I changed it up a bit today. I ended up doing 50 minutes on the elliptical followed by 55 minutes on the treadmill. It was good doing something out of the ordinary. Once I got home and weighed-in, I was astonished to see I had lost 4.4 pounds and 0.8% bodyfat. I guess the new full-body workout is working. All I know is, I enjoy the routine.

Not much else going on. I think I might go enjoy some of the warm fire.

Blogthings: What European City Do You Belong In?

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam. Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

What European City Do You Belong In?

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Wintery Weather Saturday

I'm getting a cold rain right now. The kind of rain that's just above snow/sleet. Forecasters are predicting that we might get a bit of snow later on today and tonight. I'll believe it when I see it.

Once again I've been remiss in my blogging. This has been a busy week. I began a new workout routine on Monday. It's basically a full-body workout, but with a twist. Each workout has a different order of exercises. That way, all the big bodyparts get a chance at the beginning of the workout...and a chance to go 'balls to the wall'. So far, I'm liking the new routine. You can check my MSN Space for more detailed info.

Monday night, Trivia Night started for 2008. We had a huge group of people, but about half were there for socializing, not trivia. By the end of the night, it was just Jerry and I doing trivia. Needless to say, we came in second place...Woo Hoo!

Tuesday night was the first night of my "Intro to AutoCAD 2008" class. I ended up having 6 students. The neat thing is, now the students must preregister and pay before they get to class. That frees up a lot of time I used to spend on the first day getting paperwork done. So far, my night students seem quite eager to learn...my favorite kind of student.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to see Cloverfield. I met Jamie and Jerry up at the theater after I got out of work. The early showing (1 pm) was mostly full. I couldn't believe how many teenagers were there. Don't these kids have school? Anyway...the movie was okay, but not up to all the hype. It was basically a young hipster relationship story that just happens to have a monster story as a backdrop. The best part of the whole movie, IMHO, was the teaser trailer for the new Star Trek film coming the end of this year.

Not much else going on. This long weekend I'll be relaxing and catching up with my online class.

Cool & Rainy Sunday...Finally

Well, today has been seasonably cool and rainy...I love it! My cold is about 99.9% gone. Zicam seems to actually work. Go figure!

After perusing the newspaper, I went to the gym and got my cardio workout over with. As usual, I did 60 minutes on the elliptical followed by 45 minutes on the treadmill. The good thing was that I burned more calories than last week...WooHoo! It's funny how the little things make me happy.

When I got back and weighed-in, I was a bit sad to see I gained 2 pounds and 0.5% bodyfat. I was waiting until the end of the month to begin my cut, but I think I'll start it tomorrow. I'll be starting a new workout routine tomorrow, so it's as good a time as any, I suppose. The reason I'm changing up my workout routine is because on Tuesday night I begin teaching my night AutoCAD class. So, that means I won't be able to hit the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My Divisional Chair told me on Friday afternoon (as I was leaving) that she heard that 5 students have pre-paid for the class already. Damn...now the class will definitely run.

Yesterday, Dad wanted to see In The Name Of The King, so we went to see it. Let me say that Dad loved the film. Me, not so much. I felt like it was a rip off Lord Of The Rings meant for basic cable, not the theaters.

Today, after I returned from the gym and got cleaned up, we went to see First Sunday. We both loved that movie. It was hilarious! Katt Williams stole the movie, IMHO.

Not much else going on. The new monitor is working well (knock on wood). This week I'll try backing up my laptop on my new external hard drive.

Back To Blogging

I've missed blogging terribly, this past week. In addition to the Spring Semester starting and all the craziness that entails, both my computers have been acting up. My laptop hard drive is on it's last legs and crashes multiple times a day. Today I got a Western Digital My Book External Hard Drive (320 GB) to back up my laptop. After I do that, I'll be on the lookout for a new laptop. I'm leaning towards a Mac. On to my desktop...well, the computer itself is working well. My old 19" Samsung LCD monitor (2 years old) would cut out (but the power was still on) after working on it for a while. It began at about 4 hours usage, then 3 hours, etc. The other day, it was only on for 45 minutes. So today while I was at Circuit City getting the external hard drive, I picked up an Acer 22" widescreen monitor. It's SO much sharper and bigger. Now I can go blind that much faster! Fingers crossed this slows down the breakdown of my technology (at least for a while).

I'll probably post more later, but I just wanted to get this posted before I forgot.

Sicky On A Sunday

I'm feeling okay, but I think I'm still a bit of a sicky. The Zicam easy dissolve tablets seem to be working even though they taste absolutely horrible! Yuck! Now I basically and alternating between a stuffy nose and a runny nose (but usually one one nostril at a time).

After getting up about 8am, I half-heartedly browsed the newspaper before changing for the gym. I went to the gym and did my 60 minutes on the elliptical followed by 45 minutes on the treadmill. Funny thing is, I felt great while I was exercising...I didn't feel sick at all.

When I got home and weighed-in, I saw I had stayed exactly the same as last week in both weight and bodyfat. While I'm not overjoyed, at least I didn't gain 4 more pounds. The only thing better would've been staying the same weight but losing bodyfat.

Not much else going on. I just finished getting everything ready for both sections of the online class I'm teaching beginning tomorrow. I'll be glad to see the students and catch up on how their break went.

Saturday At The Movies

Well, I woke up this morning with nasal drip and a scratchy throat. Damn all these sick people spreading their germs! I'm taking Zicam Cold Remedy to hopefully nip it in the bud before it gets any worse.

We did the normal weekly grocery shopping. That's always fun, especially when the store is deserted, like this morning.

After that, I worked on my online classes before Dad and I went to the movies to see Juno. It was an absolutely wonderful movie! I might even go see it again. It's one of those small, quiet films that utterly bowls you over. Ellen Page stole the movie...her performance was witty, sarcastic, and touching without being too strained. Michael Cera was so funny as Juno's best friend/sex partner. He was awkward and yet endearing. It's great that two up and coming Canadian actors (Page & Cera) are making names for themselves in America. J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney are perfectly cast as Juno's father and step-mother. Go see this movie and "feel good".

Yesterday was a good return to work. The workshops weren't too bad. It was nice seeing everyone and catching up with fellow faculty/staff.

I had a pretty good arms workout last night despite feeling a bit off (due to the cold I think).

Last Day Of Freedom

Well, today was my last day off. Tomorrow is my first day back to work. It's technically called "Professional Development Day". Woo Hoo! I can hardly contain myself.

BBBBBRRRRR! What a bitterly cold day today. I think we only got to about 35-36 degrees. Tonight we're supposed to dip down to near 18-19 degrees. We had a fire in the fireplace most of the day. The den is very cozy.

I tried to get my haircut, but Rhonda wasn't there. I guess I'll go Saturday. Not much else going on. I was reading more of the Joe Hill book today. I've been feeling kinda "blah" all day. I hope I'm not getting Dad's cold.

Last night, after the gym (great chest workout), I ended up heading over to Jamie's. We all (Jamie, Jerry, Sean, and I) watched "A Clockwork Orange" on DVD. I can't believe that Sean had never seen it. Hell, I can't remember the first time I saw it, but it was when I was a kid.

Jib Jab - Year In Review 2007

I saw a segment on the Today Show this morning and they were taking about this new Jib Jab clip. It's really funny! Check it out.

Jib Jab - In 2007

Happy 2008!

Today was pretty quiet. I slept in until almost 9am. It was a pretty lazy day. After reading the paper and having breakfast, I messed around on the computer. Then I went to see P.S., I Love You at the theater. Talk about a "chick flick"...out of about 30 people, there was only 5 men (including my dad and I). The movie was good, albeit a bit weepy. The definite bonus was seeing both Gerard Butler and Harry Connick, Jr. in the same film. Woof!

Dinner was a nice, quiet affair. Afterwards, I met Jamie up at Starbucks to gab. After it got too cold and we finished our coffees, we both went to Best Buy. He got some Beatles CDs and I got the new Rufus Wainwright double CD "Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall". Talk about a winning combination.

I hope that everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve last night. My wish is for 2008 to be full of health, laughter, and love...for all my friends and family. For me, I'd like to continue on my path to becoming a fitter, healthier person.