It's All Mental...or At Least Mostly

Endurance.

Persistence.

In my journey to health, for each thing that I learn about fitness, I learn two things about myself.  Recently I learned just how much running is mental.  I know, for all you runners out there, you've known this for years, but for me it was something of a revelation.

I was running the other night and I started feeling a little tired.  I really wanted to stop, but I thought to myself, "I can run down to that corner," so I did.  Then I thought, "I can make it to the end of this street."  Guess what?  I made it there, too.

The funny thing was, I really wasn't any more exhausted at the at the end of the street than when I had that first inclination to stop.  It was entirely "in my head".  I wasn't actually close to any kind of physical failure at all, it was purely mental.

When you're exercising by yourself, and there's no one there to pace yourself against or to cheer you on, the only one that chooses when to stop, is you.  Or in this case, me.

What I learned that night about myself was that while I had been fairly disciplined with my exercise routine, I hadn't really been pushing myself.  Normally when I get tired, I stop.  I wonder how many times in my life I've done that?  Just stopping because I wasn't mentally tough enough to push just a little bit more?

"So, Aaron, what's the point?"

Mostly I'm writing this to just help me digest my own thoughts.  But, if this helps someone that reads this get past a little mental "tiredness", too?   Bonus.

It's a Quiz

One of my favorite bloggers, Misfit in Paradise, tagged me with this task. The task is to answer 10 questions presented to me, then tag 5 other people to answer 10 new questions. Sadly, I don't really have 5 other blogger friends, but I may (or may not) tag a few people in Facebook (since this will end up there as well).

1. (My old standby) You can invite 3 people to dinner. They can be from the past, present, or future. Who are they? C.S. Lewis, Axel Rose, Jesus

2. Why did you start a blog? (Blatantly stolen from Strawberry Jam Anne) I like to write, but I am usually too lazy. I thought a blog might require writing in small enough chunks that I would actually do it. And I crack myself up sometimes, and wanted to share it.

3. Monkeys, llamas, or horses? Yes.

4. Comedies or poignant dramas? Definitely comedies. I'm too much of a crier.

5. Do you have siblings? What kind (brothers, sisters, evil aliens)? If yes, where do you fit in the lineup? I am the youngest of three siblings (by 7 years). If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably already know that my oldest sister passed away last December after a year and a half fight with lung cancer. She was a incredible person. My "middle" sister is one of the most compassionate, kind, and sweetest (and goofiest) people I've ever met.

6. Besides me, who is your favorite author? What book? C.S. Lewis - Perelandra

7. Are you a Gleek? Unfortunately.

8. Do you have any You Tube subscriptions? If yes, what? RhettandLink (great internetainers), Pomplamoose (very inventive musicians)

9. Inside? Outside? Country? City? Summer - inside, winter - outside, country - living, city - vacationing.

10. Paper, plastic, or bring your own? Bring our own.

Thankfully 2009

Last year, I wrote a little post called "Thankfully...". This year, back by popular demand (not really, I just decided to do it), is this year's "Thankfully" post. Come to think of it, only one section changed. Interesting.

My thankful lists, by category:

Biggees:
My wife
My son
My family
My friends
My church
My job
My home
My health

Random:
Laptops

Pimento Cheese

Gas Grills

MS-SQL

Rebooting

Droid

Good books

Prolific authors

Pickles

Recliners

Elastic

Comic books

Netflix

(last, but not least)
Spiritual:
The Cross
Grace
Mercy
A God Who Loves Me

Not That Scary

The other day I posted about my then upcoming employee physical. I was a little concerned about my health stats since it's been a long time since I've had them done.

Well, I had it today, and...not too bad.

My LDL and cholesterol were a little high, but my triglycerides were fine and my HDL was just a point off. Not bad for a fat guy. It still motivated me to want to get all my stats down within range.

At least she didn't call 911 when she saw my readings and start yelling things like "We need a CBC and chem 7 stat! Hang 2 more liters of O-!!" like they always do on TV.

Thanks to those of you that were concerned with me!

Body Image Part II

I while back I wrote about how we sometimes get an image of ourselves locked in our mind, and when we change (gain weight, grey hair, etc.) we end up in a situation where our inward image and outward image don't jive. Of course, I can't speak for everyone, but it has happened to me.

I just wanted to expand the idea a little and let you fill in the holes.

On a personal level, I'm talking about moral drift. The person that compromises just a little at work. The first time it is tough, the next time easier, etc., etc.

Organizations can do that, too. Our government, for example. How about a church? How about The Church?

Just something to think about.

Body Image

I'm forty. 40. The big four-oh. The interesting thing to me is that I still feel 18. Maybe 21. I definitely don't feel 40. Heck, most of the time I don't even feel like an adult. (Shhh!! Don't tell my son.)

Recently, my friend Chris has posted a bunch of pictures from high school. In my mind's eye, that's still how I see myself. I forget I have lots of gray hair until I look in a mirror. I don't realize how my waistline has increased until I until I get into a Hyundai. (More like "put on" a Hyundai.)

My body image is trapped in 1987...along with my taste in music. At least my hairstyle got free.

There's a bigger point to this, but I think I will save it for next time...

A Scary Day

Next week, I'm scheduled to do my yearly pseudo-physical for work. This year, we're being required to have a lipid panel and blood sugar checked. It's just a finger stick. No big deal, right?

I'm not worried about the stick. I have a pretty high pain tolerance.

The scary part is that I haven't had my lipids checked in a long time. I'm afraid that I might get my results back and they will just say:

Chol = cheeseburger

HDL = french fries

LDL = sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit

I guess we'll see next week!

Oh, and let me clarify. We're not really being "required" to have our lipids and blood sugar done. But if we don't get it done our insurance will cost us $2o more per pay period.

What's your cholesterol?

Ready for Additional Help

Okay, the other day I posted about a tree that I had seen, hoping to get some help figuring out what kind of tree it is. I went back to the tree and took some more pictures. Any ideas anyone?

I Need Your Help

What is kind of tree is this? Does anyone know? It's not a fig tree. The leaves below the fruit look like fig leaves, but it's actually the leaves above the fruit that belong to the tree that the fruit is on.

Help!

Like My Lunchbox?

Last year, on November 20th, I celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary (as did my wife). I am not one of those guys that jokes about "the ole ball-and-chain", etc. I know how incredibly blessed I am to be married to the woman that I am incredibly blessed to be married to. ( That last sentence was on purpose. I'm that incredibly blessed.)

Anyway, my incredible blessing of a wife got me a great present last year for our anniversary. A lunchbox. But not just any lunchbox. No! It's a Captain America lunchbox! It's awesome.

Now to answer the obvious question. Do I carry it to work? You bet I do. Usually it contains some chips, a sandwich, maybe some yogurt. It can hold all kinds of great things. After all, it is a lunchbox.

Now here's the interesting thing. At least, interesting to me. In high school, even Jr. high, I would never, EVER, have been seen carrying a lunchbox like this. I was way too worried about being cool. Well...trying to be cool. I never actually managed it.

I was in the worst of situations. I was a smart, slightly (at the time) overweight kid that ended up excelling in band of all things. I collected comic books, read a lot, played D&D and Risk, and loved computers when computers weren't yet cool. (I am sure I would have been picked on more if I wasn't bigger than most of my teachers.)

Of course, NONE of this was mentioned at school. Most of my best friends were nerds, but, of course, being the lame, self-conscious, peer-aware person that I was, I tried not to associate too much with them at school. (one of the few things I truly regret from high school.) I was too busy trying to impress the "cool kids". I know it sounds like an After School special, but it's true. It wasn't the "cool kid's" fault. They didn't know that the very reason I often acted like a jerk and a dweeb was because I was trying hard not to act like a geek and a nerd.

Then I went to college. Something happened. Suddenly, I was immersed in a culture where the things that I did best (musically, scholastically) were highly esteemed. My peer group respected me.

Then something else happened. I became a Christian. I had always sort of considered myself a Christian, but had never really read the Bible or felt like God had any active participation in my life. (But that's an entirely different story.) One of the changes this brought in my life was a sense of freedom. I was no longer worried about what other people thought. I was able to be myself.

Interestingly enough, I found out I liked me. And strangely enough, other people did, too. I found that I had a gift for making friends and hospitality. You might ask, "You?" Yep, me.

I discovered that my quirks are what makes me who I am. I love comic books. I wear shorts in the winter. I love to laugh at really stupid movies. I get loud sometimes. I say what's on my mind. I love people and really mean it when I tell them, "The first time at my house you're a guest, if you come back, you're family." When I tell people, "Come to Atlanta, you can stay at our house," I sincerely hope they will.

What you see is what you get. The guy sitting in the cubicle next to you singing the Speed Racer theme song? That's me. If it bothers you, I'll stop, but I'm not embarrassed to be doing it. I've embraced my geek-ness and idiosyncrasies, and I'm loving life.

Do you like my lunchbox? I do.

Reflections

The title's not talking about looking back to the past. It's referring to how our kids are such reflections of us.

My (almost) three-year-old son brought me one of my videos of the The Tick and asked if we could watch it. I told him that we could watch it as soon as I finished the blog that I was writing for Father's Day. Below is his reply. Verbatim.

"Okay! That would be a perfect plan! Fantastic!!"

Oh, where does he get such a flair for the dramatic? Gee...I don't know.

It's Been A While

Wow! I haven't posted since the other day. My family was gone to Texas for two weeks, and I kept myself pretty busy with "honey-do"s. Since they returned on Saturday we've just been playing catch-up.

So, if you have wondered if I had fallen off the face of the earth, the answer is no. First of all, it has been proven that the world is, in fact, round, and therefore has no face from which to fall. Secondly, I promised the other day to only post if I had something to say. Truthfully, I've been so busy I haven't had time to think about anything to say.

That being said, I have a few things I will probably be posting about in the next little bit.

1) Labels

2) Dreams

3) Other stuff

See you soon.

Bach(elor)-ing It

Monday morning my wife of 15 years is heading to Texas for two weeks. Her sister just had a little baby girl on Monday. Welcome to the world Ella Grace! (That brings my total to 6 nieces and 3 nephews). Cheryl is going to help her sister out and spend some time with family and friends.

Two weeks!! That's the longest I've been alone since we've gotten married. I hope I can handle it! Apparently my wife is a little concerned for me as well. Check out the picture of our freezer. That's right! Tater tot casserole and meatballs (with green olives and feta cheese) and mashed potatoes.

What a woman. Only one of many reasons that my ringtone for her is the Wonder Woman theme song.

Proverbs 31:28-29
Her children respect and bless her; her husband joins in with words of praise: “Many women have done wonderful things, but you’ve outclassed them all!”

Shifting Gears

When I was about 4, I used to ride on our John Deere lawn mower with my older sister while she mowed the yard.

On a side note, people make me laugh when they call their lawn mowers "lawn tractors". I don't know...I guess it's because I've driven lots of tractors, and anything you can load in the back of a pickup is not a tractor.

On another side note, I always say that I "mowed the yard". I never "cut the grass" or "mow the lawn". I always mow the yard.

Back to the story...

On one particular day, my sister and I were mowing the yard (not cutting the grass), and she pulled up by the house and parked. We got off the lawn mower (not tractor) and went inside for something to drink. We stayed inside for a few minutes, and I was ready to get back to work. So I got the key off of the hook and went back outside.

You see, I thought I knew how to drive the lawn mower. It was simple. You pressed down the pedal, cranked the engine, let out the pedal and drove. There was another pedal you held down to start the blades spinning. If you wanted to go backward, you pressed down the pedal, looked backwards, let the pedal out and started going backwards.

Of course, all this time what I HADN'T seen was my sister reaching down on the side and changing the gear from forward to reverse. One small, but vital, piece of info.

So, I climbed up in the seat and pushed down the pedal. I stuck the key in ignition and cranked it up. I turned and looked back behind me, let out the pedal...and promptly ran the lawn mower into the side of the house.

The Soundtrack of My Life

As I was driving around Saturday night, delivering pizza, I had it on an "oldies" station. A particular song came on (to be honest, I can't remember which one), and it instantly took me back to a particular time and place in my life.

This got me thinking about the songs in my life that did that to me. These are the milestone songs that are irrevocably tied to an era in my life. So here it is: the soundtrack of my life. Sorry it is somewhat long...but I am 40 now.

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up to 8
Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott (The Statler Brothers)
Saturday Night (The Bay City Rollers)
When I hear these songs I'm taken back to the home of my childhood. I would listen to these songs (and others) on 8-track (click here if you don't know what an 8-track is), and play pool in our little gameroom. Sometimes we would use the pool table to have a place to play with all my army men.

3rd - 4th Grade
Summer Nights (Grease Soundtrack)
This song takes me back to 3rd/4th grade. The first time I remember hearing it was at Shari Morris' house on their 8-track. For some reason, I also always associate this song with my first girlfriend, Kelly McGraw (other than Luann Teboe in kindergarten...I broke up with her because she got the mumps). She lived right down the road from Shari...maybe that's why. I wonder if Kelly ever knew she was my girlfriend?

5th - 6th Grade
Tommy Soundtrack (Various Artists)
By this time, we had moved into the "new house". We had a gameroom there as well. I had left behind the Statler Brothers, and now liked to listen to Tommy while playing pool, and, you guessed it, pinball. I fancied myself a pinball wizard. Of course, this was on 8-track as well.

Summer Before 9th Grade
Friday Night Videos (Various Artists)
Ahhh...1983...the year Friday Night Videos made its debut. I'll never forget that night. It opened with Billie Jean (Michael Jackson, of course). Also that night: Hungry Like the Wolf (Duran, Duran), Let's Dance (David Bowie). I want to say that Come on Eileen, Our Love's In Jeopardy, Safety Dance, and Our House were also on that same episode, but it may have been later. Regardless, any of those songs takes me back 25 years instantly.

9th Grade
More Than a Feeling (Boston)
Being in 9th grade to me meant a lot of changes. I was in high school now, and I had friends that could drive. One of my best friends from my freshman year was Tyree Collier (he used to give his name as George when we would eat somewhere that put your name on the ticket...I always thought that was funny). Tyree was a senior. We fought back and forth that year for trumpet section leader, and became good friends while doing so. One thing I learned from Tyree has had a lasting impact on my life: the guitar. Tyree played guitar, and since he was a senior, and extremely cool, I thought playing the guitar would be cool. He introduced me to Boston, and one of the first songs he played for me was More Than a Feeling. So, years later, after all the bass and guitar gigs I've played, in church and out of church, in cover bands and original bands, it can all be traced be traced back to Tyree and Boston.

10th Grade
Eliminator (ZZ Top)
When I turned 16, my parents gave me a 1977 Camaro. I know, cool, huh? It rocked. I used to drive around town, listening to my ZZ Top cassette on my 8-track adapter. That's right. It had an 8-track AM/FM radio...and I had an adapter. Like I said...it rocked.

High School in General
Anything from any John Hughes movie or Back to the Future(1985)
Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Back to the Future...play a song from any of these and I am in high school again.

Freshman Year College
Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns n' Roses)
My freshman year in college, I was in a cover band called Shattered Image. I know, cool name, huh? We played pretty regularly, had the worst sound equipment ever, had no idea what we were doing, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Tim Moss, Keith McLeod, and Bryan Armstrong were the other members of the band. Sweet Child O' Mine is indelibly linked to that time in my life.

Sophomore Year College
Lead Me On (Amy Grant)
For you Christian types out there (you know who you are), you may recognize that this is the first song by a Christian artist on this list. It's true. I didn't even know that "Christian music" was a genre until then. This was the time of my personal spiritual awakening, when I started reading the Bible and trying to figure out what I really believed.

Senior Year(s) College
Out of the Silent Planet (King's X)
Fast forward a few years, and you'll find me in college in a Christian band called Reckless Abandon (or Restless Ambition, as we were introduced one time). I roomed with several guys from the band (and some guys not from the band). Me, Mark, Coe, Russ, Tornado Tommy, Randy, Kenny (unofficially Seth...it just seemed like he lived there) all live at one time or another in what we called the Reckless Abode. We had quite the time. At one point, there were 6 of us living there. Tommy, who is worthy of his own blog post, introduced me to King's X. To this day one of my favorite bands (at least their first 4 albums). When I hear Goldilox from their Out of the Silent Planet album, it's like I'm back in the Abode again, fighting over who should have to wash the dirty dishes.

Circa 2000
Mezzamorphis (Delirious?)
This is one of my favorite albums of all time of all time. Also, King of Fools, another album by Delirious? is one of my other favorite albums of all time of all time. One reason I think this album, and two songs in particular off of it, My Glorious and Mezzanine Floor, evoke such strong memories is that I used them in a video I made about the youth ministry I was leading at the time.

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Well, there you have it. These things are, of course, always in retrospect. I'm interested to see in 10 years what songs make me think about moving to Atlanta. If I'm still blogging then, I'll let you know.

Care to share any songs from your soundtrack?

It's Just Some Comic Books

When I was 9 years old, my family became friends with a family named the Sweets. They had a son named Woody who was a couple of years older than me. He collected comic books, so I started collecting comic books.

I loved to read, and I already had quite a few comics, but the idea of collecting them was new to me. Woody introduced me to price guides, correct storage and handling, etc. I wanted to collect everything, but that of course was impossible, so I decided to focus on my favorite: The Avengers.

The Avengers had all the greatest heroes: Iron Man, Captain America, Ant Man, Thor, The Wasp, and more. Of course, the Avengers also included The Vision, who was my favorite.

After I had been collecting for a year or two, my family took a trip to a large flea market/trade day/swap meet in Pearland, Texas. It just so happened, one of the permanent stores at this location was a comic shop! Wahoo!! Comic books!

In this comic shop, like most, comics were organized alphabetically by title, starting from the lowest numbered issue and going forward. When we entered the store, I went straight for the Avengers, and started looking through the most recent issues. I only had a few dollars with me, and I knew I could get more book for my buck by buying the newer issues, which are usually the least expensive.

So, as I was looking through the 150's and 160's, my dad walked up and started looking through the box to my left. He pulled out a comic and laid it on the box.

"Do you have this one?"

I glanced over, it was Avengers issue number 23!

"No sir," I said, thinking to myself, "Of course not, Dad, that's number 23!" At that time, my oldest issue was number 127. I went back to sorting through the 150s: 152...need it...153...got it.

"Do you have this one?" He had laid issue 24 on top of 23.

"No sir."

Okay...154...got it...155...got it.

"How about this one?"

Issue 26. Now I started to get suspicious.

"No sir."

Issue 27 joined the pile. "This one?"

I just shook my head.

"These the other ones you need?" he asked, picking up the stack I had created.

I just nodded.

Dad walked up to the counter and purchased them. I was now the owner of issues 23, 24, 26, and 27!! No way!!

Almost 30 years later, I can still tell you the numbers of those four issues. It wasn't the fact that my dad spent some money on me and bought me some comics. It was that he participated. Even though it was only for a few minutes and in a small degree, he demonstrated that he knew something about what I was interested in. My dad was not a "comic book kind of guy". In fact, in his life, I don't know that he ever read a single comic.

Of course, this wasn't the only time my dad ever participated in the things I liked. He was my t-ball coach, and came to see me play the trumpet every time I played. But there was something about that day, that moment, that has always stuck with me.

I think it is for two reasons. One, he surprised me! I had no idea he was going to do what he did. And two, I didn't ask him to do it. Not only was he willing, he initiated it. Oh yeah, there's a third reason...it involved the Avengers!

Life on the Hut Line Part II

Part I is available here if you want to catch up.


Me: Thanks for calling Pizza Hut/Wing Street. This is Aaron, will this be for delivery or carryout?

Caller: Delivery. I want a...

Me: Sir? (Attempting to interrupt)

Caller: ...large hand-tossed...

Me: Sir? (Attempting to interrupt again)

Caller: Yes?

Me: Can I get your phone number please?

Caller: Sure. It is 770-555-1793. And I want a...

Me: Sir?

Caller: Yes?

Me: Can I also get your address please?

Caller: Sure. It's 505...Ridge Lane...Mableton...30126. Now, I want a large...

Me: Sir?

Caller: ...hand-tossed...

Me: Sir?

Caller: ...pepperoni pizza with extra black-olives...

Me: Sir?

Caller: ...only on half. Can you do that, put extra olives on half?

Me: Sir, I'm sorry, but...

Caller: That's okay, I'll just get two mediums...

Me: Sir, I'm sorry, but...

Caller: ...one with extra olives, one without...

Me: Sir!!

Caller: Yes?

Me: Sir, I'm sorry, but we don't deliver to your area. Here' the number of our Mableton store...

Life on the Hut Line

As a delivery driver for the Hut, one of my duties is answering the phone. It never fails that at least one call every night goes thusly...

Me: Thanks for calling Pizza Hut/Wing Street. This is Aaron, will this be for delivery or carryout?

Caller: Yeah...uhhh...what specials do you have?

Me: We have our Pizza Mia deal. You can get 3 or more medium 1 topping hand-tossed pizzas for $5 each.

Caller: Any other specials?

Me: Well, you can get 2 medium, 1 topping pizzas and 10 wings for $21.99, or you can get 2 medium, 1 topping pizzas, breadsticks, and chocolate dunkers for $19.99.

Caller: Uhhh...

Me: How many people are you buying for?

Caller: Uhhh...just me.

Me: Okay. We also have our personal pan combo. It's a personal pan pizza, salad and a drink.

Caller: Umm...that's okay. I've got a coupon here for an $8.99 medium pizza...I'll just use it.

Post 101

So, being the genius that I am, I created a post asking all my friends to send their friends to my blog, seeing as how it is so awesome and all.

And, since I planned SO far in advance and REALLY thought this through, the first thing most of them found was the blog asking my friends to send them there! What a clever person I am. Argghh!

So then I started thinking, "I've got to come up with something great...now! Or I'm going to miss the opportunity to impress all these new visitors." (Thanks to Dan for reminding of that.)

I logged in and...nothing. Blogger's block. I got nothing. Every idea I came up with even sounded stupid to me.

So I've just made a resolution to myself and to you, the reader. I've drawn a line in the sand that I will not cross. I promise not blog something unless I really feel it. I promise. Other than this one. Because this one doesn't count because I was "drawing the line" in this one. So it doesn't count, okay? But after this one...no more filler...after this one.

A Story (Confession)

Just so you know, my mom subscribes to this blog (Hi, Mom!), which is why the title of this post has the word confession in it. My mom thinks I am wonderful son, and I do try to be. Of course, no one is perfect, so now that I am fast approaching 40, there's something I have to come clean about.

The summer after my freshman year in college, my parents went out of town...twice...and I had a party...both times. Mom knew that I had some friends over. Several friends, actually. But what she didn't know is that we moved all the furniture out of the living room, set up my band's sound equipment and had a "party". When she got back after the second one, Mom found a beer cap and asked me if anyone had brought beer over. I think I mumbled something about Earl Hassell (he seemed like a good person to blame it on at the time) bringing some over, and changed the subject.

Sorry, Mom. I always meant to tell you, but how do you bring something like that up? "Hey Mom! Remember when you went out of town 20 years ago? I had a party."

I have an idea! How about I write a blog about it and post it on the internet for everyone to read?

Okay, now that my confessions and apologies are out of the way. I can tell the story that I wanted to tell.

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After the first party was over and we had put up the sound equipment, brought back in the living room furniture, and cleaned up the mess, I happened to look in the refrigerator in the game room. This fridge had my dad's beer in it. And by "had", I mean past tense. All of dad's beer was gone.

It is really hard to have a party without your parents finding out when people drink all of your dad's beer. Luckily, one of my friends, Keith, (yes, Mom, Keith McLeod) was able to go get some beer to replace it, and everything was okay.

When we decided to have the second party, I got smart. I stacked all my dad's beer up neatly in one corner of the fridge and put a note on it that said: DO NOT DRINK THIS BEER.

The next morning I went out to the fridge, opened the door, and couldn't help but laugh. There was one beer left. The one with the note on it. All the rest was gone.