Atrophy, Sweet Atrophy!

So I'm now on week four (or was it five…) of my strike from any form of exercise. I wasn’t terribly good about working out every day before, but I’ve been amazingly consistent when it comes to missing days. If I just manage my expectations, omit little details here and there, and get a little bit creative with my goals, I think I may just be able to pull off some impressive accomplishments. “Wow! I just went 27 days in a row! That’s pretty awesome. Way to go self! You deserve a pretzel.” The funny thing, in a not so “ha ha” sort of way, is that I’ve actually lost a couple of pounds over the last month. The only thing I can figure is that I’m still burning obscene amounts of calories simply through the overuse of my brain. I’ve averaged about a 70 hour week here at the office since the onset of the dreaded business plan season, and the vast majority of that time is spent sitting in front of this very computer monitor, and typing furiously or wiggling my mouse in asymmetric patterns. The wrong parts of me are starting to look bigger again, and the wrong parts are starting to look weak again, and yet the scale tells me I’m still dropping weight. I would consider marketing this amazing new diet, but I really doubt anyone would want to participate. Allow me to illustrate through a simple role play. “Hey, have you heard about the amazing new diet where you sit in one place for endless hours, you don’t get to see your family, you get even more out of shape, and you can develop a sweet case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!?” “Wow! Where do I sign up!?” Yeah, not a successful formula for becoming an instant millionaire.

On the upside, I’ve been taking a little bit longer to get out of the house in the mornings lately because I hang out with Matthew. He’s super happy in the mornings, so it’s fun to play with him and let Jen sleep for an extra three minutes before we get too noisy. He’s still debating whether he wants to waste his efforts and energy learning to crawl (after all, the “army scooch” is remarkably effective) or just going straight to walking. If he holds onto your fingers, he can make his way across the room. He’s officially 20+ pounds now, he’s definitely teething, and he’s had 5 haircuts. Very eventful.

Since I don’t have anything else to say about working out, and won’t for a couple more weeks, I’ll let you in on a little list I’ve mentally started putting together. It’s going to be titled something like, “The Top 50 Things I want to Do In My Life.” It’s going to be a lovely list when it’s completed, and it will likely contain some of the things I’ve already done, but it will take some time to refine. Here’s a potential portion of the travel section in the event any of you are interested in starting to plan your next vacation:

· Egypt (Pyramids of Giza, Great Sphinx, sand, camels)
· Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Onion Domes, etc.)
· Rome (Coliseum, Vatican City, Pantheon, etc.)
· Australia (Sydney Opera House, Great Barrier Reef, Boomerangs, Kangaroos, etc.)
· Jerusalem (Gethsemane, Golgotha, Dead Sea,… everything)
· England (Big Ben (for Jenny), Stonehenge, a double decker bus, etc.)

· Antarctica (Why the heck not!?)
· Houston (No other reason necessary)