Weighter Matters

I've posted about reaching my weight goal (215 lbs for a month), but in the month or so since then, the lbs. have started inching up again (and my waist has begun to centimeter out again). Partly this was because of a sever foot injury (requiring my first X-rays!) preventing me from running for awhile, but mostly it was just not having a goal.



It was hard thinking of another sufficiently motivating goal, the Wii was a really good one (even if I never have time to play) and I struggled to come up with something else that would entice me to drop another 20-25 lbs or so (5-10 of those being ones I had already lost this year). Then I had it. I'm going to run a marathon!



I know, suffering both mind and body for 4-6 hours doesn't sound like much of a reward for getting in shape, especially when compared to a Wii (note how there's no "Wii Marathon" game), but I know myself and a little reverse psychology* is just what I need right now. The other thing I need is support. I have my eye on the Logan Marathon in September which does give much time for dilly-dallying as they say. If I tell a lot of people, especially in writing, like now, then that'll help motivate me, because you all can keep me honest. So if you chat with me before September, ask how the training's going. The first two weeks have been impressive, although my 10 mile run yesterday was more of a shuffle, still I'm getting faster and more consistent in my running.



*I'm also using some regular old psychology to buy myself some books on Amazon a certain running sub-goals.

Surprised by surprise

There's one thing you should know about my dear sweet wonderful wife. She cannot, for the life of her, pull of a surprise. She's horrible at being sneaky and inevitably drops hints and teases that give things away. Contrast this with my family growing up. One summer day my mom and aunt tell me and my brothers "Let's go to the beach." We all piled in the car, but two hours later we were still on the highway... "Oh, we're going to a different beach than usual," they said (we could reach the beach in an hour and a half from our house normally).



About halfway down the New Jersey Turnpike, they put in a tape that had been put together by a DJ my Aunt knew. It played songs specially dedicated to the family (like "Put Me in Coach" for Seth) and announced the weather plan for Florida... we were going to Disney for two weeks.*



Anyway... Back to Nicole. While I delight in surprising her, she's really more of a "open the presents when you get them and sneak a peak into the kitchen when I'm making a special meal" kind of girl.



So when she surprised me on Wednesday... I was really surprised. Without me suspecting a single thing, she organized a large (and well attended) party to celebrate my thesis defense. We had planned on spending a few hours together that night since she would be out of town for the next four days and I let her plan the date. She brought me to BYU's Museum of Art, but after 10 minutes it closed (there were some really interesting pieces on display too, including the I-Spy guy's stuff). Nicole was believably disappointed that her plan was cut short and we went home to regroup. That's when over a dozen of my friends shouted surprise. In the 15 minutes or so that we had been gone, they had put up decorations, got a stack of pizzas, and set up a chocolate fondue.



So props to Nicole, for a great party and an amazingly successful surprise. While this was a real accomplishment for her (keeping a secret), I don't think it's let to a permanent change. As she put it later, "Lying is hard!"



*Now mine is also a family of planning, another trip we took had weekly family planning meetings for a year with us kids managing the "Vacation Fund" and having a vote as to hotels and destinations.

Masters of the University

Unfortunately, this post is not about He-Man and his Masters of the Universe. However, I did recently hear a fantastic orchestral version of the He-Man and She-Ra themes on youtube that no 80's child should go without watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFM95w4CXT0

No, this post is to announce the completion of my first two years of Grad school through the successful defense of my thesis. My mentor said "That was the least scathed I've ever seen anyone get through the defense." This despite one of the committee members threatening to bring barbecue sauce to roast me...

If it weren't for Matthew 10:10* I bet M.S.'s would insist on being called Master like PhD's insist on being called Doctor.

*My birthday's actually on 10/10... I'm sure there's a message in there for me somewhere, but who knows what it could be...