Must not sit

It's Saturday at 8:11am and I have already made the first mistake of the day.

I sat down.

My to-do list is a mile long and quite evident as I look around the house at the kitchen that needs to be picked up; the piles of laundry waiting to be washed, dried, folded and put away; the blankets strewn about the family room. Don't even get me started on my bedroom. If I were my mother, I would have a fit at the condition of the bedroom. I could go on, but it will start getting depressing.

Even if I look out the window for a little mental escape, I see grass that needs its first mowing and last fall's ornamental grasses that need to be cut down before they away across the neighbors' yards. Then there's the preparing a spot for the tomato and pepper plants I bought from the school flower sale.

There is so much to get done in one short weekend. Add track practice, a birthday party, church, youth ministry cosmic bowling and a track meet into the fray and I'm exhausted thinking about it. Of course, the kids can help -- with some pointed direction and much oversight.

The key, really, is to not sit down. But the family room couch is so inviting, its cushions caved in just the right place for my rear end. And if that's not enough, the laptop is sitting right there, calling to me to just check my e-mail for a minute or two that soon becomes 45 or 60 or 90.

Today, though, I am determined to fight the good fight! I will make a to do list! I will not be distracted by a movie on TV or by catalogs that come in the mail! I will turn off the computer and leave it turned off! I will not sit down! I will be productive and I will feel good at the end of the day for all the things I've accomplished!

Right after I pop over to Facebook.

Nice guys finish second

The NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game between the Butler University Bulldogs and the Duke University Blue Devils has been over for 3 days. And I'm just now finding the strength to write about it. (Not that many of you care -- my BU basketball blog entries were virtually untouched by my usually effusive commenters).

I have to admit that before the game began, I was a doubter. I was in that, "Well, it was cool to get this far" camp, pretty sure that my beloved Bulldogs were going to be trounced by the big boys from Duke.

And if that had happened, I would have still be a proud alum. Butler's got a great group of guys -- 2 Academic All-Americans, 1 guy whose already established his own foundation for kids, 1 guy who is the basketball version of "The Blind Side." Then there's Coach Brad Stevens who is calm, well-spoken and looks like he could be the pitch man for fruit roll-ups (or chocolate milk, as David Letterman suggested).

But darn it all if those guys showed up at Lucas Oil Stadium ready to win! And they almost did. A couple of free throws here, an offensive rebound there, a basket or two falling in and it would have been a different outcome. If Gordon Hayward's last second, mid-court shot had fallen, instead of bouncing in and then out, I think Butler's campus still would be rocking.

Sadly, that's not how the last shot fell. What did fall were the hopes of not just 15 basketball players and a handful of coaches, but the hopes of a nation full of people pulling for the little guy to beat the big, bad giant.

What soared, however, was the pride felt by Butler alumni across the country who probably felt, like I did, that the amazing tournament run by OUR Butler Bulldogs and the mature and classy way those guys carried themselves on and off the court made our degrees a little more valuable.

Thanks Bulldogs! Can't wait to see you next year!

Biggest Loser: No room for gameplay

I watched The Biggest Loser on DVR at 2am last night and was just too tired to post any reflections about it. However, I was thinking about it on my way to work this morning.

This season is different. Yes, it's the same trainers. Same host. Same shameless product placements. Even the same outrageously large weights at the start of the season. But this season's contestants are different. This season's contestants are supportive of each other. They truly want to see others succeed. They definitely seem to be there for their health, not their wallets.

The only real game player has been Melissa. Once she left the ranch several weeks ago, there seemed to be a lightening of spirits. When she returned last week, no one was throwing her a "welcome back" party. Melissa never made any secret of the fact that she was all about the game -- and I have to give her credit for that. At least she wasn't skulking around being all sneaky about it.

But her desire to play the game did not make her a favorite in the house. In fact, last night's swim challenge in which each player had to move 100 1-pounds weights from the bottom of the pool to a bin on the edge of the pool, demonstrated that quite clearly. Sunshine won the challenge and then moved on to help her father, O'Neal, finish. Sam, who came in second, also helped O'Neal. As each person finished, he or she worked to help another player. The player who came in last would receive a 1 pound disadvantage at the scale. The only person who did not receive help was Melissa.

She viewed that as stupidity, that people weren't trying to knock out the biggest threats in the house, that they obviously didn't understand how to play the game. What Melissa didn't understand is that the players this season don't care about gameplay. At least not yet.

When Melissa fell below the bottom line with Drea, her plea to those who would be deciding her fate was "I'm your fairy godmother. I can't beat you. So keep me and pick off everyone else one at a time." In other seasons, her argument would have been persuasive. But not this season. And so, with five consecutive votes, Melissa was sent packing once again.

I thought that her tearful display of emotion at being forced to leave the ranch for a second time was one of the few times we've seen her real self, instead of this tough competitor image she's projected throughout this season.

To Drea's credit, while she could have been smug and think "I've got this; no one likes Melissa," she didn't. She offered her own plea for why she should stay on the ranch.

I don't think the remainder of the season will be devoid of gameplay. As the numbers dwindle, people will be forced to make alliances and to make difficult decisions which will certainly be influenced by what's best for themselves. The next most likely gameplayer, in my opinion, is Koli. We saw him place seeds of doubt about Stephanie in Ashley's mind. And I think he's getting frustrated by his cousin Sam's success while his own weight loss has not been as remarkable.

So I'm sure the games will take place. But last night anyway, it was refreshing to see that there was no room for gameplay.

Grandpa's got a girlfriend

Our celebration of Easter this year coincided with my grandfather's (PaPa, we call him) birthday. So after church, we made the trek to Ohio to congratulate PaPa on his 85 years of life.

I'm pretty lucky. At pushing-40, I still have three grandparents living. My NaNa passed away a little over two years ago. And I have to tell you that on the day she died, my NaNa and PaPa were still in love. He doted on her. He loved her like we can all hope to be loved at any point in our lives, especially when we're in our 80s.

So it was a little weird to see PaPa's "lady friend" at his birthday party on Sunday. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with it. I'm glad he has a companion, someone he enjoys spending time with and who enjoys being with him. But after 30+ years (in my life) of "NaNa & PaPa," "PaPa & B.J." will take a bit of time to get used to.

She was nice enough, joking that they get along so well because neither of them can hear. And she was a very good sport when PaPa opened a racy birthday card signed "Love, B.J." that was actually slipped into the stack of cards by the family prankster (good one, Dad!).

But I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me a little sad. Seeing her sitting next to him at dinner, to his right as he opened his gifts made me miss my NaNa. Miss how she would refer to any infant as a "doll baby;" how she thought everyone except (ironically) Bill Clinton was a crook; how her arthritic fingers were awkwardly slanted and how they looked getting into her fanny pack to pay for Christmas presents on our annual shopping trip; and how she had more than her fair share of way-too-tight curly perms in her hair.

No, this lady is not my NaNa. I don't think even PaPa would argue that she is. What she is, though, is a soft landing for my grandfather who spent the better part of 60 years loving a woman so completely that he likely doesn't know how to live any other way. And for that, I'm grateful.

Still dancing...

Go Dawgs!

Acceptance

He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, "My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me." He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:37-39)

Shit happens. That may seem like a harsh thing to say following a verse of Scripture, but it's true. Stuff happens in our lives that makes us feel sorrow and distress. Some of it might be of our own doing. Some might be outside of our control.

But what we can control is how we respond to all that stuff. Jesus had some serious shit facing him. How much more serious can it get than death? And he was afraid. There he was in all his Godly humanness and he was still afraid. But he responded not by calling down 12 legions of angels. It was not his sword that cut off the slave's ear. He responded to the shit with acceptance.

On this Easter weekend, I'm trying to remember that. To understand that acceptance doesn't remove fear or turmoil or shit. Acceptance doesn't equal happiness. To accept a situation doesn't mean that we have to be happy about it. I guess it means that we acknowledge its presence in our lives and try to calmly, peacefully bear with it, do what we can to change it -- if there's anything to be done.

I'm feeling like I should say more on this topic. But I'm not sure what else to say, so I'll just accept that and allow you to contribute your own thoughts.

On fat, fitness and food

I was deleting pictures from my phone last night and I came across this picture:

Do you remember it? It's the fat dress.

Then I had Annie take a picture of me today:

I have to say that while I have a lot more work ahead of me (about 50 pounds worth), I'm pretty pleased with my progress so far.

Exercise is not only something I enjoy, but it's something that I'm finding sneaking it's way into my life even when I don't have my workout clothes on. At lunch on Tuesday, I went for a walk to enjoy the sunshine and ended up walking two miles!

And tomorrow, I'm going for a 2 mile run (ok, probably a 1/2 mile run and a 1-1/2 mile walk) with Jared the Subway guy. Well, me, Liz and a whole bunch of other people who will turn out for the Subway Fun Run. (Do you think I'll look nerdy if I run with a fanny pack? Where else am I going to stash my camera so I can grab a photo op with him?)

Liz and I are participating on behalf of the Fit City Moms Blog. We may even get a chance to ask Jared a few questions. I've got some rolling in my head, but will be happy to take any of yours with me, too.

Despite my weight loss and my new-found appreciation for exercise, don't think for a minute that I don't still struggle with food. I find it almost impossible to pass up sweets. My boss had the nerve, I mean was nice enough, to bring M&Ms to the office the other day. They were sitting there, open in a basket, all beckoning and beautiful in their Eastery colors. Of course the best way to deal with them, I decided, was to just get rid of them...by eating them fast! I didn't eat the whole basket (I didn't want to seem piggish), but I ate more than enough. Today, the M&Ms were gone, replaced by chocolate bunnies, Hershey's Special Dark bars and cookies! Ack!

If you need more proof that food still holds a certain allure for me, check out my last three posts on The Indiana Insider travel blog -- they're all about food! Onion rings, cupcakes and ice cream!

I think it's a battle I'll be waging until the day I die. I suppose as long as I lean heavily on the fitness and be smart about the food, then the fat will stay in check.