Howdy folks. Happy New Year and all that sort of tommyrot. (And sorry if you had your hopes set on a blog last Friday — I sort of, well, forgot.)
What A Wonderfully-Long Weekend
How can I not have fun around my friends? I spent a lot of time hanging with ITP-Readers Lisa and Randy along with their two sons, their extended family, and of course their dog Sugar this weekend. I’ve somehow been welcomed into the family and must admit it’s a damn good feeling.
Cheddarhead: It Was The Best Of Times, In The Worst Of Weather
Never has a Cheddarhead seen such ugly weather — rain out the wazoo, but thankfully not freezing rain. I ran trail for the first time in a while and between that and the one game of bowling my legs are still sore today. I’d like to thank ITP-Reader Willie, whose house was the host-house for the on-in, for not immediately throwing out my hashing sneakers after finding them in the back of his pickup truck on Sunday (I’d absent-mindedly left them behind after getting a ride back to my car). All in all about 130 souls found their way to the on-in (many in vehicles) where we were served brats, poutine, cheese curd, kringle (look it up), and beer.
My bowling prowess has diminished significantly. I think my final score for the one game I bowled was somewhere in the neighborhood of 130. I’d like to say that I was trying to make my score match the number of people who showed up at the on-in, but I’d be lying. It was hotter than hell in that bowling alley and my sweatpants and long-sleeved t-shirt were doing little to help me out, so when my lane decided it was time to stop after one game so they could tend to their sick little one I was more than happy to announce to the world that I am no longer a contender for high score.
A Fun Sunday Night Finale
After watching the Packers win their way into the playoffs by beating the Bears, Lisa, Randy, and I headed into Decatur where we met up with ITP-Readers Laura and Bob, and former-ITP-Reader MC at Raging Burrito. I had picked Raging Burrito because it’s on Decatur Square and provides many vegetarian options. However, after a lovely dinner the group dispersed and went our separate ways — at least there were many vegetarian options.
This morning I realized that we should have gone to Carpe Diem (that is if they offer vegetarian options — I’ve not perused their menu) as I have a $30 Groupon coupon which expires this week. I’d really hate to start the year by letting one of my coupons expire and I’m not sure if I can wedge a trip to Carpe Diem into my hectic schedule.
ITP Flickr Pic
I was going to request a mulligan today, but then I had a crazy idea — “Why not take a self-portrait using the iPhones front-facing camera?”
Ha! I bet you wished I asked for that mulligan now. Actually, while technically “meh” my expression amuses me. I always find it interesting to see how the rest of the world sees me.
Papa Don’t Preach
I’ve made many “Executive” decisions over the past week. One of those decisions was to remain an executive in Sharpened Stone. I’ve decided that I’m not ready to give up. My decision was partially predicated on the timing of the ginormous penalty assessed for my lack of business license ownership. Even if I had filed the paperwork to dissolve the LLC immediately there was no guarantee that it would have been executed prior to the end of 2010, and, I still had to pay the $687 penalty.
So this morning I clenched my buttcheeks, opened the Sharpened Stone check book, and with a quivering hand mailed the City of Atlanta a check for $687.75. Ouch!
Next up, training on successfully running a business. Anyone have suggestions that don’t involve getting a MBA?
Missed Connections
I keep trying. Schedules seem to be diametrically opposite. I’ll keep trying.
Preliminary Goals Are Up
Perhaps I was caught in the revelry, but I failed to spend a lot of time thinking of the things I wish to accomplish in 2011. So, for the most part what you see there today is a rehash of 2010 and is subject to change.
A Return To RPS
Tonight I’m making my return visit to the Roswell Photographic Society. Tonight’s presentation should be an entertaining one as, has been RPS tradition, the year is being kicked off by photographer Craig Tanner. I’m really looking forward to it.
Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – chubby, but other than that quite positive
Current Music – silence as I let the MacBook download podcasts
Website Of The Day – I have no idea how I wound up on Shoppy Bag‘s email list. But, since I did I might as well let you all know about their service.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday: hashing (~3 miles)
Morning Weigh-In – soon my precious, soon
Monthly
Foot Mileage – ~3 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 0 flights
Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 3 (3)
Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 2
Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0
January Goals
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run no fewer than 75 miles
– Prepare Sharpened Stone, LLC for 2011 so that I get no more penalties
– Lose two pounds
– Eat vegetarian at least one day a week
– A couple of goals which I will not divulge
– Eat lunch out no more than twice a week
– Limit myself to eating dinner out on laundry nights, meeting nights, and dates
2011 Goals [will be a little more fluid than in past years]
– Reduce my weight by 25 pounds based on the my weight as measured on February 1st
– Completely read the book Daily Negations which I received as a Christmas gift.
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business — one which does not get penalized.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than two half-marathons
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store
The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
Sorry I missed out on Raging Burrito – I got “stuck” at the in-laws with the nephews & just couldn’t get away to get across town in time. They are leaving to head back to Spain today, so our social life can go back to normal. It has been fun spending time with them, but I’m just not all that good at being around small children for too many hours at a time, the crying & whining & not being able to always understand what the problem is frustrates me.
Cheddarhead was fun, but it was a good day to bimbo. Always a good time to catch up with old friends that hash about as much as I do anymore, which is rarely, for you all that were wondering 😉
You were missed Barb, but perhaps it’s a good thing that the Four Horsewomen of the Gossip could not convene. 🙂
As someone who continually beats himself up at Black Sheeps (though I missed yesterday and will be out of town in two weeks) the trail was fun — mud, raging creek crossing, train parked on track which had to be crossed, mud. Perhaps the worst parts of the day for me were trying to change into dry clothes discreetly, and getting blown off by one of the Atlanta Outdoor Club first-timers.
Since I don’t make it out to many of the other hash “events” (Red Dress, Hedon, Peachtree Pub Crawl, Halloween Home Crawl) Cheddarhead is the best way for me to see some of the “old timers” who probably have no idea who Wee Little Bit is. 😉
I also got spam from “Shoppy Bag” and tossed it immeadiatly. Perchance they have harvested the hash directory from somewhere?
It was nice seeing everyone brave the weather Saturday. Sorry I wasn’t feeling better as I was looking forward to my annual bowling outing, but since I thought I might be infectious, I decided to head for the farm.
Barb, did you finally put some pants on? (a leftover thread from FB)
-FP
But Paulie – we are so out of the loop for gossip we aren’t as much fun as we used to be. (maybe MC had some new news? )
Steve – yes, I put on pants that fit (weren’t too tight ), so I could keep eating & eating…. Well not really, I actually did pretty darn good on not eating & drinking all day yesterday, unlike the rest of the weekend. I did go for a short walk around the neighborhood yesterday morning too, trying to figure out if it was too cold for me to ride my bike (I determined it was, but I might have gone if I had to meet someone, but I couldn’t convince myself to go out alone in the cold)
We chose to not bowl this year, the place was such a madhouse, I thought it might be really screwy trying to pay & leave. So, we just drank more beer & socialized.
How many AOC people were there? (some guy asked me if I was part of AOC, and I was like – huh? what does that stand for?)
Don’t worry, Barb, we didn’t talk about you…much 🙂
Not sure how many were AOC, perhaps twenty on trail? I’m going to guess that most, if not all, will never return.
There was not much gossip passed around last night, and of course I’m not allowed to repeat what was in public. 😉
The bowling alley was packed — only in part with Cheddarhead revelers. It was almost completely frustrating to try and get anything done (like buy beer) and I’m sure the heat didn’t help my attitude any.
And what, no one is giving me shit about my photo? What’d all do, resolve to be kind to me? 🙂
photo – a little too big, too close up for me.
All intentional, Barb. I was trying to come up with something that would feel a little too close for comfort.
it worked – put that on a dating site & I can just imagine what kind of emails you might get 😉
This will sound worse than it should, but regarding dating I’m hoping to take matters in my own hands this year. C’mon I deserve some credit for taking a swing at the end of Cheddarhead.
And the best thing about that photo (from my point of view) is that Flickr is blocked at work so I don’t have to look at it all day.
You do deserve a lot of credit for taking a swing…… I missed the whole thing, but good for you for trying!
I agree with Barb.. start the year off right and give it a try.
Like I’ve said before, it’s a numbers game. Good job on stepping up to the plate.
I don’t know what it is but the expression on your face? It doesn’t seem right, it doesn’t seem like ‘you’. I’ve gotten a few emails notifying me that “Mike tagged you with a photo on ShoppyBag”, I’ve deleted all of them.
I was debating CH from the beginning but after my ‘soaked to my underwear’ run that morning, I didn’t want to be out in it again. Sounds like it was fun, I think this was the first one I’ve missed since I started hashing.
I’m still working on fine tuning my goals for 2011, cooking a new dish each week, having no credit card debt at the end of the year and running 750 miles are on the list.
So for my first new dish of the year, I made Pumpkin Chili, it was pretty good. Something I will play with and tweak in the future.
I shouldn’t receive too much credit. Once I realized that she wasn’t “into me” and I noticed she was about to head to another part of the backyard I didn’t really work it much.
Only 750 Martha? You’ll have that done by March.
You are correct about the expression — it is an attempt at a genuine smile gone wrong into a near smirk. I think it has something to do with my eyes really.
I’m contemplating unlinking today’s WotD since so many of us have been spammed by ShoppyBag.
At least you talked to a girl you didn’t know, that is a start.
and yes, it is your eyes that are sort of freaky.
Making a new dish every week – that is a great idea. I don’t know if I could actually do that, but maybe……. so I may steal that idea from you. I am making turkey meatloaf tonight (cooking it in a muffin pan so you have individual small ones), and that is something I’ve never done before.
BTW – any re-gifting party in the works? I only have 1 small item that I could actually re-gift this year. I’d actually have to go shopping for it, which is always fun too……..
I like the “new dish a week” idea as well.
Barb, let me know how the muffin tin plan works. I’ve thought about doing it for other things as well since I’m only cooking for one.
Not sure I can swing the re-gifting party. According to a recent Facebook update ITP-Reader, and co-conspirator Stacy will be on a plane tomorrow. I’ll be headed out of town on January 13/14 for that weekend. Beyond that I don’t know what the dealio is.
Well – I tried it using hamburger meat, but too much grease spilled out for my liking, so thought I’d see what happens with ground turkey. (plus, it is healthier). We usually do meatloaf in the crockpot. but liked the idea of the small individual portions, so maybe I’ll eat less.
I’ll give you the update tomorrow.
I can always save my gift for next year…….
Barb, I wouldn’t bother with the muffin pan, just shape smaller loafs. Here are my two reasons 1) muffin tins are a pain in the ass to clean out 2) you won’t get the crusty outside (I like the ‘ends’ of the meatloaf). Oh and don’t forget to add some extra ‘moisture’ to the meatloaf, turkey can be very dry, especially if you are using just ground turkey breast.
I’ve been debating the amount of running I’ll be able to do this year. Really I’m down to only two days a week, I think I might be able to pull-off 1000…I will reevaluate mid-year.
I’m going to try to keep track of all the new dishes, keep a list, along with notes about the meal, did we like it, what might I do different next time, etc. I’ve been making the effort to try new thing but not in an organized way or with a formal goal in mind. I find myself getting in a rut with food and that needs to change.
This is an easy one, that doesn’t take much time (especially if you skip roasting the peppers, I just use a jar of roasted red pepper and leave the ‘hot’ peppers unroasted). It’s ‘paleo’ but I served it with some quinoa to make it a bit more filling.
http://gavanmurphy.com/poblano-pork-stew
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Martha – what would you suggest to use for more “moisture”?
Bread crumbs soaked in milk, veggies would work also.
Well poop! I seem to be fighting off a cold. Randy’s brother Kevin was sick over the weekend. It’d suck for me if I was the lucky recipient of that. Or maybe it was hashing and standing outside in the rain? Eh, who knows.
Keep fighting!!! Drink lots of water, eat well/healthy (no junk, no booze), if it’s just a headcold, get a little exercise, get outside (the air is cleaner) and then get some rest! I’ve got a bit of the sniffles today as well, first I was blaming it on the spicy chili I had but that was a couple of hours ago.
drink OJ, take a couple aspirin, and get some chicken soup & get some rest. Allan always says Boston Market’s chicken soup works the best. He swears that is all you need to cure it.
BTW – added incentive (or not) to go to BRAG, Barf Bag & his woman (Layover I think is her name) will be there too!
Thanks. Trying to fight it, with mild success currently. Unfortunately I may have to scrap my plans to hear Craig Tanner speak tonight. Dangen!