Movies from every letter of the Alphabet

So I finally did it.  I watched a movie from every letter of the alphabet.  Rather than review every movie I watched, I have a few key takeaways from forcing myself to watch these movies.

It took about a year to watch the movies.  I put very little thought into the movies themselves and in some cases, took the only movie I could find with the letter. For example: XXX State of the Union.

This is a movie I would have gladly watched 20 years ago, when I was 15 but now that I'm 35, it was a struggle.  Corny acting, basic story-line, predictable.  It's a movie to watch explosions and CGI Stunts and listen to corny dialogue.

I did watch a number of movies that I was not interested in solely to get through them.  I had a hard time finding good movies for U and X that I had not already seen.

Overall, not a bad experience and it forced me to watch movies in genre's I would not normally watch.  I watched movies back to the 60's and had a good time with most of them.

My next movie goal is to watch all 5 best picture nominations from the 1982 (year I was born) oscars.

I've completed them all except for "Reds".  I might even rent it today.

401 (k) Re-evaluation Complete

Today I am feeling quite accomplished.  I spent over an hour looking at my 401k and completely re-evaluated it and changed elections etc.  It's been performing fairly well however over time it gets out of balance as some holdings do better/worse than others.  I'm officially going to check this one off of my goals list.  In addition, I also did the same for Shelby's retirement account.

I'm told that I need to save $2.6 Million for retirement.  Doing the math, it looks possible... I guess but it's going to take a lot of good market years for that to happen.  Here's hoping that we see some stability 30 years from now.  Hard to believe given today's political climate.

101 in 1,001 update

It's been a while since I have blogged here.  I have to get better at this.

As of today, 12/11/2016, I have made significant progress.  I am 377 (38%) into this 1,001 days challenge and I have completed 41 (40+%) of the goals.

Recently, I completed:

Learn a song on the Ukulele:

• Farmhouse by Phish
• No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley 
• Whole bunch of other songs with the same chords.

Finish reading the Bible - I finished.  It took me 4 years of reading but I finished.

Create a Bucket List of at least 100 items and start checking some off.  More on this later.  I have 100 items and have already completed two items.

Buy new Steel Toe Boots - I finally did this.  My last ones lasted 10 years.  Thank you Timberland.  I bought a pair of Keen's this time.  We'll see how long they last.

Pay off my Student Loans - I cut a check for the next 6 months of student loans and paid them off completely.  All Done only 11 years after graduation.

Read 5 Classic Books I haven't yet read.

• Frankenstein
• Catch 22
• Wicked
• The Communist Manifesto (why not right)
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

For the rest of the goals, many are well underway

25/26 movies for each letter of the alphabet.

4/5 watch oscar nominated movies from the year I was born.

Net Worth Goal is well underway and ready to be completed a year early.

Retirement savings goal is well underway and ready to be completed a year early.

23/70 Read my height in books. 

There are a lot of other goals that are "just do it's" that will occur over time.  I'm happy to say that over a year into this process, I'm still tracking and completing goals.  Here's to the next 12 months.  

Reading Update

So I set a goal for myself to read my height in books.  This is about 70 books.  Among that, I wanted to read 5 classics, 2 self help books, and finish the bible.  Here's where I stand.

I'm at 20 books.

2 Self Help:
Habit Stacking
Investing in Fixer Uppers
Quick Team Building Activities for Managers
Start Small, Profit Big in Real Estate
The Art of War for Managers - 30% Complete

2 Philosophy Books:
The Communist Manifesto
The Inner Conscious, How to Awaken and Direct It

5 Classics:
Catch 22
The Communist Manifesto
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Frankenstein - 50% Complete

Bar Harbor with the Family

So I’ve checked 2 more items off of my 101 in 1,001 list. 

We went on a 4 night trip to Bar Harbor.  I haven’t been there in years and my wife has never been. 

We drove up on Sunday to beautiful 80+ degree sunny weather.  Max went for a swim in the pool, we ate a small dinner, grabbed some ice cream, then explored the hotel room for a bit.  Later on, we drove the Park Loop Road.  We saw a deer that didn’t seem to care about us.  It walked right across the road, and stood next to the care less than 20’ away for a few minutes.  The view from the hotel was great.  We were on the ocean side and could see seemingly forever.

On Monday, we woke up and went to Café This Way to eat breakfast.  I got the Kit’s burrito which was enormous.  I couldn’t come close to finishing it.  We then went for a walk to Bar Island.  Bar Island is accessible by walking about 2 hours to either side of high tide.  We walked across and explored a bit and walked back.  We of course, got another ice cream did some shopping and spent even more time at the pool.  Max didn’t care about anything but the pool.  If we could sleep 8 hours and spend 16 at the pool, he would be perfectly happy.

Monday night we got the news that our house sale fell through.  We were finally relaxing from all of the stress that has been going on lately.  I took a new job, the house was essentially sold and we were looking for new housing.  This really put a damper on our vacation.

Tuesday we went back to the same café for breakfast and then made our way to Thunder Hole.  It wasn’t so thunderous so we walked to Otter Cliffs and back along the ocean.  We then went and spent a few hours at the pool.  Max is becoming quite the swimmer.  He’s not able to swim on his own yet, but he is not far off.  We then grabbed dinner and an ice cream and went to Bass Harbor Headlight to watch the sunset. 

Wednesday we hung around the pool most of the morning and finally tried a new breakfast place.  It was a nice relaxing day with nothing really planned.  We drove down to Northeast Harbor and looked at all the big houses and went out for dinner… ahem and an ice cream.  We then drove to the summit of Cadillac Mountain for the sunset which was fantastic.  I can check this off my list now. 

Thursday we stopped for breakfast at the same place we got ice cream the day before and it was very good.  We then drove all the way home. 

It was a 4 night vacation away from home with the family and even though the house sale fell through, we still felt a little bit relaxed and would definitely visit Bar Harbor again.

Checking Items Off The List

Eventful few days. 

I bought a blazer.  I actually had it professionally tailored which is a first for me.  With my new Job, I’ll be wearing a blazer a few times a year so having a new one will go a long way towards my wardrobe.

Also, my brother is a film student and he shot a 45 minute film.  He held a red carpet event with a second showing the following day. 

Shelby and I drove up to Jackman for the night and Max stayed with his cousins across town.  This is how I can now check off “Go away for a night without Max”.  We did it.  Max had his first sleep over and we were able to spend the night alone.  Turns out there was a train running nearly all night loading new cars so it was overly loud all damn night and we didn’t get any good sleep.   

The first 200 Days Update

Today is day 200 out of my 1,001 days to finish 101 tasks.

Being that I am 20% complete my 1,001 days challenge, I thought it was time for an update.

Of the 101 tasks, I have completed 29 of them so I am on pace to finish in about 700 days.  Some of these tasks however require the full 1,001 days though so I will not be finishing early.

In addition to my first 100 days post, here's what I have completed so far.

• I checked a book out from the library.  Actually about 6 now.
• I used face lotion every day for a month.
• I paid off all of my revolving debt.
• I donated to charity.
• I took a sick day to do something fun.
• I finished the 4,000 footers list.
• I sent in  for my 4,000 footers patch and certificate.
• I overhauled my Resume.
• I was PROMOTED.

In addition to all of these completed tasks, I have gotten a head start on a bunch of others.

• I have slacked off on the hiking due to the house sale and the promotion.  Here's hoping for 2017.
• I am hoping to get to 300 miles total.  I'm slightly more than 40 so far.
• I have dropped some body fat but have a ways to go.
• I'm making good headway on the Bible.
• We're sticking to the budget nicely.
• Net Worth and Retirement goals are on track to be completed early due to the promotion and increased savings.  Also if we can sell the house we will see a net worth boost.
• I'm hoping to get to 150 miles of completed Appalachian Trail Miles.  I'm at 90 or so.
• I am 50% complete reading 2 philosophy books.
• I have read 12 books total out of the 70 I want to read.
• I watched 40% of the Oscar Nominated movies the year I was born (1982)
• I have watched 17 movies starting with different letters of the alphabet.
• I read 2 of the 5 classic books I've never read.  I've purchased a few more.
• I have dropped 24 pounds but gained some back, time to refocus.
• We have booked a 4 night vacation for the Family in July.

I'm hoping that in the next 100 days which will end just prior to Fall on September 25th, that I will have another 13 items complete.  It's kind of a long shot but if I keep at it, I will be in a good position.

Get Promoted

Ok, so I’ve been waiting a few years for this opportunity and I have an announcement to make.  I have accepted a position as Manager – Regional Operations Customer Service for my company.  To do that, I checked off two items off of my 100 in 1,001 list.  I overhauled my resume and it worked so I was promoted.  I've been working in Customer Service at my workplace since 2005.  I started out literally at the bottom and then moved up and up and up and now I'm the Manager.  I have 6 Supervisors I Manage who have a combined 69 employees that work for them.  The only thing I can say if you're looking for a promotion at work is to just keep at it.  Seek continuous improvement and take it seriously.  

You haven’t heard from me in a little over a month because I have been 100% focused on landing this job and holding things together.  Our house is currently on the market and the sale has fallen through once but we’re under contract again as well so things have been very crazy.  We’ve been packing the house up in addition to the job change. 

Even with the job change, I’m going to be focusing on my goals.  I still have 72 left to complete.  Look soon for the 200 day update.  

Completing the New Hampshire Four Thousand Footers List

Today is the day that I have been working for 10 years for.  10 years ago on July 3, 2007 I hiked my first NH 4,000’ peak.  Today, May 13, 2016 I will finish the list of 48 on top of Mount Liberty.  In addition, I have some redlining to do.  I parked about a mile north of the actual trail and walked south until I hit the Appalachian Trail.  From this point on, I have a few miles of redlining of the AT to check off.  The water was a bit high at the water crossing but with a little care, I was able to stay dry. 

After a few miles, I came to the Liberty Springs tentsite and was discouraged to find quite a bit of trash around as well as a burnt hole in one of the tent platforms.  My guess is that some careless winter campers caused this damage. 

I then quickly made it to the summit of Mt. Liberty, snapped a few pictures and prepared for the ridge walk over to Little Haystack which is actually higher than Liberty but not on the list due to its lack of prominence from Mt. Lincoln. 

When I made it to Little Haystack, I took a picture over to Lincoln and headed down as it started to sprinkle just a little.  The rain stopped as soon as I hit treeline and I made good time on the way down.  It was a little slippery in spots as there was still snow on the trail.  The snowmelt made for a good picture of the falls though.

When I made it back to the bottom, I had to hike the flat ground back to the car.  The day was an 11.2 mile trek for 3,900 feet of elevation gain.  I was also able to redline some 4+ miles of the AT.

Since this day, I have sent in for the patches and am awaiting their arrival.  I still cannot believe that 10 years after setting a goal for myself I was able to complete it.  I kind of started hiking in order to just get out of the house more and get some exercise but since starting it has turned into so much more. 

When I am in the woods, I am literally in my happy place.  Even though I’m generally working hard, I’m never unhappy in the woods.  Even in the rain and the lightning, I haven’t been unhappy.  I may have been uncomfortable, but there’s joy to be found in nature no matter the circumstances.

I sees my opportunities and I takes em'

It’s been a bit since I have provided an update on my 101 in 1,001 goals list.  Work has been very busy so finding time to focus on completing individual items has been super challenging.  With all that said, over the past few months, I have been able to pick off a few.

As of April 1^st, I have paid off all of my revolving debt.  There wasn’t much of it but it’s gone.  Check the box on this one.

I went to a charity event for work.  The President of my company is on the Board of Directors for a specific event and while there I donated to the event so I can check “Donate to Charity” off of the list as well. 

Lastly, I was feeling a bit stressed out so I “Took a sick day to do something fun”.  I went for a small hike in the Wells Barrens Preserve.  I hiked about 4 miles around the old blueberry plains.  It’s a fairly level hike and I came out loaded with ticks however it was a good little bit of exercise.  There was actually a pretty good size sand pit on the back side of it as well that I walked around in for a bit.  

I haven't been able to focus on goals however when there's opportunities to check some off, it's good for me to be able to do so.

What Face Lotion Did For Me

In my 101 in 1,001 day goals list is to use Face Lotion every day for a month.  I have relatively good skin overall but in the winter my skin tends to dry out a bit.  Here's what I noticed.

I used face lotion with some SPF in it for the entire month of March.  At the end of the month, I literally did not notice much of a difference.  I believe it is due to the fact that I have been drinking a lot of water.  The biggest effect the lotion had for me, was the smell.  When I put it on, it provided me a small boost in the morning and allowed me to wake up what I feel was slightly quicker.

Perhaps this is a better challenge to take up in the summer.  With my balding head, lotion never hurts and in the winter, drinking water for me is probably enough.  If you have super dry skin, perhaps the lotion works.  I’m sure as I get older, the lotion will be more necessary.

Audio Books

So I have a new discovery.  Audio Books.  I had a goal to check out a book from the library.  I did... sort of...  I'm counting it anyway.  I haven't been to the library in years.  Really since college.  I stopped in with my son to show him around a few years ago but we have so many books at home there's really no reason to go there.  I decided to swing in while I was driving by and take a peak.  After wandering around like a rookie for 10 minutes, I stumbled across a section titled AUDIO.  Books on CD's.

Lately, I have been making 2 - 3 trips a week to Augusta.  Each trip is about 3.5 hours round trip.  I decided I would rent an audio book to meet my goal but also to keep me from listening to talk radio on my trips.  I rented The Martian by Andy Weir.  It's fantastic and in the past 2 days I have been able to get through almost half of it so far.

One more item off the list, and nearly half a book "read".  I'm counting it towards my reading goal too.  Why not.  A book's a book and I feel the experience is different but just as fulfilling even though I am hearing it and not reading it.  

The first 100 Days

So if you're following along...which I doubt; not many of you are if any.  This is really more for me than anything.  Today is day 100 out of my 1,001 days to finish 101 tasks.  It happens that yesterday was my birthday.  I turned 34.  It seems that the older I get, the faster time seems to fly.

Being that I am 10% complete my 1,001 days challenge, I thought it was time for an update.

Of the 101 tasks, I have completed 20 of them so I am on pace to finish in about 500 days.  Some of these tasks however require the full 1,001 days though so I will not be finishing early.  Exercising 3 times per week on average I may hit a few weeks early as well as hiking 300 miles, but for the most part, these goals will be completed early (I hope).

Here's what I have done so far.

• I answered the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind". 
• I read 10 random Wikipedia pages.  
• I found a quote for all 101 items
• I changed out all my underwear.  As a side not, I'm going to buy a few more.  The exercising is causing me to shower more at night in addition to my morning shower and I change my underwear so I'm forced to do laundry early to make it through the week.  I know... first world problems.
• I got my eyes checked.  They are slightly better than perfect, just like me.  :)
• I donated to a Kickstarter campaign and it got funded so I'll be receiving my item soon.  
• I created a workable and realistic budget.
• I bought a lottery ticket... I broke even.
• I completed the 30 day easy squat challenge.  This jump-started my exercising and was a great way to get going.
• I drank 2 liters of water every day for well over a month.
• I went well over a month without added sugar of any kind
• I packed a lunch to work every day for a month
• I went over a month without eating anything from a gas station or fast food.
• I've taken a multivitamin every day for over 2 months.
• I set a daily routine and it's working great.
• I flossed every day for a month.  I have pretty much kept up with this as well.
• I wore something nicer than jeans to work every day for a week.  I was inspired and did it again and after losing 24 pounds I bought some new clothes and am giving more of a crap about my appearance and about myself over all.
• I watched all 7 star wars movies in order, most of them more than once.  My son loves them.
• I framed and hung up my Masters Degree
• I watched 10 classic movies I've never seen before

In addition to all of these completed tasks, I have gotten a head start on a bunch of others.

• I am hoping to hike 150 miles this year, Í'm at slightly more than 12 so far but I have another hike planed for next week which will put me near 20.
• I am hoping to get to 300 miles total.  I'm slightly more than 20 so far.
• I have dropped about 8% body fat.  I have about 3% more to go to check this off the list.  These will be the hardest 3%.  I am sure of that.
• I'm hoping to get to 150 miles of completed Appalachian Trail Miles.  I'm at 85 and have planned a trip in April for another 44 or so.  I also have a few other trips planned to maybe even complete this one this year.
• I am 50% complete reading 2 philosophy books.
• I have read 6 books total out of the 70 I want to read.
• I watched 40% of the Oscar Nominated movies the year I was born (1982)
• I have watched 14 movies starting with different letters of the alphabet.
• I read 1 of the 5 classic books I've never read.  I've purchased a few more.
• I have dropped 24 pounds so I am only 9 pounds away from my goal.
• I've planned 5 of the 6 nights I want to spend backpacking.
• I have plans to hike a Maine Peak, a Vermont Peak and to finish my New Hampshire List this year.
• I'm scheduled to pay off my student loans this year.
• We have booked a 4 night vacation for the Family in July.

I'm hoping that in the next 100 days which will end just prior to Summer on June 17th, that I will have another 16 items complete.  It's kind of a long shot but if I keep at it, I will be in a good position.

In addition, I'll be near completion on enough tasks that by day 300 I should have completed an additional 20 - 22 items.  I'm thinking I will be about 50% complete through the list in 30% of the time.  That will make the remaining 50% much easier to accomplish.

Douglas Mountain 3-6-2016

So my birthday is in a few days in the middle of the week so my wife and I decided to go on a small hike today.  She asked what I wanted and all I every say is hiking.  I've been amped about hiking lately.  Here's a few pictures of my new tarp setup in the backyard.  Yes, the snow is all gone.  Earliest I can ever remember.

Shelby, Max and I drove to the trailhead to Douglas Mountain in Sebago Maine.  We paid our 3 dollars and then continued on up the icy trail.  We took the green blazed trail (Woods Trail) up as it is about a .4 mile road walk and then .75 miles up the trail.  We weren't thinking about the snow as there is none at home but it was quite snowy and there was a lot of ice.  Max had a lot of fun.

We made great time.  Below is Max and Shelby approaching the summit where there is a stone tower built around 1925.

Spider man hands.

The view from the top is great.  That's Sebago lake in the background.

On our way down on the road walk I noticed our shadows so we snapped this picture.  All in all a great hike.  On the way back we hit up the Olive Garden.

Leap Day Blues

I seem to have made it through February.  After the stressful first week, the month kind of flew by even though it was extremely busy.  Today's kind of a dreary day.  Cloudy and windy although not cold.  Kind of an Eeyore type day.

I spent a lot of time on the road back and forth to different offices and meetings and even had to travel out of state for a few days.  I have held fairly steady on my diet although I am venturing off into other foods now that maybe aren't so good for me.  I'm down about 24 pounds.  I'm hoping to get down another 9 - 10 pounds or so.  That will put me at my graduating college weight.  I was in OK shape then.  

I've been doing kettlebell workouts fairly consistently.  I got 4 workouts in last week.  I'm behind in the number of workouts I want to do Year To Date but I am actually catching up which feels great.

Shelby and I booked our vacation for July.  We are going to go to Acadia National Park in our home state of Maine.  It's about a 3 and a half hour ride for us to get there.  We booked 4 nights Sunday through Thursday.  I'm hoping the weather is nice for us.  

I'm also planning a backpacking trip.  Where the snow is nearly gone already... I can't believe it.  I'm planning a trip for the end of April for the first 44 miles or so of the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire.  I'm planning on doing it in 3 days.  It should be fun.  I'll probably be going alone so am currently working out the details on how to get a car spot or a ride from one end to the other.  

I'm also putting together my list of hikes for the year that I want to do and planning the Acadia NP trip.  

My folks came down for a long weekend and they brought Max to the movies and lunch.  Shelby and I took the opportunity to get out on our own and we went to The Revenant.  What a great movie.  We didn't do dinner or lunch or anything but picked up Max and brought him to his Cousin Owen's birthday party.  It was brutally cold and the wind chills were in the -20 degree range.  

Max we discovered has bronchitis so he is now taking medications specifically for that and is already feeling better.  After being sick for 3 weeks we finally had him checked out.  I feel like a bad parent but he seemed to get better every few days so we always said no to bringing him to the doctor.  I actually have been sick... just stuffy and run down for going on 3 weeks myself, but I don't have a cough so It's running it's course.  

I also learned today that my great grandfather on my grandmothers side was a leap year baby.  He would be 128 years old... scratch that, 32 years old.  

I'm making progress on the 101/1001.  I finally framed my MBA.  I have been reading, although not nearly enough and I've been doing a lot of planning for some of the bigger goals.  Here's hoping March is as successful and February... 86 the stress.

February Week 1

I made it through the first week of February.  It was a long stressful week.  We had a 2-4 inch snowstorm which dumped 10" in my driveway.  My son got sick with a bad cough and then the flu.  I drove about 600 miles to all kinds of different meetings and attended a few very long and boring conference calls where I couldn't understand the main conversation due to the thick accents of our new system integrator.

With all that, I didn't get sick, I snow-blowed the driveway, I wore nice clothes to work all week, I followed the whole 30 reintroduction plan for the week and I got a few workouts in.  I found that non-gluten grains aren't an issue, legume's aren't an issue, and alcohol hits me harder than it did before.  I also got to watch Star Wars Episode 7 with Max and Shelby and we had a blast.  This morning I cooked my breakfasts for the next two weeks and did a bunch of house chores.

I'm looking forward to relaxing while watching the super bowl tonight even though I can't drink a beer or eat nachos while watching it.

February Focus

Now that I'm done my January Jumpstart, I'll go over my February Focus...  see what I did there?

February I am going to focus on diet and exercise.  January was more about diet.  February will be designed to finish the reintroduction of the Whole30 and start a regular exercise program.  I'm starting with a modified version of the Angry Birds workout from NerdFitness.

This month at work is going to be very busy.  In addition to my normal job, I'm going to be on a major project which is going to make me fairly visible.  Here's are the goals I expect to accomplish this month.

• Go Hiking once
• Exercise 3 x per week.  Basically  12 - 13 times.  I need to get back on track for my annual goal here of 157 times.  
• Stick to the budget... good job so far
• Learn 1 new drink
• Read a book
• Watch the final Star Wars Movie  I've seen 1 - 6
• Wear something nicer than jeans to work every day for a week.  The way my project is going it will turn into 2 weeks of nice pants.
• I plan on doubling the Auto-payments to Max's college fund
• I'm hoping to Purge my old electric guitar and Amp for whatever I can get for them... not much

It should be a busy month.  I'm looking forward to more compliments as I continue to drop weight and I'm hopeful that we get some more snow so I can get some more snowshoeing in.  

Starting the Year Off With a Bang

So today is January 31st.  It's been one hell of a busy month and one hell of a productive one as well.
Whole 30 - I completed the whole 30 yesterday, answered the questionnaire and weighed myself and took my measurements.  I lost 17 pounds, 2.25 inches around my waist, 3 inches around my chest, .75 inches around my neck and 5.4% body-fat.  I feel great and will follow the re-introduction period as designed in their book and I will see who some of the foods I cut out make me feel.

By accomplishing the Whole 30 plus being a good boy today, I will manage to cross the following items off of my 101 in 1001 list.  I am so confident that I will have a good day today that I'm going to consider them complete now.

• Go one month without added sugar
• Pack lunch to work every day for a month
• Go one month without eating gas/station or takeout food

In order to support my Whole 30, I also completed the following items.  I am now completed 16 of my 101 items.  

• Drink 2 liters of water every day for a month
• Floss every day for 2 months
• Complete a 30 day challenge of some sort
• Take a multivitamin every day for a month
• Set a daily routine and stick to it for a month

Just for the record, the 30 day easy squat challenge was easy.  However it was very difficult on the days I worked late or went hiking.  I did get it done but focusing in on Squats for a month is a little tiring and towards the end my knees felt the pain a bit.  I think these 30 day challenges are interesting but it has a tendency to overexert one set of muscles.  My abs felt it and so did my back but most of the work is legs and my knees took a beating.  I'm going to try the Angry Birds Workout by Nerd Fitness next month to see how far I can get.  I am also going to keep most of my diet Whole 30 compliant while I do the reintroduction and decide what is right for me after.

Where I'm falling Behind

I am still on track but I didn't read any single page this month for my reading goals.  I did go hiking but am slightly behind on the mileage, mainly due to the fact that it is winter and long days are tough in the cold and bad weather ruins plans.  

Swearing - I've had a very difficult time stopping to swear, mainly because I think I can only concentrate at so much at one time and with January being so stressful I think it was a bad time to start.  

My 401(k) took a beating this month so consequently my net worth and retirement savings goals are off track.  I'm sure it'll rebound soon enough to put me on track... hopefully.

I'm thinking February will not be so productive but I'll give it a shot.  

Eisenhower & Pierce 1/29/2016

I took a vacation day today.  I need it.  The next 2 weeks are going to be very hectic.  I'll be on remote locations every day and will be driving about 1,800 miles.  The last few weeks have been busy and sort of stressful with the new diet and some other things that have gone on.  Root Canal, Crown, Broken Snowblower, Snow when they call for Rain etc.  Planning has been bad and nearly anything that could have gone wrong has.  My car did pass inspection though with no fixes required so there's a positive.

The weather forecast looked good so I decided to go above treeline.  I always hesitate when solo hiking so I picked an area I figured other people would be and I saw 12 people all day long.  I hiked Eisenhower and Pierce via the Crawford Path from the Mt. Clinton Road Parking area.

Being on this new diet, the food was a bit tricky.  I was sort of lacking energy all day.  Not sure how to rectify that.  I think I needed more fruit and I really miss bread.

After about 3 miles I crested the ridge and came upon my first view of the day which also showed my destination, the bulbous hump in the middle of the photo is Mt. Eisenhower.

After another mile and a half I was at the summit of Eisenhower with a spectacular view of the cloudy Mt. Washington.

I took this Panorama on my phone.  Forgot my gloves were in the way.

I hiked back the way I came and hiked the .1 miles to Mt. Pierce.  On the way on the uphill out of the col I started to cramp up in my Quads.  I'm not sure why.  I drank a half liter of water, swung my legs around a bit, ate some almonds and pushed on.  About a half mile later I was feeling better.  My hips hurt a bit but that went away too.  Not sure what the issue is there.

On the way down I sat down and ate some more food.  It was in the mid 20's but I could have taken a nap if it wasn't for the butt-sliders making all kinds of noise on the trail.

All in all it was a great day.  The trail was well consolidated start to finish.  There was slight drifting in the col between the peaks but there were no issues.  All water crossings were doable and were mere trickles at best.9.4 miles down 140.6 to go to get my yearly goal.

Rachel Carson 1/17/2016

So we've been a busy family and needed to get out of the house.  We bought Max some new snowshoes for Christmas so we figured we should get out and use them.  We had a great time, the weather was in the high 20's and Max got used to his new feet really quickly.  He didn't like the poles though so I ended up carrying them nearly the entire way.

The hike is only a mile or so and level so great for little ones learning a new craft.

Over Half Way There

Well, today is January 19, 2016.  I'm 19 days into the Whole 30 program.  I've been feeling different for over a week now.  My ring is looser, my neck looks like... a neck.  Today I put freshly washed jeans on and they fit... loosely.  I have 11 days to go to complete the 30 days.  At that point I will weigh myself.  I didn't take any before pictures but I did take a whole bunch of measurements the day before I started this.

To date this month, I have flossed, drank 2 liters of water, stuck to my routine, not eaten out (except for company events), have had zero added sugar and am well on my way to completing a number of goals for myself.  I'm even 19 days into the 30 day easy squat challenge.  Yes, I went with a fairly easy challenge but some days are rather difficult.

At the end of the 30 days, I'll post an update on the changes I saw in myself and my measured results as well.

Here's the lowdown on what I've eaten for the most part.

Weekends... Breakfast I eat an omelette of some sort.  mostly just eggs and salsa, or eggs and bacon or whatever kind of meat I can find that in my head feels like it will go with eggs.  If it's bland.  I add some Frank's Red Hot to it.  If still hungry after, I eat a banana or whatever fruit I have left over from the week.

Weekdays... Breakfast I eat 2 - 3 hardboiled egg whites two small home-made chicken sausage patties and a serving of sweet potato home fries.... every day.  It gets a little bland some days.  I add frank's Red Hot to it and I also have a serving of blueberries/raspberries.

Lunch - Every day I have a salad.  Usually some Romaine, Baby Spinach, Tomato, Avocado, Balsamic Vinegar, Cucumber and whatever protein I have left over.  Today it was chicken sausage, yesterday it was chicken.

Dinner - Varies day to day.  You have to have some variety somewhere.  It's usually Meat and a vegetable.  I've had Ribs, Pork Tenderloin, Chicken, Sausage.  Some days I substitute the veggie for a salad.

Snacks are basically fruit and some nuts.  I try to limit fruit to two servings a day.  I also drink some seltzer water every other day or so.  I like the black cherry flavor the best.

I think when this is all over, I may do it again for another month depending on the results at the end.  I plan to add much more working out in month two.  Baby steps.

Starting Strong I Hope

So, My wife convinced me that I should do the "Whole 30" with her.  It's a diet where you basically cut out all grains, all added sugar, all alcohol, all dairy, and all legumes for 30 days.  You then slowly introduce those foods back in to see how they individually affect you and you make decisions based on how you feel, on how much if ever you should have them again

You basically eat a meat protein and veggies all the time.  I add nuts except peanuts and a little bit of fruit.  I am on day 12 and now that I am over the hump I feel safe writing about it without going off on a rant about how much it sucks to not have that drink at the end of a long day or that baklava that my wife made literally the day before we started this thing.

The upside of the diet so far is that I don't have to worry about food because I know I have to plan ahead to get the food prepared.  If I don't prepare, I won't be able to eat and for me, that's bad... very... very... bad.  The other upside is that it will help me accomplish a handfull of 101 in 1001 day goals like:

4. Drink 2 liters of water every day for a month (I have to drink water or I'll be hungry all the time.  I'm drinking 2 liters of day and so far it's been very easy)

5. Go one month without added sugar, sugary drinks, candy, etc (It's a part of the diet and something I wanted to do anyway...yay)

6. Pack lunch to work every day for a month (If I don't pack lunch I'll be forced to scavenge and find compliant food which is generally fairly difficult in a short amount of time without cooking.)

8. Go a month without getting gas station/takeout food at all (this food is non compliant period).  I did get a few Dunkin Donuts Coffee's Black.  The way I see it, that's fine for the purposes of this goal.

10. Take a multivitamin every day for a month (I've added this to my lunchbag I carry every day to work and it's fairly easy too)

13. Set a daily routine and stick to it for a month (This basically set itself once I started planning means ahead and all that jazz)

16. Complete a 30 day challenge of some sort (The diet is 30 days so that sort of counts right?  Also, I'm doing a 30 day easy squat challenge which can be found here to make sure I hit this one.  It's a twofer)

23. Get to my goal weight (this will take more time than just the diet but I'm hoping for a good jumpstart)

25. Get Body/Fat % to within Fitness Range (Same as above)

Basically, I'm sort of banking on completing 7 more goals this month alone.  Not bad considering I need to do 3 a month to finish and I'm already at 8 now just barely a month in.

Lottery Jackpot 1.5 Billion

So, it's a goal to buy a lottery ticket for a big jackpot.  How about the biggest jackpot ever.  I bought a lottery ticket for the 950M Powerball last week and nobody won.  I'll be buying another ticket tomorrow for the estimated 1.5Billion jackpot.  I cannot believe how large this thing is getting.  I just hope whoever wins it doesn't blow it all and end up poor... unless they want to donate to my retirement.

So the other thing I have done recently is to create a workable budget.  I created it in December for the family and we've been sticking to it fairly well.  We've had some things come up that have gone against budget but there are contingencies in the budget for it.  It just sucks that they occurred so early in the process.  I had to get a root canal and a crown.  P.S.  I'm a very shitty patient when it comes to surgeries no matter how minor.

Now that I swore in the previous paragraph, I should probably tell you that the no swearing for a week item is on hold.  I tried.. Hard.. I swear I did, but just couldn't keep at least one a day from slipping.  I'll wait until I'm a little less stressed out to give it another goal. The furthest I got was one entire day.

In my next post, I'll explain just exactly why this month has been so stressful.