Friday Five.....Follow Up!

Two weeks ago, I mentioned five things going on in my life. Nothing very interesting, mind you, but five things nonetheless. I thought it might be even more (or, possibly, less) interesting to follow up and let you know how things turned out.

1. The job search still goes on. I've sent in a few applications....one, believe it or not, for a weekly food critic column and the other for a county clerk assistant. Again, I'm still very thankful that I'm in a position to be able to be choosy on this front. I haven't heard anything back from either (and not really expecting to), so the quest continues.

2. It's been over a month since I've had any red meat and I'm not craving it in the slightest. The lack of dairy hasn't been missed, either.....besides my cream cheese dip. The non-dairy version just doesn't cut it. I guess because we never really tried much of it, I'm really enjoying sticking with fish for the moment. Salmon, cod, grouper, talapia....all very yummy stuff. I've also lost about nine pounds, which is always a plus. Or a "minus", depending on literally you look at it.

3. Scrutinizing our eating habits has led to more exercise. More walking as well as working on the Total Body machine has me feeling more energized that I've felt in months. I picked up a Fitbit to monitor my walking so, if you're using one too, add me there if you want. The Fitbit links up nicely with MyFitnessPal, so you can find me there, as well, if you're looking for more friends. I also went out and bought some kettlebells. Trust me, the exercises with them have been a lot harder than they look. I only did the three shown below and am so sore, it's not even funny.  Wow...

4. The visit from my mom was great and, even better, I didn't wind up getting picked for jury duty (whooo hooo!). I had to go down for one day and it was interesting sitting in on the process, though. Two drug related cases and one stalking/cyber stalking case. The first guy was accused of growing and selling weed. I don't think he even spoke English because he had headphones on while a translator (I'm assuming) spoke quietly into a mic as everyone else talked. The second case was the stalking one and, I hate to even say this, but the guy looked creepy as hell. Even dressed in the nice suit, he still looked like a stalker type. I know you shouldn't judge people by how they look, but I just couldn't help it in this case. The third case was a guy accused of selling cocaine. There was a lot of questioning of us, the prospective jurors, as to any prejudices or preconceived notions we might have concerning each case and the accused. Luckily, I was boring enough to fly under their radar, so I wasn't chosen for any case. Before I went, my brother in law had said I should have gone in with a rolled up newspaper and waved it around while shouting "Pick me! Pick me!". He said that's how he got out of it and, knowing him as I do, I totally believe that. 

5. Not much has changed on the writing front, which is good in a way. Still plugging away, still taking down notes, and still prepping for NaNoWriMo in November. At this point, I have a pretty good jump on things and anticipate a check in the "win column" this year. Oh, and I'm also still reading King's On Writing. Good stuff abounds. 

Hang in there and have a great Friday.

The Friday Five!

It's the day most of us look forward to all week long. The day that signals the start of a couple of well earned, relaxing days with no commitments and no worries....most of the time. Yes....it's Friday! <cue triumphant music>

It's been a while since I've done a Friday Five post, so I thought I'd jot down a few things that have been happening in my life. Not that anything all that interesting has been happening, but nonetheless....

1. My job search continues while I help my wife and her sister with their business. It's been a slow process and there's not much out there, job-wise, at the moment. I'm just very grateful that my wife's new job gives us both medical and dental benefits and she's making decent money (plus the money the business is bringing in). I'm also grateful that I have the opportunity to really look for something I'd like to do and I'm not forced to take the first thing that comes along, like the last time.

2. Once again, my wife and I are on the journey to get healthier. A few months ago, my wife's work had a health fair that we attended. When we got our numbers back, mine weren't as good as they had been and it was a bit troubling. The light bulb flickered on one night as I was checking out Netflix for something to watch and came across Forks Over Knives. Just like Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, this was an eye opener, of sorts, for me, so I told the wife about it. We sat down, watched it together, and she said..."You know, I think we could do something like this". So, for the past three weeks, we've given up red meat (we used to eat a lot of ground beef), chicken, dairy products, and sugar while going for a more plant based, whole foods, type diet. We still eat fish and whole grain products. The toughest thing, so far, has been doing without dairy products, but we've found a ton of great alternatives. While my wife hates "labels", I would have to classify us as going "semi-vegan", at this point, as we're doing it for health reasons and not out of compassion for animals.

3. In other health related news, we finally got rid of our weight station (or the "eyesore", as my wife called it) and replaced it with a Weider Total Body machine. I had one of these, years ago, and really liked it. I was in the best shape of my life and it was fun to use. Even better....it's also easy to move.

4. My mom is coming down for a visit this Monday, coinciding with my first day of jury (ugh) duty. She hasn't been down in a while and we haven't had the chance to go North, so it will be great to see her. She says all she wants to do is kick back and relax. I told her that's what we do best, so no problem. Now, if I can only get lucky enough to get dismissed from my jury duty like I was a couple of years ago, I'll be golden.

I won't be holding my breath, though.

5. The writing is going well. I'm not doing as much as I'd like, but doing more than I was. Still getting through King's On Writing and taking some notes. Like I've said, I'm not a big fan of his writing, but his pearls of wisdom in this book are great.

Those are my five for this Friday. Like I mentioned, nothing all that exciting and, if you've got this far, I salute you =)

Hope your Friday is good and the weekend even better!

Friday Five!

It was a tough week trying to come up with something viable to write about for this post. Not that this is really "viable", but it's the best I could come up with, so be gentle. On the upside....it's short :)

Five things I do every morning.....without fail.

1. Make the bed: We have two bathrooms in our home. One by the guest room, the "public" bathroom, and one in the master bedroom....the "private" restroom. Our bedroom is closer to the game/computer room, so that's the bathroom I frequent....and have to walk past our bed in doing so. I've been (self) diagnosed with mild OCD and seeing an unmade bed all day would, probably, start making me twitch. Plus, it starts my day off with an accomplishment, as small as it may be.

A mug from The Keys

2. Drink a cup of coffee: My mom started me on coffee when I was eight years old. No kidding. She would always make some to dunk her toast in and, me being a kid, I wanted to try what mom was having. I started drinking the coffee after the dunking and, even with the floating crumbs, still found it to be something pretty tasty (yeah, I had weird taste). So, after getting up and getting my bearings, I fire up the Keurig and have a cup of java.

3. Kiss my wife:  To me, it's just as important to kiss your spouse goodbye as it is to kiss them goodnight....and welcome home from work....and "I missed you"....and 'Happy Wednesday...and,well, you get the idea.

Princess Jasmine

4. Pet the cat: Our landlord cat is pretty demanding. She demands a tribute, every morning, of treats....then "lovies". My wife gives her her treats and I supply the "lovies". She likes to stand, walk in a circle, then hunker back down to accept her tribute...purring all the while.

5. Write:  Whether it's something as simple as an email, social media post, blog post, or something to do with one of my current projects, I write something.....anything. The thing to work on, now, is to make it more of my projects and less of the other stuff.

So, there you have it. Five things I do every morning. Why five? Well, any more and I'd have to bring my other hand into it to figure things out :)

Anything you do every morning? Besides wake up, that is.... =D

Friday Five

It's Friday, so today I want you to name five books you'd want to have if you knew you were going to wind up on a desert island. Also, why would you choose said books?

My impromptu picks:

1. War and Peace. One book I've never even picked up, it's long, and I would be able to tell people that "Yes, I have read War and Peace." Provided I ever got off the island.

2. The Hobbit. I tried reading this one many moons ago when I was in high school. I wanted to read it because I had always considered it to be the pre-cursor to Dungeons and Dragons. Back then, I don't think I had quite the appreciation for Tolkien's work, or writing in general, for that matter. I wonder if I'd think different today?

3. A compilation of the Myth Series novels, by Robert Aspirin. Something I could read over and over again. The imagination and originality put into these books never gets old and the subtle humor is awesome.

4.  Any Sherlock Holmes book. Preferably a compilation of stories or, barring that, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Because....well.....Sherlock Holmes...

5. The Jon Carter of Mars series. You can never go wrong with old-school sci-fi.

The practical, 'be prepared' side of me would say How to Stay Alive in the Woods....but, then, that wouldn't be too much fun now, would it? ;)

Fridays (now) also mean a post for something I've just joined....

The Healthy Writer's Club, hosted by Shallee McArthur.

It's a way to highlight how, as writers,we're also trying to stay in good physical shape. As writers/bloggers, a lot of us spend a lot of time sitting on our rump roasts behind a computer. The HWC encourages us to mention a little of how we've been trying to lead a healthier lifestyle.

To be honest, I haven't made much progress in this area. My good intentions to get back to our home gym has, pretty much, fallen flat. It's never too late, though.

On a more positive note, though, I've been pretty active on MyFitnessPal. Keeping track of what I eat and counting my calories has really been an eye opening experience. Into how much I'm actually eating, as well as making me think more about just what it is I'm putting into my body. I'd recommend it to anyone as a great starting point on the road to getting fit.

My link is under the "Other Social Places" tab of this blog if you're looking for more pals.

I hope you all have a fit Friday and a fun, relaxing, weekend.

The Friday Five

It's Friday!!

The work week is almost over (for most of us) and people are gearing up for weekend festivities. The wife is going out of town with her sister, so things will be a bit quieter around the old homestead for the next two days. It'll just be me and Jasmine the Wondercat. As for my 'festivities', I'll plan on doing a bit of writing, some editing, some World of Warcraft-ing as well as a few naps in between. 

Can't forget the naps! It's something that Jasmine can appreciate, as well.

From a writing perspective, I feel I've been fairly productive this week. To that end, here's my "Friday Five" to illustrate....in no particular order:

1. I took part in The My Favorite Martian bloghop. Not only was it a lot of fun visiting other people's blogs and seeing their picks, it was pretty entertaining in a few other respects. The first, and most amazing to me, was the number of people who had never heard of Ultraman (my pick) before. The second was being reminded of aliens I hadn't thought of in a long time....like ALF and Mork from Ork. All in all, it was a great idea for a hop and I look forward to more like it.

2. I started going back and reading/editing my NaNo project, The T.E.M.P Agency. The excerpt I posted got a few kind words, which felt great, and was some nice encouragement to keep going.

3. I worked a bit more on my murder/mystery story, set against the backdrop of Lucha Libre wrestling. Fleshing out some characters and ironing out some plot points.

4. I managed not only one, but two new blog posts on my "other" blog. Nothing earth shattering, but posts all the same and a nice kick start to a new posting schedule.

5. I set up a blog posting schedule and am going to really put an effort into keeping it....doing it for no one but myself and my own satisfaction. Call it a "self imposed deadline" for keeping me on the right track, writing-wise.

So, how about you? Anything fun planned for the weekend?

Do you have a Friday Five for anything?

I hope you all have a great weekend and now...back to the blogoshpere!