More Experiment Idea

With the April 2 weeks away, I thought it would be useful to come up with some ideas for a new monthly experiments  Here are some that are open for conversations:




1) Go Green.  Pick 5 Earth friendly 'Green' habits and stick with them. For example, ride your bike to work, no air condition, cooking on the grill ( is this really better then using the stove?),  I'll need some help with this one.

2) Buy local.  Only shop at locally opened stores for everything I buy.  No chains stores or restaurants.  What about if I am out of town, can I buy locally then?  what if I am travelling and with other people and I do not have a car?  I will have to do this during a month when I know I am going to be home.

3) No eating out. All meals will be at home or someones house or I can make it at home and take it where I need to go.  What about prepared meals from the grocery store?  Is that eating out?

4) Spend 1 continuous hour outside every day.  Day or night, you just cannot go inside for any reason for an hour, if I do, the clock starts over. 

5) Bike 150 miles in a month.  I am starting to ride my bike more this spring.  If I rode every day for 5 miles, that would be about 150 miles for the month.

6) Any more?? Please comment.

Ok - so sue me.

I have been horrible about posting since I got back from Mary's funeral last weel.  It has been over a week since I wrote anything.  I guess I failed at 1/2 of the experiments this month already. However, I still have not had anything to drink.  And considering my friends and my love for celebrating St. Pat's day - I consider this a real accomplishment.  We went to a b-day party for a group of friends who all turn 40 this year (some are turning 50)  Dinner, drinks, and dancing  - everyone had a great time.  My wife and I went and took a good friend of ours with us.  She recently broke up with her old boyfriend - I think it is safe to say that we are glad that she is not with hime any more.  The party was actually pretty tame knowing this crowd.  I guess that is what 40 does to you!

Yesterday was St.Pats - it was hard to pass up a pint and a shot.  For years my best friend and I would throw a great party at one of our homes - I think we peaked one year with about 80 people.  We have not had the party since we have had children - not for lack of desire on my part.  Moreso due to lack of interest by others ( except my wife, she always encourages me to do crazy ass things like having house parties).

Anyway - more than 1/2 through the month and still not alcohol.  I will try to post this weekend about how I feel and if I think I have been any more productive than usual.

cheers.

One Month at a Time/ Aunt Mary

I was thinking about how it is much easier to handle a large project in small blocks.  That is how all of life is set up if you think about it.  And there is a reason for that.  In nature, everything cannot happen all at once.  Everything takes time.  It is easy to get overwhelmed with life and all its activities.  But if you step back and break it into blocks it seems a little more do-able.  I know that this is common knowledge for most people, but sometime in the past few years I have forgotten that simple structure.  I get wrapped up thinking how I need to work on my marriage, or save for my kids college, or get caught up on the latest projects at work.  I forget that "Rome was not built in a day".   I hope that working these experiments here I can put some other things in my life in better perspective. 

I really like unwinding with a drink now and again... and again :)  I wanted one today.  Just one to toast to Mary. 

Today was Aunt Mary's funeral over in Chattanooga.  She was "salt of the earth", and left a legacy that she can be proud of - it is safe to say that Mary left the world a better place than she found it. I know I am better for knowing her and sharing a some years and a dozen family reunions with her.  When I finally got back to town, it was too late to go into work before I had to pick up my boys from school.  I ran by my local watering hole and there were 4 regulars at the bar.  I bought the boys a round and told them the raise their glasses to Aunt Mary.  I drank my 1/2 and 1/2 tea and toasted to her.  The guys there were a little surprised, but when I told them about Aunt Mary, they all had someone in their lives that carried a resemblance of Mary's spirit.  We all know someone like that - and they are all one in a million.  Peace be with you Mary.  Cheers.

Beautiful day

I learned today that if you are a true Christian that you should actually by happy when someone who is "saved" dies and goes to be with God.  I am strangely happy to say that, although I am going to miss Mary dearly, I am happy to believe that she is now where she hoped to be most of her life.  I attended her funeral today and was proud to see how her children, grandchildren, and other family members rejoiced in their faith and was happy for her moving on to the next life after living such a full life here on Earth. 

For those of you that know me, know that I am a empirical scientist at heart.  I have a place for spirituality, but not one of the main stream methods.  Nevertheless, I do believe there is good and evil.  More about what I believe in when I have a few beers...

CRAP

I forgot to post yesterday.  I watched my boys all day yesterday and we had a great time.  I also did chores nearly all day - the fun Saturday of a married father of 2.  Anyway, I think it is interesting that I had 2 simple things that I wanted to do all month.  1) not drink alcohol (so far so good) and the other was to blog every day.  I already screwed that one up.  I wonder how much easier it is now to do something then it is to do something.  I think that depends on personality.   I am unfortunately a careful person.  I obey most laws and tend to try to follow instructions.  I am better at being told what not to do.  Oh well.  Back to the grind - it looks like I have my boys again today.  Hopefully we will get to see my godsons this afternoon.

Did not have anything to drink last night.  It was a beautiful night - a great night for one of the Cigars I brought back from Honduras and some my my Nicaraguan rum... it will have to wait until next month.  cheers-

One Month at a Time/ Aunt Mary

I was thinking about how it is much easier to handle a large project in small blocks.  That is how all of life is set up if you think about it.  And there is a reason for that.  In nature, everything cannot happen all at once.  Everything takes time.  It is easy to get overwhelmed with life and all its activities.  But if you step back and break it into blocks it seems a little more do-able.  I know that this is common knowledge for most people, but sometime in the past few years I have forgotten that simple structure.  I get wrapped up thinking how I need to work on my marriage, or save for my kids college, or get caught up on the latest projects at work.  I forget that "Rome was not built in a day".   I hope that working these experiments here I can put some other things in my life in better perspective. 

I really like unwinding with a drink now and again... and again :)  I wanted one today.  Just one to toast to Mary. 

Today was Aunt Mary's funeral over in Chattanooga.  She was "salt of the earth", and left a legacy that she can be proud of - it is safe to say that Mary left the world a better place than she found it. I know I am better for knowing her and sharing a some years and a dozen family reunions with her.  When I finally got back to town, it was too late to go into work before I had to pick up my boys from school.  I ran by my local watering hole and there were 4 regulars at the bar.  I bought the boys a round and told them the raise their glasses to Aunt Mary.  I drank my 1/2 and 1/2 tea and toasted to her.  The guys there were a little surprised, but when I told them about Aunt Mary, they all had someone in their lives that carried a resemblance of Mary's spirit.  We all know someone like that - and they are all one in a million.  Peace be with you Mary.  Cheers.

Going to bed early/New Laptop

I got a new laptop for my wife today.  She is one of the hardest working women in show business.  She deserves better...but I think I did pretty good.  I ended up getting her a new HP Pavilion from Sam's Club.  I know some people think that WalMart/Sam's club is the devil, but I drink and occasionally smoke.  I also like to dance and tell bad jokes.  There is no saving me I guess.  I think she will be happy with it even though we have to endure VISTA.  It cannot be that bad, right?  Let's hope.  I still think that every tenured school teacher that can show that they work from home several hours a week should be able to have a new laptop every 3 years.  There are far less productive people that have more sophiscated equipment - what a waste.  I have to admit - for most of what I do, this MacBook is overkill.  But I did not ask the taxpayers or the consumer to pay for this.  Other buy big screen tvs, I wanted a Mac.  Anyway - I hope she is happy with the new PC.  She kept her old Compaq Presario working for 4 or so years now (I think) - she she has paid her dues with that one.  I am going to try to steal it from her and make a little home network, maybe had a TB disk off of it so we can share pictures and music at home. 

**

The boys Grandmother wanted to watch them for the night, so I am taking advantage of this and going to bed early.  It is now 8:23 and I hope to be asleep in 1 hour.  Giving that we just switched to DST, this should get me caught up with some lack of sleep.  We have an early start and a 2 hour drive to attend a funeral out of town.  We will make the round trip in one day, not a big deal really. 

No real temptation.  I saw my wife finished off the Baileys Irish Cream last night, so that is one more bottle out of my sight.  I had lunch with some coworkers today at a Greek place and they had beer and wine there. Jokeingly, he said that he would buy me a beer.  He is one of a few co-workers that I will meet for drinks occasionally, so I will make him buy me that beer in a few more weeks. This weekend we have a party to go to.  My wife will enjoy knowing that I am her DD for the night.  She is sort of a lightweight - 2 drinks in and evening and she is done.  I love her anyway :)

Well off to get ready for bed.  Remember when we were young and would make fun of people who went to sleep early.  Now look at us, I am bragging about it!  Later.

Dinner with Friends

Tonight we got to have dinner with some good old friends.  Their children are my godsons.  It was good to spend sometime with them.  It turned out that they just got a new dog who they rescued from an animal shelter.  We ordered chinese and let all the kids play together and watch Toy Story2.  The adults say outside and talked about kids, getting more exercise, a little politics,  family ...the normal stuff...but it is the stuff that really makes me feel good.  The family we visited have been good friends of ours since about 2000 and I know we are a better family for knowing them.   We went inside gave he kiddos some dessert and then the women played with the kids and the men folk sat out back on the deck and smoked a cigar.  Nasty habit, I know - but relaxing.  Everyone had a beverage, my friend even tossed back 3 or 4, about 2 or 3 more than his normal amount for one night as of late.  I did not drink anything, but water.  I wanted to, but was not overly tempted.  It was good just to be with good friends and family.  It was a strange weekend for me - got some cleaning done, spent a lot of time with my 2 sons, my wife came home a day early from her trip(, but is leaving again tomorrow to go to a visitation and I will meet her Tuesday for the funeral for her great aunt.) I got to spend time with some great friends both last night and tonight.  Throughtout the weekend my thought would go to my wife's family reunion and crazy Aunt Mary.  She was a great soul and I bet that where ever she is now that she is loving everyone around her.  And there is no doubt that she is making someone smile and laugh somewhere.  Peace out.

CRAP

I forgot to post yesterday.  I watched my boys all day yesterday and we had a great time.  I also did chores nearly all day - the fun Saturday of a married father of 2.  Anyway, I think it is interesting that I had 2 simple things that I wanted to do all month.  1) not drink alcohol (so far so good) and the other was to blog every day.  I already screwed that one up.  I wonder how much easier it is now to do something then it is to do something.  I think that depends on personality.   I am unfortunately a careful person.  I obey most laws and tend to try to follow instructions.  I am better at being told what not to do.  Oh well.  Back to the grind - it looks like I have my boys again today.  Hopefully we will get to see my godsons this afternoon.

Did not have anything to drink last night.  It was a beautiful night - a great night for one of the Cigars I brought back from Honduras and some my my Nicaraguan rum... it will have to wait until next month.  cheers-

11:35pm EST Goodnight Mary.

We lost my wife's great aunt Mary this evening at 11:35pm EST.  Mary was always the life of the party and a great and fun soul.  She welcomed me into the family from the first time my wife brought me to her family reunion back in 1997.  I cannot believe that it has really been that long since I became part of her family and her part of mine.  Mary will be greatly missed. She truly will live on in the lives of all the people she has ever come in contact.  She has loving and vibrant children and grandchildren to carry on her legacy.  Even though I had only know her for a few years, I could distinctly tell how she has impacted my life. Always happy, always smiling, always caring for others...she was a great role model, literally, until the day she died. The trips back to TN in the summer will never be the same. Peace.

School re-zoneing sucks.

There has been a proposal to rezone the school district in out town of Madison, AL.  It does not chance where our kids will go to school in about 2 years, but my on of my best friends home was move from the one of the newest schools with the latest technology to the oldest and the one with the least modernizations.  Anyway - in the end, if this rezoning takes place, our friends will most likely leave our great little city and move to our neighbor, Huntsville and send their kids to private school.  I am totally guessing here, but I think they will send their kids to public school in the end.  They will end up in a great home and in a great hood.  They are like that - careful and considerate.  Even though they will only be about 20min away no matter where they move really, it is the thought that makes me sad.  Their boys are my godsons and it has been hard enough to see them even once  month now and they are only about 5 miles away.  I realize that I will just have to work harder to make time to see them and to have their boys play with my boys.  I really am looking forward to them growing up together.  My mood: somber. 

I met a friend from work at a bar for a short while after work.  Just drank water and talked for 45 min and then I went to pick up my sons from preschool.  I had a great night with them.  They are my strength and heart.  I am getting a little tired for some reason.  I think I am going to try to get a good nights sleep and an early start tomorrow.  Cheers and goodnight.

In Search of an Uncluttered Life

I had the night off tonight.  My wife is out of town and the boys are at their grandparents.  But for some reason I was not able to relax.  I know the reason.  Clutter.  We have too much stuff.  I think my wife feels it as well.  We are just not sure what to do with all the stuff we have collected.  Pictures, CD, DVDs, books, dishes, furniture, toys, and on and on and on.  We often feel overwhelmed. I am trying find ways to declutter our lives so we actually can enjoy it again.  I welcome any suggestions on how to become and to live uncluttered. I might try a few things this weekend to get organized - but for some reason that will only last about 2d from the day everyone gets home.

Update:
Day 4: No problem tonght.  Did not go out after work at all - just ran errands and came home afterwards.  It's all goos.  Cheers.

Happy Square Root Day 3-3-09

That title was in tribute for my math loving fans.

I had 2 social situations where I was giving the opportunity to partake it beverages.  I recently returned from a mission trip Honduras and had a post-trip meeting this evening over beers to summarize our trip.  We met at the same little wings place for our pre-trip meetings and typically polished off 3 or 4 pints over the evening.  While the others had some beers, I pleasantly drank my high quality H2O.  Afterward I met a good friend of mine, CCW,  down the road for dinner and to catch up on life.  Usually we partake in the $1 PBR drafts, but again, I drank water.  CCW and I have been friends for a long time.  Unfortunately we do not get to catch up like this too often.  So today, I had 2 more opportunities to drink and passed each time.  It was not to hard, but then again today was a low stress day. 

Only on day 3, and no real problems saying no to alcohol so far.  I wonder how I would feel if I had to quit forever.

Day 2 - no problem

I had an easy day - Typical day, take the boys to school, go to work, meet wife at the store to look for a new laptop computer (this is not typical), hit the gym (training for a 5K), made dinner at home, continued searching for a computer online.  Since the day was low stress, I did not feel the call of wanting to have a beverage in the evening.  Let's see how tomorrow goes. 

Cheers.

Hypotheses for No-Drinking Test

My wife suggested that I post some hypotheses on what I think might change in my life due to me not drinking for the month. Think would be fun thing to do for my tests. After all, what good is a theory if it does not make any predictions. So, what changed might I see during or after a month of no drinking? Feel free to comment and add more to the ones I have here.

1) I will eat better and lose some extra weight.
2) I will sleep better and be more alert in the morning.
3) I will get more done around the house.
4) I will get along with my wife better. (and not just because I will be the D D)
5) I will catch up with some old friends.
6) I will get more exercise.
7) I will feel sharper at work.
8) I will be asked to have and will decline at least 10 drink.

I cannot think of any more at the moment and I am tired and need to go to sleep.
One day down...

Cheers,
Sandy

Observation: 525600 minutes

There is a song from the musical RENT called 'Seasons of Love'.  One of the lyrics is "How do you measure a year?"
365 days, 
8760 hours
525600 minutes

Let's say that I only had one drink a day at $5 a drink. That would turn into $5*365 = $1825 a year (or about $152 a month).  Depending on who you are, that could appear as a lot of money.

Official Day 1: My first encounter with resistance

I went out of town to see visit a sick relative and be with extended family. Overall, the weekend was peaceful. It was good to see everyone come together. I spent most of Saturday with my boys, so I was not successful in cleaning house like I had planned. I will try again tomorrow night. Saturday afternoon we headed out of town. We planned on staying overnight and just hanging out with family all night and into Sunday. After we ate dinner and cleaned on Saturday, some of the guys ran to the store to get some breakfast foods. When they returned they were also carrying a case of beer. They dropped off the groceries and then cracked a few cans open. They were about 5 guys there drinking and talking. Good ol' Mike was the first and only one to try to "pressure" me into a drink. He was saying that it was not officially March yet, so technically I could have one. True, it was 11pm EST, but I had already mentally decided that I would start on the 28th for some reason. So I thanked him and rejected his offer a few more times. Now Mike is easy - meaning it is not hard to say "No thank you". I will admit that I did tell him what I was doing and that I wanted to not have a drink for a month and to try to see what changed in my life. He was curious to see the outcome as well. I thought it was interesting that he really wanted me to have one more beer with him. I am going try to see how many drink offers I have to turn down. Even though he asked more than once, I count this as one offer.

One thing this has made me wonder is if I should let people know why I am not drinking vs. just saying that I am not interested in drinking, but can hang out anyway. If I tell people about the experiment, that changes the outcome, right? I think as a general rule, I will not going to say anything about the experiment. I am sure there will be circumstances where it will come up.

Total drink offers to date: 1