Somebody once said, “Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday, and all is well.” I wish it would have been me. I like that quote.
For somebody who tries to see the positive side of life, I admit that I do tend to worry a lot. Usually, I worry more about my family's well-being than my own. I want everyone to be healthy and happy, not hurting and sad.
Maybe that's why I joke a lot. I know things aren't always as bad as they seem. But I want those things to be better. So maybe I should start worrying less and enjoying the now as it is - making improvements as I can.
Yeah, that's the ticket!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
The Music in My Head
The other day on a trip to Wal-Mart, I parked the car and as my son and I were walking up to the store I started singing a "Phineas and Ferb" song that had been stuck in my head all day long.
Ty: "Dad! Stop singing that song!"Me: "Sorry, dude. You know that I often like to burst into song while walking through parking lots. What's really awesome is when a full orchestra pops in to accompany me."
*blink*
*blink*
Ty: "What orchestra?"
Me: "You mean you don't hear music around you all the time?"
Ty: "No..."
For some reason, I seem to have a soundtrack constantly running in my head. Am I the only one?
Monday, June 6, 2011
Brussels Sprouts FTW!
Yeah, you heard me right.
I used to hate Brussels sprouts. Those nasty mini-cabbages were unfit for human consumption, I thought.
But then I started to change my thinking. I forced myself to eat them, usually at places that had buffets. Buffets are great places to try things you wouldn't normally eat. So I would put a couple of them on a plate - just to make sure I still didn't like them.
At some point, though, I decided that if they were cooked just right, they weren't too bad. About a year ago, I decided to get some at the store. I found some frozen sprouts that could be heated up in the microwave. They cooked in their own buttery sauce. And they actually turned out pretty tasty, especially when I added them to a bowl of rice.
Then I looked up Brussels sprouts on the Internet, to see if they were healthy. Turns out they are. And when combined with rice (or other gains), made a complete protein. A friend of mine said that if you add some sugar to the water when cooking fresh Brussels sprouts, the sugar took the bitterness out.
Lo and behold, I now actually enjoy Brussels sprouts. I even tried them on homemade pizza - slicing them and adding them as a topping before putting the pizza in the oven. Delicious!
I used to hate Brussels sprouts. Those nasty mini-cabbages were unfit for human consumption, I thought.
But then I started to change my thinking. I forced myself to eat them, usually at places that had buffets. Buffets are great places to try things you wouldn't normally eat. So I would put a couple of them on a plate - just to make sure I still didn't like them.
At some point, though, I decided that if they were cooked just right, they weren't too bad. About a year ago, I decided to get some at the store. I found some frozen sprouts that could be heated up in the microwave. They cooked in their own buttery sauce. And they actually turned out pretty tasty, especially when I added them to a bowl of rice.
Then I looked up Brussels sprouts on the Internet, to see if they were healthy. Turns out they are. And when combined with rice (or other gains), made a complete protein. A friend of mine said that if you add some sugar to the water when cooking fresh Brussels sprouts, the sugar took the bitterness out.
Lo and behold, I now actually enjoy Brussels sprouts. I even tried them on homemade pizza - slicing them and adding them as a topping before putting the pizza in the oven. Delicious!
Wow! A vegetable that is healthy and can be made to be quite tasty.
I think I'll try asparagus next.
I think I'll try asparagus next.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Unwitting Lab Rats
When I was a kid, my dad was a high school football coach. The school, Mount St. Mary's in Oklahoma City, was pretty small, and did not have a big athletic budget. My dad, who is quite inventive, came up with all sorts of gizmos and gadgets during the summertime that he tested on my sister, me, and whatever kids in the neighborhood brave (or gullible) enough to try his creations.
Most were pretty good.
However, one idea that I'll never forget was the time he decided to make his own version of a sport drink. During practice, he made sure his players had water breaks, but buying Gatorade got expensive quickly, even when he watered it down. So he came up with a plan...
It was around lunchtime, as I recall, and my sister and I came in to the kitchen to get something to eat (this was back in the days when it was okay for parents to send their children outside to play all day). We were somewhat surprised to see our dad mixing up a pitcher of Kool-Aid.
Dad: "You guys thirsty? Try this."
WARNING! WARNING! I could feel the alarms going off. Why is Dad doing what Mom usually does? If it doesn't involve a charcoal grill outside, this can't be good.
Me: "Uhhhh... What is it?"
Dad: "I just made my own version of Gatorade. Tell me how you like it."
My sister and I grabbed cups and he filled them. I think it was purple, and we assumed it was probably grape flavored.
We each took a gulp, and promptly spit it out into the sink,
My sister: "Mom! Dad's trying to poison us!"
Me: "What IS that? You forgot the sugar, Dad!"
What he had done was use salt instead of sugar, his reason being that when you sweat, you lose salt in the process. He didn't want to use sugar because that would get it all sweet and sticky.
Needless to say, he didn't spring it on his players when the season started.
Most were pretty good.
However, one idea that I'll never forget was the time he decided to make his own version of a sport drink. During practice, he made sure his players had water breaks, but buying Gatorade got expensive quickly, even when he watered it down. So he came up with a plan...
It was around lunchtime, as I recall, and my sister and I came in to the kitchen to get something to eat (this was back in the days when it was okay for parents to send their children outside to play all day). We were somewhat surprised to see our dad mixing up a pitcher of Kool-Aid.
Dad: "You guys thirsty? Try this."
WARNING! WARNING! I could feel the alarms going off. Why is Dad doing what Mom usually does? If it doesn't involve a charcoal grill outside, this can't be good.
Me: "Uhhhh... What is it?"
Dad: "I just made my own version of Gatorade. Tell me how you like it."
My sister and I grabbed cups and he filled them. I think it was purple, and we assumed it was probably grape flavored.
We each took a gulp, and promptly spit it out into the sink,
My sister: "Mom! Dad's trying to poison us!"
Me: "What IS that? You forgot the sugar, Dad!"
What he had done was use salt instead of sugar, his reason being that when you sweat, you lose salt in the process. He didn't want to use sugar because that would get it all sweet and sticky.
Needless to say, he didn't spring it on his players when the season started.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
I'll Have Another
Ice cold water. Refreshing on a hot day. But it's also more than that. Drinking ice cold water actually burns Calories. Without getting too deep into the math, a calorie (with a small 'c') is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram by one degree Celsius. Sixteen ounces of water is just over 473 grams. The normal body temperature is roughly 37 degrees Celsius. So raising the temperature of icy water (hovering around 0 degrees Celsius) to body temperature takes a lot of calories (17,508).
Wow! That is a lot! Unfortunately, what we normally think of when we think of calories are Calories (with the big 'C'). Each Calories is 1000 calories. So 17,500 calories is 17.5 Calories. An average non-diet cola has 140 Calories. If you are Calorie conscious, you can switch to ice water and burn calories as your thirst is quenched (plus, your body loves the water that it doesn't have to filter in order to be used by the cells). Drinking that cola adds 140 Calories that your body has to deal with.
Yes, in the grand scheme of things, 17.5 Calories is not much. But if you drink several glasses of ice water per day, it adds up. Four 16 oz. servings (or eight 8 oz. servings) come to 70 Calories. And if that is the only dietary change you make - drinking ice cold water and burning 70 Calories per day - it will eventually result in weight loss.
It worked for me. I drank more water than that each day, and I started walking more. I lost 20 pounds in a few months. I will admit that I backslid a little when the weather got cooler - some days it was too darn cold to be drinking ice water. Now that it is June, I'm back to drinking ice water as often as I can.Yes, in the grand scheme of things, 17.5 Calories is not much. But if you drink several glasses of ice water per day, it adds up. Four 16 oz. servings (or eight 8 oz. servings) come to 70 Calories. And if that is the only dietary change you make - drinking ice cold water and burning 70 Calories per day - it will eventually result in weight loss.
As soon as I post this, I think I'll have another.
Friday, June 3, 2011
It's All Water Under the...umm...Sink
Here is a true story from my wacky childhood. This one is from my high school years, so I was probably around 17 when this took place.
We were living in our house on 37th Street in Warr Acres (which is surrounded by Oklahoma City and Bethany, but I think it's its own reality), when the kitchen sink decide to stop draining once. The plunger thingy (you know, the thing that gets stuck on Sylvester's face when he's after Tweety?) wasn't doing much good, and running the garbage disposal didn't seem to help.
My dad, who is a better jack-of-all-trades than I am (his name is Jack, which gives him a boost in the rankings) decided that since the sink is probably not new, we might as well take apart the pipes underneath and replace anything that's clogged and/or cruddy.
Thinking ahead, he put a plastic dishpan under the pipes and started disconnecting them. The trap was the clogged spot, and there was probably another piece or two that needed to be replaced, so off we went to the hardware store to find what we needed. This was going to be a piece of cake, I thought.
We got back with the right parts, which were the right length and everything. It looked like this was going to be one of those rare moments when my dad and I didn't come away looking like Laurel and Hardy, or the Skipper and Gilligan. Everything fit just right. My dad started tightening the connections.
Then came the time to test it. My dad was face up on the floor in the cabinet under the sink to check for leaks.
Dad: "Okay, turn on the water."
Me: "Gotcha!" I turned on the water, but not real hard.
Dad: "Is that all the water pressure we got?"
Me: "No, I just..."
We were living in our house on 37th Street in Warr Acres (which is surrounded by Oklahoma City and Bethany, but I think it's its own reality), when the kitchen sink decide to stop draining once. The plunger thingy (you know, the thing that gets stuck on Sylvester's face when he's after Tweety?) wasn't doing much good, and running the garbage disposal didn't seem to help.
My dad, who is a better jack-of-all-trades than I am (his name is Jack, which gives him a boost in the rankings) decided that since the sink is probably not new, we might as well take apart the pipes underneath and replace anything that's clogged and/or cruddy.
Thinking ahead, he put a plastic dishpan under the pipes and started disconnecting them. The trap was the clogged spot, and there was probably another piece or two that needed to be replaced, so off we went to the hardware store to find what we needed. This was going to be a piece of cake, I thought.
We got back with the right parts, which were the right length and everything. It looked like this was going to be one of those rare moments when my dad and I didn't come away looking like Laurel and Hardy, or the Skipper and Gilligan. Everything fit just right. My dad started tightening the connections.
Then came the time to test it. My dad was face up on the floor in the cabinet under the sink to check for leaks.
Dad: "Okay, turn on the water."
Me: "Gotcha!" I turned on the water, but not real hard.
Dad: "Is that all the water pressure we got?"
Me: "No, I just..."
Dad: "Give some more!"
Me: "Okay..." I cranked it full blast. Water cascaded into the sink and down the drain.
Dad: "Mrph blp bottn blorph."
Me: "What??" He was under the sink and the water was full blast. I had no idea what he was muttering.
Dad: "Mrph blp bottn blorph! Ig dnngng muh!"
Me: "What??" He was kicking his legs now, which looked funny. Like he was trying to run. So I turned the water off and repeated, "What?"
Dad: "Mrph blp bottn blorph."
Me: "What??" He was under the sink and the water was full blast. I had no idea what he was muttering.
Dad: "Mrph blp bottn blorph! Ig dnngng muh!"
Me: "What??" He was kicking his legs now, which looked funny. Like he was trying to run. So I turned the water off and repeated, "What?"
Dad: "I said, 'Turn the water off. You're drowning me.'" He came out from under the sink looking like a drowned rat.
Apparently, when I turned on the water full blast, one of the pipes wasn't tight enough and it popped off, sending water pouring into my dad's face. Between the dishpan underneath his head and the pipes and water above, he didn't have much wiggle room.
He tightened the connections again, and then crawled out from under before we turned the water on. Success! And, since this kind of thing happened a lot whenever we did handyman stuff, we had a good laugh.
.
Apparently, when I turned on the water full blast, one of the pipes wasn't tight enough and it popped off, sending water pouring into my dad's face. Between the dishpan underneath his head and the pipes and water above, he didn't have much wiggle room.
He tightened the connections again, and then crawled out from under before we turned the water on. Success! And, since this kind of thing happened a lot whenever we did handyman stuff, we had a good laugh.
.
.
.I consider myself to be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none, and part of it could be that maybe I just don't pay attention when I should. Ya think?
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