Posts (page 2)

It has been quite a while since the last blog entry, and much has happened in the past few months.  Let's talk about the good things

• Today begins the last class I need to complete in order to finish my master degree, and I am quite excited for it to be over. Send me my diploma, and let me have it framed and placed in my office.  I was going to fly to Arizona for graduation, but decided against it due to other plans.
  
  
• What other plans?  My best friend and I are going to be vacationing in Hawaii next year so I am putting a lot of cash towards this trip.  Thankfully, I get reimbursed for the money I spend on grad school so when I get those funds back I will use it to pay off the trip.  Then there is only the outrageous air fare to deal with.
  
  
• A couple of weeks ago I was able to hear Sri Sri Ravi Shankar speak at the BTI Center downtown and was moved by what he had to say about promoting peace.  I signed up for his mediation classes which begin today and continue through Sunday afternoon.  I am so excited about learning more about how to use his meditation techniques because the guided mediation he took the audience through was exceptional.  25 minutes of meditation felt like 10.  I am sore from lifting weights, but I will endure through the class.
  
  
• After about a year of making sure I was ready and even longer loving on my friend's 3 pets, I have decided to go to adopt a cat.  For years, I have had major reservations considering how awful I was with the other pets I had almost 9 years ago, but I am nowhere near the person I was then.  I have grown into someone much better.  A kitten (a gray female tabby who I will name Izzy) has already been picked out, and I will pick her up (hopefully) on Saturday evening.  Photos will be posted.  For now, her pic resides on my cell phone.

• Which phone?  My new iphone 3G!  Originally, I picked up the new Samsung Instinct, which is a good multimedia phone, but after five minutes with the iPhone at the Apple store a week ago I knew I needed to pick up the new iPhone.  I got up at 5am last Friday, was at the mall at 5:30, had my iphone in hand by 8:45.  The Instinct was returned the next day with a smile.
  
  
• Life is good.  :)
  

I think I read about this video while reading either Time or Newsweek magazine at the gym.  When I got to see it made me chuckle.  I hope Craig Bierko posts more.

** assuming you read the last post **

One of my closest friends is celebrating his 40th birthday next year, and he wants to take himself and his partner on a 7 day Hawaiian cruise. After talking to him last Sunday, I decided to go. This will be my first cruise so I'm stoked about going.

For the past 10 years or so I wanted to go to Alaska, but I think Hawaii is a nice vacation compromise.

I rarely buy anything major for myself. Since paying off my car I diverted those monthly payments to my Roth account.

The iPhone was looking attractive for awhile, but I could not justify that purchase even if it was a refurb even though my cell phone has no sound. It vibrations, and that quite nice if you put it in the right places.

Instead of making $600 purchases, I have other budgeted joys - my gym membership, taking in a movie or two a week, my Netflix account, and Direct TV.

As I was paying my DTV bill this morning, I noticed a new feature that made me quite giddy. I can now set up my DVR from my mobile phone. :)

Why did that make me happy? Because of love DTV, and I record lots of shows.

Thanks Direct TV. You're worth the monthly bill (minus the discount I get from my company which makes me even happier).

It's a fact. 

I have too many blogs and not enough desire to update them all, but now I'm back for a quickie. 

I am back in grad school, finishing up my last two courses on computer information systems risk management.  For most of today, I have tried to get myself to finish two papers that are due on Monday, but that has been difficult.  Now I am stuck at home, researching and writing, due to my massive case of procastination.  This would happen on a night that I would love to be out and about.

Socially, I am still single.  It is nice that my friends would like to hook me up with someone, but that is just ackward.  Is it too much to ask for something organic to happen.  I am not complaining because Life is good, and happiness can be found everywhere.

Work is good as well.  Busy would be the best word for it.  I am quite thankful to have been in my position for the past eight years.

Still getting up for my early morning workouts.  Up at 5am.  Back at home before 8am on most days.  I love working out, and I have the best trainer that I have ever had.  This body has never had so much muscle though it needs to burn off these last 20-25 pounds.  Thankfully, I can jog again.  Extra muscle mass helps the body burn more calories when at rest, but cardio for me is joyous.  By the fall, I want to get back into local 5k races.  Maybe even a 10k if my confidence and endurance are high.

Anyone out there using twitter?   You can find me at @chasman.

Now it's back to this oh-so-attention-grabbing CIS environmental risk mitigation paper. 

Don't everyone jump out of their seats all at once to read it.  :)

You cannot always rely on what the scale shows because there are other factors that can skew what the scale says.

Personally, my weight varies - up one week down the next - whether I eat well or not so I have started to focus more on my waist line as a goal marker. In the past month, I am down almost another inch so I am happily making progress. Now I just need better eating habits, but that's a subject for another post.

The amount of weights I can lift/press/push has improved. Last week I was able to squat over 200 pounds for the first time, and during this mornings leg workout I had my first 200 pound plus lift on the curl and extension machines.

So even though the scale says I weigh only six pounds less than I did at the end of January I know my body fat percentage has drop at least a point or two.

As long as I am losing weight and reaching my goal over time, I feel that I am on track and of course the effort is more than worth it.

Crom74 tagged me today with this "5 things you may not know about me" meme, and I feel obliged to respond.  So here we go:

5 Things You Do Not Know About me

1.  I listen to Howard Stern.  I dont always agree with his opinions or even enjoy some of his guests, but his show is entertaining overall.
2.  I have been reading more about Islem.  Paul Barrett has an interesting book called "American Islam" that talks about how varied the religion is in our country, and it expounds on this by focusing on various islamic people of note in our country.
3.  I am attempting to read 50 books this year.  That may be way too many, but I enjoy reading so am willing to try.  Right now I am reading 3 books (and have yet to finish any of them) .
4.  Only three classes left to get my masters degree.  I was thinking of another masters degree but forget that!
5.  I suck at programming but struggle through it anyway because I need the skill on my job.  It is the thorn in my side.

Tagged by me to place their five are:  lizhini, galavantiator, liberation07, anil, and tjlane.