Organic Life - Back to Basics.

After my recent digestive issues, I have decided to renew my commitment to keeping my body healthy and strong once again. Even though my "usual diet" was pretty good, I have opted to remove all fried, greasy, fattening & simply unhealthy foods from my consumption. This also includes red meat, for my own personal reasons. I enjoy fresh chicken, fish and turkey just fine, but I am making certain that I get at least 3 servings of fruit/vegetable/nuts per day. Of course, I only drink water and have not consumed caffeine since 1999 --- so nothing lost in that dept.

In reality the once a day morning yogurt/probiotics has done wonders for me and has alleviated at least 90% of all of my symptoms and problems. Not sure if it just the cultures or perhaps coupled with my diet regime, it all is finally working together.

For the workout side, I am back in the gym and when I cannot make it to the club, I do my 50 pushups, 50 pullups and 100 situps routines along with running on the treadmills and doing dumbbell curls, shoulder shrugs and lateral raises. Most of the prior routines are done in anaerobic superset circuit phases without any rest. The only that I wish that I had at home was a Smith machine. That way I could safely and easily do squats, bench pressing, military presses & more without any issue.
(Maybe for Christmas!!!)

I digress...

Good week of work, very hectic...very rewarding as I am balancing a lot of projects and yet everything is still making it through and getting done....on time & on budget.
It is a very stressful role, but I am committed to being a good leader and ensuring the success of the team. I am thankful...

On the home front, Katey was inducted in the National Junior Honor Society this past week and I am so proud. Her GPA in Honors 7th grade is 3.9 and she is a great daughter who I know will be a true success in life....inside and out. I just hope that I continue to be able to be a positive influence on her and that I make the right decisions to help her move forward into becoming an honorable, respectful, independent and confident young woman.

Nick is coming to visit week after next and I am actually taking some time off (3 days!) to spend time with him and hang out. He is a great little boy and I miss him dearly. :P

Well, off to make breakfast and enjoy the dreary, wet day with a smile. :)

SpringTime....

I love the spring...my favorite time of the year. New growth, new start, clean slate.
I am feeling much better (decided to heal myself with probiotics and so far it is working pretty well --- who knows if it is the ultimate cure?) I digress and return to the gardens of spring! :)

We planted a ton of new spring flowers, replenished the soil, and remulched all of the beds. I even got to plant my first vegetable plants (in about 4 years) since I used to disc, plow and sow at least an acre of home growth veggies on my 10 acre property in Hammond. I miss the land and the enjoyment of eating truly fresh produce on a daily basis, at least during 10 months of the year. :)



My Restored 1948 Ford 8N Tractor - Hammond 2004


This year I am growing straight-neck yellow squash, zucchini, sugar snap peas for starters. My space is far more limited (whole property is 1/2 acre in a subdivision - but luckily I live on a pond and I have no neighbors behind me to worry about!) I am excited about the potentials of growing vegetables again...it is making something amazing, healthy and natural out of something so basic.

I mostly enjoy getting back to basics & clearing my head of all of the work & busy life nonsense --- getting my hands dirty, feeling the warm wet natural soil between my hands and under my nails, it brings me back to a simpler way of life, a simpler place in the past, my farming ancestry, the history of mankind when "living life" wasn't an advertising slogan, it was way things were...



Katey back when age 6 - Hammond crop!

SPRINGTIME is good.... life is good. :)

The results, please....

Good News - the upper GI endoscopy was completely normal.
Bad News - don't know what is causing the abdominal issues/pain.
Really Bad News - test to determine scheduled for 3/25 will be a colonoscopy.

Feeling?

A little humor about my colonoscopy:
“Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!!!"

I am OK about it. As more of my tests come and go, including ultrasounds, abdominal CT X-rays, blood work, GI endoscopy work....at least I am getting the picture of what is "good & healthy" about me, so I think that is the bright light on all of this.

We shall see what the future brings...
Ahhhhhh....

See what's wrong?

Well, I have been suffering from a chronic stomach illness/issue for approximately 12 days now. The acid, cramps, soreness and nausea have been harrowing at times, but I have a upper GI endoscopy scheduled for tomorrow. Ulcer, Acid Reflux, Virus, Gastritis, or something else?

Well, I should know something in quick order. The operation is for 10am and probably by noon will have the news. At least, I am getting the answers...I am so relieved to finally figure out what has been the source of my recent severe stomach issues.

Not the most exciting update....no pithy comments tonight, just life. :)

Being Myself

Another couple weeks have gone by and through it all I am realizing some important things about life. You never know how much time you have, nor what will happen tomorrow to change your world today. You simply have to live, you have to believe that you are truly being yourself in a world that cherishes the opportunity to stereotype, label, pigeon-hole and define the masses into a homogeneous herd. For some, blending in to the background, choosing to be another unremarkable Angus in the cattle pen, that is just fine and preferable.

For me, I want to be uniquely me. (LOL) --- I want to be myself. For the most part honestly, I am myself. I laugh alot, poke fun at myself and others and just simply love life. Sure I have my moments of puppeteering, where I need to be someone else, I need to more than I am today. I pull some strings and BAM --- my alter egos tend to shift me into high gear sometimes and I follow simply to fulfill the past, or some higher image I had of myself that made me "so much more interesting" than who I am. I think we all identify ourselves with other people and in some ways try to mold our image, our character, our lives in that image.

That is OK --- but at the end of the day, be yourself and never lose sight of what makes you feel like yourself, what makes you smile.

We are all moving forward and what a wonderfully happy place it would be if we all just be ourselves. Well, maybe not everyone...... :P

Off to go hiking in Louisiana....I mean walking across flat, marshy bog land. :)

UPDATE:

Lake Ramsey Trail 3/8/09

Another day...filled with priceless words.

A girlfriend of mine, Maggie, once told me that we were dangerous for each other as we both got caught up in the words, the emotional phrases, the poetic movement, and the romance that eloquent words can sometimes make you believe in. We were both captivated how something so beautiful could truly exist, even we both have suffered so much pain throughout our individual lives. It was a beautiful moment in my life, that while transient, still makes me believe in the magic of life..and in words.

This past Friday, February 20th was another day for me and the rest of the world.
For me, it marked my 35th birthday. I look back briefly to see how far I have come and where my life is headed. I have never been one to be scared of looking back, or talking about my travels and experiences, as that is how you mark your journey, how you remember who you are...it is a cathartic and peaceful walk for me.

I blame myself for losing myself in words...they are to me the expression of your spirit, your soul in written form. Sometimes they are real, truthful, sometimes they are your idealistic ambitions, what you hope to be, who you wish you were...what separates reality from fantasy? The accuracy of your thoughts or the truthfulness of your intentions? If we don't intend or plan to become better, something more than we are today...isn't that the greater evil?

I choose another year of living life --- learning more about myself, learning to care more about others in need, learning to find small ways to make those ambitious words come true. Perhaps I was not the man I could have been back then, but I would have to definitely admit that I have grown, I have matured and I have certainly learned from those words. I know that life is more than just earning money and buying possessions and what truly matters, what truly endures are ironically, only things that can never be purchased, only earned.

Earned through the unyielding dedication to simply be yourself and chose your words carefully. What you say, who you are, how much you care...it is all indicative of the words you use every day. The words that define your walk and your relationships with others. Be yourself and learn to live those words. :)

Some of my favorite words:

---

When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is suffiecient unto love.
When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at the dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Tripping....

Just took a trip to Prattville, AL yesterday. We have a major data center and operations facility relocation project scheduled for June 1st, 2009. Essentially we are retrofitting a 150 year old building into something that will work as a top tier
facility. Not an easy task. Lots of work remain left to be completed...lots of projects on my board, lots of irons in the fire...I need to keep them all hot.

That will be challenging.

It was a cool, refreshing morning as the sun rose quietly over the 2nd hole fairway behind my hotel. Situated perfectly, nestled on the Capitol Hill Golf Course, the hotel was a sight to behold even for a non-traditional country club type. I admire the beauty, the raw creativity & even the elitist showmanship that a "golf course community" exhibits so calmly, a form of understated entitlement. I know it would never be a lifestyle that I chose, but to each their own. Let it be. :)

I am tripping out a tad bit on the workload and number of projects right now, but I know that I must keep it all calm & under control. There are a lot of people depending on my ability to stay focused, remain diligent & manage everything without failure.
It is significantly more taxing than I ever let show and maybe that is not a good thing, but at the end of the day...I must get the job done. No worries, no whining and certainly without failure.

Better Days...Better Days are coming. I am learning to appreciate life, appreciate the joys of feeling each emotion, and knowing that as I highly as I might personally regard myself when it comes to work, they could replace me within a week and the show would most certainly go on. You cannot dwell on that cold, hard fact of life, but we must all strive to deliver while we are on the field, because each play, each day we are being judged, we are being critiqued, no matter who we are. At the end of it all,
to know that you gave all you had, that is all you could ever ask for...all you could ever want. Off to the grind, make a difference while you are still out there, Andy.

Achievement is not always defined by victory. Sometimes achievement lies in the honest endeavor to do your best under all circumstances, knowing that on any given day, intense personal effort may be the only thing keeps you moving forward.

Cheers,
Andy