"Productive" Day

For not having school anymore, I found that today was an extremely productive day.  I got two rounds of disc golf in at a course on Lake Erie, shooting better on the second round (improvement is always good), mowed the lawn, took a lengthy walk, did some spring cleaning, and worked this evening.  No real complaints from my day and I'm probably going to head out for a night walk yet this evening.

Thoughts of what could have been are coming fewer and farther between and as such, I think that I'm moving on with my life and this must be a good thing...right?  The past is sinking behind me and a future is growing increasingly bright with potential successes, if I can just keep on track.  The past semester was a success and, while I don't particularly care for my place of employment, it seems that my attitude toward it is improving a little lately.  The weather permitting outdoor activities to resume always leads to a happier outlook from this guy, too!  Now, if I could just find something cool to play on my trumpet to keep me occupied, perhaps all things would fall into place for a satisfactory summer.

Summer

Perhaps I am returning to form.  I shot just one over par my last time out disc golfing.   It took a poor drive on an easy hole to prevent me from tying my best round at that course (even par).  If I am able to return to form this quickly, perhaps substantial improvement is again possible this season!

I've been throwing a frisbee in my back yard with my nephew a lot since the weather has warmed up, too.  We believe that we've added a new throw to our repertoire, which is exciting as throwing a frisbee is a classic, beautiful summer day activity.

Lastly, I just learned that President Lincoln established the secret service the day that he was assassinated while virtually unprotected in Ford's Theater.  It is so strange how things like that work out.  Similarly, Coca-Cola was concocted as a non-alcoholic medicine for the nerves in 1886 by a man who shortly there after became very sick and sold the rights to a group of pharmacists for $350.  He died a poor man in 1888, despite what his concoction would go on to become.

Semester's Close

It feels good to have a year of true work under my belt and be less than a year from the "real" world, though I think I've made my past few years quite real in many respects.  Exams were simple enough, but I believe the stress of actually caring about my work caught up to me last night...stress than I didn't even know I was experiencing.  It manifested itself in the form of a very "blah" day, but being physically tight in the shoulders and neck.  I counteracted this with a long, calm stroll through my dark and peaceful neighborhood at a late hour.   This seems to have turned out to be the best decision I've made in a while.  I got some wonderful, all be it short, sleep and have had a very productive and satisfying day so far today.  Woke up, finished my last paper, cleaned my room, and took my last exam...all before 2:30!

Bring it on, Summer!  I'm ready for some relaxation and tons of hours spent outside.

Weather

I was just starting to get used to some warmer weather and then it got cold over night last night. Now, I just checked weather.com to see that we are forecasted for several inches of snow tomorrow. When did that go up for grabs? We had a mild winter, a warm March, an average April until now...and here comes the snow? Not cool, Ohio, not cool.

In other news, I am going to play on a recital on Tuesday evening and am looking forward to the opportunity to perform one of my favorite solos from my VU days again. The recital is being put on at an elderly care facility and should be well attended by friends and relatives of those performing as well as a bunch of little old people, haha. Guess the trumpet won't be too loud for them :-)

I Need Help

Haha, the title may make this seem a little more desperate than it is, however, I do feel that this may be a difficult struggle. I can't shake the feeling lately that I'm enough past my last set of struggles that it may be time to look at a new beast in the eye: my caffeine addiction. This is the subject of my blog tonight as I think I'm currently suffering from a crash off of what was probably too much caffeine today. I realize that caffeine won't cause me to get into a fatal car accident and probably won't reach the point that I overdose and die of poisoning. That being said, it is still an addiction and as such with none of the rest of my post to come should be crushed. I have two ideas and am not sure whether to take the easy one or the hard one. The first is to break the addiction completely before I start my "professional career in a year or so. The second is to learn to drink the far less expensive and caloric coffee rather than energy drinks and sodas. I'm thinking the second as a means to weening myself off of caffeine for the most part as the eventual goal may be the most realistic approach. The problem...I'm yet to find coffee which is bearable to drink. And this is where I've rested for the past few weeks, perhaps even months. This is the first time I've been very outright about it, so maybe it will incite a movement. I can hope, right?

Holy Week

Two things occurred to me today. The first is that it was during Holy Week last year that the big shock to the system hit and my life finally began the turn around. This has been a crazy year of changes for me which I'd rather not discuss in detail in a single post. Those that need to know, know, and those that don't need to know...probably already know more than they/I would like them to.

The second is that it took all of that crazy life altering stuff last year to really kick my mind into gear so the Lenten journey I, and my fellow Christians take each year, could really sink in. It was an emotional ride last year and remembering all of that and putting it into perspective with a year of hard-work and the mistakes I still make under my belt has made this Lent exceptionally meaningful for me again. I can hardly imagine a life without the sure and certain hope of salvation and for that I feel truly blessed.

Happy Easter as it comes up in a few days. I hope that everyone's plans work beautifully and that weather cooperates as needed :-)

First Round

Got out with Jeremiah for my first "official" round of disc golf on Monday. I say this because I do not count my round in the snow as official...gloves do indeed affect one's ability to throw a disc accurately and with power. It took awhile to shake off the rust and I got a double bogey on the first hole, but overall I was very happy with the results and obviously it felt wonderful to get out and play. Shot 5 over par on the course at Sims Park in Euclid which is only about 2 strokes over what I consider to be my average. This year, I hope to make even par my average, but I have my doubts, haha.

I've decided that there is a new disc I'd like to add to my bag and a new shot I'd like to add to my repertoire of shots for this season. I think I need a Roc. My reasoning is as follows: my Shark gets blown around in the wind too much, so I need a stable, heavier mid-range disc to be playing on the shores of Lake Erie as often as I am. The breeze off of the lake proves challenging to combat with my Shark and as it has much use on the longer holes, I'd like to add some weight to my bag. I also need to develop a strong backhand drive for holes where a fade from right to left is necessary. I've all but mastered my forehand drive after a few minor tweaks toward the end of last season allowed me to consistently keep it low and flat when I need to stay beneath tree limbs, so it is time to add the next serious distance throw to my game.

On a completely unrelated topic, if any of my readers would like to move to Northeastern Ohio, that would be wonderful. I could really use one to two more intelligent and fun friends in the area. That is all for today.

Mini-Rant

I don't have much to say, but will check in anyway to comment that I find it frustrating to have plans to do something and find out two hours after they were supposed to start that the other person/people are "probably" not able to follow through with the plans anymore.

On another note, the OSU-KU game came to a disappointing conclusion, but I must say, despite my picks in my bracket, that the Buckeyes made it further in the tournament than I had expected. It was a good season and one they can hopefully build off of. Maybe next year VU can make a long-awaited reappearance in the tourney as well!

Title-less post unless something occurs to me before I complete it.

I'm sitting in my room, having just finished up an online assignment for one of my classes. I've become a bit of a Steve Miller Band fan. I heard "The Joker" on the way back from Nelson's Ledges last fall and thought it was catchy. I came to find out that they also did "Fly Like an Eagle" and this led me to walk over to Record Den a block or so from my house and purchase their greatest hits. It is a solid album for a day like today. It didn't distract me from my work, but once my work was done I am also able to concentrate on it and enjoy it.

Last night, my good friend and fellow worker, who was scheduled to close, went home early from work sick. This left me alone in the kitchen at that awful establishment for three hours. I hope that doesn't happen to me again for quite some time as it was both boring and somewhat stressful as we were not particularly dead and I had no one to talk to or receive help from.

When I got home from that stressful night, I sat out on the porch for almost an hour enjoying the cool, but not cold, weather while sipping on a Coke and wasting time on Facebook. This was such a good way to wind down that I may employ it more and more often. Just imagining a night where a thunderstorm is rolling by gets me excited for this new plan.

Still haven't gotten out to disc golf yet, but have been giving the sport some more thought and have come to the conclusion that my next purchase of a disc will have to be a heavier mid-range disc so I can have solid control on a windy day up at one of the courses by the lake. My Boss cuts the wind well on drives, but the Shark just can't stand up to them at all for approaches/mid -range throws. I hope to get out on Sunday, if not before, weather permitting. ::crosses fingers::

Prerequisites

I've been operating under the presumption that there is a fundamental prerequisite for posting in a blog: having something to say. I may not succeed in the endeavor I'm attempting to undertake beginning with this post, but I'm going to give it a shot. Starting today, I'm going to blog about nothing. My most dedicated readers, aka any of you that actually read my blog...there are few, haha, will remember my stream of consciousness blogging. I think I will return to that. I will begin typing and see where it leads.

I'm elated to find 3 of my Final Four picks in the Final Four, especially given that the Buckeyes (my title pick) are among them. This tournament has been fun to watch/keep track of. They rarely disappoint. There have been upsets such as Ohio making its way much further into the tournament than most would have foreseen. There have been well fought battles such as Syracuse's mighty struggles with back to back big ten opponents in the Sweet Sixteen, narrowly edging Wisconsin, and the Elite Eight, falling to Ohio State. There have been interesting story lines as well. Louisville and Kentucky are now matched up in the Final Four. Two Kentucky teams dividing the state and Petino facing his former team. Both Final Four matchups are rematches of regular season games as well with grudges to be settled. Should be an exciting conclusion to what has already been an exciting tournament.

On another note, I'd like to complain that I threw out my shoulder a bit back playing disc golf and have not, as of yet, been back out on the course due to recovery time and the weather. Hopefully, I'll manage to play sometime this weekend, but who knows.

Well, this post was a bit of a failure, but perhaps with time some more interesting material will be generated from the depths of my troubled mind.

River Monsters

I've been DVR-ing the series River Monsters for the past month or so and realized I'd forgotten to watch them. Such a good show! Canceled the recording until I've actually "caught up" on the ones already recorded, but I watched an episode today. Apparently, there is a fish in the Amazon that can grow to be 10 ft long and over 400 pounds of cylindrical muscle with a thick bony skull. It's capable of knocking over a small fishing craft and killing the passengers. Couple that fish with the Anacondas, relatives of the alligator, and piranhas and one might think I'd be convinced that the Amazon is not a place to visit, but I do still desire to travel there one day. Seems so beautiful and much of it is untouched. It could be a lot of fun to travel with a guide and see some of the wildest scenery in the world.

Weather

My spring break consisted of nearly perfect weather. I got outside as much as I could making ventures to the lake twice, taking evening walks, and an adventure to Nelson's Ledges. Being outside has definite relaxing value for me and a combination of no school stresses and the chance to be active once more has drastically improved my overall mood. Starting into the second half of my semester and discovering that I did quite well on my midterms also helps.

A trip to Coventry during my break also made for a great day. One can never argue with a chance to eat Jimmy John's subs when there is not one closer to home than 20 minutes and it was cool to bring a close friend to her first sample of Jimmy John's as well. Having gotten one of their subs again, I realized how much I miss the frequency with which I was able to eat them while at Valpo. They're so good!

That is all; didn't have much to say, but figured I'd chime in again as I'm trying to pull off using this blog again.

Possibly back?

I posted a Hiding Trumpets-blog-like note on Facebook a week or so ago and it has resulted in the re-opening of this blog. I had forgotten the password, but I tried and tried to figure it out. Eventually, it came to me and now I have an outlet to complain to deaf ears once more!

I'm on Spring Break right now, which is excellent news. The past week or so had been rough with all the building stresses of tests, which I finally take seriously, and some other personal material. The weather even got nice yesterday and has remained so today. Great for Spring Break. Tomorrow I plan on attempting to attack the disc golf scene once again, hopefully finding limited mud.

I've come to the conclusion that I need one additional friend with whom I am on hang out terms. I'm tired of relying on the same few people because it too often results in being let down or simply frustrated by not having the same open time slots available. Anyone who disc golfs want to move to Mentor? Thought that might be a problem, perhaps the solution is to join a disc golf league. Things to consider...