My P90X Story: Day 2

Just rocked day two of P90X. Okay....maybe not rocked, but it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. Plyometrics today. Felt the burn about halfway through, but pushed through it and finished. Holy crap I sweat a lot. My shirt was completely soaked through. Good feeling though. Let's see how I feel tomorrow. Don't remember what tomorrow's workout is...I think its biceps & triceps plus Ab Ripper X. Yoga X on Thursday. Almost looking forward to that one, except for the fact that I am totally not flexible.

Good night everyone. See you tomorrow....if I can get out of bed.

My P90X Story: Day 1

So, it is now the end of the first day.

It was tough this morning, that is for sure. I did pretty good on the Chest & Back workouts. I completely died on the Ab Ripper X workout. I'm going to have to work really hard if I want to get those being effective.

It was an interesting experience this morning. My hip flexers were killing me, making it nearly impossible to even raise my legs off the ground. I was a bit sore for about half the day, but by the end of the day I wasn't doing too bad.

The diet part has definitely been the hardest part to this point. It took a bit to get all the shopping done over the weekend to pretty much change our entire diet. It took quite a bit of prep last night for today. Rachel did most of it because I wasn't quite sure what to do or how to do it. I did make my own lunch for tomorrow tonight. We'll see if things go as well tomorrow as they did today.

I'm really proud of myself...I resisted temptation on the diet twice today. At work, the Visitors' Center Director had brought donuts for those who helped unload the new exhibit shipment. Normally, I would've eaten 2 or 3 of them. I didn't even have one today. Then, after we finished that I headed over to my office. It was about snack time, and I was feeling a little hungry. Well, when I got to my office there was a partially eaten bag of M&M's on my desk that I had been given a week or so before. It was very tempting to eat them instead of the cashews that I had packed for my first snack. But, I resisted and didn't break the "diet".

My P90X Story: Motivation

Why did I decide to do P90X?

Well, it was first mentioned to me by my wife. She saw the infomercial about it, and thought that it would be a good idea for us to do it. We are pretty out of shape.

The real clincher for me though, was the fact that over the last month or so I have broken the buttons on two different pairs of paints, and had the zipper break out of a third. The clothes that I used to fit into (which were bigger than I ever really wanted to wear) were starting to get too tight to wear comfortably. I no longer have any clothes that I actually need to wear a belt with. I could wear every single pair of pants without a belt.

Just this morning, after day one of P90X I started to split the seam of a pair of pants just trying to put my socks and shoes on.

I took the before photos, which I am debating on posting because I am thoroughly embarrassed by what I see. I am doing P90X so that I never have to be embarrassed about having my shirt off again (even if it isn't off very often).

Two Choices

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. The question is: Would you have made the same choice? At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by any who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?' The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.' Then he told the following story: Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.' Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do the others let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay' Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!' As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team. 'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'. Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day ! AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces. If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.' So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process? A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them. You now have two choices: 1. Delete 2. Forward May your day, be a Shay Day.

Who Dat!?!?!!

Who Dat gonna beat dem Saints?

This is a rallying cry we have seen show up in the media on a routine basis over the past few weeks. But what does it really represent? In all honesty I had never heard this in reference to the Saints prior to a few weeks ago. I don't know that I can actually explain what this represents, but I would like to tell why I was rooting for the Saints, and why I picked the Saints to win the Super Bowl (even if only to myself).

I had the privilege of going to New Orleans in 2007 as part of my College Education. For those of you who may not know me, I did not go to for Spring Break, Mardi Gras, or to party. I actually went for an International Conference related to my Major. I attended training for two days. I also had the opportunity to do some "traveling" around New Orleans. In addition the group I went with had an opportunity to provide some service to help rebuild part of New Orleans.

It was interesting to see how devastated New Orleans still was two years after Katrina. I just heard on the news tonight that there are large portions of New Orleans that have still not been rebuilt today, four years after Katrina. I got to see firsthand what the Saints (and to some degree the Hornets) meant to the people of New Orleans. Many of the people had little or nothing, yet you would see them walking around in their Saints jerseys. I heard people talk about how things were not being rebuilt, and then in the same breath talk about their Saints.

I decided at that point to, at the very least, follow the Saints. I was watching the first game back in the Superdome. I've followed them over the last several years. I was rooting for them in the Super Bowl. I cannot consider myself a fan of the Saints, but I would also not consider myself a bandwagon fan. I have enjoyed watching the Saints play. I have been amazed at the effects they have had on the city of New Orleans and the people. Hopefully more good will come from this amazing and improbable win.

You ask why I root for the Saints. It is because the Saints represent something far more than just a team or an owner, or even a city for that matter. Really, if you think about it, the Saints represent the very best in human nature. They represent the power of perseverance. The Saints represent our ability to overcome.

Google Apps & T-Mobile G1

So, I just discovered Google Applications that can be used with a windows mobile phone. I had no idea this existed. I think that is really neat. I don't know that I will use them yet because I don't want to pay the extra money to have maps, etc. on my phone because I would have to pay for an internet connection, but I still thought it was pretty cool what they were offering.

This all started when I was going to T-Mobile's website to consider adding a messaging plan to my phone. I saw an advertisement for the New G1. I took a look at it, and have spent the last hour or so (when I should have been in bed) looking at the specs on it and stuff. I was quite surprised by what I saw. That got me doing more looking around, and I discovered that Google has applications that you can use on other phones, not just the Android OS of the new G1 phone. So, I looked through several and I think there are some that I would definitely use. Unfortunately I can't afford to add internet or text to my phone plan right now or I might highly consider it.

Updates, Updates, Updates!!

So, quite a bit has happened since the last post. I did a phone interview with the Church to assess my managerial abilities. Once that was done, I got a call from HR that my assessment turned out very well, and that they wanted to know if I could fly to California for an interview for the Oakland position. I told them that would work, but it would have to be the end of the next week (this would be the week after I graduated and my last week of work). It was a 4 hour interview, so I didn't have time to attempt to do any other job searching or interviewing while I was there. I met with the FM, and we interviewed for about an hour and then spent the rest of the time either at lunch or walking around touring the properties that I would be in charge of as the Assistant FM portion of the position I was applying for. As we ended the day, the FM told me that if the decision were up to him I would have an offer in a few days, but that he wanted me to get a chance to meet with the Regional Manager. I came back, and arranged to meet with the Regional Manager the following week since he would be in SLC for some training. I did this, and he told me that there was one other person under consideration, but that I had a pretty good chance.

The next day (Thursday) I received a phone call from HR in the morning, and they said that I was being given an offer, and that she had never seen something like this before. She said that the FM and RFM were so concerned about me coming and not being able to live there, and they really wanted me to come, that they increased the offer from what I was originally told, to about $8,000 more per year than what was originally discussed as the top of the offer range.

So, I have accepted an offer to work for the Church. I will be the Event Supervisor and Assistant Facility Manager at Oakland Temple Hill. I started training this last Monday at the Conference Center with the Events Department. This training is basically focusing on the different processes that they go through, and giving me an opportunity to meet with several other departments that play a part in an Event being put on or happening. I actually have tomorrow (Friday) off as well as Monday because of the holiday and almost no one working on Friday in the department. I will be going in on Saturday for an actual event, so I will get to see one of the event coordinators in action.

It has been a lot of interesting training, and I have actually really enjoyed it, especially the last couple of days. It has been really interesting to meet with the different trades, even if I might not be using all of it. I am really getting excited about getting to California, and a little nervous as well.

Just to make sure that no one thinks this was a decision that didn't involve any prayer, I will say that we definitely prayed and fasted about this decision as well. However, just being on the site prior to my interview I felt really good about being there.