Signs of Intelligent Life

In the midst of the random distribution of toys and clothing and other knick knacks that litter my house, I find an occasional collection that is so un-random so ordered that it may very well indicate signs of intelligent life here in my home! One day while I was tidying up the kids room, I came across the unusual order in the photo below.

I could tell this was the handiwork of my daughter Kaylie. Roman is rarely interested in ordering anything.

Kaylie however seems to be attracted to symmetrical constructions and order. Books don't self-organize in lines or squares. ... except in my house.

She's also fascinated with nail polish but that's another story ...

So whenever I see something in my home that could not have put itself together, I feel the need to record Kaylie's latest project. I discovered this little gem one morning.

It's almost as if Kaylie is trying to say something to me. I mean why build this and leave it around? Perhaps she was trying to assess the longevity of such an unstable structure. As you can imagine her Lego skills have improved dramatically of late.

When I saw this, I wondered, "when did this happen?" When did she develop a taste for symmetry and color and shape. This piece is much more complex than anything she'd put together before. I know some of you are thinking like, "dude, it's not that big a deal." But for me, this is a delightful surprise. I wasn't expecting any sort of artistry or expression to show itself until they were much older.

I think we have ourselves an artist.

The New Habits

Last night at around 2am, I was really hungry. Somehow I managed to avoid the ice cream, the chips, the pizza rolls, and all the other junk food abounding in our place, and ate an apple. I rarely eat apples or any fruit for that matter. Fruit tends to be messy and sour. So I'm not fond of them. But for midnight snacks, those are the only things I've allowed myself to eat.

It was tough. I ate it and surprisingly it filled me up enough to go to sleep.

Stairs

I've also committed myself to taking the stairs up and down to our 4th floor apt when I'm not with the kids. Sometimes, when I get off the bus, after having just woken up, I think to myself, "It's ok to take the elevator this time. You're tired." Another voice chimes in, "keep with the program." and I end up taking the stairs. I'm breathing heavy as I arrive home.

In college, I used to live in a 3rd floor walkup. I don't recall that it was ever a challenge to go up those stairs. It never occurred to me that it was difficult. But these 4 flights of stairs seem so much longer because I have the option of taking an elevator. That option seems to make the stair climbing all the more arduous.

Cool Things

The children are now an official part of my exercise regimen. Every night before bedtime, we do something we call "cool things." We do a number of different things but the toughest workout comes from throwing them around. They get on the bed and jump at me. I catch them and throw them up and catch them three times. Then, it's the other child's turn. We do this until my arms aren't strong enough to catch them safely. It's about 10 sets of three throws each. I can feel that Kaylie is heavier than Roman.

The kids love it and remind me every night. Better than a bowflex.

Big Dinner

Eliminating breakfast has been surprisingly easy. I don't really miss it. I've been trying to listen to the advice of experts who recommend big breakfasts and smaller lunches and dinners. In retrospect, that doesn't make sense for me. The home-cooked dinner is the thing I really want to eat. Reducing dinner is silly. So I eat dinner comfortably, light lunch and no breakfast. Works for me.

Numbers

I would guess that I've reduced my average daily calorie intake by say 100 calories, and increased my average daily calories burned by about 100 calories. I can't really measure the increase in muscle mass but I can do 40 pushups and 40 crunches which is at least double what I could do before. My weight keeps going down one pound at a time. I'm at 152 now.

My neck is still too thick and my belly is still too big. So I've got a ways to go. I can feel myself getting addicted to this fitness thing. I'm beginning to find ways that it can serve other mental and spiritual needs. wierd.