Just a Thought....Pay Day.

Just a Thought.....Payday. So it is Friday, which is awesome enough already but what made it even better is it was a payday Friday leading into a three day weekend. Which magnifies the joy of payday even more than any other payday. When I was first working and ran into this situation for the first time, it was the most awesome experience. It was time to hit the mall, buy some new digs and then go to the club Friday night and then on Sunday night because I didn't have to go to work on Monday and could sleep off any Sunday Funday hangovers. But as I got older and learned about responsibilities, it soon became just another day and it was worse because most of your money was gone paying bills and not tequila shots. Going to the club acing like a shot caller was long gone in the rearview mirror. Payday now has a different meaning than back in the day. Now when payday hits, I can now go buy me a Subway sandwich without any guilt. I still bills to pay it just is a bit easier to manage and I still get to feel like a baller just only in my mind. We work so hard to earn a paycheck and I think it is the right of every hard working person that answers the daily punch clock and grinds out 40 hours a week deserves a chance to celebrate the fruits of their labors. I still enjoy the part of getting a check with my name on it or the direct deposit slip that has the amount I earned this pay period. I just don't like the part when you see your check disappear into to thin air to pay the light, water and electric. Then there is a responsibility to buy food and gas for any vehicles that you drive. When it is all said and done there is only so much left to either spend or save. I hope that one day I will receive the big check that sends me into early retirement. That would be worth writing about. So while I ramble on typing and getting droopy eyes from being sleepy, I must say to all of you goodnight. So until tomorrow remember to eat your vitamins and that this was .....just a thought.

Just a Thought...Losing Weight.

Just a Thought....Losing Weight. I can remember as a kid being skinny and rail-thin. I was always full of energy and bouncing off the walls. I had a high metabolism and could literally eat whatever I wanted as a kid. When I got older and closer to adulthood, I can remember my dad saying "I wish I could still eat like that and stay your size." I never knew what he meant. I was too young and stupid to care. Once I graduated high school and started working for my family, I was always eating greasy, fatty junk food. If it was healthy or had any kind of green color to it, I was out. Salads were for losers, vitamins were for old people and eating healthy was for hippies. I can remember vividly one morning eat some fresh, hot Menudo and my Uncle came into the back eating area and saw me eating that bowl of Menudo. He looked with a look of desire but restrain because he knew the consequences if consumed. He told me "Son, enjoy it while you can because one day you won't be able to eat the same." I just shrugged my shoulders and said "Okay." with a bit of dismission in my tone. I was thinking to myself, "Fuck off old man, what do you know about this and my future." Little did I know that one day he would be right. He knew because he was already walking down that path. I can remember him taking Fish Oil, Omega 3 and Vitamin B to remain in a healthy state of living. Who knew that this would be the challenge that I would face. All those years that I could have been concentrating on my health and wellness. I wasted it on my youth doing stupid things. My metabolism slowed down, I started to eat to cope with feeling and I gained a lot of weight. So much, how about to the tune of 289 pounds. The heaviest that I had ever been in my entire life. After the injury to my foot and returning to work I had gained so much weight in the four months that I was unable to walk normally, it was a struggle. I knew that I had to lose weight or be like this forever. The pain was almost unbearable at first but as time moved on and so did I, things began to change. I began to notice that the swelling and leg and foot pain was getting easier to control. When I started my new job, it only made me more active and have to face my weight issues head-on. It wasn't easy, I made some drastic eating lifestyle changes. It still isn't easy to kill the craving but it is getting easier to build restraint from just eating emotionally. The sweat and work haven't been for nothing. In seven months I have gone down in weight from 289 lbs to 261 lbs. I weighed myself this morning and was pleasantly surprised. I am a few steps closer to my first real milestone and that I am getting my weight to 250 lbs. My Uncle was right and knew damn good and well what he was telling me back then, I was just too young and stupid, only worried about my clothes, women and going out. I just want to say that it isn't going to get any easier going forward but I am looking forward to the challenge. Please help and support me if you can, some days I need the encouragement. So until tomorrow, remember that this was....just a thought.

Just a Thought....Calamity.

Just a Thought....Calamity. This day started out like any other day. I got up, took a shower and made myself lunch and a pot of coffee before work. I let the dogs out to relieve themselves and went to pour the coffee. The first thing is I didn't turn on the coffee maker and second when I did, I realized that I didn't put the drip tray that catches the grinds and the filter back in the coffee maker. So needless to say that there were coffee grinds in my cup. I grabbed my lunch and my effects and shot out the door and headed to work. So things just seemed like a normal day, I loaded my truck and headed out for delivery. Little did I know that when I arrived at my first stop, I got down to make the delivery and glanced down at my shoes. I hadn't even noticed that I was wearing two different shoes. Thank God they were both black and apparently no one noticed. If any of you have ever seen The Shawshank Redemption, the part where Andy Dufrane walks out of the office with the warden's shoes and no one notices is totally believable and true. I made it the whole day and no noticed my blunder. That wasn't the grand finale, I saved the best for last. So once I made it to my last delivery, I had just one medium-sized box to deliver and I would be able to call it a day. I grabbed the box and didn't adjust for the weight when I grabbed it. It slipped through my hands and the bottom of the box landed just perfectly on top of the fire extinguisher in the cab of my truck. I saw smoke begin to billow and a hissing sound began to emerge from underneath the box. Forgetting that the extinguisher was righty where I dropped the box, I just assumed that the noise and the smoke were coming from the box I was about to deliver. I swung the door open on my truck and hopped out thinking the box or truck was going to explode. I just saw the whole cab of my truck fill and billow with nothing but what I thought was smoke. Until I remember that the fire extinguisher was there and ran to the passenger side and remove the box. The cab of my delivery truck was a powder mess. It was everywhere in the inside of the truck. The AC was pushing out the extinguisher dust that had shot in the vents. it was a nightmare, a real fucking mess. I made the delivery covered in soot and headed to the nearest Car wash. I was able to clean out all the mess and it took some time and a lot of paper towels. All I could do was laugh at my own calamity and realized that it can happen to anyone, it wasn't even a bummer or something that would have put me in a bad mood if this had happened at some other point in my past. But I just look at the silver lining and keep moving forward. Even in the most terrible moments, if we believe and put our trust in our Lord and savior. No matter the circumstances, we can walk away knowing it could always be worse. So I keep up head up and walk with faith. It is still funny that my backpack still had small amounts of dust inside. So with that in mind, I will bid you adieu and go try to start tomorrow with a better chance of luck. So until we meet again, this was...Just a Thought.

Just a Thought....Relief.

Just a Thought....Relief. The summer usually blares on without any relief as the heat just beams down on you to the point of surrender. But today was a great day..a day of much-needed relief from the sun and its terrorist reign on the earth or at least in Texas. I was really starting to forget what it was like to actually jump in my vehicle and to touch the steering wheel without singeing my hands from the extreme heat. It was great to roll down the freeway with the windows down and not instantly melt from the sunbeams burning ever so brightly. There was an actual spotting of some much-needed rain. It was magnificent and glorious at the same time. Well probably except for those people who no matter the time of season get into accidents in the rain. It probably sucked for them but to me, it was like God came down and watered his precious flowers with some much-needed rain from above. I almost started to cry because I had forgotten what raindrops looked like and I had considered them long forgotten like the Dodo Bird. Not only was today such a great occurrence but tomorrow is supposed to be similar to today's weather forecast. I know that there is a God and he is smiling down on Texas. I look at the calendar on the wall and know that fall can't be too far off, all the signs are coming back to remind me. The kids are going back to school, football is right around the corner and before you know it, The State Fair of Texas will be opening up for another year. That is when I usually know that fall is here to stay for a while and the days of 108-degree heat indexes are long gone. So please those of you that live in the state, enjoy it. for those of you, that live somewhere else and it's still hot. I'll be thinking of you while I soak the water from the sky. Remember to stay hydrated and carry an umbrella because you never about this weather here in Texas. So stay dry and party on. So until tomorrow, remember that this was..... just a thought.

Just a Thought.....Adulting.

Just a Thought.......Adulting. This is something that we call adulting these days, but back in the olds days when the old folks would get together and chat about their kids or family that would say "So and so needs to get his shit together and grow up". I know that this is a concept that I have fought tooth and nail because first of all I didn't want to be a grown-up with responsibilities but wanted the freedom. That usually comes with a price. Second, it meant that I was getting older in age and I knew that I could no longer keep up with the youth of the new generation. I realized that when I fractured my foot and knew that I would never be the same but that didn't matter. My body told me that I needed to give up the dreams of playing pro football or get in the NBA. It was already too late for me. So once the athletic prowess is gone from your life, its time to concentrate on the interworkings of our minds and that is usually a mindblower for those who first of all have never had a clue what they wanted to do with their lives. I am just barely starting to get myself turned in the right direction, it has been as a struggle with the spiritual, the weight loss, the financials of trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. I want to get myself out of debt forever and I want to follow my dreams of becoming a writer. It is a tall order but usually when one starts the process of adulting, it remains that way until they either die or win the lottery. I plan on continuing to push for more action to get the result and goals that I have placed upon myself. I know that this is the time to push your dreams, to push the dietary lifestyle change and the time to trust and believe in God to follow his agenda as he sees fit with me. I still don't want to grow, I wanna be a Toys R' Us kid for as long as I can, but alas the Lord has a way of telling you when he needs your presence and what the blessings that are to follow. So with a full heart love and plenty of Gas in the tank tonight, I will bid you adieu. So until tomorrow, this was ......Just a Thought.

Just a Thought.....Exhaustion.

Just a Thought...Exhaustion. Last night was quite an experience. I went out with my wife to a concert. A band that I admired and was really excited to see The Smashing Pumpkins. I left underwhelmed but glad that I got to mark them off my list of bands to see. It was a warm, muggy Texas night and just cool enough to enjoy some tunes outdoors. I also made new friends with Leo Coldiron and Keri Coldiron, who are really cool peoples. I spent some adult time with my lovely wife and had a really great late evening. I woke this morning and went to work, got off work and went directly to help my brother moves some furniture that he was giving me. Then I ran off to the store to buy a few items, rushed home help finish giving the kids a bath and squeezed in some time to eat dinner. Needless to say, I am exhausted and a bit dehydrated. I also skipped writing a post, if any of you noticed, but will catch up tomorrow or later this week when I double dip somewhere down the road. These last forty-eight hours have been a blast but also draining. I am not as young as use to be and doing so much in the Texas heat can run your tank on empty pretty quickly. I remember when I was twenty-one and could run the tank on empty a lot longer before it would catch up to me. Nowadays, it is pretty much instantaneous. I do have to admit that shedding some pounds has helped keep me upright a little bit longer, but not like in the good old days. I do enjoy the fact that I am out there doing some living and getting to feel like an actual adult and not some shut-in who never leaves the house because I was always too tired. I can't wait to go out again soon and just enjoy life. So with every aching bone and sore muscle in my body, I am going to say farewell. Until we meet again tomorrow, this was.....just a thought.