Thanksgiving at the Devils Playground

Thanksgiving for me this year consisted of a whole lot of eating and sleeping and some excercise. We did activities like soccer, bowling and croquet. Thier was also the usual bike riding including a ride to the devils playground. This ride is what I'm going to blog about since it was quite the adventure. My dad Frank, Greg Powell, and I rode bikes to the devils playground for a couple hours screwing around on mountain bikes. This area of land between T-town and effingham is hills and trails usually used for fourwheeler riding. However as real men ride bikes we tore up the trails on two wheels. While Powell gets the climbing award for the day;

I am proud to say I for sure got the downhill award as I was the only one to brave both incredibly steep hills full of leaves and ruts. I wrecked at the end of the first but made the second steeper one successfully. I think we all had at least one wreck my worst one was at the bottom of the first hill I fell off the back at the bottom doing kind of a superman and getting my leg scraped by the seat while I was careening out of control. Then my dad doing sideways somersaults in slow motion with his bike attached while me and Powell were cracking up. Then dad got last laugh as Powell being his over zealous self did a texas wheelie and almost did an endo onto a barbed wire. Overall it was a great break and I've already lost the 5 pounds I gained over thanksgiving. I subbed my first normal high school class on tuesday in language arts and today I am doing a half day at a special high school building not quite sure but I think its for computer students like pc repair and maintenance and networking. So I was able to be on the internet all morning for my job which was pretty cool. Next semester I'm transferring to blackburn which should be quite the new experience since edwardsvilles been my home away from home for the past 6 years. I'm going there in january after the trip to tuscon to the cycle house and christmas break. I plan on studying elementary social sciences. Hopefully with this I can teach junior high geography and coach high school soccer. Also I'm changing the color of my blog temporarily for christmas don't freak out those of you with ocd.

Spin baby Spin!

Thanksgiving break is here and that means mountain biking most every day for my family. The rides are usually inspired by my dad but me and Carlos have been more than willing to go. For me the best part of the ride is the creek crossing and wondering if Carlos is going to fall in. For me and dad it is no problem because we have been riding for a long time but Carlos has yet to figure it out. One of his spills was a foot in the water while the other one he actually fell off the bike and over the damn which was absolutely hilarious. Also we have been juggling a lot and playing soccer we have indoor today at the grade school gym which should be awsome. Meantime I'm pigging out on monster cookies!

TTOWN

So it was back to the old stomping grounds and I didnt know what lay ahead of me only that I was sure the weekend would probably include lots of excercise and a competitive atmosphere. I wasn't far off either after drinks and appetizers we did battle on the ping pong darts and pool table. Then we had family trivia as my parents and my brother and I tried to name countries capitals and by the way; michael and dad look up the capital of Switzerland because you were wrong. The next day me "carlinho" and my dad went mountain biking in the paradise behind our "casa." After which a fun activity of painting the lines and artwork on the soccer field took place followed by "Carlinho" trying to bend it like "Bobbinho." After a great steak dinner at Lone Star the ping pong battles started as we battled singles and double with the four of us. scholar in me took over and me and Carlos learned all 49 African countries. Then today I was kindly reminded that i could get my ass kicked by a bunch of women as i endured a grueling and quite painful abs class with my dad. Later that day I went to a two hour lesson on raquet stringing my new career choice. Then some shooting around on the newly painted field with Carlos and a quick nap and it was time to drive back just in time to play two hours of indoor soccer at Edwardsville which was fantastic since all the soccer players from the team were there since they are done with their season which gives me people to rough up on and they were losing more than they should of probably which always makes me in a better mood. It is late and I have Elementary special ed in the morning so I'm going to hit the hay as we backwoods folk say.

Oh yeah and I beat my dad in Yahtzee! cant forget that.....

Urbanathlon

Have to make it quick, its my second day of kindergarten tommorow. Anyway the urbanathlon was a success our relay team finished. My sister Anne did well competing with all the huge guys. It was fun watching her go over the marine hurdles. I think she place 21 out of 50 some girls in her division which is pretty good. Anyway it was a beautiful day in Chicago and I recommend the race, hopefully I get a chance to do the whole thing next year. My younger bro Michael had a thriller of a super sectional soccer game. It sucks when the ref ruins a game and taints a season on a bad call, i've been there but the team handled it well. I have started substitute teaching which is a real blast. The children have plenty of energy to keep me busy and keep a smile on my face. Six a.m. comes too early for me so boa noite yall.

A phase or a new start?

While I still have many bad habits, my mom or anyone who barely knows me could attest to this. I have been doing some things since my midlife crisis at 24 years of age. Now some might say it is strange to have a midlife crisis at 24, but for those of you who know me, you know I've never been normal or behaved in the norm. No I am an individual for better or for worse, "I like to think for better." However I will share with you some of my newer behaviors. I have since taken up drawing not realizing the true potential that was there since I haven't really drawn since the art class I took 4 years ago at SIUE. Hopefully I can scan some of these and put them on here. Also I work out like a maniac mostly in the weight room but I also play soccer and tennis multiple times a week and have recently started running again. I cannot sleep at night because I don't want to waste one second of my life. Although this usually backfires when I have to play catchup and I don't think you live as long if you don't get proper sleep or you are stressed. However I've slept alot in my life so I think I'll be okay. I love pumpkin beer, just had the blue moon seasonal pumpkin ale that came out its amazing also good is the schlafys pumpkin ale. I'm close to starting substitute teaching so I'll keep that posted I am really pumped about this as it may be as close as I come to being a teacher and I love kids. I would like to give a special thanks to my dearest friend caitlyn for keeping me on track with things and making sure I clean out my truck all the time. Also I am super pumped for the "urbanathalon in chi town city I will be spending time with my sis and my greatest friend ever mr. chris sheley. Also I have been going to the human society alot because I miss having a dog and I feel bad for the ones there. Its a little way to give back I guess to go there and take them out its rewarding and super fun if you've never done it. Last time I played with a beagle named missy who was super cute and a gray something or other that I said looked like a wild dog and she informed my that the correct word was dingo. So dingo and missy I hope you get adopted. As for me I am going to get some sleep or watch a movie. I'm finally learning that lifes to short not to live for every second and I'm glad my midlife crisis came at 24 maybe i'll have another one who knows!

Six Pack and Wild Country

So I went to "wild country" under careful guidance and persuasion from my new friends and while I was no dancing with the stars candidate, I did dance a few songs. While it was neither my scene nor my crowd it was a fun experience and I'm glad I went. I really have nothing more to say about it than it was quite different. Also on a side note I went to the humane society today to check on the uncertain fate of my past relative michelob ultra light. It turns out she was not there which was sad but she might have got adopted because they had many less adoptable dogs there for a lot longer. However her fate being uncertain if you are reading this blog i request that you take a moment of silence and reflection in memory of someone you might have lost. The trip was neither grim nor uneventful though as me and Nami had a good play session with a new friend who was a boxer pup that we name six pack "mostly cuz you could see its ribs. The dog was playful, slightly dumb, and got tired way faster than mickey. It was a fun and eventful excursion that I will have to do again soon on the next beautiful day!

The Soccer Chicas

So there are these three amazing girls that play indoor soccer with us and they are my new friends and since i love new friends and each of them is so special and unique this blog is going to be about them. First the scenario.... two of them play and when I say play they are little bruisers and one watches but not for long because I have convinced her to start playing and tommorow is her first day. I have to thank them because they laugh and giggle and make every weeknight at soccer more lighthearded and enjoyable for everyone. So I found out tonight that they were giving everyone nicknames and my is none other but bananaboat... yep like the sunscreen. If you see me in my big yellow shoes you will understand. So first i would like to give a shot out to Bree, she is little measuring up to 4 10 "and a half," but her game is much bigger than that. I would like to thank her for trying break my fall today i hit her hand with my face pretty hard in an embarrassing trip over the ball that left me sprawled on the ground in the first play of the game. Then theirs Caitlyn also small but with a big heart she knocks me down more than anyone else I play with. She has mad foot skills and often makes the guys look stupid with her talented dribbling. And last but definitely not least their is Lindsey the number one fan, she entertains the players on the bench and will hopefully soon be a avid soccer player herself. So this is a shot out to my amazing new friends, skillful as they are beautiful "the soccer chicas".

USA >> All The Way!!!!

I went to my bros soccer game yesterday which was a treat since they won 1-0 to stay undefeated. Even better Michael scored the goal in the last minute. Then tonight I played a little soccer of my own after watching the US national team beat Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 in World Cup Qualifying. I figured I shouldn't play and try to give my toe some time to heal but I couldn't resist. I didn't have tape so I tore up a plastic bag and used that to wrap my toes together and surprisingly enough it actually helped. The big disappointment of the day came when I went to sign up for salsa and the last spot had been taken this morning and it started tonight. Now my only chance is if somebody drops I guess but I think thats a long shot.

I watched the new "Rambo" which was pretty good for an action movie. Another good movie is "A Civil Action" Its a lawyer movie with John Travolta and is really good.

Wedding, Lake, Soccer, Golf, and Tennis

It has been a few days since I have sputtered out my daily activities onto the binary pages shown here. So here goes a little catch up. Saturday my cousin Clare got married and did all the wedding things which I guess was highlighted by free beer, especially the Sierra Nevada. Probably the worst part was waking up Saturday with a sunburnt head. For those of you I don't get to see,Jason did me the privelige of Shaving my head last week. Thus bringing out one of my fav0rite qualities "the pug head. If you get the chance check out the wrinkles on my head sometime they are wicked dude. Then Sunday was fun in the sun with drinks and appetizers while taking lessons and juggling with Carlos and michael on the boat dock. Then at night we went to T-Town and played some street soccer on the tennis courts. This went well except my borrowed shoes were to small. Then today was golfing with my mother who beat my which was pretty sad. I think I lost about a dozen golf balls. Now its back to the lake and then Tennis in TTown with Willie Vannillie "my cousin" and then maybe back to Edwardsville. This week I find out the job situation hopefully so we will see if i'm "Westward Bound." Oh yeah and I found a Salsa partner but she is like a foot and a half smaller than me so I don't know if it will work out.

Two decent and halfway funny movies are "What happens in Vegas" and "Baby Momma."

Soccer and ......... Salsa?

I am waiting on a call from Colorado to see if i will get hired on the mountain for ski/snowboard season since my GPA wasn't high enough to apply to anyones education program. However while the Colorado call is pending I'm still contemplating my other options and carrying on with everyday edwardsville life. The weather was gorgeous for the first day back to school and after soaking up some sun with Nami and little Nee and having a few drinks we went to first day of indoor soccer. Some new Jacksonville players turned up the competition and I thought Nami was going to kill one of them but their was about 20-25 players and a good turnout. It was super rough and competitive since nobody wanted to sit out for 15 min when you lose. I actually was one of the few that didn't get hurt till the very end when the huge german dude kicked my toes as hard as he could. Although they are sore and swollen I don't think their broke. It was a ton of fun though and since I have to work wednesday I'm glad I made it tonight. Then to celebrate and because I'm getting skinny me and namster went to Applebees at like 1130 and ate half price boneless wings and 2 dollar long islands. This was the perfect way to top off the night. Also I found out that the campus fitness center has couples salsa dancing and since learning to dance something of this sort is on my ten year goals, I'm looking into it. All I have to do is find a partner , which is in the process.

Two movies for this entry will be "Felon" which is new and similar to "In Hell." It is a good action prison movie. Also, one I've seen before but is decent would be Ordinary Decent Criminal if you like Kevin Spacey. This is a older movie so you might have seen it. Or for you chicks "Wicker Park" also older or "What happens in Vegas" which comes out tommorow. I work in the morning so peace out.

Late night volleyball

Today started out slow but ended with a smash..... literally. After taking care of some things like picking up a job application and emailing the elementary education advisor. For those of you who don't know I'm about 90% sure I'm going back to school to be a teacher. Anyway I'll keep you updated on that but the rest of my day went something like this. Taking a day off from the gym me and Nami went to the driving range with a driver from goodwill. At the range my shots ranged from 0 yrds one almost killed us, to 225 yrds mostly not good though. Then we went to a barbeque and jasons and after burgers and brats we didn't know what to do. So Nami out of the blue suggested volleyball. We checked out the sand volleyball courts and found some high school kids playing and joined them. Then they left and we met some new people from SIUE. It was nice to meet a few new people and they evidently play alot so we will probably play with them again. After about four hours of V-ball and sand in every orifice on my body, won't go into detail there, we left the court at 1 am and went to the gas station to chug a litre of water and a blue gatorade. Good day overall and I guess I should recommend the movie "Numb" kind of a chick flick but guys would like it too. I have a full day tommorow hopefully something like gym, sushi, pool and work so I'm going to bed.

Pain and Subway

I slept late today recovering from the night before and 3 days closing at blockbuster. So after waking up and finishing the 4th season of house disc 1 which comes out the 18th, is my recommendation for this blog. I decided to take a run to get something to eat. I have been sick with sinus problems and I didn't know how this was going to go. I was planning on running to the coffee shop and back but then remembered I left the truck downtown last night so I took off on a 3 mile run instead of a 6 which put my mind at ease. However I don't know if it was not eating or drinking anything, or the sinus problems or hangover, but my head hurt, lungs were on fire and my throat dry and hard to swallow and my knee felt like it was going to give out. For me especially, I think the pain is one of the attractions of running. Pain makes you feel alive and human. Also, you have plenty of time to think while you run. Anyway after the first mile or so I started to set in to my rhythm and it got easier. Long story short about 26 min later I ended up at subway drenched in sweat and ordered an onion and chicken teriaki footlong sub and a water while taking jokes from the subway guy for looking like I was running from the cops and what not. Overall a successful, but far from fun run today and it made swimming laps seem an even more enjoyable form of exercise.

Doing the Butterfly

Spurred on by Michael Phelps and the Olympics and my friend Nami, I went to the pool to see if I could still swim. I have a bad left shoulder that tends to dislocate. This was from an injury while in brasil, so I was unsure as to how this would turn out. Since the indoor pool was closed and I was sore from starting weights again we went the leisurely route to the outdoor campus pool. This is probably the only hot spot for finding the ever elusive Edwardsville hottie. Since the pool was rather empty on this particular day, we did swim laps and though I was no Michael Phelps I did surprisingly well. I struggle with the breathing technique but once I get that I should be good. Then after soaking up some sun at the pool I headed off to my closing shift at blockbuster.

To try to make something positive out of my blockbuster job I will now recommend one movie at the end of each blog. For this blog it is "Stranded." This is a family film which has the same story line as "Swiss Family Robinson" which I loved growing up. Great film about being shipwrecked on an island and using your resources to survive.

Michelob's Last Day

I did the unthinkable and returned my dog to the humane society where I found her. I knew it was going to be hard, but I saw no alternative as she was trying to dominate my life. Although I think this is a normal chick thing I was fed up. So I fed Mickey her last supper and headed off to the humane society. It was a sad trip but I let her hang out the window for a last taste of freedom. She made it a little easier with her unbearable whining while I filled out her paperwork. I almost think she was anxious to be joining the other dogs that are held there. All I can hope for is for her to get a home better than the one I can provide. I hate failure and I have a slight sense of it but I think it is overpowered by the relief I feel. I think getting rid of this major source of stress in my life will contribute to my overall well being. All I have to say is good luck Mickey!

Lakehouse with Nami

This past weekend I went to our lake house with my Iranian buddy Nami to have some fun in the sun. I was good to hang out with my mother also, especially since me and Nami beat her and Carlos by one stroke in golf. "Carlos" by the way is our new foreign exchange student from Venezuela who is by the way a very talented soccer player but new to the game of golf. This also holds true for Namster. Anyway we also just relaxed and wen swimming and boating a good break before I return to the absolute thrill of my job at blockbuster. I also might start training for my urbanathlon in Chicago. I'm excited my sister signed up since I am doing it with my friend Sheley and his sister. I haven't decided if I want to do the marathon training guide by hal higdon or the intermediate 10k one. I was thinking maybe the marathon since thats in my 10 year plan. I have to go to abs class and workout since I am starting a new workout phase in my life so later alligator.

Entering the World of Blogging

Being the second child I think I"m one of the last to get a blog spot so following is a brief explanation of how it finally came about. I was so inspired by reading my brothers blog site nsquaredwienerscubed that I decided I would finally succumb to start a blog site. However, I do not have any false illusions of my blogs having near the grandeur of my brothers. I might blame this on leading a rather simple life in southern Illinois. Therefore I mean not to bore but rather too administer simple self-therapy too a single guy who needs to express his thoughts to someone other than his beagle michelob and python labatt. Its not that they are bad listeners but the language barrier does take effect on me not to mention the love, hate relationship between my dog and I. So for you few brave or dumb enough to use your precious free time reading this I hope to shed a small light on what goes on in my world and slightly sporadic mind.

I wanted to kick off my first blog right so here I am drinking a fat tire cerveza and eating a hersheys bar "one of my new vices." I would like to start off by saying I thoroughly enjoyed my college career and owe the opportunity and the success all to my great parents Frank and Cathy. So I figure what better way to start off post graduation and my first blog than with my ten year plan. The history behind my ten year plan being that in a moment of intense energy and desperation that I'm sure is common for some, but like a solar eclipse for me. I chose not to strap on the running shoes and take off across town in the middle of the night but to do something more productive and write down all the things I would like to accomplish in the next 10 years. Someone told me just writing down your goals greatly increases the odds of them happening and since I find my goals to include some cool shit that I would really like to see happen I wrote them down and since a blog site is a little more permanent than a piece of paper I will write a portion of them here in no particular order.

1. Go Snorkeling in Australia and New Zealand

2. Go to Africa World Cup 2010 or Brasil if they move it

3. Find the perfect girl and get her to like me "the tough part"

4. Start my own business

5. Go to a pub in Ireland and Scotland and chug a pint

6. Bike from Illinois to Colorado/California

7. Learn to speak another language

8. Keep a journal on every trip

9. Ask a complet stranger to dance

10. Learn to swing dance

11. Beat my younger brother in tennis

12. Break dance in foreign country in club or town square.

13. Learn how to break dance

14. Run a mile on the great wall of China

15. Give a soccer ball to a less fortunate child

16. Coach a soccer team

17. Play tennis on a grass court

18. Run 26 miles

19. Drink wine and eat cheese in Italia

20. Drink a $100 dollar bottle of wine

So as there are many more things I want to do, I will be happy to accomplish the majority of these and will consider it a sucessful and fulfilling ten years after doing so. Since it is late and I am thoroughly worn out from a long wonderful day in St. Louis with my mother and our new foreign exchange student Carlos and not to mention when the beer is gone its time to move on. "enough said I'm going to bed"