Weight Loss - Good, Fitness - Not As Good

Daily Plate continues to help my weight go in the correct direction. In the last two months I have lost 9 pounds.

I competed in the Silicon Labs Austin Marathon Relay a week ago and quickly learned that I need to train harder to be ready for the Livestrong 5K in October.

Each member of the 5 person team ran a leg that added up to the length of a Marathon. I volunteered for the 5K 4th leg. 100 yards into the race I experienced an extreme case of intestinal discomfort that lasted the entire 3.1 miles. At mile 1 my right calf cramped and by mile 2 I stopped sweating. By the end of the race I think I was somewhere between Heat Exhaustion & Heat Stroke. (Remind me again how exercise makes me healthy) After the race I drank 1/2 gallon of Gatorade & Water. The cramp in my leg lasted about a day and a half. For future races I will prepare by drinking about an hour before the race to prevent another case of leg cramps.

Orange Belt

Last Thursday I felt like the exact opposite of Johnny Knoxville in The Ringer.



It seemed like everyone else was prepared and was ready to be tested, I seemed more like I just fell off the Short Bus. Apparently I had been to only advanced classes and none of the basic classes. Basic classes are where students learn their forms and practice the moves that are tested during Belt Graduation. The basic class starts at 6PM, impossible for me to attend because I do not finish work until 5:30PM. If I start working from home on Thursdays I will be able to attend at least one basic class a week. I need to watch the DVD for Yellow Belt so I won't feel like such a Dunderklumpen next time.

When You Are Engulfed In Flames

I just "read" When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris.

By "Read" I mean that I listened to the unabridged audiobook as read by the author. I had seen him do an interesting reading on David Letterman about the Stadium Pal.

The first half of the books deals with his early life in Raleigh, North Carolina with his family, and the second half centers around his life in Europe. I like his views of the world as a child and as a stranger in a strange land in Europe and later in Japan. The strangest revelation to me is what a loser he was and the wasted decades he spent doing menial jobs.

The last 25% of the book concentrated on his attempts at trying to quit smoking. I am sure this would make a bigger impact on an ex-smoker, but I still found it enjoyable.

Since this is my first Sedaris book I do not know how it compares to any of his others, but I will be "reading" more of his work in the future.

A Gecko, A Parrot & A Toad

Tawnya discovered a visitor in the house this evening. She saw a Gecko trying to hide near the baseboard molding


Since she is not a fan of reptiles, she called me for help. I was able to capture it and set it free in our front yard. I discovered that it was a Mediterranean House Gecko. I see them in our yard quite often, but this is the first time we have found one in the house. The "Med Gecko" are one of the most successful species of geckos in the world, so we won't be calling the cryptozoologist to investigate.

Since it was PayDay Friday we went to Mesa Rosa for dinner. Mesa Rosa is the closest to Southern California Mexican Food as we have found in Austin.


They have a new menu so I ventured into uncharted territory and picked the Burrito de la Reyna - Stuffed with shredded chicken and mushrooms, topped with Creamy Jalapeño sauce and jack cheese. Jalapeno cheese sauce is wonderfully spicy and creamy...Good Stuff.

When we returned home and pulled up into our driveway we saw a large Toad sitting in the middle of our front yard.



Tawnya is also not a fan of amphibians, so she declined to check it out. I coaxed it into the bushes so it would not be as conspicuous. I did some research and found out that it was a Gulf Coast Toad and they are found in a wide range of habitats including: open grassland, semi-arid regions, light forest, and even suburban backyards. This describes Round Rock perfectly. If we had known this before we moved into the neighborhood, it might have been a much tougher sale for Tawnya.

Armadillo

We have been in Texas for 3 years now, and Tawnya had never seen a live Armadillo until tonight.



We see dead ones in the road quite often, I have found places in our yard that have been dug up by a varmint and there is even a burrow in the woods behind our house just a few yards beyond the fence line.

I saw my first and only live one about a year ago near Taylor's school.



It was taking a slow stroll across the street as parents were dropping their kids off. It seemed to have no fear of the cars that had slowed to a stop to let it pass. Wikipedia says that they are not blind, but have poor eyesight. I think that they are not stupid, but they are pretty dumb.

Tawnya came home tonight from Soccer and found an Armadillo on our front lawn, digging near a tree looking for bugs. She watched it for a while and when she got out of the car to come inside it scurried away into the bushes under our front window.

Since they eat bugs, I don't mind if they dig up a small patch of grass once in a while. It is also a better varmint to have around than the skunk my parents saw in their yard.