My friends the Geeks will love this. Click on this link to gain a live feed from NASA TV . It’s geekalicious. Once there, go to the Akamai or Yahoo links to pull in the feed. Pocket protectors and taped glasses frames are optional but they help to understand the conversation.
Long day, I’m exhausted. Good to know that I’m dong the right things however. Last night was up from 01:00-03:00. Up for good at 05:30. In the lab at 07:30; gone at 16:15, home by 17:45. Yikes! I’m pretty sure at this point that it was a GI virus with violent results.
Sue is making us a Dr. Weil meal tonight (salmon). Wonderful. I’m looking forward to exercising tomorrow.
Pressing on! Pray for me.
Back at the lab on Day 2 post recuperation. Yesterday I felt very rested and had a full day of work. Got 7.25hrs sleep prior to it, worked 8.75hrs (actual worked), was in Providence by 6PM. Good day. Got takeout from Whole Foods for supper with Sue and JP. In bed by 10:15PM. Woke with alarm at 5:20AM, more tired than yesterday morning. At St E’s by 7:30AM, going ever since. Inserted smaller meals at 10:30AM and (will) at 3:30PM. Planning to walk out at 4:30PM. Have to be asleep by 9:45PM. Cut portion size at dinner and eat earlier.
All in all things have been good these two days. Very conscious about drinking water, watching food intake, praying, de-stressing, getting adequate rest. Hopefully I’ll feel well enough over the weekend to start exercising again (walking).
Veni Creator Spiritus!
Today I rejoin the human race after a very very illness-filled weekend. Had to be food poisoning I’m convinced now. I’ve never been so violently ill before. Let your mind wander down the darkest paths and you still won’t get there. Lasted for 14 hours, actively. The rest of the weekend was recuperation and it took every bit of it including today (4 days). It woke me up however. It actually shook me awake to the stress I allow in my life (from work), the ridiculous hours, the terrible eating habits, lack of good water, fruit, veggies, and exercise.
Tomorrow I’ll go back to my consulting gigs but it won’t/can’t be the same. I will purposefully de-stress, cut my hours back to no more than 45/wk (trust me, it’s a remarkable improvement from 55 and 65), get at least 7.5 hours of sleep per night, exercise daily, and align my diet with my long term health goals of losing 70 pounds and simply eating well.
Pray for me. Thank you Jesus for shaking me awake.
Yesterday, Sue and I spent the afternoon with Anne, Laura, Bryan, Zach, and Hannah, in the barn, in Foster. Ah yes my friends, the smell of southern yellow pine shavings was pungent. We were hanging out talking about house design stuff and I asked Anne about the boards she was using to build the dining room floor. There it began.
She has acquired many (numerous, a plethora) of southern yellow pine boards, each some 20-odd-feet long, and is using them to build the dining room floor. She’ll fill the holes with dowel wood, rout the divots and fill them in, then sand them down. She will then use square (cut) nails to attach them to the floor. But none of this (and I do mean NONE OF THIS) will take place until every board is planed, at home, in the barn, on the Gibb Family 15″ planer. O yes my friends, this is the Proverbs 31 woman meets HGTV! Let it be known through this blog that the jury has voted: Anne Gibb is amazing.
So, off to the barn we went. With the assistance of the DREAM TEAM [Laura, Bryan, Zach, and Hannah (for moral support and safety assurance - she looks great in goggles and ear protection)], Anne has planed ‘pert near 25 of these 20-footers. Have you ever planed a 20-foot pine board? Hmmm, it’s not as romantic as it sounds. We started by taking the planer apart, cleaning it and putting it back together. What a team! The grease! The wood shavings! The directions left unread! An hour later and she (the planer) was humming away. Once complete, Anne, Laura and Bryan showed us how to plane a real, live board. Shavings everywhere, baby, but what a sense of accomplishment.
After cleanup, it was off to a little known piece of local ice cream heaven: We-Li-Kit Farms, tucked away in scenic Abington, CT. Some unique flavor samples inlcude Holstein, Road Kill Ripple, Guersney Cookie, & Apes Delight (dudes, the cherry vanilla has real cherries in it). The cream density of this stuff will have you making an appointment for angioplasty before the day is out.
Thirty minutes later we were back in Providence. The lingering smell of pine oil reminded us of the perfect summer day in Foster with people we love.
And the Proverbs 31 woman who’s one in a million.
“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from far away. She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her servant-girls. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong; …Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
(Proverbs 31: 10-17; 25-26)
When was the last time you spent the day, or afternoon, or even an hour, at Beavertail State Park, in Jamestown, RI? Well, dude, it’s time.
Yesterday (8 Aug 04) dear Maggie got a hankering for a trip to the shore. Given that Rhode Islanders have 40 miles of open coastline to pick from (literally; see the State of the Beach, 2004), there is nary an excuse for us to not just zip away for the water. So into the RL we climbed and, 40 minutes later, found ourselves at Beavertail State Park in Jamestown. It’s coast, and ocean, and rocks, and sunny day with sea spray blowing all over. A more beautiful, restful, invigorating place you will be hard pressed to find. All that plus it boasts a working lighthouse, the third oldest in the country.
We in Little Rhody have one of the prettiest states on the map. Take some time to poke around a little. Stop driving to Boston, and Mystic, and Plymouth; instead, drive into our backyard. Here’s some more info on what the Biggest Little has to offer.
So, it’s been a good few weeks. July 17th (date of last post) was our 28th wedding anniversary (& we’re so young). Now it’s 6 August and I’m 50% through my Million Day Vacation. A Million Days is a very long time.
I have nearly achieved “unpluggedness”. It is an unusual and happy state for me. Spending a lot of time with Sue and Beeb, seeing movies, grooving at the SoulFest last weekend, sleeping late (does not compute), reading a lot. Checking email only occasionally and voice mail almost never. Had a very good time at the Fest with Sue, Beeb, JP, Nicole and James (Funky Jimmy G) Gould. Blessings on my sister-in-law Pat and bro Dave for the wonderful digs in Twin Mountain, NH.
Breathing deeply and it’s wonderful.
And everyone, please pray everyday for Sarah Fasano as she takes off to Africa on Aug 13th. Pray for her every day and you’ll be part of the missionary work. Thank you Lord. Sarah is The Bomb.
OK, back to vacation…
Hi guys, back into action here. Today Sue and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary. O yes! I met her 30 years ago this month (married 2 yrs later) and was smitten from Day-1. I didn’t stand a chance as this 19-year old overall-jeans wearing beauty waltzed into my life. I was a mere 17 year old but knew that I knew that she was the One.
And here I sit 30 years later, still smitten. Everyone should be so happy.
Tell me how this sounds: two leisurely hours sipping Starbucks, eating homemade muffins (heart healthy), talking with your beautiful wife; deck door open, warm, light breezes, blue skies, and not a cloud in them. Summer Sunday morning. Grahammy Dog came to visit for awhile, and Beeb. The weekly non-stop is worth it when it ends like this. There’s a timeless quality about Sunday mornings in summer. You can feel God loving you. Know what I’m saying?
Yo Jake and Mag: Day 3 has come and gone; we wait in rapt attention for a crumb of news, a tidbit of a glimpse, a wiff of brewski! We miss you guys and Anne and Laura too. Today was our monthly Escuela de los Hombres (Man School). A very good morning indeed. Jake, you were sorely missed. I limped along. Thank God I didn’t have to revert to Kumbaya. The worship was tremendous actually. God is awesome. Decent talk too and a lot of interaction. Last one for the summer. BTW, Beeb spends most of her waking hours finding places to drive Mom. And Mom is actually going and enjoying it. They’re on their way to Smithfield crossings right now. Yowza. The moon must be in the seventh house.
Love you guys a lot. Send love to Anne & Laura too.