New Tech

So I got a new tablet. Samsung Galaxy . I am very hopeful that this new technology in particular the microphone function will allow me to post much more often.

Eric Stary

Sorry if you received a spam from my Yahoo account.  I have been hacked.

Too much mulch!

So I ordered some bulk mulch over the weekend.  I have never done this before.  I usually always ordered bag mulch.  I would make two trips in the van with the seats all folded down and fill the back up.  Usually 30+ bags of mulch.  And still, it was never enough to finish the job.

So this year, I thought I would order in bulk and get enough.  BOY, did I get enough.  I wasn't sure how much to order so I kind of went based on price.  I ordered 10 cubic yards.  Basic geometry tells me that this is 30 feet wide by 30 feet tall by 30 feet deep.  Basic geometry doesn't do it justice.

First of all a dump truck dropped it off.  A full-on, full-size, construction site dump truck.  BOOM! Dumped right in my drive way.  It's a mountain.  I worked all day Sunday, and didn't put a dent in it.  Now, I have a bit to do left and I have some extra mulch projects I can work on.  But rest assured my neighbors are going to hate looking at that mountain of mulch before I get it all used up.

See the twitter feed for a pic, but it doesn't do it justice.

:)

- Eric

June 6th

One of the things that always bothers me is when people talk about how terrible our collective lives are right now, in this moment in history.  I know I fall victim to complaining every now and again, but as a lover of history I try to keep things in perspective.  There is no greater lens to focus that perspective, in my opinion, than June 6, 1944.  Just watch the first 20 or so minutes of Saving Private Ryan and think about what it was like living in that time, in that world.  Now shut-up that your mocha-caramel-latte  is not properly "mochafied" for your tastes and go about your day.

We are blessed to live in a time of relative peace and prosperity, especially in this country.  Enjoy it!

Baseball

So baseball has been really getting better.  The boys are active, participating, and really trying.  They aren't quite grasping all of it yet, but their effort has really made me happy.  They swing, and run, and chase.

Catching... on the other hand... no so good.

Becks took TWO off the face, the face, yesterday.  I felt so bad for him.  Thankfully we have a week off, so he may forget about it.  I have tried to teach them how to protect their face, but clearly I have failed.  We are going to have to work on it.

Working

So after two months of completely disregarding my diet, I am pretty well back on the wagon.  I am tracking my food again and trying to really watch my intake during the week.  As for the weekend, well... anything goes.

My goal here will be to lose 2 lbs a week during the month of June.  If I can pull this off, I will be just 10 pounds from my Year of Eric goal with 6 months left to get it.

Workouts are good, doing a lot of crossfit/interval type stuff.  Its very tiring, exhausting stuff, and a killer on your arms since pretty much every routine somehow involves 100 pushups.  I need to add chinups or something to this stuff or I am gonna end up looking lopsided with zero back muscles.

Today I am going to run and maybe do a small version of the ladder workout (below) but substituting something for pushups.

50 Pushups
40 Lunges
30 Situps
20 Squats
10 Burpees
Plank (one minute)
- Repeat in reverse order.

Weep.

Finished.

Boom.

June.

I can't believe its already June.  The end of this month marks two years at Medpace, another "hard to believe" fact.  Time to get my ass in gear or the Year of Eric is going to fall flat and need a do over of its own.

Goals for June:

1. Drop 8 pounds
2. Stop dropping softballs in the outfield (I had two errors yesterday.  UGH)
3. Have a date night with the wife
4. Do something awesome with the big kids (I am thinking Kings Island)
5. Do something awesome with the whole family (I have a mini-vaca, 4 days off this month)
6. Play a round of golf
7. Keep working on my HTML book
8. Keep on searching

Let's hope for good weather and some good breaks.  Enjoy the month.

Just making a point

I am sitting on my patio, reading my Learning HTML book, its 70 degrees and awesome.  All 4 kids are playing on their Little Tikes playsets.  We are getting ready to go to baseball at 1:00 with daddy's softball game tonight at 6:30.

Not everything in my life is perfect, but more is perfect than not.  Here's to another awesome summer weekend at the Stary House!