94. Go to an ESPN radio show

I finally made it out to an ESPN radio show.  That is pretty much the only radio station I have listened to for the past 10 years when I am driving by myself.  I have gotten to know the different guys on the radio quite a bit - well, as much as you can by listening to them talk about sports and sometimes about their own daily lives.

Last week I was doing one of my regular checks on espn1000.com to see where they might be broadcasting from on the occasions for when they are outside of their regular studio.  I got really excited.  As I was trying to figure out how to swing it I just decided to make it part of my errands that I ran for today.  I had to so some shopping out near Geneva (where they were broadcasting from) so I just worked it as one of the stops.  As I got closer I saw the van and started to get excited.

Here was the scene when I got in there:

The place was pretty loud.  Between conversations from people at their tables and the large speaker blasting the radio show it was an interesting mix.  I have listened to these guys so many times on the radio and never really had a picture of what they look like.  They are just sitting back and having a conversation as if they were talking to each other on the telephone.  It was pretty neat. 

At the commercial breaks they just sat at the table and let people come up to chat and to sign autographs.  It was super laid back.  Another that thing hit me as I was there was that there is a ton of time for breaks.  It felt like there was 10 minutes for each commercial break.  When you mix in commercials, score updates from all of the different sports and news updates it gets long.  That was nice today as it allowed me to go and chat with both of the guys for a couple of minutes.

Here's a close shot of Waddle talking with a little boy that was in front of me in line:

That's probably not a shot that he would have approved to get posted onto the internet, but it is what I got.  When I was chatting with him I talked about how I used to act like I was him when I was playing football at recess back in 5th and 6th grade.  He was my favorite Bear when I was little so it was pretty cool to chat with him for a bit.  Silvy was really nice too.  Both guys were super inviting and in no way at all did they act like they were celebrities or that they would rather be in the studio with no one bothering them.

Here's a picture that they were handing out that I got both guys to sign for me:

That one is definitely going up on the wall in the garage!

I am very glad that I was able to go and check them out.  If it wasn't on this list I know I wouldn't have gone out to see them.

52 goals down!

34. Ride 1500 miles on my bike

I finally got there!  When I was writing my goals I thought putting 1,000 miles would be a good goal, but 1,500 would be more of a challenge.  That works out to about a mile and a half per day.  In my quest for 1,500 miles I think my longest ride was no longer than 15 miles.  I biked many times to school and that is 4 miles each way.  I biked last summer to most of my softball games and that was about 5.5 miles each way.  I bike to the grocery store and that is about 1 mile each way.  I biked to Aurora University and that is 3 miles each way.  I biked as often as I could and I really enjoyed it.  I kept watching the odometer to see myself slowly getting closer to the 1,500 mile mark.  It definitely was a motivator to get me on the bike.  1,500 miles is a lot of riding when you are going 4 miles at a time.

As has been the norm, my students have been a big motivator to getting this one done.  I told them at the beginning of the year that I wanted to ride more times than I bike to school and there is a decent chance that will get done. 

Now I just need to set my sights on more miles to get to on the bike. (2,500 by the end of summer?) I know that there will be a lot of bike rides with this kids this summer.  Lucy had her first ride last week and absolutely loved it.

Love that girl!

51 goals down!

89. One step closer

I finally received my FOID card in the mail. 

I sent it out in January and it came in the mail in the first week of May.


They say that it usually takes 30 days to be notified if you are approved or not, but mine took nearly 90 days.  I read this article that says that they are hitting record numbers in the applications that they are getting.  Apparently with the most recent legislation many are trying to get their hands on guns while they still can rather than wait for them to be banned or much more difficult to get.

Now to find someone to go shoot with...

54. Learn CPR

I finally got around to finding a class to get certified in the arts of CPR as well as how to use the AED. I have wanted to do this for a long time now because if I was put into a position where these skills may be needed, I want to know how I can help.
For awhile I kept cracking up just thinking about Dwight from The Office when they had their CPR training.  That was inspiring enough for me to want to get the training.




What I learned is that there isn't much to it beyond what you see in the movies.
Step 1: check to see if the person is just asleep then check for a pulse
Step 2: get someone (or do it yourself) to call for emergency help
Step 3: start compressions.  You are supposed to do 30 compressions then 2 breaths and repeat this process over and over.
Step 4: (if possible) get the AED machine and hook it up to the person in need.  It will walk you through what to do after that.

The AED machine basically tells you if you need to do compressions, or if you need to shock the person.  Our nurse told us at the beginning of the year that if it tells you to shock them then there is no heart rate and they are basically dead.  "Dead is dead" was her actual quote.  It can only help at that point as the person's heart isn't doing anything.

I am happy to have this training and certification under my belt.  I pray that it is never needed, but at least now if I am in a situation where this is needed I can help with the knowledge that I am at least doing the right thing.

50 goals done!

100+ books already done!

I like to read.  That is a sentence that I wouldn't have written 5 years ago.  Fast forward to today and I can say that I have finished 101 books in the last 21 months.  I have been really encouraged by my class or students this year.  They are really good readers!
I currently have 5 books checked out from the library and I plan on returning them by the end of next week.  When I return them I will have 4 books waiting for pickup.
I began 2013 having read 75 books.  In January I finished 10 books and in February I finished 16. I am definitely not going to keep that pace up!  I find myself trying to use all of my extra time to finish another chapter or just to get another page read.  I never used to be able to understand people who were like that.  Now I am one of them?
I usually have 3 books going at a time.  I read one book at school.  This book is typically a book that my students might read.  I read two books at home.  I try to have one novel and one nonfiction book.
The books I am reading right now are: The Graveyard Book (2009 Newberry Winner), 17 Hours to Glory (a book on ironman participants) and The Sun Also Rises (a novel by Hemingway).  This is a typical spread.  I have been reading nonfiction on urban farming type books or on fitness (biking or running).  We will see where my interest go next.
I know that this post is basically bragging about how many books I have read.  That is not my intention.  I wrote it just because I can't believe how far I have come and needed to give it validation and post it here.

As of today, I have 1 year left to finish the remaining 52 goals.  It is going to be a really busy year!  Many of them I think I should be able to finish.  There are a few that might need adjusting, but I will cross that bridge when it comes up.

66. Watch 10 classic (loosely interpreted) movies

Many people have seen most of these movies, but I had not seen them before.  The way I picked these movies was just based on movies that I had heard people talk about that I hadn't seen.

Here's the list:

1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Watching this movie was a waste of time. I have friends that have talked about this movie and it seems as though there is a cult following to this movie. There were a few quotable moments, but overall it is a really stupid movie.

2. Blues Brothers - "We're on a mission from God." I have heard that line and know that it is from this movie, but I never knew the context or really what the movie was all about.  Now I do.

3. Rocky - This is the first Rocky movie I have ever seen.  I knew very little about the movie.  Yes, I knew it was about boxing and that he fights Apollo Creed and that his girlfriend's name is Adrian, but I didn't realize he was so dumb.  I guess that is to be expected when Sylvester Stallone is doing the acting.

4. The Godfather - I listen to the guys on ESPN Radio quote lines from this movie quite often.  It was a pretty good movie.  Now I know those lines in context.

5. Gone with the Wind - Did you know that this movie is 3 hours and 52 minutes?  I didn't until I popped it in then looked up online to see how long it was. It is a fun historical movie to watch.  10 Oscars!  As I said in the past, for a movie to win an Oscar it has to be long. I'm glad I watched it.

6. Dirty Harry - "You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" Decent movie.

7.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Funny at parts, but some pretty corny lines.

8. Chinatown - On an ESPN radio show they said that this movie was probably one of Jack Nicholson's best.  I watched to find out if they were right.  The movie was ok.

9. Escape from Alcatraz - Another classic that I remember Mythbusters doing a show on to see if they could escape the same way that the guys in the movie escaped.  Myth confirmed.

10. Jaws - Good movie.  Boy does Richard Dreyfuss look young in this movie!


49 goals down! 

40. Go without high sugar foods for a month

I just finished one month of eating no candy, no chocolate, no cookies, no ice cream and drinking no pop.  This was no easy challenge.  With an evening ritual that usually includes ice cream and/or another snack and a workplace that is always flowing with available snacks, it was tough making the change.

During this past month it has been difficult passing up on cookies and snacks that are in the teacher's lounge.  It seemed like each day there was something that I would have usually just picked up and eaten. The worst day was when our principal had an ice cream bar set up with oreos, m&ms and chocolate syrup.  Looking back I realize just how many calories each one of those snacks would have added up to.

Melissa had a day a few weeks ago that she made chocolate chip cookies.  When I walked in the door I knew I was in trouble.  The house smelled amazing.  I went as far as picking up one of the cookies just to smell it.  It was pretty pathetic.  Will power won that battle.  It was a tough battle, but it won.

Today was my first day that I have been able to snack with freedom and I honesly have no huge desire to have a chocolate binge or anything like it.  This morning I went for a swim and made it 2 miles.  I challenge anyone to swim that distance in a pool and not go crazy trying to keep track of how many laps you have done.  If you are wondering I did 142 lengths of the pool.  When I was done all I wanted to do is eat.  So my breakfast was a Clif energy bar, some cottage cheese, a bowl of Corn Chex, a glass of Aldi's version of the Green Machine Naked drink (that stuff is amazing!) and two pumpkin muffins.  All good stuff.

Now for the real payoff.  In the past month I did lose 4 pounds.  That is 4 legit pounds.  Normally my weight fluctuates about 2 to 3 pounds each day, but my fluctuations are now at lower weights than before.  Hopfully I will be able to keep it off and continue this trend.  We shall see.

48 goals down!