"I'm a man of means by no means." (Project CXC, Day XVI)

Today was biking again, and I've been exercising every day; I just haven't had time to post about them because I've been busy suing people and stuff.  You know how it is.  If you sue people, that is. 

As is my new weekend thing, I read a classic book while biking, so you should take a look at how interesting it is to read The Odyssey on an exercycle while it's still dark out on a Saturday morning, because I don't have very much else to say about today's workout otherwise, but I will foreshadow tomorrow's workout by noting that on the weekends, I try to work out longer.  Weekdays I go about 25 minutes, but weekends I try to extend that and so tomorrow I will be running, and I have a plan for my new outdoor running workout that will challenge me far more than anything I've run in years.

Until then:

Today's workout:  Biking, 11 miles, 45:45 (level 5)
Latest weight: 252.  (OH YEAH, DID I MENTION I LOST A POUND?)
Today's song that reminds me of when I used to listen to 45's on my parent's hi-fi:

King of the Road, Roger Miller.

Where I Am In The World:

I'm only going to do this about once a week, so there's some movement.  Since Monday, I biked, swam and ran, and went a total of 20 miles, so I am:

At the "Abraham's Wood's State Natural Area," in Green County, Wisconsin.  Affectionately known as "Number 38" by the Department of Natural Resources,

The woods is known for its spectacular display of spring wildflowers and is noted by botanists for its floristic richness including two rare species. Herbaceous plants include sharp-lobed hepatica, dogtooth violet, false rue anemone, nodding trillium, and dutchmen's breeches. There are large clumps of Goldie's fern in the amphitheater and wood nettle and yellow jewelweed dominate the midsummer flora. Typical of a mesic forest, it has few, widely scattered shrubs including chokecherry and American bladdernut. An active Great Blue Heron rookery is found in the woods.

"American Bladdernut," looks like this:

and its seeds come in little capsules that protect them as they float in rivers and the like. 

Just thought you'd want to know: That's what I'm (theoretically) seeing as I exercise.

It's Mr Bunches and Mr F's SIXTH Birthday(s)!

Mr F, waiting for his first day of kindergarten this morning.

And I'd say I'm not posting anything today out of respect for them but really it's just 'cause I got busy.

But here is how we have celebrated their birthday so far:

Saturday: They each got to go to Barnes & Noble and pick out a book of their choice, which is where Mr Bunches got his Solar System book that we've been reading all week*

*Special note to PT Dilloway: The book says Pluto's not a planet, but I choose to teach the controversy and recognize it as a planet.

and Mr F got himself an Elmo "I Can Find It Book," because Mr F likes Elmo.  Sometimes. He also likes finding things.

From there, they got to go to Toys "R" Us and pick out the toy of their choice.  Mr F opted for "nothing," and Mr Bunches opted for "A Stupendously Expensive Hot Wheels' Set That Cost So Much That We Cancelled Phase Three Of Shopping," which was to have been letting them go pick out a DVD for themselves.

Tuesday:  Middle Daughter stopped by with "S'mores Pie" and we ordered pizza and made chicken nuggets, the latter being one of Mr F's favorite things, in that he will eat about 1/2 of each nugget before discarding the leftover half.  (Everyone knows only the first half of a nugget is okay to eat, right?)

Middle also bought Mr Bunches and Mr F a Spongebob activity book and some clothes, because Middle forgot what it was like to be a kid who got clothes for a birthday.

Mr Bunches hanging out while Mr F waits for his bus.

Today:  Oldest Daughter and The Boy are coming over -- in fact they're probably at our house now -- to take Mr Bunches and Mr F to pick out a toy of their own again (the key here is that Mr Bunches and Mr F really really like to go shopping and pick out stuff, and so while we could easily go get them a bunch of presents, they would miss out on the fun of shopping, and also Mr Bunches in particular always has some mysterious toy in mind that we never suspect, and so we just let him tell us what he wants.)

And we're having a party sub (which is really for us, as they won't eat it) and cake (ditto, although that's mostly for Sweetie) and they each have a secret present that I picked out for them waiting: Mr Bunches is getting a set of Dr. Seuss books and Mr F is getting a couple of windup bath toys.


So to celebrate, here are some of my favorite pictures of Mr F and Mr Bunches I've put on the blog over the past year or so:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR BUNCHES AND MR F!

I've decided to circumnavigate the globe top to bottom. (Project CXC, Day XII)

With the six miles I traveled today -- you're right, Anna, that biking would move me faster than swimming -- I've traveled South to approximately Elver Park, Madison:

Which you might remember from "The Great Sled Race," which occurred on that hill up and to the left of the minivan there.

In winter, obviously.

Today's workout: Biking, 6.0 miles, 25:07.
Latest weight: 253
Today's song that is actually the original version of the remake that I listened to, let me explain that: I listened to Panda Riot's cover of "Paper Planes," but M.I.A.'s original is better so I'm posting that:

Where in the world am I? (Project CXC, Day XI)

I know that lately I've been on sort of a tear about societal rules, and how dumb many of them are, but they still exist, and not following them sometimes sends a message, too, doesn't it? 

Take what happened this morning as I left the health club.  At the entry/exit, there was just the one worker there, and she looked up as I left, and caught my eye. 

So I'm compelled to say something, right?  And so I do.  I say:  "Have a good day," and wave a bit.

And she said: "Okay. Bye."

Which, this: she didn't want me to have a good day, did she?  How hard is it to say "Yeah, you, too?"  Not hard at all.  But she didn't say it.  She just took my wishing that she have a good day and then sent me off into the universe with no good tidings on my part.  Which to me is the exact same thing as wishing me to have a bad day.  Isn't it?

Or did she just want to appear as though she didn't care what kind of day I have, at all?

Today's exercise: Swimming, 36 laps, 26:10
Latest weight: 253.
Today's song which I"m not going to say much about because I've got more to say after the song:

Gepetto, Belly:

And here is the more I've got to say: I found out that swimming 36 lengths in the lap pool where I swim equals a half mile, so today I upped my swimming to be a half-mile, exactly.  I also found out that at our club they have a "I Swam Lake Michigan" club where you sign up and record how much you swim and when you've swum a distance equal to swimming across Lake Michigan, but that strikes me as kind of a small goal, and so what I've decided to do is

Exercise Around The World!  I'm going to add to this a category where I add up how far I've gone, starting today, and see where that would get me if I were to travel around the world that way.  So here goes day one:

Where In The World Am I?  I swam a half-mile today, so starting at my house in Middleton, Wisconsin, I've gone...

... just up the street, almost to the McDonald's at the corner of Century Avenue and Allen Boulevard.

Well, you know what they say:  A journey of a thousand miles starts with wondering whether you should stop and get a McGriddle. 

(Someone ought to have said that, and now I did.)

My Very Excited Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants. (Project CXC, Day X)

I was supposed to swim today -- the new rotation is run, bike, swim, bike, repeat -- but when I got to the club at about 10:45, the only two pools that were open had a bunch of people in one, and in the other, the actual lap pool, there was what looked to be some sort of class with every lane full, and while I suppose I could have simply gotten into the pool and swum, I don't really like sharing a lane with someone in the first place, and I didn't want to have the awkwardness of walking into the pool to swim and being told that there was a class and I couldn't swim, which was a possibility, so that was two good reasons for me to not swim, there, and instead I went and biked again, bumping swimming to tomorrow.

And now I am back home, with the opportunity to post about Ulysses on this blog, and to now go help Mr Bunches re-read his book about the planets.  Key things we've already learned about the planets:

1.  Mercury is hot.
2.  Venus is cloudy.
3.  We only see Earth's moon at night.
4.  Mars is small, and red.
5. Jupiter is big.
6. Saturn has rings.
7. Uranus is tilty.
8. Neptune is blue.
9. Pluto is small and cold.

The latter is accompanied by Mr Bunches shivering and saying Brrr.  Also, he pointed out that the sun is exploding.

Today's workout: Biking, level five, 40:00.
Latest weight: 253.
Today's song, which I picked out because of the planets thing, I didn't actually listen to it while I worked out:  Why Does The Sun Shine? They Might Be Giants

That is, according to TMBG, the only song to ever be fact-checked by another song, by the same artist:

Which makes They Might Be Giants more factually accurate than the Ryan/Romney ticket.

Also, you should go listen to this very cool  song about the planets by Lisa Loeb.