Michael & Liz are Bloggable

It seems like lately I haven't focused on one priority but instead have been trying to tackle a bunch all at once. My life is like an ice cream store's flavor of the week... today I'll be woodworking and tomorrow I'll be reviewing movies. It's tiring and annoying. To be honest, I like being busy, but I don't like doing pointless activities. That's why I quit indoor soccer. I can run on my own, save 60 dollars every 2 months, and be just as happy.

It's inevitable that my list will continue to grow because I always find things I enjoy to do, but it's time to nip one in the bud. Just like I predicted, I'm not going to review movies on the blog anymore. I had a revelation this weekend. I don't watch movies because I enjoy giving my opinion, I enjoy movies because I love being entrenched in a story for a couple hours. They're entertaining. There are few things I enjoy more than watching a great movie. During my movie reviewing stint, I actually started putting off watching movies because I didn't want to review any. How's that for a bad side effect!?!?

So it's time to condense my hobbies. I love woodworking, I love working out/running, I love training Daisy and Gryffin. I think that's about all I can handle. Of course I will continue to watch movies, but that's not as much a hobby as much as it is something I enjoy doing at my leisure. That actually might be the definition of a hobby... but I wouldn't consider movie watching one of mine. And there is always housework and yardwork but you can never ignore those. So what's my plan of attack with these three hobbies?

Woodworking:

I have decided that next year I am going to enter the birdhouse competition that Liz and I went to. It was awesome but there were some birdhouses that were just not very good. I found myself walking around saying "well jeez, I can do that!" So that's the ultimate goal a year from now. How to get there?

I need a workbench, there are no if and or buts about it. I can't do anything in the garage without a workbench. I also can't really do woodworking without taking the coffee table out to the garage as a workbench. So I've decided to start working on building a new coffee table. No more delaying, I gotta do it. Once I finish a coffee table, I am going to take the wood from the current table and make it into a workbench. I think that's a pretty good plan, but can I follow through? I can't help but try....

Working Out/Running:

Hurting my calf 3 weeks ago was a blessing in disguise. Actually, I'd be willing to bet to a lot of people, it was such a disguise that it never looked like I was hurt at all. The only time the pain occurred was when I ran for longer than 15 minutes. So except for the times I'm actually running, I look like I'm fine. We will find out for sure tomorrow when I go out for a 6 mile run.

During my down time, I pledged to workout with the Biggest Loser workout videos at 6AM every day for a week. For the people looking for an update, I accomplished it. Every day, 6AM, me, the dogs, and Bob Harper. The only day I didn't do it was Saturday because come on, it's Saturday. I didn't continue the trend of waking up early but I did wake up a monster. No I'm not that buff yet, but I love workout videos now. There is something about the convenience of not leaving the house but still getting a good workout.

Right at the same time, Justin (gravitywins) started the P90X program and was raving about how good it hurt. With my new found workout video obsession, I had to try it. So last night Liz and I started our first P90X workout with chest and back. It was tough and exhausting but we made it through. We're completely hooked. It's a 13 week program and we couldn't be more excited about it. Liz actually said today: "I look forward to the other half of my body hurting tonight :)". We'll see if we continue with the program until July like we should. My biggest problem will be in what I eat as opposed to sticking to the workouts, so I'm hoping my obsession moves to making better food choices.

Those who know me must be saying "OK... so what about running?" Well... I'm not going to give up on that and I still plan on accomplishing my 1000 mile goal for the year but it will not be my main concentration. I am going to continue to train for the marathon in May by running several times a week but once the race is over, I am going to exclusively concentrate on the P90X workout plan.

I must be sounding like a hypocrite making this blog title "Rotating Priorities" and then putting myself through multiple workout and training plans. I'll admit, it is hypocritical, but I'd rather aim for a high workout goal and miss it then aim low and hit it every time. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take, and you miss 100% of the putts you leave short. So bring it on.

Training Daisy & Gryffin:
Gryffin is ridiculous. I have trained him so well that every single time I have a treat in my hand now, he'll roll over onto his back without a command. He also no longer responds to sit, lay down or my "Pwhew!" shooting command. He just rolls over regardless. So we need to work on correcting that.

Honestly my biggest problem, is the fact that we have two dogs. For example, I can't train Gryffin unless Liz and I are both free because if I put Daisy in another room, she whines wondering why she's secluded and Gryffin also gets distracted. If I leave Daisy in the room with Gryffin and I, she thinks it's unfair that he gets all the treats so I have to reward her for doing nothing. It's a wonderful problem to have though, they are so awesome.

I don't think it will take long to correct Gryffin's confusion though, he's a smart boy. What is next on the agenda to teach Gryffin? Obviously "roll over" is next. I also want to teach him "rock"(the 21st century version of "gimme a paw") and due to the popularity from our friends, "touch the stove". (Basically we want to teach him something utterly pointless that has no application and makes no sense at all... "touch the stove" won).

What are we going to teach Daisy next? Anything she can get her brain around. Liz thinks she's too smart for tricks, I'm entirely on the "she's too stupid" side. It doesn't matter, I'll keep trying anyway.