Time...

Today's post is indeed about time.  The lack, use, and importance thereof.  

I go to music conferences a lot, and try to go to sessions that interest me and/or will help me teach better or otherwise make my job more enjoyable.  I went to one a few years ago dealing with "Efficient Marching Band Rehearsals."  The presenter, currently a university marching band director, said something like "everyone has the same amount of time; there are 24 hours in everyone's day.  No one gets more time than you do to do the stuff that we all need to do."

That was a couple years ago.  And you know what?  Bullshit.  Seriously.  There are plenty of people who have more time than I do (and those who have less), because they don't do the same stuff I do, nor do they have the same things in their lives that I do.  And I'm not necessarily complaining; I just want folks to know that the whole "pressed for time" thing is indeed real!

Some cases in point here:

When I was young, single, and kid-free, I had lots of time.  Lived in an apartment, so there was no lawn mowing, snow removal, or other maintenance responsibility.  I could work all day and night at school and not worry about it.  (Not that I did, but still...)  I could basically do what I wanted at whatever time I decided to do it.

Fast forward (Lord, it was fast forward...) 25 years to today.  Two kids, three cars, a mortgage, a Labrador, and a career that I (mostly) love.  Here's my past 6 days:
 - Monday was winter break, so I didn't have to go to school.  I was there for a couple hours, though, doing stuff that needed to be done.  Not bragging or complaining here, just letting you know.  Went to the gym for a good, sweaty hour that afternoon.
 - Tuesday.  Snow day.  Got the call as I pulled into the school parking lot for my 6:45 a.m. class.  Several kids were already there, so we hung out for a while until it was lighter outside and they could see better to drive home.  A couple of them and I decided that breakfast sounded good, so off we went.  Then I took Dana to Grand Rapids for a medical procedure that deals with early cancer detection - all clear!  No exercise that afternoon, because I just get that way sometimes...
 - Wednesday we started "Tech Week" (it's actually 10 days...) for the high school musical . So after my regular day of classes (6:45 - 2:45), I get to do a really cool part of my job and conduct the high school musical cast and orchestra.  We got done around 6, then I chatted with a band parent for about a half hour regarding her kid, then went home.  Sat and talked with my wife, whom I'd not seen all day.  I think I ate dinner, too.
 - Thursday was similar.  After rehearsal was out, my wife and I went to our daughter's orchestra concert after a very fast dinner.  Arrived home at 9:30 p.m.
 - Friday was a near carbon copy, but after rehearsal I spent the evening enjoying catching up with someone - cigars, chatting, dinner, etc.
 - TODAY I got to exercise again:)

Now I say that I "got to exercise" again, but really, couldn't I have given up something in the above week?  Or sucked it up on Tuesday when I "just get that way"?  Well, what do I trade?  I wasn't excited about Erin's concert, but it turned out to be quite good.  But miss it?  I have to live with her, you know!  And sitting and talking with my wife pretty much beats exercise any day (thanks, dear...).  And there are things like the impromptu breakfast with kids, or my Friday night out, that I simply wouldn't trade for much of anything.

But back to College Boy (and he was, too - young whippersnapper thinks he knows all about the world...)  <That line is better if you read it in a grumpy old man voice:)
 - At what point did I have time to exercise Thursday?  Don't tell me "you have the same 24 hours as everyone else," because no one has the same 24 hours as anyone else.  So on these days I try to make better choices as well - smaller meals, for instance, since I won't burn as many calories as usual.  And because of the nature of TIME, that doesn't always happen, either!  In the period from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, I was home for about 20 minutes.  We grabbed a quick dinner on the way to the concert - no time to cook.

So it comes down to priorities, or decisions.  My kids have both taken Econ class; they learned about "opportunity cost."  In other words, you can have something, but what will that cost you?  Be it money, time, or whatever, everything costs you something.  My opportunity cost for spending my time the way I spent it this past week was exercise.  Was it worth it?  I think it was.  And that's what I will have to remember next week when I step on the scale - I enjoyed my time in the pit, at the concert, at dinner (did it have  to be B-dubs again???), but they cost me some exercise time.  Which will possibly be reflected in my monthly results.  But like I said, I will try to remember the choices I made and that the opportunity cost was worth it.

In closing I would like to give a shout-out to two former students who are regular readers of these musings.  Nicky Jager-McCleery is a cancer survivor, mom, and runner.  Where does she find the time??  She and her family are even doing some assisting with families in need and taking in some "extra" children through a pretty cool program called Safe Families.  She'll be doing another Fifth-Third Riverbank Run this spring.  You can view her blog here.  And Kate Riemersma-Sluiter - a mom, English teacher, and blogger.  Her latest post, though, really bugged me -  it's her mom's recipe for chocolate chip cookies...  Keep up the excellent work!!

Next up for the Fat A$$?  Not sure...  There are some basic thoughts about rewards; a thought or two about the numbers game - BP, blood sugar, weight, etc. - and how exercise and such can change them; and right now just a couple links to articles about how processed foods are ruining our lives.  THAT should be a good one!  I love processed foods...

See you next week.

Rosie's Kitchen

Just finished 45 minutes on the bike, updating my workouts in MapMyRide, and now I am sitting in my favorite big brown chair smelling the enticing aroma of a marinated pork roast that's in the oven.  Mmmmmm...  All while trying not to think of the not-so-good food choices I made over the weekend!  But anyway.  I did exercise most days this past week, and the week itself went well.

My wife is a great cook.  Over the past 22-ish years of marriage she has made about two things that were just not good at all - we both laugh to this day about the Green Bean Soup recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook (if I recall correctly); a cold, milk-based cream-style soup.  Pretty awful.  And some weird thing from the WW cookbook, I think, that sounded good and looked good, but the minced mushrooms and whatever else it was just ended up being awful.  Otherwise, amazing stuff.  

To help her with ideas and such, she has bought several cookbooks over the years.  The above-mentioned Moosewood (all vegetarian/vegan from the Moosewood restaurant - mostly good stuff!), as well as Weight Watchers, the famed "Eet Smakelijk" or however you spell it from the Holland Junior League, and one of our faves, "In the Kitchen with Rosie."  But therein lies the topic of this post.

You see, Rosie is the famed Rosie Daley, celebrity chef to Oprah Winfrey.  You can see her book on Amazon here.  About 20 years ago when Ms. Winfrey was going through her weight loss issues in public (she had one or two more followers than I do), her second attempt, after that liquid diet thing ended up being a bad idea, was to hire Rosie and eat great, healthy food.  Very cool.

Hell, yes, it's cool.  And hell, yes, couldn't we ALL lose a ton of weight if we had Rosie???  "Good morning, Mr. Walker, I made you this lovely healthful breakfast.  And your lunch is in the fridge ready to go to school."  
"Why, thank you, Rosie, I'm sure I'll enjoy it."  And when you get home, exhausted from the tough day at the office (or with hordes of teenagers...):
"Dinner's ready.  Look, I made your favorite - baked chicken tenders and fries."  (This recipe is really in the book, and it's awesome.)

Well, OF COURSE I'D LOSE WEIGHT.  I have often thought that Rosie is exactly what I need to succeed.  But I don't make a gazillion dollars a year and can't afford a personal chef...  So what do I do?

Well, Dana is of course a huge help.  She makes great meals and uses some healthy recipes.  And there are indeed some pre-packaged things that aren't too bad calorie- and fat- and such-wise. So we can do reasonably well.  

But if you've been keeping up with my posts you know that convenience is a big factor; Dana has been known to work many 12+ hour days planning, grading, teaching, and other school-related duties (for instance, tomorrow morning we have a 6:30 a.m. staff meeting.  They just don't make stuff any more fun than that...).  So sometimes we fall victim to grabbing whatever's in the fridge.

To combat THAT, Dana does a great job trying to buy good stuff.  I don't always do a great job EATING it...  The bags of fresh green salads, the frozen veggies, the fruit.  Yeah, it gets wasted sometimes.  And really, what is more convenient than opening a bag of spinach and putting some dressing on it?  Or eating an apple?  For God's sake, you don't have to do anything to an apple - you just eat the darn thing.  I mean, bananas and their annoying peels - how inconvenient is that??  Peeling a banana takes time.  Sigh...

So, we don't exactly have Rosie.  But we do have each other, and we do, in theory anyway, possess self-control.  But still, I can dream, can't I?  It would be cool, wouldn't it?  For the record, I would also hire, for my personal staff, a massage therapist, a housekeeper, and a person to just scratch my back when I need it.  So if I ever win that Mega Millions jackpot, you can bet I'm not going to be on TV saying how I'm going to keep my job and live life like I have been.  Nope.  (OK, maybe I'll keep the job...)  I'm going to buy a house on the lake, a totally impractical car, a Seven bike, and hire a staff.  And do whatever I want to all day.  And Rosie will make delicious, healthy meals, and I will have lower blood pressure and cholesterol, weigh about 160 pounds, grow my hair back, and....  I know, I know, time to wake up.  I'm late for school:)

Have a great week, and thanks for reading.  Not sure if there was really a point to this particular writing, but hey, you get what you pay for, right?  Got some good stuff coming up, though, including sharing the success of one of my students, who has lost over 50 pounds this past year.

Go eat some healthy food.