Chris's Musings

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/50_words_banned_from_nyc_schoo.html Try to count the number of banned words and references :-) ---------------------------------------------------------- Billy was heading home from school the day before Halloween and didn't have a costume planned out yet.  He thought about going as a ferocious dinosaur so he could roar and chase the girls, but opted to go with something less involved because he wanted to swim with his buddies at Kevin's (the friend whose hosting the party) parents' pool and of course he wanted to play XBOX and post pictures to Facebook on his iPad.  That would be really difficult wearing a dinosaur costume. Billy went a little too crazy eating chips and drinking Cokes at school, so he asked his mom to take him to a Walgreens to use the bathroom and there HE SAW IT.  The perfect costume!!!  At Walgreens?  Yes, I know... you can buy everything from cigarettes, beer, toy soldiers, and posters of...

Have you ever had one of those experiences where you buy a GroupOn or a LivingSocial to a restaurant that sounds uber-interesting, time passes, and 4 months later you look at your deal app on your phone and realize that you've got 3 weeks to use it? Yeah - that was me last week.  I saw this LivingSocial to a new Creole restaurant in Kennesaw that got some great reviews, and given my affinity for Cajun food and the lack of options in Metro-Atlanta I thought I'd give it a shot.  It was due to expire in a couple of weeks. So guess what, last night I took my girlfriend out to this place (don't worry, I bought it intending to take her :) ).   And here's my review of the place... in the spirit of the cute little old lady that reviewed her town's new Olive Garden in Grand Forks, ND.   (Don't worry - this place is one of a kind.  It's not a review of a ginormous national chain copied over 730 times across the nation.  I did smile when I read her little review ...

I usually don't do this... I became a follower of Jesus Christ at a Baptist Church as a teenager, and before that wasn't really all that "religious" at all.  So, participating in what many (for good reason) consider a Catholic tradition (because it is) seems a little weird, but for some reason on Wednesday I felt God nudge me to give something up this year. I hope my Baptist friends don't hurt me ;-).  But I did give up something for Lent this year.  There are a lot of things about Catholic theology that I firmly disagree with, but this tradition is seriously something that I admire.  And honestly... we Baptists, while we are very solid on theology and doctrine are largely deficient in the arenas of self-denial and sacrifice.  This is something that I'd like God to work on me on; to deny myself for the sake of knowing Him more and allowing Him to mold me, so this is why I'm taking this leap. And I hope my friends that work at The Coca-Cola Company don...

A month ago, almost to this day, I had my thyroid removed.  My doctor found an unusual cyst in my thyroid during a physical and in a two month investigation process specialists advised me to have it taken out - since a biopsy could not determine whether the cells were cancerous or not (they were not!  Praise God!)  People that have rubbed shoulders with me know my story, and while I appreciate the advice to tell people a "I got mugged in a dark alley" story, it would just get debunked soon, so I'll continue telling the truth. The first five days after I had the surgery were pretty bad.  I slept all the time, I was moody, and I had some really bad heartburn.  And then things normalized somewhat... I'm out and about, I'm back at work and doing the same things I did before the surgery, and I'm getting started training for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in April.  However, the initial dose of levoxil (the thyorid hormone replacement drug I use) is not adequat...

Have you made a New Year's Resolution yet? Have you? No really... have you? I guarantee that some folks did, because I saw some new faces at LA Fitness this morning.  Of course, one of the most popular resolutions is to get in shape... I'm sure a few of us are looking to clean up our diets, get out of debt, find our dream job, or something like that.  One guy I got into a conversation with at the gym this morning said that 10% of folks will actually keep their resolution, on average.  Seems like a low percentage... and a lot of money wasted on new member fees (I'm sure he was talking about the surge of new suc...errr. members at LA Fitness this year). That makes sense, because my resolutions are usually about "me," right?  Mine are.  When I noodled mine earlier this week, I said I wanted to get balance in my life.  I set some goals to get down to my ideal weight and stay there; to balance my work and time with the people I love; and I suppose to wri...

Once all of the parties, the gift buying, the wrapping, and the manic rushing around is finished; we all have a chance to sit back, relax, and finally enjoy spending time with friends and family for Christmas.  In Texas with "the fam," life slows down and I do have some time to relax and reflect on things; which is a good thing considering January 1st will be here soon and I always set a few goals for each year. My current read right now is a book called "Born to Run," which was recommended by a few of my runner friends, and I have not been able to keep it down.  I'm in the middle of the book and I've just got through the part where the Tarahumara have just won the Leadville 100 (an extreme ultramarathon in Colorado), beating ultrarunning legend (do these exist?) Ann Trason in what was described in the book as one of the harshest, most unforgiving ultras (as if running the distance of four marathons in a single stint isn't harsh) in the year she set th...

I'm flying home for Thanksgiving on Tuesday afternoon, and I am really looking forward to spending some time down in Houston (or "H-Town" as we native Houstonians call it).  I know from the outside looking in, this city is a huge flat sprawl of concrete and is hotter than Hades in August (it's true!  I don't complain about the summers in Atlanta), but I love this city. Now, I am looking forward to the challenge of trying to convince someone that this place, and the State it calls home, is actually a great place.  It really doesn't help that our beloved baseball team lost 106 games this year and is selling out to the AL, or that the Texans' season is once again at risk with Matt Leinart under center after Schaub got hurt and is out for the year.  But, here are some things I love about it... We have the best Mexican food on the planet! And yes, that includes Mexico :-).  And I know we have the infamous designation of being the "fattest city in Amer...