Run, Stevie Run

I got on a treadmill for the first time in six months. And by six months, I mean just under a year. Remember when I blogged ad nauseam about running? Yeah. I don't  really remember either. 

The other night, me and the roommate headed to the gym. I nodded my head in respect to the power of the treadmill and stepped on to its whirling belt. It. Felt. Amazing. For about eight minutes, then it was pure hell after that. But, I did it. I felt the old unhealthy lifestyle I had been sporting (mostly around my spare tire area) begin to take a hint.  

I, as a whole am taking tiny steps back into the warm sunlight of healthy choices. Those small things you do to ensure and reaffirm that you do; actually, like yourself.  The driving past fast food joints. The ending of excuses why you can not make it to the gym. 

Time slips away and before you know it small unhealthy choices turn into laziness that fuel and feed upon itself. As I stepped onto the treadmill, I heard the wake up call. Time to run. 

Steve Has A Meal at Home

I have a problem with my new roommate. Let us call him, Mike. Because that is his name. He also goes by Mike 'n the Mechanics, as that is his blogger name. As he has a blog, over at  mikenthemechanics.blogspot.com. But, I do have a major problem living with my new roommate. And here's why...

For the last year, when it comes to feeding myself, I have been foraging around the proverbial country side like a proverbial baby goat. Meaning, that when it came time that my belly needed to be filled, I would simply drive to the nearest food establishment, not excluding gas stations, and give my complaining stomach the fuel it needed. I can honestly say, I did not prepare and eat a meal at my home, ever. Not once in the last year. Maybe more.  A life of always dining out, drive-thru’s[sp], and pre-packaged processed food stuffs. For the last year… maybe two.  Why I lived this life doesn’t matter, let’s just say it was frowned upon for me to use the kitchen in the old house…. A lot. I just accommodated this requirement by shifting to a diet not unlike a wild boar. One of wandering the forest in search of the easiest meal. If the boar had a credit card and free time to sit in the drive thru of Jack ‘n The Box for yet another feast of Egg Rolls.

Now, back to the new kitchen. Picture it… I am able to utilize an over the range microwave without reciting first the cleaning regimen in vivid detail.  It’s a brave new world.  Last night, during my commute home I began to mull-over what my dining choices would be, and what I was in the mood for. This is when the phone rang. A bearish voiced informed me that Curry Chicken was prepared and ready for consumption. At home! The gall of my new roommate to think he can just prepare a nutritious and delicious meal, then share it with me.  I just got settled into a self-sufficient bubble of only eating fast-food, and he goes off and makes a home cooked meal?  Think of the profit loss Jack ‘N The Box will face. Panda Express will face a round of lay-offs.

As I sat at my breakfast bar, this morning, I thought how I now will have to re-learn my eating habits. I watched the spoon move around the bowl, unsure it was my hand mixing my microwave oatmeal.  I wondered if the lady at Starbucks, the one who gave me my morning Blueberry Scone, was missing me. “…and people sit together in the morning and drink coffee… and eat? Like at Starbucks? But, at home?” I asked my new roommate, Mike. “Yeah.” He said as he sipped his coffee. “It’s called being family.”

The Weather

The weather has been different lately; that is to say, it has been the same. Not that I'm blogging about the weather these days. It is just that I am. 

In the last couple of weeks the local area; that is to say, where I live. North of Denver, has settled into a predicable weather pattern. Sunny in the morning, with thunder storms rolling in to control the late afternoon and evening. This pattern seems to have locals perplexed. It seems so different. So unusual. 

To me it is just a return to normal. My early twenties were spent roaming the streets of downtown Denver. I do recall the early June days of this time. Let's call this time "back in the day." So, back in the day, when Ace of Base ruled the FM band, early June meant get your shit done early in the day, because the rain would fall. 

Life is this way. The expectations and boxes we insert ourselves into, seem like the predictable weather. Then, the weather changes. And you are standing there wondering; that is to say, perplexed about the pattern and how you can't rely on anything these days. 

The weather has changed. That is to say; the pattern I thought was set, has changed. The atmospheric conditions remind me of back in the day.