I’m going to start this relatively long post in a format similar to my last to reenact a conversation I had with a coworker on my way to lunch on Monday.

Sup?

Hey, man. What’s going on?

Living the dream.

I like it!

Though, I’m not sure whose dream it is.

Ha ha! Or why they’re dreaming it? Dammit, why do you have to dream this all the time? Where are all the hot chicks?

Or the millions of dollars? Or the expensive cars?

Admittedly, living the dream (to me, at least) should involve all the hot chicks, the millions of dollars and the expensive cars. For me, it would also include more country fried steak dinners and about 100% more six-pack abs. I’m certainly living a dream, just maybe not that one.

Twitter has been about the only social platform I’ve shown any love to in a while. It was pointed out to me recently that I hadn’t made a single post on my blog since the photo shoot back in September (save for my most recent and only post of October) and I noticed the last photo I uploaded to Instagram is now well over a month old. All’s quiet regarding my online presence but my offline life has been anything but(t).

Most spare time lately has been devoted to Title Boxing Club. Today marks one year since my very first class as a trainer and I’m currently doing 4 classes a week. Additionally, I’m logging 4 days of weight lifting following the Bodybuilding.com routine Jim Stoppani’s 12 Week Shortcut to Size. I’m about to wrap up the 8th of 12 weeks outlined in the program and I’ve noticed quite a bit of definition coming out of nowhere and I’ve put on about 5lbs. Additionally, I’ve been running about twice per week equalling around four miles, which isn’t terrible considering I never fully got back into the swing of running after recovering from my half marathon back in April. I figure 8+ hours a week at the gym is pretty good regardless of how often I’m running.

Running is about to take off again, though, as Erin has decided she’s going to start training for her first 5k. I’m excited to help her on this journey, both because it’s something she never thought she’d ever be able to do and also because I think it’s going to relight the fire and passion for running I used to have. Her program starts next week so be prepared for more posts about her progress!

Despite not running regularly over the summer, I was able to check off one of my highest fitness goals: getting off of the ParTNers for Health Wellness Coaching program! Back when I was in terrible condition, I was signed up for that crazy program because my blood pressure was high and because I was on the diabetic line. During the first call, the coach asked me what my goals were and I responded by saying “Get well enough to not have to take these calls anymore.”

“Fair, enough,” came the response.

I had a bad attitude about it from the beginning because I didn’t want some motivational speaker guy calling me every few weeks asking me if I want to go out and throw the football around. Over the years, the calls weren’t as bad. The coaches were always friendly and while I’m confident they had no genuine interest in what I was up to, they did a great job at pretending. It was always fun to tell them how well I was doing and what all I was accomplishing despite the weird vitals they had saved in their system for me.

During my last call, I was prepared to let them know what all I had been up to and the coach told me “I’m going to say something to you that I never get to say to anyone: You’ve graduated the program! If you’d like, you can now opt out of receiving these phone calls and…”

“I’D LOVE TO DO THAT!” I interrupted. To paraphrase the rest of the conversation: “Okay, cool. Peace out!” Done. What an awesome feeling. Now we work on never being back on their radar ever again.

I guess the biggest happening during my silence has been my shift in jobs. I’m no longer in Nonlinear Video Operations and have moved over (literally three rows) into Metadata Operations, writing and editing titles, descriptions, keywords, and QC’ing written content for the brands. I’m on a team that I love and in the 6 weeks I’ve been a part of it, I’ve been amazed every single day at how well the team works together, how they have each other’s backs, and how well they treat each other. They welcomed me onto the team like they’d known me forever and continue to not make me feel like a moron even when I make the most dimwitted of spelling and grammar mistakes.

They’re rad, and I’m very happy. It feels good, man.

Speaking of…

Halloween was Monday (expect a photo post sometime later this week – hopefully) and Erin and I took Tuesday off to go day-after shopping. We picked up a bunch of stuff we didn’t need, hit more stores than we’d planned, and scored lots of good items. We were sitting at Chipotle eating lunch – a chicken and chorizo burrito – when it hit me. October was very busy, I’m learning more on my new job than I’ve learned with most other new jobs I’ve started, I’m still studying through my NASM certification, I’m working more at Title than usual, I’m almost always tired and the idea of going out during the week stresses me out. Yet here I was, sitting in one of my favorite restaurants, eating a burrito packed with an ingredient I didn’t think they’d ever get, across the table from a beautiful woman that loves me, with a car full of random Halloween shit in the parking lot…I’m definitely living my dream, and I don’t want anyone else’s.