Remember last month when I said March was hard? Well, April was better but it, too, was hard.

Katie’s health has improved considerably but she still has a ways to go. Thrice weekly acupuncture appointments have seemed to be helping her manage her pain and have slowly allowed her to live a life that vaguely resembles the one she had been living before this attempted derailment. In the month of April she was able to begin taking appointments again, got out of the house for some non-work-related activities and got the ball rolling on our yearly plants and gardening.

Last month’s disgust with our state legislature refusing to do anything to curb gun violence only worsened when Representatives Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were reprimanded (and in the case of Jones and Pearson, expelled from the House) for taking part in a gun control protest at the Capitol in Nashville, only to have the two ousted reps return shortly thereafter, much to the GOP’s dismay. We saw our cowardly governor Bill Lee vow to set up a special session to talk about gun legislation then fail to do anything before the House adjourned. This shouldn’t be surprising since Lee’s frail attempt to implement a minor red-flag law was immediately shut down by the state’s GOP majority who agreed that making sure anyone, regardless of their criminal record, past offenses, irrational behavior or dimwitted tendencies, can own and carry a firearm is more important that keeping children alive.

There WERE a few positive things this month that I’ve outlined below but good as they may have been, most of them weren’t goals (except the part about Tucker Carlson being taken off the air, maybe). So let’s discuss what I actually accomplished:

Goals I’ve Kept Up With:

Clean Eating, Treat Meals and Dad Bod 2.0

So Dad Bod 2.0 wrapped up officially this passed Saturday and I’m very pleased with the results. My weight stayed the same but there’s a noticeable difference in my physique and how my clothes fit. Unfortunately I do not have a body fat measurement because I do not have an accurate way of measuring it at the moment. My gym does offer Styku assessments and I have enough points built up to get a free one, but my research has led me to believe Styku doesn’t actually measure your body fat, rather, it assumes your body fat based on the readings of other people with a similar body type. Lame.

With Dad Bod 2.0 coming to an end, that means a new program has to begin and I designed my new program to get me in shredded, ultra-cut condition before our summer trip to Las Vegas. I have cleverly titled it EVIL LAS VEGAS. The program consists of three strength-training days (Upper-Push on Monday, Upper-Pull on Wednesday and Legs on Friday) paired with core and cardio boxing on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. We leave for Sin City in nine weeks so the program is designed to last exactly nine weeks.

Nutritional highlights from the last month include One Pot Pasta with Italian Sausage and Kale, Easy BBQ Chicken Tacos with Black Bean and Corn Salsa, and Juicy and Flavorful Baked Chicken and Rice (current favorite). All recipes by Fed + Fit, of course.

I’m in love with my breakfast this week – it consists of an air-fried breaded chicken patty (frozen section at Wal-Mart) on a Keto bun with a scrambled egg, fat-free American cheese slice and ketchup. I serve this with a sliced Granny Smith apple. I’m kind of obsessed with it right now.

I’m still doing Saturday treat days and have broken my dry spell having enjoyed beer, rosé and mead all in the last month.

3-Month Goal – Read 3 New Books (12 Books, 12 Month Goal)

My book reading slowed down a little in April but I still made progress. I finished The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their Meanings by Jan Harold Brunvand and started Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance by Christopher McDougall. My current book count for the year is seven.

Daily Music

My Green Day project I announced last month is complete. At the time of this writing I can now play Burnout, Having a Blast, Chump, Longview, Welcome to Paradise, Pulling Teeth, Basket Case, She, Sassafras Roots, When I Come Around, Coming Clean, Emenius Sleepus, In the End, F.O.D., All By Myself, Armatage Shanks, Brat, Stuck with Me, Geek Stink Breath, No Pride, Babs Uvula Who?, 86, Panic Song, Stuart and the Ave., Brain Stew, Jaded, Westbound Sign, Tight Wad Hill, Walking Contradiction, Nice Guys Finish Last, Hitchin’ a Ride, The Grouch, Redundant, Scattered, All the Time, Worry Rock, Platypus (I Hate You), Uptight, Last Ride In, Jinx, Haushinka, Walking Alone, Reject, Take Back, King for a Day, Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) and Prosthetic Head.

What I’m trying to say is I’m ready to front your Green Day cover band whenever you’re ready.

Goals that Need Revision:

Daily Writing

My intention with this goal was to write a little something every single day even if it was just a paragraph or a sentence. The reality, however, is that I spend my entire day writing and working with writers and thinking about words and phrasing and style … so when I’m on my lunch break or off work, I’m often not in the mood to make more words. I still, however, have that nagging pull to write – the same nagging pull I’ve felt my whole life – so I’m going to try to do more about it. I did write up a conversational piece a week or so ago in the blog – I’d love to share more things like that. I’m going to try to post a minimum of two original pieces in the blog each month, not counting these goofball check-ins.

New Goals:

New Guitar Practice

Now that I’m done with my Green Day project, I decided to start taking on some music and styles of playing that have intimidated me for a while – primarily lead guitar playing. Yesterday I thought it would be cool to learn a handful of songs by some bands I’m getting to see in the next year including Guns-n-Roses, KISS and Aerosmith. I’ve started by learning the intro, verses and choruses of Welcome to the Jungle. Taking on the solos next!

Goals I’m Letting Go:

None this month!

Rad Things from April:

I started working out at National Fitness Center again and I’m really digging being a part of the pre-sunrise crew – and a new gym location means new Saturday donut locations and I’ve made good use of both Admiral’s Dough Joe and Status Dough. I rebranded my fitness Instagram as @PunkRockandPreWorkout so I can openly discuss social issues as they relate to strength. I got a Scene Queen t-shirt and a rad tattoo of our dog Ozzy. Tucker Carlson got fired from Fox News. Katie and I started watching Beef on Netflix and I’m loving it. I got to take my mom on a shopping trip to Asheville – first mother-son shopping trip in several years and it felt SO good to be back!

True story: while finishing the draft of this post, I got an email from a company wanting to sell me a Charles Manson Floral Hoodie. Tell. Me. More.

Until there are more reveries …

-JS