050

Celebration? It appears that I've now hit the 50th post for Notes.gs! Does it mean anything? Not really. It does mean that I've put out one of these daily posts for 50 of the last 52 days straight.

The Works: I wasn't terribly productive in this area today, but I did do a tiny bit of writing for a future Graham Sedam Writes post—about 4 modest paragraphs. I also fit in 30 minutes of drumming. I started out playing along to the pre-programmed songs in the electronic kit's brain, since it had been a while and I didn't feel like starting up my music computer and any other setup that went with it to play along to anything else. I finished up my drum session with some more work on figuring out what tempo I want that darn-tootin' song I'm working on to be.

Thumbs UP—Good Time! Day 3 of Angry Winter. We haven't left the house. We will start eating the kids soon. We have plenty of food; it's not about a lack. We may be driven to eat them if they continue to make the parentals insane. This is part of the reason I didn't get too far with The Works today. We would've loved to have done fun stuff with them, but alas, their teachers have given them assignments for Angry Winter and that means my wife and I must also be involved at various points of the day and for unknown amounts of time. I did make it outside tonight to take the trash bin to the street. I didn't really think it was too bad at first, but by the time I got back to the front door, my lungs were starting to freeze, and it made breathing more difficult. It made my wife and I ponder about the effect of the cold vacuum of space on a person. Oh, and my wife and I are still looking for The Toddler's chocolate milk that he lost this morning... Does cottage cheese come in chocolate?

Present Situation: The Toddler was a tough one to get to sleep tonight. He had made it to "the point beyond tired," which is a scary place. We would have probably been better off to put him to bed earlier, but one can't always know these things before it's too late. We finished the first season of 3Below tonight with the kids and anxiously await the second season. Now, my wife and I will step competitively while we figure out what to watch. We caught up on some "live" shows last night, How to Get Away with Murder and Fresh Off the Boat, so that they didn't get locked before we watch them.

Never judge a day by its sunshine.

Photo Credit: Christine Sedam

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049

Out About Town: Actually, no. That was a trick. I did not leave the house all day because I had no reason to. Angry Winter is out there and my house is climate controlled. I'm hearing that it has been colder in Minnesota than in Antarctica.

The Works: I did some blog work today. I shared my 2018 goals wrap-up post on Facebook again for those who may have missed it and would like to read it. I updated all of the post footers that I have included at the bottom of all of the posts that I've published, except for those from the Electric Feast era (time capsules). Lastly, I refurbished a post to share this coming Thursday.

Thumbs Up—Good Time! We let the two older kids stay up to watch some TV while my wife and I traded off various duties with an end goal of getting The Toddler to sleep. Afterward, the rest of us watched another episode of 3Below. We were going to play the game Pling Pong today, but we all had things to attend to and didn't. Hopefully, things will go differently tomorrow and we'll fit it in. The kids' teachers have given them assignments to do at home this week since they are missing school due to the aforementioned Angry Winter. Technology, eh? So, that is what part of their day was spent on and will also be spent on tomorrow.  My wife and I watched the most recent episode of SNL hosted by Rachel Brosnahan last night. Maybe it was because we had a break from the show for a month or so, but we both felt it was a pretty funny episode—plenty of laughs.

Mileage Mayhem: On my way to the treadmill this afternoon, The Toddler handed me his Rocky plush toy (from the show Paw Patrol) and wanted me to take it with. He insisted on it, so I told him that I would let Rocky watch me run. I guess it was a good idea! I ran 5 miles today—more mileage in one run than I've had since last September. I've got some miles to make up and this run certainly helped.

Will the evil masterminds behind Paw Patrol ever stop creating new toys?

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048

The Year In Steps: 987,155 steps so far. I'll break 1 mil tomorrow for sure! I love challenges.

Children Of The Snow: All of the people around the metro area I live in who may also be reading this will already know, but today was a not very snowy snow day for the kids. In fact, it looks as though they won't be going back to school until Thursday at the earliest because of the bitter cold swooping in. It's not a HUGE deal, I guess, but it will certainly make the normal routine my wife and I have gotten used to more... cumbersome. Oh, well. We shall carry on. Everything that needed to be done was done. The kids were able to play some video games. My daughter accompanied me to a couple grocery stores and a fruitless trip to Batteries Plus this morning. It was great to spend some time with just her and converse. We also let the kids stay up a little later and that allowed us to get 2 episodes of 3Below in.

Present Situation: The wife just completed her run on the treadmill. I'll get this note tidied up. (Tidied doesn't look right. Isn't it strange, those words that are correctly spelled but just don't look right? But, alas, it is.) I almost fell asleep with The Toddler, but I'd love to watch a little of something on the TV with my wife after she gets out of the shower. Maniac is always a good option, but I don't know what other shows we need to catch up on either.

Only 5 inches? (That's what she said!)

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047

Run Streak: Day 224!

Run The Year: This past week, Monday through Sunday, has been my highest mileage week this year. Ever? I don't know. But, I DO know that I ran 16.5 miles. And, that brings my month/year total to 54.7 miles. I miscalculated how much I was behind last week... whoops. I multiplied the days of the year that had already passed by 2.25 instead of 2.75 and that means I'm 19.55 miles behind where I should be if I were to run a consistent amount every day to hit 1,009.5 for the year. I'll get there. Math lesson over.

Present Situation: It's late, and I need to get a shower in. I'm tired and ready for bed. It was a good weekend. It went well, really, all around. Tomorrow will be another day I look forward to conquering. I am grateful for many things and having tomorrow off from work is certainly one of them! I'm working a lot of overtime next week, and so I'm certainly looking to make the most of this one. And... now my kids are off from school tomorrow because of weather. Which means, they might not make it to school all week considering what the Weather Sayers have been predicting with their snow globes. Fear. Panic. Can adults get out of going to work that easy? Please?

I was a super kid for my birthday last autumn.

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046

Recent Link I've Enjoyed: The Art Institute of Chicago Has Put 50,000 High-Res Images from Their Collection Online What more can I say. This is pretty damn cool. You might see me snagging and posting a picture now and then because I can. PUBLIC DOMAIN, FTW!

Book Report: Doing Time in Hollywood by Brian Gallagher_ I'm plugging along with this book and have made it to page 63. I enjoy peering into other people's lives and hearing what they have to say or, rather, reading what they've written. Brian has had experiences that I've never had and likely never will. The beauty of reading things out of the "norm" allows a person to build up a greater repertoire of knowledge and understanding. If I had only read the first paragraph, I would have no idea what I would be missing. (Book 1/4 of 2019 Goals)

Present Situation: I didn't have much desire to write a note last night, and I was tired. Both apply to tonight as well, but I decided to punch the keys and see what happened. I still have a little time before I should get to bed. I look forward to watching some Team Umi-Zoomi with The Toddler, shortly. Wait, I believe he's being put to bed. I'm a bit sad now.

Pimpin' in the year 1631.

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045

The Works—Writing: This morning, I published the new post I've been talking about this week. The R&D Workshop No.10 Give it a read if you can tear yourself away from a life of memes.

The Works—Music: I was also able to work on music for at least 4 hours today. It was enough to clear the small amount of time debt that I've collected for my 2019 goal of spending 60 minutes or more per week doing work in the studio. I worked on a song that's been in my head for a few years. It's a song for a music project that is so far song-less—aural ocean. I'm still working out what tempo it needs to be while also figuring out the bass guitar melody and general drum arrangement. So, it was fun bouncing around between instruments while also getting more acquainted with Cubase 9. I used to use Cubase 4, so it's not a completely new system for me. Also, I'm trying out a different approach(es) in how I work with the software. More in the future. I wrote a little about my computer issues and the transition to Cubase 9 in this R&D No.6 update.

Present Situation: The Toddler had a late afternoon nap. He needed it. So now, while I write this note, he's firing up an episode of My Little Pony. I'm looking forward to getting some snuggles in with him before bed, before the long work weekend begins. My wife and I didn't watch Maniac last night and it looks like we won't tonight either. Such is life. We DID watch 2 episodes of 3Below with all of the kids, so that was nice. I never intended this section to turn into the TV section, but hey, it's what's on my mind at this time of day. Meh

Never seen a dog drive into town, have you? He's our local Uber.

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044

Water Consumption: My daily average so far for the year is 78.6 ounces. I'm doing a great job of keeping ahead of my minimum goal of 64 ounces.

Recent Link I've Enjoyed: I have read on this similar subject from different outlets and they say the same thing. Basically, pay attention to your body's natural rhythms and follow them or suffer the consequences. (Yeah, I get it. No one's going to tell you how to live! Good luck with that.) To burn the most calories, it helps to heed the clock

The Works: I wasn't able to start working on the new post for GSW I have coming out tomorrow until after lunch. I also spent more time on it than I had originally planned on. While I didn't do a complete and total rewrite, I did spend a lot of time rearranging sentences and rewriting. Ever since I walked away from it yesterday, I felt like it was a jumble of thoughts in a haphazard sequence. I'm happy with it now, but I didn't end up having time to drum. Maybe tomorrow? I'd love to dig into something else musical, like working on a song or figuring out where I'm at with all of that. We'll see what the family's agenda is first, because drums always seem easier to fit in.

Present Situation: I was really hoping the whole family would be able to watch the Netflix show 3Below: Tales of Arcadia tonight. We're a handful of episodes in, and we haven't watched it in over a week. It's an animated series that is the second installment of Guillermo del Toro's Tales of Arcadia trilogy. You may remember me talking about the first installment we watched called Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia. At the present moment, The Toddler had a nap while running an errand with my wife, so he's at the TV's helm currently watching YouTube. He is Mr. Independent, and he knows his way around. I'll finish up this note then mess around on social for a bit while I step and watch YouTube with The Toddler. My wife will be on the treadmill any minute now... She did read my new post for GSW tomorrow. She's a good copyeditor. Fingers crossed we'll watch Maniac before the night is over.

Get it? Chili... Chilly... Get it?

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043

The Works: I spent a good portion of the day working on the new Graham Sedam Writes post coming out on Thursday. It will be the 10th edition of my blog feature The R&D Workshop. In it, I follow up on an initiative from No.9, and I dive into a process that I've been developing and working through for almost a year. I have some more to finish up on with the post tomorrow, and I hope to have time to drum afterward.

Kid Activities: Had karate tonight. It's getting close to the end of this session. Next week will be the end-of-session test that we practiced tonight. The Girl Scouts are changing up a lot of things connected with cookie sales this year. We can "pre-sale" which means we can start selling them without having the physical cookies. I'm not excited about that change because it means that the cookie season is almost three weeks longer.

Present Situation: My wife and I have been watching the Netflix show Maniac, and we are on the fifth episode. I like it. It has an odd and mysterious vibe to it that I can only compare to LOST. The shows are really not alike, but there's a certain vein or sliver that gives me the same feeling. I suppose it doesn't help that the timeline during Maniac jumps between present and past and drug-induced dream states. We should only watch one as I do have a work meeting in the morning tomorrow. Must get good sleep. Remember?

Aww, yeah. Just a couple of dudes steppin' and computin'!

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042

The Year In Steps: I've managed to get in a total of 732,179 steps so far this year... and counting.

Solo Mission: The two oldest kids and I finished Solo tonight, finally. I liked it, though, I'm not an incredibly fussy, nitpicking, critical, hard-to-please movie watcher. I'd look up why other people hated it so much, but why waste my time? Some Star Wars people seem easy to offend. Sure, there are movies that I don't like, but anyone can find fault with anything and there will always be those people who do. I wouldn't mind watching it again with my wife at some point, because she's only seen the first 40 minutes.

Goal For The Week: While I do have many things I want to complete and accomplish this week, this most recent bout of sickness (that I'm still trying to shake off) has been a punch-the-face reminder. I ask a lot of my brain and body everyday and the least I can do is to regularly get a decent night's sleep. I really have no excuses. Unfortunately, those pesky tickles in my throat have me coughing when I initially try and fall asleep. My wife is thankful for the spare bedroom in the basement.

Present Situation: All 3 kids were in bed at 7:30 PM. It may not seem like much to you, but it always feels like I have a whole other part of the day to live—like a more than 24 hours in a day kind of feeling. Hopefully, something worthwhile will come of it. I, of course, have my note. I think my wife is going to run. I wish she'd hurry up and get it done. I'd like to watch something before it gets late. I have a coworker who said something years ago that I could really relate to. All of the shows that I really want to watch are generally ones my wife and I watch together, so if I were to watch TV by myself, I'm likely to not watch something terribly worthwhile to me. So, I might as well do something else when I actually really feel like watching TV.

"Dad, which one of these opens the secret door?"

"We'll find it eventually, son. It's got to be one of these keys."

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041

Run Streak: Day 217

Run The Year: I'm at 38.2 running miles for January. While this amount of mileage is certainly an accomplishment in its own right, I'm technically behind where I should be at this point in the year in regards to my goal. If I were on target to reach 1,009.5 miles by 01/01/20, I would need to have 45 miles logged by the end of today. I'm not worried. My daily average is up from the time period between my last 5k in September until the end of the year, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm increasing my mileage responsibly.

The Elephant In My Notes: So, I didn't get a note in yesterday, breaking my daily note streak at a nice round 40. I'm totally cool with it. It was a good day, a fun day, even if I wasn't 100%. (I'll write more about this day forthcoming.) Perhaps I'll make it beyond 40 this go-around, or who cares? Right? Maybe I'll only pay attention to and point out that I've only missed one day in the last X amount of days. It's about what we CHOOSE to focus on.

Present Situation: I wish I could say that I'm over being sick, but its still holding on for its dear life. How can I blame it? We all want a host to suck the life out of... right? Hello? Anybody? Psst. You're just being modest. Anyway, the kids are off tomorrow for MLK Jr Day and so that will be... Yep. I will still have my normal Monday things to do. They won't do themselves. I suppose I should get a shower in and sleep.

"You can lick it. Go ahead. It won't hurt you," said the salesman.

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040

Sick Day: It's been a pretty uneventful day. I slept for a good portion of it, and I'm sure that has helped me get over the hump. My wife, the nuun ambassador, has been eager to "sell" me on the nuun brand and has served me multiple nuun immunity drinks warmed up over the last two days. They actually do taste good and are kind of like tea. I'm sure those have also helped me. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm feeling better than I have in days.

Present Situation: I really wanted to finish Solo tonight. It just wasn't in the cards. My daughter had a school lock-in event tonight. My wife has been busy with housework all day. The Toddler decided that a 5 minute nap in the van mid-afternoon meant that he's not ready for sleep at bedtime. I don't know how much later I'm going to be up, but I will be able to sleep in and get good rest.

I keep a chuggin' along.

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039

Sick News, Bro: Oh, boy. I'm getting better, but it just won't let go. Last night wasn't the best I've slept, but tonight will surely be different. I got a small nap in today. I'm planning on another nap tomorrow in addition to calling in to work. I need the rest, even though I don't feel that tired. I'm nearly over the hump, and I don't want to screw it up by going to work. I would hope that they wouldn't want me there anyway considering. One thing that was nice about the day was that I slowed down. It caused me to spend some more quality time with The Toddler, like on the floor building wooden train set tracks. We also watched some of his TV shows and colored. The fact that preschool is coming soon is starting to get to me.

The Works: I re-published and promoted an old refurbished post today. It was the first in a series I still publish to this day, "THE NOT SO DAILY DUMP #1."

Present Situation: A little relaxing on the couch with the wife and some TV before an early bedtime. I don't know what we'll watch. My wife wants to watch the movie Chicago to do some research on an upcoming shindig we're a part of. I might be surfing on my phone at the same time. Oh, and we didn't finish Solo tonight. That's how it goes, I guess. Tomorrow night for sure.

"Daddy and me make good train tracks."

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038

Movie Moment: We started watching the movie Solo tonight. We got about an hour in before it was bedtime for the older two. The Toddler wasn't being very well behaved just as we started it, so my wife took him upstairs to put him to bed. It's what he needed. My wife will have to get caught up tomorrow during the day, because we plan to finish it tomorrow night. This happens often with us and long movies that we watch with the kids—splitting it up into two viewings. We just make sure it's two nights in a row, or it becomes more difficult to enjoy.

The Works: Yesterday, among other various blog work and promotion, I went through and updated the refurbished post I will be sharing tomorrow. I didn't mention that in yesterday's note. Today, I drummed for about 2 hours. I don't know exactly when my mind started getting ideas for changing up my drum and cymbal positions, but I've thought about trying something that wasn't as much of a "traditional" set up as I had it, essentially moving my ride cymbal to a more central part of the kit (between two toms) and setting up the kit around that. The way I have it now isn't strange or earth shattering, but it's different for me and something I'll have to get used to a bit to decide whether I like it or not. It seemed like it took too long to get everything moved and adjusted, but I had to adjust and readjust several times. My kit is electronic and is rack mounted, so I'm somewhat limited and had to get creative. All of this activity happened right at the end of my drum time. The picture below is what I captured when I was done adjusting everything after playing a final few songs. No, I didn't count changing up my kit within those 2 hours of drumming.

Present Situation: My sickness is progressing through the normal stages. I've been getting good sleep and more of it. I could still use even more, even a nap, my wife yelled at me today. She chewed me out. She's right, I'm sure, but don't tell her I said that. Though, I do believe the sweating on the treadmill did and does me good. I wasn't going for speed records, so it was a nice and easy slow 2 mile run. Not so much sweating with the drumming. That probably just wore me down. I don't know what's on the agenda for the rest of the night, a little TV I imagine, but taking it easy and going to bed early would probably be a good idea. I've got a shindig to attend on Saturday.

Drums.

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037

WTF! Awesome: My daughter clued the family in on a pretty cool way to create your own game of Jeopardy. She had it on her iPad but was AirPlay-ing to the TV, making it all the better. She created the categories, answers, and questions. Try it out for yourselves. https://jeopardylabs.com/

Welcome To The Potty: We had karate tonight, my son and I. The Toddler has been potty training and earned himself an ice cream sundae from McDonald's just before I left, so I had to pick one up on the way home. My daughter didn't understand the situation and put in her ice cream order as well. Nope, sorry. Everyone getting ice cream doesn't make it a special treat for his accomplishment. My wife and I have been trying to explain to the kids what a big change this is for The Toddler. We're just happy that he has an interest that feels like it developed pretty much out of nowhere. We, of course, have been encouraging it for months, but he didn't care. He even told my father-in-law that he wouldn't be able to go to school because he wasn't potty trained, like no big whoop. I'm excited for him, because it needs to happen, but I'm also sad because my baby is growing up. There's no going back.

Present Situation: The. Record. Skips. Because. It's. Broken. Drinking some coffee because it feels good in my throat. Sickness getting better but slowly. It hasn't taken me out yet, and it's different everyday. Today was the first day where I actually felt like it was making me drag a bit. Still, the streak continued with 3 miles conquered. The motivation is there, but the caffeine acts as a performance enhancer. I enjoyed the Matt Damon SNL episode we watched last night. I'm not sure what TV is on the agenda tonight. Wife is close to getting The Toddler asleep, I'm sure. Finish note. Do some small task work on the computer until she comes down. Carry on, people. No one can do it alone.

We were at Target today and found this gem as is.

Well done, stranger. Well done.

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036

FTW: So, my wife and I had a disagreement today. I've always thought the acronym FTW meant "fuck the world," and I've actually heard/seen others use it in this way. SHE says that it means "for the win." After doing some research on the internet, I've learned that we are both correct. "Fuck the world" was actually the original meaning going back decades, and more recently, "for the win" has taken over as a more PC use of the acronym. However, depending on the setting you're using these letters (video gaming character 'facing the wall,' meaning he is not currently playing), it can take on any meaning you choose to give it.

Ear Tickler: Last week and this week, I've been listening to a station I created called Instrumental Hip Hop Radio. Mostly when I've worked on the computer, whether writing or not, I'll listen to rock or instrumental stuff that's more in the flavor of rock. One random song that popped up when I was listening to Mogwai Radio, and it seemed an odd choice for Pandora to play, gave me the nudge to try something else for a while. So, I did. It's been fun so far. I've noticed that Dr Dre's The Chronic: 2001 has come up quite a bit in the rotation. No complaints here. Why instrumental? Because, sometimes, other people singing words gets in the way of the brain focusing on the task at hand—especially writing. But, the wordless music can provide inspiration and energy that wouldn't otherwise be there. And, it helps to drown out noises from other people in the house...

Present Situation: The Toddler has made leaps and bounds recently as far as becoming a better, more consistent sleeper. This will hopefully continue and my wife and I can count on being able to enjoy a quiet evening with a little TV more often. It's been a good Monday. A productive Monday. A family getting along Monday. My wife and I have our runs in, she's sitting with The Toddler while he nods off, and I'm writing this daily note. I'm pretty sure we'll be stepping in front of the TV shortly. I'm hoping to watch the only and most current episode of SNL we haven't gotten to. I believe the host is Matt Damon. I hope it's not locked yet. And yes, I still have some sickness, but it seems to be getting better. Though, this time around, it got worse than it did last time. Oof. Long note today. Hey, we bought a money tree when we went grocery shopping this morning.

We're going to be rich! All we have to do is add 2 ice cubes a week.

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035

Run Streak: Day 210!

Run The Year: I didn't run as much last week as I would have liked. The time wasn't there but the drive to run more was. Still, I have 23 miles in for the month/year so far without counting the mile I plan on running tonight after this note business.

Batman 1966: I came home to the older two kids watching an episode of Batman circa 1966. They seem to like watching it, though, they don't seem to show much enthusiasm for it. I remember watching bits/episodes as a kid, and I found it intriguing tonight to watch the last five minutes of an episode as an adult. I don't mean to offend anyone who is serious about their love for the show, but it's pretty funny. Sometimes laugh-out-loud but mostly just in a bizarre huh-and-shake-my-head kinda way. I'm not talking about how the times in which it was filmed is concerned, but just at the absurdity of it. I guess the movies and shows of our time have more realism involved? Maybe in fifty years they'll be laughing at what we watched. The gem I got to witness was one that I had seen before where Batman and Robin have to rehydrate world leaders. So many holes in the story, in the scene. So much undramatic drama.

Present Situation: Well, you know how I've been whining about sleep? Yeah, the sickness is coming back. I'm not down with the sickness, heavy metal band named Disturbed. No way, dude. I still have my mile to run, a shower to take, and it's still early for now. I do know that I won't be up late, and I don't have to go into work tomorrow. Take THAT sickness!

It's a 'drink coffee while I write' kind of night.

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034

Hot Tip: Ideas themselves don't always matter as much as the mouths they come from. I have found this to be incredibly true. What says you?

Present Situation: All of the kids are in bed. I might actually get this note done in time to relax AND go to bed at a decent time. I talk about sleep a lot in this part of my notes. I know that I need more and that it is important. I started getting up earlier on work mornings sometime last year, and I don't want to give that up as I believe it to be a good thing for reasons like: running, reading, being ready on time for possible bad weather etc. Oh, yeah. The morning writing. That process didn't work out as hoped; I'll talk more about it in a future GSW post. Anyway, I know what I have to do and, for the most part, it's putting my phone away when I get into bed. That's the "low-hanging fruit" in this bedtime/phone, present situation.

We had more snow on the ground last year on 01/03.

Not a lot more... but more.

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033

WTF! Awesome: Here's something you might like. I've been thinking about this tool lately, because I have gotten to the point in my computing where I have a lot of tabs and multiple browsers open. The discovery of using F3 (as discussed in Note 027) has certainly helped me with navigating all of this, but I definitely can tell there's a lag at times, even with a fast computer. I might have to try out OneTab to cut down on the mess without losing the quick accessibility. Check it out for yourself rather than me rewording what the site says. https://www.one-tab.com/

Present Situation: I'll have to skedaddle to bed quickly. This morning's wake up and run was rough. Tonight, the family watched the local school systems 5th through 8th graders perform songs and dance; show choir is what I'm told it's called. My daughter was a part of this production, so that's how we ended up there. Behavior wise, The Toddler started out fine and went downhill, and my older son was only a little better. I left work an hour early and was still able to make it on time despite being grossly delayed due to an accident that had already happened many miles ahead. After the show choir production, I still had to get everything ready for work tomorrow and write this note. The boys are being crazy upstairs, my wife just finished fixing the washer, and I'm ready to meet up with some glorious sleep.

Looks like these 'taters are putting on a show choir of their own.

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032

Out About Town: Today was the first day that I had ever been to an Ax-Man Surplus store. I had heard good things about them from a few different people, but I wasn't prepared for how long I could spend going up and down the aisles and debating on whether I needed any and all of the merchandise. The Toddler and my wife were there as well looking around, and The Toddler fell in love with a calculator. It was $2.95 so I didn't argue with him and let him use Christmas money that he swears was birthday money to buy it. The guy working the register told him that the calculator worked because it caught energy from the sun. The Toddler has repeated this throughout the day, sharing this information with everyone he shows it to. He loves it. I bought a wireless computer keyboard for my music computer that was super easy to set up. The only other thing we bought was 22 pieces of 12x12x4 acoustic studio foam. It's a gray color that is nearly an exact match of the paint in my studio, and it will hopefully motivate me to do more sound treatment in my studio. The foam is only good for high frequencies, so I'll have to use the right amount in the right place. I have other plans for the rest of the frequencies.

The Works: Today, I published my first post of the year, "Resolutions = Revolutions: 2019 Goals," for Graham Sedam Writes.

Present Situation: I'm tired. There will not be enough hours in the night for the sleep. The Toddler is up being toddler-y, and the wife still needs to get her run in. I haven't stepped as much as I would have liked today or this week, really, but I'll get some more in before bed. We saw this year's Bartz brothers snow sculpture during the evening, just before dusk. They are always much more impressive in person. Go to their Facebook page or Instagram.

Every year since The Toddler has been born, I have tried to appease the snow monster with a snack, and it has ALWAYS been offended. Shocked, even.

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031

Book Report: Doing Time in Hollywood by Brian Gallagher_ I'm on page 45 of this book now. Still making progress at a slow crawl, but enjoying it nonetheless. I was thinking about it this morning and there is an odd and interesting parallel between me and the author and me and the subject matter of his book. Brian and my wife went to college together, and I'm friends with him on social media. I've never met him in person, but I've got to know him a little from social, his website, and from reading what I've read of his book so far. Likewise, I'm familiar with L.A. and Hollywood, because I've seen it on TV and in movies, and I've heard and read stories about the industry. However, I've never been there in person and have never experienced the atmosphere or industry firsthand. I thought it was interesting, maybe it's not.

The Works: I spent a good portion of today, from lunch until dinner, working on, finishing, and prepping for the publishing and promotion of my newest post at Graham Sedam Writes. I enjoy writing for many reasons, and I hope there's maybe one reason you like reading what I have to say. This new post lays out my 2019 goals. Plus, I was able to accomplish it in one post! (Last year took two...)

Present Situation: Kids in bed? Check. Runs complete? Check. Note finished and propagated to the masses. Incomplete as of this typing... My wife just found through our HBO Watchlist that the kids were watching the TV show Batman from 1966. They mentioned it the other day, but neither my wife or I really thought much of it. We both were just talking about how we independently thought (but never communicated it to each other) it had to be some new Batman animated series with some slick title like Batman:1966. Nope. It was Adam West's Batman from the year 1966. Apparently they think it was a comedy. I want to ask them more about it in the morning. Next up, my wife will read my new post out loud for me to hear and potentially reword based on how it sounds to me in the air. She will copyedit (grammar) and challenge what I wrote (meaning, understandability) as she goes. Then TV.

Speaking of superheroes, did you see the Instagram post I shared 

where my son just so happened to put Superman in a tractor?

Coincidence? I think not!

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030

The Works: I spent a decent portion of my free time today writing for my next NEW blog post at Graham Sedam Writes. Yes, you are correct. I know that this is a blog, too. Two different beasts, they are. If it's getting published on Thursday, I'll have to finish it tomorrow. That is the goal. I've been thinking about the post for the last few months, so the words have been flowing out of me pretty easily. Still, it takes time to get it to the point of being ready to hit the publish button.

Karate: Karate started back up tonight. We've been gone for three weeks due to the holidays. My son earned his Elbow Set ribbon for completing the set of moves by himself in front of the class.

Present Situation:  It's been an okay day. Other than what I've already wrote about, a highlight of the day would certainly be getting delivery of my Bose Soundlink Revolve. It was one of the gifts I got to choose because of the milestone I hit last November—20 years at The Place That Pays Me To Show Up—aka work. The wife will have it figured out before I do. So, what now? I have to be in to work in the morning for a meeting. I won't be there too long, but I will also have to get up early. Some quick TV and then bed?

Yet another device in my house that will play music, BUT it IS my first Bose.

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029

Run The Year: I ran 3 miles today bringing my total to 16 miles so far this year. Only 993.5 to go! Hopefully soon, I'm going to calculate how many miles I ran last year as of the start date to my streak. I didn't keep track of miles before then. I'm thinking that it will give me a glimpse of how much I'll need to work to get my half of the miles completed for 2019.

Thoughts On Notes: I've debated with myself since the day I started these notes on whether or not I would do them EVERY SINGLE DAY. I'm still not sure, but for each day I continue, I feel like I'm starting another streak for something, and that motivates me to keep going. It would be incredibly easy for me to not do it—not doing something is about as easy as it gets. For now, I continue. If it does stay a streak, you'll know what day I'm on by the post's title.

Present Situation: I almost fell asleep while reading The Toddler some bedtime books. Now, my wife is sitting in bed with him while he hopefully falls asleep. He didn't nap; he SHOULD be ready. Sigh. It was mostly a productive day, and that's good, because I really want to get ahead this month on the things I don't normally get to do. As it stands, there's not much overtime this month and next month could go either way, though, I know there will be more than I'm getting this month. I start the week out trying to knock out what I need to get done so that I have time to do what I'd rather do. It doesn't always work out due to other people also having plans for that time. Pockets of tiredness today despite my good sleep last night, and I would say that my almost sickness is a memory as long as I keep getting good sleep. Isn't that always how it goes?

Fiesta! ...IN HELL

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028

Recent Links I've Enjoyed: I thought this article and embedded video were quite amusing. However, I think there's enough people out there who are millennials and are like this. Hence, the how and why there is a millennial stereotype in the first place. When You Know Millennial Advertising Has Jumped The Shark I'm not going to comment much on this next one but thought it was a hand-to-the-chin thinker. Ideology can be very scary and dangerous. Think for yourselves. Don't subscribe to a brand of thinking. Everything needs to be scrutinized periodically on its own merits. Challenge yourself. Americans Are Shifting The Rest Of Their Identity To Match Their Politics

Present Situation: I'm feeling pretty good right now. I seem to be in front of this sick thing and another night of sleep should make it a memory. My wife and I getting our runs in tonight is on the agenda as it WAS the start to The Wigan Runner UK Fitbit Workweek Hustle at 6 PM. Get those steps. I'm also feeling pretty good because I just wrapped up my work weekend, and I'm ready for some time off to do everything else in my life. I like busy. I stay busy very easily. As you can imagine, I'll finish up this note, run on the treadmill, shower, and hopefully get some TV in before bed. And yes, you guessed right! That's two nights in a row where ALL of the kids are bed!

Whoa! How'd they fit it all in there?

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027

WTF! Awesome: This is surely not news to everyone, but earlier this week was the first time I learned what the F3 & F4 keys on my iMac do. I tend to not push buttons unless I know what they do, because I'm generally barebones get 'er done. While I can see myself using the F4 button to quickly get to multiple programs, I have been using the F3 key every time I've been on the computer since, multiple times per session. I like to have many browsers and whatnot open, and basically, if you didn't know, hitting F3 makes them all visible at once while also giving quick access to the dashboard. Apple users are now saying, "Yeah, duh." And everyone else is saying, "What? Who cares?"

Present Situation: Today and tonight were much like yesterday—work all day, come home, get ready for work tomorrow, put kids to bed. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it back downstairs to write a note, though, since The Toddler was fussy and decided to lay his head on my arm. I was able to escape but part of me didn't want to leave. My sickness hasn't gotten worse, I think (maybe slightly). So, another quick note and another early-ish bedtime. It would've been nice to have went to sleep a small bit earlier last night. One positive about the morning is that it's Sunday, and I won't be running before work. I'll have to save my strength for after work—at least for a mile.

My wife deserves the credit for this Target art, but it's quite appropriate for how my entire house smells right now. You're welcome, family.

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026

Hot Tip: There will always be an excuse if you're looking for one.

Present Situation: Due to a variety of factors, my body has started losing to some sort of sickness. I have no doubt that I'll beat it once again before it gets out of hand. I've been doing my best today to give my body some of what it needs to fight it off, but the secret ingredient is getting more rest tonight than I normally get to stay in front of it. Therefore, I decided beforehand that I would do my best to not make this note too long. Not much to write about today considering I've been at work all day and have spent my entire time at home up until this point getting ready for work tomorrow and putting the two oldest kids to bed. Once I'm done here, I'll relax on the couch with The Toddler before I go to bed myself. I got my mile in this morning before work and I WILL get my mile in tomorrow morning. NO excuses. The streak continues!

Is it me or is Mr. Mucus following me?

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025

Run Streak: Day 200! How have I been doing this for so long? Taking it day by day and not thinking about the days ahead. Knowing how disappointed I would be if I missed a day and had to start over. There are plenty of people who have longer streaks—some with incredibly longer streaks than I. One thing that I LOVE about the running community is how encouraging and happy people are to congratulate or celebrate others’ successes. There are no worries about people getting offended or bent out of shape because of what YOU achieved. There's no envy (not spiteful, at least) about your accomplishments. Because you want to share your journey in life and in your passions, you're not labeled a narcissist. How someone responds to others has as much, if not more, to do with the responder. I have found and friended many wonderful people in the running/fitness community, and I can honestly say that my life is more grand because of them.

Run The Year: How long did I run on my 200th streak day? Another barefoot 3 miles on the treadmill. I know that I'm not likely to get more than a mile each day for the next 3 days, so I made the most of the first 3 days of January. I'm sitting at 9.5 miles for the year so far! Only 1,000 left to carry my half of the 2,019 mile load!

The Works: I drummed for 60 minutes today! It's been too long since the last time; about a month and a half, actually. I obviously have some goal time to work off from last year.

Present Situation: I'm supposed to be putting The Toddler to bed, and I will soon, but he's in the middle of a My Little Pony episode. I'm hoping that will calm his crazies down a bit, and potentially, he'll fall asleep. The wife just got in from her run and is hosting some Zyia Active Facebook party, and I'm getting my note for the day captured. Another long day that I don't want to go into a whole lot, but it wasn't spent exactly as planned. My wife continued to turn the house upside down all day with purpose, and I got to deal with our ongoing credit card and Sam's Club membership fraud. Good times. Not a completely bad day, though. Silver linings!

I'm not crazy. I'm a runner! What's that? An axe behind me?

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024

Order In The Fort: What a day. It has been busy tackling a variety of chores and tasks. One of the things we did was buy plastic storage totes and cubed shelves to organize our family's stuff better. Some more of that business will be coming in the short term. It's January—post Christmas presents—and that's always a good time to go through the kids' rooms and the rest of the house to evaluate things. It's all a part of that calendar page turning.

Run The Year: I ran 3 miles this evening, bringing our mileage to 10. Whatever my wife runs tonight will add to that. Tomorrow, I celebrate a big milestone.

Present Situation: What's on the agenda tonight? I still haven't taken my post run shower, since I figured it would be a good idea to feed the family dinner. My wife is getting her run in now... on the treadmill. She might not want me to say that on the INTERNET, where our outdoor running fanatic friends might see this. We never got to that YouTube video last night, so I still want to watch that. I mentioned it, and she whined that she wanted to watch Vikings. It's hard to argue with that, but it's not my fault she just HAD to tear my daughter's closet apart today. That wasn't part of the day's agenda. Tomorrow will come too fast.

Uncle Zeke: I heard y'all were looking for a fort?

Film Location Scout: Um, that's a... castle. 

Uncle Zeke: Close enough, right? And what about that finder's fee?

Film Location Scout: Yeah, I guess it'll work.

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023

The Death Of Christmas: I worked today, stopped at the store to buy some groceries, and then came home. Christmas had died in my absence, and I was entering a crime scene. It felt awful and empty. It'll take a while to get used to the new reality. My wife killed Christmas. It hurts. She seemed unfazed by her heinous deed. On the bright side, it may not take a month for her to get it all put away.

Run The Year: I ran 3.5 miles for the first run of the year, January 1st. My wife ran 3.5 as well. We're off to a pretty good start. We'll need a lot more. 2,012 miles left to go! I'm pumped!

Present Situation: I'm getting this note business out of the way BEFORE putting the kids to bed, which is a nice change. After bedtime, I'm going to enjoy some chatting with my wife and some TV time. No work tomorrow = an itsy bitsy slightly later bedtime but, hopefully, not by much. We'll see where the night takes things! We need to finish watching the movie Game Night, finish the Jason Momoa SNL episode, and I want to show her a YouTube video that's got me thinking. No time like the present. That word—present... Goodbye Christmas. *Sob* See you next later this year.

The horror! The horror!

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