So, I haven't blogged in...forever.
Almost two and half years since my last post. Life is relatively the same. A little older. A little balder. A bit beard-ier. Much heavier.
Let's do an easy return post, a list of things that have been on my mind recently.
Facebook
Ah...Facebook. The website we love to hate. In the old days, Facebook was a great way to keep up with old friends. Who's doing what? Where did so-and-so go again? What's who's-his-face up to? In the past few years I have noticed a shift in how Facebook is used. It's now mostly reposts of stuff we find on the Internet, pithy sayings, quizzes, click bait, or even worse, reposts from other Facebook pages. I am as big as an offender of this as anyone else in this respect, but I say "No more!"
From this day forward, I vow to only post personal stuff on Facebook. Pictures of me (like the beauties I posted earlier today), my random thoughts, and links to this blog when I update it. If you see me posting anything that isn't a direct connection to me or something I create, call me on it!
Beards
I'm a big fan of the beard. I like my beard. I enjoy the length of the beard, but not, as I call it, the "Duck Dynasty" beard. I've had the beard trimmed twice now by a barber and it is quite a nice experience. Having been a baldo for the past 15 years or so, it's nice to go sit in a barber chair and have someone cut your hair. With summer coming, I am not sure if I will be keeping the long beard. I guess we will find out in a few months!
Beer
Since I last posted, I started brewing beer. It's a fun hobby that incorporates a few of my favorite things: science and beer! I'm still brewing extracts and mostly from kits, but I am enjoying taking a batch of ingredients and putting them all together to make something new. Thanks to Malia for the idea and my brewing mentors Bill, Dan, and Ben for the advice and help. Brewing with friends is way more fun than brewing alone!
So far, I have only brewed dark beers which are very forgiving to impurities of color. My brew list includes:
Red Ale
Imperial Stout
Honey Porter (which was really more of a Brown Ale)
Pumpkin Ale
Root Beer Ale
Black Lager
Next up is my first light beer, an American Cream Ale. The other beer I have brewing in my mind is a Golden Stout. This will be a fun experiment that I will probably do late in the summer so it is ready for the fall. Before that I will probably tweak the Root Beer Ale and make that again. It's a favorite, but the artificial sweetener is a bit too strong for me.
The other thing about brewing beer is I have saved quite a bit of money on buying beer. It's cheaper to make it than it is to buy it. Plus, when you know people who brew, there are lots of exchanges happening, so I get to try other peoples beer as well!
However, the money I am saving on not buying beer is being used to buy equipment to make beer, so there is that. The next thing I need to do is build a Keezer so I can switch from bottling to kegging.
Weight
Sigh...the never ending battle for me. Currently I am up to my highest weight ever, which is very depressing. Before you say it, it has nothing to do with making beer. I give most of what I make away honestly, My beer consumption is one, maybe two a week, so I don't think that is adding too many calories to my diet.
I've tried a few different "diets" since my last post, and while the idea behind the Paleo/South Beach/ Low Carb diet works for me, it's just way too hard to stick to. I honestly think I might be addicted to sugar. I tried something called "Intuitive Eating" as well. That was a complete and utter disaster! Intuitively, I don't know what to eat. As Malia says, I need rules!
So here are the rules I will be following:
1) Low carb breakfast: eggs, some sort of breakfast meat, small glass of juice, and a cup of coffee with cream and Stevia.
2) Fruit or veggie snack
3) Big ol' salad with some sort of protein
4) Fruit and protein snack
5) Big ol' salad before the main course
6) Smaller sized plate for dinner
7) Small dessert treat of some kind (maybe)
The other thing I need to add is daily walking. I am in really bad shape. I've tried various other exercises, but I am so out of shape that anything I do hurts my body. Riding the bike hurts my torn calf. I pulled my IT band trying to jog. I re-injured my shoulder lifting weights. So for now, it's just walking. Every. Day. The dog will be happier for it as well as getting me a little more active. Once I start feeling better, I will start adding some light weight lifting again, and then maybe the stationary bike. It's going to be a long process. I'm going to try the calorie counting thing using the My Fitness Pal app to help keep track of everything.
Growing Old
So besides the body falling apart because I haven't taken care of it, I am getting old. My oldest is driving now. He just got his permit a few weeks ago, but already he is doing quite well. It's hard to believe I have a son old enough to drive. Next school year I will be the parent of High Schoolers. That just blows my mind. I can't believe I will have a Junior and a Freshman. Where did the time go?
Home Remedies
Speaking of growing old...
As I have gotten older I find I am self medicating some medical problems. Besides the two doctor prescribed medications I already take, I have added a few other items to my daily routine.
In the morning and evening I take a dose of Saint Johns Wort to counteract depression like symptoms. It is the one thing that the dietitian I was seeing recommended that actually worked. I add it to a small glass of lemonade and it kills two birds with one stone, because I drink the lemonade to help fight the kidney stones I was getting.
Besides those two, I take Lipo-Flavinoid Plus for Tinnitus. I have a constant ringing in my left ear. Some days it is unbearably loud and drives me to the point of distraction and irritability. Since I started taking this a month ago, the symptoms are not as strong. Sometimes, I don't even hear it at all. Let me tell you, that has been a huge relief.
The latest thing I have added to my daily routine is Epicor. It's main use is as an antioxidant that helps improve the immune system. It also helps to fight allergies, which for me are kicking into high gear. Thanks, tree pollen! Since I started taking this, my allergy symptoms have minimized.
Wrap Up
There ya go, a few things that have been bouncing around in my head the past few days/weeks. Trying to think of a format for the blog. The lists I did were fun, but only so many things to list. Maybe I will do some "Geek Culture" posts. Lots of thoughts on movies that have come out recently, maybe some posts on that. Board games. Definitely some board game posts.
Stay tuned!
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