Have I Been Doing It Wrong ?

Tonight's P90X workout was Yoga X ... again.  This marked the 5th time I've done that particular workout.  (It should have been 6 but I missed one in the first month when I had a head cold and was too dizzy to complete it).

I am not entirely sure the reason why, but this evening as I completed the full hour and a half workout, it felt great!  Sure I was sweating like crazy and still very unflexible (especially as compared to the people on the video) but I completed every part of the workout (I even did Crane for about 30 seconds, which has never gone well for me thus far) and I feel great after it.  The stretches toward the end felt amazing and my mood is definitely calmer and happier (it had been a somewhat angry day up until that point).

So I wonder if I've been doing it wrong on all these previous workouts?  I didn't have any of the kids trying to work out with me, so maybe that helped.  :)

Song Of The Day:
Among my favorite jazz musicians is Mindi Abair, a talented saxophonist who can actually sing pretty well too.  One of her songs is titled "Home" and the tune just relaxes me in a way similar to how I felt after Yoga X tonight.  I hope you like it.

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Shouldn't I Be Having More Cravings?

I've got a good buddy who recently posted on Facebook about how he has eliminated soda from his daily intake ... for the past six months!  He wasn't posting this to gain some great accolades from FB friends or to brag about how awesome he is or to deride anyone who indulges in the sugary sweetness of soda (his favorite for as long as I've known him was Diet Mountain Dew ... and mine has long been regular Mountain Dew).  He was just posting because he wanted to share his own personal accomplishment.  Way to go Kevin!

Anyway, I mention this because I have been severely limiting my own soda intake since the start of the year (mostly coinciding with my P90X workouts).  I would be lying if I said I hadn't had any soda, but the truth of the matter is that it has probably been less than 24 ounces of soda (2 cans).  It easily could have been ZERO soda, but I added a little to some lemonade and powerade at some recent trips to McDonalds (their fries are an addiction I will never give up!) ... and I've taken a sip from one of my kid's sodas (or Karen's if she has any) once or twice.

The point of this blog is that I haven't really had any cravings for soda, which is very odd!  Sure, the first week or two were filled with longing for "The Dew" or a Cherry Pepsi / Dr Pepper.  But it was very telling to me a few Sundays ago when I decided to "treat myself" to a can of Mountain Dew.  Two sips in and I couldn't drink any more.  It was just too sweet and sugary tasting!

Perhaps the desire will come back at some point in the future, but for now I am a water fanatic (which I always was at work, but never much at home).  Energy levels are up.  My teeth feel cleaner.  I've noticed changes around the old mid-section (some of that could be the Ab Ripper X workouts though).  I actually crave water now instead of candy sometimes too.

Song Of The Day:
Stick with me here.  The song today is "Water Runs Dry" by Boyz II Men.  In this case, the soda cravings have run dry but there's not really a song about that.  I've always been a Boyz fan from the time I bought their first cassette tape.  One of my other favorite songs of theirs is linked HERE if you want a two-song kind of day.  Awesome melodies, harmonies, and acappella (of course!)

Did You Miss Me ?

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder ... and I agree.

This photo was at his birth.
He is much bigger now!  :)

For the past two evenings, my wife and our youngest child (Spencer) have been at the hospital.  Turns out he has RSV and needed several breathing treatments to get his oxygen levels right.

Today, they were able to come home.

It is great to have Spencer home again.  Sure he has to be on oxygen for the next 4-6 weeks, but he's home!  I'm equally (probably moreso) excited to have Karen home too!

In honor of their safe return home, here's is today's ...

Song Of The Day:
Time for some more country music from one of my favorite groups from the past decade plus.  Little Big Town has had some good sized hits (their most recent is "Pontoon" but that's not the song of the day).  One of my favorites from the first of their CDs that I purchased is "Bring It On Home" and that is the song of the day today ... because I know Karen is just as happy to be home as we are to have her and little dude back!  :)

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Why Does Tax Season Make Me Happy ?

I think most people are not very fond of taxes and/or tax season (other than maybe accountants or IRS guys - shout out to Joel Z!)

I love tax season!

(I am not an IRS guy or an accountant though)

Pretty much every year since my oldest son (Josh Jr) was born, tax season has been a great time of year for me and my family, at least financially.  Add 6 more kids and mortgage interest deductions (from 2 homes the past few years) and tax season always equals BIG refund season for the Case Clan!

To be fair, I still hate doing taxes ... never been very fond of paperwork ... even with TurboTax to "simplify" things.  But I have loved the end result for well over the past decade of time.  The refunds have gone up and down, but they are always equivalent to at least one month's worth of salary ... Ka-Ching !!!  :)

Today I was able to finish our 2012 taxes, e-filing through TurboTax for federal and e-filing directly with the Colorado.gov for state taxes (those refunds always seem like "ehh" after seeing the much larger federal refund amount).  Of course I'm not going to share the refund amounts, but it is fair to say that, upon hearing the total amount, Karen quickly started looking at vacation packages for a Disney trip or cruise.  That is unlikely to happen (we're pretty frugal with our funds) this year, but we'll gladly indulge every few years if this keeps up.

Song Of The Day:
An oldie but a goodie here, although it does scream of the "love of money" which is said to be "the root of all evil."  I'm just using it to refer to how I feel about our refund $$$ that we should get in the next 6-8 weeks.
The song by Calloway is titled "I Wanna Be Rich" and I love the la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la chorus line hook!

Sing along if you're full of "love, peace, and happiness" during tax season!  :)

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How Do You Deal With Stress ?

I believe we all have our own ways to cope with stress in our lives.  We are most likely to identify our own process when unexpected stress rears it's ugly head.  This happened to me today when my barely 2-months old child (Spencer) had to go to the ER and is now staying overnight at the hospital with RSV.  Bless my awesome wife for staying with him, knowing she will get very little "rest."  So how do I deal with this stress?  Here are some thoughts ...

Some people cry.  Some people get angry.  Some people eat more.  Some people stop eating altogether.  Some people seek comfort in the presence of other people.  Some people seek to be alone with their thoughts.  Some people listen to music.  Some people read.  Some people disappear into online games.  Some people sleep.  Some people find busy work to keep their mind off the things that are stressing them.  Some people make lists of what they need to do.  Some people pray for guidance.  Some people phone a friend.  Some people watch TV or a movie.  Some people write their feelings (good, bad, angry, sad, etc.) in a journal or blog.  Some people exercise.

Whatever your method, may I offer one piece of advice?  Make sure it doesn't add to your stress after you are done ... otherwise, you're not coping or recovering, you are procrastinating ... and that virtually never turns out better.

BTW ... I think my method of coping is to offer unsolicited advice.  :)

Song Of The Day:
I also like to use music as a means to shift my stressful feelings into more action-oriented solutions.  Music can change your mood and can inspire you to overcome challenges you face.  When it feels chaotic for me, I really enjoy some Enya.  She has plenty of good tunes to choose from (although critics say it all eventually sounds the same).  One of my favorite, uplifting songs is "Fairytale" which is a relatively simple melody, but it always soothes me and takes me to a happy place.

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What's Up My Brother ?!

The CASE Brothers
L-R ... Josh, Jeremy (oldest), & Jordan (youngest)

I have two awesome brothers from my family of origin.  And then several brothers-in-law, brothers in the church, and also a few "bros" of choice.  I honestly love them all and enjoy the time I get to spend with each of them in a variety of activities.

In the past few days, I've had the great opportunity to spend a lot more time with my older brother Jeremy.  Despite his stature being shorter than mine, I still look up to him in many ways.  He is a much better brother and uncle than I could ever hope to be.  He has such patience and love for my siblings and my own children.

A few nights ago he treated me to an evening at the movies for a special RiffTrax event (which is basically MST3K as a live broadcast show across theaters throughout the nation).  The movie was so bad that the riffers didn't even have to say much to have us in stitches.  It.  Was.  Awesome!  And even better because we had each other to share the humor with.

Then this evening, Jeremy enjoyed my family's annual "Groundhog Day" movie tradition with us (as well as dinner before and a game of Dominion afterward).  It was a very fun evening and I'm so glad he was willing to hang out with us old married folks!  :)

Song Of The Day:
There are several songs about brothers, family, love, admiration, etc. but for tonight I'm just picking a favorite tune that happens to be titled "Brother"  It is by Toad the Wet Sprocket and was on the soundtrack to "So I Married An Axe Murderer."  I always think of my older brother Jeremy when I hear the song because we both enjoyed the humor in that movie and the song is pretty good too.

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Does It Get Any Easier ?

I haven't specifically written about my P90X experience in several weeks, and I thought it was worthy of a brief update (plus I'm short on time tonight so that works too!)

I'm in the 4th week of the program which is titled the "Recovery Week."  After three very grueling weeks of arms, chest, abs, back, shoulders, abs, quads, thighs, abs, calves, and of course abs, I was looking forward to this week.  And then, just two days into it, I realized it's not much of a "recovery" at all!

Oh sure, the Ab Ripper X workout is non-existant, but there's no shortage of "core" work ... especially the Core Synergystics workout, which was the inspiration for this blog post.  You see, that workout is done twice during this "recovery" week, and when I did it (for the first time ever) on Tuesday night, it darn near killed me!  BUT ... tonight, it was easier.  Not a lot easier, but it was noticeable (and appreciated for sure!)

In fact, I think it is that way with almost all of these workouts.  Don't get me wrong, they are still very hard and my muscles ache afterward and I have to towel off many times during the workouts.  But I can tell that my muscles have gotten stronger and my flexibility has improved greatly (although you wouldn't think so if you saw me ... LONG way to go on that part).

There is a second subject that the title of this blog post could easily be referring too ... eating healthier and drinking water instead of soda.
But that's another story for another time.

Song Of The Day:
I have more than a passing interest in jazz music.  I'm no traditionalist, but I do like the old stuff as well as more recent jazz music.  Harry Connick Jr has been one of my favorite jazz musicians for many years now.  In the 90's I was a very big fan.  Today's song is "Trouble" from his album titled "She" which has some great songs on it.  The tie-in to the post above is that some of these P90X workouts give me trouble to begin with, but "now trouble is all I need" (lyrics from the song).
BTW ... do NOT bother watching this youtube video linked above (it is horrible!) but the song is definitely worth listening to.