May | 2012 | OUR LIFE IN 3D

Archive for the month “May, 2012”

22 May 2012

How to Beat the Birthday Blues

I’m not a big fan of birthdays, as you may know by now. This last weekend is a prime example. My wife calls me Peter Pan, as I don’t want to grow old and sometimes the birthdays can just sour me a bit.

Such was the case this past week. But I beat those Birthday Blues this time. One might say by getting in touch with my “feminine side“, based on my antidotes for the Birthday Blues, along with some great and kind advice from the blog-o-sphere. You’ll see what I mean. But, if you ever have trouble with your birthdays, here is my recipe for kicking those Birthday Blues in the bum

1) Listen to “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. The popular 70’s rock song, made famous by Christopher Walken’s “I got the fever for more cowbells” on Saturday Night Live. My brother sent me a birthday card and when you opened it up this song played. I had to laugh. I was feeling sorry for myself and he just kinda made fun of me. It was just what I needed. I didn’t fear the reaper anymore!

This was one of my all-time favorite songs from my youth. It is a very cool, harmony-laden, well written song that romanticizes death (Romeo & Juliet are together in eternity) leaving you to believe it is ‘trendy’ to walk with the Reaper and that there is “nothing to Fear”; i.e. “40,000 men and women do it everyday; 40,000 people redefine happiness / We can be like they are”. … Hey, at 50 I still want to be hip!

2) Got the Blues? Buy a new pair of shoes! Right? Every woman knows this. In my case I took some birthday money and went out and bought some new high end, eye-catching, feel-better… Asics running shoes. I am hoping the curiosity of ‘are these things going to help’ will get me running more. And ~~more better~~ better! The last time I bought some racing Saucony’s it worked miracles for my performance.

Let’s go for a run!

3) Go get some great looking, feel-good cosmetic surgery! I get this tip from my wife watching the Housewives of Beverly Hills. When those girls are feeling down they go get some plastic surgery to make them feel good again. OK, I have no use for implants; or Botox. So, to make me smile and feel good about myself again I went…….. to get my teeth cleaned. 🙂 And I feel so much better! (wink, wink) They don’t look 20 years younger but at least the stains are not scaring little kids anymore. Tomorrow, I may get my hair ~~done~~ cut and maybe my nails. Nah, not the nails.

The ladies at Flowertown Dentistry will make you smile!

4) Go to the gym. Simply go prove you are not as old as the calendar says. This Saturday I hit some new highs with the weights including 3 sets of 70lb bent over dumbbell rows (these will be important later), 190lbs on the Hammersmith Bench Press machine, and 480 calories burned on the treadmill on a good 35 minute run. These aren’t my all-time personal bests but I haven’t touched any of these 3 levels in a good year or so, telling me my body is not withering away like my sorry butt wanted to believe. In fact, its still getting stronger each week. I just need to go to them gym to remind me of that. Exercise will make / keep the body younger. JDI!

I felt 20 years younger! (almost)

5) Enjoy your surroundings. Do a put off Home Improvement project. If I want to be around awhile I might as well make my home a little nicer to grow old in. So I went out and worked on my weekend patio project where I am making a stone patio and walkway out back, replacing the torn down deck we first had. Folks this will look nice when I am done making a bigger patio and a bigger backyard for our girls. I was so energized to get this done I moved 4 tons of stone and cement! In 3 hours! I placed 3 tons of individual flagstaff stones in place on my patio and then bought, moved, and stored 12 80lb bags of cement. Now that might not sound like a mental rejuvenation but just the fact that I did all that tells me I can still hang. Four tons, one rock, or cement brick at a time! Those dumbbell rows came in handy! In fact, I wasn’t even sore the next day.

Tons of fun!

So that’s my recipe for beating the Birthday Blues. I stumbled on them all by accident this past weekend but each one had a positive impact on my attitude. Sorry for being such a stinker last week. Being Peter Pan, I never really have enjoyed birthdays for the last 10 years. “Life begins at 50” someone said last week and so I have nothing to fear. So, come on take my hand, we’ll be able to fly, we can become like they are, come on baby, don’t fear the reaper…..I got the fever…. for more cowbells!

Posted in Archives and tagged beverly hills housewives, birthday, blue oyster cult, don't fear the reaper, gym, running

17 May 2012

12 Comments

How a Pirate Feels at 50

I am hitting the big Five-Oh today. I have mixed emotions about it. Can you believe it? Half a century! It sounds so old. I’m not that old! Am I? What should I do? How should I feel? Its just a day? It feels like a day of self-assessment.

It makes me think of all the things I’ve done and gotten accomplished. And all the things I haven’t accomplished. And those things I should have accomplished. If you are younger, take note. I don’t want to sound too grim but…. time is running out! (lol) Well that’s kinda the way I feel.

To add salt to my wounds this week I heard a snippet on NPR (there we go again) about Ford’s pension plan and how they don’t have enough to pay all their employees and they are asking their employees to take a lump sum payout instead taking their annual receipts. And one guy is interviewed and he say’s “I don’t know. It’s a gamble. Do I take it all now or wait until later…..”I MAY NOT LIVE THAT LONG”!

~Thanks NPR.

Deepening the mortality wound a bit deeper this week was my AARP card arriving in the mail 😦 I didn’t ask for this!

On the way home yesterday I heard this old favorite song and it kinda summed up my somber mood. I hope you don’t mind. I think the song talks about ‘what’s left to do’. It talks about dreams ahead and old pirate days of the past; things I did, things I did and can’t do anymore and things still left to do. It the big Five-Oh. Here it is, with some embellishments…

Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You’ve seen it all, you’ve seen it all

Watched the men who rode you switch from sails to steam
And in your belly you hold the treasures few have ever seen
Most of ’em dreams, most of ’em dreams

Yes, I am a Pirate

Yes I am a pirate, two hundred years too late
My The cannons don’t thunder, there’s nothin’ to plunder
I’m an over-~~forty~~ fifty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

I’ve done a bit of ~~smugglin~~‘ snugglin’, I’ve run my share of grass
I made enough money to buy Miami, but I pissed it away so fast
Never meant to last, never meant to last

And I have been drunk now for over two weeks
I passed out and I rallied and I sprung a few leaks
But I got stop wishin’, got to go fishin’
Down to rock bottom again
With just a few friends, just a you WordPress friends

(figuratively my Forties)

I go went for younger women, lived with several awhile
Though I ran ’em away, they’d come back one day
And still could manage to smile
Just takes a while, just takes a while

Mother, mother ocean, after all the years I’ve found
My occupational hazard being my occupation’s just not around
I feel like I’ve drowned, but I won’t wear a frown.

My “Weekend At Bernies” pose

Well it appears I need a new set of goals. No more “buying Miami’s”. I need to get a tad more conservative in choices in my 401K. Try to further enhance any legacy plans previously sown. And try to touch my toes every morning when these old bones get out of bed! And maybe, this year, I can finally decide what I want to be when I grow up….besides the World’s Coolest Dad!

I have many things to be thankful for so far. This blog illustrates just a few of them. Its just another day.

Jimmy Buffett can perform this song a whole lot nicer than it reads. Check it out….

Posted in Archives and tagged happy birthday, Jimmy Buffett, Pirate Looks at 40

01 May 2012

4 Comments

The Legend of Angel Oak

It is amazing, you can live somewhere and never really see the sights, the forest from the trees so to speak. Such is the case with the local Angel Oak tree. Dylan and Skylar finally got a chance to ‘explore’ the prehistoric tree last week with the help of their nanny. I never even know it was here!

The Angel Oak is said to be one of the oldest living organisms in our country. It is a Southern live oak located in Angel Oak Park, on Johns Island, near Charleston. The Angel Oak is estimated to be in excess of 1500 years old, stands 66.5 ft (20 m) tall, measures 28 ft (8.5 m) in circumference, and produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet (1,600 m2). The Angel Oak has come to symbolize our historic Charleston.Come along and explore this amazing tree with Dylan and Skylar.

And, I know you all are more creative than me, I am really curious to see what captions you can add for these pictures of the gentle giant. Give us a glimpse of your creativity!