Buried

So consider this a note from the bottom of the pile.

It's a busy time of year for a diocesan youth minister. Camp/summer programs are at the top of our lists. There has to be about 10 gazillion details that have to be handled.

Add into that my trip to the provincial network meeting and I'm trailing the curve rather than ahead of it. Last week I blew off a couple personal options to make time to get a little closer. I have to admit it worked and I can at least see the break even line again. Of course it keeps moving on me.

On the weight loss side after weeks of being stalled I've started losing again. Spent a session with a personal trainer who kicked my workout intensity up. So I'm only 2 pounds away from the 20 pounds lost level and need only 1 more than that to hit the 10% weight loss. Both very exciting. 3 pounds beyond those 3 pounds and I drop below another milestone. But I don't want to start thinking about that yet. I need these first three.

Speaking of milestones I crushed one on Friday. I've been swimming on Friday and making good progress. A couple weeks ago I managed 36 lengths (18 laps) which is just over a half mile. I couldn't swim last week so I wasn't sure how I'd do when I got back in the water. My plan was to try for 3 sets of 12 lengths. That's a pretty easy prospect for me at the moment. At the end of the first 12 I felt good so I did two more. And two more. And two more. Now my personal best of 20 was in sight so I decided to go for it. At the end of 20 I still felt good and thought "Set a new best". Two more. And two more. And two more. Now 30 is in reach. Once I hit 30, still feeling pretty good I knew I had to go for it all. 36 lengths in approximately 34 minutes. Best of all I felt like I could have done more.

I "read" two really neat books during my drive to and from the network meeting. Normally I hate being read to but on long drives books on CD are great.

The Greatest Player Who Never Lived by J. Michael Veron. If you love golf (as I do. I do terrible things to my love but that's the way of it. She does terrible things in return) this is a book that will grab you. Veron clearly understands the passionate attachment so many of us have for the game. It's a great story and well told. And you don't have to know squat about the game (though you'll know more when you're done) to enjoy the story. Might make a neat movie.

The Quiet American by Graham Green. This is one of the great novels to come out of the Viet Nam era. It's not particularly flattering to the American mind set in the foreign policy arena but that doesn't mean it's not pretty close to the truth. It is sad and cynical as it explores naivete, and culture clash. I found the characters to be disturbing and enthralling. This one's been made into a movie twice.

So still lots to do. I have several faith related ideas for posts kicking around in my head and I really need to get them down. I feel like I'm neglecting that part of this blog.