All In Due Time

My tasks include a couple that involve developing my spiritual side, namely finding a new home church and reading the Bible start to finish for the first time. Both are works in progress.

I've visited a church near me a couple times and I've really enjoyed it so far. It's non-denominational, which is what I've grown to want in a church over the last several years. I grew up Catholic, and my family converted to Baptist when I was 12. From that point to when I had moved to Maryland, my family (myself included) had steadily attended Baptist churches. Gradually I found non-denominational churches to be more appealing, and I found myself learning a lot more from other churches. I stopped going to church a couple years ago - not because of any loss of faith, but simply stopped going.

I've also been reading my Bible regularly for the first time in a very, very long time. I'm still in Exodus, but there are plenty of stories that I am reading all over again as if they're being read for the first time. My Bible also has footnotes to add historical context to all the passages. It's been enlightening, to say the least.

All that brings me to this morning. I didn't go to church this morning (talk about irony, given the theme here), but I did watch Joel Osteen instead. Osteen is a minister based in Houston, and I've seen his sermons once or twice before. Today's message was centered around when it's "your time." There's a time to be free of debt. There's a time to find the right job. There's a time to find the right relationship. There's a time to be healthy in body, mind, and soul.

Osteen's message was just the kind of message I needed to hear. How fitting is it that I needed to hear a message about timing, and I happened to flip channels and noticed his program was just starting. The key is to understand that the right time is when God has already deemed it, and it will not come one second late.

Human beings are naturally impatient. We want what we want yesterday, and it's easy to hope for or ask for things simply because we want them without taking into account the impact or consequences. I've certainly been guilty of wanting things done on my time table instead of what God has in store for me in the past. I'm sure I'll need to be reminded of that fact throughout my life. Today, though, I know I'm one day closer to understanding the plan God has for me. I may not fully know what the plan is, but I'm okay with that.

Does This Make Me Metro?

I am ready to officially add another task to my list.

#74. Get a massage.

Yes, this probably sounds gay. I'm aware of this. I've also accepted it. I've realized over the last few years I've been slowly becoming more and more metrosexual as I go along. I try to dress well. I go to a salon to get my hair cut. I'm cooking more often, and trying to experiment with different recipes as I go along. Cooking may not necessarily be a sign of a metrosexual, but I can think of several guy friends who hardly ever cook at all outside of grilling.

That brings me to now. I've been going back and forth over getting a massage lately, but today as I was getting my hair cut, I was offered a free massage at the salon. I couldn't say no. I set up another appointment for my massage.

This could end up being a regular thing, depending on how it goes. And that brings me back to my headline: does this make me metro? I'm definitely not going to get any pedicure and/or manicure at all, but massages make for a big step. I wouldn't have thought of myself ever becoming metro, but it may not be so bad.

To be continued...

Deja Vu All Over Again

When winter had first rolled around, I had a bad feeling we were in for a rough winter. There wasn't a significant snow storm in the area in about 6 years, and the law of averages said the time was right. As much as I had expected, I certainly wasn't ready for this bad of a winter.

The Baltimore/DC/Northern Virginia area has been pounded with snow since last weekend, and I spent most of the weekend sitting on my couch flipping channels on television. I dug out my car Sunday morning after a total of nearly 30 inches of snow fell between Friday and Saturday. I managed to make it to work Monday morning as usual (mostly because this happens to be the busiest time of the month in my office), and then quickly found news of the weather reports for this week.

Another snow storm. Another 20 inches of snow. Three days after the last storm.

This time, however, I didn't have the luxury of going grocery shopping early. I found milk by blind luck at a gas station's convenience store of all places, and grabbed a few other small items at a grocery store. It sure bears an eerie resemblance to my weekend, but this time I don't know if I'll be able to make it in the office tomorrow morning. I have the option of working from home, and I have to say the concept of working in my PJ's sounds alluring. I might end up doing that tomorrow, despite living only 10 minutes from my office.

I can honestly say I've had my fill of snow for the next several years. A little goes a long way, and it's a bad sign when 5 inches of snow no longer feels like anything major. Spring may be 6 weeks away, but it sure feels a whole lot further out than that.

One Down, 100 To Go

My headline may be a little misleading. My list so far obviously has 73 things, well short of the typical 101 tasks. However, I'm going to continue operating on the presumption that I'm going to eventually add the remaining tasks to make the complete 101 projects.

Anyways, I can now officially cross one off the list! I successfully went all of January with no fast food at all. I started cooking more often as well, which certainly helped me through the month. I'm not going to sit here and say to all of cyberspace that I'm never going to have another McDonald's value meal, but I kinda like moving away from having it more than a couple times a week.

I still do want to continue phasing out less healthy foods, i.e. chips, assorted junk food, etc. That's the true test of my limits. My real weakness for snack food includes chips and chocolate, so I will need to create a strategy on how to at least reduce those foods in my kitchen. I'll post another update in the future on how that strategy comes together.