Good Times

Remember how good it was to be a child? Remember how simple things were? Remember when you could do “nothing” all day long and you didn’t feel guilty? Remember when the hardest choice you had to make was what toy you were going to play with? Remember when girls had cooties and boys had germs? Remember when it felt so good to play in a sandbox? Remember when your mother would make macaroni and cheese? Remember how amazing it felt on your birthday, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, et cetera? Remember when you didn’t know bad words? Remember when monsters were the only thing that scared you?

Being a child was great! Being a teenager wasn’t as fun. Being a twentysomthing isn’t so bad. And, I have no idea what it’s like beyond that.

Being a child was fantastic. I don’t know that I’d want to do it over again because I love knowing what I know now. I love the complexities and the excitement of everyday life as an “adult”, but, boy was it fun being a little kid – especially when parents are so great. I’ve been lucky/blessed in life.

Having a niece and nephew is a blessing too because they help remind me of the innocence of childhood. They remind me of such a good time in my life.

Oh, and, yeah, I’m still afraid of monsters.

Squirrel Hunter

A couple days ago my nephew had a birthday party. He wanted to eat hotdogs around the campfire and ride the four-wheeler so we were all playing around outside. When I came up to the fire ring I found my little niece coming out of the “forest.” I asked what she was up to and she told me that she was hunting squirrels. She wanted me to come help her. She figured that with a stick we would be able to hunt one down (I don’t think she fully grasped the idea that with the stick she’d have to probably beat the squirrel to catch him).

I laughed a bit because (1) I didn’t think she’d be able to catch a squirrel – I didn’t even think I’d be able to catch one without some type of trap, and (2) because she figured she’d catch one with a stick. So, I told her that we’d probably not catch one because they’re too hard to catch. She replied that they are hard to catch because nobody ever tries to catch one – of course, that made me laugh.

I asked how she planned on catching one. She said that I could scare them out of the trees and she would smack it with her stick. From anybody else I’d say that was a violent idea, but since she’s only 6 years old it just made me laugh, again. I think watching Tom and Jerry has made her think that you can smack the crap out of animals and they don’t get hurt.

Maybe she thought the squirrel would become her friend after a proper beating.

This picture reminds me of The Rock in Walking Tall – a great movie, by the way. Intense huh? The picture I mean. Yeah, the movie is intense too, but this picture almost scares me – she looks so… intense!

(Oh, she never got a squirrel. Thank goodness!)

Update

Oh, I've been bad at updating. I've had a lot going on in my life lately. If you asked me what I probably couldn't tell you, though. Either I forget or I'm actually not doing much. It's strange, though, because it seems like I'm always really busy. I'm scheduled out for the next two weeks, so apparently I am somewhat busy.

I think the reason I've been busy is because I'm busy with churchy stuff. And, probably the thing that's been taking the most time is that I'm trying to exercise regularly and I'm trying to gain weight. My goal is to gain 10 pounds by the end of this year. It's going to be so hard because I don't think I've gained a single pound since way back when I was 19 or so. Don't get me wrong, I feel lucky that it's so hard for me to gain any weight. I'm told to enjoy my overworking metabolism for as long as it lasts.

So, anyway, I've been working out almost every day of the week and what seems to take the most time is eating as often as I need to. If I'm able, I eat every three hours that I'm awake. I've heard that overall it's better to eat smaller meals 5-6 times a day versus 3 big meals. And, honestly, 5-6 meals are the only way I can hope to eat enough protein. It's additionally hard to eat as much as I need to and also to eat fruits and vegetables - since they aren't as loaded with protein as other foods.