SparkPeople and Sprint Alive!

I've been putting it off long enough.

Nido Quebein says that your present circumstances do not dictate how far you can go...they only indicate where you start. I'm not feeling very healthy right now--so that's where I'll start. (That's an approximation of what he said, not a direct quote...but you get the drift.)

I received a call from Sprint Alive! about 10 days ago offering me 3-5 free calls from a certified "health coach." Reluctant and skeptical, yet intrigued, I accepted the offer to take advantage of this benefit. And I'm really glad I did.

Diane called me last Thursday morning at 8:30 during my morning commute time. Immediately when she called, I regretted the decision to let her call me.

"I already know what to do to be healthy," I lamented to her, "I just need to do it. Maybe I don't really need a health coach after all."

Diane said, "So you need someone to help you be accountable--I know how to do that."

In reality, I need both nutrition and exercise plans. But focusing on both of those at once seemed like too much to bite off at once, so I chose to start with nutrition. She asked what I normally eat and said that I'm really not doing all that bad--she told me what I already knew...I needed to be more proactive to planning my meals. I made 2 goals that morning.

1. I will write down everything I eat this week.
2. I will take my lunch to work everyday instead of buying food from the campus restaurants at Sprint.

I was feeling pretty good at that point, and agreed to receive a 2nd free call from my health coach a week later. I got off the phone feeling really great about my plan.

Then the week went by and Diane called me this morning, again at 8:30 during my morning commute time. I didn't want to answer the phone when she called. I reluctantly admitted that I have not done 1 thing in the past week that I had committed to her on the phone. "I see," she responded. "Why didn't you keep your commitments?"

Well, the truth is that I just didn't plan those commitments very well. Thursday I was already on my way to work when she called, and I didn't have a lunch with me. Then over the weekend we went out of town. Monday I had lunch with my friend, Greg. Tuesday I had lunch with my friend, Dan. And Wednesday was a team "Food Day" at work (where I was unable to resist having both a brownie and a piece of chocolate fudge cake.) In short, I just never got started with my plan.

However, today, just before Diane called me, I stopped at the grocery store and bought food for lunch at work for the next week or so. As I type, I am enjoying a Boca chick'n patty, a bunch of grapes, and some non-fat yogurt to dip them in. At Diane's suggestion, I'm also trying out some new Fiber One granola bars or South Beach granola bars for a snack. And I've re-committed myself to documenting what I eat in on my SparkPeople page.

I have several reasons for wanting to be healthier. First, I just want to feel better. Second, I would like for my clothes to fit better. Longer term, I would like to lose 20-30 pounds. And I would like to become a "health coach" for my family. I think we could all benefit from making better choices about how we eat and exercise.

Diane said she was really proud of me. She said that last week I was in the "planning" phase of my change. She said that now I sound more like I'm in the "action" phase. She will call me back in 2 weeks to check on my progress. I'm sort of looking forward to the call.

Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting

David and Tyler and I visited Omaha on Saturday following our UNL visit the previous day--it was our second annual trip to see Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger share their infinite wisdom and expertise with 31,000+ shareholders at the beautiful Quest Arena. This year's spectical did not disappoint. Doors opened at 7a.m., and we found our spot in line about 25 minutes prior. It was pleanty early to ensure a good seat. Tyler remarked on the way in that it felt like we were going to a General Admission rock concert, only it was with all old people! It is fun to see old guys in suits making mad-dash to find a good seat. I came away with the same general ideas as last year--that life-long financial success depends on marrying the right person, earning a living doing something I love, consistently raising the bar on my own performance as well as that of the people I lead, reading lots of books--especially chapters 8 & 22 of The Intelligent Investor, and if I'm not going to be a full-time professional investor, I should plant my money in a good index fund.

UNL Visit

David and I took Tyler to visit University of Nebraska at Lincoln on Friday--he absolutely loved it! The university was terrific...very similar to MU in practically every way--and they offer a fantastic Actuary Science degree program. I was particularly impressed with these things...
* Beautiful campus
* Strong sense of community around the sports teams
* Caring people
* Impressive website
* Generous scholarship opportunities
* Not TOO far from home
* Tyler's eyes sparkle when he talks about going to school there:-)

Ryan's a Blogger?

I know what you must be thinking..."Surely not Ryan." But it's true. My dear brother--the one that David loves working with so much-- has now joined the blogsphere. Check out Ryan's Blog!

Our Babies are Growing Up

Aren't they just so sweet? They've about tripled in size since the Monday morning post. Mama Robin has become very tolerant of us peeking from time to time. She just stays put as long as we keep a reasonable distance away from her nest. She spends a lot of time out hunting for food during the daytime.

Birds!

Our Baby Birds hatched sometime yesterday afternoon, I think. This morning when I checked, we had three hungry little mouths ready to pose for the camera :-)

Eggs!

It used to be that each year, a Robin family would build a nest in the small space above the ceiling fan over the deck. This always ended in tragedy as one by one, the baby birds made their way to the skimmer basket in the corner of the swimming pool or to Henry's stomach or somewhere in-between. One time, I heard a fallen bird squalling below the deck and decided to help. But from the vantage of the concrete patio under the deck, it sounded as if the crying bird was above my head. Looking up and circling slowly, I was so intent on that sound--I barely noticed the slight crunch of what could have been a small oak twig under my shoe. The squawking stopped. I was so so sad.

We thought the problem was solved a couple of winters ago when David plugged up the favorite nesting spot before anyone could lay claim to it. But our plan sprung a leak. This year's Robin family chose to nest on the floor of the deck, just out of reach from dogs and Downs children. Mama Robin sits faithfully, each day enjoying a king's view of her world. She is protected from hail storms and other hazards inherent to so many nesting sites. She is blistfully unaware of the certain doom that lurks in her family's future.