SMASHbook Day 3 Challenge

What I'm Doing Now (wearing, weather, wanting, needing, thinking, listening)

Wearing: sweatpants and a white t-shirt

I've been told that I am not very sentimental and that is not true at all. Years ago my mother bought me a pair of sweat pants which I still own. I should stop pretending that I don't remember the year, what she said when I opened up the gift wrapping, and why she got the sweatpants for me. It was my sophomore year of college. The previous summer my mother had purchased a gym membership for me to Gold's Gym. Apparently she thought I was going to live in the weight room, being a college basketball player had something to do with her thinking. But I went maybe twice a week during the summer. There were lots of guys who, "Picked things up and put them down." I didn't fit in, I didn't want to be there, and frankly I couldn't afford the gas to drive to the gym across town because I didn't have a summer job.

Months later on Christmas morning, opening the gift I saw cozy grey sweatpants with Gold's Gym Training stitched into the left leg. A smirk crossed my face and my mother gave me one of those lines that makes her her, "I should have returned the sweatpants since they cost more money than days you went to the gym." If that doesn't make sense to you, literally what she meant was she had spent more whole dollars on the sweatpants than the amount of times I had gone into the gym. What she really meant figuratively was I'd only do something like that for you because I love you but I feel like I wasted money buying the sweatpants and the gym membership on you.

I love you too mother, I've still got the sweatpants, and they really are cozy.

Weather: cold and very fall like in New England

My favorite time of the year is fall. I feel like I say every season is my favorite when I am going through it. However, I truly think fall is my favorite. After all it is cool enough to wear long sleeves, brisk enough some days to wear a light jacket and honestly, the foliage can't be contained in words. A crisp autumn night puts me into the mood for Friday night football, apples straight out of the orchard, and training for the upcoming basketball season.


Wanting: to go to bed or 7 hours of sleep

Most days I wake up with the promise that I am going to do whatever I can to be in bed by 8:30pm. I make resolutions to drop all bad habits before bed, stick to a schedule, and get everything done so that I can get to sleep. And like a kid who realizes the characters on TV are actors pretending to be someone they aren't, I pretend that I am going to get to bed at reasonable time. I go through my day acting the part of a guy who isn't sleep deprived. Driving to and from work chewing gum to stay awake, sipping on water when the novelty of gum wears off, stopping to get pizza when I realize food always perks me up, and listening to books on Audible to keep my mind from drifting to sleep.

By the time I get home, there is more than enough to do that would keep me up past 2 am. I usually procrastinate and get none of the items on my ever growing to-do list accomplished. By the time 10:30pm rolls around, I finally put my mind through mental jumping jacks that are entirely unnecessary. Should I stay up another hour because it is already late or should I go to be now and still hit snooze a number of times?


Needing: a work out

After playing in a basketball game a couple of nights ago, I don't want to lose the "shape" or the wind I got from playing. Even though I really really need to rest my old bones, I know that I am planning to play again next week. The only thing that could be worse on my body next week is only working out once a week. The problem is that my mind will think I am improving week by week. Even if my game isn't getting any better.

I can see it now. After scoring 10 points in 2 minutes, I was on top of the world. Those were the only points I scored for the game. You only know that because I told you even though the score box would have you believing it was over the whole course of the game. Next week, after not working out since the last game, I'll try to go for 20 points in the whole game. I'll end up with a sprained ankle, busted knee or pulled muscle in my back. Just me biting off more than I can chew.


Thinking: I have no time to do all the things I want. I've always said, "If it really mattered to you, you'd do it." But that isn't always true. There are better times in the day to do somethings. So, that makes it hard to squeeze the wanted things into the day.


Listening: Planning Phase-My daughter cry over the monitor. Jackie is trying to make her happy but, she wants to come out of her crib. So the more he stands there trying to talk to her and play with her, the more she cries cause she wants to get out.
Editing Phase- Kanye West's the College Dropout courtesy of Amazon Prime Music. Kanye is always worked up about something or another. Especially back when no one gave him a handout and he was trying to become who he is today. When you are grinding, is there anyone else who can get you to think you can literally take the world over by yourself? Nope, Kanye is the man for the job.Look out world, Chris has been lyrically touched by Kanye!