Saturday, January 6, 2007

Trash

Last night, L and I picked up some of the BEST Chinese food last night. It's called Heaven Dragon, and supposedly it is where George W. Bush eats when he is in Colorado. Anyway, my purpose in telling you this is because it spawned another deep thought . . .

First of all, we had to unpack this giant brown bag of food that was all in it's own container . . . 2 soups in styrofoam containers with plastic lids, a "tub" of fried rice in the typical, double stacked, laminated paper Chinese take-out rice container with the little metal handle. Then, the two entrees in their plastic containers and lids. I think we had some eggrolls and crab wontons (with real crab!) in a paper bag.

So, I am sitting there, mouth watering, as we dole this delicious dinner onto our plates, looking at the trash that was created just so we could bring this dinner home. Then, it made me think of all of the trash that we, just our family, creates in a week. Then, I thought of how many people there are in the United States that create trash EVERY day. Think of all the packaging that we have, whether it is for food or toys or whatever that just gets thrown away. Where does it all go?

Then, my mind went really deep into thinking about all of the trash that has been created in the history of man . . . billions and billions (say like Dr. Evil) of people that are living and have lived create waste. Now, I realize that most of this trash problem has been exacerbated (what does that mean? Watch Shaun of the Dead!) in the last century or two since the industrial revolution and mass production.

Of course, all of this rambling thought (that happens within about 4 seconds) begs the question . . . "How long can we keep this up until we reach a point of undeniable damage to life, ecosystems, health, etc.?"

I admit that I have definately been a typical U.S. consumer who has contributed an un-godly amount of non-biodegradeable and hazardous trash to this planet we call home. In fact, sometimes I will even wonder where all of my trash is in the world right now. I don't know if this is because I am getting older and wiser or just more aware of it, but I would like to certainly do my part to reduce my (and my family's) impact on our finite resources and capacity to deal with trash.

So, to conclude this expansive post . . .

Deep Thought - Have you ever thought of all of the trash created in a day by yourself? By your neighborhood? By your city, state, county, etc.? What about the 6 billion people in the world . . . in one single day???

New Years Resolution Addition - I would like to find out how I can do a better job of recycling and reducing our family's trash. Any suggestions?

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Mall Rat

Well, with ice and snow still covering most everything outside, I get a little stir-crazy and lazy being inside all of the time. So, I felt like I needed to get out and push this morning. One of our local malls, Colorado Mills, opens it's doors at 8 a.m. for walkers to walk around the mall. It is a single level mall laid out in a giant ring, so it's perfect for doing laps. Supposedly, and I should've checked this with my little computer, it is exactly a 1 mile loop. I was determined to get a good, hard 5 mile push in this morning. My arms and shoulders were burning at 1.7 miles! But, I pushed through it and completed my goal . . . here are the stats.

Miles Pushed - 5
Average Speed - 5.4 miles per hour
Time - 55 minutes
Total on the odometer - 13 Miles

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

Uneventful day


video game boys
Originally uploaded by Life on Wheels.

I suppose when you set out to blog and take a memory picture of each day, you're bound to have an uneventful day. Well, mine happened sooner than I thought. I made it to January 3rd!

I had an orthodontist appt. this morning and then the boys and I went to the library to work on class planning and the boys played games on the library computers (is that allowed?). Anyway, then we came home and I worked some more.

The great thing about today, though, was that the boys had a stellar afternoon as "brothers". They got along so well, without fighting or whining. It was awesome. They played video games together (pic of the day). Then they went out and played king of the hill, shirtless, on the giant snow mound in front of our house. 2 major snowstorms of road plow creates a great king of the hill snowmound. They also played Connect 4 and exercised by running laps in the house and doing push-ups and stuff.

I know that these days of brothers will go through difficult times as they get older . . . so I chose to really enjoy this day of their "brotherhood".

Where does the time go? Seems like just last year that I would be playing games or throwing the ball around with my brother as kids. I try to tell my boys to not be in a hurry to grow up and to enjoy these days of relative lack of responsibility and stress.

Anway . . . that was my day. How was yours?

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Deep Thoughts

Deep Thought for today - "The world would be a very different place, a safer and more peaceful place, if people did not have the ability to lie." ~ An original quote from me, but certainly not an original thought.

Fearless


Fearless
Originally uploaded by Life on Wheels.

After a long day of working around the house and L surviving work, we relaxed by picking up some pizza and wings and watching Jet Li's Fearless. L and I had already scene the extended version twice and really enjoyed it. We thought that the lessons of the movie of honor and respect for peace and people would be a great lesson for the boys. So we watched the theatrical version and tried to highlight the moral lessons of the film for the boys. I think they understood and thought about the messages portrayed in the film. I would highly recommend this film to anyone . . . be sure and watch the bonus feature that explains the parallel between Jet Li's story and the story of Huo Yuanjia.

Picture - After the watching the movie, the boys and I were inspired to practice our best wushu moves, while L snapped a few pics.

How far will I push in a year?

This blog will have some incredibly boring, utilitarian uses that are for my purposes only and not anyone's entertainment or intellectual stimulation.

I installed a wireless bike computer onto my new wheelchair that tracks things like current speed, trip distance, average speed, odometer, max speed, etc. I had it installed on December 30th and on that day I went to Flatirons Mall and pushed almost 5 miles. I have been just hanging out at home the last couple of days, and haven't even been in my new chair much (I use a different one if I am just hanging out in the house). But when I have major mileage or just want to update how far I have rolled in 2007, I will add a post and label it "Wheelchair Mileage". That way I can see how far I push in a year. If I had any idea what it would be at all, I would set a goal. It will be interesting to see how high it goes.

Being a father ...

Deep Thought - Being a father is an AMAZING responsibility!

Last night, the boys came home from visiting family in Nebraska after Christmas. I was happy to see them both for a little while, but soon after CJ was off to his friends house for a sleepover. So that left CT home with us. It was nice to have some one on one time with CT.

We played Connect Four for a while and discussed many seemingly simple things that held such greater meaning . . .

Life and Death - We talked about the death of Denver Bronco Darrent Williams. and the fact that he won't get to play football anymore and that he will be missed. Life is precious and we are never guaranteed a new day, so we need to make the most of the ones we have.

Ethics - We talked about what it means to think about our actions and why we do things. We talked about how the satisfaction of an action is so much more meaningul if it is done in the right way (ie. not cheating).

Critical Thinking - In the course of playing the game, we were able to talk about why we made the moves we did and how to think ahead. You can play the game from offense or defense.

Anyway, then we watched one of the most amazing football games I have ever seen! The Boise State Broncos (David) vs. the Oklahoma State Sooners (Goliath). BSU had an undefeated season and were ahead 28 to 20 when we started watching, but ended in regulation tied at 28-28. OU scored easily in overtime, and then BSU was able to match it and went for two to win the game with an amazing "Statue of Liberty" play. It was awesome, and I was so glad to share that moment (memory) with my youngest son.

Then we finished off the night watching Ice Age 2: The Meltdown.

It was a great night . . . and it made me realize that being a father is such an amazing responsibility. Being a mom is obviously equally important, but I am a dad. We have to teach our children what is right and wrong, how to be good friends, how not to take the easy way out, how to work hard, how to view women (men), how to love people, manners, etc. The list could go on for miles. Not only do we have to teach it, but we have to model it too. That's the hard part sometimes isn't it?

I love my kids and I love being their dad . . . I just hope I can do a respectable job. They are growing up so fast. I can't fix past mistakes, but I can do my best not to make those mistakes today!

My new ride . . .


My new ride . . .
Originally uploaded by Life on Wheels.

This is my new wheelchair. I have been a paraplegic for 8 years now after a sledding accident. This is my third wheelchair, and by far my favorite. I think it looks like a "muscle car" of wheelchairs. If you gotta roll . . . you may as well roll in style right?

My wife took this picture in our in home studio setup. I didn't say that I had to be the one taking the picture! I just want a photo reminder from everyday, so this is my first one.

Monday, January 1, 2007

New Year's Resolutions

I am starting this blog as part of my new year's resolution. This will be my first attempt to actually put them into writing and practice.

My main resolution is to take one picture a day, every day, in 2007. I would like to post those pictures on flickr and then figure out how to post them here with commentary. I want to do this because as I want to celebrate every day that I have life. Each day is a gift from God. I have not been the best steward of these daily gifts of breath, of sight, of love . . . of LIFE, and I want to do a better job of that this year.

More to come . . . must take a picture!