3 Days To Go....

Until the start of the spring semester. And also the national championship game. I have been in Columbus since Tuesday night, buying my books, making daily trips to RPAC to work out, and researching my note in time to hand in the first draft on the 16th. Thoughts on the day:

- The warm weather is absolutely amazing. It got up to 61 here today, and instead of having the usual snow and bitterly cold winds that blow through Columbus this time of year, all we have had is some light rain. It was overcast today, but when it's in the 50's and 60's in January, you can't complain at all. It's nice not having to keep the heat on all the time, too-the less I have to flip the notch on that thermostat, the cheaper my electric bill is at the end of the month.

- Bowling starts up again next Wednesday-our team is going to make the playoffs this semester, I am sure. I have been petitioning our illustrious captain, the Bee Girl, to see if we can coordinate our colors this semester, if not order shirts with our names on them. So far, no definite answer-my vote is for scarlet this week, in honor of the Buckeyes.

Every semester, I tell myself that I am going to practice, and at the same alley we bowl at for our league, but my workload and schedule prevents it. It would be even better if we could get the whole team to go. But in law school, we are all so busy that getting together for league bowling on Wednesdays is enough of a challenge. Plus, open bowling is at least $5.00 a game, and I am always trying to save my money. My goal this semester is no less than a 130 average-I am sure I will get it, come Wednesday. I am going to keep using the 12 pound ball, and with the weightlifting I am doing as a part of my diet, I am hoping to get some more power behind the ball, for more spares and strikes.

- As for RPAC, I have a feeling I am going to get very familiar with that place before the end of this summer. My goal for this year is to lose about 100 pounds (98, to be exact) and I will be spending as much time as I can there this semester. It is amazingly busy right now-I have not even been able to get a treadmill the last two days I have been there, so I have been playing basketball in the gym instead. I started out with just shooting around yesterday, and today I joined in a pickup game with a couple of other guys. I got up and down the floor, but I was clearly a couple of steps behind them-I will need to pick up the pace as the weeks pass by, and I start to take off some of the excess weight that is slowing me down.

My exercise plan involves trying to combine aerobic exercise, such as basketball, with some weightlifting. I started lifting today-nothing that strenuous, just a few arm curls, lifting the dumbbell behind my head to work the triceps, and then a few sets on the bench press. I also got in a little bit of leg lifting and work on the calf muscles, when the machines were open. I will probably hold off on more weights for the rest of the week, since I don't want to be sore when we go bowling Wednesday.

- Also, I will be heading back to New England this summer, to attend the Acton Institute conference in West Cornwall, Connecticut this August. The theme will be "Toward a Free and Virtuous Society." The details still have to be ironed out (such as whether I'll go, since I need to be accepted to receive the travel fellowship), but I am definitely looking forward to going, if it can be arranged. More on that in a later post.