It's all about me

It's October. Yeah. I know. It was just July. Or maybe August. But I have no idea where September went that's for sure. But anyway, it's October. That means two things.

1) There will be postseason baseball on my TV soon. And...
2) It's my birthday month.

Yep. It's true. I don't just have a birthday anymore. I have a birthday month. I don't know when this first started but a little bit ago. Sometimes it's hard to celebrate on your actual birthday. Sometimes you have to go to work, stay late, go to the dentist, people can't come out on a Wednesday, blah blah blah. So you stretch your birthday for a day here or there. Celebrate on the weekend. Or go to lunch the following week with a friend. It's all good. And BAM! before you know it, you've got yourself a birthday month.

And October is mine.

So what happens during my month? Well, sometimes there are birthday dinners or parties or the aforementioned lunches. Sometimes there's a reason to go shopping when you don't really need anything. It's a good way to justify going for ice cream or using those extra birthday coupons you get for free whatchamajiggles. And there's the anticipation of gifts and cards or nowadays, a hundred Facebook posts.

But this month I want to do something different. I want to focus some of my energy and time, two things that are pretty precious to me, on me.  So to start? I'm doing a month-long exercise challenge. Who am I challenging you ask? Well, me. Just me. I made a calendar this morning and challenged myself to a both a 30-day squat challenge and a 30-day plank challenge. I found some guidelines online and these things both seem very doable. In fact, I can do them both while watching the aforementioned postseason baseball games. I'm also going to challenge myself to walk every day. Somedays, like today, it'll be four miles. Other days it might be two or one mile. One mile takes me 15 minutes and I can do it in my room or in the neighborhood. As long as I walk. I'm also going to keep up with a regular kettlebell/cardio routine. Angela and I have been getting better at the Jillian Michaels video we bought and yesterday I didn't feel like I would die. I'd say that's improvement.

So why the challenge? Well, I want to be healthier. I need to be healthier. I'm still dealing with lung issues from the pneumonia/penicillin problem almost 20 months ago. I'm still dealing with the residual weight gain that resulted from the month long steroid regimen that helped solve the pneumonia/penicillin problem. I'm glad to be alive but I need to be stronger and leaner and healthier. I need my heart and lungs to be working at full capacity. And so? For my birthday, I'm making this month all about me. I'm going to put aside time and make it a priority. I'm going to mark off the items on my calendar just as I mark off the items on my work to-do list.

So here's to a great October! Here's to birthday month! Here's to me! Game on!