I'm kind of failing, but I'm okay with it.

Eleven months ago I posted my dozen challenges, and I was gung ho and ready to go. I did a half marathon and loved it. I ate veggies with reckless abandon. I recently traveled to Oregon and climbed Mt. Hood without dying (not all are so lucky).

But overall, I've pretty much sucked at this game. I did start a small garden, only to see all of my tomatoes fall victim to squirrels (except a tiny one that I ate today). I haven't performed on stage, but I still have aspirations to do so. I've looked into continuing ed classes, but my already taxed schedule keeps getting in the way. Meditating? I've found a class and just need to go.

I'm not giving up though. I've worked on a piece of art, and I'm pretty happy with how it's going. I'll post about that within the next week. I haven't mentored an ad student, but I have something in the works there. I've decided that the time table I put on the challenges was needed and significant, given the big birthday that's coming up. But, it's not the end all be all to the challenges. I won't get them all done by September, but I'll keep going. Maybe by the time I'm 41.

Eat Your Vegetables.

#9 is off the list - go vegetarian for 10 days. No beef, chicken or seafood. My last day was yesterday, and all in all, this wasn't as tough as I thought it would be. Highlights of the meat purge included an awesome vegetarian Korean restaurant in NYC, homemade veggie pizza and lots of soups. This toughest night was at a client dinner at a great NYC restaurant. I had cauliflower as my main course. But, it was pretty freaking great.

Kudos to Jennifer for keeping whipping up dinners with my challenge in mind. I really appreciate that. Also, although it wasn't a goal of mine, I've lost about 7 pounds in the past 10 days.

Imagine if I gave up drinking.

One crossed off the list.

One is officially off the list - the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day. Great weather. Great race. 13 miles is a long freaking way to run, but I met my goal time (pretty sure no relay teams will be recruiting me!). 1 hour 58 minutes 27 seconds. Done.

Thankful.

I’ve been inspired by the month of thanks posts several of my Facebook friends are doing, so I thought I’d join in. One for each day of the month, but all at once – just in time for Thanksgiving.

1.     I’m thankful for my family’s health. It’s easy to take that for granted, but I’m very aware that we are incredibly lucky and others are not as fortunate.

2.     I’m thankful I live in the neighborhood I live in, with many close friends. I’m sure a few would bail me out of jail if needed.

3.     I’m thankful for football. SEC football. Specifically, the Georgia Bulldogs.

4.     I’m thankful for a great job, where I’m valued and like what I do. Millions can’t say that.

5.     I’m thankful for 70 degree days in the middle of November.

6.     I’m thankful for our military – brave men and women that put it on the line for us every day.

7.     As an extension of #6, I’m thankful for freedom.

8.     I’m thankful for my 11 year old daughter, who hasn’t embraced the mean girls middle school culture and still loves to play with stuffed animals.

9.     I’m thankful for my 7 year old son, and his new found love for all things football.

10. I’m thankful for Rosemary Beach.

11. I’m thankful for our puppy, Luna, and richness a dog can bring to a family.

12. I’m thankful for Bourbon. Seriously.

13. I’m thankful for my parents and in-laws, and that they are a huge part of our kids’ lives.

14. I’m thankful for the opportunity to travel, and look forward to future adventures.

15. I’m thankful for solitary Sunday mornings with coffee and a newspaper.

16. I’m thankful that our country is coming around to the idea of marriage equality.

17. I’m thankful that on Friday, when much of the nation is shopping, I won’t be.

18. I’m thankful for our home, and how we’ve made it our own.

19. I’m thankful that, every once in a while, I see a really good movie.

20. I’m thankful for teachers.

21. I’m thankful for long runs in nice weather.

22. I’m thankful for tailgating on October afternoons.

23. I’m thankful for (kind of) lazy summers.

24. I’m thankful for babysitters.

25. I’m thankful for great music, especially if I’m hearing it live.

26. I’m thankful for incredible meals, usually with my best friend.

27. I’m thankful for baseball, especially in April.

28. I’m thankful that Kayla likes to snuggle.

29. I’m thankful that Garrett and I read Harry Potter every night.

30. And finally, I’m thankful I have a soulmate I can share everything with. My wife. My best friend.

Um, about those Challenges.

In September, I published a dozen challenges that I was aiming to complete over the next year. Well, 2 months have passed, and although I've given them a lot of thought, I've completed a grand total of zero.  Wow, not too impressive, I know. Don't worry, I've got loads of excuses. You see, we have two kids, both play soccer, work has been crazy, and it's football season. Those are tough circumstances to complete challenges under. But, I'm renewing my commitment, and still think I'll get them done prior to 09.12.12. Here is where we currently stand...

In Progress:

Run a ½ marathon -  This one I'm planning to get out of the way on Thanksgiving day at the Atlanta Half Marathon. I was going to wait until Spring, but decided to go for it. At this point in my training, I can run about 9 miles without dying. 

Do something fun and new with your wife and kids each month - In October we did something crazy new -- we got a 6 week old Weimaraner puppy. So far, that's been a bit crazy, but we all love Luna. She's going to be a spoiled dog. In case you missed it, here is Kayla meeting Luna last month. I'll never forget this moment...

Then, we visited Savannah for a family wedding for the first time as a family. We walked all around the city, and despite a bit of 7 and 11 year old drama, it was a lot of fun. 

Climb a mountain. A big one. - This won't happen until next Spring or Summer, but I've got a couple of experienced hiking friends working on it for me. It'll happen. 

Perform. On stage. - This one is in the works. Scary. 

The other challenges are still percolating. Some I'll just have to DO (like going vegetarian for 10 days). Others will be tough. 

Stay tuned. More to come.

A Dozen Challenges for Year 39

A few weeks ago, I asked for your help. I asked for challenges for me to take on during my 39th year of life. Well, you delivered. I received about 50 or so from good friends, acquaintances and strangers. I got them through Twitter, Facebook, email, this blog, in-person and our neighborhood messageboard. I got some I had thought of, and others that surprised me. One person suggested I Infect myself with hookworms to see if my allergies go away. That didn't make the final cut, but thanks for the suggestion! I do want to sincerely thank all of you who so thoughtfully responded - it meant a lot that you took a few moments to make a suggestion. Also, unfortunately, a lot of great challenges didn't make my list. My criteria was broad, but in the end it had to be something that struck a chord within me. Something I could be passionate about. 

Without further ado, here is the list. The challenge is in bold, each with a comment from me...

1. Grow a garden, feed your family from it. Easy, right? Lots of our friends and neighbors have done this, and I've always wanted to. Now I will. 
2. Perform. On stage. This scares the hell out of me, but it's in print so now I must do it. Holy shit. 
3. Mentor an advertising student. A former professor suggested this and it was one of the first items to make the list. I just hope I don't disappoint the student or push them to pursue a different career.
4. Climb a mountain. A big one. Simple enough. I'll try not to kill myself and take lots of pictures. 
5. Learn to meditate. Then do it. Love this one and there is a place nearby that gives free lessons. I just don't know if I can sit still that long. 
6. Run a ½ marathon. I got a lot of fitness challenges, including one from my sister to run the NYC Marathon. A half sounds like fair middle ground. I'll shoot for next Spring. 
7. Do something fun and new with your wife and kids each month. I love this one too - and would like suggestions for cool things to do. 
8. Do something for charity – other than give money. Donate your time. It should be a charity you’ve never supported before. Really looking forward to this. Again, I'll take suggestions. 
9. For 10 days, go vegetarian. No meat, chicken or fish. Keep a diary of everything you eat and drink. Everything. To some people, this may sound really easy. Not to me. I would guess that over the past ten years, you could count on two hands the number of days I've not had meat. This will be very hard for me. 
10. Take a continuing education class. Photography? Second language? Pole dancing?
11. Create an original work of art, and then share it with the world. This frightens me nearly as much as number two. But then again, museums are full of work that I don't get, so if you don't like my art you probably just don't get me. Or I suck. 
12. Build something you would normally hire someone else to do. I have no idea what I will do for this one.

So there, the die is cast. As I make progress over the next 365 days, I'll update the blog. Thanks again for your support. I hope I don't fall on my face. 

Jason

The Year of Challenges

In a couple of weeks, I’ll turn 39 years old. Awesome, right? I’m looking at the event as an opportunity to reflect, and ultimately, challenge myself to do some new things before I hit 40 in 2013. As grown-ups, we all fall victim to routines – work, school, practice, etc. – and I’m no different. So, it’s time to mix it up, and take some steps to do different things. Challenge myself.

This is where you come in. I need challenges, and I’m inviting you to submit them to me. I’ll take my favorites, publish them, and then try to accomplish them while tracking my progress over the next year on this blog. So, email me, send me a Facebook message, a tweet, a letter, with whatever you’ve got. Feel free to share this blog with others, I'll take submissions from anyone. I’m looking forward to seeing the challenges and hope like hell that more than 3 of you respond.

In full disclosure, I must say this isn’t an original idea. Most aren’t. A talented writer I use to work with, Noel Potts, is currently in the middle of completing her challenges. But, she’s doing a steroids version of it – 30 challenges in a year for her 30^th birthday. Shit. 30? Really? Anyway, please visit her blog – it’s really inspiring. I respect the hell out of that, but I’m married with two kids, and already pretty busy. If I try to conquer 40, 30 or 20 challenges, I’ll fail miserably. I’m not even positive I can do 10. But, I’ll give it a shot.

There are a few things I won’t consider. I won’t endanger myself or my family, I won’t jeopardize my employment, and although I’d love to take on a challenge that requires me to travel the world, that’s likely not happening. 

Ready? Go.