$8.99, All You Can Eat Sushi

Totally sketchy.

$8.99 all you can eat sushi at The Best Western?

That sounds like the recipe for bed sores in the shape of a toilet seat and major acid burn of the esophagus.

However, it’s legit.

A couple weeks ago I started going with a couple guys from the office to this all you can eat sushi bar for lunch. It is actually at a local Best Western hotel.

However for $8.99, you really can’t beat that. Nonetheless it’s such a good deal that you have to wonder if they just bought some platters from Costco, put the sushi on plates of varying color and tossed them on the conveyor belt.

But in fact it’s fresh and really pretty good sushi. They have pretty much everything you could want, rainbow rolls, sashimi, katsu chicken, California rolls,  eel, etc.

Over the course of the last couple weeks I’ve had lunch there five times. One time, with some of the guys from my small group, I downed 10 plates or 30 to 40 pieces.

It’s become quite the bonding experience for some of us guys from the office as well as my small group buddies.

That’s definitely worth $8.99.

Posted on January 29th, 2009 by | 1 Comment »

Lifting And Running, Lifting And Running

Let me start off by saying that I am not a big guy. I’ve simply come to the conclusion that I have not been created to be a bulky, muscle bound invdividual. I can go to the gym on a regular basis and workout, but in order for me to really bulk up, I need to put in serious time with the weights and eat large quantities of high protein foods.

However, there is something truly enjoyable about spending some regular time working out. And while the results I see may not match that of someone with a more muscular build, it’s quite satisfying to know that you’re working to keep your body in optimal condition.

Right now I find myself debating about whether or not I should begin training to run a half marathon this summer. I rode the STP (200+ mile bike ride from Seattle to Portland) last summer and that was great, but I think I want a different challenge this year and a half marathon might be it.

I’m not a huge fan of running if I don’t have something chasing me or something for me to chase, but I’ve been spending some time running lately and I’m starting to get delusional enough to think that I just might be able to pull the half marathon off.

We’ll see, what happens.

Posted on January 24th, 2009 by | No Comments »

Friends

Okay, so this is going to totally be a sappy post. I get it. But if this blog is truly going to be about recognizing the great things in life and making every attempt not to take them for granted I’m going to have to get sappy every now and then. Not my favorite thing in the world, but nonetheless here we go.

Over the course of the last few months I have truly begun to recognize the value in friendship. That’s not to say I haven’t valued friends in the past, because I have. But for some reason lately I have begun to appreciate the small things, like regular phone calls just to check in and say hi. Being able to visit friends in the hospital after having their first child, or supporting others as they went through an incredibly challenging pregnancy and now celebrating the health of their child.

There is something great about still being friends with my roommate from my freshman year of college, a guy who was a sixth year senior when I arrived as a skinny, 18 year old freshman (Side note: I’m still a lean mean fighting machine, aka skinny. But while it would be nice to bulk up a little, I appreciate the fact that I have farther to go than some when it comes to putting on the middle age pudge).

I appreciate text messages and phone calls from friends that live in other cities, Christmas cards with obserdly long letters updating me on the most random of events that took place throughout the last year, and facebook status updates that clue me into their lives.

As weird as this might even sound, I appreciate the fact that there is enough of a friendship left with an ex-girlfriend for her ask me what my thoughts are on her photography business.

There is something fundamental about friendship. Something basic and raw, difficult at times and yet so comforting.

I know this is all sappy, or as I refer to my wife’s favorite movies, all “butterflies and ponies.” But the reality is, if we are so focused on ourselves that we fail to recognize the friends around us, we will fail to recognize some of the most valuable parts of our lives.

Posted on January 16th, 2009 by | No Comments »

White Walls & Rubber Balls

This last weekend I took advantage of a guest pass to a local gym so that I could play racquetball with my friend Taras.  Great idea. Racquetball is a sport I picked up in college with my wife.  We took a racquetball PE class for a couple credits and since then I’ve had a few stints playing the sport.

It’s funny though, how when you’re done you discover muscles you didn’t even know existed. Can you say SORE!

Despite the sore muscles and bruises from crashing into the white walls diving for rubber balls, it’s a pretty incredible workout and a great way to spend a couple hours.

It’s actually so enjoyable that part of me wants to switch gyms just so I can play on a regular basis. But whether I transfer my membership or not, the last weekend was great.

I hope I can get another game in before my guest pass expires…

Posted on January 13th, 2009 by | No Comments »

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

Over the last couple of weeks we have had a great deal of snow. Much more snow than we usually experience in the Seattle area. At my house we have had somewhere around 15″ of total snow fall.

The snow shut down schools and closed businesses. It required people to put chains on their cars and shovel their driveways. Christmas programs were postponed and church services were canceled. It made people slow down.

I have to admit that I loved it. Snow in general makes me happier that virtually anything else but being able to take some time off was incredible.

It was great to spend time with my wife and our golden retriever Cooper. Time to read, listen to music, play games and sleep in.

I’m not completely sure why we do so, but I think we spend way too much time working and not enough time building relationships with the people around us. Obviously we need to make a living, but I think it’s somewhat sad that we spend so much time working and relatively little time with the people and things that really matter.

We are a fast paced society, so it’s nice when we have a reason to slow down.

Posted on January 6th, 2009 by | No Comments »