Running
Thirty-Six
Another year has come and gone but not without leaving a great impact to end 35. This past year the continued theme for me was to lead a healthier life, which mostly involved me spending more time outside running, biking with the kids, and ultimately trying to stay more active on a week-to-week basis.
This past year my wife and I also made a big decision that she was going to take a year off from Teaching in a way to slow down our crazy hustle and bustle life. With three kids there is never really a slow moment but we thought this would help us not rush the kids out the door by 7 am with us yelling at them because they were moving slowly and tired. I will say it has been a great change for the family she has been home to get our oldest on and off the bus each day, taking our middle child to Pre-School and the being able to spend time with the youngest while the older ones are off to school. I am sure some of it depends on the day but overall she has been enjoying this change and it has allowed our family to not feel so rushed.
For me specifically in trying to slow down or reprioritize my efforts I have started to really evaluate where I spend my time outside of work and realized I need to start saying “NO” to certain projects/volunteering activities. While I can’t say I have really severed ties with anything yet it has been on my mind as 2017 started and I have put a plan in place to evaluate those various activities as I want to make sure I am getting the most out of my days and making sure I am spending it where I want to spend it (more on this in a future post). Also, I realized it is very important for me to reevaluate things like that as work has become more time-consuming and I still want to put my best effort forward and still find time for the other things but knowing it can’t be everything.
Finally, this past year was a great milestone as my wife and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary. However, on a sad note last year we had to say goodbye to our 13-year-old Yorkshire Terrier Tucker and our youngest child says she misses him each day.
Finally, as I look forward to what 36 will bring for me I am not entirely sure. One thing is for sure, though, I will continue to make tweaks to my routines, projects, and continue to work on cultivating/making time for the true friendships I have. One big thing that will happen in the upcoming year is that we are going to take a road trip from Minnesota to Maine in the late summer. It will be a two-week trip one on the road and one on the ocean. That trip could mark the beginning of yearly family road trips or the final one… time will tell :).
I have learned so much in the last year and I hope to continue that going forward.
Previously: 35
Wordless Wednesday 03/01
*Fresh snow on my running trail.. Did I ever mention I like running in the snow :) (Eden Prairie, MN, March 2017)*
Wordless Wednesday 02/22
*Finally time to catch the sunrises on my early morning runs (February 2017, Eden Prairie, MN)*
Wordless Wednesday 01/26
Running through the streets of new places is always worth it, you can always find something interesting (The Electronic Tower, January 2017, Buffalo, NY)
*Perfect print in the new fallen snow (January 2016, Eden Prairie, MN)*
Wordless Wednesday 01/04
*Fresh running tracks in the falling snow are one of my new favorite things, so peaceful (December 2016, Ankeny, IA)*
I may have misjudged the weather this morning by wearing shorts on my run ð¬
Trip down memory lane running through the streets of my hometown on Thanksgiving
Snow tracks
Wordless Wednesday 11/23
*Early morning running tracks in the snow (November 2016, Eden Prairie, MN)*
Great morning to pick out some pumpkins and let the kids run around.
Tucker Buddy
A little over a week ago we had to make the tough decision to put our dog down. Not that we will ever know how much pain he was in but we could tell he was in pain and couldn’t control his body as he once could. In fact, over the last couple of months he never really came out of his kennel except for to eat, drink, and go outside when we forced him to. Then in the final week before we made the decision he was throwing up almost every day and the accidents were happening more frequently.
*Tucker Buddy Foo Foo I*
My wife and I had had the conversation for probably the last couple of years but more seriously in the last couple of weeks before the day. Tucker had been with us for 13 years, with a birthday coming up this October 24th, he was the first of our “kids”, and he has lived in multiple houses/states. It was a really tough decision to make that I think looking back my wife and I didn’t really realize how hard it would be in the week(s) after. We believe our decision was right as we saw his health declining we didn’t want him to suffer day to day as he had to walk up/down steps to get outside and selfishly we didn’t want his last days to be ones where we would be angry that he was having accidents or throwing up all over.
As my wife and I talked about it in the weeks leading up to the day, we both wanted to be with him until the end and in our minds that was non-negotiable. We did not want to just drop him off at a vet or humane society where his last moments would be filled scared, nervous, or anxious as he heard other dogs barking in the background. We wanted him with us, with his sister PJ (who we have had for 11 years now), and his 3 human brother/sisters. My wife ended up finding this local service that would come out and perform the procedure at our house.
On Tucker’s final day I ended up waking up early to take him for a walk instead of my normal run by myself. I knew it was going to be a long day of tears, sadness, and thoughts as we waited until the scheduled time late in the day. I went to work as normal but ended up leaving work around noon and going home to take Tucker to the dog park one last time. He used to love the dog park when he was younger and my wife and I would take him all the time. You could see a little spark in his eyes while we were there but at the same time, you could tell he was frustrated that he couldn’t do what the other dogs were doing. He didn’t “run” around but still enjoyed wandering around and checking out the things to jump on. After the dog park, we went back home and I just laid on the couch with Tucker for probably 2 hours. Honestly, I am not even sure the last time I just sat in one place for two hours and did nothing. Then we ate dinner and I figured it was time to take him for another walk or his last walk with the whole family. Once we got back from our walk all the kids sat with Tucker and were reading him books while he laid next to them. Finally, around 7pm we got the knock on the door and knew it was time.
Tucker, you truly were an amazing dog and I will miss you dearly. Thank you for all the times you were there for me and for making my life a little bit better/more exciting.
*Tucker at just 10 weeks old*
*Tucker with his new puppy sister (2005)*
*Tucker loved to play fetch*
*Tucker on his 1st Birthday*
*Tucker loved to play fetch*
*Tucker loved to play ball and catch it in the air*
*Perfect picture as Tucker always liked to lick*
*Tucker was gentle with all our kids while they climbed over him growing up*
*Tucker looking good after a haircut*
*Tucker always liked to lay in things not necessary meant for him*
*Tucker sitting on the top of the couch looking out into the backyard*
*Tucker king of the hill at the Dog Park one last time*
*Early Morning walk just me and Tucker*
*Last walk as a Family hours before*
IRS Imposter Scams - Beware!
All kinds of Scams are horrible let’s just put that out there. Because most of the time they use fear to take advantage of people in a weak moment. The worst, in my opinion, are IRS scams because let’s be honest no one really wants to mess with the IRS or hear that the IRS is out for them.
Just yesterday I got an IRS scam call from the number (646) 981-0274 and the guy told me his name was “Zach Parker”. He tried to do everything by the book of trying to strike fear into me paying them NOW! He told me I owed back taxes for trying to defraud the IRS, and started quoting the revenue codes that I was in violation of (which obviously no normal person would know). They asked if I had a good tax attorney and then said the authorities were going to come arrest me and take me to jail for a minimum of 90 days as well as freeze all of my assets.
Now stop! I am guessing those comments alone probably scare most people into trying to work with these individuals in order to clear this up before heading off to jail in a squad car that evening.
Now if you are still on the line at this point because you are a little nervous, they will take it to the next level and tell you they will try to talk to their manager and see if they can get some approvals to get this sorted out today. Once they come back on the line, they will tell you they have instructions for you but they need you on your cell phone as you are going to have to run to the bank to get money out (cash in fact) and then they will give you more instructions. Also, they told me this is a conversation/topic that only both of us and his manager should know about.
Wait am I in a James Bond movie, what Government Department is going to tell me to go get cash but keep my phone on me at all times. Also, to not talk to anyone about this as it is a private matter.
Now if you ask about why the cash, they will give you an odd answer but it makes sense once you go out to the government website to report or look into types of scams. They know people are on the look out of giving Credit Card information over the phone among other things.
So at this point, I obviously wasn’t going to go to the bank as I was working and really needed to get some work done. So I did the dreaded thing of hanging up as I walked out of my office to my next meeting. Obviously, when I returned 30 min later I had missed 15 calls but the interesting thing it wasn’t from the same number I originally got called from. They actually took it a step farther….. They masked my local police department number.. Wait what!
I want to make a point about that as that is really scary and sad because you know that would have also scared someone enough into doing what they say. However, they didn’t leave a message the only reason I knew this was because I did a reverse phone look up. Let’s be honest if the Police take the time to call a resident don’t you think they would leave a number to call back at least?
I was kind of ticked at these scammers at this point going to these lengths to scam people that I decided to first call my local police department to let them know. Also, I wanted to make sure that was part of the scam which was confirmed as the Officer said no one had called me or needed me for any reason.
Now at this point, I should have just stopped but was a little curious what would happen if I called back to the original number on a different number. The first time, they answered but hung up when I asked what department of the IRS it was. The second time they didn’t answer and it just kept ringing. Odd right? Wouldn’t you think the IRS would have a messaging service or voice mail or something?
I decided to call back from my original number and someone answered who knew me from the first time or at least my name must have come up. I asked some questions like I didn’t know what they were talking about from the first time but only because I wanted to hang up on them. Then about 30 seconds later, I got the masked call again from my local Police department, no greeting or anything but saying they have been trying to get a hold of me for a half hour since a fax came over. They wanted to know my address so they could send an officer to pick me up right away. I asked for the person name and he said his name was Mary Ellis. If you picked up on the fact I was addressing Mary as a he, it was because the person on the phone was trying to sound like a girl but was more than likely the exact same person I was just talking to. In fact, I could hear the same background noise of people talking about Taxes where I am guessing “Zach’s” friends were trying to scam someone else. I told him, who was acting as the local authorities, it was interesting that they had been trying to get a hold of me for the past 30 min as I had just talked to my local authorities who knew nothing about needing me. At that point, the person hung up, scam over.
During and after everything was done I obviously reported the number and any important information to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). It sounds like these scams are increasing as of lately for an unknown reason but remember most of the “scam” points I was noting above are noted on the IRS websites of things to look out for. Here is another government site with a nice Infographic on IRS Imposter Scams. Finally, I have included a good video below talking about IRS Imposter Scams.
Just be careful out there as the people on the other line try to make it sound legit. I hope it doesn’t and hasn’t happened to any of you. However, if it has leave a comment below as I would enjoy hearing how it went for you and if your experience was similar to my story.
Color Run Fun
Skipped my morning run today to take my best friend Tucker Buddy for a walk
Reflecting on a Strange Week
A little over a week ago I was not feeling like myself, in fact, my muscles were sore like I just ran a marathon and did 1000 push-ups at the same time. I have never had that feeling before and it lasted for quite some time which was concerning. I actually ended up going to the doctor after day two but all they told me was that it was probably some sort of virus. Gee thanks for the help doc.
I am happy to say as of this past Monday I was back to myself and feeling 100% again. I have never had a sickness make my whole body feel like that before and I hope I don’t have it again anytime soon.
Over the past weekend (and through this week), as I was starting to feel better slowly I was reflecting on how bad I felt last week and I realized that I was really bothered by feeling so out of it that whole week. It wasn’t that the doctors didn’t give me any great advice or cure and it also wasn’t that I was worried I wouldn’t get better (well OK maybe at one point I was a little worried).
What was really bothering me last week was that I never stepped foot outside in the early morning to run! There were so many times during that week that all I wanted to do was wake up earlier, lace up my shoes, listen to a favorite Podcast or new audiobook, and hit the streets. However, I never did run at all that week as I knew resting my sore body and allowing it to fight whatever virus I had was the best solution. Thinking back about it now I think the reason it really bothered me was that I had been running at a minimum of 2-3 times per week since January 1st and I was worried that if I didn’t get back out there I might lose the motivation/habit I have created thus far.
It is truly amazing the power of habits (good or bad ones), that once you have formed a habit over a long period of time and stray from it, it can bother you to your core.
I am happy to report, though, I didn’t lose the motivation/habit as of this morning I hit my 3rd run of the week which is pretty normal for me as I try to run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the early mornings. That schedule has helped me create this habit over time but now that it is more of a routine I am flexible in missing a morning/day as things come up as I know I will find the time to run another day. Trying to mentally set a schedule or number of times in a given week was something I knew I needed in order to hold myself accountable of my 2016 goal of running. Some other tips/tricks I have found this year to which have helped to reinforce my habit, especially at the beginning was to just get out there and do it. As much or little as I could, in the beginning, it didn’t matter as long as I was running during the week. Another tip I have found is to just talk about it. I know that sounds a little silly but by talking about running with others and on this blog actually helps energize me to run again and keep the motivation as I have this other strange feeling that I would be letting someone else down.
How about you? Have you done something so frequently that when you stopped or took a break from it you were scared you could never start up again? Or have you found any tips or tricks to keep yourself motivated to do something that you want to stick to, I would love to hear about it in the comments below?
Check out a previous post I had this year early on talking about the Power of the Habit.
Runaway Bride Boo…
*Dark morning run on an overgrown trail (August 2016, Eden Prairie, MN)*
Finding Your Tribe
I was listening to the Intentionally Wandering Podcast by Jeff Sandquist last week and it really struck a chord with me. The topic he was discussing was "How About Finding Your Tribe."
I am a frequent listener of the podcast and I have found that I almost exclusively listen to it when running in the morning as a way of reflecting. This episode specifically got me reflecting not only after listening to it but now as I am writing it a week later. I am guessing it was just the right timing as we and probably the message I needed to hear as we just had some good friends stay with us for an extended weekend. Then we went to Iowa for a short trip to visit family we don't see enough which then led into a very after a hectic week at work. Finally, probably the icing on the cake was that I realized it was the first week of August and some of my summer goals of connecting with friends and spending more time with family down in Iowa had not turned out as I had planned.
“Ultimately [finding your tribe] comes down to reaching out to people. … It comes down to putting yourself out there to find the people that you resonate with.” - Jeff Sandquist
The podcast, during that morning run, really made me reflect/challenge why my existing connections are still very important and reminded me that I still need to do a better job of staying connected to them. Also, it hit me that even though my life/work tends to get away from me, I still need to continue to create/cultivate new(er) connections with people that I resonate with.
This idea of “Finding your Tribe” fits nicely in a year of changes as I continue to reflect on how I want my life to look in the next year/decades to come. Even, more importantly, it is an underlying theme that guides who, what, and where I want to spend my free time.
There is a lot of other good resources that Jeff points you to with links on his page so I would suggest you go listen to the podcast and check out the other links and information he has. While you are at it, consider supporting this local (to me) Minnesota Podcaster by checking out his Pateron page.