Hoist the Colors!!

Rum all around--another semester is beneath the waves.

Banjo is doing OK

Out of surgery today, and no amputation necessary. Hopefully he can come home from the vet OR tomorrow or the next day. We'll post some pictures so everyone can see how he's doing.

My three years is almost up...

Just a little more than 90 days left--after September 15, any opportunity that comes on the screen to get back overseas is fair game, dude. A quick search shows Ernst & Young looking for audit managers for Moscow, so who knows what else might be out there?? Any feasible deal would have to include a resolution for what's left of law school to complete, but that's not outside the realm of possibility.

We've got just over 45 hours of law school under the belt at this point--well within striking distance if the right deal comes up. It's been fun, but definitely no substitute for being back in the action.

Stay tuned and pray for rain, friends and neighbors!!

UPDATE:

Just to clear up any lingering misunderstanding--we will not, under any circumstances, quit law school to take an overseas opportunity. That doesn't mean, though, that we might not be totally done with law school before taking on a foreign posting, if the right deal comes up that allows for finishing over time, transferring in foreign credits, etc. Admittedly, the chances of that happening are very small, but they do exist. If there's one thing we've seen over and over, it's that an arrangement can always be reached. As we used to say about Russia--everything is difficult, but nothing is impossible. :)

Kendalia chiggers!!

Man, them's some powerful hoppers they got down in the Hill Country. It's Wednesday morning, and I'm still discovering new bites up and down both legs--and I was wearing jeans and boots. Anybody else bit up?

Why it's tough to lose weight--

For some reason I had calories on the brain yesterday. I guess it started at lunch when I noticed the nutritional information printed on the wrappers of my hamburgers (250 calories apiece, 80 of those from fat--32%, so not too bad overall).

Then, at the gym I tossed in some cardio after my weight workout: the bike told me I'd burned about 200 calories over 30 minutes. Obviously, I wasn't setting any speed records on that stint, but still it got me thinking about how just how efficient the body is at using and storing energy. Each little McDonald's hamburger contains enough energy to run the body at exercise for more than half an hour. Or, at rest, when you burn as little as 50 calories an hour, for five hours.

Now, think about this: I weigh about 200 pounds. Say my body comp is 20% fat (hopefully a little on the high side), meaning I carry about 40 pounds of fat. One pound of bodyfat translates into 3,500 calories of energy. 3,500 x 40=140,000 calories of energy stored in my body.

To go back to the exercise bike--at my pokey pace of 400 calories per hour, I have enough stored bodyfat for 350 hours.