Judgment Day Part III: Sorry for Not Writing!

Let me begin this entry by giving a short apology:  I took a few days off from writing.  It wasn't because I didn't have any ideas or any lame excuse:  I was simply lazy.  I decided to go out Friday night, then went to a wedding on Saturday night, and then worked all day on Sunday.  It wasn't a crazy busy weekend, but I still didn't have a lot of down time to just sit and talk about my life on the computer.  I apologize for that, as I know that there are some people out there who have enjoyed reading my stuff.  Nonetheless, let's get back to the grind.

Body
Weight on 9/9/2013:  215 pounds
Weight on 9/16/2013:  213 pounds (-2)

The beginning of this week was great for the body, as I hit the gym each day between Tuesday and Wednesday, focusing more on cardio.  Towards the weekend, however, I was lazy and didn't make it.  I need to start making it up there on Saturday mornings before I work.  Focusing on the positives, however:  I'm starting to notice that I'm fitting into pants better.  I tried on a pair of Levi's jeans that I hadn't been able to wear since about Christmas, and after walking around in them for about an hour, end up pretty comfortable.  I'm still a bit heavy in the legs, which is why it's hard to wear fitted jeans; however, I think with more fresh fruit and water in my diet, paired with cardio, those parts of my body should thin out.  Considering I also went to Fuel & Fuddle last night and had a small pizza with a beer, I'm very pleased with where I'm at, weight-wise.

Mind
I fell behind this week, in terms of my Coursera course.  I have a lot of different small assignments to turn in for various classes, so I'm going to need to just take an afternoon and pound through about a week's worth of the Coursera material.  I like the layout of the course, however, and how it is presented.  I'm also learning a ton in my Development Economics courses, trying to figure out the root causes of poverty and different perspectives as to how to attack it.  I'm interested in developing a couple different research papers this semester related to how poverty is related to global trade, and I will develop different outlines and research questions as the semester goes on.  The key with my projects this semester is to develop "puzzles;" in other words, I have to find something that doesn't make sense based on conventional wisdom and find alternative explanations.  It's going to be a heck of a mental exercise, and I hope that I can hold on to other activities while I work on these various theses.

Spirit

I tried reciting that prayer from St. Thomas Aquinas a few times over the weekend, as I worked on homework and read.  I have it written on a note card in my room.  At church yesterday, I found inspiration in reading Psalm 51, an important psalm related to atonement for sin.  I'm going to try this week to go to Confession, perhaps at the end of the week.  In the meantime, I will look for another saint or religious figure to highlight, probably on Wednesday or Thursday.  Reading the lives of saints always helps me to re-orient myself to address different daily challenges in my life.  If anyone has an idea about a particular saint for me to read about, I would appreciate the guidance!

I'm happy with my progress for the week, but this week I want to up the intensity.  In the gym, I'm going to try to push the weights a little more.  My goal for the mind is to catch up my Coursera course.  In terms of spirit, I want to recite that Aquinas prayer a little more, but also throw in an extra rosary.  A couple extra people asked me to pray for them this week, so surely I can work an extra in.  Anyways, I will be ready to write tomorrow, so I will see you all tomorrow!