Happy Birthday to me...

Yes, today I am 23. Well maybe not officially yet. My birth-time was 12:28 pm, March 7, 1983 so I guess I can say I'm 22 for another hour and a half. But this has a been a great birthday so far. The last couple b-days I've had haven't caused me to feel much different. It was just another day of work or school. This time though, there's definitely something new. I think it's because I reminded myself about it everyday leading up to this so I actually got myself excited. I new it was going to be special and it hasn't dissappointed so far.

This morning I woke up after a full night's sleep at the perfect time so that I was "awake" and felt great even before getting in the shower. I had a few emails from friends to read, I found out that I did great in my hockey pool overnight (still in number two position), and I even had a good breakfast.

Things kept getting better at school. I only had one class today (which rules EVERY week) but we got our midterms back that we wrote last Tuesday. I got the highest mark out of the MecE's in our class, the only one in the 91-100% range. Not only that but it turns out that I'd been docked 3 marks on the second question but they didn't include that in the total. Even without those marks I still had the highest but I felt that it was just another birthday surprise.

Now that I'm done classes for the day I have a great afternoon/evening lineup. We have squash times for noon, I'm swimming at 3:00, might go to Grandma's again for supper tonight, and possibly go see a new movie at Garneau later. Main thing: NO HOMEWORK!

So, now that I'm 23 and all wise and stuff, I think it's time for some other changes. I've been working on my weekly checklist idea to help me stay motivated in staying healthy and on top of my studies. Each week the checks get erased and I have to start again. I haven't nailed down a reward system yet but that can wait. Right now I'm so pumped that just completing it each week is motivation enough.

Mike's Weekly Checklist:
- 2 swim practices
- 30 mins on treadmill
- 30 mins on exercise bike
- chest workout
- back/shoulders workout
- arms/legs/abs workout
- 3x40 pushups
- 2 meals will be a salad of some kind
- 1 new meal: something I've never made before
- 1 hour of studying on campus after classes
may also add...
- 1 hour of guitar practice
- 2 hours reading a non-school book
- 1 hour reading about Thailand (Lonely Planet)

All of this is in addition to the other stuff I've gotten myself involved in. I play a hockey game every other week and I have three volleyball nights a week: drop-in, men's league, and mixed league.

So, by the time I go to Thailand I should be in excellent shape and will have finished easily my best semester of school. It's nice to end on a high note. So to the rest of you having a regular Tuesday, I'll try to send out some of my "awesome" vibes out your way. If anyone is looking for birthday present ideas, two words: Picture Frames. I've got some great pictures that I've had printed in 8x10 and 5x7 but I only have one picture frame and have to cycle them through. Laters.