Still collecting data about sleeping. I find it fascinating.

Starting my day off with Brain Training has also been a good investment.

Then into Spanish!

Started out pretty cool. Turned out to be a beautiful day!

Got me some new shoes! I used my last pair almost exactly on year to the day! My old ones now become my work shoes.

This is my coffee making area. The tiki cup I’ve had since I was a boy. It’s from my grandparents who lived in Laredo, Texas. Makes me think of them every morning.

I normally record Verbal Surgery in the morning, but I didn’t have quite enough time to do that, so I had a fun chat with my buddy Bob Burns in Scotland! He’s always a blessing and super funny.

Have you ever heard of lucid dreaming? It’s when you become aware that you’re dreaming while you’re in a dream. Bob is quite a source of knowledge about that. We had an interesting conversation about how to develop that skill. Jesse is also good at it and has a few books in his library that I will also be looking at.

Had a fun lunch with my good friend Jon Paul. I’ve been working with his wife, Linda about some pain issues. Sadly, she had a big fall and got kind of beat up. I didn’t get to pray with her today, she’s on pain meds and was sleeping.

Went to Walmart to pick up some groceries and supplies for another plant project. I’m interested in growing Wisteria vines. I’ve been doing some research on it and have done a recon on areas that have plants that I could take cuttings from. Today, I got potting soil, some dowels and some growth hormone for root stimulation. I have about eight small pots that I’ll start the shoots from.

I’m also thinking about using the blue plastic tubs for growing bedding plants in. I think that will be better than trying to put soil in such a large area.
I also bought some plastic flowers that I thought might be fun to also “plant” in my front area near my door.

As I was trimming bushes yesterday, I noticed this fungus growing on some of my shrubs.

I already had fungicide in my arsenal of plant stuff, from when the Pink Magnolias had a fungus. After spraying them a few times they are completely healthy. I gave the shrubs the same treatment.

I was super careful with the fungicide. I wore glasses and a bandana around my nose and mouth plus used rubber gloves.
After that mission was accomplished, I got the lawn mower out. But before I fired that up I put in my hearing protection. It’s a special type of wax that is normally used for swimming. It’s kind of dirty now, but still works fine.

I’d done almost all the front yard, but had the side piece to finish up.

I raked a lot of the mulched up leaves and put it in my back recycle area.

Everything looks SO much better!

Then I got the weed whacker out.

Unloaded all the materials for my Wisteria project.

Final piece is to blow the area off.

I track everything with Runkeeper.

Helped Jesse get his taxes done. Took about an hour and a half to do his personal taxes.

Started my morning with Brain Training.

Espanol!

Progress!

I’m enjoying and memorizing sections from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. All the highlighted area!

The clouds have been really interesting this week.

I recorded another episode of Verbal Surgery called “The Unsearched for Answer.” It’s a good one! On Tuesday, I released, “Who am I?” it’s on course to be the most downloaded episode EVER! Had nearly 1,500 downloads in two days.

I had a problem with my new fitness tracker/watch. Sent it back to Amazon for a replacement.
I get to do that for free if I drop it off at the UPS store. No problem there!

You may remember that I hurt my left hip yesterday when I was doing yard work. I stepped into a hole and jarred myself pretty badly. Today, I went to Evergreen hotel at Stone Mountain to soak in the hot tub. The hot water felt good on the injury. It’s such a beautiful place. I always feel like a Kardashian when I’m there.

Poppin’ pansies!

The lake and Stone Mountain looked lovely.

My favorite bird.

I saw the Waste Pro truck today. Asked them about recycling some old lawnmowers.

While I was biking, I memorized a part of Leaves of Grass. With really long pieces, I break it down with individual words and a letter. Memorize the list of letters, THEN memorize the section for each letter. If you have a little trigger it’s WAY easier to remember what comes next.

This is one of my favorite dogwoods. Both of mine I had in my yard died. They are kind of a fragile tree from what I understand. That’s why I went with Pink Magnolias and Cherry Blossom. But it’s still a beauty! I had pink ones.This is red.

Rode my bike 12.50 miles. I had planned on farther, but when I got to mile five, my hip started hurting. I turned back and after a while, it stopped hurting so I did my two mile loop a few times to get the miles in. I really work on time, rather than distance. I did over 1.5 hours.

I was hoping to have my new fitness tracker on to check my heart rate today. The new one will be here in a couple of days.

Whenever I’m stressed out, I record. I am now a whopping 18 episodes “in the can” ready to be released! NEVER been that far ahead! Says something about what I’ve been going through lately. That and I love to hear myself talk! Verbal Surgery really is my best work.

Admin duties now.

Part of my new life system is to track how well I’m sleeping.

I have an app called Sleep Cycle which generates lots of interesting data.


Even snoring!

Started the morning with Brain Training.

Studied Spanish.

Does them seem a lot without missing? I’m approaching my record which I set studying Portuguese of 282 days in a row.

Finished reading the Atomic Habits book. I found it very practical and interesting.



I recorded an episode of Verbal Surgery based on this concept called “Feeling Logical.”

With the end of the habits book marks the beginning of Leaves of Grass. I’m enjoying it.




My buddy, Anthony, said that this reminded him of me.

Met up with Ashley and the girls! Took them to our favorite Vietnamese place: Pho 24. It was excellent. I liked this poster on the door.



Love my grand girls!
Ashley got new tires on her truck. Amen!

Said, “Goodbye” with plenty of hugs, then went to the church to check on the mail.

Did some organizing in our closet. More work still needs to be done!

After picking up some checks, I went to the bank to deposit them.

Then headed home. Traffic seemed to be a bit lighter than usual, probably due to Spring Break.

Listened to some Spanish radio.

Mainly went through all my Bible verses and poetry.
Got home, dressed out and started working on my yard. It’s a mammoth project. I live on nearly 1/2 acre! I set a goal of around three hours.

Started with mowing. Just focused on the front yard today.

The hardest part was probably mulching the leaves. It’s heavy work that has to be repeated over and over again to get them mulched properly.

I turned all this to what looks like almost soil!

Then I raked all the fragments and mowed again.

A lot of it comes down to getting on my knees and removing the leaves with my hands.

Then I worked on the bushes in my front yard.

They haven’t been properly trimmed for probably ten years.

I pretty much finished the left half, the right half still had to be done when I took this picture.

I finished it all today, although I’ll get the mower near the bushes to take the remnants of stems close to the ground.

I created a massive pile of yard waste.

Jammed it into a garbage bin roller. Took about six trips to get it all. When I was dumping it, I stepped in a hole and kind of jacked up my left hip. Still kind of tender.

Also hauled off a bunch of heavy limbs in my Gorilla Cart.

I love that cart!
I put a lot of yard waste into my recycle area. I never burn. And it always disappears. Even logs!

After cleaning up, I took the garbage/recycle to the street. We just started a new pick up day: Wednesday.

I track everything with Runkeeper. I thought Rowing was probably the closest to what I was doing.

Worked on updating my social media feed. This is my Twitter account. I have over 70,000 followers.

I actually threw away an old map jacket today! I’ve never done that before. Usually I save them and either give them to people as gifts or I use them to work out in. After today’s yard work, this one was in tatters. It’s made of Tyvek, which is basically a type of paper.

I released an episode of Verbal Surgery last night called, “Who am I?”

It’s one of my best! Just click on the title and GROOVE!
It was downloaded over 1,000 times today. Wow.

Admin duties now.

Practiced Brain Training!

Espanol! Progress!

I had the grand girls put their handprints on my car. When the pollen hits it, it sticks and leaves cute little marks. Unless the pollen is over. Which I doubt.

We went to lunch at Taco Veloz. The girls usually eat really well there.

The girls look super cool in their shades.

Almost finished reading the book Atomic Habits. It’s been really good.

I read this quote and thought about the stretching I’ve started doing regularly.

Got gas at the QT near Chamblee. Cheapest I’ve seen in the ATL!

We went to Goodwill near Perimeter Mall. It’s the best! I love going there because I get the best musical instruments for our teams at rock bottom prices! Found a super cool maracas today in the shape of a fish. Fun!

Pupdawg!

After I took the girls back home, I went to Walmart o get them some treats and groceries and a few things that I needed. Tried to make a key for Kathy, but no-one there to make it for me. Typical.

Added oil to my engine.

The clouds were gorgeous today! Art by God!


I got a voicemail from a friend of my Mom’s who is in town. I hope to take her around and show her the International Village. She’s visiting her daughter and granddaughters. Not sure if I’m equal to THAT! I’m encouraging them all to come!

Went for a 3.95 mile bike ride. I normally ride a lot longer, but I was too cold. No sun makes a big difference.

Still got my heart rate up. I’m expecting my new smart watch to come in soon. It was only $30 so I’m not expecting too much! The main reason I got it is to measure HR. It’s pretty highly rated for that. I have another app on my phone that works pretty well, but I have to get off the bike, do it and I only do that a few times. That’s a long way from a constant tracking.

Just after I finished.

Admin duties now.
Wrote the final “Thank You” letter to our team from this weekend. Also spent time tweaking that letter before I sent it as well as adding some donation links.

I’ll be working on adding some material to some of my social media feeds this evening. All of it adds interest in what we’re doing!

Brain Training!

Studied Spanish!

Hebrew! Just doing it on the Sabbath has really helped me remember all the letters.

Westside BC!

Pastor Ben spoke on the importance of Calvary. Amen! When I was in Israel, I wanted to go see Golgotha, the place of the skull. Wasn’t allowed to. It’s now a Muslim cemetery.

Planted my two cherry blossom trees. It was hard work. Digging the holes!

Quite a lot of rocks.

Placement!

I filled the hole with high quality garden soil.

My procedure was add soil. Water it and tamp it down with my hand. Then add another layer. That keeps air from getting trapped in the soil. At least that how my Mom taught me to do it!

Then I cover it with the soil from the hole. I try to build a small area around it to hold water.

Then I rake the rest of it evenly in the yard and take out the rocks and weeds.

And water it down thoroughly to even it out.

Very happy with the new additions! I planted them further back from the road than I did with the Pink Magnolias and Gardenias. They need more space. Don’t want them crowding into the road.

My azaleas have been spectacular this year.

While I had the hose out, I washed the pollen off the side of the house and in the garage area.

Part of the challenge was to stretch my hose all the way and twist it so that it lays flat again. It gets kinks otherwise.

Also rinsed off the pollen from the driveway.

Scrubbed the garage floor once I rinsed it out.

Ton of pollen.

Looks great! I’ll work on the first mowing of the season this week. Mulching those leaves will reduce them to soil soon.

Then got my Gorilla Cart out and hauled sticks and big limbs to my recycling area in my back yard.

Lots of movement!


Over 3.5 hours in all.

These old shoes will be retired soon as I get new ones and the ones I wear now will become my work shoes.

Admin duties now.

Since starting the Sleep Cycle app, one thing I’ve noticed is that no matter when I go to sleep, I still wake up around 8:00 am. I may doze after that but not always likely. So in order to really get the rest I need, I should go to sleep earlier, like 10:30pm at the latest. I also found that it takes normally about thirty minutes for me to go sleep after I turn my lights out.

It’s all about learning!

Mileage!

Practiced Brain Training this morning.

Had a great time with our team from N. Gwinnett Church! Love those guys! “Launch yourself!”

On Safari to the Buford Highway Farmers Market!

Then to Cumberland Court and New Peachtree apartments!

Never too much Ashley! We missed the girls but gave me more Daddy/Daughter time! Woot!

Besides checking on the teams, we also cleaned up all our gear from the Fellowship Hall as well as checked on new tires for her truck. We’ll plan on getting those on Monday.

Came home and gassed up Kathy’s truck. It was super low on oil, not even on the stick! Added more in a hurry.

Gas has gone up a lot recently.

We are getting Kathy’s bike set up for Jesse to ride. It’s a really nice bike. I think he’ll enjoy riding it.


The new poem I’m working on.

I made a copy of it and study while I’m riding. Did 10.44 miles today.

I’m in good shape. It actually gets kind of hard to keep my heart rate over 110bpm.

Lots of beauty to see!

As I was looking at where I want to plant the Cherry Blossom tree, I decided to get one more! Here are some of the full grown ones in my neighborhood.

After riding, I got the groceries. I wonder if you don’t stink when you wear these clothes?

My little tree enjoyed the drive! I’ll plant the two new additions to my yard tomorrow.

Admin duties now.

I will edit the video I shot next! Busy day!

I’m getting back in the habit of practicing brain training in the morning and in the evening. Helps me be more focused and calm.

I don’t always do as well as I’d like, but that’s why I practice!

But going from my normal extra-exuberant self to dead calm is a skill worth developing.
I also continue to study Spanish.

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery -648- “Line in the AND”

How you describe yourself changes you! Click on the title and GROOVE!

Uploaded to my server.

Link on Facebook!

I just now put the link on my Twitter feed. Something I’ve never done before! The Mac makes it easy to do. Just a matter of organizing and creating a habit of doing it.

I’m also ramping up my email lists. I got a clear word from the Lord about all the work I’d done collecting and putting those lists together. “Son, you’ve done all the mining, it’s time to start getting the jewels.” It’s true. I worked so hard collecting those email addresses and then did basically nothing with them. That is going to change!

Had a fabulous time with the Grand-girls! Lunch at Taco Veloz.

Penelope was getting a little too enthusiastic painting her face with ketchup. LOL.

Next stop was Walmart for some new shoes for Penelope. While I was there, we checked out the flowering trees. I’ve really loved my Pink Magnolias! I got three of them a couple of years ago. I picked up a Flowering Cherry tree today! Even as I’m looking at this I may go back and get another one tomorrow. They are just SO beautiful! And the others I planted, including the Gardenias have really brought be tremendous happiness. For $29 I think that’s super cheap.

We had fun with the sprinkler on my back deck. I liked this shot of the sun through the trees.

I let them take a hot bath to warm back up! Then outside for some swinging and fruit, or what I call, “Food by God.”

Then to the Doggie Park!

I pushed them several hundred times and then handed them over to Miles’ dad, Jim! He’s a terrific guy and the girls love him. But, not as much as me! I have to be kind of tricky when I leave or Everly will throw a huge fit and try to break my heart. She gets really upset even if Ashley is there! But if she’s being swung, she’s so happy she doesn’t notice my disappearance. I even kind of snuck through he bushes to ensure it. I’m so crazy sometimes. Ok, most of the time.
Tim Ferris has a great blog that I enjoy. Here’s a part of it.

Admin duties now and to sleep very soon.

I have a new app called Sleep Cycle which tracks my sleeping. I’m interested in getting a data base of it going. I invested a few dollars a month to upgrade it so now it talks with my Runkeeper app. I want to see the correlation between exercise and deep sleep. It also tracks snoring. I snored for about five minutes last night. It even records it to let me listen. Wild.

I’m looking forward to my team tomorrow. Just reviewed the names with the pictures. All this memorizing that I’m doing is making be better and better at it. I just glanced at the twenty names and almost got them all the second time around. Wow.

I finished setting up my new savings account! I put almost all the money I got from the government after paying off my credit card bill into that account.

I continue to study Spanish daily.

Verified that our kids at the mission have next week off. We’ll still be doing some things over there during the holidays.

Last night, I set up my Apple Health account.

Also put all my health related apps to talk to that one location. That includes my blood pressure app, Runkeeper, and Muse for brain training. I also added a new app that will monitor my sleep cycles. I tried it last night but it didn’t work. I’m going to use the accelerometer rather than the microphone this evening.
Here is my resting heart beat this morning.

Brain training.

Reading Atomic Habits.

I’m always looking for new Bible Verses that strike me to memorize. I had TWO this morning from my One Year Bible (which I’ve read thirty times!)

I recorded a new podcast of Verbal Surgery called, “The Big Want.”
Then talked with my buddy, Anthony Jacquin who currently is in Brazil.

During our chat, he mentioned another friend of ours Michelange, who I also had a great discussion with. He lives in Paris! Love this technology!

Rode my bike 8.44 miles.

Fantastic weather. I call it “Nakuru weather” from when I used to live in the Rift Valley of Kenya.
My azaleas are gorgeous!

Since getting all my health related apps talking with each other now via Apple Health, I’ve started taking more data.
This is my heart rate after climbing the steepest hill on my route.

After biking, showering and eating some fruit, I headed to FBC Doraville to check our mail.

It was so nice outside that I moved the chairs and table to help the kids.

I enjoyed supper with the girls at Taco Veloz after working with the kids. They make me SO HAPPY!

Listened to Spanish radio on the way home.

Did some research for Kathy about a new lung doctor to go to who is on our insurance list.
Also created two email campaigns for the nearly 1,000 people on our list who have worked with us during the Summers. There were more people, but that limit keeps us using the Mail Chimp app for free.

I created another campaign to go out to the Youth Directors who have worked with us in the last several years.

Busy and productive evening. As most of them are!

Admin duties now.

Read more of Atomic Habits. Good stuff!

Espanol!

Practiced brain training!

Another app I use called “Muse Monitor” actually gives real time visual feedback on each of the major brain wave types. Incredible.

I got my tax return money from the government today. Set up a savings account to store that money in a place that will be harder to spend!

Working with my friends Fred and Jouvens to get them connected in Haiti. They both will benefit from knowing each other!

Went to the Post Office to get stamps for the newsletter.

Later this afternoon, I taught the kids what these birds are called.

Most of you will know the Cardinal and the Blue Jay. Know the other two? Top left is the Carolina Chickadee and the bottom left is the Red Bellied Woodpecker. (I know it has a red head! But the Red Headed Woodpecker’s head is ENTIRELY red!)

Went to Walmart for groceries.

Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery called, “Bad Views.”

Talked to my buddy Anthony who is currently in Brazil.

We are setting up ways for people to donate to Whirlwind Missions. Ashley had Pay Pal ready to go. Today she also figured out Venmo, which is apparently another really big way people transfer money to each other. I’m working on releasing emails regularly to our list of followers which is over 700 people!

Went for a 6.81 mile bike ride.

Absolutely gorgeous azaleas this year!

I have an app on my phone that can measure heart rate. It’s pretty good. Still figuring it out.

After getting home and taking a shower, I called my buddy Marcus and talked to him on the way to the mission.

Also listened to radio from Madrid, Spain. It’s my default listening tool for Spanish. I continue to improve!

Absolutely light-speed Spanish.
Went by the church to check on the mail and pick up our newsletters. We are back to doing two duplex pages. The church has a contract with the photocopy company and never use their b/w copies. So I figured, why not?

The kids helped us work on labeling and getting the newsletters ready to mail.

I let Penelope help me for the first time today. She did pretty well!
Got them in the mail!

After getting the homework done, we then chow down on donuts!

Then dancing time!

Working on other projects this evening including the email to the supporter group. I plan on doing a weekly version of that. If you’re interested in getting that, email me at whirlwindtim@gmail.com.

Admin duties now.

Studied Espanol. It’s a way of life. Habitual learning = life-long growth.

Brain training. My best yet. I did five minutes. Then did this five minutes.

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery -647- “What is the Future?”

What we tell ourselves will happen is a total fiction! Click on the title and GROOVE!

Put the episode on my server.

Link on Facebook.

My Azaleas are looking beautiful!

I recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery called “Coming Unplugged” then had a nice chat with my buddy, Anthony.

Prayed for the people that I talked with last Sunday and invited to church.

I biked 9.08 miles this afternoon before going to the mission.

I went through all my memory verses as well as poetry. Then listened to Spanish radio from Madrid.

I listened to Tito Ruiz’ sermon called “Son of God” in Spanish/English on the way to Azalea. I was actually there that Sunday with one of our teams!

I helped the kids with their homework then went outside to play with them as we waited for the horses to arrive!

They brought the full-size horses today!

Unbridled Joy has been a fantastic partner. Ashley loves working there!

Fancy bows!

Big hit!

Then had a fun supper with my brother-in-law Bill Doverspike. He’s one of my favorite people and part of this year’s Contact Resolution. We ate at Taco Veloz along with our special guest, Penelope!

Then went on Safari to China Town.

Listened to more radio from Madrid on the way home.

Admin duties now.