Turning Another Transitional Corner

Over the last nine days or so, I have only managed to lose one or two pounds.  My weight is now down to 207.  As I have been lifting weights right along, though, I think more muscle has been gained and more fat has fallen.  It's going slow right now but I think I'm doing all right, even if is at a slower pace.  Forty-two pounds lost altogether is not too shabby.  Playing basketball with Kesi at the gym has certainly made my exercise more interesting. Now, I'm getting a lot of comments from people that I look better.  It feels good but I must forge ahead. I'm going to buy some eight-pound weights to take with me on the road.  I will just have to do many more repetitions in the hotel rooms in order to keep the muscle mass from decreasing. I hope I don't make the places smell like a gymnasium.  Although, I don't think Dhrits will mind that much.  He's pretty easy-going, especially if I let him have the remote control.  Hitting the treadmills will be no problem but what I'm really afraid of is the calling of the veggie restaurants at night after a long day's work.  I'm going to bring a scale with me and keep my eyes on my weight like a boxer in training.

It now appears I will be leaving for the summer on the morning of May 13th.  I talked to Dhrits yesterday and he says he will be ready by then.  I think Nrshmadeva's appearance is on May 7th, and he really wants to stay for that.  He predicts a big feast.  That will give me time to get my books for the two classes I'm taking online during the summer and tie up whatever loose ends are still left dangling.  I have always become a little sentimental during this time, especially when the kids were younger.  A few tears would fall and then when the wheels started to roll I would adjust my consciousness.  I've had so many crazy adventures out on the road but hope that things will be relatively calm this time.  Either way, I will be blogging about my experiences.

My son Shyam wants me to leave the guitar so he can play during the summer, therefore I plan to buy another one to take with me out on the road.  Maybe I'll write enough songs to record an album worth of demos and have AV on vocals when I get back.  I think Shyam plans to visit Connecticut in the summer and I hope to see him there.  He played so great in the helping Alachua Real win the Division I Gainesville Adult Soccer League Final last week.  His skills are so refined, that when he has the ball, it is almost impossible to take it away from him.  He has such ease and confidence in his eyes when he plays and excels against grown men.  He likes soccer but I don't think he loves it.  If he loved it, then he could very well make a stab at the pros but that would take a ton of dedication.  Right now, he's too absorbed in reading all Prabhupada's books and getting at the meaning of life.  Also, he is writing poems everyday and showing them to me for feedback.  

Govinda finished his semester at UF architecture school and I haven't seen that much of him lately as he's been spending a lot of time with his girl friend.  He plans to continue his studies in Italy in the Fall of 2010.

Before I go out on the road, I have piles of paperwork to get through that I have been neglecting during the last semester.  Hridayananda Maharaja was kind enough to give us a few things from his house before he left, including a fax machine and bookshelves, which I now have in my office.  I bought a really cool-looking painting from Vrn that she finished only in half-an-hour and had in a school art show and hung it in the office also. She's multi-talented at art, design, acting and singing.  She's moving to the Big Apple in June to go to school and I think the painting will help me to remember all the good times we had with her over the years.  It's sad but life goes on and I'm sure she will do well in New York.  Radha is probably flying up with her for Ratha Yatra.  Radha is blossoming into such an awesome young woman.  She has a lot in common with me but would be hard pressed to admit it.  I love her attitude of fly-in-the -face rebellious attitude toward injustice and hypocrisy.  We generally go out somewhere together every day.  I have bonded with her more than ever these past couple of years.  She's also a talented artist but won't let me have any of her stuff.   I hope I can catch the Rath this year. There will be a big show to work on that day, so it will be a tough decision.  Kavi just flew up to Boston for a week.  That kid is always going somewhere.

Glani is taking Summer A classes through most of June.  She has two more semesters before she officially becomes a R.N.  She has completely recovered from the endometrial cancer of two years ago and has forged on with her aspirations.  

This last semester has been the hardest one yet for me.  I started out the semester with a 3.85 g.p.a. but know that will take a dip.  My main mistake was taking six classes.  I took them all so I could graduate after this semester but I splayed myself out in all of them and only managed one A, in American National Government.   For a guy used to getting straight A's,  this semester has given my false ego a big hit. I dropped Geology and Geology Lab because it was just way too much work.  More work than all my other classes combined.   That's why I'm taking two science classes online during the summer.  My College Algebra professor, Shelly Russell, told me I needed a 70 on my Final just to pass the course.  I was really slacking in that class and didn't study at all for the exam until about 10 p.m. the night before.  Radha, Vrn, Shyam and I all sat in the living room until about 3 a.m. cramming for our various tests the next day.  All of us were ramped up on caffeine except Shyam, who would study a little and then play guitar intermittently.  There was so much caffeine flowing that there was almost more talking than studying going on.  Fortunately, I was able to study the next day and somehow pulled off a 75 on the Final for a C in the class.  It was the most joyous C  I have ever received in my life. I was hootin' and hollering and bouncing off the walls when Radha read the email with the results to me. No more Algebra ever again, at least in this lifetime!  Radha got a 79 on the same Final and was able to pull off a B overall in the class.  I am still unaware as to what my final grades will be in Topics of Math and International Relations.  I will find out on Tuesday, supposedly.  I am on the border of passing or failing each of them as well.  I'm not proud of my procrastination this last semester but I guess it's an opportunity to live and learn.