Dusting off the Running Gear

Yesterday I made a big forward step in my physical goals. I registered to run in the Provo City Pioneer Day 5K race. It has been a long time since I did any consistent running. I used to joke that I had put in 7 good years of exercise during Jr High & high school and that earned me 7 years of good health without any exercise at all. Since I graduated in May of 2001 my 7 free years of health are over and it is now time I begin looking out for number one again so that I can in turn be a greater steward over my family, work, callings, etc.
This morning was my first run and it was really mean. I wasn't sure if I should take my dog with me or not concerned she might not be able to keep up but she really embarrassed me. I'm glad to know however that she will be able to go run with me since I like the company and she needs the exercise.
The picture is of a painting that my mom gave me several years ago.

O Comments People?

It has now been several days since my last post "Back to the Center Line" and I still don't have any comments at all. I don't know what to think. Here are the possible scenarios as far as I can figure:

1. Everybody hates me.
2. Nobody comes here to read something actually serious and thoughtful and were disgusted at this last post.
3. Everyone is sick and tired of me talking about golf.
4. Nobody has been on the internet in the last 4 days.
5. There is a conspiracy at work whose goal is to drive me mad.
6....... yeah thats about it for possibilities.

Back to the Center Line

This week I am working hard to bring myself back to the center line. I am talking about a recurring pattern/principle that exists in life. It seems that when we set out to do something it doesn't take long before we are falling off track of hitting our goal. This is always true no matter what the end objective/goal is. It becomes necessary on occasion to re-align ourselves with our goals. The greater our tendency to fall away from the line the more often we need to re-align with it. This week I realized that I have come away from the center line of many of my goals. I have put a large white board up in my office with a list of my goals and other things I'm working on. This will hopefully help me come back to where I want to be. I figure that even the auto-pilot system on planes is nothing more than a constant re-aligning mechanism. We all need similar systems in place to help us come back to full focus.

On a side note I had my best day of golf so far today. I had 57 strokes in 9 holes which is sadly my very best so far. I didn't keep track my first time out, and since I've golfed 69 and 61 so I think it's fair to say I'm improving. Today on the 9th hole I asked a friend to video my stroke for all of you to see. That would have been great but he decided to make a really loud noise right during my swing and it totally threw me off:(

Insane Dog

Today was Simon's first swimming experience if you want to call it that. Ami will be blogging about the swimming at: paulsenjournal.blogspot.com but I thought I would take this opportunity to show you how crazy my dog is. These videos show her playing with water. Yes, water. She might think the water is attacking her or something but whatever it is she is thinking it can be quite entertaining. It doesn't stop here. She also chases anything that is flying. That includes birds, bugs, cotton, bubbles, & smoke (BBQ). She gets most of her exersize each day running back and forth along the back fence looking for bugs to chase down. Of course last week you will remember she also chased a cat up a pole.








Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com

Garage Cabinets

So other than golfing almost everyday this week I have also spent a lot of time helping a friend in the neighborhood remodeling his home. We put in new carpet, re-finished hardwood floors, entire new bathroom down to the sub-floor, and a new kitchen. The bonus is that he offered me the old Kitchen cabinets and I spent tonight putting them up in our Garage. I'm super excited about it because we are in desperate need of more storage in this house.

Jacob Paulsen

www.ageljacob.com
mblog.jacobspaulsen.com

Best Fathers Day Gift Ever

Check it out! Ami paid to have this amazing portrait of Simon and I done for Father's Day. It looks awesome and I love it. I already put it up on the wall in my office! My Mom is the artist and it looks great. I am really excited to have this picture of Simon & I on the wall as I work.

Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com

Cat Up Pole

I'm not sure if this picture is going to turn out or not but I'm sitting at the base of a power pole waiting for the city power company to come get this cat down. Ami & I were walking with Simon & Holly today and Holly smoked out this cat out of a bush. A short chase ended up with the cat up this pole. Provo City power doesn't actually work on Fridays and so its going to take awhile for someone to get here with the truck. Fetching a cat out of a power pole could be a nerve wrecking activity on Friday the 13th. I honestly just thought this kind of thing happened in cartoons but it turns out cats really are that dumb.

Jacob Paulsen

www.ageljacob.com
wwweb.vereconference.com

Great Golf Experience

Today was the day. I went 9 holes at the Sleepy Ridge Golf Course. I think I did alright. I'm not putting any scores up here on the blog because that would just be embarrassing. I think I'm getting the hang of it and I'm going to stick with it. I'll go again this week for sure! This picture is from the 8th hole where I drove the ball about 250 yards. It was my money shot of the day.

Jacob Paulsen
www.ageljacob.com
wwweb.verconference.com

Happy Birthday to me

Today is my Birthday. Awhile ago Ami & I were in Coldstone and I took a look at the cake catalog. They have a reeses peanut butter cup ice cream cake and I told Ami that I wanted her to make me one for my birthday. She came through! Ami did a great job on this beast of a cake and it is as good as it looks. I'm very blessed to have a wife who knows how to cook really well. Ami also got me this awesome book about outdoor survival. I love that kind of stuff! We are enjoying this awesome holiday with some relaxation at home. I grilled up some pork chops and we went for a walk too. Speaking of BBQ grills I am fairly confident that only men should bbq. We usually don't cook because its a tradition but I think I would be insulted if my wife suggested she do the grilling. Anyone else?

Jacob Paulsen
www.jacobspaulsen.com
mblog.jacobspaulsen.com

Wyoming Trip

Ami and I enjoyed our week in Wyoming. Since I'm able to work from about anywhere with an internet connection we were able to stay an entire week with Ami's parents. It is so nice to have a couple more people to share the responsibility of taking care of the boy. Grandparents seem to enjoy it more than parents do and I suppose that is just natural. The picture above is of Kirt & I plus our boys. Yeah thats cool. Every time I go back there I am some how afraid of running into somebody I know. Does anybody else feel that way. I would love to run into a best friend that I haven't seen in years but all to often there are those awkward moments when you run into people that you knew but not super well. You exchange some pleasantries and then want to get out of there as fast as possible. Is it just me?

Golf, Sport or Hobby?

I'm thinking about taking up golf and that has spawned a series of doubts & thoughts about the game. 

• Is Golf a Sport or a Game? You don't usually sweat but you do keep score. Where do we draw the line if you include golf? Is chess or online gaming a sport?
• How often and for how long will I have to golf before I'm good enough to not be embarrassed when I'm out there?
• Does a certain physique of person have an advantage? Left handers, Tall people, Fat people, etc?
• Will this be an easy way to spend time with friends & family? IE: Do any of you golf and want to go out with me?

All of this golf talk is making me more and more serious about the idea. I watched the movie The Legend of Bagger Vance the other day with Ami and it kind of sold me. 

Here is a clip from the movie: