I’ve been slack in updating on my Ragamuffintop Challenge progress, but pretty good on following through with my goals.  I’m 5 or 6 weeks in now, and my waist measurement is down 2.5″ to 38″.  Still got 2″ to go for my 36″ goal.  And, I’m down about 12 pounds.

I haven’t worked out as much as I’d hoped, but that’s mostly been due to our irregular schedule these last few weeks.  I’ve been playing some tennis (and still looking for a tennis partner - if you play & you’re in or around Burlington, let me know) and doing a lot of yard work.  My big win has been eating.  I’ve stuck pretty close to my goal of 1 sugary item per day when I work out and 0 sugary items per day when I don’t work out.  Amazing how much difference it makes when I cut out sweet tea refills, bowls of ice cream, and 10pm candy bars.

Did the drummer at Pine Ridge Church really play while standing on top of the bass drum today? Yep. Scott rocks.

Tonight ended a great season for my Network South Cyclones in Burlington’s Tee Ball league. This was my second stint coaching tee ball, and this season was even more fun than the last time.

With the end of the Cyclones season I’m now back to coaching just one team, my 9-10 year old Payne Oil Grays (who currently stand 4-8 on the season and have won twice on walk-off bunt home runs (bunt to the pitcher, overthrow first, overthrow home) by the same kid, have beaten every team in our league but one, and have been beaten twice by the team that’s otherwise winless. What a season so far. We’re peaking at the right time, though, and I like our chances heading into our final two regular season games and the tournament.

We’ve been testing live streaming video on Sunday mornings at Pine Ridge Church, and today we made a big step in the right direction. It’s not quite exactly where we want it to be yet, but we’re getting closer.

Web TV provided by Ustream

Tomorrow starts a new tradition at our house: The Fun Jar. Here’s how it works:

1. At the beginning of each month I’ll put 30 $1 bills (one for each day of the month) in the jar on top of our refrigerator.
2. The fun begins with giving the first 10% back to God, the real filler of the fun jar.
3. Throughout the month we’ll remove $1 from the fun jar whenever someone leaves a light on in a room, leaves a door open when they go outside, or uses the bathroom without flushing (why these? because they’re common, they’re specific, and they’re measurable without interpretation).
4. Whatever’s left over at the end of the month is fun money. We can use it to go out to eat, go bowling or to play Putt-Putt, go see a movie, or save it up for a bigger fun thing later.
5. Repeat each month.

I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and a great learning experience (for us as well as the kids!). My predictions:

1. The girls will most often get dinged for leaving their bedroom light on when they come downstairs.
2. Cameron will most often get dinged for not flushing.
3. Cameron will get indignant and loud when the girls leave their light on but will make excuses when he doesn’t flush the toilet.
4. The girls will want instant gratification at the end of the month, but Cameron will want to save it (he’s already saying he wants to save it to buy a Nintendo Wii). Making those decisions should be a good learning experience.
5. Estimated money left at the end of June: $7. Looks like we’ll be getting that Wii in June 2011.

I’m picking up the gauntlet which Los has thrown down. The Ragamuffintop Challenge (what’s a muffintop, you ask? here’s the definition and an example).

My current weight is 196. Here are my goals:

1. Work out at least 3 days per week.
2. Consume no more than 1 sugary thing per day on workout days and no sugary things on non-workout days.
3. Reduce my waist measurement to 36″.

The rules of the challenge state I must post an update each week. So here’s my report for this week, pre-muffintop challenge:

1. I worked out 0 days this week.
2. I’m sure I consumed at least 1 sugary thing each day. Today I had 3 sugary things (a McDonald’s sundae in the afternoon and a sweet tea & refill with dinner). Um, make that 4 because I licked the beater after Gretchen made cake frosting tonight.
3. My waist measurement is 40.5″.