2017 Here I Come!

I just noticed that I have not posted anything on this blog since December 31, 2015...wow! I know 2016 was challenging, just didn't realize that I completely ignored this blog. Time to change that. With the turning of the calendar, I am leaving 2016 behind. No regrets, no looking back and only (mostly) focusing on moving forward.

Here is my list of what I plan to accomplish in 2017:

1. Get healthier. Eat better, exercise more, and lose weight. Usually easier said than done, but I've been known to be a determined person and I'd just like to feel better in general.

2. Get back on a horse (I'll have to work on #1 to achieve this, but it WILL happen).

3. I'd like to finish a 5K race this year. I may have to run/walk it. It may not be until October or November, but if I can do this, I'll be really proud of myself.

4. Write every day! There is no excuse for not doing this. And while I may not need to put everything on this blog, I will need to write something every day.

5. I tried this years ago, but would like to do it again...eat at a new restaurant or try a new recipe every week. Now I realize that eating out every week would be expensive, that's why I throw the "try a new recipe" in there. Now that I'm back in Chicago, there are tons of restaurants I'd like to try. I'm also determined to meet Chef CJ Jacobsen at some point in 2017. 

I could go on and on with more things I'd like to accomplish, (less TV, more reading, etc) but resolutions are about setting achievable goals and I believe that these 5 are the most achievable for me right now. 

In 2016 I lost a lot of things. 2017 is my year to regain, rebuild, refresh and restart. 

I Was Kicked to Death By My Own Horse

Luckily it was just in the video game I was playing. I used to love video games when I was younger and a couple of years ago we got a PlayStation 3 so Eric and I could watch blu-rays and kick each other's butts in Madden. With us not having much spare money these days, a few weeks ago I went to Best Buy and bought a new video game to entertain myself while Eric was working weekends. Also, the guys I work with were talking about how fun the new games are. I picked "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion". It had been awarded "game of the year" and all that and sounded like fun. A quest to get an heir back to his throne after his father dies. When I first purchased the game I played for an entire afternoon and finally made it out of the castle to begin my quest. I also made it to the next town and was able to get a horse. Well at the end of that first day I kept getting attacked by wolves and dying so I just gave up.

Today I was watching the Northwestern/Michigan game and found it really boring so I thought I'd try my hand at Oblivion again. I tried to remember how to fight and got thrown in jail for stealing something...but luckily my horse was still where I left him outside a pub. So I rode him to the next village and left him outside the gates while I explored. I left the village from a different entrance than the one I had entered and a woman tried to sell me another horse. I didn't have enough gold so I left. But seeing that the horse was outside, I stole this new horse and galloped off to where my next quest was. On the journey a wolf appeared and the horse and I killed it. Me with my sword, him with his hooves. There was also some small troll-like creature attacking us and by the time I had killed him...my horse was gone. I figured he ran off somewhere. Oh well, guess I'd walk. I didn't get very far when my horse galloped up, reared several times and proceeded to kick me to death. The game kept telling me to push the X to ride the horse but it wasn't working and soon I was face down, bleeding to death on the side of the road. I figured that maybe it was a good time to stop playing. When your own horse turns on you, it's time to go.

I'll return to the game tomorrow or some other time and see if I can find a calmer, more gentle horse that wants to help me. In the meantime, I'll be playing golf on the PlayStation. Much less violent and no horses allowed.