Semi-Annual RobLife Update
It’s time for yet another exciting round of Things that Keep Rob Busy!
Brewing: It’s been a while since I’ve brewed, actually. The IPA that Grainy Busey contributed to was my last batch, and he’s ready to be bottled now. Part of the problem is I’m simply not consuming my beer fast enough to justify regular brewing. I have four beers on tap currently: a cream ale called Miller’s Delight, a pale ale called Zinger’s Ale, a faux-Oktoberfest I’ve dubbed Mocktoberfest, and a Smithwick’s clone I’m currently calling Smithish. I also have another batch of apfelwein carbonating, ready for a tap to open up. I also have an Irish stout in bottles, as well as a few bottles of bock and Irish red laying around, and a bottle and a half of my first spiced mead batch.
Once I bottle the IPA (which should be in the next day or so), I’ll have one single gallon of fermentables going: a spiced mead which should be done in a couple of weeks. In other words, it’s probably time to start planning the next beer or two. I’ll probably try a wheat beer, as that’s a nice spring/summer drink. I’ll probably also brew another round of the pale ale, as it’s really quite good and would make a nice late-spring brew (and there’s no way the one I have now will last).
Exercise and diet: I’ve been attending hapkido as regularly as possible through the winter months, and I attribute it to helping me keep my annual winter weight gain to it’s smallest fluctuation in working memory: I went from my pre-marathon low of 177 pounds up to 192 pounds around late January, but most years I usually flirt with the 200-pound mark before I start losing weight again. I’m currently around 187, and am hoping to get much closer to the 180 mark before our vacation in April.
My running has been almost non-existent during the winter months. I think I’ve run eight miles so far this year: one lung-busting 2-mile workout in mid-January, and two three-mile jogs in February. On the plus side, that’s the most I’ve run during the winter months since I started jogging. So yay improvement!
Chickens: After a career-high 82 eggs in October (and pretty close to that in November, though I stopped counting), the winter months were pretty hard on egg production. Not a single egg was to be had from mid-December through late January. I suspect it was a combination of the bitter cold, the short days, and the fact that at least two of the ladies decided to start moulting right about then. And when I finally started to get the occasional egg here and there again in early February, they were often frozen solid (with broken shells from the expanding innards) by the time I got to them. Though I started hoarding our eggs when I noticed production declining in the early winter, towards the end of January we actually had to resort to buying a dozen eggs at the store.
However, with the warmer weather we had in late February and the ever-lengthening days, we’ve started to get back into the swing of things. I’ve gotten several two-egg days recently, and though I have yet to get a three-egg day yet this year, things are looking up. We have nearly two dozen eggs in the fridge again, which is reassuring.
Travel: I’ll be out of town a goodly bit in the next couple of months. This weekend I’ll be flying down to Austin to attend a few days of SXSW, which should be a blast. I’ve started trying to plan the events I want to attend, but the sheer number of them is a little overwhelming.
Later in March, Amanda and I will be visiting her family in Minnesota. That’s not all that unusual, but to make the trip more interesting, we’re planning a stop at Ikea to pick up new bookshelves. Let’s hope that’s all we walk out with!
And then in late April, Amanda and I are going on a week-long cruise in the southern Caribbean. My groomsman Justin is getting married on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands during our first port of call, and then we’ll spend the rest of the time relaxing in good company. This cannot come fast enough.
And… that’ll do for updates for now. I could keep going, but even I am getting bored. :)
