So far the week of awesomeness has been chugging along on schedule with a few minor tweaks. Granted I should have known that I wasn’t going to be able to fit everything in when I started out but Week 2 will be called “Things That Were Too Awesome To Fit Into Week 1″. So far this is what Week 2 TTWTATFIW1 will include:

Mustang Maintenance - Hurricane Ike killed my plans of draining the differential and working on the brake booster. The Missouri State game was stellar for about 5 minutes. By that time we had scored on the Bears twice and ZRob and Co. were running away with the game. And I mean literally running, we threw maybe 10 passes.

On Sunday I did my long run and pulled up because I could tell I was on the verge of some serious leg cramps (what I get for running without eating anything first). Luckily I made it 7.5 miles and still had a regular heart rate. We didn’t buy the grill (every purchase I make is carefully scrutinized via Consumer Reports) and I didn’t get to help my dad with the drywall but those are to be moved to week two.

Monday (last night) went exactly as planned (almost). I went out onto the patio clad in a hoodie and my OSU basketball shorts and drank a Choctober Fest beer while listening to the Mermaid Avenue sessions. Molly was out so I couldn’t exactly play around with her but she’s back tonight thankfully.

Had I completed this post when I started it I would have gone deeper into how the Week of Awesomeness has changed things. So far I have to say that going home has an added edge of excitement which has surprisingly carried over to my job. What I do is not exactly sexy or exciting by any stretch of the imagination (its more intriguing and consistent) but there has yet to be a morning where I have dreaded coming into the office or had to really drag myself out of bed.

This kind of struck at the root of what David Foster Wallace was getting at in his book Infinite Jest (I’m guessing about this because I haven’t read the book just heard a lot of interviews lately because of his untimely suicide). Here we are in our early to mid 20’s, most of us in jobs that pay better than what our parents were making at this age and with access to more and better health care and facilities than before. Yet we manage to find the most inane things to complain about (our jobs, our family, our cars, our spouses). Hence the Week of Awesomeness, this hasn’t exactly been a quest for pleasure for pleasure’s sake. More of a rediscovery of why I’m living and what exactly it is that makes life worthwhile and putting up with trite discomforts and inconveniences. Which is why I’m going to turn this from a Week of Awesomeness, into what will hopefully be a Lifestyle of Awesomeness.

Friday afternoon I take the CPO (Certified Purchasing Officer) exam. Yes, it is exactly as exciting as it sounds. Two straight hours of multiple choice questions over hardcore bureaucracy rules that are touted as proof our legislators do something other than glad hand and open grocery stores. Once the bilge pump of my mind has run dry of how the Information Data Services branch of the Office of State Finance determines security standards while source code is in escrow I’m going to embark on a journey. Nay, not just any journey. A journey to reclaim the awesomeness that is Senor James.

A week of awesomeness. Seven full nights of excellence that are targeted to breathe life back into the empty sails of ego and imagination. Most of this is aimed at breaking up my general routine which has been great but not entirely stimulating. Yeah, this won’t be the same kind of college week where, JRB, Jeff, Ben, and I would stay up all night drinking High Life, listening to Rush and playing Mario Cart. Ok, Shiner, Def Leppard, and discussing the finer points of current events. But essentially as adults I have seen everyone I know fall victim to the monotony of wake, work, dinner, sleep. Except maybe JRB and Jeff. But still, JRB, how many games of European Shin Kicking can you play?

So it begins September 13th, a week of awesomeness to get the juices flowing. Then I’m going to do a week of morning awesomeness, and after that a week of sweet lunches. Since it takes 21 days to form a habit I figure this should be enough time to get my mojo back in gear. If any readers feel like taking on this little challenge with me let me know and I’ll post links to your schedules for next week.

Saturday - Getting up early and reconnecting with Zen and the Art of Mustang maintenance (I love the basic art of dirty steel and bloody knuckles) whilst listening to Car Talk and A Prairie Home Companion on NPR. In the evening I’ll be attending the Missouri State game.

Sunday - Long run (8+ miles scheduled) followed by going to Enid to help Dad with the drywall in their new homestead. Sunday evening needs to incur some grilling. Need grill.

Monday - Depending on the weather I’m going to spend some time on the balcony with a nice Fall ale (Jack’s Pumpkin Spice Ale or Sam Adams Octoberfest) wearing a hoodie and shorts reading one of three volumes; The Last Lecture, John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, or How to Beat the Dealer. Naturally I think I’ll drag the CD player out and play a little WILCO while I’m out there. Then the wifelike person and I are going cook a nice dinner for ourselves and pull out a board game.

Tuesday - Going to hit the Colvin a little later than normal and have god’s own full body workout. By this time I’ll be back to the tone and strength I need to be at in order to pull this off. I had this workout stored when I was a regular at my gym in Wichita and the first time I did it I nearly passed out, twice. Follow this up with a little trivia with my closest friends at Eskimo Joes and come home to wake the wife up to dance to Jesus, Etc. and put a little gas in the love tank.

Wednesday - Generally this is the worst night of the week for me given that it isn’t quite Thursday which at least signals the end of the week and it isn’t quite Monday or Tuesday which means that the week is still fresh. So that night will be reserved for Molly and a photography tour of Payne County.

Thursday - Ah the end of the week approaches. This is the night I start the aquarium back up… finally. One of my favorite past times is to sit and watch the fish dart back and forth in my tank. Since we moved from Wichita I haven’t started the tank back up and I feel that it is high time to get things back in gear. Not horribly exciting but terribly soothing for me. Depending on how long this takes I might design a new background for the tank and get it printed.

Friday - Friday at the Fountain along with a camp out in the living room and a movie on the wall. I’d also like to do dinner with some people I haven’t seen in a long time Goofed on this one in the original post. Bye week so Molly and I are going to hit up a restaurant in Stillwater neither one of us have eaten at.

Saturday - OSU has a bye week (incorrectly posted as the A&M game when I did this first post. I think Molly and I will take a trip to a museum and soak in some culture in OKC. Also its time for Whit and I to do some training for the 15K we’ll be running at the Tulsa run in October so we can try to keep up with JRB and his sub one hour 15K time.

That’s is all I have for now. The two of you (Jordan and Jeff) that read this blog, if you feel the need to get in on this let me know or if you just happen to have a great week report it in the comments.

Jeff if you haven’t unsubscribed already I’ll be posting again soon.