Writing you into a bloody pulp

Just finished up some stuff for work and now I'm sitting here watching the MLB playoffs and trying to get a post in before going to bed.  Seems like there just isn't enough time in the day to do the things you want to do.  Ideally I'd have time each day to read, write, exercise, watch some sports, cook a nutritious and tasty dinner using produce that I grew myself, work on some skill or hobby, hang out with friends, work on the house, and shower at some point.  In addition to all that I'd love to have a couple dogs, but that would require feeding the dogs, walking the dogs, training the dogs, etc.  You have to pick and choose where you'll invest your time each day, and try to find the best balance possible.  Multi-tasking has its limits.  Of course, I could just give up working and survive on my savings for a couple months.  Perhaps it would be so intriguing that a book could be written about it, and then the success of the book would prompt a reality show in which I would continue living the same way.  Yes, yes, this is an excellent plan.  The scenes of me blogging would be riveting.

Watching the playoffs, you see repeat commercials night-to-night while the games are on.  One in particular has me rather puzzled.  It's a commercial for a van or SUV.  It starts out with some kids saying to another kid "Hey Parker!  Wanna race home?  Bet I can beat'cha!"  Parker then takes off running, and the other kids are running after him.  At one point it looks like Parker is hiding behind a tree breathing heavily, so I assume the idea is that the kids are bullies chasing him, and the original comment about beating him home was a taunt, like "Start running kid, and if we catch you it'll go poorly for you."  Okay, so nothing too confusing thus far.  But when Parker reaches home, his mom is waiting in the SUV/van with the back hatch open, and Parker dives in!  Then, Parker proceeds to buckle up, and his mom turns and says something like "Hey sweetie!" or "There you are!" or something similar that indicates she is not surprised at all that her son just dove into the back of her vehicle!  Finally, the mom backs the vehicle out of the driveway, and Parker grins at the bullies sitting by the sidewalk as the vehicle drives away.  A few basic questions:

1. Why does Parker's mom wait for him in the driveway at their house, in her vehicle?
2. Why does Parker's mom leave the back hatch of her vehicle open while she is sitting in the driver's seat in the driveway?
3. Why is Parker's mom not surprised when Parker dives into the back of the vehicle?
4. Why does Parker's mom immediately drive away after Parker reaches home, as opposed to just picking him up at school, like a sane person would do?

Now, it's possible that this bizarre series of events in the latter portion of the commercial would make sense with a different interpretation of the first part of the commercial.  But what other interpretation is available that isn't bizarre in its own right?  I'm being serious when I say that this commercial perplexes me to the point of real anger.  Commercials for major corporations always go through some kind of approval process with marketing executives or senior managers or something, and I find it extremely hard to believe that nobody had similar questions when this commercial was being presented.  Wasn't there some scowling 60-year old man with a gruff voice sitting at a conference table wearing a pinstripe suit asking "Why the hell did the kid dive into the back of the van?!"

This past weekend we celebrated Nate's day of birth by going to Nida's for dinner.  I've determined that Nida's is my favorite restaurant on High Street (I would still say CBC is my favorite in Columbus).  Nida's is great for the following reasons:

1. The food is always good
2. The service is always good
3. The price is reasonable
4. The atmosphere is fun, relaxing, and pleasant, all at the same time
5. You can dress nice to go there if you want, but it's not necessary
6. Nida is typically there

Probably 1, and definitely 2, can be attributed in part to 6.  You can't underestimate the factor of the namesake of the restaurant being there, interacting with customers and the employees.  And Nida doesn't just go around chatting people up.  She greets people, seats people, takes reservations, and helps out with the overall service.  Over the weekend Nida's was especially awesome because it was warm outside and the front windows had been retracted, creating an "open" feel between the tables and the sidewalk.  Very nice.  Finally, as if all that isn't enough, the complete name of the restaurant is Nida's Thai on High, which is conveniently clever.

Oh, and on an unrelated note, WHY IS PARKER'S MOM WAITING IN THE DRIVEWAY??!!!!

I listed "exercise" in my list of daily desires at the beginning of this post, and I have to say that exercise has become the activity consistently pushed to the bottom of the list of late.  Soccer on Sundays has now ended, so I can't rely on that for physical activity each week, although even playing soccer provided only the minimal level of exercise (as evidenced by the fact that my muscles ached each Monday following our game, having been stagnant the entire week leading up to the game).  With classes in session I get some natural exercise walking the couple extra miles to and from the business school, but walking doesn't do much for overall fitness, which includes strength and flexibility.  With only about 15 total weeks of class remaining before I'm actually done with my degree, it won't be too long before I've got an extra two free nights each week to work out, run, or engage in some similarly beneficial activity.  But I know that I've got to get back into a regular exercise routine sooner rather than later, because each day of delay makes it that much harder to come back.

There's a gym right down the street from our house with really cheap fees and a decent variety of things to do (weights, swimming, etc).  One of the activities is boxing, and this has given me an idea.  No, I'm not considering taking up boxing.  Are you kidding?  I'm thinking more along the lines of training for boxing.  Rocky-style.  Training montage-style.  Running up stairs-style.  An old school sweatsuit, jumping rope, raw eggs in a glass-style.  Yes, yes, this is an excellent plan.  The "training episode," as it will no doubt come to be known, will be the highlight of season 1 of my reality series.  Now I just need to find a meat locker...

After I finish here, I'm gonna reward myself with a nice dinner at Nida's.  Then I'm gonna write on my blog about how I hit some thighs and then ate some Thai, y'know?  Hey!