New Thing 301, New Thing Every Day: Go to Barnes & Noble and Hide Positive Affirmation Notes in Self-Help Books

This is something I have been planning since the earliest stages of the New Thing project. Honestly, I am not sure where I got the idea -- probably read it somewhere -- but it got even better when my friend Sherry Major gave me one of those desk calendars with a different sheet for each day. The pages have lists of things that make people happy -- Autumn leaves and that sort of thing -- and I thought they would be the perfect vehicle for the positive notes.

So after work today I took 10 of those calendar sheets and wrote a short note on each of them, "Spend your day thinking happy thoughts. You are awesome."

It was actually a little extra fun because the self-help section is right next to a storage closet where lots of staff were working, just a few feet away from me. I had to be very surreptitious to make sure nobody spotted me spreading happy thoughts; obviously, they would have kicked me out.

New Thing 300, New Thing Every Day: Record My New Thing with My iPhone

Yes, this is a pretty lame New Thing, but my computer is down for the count tonight and I had not already done my New Thing.  We will all haut have to live with it.

New Thing 299, New Thing Every Day: Reach the Best Physical Condition of My Entire Life

Tomorrow is my official weekly weigh-in day, but I am pretty excited and don't want to wait to make this declaration.

Looking at my "Road to Healthier", tracking my weight is a central part of it, but please don't get too hung up on that. Since June -- with my MS-related diet that leads to weight loss pretty much no matter what I do -- I have put no extra effort into weight loss, basically allowing that to just happen naturally. It has been exciting, though, to see the weight loss, and the success I have seen there is certainly the most visible evidence of what really is the best physical condition of my life.

Here is why I say "best":

• I grew up an overweight kid, with absolutely no athletic ability and only occasional efforts to improve my physical condition.
• Over the course of my life, there have been points where I have been in better or worse condition -- including a while where I could run 5-6 miles, until my knees got bad -- but getting in shape and healthy has never been the long-term effort it is now.
• As of this morning, with a weigh-in about an hour ago, I have lost 4.0 pounds this week. Yes, this is weird, especially since I have been pretty consistently losing weight for months, but I have been heading in this direction all week. This puts me at a total loss of 40.0 pounds this year.
• With weekly weight lifting, looking at all of the exercises I can do -- all of the usual upper body stuff, keeping in mind that I can't do anything related to my lower body anymore -- I can lift more with every muscle group than ever in my life.
• I can do more push-ups and sit-ups than at any point in my entire life.
• I am pretty consistently doing my regular five miles with my wheelchair at Cosmo park. 
• Remember my improved sleeping? It has been weeks now and I am sleeping MUCH better than I have in over 20 years.

Now that I have reached this point, I will share my actual weight and where I am going. As of this morning, I weigh 199.0 pounds (the least I have weighed in over 10 years, a weight Leigh has never seen me reach). My goal is to get to 167 pounds (which is still 20 pounds heavier than the lowest weight that is considered healthy for my 5'10" height). At that point, I will have to figure out how to eat a lot more calories so I stop losing weight (probably while still eating the way I do, just more). I'll also keep up the exercise, which should continue to accelerate weight loss, as well.

Moving forward, my hope continues to be that there will be improvements to my actual MS symptoms (myelin damage, etc.), keeping in mind that it should take 6-18 months to see any signs of that, if at all. But whether that happens or not, I have already seen a definite improvement to my quality of life and that should only continue to improve. I am grateful and the results make it very easy to stay committed.

Thanks for everybody's support!

New Thing 298, New Thing Every Day: Wheelchair Laps in Sub 40 Degree Weather

I can not remember ever doing significant exercise in really cold weather -- although I am sure it happened a few times when I was younger -- and I absolutely know I have never done l significant wheelchair exercise in the cold. This morning, I went to Cosmo park and did a lap (1.25 miles), and it was 37 degrees.

Really, it was no big deal and I think I will feel comfortable doing future laps when it is as low as 35 degrees. That said, this morning I did use the cold as an excuse to do just one lap, instead of four, but really just because I am lazy.

New Thing 297, New Thing Every Day: Attend the Grand Opening of Barred Owl Butcher

For a chamber of commerce ribbon cutting, today I attended the grand opening of Barred Owl Butcher. If you have not been there, you should absolutely go. It is an old fashioned butcher shop on steroids, with all kinds of incredibly high-quality meats (fresh, smoked-in-house, etc.), fancy cheeses, wine, and a various other things. Everything looks so delicious and artisanal; it really is a a wonderful addition to the Columbia foodscape.

New Thing 296, New Thing Every Day: Officially Propose the Creation of a National Veterans Entrepreneurship Center

This is an idea I have been thinking about for maybe six months and today was the day to pull the trigger. I have written a preliminary proposal -- really, more of a conversation starter -- and sent it to someone I know who might be interested in funding the start-up. Maybe they will, maybe they won't; either way, I have decided to move forward with it.

Here is one of the main sections, so you can see what I am talking about.

Some of the Things We Could Provide Entrepreneurs
Together, we could build a comprehensive entrepreneurship program, focused on veterans and members of the military. We would provide education, networking opportunities, and vast information resources. The entrepreneurs who work with us will be more likely to succeed.
•    Educational events/seminars/programs, teaching both introductory and advanced entrepreneurship
•    In-seat and online curriculum
•    Business consulting services
•    Links to valuable alliances (organization, governmental, with other companies and entrepreneurs, etc.)
•    Wealth of online resources (housed within the Columbia College website)

Now, we will see how how it goes!

New Thing 295, New Thing Every Day: Decide to Do HerTomorrow Silver (Event)

On the heels of HerTomorrow, a successful event of a few weeks ago, I have taken on Adonica Coleman as a leadership partner and we are preparing to take the event national. Today, we decided to also launch a niche event -- HerTomorrow Silver -- focusing on women 65+. We already have a date and everything. I am pretty excited!

New Thing 294, New Thing Every Day: Make Gluten-Free Turkey Meat Balls

I make totally delicious turkey meatballs. Honestly, I think this is a key reason Leigh married me. And over the course of our marriage, I have just gotten better and better, ensuring that she sticks around.

Unfortunately, a major ingredient is bread crumbs and I know longer eat bread crumbs.

Desperate, I have been trying to figure out what I could do to recreate my delicious meatballs, but without breadcrumbs, eggs, or cheese. Tonight, I finally decided to add almond flour as a filler and a bit of a binder. Were they delicious? No, but they were pretty good, and I feel like I am on a path to creating a new recipe that will help me keep Leigh around for another 49 years. That is my goal.

New Thing 293, New Thing Every Day: Try Photo Filters on Myself

The kids are doing this kind of thing all the time, so I figured it was about time for me to give it a try.

New Thing 292, New Thing Every Day: Finish My First MBA Class

This is it, folks, probably the last New Thing from my MBA experience. Just a few minutes ago, I got the grade for my very first MBA class, for International Business (an A). It was a fun class and I learned a lot; it makes me look forward to my next class (which starts tomorrow!).

New Thing 291, New Thing Every Day: Attend the Entire MU Homecoming Parade

[Did it Saturday; posted it Sunday.]

Growing up, I certainly went to parades in our small Kentucky town, but I was never a big parade kid. At MU and after, I stopped by very few homecoming parades, and never watched more than a few minutes of one. This year, for the first time, I went with college friends, sitting right in front of the Student Union Building, and it was very fun. I loved seeing the bands, and the kids, and the floats, and everything. I knew lots of people walking and driving the parade, so that was also very cool. I guess it took an hour or so, and I am so glad I hauled myself out of bed at 7:00 am and went.

New Thing 290, New Thing Every Day: Return Clothes Because They are Too Large

[Did it Friday; posted it Sunday.]

I think it is entirely possible that I have never returned clothes of any type, for any reason -- I just do not return things -- but I am absolutely sure that I have never returned clothes because they were too large. In this case, Leigh had bought me two new pairs of blue jeans; with my weight loss, they were too large and needed to be exchanged, so I did. I took the back to Gap and actually got 98-cents back, in addition to the jeans. It was very exciting.

New Thing 289, New Thing Every Day: Celebrate Our Better Business Bureau's 100th Birthday

I am a big supporter of BBB and today I really was happy to attend our 100th birthday party, in St. Louis. With a nod to hard core BBB history, the birthday luncheon was held at the Statler Hotel at the Marriott St. Louis Grand -- the location of the very first BBB office in Missouri. The large banquet hall was totally sold out, and it was very cool to be with all of those people, celebrating something I think is important. It was a good day.

New Thing 288, New Thing Every Day: Totally Finish My First MBA Class

Well, this represents one of the last times I get to use my MBA activities as a New Thing. I have done the first test, the first paper, the first day of class, and a few other things. After this, maybe there will be one or two other things that could count, but I am pretty much done.

And I am so excited!

I really am enjoying my MBA and am learning a lot. I will be done in early 2019, and maybe after that I should just become a professional student. Would somebody pay me for that?

New Thing 287, New Thing Every Day: [Read or I will Seem Small] Attended the Columbia Daily Tribune Women in Business Awards and Had Them Not Mention Me from the Stage

Yes, I know this could sound really petty of me, but it it is not about that. Really!

Nine years ago, I had the idea to create the Women in Business Awards, pitched it to the Columbia Daily Tribune, and then ran it for the first three years. Then, six years went by and I was not involved at all, but when I was able to attend, the MC always mentioned my role in originating the event. It was totally not necessary, but it felt good.

This year, almost all of the old Tribune leaders are gone and there is basically nobody left who knows what my involvement was.

So, here's the thing... yes, there is a small part of me that would have liked to get the recognition. Honestly, though, the biggest part of me is pretty excited. What I like to do is start things that can exist without me, and today was a perfect example of that working. It will be exciting to see how the event moves forward and continues to develop.

New Thing 286, New Thing Every Day: Celebrate Las Margaritas' Fifth Anniversary

[Did this Monday; posted Tuesday.]

There are some great Mexican restaurants in Columbia, but Leigh and I agree that Las Margaritas is the best, by pretty far. With that in mind, it was particularly fun to support them by attending their celebration. I need to go back and get some Guacamole Mexicano!

New Thing 285, New Thing Every Day: Buy and Read Men's Health Magazine

My entire life, I have never been the kind of person who reads health and fitness magazines of any kind. As may not be surprising, I just have not given much thought to these issues, and I am generally less interested in super macho male kinds of things. Today, I was at the store and the magazine caught my eye, and I am thinking a lot about health and fitness these days, so I picked it up. Reading it, there were all kinds of interesting articles about getting in shape, tasty food, having great sex, fashion, and cool products -- all things I like.

That said, reading this kind of thing on a regular basis is still probably not my cup of tea and I will most likely not become a regular reader of Men's Health magazine.

New Thing 284, New Thing Every Day: Go to Las Magaritas, Eating What I Eat Now

Since becoming one of those incredibly annoying people who abstains from eating a wide range of things (gluten, dairy, sugar/all sweeteners, fried food, corn, etc.), I have not been to Las Margaritas, my and Leigh's favorite Mexican restaurant. You can imagine how hard this makes it to eat Mexican. We finally went tonight, and it made me so happy. We were able to get both of my favorite foods -- Guacamole Mexicano and Mocajete Ranchero (minus chips, tortillas and cheese) -- and dinner was totally delicious.

New Thing 283, New Thing Every Day: Go to Anheuser-Busch Brewery

[From Friday, posted Saturday.]

Friday was BBB Fun Day, where we take half the day off to do something fun with the whole team in St. Louis. This was my third one, and the others really were great, but this was probably my favorite. We started with lunch and then went on a full tour -- beer production and then bottling. It really was very cool and every good Missourian should totally see it.

New Thing 282, New Thing Every Day: Introduce a Billionaire to Speak

I have introduced an awful lot of people to speak for an awful lot of things in my life -- the best was probably Barack Obama for a fundraiser -- but I have never introduced a billionaire. Tonight, as part of the REDI Entrepreneur Speaker Series, I introduced Jeff Hoffman, Priceline Billionaire. It was extremely cool.

Here is his bio.

Jeff Hoffman is a successful entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, published author, Hollywood film producer, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album in 2015. He has been the founder of multiple startups, has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and has served as a senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known companies, including Priceline.com. uBid.com, ColorJar, and more.

Jeff serves on the boards of companies in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia, supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in more than 150 countries. He also serves on the boards of Global Entrepreneurship Week and The Unreasonable Group. He supports the White House, the US State Department, the United Nations, and foreign governments on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship.

Jeff is a frequent keynote speaker, having been invited to speak in over 50 countries, on the topics of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business leadership. He is the co-author of the book SCALE, a how-to guide for growing your business. Jeff also teaches innovation workshops to major corporations on a regular basis. Jeff is a featured business expert seen on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg News, CNBC, ABC, and NPR, and in publications including Forbes, Inc., Time, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and more.

Jeff received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the national CEO council for his contributions to the field of entrepreneurship, and he received the Champion of Entrepreneurship Award from JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, and Rising Tide Capital, as well as receiving the George Brown Award for International Cooperation.

Outside of the world of technology, Jeff has produced movies, has produced musical events including concerts, tours, and charity events with such artists as Elton John, Britney Spears, NSYNC, and others, and serves on numerous charity and non-profit boards.

New Thing 281, New Thing Every Day: Pan Fry a Steak

Yes, I am about to turn 47 and I have never pan fried a steak. Tonight, I took a Delmonico we bought at Schnucks, got a cast iron pan, added some clarified butter/ghee, seasoned it on both sides with garlic salt and pepper, and cooked it for a total of about eight minutes, flipping it every minute.

Yes, it was totally delicious.

New Thing 280, New Thing Every Day: Attend Victoria Brees' Farewell at the Chamber

Victoria Brees has been at the chamber for eighteen years, and she is awesome. She has done so much for our community, for so long, and now her role is totally changing. From the chamber, she is going to Landmark Bank, and she will be sorely missed.

This evening was her farewell party. It was an honor to take part in it.

New Thing 279, New Thing Every Day: Learn About the World's Least Visited Country, Nauru

Last recorded in 2011, Nauru had just 200 tourists during the year.

Excerpt from https://garfors.com/2013/01/the-25-least-visited-countries-in-world-html/

Why so few?
Nauru is a tiny island nation in the Pacific. The smallest republic in the world covers only 21 square kilometers. There is almost nothing to see there as most of the island (there’s only one) is a large open phosphate mine. Only one airline serves the island. You also need a visa to be allowed in, and the country doesn’t have many embassies abroad.

Why you may still want to visit
The beaches surrounding the island are beautiful and “proper” Pacific style. The coral reefs surrounding Nauru makes it great for diving or fishing. There are however only 10,000 people in the country, huge unemployment and virtually no nightlife. There are two hotels, one “posh” on the beach and one “in town.”
 
What else?
This is the only country in the world without a capital. Yaren is the biggest community, and therefore acts as the de facto capital. There’s even an internet cafe next to the police station, so you can update your statuses. The problem is that hardly anyone even heard about the place, so you are unlikely to get any praisal. Expect “Nauru? Is that upstate?” responses.

New Thing 278, New Thing Every Day: Do Five Miles in My Wheelchair at Cosmo Park

My original plan was to get to three laps (3.75 miles), by the end of the year, and call it good. But just one more lap would put me at five miles, which seemed like a good, round number, so I decided to push it. Five miles is where I will stay for the foreseeable future, and probably forever (trying to do that every Saturday and Sunday morning).

Sometime soon, I will officially declare myself to be in the best shape of my life, which I probably am right now, but I want to get to a certain weight that I think will cement that status (awesome, sure, but also just a little sad, because I am not really in that great a shape).

New Thing 277, New Thing Every Day: Get Caught in a Heavy Rain, Doing Wheelchair Laps

I left early this morning to try to get my three laps (3.75 miles) in and beat the rain, but I did not make it. About a quarter of the way into the third lap, the rain started, and got harder, and I got pretty soaked. I had taken my Columbia Chamber rain coat, found a little shelter under a tree, and put it on, so that helped. I still got pretty wet, though, which I suppose transformed it from exercise into adventure.

New Thing 276, New Thing Every Day: Meet with the Guys at Local Startup Kolu

[Yesterday's New Thing, reported today.]

One of my favorite things to do is meet with startup folks. After work yesterday I got together for a chat with Alex Winkler and Riley de Leon, leaders at travel app Kolu (www.koluapp.com), to learn about what they are doing and to see if there are ways I can be helpful. I am no expert, but I like what they are doing -- providing a matching service for travelers and people who want to act as tour guides in their own cities; it is like the Uber for tour guides. Kolu is having some very cool early success, and I would be happy to help them in any way I can (meager though that may be).

New Thing 275, New Thing Every Day: Visit Jasany Home

This was for a pretty standard chamber ribbon cutting and it was very cool cool. Jasany Home is a new interior design and furniture store and it really is very cool. The have incredible furniture and art and pretty much everything that goes with it. Go.

New Thing 274, New Thing Every Day: Attend the Boone County Historical Museum Hall of Fame Gala

This event has been going for a long time and I have had plenty of chances to go, but never did. I am so glad I went last night! Our friend Carolyn Paris invited us to join her, so we kind of had to. As if that was not enough, I wanted to be supportive of Executive Director Chris Campbell... and we needed to support board president Wilson Beckett... and it turned out our friends Darwin and Axie Hindman were being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Yes, it was a big night, and I am so glad we were there.

New Thing 273, New Thing Every Day: Help Give Away Five BBB TORCH Awards

Yeah, I helped give away four BBB TORCH Awards last year, but I am leaving BBB this year, so the whole things seems extra special and I am proud to have been a part of it. I really am a true believer in the BBB way, promoting trust in the marketplace, and today was a big day for me. Also, five is technically a first (and probably last), and I am going to count it as a New Thing.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, businesses are awarded BBB TORCH Awards for setting high standards for ethics and customer service. Cool, huh?

Congratulations to our winners:
Buchroeder's Jewelers
Keeping Good Company
Logboat Brewing Company
The Pinball Company
Schaefer Autobody

New Thing 272, New Thing Every Day: Get on Tumblr

Honestly, I have only barely known what Tumblr is, but it is a pretty big deal for some people, so I finally checked it out this evning. I am pretty sure this is the first time I have even been to the site. It is, by the way, a site of blogs (for pretty much everything).

Now, I have an account and the the site knows a bit about my information preferences (technology, food, and news). We'll see if my involvement goes beyond tonight.

New Thing 271, New Thing Every Day: Watch Shark Tank with Richard Branson

Yes, I am kind of a Shark Tank super fan (as you may know, I even flew to Las Vegas to apply for the show!). Tonight, Shark Tank is a two-hour episode, and Richard Branson appeared in the first hour. He was interesting and a little weird (threw water on Mark Cuban at one point). He was an interesting guest shark and I hope he appears on the show again at some point. Either way, I am looking forward to the season.

New Thing 270, New Thing Every Day: Buy Wheelchair Gloves

 [Happened Saturday. Posted Sunday.]

Now that I am doing 3.75 miles twice a week using my wheelchair, I have finally broken down and bought wheelchair gloves. Soon, I hope to bump it up to 5 miles (and then stay there!). Yes, the gloves make a big difference, in terms of hand comfort.

Oh, and I got them at Walmart, where all of the exercise gloves are from Gold's Gym. Yes, they make me feel very muscular.

New Thing 269, New Thing Every Day: Host the Inaugural HerTomorrow Event

[Finished Friday, Posted Sunday]

HerTomorrow (www.HerTomorrow.com) is an incredible event that I have been working on since March. Our goal was to bring together a group of incredible, diverse women, sharing speeches about the things that are important to them. We built a high-powered host committee, which helped us get to a powerful roster of speakers, which helped us fill a room at Columbia College and deliver an impactful day. It was my honor to be involved, and I am looking forward to the next step.

Special thanks to sponsors Columbia College, Hawthorn Bank, EveryEventGives, and 34th Street Marketing.

Thanks also to our host committee: Kathleen Bruegenhemke (Chair and event MC), Mary Ropp, Jaime Friedrichs, Jaime Palmer, Amy Schneider. Adonica Coleman, Suzanne Rothwell, Angela Hooper-Menifield, Jan Grossmann, Lydia Melton. Lindsay Lopez, Carolyn Sullivan, Nickie Davis, Laura Hacquard, Cathy Atkins, and Valerie Zumwalt.

And to our speakers: Cyndi Frisby, Adonica Coleman, Cheryl Unterschutz, Verna Laboy, Anna Haney, Bini Sebastian, Charity Goodwin, Janice Dawson-Threat, Kas Jacquot, Linda Godwin, Mason Aid, and Rachael Sparks.

Please like HerTomorrow on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/HerTomorrowUSA/