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Choose Sportsjim81! And Life...of course.

WHAM…it’s April.  Did the calendar give you a swift roundhouse kick to your nether regions this morning like mine did?  I mean c’mon, where did the first 3 months of this year go?  Of course if you live in the Northeast (I’m in Maryland so depending on who you talk to, I’m either a northerner or a good ol’ boy), you wouldn’t know it was spring if you looked out your window.  Thankfully no snow here in Baltimore this morning, though the 35 degrees that my car was registering on the drive in made me want to veer sharply into the nearest ditch and just end it all!

On that note, hope your April is off to a good start.  I know it’s only a little more than 10 hours old (Eastern Time, that is.), but mine’s not too shabby so far.  I hopped onto WordPress this morning to check my stats from yesterday (because as we’ve already established, I am a stats junkie), and discovered I had received 90 page views yesterday.  90 views!  For a non-posting day, that’s an all time high for me (not counting the days following my Freshly Pressed appearance, which I think were really just a mirage).

Now for those bloggers out there who churn out well-written, thought-provoking pieces day in and day out, 90 views is probably just an average morning for you.  But for this schlub, it’s pretty freakin’ cool.  I’d like to attribute it to one of two things:

1) A seismic shift in pop culture has suddenly made it cool to write poorly.

or

2) I’ve finally worn down my loyal readers to the point that they’ve given in and passed on my link to their friends and family.

The real reason for the abrupt increase in page views however, is probably neither of these.  Instead, my rise in popularity is likely the result of asking Tori, a very funny and talented fellow blogger, to guest post on my site earlier this week.  My barrage of “thank you’s” and tactically timed, guilt-laden emails have successfully conned her into allowing me to place about a thousand words on her page next week.  My evil plan is working!  Muahahahaha! 

Anyway, along with the improved number of page views came a few new subscribers this week.  This increased my total by like 33%…I’m kind of a big deal now, you know.  With this influx of new readers, I thought I’d change things up a bit for this week’s version of Follow-Up Friday.  For you newbies out there, I usually take this time on Fridays to update everyone on any progress I’ve made during the past week towards my 30 Before 30 list.  This week, having little progress to report, I thought I’d give you my plans for some of these items.  This way, it seems like I’ve done more than I actually have.  You see what I did there?  So, on to Follow-Up Friday!

#1-3: Unlike other items on the list, these three have no specific deadline for completion (other than the Marathon which I will be running on October 15th).  Little progress has been made in my training, but those that know me know that I ran the 2009 race nearly 30 minutes faster than the prior year with almost no training at all.  Not that I recommend that, of course.  Look for updates on my progress to appear soon in upcoming FUF (Follow-Up Friday) posts.

#7: While we haven’t officially purchased tickets yet, we are planning to attend the Red Sox/Blue Jays game at Fenway on April 18th.  We’re taking a little trip to the Cape to visit family around that time and will meet up with some friends of ours in Boston for the game.  Not only will I cross this item off the list, I may also experience another first…scalping tickets for an absurd amount of money!

#11: After several months of stringing you along, I’ve decided to actually plan this one out.  I kept saying that I was going to do it, but never bothered to make any arrangements for babysitting duties.  Maybe I just assumed Iz and the Jakester would accompany me on stage with their background vocals.  I don’t know.  Anyway, this is going to be postponed until summer time so I’ll keep you updated as we get closer.

#12: I am just a few chord changes away from crossing this one off.  Scott feels I have progressed well through the two songs we’ve been working on (“You’ll Think of Me” by Keith Urban and “Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby” by Counting Crows) and so we’ve moved on to practicing scales and melodies.  I’ll wait for Scott to give me the go ahead on this one.  He’s the expert!

#15: I’ll be headed to DC next Wednesday night to catch the Caps in person.  Didn’t think I was going to get around to seeing them this year but a connection at work came up with some tickets.  BAZINGA! (That one’s for you Hack!)

#24: Jen and I will be cruising in the Caribbean over Memorial Day weekend as a gift to ourselves for 5 years of marital bliss.  Four days, three nights of warm weather, food and booze, and no kiddies!  Good Times.

#28: Our trip to Disney is scheduled for the end of September.  How we are getting there is still up in the air.  Our options: 1) Fly down with 2 kids, one of which is old enough to get their own seat (by “get their own seat”, I mean we have to pay for it!), or 2) Take the auto-train; 2 kids trapped in a closet sized “stateroom” for 21 hours.  Hmm…it’s like I’ve won the lottery!

So there’s a few updates for you; some progress that’s been made and some that will be made soon.  Thanks to the newbies, all three of you, for subscribing and look for me over at Tori’s place early next week.  See you then!

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