My Personal Wellness Profile

A couple of weeks ago, as part of ACU's insurance procedures, I completed a Wellness Profile through Hendrick Health Systems. I've done this every September for about 10 years. Compared to last year, I improved in every category (Coronary Risk, Cancer Risk, Fitness Status, Stress Status, Substance Abuse and Safety Status) except one (Nutritions Status).

One general observation:

1. I improved in Substance Abuse - How is that possible? I don't abuse substances - now or ever. That baffles me unless you consider "substance" a Cranberry Shmirnoff every once in a while. And if that's the case, I probably should have gone down in that category.

However, it was no surprise at all that my nutrition status decreased this year. I eat out almost every meal. So, that got me thinking. When I eat out, I almost always eat the exact same thing. So, I thought I would compile a list of restaurants and what I always get to eat when I go there.

Arbys - #7 with curly fries and a dr. pepper.

Brick Oven Pizza - Bubba's Choice personal pan pizza and a dr. pepper.

Chili's - Either the grilled shrimp alfredo or the chicken fajita nachos. Always chips and hot sauce. Sometimes queso. Sprite.

Quizno's - Small mesquite chicken with bacon sandwich or the classic italian and a dr. pepper.

Whataburger - #5 with fries and a dr. pepper.

Harvest Moon or Panda Express - Sweet and sour chicken with fried rice and a dr. pepper.

Chicken Express - Student special, fries and a dr. pepper.

Subway - Cold cut trio (lettuce, onion, spicy mustard and salt-n-pepper) with pepperjack doritos and a dr. pepper.

Lytle Land and Cattle - Chicken Tenders with cream gravy or grilled chicken, sweet potato with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar and a dr. pepper.

Chick-fil-A - 10 piece nuggets, waffle fries and a dr. pepper.

Betty Roses - Small turkey plate with red beans and cole slaw and a dr. pepper. Sometime banana pudding for dessert.

Outback - Queensland chicken-n-shrimp witha caesar salad and a sprite.

Abuelos, El Chico's, Enrique's, Rosa's, Los Arcos or any other mexican food restaurant on the planet - Two cheese enchilada's (no onions), rice and beans......and an occassional margarita!

Is there any wonder my nutrition status went down this year??? If we are eating together at one of these restaurants and you get there before me, please feel free to order for me!

The Real "America's Team"

Intramurals are a huge part of college life. On any given Monday, Tuesday or Thursday night, you will find hundreds of ACU students on the ACU intramural fields playing and/or watching flag football. There are some pretty incredible athletes at ACU.

However, there are no teams that have the kind of dominance over the rest of the field like the rag-tag group of female employees and coaches that make up the defending champions. Actually, to be more correct, the defending champions in 8 of the last 9 years.

The names may change from year to year as people come and go. Some don't come back because they leave ACU to work elsewhere. Some leave because their knees just can't take the punishment any longer and some because they're having babies! But no one leaves because they get tired of playing.

The 2005 season started on Monday night. On Tuesday, Second Wind took the field in defense of their title. The opposition: The Women of Delta Theta. The DT's are known to have some of the better female athletes on campus.

The DT's received the opening kick-off and after several plays, turned the ball over on downs. Second Wind took the ball on about their own 20 and after one play, the score was 7-0. After a quick DT turover, Second Wind took two plays to make it 14-0. Another DT turnover and one offensive play by Second Wind and the score was 21-0. Then came halftime.

You would think halftime would be a time to discuss strategy. Not with these ladies. Instead, they took the time to INTRODUCE themselves to each other! You see, Second Wind does not practice, they do not draw up plays, they do not arrive to the game 30 minutes early. They simply show up and play.

This year is the 10th year for this group of ladies to play flag football. To my knowledge, they have only lost one game in 9+ years (the championship game several years ago). And maybe even more unbelievable is the fact that they have only been scored on 3 or 4 times in 9+ years.

It's amazing to me how these ladies (some in their 40's!!) can consistently trounce a bunch of 18-22 year old girls who should be in their prime. It's all about heart and fun. And isn't that the morale to most things in life? Play, work, study, etc. with heart and have fun and you will accomplish great things.

Oh yeah, the final score from Tuesday night: 35-0.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow might just be the most important day of 2005. Tomorrow might be the day that determines my level of happiness over the next 18 weeks. Tomorrow is the day I have been preparing for for the last 34 weeks. Tomorrow is.........the beginning of Fantasy Football Season!!

Tomorrow is also Shawna's least favorite day of the year. Tomorrow....all is right in the world again!