Blog Responses: The smell of dirt is.... death, Debating Christ, Eating healthy and Checking your time management

One of the best ways for me to make sure I understand something is to write about it. I felt like reading some blogs, and I want to make sure I'm getting the most from them. Besides, it gives a boost to the other bloggers when I respond to them and perhaps some will respond to my growing accounts here. Last night I set my alarm for 5:30. Got up this morning at 4:50, got some blended black cherry yogurt, sat down and started to read some blog entries others had written.

Came across this entry at This Garden is Illegal. Hannah was talking about how the smell of dirt is so attractive. I too love the smell of dirt. Isn't it wonderful? Apparently the smell is due to the bacteria in the soil dying, so we are smelling death! The soil cannot live in wet soil and its death is signal to us that water is near. Oh, the sweet, sweet smell of death!

The next blog I read was How Not to Attack Evolution over at Thinking Christian. I too have gotten into these conversations about creationism and started to theorize with people about it. I don't think there is a problem about speaking about what you don't know, as long as you inform your debate partners that you don't know. I don't know how creationism was done. I believe only God knows that. I don't know if Genesis is to be read literally, or if it is meant to be a more figurative explanation? I have my theories. I believe that God could have created Earth any way He felt. He could have created evolution along with it, if He so felt. I don't know, and I don't see any reason to hide that fact that I'm clueless on the topic when I debate it. But by debating it, I'm doing two things: one, I'm strengthening my own convictions. I need this, as I am only a weak human who can loose his way (and has). two: I get my "opponent" to think about the topic. They may then go on to read more on the topic and come to a far greater understanding than I could ever imagine. Or they may say "ah, he doesn't know anything" and move on. Either way, he thought about the subject, which was my goal. We do need, however, to make sure we respect each other when we debate. As Tom pointed out, if we take an attacking tone, our opponent is far less likely to listen. If we are respectful of their beliefs, we will be far more likely to make at least a little progress with them.

I was curious about a blog I ran across called Top five tips to healthy meal planning. I am trying to get healthy and I thought I might get some good tips from this. It was not what I expected, but the information is still good. Kavit's point is that if you plan your meals in advance, you will be less likely to eat junk instead of healthy. This is a good point. Elizabeth and I do plan our dinners, but we do not plan breakfast or lunch. I know that Elizabeth often skips meals during the day. Perhaps she would be more inclined to eat, if we had those meals planned as well. I also get up most mornings, prepare for my day, go to the fridge to get a lunch to take with me, see nothing I want and head out. Come lunch time, all I have is a little bag of instant oatmeal that has been sitting in my backpack for 3 months and a bag of instant hot chocolate I was given at Christmas. I then head over to one of the many fast food places around the university. I admit that I usually do eat healthy lunches. I will usually have a ham sandwich from Subway, or a Chicken Fajita Burrito with Black Beans from Chipotle. These are fairly healthy meals, but they can get expensive. The sub is not too bad, less than $5.00... less than $4.00 I think. The burrito is more than $5.00 though. If I could prepare my meals ahead of time, I'd save time and a couple bucks a day.

Last I want to talk about a site I've been reading a lot about lately. Steve Pavlina is a bit of an odd duck that has a lot of good things to say about personal development. He took about a year and a half to finish college and the time management techniques he learned during that very busy time he has helpfully posted for us to read. I've read it and am trying to improve my time management. The one thing I have to say though... if you have a partner, you MUST make sure that you are both on the same page. If Elizabeth does not understand what I'm doing, she will fight me on it. This undermines my efforts to get things done. One of the main reasons I lock myself away when I'm working is because I can concentrate and get it done faster. When Elizabeth comes into the room to talk to me, or just to put some scrap of paper into the recycling, it distracts me. I then have to get back into what I was working on, and this is time taken away from the family at the finish. On the other hand, I have to make sure that I actually do get done and have time to spend with the family. If I spend too much time in here, working on things that Elizabeth is not interested in, then I loose that important quality time with her and Emma. I don't want to miss out on my time with them either, so I have to check myself every once in a while and make sure that I'm on track.