FAIL: I Lost My Wedding Ring Snorkeling in Maui

On our tropical vacation, I managed to make the most cliché mistake ever -- losing my wedding ring while snorkeling. I'm not as upset as I am surprised I let that happen. While Amanda and I were walking down to the beach to go snorkeling, I commented that I should have left it back up at the condo. We shrugged it off. It didn't take more than two minutes in the water before I realized the ring was no longer on my finger.

There are three likely fates for the ring:

1. It's lost forever and belongs now to the sea, like Captain Jack Sparrow.

2. Some creepy guy with a metal detector finds it when the tide is low within the next three months. The ring is then promptly sold to a pawn shop for $50. A local 17-year-old girl buys the ring for $90 for her boyfriend to celebrate their first anniversary. Two months later, they break up and the boyfriend throws the ring back out into the sea out of anger and resentment. Repeat.

3. In some distant future, after earth has been abandoned and the oceans have evaporated, a humanoid finds the ring on an exploratory mission for remaining signs of life. The ring is appraised for three times its original value on a syndicated entertainment show called "Pawn Stars," as predicted by Jimmy Hickey.

So anyway, I'll probably pick up a couple inexpensive, ceramic rings to replace it. You can get some great deals for them on eBay.

In all seriousness (though I am seriously replacing it via eBay), I am super bummed not to have my ring. It is just a plain white-gold band, not of any significant monetary value and about as common as a white guy winning American Idol, but it was important to me.

When we were still in the water, I apologized profusely to Amanda.

Without much emotion she replied, "The ring isn't sentimental. The marriage is." She dunked back into the water and continued exploring the seabed.

And with that wisdom, I followed her lead.

Sciatica is a Pain in the Ass

Well, more a pain in the lower back and right leg. I have self-diagnosed myself with sciatica. Remember, I worked a half-second in healthcare... ok healthcare marketing, but my diagnosis is still legit! All it took was some online research and Dad's genealogical confirmation. Unfortunately, I'm dealing with sciatica at age 29. Dad was in his late thirties before he started having chronic lower back pain.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, sciatica "refers to pain, weakness, numbness, or tingling in the leg. It is caused by injury to or pressure on the sciatic nerve. Sciatica is a symptom of another medical problem, not a medical condition on its own... Sciatica occurs when there is pressure or damage to the sciatic nerve. This nerve starts in the lower spine and runs down the back of each leg. This nerve controls the muscles of the back of the knee and lower leg and provides sensation to the back of the thigh, part of the lower leg, and the sole of the foot."

I have all that and a bag of chips.

I'm fairly sure a lower back injury four years ago is haunting me. Back then, I had muscle spasms after a session of running stairs near Golden Gardens in Seattle. I was out for a couple days and the pain was excruciating. This time, the culprit is a crappy indoor soccer field in Tacoma where I played early morning indoor soccer most of the winter wearing crappy shoes. The pain wasn't terrible, but enough to make me stop playing indoor soccer.

But I can't stop playing soccer altogether. After a 10-year break, I am really enjoying getting back into the sport and competing in the men's league with a bunch of guys out of high school and college. My game is still good and rather excellent considering the length of hiatus and youth of my teammates and competitors. These youngsters can run fast, but they don't have the fundamentals or vision of the game. Advantage: Paolo.

Hence, I continue to aggrevate my back week after week on those Sunday soccer games. A common recommendation for minimizing sciatica is to stay active. It's not something that you sit and wait to heal. I just don't know if running balls out (not literally) for 90 minutes is exactly aligned with that advice.

My mind is WAY ahead of my body when it comes to playing soccer week after week. Because I am conscious of this, I make sure to warm-up and stretch before the game and cool down and stretch after the game. I have probably never been so limber, but the recovery period for my back and legs gets longer and longer.

I'm limping around on Tuesday after a big game Sunday. I notice it the most when I get out of the car at work after the 75-minute drive out to Ashford. I have to "shake out" my right leg to get it going when I climb out of the Jeep. It all gets back to the sciatica and the way I sit in certain positions. I've gotten into a good habit (I think) of standing at the coffee bar when I work around Tacoma, so I don't get stuck in a bad sitting posture.

Lately, the sciatica symptoms have improved. I'm not limping or getting shooting pains down my leg as often. Sometimes my sleep positions aggravate my back, but there's not much I can do about that.

The sciatica isn't going away, but neither is my ambition to stay active through it and minimize its impact. I'm aiming and training for a Rainier summit this summer, which is a 9,000-foot elevation gain and something like 17 miles roundtrip carrying a 20-40 lb. backpack (depending on the leg of the climb) over two days. Many people have more physical disadvantages or ailments than I do. I figure I might as well take advantage of the otherwise good health I have, while I have it!

Sciatica symptoms will be annoying, but they're more motivating to stay healthy than slow down.

Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing Project: Complete

There's still work to be done in the kitchen -- countertops, sink, tile backsplash -- but I'm calling the cabinets done. It's been a long time coming, from yellow to mellow, but I think this red mahogany stain will be the last shade of color these cabinets wear so long as I own them. The kitchen cabinet refinishing project is complete!

I started the project late last summer getting the top cabinets stripped, sanded, stained and finished, and I completed the lower cabinets last week to surprise Amanda while she was in Indiana. I also took the liberty of picking a new paint color for the walls that I like so much I'm painting the guest bathroom and mudroom the same color. I'd say this leg of the project took me about 25 hours over the course of a week. With all the new appliances we've collected and what's coming with the countertops and finish work, this will be a completely new kitchen by the time we're done!

It wasn't all pretty. I had to turn the guest bathroom into a work room because it was a little too cold to work outside, and our kitchen was transplanted to the dining room for a couple days.

Here are a couple more before and after photos:

Every time I took a break, Fabrizio would look at me like "You know Amanda is going to be home soon!"

Here's the new paint color for the walls.

Of course, I got new hardware.

And flowers in the planter jar wall display to welcome Amanda home. Done!

Photos: Dog Bath

"Mercy?"

"OK, you win."

"Brr."

"It's like I'm waterproof."

"Where's my doggy conditioner?"

"Ahh."

"Shake!"

"Shake!"

"Shake!"

"Clean dogs go crazy!"

"Ahh!"

"!!!"

"Still crazy!"

"OK, now I'm winded."

"Do I look clean enough for you yet?"

"How about now?"

"Thanks for the help, Amanda."

The Gold Birthday - All Gold Everything

It's my gold birthday! How do you like my gold birthday suit?

Amanda told me about this solar eclipse-like, once-in-a-lifetime "gold birthday" when you turn the same age as your birthdate. In other words, I turned 29 on March 29th!

What feels different this year? Frankly, I'm feeling a little more brittle than before. I've had some serious lower back problems, lingering shoulder problems and digestion issues that don't pair well with breakfast. I've focused more on diet and exercise to counteract that which is slowly fading away: youth.

And I must sound like an old man because despite these physical offsets, I feel as good as ever spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and creatively. I'm incredibly thankful for my wife and 2.0 pets. I've got an amazing job and lifestyle. As Matt Wood would say, "I'm living the dream."

I have one more year to squeeze out of my 20s, so I'm going to make the most of that. And I'm going out just as loud as I came in. (Thanks to Soulja Boy for the theme music, also got to bump my favorite birthday song by Vitamin D.)