The Menthol Mixup

This past week menthol has been my new favorite alcohol. The amount of cough drops and vapor rub that I've used has made me a new kind of alcoholic. It's a great smell even when you're not sick, so I'm not that ashamed. (I may need to talk to my bishop about my use of alcohol. Or a dictionary. But that's the chemist in me. Anything with an -OH group is going to be an alcohol to me.)

I actually really liked the smell as a kid. Smell is said to be the sense linked strongest to memory. We've always had that menthol rub at home for when we get sick. Another menthol product that I really like is IcyHot. Now's the real story time.

Back when I was about 4 or 5, my dad used to play in a church softball league. He jokes that he didn't play that hard ("I would wait and see if the ball would hit the ground and make it out of the infield before I left the batter's box."), but he still must have had a competitive drive because he always came home super dirty and sore. He would shower and then use two products every night, almost without fail.

My mom would rub IcyHot into his sore muscles (or he would if he could reach), and he would also give his underarms a few swipes of SpeedStick. I love the smell of original Speed Stick, too. To this day it's my preferred brand and scent. To me, those smells still remind me of my dad and his athletic endeavors of his early 30's.

Well to be just like my dad (what young boy doesn't want to be like his father?), I felt I needed to put on deodorant and the muscle rub for whatever activity I had going on that day. The problem is that I didn't know which one went where at that young age. I just knew that they both went on his body and they made him smell good. I learned really quick that IcyHot with its "goes on cool, stays warm" should not go in the armpit area. Cue: burning sensation.

I think I've only ever used IcyHot once since then, possibly during my own baseball years of high school, but I never really threw the ball hard enough to warrant needing the treatment more than once. I do use SpeedStick. Somewhat regularly. I think. There's definitely a time and place for everything.

2017 Highlights

Before it's socially awkward (which is pretty much me to a T anyway, but here goes!) to post about it, I'm going to be optimistic about the new year. 2017 was pretty amazing. A few highlights:

Had a "Copper" birthday (29 yo, element 29, I'm a nerd, you probably already know this.) For those of you that don't have a clue what I'm talking about, I asked people to send me pictures of copper things instead of the plain old "Happy Birthday!" posts everyone likes to post on Facebook. It's so impersonal, so I wanted something different. I'm trying to think of what to have ya'll post for #30. Zinc just doesn't sound very appealing, but completing my 30th trip around Sol has been a good ride.

Learned a new diet. Lost about 30 pounds and I intend to keep it off. I cheat quite frequently because I'm at my goal, but I'd like to keep it off and maybe even get rid of the cookie pouch and other problem areas. I feel good about my body now, something I hadn't felt while I was far less active and eating out of boredom compounded with the stress of school. I've gotten back into the "swing" of things by playing tennis more regularly and I'm just trying to find the motivation/people to do more physical activities.

Speaking of school, I'm a doctor now! I only go by Dr. Lunt on paper (I don't care whether you call me Nathan or Nate or even Brother Lunt, but I don't feel it's necessary to call me Dr. Lunt), but you better believe I definitely earned that degree and title. Pharmacy is a pretty amazing field and I'm glad to be able to help people understand their health and medications. I passed my licensing exams after a bunch more stress and now I'm done with it all, right? Easy Street now? Haha. Yeah, right.

I got a great job right after my license came in. I like working at the San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corp. So many great co-workers and usually a pretty chill work situation. Not right now; too much flu and everything else going on making it seem even more stressful than school ever was. But it's still a great gig and I'll probably stay for many years. It's just a bummer that it's in the middle of nowhere and two hours away from either home.

I was pretty busy with school for the first half of the year, then studying for licensing, then working off my probation status at work, so I haven't done much traveling or fun stuff. I did go to a ton of baseball games this past year during the summer and that was a great experience.

As for my family, I've got a new niece, Leah, and almost a new sister. My brother got back from his mission and proposed to his girlfriend, Josie, but they haven't tied the knot yet. Something I'll be sure to add to the 2018 Highlights.

I had a good holiday season. I had a great time posting about things I was grateful for Thanksgiving. Then the Christmas season was great. I stayed focused on the Savior by listening to mostly hymns and other Christ-centered carols and by reading and listening to scriptures and other words of prophets.

And because everyone seems to want to know, especially when I'm back home, yes, I'm still single. I'm still looking, still working on improving myself to be the best potential husband/father I can be, but I'm okay with where I am in life. Sure, it would be nice to have that Eternal Companion, but I'm not in any rush. I want to get it right and so far I haven't found that special someone. I'll be patient to find her when it's supposed to happen. See "Interested" from 2016 to find out what I'm looking for.

And that's about it. I may have missed a few things, but it's almost January 2nd. I hope 2018 can be just as great, or even better.