observations

I noticed as I was running this morning that I always start counting my strides with the left foot. Band nerds forever!

And, I've also noticed that on the show "24", that beep-beep sound with the ticking clock is inconsistent. Sometimes the lower-pitched beep will be on the odd numbers with the higher pitched-beep on the even numbers. (This is my preference, by the way, it's like a metronome.) But then when it comes back from commercial break, the beeps are reversed, with the higher beep on the even numbers.

That bugs me. Who's with me on this?

Still going...

Well, I haven't quit yet. Nearly through week two of C-to-5K. 90 seconds running, two minutes walking. (This is actually week three for me, because I started even slower than the program suggests, based on my, uh, "biometric feedback"...) I think I will do one more of these before graduating to three minutes.

Oh, and 14 push-ups. Doesn't sound that impressive, but it feels like a lot when you're a wimp. And I started at 10, so this is progress.

Also have been much better with the diet. Weight is down a little, but I'm not sure if it's statistically significant. So I'll keep that number to myself and report back when I get to a certain target which I think I can take all the credit for. There are no persistent aches and pains, so I think the easy, gradual approach with alternating days of only walking is definitely working. And Smoochy likes the walking days too, because she gets to come. I only missed one morning, because of rain, so I went in the evening instead. Then skipped the next day altogether (yesterday) to allow plenty of rest before running again today. I think C-to-5K allows for days off to be no exercise at all, but the book I read (but didn't buy... don't you hate people who treat Borders like a public library?... oh well, I had a long break on jury duty...) says to walk on days off so you do something aerobic every day, and that's been my approach. I am no longer short of breath, and I can keep the rosary going. While walking, that is. Not really able to talk while running, and also busy counting my strides.

By the way, it's been COLD here lately, especially at 5:30 AM. I wore the fuzzy bunny earmuffs this morning and that helped.

Anyway, I'm not going to call myself a "runner" yet, but I'm satisfied with the progress.

Breaking the silence...

Well, that title is sort of misleading... Daddio has posted a few times... but over the last few weeks I've taken a blogging hiatus. It is has been nice, no writing, no reading... just taking care of other things in my life. Well, that and the notion that if don't have anything nice to say... don't say anything at all... and for the most part of the this month that is where I've been.

Life has been difficult! School has been tedious with the boys, one of dogs had to have surgery for mammary tumors and had issues getting back to good health post surgery... and I've been sick (no real surprise there with me and the start of a new year, oh and I fell and busted up my knee... also no real surprise for those who know me and know that body likes to knock out our family deductible right at the beginning of the year).

While things have been tough, I am definitely seeing light at the end of the tunnel... and so is the rest of the household. The boys are a lot more adjusted to our new schedule and routine, the dog is better, and while I still feel REALLY crummy (thanks to a sinus infection that won't go away and my ears still messing with now three weeks past appt.)... our vacation is now a real part of our future!

WHAT??? I'm already talking about summer vacation... oh heck yeah... I am READY!

Every January when we do our taxes, we plan out our vacation... for the past 6 glorious years we have spent our summer vaca in Port Aransas. We love it there, all of the houses we've rented have been lovely, the beach is lovely, it's never crowded... and we LOVE IT (did I mention that part)! It is the image of the beach that gets all of us through the final push of school! This year is certainly no exception.

This is also the time we explore new beach locations for our summer trip. So far, we always come back to Port A... this year we are feeling exceptionally adventurous though (well I won't speak for Daddio, but I am :-). I'm not going to give out the details just yet... but I look forward to sharing later on :-).

I'm a tease... I know :-).

Boring diet/exercise post

Most people keep their weight loss goals to themselves. If they fail, they feel foolish for having shared. And if they start to have some success, they are afraid to "jinx" their good fortune. But, as my wife pointed out yesterday, jinxes are for pagans. So I will go ahead and say it. I have walked and/or run almost two miles every morning for a week.

I had lost 25 lbs by last May purely from gluten free diet. But I have gained back 10 since then. I decided that the diet was a big help, and I probably would lose more again by just sticking to it better, but I will need some actual exercise as well to get to my long term goal. I am in my thirties after all... well, I'm only thirTY, she is almost in her thirTIES. ;)

Also, a book that my men's group studied recently has inpired me. It's called "Boys to Men: The Transforming Power of Virtue", and it draws heavily on the various scriptural references to running races, perseverence, endurance, etc. That, and the scale ticking back over 230 again, led me to get my act together.

I tried this before a couple years ago and it didn't stick. It hurt too much in my knees and shins. I'm pretty sure I overdid it. This time, I am attempting to train properly and gradually, following the "Couch Potato to 5K" regimen.

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

In fact, I started even slower than that, only 30 seconds running at a time. I read somewhere that if you get too winded to speak, then you're pushing too hard, and 30 seconds seemed to be my pathetic starting point. I want to be awesome right away, but I know it will take time to do it right and avoid pain and frustration. And, I don't want to be too over-exerted to say my morning prayers as I go. So, that's the plan.

I chose running because:

1) It's free

2) I want to be thin and have endurance, not bulk up for short bursts of physical strength (although I am going to throw in a few push-ups for good measure)

3) I'd like to get the boys into it, too. I'm not sure at what age track or cross-country type running begins in school, but I want to be in shape and bring them with me eventually. It would be fun, and a good way for us to begin our days together. Plus, I think track would be a good sport for them, because they are, and probably will remain, too small for football and basketball. (Although that Boykin dude was pretty fun to watch as the Mavs beat the Wizards last night.)

So, don't wish me luck - wishes are for pagans! - but pray for temperance and fortitude.

Political tidbits

It appears that both of the Texas gubernatorial Republican candidates have their problems. But the endorsement of the Texas Home School Coalition is, I think, an important one that carries a lot of weight with me. Read it here:
http://www.rightintexas.com/2009/09/thsc-pac-endorses-governor-perry.html

Interesting thought on how Ted Kennedy may have blown Obamacare, by not retiring for health reasons and passing the torch to a younger and better liberal candidate when he had the chance.
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/01/19/obamas-unicorn-of-hope-and-change-died-under-the-weight-of-ted-kennedys-ego/
(I hope the old, liberal Supreme Court Justices also cling to their pride until we have a new President.)

You know, if politicians were allowed to get married, these things wouldn't happen…
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/01/21/the-soap-opera-of-john-edwards/

I am me and you are not

Apparently some doofus who shares my first initial and last name has a hard time remembering that his email address is not my email address. In fact, there are several such doofuses.

(We are still avoiding real names here. Maybe someone could easily hack us and figure it out, but we have privacy concerns with our adopted children. So, for illustrative purposes, let's say I am John Doe.)

My user ID is "jdoe". Popular choice, apparently. I am THE jdoe, and I registered that user name with our email and internet provider, our banks, our utility companies, etc. I know, it's a great email address. That's why I picked it out 13 YEARS AGO. It's mine, and you can't have it. All you other J. Doe's will need to come up with a new user ID. You are going to have to be jdoe2, jkdoe, jdoecoolguy79822, jdoeloveskitties, whatever. I am jdoe, and you are not.

Jane Doe accidentally signed me up for her pastor's weekly email newsletter. I hope he doesn't think Jane is rude for never responding to the pledge drive.

Joseph Doe signed me up for some porn. Thanks a lot.

Joanna Doe gave my email address to her friends, and I got invited to a baby shower in California. I RSVP'd, of course, I figured it was the polite thing to do. I hope Joanna brought that cheese ball I volunteered us for.

One of these fools keeps screwing up my online banking login. Too many failed attempts, and I get an email that I need to reset my password again. Hey, doofus, if you want to go in and pay my bills instead of your own, I'll try to work something out. Otherwise, please remember that you are NOT jdoe.

Most recently, one Jake Doe signed up on Facebook with my email address. I do not use the Facebook. That is another post for another day. So, imagine my surprise when I received a friend request from my mom. Try to follow me here. Jake Doe used my email address (jdoe at email dot com), but his own name. This is where it gets crazy. One of our sons happens to also be named "Jake". So my mother sees what she believes to be my son's name on the internet and asks to be his "friend". He also has friend requests from a few people in our community band, and a few others. Seven, altogether. He's a popular kid, apparently.

Folks, do you really think that we would put our son on Facebook?! At age nine? There are no photos or other details. So the only identifying personal information on Jake's profile is:

1) His name is Jake

2) He was born in 1983

3) He is gay

None of those things tipped you off that you might have the wrong person? My head hurts.

By the way, "friend" is not a verb. Neither is "text". That is all.

Once every decade you might want a fireplace!

Good and blistery cold morning to all! It is a mild (ha ha ha) 23.9 degrees here (and dropping so they claim) with a lovely and cozy wind chill of 11 degrees! Sarcastic much... NEVER! Oh and the wind... a little breezy if you will... north winds at 20-30 mph, but hey by afternoon they will settle to around 15-25 mph... something to look forward to! We aren't even supposed to get above freezing till maybe Saturday, but most likely Sunday. Nice!

Here's the funny part... we live in TEXAS! This is not normal, and while I am not an alarmist by nature... everyone else is around here. Oh yes, people were standing in long lines at the grocery stores buying supplies (as per the ridiculous news story: water bottles and canned soup were the big ticket items!). To add to the stupid news stuff... they actually had a list of warnings:

• layer clothes
• coats

Right, because we as a society are so completely in dark as to what to do when we walk outside and feel the cold air against our skin... that we NEED TO BE TOLD TO WEAR A COAT! Nice!

Oh, here is the other fun fact for the day... tomorrow we will wake up to a low of somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-13 degrees, with a wind child of -3 or -4! First, that's COLD! Second once you get to zero do we really need to go down to negatives. Why can't we just say, "if you go out in this crap you might die!", I think that might be more effective :-). I mean that is how everyone is acting... might as well come out and say it.