I’m feeling good about things. How’s that for a new, refreshing way to start a blog post? Why you might ask? I am on a diet. We are minimizing our material purchases. I work at least 14 hours a day. My back is jacked up – I mean bad jacked up. No, those would seem to be reasons that make me unhappy. Every single one of them does, in fact, make me unhappy.

But, I am trying to look at those very same situations in a new light. I’m losing weight and feel much better about myself. Ok, maybe just a little better – but better is better. I like most of the materials that I currently own so don’t desire for much more. I like the work I do, and feel like I make a difference in a great many arenas. My doctor has just about got my back pain to a controllable level.

Blah blah, right? You might say that I just said the same things in a positive light. Big deal. Well, to me it is!! This is a new thing for me. At least a very long lost discipline. Whatever, I have it back to some extent and the days seem brighter, and filled with hope. I’ll take it!

I hear the question, “Want to grab some coffee from the cafe?” less often. It seems to have been replaced with questions like, “You saved that ziploc bag from lunch that you used for your crackers, right?” … Man how I miss breves…

Heidi is taking the same approach to things as well, and things are feeling a lot better as a whole for this family. Even in light of some events I won’t mention that might otherwise depress us quite a bit. Shut up, I said I won’t mention — stop asking. ;)

We’re both hoping our compasses are pointing in a positive direction and that it might have a positive effect on a certain little boy who looks to us for guidance in this scary world…

OH! Here’s a postscript to contrast this entire post… I over heard Heidi tell Rhys to only take three of the chocolate treats she had made (Buckeyes). I walked out and found the plate in front of Rhys with four chocolate blemishes on it.

That indicated to me that he had eaten four. I had also just heard him say that he was going to go ahead and decide to eat four. That’s his thing lately. Testing authority. Mom quickly shut him down and said “NO! I said three!!” That was before I walked out there..

Anyway, I gave Rhys the “WTF, DUDE!!” look.

He gave me the “OMG SHIT, I’M BUSTED” look and said, “s-o-r-r-y” in a whispered tone…

Then I did the ‘dad thing’ where you shut everything off and tell him to clean up, then I stare into his soul and reduce the poor kid to tears.

Then I hear Heidi say, “OMG Wait!! He only ate three!!” Turns out she had one earlier. The fourth smudge was hers…

I had to apologize and make up with my son and get him to forgive me… He eventually did. I still feel like total shit though. :(

Anyway, good night world. See you tomorrow!

Just weighed in… 208lbs and 30.7 BF… Going to start putting waist measurement into the mix I think, too. Just gotta find that tape measure. ha!

Tomorrow the new year will officially start. At least in the normal sense. I will get up in the morning, outfit myself in my corporate battle gear, grab a coffee to nourish me as I march into battle, and head out the door to conquer code. There will be no bloodshed, but sometimes it feels like it. As much as that sounds like I’m not looking forward to getting back to things, I do. I’ve had a nice 16 day vacation and now it’s time to see what we can do in 2010.

There are a lot of irons in the fire. Some will have to go, and some will need stoking. Heidi is a lot more involved in these projects this year as well. It’s going to be a great year for our collaborative efforts I think. We make a great team with things like this.

So far the diet is going well. It’s a little painful and annoying, but not too much. This is the pace I want to keep and maybe this will allow me to make an actual lifestyle change. The main theme of the diet seems to be cutting back sugars and serving sizes. Makes a whole lot of sense to me. Hopefully soon I will be skinnier, feel better about myself, have more energy, and just generally look better…

We’re starting the year off right. We eliminated our car problems, are getting in shape, have brand new OSes on our workstations and media center, organized our garage, and have our eyes on the ball.

Bring it 2010, we’re ready to kick your ass into 2011. ;)

Here it is again. The new year. It’s going to be the best one yet, right? I’m so tired of saying that every year… I always say, “man… at least next year will be better…” I want to say it one last time… So here we go: This year is going to be awesome!!

Ok, I said it. Now how do I make that happen? I have a list of things I want to make happen, but the trick is to hold myself accountable.

One of the things that this blog is going to help me with is creativity. I feel like my creativity is tapped, and this blog has always been a creative outlet for me. Nothing groundbreaking by any stretch, but it should serve as a mental exercise, and I think that is as important as the physical exercises we do…

Which brings me to another accountability. I just weighed in. ;) 211 lbs, and 30.6 BF. Holy cheese and crackers, Batman! I found a neat idea at One Man’s Blog that I’m gonna participate in. Today is day one of the HealthyChallenge! Let’s do this! Time to bring those numbers down!

So, for accountability’s sake, here’s the two most important things for 2010.

1) Get healthy. Bring my weight down to the 170’s and bring my fat content down to the teens (is that possible?).

2) Get creative again! My mind feels paralyzed lately. Like someone has filled my head with mental concrete, and I can’t move. I need to shake that funk off and get back in the game!

What are your goals and resolutions? What are you going to do going forward this year?

Well, the weekend comes to a close. Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. I spent the weekend trying to get some things taken care of. I’d say I didn’t win that fight, but you should see the other guy. ;)

I spent some time at my mom’s house this weekend, looking at old pictures. Wow, why did you people let me wear long hair in high school!? Sheesh, friends… :) I looked so horrible!!! What the hell was I thinking? I also marveled at how damn skinny and arguably fit I was not just back in high school, but like two years ago! Nothing like old pictures to motivate you to get off your fat ass. At least, I think it’s motivating me. We shall see. Now that I have the smoking thing licked, it’s time to get the diet/fitness thing licked. So, far I am having trouble establishing a beachhead.

So, this next week, I have a plan of attack. You don’t win a war in a week, but you can gain ground. The goal is to gain ground this week. Ok, now it’s time to get some sleep. :)

So, how am I doing so far? Well, I’m not going in 5th gear like I’ve tried in the past. YES! I’ve tried. Which is why I’m not doing that this time: I failed so miserably in the past that most of you who know me didn’t even notice that I was trying to improve anything!

So, I’m concentrating on a couple few things, in a very particular order:

1) QUIT SMOKING – How fucking long have I been smoking? Ridiculous long time. I remember when me and buddy of mine named Jason — no no, the other Jason — had our first drag off a cigarette at the ripe old age of 12. We can thank his grandpa for the left over K-rations and the rancid ass Lucky Strikes that were left in them. Thus began my adventure into Smokerville. Ahhh what a shit filled experience it’s been. I mean, if you could equate taste to a texture, smoking would be like sandpaper. Mmmm! Good times. Nine days into my quitting and so far so good! Thanks Nicoderm!! I saw what the pills do to a friend of mine, so I’m not touching that shit.

2) Remotivate at work – Why? Good question. If you get a good answer let me know. I’m going to give it my best shot to remotivate myself and not feel like I’m caught under an epileptic hippo watching Pokemon. Give yourself a pat on the back if you get that reference. Actually no.. You should probably get out more if you get that reference. … Actually I should probably get out more for making that reference…

3) Diet – Yep. Diet. Not that I’m going to hit this one hard. This is my tertiary “would-be-nice” goal. The “red-shirt” on my list if you will. :) But, if I can manage to do better on my diet and exercise, that’s bad ass. Not to mention, I’m sure this has a huge bit to do with numbers 1 and 2.

So, that’s where I’m at. Hope everyone out there is doing well, and all that happy shit. Chat at ya later!