It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

It really is my favorite time of year. I love Christmas…really everything about it, decorating, buying, wrapping and giving gifts, cooking and being with family and friends. But one thing I do not love is Christmas cards. Now don’t get me wrong I love getting each of yours, I just don’t love to send them for some reason. So I used to send Valentine’s Day cards instead. But then I sort of got sick of that as well. I swore to myself when I was married I would send Christmas cards, well guess what this is my third married Christmas and guess how many Christmas cards I have sent – ZERO in three years! Now every year I have had an excuse. Our first year we had just gotten married and I figured people were sick of us. Our second Christmas we had just bought a new house and were in the middle of a major remodel, plus I just knew I would be sending out “we’ve moved” announcements (which I never did)! Now this year I thought for sure I could get out of it because, if you didn’t know I am 7 weeks from having a baby and NOTHING is ready for her, but that is another post in itself. Anyway, last week B says we are sending out Christmas cards right? My response…of course! So Shutterfly to the rescue!

I went to the Shutterfly website to see what my options are for Christmas cards and I was so excited by all the options. In fact I am thinking I will use this one for this year and maybe this one for next year when Baby Adelyn is here. So much of my thinking is already focused on when she is here, and so I started to think that these will be great grandparent gifts next year

So be on the lookout for the first Christmas card from our family to yours!

The best laid plans…

of mice and men never account for family, weekends away and slow moving house remodels.  Excuses?  Okay.  Lack of discipline?  Maybe.  Mixed up priorities?  Certainly not!

While I had every intention of making my 90 days exercise project a reality, things just got in the way.  Some were fun things, like vacation to Captiva and a weekend away in Key West.  Others were house projects, such as remodeling our garage into a laundry/utility/exercise room for Dawn’s birthday (still in progress, btw).  And then there are just days that are taken up by work, church activities, family responsibilities, etc.  Getting up early to workout seemed like a good plan until nights were late.  Working out at night only works sometimes too.  What can you do?

So, part of me wants to apologize to Katie and AP (and our other readers) for not following through on the commitment I made to the exercise and the blog.  And I do apologize.  But only for some of the missed workouts.  There were times where I chose not to workout in lue of participating in some of the aforementioned activities.  And I wouldn’t trade time with my wife, hanging with Jonas, fixing our home, or time with our church family for a workout or many workouts.  I’d guess it’s a matter of priorities.  🙂

Now, I will totally admit to being lazy some of the time as well.  Some workouts were given away to free time.  A movie here, sleeping in there, and football can be thrown in the mix too.  I guess I’m trying to say my workout plan, while having the best intention, didn’t take into account the many other things that would compete for time.

I have every intention of working out on the regular, playing basketball weekly and walking/jogging with Preggo.  But for now, I’ve got to figure out a better balance of it all.  And perhaps it’s good to get this out of the way now, knowing that in less than 4 months I’ll want to spend all my time with my wife and daughter!  How will I workout then?!?!

-B

Just another case of Dawn being Dawn!

If you know my wife, you know how funny, smart, beautiful and fun-loving she is.  You also probably know her lack of interest in things that aren’t dainty and girly, for example: camping, mowing the lawn, taking out the garbage, etc.  Knowing these things, I was pleasantly surprised during our recent vacation when she encouraged me to go on a bike ride through a nature preserve near the resort we were staying at.  5.5 miles is near enough on a bike, so I thought, “why not”.

Now, if you know my wife at all, then you know she’s 5 months preggo.  (And yes, I call her preggo.  It’s partially because I’m waiting for the opportune moment to say the phrase, “Leggo my preggo!”  Which hasn’t happened yet.  I emphasize yet.)  Anyways, at this point, I’m keenly aware that the preggo-ness usually lowers her enthusiasm and physical ability to do certain things.  This would include 10 mile bike rides.  But, she assured me she was both able and wanting to go.  So, like a good husband whose wife is preggo, I complied with her request.  Eagerly.  I promise.

The ride began uneventful enough.  We’d had a late breakfast, and were feeling good.  After all, 5.5 miles isn’t that far, right?  We weren’t going all that fast, but the pace was comfortable for her (slow for me).  We just couldn’t seem the get there however.  We had stopped a couple of times to enjoy some shade (who rides their bike mid-day for hours on end?), but soon realized we should have brought more water.  That, and 5.5 miles simply shouldn’t take this long.  The thought enters our minds that perhaps this place isn’t where the map said it was.  Or, that we simply didn’t have the energy (preggo at least) to make it 5.5 miles. We soon learned it was neither… it was that we hadn’t prepared mentally for the 7+ miles it was to actually get there (we learned this afterwards).

Somewhere on the way there, shortly before reaching the vending machine which happened to be 300 yards from the entrance to the park, Preggo had reached near exasperation and says to me, “I don’t even like nature that much!”  I laughed so hard I almost crashed into a palm tree.  I mean, I knew she didn’t like nature that much, but after her convincing words before we left and after feeling the efforts were fruitless, that comment sent us both reeling with laughter.  She’s just too funny!

Remember that vending machine?  That machine was nice enough to trade $2 for two bottles of water, which were not entirely cold but nonetheless refreshing.

Remember the $2 we traded for two bottles of water?  That $2 was the very same $2 that were intended to pay our entrance fee to this nature preserve.  A little detail Preggo had left out until we reached the entrance gate!  Not cool.  So not cool.

Thankfully, the Visitors Center was right there, so we strolled in to inquire as to a possible ATM or perhaps pay the entrance fee with a credit card.  No luck with either of those, but they had plenty bottles of water for sale.  Which could be paid for with a credit card!  DOH!  By this point, I’m of course giving Preggo a hard time because the vending machine was literally 3 minutes from the Visitors Center, and had we waited we could have had water and entrance fees paid for.  Now what do we do?

The polite, yet unsympathetic gentleman in the Visitor’s Center informed us that an ATM might be available “in town”, two more miles up the road.  And, he suggested I leave Preggo there and ride “to town” to get the money.  Thanks for the suggestion, dude.  An additional four miles to obtain $2 is just what will make this experience even more enjoyable.  Sweet.

Thirty minutes later, I return to the Visitor’s Center with a $5 bill and several drinks in tow.  (Thanks goes out to CVS for offering a wide selection of beverages and offering cash-back features at checkout)  I inform Preggo that I narrowly escaped death twice (1. Black Mamba snake barely missed my carotid artery  2. 13-foot gator tried to ambush me on a bridge), and we head on our way into the nature preserve.

We ride the 4 miles worth of gravel road (which was entirely uncomfortable for me, so I can’t imagine how Preggo made it out alive), see approximately four animals in our “nature ride” (RIP OFF) and head back to the resort for pool time.  Thankfully, we only had about 4 miles to ride after exiting the nature preserve, because I’m pretty sure Preggo would not have lasted any longer than that.  We did stop at a fun little general store for a quick bite and drink, before finishing the last two miles.  And for you mathematicians, our 11 mile round trip (remember that 5.5 from the beginning of the story?) turned into 16 miles for Preggo and over 20 miles for myself.  I still have yet to find out whether it was Preggo’s miscalculation or some map that was designed incorrectly.  I’d tell you that I would let you know, but I’m going to blame the map.  I’d say that is the more wise move, don’t you?

-B

And we’re back to normal exercise…

After 4 days of sweating (almost) to death in the heat of the Florida sun, and my currently A/C-less garage, I’m ready to get back to the normalcy of Tony and the 3 miles of sidewalks in our neighborhood.  To say I missed exercising would be an exaggeration, but I will say that I’m looking forward to working out as opposed to just working.  Throughout the house remodel process, I continue to realize I would not do well in an occupation where hard, manual labor is a daily constant.  It makes me appreciate those who work that hard.  Being exposed to heat and physically challenging tasks for hours on end is not for everyone, but I’m glad that I get to experience some of it even if it’s only for a brief time.

See you on the concrete,

-B

The house is taking over for a while….

It’s going to be so worth it.  The latest house project, that is.  I’m on sort of a hiatus from working out to invest some time in 57 Willow.  And, before you think I’m just quitting my 90 days of exercise, please note that long hours working in the attic or garage and lifting lots of heavy items and using big tools is no picnic or break!  (that’s mostly me reminding myself I’m not a slacker)  I’ve begun a top secret project at the house for Dawn’s birthday.  I will post a blog about it once it’s complete, which is hopefully by the end of this coming weekend if all goes well.  I’ll just say the project includes (but is not limited to) hanging drywall, installing cabinets, re-wiring some electrical stuff, re-framing some walls, installing bi-fold closet doors, and detailed finishing work.  Oh man, I’m already tired…

-B

Days 59 & 58… and probably 57… get my run on.

With a super busy schedule this week, I’ve done my working out on the sidewalks of our neighborhood.  Going for the 3 mile loop in Tequesta each night for a nice run (including tonight, hopefully).  Looking forward to some big house projects over the next two weeks, so keep an eye on the blog for those…

-B

Days 63 thru 60…. another weekend, another 20 hours on the house!

After my “day off” for donating blood, which I wrote about in my last segment, I’ve had a super busy few days.  Friday mornings typical (ok, anything but typical) routine of p90x started the day off, and after work that night I began the long weekend of house projects.  Although no official “workout” took place this weekend, I am sure I expended more energy in two days than in a week’s worth of p90x workouts.  10+ hours of manual labor in a day will do that, I promise.  Our great friends, the Henleys, joined us on Saturday, and Aaron helped me hang 6 new doors inside the house.  (couldn’t have done it with you, Aaron!)  Thanks to the generous gift cards for my 30th birthday, we were able to buy the doors, hinges, and cool hinge cutting tool.  (Thanks Matt, Kathleen & Jonas, Dennis & Kyla!)

I also painted and hung our guest and baby room closet doors, seriously cleaned and organized the shed and garage (again).  Our city garbage is amazing, as I watched them take a TON of junk from our house this morning.  Yep, Monday morning rambling going on now… time to get to work.

Tonight is the weekly hoops action, so that will be my workout today.  Peace out.

-B

Day 65… and the Big Red Bus.

Day 65, really?  Am I almost one third done with this thing?  I feel like I haven’t even started.  Probably because of all the missed days?  Oh well, on to forward progress, as usual.  Day 65 was a run day… (enter into my brain 80’s songs about Funday and U2’s Sunday, bloody Sunday)… what is wrong with me?  Anyways, what would have been Day 64 turned out to be a day off of sorts.  I donated blood today on the Big Red Bus outside my office.  This was my first time on the Bus, but I doubt my last.  The people working the Bus are super friendly, fun, and seem to love what they do.  And they give you free cookies and ice cream.  How do you beat that?  Oh, yeah, by giving you free golf and Improv tickets.  That’s how.  And another thing, by telling me I can’t workout today.  Thanks, Lisa Banks.  You’re the best!  (at least as far as know based on this first round)

-B

Days 67 & 66… Bob Vila meets Bob Cousy?

Haha!  So, I just made myself laugh with the title of this little post.  I’m hardly either of those Bobs, as pertains to their professions.  But, my next two days of hard workouts can be related to each specifically, so what the heck.  This past Saturday I spent the day Bob Vila-ing it up, with several house projects and working from 8:00am until almost 9:00pm that night.  So, while I didn’t get an official “workout” in, I’m considering it a day in the books.  Here’s a list of things I worked on:

• Dismantled this nice lady’s kitchen, procuring her cabinets for our use at 57 Willow
• Built a closet organizer on my side of the master closets (amazing space saver and neatly organized now)
• Cleaned out the garage
• Worked on organizing my shed

And by now you’re eagerly anticipating the Bob Cousy part of this post.  Admit it.  Wait, I’m forgetting who my readership consists of.  Do you know who Bob Cousy even is?  He’s an old-school professional basketball player (read about him here).  Yesterday, I made many attempts to play like Bob Cousy, getting my Monday basketball fix playing with the usual crew of friends and the group of younger, faster, more athletic teenagers that are usually at the courts.  I will add here that these youngsters typically bicker, fight, swear when playing a game by themselves (and they speak Creole, so many time we have no idea what they’re fighting about!).  But, throw in some 30 year-old married, Christian dudes in the mix and they tend to mellow a bit.  (probably because they run faster, jump higher, and shoot better than us)

Tonight, I’ll be for a run, as I’m a bit too sore to face Tony.

-B

Days 69 & 68… hitting my stride?

So, two more days in the books with two more workouts.  A run one night, followed the next morning (today) by P90X Core Synergistics.  This is one crazy workout, combining a bunch of core exercises from the other DVDs.  Pectorals, abs, hips/pelvis, and upper quads/hamstrings all got a workout this morning.  I didn’t make it through all 50 minutes, because at about the 40 minute mark Jonas announced his waking presence in the house.  🙂  So, I skipped the last 10 to make him some breakfast!

-B