Friday, September 19, 2008

Videos

OK, how about something entertaining?



This song kind of got in my head... and I found myself sort of swaying to it throughout the day! And the video is just amazing...! Reminds me of the pool in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas:



The music is different (as is the backdrop) making one seem more like art... but I think it's just different art!

The top vid was put out by Eepybird.com, who also put out this next video...




Absolutely mesmerizing!

Babies?

It's beginning to be about that time...! My wife is currently at a little over 32 weeks with the little ones... and the doctors said that if we get to 35 weeks, we should be golden! She's hoping for at least 36 weeks... I'm hoping for... 3 years? (just kidding!). There's certainly a give and take with when they come, though. If they come too early, their lungs may not be fully developed and they may need to spend some time in the NICU. And if they... uh... bake(?) longer, they'll get bigger, which isn't a bad thing... once they're out! I love my wife and I think she's a rock star. I know she's going to do awesome with the whole childbirth... but it's going to be hard.

From our Lamaze class a few weeks ago, there was something that stuck out that's hung with me. The sentiment that "hospitals are go when you're sick" (or, as my grandfather used to say, "Hospitals are where you go when you die") holds for just about every instance where you'd go to the hospital... except for childbirth. Childbirth is normal, natural and (... something else I can't remember... guess it didn't stick with me as well as I thought!). I just thought that was a very interesting idea... because many people, like my grandpa, DON'T have a good feeling about hospitals, and honestly, it's hard to!

But in no other instance does going to the hospital bring you a wonderful perfect new life (or lives in our case!). It may make you better... but the thought is that, prior to whatever it was that caused you to have to go to the hospital, you were fine as you were.

With the birth of our children, I'm going to be stretched in ways I didn't even KNOW I could be stretched. But I'm also going to be blessed in unimaginable ways, too. People have told me they think I'll be a good dad... and I hope they're right! I had/have a good mentor in my own father, and we both did with my grandpa too. I just hope that the "trials" I'm going to have to endure when they're very young will strengthen me and make me a better man so that, as they grow, I can grow too and be an even better dad.
Yikes, it's been a while since I posted...!

Double yikes, it's been a while since I ran...

I've unofficially stopped training for my 5k on October 4th. Because I've missed so much, I would have to run a TON to try to make up the runs... and that's not how the program is designed.

When I do this again (and I will, next spring) I need to commit to what I had originally done... 6 days on, 1 day off. Even if only 3 of the 6 days are true workout days, I am too much a creature of habit with slothish tendencies...!

I do intend to keep trying to work out and I'm still going to post weekly updates in terms of weight. That alone will be a good motivator for me to get off my duff an do something.

I think that I may restart the 100 push-up club (AGAIN!?!) so that it gets me in a pattern. My dad saw it here and he's been doing it. He's worked out pretty much every day of his life (that's not true... he usually takes at least one day off per week) since far before I was born. His typical routine is 3 miles and then some body-weight lifts (push ups, pull ups, sit ups, etc), but since he's retired, he's been going to a health club several times a week. I'm not sure if this is in addition to or in place of his run ... but I digress...

He tested into the toughest group and he said it's gotten more and more difficult (as is to be expected...), but that he feels it may get to a point where it's too difficult for him to do.

... this really SHOULD serve as motivation... my retired father is able to do more push ups than I can and he can run farther and faster (probably) too.

I mean, I am at a bit of a disadvantage I guess... he's been doing it since before I was born... but still! I could certainly come up with excuses... He's got lots more free time... yeah, that one pretty much takes the cake for anything else I could come up with...! But, as he said last week when we were talking about this again... he made a conscious choice that he was going to work out, and to do it, he had to make certain sacrifices. He got up at about 4:30 every morning to he could run his 3 miles and do everything else he needed to so that he could get to work on time and not be in anyone else's way!


And... because I haven't posted anything in the last two weeks, that means I missed a weigh-in. ... and it wasn't a great one either... my weight went up, not down.

Just weighed myself tonight... and it was the same.


Get your own graph at skinnyr

Friday, September 5, 2008

Weigh-in




So something interesting happened today... I did my weigh-in (a day late, but...), and I'm using an electronic scale that charts my weight in addition to skinnyr.com. Well... it said that I lost zero pounds... but that my weight was 321! So I either charted my weight wrong last week, or I lost 3 pounds!

Either way, I am starting to see a difference... I had a job interview today and I put on my suit. For the first time since I bought it (several years ago), I could button the top button (though not as comfortably as I would want).

I'm certainly seeing progress!

I do need to get back to running, though... After running on Tuesday, I was going to run on Wednesday after I got home from class... but had to run around and try to get my new Illinois Driver's License. Well... long story short, they wouldn't accept the documentation I had, which ate up lots of time. Then I came home but I didn't have enough time to run before I went BACK to the DMV to hang out with my wife while she got her license. We then had to run about 20 mins away to drop off some paperwork so she can get her leave after having the twins.

Then, yesterday, we got about 3 inches of rain, compliments of the remnants of Hurricane Gustav. That and the fact that I had to run all over creation to get my birth certificate and passport from my parents' house, to the DMV to get my new license, BACK to the county courthouse to get a certified copy of my birth certificate and then back home, an hour trip. And it rained the whole time. I wasn't running yesterday!

So, I've gotta get back on track and do day 2 from last week, so I can try and do day 3 tomorrow and day 1 of this week on Sunday. I've gotta fit in my homework for my classes in there somewhere and, oh yeah, Sat and Sun we've got Lamaze class! And I'm still looking for a job. At least I don't have anything going on...!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Welcome to September

Hmm... I don't think this running plan was supposed to be a WEEKLY plan...

But that's what I've made it the last two weeks.

Here's the first day's run for last week (that I did today):

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:

  • Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
  • Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes)
  • Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
The fact that it was 92 degrees today didn't help. And it was still 85 degrees when I left... at quarter to 8:00 PM!

Seeing as I haven't done anything for a week, I figured it was going to be tough. And it was. I jogged the whole time I was supposed to, but it was a struggle. Now, to catch up, I'm going to have to run more more frequently, likely even tomorrow (though the weather should cooperate... it's supposed to be 72 for a high tomorrow!)

In other news, the twins are officially at 30 weeks today. 6 more weeks until they're considered full term, but the doctors say that 5 weeks will be good. I say let 'em cook for a bit longer... but the pregnant momma said that she's big enough!