I’m putting a stake in the ground, and listing the stuff I need, and things I need to do in 2012. This is my official running list. Better get my list done now, so I know what to work towards.

Now in no particular order, the shit I need to get done:

1. Replace my desk with a custom IKEA desk.
2. Replace my Dell 19″ 1905FP monitor with the Dell 24″ U2412. Yup, just swapping Dells.
3. Replace our Epson scanner with something newer and compatible with Windows 7.
4. Replace our Logitech webcam with something newer and compatible with Windows 7, and does HD video.
5. Get an iPad 2, or an iPad 3. Hell, how about one of each?
6. Clean out our basement, and fix it up as a playroom for our kids, or when other kids come over. This will require new carpeting and a fresh coat of paint.
7. Replace the toilet flangey-thing in the hallway powder room so that it isn’t slowly leaking.
8. Paint the kitchen.
9. Clean out my side of the walk-in closet. I found some shirts in there that are late 90′s era. Why do I have them? Also, what was I thinking?
10. Buy a new car when we hand in our lease-end car this summer. I’m thinking a fully decked out Nissan Maxima, red or black.
11. Either evict or adopt the squirrel we found living in our attic this month. I’m not kidding.

That’s all I can think of, but there may be more. Looks like a good list to me, and I’ve got 12 months to do it.

I accomplished most of the items on my checklist for today:

• I made the lunches and dropped off the kids to school.
• I fit in some additional office work in.
• I went to see my ophthalmologist, got my eye exam, and picked up some new trial contact lenses.
• My wife and I enjoyed a brief but fulfilling lunch at the mall Chick-fil-A.
• I went got the 15K mile servicing on the car that needed an oil change. Eh, why not. I was putting it off all this time anyway.
• I got my haircut. My wife likes it, so I think I’ll keep it all year round.
• Returned some almost late library books.
• Picked up the kids, and made the dinner. Okay, it was leftovers, but waste not, want not.
• We had a movie night and watched the Pixar animated film Up.
• I picked out all my stuff for tomorrow.

The only stuff left to do is go over the paperwork in the morning.

My race-ready streamlined haircut

It’s been nearly a week, and I’m apparently stuck at 194 lbs. Have I reached a plateau? For those unaware, in fitness terms, weight loss can halt at certain stages, which can be frustrating. From what I’ve learned, it happens because your body has noticed the fat loss. It likes its fat, so the metabolism adjusts to counteract your attempts to deprive it of the ‘safety net.’

When one reaches a plateau, the remedy is to switch it up — change the diet and the exercise you do. I don’t know if o have hit an actual plateau, but I was shedding the fat fairly consistently doing what I was doing. This past week, nothing has changed. I will have to put some thought into how I can adjust

I wanted to get down to 190 before Saturday big ride, but I find it highly unlikely at this point. I don’t want to get discouraged, because 194 is a lot lighter than I’ve been in years. Literally, years. It is Wednesday, and I have two more workouts (Wed and Fri), so I can continue to watch my diet and get some good cardio done in the next few days. Still, this plan of getting healthier has already worked. I’m lighter and healthier.

Furthermore, this isn’t a sprint, but a lifelong marathon. I am trying to hit my goal of 170 by Dec, but even after, I need to continue to be healthy for the next 65 years. I don’t think I could ever go back to eating unhealthy on a regular basis again. Fries and ice cream every once in a while after I reach my target weight? Absolutely! By then, I’ll have plenty of buffer. Still, I won’t be doing it every day like I used to. I wont be eating portions for two people. I’ve learned too much. Those days are over.

I wish there was more time in the day.

• There is so much to do at the office, and I end up switching from task to task.
• When I get home from work around 7pm, we have maybe 2 hours to make dinner, play with the kids, give them bathes, and/or get them to bed.
• In my free time afterwards, from 9pm on, tasks can include cleaning the kitchen, washing/folding the mountains of laundry, doing some other housework, or catching up on office work.
• Somewhere in all of this I need to complete church website updates, go to the gym, study for the CISSP certification, and a bunch of other stuff. And I’m not going to bother mentioning how busy the weekend are, between soccer games, going to places, running errands, etc.

I’m sure everyone else’s life is like this, so I’m not at all stating that I’m in some sort of unique situation. I just wish there was more time in the day. I have to figure out a better way to prioritize and work more efficiently.

There used to be a show back in the 90′s called “Thirtysomething.” I never watched it (I was too young), but it was an American television drama about a group of baby boomers in their late thirties. I think I officially qualify as “thirtysomething” since I’m now 35 years old. I find it ironic that I’m well into my 30′s now. Growing up, your 30′s always seemed so far off in the distance, yet it seems to have snuck up on me. Geez, I’m 35 years old. Frankly, that’s nuts, yet it is true.

Being in my 30′s isn’t as bizarre or weird as I thought it would be. I’m a little wiser now, as I’m trying not to sweat the little hiccups in life — it is just not worth it. I’m enjoying life more, and less self-conscious about how I’m perceived. I’m married to a wonderful woman, and we have two great kids. We have a nice little home of our own that we have to clean up regularly. Life is good.

Of course, life isn’t perfect, but what is considered perfect anyway? Life is about overcoming new challenges, and reaching towards the next goal. For example, I’ve been overweight and living an unhealthy life for years, but now I’m doing something about it. We’ve struggled and survived through the early child development years, but there will always be new challenges as the kids get older. I have a few hundred different places that I want to visit, but budgeted money to do that will always be finite.

I think I’m rambling. I hate when I ramble. Let me summarize. A few years ago, I remember taking an online survey, and the results came back that I was “unhappy.” I don’t need a survey now to tell me that I’m happy these days. Life isn’t perfect, but that’s what keeps it interesting.

Lily's 3rd birthday party

Phew! April 2nd marks the end of the kids’ birthday parties for this year. We closed it out with Lily’s birthday party at Junglerrrific, and it was great party. I was happy that we didn’t have to do much except to show up with a cake, and then pay for the event. For the kids who showed up, I believe everyone had a great time. I published the photos last night.

I’ve already expressed my frustration with the lack of responses from people. My wife and I have sworn off any major parties for the daycare classmates next year, as it’s just not worth the aggravation. We spoke to other parents in the classroom, and they’ve experienced the same lack of involvement. My favorite anecdotes from this event were:

1. The three families who said they would attend, but were then no-shows. Thanks for nothing.
2. The family who brought a sibling without asking. You know, we’re paying by the child here.
3. The folks who showed up 5 mins before the main party ended, and then their children cried because playtime was over. Good job.
4. The parent who had never responded, then after my wife saw her at the supermarket the next day, said she left a note at school on Friday that her daughter couldn’t attend. Yeah, I checked, and there was no note, liar. Also, you couldn’t respond via the phone number or email address that was provided on the invite or the reminder? Really? Too tough for you?
5. The parent who called me Saturday morning, and asked me if the party was still on. I replied, “Uh, yes, the party is still on.” Of course, they were a no-show as well.

Next year, I just want to do a party for a small group of their friends, and leave it at that. Smaller, yet higher quality. We don’t want to host any more parties, then try to twist the arms of ungrateful people to convince them to attend. The parties are not for the parents. The parties are for the kids to get together and have fun.

It was a party for our monkey.

Homemade pizza

I made my first homemade pizza, using simple ingredients from the supermarket. Not as difficult as I thought, and rather tasty.

Once upon a time, I used to like Best Buy. I remember walking into my first store sometime around 2000. It was big and brightly-lit. It was gorgeous. The selections were wide and all-encompassing. The smell of ozone and the technology all humming away; it was intoxicating. Do you remember the awe when you walked into a Best Buy? I know others felt the same way, as Best Buy was elevated in the minds of consumers while it ate up the foot traffic and market share from competitors like Circuit City. 

In recent years, my love for Best Buy has diminished. While I won’t ever turn down a visit to the brick-and-mortar retail store, I won’t buy anything there anymore. Why? Uh, have you noticed that it is severely overpriced? From electronics to DVDs to accessories, everything can be purchased for less online. I suppose that whole rant is not entirely true. If you had an immediate need, needed purchasing advice, or wanted to touch and feel a product, you would go to the store. In the summer on our road trip, somewhere in Michigan on the way to the Detroit-area, we stopped and purchased a 2-in-1 mobile power inverter from a Best Buy. In that instance, yes, having an actual store was convenient. There was no way we could have waited two days to have something shipped. 

For the most part, though, I think Best Buy is overpriced and not worth a trip. Best Buy also doesn’t negotiate, as I tried to get a lower price on an HDTV when I was shopping for one in early 2010. Also, I don’t think the sales reps give good advice either. Case in point, I went to the South Brunswick Best Buy on Tuesday night to purchase some alcohol-free screen cleaner for my Panasonic HDTV. I’ve noticed a growing number of screen smudges (the kids), but my eyeglass cloth has always removed them. On Tuesday, I found my daughter had drawn on the screen in white crayon while I was otherwise occupied. I went the cloth, but not much success. GASP! Anger! FRUSTRATION! 

Monster TV Cleaning Kit

I drove to the Best Buy, and found that the price on the Monster TV screen cleaning kit (well-rated but previous customers) was $19.99 + tax. Meanwhile, I used my phone to check Amazon.com’s price, and it was $15. I’m a member of Amazon Prime, so if I waited two days, I’d still save myself at least $7-8. I decided I could wait two days, on principle. I ordered the screen cleaner from Amazon right there in the aisle. Meanwhile, a sales rep was “assisting” a woman next to me on HDMI cables, and convinced her to purchase an HDMI for about $80. 

 The conversation went something like this: 

Sales Rep: “Here’s the cable that you want.” 

Ill-Informed Customer: “But it’s $80.” 

Sales Rep: ”Yes, but you want to pay for quality. Now come this way, and we can ring you up” [or something like that.]

Joel: [Palm of hand slapping my own forehead.]

I wanted to stop her from paying an exorbitant amount for an HDMI cable. I purchased mine from Amazon for maybe $7-10. However, I didn’t want to cause an altercation with the sales rep right there with her holding her hand through the process of bamboozling her. Sigh. 

Buyer beware, my friends. BTW, the screen cleaner worked like a charm.

After so many months of packed-to-the-gills weekend schedules, we’re starting to experience actual breaks. This weekend, not much to fill up the schedule, so we used it for decompression time.

We started off the weekend Friday night with pizza and a movie, though I chose to celebrate the weekend non-festivities with pizza and a cold beer. On Saturday, we began cleaning up the house, taking Josh to his soccer practice, and chilling out the rest of the day. On Sunday, we had church, more cleaning up, and administering the children their monthly bathes. In the evening, our niece Sophia came over to visit, and we took all the kids around town to do some shopping.

I like this a lot. It helps to not run around like a crazy people all the time.

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

I wanted to take a moment to talk about last Sunday’s ride, and explain how important it was to me. Provide a little context, so to speak.

At the bar after the ride, some of them were still surprised that I had hung in there and completed the entire 43 miles. I was overweight, slow, and I didn’t have the fancy bikes they had. Although it wasn’t at all meant to be malicious or demeaning, when they doubted me during the ride, I started to doubt myself too.  I started to doubt my ability to even do the full 50 miles during the actual MS Ride, and wondered if I had finally bit off more than I could chew. What was I thinking? I’ve ridden between 18 and 23 miles three times now since late April. And here I was, trying to ride 50 miles, attempting to keep up with people who take spin classes during the week?

I’ve always been a fighter. Back in 1992-1994 at CHSN when I lived in Rockland, I took AP courses in Bio, English Language, and American History. When I took the AP American History in my junior year and AP English Language in my senior year, I didn’t immediately perform well. Both respective teachers, accustomed to working with the “smart” kids, suggested a few early months into the classes that I should drop, and move into the Honors version instead. Both times, I was devastated. I liked being in the courses. I was pushing myself, and I was learning.  I didn’t want to drop and give up. I’m a fighter.

Maybe the teachers were reluctant to have me waste their time and my time. Maybe they felt it would just be better for me. Instead, for both classes, I opted to stay late every week after school to work on practice essays and assignments with my respective AP teachers. Seriously, every week. In the end, after the doubts, I passed both AP exams with a “3″ score, which meant I passed. Both of my doubting teachers were surprised and proud of me. I’m a fighter.

On this ride, I was being doubted and doubting myself. Yes, it’s true that I’m not currently as fast or as young as I used to be. I’m 34 years old, I don’t have they energy to stay up late anymore, and my body is more creaky. But so what? Some things don’t change. I’ve been calling this “The Year of the Turnaround.” I have been adamant about going back to basics, and focusing on improving myself. Being true to myself. Being who I am. After all this time, I felt that I had not been true to who I was, what I am capable of, or achieving what I wanted in life. I had stagnated under the weight trying to raise two young children with my wife, and maintaining a house, and all the new expenses. It’s been a daunting task for both of us these past five years.

Five years later, the stress is beginning to lift for us, and we’re happier now. The kids are getting easier to manage, and we’re getting things done. This year is the year of the comeback. I call it “The Year of the Turnaround.” My wife and I are finally focusing on taking care of ourselves, enjoying life a bit more, and smiling. We’ve been going out more, got the house painted, and been cleaning the clutter and detritus that has accumulated over five years. Personally, I want to return to being the man I used to be, and that includes getting back in shape.

So when these people on the Sunday ride started doubting me, it felt like a setback. I doubted myself and what I was trying to do. Trying to improve. Trying to be. I could have given up, taken the easier route, and let them go on ahead, while I should turn around. I’m happy to say declare that some aspects about myself never changed. I never stop fighting. I hung in there. I did it at my own pace, but I rejoined the group, and I made it to the finish line.

Don’t call it a comeback, I’ve been here for years. I’m a fighter.