More bad weather

Well we are supposed to get sleet, snow and rain through Friday with about 5 inches of snow by then and 1 inch of rain. Should be interesting with all the snow on the ground and nowhere for the rain to go. When I built this house, I was working with a guy from Madison named Greg. He was a really smart guy and on the weekends, he worked for cash for a guy doing basement waterproofing. He was adamant on me putting in a drain tile system. I did it and even used his company to do the work. Here is a picture of the system.

This photo shows the black drain tiles and the tub in the corner. Basically how the system works is that there is always water running around the foundation of a house in wet weather. Especially in the spring when the snow melts or it rains hard. What this does it provides a path for the water that runs along the foundation of the house on the outside (there are tile (basically a big hose with holes in it) all the way around the outside) to be led into the inside of the house under the basement floor and then into the tub and then pumped out through the sill plate away from the foundation. If you do not have this, water can build up around the foundation of the house, and eventually can force its way into your basement and cause problems. The only trouble we have had is I bought the cheapest pump possible (lesson learned: cheaper is not always better) and the float the turns the pump on and off failed. Thus the tub filled up and the pump never kicked on and it overflowed into the basement. I bought a very expensive pump and we have had no problems since. When we have really wet days, the pump runs a lot and I know that my foundation is staying dry. It better because I have all my exercise equipment down there.

Today after work I hurried home and ran 3 miles in a little over a half hour and then went to spin class and rode 15 miles in 45 minutes. I think the reason I did not have more miles is that we did a lot of standing up simulating hills tonight and it is harder for me to pedal fast like that. Either way, I am proud of the amount of exercising I have done in the past 3 days. Tomorrow I might try to do 6 miles again. I am hoping to set a PR on March 17 at the Shamrock Shuffle.

Bike/Run

Today after work, I decided to do a bike/run. After last nights hour run, I felt really good today. I think the 3 days I took off when I felt crappy really paid off. I did a 5K in about 32 minutes and then I biked 9 miles in half an hour. I sweated up 2 shirts and made a big sweat puddle under the trainer so I know I was working hard. I had changed pedals on my road bike and bought some new (used but new to me) road bike/tri shoes and got to try them out. They are way more comfortable than the mountain bike shoes.

I got some information today about a couple events. The shamrock shuffle in Madison is March 17. That will be the first 5K outside of the year. I also got word that the Zoo Run Run (J-Wim has a picture of me in a bow tie and she in a veil from last year on her blog) is on our anniversary again!!!! I will have to make new shirts this year for our 18th anniversary. We can wear our bow tie and veil again. In case you never saw the pic, here it is:

I had my personal best 5K here last year. We ran in the veil and bow tie and a lot of people commented on our anniversary. The run was really fun and was well planned and put together. A lot of volunteers too. I am hoping to shave some time off that this summer. I also want to do at least a couple 10K races. I am sure I can make it because I have done 6 mile runs in the past, but not at race pace. Supposed to be rainy out here for the next couple days starting tomorrow. I can not believe daylight savings time is March 11th this year. That seems really early. I am really looking forward to spring/summer. It is killing me to see my new mountain bike and not be able to ride it. My dogs have been being nice to me lately so I thought I would post a good picture of them as well.

Move Review: Hollywoodland

Last night J-Wim and I watched Hollywoodland. I found it to be interesting because as a kid, I watched Superman (re-runs in syndication as I am not that old) and really loved it. I bet I saw every episode. So to see how that all transpired and all the mystery surrounding his death was cool. I give it a 7 out of 10. Adrian Brody was great, as was Ben Affleck and Diane Lane. I would say watch this movie. I think there are a few good ones coming to DVD this week. I know there is a Will Ferrell movie and I will probably be getting that one.

Still Snowing

Well it is still snowing lightly. The snow is not sticking to the streets but it is sticking to the areas that are snow covered. All the streets are a mess. Super slushy and this morning everything was frozen so it was pretty slick. Buy by early morning everything was just wet. I got to see some pictures from farther up the state and it looks like we missed the big stuff. Some places as close as 2 hours away got 22 inches of snow and no rain. Another storm is on the way for Wednesday through Friday but they say that one should be a mix of rain, sleet and snow. We shall see.

One good thing about this all is when it melts, the trout streams will be high. I do not know if I ever mentioned it, but I love to trout fish. I take my youngest boy every year for opening day and we fish all weekend. My buds Jeff and Steve have both caught fish over 22 inches but I have yet to catch the big one. I have caught a few in the 18 inch range but nothing ever over 20. This snow should make for nice levels in some of the streams.

Last year we bought a really nice pop up camper as we did a lot of camping when we were heavy and did not do much exercising. Since we now want to do runs and tri's and duathlons on the weekends, we have sold the camper. I am going to miss using it trout fishing. My buds Jeff and Steve and I would camp right down from the stream we fish at and have a nice campfire. I have a couple pictures of us last year.

Sure looks beautiful doesn't it. I can hardly wait to go again this year. I do not know what we have planned for runs for that weekend but I pretty much have to go trout fishing or my son will be crushed. He loves it.
I almost forgot. I came home from work today and for some reason...I WAS FIRED UP. I had a huge energy surge and since J-Wim said I was driving her nuts, I decided to go down and run. So I did. 5.5 miles in an hour. I wanted to go 6 but my lungs we burning and at the end I started coughing a bit. I think I still have some sickness deep in my lungs but it felt great. If anyone knows run Athena and might know where she has been, please let us know. She has not posted anything in 2 weeks and before that she posted almost daily. I hope nothing has happened to her. Plus I miss reading her blog!!!!!!!!!!!

More Snow and a movie review

Well it did snow again last night, and rained, and snowed, and thunder snowed, and rained. I think we probably got more snow than what it looked like because all the rain compressed the snow a little. I think it probably snowed about 6 inches. I got up this morning and did some work stuff and then went out and snowblowed. Then I took some pictures. The snow plow came by and I made me kids go out and clear the approach. They were super struggling so I took a couple shots of them too. It has been raining and snowing here all day off and on. Nothing is sticking to the roads but it is sticking to the parts with snow on it. Supposed to maybe get 2-4 inches tonight. We shall see.

I have a couple movie reviews for you as well:

Broken Bridges: Toby Keith and Kelly Preston as well as Burt Reynolds. I really liked it. A good family movie. The acting was so-so and I would give it a 6 out of 10. For sure worth seeing.

Factotum: A weird movie with Matt Dillon. Not good. I thought the story was bad and the movie was super boring. I pretty much could not stand it and after an hour I shut it off. 2 out of 10.

Snakes on a Plane: Super good. A little scary at times but good. Samuel L. Jackson was great and the movie had a good plot and excellent special effects. I would say 8 out of 10. Not for the faint of heart though.

I have another movie Wonderland about the death of George Reeves (Superman). I will let you know what I think of it.

I need to get back on the exercise bandwagon tomorrow. I have given myself 3 days off and I do feel a bit better. No major cough or runny nose. I plan on getting a good night's rest tonight and after work tomorrow I would like to run and bike tomorrow. I am thinking of getting a Nike I pod + for my I pod for times when my garmin does not work (like a treadmill or inside the YMCA). Not sure though. 3 weeks until the first 5K of the year. The shamrock shuffle. Can't wait.

Movie Review :Babel

I watched the Academy Award nominated movie Babel last night. I didn't get it. 3 different stories that had one element that made them related. I do not know what the big fuss is about this movie. I thought it was terrible. 2 out of 10. It seemed like I was always missing something about this movie and it was rough trying to make sense of it. I know there are a lot of critics that thought this movie was great but I thought it was bad. If I had to watch this movie again, I would poke toothpicks in my eyes to avoid it.

It's winter again

Well Wisconsin in the midst of a winter storm. Supposed to be the biggest in 15 years. Snowed about 6 inches last night and we have the chance for 10-12 overnight with another couple on Sunday. I have been feeling a little sick lately with the cough and runny nose so I am taking some time to rest and recover. I might do some light exercise (I did do all the shoveling and snow blowing this morning and worked up a good sweat) but I am not going to push it. I still feel some soreness from the spin class believe it or not. I took some pictures of the snow.

Of course with my snowmobile motor not working, I will not be able to fully enjoy the snow.

We are going to my nephew's basketball game at 11 today and maybe if I remember I will take some pictures. I for sure will let you all see tomorrow morning after the snow. For the first time I can ever remember we have a blizzard warning for tonight and into tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

SnowyMike...OUT

Spin Class

Tonight J-Wim and I took our first spin class. It was o.k. I thought some of it was pretty hard and I think I rode harder than I usually do on the trainer or stationary bike. I feel like I got a good workout. I am not sure why I am not psyched about it. I know we will be going back. I liked the workout. This one was only 45 mins and I rode 18 miles which is huge for me. I normally do about 18 in an hour. The other class is an hour and a half long and I do not think I am ready for that yet.

One a more positive note.....ITS SOMEONES BIRTHDAY......It would not proper if I did not post some pictures.

It is one of these people. The one that is not a zombie. O.K. I guess that one is not descriptive enough so I will post another. It is the person in red. O.K. Still can't figure it out?

It is my mother in law Mrs. Keeney. Have a happy birthday in Costa Rica. Put an extra candle on the pineapple!!!!

Another Movie Review

Just watched Man of the Year with Robin Williams. Was very good. Some very funny political humor. I would give it a 6 out of 10. Not the best Robin Williams movie but still a good one.

On a running related thing... Man are my legs sore from actually running yesterday. The cushioning of the treadmill as compared to actually running made a big difference on my legs. I am surprised at how sore they are. I came home today and I am starting to get the scratchy throat and little nuisance cough. I hate sickness. I never hardly ever get sick too. So when I do get sick, it usually is a nasty one. I have been taking some stuff and I hope it works. I did ride 15 miles on the stationary bike tonight (hoping I can exercise the sickness out). I then ate some fish and a ton of veggies for dinner. My goal now is to make sure I do not make J-Wim sick by washing my hands a lot and trying to stay away from her. (It is hard because she is very huggable and kissable). I need to try to sleep more too.

Temps are supposed to be nice this week. We are going to do a spinning class tomorrow. My fist ever. I will let you know how it goes. Unless I get the full fledged sickness, then I will relax and sleep and try to get over it ASAP.

Another picture from the archives.

My two boys on a trip across Lake Michigan on a boat with their Grandparents. One of my favorite pics.

Finally got to run off the treadmill

J-Wim and I just got back from the YMCA. We dropped off our OCR road bikes at the bike shop for spring tune up and maybe new back tires (supposedly using the trainer wears out your back tire quickly and with race season upon us, we don't want a flat) and J-Wim wants a second water bottle for long rides so we got one of those as well. They will call us when the bikes are done. Ran 3 miles at the Y and it was nice. A little hot and stinky in there but it was nice to run on something other than the treadmill. I was really surprised at how hard it was. My legs burned a little. I was trying to push myself and I was not as in shape as I thought. Oh well. I am going to run a few more days this week and we are doing the Wed and Sat spin class so that will be fun. J-Wim was running really good. I think we could have gone another mile or 2. We have mapped out an 8 mile run that we are going to try out once the weather starts to stay above 50 and they open up the park where we want to run. Plus we want the snow and crap to be all melted.

I ate a can of Campbell's Healthy Request soup for dinner and I forgot how good soup can be. Only 220 calories per can. I sort of feel like I am getting a chest cold or some sort of sickness. My youngest son has been sick for a week and the week before that my oldest was throwing up and was sick for a few days. I am usually good at fighting this stuff off. We shall see.

I leave you with another fine photo:

This is my youngest son goofing around before a scout meeting. My oldest is sitting on the couch. They grow up so fast.

Movie Reviews

Taking a piece of J-Wims idea, I have decided to do some movie reviews. We watch a lot of movies. We subscribe to Blockbuster online and it is great. We have the total access so we return our movies that come in the mail to the store and get free ones. Over the past few weeks here are some of the movies we have watched and my review of them.

Little Miss Sunshine: I would say rent this. It was very funny and the characters were easy to relate to. Greg Kinnear and Steve Carell were especially good. Great story and happy ending. 8 out of 10

Without Limits: Story of Steve Prefontaine. Enough said. Rent it and become inspired instantly. 7 out of 10

Prefontaine: See above review. Rent it. 7 out of 10

Flags of our Fathers: Outstanding movie. It took a little while to realize it was not about the war, but about that famous photo of the flag being raised on Iwo Jima. The story was interesting because of the photo and it's place in history. 9 out of 10

Unknown: Great ending. Worth renting if you like suspense movies. I was not prepared for the ending of the movie. Very nice twist at the end. Greg Kinnear is good in this one as well. Takes a few minutes for the movie to get going and is hard to follow at first. 9 out of 10

The Devil Wears Prada: So So. It was sort of boring but I liked how it ended. If I never saw this movie I still would have been o.k. If you somehow get this movie, watch it. I would give this one a 5 out of 10.

Saw 3: A gory blood bath. A little too gruesome for my taste. The first 2 were better. 5 out of 10.

Jackass Number 2: Laughed until it hurt. A little sophomoric, but I somehow always bust a smile over someone taking it in the nuts so I liked this movie. Parts of it I fast forwarded through because I thought the content was dumb. Overall a side splitter. 7 out of 10.

School of Scoundrels: Good. John Heider and Billy Bob Thornton make this one worth seeing. The plot is good and the movie is easy to follow. 7 out of 10.

Munich: Way too hard to follow. Plus the actors were speaking a foreign language and the English was dubbed in over the top so it was hard to watch. I actually turned it off because I could not keep up with what was going on. 2 out of 10.

The Departed: Wow. A great movie. Probably one of the best I have seen in a long time. Great acting, a lot of suspense and some action. Probably one of the best movie endings I have ever seen. Matt Damon and Leonardo are great in this flick. Do not pass up the opportunity to watch this one. 10 out of 10.

The Guardian: Was one of the better movies I saw. Ashton Kutcher actually was good in this one. Kevin Costner is always good. Great plot. I did not like the ending. I watched the alternate ending on the extras and I liked that one better. Still a very good movie worth watching. 8 out of 10.

The Night Listener: O.K., but a little strange. The plot was good and I liked the storyline. Robin Williams was good and I like the spooky side of him as well or better than the comedic side. 6 out of 10.

Gridiron Gang: O.K. movie. It was better for me because it was a true story and at the end it shows the actual people portrayed in the movie. Xibit was actually very good in this one. 6 out of 10.

Employee of the Month: I liked it. I thought the story was fun and the humor was funny. 7 out of 10.

Idiocracy: Bad. 2 out of 10. I can not even remember what it was about but I shut it off.

Invincible: Great movie. Watch the extras as well as the story is shown as it actually happened. So good in fact that I bought the movie. 8 out of 10.

The Black Dahlia: Pretty hard to follow but once I figured out what was going on, it was good. The ending is pretty good as well. If you can really pay attention to what is going on, you will like the movie. 6 out of 10.

The Wicker Man: Very good. Offbeat and very strange but the ending was superb. I would say watch it. 6 out of 10.

My Super Ex Girlfriend: Very funny and witty. Luke Wilson was really funny. So was Uma Thurman. I would watch this one again. 7 out of 10.

Talledaga Nights: I love Will Ferrell. The extras in the movie almost made me pee my pants, especially the prune candy commercial. Overall, I think I lost a couple IQ points watching it, but it was funny. 7 out of 10.

World Trade Center: Good true story. Makes me glad I was not there. I gained a new appreciation for the devastation and what the rescuers went through. I like it 7 out of 10.

Miami Vice: I love Jamie Foxx as well and I thought this was a good movie. Good story, a lot of action and in the end, the good guys always win. 7 out of 10.

Well that is all the farther back I want to go. If you have any questions about any movie you want to know if I have seen, shoot me a comment and I can give you my recommendations.

In case you are wondering, the movies I would give a 10 to are: Unforgiven, Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption, Friday Night Lights, Man of Fire, and Remember the Titans. There are probably a few more I can not think of right now. But in any case

New Bike!!!!

Well yesterday after I worked until noon I met my two buds Steve and Jeff and we rode our snowmobiles all over. I am pretty sure we got in around 200 miles. Steve and I rode out of where I work and we rode to Jeff's. After we dropped him back off on our way back out to the shop I am pretty sure I blew the motor on my sled. Something gave out and I got towed back to Jeff's and Steve's wife picked me up and gave us a ride home. So I guess I am done for the year. Gives me 9 months to tear the motor apart and fix whatever the problem is. Good thing there is eBay because used parts are pretty cheap. Plus my buddy Steve has torn his motor apart about a dozen times over the years and he said he would help me so I am not too worried.
After I got up today J-Wim and I power cleaned the house and then we went out to get some stuff. While we were out we got the call.........NEW BIKES ARE READY!!!!!!!!
We went home and put the bike rack on the Envoy and went out to Michael's Cycles and got our new mountain bikes. We got some lights for the front and rear. They are sweet. We got home and put some warm clothes on and rode around the street and up to the high school. These bikes are going to be great. Here is a couple photos of my new bike.




I am pretty sore from getting pounded on the snowmobile. We went and got memberships to the local YMCA today and plan to do some spinning classes and working out there just to give something different to do besides treadmill running and using the bike trainer. We are going there tomorrow to work out. Should be fun. Temps in the 40's by the weekend. Might get a run or quick bike outside. I will keep you posted. Congrats to Pat on his half Mary run.
Today was wash the sheets day and I always sleep awesome on clean sheets so I am going to bed one hour early tonight just to enjoy it. I will let you know what I do for exercise tomorrow. Now that the snowmobiling is done for me, time to put some serious hours in working out.

Warmer weather finally about to arrive

After being super cold here for about the last month, temps are finally going to get into the 30's and 40's by the end of the week. We got about an inch or so of snow last night and the snowmobile trails here look great. With the warmer temps coming, they will be down to dirt and un-ridable by next weekend so I am hoping to be able to go out today and ride. It will probably be the last one of the season unless something unforeseen happens.

My new mountain bike is in and being assembled and we can pick them up next week. I am now starting to look forward to spring/summer a lot more than I was. I MISS MY GARMIN!!!! It seems like forever since I ran or biked outside.

Over the past few days fellow bloggers have been leaving messages for us and I just wanted to thank everyone. J-Wims blog was featured on Reds See Red Run blog and it generated some comments. It was very hard to lose all that weight and keeping it off is just as hard. I appreciate all the supportive comments. I have the work phone transferred to my cell phone so I can take calls this morning til noon for work. I will not book jobs outside in this weather. I won't make my installers work outside in the bitter cold, so I am not anticipating much work today.

In the tradition of pictures, I will leave you all with this:

D-Day-September 23, 1989.........FYI J-Wim tried the dress on about a month ago and it was way too big on her. I am not sure what size this tux was but I am certain I weighed about 280 in this picture.

Keep on runnin

Cool Mike..OUT

Valentine

Yesterday was pretty fun. J-Wim and I both worked and then after work she came home and we took our nephew and niece their valentines. We got the nephew a card and a bag of candy (his mom is a hygienist so that was my special valentine) and then niece some rattle socks and a card. He cracks me up every time we go over there. Then we took our kids out to get pizza and we gave them a bag of candy so they could eat it. After a trip to Wal-Mart to get some cereal and a few other things we headed home. The night before we watched Jackass #2. I know some of that stuff is gross but some was so funny I went to bed with a side ache.

We did manage to watch a couple other movies lately. The flags of our father was really good. So was Unknown. I also watched Prefontaine and Without limits. Both movies about Steve Prefontaine. Those movies were really cool. Man that guy was fast. I never used to be able to comprehend times in running until I started. To run a 5k in 13:25 just blows my mind. I would be just over a mile done and he would be breaking the tape.

Tonight I got home and ran 5 miles in an hour on the treadmill and made some dinner. I am hoping to get another 5 in tomorrow. J-Wim got her new bike shoes today and they seem to be good. They look awesome and have a carbon fiber bottom. Very light and strong.

We are kind of Survivor junkies so we will be watching that in a few minutes.

I will leave you with another older picture of me and J-Wim October 2003. For some reason I thought the little beard thing was cool. In retrospect, on me, it was not.

Running

I have decided that my posts have gotten away from what I had originally intended them to be and that is about running. We got 4 inches of snow last night and another 3-5 expected for tonight and tomorrow. I am sure there will be some snowmobiling this week.
As for last night I did 4 easy miles on the treadmill while watching the Grammys. I wish the Police would have played something better than Roxanne or at least played the cd version. Tonight I need to shovel and then run another 4.
We have some runs coming up leading up to the April Crazylegs Classic in Madison and I want to be ready.
Mike..OUT!

Finally got the end tables

Well it has been cold here and since someone told me the groomer for the snowmobile trails had groomed the trail, I could not resist the temptation to ride Friday night with my brother and my 2 best friends Steve and Jeff. Trails for Rock County were not that bad. Some bare and some with a lot of snow on them. We did the big loop around Janesville and hit Milton, Evansville, Beloit, Clinton, Edgerton and Newville. It was fun. Makes me feel old the next day because it is hard on the body. Yesterday my nephew Jacob and his mom and new sister came over to visit me. I had a hard time waking up and it took me few minutes to get going. I came downstairs and he was already here eating a pop tart and watching cartoons. He had seen my guitar in my room and asked if he could play it. I let him and it only took him about 2 seconds to come up with love song. Here is a picture.

The song was awesome. It went (and I am quoting here)"Oh me love, Oh me love, gone gone forevah. Oh me love, Oh me love, you're the only one for me. Oh me love, Oh me love, gone gone forevah"

It just kept repeating and repeating. He would strum the strings and refused to try to play any notes. Just liked the open strings. We got to play a little with the baby (who had cute jeans on)

After we hung out for a couple hours, we had to go and do some shopping. I told Jacob I would get him something and we did. He got a new Pirates of the Caribbean lego set. We bought the baby a new outfit as well. My youngest was with us and wanted a hair cut so he got his hair cut while we shopped. We got groceries and came home and Jacob went home as well. I called up to the furniture store because they had called and left a message on the phone Friday. The coffee table was there so we drove up and got it. And now for the big finish.

I am happy with it. The top folds open on each end for storage and they are packed full already. Now sometime this week our new mountain bikes will be in. I just figured out that the shoes I won on ebay for J-Wim use a different cleat/pedal than our other bikes so I need to go out and get some pedals. Maybe today. Need to get a workout in. I think I will do it tonight when the grammys are on. I want to see the Police reunion and what song they play.

Frozen Mike..OUT!

Valentines Day

Being so close to Valentine's Day makes me think a lot about my wife. I am very lucky and I know that I have what a lot of people wish they had. People that do have it, know what I am talking about. I am sure that I could not have found a more perfect match than her. I have 25 reasons why she is the best:

1. Every time I ask her to scratch my back she does it. Every time.
2. I have never, ever had to try to be someone other than who I am. Never.
3. She trusts me unconditionally. As do I to her. I could never find anyone better. Never.
4. She has never called me fat, ugly, stupid, or any other names in a hurtful way. Just in joking.
5. I have always felt loved by her. Always.
6. She has worked as hard (or harder) than me to provide for us. And is still working hard.
7. She has given me our kids and has been the best mother to our 2 boys. The best.
8. She laughs at my dumb jokes and stupid 12 year old humor.
9. She encourages me to be the best I can be and helps me to be the best I can, even if I am at my worst.
10. She has always been and will always be more beautiful than I deserve.
11. She is just as beautiful on the inside
12. She lets me cook (because I like to) and always tells me it's good, even when I know it is not.
13. When we used to order pizza, she would let me order stuff she hated and picked it off.
14. When she looks at me and smiles, I feel as if I can do anything.
15. She would help anyone who had the courage to ask for it
16. She accepts my friends and allows me to hang with them
17. She always says Thank You when I help her with something
18. She lets me do all the driving (I am not a good rider)
19. She has never made me feel like she is embarrassed by me or like she could do better
20. When she criticises me, it is always done in a good way where I do not feel belittled
21. She loves my family as much as I do
22. She makes me feel comfortable in every situation, even when we are just watching movies
23. Even though she is the main provider for us, she never has made me feel inadequate
24. When she smiles it makes me smile
25. She helped me to lose 150 pounds and become more athletic than I have ever been as an adult.

I bet I could come up with 25 more. It has been an awesome 17 years and I can't wait to see what the next 50 years brings.

I heart Jenny.

The worst day ever?

Boy was Tuesday one of the worst days I have had in a long time. Tuesday was the day we had scheduled to receive our new end tables and coffee tables between 9-1. I got up and went to work as normal. I told my brother and Erik (the other guy in the shop that answers phones) that I needed to be home by 9 to meet the furniture guys and would be back shortly. Neither one bothered to get there until right after 9 so I was a little angry about that. Then I get home and go to let the dog out of her cage (we keep her locked up during the day because she gets into trouble if we do not) and totally smashed my knee on the old end tables that were put in the downstairs living room to make room for the new ones. Now I have crushed my knee on that end table several times but this one just happened to be the worst yet. Big pain. Large wound. It had started snowing a bit and I was watching the news and cleaning up the house waiting for the furniture guys. I started to get frustrated as I waited. I was hoping to be right back to work. We were told we were second delivery of the day. As I waited and got more angry I reverted back to old habits and started eating. I mean eating. Everything I could get my hands on. The more I ate, the madder I got. I called them. They assured me that they were still coming but had trouble with the truck. O.K. I work in the service industry and I know that things do not always go as planned. I ate some more. Chips, cheese, sandwiches, pizza, cereal, you name it, I was eating it. I waited some more. About 12 noon they call and say that they are running a couple hours behind and would that be o.k.? Are you kidding me? I have already missed 3 hours of work. So I say whatever. And eat some more. And more. And the anger builds and the blood pressure rises. I call them at 2. They say do not expect them until at least 4. I am flabbergasted. I eat some more. Finally I call them back and you know what she says?
Why don't you just give me a cell number and they can call you when they get close? Oh that uncorked the kettle. Why could you not have taken my cell number and arranged this so I would have only missed an hour of work and not 6. I go to work. They call 10 minutes after I get there and I have to drive home and meet them. Oh well, at least they are here. They bring it in. It's not the right coffee table. It does not match the end tables. I look at the slip and see that the finish is not the same. I flip out. (And eat something). I call the store. They say "Your salesman is off until Thursday and you will have to wait to talk to her. I am not happy.
J-Wim comes home and she is not happy. She lights the flame thrower and flames this salesman on the phone. I hear her use words like "NO. Not acceptable". "Get your manager". I can see she is mad. It makes me feel a little better and I eat something. We have to drive 40 miles to Madison to make sure that we get the right one ordered. I take the other one back. I eat things on the way to Madison. I can't stop.
I think I ate one of everything. We got home and I guess it all worked out. I went and delivered the old end tables to someone J-Wim works with. (They gave me a 50 for them). That went o.k. and then by the time I got home it was almost 8. I was tired and felt sick from eating everything sight. I seriously think I ate one of everything. Bottom line is next Tuesday we get to go to Madison and get our new coffee table. I will not take the chance of delivery again.
I will need to work out hard to burn all those calories off. Bottom line is I would like to forget Tuesday. No pictures of my new furniture until I get the coffee table.

SCHOOL CLOSED BECAUSE ITS TOO COLD?

Well today as I awoke in my igloo (just kidding, I really live in a house) I looked at the thermometer for outside and it said -16. Wow. I turned on the TV to watch a little news in the morning like I always do and was shocked that so many schools cancelled classes today. Then I heard them say it was because they did not want kids waiting for the bus out in that kind of cold. I can understand that. Kids do not always use the best judgement and if you let them, they will leave the house in shorts and a t shirt no matter what the weather. My kids included. As I peeked into their rooms to let them know school was cancelled I had to laugh. My youngest son said "Are you kidding me?? SWEET." The oldest (who was obviously sleeping hard) said "Awesome. Now get out of here so I can get back to sleep" I laughed. I had to work though. Temperature never got above zero today. I went outside a few times for work and it only took seconds for my hands and face to get cold. I was also surprised that the all time low temp here was -36 in 1996. I was married and living in our other house and I can not remember it being that cold. I do remember a cold spell but all the years sort of blend together and I can not remember exactly what year that was.

I got home and did a 5K on the treadmill and then rode 7 miles on the bike. Took a little over an hour. We have been eating a lot of fish lately (I used to hate any fish not deep fried in beer batter and served with a pound or two of fries). We have been eating the Star Kist pre cooked pouches heated up on the George Foreman (ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATEST INVENTIONS EVER FOR PEOPLE WATCHING THEIR WEIGHT) and then putting the fish on a small portion of brown rice. Throw in the usual steamed bag of veggies and it actually fills me up and is only around 400 calories. So I made that for dinner.

Tomorrow we are getting a couple new end tables delivered (we have ones with glass tops and I have crushed my knees on that sucker so many times I can not take it anymore) so I have to get these other ones cleared out. We are going to post some pictures on J-Wims intranet at work and hope someone gives me a 20 to take them away. I will post some pictures of my new furniture tomorrow when it arrives. I know both my sister in laws have been reading my blog so I wanted to share this personal picture of them so they know that I love them both a whole lot.

My sister in laws are the best!!!! Nice matching PJ's!!! Here is a better photo

The 3 hottest ladies I know.

We are frozen

Well the Midwest is locked in a super cold spell. We are expected to have high temps below zero and low temps around 15 below for the next few days. I actually did see someone on a bike and someone running as we went grocery shopping today. Those people are nuts. As I was putting my groceries in the car my hands were almost numb and it was only about 4 minutes. No way would I ever run or bike outside in this crap. You seriously could die.

J-Wim and I have been exercising almost daily and I am so happy to be maintaining my weight. I have stayed within 5 pounds of my goal weight after dieting. I have really come to believe that I can stay this size (or maybe even smaller) without feeling like I am missing out on anything or feeling guilty if I indulge in something. I still do feel guilty whenever I eat something high calorie or high fat. I guess I know it would not take much to get back to where I started and I never want to be there again. Life was not really fun for me at that size.

I smashed my knee accidentally into a dumpster and put a monster bruise on it the other day but it is feeling better now. I have been doing some other exercises besides running. I have been doing bike trainer, stationary biking and elliptical training for the past 4 days.

My wife and I have been eyeing mountain bikes for next year and now that we have our taxes done, (yes we are getting a refund) we have decided to go and get them. Last night we went to our favorite bike shop Michael's Cycles and talked with Bob and put down a deposit on 2 Trek 6500 mountain bikes. You can see them here. J-Wim got the black chrome one and I got the racing yellow/black one. I can not hardly wait to ride it. I am going to do some stunts. I have always liked to jump and ride over stuff so I can not wait. They have some really cool features. They have hydraulic brakes which I did not even know you could get on a bike. They also have front shocks. We looked at ones that had full suspensions but we are not sure how much we will be into the biking so we did not want to spend that much. We also bought new bike seats for our OCR 2 racers. The one that came on those bikes are very hard and we bought gel ones. I did 45 minutes on the elliptical tonight and then set my bike up on the trainer and did half hour on that and the new seat made a big difference. Much greater comfort.

My oldest son turned 17 yesterday. We got him a nice wireless keyboard and laser mouse. It is what he wanted.

Well I am going to try to do some swimming this week. I really need to figure this out if I plan to do triathlons. Plus my sister in law is here working out.

Here is a nice picture I would like to share with you. This was 1992 and is J-Wim, my sister in law and me at my sister in law's high school graduation.