Working out again

  Yep, it true. I am back at it. I actually took a break over the last couple of months and decided to get back into it by giving the P90X workout a try. I completed my second workout this evening and must say that it has help to reinforce my belief that plyometrics are evil!! I never did like them but they are, in my option some of the most gratifying work out you can do. You may be sore but it will be worth it.
  I have done a few work outs in the past as well as some running. Lets face it they all  and I mean ALL boil down to the same thing. Eat better and get off your butt. No one gets fit sitting on the couch eating BonBons. Even the most basic moves like cleaning house or light yard work help. Dancing and laughing also have benefits! The hardest thing for most people is the diet part. I never look at it that way.
  Diets DON"T work. My definition of working is not losing 10 pounds in a couple weeks by cutting a certain portion of your diet out. Cutting cards = Bad, Cutting calories way down = Bad, trying to cut all fat out of your diet = Bad. The human body is a machine and like all machines it you run it unbalanced it will break. Also as all machines are designed to be used, so is the body. You have muscles and joints use them!
 The best thing to do it start slow. Start changing the diet slightly. Cutting back on some portions and opting for a little healthier food a little at a time. Before long you will actually look forward to an apple or banana for a snack. Do not expect to start feeling the difference the next day. 2 or 3 weeks and you will start noticing for sure. As you start losing weight and toning muscles some crazy things will happen. You will have more energy and desire to do more physical thinks. Your skin and hair will clear up some as well as your overall attitude will change. Progress is the best motivator!
 So start eating better and get off your but. It's that simple!

Good friends are worth their weight in gold!

 Friends, I hear that word a lot from my Daughter. How her friends are doing this and that. How they get mad at each other, laugh with each other, and interact with each other. Any time I here her talk about it I say a small prayer. "Dear God, please let my Daughter have the kind of friends I do." Some may see that as a silly comment but let me explain.

 I started meeting the friends that made a difference in my life about the same age my Daughter is now. Some have come and gone. Lots of weird, crazy, insane people have come in and out of my life. Through all this bonds were formed with different people. A few of my friends were surprises. Lee Molpus, I met him in a fight. We slugged it out on my front porch. The next year.... friends. There are other stories, some that probably should not be repeated but they all end the same. Friends.

 Now the reason I want my Daughter to have the same kind of friends is this. I am now 40 years old, steady approaching 41. The majority of the friends I have now are the same as it was in high school and shortly after. Of course we don't see each other as much because we all have our lives, families and responsibilities to take care of. But I promise you, the same friends I called on in the 80's I can still call on today and they can call on me. We would drop anything for each other. They are there anytime they are needed.

 We have not needed Facebook, MySpace, or twitter to keep up with each other. We didn't have cell phones or texting, we have conversations and shared moments. I have met a lot of new friends and hooked up with some old ones on these social networks but I never needed it for the life long friends I have had.

 Mom and Dad probably wondered about some of them, and even got on to some of them when we were doing wrong. We have lived together, worked together, partied together, and yes got into trouble together. But they NEVER bailed on me even when I think they should have. We have been through a lot together. When I lost my brother in a car crash my friends are what kept me going. Kept me living and pushing forward. I pulled away from everyone for a long time and yet there they were when I came around. Still there for me, still showing the love that cannot be broken.

 You see the pictures I have posted. They are from long ago and just recent and you notice the same people show up in them. I have never really separated friends and family. That is how close they are. I have the same love and respect for them as I would any family member.

 So now I hope my earlier comment makes more sense. Why I would love to have my daughter have friends like mine. You can't always be with your kids, but you try to teach them right and then you let them out into this big world. I can only hope her friends will watch her back like my friends did mine.

 I look forward to many more years with them. I don't know what we will get into. Maybe we will be racing around a retirement home in wheel chairs together or just sitting on a porch watching grand kids but we will be together. This much I do know.

Getting back to normal

  I guess everything is getting back to normal. Crazy, hectic, and fun. That is normal for us. I just got through posting on the Birmingham academy of martial arts Blog and updating Facebook and I am beat. Well I guess the 3 mile run before I started posting had something to do with that.
 We have belt test coming up at the end of the month and as usual, I am nervous. It's really weird, I know my forms really well, but seem to screw them up during a test. I really wonder how i will ever pass a black belt test but that is my short term goal so I keep pushing forward. I guess we all have things we can do really good then screw up when people are watching. I know it's a normal feeling everyone has but it really doesn't help make me feel any better when I am out there doing it!
 I see all the commercials gearing up for Valentines day. Trying to sell me crap I don't really need so i can prove I love my lady. Are people still falling for this? Shouldn't we be showing the ones we love how much we love them more that just once a year? I guess you ladies like receiving gifts but you have birthdays and Christmas as well as some of you have anniversaries and Mothers day. Do I really have to constantly buy you crap for you to know I love you? Don't get me wrong, I buy my lady gifts. I do it randomly throughout the year. A card here and there, some flowers, and maybe even a night out on the town. But I see love as something a heck of a lot deeper that the superficial things some people want. I think to many people place love and success on a material level. I feel sorry for them. Once you reach that point you to busy concentrating on the value of the item and never see the love that brought it.
 Well I guess thats enough babbling for me tonight. I hope we can plan another social gathering soon. It has been so great hooking up with old friends on Facebook and hanging out every now and then. It's been what? 3 - 4 months since the last one?
 Well hope everyone has a great week, Keep smiling and keep pushing forward!
Peace