Getting My Butt Off The Couch

I think I found my motivation to getting back into exercising.  It's always a daunting task to get back at it after a long break.  The last time I was in the best shape of my life was about 3 and a half years ago.  I was on parental leave with our first daughter.  Since she was pretty immobile being only 6 months old, I was able to exercise daily at my own pace.  I was getting my cardio in on our elliptical machine and alternating days lifting weights.  I never looked better or felt better.  I efforts were even getting noticed by others, it felt good.   I made a commitment to myself this year that I would begin the long road to the healthiest lifestyle I can lead and be in the best shape of my life by the time I hit 40 (3 or so years).  I am now just relaxing after a very good workout and I feel great, not only from the workout but mentally for getting off the couch and getting it done.  Now, the next step is doing it frequently, getting a few weeks in so that I want to maintain the results and not sabotage my efforts by backsliding Well, that's it really.  Progress report: Yoga last night to help my nagging lower back problem and weights tonight, feels good!!

The State of The Economy Hits Home / Where The Hell I've Been!

How often do you come across a blog post that starts off something like "I haven't blogged in a while...."?  Well, this is one of those posts.  We have made many lifestyle changes that have had a severe impact on how much free time I have.  In early October we had a new addition to our family, a baby girl.  She is doing quite well and is an absolute bundle of  joy.  I actually forgot how much work babies are.  I actually don't do well with sleep deprivation so it's a good thing that my wife is off on maternity leave and handling the lion's share of the feeding duties. I have also decided to pursue continuing education towards a degree, part time, via correspondence.  Again, I have forgotten how much work school/studying is.  I thought school was tricky when I was in my teens and had nothing to do but concentrate on good grades.  It's insanely tough finding the motivation to study after work and after the kids are settled for the night.  I''m nearing my late 30's and find that after 12 hour shifts at work, dinner, bathing the kids and getting them settled, I'm beat! My motivation for trying to find a sliver of time and get back to blogging is twofold. 1. I miss the creative outlet and 2. I do actually feel like a schlub for not providing my very small group of faithful readers anything to chew on.  I have managed to scrape up this extra time with the help of my employer. How you ask?  You see, the industry that I work in is very tightly integrated with the automotive industry (and you know how well the auto makers are doing lately.)  I have been forced to take a two week layoff without pay, they call it a furlough, I call it shitty!  I by no means have a bunch of spare time due to my wife's "honey do" list, but I have some.  What better time to blog?  I chewed on the idea for a few days about how to jump back in again and decided on what you see here, honesty. What kind of content can you expect moving forward?  More of this, I think.  I'm pressed for time like never before so my posts may be more concentrated but hopefully as enjoyable.  Like they say in big business, my "mission statement" from here on in is to provide something worthy of your time, three to four times a week.  So those of you still checking back in, I can only say Thanks!