spinning

I started taking spinning classes a couple of weeks ago. i like it and it's a great workout but i would rather be running. at my age though it is important to recognize that cross training is beneficial. this morning's instructor gives a great workout but i just wish he would shut up. constant talking for the entire 50 minutes, "how we doin!" over and over again. telling us to "be honest with yourself". ugh.

anyway, it's a great workout and I'll continue. the Tuesday instructor is not so annoying,

my running is also coming along. its a little cold but i want to have a good base for whenever the weather warms up. it will only remain comfortable for a short couple of weeks so i need to be ready for the hot weather with a lot of miles under my feet.

Social Awkwardness

Last night i went out for a business dinner with Microsoft people and people from my company. I tend to be pretty loud at these things because that's just the way I am. I do watch how much i drink to make sure I dont get too out of hand but I did have a couple of glasses of wine.

Anyway, it felt like it all went well but I always have this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that maybe I screwed up and offended someone. I can't point to a specific instance from last night but there is that nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I guess this is the price you pay if you want to participate in these sorts of events. the alternative is to sit there very politely and to keep the conversation on work but I think that defeats the purpose of these events. Certainly talking about work is necessary but we can do that in a meeting and dont need an overpriced restaurant to facilitate the conversation. The point of these events is to get to know your partners on a personal level.

So i'll have to put up with a little worry over my behavior. The evening was great. We ate at a really nice restaurant in Philly called Amada. It was a Tapas place so little plates of appetizers kept coming out all night long. The wine was all Spanish varietals and the MS rep picked a really nice Red (Tinto).

Gangbusters

That's how the week has started. It is unbelievable how busy things are and it feels like every project i touch goes to crap. i hope my boss doesnt feel that way.

I've started tracking my daily exercise and food intake in a journal. i dont want to do it on this blog because i find that sort of tiresome and I dont want to bore all my faithful readers. My goal though is to get down to my bootcamp weight. that's going to take a lot of doing. i dont expect to be done for some months and that's with total concentration. I need to lose, as of today, 69 pounds. the interesting thing about that though is that yesterday i needed to lose 67 pounds...wrong direction. i'm hoping it was water retention.

Anyway, i've cut my food back and increased my exercise. my clothes do already feel looser so i believe it's probably a malicious scale would likes to see the expression on my face when i step on it.

I'll try not to make a habit to talk too much about my weight loss journey in this space but i'm sure i will update on certain milestones...10 pounds lost, 20, 5 pounds gained, etc.

weekend sick in bed

this weekend didnt fly by as quickly as most of them. most likely because i spent the weekend in bed. I did manage to get out of bed and drag myself to the Troop 230 Eagle Ceremony. It was long but worth the time.

it was a long week

Although it was a long week full of the typical work stresses and anxieties and the busy days I'm sitting here on Saturday morning, survived, with a nice cup of tea, my two dogs and a nice quiet house. I just finished the crossword puzzle and am about to get into my book but first i thought i would put a few words down on the blog so i can look back and remember what i was doing someday.

This is strategy season at work so we're all busy trying to determine how we can make ourselves relevant to the company's new business strategy. The company recently came out with a 3 year plan to get ourselves to a stronger position and they set out some significant activities to make it happen. It seems that the work my group does falls squarely into at least on of those activities so now i have to make sure we have a robust enough mission to ensure that i get funding for myself and all my people. I think it will not be an issue but there is, of course, the stress that it will.

So i live in Powerpoint land., My boss is an expert in communications and I am not so it often takes several rounds of reviewing slides with him before i get it right. He's a busy guy so I want to have as few rounds as possible.

Anyway, after a week at it I think i'm pretty close so next week should be better.

The kids have their school stuff going on and their extra-curricular things. Oona was out of school two days this week with some sort of cold that I also seem to be coming down with. So far Dylan and Maureen seem fine but they're usually the ones that get sickest so I'm not sure we're out of the woods yet.

This weekend will be devoted to getting ready for Thanksgiving and an Eagle Scout Ceremony. I love
the Eagle Ceremonies so I'll take some pictures and do a post about it.

The Benefits of Green Tea

I recently gave up coffee and replaced it in my morning ritual with Green Tea...specifically Tazo Green Tea because it gives me a reason to keep going to Starbucks.

The alleged Health Benefits of Green Tea are very impressive and raises the question, "Why doesnt everybody drink green tea?". After all it is reported that green tea is helpful with

• cancer
• rheumatoid arthritis
• high cholesterol levels
• cardiovascular disease
• infection
• impaired immune function
  
  
  It is a veritable "Who's Who" of baby boomer complaints. So why doesnt everyone drink green tea? There is currently only one drawback to green tea and that is that it is sometimes linked to insomnia because it does contain caffeine. IT contains from 30-60 mg of caffeine to Coffee's 100mg in a single cup. So, why dont more people drink green tea?
  
  
  
  
  It tastes like crap.

What are you reading now?

I'm reading a book called "Case Histories" and due to work and personal commitments i've been reading it for weeks now. that's not a reflection on the book though; it is really good. one of the reasons i'm able to read it so sporadically is in the way it is written. It's a series of short stories that connect several characters. Each of these stories holds up on its own though so if i walk away for a couple of weeks I can jump back in. I have lost the thread from time to time but it comes back. the book is very well written and holds your attention...unless you're very busy at work and your personal life. I don't tend to recommend a lot of books but I do recommend this one.

Amazon Link to Case Histories