Pause for a minute to recap

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

A multi-issue post

1. Basketball

So the NCAA March Madness is upon us and I found myself scarily uninformed about who these guys and teams are. I watched some of a couple games this last weekend and had no idea who any of the players were on the teams I was watching. Kinda scary, but also refreshing to realize that my fight against sports addiction is progressing. On Sunday I had an opportunity to sit and watch the Laker game (in High Def no less) and blissfully ignored it while helping James with his home work project. It's taken a mix of cold turkey and keeping the mind focused on alternatives to get to this point.

2. Fitness

I have been going through bursts and fizzles in my attempts to get a handle on this since Manny's cardiac arrest. I keep telling myself that this will be the week, or that next week I will buckle down. Or I will start the week good for exercise but blow it with a huge dinner or late night snack. But I am starting to come around to the Yoda Mantra: 'There is no try, there is do or not do'. And so I am hopefully rededicated.

3. Family news

I can't go into details but the situation with Tammy has deteriorated. We had a long talk last night with Dennis & Megan, and I think everyone is reaching their last shreds of patience. And after speaking with Connie last weekend I think she is pretty much there as well. So what remains is to have a realistic discussion about options and then lay it out for her. I fully think it will have to be handled as an 'intervention' like meeting. I just hope we can get it done before things get any worse.

4. Boys

So James and Daniel have been enjoying their swim lessons, making some progress. And with James signed up for soccer starting in April I was hoping to keep Daniel in the swim lessons. Well this past weekend I got a bit of good news from the Y director, James' games won't start until later in the day, so I will be able to do Daniel's swim lessons in the morning, then take James to his soccer game, they won't cross each other time wise. Very good news, this way Daniel can continue with the lessons and feel that he has his own thing, while James has his thing.