Numbers

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

First, is there anything sweeter and more gratifying as a parent than random unsolicited hugs?  This morning James and Daniel were playing and listening to their MP3 players, and twice Daniel was having so much fun he just ran up and gave me a hug.

NBA

Still not watching the games (just not worth it when I don't really enjoy the games and I can get stressed out by just watching).  But in looking at the recap from last nights Lakers-Los Suns game one number jumped out at me: 12, total fouls called on Los Suns!  That's just crazy.  How can any team expect to win a game when the home team can basically get away with anything because no fouls are being called?

Warhammer

I have been enjoying making Army lists recently, for the games with James.  And I am really amazed at how many figures there are in a 2000 point army.  2000 points is the traditional size for most games, and I can cram a lot of figures into a 2000 point army , even if I am using characters and magic items. 

Which is good because it helps restrain my interest in spending money on more books and figures, always a good thing when the army books are 25$ and the average unit box is 30$.  Just glad I have all of the figures I need for the forseeable future already.  One of the things I kind of want to do this weekend in fact is to pull out all of the figures and get an inventory and organize them, because while I know I have a lot, I really have no idea how much I really have. 

Books

I am kind of in a lull on my reading (maybe time for another library run).  So I was looking at my bookshelf trying to find something to re-read, and came across a book series I wanted to have James try.  So last night I handed him this book: Dragons of Autumn Twilight and he jumped right into it.  Really excited in fact, stating that he was glad I picked him such an advanced book.  Makes the heart warm to hear something like that.

Health

50

That's a good number, and today when I got on the scale I could see that I had actually reached that number in pounds I have lost since I started really paying attention.  234.5 to 184.5 this morning!  About 10 months, and it has been all life style changes, no quick fix diets, no hyper exercise programs.  Just changes to how I live that have become as big a part of my life as the daily fast food or all you can eat buffets once were. 

Weekend Recap

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

I enjoyed a wonderful Anniversary weekend, enjoying family events, time with Kim, and got in some exercise as well. Back to work today, but already looking forward to the upcoming 3 day weekend.

Miniature Games

James and I enjoyed a good, competitive game of Warhammer Friday night. I kept it simple for him, designing an army where all he had to do was sit and shoot. And he enjoyed himself, and appears to be learning the basics. Here's a few shots:

James surveys the battlefield

Crucial fight as my knights run into his flegellants

Anniversary

Kim and I enjoyed a wonderful evening out, thanks to Dennis & Megan watching the 3 kids for the night.  We had a nice dinner out at the Melting Pot, enjoying a wonderful meal.  Then went and took in a movie (Alice in Wonderland, different, very cool, but very Tim Burton; which is an acquired taste).  Then home for a good, quiet nights sleep, with a lazy monring before getting breakfast and picking up the kids.  It was a wonderful way tospend the evening and day.  Some times I worry that I go overboard in describing how much I love my life, but I don't think I can overstate that in this case.

After returning home with the kids we aired up the bike tires and took them for a bike ride to America the Beautiful Park, to see the Fountain opening, and play in the park for a while.  The ride down was very smooth, actually took less time than driving there.  And the ride back wasn't too bad (although Kim did drag the trailer, so she had the harder part.)  It did set a good precedent for future rides, since James seemed to have no problem with his riding, and that was the only part I was really concerned with.

Health

I got in a good run Friday morning, and that coupled with the bike ride Sunday had me actually end up losing a little over the weekend, despite a couple of really big (but enjoyable) meals. 

Family

After dinner Sunday we got out the clippers and cleaned up James' mohawk, and gave daniel one as well.  And Kim cut my hair too in the bargain (since it was reaching the point where I had to comb it, and I hate combing my hair).  Here's the finished product this morning

 

Big weekend coming

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

This weekend marks the 12th Anniversary of the moment when I made it public that I would stay with 1 woman the rest of my life.  So we will be celebrating that.  Also the normal workout & Emily swim lesson.  And make sure to take some time for fun with the kids.  Really looking forward to it, as I stated this morning, one downside to all the gorgeous recent weather is how it makes the weeks seem much longer due to being cooped up in the office, instead of outside enjoying myself.

Also, today was the last day of school for the boys, which means I now officially only have 1 Pre-K (technically younger) child!  How did that happen?  How did my smiling little Daniel become a Kindergartner?  And James will be a 3rd grader (an age that always means something to me as that was when I changed schools). 

Tonight I will celebrate the end of school with James by having another learning battle of Warhammer.  This morning I sat down and went over the 2 army lists for this battle, explaining generally how they were put together, and why.  And I explained my general progression for teaching him to play the game.  First, it was the basics; next we implemented the advanced rules with more units (tonights game); then I will teach him how use magic in battle; last we will start using different armies.  Somewhere in there I will also hand him some figures and paints and let him go to town. 

Returning to roots

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

One of the things I have looked forward to as a parent was the chance to start playing games that I enjoyed with my kids.  The biggest reason for that was the joy I got as a kid playing so many games with my family: board games as a family, card games and scrabble with my grandmother, sports with my Dad and family in general.  With that as a back ground I knew that I would do what I could to make sure that I would not be a distant parent who left his kids to themselves. 

This wasn't always easy, because to be honest the kids just weren't old enough or big enough to really do much with.  I could get down and wrestle with them, but that's not the same as playing competitive basketball or tennis etc.  James isn't nearly at the age where he can really compete with sports (and that is one of the many reasons I have worked so hard to get into shape, gotta postpone that time when he beats me regularly). 

But in the last year with James learning to read his ability to play other games has taken off.  First it was teaching him to play Magic.  Which is fun, and actually a relatively even challenge provided the Decks are balanced.  But what I was really looking forward to was the day when I could introduce him to miniature war games.  I have tried a few times, but it was clear he wasn't ready. 

That day appears to have arrived.  And with it I am getting to enjoy the side benefit of doing something I once occupied pretty much my entire spare time with.  I really enjoy playing the miniature games, but have been on hiatus from playing with other adults since my kids came first, (and game stores don't generally have day care areas built in).  But with my sitting down and teaching James to play Warhammer I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel to an extent.  Because once he learns to fully play I will have an opponent built into my life, one that does not require me to leave the house. 

Like a sports obsessed parent who pushes their child into playing one sport constantly to the point where they tire of it and quit I have to temper my enthusiasm.  I have to ease him into learning, and then temper the playing time so it doesn't take time and attention away from the younger 2 (at least until they get old enough to learn bwahahahaha...).  But the time when I can return to my roots of playing these games, making army lists, painting miniatures etc. is definitely on the near horizon.  And that makes me a very happy guy indeed.

Family Update

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Antoher fun weekend, this time focused on fun and relaxation instead of projects.  I had a good night out with friends on Friday night.  Saturday I worked out, Emily had her swim lesson, then James' last soccer game of the season.  Followed by some work helping out Connie, then a relaxing evening.

Sunday we took a family trip up to Denver to the Colorado Mills Mall for a Lego Building Event.  Which ended up lasting longer than we expected, but was still quite fun.  The boys had a good time building and watching the big statue getting built.  And Emily made sure I got my exercise by deciding she had to potty constantly, which meant my having to walk her to the bathroom.  But it was an enjoyable time, and thanks to Connie for coming along to provide an extra hand with the kids as well.  You can see the pictures here:

Lego Store Building Event:

Health

I decided to add sit ups to my routine, 3 mornings a week.  Just to get the heart going, and start to tighten up the stomach muscles, since I can actually see a stomach now, instead of a gut.  Otherwise the Couch to 5K is progressing well, almost done with week 4. 

NBA

Well the Lakers won last night, which is good.  But the hated Celtics won on Sunday, bringing closer the worst case scenarion (in my mind) of yet another Lakers-Celtics Championship series.  Yes beating the Celtics would be sweet, but I would prefer to not have the Celtics have a chance of winning.  But I have held to my goal of not watching at all, just following in the paper and Internet.  Which is keeping me much saner.

Games with James

I had my first instructional game of Warhammer with James.  It went well, hard fought, and I think he learned the basics, which allow him to understand the meaning of what is in the Army books.  So this weeke he has been busily digesting the various Army books.  And I am refreshing my knowledge of the rules (since I did let a couple of things slip by).  This coming weekend I hope to get in another learning game.  My goal is 1 game a week.  Apparently there is a new edition coming out in July, so there will be no new purchases of figures etc. until that comes out.  And at some point I will hand off some figures and paints for him to go to town with.  Gotta feed the addiction while it is fresh (just joking).  I think it is something he can really enjoy, and it will also give the chance to develop some thinking skills that will serve him in life: quick math in your head, forced tactical and strategic thought, enhanced logical reading etc.

Another Milestone achieved, weekend plans, NBA thoughts

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

 
That's right, 188.5, below 190! 
 
To be honest I wasn't exactly diligent in tracking my weight when I was younger, so I can only guess when I last saw that number.  But I think it is safe to say it was probably sometime in high school.  It feels so good to keep seeing progress.  I would say my goal is to be in the 170's, but who knows, depends on everything else I do as far as general fitness.
 
Weekend Plans
 
Kim announced her desire to take a break from weekend projects for a while.  Which is fine with me for now.  So Saturday we have James' last soccer game, plus Emily's swim lesson. I'll probably sneak in my run before that.  Once we get home I am pondering pulling out my Warhammer miniatures and setting up a teaching game with James.   He has become very interested in medieval combat lately, so I figure the iron is hot enough to strike.
 
Sunday we are planning to go up to Denver to attend a LEGO building event.  Which promises to be a fun time, we plan to coordinate things so only one of us has to stay with the boys while they build, and the other one can wander with Emily.  Should be a fun diversion from the usual weekend events.
 
NBA Thoughts
 
I have held true to not watching games, following on the web and paper only.  I still cannot wrap my mind around the idea that the Lakers & Suns both got a week off before they start their series, way to keep people excited about your product NBA. 
 
So King James and the Lebron's failed again.  Can't say I am that suprised.  Like Carmelo Anthony with the Nuggets these guys are rapidly becoming victims of a real surge in NBA talent levels.  And a surprising surge in decent coaching.  And last the NBA has realized that it cannot just hand another championship to another 'superstar'.  I feel bad for the Cleveland sports fans, because no city deserves the type of luck they have endured over the years. 
 
Unfortunately I am now facing the possibility of another Lakers-Celtics championship series, and I know I cannot take that.  So I will have to cheer for the Magic, even if that means the Lakers don't get Home Court advantage. 

Political Rambling

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Just some Random thoughts on a few topics that have come up in recent weeks.

1. Arizona

I feel bad for the people I know and love who live in this state.  I know what this feels like, to have the rest of country see what some very active politicians are able to get passed through the clever use of propaganda and the use of fear, and think that means everyone in that state is a bigot, racist, homphobe etc.  I know that at the root of both of the bills the state has passed are some decent ideas: we need to address the problem of uncontrolled immigration, and no one should be teaching hate in the class room.  But the bottom line is they have gone about it wrong.  As a result people in the state are now in the position of being tarred with the blanket brush of 'racists'.  And they have to find a way to reverse that impression before serious damage is done there.

2. Deficits & taxes

So this week 2 reports came out on government budgets.  First, it was reported that when taking into account all forms of taxes, local, state and Federal, we are at a lowest level of taxation since 1950.  This report was not very heavily reported.  Second, it was announced that the Federal Budget had it's highest monthly deficit ever.  This was widely reported. 

Now many people are attempting to make huge political gains about the deficit news.  Doing their best to use this as a reason to demand that now we should start curbing Federal spending.  Now, without getting into the general ideas and justifications for Federal Deficit spending, I am going to instead present a different argument. 

Many of these people insist (wrongly IMHO) that the government should treat it's budget like a business and therefore should not run deficits.  Well if I am running a business, and I have expenses that I cannot avoid (cleaning up a major disaster, saving the economy from the results of uncontrolled greedy gamblers), and at the same time my receipts are down, I will have no choice but to be in a deficit in my budget.  And if I am a smart businessman, instead of cutting all of my spending, instead I would want to focus on increasing my income.  Because cutting my spending to zero destroys my business, while increasing my income stream, will allow me to continue to spend on the important things for my business, like infrastructure and research.

Putting an end to all of the above comparisons: governments need to stop running from their citizens, acting like what they do is somehow inherently evil.  Government is not inherently evil. Government does need to be run correctly, but what it does: protect and serve the people so foreign countries, greedy corporations and criminals do not hurt the people, is a good thing.  And those services do not come free.  Potholes do not get filled for free; police, teachers, firemen, soldiers, safety inspectors etc. should not be charity workers; without government oversight the greedy corporations will run amock, resulting in economic hard times, public safety disasters and deaths of workers.  You want to end monster deficits?  Pay your fair share of taxes without a fight for the services our society and country and children deserve.

3. Incumbents

This is a classic year to fear for your political life if you are an incumbent up for re-election.  And I think that is a good thing.  This Congress, especially the Senate (where all good bills go to die), has not served our country as well as they could have.  I'm not saying that means I want a Republican takeover this fall, far from it.  I'm just saying, if I was a Blue Dog Democrat, and I was getting a major test from a Progressive rival, that might help remind me why I joined the Democratic party in the first place. And in the long run, looking at things from a game playing competitive point of view, all of this 'cleansing' of the Republican party by Tea Party activists will only make them weaker, no Party has ever been truly successful in American politicis catering solely to 1 extreme end of the political spectrum. 

Weekend Recap

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

I judge that it is safe to say that we are heading into just a really good time in our lives.  Not that life was horrible before, it wasn't really.  But the uncertainty we faced last year with the economy affecting my job, and the contract fight with Kim's work, really left an undercurrent of unease last year.  And that took it's toll.

Judging the recent set of weekend recaps however, the indications are all of that unease has receded into the past.  And our improving health and energy has led to us working on improving our lives, focusing on us as a family, rather than on other people and their lives.

Witness this weekend: Friday we took the boys out for a nice breakfast, then enjoyed a fun movie.  Followed by them enjoying the rest of the day at home, just relaxing.  Saturday was again mainly focused on the kids: swim lessons for Emily, soccer for James.  Followed by a family clean up time, getting the house and yard ready for the Mothers Day party.  But instead of a major battle or fight over it, the kids did their part for the most part.  Sunday was really quite relaxing for everyone, not our usual hectic rush to hosting we deal with.  And the party itself was very nice, a good time for everyone involved. 

All of that points to how we have changed and improved over the last year.  The other day when I mentioned to Kim how I had so much more energy now, she joked that was good because now I could keep up with her.  And that really is true.  We can work together to do so much more now.  And that's not just in house projects, that is also fun times as well.

To sum up: Previous years were good, not bad, but a variety of troubles held us up it felt like.  Now, the page has turned, and the future sure seems bright and cheery.  And a  lot of that cheery future is a result of hard work on our parts to make our lives better, proving that work was well worth it.  A fitting reminder on a windy day like today when I might prefer a long relaxing lunch reading over a run, but know that run is part of the hard work I praise so highly.

Weekend Plans

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

3 day weekend for me this upcoming weekend.  Due to the boys having Friday off for Parent conferences.  Which goes towards making this a very odd week for me & the rest of the family, schedule wise.  It started with Kim getting called into work on Monday, her normal day off, which did mean she has Friday off.  Then James came down with some virus, which caused me to stay home with him on Monday, then him to leave school early on Tuesday & Wednesday.  He finally is back to normal today. So I ended up working only 3 days, James only going to school for 1 full day (assuming he stays today).  Very chaotic, threw us all off.

I've been able to get in some form of exercise very day, and more or less adhere to my eating regimen.  But it's not the schedule I would like, so I may not see the big drop this week I hoped for, but as always, I remind myself this is a process, and lifestyle change, not some crash diet. 

So tomorrow we will be able to go see IronMan 2 as a family (save for Emily, who will go to Day Care as normal).  Then we will have the boys conferences.  Then pick up Emily and head home to start cleaning for the Mothers Day Barbecue (not to be confused with the Memorial Day Barbecue). 

Satuday Emily & I will do a swim lesson, then in the afternoon James has soccer, then home for more preparation, and maybe some fun time. 

And Sunday we will host our normal Mothers Day barbecue.  Where we will get to show off the new basement paint job and redone porch, among other things.  I am pretty excited about it. 

So pretty full long weekend, then back to the 'grind' until Memorial Day and end of school year. 

Weekend Recap

Dear James, Daniel and Emily'

We had another good, full weekend.  Some fun times: nice dinner with friends, relaxing movie night, soccer game, library trip, trip to Comic Book Store.  And also very productive: cleaning, sanding, painting.  Then James got hit with some kind of bug, so I ended up staying home yesterday, and doing even more work on projects.  Feeling really good about all the progress.  But also feels weird to have all this energy.

Friday night I had dinner with a bunch of friends, 2 of them having returned from a trip to China.  It was a nice time, good food, good friends.  And a nice evening out, away from all family concerns, which I don't need too often, but still need once in a while.

Saturday morning I kept busy cleaning the basement, then getting the kids ready for trip downtown for James' soccer, comic book store, library.  The soccer game went very well, the other team, composed of a lot of the kids that James played basketball with, was seriously overmatched.  James ended up with 4 goals, celebrating his spiked up mohawk in style.  Then it was off to Bargain Comics for Free Comic Book Day, which was a nice way for the boys to see all that is out there along the lines of comic books.  James has been reading so much I thought he might enjoy the chance to read something new. Then we had our weekly trip to the library.  Then after an early dinner we returned home for a relaxing evening.

Sunday we got up, had a good breakfast, then got to work on sanding the back porch.  We have been meaning to strip it down and restain it for quite a while, and this Spring finally got around to it.  Well we finally got the sanding done around the time the rain clouds hit.  So after showering off the saw dust, and eating lunch we started talling about what to do now.  And instead of just relaxing and watching some movies we up & decided to repaint the basement!  Because that is how we work now, especially me, I have too much energy to just sit around and watch TV all day.

Sunday night James started feeling bad, then throwing up & complaining about a sore throat.  Monday morning it was more of the same, so I stayed home with him to get him to the Dr.  They verified he does not have Strep, probably some kind of virus.  So I was stuck at home for the day.  And in keeping with the above, I wasn't about to just sit around and fiddle with computer games.  So I went to work, restoring things in the basment, cleaning up.  I was quite pleased with the finished product.  And then, taking advantage of the clear skies, went to work on staining the porch, joined by Kim when she got home.  Ended up getting the whole thing 1 coat, with 2 coats on parts. 

I joked with Kim that she is responsible for all of this.  That her helping me to lose all this weight is what is causing me to be so full of energy.  A year ago I would have spent a bonus day at home huddled in front of the TV or computer, just lazing around.  Now I start to get fidgety after a couple of hours sitting around in the morning regardless.  Not complaining of course, it's a good thing, but it does take some getting used to. 

So here are some pictures I took this morning of the 2 projects:

First the basment:

Now the Porch: