yearly recap

Since last writing in this space much has happened, I quit the only job I've ever known since graduating from college to pursue greener pastures, gained 35 pounds, lost 17 pounds, lived though the longest pregnancy I've even seen a woman endure only to have it not go exactly as she and I planned and ultimately to be blessed with our second child, a beautiful baby girl.

on to the details, last January I was made an offer that seemed to good to be true.  In some respects it was (isn't that always the case!).  In any event, I decided to make a life change and switch jobs for various reasons, one being that my boss was a bit of an overbearing jerk off who deserved to be given a lesson in humility.  In any event, I knew the day where I officially gave my resignation would be tenuous and it did not disappoint.  After writing a short 2 paragraph resignation letter the night before I showed up to work on a bright Saturday morning at the end of January and had to subsequently endure an hour long lecture on tax law before I could make my move.  I asked my boss via email if I could meet with him afterwards which he agreed to and as I had rehearsed a few times during the class I delivered my news.  The look of shock and awe on his face was a little uncomfortable, however he accepted my resignation (only after taking a few jabs at my choice of new employer) and proceeded to huddle with his cohorts to discuss their next move. I prepared for the rest of my day, which would likely be filled with meeting with his equivalents, and the uncomfortable 2 weeks that would surely follow.  Only, to my surprise he popped into my office a half hour later and asked me to make my resignation effective immediately.  After 10 years of solid and unwavering service to his firm, that was it!  Goodbye.  Get out.  We'll ship the contents of your office.  Go Fuck Yourself.  Well that last one didn't really happen, but that's what it felt like.  So after a few choice words, I grabbed my diploma, certificates, pictures and anything else from my office that I could carry in the 2 minutes I was allowed in order to grab my belongings and made the embarrassing walk to the front door.  A receptionist followed me out crying because she knew what had just transpired, the whole situation felt surreal.  As unprofessional as most of these people had been over the past decade, this took the cake!  I was later told that I was berated and belittled by my former colleagues to my staff and all of my former clients were informed that I had simply walked out without notice.  Classy!  I guess in the sense that I was out from under their cloak of unprofessionalism, it was a good thing, however with a new job comes new challenges.  That's a topic for another post....

The rest of my opening all happened as a result of moving jobs (well maybe not the baby, as that was planned) but the weight gain and loss did.  After swapping jobs, I neglected my running.  After having lost 35 pounds the previous year after getting in the jogging and running I gained it all back, even while training for a half marathon as the birth of our daughter approached.  Seems that if you suddenly quit your daily exercises, drink copious amounts of alcohol weekly and eat what you want, it doesn't take much more than 3 months to under 12 months of hard work and sacrifice.  I had barely noticed because I was still able to run 8 miles at 10 min/mi while at my heaviest of 251 pounds.  It wasn't until while talking to a colleague about my approaching race in a mere 4 weeks that she said, "Well you had better start training" as if I were too fat to run a half marathon at my current weight.  Turns out she was half right.  While I did not run the race on account of some complications with my wife's pregnancy that kept me in town, I was on track at had previously run 10 miles not two weeks before the big day.  Still at race day I was only down 6 pounds from my heaviest, so I knew something had to be done.  Enter P90X.  I borrowed this off a buddy and began working out.  Weight didn't come off right away and the baby was born a week after I started so my results are a little shaky.  In any event, I'm approximately 5 weeks in (while I've only done about 3 weeks of workouts) and after doing a detox diet of raw foods, no protein, no caffeine, no alcohol for about a week, I'm not down 17 pounds from my heaviest and working to change my diet permanently all the while allowing for some cheating on the weekends. 

On to my daughter!  My wife had a very detailed plan for this pregnancy.  Midwife, natural birth, no drugs, water labor.  It was going to be glorious!  Then all hell broke lose from day 1.  Morning sickness that lasted 3 months.  Migraines for another month.  Agonizing back paid for the 5th.  Finally it settled only to get diagnosed with the gestational diabetes.  Restricted diet for the last 3 months.  Even with all of this my glorious wife kept the pregnancy and her plan under complete control and we were set for a water labor, midwife deliver.  Peaches!  4 weeks out.  Breech!  3 weeks out breech, an External Cephalic Version was performed to no avail.  Chiropractor visits.  Nothing worked.  Had to schedule a C-section.  In the end it all worked out.  We were blessed with a gorgeous baby girl two days before Thanksgiving and now our family is complete.

Through all of this I'm reminded to keep rolling with the punches; for no matter what I've been through over the course the past year, I'm reminded that many others have to deal with much more difficult circumstances.  A friend of mine's wife was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor with a positive original prognosis, however that became bleak not long ago when they heard the words "incurable" and "buying time".  They have a 5 year old, who I'm sure barely understands what's going on.  Not to mention the horrific events in Oregon and Newtown this month and the months and years of grief that lay ahead for families of those slain by the senseless acts of a few cowardly individuals.  Our country, our generation, has become too violent against out own people, in particular innocent people, and it sickens me.  

"the mother ship"

just watching my favorite high school team try to compete on MNF and noticed during the mother ship's 5 hour pregame broadcast that not only is the show biased toward the more popular team but blatantly so.  Not only that but since this notoriously liberal (and i'm not a right wing conservative by any means) station kicked the MNF institution that is Hank Williams, Jr. to the curb for voicing his, albeit odd, thoughts on our President's golfing habits, i noticed that the NFL has switched over to a one sided introduction which is told by a huge jackass. 

now onto the team that i've followed for too many years....these dolphins recently changed owners and have fallen on what one would consider hard times.  i'm completely disappointed in this entire franchise.  i recently read an article stating that the owner has openly said that he's hoping the team loses to the point that they are in the position to get the first pick in the draft next year so that they're in a position to take a quarterback who all in the know think will become the next coming of jesus christ the football player.  this is despicable and my recent thoughts of abandoning this team have gained some momentum.  after 20 years it get really hard to continually watch a team that constantly self defeats itself..  i've not only lost faith in this team but, as evidenced above, i've lost faith in the nfl as a whole.  the entire league is being run by money hungy jackassess who have nothing in mind but making a buck.  it makes me sick to the point where i'm ready to abandon the only professional sport that i still have an inkling of interest in.  that interest is quickly fading...  

my poor jeep

i purchased my jeep wrangler last march after pining for a jeep for the past dozen years or so.  i was so happy to finally have my dream car that i was oblivious to any defects, until recently.  after a fairly dry summer this september has been a bit rainy, to say the least.  in fact it has been the 9th wettest september on record in the area.  while such a factoid would normally not matter to me at all, this particular year it stuck.  i began noticing drips and drops from both my drivers side and passenger side doors.  thinking nothing of it, i wiped it up and chalked it up to owing a car with a retractable soft top.  after what has seemed like 2 straight weeks of rain and a very odd odor in the car i was fed up.  i pulled the carpet out of the back seat during a rare few hours of dryness and found tons of mold.  apparently the leak was much worse than i suspected.  during the days that followed, rain still falling, i would periodically check on the car..each time i would find the same drips and drops on the doors, but knowing about the mold i felt underneath the backseats to find an inch and a half of standing water.  totally ticked off that the vehicle that i had dreamed of owning since i was a teenager was closing in on be classified as a lemon i began searching the internet for people with similar problems....what a bad idea that was.  apparently, had i possessed the foresight to think of 'googling' leaking softop on 2007 jeep wranger unlimited sahara i would have found a plethora of people who have had the exact same issue with zero, that's right zero, fixes.  maybe i was lazy in not reading 27 pages of posts on a Q&A forum, but after a dozen i got the gist.  so i tweet and FB the jeep sites a question regarding a possible fix and, while I got some sympathy from others users, nothing from jeep or chyrsler or the powers that be.  i hate to talk trash about jeep since i want their product to be superior, however my loyalty is quickly fading.  if anyone out there has any knowledge of how to fix this issue please comment and get in touch with me.  i'd hate to have to sell this car to another sucker during the next dry spell because, other than the leaks, poor gas mileage, broken door handle, and rattling undercarriage the car is tip top.....

killing time watching some foosball...

great day today.  work was very much bearable.  solved some problems, talked to some clients who's tone reassured my confidence, and made a colleague or two laugh.  good day.  football is now on.  two teams who I generally have a hard time watching, let alone rooting for, are making me chuckle a little bit.  like i said, great day today.  tomorrow brings a few problems, although i'm tryin' real hard to be optimistic about life and the potential problems that come along.  this is me doing exactly that.

hoping to get some mileage in tomorrow a.m.  we'll see how late i stay up watching these two gaggles try to play football.  over the past year and 8 months i've run nearly 900 miles.  my goal is to get to 1200 by february 2012.    that might be difficult but it sure is doable.  just need some outside support to take care of it.  as of today my total since february 2010 is 898 miles.  that gives me about four months to run 300 miles...which equates to about a 5k per day for the next 97 days.  putting that into perspective kinda hurts a little.  oh well, i'll give it my all.  goal has been to increase mileage by 25% over the first year where i hit 500 miles. should still be in reach.  i'll keep you posted.  let me know what you think....