Zzzzz

Man was it a busy day yesterday. I had a pretty long workout yesterday. Did a 2.5 mile jog along with a cardio circuit which included push-ups, dips, leg squats and squat jumps. Megan had her soccer practice and then my wife went off to her woman's meeting.

Got some good sleep last night and woke up to a very groggy daughter. She stayed up waiting for my wife to come home so she could read her books to her. Megan was not very awake this morning and she was dragging. She will be going to bed early tonight ;-)

My wife leaves for Illinois tomorrow morning so the kids will be mine for a few days. I have an array of activities to give them to keep them busy. In other words, I have no idea what I am going to do, but I will survive.

To anyone that is family that reads this blog, Megan will have her birthday party on October the 10th. She will be turning 5 and we will be having it a a local bowling alley. Should be a pretty fun time.

My last workout will be today. I am debating on weather or not to start up again next week. To tell you the truth I would not mind finding a gym. Not really an exersice gym, but more of a boxing/taekwondo gym. I also want to start up my P90X dvd, might try that tonight.

Till next time.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Today is a busy day. Work has been steady but busy, I progressed a few more steps in deploying Windows Deployment Service (WDS), but currently working to get the proper permissions for Active Directory (AD) working.

My workout last night was pretty good, today is a busy day. My wife has a woman's meeting at 6:30, Megan has soccer practice at 6:00 and I have my workout at 6. So I will go to my workout, my wife will take Megan to practice and then I will get my daughter so my wife can go to her meeting. Like I said, busy.

Supper will be a quick sandwich, chicken nuggets or fish sticks. I know what you are saying, man what a healthy meal, but that is the life of a busy family. Better than fast food in my opinion.

Not much else going on. Wife will be leaving Thursday morning, so I have to prepare for that along with going on call tomorrow. This week will be really busy so if I don't post much you know the reason.

Till next time.

Weekend work

Its been a few days since my last post but I will try and keep it pretty simple. My wife got a call over the weekend about her cousin dieing in an auto accident. She was pretty close to him and I have been on the phone and scouring the internet for the best air fair deals. I found a pretty good deal with American Airlines bereavement fare. She is flying out Thursday morning and will be back on Saturday evening. I will have to take Megan to here soccer game on Friday, wish me luck.

Not much happened over the weekend, typical weekend. It has been really nice the last few days so I got out and mowed the yard. It was nice, I can kind of get a way with my music and just mow the yard.

I will be grilling out tonight, I can see myself outside most of the evening because of the weather. I go on call Wed so it should be fun having the kids and with Tiffany gone for the funeral. I will manage though.

Last week of workouts, a new class starts next week. I have been debating on skipping the workouts and just getting a gym membership. They have a 10 fitness here, where it is $10 a month with no contract, might look into that.

Time to go home, have a good one.

What a day

Well, today pretty much sucked and to top it off I still feel like crap. I took my truck into the shop to be worked on, looks like a bad starter and got a call about 30 min later telling me that they could not get the part till tomorrow. So now i have to wait for a ride to come get me and take me to my truck to take it back tomorrow.

At work, I forgot to do something on a Decom and got yelled at over IM by a co-worker and to top it off I did not get some work done because of the IBM blade does not support server 2008. It gets me how you can have hardware that does not support Microsoft.

Enough of my rant, time to go home.

Windows Deployment service

One thing that I have been working on at work, kind of a pet project, is setting up Windows Deployment service. I am a Sr MS Support Administrator and my group has been tasked to move a number of servers to a new data center and after doing some studying for my MCITP-EA I thought that setting this service would greatly benefit us.

The basic jist of Windows Deployment Service (WDS) is that it uses DHCP to PXE boot a bare metal server so you can build the Windows OS quickly and efficiently. You can even create an unattended file so you don't even have to interact with the build.

Here are some links, that I have found during my research:

Here, Here, and Here.

These are just a few sites that found to help me out.

Monday Blues

Well, back at work on Monday and man I don't want to be here. I hope lunch will give me the pick me up that I need. I have not worked out all week due to rain, but hope to get out this week and start back up. The weather forecast for the week has a chance of rain all week, with the most being tomorrow so hopefully there will be the boot camp this week.

Megan went back to West Monroe for the weekend with my wife's parents. She said that she had a good time, all I know is that it was quiet around the house without her. We got the house cleaned up while she was gone, and maybe we can keep it clean for more than a few days. Now she is back and ready to get back to school.

I need to rent some scaffolding to paint our living room, Home Depot has it to rent for the week for $55, so going to check around this week at other places. Any suggestions? We have 17 foot ceilings so getting up to the top to paint is kind of hard without something to help out.

Well, not much going on around here, will keep you posted, just keep checking back.

Later

Rain rain, go away

Well, it has been raining here for the past few days and it seems that it will continue to rain for the next day or so and because of the rain I have not had boot camp. I talked to the instructor yesterday and he said that we will make it up over the weekend and during the week off between classes.

Other than the rain, not much going on here. I got out and rode my bike with my kids and wife yesterday. It was sprinkling so it was pretty cool but I still got winded. Pulling 2 kids in a bike trailer kind of gets your heart pumping.

Mason is getting better. The drainage in the ear was not there this morning so I nope all will be better for the weekend. Megan is the usual Megan, she would not go to sleep last night. You know it seems that she always has aches and pains at bed time, I don't understand that. Might have to get a new bed for her ;-)

Well, off to lunch, have a good one.

Inner tubes and Ear tubes

Well, my youngest had ear tubes put in this morning and the doctor said everything was perfect. It all went well, and only took about 10 minutes. Mason woke up pretty groggy but once he got up and lucid, he was back to his self. I hope that these tubes help him eat some more and begin to talk a little more also.

My first day back at boot camp this week involved a lot of cardio. It was pretty tiring but I got though it. I weighed myself this morning and it seems I have lost a few more pounds over last week. I am firmly in the 230s now and now in new territory with my weight. The last time I was this far down in my weight, I was in college.

I did have a weird issue with my right knee the other day, not sure what happened but when I go back to the doctor I will get them to check it out. I was walking up the stairs taking Mason to his room and it just went out. When I put pressure on it, it just would not hold up. It was the strangest thing. During my workouts all is fine and all other times everything is fine. It is something that the doctor can help me out with when I make an appointment I guess. I am really curious as to what my cholesterol and blood pressure is now that I have been actively working out 4-5 days a week.

If there is anyone out there that has a pull up bar or know of where I can get one pretty cheep let me know. I want to start working hard on my upper body. I feel that my lower body is on the right track, so I want to start hitting my upper body and start pushing out pull-ups. I found this one at Amazon.com but I am cheap.

Here are some pics from when Mason woke up at the hospital.

Saturday

Well, it was a pretty good Saturday given that we had pretty crappy weather. I started the morning with a workout with my group. It was pretty brutal. From now on I will be looking forward to the longer jog to start the workout because that means that it won't be as bad of exercises. To put it in perspective, we only did a 1 mile jog to start instead of the usual 2 because of the threat of rain, and because of this the group workout was pretty hard. All hour and half of it.

Went to a birthday party today for 3 year old twins, it was pretty good. Hot dogs on the grill and hanging out with some friends. After that I don't know what hit me, but I was drained and pretty much fell asleep.

My daughter had her first soccer game last night. Below are a few pics from it that me and my wife took. She got better and better as the night went on. The way that her age soccer works, is it is 3v3 with 6 kids on a team. Well, 2 did not show up and one was not too happy so for most of the night it was only 3 kids on her team that played. Because of this Megan played the whole hour. By the end of the night, she was about to pass out, but she had loads of fun and can't wait till next week.

Next week is gandparents day at her school so her Nana is coming up for that and to see her play soccer. Well, here are some pics that I promised from before.













Well, so far I have not lost much more weight. I am trying to get more into the 230s but not having much luck. I have been hovering 240 for a few weeks now. Hopefully this week I will bust though the 230s. I have not seen that number in years, and with a goal of 225 I know I can do it.

Slacker

Well, Friday is finally here and I am wiped out. I would have not thought that i would be, but I am. I did not go workout yesterday because I was worn out. I think that I have not been eating enough because I have not had any energy and have been having headaches. I went to sleep pretty early and feel pretty good today.

So tomorrow I will be working out and looking forward to it.

Have a good one.

What a weekend

Well, I am back at work and all I can say is what a weekend. If you did not know, I went back to Monroe/West Monroe to be with family for the holiday. It was pretty good and very busy. You know I had every intention of running over the weekend but guess what, that did not happen. I have a few pics that you can see at the bottom from when we visited my mother.

Well, I started back exercising yesterday and it really hurt. I ate some stir-fry for lunch but I would have thought it would have gotten though me before working out at 6, but I just felt like crap. I know one thing that I did have was a sinus headache and that was not fun. A lot of people there did not have their nutrition logs and now for here on, if you don't have your logs you will be singled out and you will do more workouts. Needless to say, I will have mine today.

Here is an email that I got today, I know it has been floating around for awhile, but it is the first time that I have heard of it.

SEC Football

Planning for the fall football season in the South is radically different than up North. For those who are planning a football trip South, here are some helpful hints.

Women's Accessories:
NORTH: Chap Stick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterprooof mascara, and a fifth of bourbon. Money not necessary - that's what dates are for.

Stadium Size:
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.

Fathers:
NORTH: Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath.
SOUTH: Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.

Campus Decor:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.

Homecoming Queen:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America .

Heroes:
NORTH: Rudy Giuliani.
SOUTH: Herschel Walker & Peyton Manning.

Getting Tickets:
NORTH: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus.
SOUTH: 5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus, make a large financial contribution, and put name on a waiting list for tickets.

Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they're going to the game, because they have20classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see the few hung over students that might actually make it to class.

Parking:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the University opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

Game Day:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting "Game Day Live" to get on camera and wave to the idiots up north who wonder why "Game Day Live" is never broadcast from their campus.

Tailgating:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance from the Dave Matthews Band, who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH: You ask "Where's the stadium?" When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it is the state's third largest city.

Concessions:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup, with the home team's mascot on it, filled less than half way with soda, to ensure enough room fo r bourbon.

When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH: Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.

The Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, with a touch of bourbon.

Commentary (Male):
NORTH: "Nice play."
SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

Commentary (Female):
NORTH: "My, this certainly is a violent sport."
SOUTH: "Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

Announcers:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

After the Game:
NORTH: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.
SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker, while somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon, and planning begins for next week's game.

Well, here are the pics that I promised earlier, enjoy.



and

Feeling better

Well, I got up and got the kids to school and went and ate donuts with Megan and Mason. They both enjoyed it very much. Mason ate pretty good considering what he usually eats. I did not eat that well, but that is ok, I can splurge one day a week I think.

Did some reading this morning and found a blog post about taking the Marine Corps Fitness Test, and I think I will add that to my goal. The Marine Corps Fitness tests consists of three exercises: pull-ups, crunches, and a 3.0 mile run. The events are “designed to test the strength and stamina of the upper body, midsection, and lower body, as well as the efficiency of the cardiovascular system.

Pull-ups

Find yourself a pull-up bar. If you don’t have one, just go to a park and use the monkey bars. They’re perfect for pull-ups. I also highly recommend investing in the Iron Gym Pull-Up Bar. It’s one of the best and most useful things I ever bought. And you’ll be able to use it at home once the fitness test is done to keep improving your strength.

To begin the test, grab the bar, both palms facing either forward or towards you. I would do it palms facing towards you. It’s easier that way.

The correct starting position begins with your arms fully extended beneath the bar and your feet off the ground.

One rep consists of raising the body with the arms until the chin is above the bar and then lowering your body until your arms are fully extended. The object of this test is to measure your performance from a dead hang position. Thus, whipping, leg kicking, or leg kipping are not allowed and pull-ups using these assistance methods do not count.

You don’t have a time limit to perform your pull-ups, but as soon as you let go, the test is over.

Abdominal Crunches

The ab crunch test has a two minute limit. Perform as many crunches as you can in two minutes.

Cross your arms across your chest or rib cage with no gap existing between the arms and chest/rib cage. Both arms must remain in constant contact with the chest/rib cage throughout the exercise. A single repetition consists of raising your upper body from the starting position until both forearms or elbows simultaneously touch the thighs, and then returning to the starting position with the shoulder blades touching the ground.

Your butt must remain in constant contact with the ground.

You can have a buddy hold your legs or feet, at or below the knees. If you don’t have a buddy, place your feet under a couch or some other sturdy object.

3.0 Mile Run

Mark out a 3 mile course. One way of doing this is to reset your car’s trip odometer and drive a flat course in your neighborhood to mark out the 3 miles. Another idea is to go to a high school or college track. It’s flat, clear of any obstacles, and it’s measured out for you. Four times around the track is one mile. So for three miles, you’ll have to run around it twelve times.

Time yourself with a stopwatch to see how fast you can run 3.o miles. Run as fast as you can.

Minimum Fitness Requirements

The Department of the Navy has established minimum fitness requirements for all Marines depending on their age to ensure that they’re ready for combat. Most of us probably won’t see action in Afghanistan, but if you can meet the fitness requirements for these tests, you’ll know that you have the physical condition to take on most of life’s challenges. The minimum requirements below would give a soldier enough points to meet a class three standard.

Age	Pull-Ups	Crunches	3-Mile Run
17-26	3	50	28:00
27-39	3	45	29:00
40-45	3	45	30:00
>46+	3	40	33:00

After you establish your base, start working on improving through regular exercise. Take the test again in a month to see how much you’ve improved. Try making it a goal to score a perfect 300 on the test.

I got this information from artofmanliness.com. I will see how it works out, will keep you updated. I will be going for the minimum requirements. Got to have a goal, right?

Tonights the night...

to sleep. I am tired, really tired. Today for my workout, we did a lot of cardio. It started with a mile jog, then a set of drills that included may suicides and ended up with revers crunches. After all that I had to walk a quarter mile home. I am looking forward to the weekend, and since I will be out of town you might not see many updates.

Till we see each other again..

My son

Well, another day, another dollar. I had an appointment this morning to take my son to the doctor to get a consult about getting ear tubes. I found out today that his ears are so blocked that he is probably only hearing everything at about half as loud as normal. We now have an appointment for next week to get some ear tubes put in.

One more thing that I realized is that I suck at filling out forms. I am glad that I did not turn in the paperwork before my wife corrected my work. It is sad I know but I now know that filling out forms is not my forte.

On to my workout..

Well, I was not able to workout yesterday because I gave blood for the American Red Cross. So yesterday was core day and I missed it. There is some part of me that is a little happy that I missed it but mostly I was a little upset. I am not sure what I will be doing today but since I was off yesterday, I am sure today will suck pretty badly :-)

My eating is still pretty crappy, today a bagel with cream cheese and for lunch a chicken sandwich. I was going to go home for lunch but was unable to because of a conference call at 12. Tonight I hope that I can eat something that will be a little better, but you never know. I am thinking about cooking some fish, very good for you (if you don't fry it)

Soccer day

Well, my daughter had her first soccer practice yesterday and I think she really enjoyed it. I was amazed at how much she ran and never slowed down. I think that she will really enjoy it. Below is a pic that I snapped.



It has been a pretty eventful day here at work. For the past month or so they have been prepping an area for a new 2250KW generator install and they finally started installing it today. Below are some pics that I took of the generator and what it looks like if anyone is interested.





I am pretty sore from working out yesterday. We ended up doing a lot of lunges and right now I am begining to get pretty sore. I need to work it out some. Today we will be working on core and I am ready for it. I have been feeling pretty good at the end of the working so I am thinking that today will push me pretty good as I know my core is not that good.

Feeling good

So far so good, I have been getting into the workouts at the park, so yesterdays workout was pretty good. I felt really good after it, not very exausted. My eating has been getting better, I have been trying to eat more whole grains with fruits and veggies. I take a multi-vitamin in the morning before work and it really seems to help me get the day started.

Today it is my daughters first day of soccer class, she is looking forward to it. I will take some pictures and put it up later today/tomorrow.

It was funny yesterday, she ended up working out with me at the park. We ran a circut where at first we did push ups, then we ran to some cones and did 25 jumping jacks. After that we ran around a small field and up a large hill and did 50 arm raises while in a squat position. We then ran down the hill across the street and did suicides and finishing up with 25 leg raised crunches. We did this 3 times and Megan did it once. When we got home, she was pretty tired. She ate and then went right to bed.

Today I had special K for breakfast and will go home and eat some fruit with a low fat high protein lunch which will consist of a turkey rollup. I might end up jogging during lunch since I won't be able to make the workout tonight due to Megans soccer.

Till next time