End of 2011

It has been a long time since my last post. Now it is two days until the new year of 2012. Much has happened. I still want to do things that are new and uplifting with my family, especially with my kids because I want them to be stimulated and to experience new things on a continual basis instead of watching TV all day. But it is a bit harder now with the kids becoming older and finding their own interests.

As for what occurred this year, I ruptured my achille's tendon playing in a tennis tournament during the summer. I needed surgery and then had to wear a special shoe. A full recovery will take many months. I may not play tennis until six months has passed. I learned that training is important, and that one must listen to one's body or risk a serious injury.

My family and I look forward to the new year. There is still much to do and see.

Training

I've decided to begin training for the Portland Marathon a few months away. I began by running about a mile today. I think I need to step up the pace. I ran the Portland Marathon many, many years ago back in my younger days. Now, I no longer have the stamina of youth, and thus must train well to get ready. Preparation and training rather than brute strength is what will do it for me.

Jogging

I've been staying true to my new year's resolution by jogging every day. I get up in the morning and jog. When I need to watch my kids, I just jog around the inside of my house. On other occasions, I jog around the neighborhood. I tend to jog for around 7-10 minutes. I will extend the time as I get in shape.

Out With The Old And In With The New

Happy New Year 2010! Well, I stayed true to last year's new year's resolution to write a daily blog on my attempts to do something new and different every day for the family. I had to adjust the resolution slightly to blog about other things because it is hard to do something new and different every day. But I kept the essence of my resolution which was to blog every day. Now, I have completed that resolution. My new resolution is to jog every day and complete a half marathon in 2010. I think I can accomplish this. I'll probably just blog every now and then this year. I can't do it every day because I have a new resolution to keep. It's been a great year and now let's focus on the new year!

New Year's Eve Play

On this New Year's Eve, we let the kids enjoy the day by taking them to Out Of This World Pizza & Play, an indoor play area with lots of indoor play structures for kids to play in and on. They played for hours until we left for dinner. With the kids playing so hard, they'll probably fall asleep quickly tonight, and it'll be left to me and my wife to watch the New Year Ball drop down for the countdown to the new year.

Panda Food

When it comes to getting a quick bite to eat, I like Panda Express. They usually get you through the line quickly, and they have a wider selection of healthy food than hamburger fast-food joints because their dishes include vegetables along with chicken and beef and other food items.

Snow Day

It snowed a lot today and it was fun to watch. But it got scary when my wife had to drive our daughter to swim practice. The drive to practice was manageable, but the drive back was near impossible. A relatively short trip turned into a four-hour inch-by-inch slog through the snow and congestion. Abandoned cars were everywhere. But my wife and daughter got back safely and so all's well that ends well.