We make plans and God laughs.

Eli Giora DeLong born 5:15 PM on February 24th weighing 6 lbs. 13 oz. and measuring 19" long.  Instead of sticking to the plan and joining us in late March he decided to grace us with his presence a whopping three and half weeks early.  Luckily we were as prepared as we could be which is not at all.  Bathrooms and nursery were complete but really how do you prepare for something like this?  I received the call around 10 AM on Monday while I was at work that Hila's water broke so I left work and met Hila and her mom at the hospital.  By 4 PM she was fully dilated, started pushing an hour later and in a matter of minutes we were holding a beautiful baby boy.  Even though he was born early he was not considered premature and has passed all his baby tests with flying colors.  Both Hila and Eli are perfectly healthy and doing very well.  We decided to not find out the sex of the baby so needless to say seeing that we were having a boy was beyond emotional for me.  I have never felt more blessed in my life, as a father to look into my son's eyes for the first time and tell him I love him has been one of the most amazing moments in my entire life.  I cannot wait to do it everyday until the day I die.

We were released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon and have been home since.  I am only able to take off a limited time from work so unfortunately I need to be back in the office on Monday.  I cannot stress about this limited time off but at least Hila is off for the next six months.  I will miss him and his mom but luckily work is only an eight hour day.

Thank you to everyone who has come by with lunch or dinner, or stopped in for a visit in the hospital.  We are blessed to have such a great group of friends.

I have been lucky enough to do many interesting things in my life, I have traveled the globe, scuba dived in the Great Barrier Reef, eaten scorpions in the streets of China, floated in the salty water of the Dead Sea, jumped out of an airplane for no apparent reason but never in my life have I been more excited to start this new adventure with my wife and son, the adventure of parenthood.

This is my baby picture, as you can see there is a remarkable resemblance between father and son!!

Pyramid day.

A couple of days of upper body this week, push ups, dive bombers, chest press and such makes the simplest task a bit more difficult.  Like driving home, like shampooing your hair, or reaching for the alarm clock at 5:15 in the morning.  Add in last night's workout, pyramid leg day and holy hell I don't know how I am going to get up from my desk.  Let me paint a picture for you.  Stand up and do 20 squats, stick you butt out, keep you knees over your toes and your back straight.  Rest.  Now do 30, rest for 30 seconds.  Now do 40, then 50, then 40 then 30 then 20 more.  Go ahead, I'll wait...

Done?  Okay, so you just did 230 squats, well done.  That was just one of the leg exercises we did yesterday.  Add in a squat pulse pyramid, some sprinting, which may well have been a three legged race because that is about how well our legs were moving, a bicep curl pyramid, a military press pyramid and a couple of sets of two minute ab exercises.  Yeah....the stairs in my office are going to be a real challenge today...

Exercise is the most underutilized antidepressant.

Yesterday was a hard day for me.  I have some issues on a couple of my projects and they seemed to come to a head yesterday morning resulting in a rather unpleasant afternoon.  From about 10 AM on I was pretty much just pissed off.  I was angry with a coworker, I found myself being lazy and unproductive, I wanted to eat the mound of cookies and brownies we have sitting in the pantry, I just honestly no longer wanted to deal with anyone or anything.  I was letting my feelings and emotions get the better of me.  At one point I mentioned to my wife that I was "done with today".  That is exactly how I felt, just plain done.  I had a hard time sleeping the previous night, and on top of the stress from work I just more or less had a miserable day.  Anyone who knows me knows that is not typical for me.  If anything I am probably too easy going at times and I try not to let the small stuff get me down.  Yesterday that was simply not the case.  Finally 4:30 rolls around and I head out to go to class, eyes heavy, and the laziness continuing to take root.  All of this forgotten on the first warm up lap of class.  Literally gone.  My trainer Tom even asked me what was so funny because even though I was getting my hind end handed to me I was smiling from ear to ear.  You know now that I think about it, I was just plain happy, truly happy.  I had stopped thinking about work, and just devoted my time and energy to a good solid workout.  As much as work was weighing heavy on my mind yesterday, from the moment that class started until the moment I came in this morning work did not once even enter the proximity of my mind.  Six hours of hell immediately alleviated by one hour of exercise resulting in twelve hours of absolute peace.  Even if the stress from work starts to build up again today, I know I have another miracle hour awaiting my attendance tonight.  I find comfort in that one thought alone.

Thank you Tom, this was exactly what I needed today!

Time is precious, waste it wisely.

I have written about this topic previously but something came up last night and I wanted to expand further.  I was asked how I find the time to write this blog every day.  For me it was an easy question to answer, I make the time.  The process that gradually brought me to this answer was a bit more difficult.  This not only applies to the blog but to many other aspects of my life.  Two of which seem to make people ask the same question above.  Reading and working out.  I do an extensive amount of both.  Before I started reading, writing, and working out I actually thought I was busy.  Now I have no idea what I did with my time before.  Let me explain.

I read about a book a week.  Sometimes more sometimes less but that is the average.  How do I find the time to read so often, you ask?  Easy, I make time.  Sometimes a book is so good I get up early, drive to work and just sit in the car and read for a half an hour.  Do that twice a week and that is a solid hour of absolute silence to just read.  Often times I take my lunch break and drive to the same spot and read for the whole hour.  Let's say I do that twice a week.  With these two simple weekly modifications I have just freed up two whole hours of time to read.  I made time for something I wanted.  All I "lost" was a few minutes of sleep and a lunch hour that I probably would have just worked through anyway.  I have also eliminated television from my personal life.  Yes, I watch several shows with my wife, but if I am home alone the TV just no longer gets turned on.  I am more interested in the book I am reading or could be reading than the mindless dribble that is on TV these days.  Come and see me if you think a particular TV show is better than a book, I can show you some books that will literally change you life.

The same applies to writing as well.  This is something I want to do so I sacrifice other things less important to me.  Sleep, free time and lunch breaks.  Yes, sometimes that means I end up working late or coming in early but how important are these others things compared to what I really want?  I find them to be significantly less important to me the more I give them up.

As I said this has not been an easy process but at no point have I felt that I was missing out on anything.  In all reality I feel have only gained.  I am learning to be a better writer, I have read some mind blowing, fantastically amazing books.  I have rearranged my schedule for the past few years to make sure I get in a workout.  Boot camp has been that answer for me when it comes to fitness.  Nothing else has worked, no gym, no spin class, nothing.  I needed the structure, I needed the discipline.  I needed to take my head out of the equation, to do that I needed to put my heart into it instead.  I stopped making excuses and started making it the way.  Now, working out has simply become part of my routine.  Of course I want to go home and sit on the couch and relax and get to bed early and sleep in.  I want all of these things very badly, but I want something else even more.  I want to be in shape, not just in shape, I actually want to be the best.  I have a drive in me that pushes me to succeed, it gives me that extra motivation/desire/strength/want/need to run faster, to push just a little bit harder.  I have had several obstacles placed in front of me keeping me from being the best.  But no obstacle is so big that I cannot jump over it, run around it, or just climb over the damn thing.

All the obstacles in life, whether they be sleep, time, a torn rotator cuff, or any other of the endless list of things that get in our way, are simply just obstacles to be overcome.  Time, is an obstacle that we will always face, all day, everyday, the key is to stop trying to find time and start making time.  The time is there, the hard part is figuring out how you want to fill it.

If at first you don't succeed...

Thank you Tom for the absolute butt kicking last night.  This time yesterday I was thinking how lovely it would be to not be able to move at work tomorrow.  Hey look at that success!!  I set out to do something and I did it.  I cannot move today at all and it's not quite 10 yet.  Imagine how successful I will feel this afternoon when the soreness has really settled in.  I am hoping to be curled up in a ball under my desk pulling a super sweet George Costanza, with my alarm clock and all.

Unfortunately, no workout tonight, I have my writing class.  I so look forward to this class each week and with last week's class being cancelled we should have twice the fun getting our creative writing juices flowing tonight.  Maybe after a few re-reads and edits I will find a way to make that last sentence sound less dirty.  We have only written one assignment so far and feel I wrote an excellent little story, we will see how the rest of the assignments go in the coming weeks.  After speaking with the instructor one evening I asked if she was willing to edit my Clydesdale story for me, even though it had already been submitted.  She agreed and said it was "not half bad".  This coming from a professional writer and me never having written anything of substance before, I absolutely take that as a great compliment!!  One day with some extra time I will make the edits and changes we spoke of and post it again on the blog.  I did find out that I was unfortunately not the winner of the Dirt Rag Magazine Literature Contest, the issue with the winning story was released this month (yes, the winning story was pretty damn good).  Stupid good-for-nothing judges...  Oh well, next year I will try try again!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

How I cherish the absolute joy of a midweek day off.  Slept in, read, lounged around the house, and loved every minute of it.  Plan was to get in a basement workout, maybe 5-4-3-2-1 or something of sort, Tom actually emailed out the 250 of each workout for us to try at home if we wanted to.  Like I said that was the plan, until I spent two frickin hours shoveling snow.  Of course my back started bothering me and right at the moment when I thought I could do no more, the angels from two doors down came and helped.  I was so thankful, I was to the point where I felt like I was going to hurt myself if I pushed (well lifted) much more. Thank you neighbors, you saved the day.

Well it's Valentine's Day and we have a lovely evening planned just staying at home.  A little staycation if you will.  We normally go out to dinner but being as busy as we have been and the fact that the beauty who sleeps next to me is a whopping 35 weeks preggers we have decided to take it easy and stay home.  There is just something about a relaxing night in with a movie.  So looking forward to it!

Knowing the impending Snowmageddon was coming Wednesday night, I stayed late at work for a few hours to make sure everything was handled since the likelihood of being off Thursday was well...likely. Translation - No workout Wednesday night.  Just me and my soreness.  Now after shoveling yesterday the soreness continues.  Until tonight that is when Hila and I do a little home workout of our own ;)...easy people, I am talking about an actual workout, now get your minds out of the gutter.  We want to at least do a little bit of a workout before we pull up to our in home dinner theater for the night.  Must find that Friday evening, Valentine's Day motivation, and it will not be easy.  Wish us luck.

Happy Valentine's Day to all.  Kiss your loved ones, hug a friend, smile at a stranger.  Just don't mix up the order here, you will find yourself in a very awkward situation if you go around kissing a bunch strangers...

Sore today strong tomorrow.

Beep, beep, beep.  The alarm blares as he rolls over and reaches for the snooze button.  To snooze for nine more minutes may be the most important thing in the world at this moment.  His arm though seems shorter and stiff, harder to move the way he intends.  With much effort he finds the snooze button and his mind begins the confused thinking of why his arm seems different.  Drifting off to sleep he tries to re-position himself to find that warm spot in the bed, only to find that his legs also are not moving as they should.  As his mind continues to wander, now past the point of being able to sleep, he decides to get up and start the day.  Sitting up seems impossible though, his legs not the valiant trunks they once were, his abs screaming as if they are being used for the first time.  With a slight moan and a few cracks as the bones adjust themselves, he stands and begins to stumble to the bathroom.  The cracks and moans continue as he makes his way from the bed and his mind begins to remember why he feels this way.  He is reminded of the previous evening's events that have lead him to this present moment of pain.  He is reminded of the feeling of using his arms, his abs, his legs, his back for the first time in weeks.  Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he remembers going to bootcamp last night and thinking he could run sprints with the big boys in the freezing cold.  The memory of the push ups pushes its way to the surface his brain, the pain in his chest and arms immediately apparent.  Warming up the shower never seemed like a better idea.  Stepping in, the whole shower steaming, water as hot as he can take it, instantly soothing his muscles.  He knows the day will be rough, slow going, and come evening, snow or not, he gets to do it all over again.  Not a hot shower, not a full day of stretching, not all the time in the world soothes sore muscles like another workout.

Good to be back.

It's official, first sweat broken of the New Year, oh how glorious it was.  Some back story first.  Damn garage door broke on Sunday.  The huge spring snapped in half and when it broke the whole house shook like the crazy neighbor lady drove into the side of the house, scared the bejesus out of us.  Anyway, repair man came yesterday, fixed it and installed a silent belt drive garage door opener.  The joy of that silence is overwhelming, there is no longer the sound of a freight train running through the left side of the house every time the door is opened or closed.  Of course the garage is right below the nursery so we wanted to get this replaced anyway, things really do have a way of working themselves out don't they?  Where was I going with all this, oh yes, yesterday.  Due to the time constraint combination of meeting the pediatrician, Northern Virginia traffic, and a repair man being at the house, I had just about 32 minutes to run, change and get out of the house.  So I skipped the gym, and the warmth therein and ran outside.  I bundled up, hit the streets and did a quick three miler.  Holy frozen lungs.  Just like riding a bike, except no bike and takes a bit longer.  Not going to lie, I felt great.  I needed a run, I needed to sweat and I loved it.  Unfortunately I can't do any kind of workout tonight since Tuesday is my writing class night but I should be back to class tomorrow.  I am already looking forward to that feeling after a good solid workout.  It is like no other.

Time to get to work!

Not quite the start to the week I was hoping for but I will make it work.  The plan was to make it back to class tonight but I forgot that we had scheduled a "meet the new pediatrician" appointment tonight, smack dab in the middle of class.  Oh well, gym instead.  I am thinking three mile run and then some core strength training (excellent suggestion Bill, thank you).  At least it will be warm in the gym!  That reminds me, I need to charge my iPod.

All my excuses for the past six weeks have ended.  No more construction in the house, baby shower is over, holidays have come and gone, back issue is resolved for the time being.  Life is back to normal finally.  That means no more BS, no more lame excuses.  No more "hey is Saturday so lets go out to lunch and then order  in dinner."  No more pizza for lunch, no more late night snacking.  It has gotten a bit out of hand these last few weeks but no more my friends.  Hila has sent me off with an amazing breakfast, soup and sandwich for lunch and some healthy snacks.  I am ready to get back to it.

I wish it were easy for me to find some kind of middle ground with eating.  It is all or nothing it seems, I either am all in or it's sayonara sucka, and I don't really know why.  You would think that while I could not workout I would be even more mindful of what I was eating.  Not so much, I just pretty much stopped paying attention entirely.  I have not been to a weigh in for about two months.  There is a weigh in tonight, if we have time after meeting the pediatrician I will go.  It's time.  I need to make myself accountable, otherwise I will just continue down this same path of mediocrity.  Time to shine folks.  We have no more than five or six weeks left before our lives are completely different with Baby D coming, I want to make the best of the time left.  I will go to the gym, I will eat better, I will get back into shape.  Believe me when I tell you that two months off  from working out is a long time.  It will be tough but I am ready.  I've been ready for weeks, I have just been lazy.  Not lying on the couch lazy, but lazy in my efforts to be healthy.  That time has come and gone.  Time to get to work!

I'm baaaaaaaack!!!!

I just met with the good doctors over at Commonwealth Orthopedic and go figure, after all this wondering, misery, self wallowing, and just plain bitching, my therapy is simple...exercise.  Exercise is the best medicine, as they say.  I only wish I could have received this information weeks ago.  To quote the good doctor, "There will be pain, but push through the pain and I assure you, this will get better."  Best possible news ever!  I could not be more excited about this.  I have been wondering what the treatment would be, a shot, physical therapy, surgery, and all along I just needed to get myself back in the game.  Of course, as with most issues, there is the possibility of needing additional treatment, a 15% chance actually.  I like the odds though, they are definitely in my favor.  So from this point forward it is on like Donkey Kong.

I have paid zero attention to food, exercise or physical activity of any kind.  Those days have come to an end my friends.  Back to life, back to reality.  Thank God actually, I cannot wait to get in a good workout.  My plan for the coming weeks...

Boom.