Seriously?

I haven't posted since before Thanksgiving? Seriously? Well, okay then. Time to change that.

Hope your holidays went well. We drove the truck all the way back to San Diego to spend Thanksgiving with Jen's mom. Her 2 BR apartment is definitely not the ideal place to add a family of four, but she graciously gave up her room and we made it work. After about 20 minutes of driving on our way out of town, I was already glad we had decided to take the Ford. Four words: D... V... D... Player... Anyway, the truck did just fine all the way down and all the way back. We had a good visit and a wonderful Thanksgiving with our friends in Moreno Valley. I've put more time and effort (and money) into that SUV in recent months than I care to recall. Shortly after we got here we got new tires (scheduled and budgeted for) then we needed a new brake booster and yet another new alternator... I've learned a lot about working on cars in the last couple of months. Still, I don't have enough to be able to figure out what's really wrong with it so I took it back to the dealer. I pointed out that the alternator in the vehicle came from their parts shop (replacing one from Autozone that had been in there for less than a month) so I was sure that wasn't the problem. They called back later that day and told me I need a new PCM. That's the computer that controls the cruise control and handles most of the diagnostics for the vehicle. How do I know? Because it's the same thing that went wrong on my Saturn just before we left San Diego back in July. Seriously? What are the odds?

Anyway, on to Christmas break. This time we were the hosts. Jen's mom came to visit the week of Christmas and just after she got here it snowed... Nothing majorly dramatic but enough to give a nice coat of white on the world for the holiday. My parents and sister arrived from Ohio on the 26th. We were able to consolidate the kids for my MIL to stay with us, but we just didn't have the space for all three of my family so they got a hotel in nearby Castle Rock. We went around town during the week between Christmas and New Year's and took in the seasonal sights. It stayed cold enough to keep the snow around, but the weather was clear throughout their visit. They went home on the 2nd of January and we've been in recovery mode since then. It's like we had to get back into a routine just to recover from the "break" for the holidays. At least I was able to take leave so that was nice.

Today it's snowed for most of the day. The temperatures have actually fallen for most of the day. Seriously? A high temp in the teens? That's just not right.

So now that we're all caught up, let's talk about the new year. I've started reading my Bible again and since we're not planning to move this summer I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to keep going this year. I've also started exercising again. I've already run 6 miles this year... Granted, that's not much, but if you consider that I had rotator cuff surgery just back in September then I think I'm doing okay. The down side to having surgery shortly after coming off leave? I'm overweight. Seriously? Yep. I'm currently at 216 and I'm only allowed to be 208. When I was weighed in early November I was at 228. So it's 20 pounds and that led to a lipid test to check to see if I had a medical reason for being overweight (other than my shoulder) and that's when I found that I have a thyroid condition. Seriously? Yes, I have a mild case of hypo-thyroid-ism... That means that my thyroid is not producing as much of whatever chemical it makes as it used to so I've been put on pills and I have a follow up in a couple of weeks. The kicker? When I told my mom about this she said that my dad and sister have been on thyroid medication for "years." Seriously? I probably should've been told about this sooner rather than later, Mom. (love you!)

Anyway, I'll be using this blog and my facebook account to keep tabs on my fitness goals. I figured out that running 3 miles a day, 3 days a week, and taking 2 weeks off for vacation or illness would total 450 miles. Since I want to run a marathon, I have to assume that I'll be running more than that so I've place my goal at 500 miles for the year. Obviously I need to lose about 10 pounds as well, but I'm going to up that to 20 and see if I can get under 200 by the end of the year. If I make my running goal then the weight goal should be almost easy. We'll see what happens. Oh, I'll have to work all of that around my new schedule. I'll be taking classes at Colorado Christian University starting later this month. I'm hoping/planning to get back into the groove of taking classes sooner rather than later. If I can get done with a degree before I retire then great. If not, then there's a possibility that I could apply for a musical scholarship to supplement my retirement pay and GI Bill benefits... Assuming the federal gov't doesn't decide to tax the GI Bill to pay for education for illegal aliens or some crap like that. Sorry, did I say that out loud? I "Hope" I didn't give anyone any ideas on how to "Change" one of the biggest benefits I'm looking forward to when I retire.

So, that's how my 2009 ended and that's what I'm looking forward to in 2010. How's everything in your neck of the woods?