BIGTRIMAN

2012 Training and Fitness Goals

2012-01-02T12:08:00.001-05:00

I also want to keep all of my daily calories around 2500 during the week and Sunday to eat whatever I want. If I do that according to my calculations, I'll lose close to 75 pounds and get closer to my goal weight this year.

2012 Training Goals
Total HRS	550
Swim	75	hours	135,000	yards
Bike	260	hours	3640	miles
Run	165	hours	740	miles
Strength	50	hours

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2011 Training Numbers

2011-12-31T22:26:00.001-05:00

Training Totals
2011				2010
	Dist	Hours	Avg Pace	Dist	Hours	Avg Pace
Swim	81311	30	2:11/100 yd	96773	34	2:05/100 yd
Bike	2426	169	14.3 mph	1791	136	13.19 mph
Run	617	138	13:27 per mile	462	114	14:51 per mile
Strength		11	13 min/week		20	22 min/week

353 hours total for 2011.

So I'm pleased with most of my year. My swim mileage was down and it looks like I got slower but I really think I made up for that in my bike and run improvement. Almost 80 seconds per mile faster is awesome. I was run/walking this time last year. Now I'm running no problem.

Improving over 1 mph on the bike is great too. That means so much over the course of a race. Plus its on the same old school bike frame so that's just me and my fitness gains. Mileage for the run and bike are up big time. That's great. I'm so happy!

Over 350 hours for the year. 40 more hours then last year. Considering that I only did two races on Sundays and then took the rest of them off through the year, I'm so happy that I'm averaging over an hour of exercise per day. For me that is consistency. And that is the key.

Next year will see me going over 400 hours for the year. A lot more strength for the year. I'm doing more Olympic lifts along with prehab and endurance strength exercises to keep me pain free.

This means over 2 years of consistent training for me. I have proven to myself that I can keep my weight off. It also has shown me that I can continue to lose weight and get back down to a healthy weight and keep improving. Getting faster and fitter everyday.

Here's to a successful 2011 and to a even better 2012!

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Hot and Humid

2011-06-13T23:54:00.001-04:00

It's so freaking hot now. I'm a big and I've never done well in extreme heat even when I was in good shape. But now carrying 75 extra pounds its a suffer feast when the humidity levels get above 70%. Tonight was case in point. 4 mile easy run after an hour easy on the bike this morning. Took salt pill and kept my HR down but my perceived effort was through the roof. I walked for the first time during a run in several months. See the lovely pic for a demo of the humidity around these parts. Oh and tomorrow is a balmy 97!

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Jan Training

2011-02-05T23:58:00.001-05:00

Swimming: 3.9 mi on track for 46.8 miles swimming, very short of my 113 mile goal

Biking: 90.5 mi on track for 1080 miles biking, also very short of my 2750 goal

Running: 73.3 mi on track for 880 miles running, which would smash my goal of 600 miles by almost 300 miles.

So why the disparity? Baby Cece. Having a baby throws a big kink in your schedule plus its harder to swim and ride the bike with shorter days and more pressure at work to sign accounts to big contracts.

But I'm doubling down and will get this done. We have a nice bonus and tax return coming which means a few things, most notably, paying race entry fees!

So basically I need average 240 miles a month on the bike, 17600 yards in the pool, and stay with my running at 75 a month. That breaks down to 4500 yards a week swim, 60 miles a week on the bike, and 15 miles run or so.

Sent from my iPhone 4

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2011-01-15T23:39:00.000-05:00

Hello!

Ray over at dcrainmaker.com is having a Garmin 310xt giveaway! Go check it out! http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/01/garmin-forerunner-310xt-giveawayjanuary.html

2011 Mileage Goals

2010-12-28T20:09:00.001-05:00

Goals for 2011: Swim, Bike, Run, Strength

489 hours total

Swim: 200000 yards

Bike: 2750 miles

Run: 600 miles

Strength: 49 hours

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2010 Training Totals

2010-12-27T16:31:00.001-05:00

2010 Training Totals

Bike Totals: 1790.7 miles 135.74 hours 13.19 avg mph 119 bikes total 15 miles avg per bike ride

Run Totals: 462.35 miles 114.27 hours 4.04 avg mph 141 runs total 3.2 mi avg per run

Swim Totals: 96773 yards 33.69 hours 2872 yards per hour 53 swims

Strength: 19.7 hours

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Cant Sleep, ramblings

2010-12-04T00:43:00.001-05:00

I'm bumming. I wanted to go swim in a lake tomorrow morning but my sudden insomnia seems to be taking over. Plus it'll be around 44 degrees in the morning so yeah it is probably not going to happen.

My 10 miler will though. I'm fighting through some issues that are common I think for first timers completing a half marathon program. ITB irritation, lower back pain. Shin splints. In other words I need to strengthen my core and butt. I used to lift all the time but now not so much. Need to get lifting again. Movement prep and prehab too.

Good news if the rest of the year goes as planned, I'll have completed close to 300 hours of exercise. Thanks to Trainingpeaks.com (free plug) I can track quite easy. My ATP had 377 for the year but Appendicitis, food poisoning, and living with three little germ breeding monkeys made me come up a little short. However! That is more then I've exercised in more then 7 years combined! So positivity here is welcome and appreciated!

My diet leaves somethings to be desired but I've lost 30 lbs this year and have kept it off. I feel better then I ever have really since I married Summer. At that time I was in the best shape of my life.

So progress. It's a good thing. I recognize it, I appreciate it, and I'm grateful for it.

We're going to be welcoming a new little spirit into our home soon. I pray the birth of our daughter goes off without a hitch. We'll have four now. A lot of responsibility but a lot of fun too. Sometime after the New Year we should meet her!

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Posterous iPhone App? Awesome!

2010-11-13T22:26:00.001-05:00

Just downloaded the new Posterous app for iPhone. It works great!

My Tri season is winding down. Summer is pregnant with our fourth child and is due in late January 2011. I'm training with a run focus to complete a half marathon on Jan 1st or so.

I ran my numbers for the year and also all my numbers since I started to train for endurance events in September 2009. The stats were very illuminating! More to come.

Posted via email from Matt's posterous

2010-10-08T18:08:00.000-04:00

Check out what Ray is up to in DC! DCrainmaker.com....Want a free Timex Global Trainer GPS sports watch? Enter the giveaway! http://ow.ly/2PRIY

Florida Challenge Olympic Triathlon-September 12, 2010

2010-09-28T23:25:00.001-04:00

Florida Challenge Olympic Triathlon

September 12, 2010

It’s been a few weeks since I raced my first Olympic Distance Triathlon. 2010 has been a great year for me with my weight loss and my health in general. But the Florida Challenge would definitely live up to its name.

I picked this race because it was in my neck of the woods and it was during the right time for me with my training. I gave myself a good year to get into the kind of shape where I could complete the race and not die or pass out.

I planned to complete around 350 hours for the year. This is low for an Olympic and mid range for a Sprint distance season from what I have found on the interwebs.

Two weeks before the race, my family and I went to Washington D.C. to visit the sights and the awesome Smithsonian Museumsdf. The trip was great but on the way back we all caught a serious case of food poisoning. It was horrible. I have never been so sick. Eight hours of constant vomiting and diarrhea. Not fun. I don’t think I ever really recovered from that food poisoning when race day came. I realize now I was dehydrated and sick.

I picked up my packet early so I didn’t need to be there super early for transition. I set up my stuff and went to the swim start. Summers brought the kids with her and bless her she is 5 months pregnant and they weren’t great for her at all. The swim start was delayed because the Half-iron race started first and they needed to move the buoys in from 1.2 miles to the .93 miles. A lot of the spectators were saying that the half-iron swim was long. The best female was at 35 minutes or so. They brought the buoys in but it seemed it was still longer than normal. The swim started, we were to swim in a weird square counter-clockwise. I positioned myself to the far right of the start to stay clear of the fast swimmers. We started and it was alright at first, the water was warm and the visibility wasn’t great but it was a lake so I expected that. I got a little panicky after 5 minutes or so. The swim seemed so slow. I was swimming at my race pace I thought, 2:15 per 100 or so but it took forever to get to the first buoy. I settled in and didn’t really have a problem sighting since the buoys were nice and large. For some reason Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody came into my mind so that helped me get through the swim. Turns out I was like 4 or 5 to last. At the end a black guy in a TYR speed suit passed me doing a breast stroke which was disheartening. The swim took 53:25 or so. Now if do the math that means 3:14 per 100 pace for the 1500 meter swim. I don’t think I can swim that slow freestyle if I tried, maybe breast stroke or back stroke but not that slow. I think the swim was .25 mile long. Which meant the swim the half-iron was long too, I was proud of myself I finished it. The swim always makes me apprehensive before the race.

Transition 1 went fine. Ran in got my bike shoes, helmet, socks on and headed out. 24.85 miles awaited me. A really big hill was immediately after the exit and I was in a big gear so that sucked. Not a great start to the bike. And it would get worse. I had a bagel with peanut butter and oatmeal for breakfast on race day. Pretty soon on the bike I started to burp up the peanut butter and bagel. Not good. I started to drink to try and hydrate, but the drinks were orange Accelerade with Crystal light extra flavoring. I usually do fine with that mixture but that day it was undrinkable. I drank about half a bottle on the bike but couldn’t drink anymore it was too sweet. All I had besides the drinks was GU gels which were gross too. So I was unable to feed or hydrate and my stomach was not cooperating with severe stomach cramps. My head got super heavy and I almost passed out on the bike a couple of times. I got to the last turn around and got a fresh bottle of water. I dumped most of it on my head and it felt so good! That helped, but only temporarily. About five miles from the Transition I started having worse cramps and I knew I needed a porta potty ASAP. Of course none were found on the bike. So I had to settle for a big oak tree off the road. Hopefully no one saw me but I couldn’t help myself, I was very sick. I got back on the bike and tried to make it to the bike finish. The hills of Clermont were no joke. It was 95 degrees and the heat index was 121 degrees. I almost quit on the bike. My head was hard to keep up and I felt nauseous and gross after the side of the road incident. But I made it in. I went to transition and thought about quitting so more. I was really close to calling it a day but I noticed that my heart rate wasn’t skyrocketing or super high. It was high but not so much that I needed to quit. So I decided to coat myself in some more sun screen and head out on the run which would be walk.

For the run/walk, I decided I would walk for at least the first two miles. Maybe for the last four I would feel better. But the first two miles had me contemplating quitting still even after the T1 revelation. But I made it to the first aid station and dunked my head in cold water, drank a little coke, drank a lot of water, and starting taking Endurolytes, which are electrolytes in pill form. Those I think would save my day. I started this routine with each aid station. It got me through. I finished in 5:15 or so dead last for the Olympic distance. In fact on the results they didn’t have my run time so maybe they closed the race and didn’t realize? I don’t care really I finished it and met one of my goals for the year.

Things I learned…

-do more bricks! I don’t think I was ready for the Oly distance switchover from swim to bike and bike to run. I did some bricks but with short bikes after swims or short runs after bikes.

-ride the race course earlier or close to the race course. Clermont is not Florida. Florida is flat and Clermont is NOT! Over 3k of climbing on a 25 mile course, I was not prepared for that.

-food poisoning is serious business and it kicked my butt and altered my race. Don’t know what I could have done with that.

-change my nutrition for Oly or longer races. My nutrition sucked and didn’t help my weakened condition on race day.

But overall I’m happy with it in perspective. It didn’t go my way or anywhere near where I’d hoped. Especially since I hoped to finish in 3:30 or so and I ended up at 5:15.

I didn’t quit and I finished so I’m satisfied. Two weeks later I’m thinking that although I finished I hurt myself more by keeping going. I lost a lot of fitness. My bike and run splits are down, down to what they used to be. I guess I am recovering but man it sucks.

Next year, a half-ironman distance race!

Posted via email from Matt's posterous

2010-06-28T01:56:00.003-04:00

Heartland Sprint Triathlon-Sebring FL June 20, 2010
I didn’t realize at first that this was father’s day! For many months I had planned for this race and didn’t realize that it would fall not only on father’s day but my second son Jacob’s 7^th birthday. We celebrated Jakey’s birthday on Friday. And I celebrated father’s day way early with a new iPad several weeks before. So I had that going for me which was nice.

I made a reservation for the Residence Inn in Sebring. We drove down in the early evening. I was originally going to go by myself but I convinced Summer into bringing the kids since it was Father’s day and all. So we set off and got there around 8:30 pm. Luckily, the race allowed race morning packet pick up so we didn’t have to rush. I took a couple of Advil PMs and went to bed early to get up at 6 am for the race!

I got up and hit snooze on my iPhone several times, making me late. The hotel was only a couple of miles from transition. So I decided to go get signed in, set up transition and then come back and pick up the kids and Summy. Well that didn’t work out. I got there got my chip, and transition set up, and had a whooping 15 minutes to spare before the first swim wave took off. I called Summer and explained the situation and she wasn’t too disappointed. Since we find out we’re expecting our 4^th child, she has had serious problems with morning sickness and nausea. So running around downtown Sebring stuck for the whole 2 hour race was probably not her most exciting idea. So I was on my own. Ironic I thought since I was expecting to do rice by myself anyway!

I made my way to the swim down the hill. The swim was in Lake Jackson, once out of the lake we had to run up a hill through sand to the transition area. I waded out to the swim start. It was very shallow for awhile and I had a chance to swim a little bit to warm up. I had a yellow cap so that meant I was the in the fourth wave. Each wave started four minutes apart with the start at 7:30 am. So I meandered over to the swim start. It was .25 mile square, that started and finished about 50 yards out in the water so I would have a little jog up the hill to the bike portion.

I went to the far right of the start since I didn’t want a mash up for the start. I knew I would swim a little bit farther but I didn’t want to get hit too much. The swim went great except I didn’t start my watch at the beginning so I don’t know what my true swim was since the race time is off due to all the running in from the water and beach to the timing mat. I didn’t go really fast, the race said 2:45 every 100 yards so it was 440 yards so the race way 12 minutes or so.

The T1 time was five minutes and most of that was getting sand off my feet. I hate the sand. I would go to the beach more often if it wasn’t for the sand! T1 took almost 6 minutes but again most of that was running to T1. I took off on the bike without much trouble and headed out.

The bike was a lap around Lake Jackson with some machinations at the end into some orange groves and then back into transition. I was ready to hammer and pound away in the big ring since it was race day and I had done SO much zone 2 little ring training sessions. My bike was tuned up and ready and no longer had the annoying click from a loose bottom bracket. I felt great on the bike. Things were coming smoothly and I was passing people. Pretty soon I realized I was over 21 mph for the first few miles. I didn’t stay in aero as much as I wanted. My HR was around 160 bpm for the whole bike ride and my mph was 18.4! A new PR for sure; one of my goals for this season was to average 17 mph for the whole bike leg in a race. I didn’t care if it was a super sprint, or the Olympic. But I did it! Feels great.

T2 went by in just a couple of minutes. Ran in dumped the bike switched shoes, put on my hat, ditched the iPhone and took off. The first mile was absolute torture! I was with some middle aged women who were complaining the whole time. One lady kept saying, “see you at the finish” as you passed her walking then she would start to run and pass you! And on it went over and over with several different people. She was annoying. Eventually she stopped running and started walking I guess since I never saw her again. The run was around downtown Sebring and then they ran us right by the finish, and back around to the finish line. I walked the aid stations at every mile. I ran the rest of the way except for a minute or two in a grass section after mile 1. It was really a gulch by the railroad tracks. I hate grass! I ran the rest of the way in and passed some more walkers, but more runners passed me. I even saw one girl who was doing the race as a relay walking! She was so skinny and walking a 5k. Here I am 300+ and running most of the way after doing the whole race. She still beat me. I made the final turn and sprinted through the finish. The 5k was done in 40:25. The time at the finish line was 1:59:30, but I knew since I was in the 4^th wave it was quicker than that.
My goal for the race was 1:55 or faster, and I ended doing the race in 1:48 or so and with a new PR in the bike leg and run leg. The bike leg was 2 mph faster than ever before and the 5k was 15 seconds faster. The swim sucks at this point. I haven’t put as much time into as I’d like simply because it’s a hassle to get to the pool and work around pool schedules. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting slower with my swimming.
The rest though is going great. I am definitely in favor of zone 2 training for a base.
Next up is the Florida Challenge Olympic Distance in September which will be hilly and hot. But it’s my A race and I hope to be under 300 lbs for that race. That would be awesome!

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Waldo Tri Race Report

2010-03-08T22:00:00.001-05:00

Waldo Sprint Triathlon 3/7/10 Race Report

I was a little depressed at first going to this event because my family wouldn’t be there to cheer for me. My wife Summer and I just received a new calling in our church which requires one of us to teach every Sunday so she stayed in Apopka with the kids. I hadn’t been getting very good sleep the past two days since I was debating on whether or not to attend the Biggest Loser Casting call in Tampa. Eventually I decided to not attend the casting call since I had already sent a tape in and it would screw up my timing with my race. My weight loss and health is a marathon, a process, which might take years, and pipe dreams of a cool weight loss reality show may not help that.

So I drove up to Gainesville. Made a stop to pick up some GU Tri-berry like I like and also picked up a running hat and something to wear before the race since there was a FREEZE alert for all of Alachua County. That made for wonderful thoughts about the upcoming swim! I got dinner at Texas Roadhouse to go, ate light, and took 3 Advil PM to make sure I got my sleep. I feel asleep at like 8:30 pm watching a really cool HBO sports documentary about Magic and Bird. I woke up at 4:45 am. I was disoriented at first but I realized where I was. I dreamt about playing High School football again and my coach was Bill Clinton, go figure. It was a long vivid dream too. I felt like I was sleeping in when I got out of bed at 7:00 am. That meant 11 hours of sleep which made up for past two nights of 5 hours of sleep.

I was greeted at my car to a completely frosted windshield. The temp said 34 degrees on instrument panel. Took a minute to defrost and I drove the 30 minutes to Waldo. On my arrival, there were a lot of people riding their tri-bikes, getting warmed up. Thankfully, the start time was 9:00 am. Good thing or we all would have frozen to death! I checked in and asked what the water temp was…. The answer I got was a balmy 60 degrees! Wonderful! My previous lake swim at Lucky’s was at 64 degrees so I knew what I was up against. I had a secret weapon though, my Blue Seventy neoprene swim cap! I loaded the transition area with all of my crap, and started to put my wetsuit on. I couldn’t get it zipped! I had to ask my neighbor in the Transition area to help me out and she did. Triathletes are so nice! I put my caps on and made my way down to the water. I got in immediately; I knew that if I didn’t get in right away I would get the shock of the cold water and start to freak out slowing me down. I did a few little laps and put my face in and blew bubbles. I wasn’t that bad! My arms and feet went numb but my head was warm. I stayed in the water until the start. It was a waist deep start.

The Swim 750M

The countdown ended and off we went! I had positioned myself on the left hand side towards the back and I let a lot of people go in front of me since I knew that most were going to swim faster then I. I was surprised at how easy and calm I was during the swim. There was some bumping and kicking going on too. It was kind of fun! This was the first real mass swim start in my short racing career. I stopped at each one and in retrospect should have just kept going at each one. They kept occurring until the third buoy. The course was a large triangle with three buoys in the straight away. My time in the water was 18:16 which meant about 2:03/per 100 swam. A new PR, pretty fast, the time seemed like it took forever. Since I had my wetsuit I was able to use my HR monitor belt so I was able to see for once what my HR is on my swim. The average HR was around 148 bpm and 154 was the max. Not bad I guess. Don’t really have a benchmark but when I count my HR at the pool it is around 132 or so. This swim really makes me excited to go back to the Lucky’s Lake Swim and get better at the Open water thing. I really enjoyed it even though it was freezing!

Once out of the water you had to run out and into transition which was a little run. They did the timing all by hand by giving your number to volunteers as you entered and exited transition. Hardly scientific. I should have stripped the wetsuit while I was doing the run up but I didn’t think of that. It took me about 5 minutes get the suit off and to do the sock, sock, shoe, shoe, glasses, helmet, go! Got on the bike and headed out.

The Bike 20K

The bike was an out and back on the rural roads of Waldo Florida. The terrain was mostly rough black top with gentle rolling hills that were deceiving as I drove them the day before the race. I envisioned myself challenging one of my goals for the season which was to stay at 17 mph for the bike leg of a race. I ended up at 16.2 mph which is a new PR for that distance. I stayed in the big ring and switched between the middle three gears in the back ring for most of the ride. I tried to get Aero for as much as I could but I worried about hydration for the run so I sat more then I wanted to. Plus my HR was spiking after T1 and I wanted to calm it down. It came down but stayed around 158 or so for the duration of the bike. Which reminds me, I’m going to change my limits on my Polar HR monitor for race day, and it drove me nuts all day since I kept it from my base training. Going to put it up to 170 or so for races from now on; other than that the ride was uneventful. I saw a girl cheat at the turn around and cut the bike short by a quarter mile. I didn’t see her number or I would have reported her. I don’t generally mind cutting corners but not in a race. What’s the point? Why race? I motored in on the bike and thought that I had beat my goal of 45 minutes. I was actually short by about a minute. Bike leg was 46:09.

T2 was inconsequential. I dumped the bike put the running shoes and hat on and headed out. You had to run back to the lake and then back to transition then head out to the course for the 5k run.

The Run 5K

My plan was run 8 min take 2 min off for the run leg. But I thought in the back of my head, if I felt good I would keep running tackling another goal I set for this season which was to run the whole run leg of one race. Out of transition the HR was spiking again. I couldn’t do more than 5 minutes before walking for two. I never walked for more than two minutes the whole run. I think I walked 4 times. After you passed transition you ran a square in a park which was cross country type running. I didn’t like that at all. I hadn’t trained for it and wasn’t prepared for it. I was going fast but my HR spiked again. I lasted 6 min before walking. Finally I got out into the roads where you would run into a neighborhood and then back to the finish. The run in the neighborhood was great. I got some water took a GU gel and made up some time I think. I made my way back to the park almost done. For some reason I thought I had to run to the lake again to get to the finish so I stopped and walked again like 200 yards from the finish! Stupid! I ran in and finished 1:53:46. My goal was to beat 2:00 and I demolished it! I just wished I had run the rest of the way! My run time was 40:43 and I would have beat 40 minutes easy if I hadn’t had stopped. I didn’t even sprint the finish. A little disappointing but not really, I’m proud of myself.

I improved so much. My swim time was a revelation. Slow but better and the cold water really had me worried. People drown in lakes you know. The bike was good. I look back at my rides and none of them are in the 16 mph range. So that’s better too! And the run was awesome! Ran harder than I thought I could, and I know I could have run harder. Today the day after, my quads are killing me and my calves are shredded too. Need to do some more movement prep and hit the not foam roller. Next race up is the Super Sprint tri in Clermont at Lake Louisa in April. Should be super-fast.

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Lucky's Lake Swim

2010-01-31T14:31:00.001-05:00

So I've been trying to convince myself to go down to the Lake Swim that is available to people in the Orlando area on early morning weekdays and Saturdays. A 500 meter swim both ways equal 1k. I have told myself several friday nights that I would head down and complete the swim as I went to bed only to talk myself out of it by being saying the weather was too cold and that I didn't want to drown!

My brother bought me an Xterra Wetsuit for my birthday and it arrived early this week. Now my excuses were evaporating quickly..... I still almost talked myself out of it. I couldn't sleep didn't get to bed until 1:30 am. I kept reading Ironman Ambition by John Callos and The Great Deluge by Douglas Brinkley, both readings made me more stressed by my impending challenge. It was one of those few moments in my life when I knew I shouldn't be doing something because I wasn't adequately prepared but I was going to do it anyway.

Summer wasn't going to come with me and I really wanted her to be there. We struck a deal and she said she would come. I woke up really early for a Saturday... 6 am. And we picked up two stragglers, Jacob and his friend Ethan whose family staying with us temporarily. Off we went for a quick 20 minute drive.

Once you get there, it is a huge house on a huge lot with the word's Aquatica on the gate with little iron swimmers on the fence. You drive down to the front of the house and then walk to the back yard to the dock where the swim starts.....

We got there too early and we waited for nearly 25 minutes with kids. Summer is a saint for dealing with them. I was useless cause I was nervous! Eventually a few men came to the dock there was one woman. They seemed very familiar with each other, some had swum there many times before it seemed. It was a little surreal because I had watched this many times on YouTube and on the website.

I got ready zipped up the wetsuit and got in the water.... FREEZING! The thermometer at dockside said 64.2 degrees Fahrenheit. I waited for everyone to go ahead of me which I think was a mistake. I had a pool noodle attached to my foot for safety. First thing I noticed, after doing the breaststroke for awhile to get used to the water, was that I couldn't put my head in the water without losing my breath. I tried several times and I couldn't do it! I tried to do the Freestyle without putting my head under the water and I got tired really quickly. My wetsuit was so tight and I was very uncomfortable, and cold. I looked at my watch and a whopping 4 minutes had gone by. Plus my pool noodle was annoying me. I had run a string through the noodle and then tied that off to a ankle strap that surfer's use to attach themselves to their boards. The string kept getting caught on my toes and getting caught dragging the noodle. I got so caught up an panicked I actually used the noodle to float. And I went to my back and did backstroke for a little while too. This was my first time swimming with a wetsuit, so my hips, legs, and feet kept drifting up try to get me horizontal in the water. Which would have been a good thing if I could keep my head in the water!

Eventually I made my way up to the beach on the other side. It took me 20:49 to get across the lake. I got to the small little beach sat down and rested for a minute, and then I tried to fix the noodle set up. I moved the string down so it would be more of a longer setup and hopefully not get in my way. By this time, I was sweating pretty good and I was starting to adjust to the temp of the water. Towards the end of first lap, I was able to swim normally, so after a small prayer at the beach to keep me safe, I set out on my way back to my wifey and kids! I decided I would swim 25 to 30 strokes then stop and get my bearings... I kept losing my bearings in the water since there were no bouys just houses on the lake. The dock was tiny and not easy to discern. Each time I stopped to site I kept having to readjust. Apparently Summer said that I was zig zagging the whole way back. It took me 25 minutes to get back. I had the wind against me and a little chop plus the zig zagging. But I was able to seim normally the whole way back so that was encouraging... I made it back and finished. A couple of guys were finishing their second laps! It was exhilarating and quite a sense of accomplishment.

I got cleaned up and went and signed the wall as a first time swimmer and got my patch! They gave me a log sheet for the next time. At 25 crossings, they give you a swim cap. Cheesy but cool.

I definitely want to get back there and do the swim again. I need to learn how to swim straight! I think I'll wear some earplugs, and maybe a neoprene cap if the water is cold still. It was at 64 but it'll keep getting warmer. Who knows how many strokes and far I really swam. I certainly didn't swim in a straight line!

But this was another example of how triathlon training is pushing me to my limits and I'm responding. I had ridden my bike farther then ever before, and now open water swim farther then ever before. Next is a nice long run. But I'm proud of myself. More to come.

Posted via email from Matt's posterous

2010-01-17T18:55:00.000-05:00

I'm on the verge.... On the cusp... About to start something great! Its my birthday today. I'm 31.

We had some cake and I've been watching football all day. All the playoff games have been duds, but its fun to do nothing sometimes. I've been doing nothing for two weeks now though. After the surgery I had to stop and then the doctor said no lifting till Monday, which is tomorrow. So tomorrow I have some p90x, and some swimming to do. I want to wake up early around 6ish am and head out. And do some work too! I've been not working for almost a month now.

Which reminds me I need to plan my workout week! More to come.

2010-01-10T18:53:00.000-05:00

So I made some changes, I'm going to be posting more, I've added some widgets after an afternoon of tinkering with some html. I have no prowess whatsoever with Computers but I figured it out! I updated some really old links and will be adding more stuff on here as I move forward.

I completed 2 Sprint Tris in 2009. Now I'm off to a slow start in 2010. I was running on December 31st doing a three mile run. I recently was able to average 12:26 again for my mile pace for the first time in several years. So I was excited to get back out there. I felt some pains in my left calf muscle, pretty high up right in the meat of the calf. I ignored it as I usually do since I always have calf pain on my runs. I've been trying to incorporate more fore foot running in my runs landing on my midfoot instead of heel striking. I think I over did it. Kept going and the annoyance turned into red hot pain. I couldn't even walk without pain. So I was on the shelf. Hobbling around like a cripple. But more fun awaited me!

Two days later I notice a twinge in my right upper abdomen. It felt like an oblique at first, I've had that before and it was another annoyance with the calf but it keep going and was worse when I ate. Keep getting progressively worse until Sunday night, Summer was begging me to go to the doctor, but I didn't since I knew I had my physical on Monday morning. I woke with the pain worse then ever before, and went to the doctor. I got checked out and sent STAT to get a CT scan.

I had to drink this horrendous liquid called Barium Sulfate. I said on Facebook that it is white liquid creamsicled death or something like that. I choked it down and got the scan. I asked the tech if I could eat since I had been fasting for over 12 hours. She said sure. So I went to Five Guys for a burger and fries (I was rewarding myself for my pain.... pathetic) After the Bacon Double Cheeseburger, my doctor calls me and tells that I have acute appendicitis and need to go to the ER ASAP so my appendix doesn't burst and I die with a double cheeseburger in my mouth! I make all the calls, and I fight with the ER admins to get me admitted. I had to put my foot down and tell them that I didn't want my appendix to burst in the waiting room but they sent me up. My friend Dave from the Apopka Ward gave me a blessing and before I knew it they were prepping me for Surgery! It all happened very fast. I was telling Summer about money info and life insurance stuff cause I was worried!

They took me back to operating room, put my arms out straight on a skinny table and then made me tilt my head back so I wouldn't throw up my food I had just ate and kill myself. They gave me the gas and instantly (it felt like an instant! Actually 2:30 in real time) awoke in recovery with a lot of pain in my abdomen. The rest is a blur till I woke in my room 8 hours later. I talked to Dennis and Suzanne (Summer's parents) The nurse made me get up and walk. I was discharged later in the following afternoon, Tuesday. I've been home off of work and taking Percosets ever since. The one good thing is this break has given me a chance to rest my calf but the doc said no activities for 7 to 10 days from the surgery. So that would two whole weeks off for my calf and a week and a half for the appendix.

Crazy stuff, I can't wait to see the bill! We have insurance but I'm not looking forward to the deductible! Be using the FSA after all!

This week I'll probably go back to work in the middle of the week if everything heals ok then start walking until the two weeks is up. See the doc get the ok and then back on the training train. Finish P90X, and start base training.

2009-11-20T21:43:00.002-05:00

Boys Ranch Sprint Triathlon

This is my second Triathlon so far in my Triathlon comeback. It is a very small race at the Florida Sheriff's Boys Ranch in the Panhandle of Florida not far from Lake City where I-75 and I-10 intersect. The distances are a 750 meter swim, 16km bike, and 5k run.

The swim is in the Suwanee River which is on the north border of the Ranch. This part was daunting for me. First off I didn't know if there would be a current which could whisk me away! Plus it was really cold on race morning. 45 degrees according to the car's temperature on the dashboard. So as I got down to the water, I noticed that all the Triathletes had wetsuits on! I was going to freeze! Plus the water was pitch black. We had an impromptu National Anthem by one of the racers and we were off in a wave start. Once in the water I couldn't breath! I was two seconds from getting out of the water and taking off for home when I remembered my contingency plan. Breast Stroke! I couldn't put my head in the water it was so cold! So I just treaded water until I saw the other racers in front of me walking? Turns out the river is down way down from previous levels so their are sandbars and the depth varies a ton from place to place. Soon we all were running or wading through the water. That was a relief. So I waded through the turn around and my thighs were burning bad not good for the bike. The swim is supposed to save your legs. On the other side of the river, it was deeper so I was able to swim a little bit. I put my head down and tried to get into a rhythm. I swam about 15 strokes and I ran into a log. It scratched me up pretty good, the cuts are still healing. Also the current was there on the return trip a lot faster. I wasn't able to exhale in the water though way too cold still. I made it through and ran up to transition. The kids and Summer were there to see the bizarre surreal scene and were cheering me on. Little Addy was jumping up and down screaming "My Daddy, My Daddy!". The swim was 12:06

Transition was quick, Shoe, shoe, Heart rate monitor, watch, Shirt, Glasses, helmet, GO!

The bike at first was hard. I was wet and cold and couldn't feel my lower extremities. The bike felt weird like I had broke a spoke or had a flat tire. I figured out that since my legs were numb I had no feel for the bike either. But the good thing with that was I didn't have to worry about going hard, I made my way out the ranch to the roads and the loop that waited for me. I hadn't previewed the course on the bike, but I had driven it and knew that there weren't many hills that I couldn't handle. I did well averaging over 15 mph for the ride an improvment of 1 mph from the previous race in Clermont. Stayed the in the big ring for most of it after I could feel my legs. The kids cheered me on into T2.

T2 was even quicker, sock, shoe, sock, shoe, GO! I ran out the T2 less then 2 minutes. I grabbed my Iphone to track the run. I tried to track it on the bike, but I couldn't make it work since it was so cold.

The run was a two lap course that finished in a different place then Transition. The kids ran with me for a little bit and that was cool. Again Addy was great with the "My Daddy, My Daddy!" I continued on no problems. No tendonitis in the left knee. I was able to run most of the way in periods until my Heart Rate got too high so I wouldn't go Anaerobic. I ended up running about a 14:40 pace. Which is ten seconds faster then my previous race.

All in all a great race I accomplished my goals, introduced my kids to Triathlon, and I won my Division!

Not sure about the next race but I'm going to work on strength and building a good base for the next race where ever that may be.

2009-10-16T22:55:00.003-04:00

Florida Challenge Super Sprint Tri-Race Report

My name is Matt. I am 347 lbs and I competed in the above mentioned Triathlon a few weeks ago. I ran my first triathlon back in 2004 in Missouri before my family and I moved to Florida. At that time I was at 295 lbs. And it was hard.... but not as hard as I thought.

I've always heard that it is important to write race reports as you progress in Triathlon. Well here it is.

I recently decided to get back into exercise as an everyday habit. I have been off and on for the past few years. And my weight has fluctuated. I have been up to 375 and down to 318 since 2004. I seem to stay focused for about 6 months and then I get bored and "reward" myself by not working out and eating poorly.

So with that in mind, I decided to sign up for this Tri as a good warm up for progressing into longer races. It is very short 1/8 mile swim, 8 mile bike, 2 mile run. Certainly a nice little brick workout for most inshape athletes, but not for me I was determined to just finish. Oh and my wife Summer decided to do the race with me. She has finished a marathon before in 2008 and is in pretty good shape. She said she would smoke me. She was right!

We arranged baby-sitting for our three kids. We live about 30 minutes from the race so we didn't want to drag them out of bed to watch us. In retrospect, I wish we included them since they are 7,6, and 2 and would have had a good time. Anyway we got there at dark before the sunrise and struggled to find the start and registration and packet pick-up but followed the stragglers. We got our schwag and headed to the transition after being body marked. First thing I noticed was we got nice stuff! A water bottle, t-shirt, and other goodies. A nice unexpecteed perk. We took our bikes to the Transition area and picked out a spot. Not a lot of people at the race probably around 75 or so. As were getting ready, a huge buff, in-shape guy in a tri-suit asks me if I could show him how to shift the gears on his bike?! I'm thinking what? You don't how to shift your bike and thought that you'd wait and then ask the fat guy at Transition? Plus this guy looked like he was doing an Ironman. Not an ounce of body fat on him, all brand name Tri gear,and he hasn't a clue. Luckily I was familiar with his shifters, shimano type with the big lever and the small lever on the side. I showed him and he seemed satisfied.

Pretty soon the race announcer (they were playing Sirius before that on the loudspeakers) let us know to make our way to the swim. The swim was to be a 200 yard square around two buoys in Lake Minneola. At the start there is a nice little beach with restrooms and benches. Summer and I went in the water and checked it out. It was really warm! I think, Amoebas! Now the chances of getting a fresh water Amoeba go up your nose into your brain is similar to being struck by lightning if not higher, but hey you still worry about it right? A few people around Orlando died recently from them. Well I was worried. I swam in the water to warm up going halfway out to the buoy. There was no visibility at all just gross lake/pond water. I had not done an open water swim before. Honestly this was not a real open water swim in my opinion. No chop no harsh weather conditions (except for Amoebas!) and not a huge crowd. Just grossness. Plus they wanted us to line up and swim time trial style. The race staff forgot the mat to time us so that hindered things. We had the national anthem (recording of Whitney at the Super Bowl) and the first competitor took off. Summer and I went to the back of the line and discovered more people behind us! No one wanted to go! We got a kick out of that. But eventually we got to the start as we watched more experienced swimmers plow through the grossness. Summer went first since we erroneously thought she was a slower swimmer then me. She went first and that was the last I saw of her until the finish. I ran out until green stuff hit my waist and then dived in and took off. Of course I was going too hard. Adrenaline took over. After a few strokes I realized there was no one around me. I had to forgot to sight the buoy every few strokes I was 25 yards going right when I should've gone straight. That sucked. I figured it out and made my way past the buoys, thiniking about Amoebas and focusing on exhaling with my nose, while people were passing me. Then came the run to T1. Well that run part didn't work out to well. I was exhausted! I couldn't move! I walked all the way to T1 which is up the beach and 50 yards to the bikes. I felt like a schmuck and when I saw the race photos later I saw that I looked like a tired blob of humanity. My swim time? 5:17 for 200 yards. My time in the pool had me at 4:55 or so. So yeah I lost little bit there.

My arrival at T1 invigorated me though. I put my HR monitor belt on, and forgot the watch. I had to sit down to brush off my feet full of sand and rocks. My socks stuck to my feet and were not cooperating. My shirt stuck to me as I tried to put it on. I got halfway out of T1 when I realized I forgot my watch. Back to go get it. My T1 time? A blistering fast 6 minutes. It took me longer to transition then to swim! Wow.

Out on the bike and my dead legs made another arrival. There was a small climb to get out of the Waterfront park and I almost thought I wasn't going to make it. I geared to the easiest setting and pedaled hard. Thankfully for every ascent there is a descent so I was able to recover a bit. I was getting passed by everyone though. An 8 mile bike around Lake Minneola awaited me. A long eight miles for sure. I didn't preview the course like I wanted to because that part of the race website was down two weeks leading up to race day. Most people who passed were encouraging and I wanted to scream at them to stop talking but I smiled and encouraged back. I didn't use Aero bars due to me switching hand positions all the time. I also changed my stem the night before. I know all the "experts" say to not change anything unless you've trained with it. But I was too spread out with the old stem and this let me be more comfortable in my so-called cockpit. Except for the hand thing. Well it got me to a pace of 14.6 mph which was a full 2 mph faster then I had trained. How much of that was raceday adrenaline and the equipment change? Since then I've maintained the speed in my workouts while not coming close to the HR at taht pace. But the catch was I didn't tighten the stem enough! Can you say vibration! My hands hurt the rest of the day bad. I kept thinking I might catch up to Summer since she had ridden her bike ONCE in preparation for the race and didn't have bike cleats and pedals. She did 15.6 mph and smoked me again on the bike. My HR was around 155 for most of the bike except for the beginning and the end as I hit the same hill to get back to T2. Same hill as in the beginning but from a different point so we had to go up it to go back down to T2.

I pulled in to T2 excited for the run and proud of my comeback on the bike. I was doing better then expected on the bike and I was having fun! My T2 time was a lot quicker at 2:48 but still slowest out of the men. I was just glad it wasn't six minutes! Put on my running/tennis hat, running shoes, and off I went. I tried to jog at first, but I was redlining from T2.

The run was going to be challenging for sure and is my worst limiter out of three. I taught myself how to swim for my first tri in 2004 and I still can swim better then I can run. My weight just catches up with me I guess. After about three minutes I'm at 95% of Max HR, so I walk to bring it down. I did this for most of the first half of the 2 mile loop. People were passing me and offering me their polite encouragements with my same response as before. I can feel my weight on my chest and stomach and I wonder why on earth did I ever let it get this bad. So towards the end of the turnaround I start to run again. My left knee, which gives me occasional tendinitis, is starting to hurt but I decide to got with 2 minute on 1 minute off intervals until the finish. Then I actually pass a couple of people! A 50 yr old woman who looks like she is about to die and a mother and son who look like they had a rough bike portion, with grease all over their hands and legs. Hey its the small victories right! Summer finished by now and is walking back to bring me in. I am happy for her and envious at the same time. She is such a good endurance athlete. Hardly trains and competes no problem. She picks my spirits up and I tell her about my day's events. She encourages me to run the rest of the way and I try my best. I walk a couple of more times but I see finish and I sprint the last 200 yards. I cross the finish line at 1:16:59 and about collapse. I didn't realize how tired I was! I can't calm my breathe and I walk around in a daze for a few minutes... My run time was 14:58 pace for the 2 miles. In my training I did o better then 16:30. Summer? 10:16 for the 2 miles. Summer's overall time was 58:08:00. She finished 10th overall in the women. Not bad for an occasional triathlete. Me? I finished 46th out of 48 o f the men. My HR for the entire bike and run was 160 Avg so for most of the race I raced at 87% of Max HR. Not bad for me either since I was at least 100 lbs heavier then anyone else at the race.

Looking back I can think of a number of things to improve on for next time. Practice and focus on T1 and T2. Swim straight! Make sure the bike is good to go and use some Aero bars for better aerodynamics and speed. And drop as much weight as possible to get a better run in. My next race is the "Best of Boys Ranch Tri in Live Oak which takes place at the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch in Panhandle on November 15th. It's a longer sprint. 750 meter swim in the Suwannee River, 12.4 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. Mostly flat so I hope to improve my splits, and keep working towards completing a Olympic Tri by this time 2010. And maybe I'll drop some more pounds by then too!

These triathlons are interesting. A lot like life I guess. Some parts are hard, some parts are fun, some parts you can't believe you accomplished, and some parts you find disappointing. But the fun part is getting ready for the next one, I think and getting better.

Hopefully more to come.

M

2009-07-23T22:52:00.002-04:00

I have so many things to say. I hesitate to write them all down because this goes on the net and and I like to keep things private. I don't know. I wish I had something clever to say like they have on TV.....

I was reading some of my older posts and it is interesting to remember moments from what seems so long ago..... It amazes me that I have closed a few houses in the past year. Got my brother paid back which feels good. The market is so up and down that we have to keep the status quo, and get Summer through school.

I miss my Dad...... he could be a real son of a bitch but I loved him and I miss him. I miss my Mom too but the loss of my Dad is more recent I've learned to deal with not having Mom around....

I lost some weight last year. Around 50 pounds but now I am stuck around 335 345 or so. I can't get the motivation to increase my exercise and make my eating better. Everyday my life seems to get in the way.

I wish we could win the lottery, or go on Biggest Loser, or someone will sweep in and save me from this existence. But I'm a fool....I love my kids and my family but I wonder if I am absent too much. I feel like this all could be too much for me.......

Can you tell I've been off my prozac for a couple of days?

Feels good to write something down...... I worry about my brother. He's in a loveless marriage and is risking his freedom to keep the money flowing to pay for his wife and her habits.... To his credit he is also trying to pay for his step-daughter's education but I worry that is all for naught....

I don't know I'm pretty down right now. I'm going to go to bed.....

2009-04-29T22:00:00.003-04:00

Wow its been a long time again, and again..... Summer has lost all of her weight pretty much and is looking really great. She cut her hair and I'm loving it even though I thought I would like the longer hair better. We have moved into a house in Orlando that is really nice. It's big and spacious and free rent can't be beat. But it won't last. Sam and Jakey are doing great in kindergarten and 1st grade. Addison has been attending Kindercare day-care when Summer has been going to UCF. Speaking of UCF Summer is almost done and ready to graduate after just one more semester. I am trying to decide what I want to do for a graduate degree. MBA? Law Degree? Digital Forensics? Lots of questions. Not sure what I am supposed to do, really.

My Dad died at the end of January this year. His lifelong battle with Diabetes, and a nasty case of MRSA from a nursing home got him in a weeks time. I had to pull the plug and I watched his life expire. It still haunts me at times....

When we moved we switched wards and are now in a different stake as well. The new ward is very affluent and we are having a difficult time adjusting really. We miss our old ward and our old friends.

The house business is picking up we've closed five houses in the past few months. Best part time job I've ever had! We're reopening our company for tax purposes too which is great progress.

My 9-5 job has done well too. I am signing up accounts left and right and getting recognized for it. But I am one rep of three in a small geographical area and I am afraid that in this economic climate it may mean that I get laid off or "down sized". If it does I won't be surprised but I'm trying to do my best to make me too valuable.

2007-11-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

I am writing to update everyone on this blog. I am now a Sales Rep with my company that I started with soon after the foreclosure market went bust. I'm thinking about getting back into the market though since my brother has perfected some really good techniques for getting discounts.

Recently, I was extended a calling as First Counselor of the Elders Quorum in my ward. Its been really interesting learning and getting used and comfortable with this calling. Not to mention it has strengthened my testimony.

I have worked out two days in a row and I have watched my eating as well. I want to journal all of my meals and I am starting Nutrisystem again, it has been ordered and will arrive soon. I'm excited. Right now I weigh 373 give or take.

Sam is doing well in Kindergarten, even though sometimes he hits the other kids when they do stuff he doesn't like but we're working on that.... he is learning to read and do math. Jacob is doing the same but is only in VPK. Addison is cruising constantly and should be walking anytime. She is just adorable and a perfect baby girl.

Summer is finishing up school and going to get her Physician's Assistant Degree from UCF and a Post Graduate school to be named later.

2007-08-13T22:10:00.001-04:00

Summer, Sam, Jacob and Addy are all starting school next week! Of course just Sam and Summer's schools are real, Jacobs and Addy's are preschool but hey they are all growing up!

Summer is starting school again at UCF, and she is very excited about finishing up her education.

More to come soon....

2007-07-23T12:41:00.000-04:00

I just had a few minutes of rain so I decided to go ahead and post real quick since it's been like ten months since I posted last.

So many things to cover. Well we live in Orlando area now. I have been promoted three times since I started working a normal job. Its been a fun time. I am now a Sales Rep, I get a company car that I switch out every week and I get free gas.

Summer had our baby, we named her Addison Reese and she is absolutely perfect. She is almost seven months now. Sam starts school in August...Kindergarten! Jacob starts VPK soon too and Summer is going back to school and getting her B.S. in Molecular Biology at UCF. She is excited about that as well. Anyway that is all for now more to come if I get time!

2006-09-02T11:43:00.000-04:00

So yeah things have changed, so we had to adapt. I have been working a normal 9 to 5 now for almost two months. Well actually it's really a 7 to 6 job with work on Saturdays every other week but you know what I mean.

I like the job though. Everyday you do something different and it always involves cars. So I got that going for me...which is nice. The days go by quick and I can totally stand the people that I work with so thats good too. The only thing I have to get used to is having a boss over me. I mean always sort of did with my brother but that was more of a partner thing then a boss deal.

But I think that I am picking things up rather quickly and I want to get promoted quickly which I hope can happen in a few months or so. So anyways gotta go. Oh by the way Summer is pregnant again! She is almost 5 months and we find out the sex of the baby on September 6th! So we're excited about that. Dad is living with us now as well but he is probably going to move to Nashville in an Asssited Living center up there in the winter sometime. So laters.

2006-03-03T21:46:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I was knocking on doors on Space Coast and I stopped in a predominantly black community, well pretty soon a very large black man with corn rows, pants halfway down his thighs and oversized white shirt, approached me with a shotgun. He was coming to "talk" to me or maybe shoot at me who knows? Needless to say I put my car in drive and took off. That door didn't get knocked on that day.

We got a homeowner out today. She actually left it somewhat clean so it won't take too long to clean and paint. Hopefully we'll make some money on the deal.

On the way home I got behind a biker on a sweet Harley Davidson motorcycle. Guess what his license plate said? "Hogasm" Need I say any more. Yeah. Nice.

2006-02-21T22:50:00.000-05:00

It's my Father-in-law's birthday today and Summer and the kiddies are over on the West Coast of Florida spending the day. So I am all by my lonesome. So I worked out, made some phone calls, watched a couple of videos, and updated this blog.

If you notice I put some more links up to you (the random stranger, yeah right!) to show what I am reading and listening to at the moment. Not literally of course but pretty darn close.

Ipods are probably the best invention in the history of music. Music helps your mood so much.

I downloaded the Curious George Soundtrack and it rocks. Also downloaded the new Arctic Monkeys album.

Went to the doctor today and my triglycerides are still high, my cholesterol is okay but not great. Need to stay on the Nutrisystem and lose some where weight!

We got quotes on Health Insurance today too. 932 ducats a month for the whole fam-damily. Completely ridiculous!!! But what are you gonna do?

Dad's bugging me about helping him with his traffic course that I signed him up for. I told him flat out that if he kept bugging me about it then I would NOT help him at all. It really sucks that my Father only respects me when he is afraid that I might not help him. What a sad state of affairs.

Laters.

2006-02-15T00:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Freakin' Valentines Day

It's been a long day today. I woke up at 5:40 am to get up to Daytona by 8:30 am. A hearing was scheduled for a house we have up there. We needed 60 day sale extension and we got it. Thank goodness. So back down the Space Coast to the house and then off to a business meeting to explain our business plan to a hard money lender that lives in my ward who may want to do business. It went pretty well and I think that it may be beneficial for both of us. We'll see.

Then off to knockin on doors and making calls. I made all my calls and called every single skip. Proud of that. The meeting for the money really motivated me. I think I'll get one if I keep at it hard core until Dohnnie gets back.

Summer got her flowers, candy, and vase that I got for her. She also got flowers from her Dad which was nice. She also got the boys stuff which was sweet. They remember and appreciate her doing that when they're older. That stuff creates memories. She's cool.

I also got free screening passes for Nochnoi Dozor or Night Watch that is showing in Orlando at the end of the month. It is a Russian Vampire movie ala The Matrix or Underworld. But it's supposed to be better then Underworld for sure. Now all we have to do is get a sitter for it. It's on Monday night though so the Mormon crowd might object since it's FHE and all. Hopefully we'll figure something out.

Oh I almost forgot, our nanny is gone glory halleujah (sic?) she is gone. She flew out of our lives this morning, thank goodness. I have never been so happy to see someone go. She had soooo worn out her welcome. She has a lot of growing up to do and she made good money with us. Like close to 10K in all. So I am outtie laters.

2006-02-12T00:38:00.000-05:00

I was just reading a news article about making your own website. The journalist used blogger.com and iweb from Apple as good examples for that. So I thought that I might write a post since I was coming over here anyway.

So what's been going since the last post? Well Dohnnie is over in Russia playing tennis against Russia's weekend warriors and our nanny is leaving soon (thank goodness).

We are really trying to stay on a budget that will cut our costs. Getting rid of Tina will really help that.

I played in a tennis tournament at the end of January and I really hurt my knee. It swelled up and I could hardly even bend it for days. It is just now starting to get back to normal. I think I'll play the next Lake Cain tournament in Orlando at the end of the month so we'll see how I do. I am thinking about playing 3.0 since the USTA ranked me down since my record last year at 3.5 was so crappy. Hey I would probably get better results. The guy who beat me last won the tournament too. He was Polish and couldn't tell me in English what the score was. Very frustrating.

Two days after my loss in the tennis tourney I had my call back interview for that reality show I am auditioning for. It went okay. I was nervous and they taped it as they asked me questions. I'll know something by the end of February but I am not convinced at all that I'll make it.

At this same time I got on Nutrisystem. I was skeptical at first, but I have already lost 10 lbs in 10 days. I am eating 1500 to 2000 cal a day now and it seems to be coming off. And since my knee has been bothering me I have only exercised twice in that time. Once I hit the exercising harder the weight should start melting off!!!

I feel a lot more positive now since I am eating better. I totally went a through a fat or junk withdrawal when I started eating better. I don't stuff myself and I don't feel guilty at all for eating.

Summer and I took the kids to see Curious George tonight. That is one cute, wholesome, little movie. Not real fancy animation; it stays true to the books that I read as a child. I got very emotional and teary eyed when Ted with the Big Yellow Hat had his personal adventures with George. I remembered my mom reading those stories to me as a child and I missed her so much! My mom died of a Heart Attack when I was 15. I miss her so much. George reminded me of my kids too how innocent and good hearted they are. It's too bad she never got to play with them. I guess we all have to wait until we're up there with her.

I really enjoyed watching the Davis Cup Tie US vs Romania yesterday as well. Andy Roddick showed some real heart throwing up and battling cramps to almost pull off the five set victory. He had Pavel in the third set tiebreak but a good lob deflated him.

Anyways thats about all I spose for now......

2006-01-13T01:07:00.000-05:00

You know I have to admit, that picture on my profile is at least three years old. It definitely does not reflect me since I moved down here. That will be two years in May.

We have 14 houses now. Several under contract so we are pleased. Things are cooking. I am also auditioning for a very prominent Reality Show on one of the 4 major networks. I won't say which one but I have gotten a call back and meet the producers soon so I am excited. I never thought I would try out for a TV show.

I just saw Kobe Bryant hit a fade away over LeBron James to put the Lakers up 2 with 8 seconds left in the game. I hate Kobe but he's money down the stretch in big games.

We had a good Christmas this year. Sam really understood what Santa Claus was about and the concept of opening presents on Christmas morning and making a mess. We spent the day with Dohnnie and his Russian ex-wife's family. It was actually very nice and relaxing not stressful or controversial at all.

I have been very hesitant to write anything here because of what Summer might say or disapprove of...So any relationship stuff with her is obviously off limits and I was wrong to cross that line. A line that I crossed in a stupid blind love affair with honesty at 4 o'clock in the morning when I wrote the post that she questioned. Anyways, whats done is done and now I have the new rules.

Our nanny is leaving us at the end of February. That sucks but she wants to go back to Idaho. I think we were a schock to her system of how righteous, church going Mormons could be so different then her family. She is good with the kids and NEVER gets mad about anything. I swear I could punch her in the face and she would smile and say thank you afterward.

I left a comment on blog of a girl in Provo that I thought was an old girlfriend in high school. Well of course its not the same girl. So she probably thinks I am stalking now or something. Well I"M NOT!! Eh who knows.

Got to make an offer on a house in Deltona tomorrow. it might be a hot one. They look motivated and their mortgage company won't help them. The bank probably just wants the house.Well we'll see about that!

Laters

2005-11-24T22:18:00.000-05:00

Its been awhile again....It's Thanksgiving day. I attempted to fry our Turkey this year. We bought a fryer and the requisite peanut oil. Everything seemed to be working great until I put the bird in the oil and discovered that I didn't have enough to immerse it completely. So off I go to Wal-Mart to buy more. Of course they're sold out. So I had Summer take the bird out of the oil. Of course we both forgot to turn the heat down. So when I came back with a bunch of Canola Oil, the oil in the pot was about to spontaneously combust after reaching 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

So I poured the new oil in and that cooled it down along with me turning the heat down. Then I put the bird back in and fried it for about 20 minutes and the whole was done and it looked black on the outside making me think it was burnt. Of course, it wasn't; it was a very tender, juicy turkey, but it looked back on the outside.

Next time I'll do the fry thing a lot better. But isn't that like everything in life? So that's all.

2005-10-30T22:53:00.000-05:00

So have any of you ever had a problem with Dell Laptops with the screen going off for no reason? Well I have and now I can't use my laptop at all. It needs a new motherboard and I'll lose all my memory good thing I backed most of it up while I was researching this problem. So I have four houses this month. I got two in one deal on Thursday. They are short sales but hey I'll take them.

It was a crazy thing, this lady used her credit to buy two houses for a friend of hers and now they are both in foreclosure.

Tomorrow I'll call a prison in Daytona Beach to see if I can talk to an inmate who has a house in foreclosure. That is pretty cool. He's in for two counts of Cocaine and one count of Marijuana. He also got a really big settlement from GMC from a defective part in Camaros in the early 80s. I found all this out by searching the public record.

I haven't been to church in quite a few weeks. I told the Bishopric that I need to be released because I can't be there consistently. In fact I have been to the Temple more recently then to church. Anyway I gotta put the kids to bed they crashed in our bedroom. Laters.

2005-10-18T22:29:00.000-04:00

I took two Ambien an hour ago and I might be writing this under the influence of sleep enhancers. I had to go through and change all my email contacts to get them to send to my new right email. Try this site for acheat sheet about to get around automated systems.

Still deciding on whether I want to kill off this blog or maybe rename it or start a new one. I'll let you know.

Cardinals won last night, Pujols hit a bomb in the ninth with two outs and two on base. I went nuts jumping on the bed.

Another hurricane is coming. Wilma looks like she'll come for South Florida early next week hopefully it'll miss us. We're prepared though we have wood and water and a generator in case something goes wrong. So we'll see. That's all.

2005-10-16T21:48:00.000-04:00

I turned on word verification to prevent all the comment spam. I have been getting a lot of that lately. Its funny how they try and build you up and then hit you with a solicitation for music on interest free credit or something stupid like that.

I played my match tonight and I won 6-1 and 6-2. It took a while and the guy was late because he got lost. I don't think I am going to schedule anymore matches on Sunday. I don't think its right. I'll work on Sunday because our "ox" is in the mire so to speak but playing tennis I think is too much.

I am thinking about deleting this blog anyway and keeping a journal on my computer only not available on the internet. Needless to say some people read this and were hurt by the content so I don't know if it is worth it anymore. I am going to think about it, however. Anyway, I am out.

2005-10-15T23:31:00.000-04:00

I got a house again. It is a 3/2 in Titusville we'll get it for 85K and hopefully sell it for 120 to 130K. Oh and by the way, Summer says that I have a party in my pants and you are NOT invited.

Funny the things that get said across the marriage bed.....

I have gotten three houses in the past month. So not bad really. I have really been knocking and working hard.

Tomorrow I start the Orlando Flex League which is the singles league that I have been anxiously awaiting. I haven't played tennis in awhile so it should be fun. There is a tournament coming up on the 22nd in Orlando so I might play in it. Anyway that's all for now.

2005-10-11T22:58:00.000-04:00

So here we are...Dohn met with a tennis buddy and he is starting a new business down in SW Florida providing investment opportunities for pre-construction down there. It sounds pretty good, but we don't have enough credit history to get going on it yet. There are too many conditions for us to qualify so it won't work. Its too bad could have been a great opportunity. Maybe we'll try in May of 2006 once it has been two years of self-employment.

I have been really knocking down the doors. I didn't get the trailer that I was looking at because the guy called a "Stop Foreclosure" sign and he offered him 1K plus money to get into a house. It wasn't even that great of a deal in the first place. Oh well, I have a couple other of possibles in Titusville and Deland. So we'll see.

I have been doing a lot of Genealogy lately. We are going to the Temple on Friday and we'll do some more work. I want to go as far as I can with it. It'll be neat.

My Singles Tennis League starts this week. I have a match this week sometime. Should be fun....

2005-10-07T00:57:00.000-04:00

So my brother is back.... He seemed somewhat civil on the phone today. Maybe he doesn't hate me after all. I knocked on ten doors today in Orange County. I also got laser treatment for my tatoo to have it removed. The laser feels almost identical to what it felt like to get the tatoo done in the first place. But this procedure will cost 20 times more to remove then to install. Talk about a stupid tax.

Summer was in a car accident last year. Nobody was hurt but she was found at fault and we didn't have enough insurance so we are dealing with a law firm in North Florida that is threatening to sue. They want us to sign a stipulation that basically says they can enter a final judgment if we fall behind.... Crazy. I think we will probably sign but I want all the "t's" and "i's" crossed and dotted.

On the radio today they were talking about myspace.com with MSN and all that. I have a space but I really prefer this blog right here. It serves as a journal for me.

I am getting back into the swing of working. I have knocked every day this week. I didn't skip hardly any doors and no movies.

Tomorrow I go talk to a women in Cocoa who is renting a house that we just bought. We are going to try and convince her to move. But we'll see. She is on month to month lease so we'll give her thirty day notice if she refuses then we'll evict her. But it could make it really hard to sell the house. And I need this house to sell to pay Dohnnie back.

I wish I could get up the gumption to eat better and exercise. Now that I am focusing on knocking and working, it is really hard ot even think about working out. The tennis singles league starts next week so maybe that will help with motivation. I am just so tired when I get home. I drive between 200 to 350 miles a day sometimes. It tires you out in a different way then real hard manual labor. It is more emotional and in your head.

Summer had a baby shower tonight and Tina went to Institue so the boys and I watched the Braves and Astros NLDS. It was fun, Sam and Jake really enjoyed it. It was fun to spend some quality time.

The Cardinals won today also, they are up 2-0 just need one more win to advance. They look good but their relief pitching seems shaky to me. Anyway thats it. Laters.

2005-10-04T22:29:00.000-04:00

So its a been a little while since I wrote. We had a closing and I was supposed to get half the net profit. Well my brother who is the boss was out of town so I told the Real Estate Attorney to send it all to me. So know I owe my brother like 15k.

I almost got separated over it. And obviously, my brother doesn't trust me anymore. I had to practically beg just to not get kicked out of my own house. So I have been knocking a lot these past couple of weeks as a result. I am getting back into the swing of things for sure.

We replaced the water heater on our own in our house. That was fun. Summer is tiling a shower in our master bath and laying a tile floor. It is going slowly but she is doing a good job.

We transferred the internet over to Cable and it is so much faster!!! We are also getting Vonage for our business phone which will save us a hundred bucks a month.

Sammy is getting potty trained again very well.

I have decided to take the LSATs in December and see how I do. I want to apply to Law Schools to start next fall. But the trick will be getting something in Orlando. Otherwise we would have to move and I don't want to do that yet.

Ironically, Summer and I have been going to the Temple a lot and it has helped me get an idea of what I really want to do with my life and where I need to improve myself and really make decisions that deal with the real world and not the world inside of my head.

So anyway that is all for now.

2005-09-13T17:14:00.000-04:00

My record in NTRP 3.5 Men's Singles this year is 2-9. I have played eleven matches. My matches will go up when the Fall Flexible Singles League starts. It should be fun.

2005-09-13T17:06:00.000-04:00

I was checking my results in my matches this year not very good.

2005-08-24T23:03:00.000-04:00

So I think that I will go on a bike ride tomorrow. I have 45 days to get in some sort of shape to do the Health First Triathlon in October. I have the routes all figured out. Tomorrow I am going to do the bike route and see how it goes. It is around 24 miles or so. The farthest I have ever gone is 33 miles in Rolla once. Also I have never swam in open water before. So that should be interesting. We'll see if I even do it.

So Tropical Storm Katrina is screwing up my house purchasing plans. No Insurance companies will bind coverages while there is a storm on the loose so hopefully things will go smoothly before we close next week. So whatever. There are so many different things that could go wrong with all this. Anyway my battery is going dead so I am out.

2005-08-21T23:48:00.000-04:00

My brother is thinking about buying a piece of property in Nicaragua. Yeah thats right Nicaragua. Not bad really. I looked it up on the net and it actually sounds pretty neat.

I wanted to also write some things down about how I lie to my wife so much. I am so afraid to tell her some things sometimes. Here are some examples.

1. I go to movies by myself and tell my wife that I am working.
2. I go to Fast Food joints and don't tell my wife that I ate there.
3. I make purchases on the internet or at stores and don't tell my wife about them until she finds them or sees coming in from the UPS truck.
4. I don't tell her about the amount of porn that I have looked at on the internet.
5. I don't tell her about all the times that I masturbate.

I am getting lightheaded just reading this as I write. Crazy.

We watched the Series Finale of Six Feet Under tonight on HBO. It was really good...When Claire was leaving to New York, and it showed them all dying at certain ages I really got emotional. I realized how much I love Summer. I don't show her that enough. I definitely take that for granted.

My brother is headed to Moscow for two to three months. He already has dates set up with Russian girls he has met on the net. I hope he doesn't get mugged or worse over there. He also is going to play on some big money tournaments too. I wish I was in better shape to go and play with him. But alas I weigh 334 lbs and although I am losing weight, I have a long way to go.

I won my first tennis match over the weekend. I won in three sets 10-7 in the third set superset tiebreak. I made two great backhand volleys on match point to win it. It felt so good. He was the #2 seed too so that was nice.

I might get two more houses in Jacksonville now. We'll see I have to do Title Searches on them. Its too bad our Real Estate Attorney's father died last week. He is really out of it and I hope he'll be able to grieve and all that stuff.

I am afraid to post this because what if Summer reads it? Its like that video "Dirty Little Secret" from the All-American Rejects.

I get to use my brother's Lobster Elite ball machine while he is gone so that will be great. I have lost 20 lbs in eight months. What does that come out to in ounces? I just figured it out and it means about 2.5 lbs a month. So at that rate I'll lose the rest of this weight by the time I am like 30. Wow.

Watching Six Feet Under makes me think about my own mortality. I don't want to die. I feel like maybe something is going to happen and that perhaps I haven't done all that I could. I wonder if I had gotten married to Summer when I did if I would have gained all this weight. I don't know. I love my kids but I don't think I was ready for kids.

I guess I am done.

2005-06-28T00:20:00.000-04:00

It's late and I am bored. Lets see if I can update you guys on the news goings on of my life. This month I have four houses all in Jacksonville.

My two houses in Volusia county are closing this week...(thank goodness!)

I am playing a lot of tennis, trying to lose all the weight that I have gained since we moved down to Florida.

I am the Sunday School teacher for 12/13 year olds in my Ward.

And that is about it.

2005-06-12T22:58:00.000-04:00

Buenos Noches Muchachos!!!

I am finishing my Spanish Lesson right now. Visions of Osceola County dancing in my head. That place is all pretty much Hispanic. I need to be able to speak some Spanish to be able to get more deals. So I am excited about that.

Taught my first lesson today in Sunday School. Like four girls and one guy one Samoan guy. They were okay. They talked a lot. They are 12 and 13 year old girls so it doesn't surprise me that they talk so much. I taught about courage to and how faith gives us courage. I hope that they got somewhat of what I was teaching them. Anyway I went to the whole block of meetings for the first time in a long time.

We got our Temple Recommend interviews done. Now we just need our Stake President to approve them. As soon as that happens we will get Dennis' mother's work done. I'll be the proxy for his Dad probably since Dennis can't do that.

I think I am going to start knocking on doors again. I kind of feel rejuvenated a little bit. I am losing weight, learning a new language, got a calling in church, feels good. Kids actually did alright during the actual sacrament portion of sacrament. So that was nice. So that's all for Adios Senor!!!!

2005-06-12T00:44:00.000-04:00

So I had my first Spanish Lesson today. I did my thirty minutes. Spanish is a whole heck of a lot easier then Russian, that is for sure. I learned about ten to fifteen phrases and words. They do a lot of repeating, everything is vocal nothing written down.

So Arlene went through without much going on down here at least. Summer's parents came down today and they had a good time. Summer and her mother sewed and Dennis and I played the X-Box. I bought Ghost Recon special for the day. It was fun. We all got into it.

Dennis also brought a couple of little bikes for the kids and we put training wheels on them so they'll be all set for when they want to ride bikes. The bikes are still a little big for them yet but they liked it. Poor Dennis he clearly has asthma but he won't take anything for besides Oregano? I don't know about that one.

I got my Manual for Sunday School. I teach about Joseph F. Smith one of the Church's prophets tomorrow. The old teacher gave me the manual he told me to bring treats.

There was a Foreclosure right down the street from where we live. Of course they say its all a big mistake. Yeah right. At least I would know what that house would go for.

I watched Collateral on HBO as I did my Spanish Lesson. Pretty good movie itself. Starting to feel better about the future. For some reason Dennis gives me confidence. Maybe it's cuz I know that I can do a whole lot better then he can at this. That's terrible I know but it's the truth I suppose.

I watched the Grass courts Stella Artois Tourney today on Tennis Channel. I love watching Grass court tennis. It's really fun playing that way too. A big serve and aggressiveness can win for you.

I am playing in a tournament in the middle of June in Orlando. Should be fun to unveil the new backhand then.

Anyway that is about it. I spose. Gotta go to bed.

2005-06-10T23:34:00.000-04:00

We took the day off today. We slept in till 11 am and then went to see Mr and Mrs Smith. Tell you what poor Jennifer Aniston never had a chance with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. She is super hot. Good movie very funny and full of metaphors with the premise of husband and wife trying to kill each other.

Later we went to work out. Did about an hours worth of running, lifting, stretching and good stuff. My back has been hurting me since I started hitting my new backhand. It is not used to these movements so I need to get the muscle in shape back there. I worked on that at the gym.

I also got my Spanish CDs and my new Blackberry 7250!!! Already activated it is the BOMB.

I got a new calling the in the ward. I am the Sunday School Teacher for the 12 and 13 year old kids. Tomorrow is Saturday and I don't have the manual or any info at all. I got to call the Sunday School President tomorrow for sure and see what's going on.

Nothing else really to report. Tropical Storm Arlene might be a hurricane by the time it reaches the Panhandle. Dohnnie is in Sanibel and they should be getting hammered I imagine. Thats it, laters.

2005-06-09T23:03:00.000-04:00

Tropical Storm Arlene

So there is another storm headed in our general way. Dohnnie is down at Sanibel right now with his ex-wife and kiddies. It's gonna pass our way this weekend but should only be some wind and rain not Hurricane force weather.

So here we go again. Last year we ran for the hills once and then we stayed put for the rest. No real damage but it was pretty stressful.

Summer found a bunch of pictures that were taken right after we were married. It was hilarious to see how skinny we were! There was even a quite provacative pic that I took of Summer. I am suprised the photo center even developed the picture. It was neat though. Gives me some motivation to continue to lose weight.

I might have a deal tonight. I talked with the couple tonight and will know by Saturday. So we'll see.

2005-06-08T23:20:00.000-04:00

So I added the Google Adsense thingies last night. I guess it looks alright. Really I'm just glad that I got it to work!

I signed a contract on the house today. Big One. Over 100K in equity. Too bad a child support/alimony judgment is tacked on to the house for 50K. Thats the risk you take in this business. Oh well.

I played tennis with Dohnnie this morning for over an hour. My backhand is really getting better. I am starting to hit it more up with more topspin which is neat. I have always wanted a one hander and now I am getting close.

I was really doing well with my Atkins until I got hungry this afternoon and pigged out on some cookies that were hiding in the cabinet.

We went to see Longest Yard tonight. Pretty funny. Not nearly as good as the first but hard to compare an Adam Sandler movie to a classic film. Burt Reynolds must need the money to be in this thing. Summer enjoyed and I chuckled too at times. Not a complete waste.

We are getting some response from our mailings. We got an eviction call today a six unit Condo in Miami. Over 1500K cash flow. 3o0K mortgage. We'll see what she wants. Hispanic couple. Did I mention I am going to teach myself Spanish?

I used my new racket this morning and it rocks!!! Serena eat your heart out cuz the Hyper Hammer 6.3 was made for me!!! I also ordered the newer Verizon Blackberry 7250 today as a Father's Day present which is awesome. I need it cuz the Remanufactured 7750 that I got from RIM is on the fritz... it only works when it wants to. Friday it shall be mine.

Tomorrow I make my offer with a Family in Palm Bay. First one in a while. Lot of competition. But I feel that I have made a rapport with this guy. So we'll see. I'm out.

2005-06-08T03:03:00.000-04:00

So we're trying to get this deal done. The previous owner is in Puerto Rico. We are trying to work out a discount for her so we can get the house at a discount and then sell it wholesale and make a bunch. It has two mortgages, one for 205K and one for 45K. It is in Foreclosure. So we just about have the deal done. The first mortgage is ready to take 167K for the first. But the second is complaining because the first mortgage wants something in writing from the second that they will release the lien which means that the second will get nothing. Sound confusing? Well it is, that is my business. The funny thing is that I see this everyday. Plus they all want to talk to the previous owner who is in Puerto Rico in Goodness knows where. Hopefully tomorrow we'll know more. The sale date is the end of this month. So we have to move quickly.

Erin left today. We had a good visit. Summer finished her quilt in like TWO days a herculean effort to say the least.

I am trying to learn a onehanded backhand in tennis finally. Dohnnie is helping me with it. I have been hitting with him a lot lately. It's funny he hasn't seen our house yet. We've been over to his house a number of times and he hasn't been to ours yet. Whatever.

I am playing a tournament in the middle of this month in Orlando so that should be exciting.

So anyways I heard on XM Radio today that there are over 10 million blogs on the internet. That is a wild number. That is like the number of people in Moscow, Russia for goodness' sake.

I'm outtie.

2005-06-05T00:24:00.000-04:00

You know this is two days now that I have written in my blog. Good thing Blogger doesn't make you keep logging in over a period of time like hotmail does or I would have lost this account. The internet really is amazing these days. So many people use these for ranting and raving. Also most use this for income amazingly enough. Just click on "next blog" to see the all the ads out there.

We went to Universal Orlando today. It was really fun. But of course I have to mention that we went during "Gay Days" in Orlando, which is a crazy get together for the "alternative lifestylers" out there. It was hilarious. They all wore red in the park so you could see all of them loud and clear. Pretty big statement. Thank goodness Sam and Jacob aren't old enough to figure out that two men holding hands is not "normal" whatever that is. Anyway, I digress....

We went on the "Hulk", Poseidon's Fury (dumb show), Dueling Dragons and Spiderman. Also Cat in the Hat for the kids. It rained a lot early on so we were drenched. But the rain ceased after awhile and all was well. The kids had fun...we got them "thing 1 and thing 2" shirts and hats which is so appropriate if you knew my two little boys.

Yesterday, I bench pressed 225 8 times. I haven't gotten that much weight up in 5 years!!! At my prime at Snow college I did 225 13 times. Not bad seeing I have only been lifting again since February. The Core Performance program is really helping, when you are stretched you just feel better.

I am going to start to learn Spanish soon. I sent away for a language course with Audio CDs. It would really help me with my business especially in Osceola county. Just in general in Florida, there are so many Spanish Speakers. Lotta of Puerto ricans.

I went on two crazy rollercoasters today and I am proud of myself. Usually I would talk myself out of it and regret it but I seized the moment and enjoyed myself. That really is a good thing.

Yesterday Erin asked me who I was. You know I didn't have an answer for her. In a previous conversation I couldn't come up with an answer either. I don't really know. I know what I do and I know what I like or dislike, but not who I am. Something to work on there. It's late I'm out.

2005-04-03T23:46:00.000-04:00

Its been awhile. We bought a house! Sam is potty trained now. Thank goodness. My brother is officially divorced...and my sister thinks my father is going to die soon. Well thats about it.

2005-01-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

So I am 26 now. Sammy is 3 now. I am signed up for Team in Training. I am gonna run in the Memphis in May Triathlon on May 22nd. To do that I have to raise $3900.00 to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which in turns goes to fight blood cancers. I think its neat. I get to train, and hopefully lose weight and support a good cause. If you would like to donate go to this website www.active.com/donations/fundraise_public.cfm?key=bigtriman and donate!!!

We're doing great besides that. We are getting very stable and we are trying to qualify for a mortgage to buy a house soon. So we'll see what happens. Anyway laters

2005-01-02T01:11:00.000-05:00

Zoey and the boys in Osage Beach, MO

2005-01-02T01:10:00.000-05:00

Isn't she cute?

2005-01-02T00:59:00.000-05:00

Its a new year, and I thought that I needed to blog a little bit. Tomorrow is Sunday and after that is Monday. Summer and I are going to be hitting it hard then. We are going to try and get 5 each in January. We want to get 50 houses closed this year. If they all net us 10k each, then we will make 50ok. Not too bad. We want to eliminate all of our debt this year. So 2006 will be gravy.

On a personal note I want to get back in shape to the point where I am happy about the way I look. I saw myself in a mirror at the Airport on our way back from Christmas and was shocked at my large mound of rebound self. I have never been this big, and it is starting to get to me.

We have 3-5 closings set for January already.

We also got a puppy up in Missouri. She is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi which we name Zoey. The kids love her even though they get too excited and scare her under the bed. She looking over my shoulder right now while I blog. I'll load a pic of her in a second.

Overall I am very happy about the way the year ended. We did really good. I have some really good equity deals that allowed us to travel and see what we wanted to see. Maybe this year we go to Europe. That would awesome. But we are gonna pay some debt off first. Laters.

2004-12-05T04:14:00.000-05:00

Boy its been awhile. I suppose that I have been too busy to worry about this blog. But to update you all we have had two closings so far and have made more money already then I ever made before. We have three more set to close before Christmas. I am hardly exercising anymore and have gained back everything I put on after I got married. And I don't really have the desire to get back in shape. I am thinking about a personal trainer or something.

We went to Seattle for Thanksgiving and it was great. Neat city. We saw the space needle, Pike's Market, the Aquarium, and did some good shopping. The kids kinda freaked out on the plane rides. We had delays there and back in Atlanta. I hate that airport. Never again.

For Christmas we are going to Captiva Island, then to Missouri. We'll spend New Years Eve here in Florida. We are excited but not for the Snow in Missouri. Don't miss that at all. So that about covers it. Laters.

2004-11-04T23:00:00.000-05:00

Wow its been a while since the last post. I am sitting here using my father-in-law's new computer which has wireless on it. He even bought a wireless router to install so we could set it up while he stays with us.

A lot has happened since the last post. We got 8 houses last month. I have two closings this month that are really gonna be great. They are historic in that they are the first real closings since we moved down here. Which has been around six months. I mean we have made very good money but its been from advances on houses, and rehabs of my brother's houses. This is my first "real" money.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief on Wednesday when I woke up to see that President Bush had won. Its really refreshing to see that almost 59 million voters in the US feel the same way I do. But on the other hand, 55 some odd million feel differently. But hey thats free agency for ya.

Its neat that my wife Summer is really taking an interest in the business. She really has helped me so much with her support and help. I couldn't do any of this without her. She is awesome.
She even got house this month! A nice little 3/2 in Lakeland.

So thats everything. Laters.

2004-10-17T01:18:00.000-04:00

Holy Cow its been a long time since I posted on this blog. Well its been for good reason. And that is simply that I have been working my rather large butt off. I have seven houses in the pipeline that have combined equity of around 100K. Yes thats right 100k. Gotta love it. So after I got back on track with the Depression, I am have been getting houses.

Of course I haven't worked out one day since then but we have gotten ourselves into a comfortable status. Dennis is down and training and beating the pavement trying to get a house for himself. Summer and him do a lot together. They knock and work together.

All the hurricanes are gone hopefully. Dad is getting surgery on his prostrate on Monday. And Jacob fell out of a shopping cart today and split open his eyebrow today at Ross Dress for Less. It was totally my fault. I had him standing in the cart cuz he was whining and he leaned too far forward and he fell out and flipped and cut his forehead on the cart. It freaked me out.

Another thing that is freaking me out is that I have gained all of my weight back and more. I am guessing like 360 or so. I am back in size 46 or 48 waist right now. I am starting to get motivated to work out again. I have to mentally process it for awhile before I can force myself to do it.

Summer got her security clearance approved from the State Department a couple of weeks ago. So now just mine is left. Interesting to see what is offered to us for that job.

Its 10:3o here on the east coast right now and the Yanks and Red Sox are only in the fourth after like two and half hours of play. So that should catch me up. Oh and my sister has the Shingles. Whatever those are. Laters.

2004-09-29T00:12:00.000-04:00

Its been a few days since my last post. I got bored tonight and looked up the race photos of the triathlon that I ran in May before we moved down here. Man how embarrassing to see my in my skivies run out of the pool? Somehow I thought I was skinnier.

Lots of things have been happening lately. Not to mention Hurricane Jeanne. I am sooo tired of Hurricanes. I mean we move down here and then like four hit the state? That hasn't happened in forty years but yet as soon as we get here it all happens. Whatever.

None of my clothes fit anymore. Not good. But I grow strong in the face of adversity. Yeah right. Laters.

2004-09-19T03:23:00.000-04:00

So I got a house yesterday. I drove past (as I often do cuz I can never find them on the first try) and saw that they were moving out. So I went and talked to them. I got the Deed signed right in their drive way. Amazing how I talked to this people for five minutes and they gave me the deed to their house and the keys. And they left for Michigan. It was great cause she had everything for the process ready to go even the Hardship letter.

I have hit forty five house this week. Tomorrow it will be close to sixty. That's a little bit under 10 a day. One of out sixty. Not bad really.

I'm watching the cougs get pummeled by USC. Norm Chow's revenge. Bet he is loving it and his little deuschbag of a son Cameron. You see Chow's kids went to Timpview High School in Provo and I went to Provo High. I played QB for Provo my senior year and FB my junior year. I hated Timpview people.

I feel so much better about myself and my future. I have a better peace of mind. Amazing what a little serotonin replenishment will do for ya.

I wanna put a pic of Sammy on the site. He is potty training and he was throwing up tonight and was a pretty sick little boy, the poor little guy. I'll see if I can get that Hello thing working again.

I am working again with a good work ethic but I am having a hard time finding time to workout to try and get back into shape. Its just not there. I am gonna have to try harder I suppose. We're getting three grand in the next few days hopefully so that'll be nice.

2004-09-19T00:26:00.000-04:00

Ummm sno cone!!!

2004-09-19T00:25:00.000-04:00

Is it a hat?

2004-09-16T02:11:00.000-04:00

Oh man I just wrote this good post and lost it for some reason heres the brief recap.

-- I can't get the Google AdSense thingys to work. Anyone help me?
-- Dad won 4000$ in the lottery a few days ago.
-- My sister Erin bugs sometime with her comments regarding my family.
-- I got a new prescription for Prozac. (Happy days are here again:) )

And thats it for now.

2004-09-13T01:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was September 11th, and I don't think I mentioned one thing about the Events that changed everyone's life three short years ago. I was working at Wal-Mart Distribution Center in St. James Missouri. It was the grand opening of the center. St. James is in the middle of Missouri's wine country so they had wine/grape juice bottles made up with the date on them. I wished I had kept them. But the juice was way too good. Summer and I left work early to go home. We didn't know what was going on. We just watched TV all day. Summer started crying after about two hours and couldn't watch anymore. She was about four months pregnant with Sammy at the time.

We had a pow-wow with Dohnnie today about doing some more rehabs for him. Something like six houses with a good profit spread on all of them. So that will be cool. We need the money. And he gave the cash that was due to me for Summer's previous work and the last deed I got. Most importantly, he said he would pay for a Doctor's Appointment to get back on Prozac. Thank goodness I am calling docs tomorrow first thing.

Summer and I have discovered Six Feet Under on HBO. What an awesome unique show. I have heard people say that it is better then the S0pranos this season. I have to agree with them on this one. We watched all of the past episodes ON DEMAND and then watched the Season Finale. We were glued to our seat when we found out that Nate's brother in-law killed Lisa. Unbelieveable and then he blows his head off in front of Nate and Barb!!! Good stuff. I guess its really a soap opera in a Funeral home but we like..... alot.

I am starting to feel more positive about all of this. My life, career, the future. I think we can succeed if I give myself the tools and just get out and do it. Enough for now.

2004-09-12T01:26:00.000-04:00

So here I am. My Grandma died last night. Supposedly it was a peaceful death. Good for her. She is in a different place probably catching up with Mom after ten years. I am not going to be able to go to the funeral due to the third Hurricane and money or lack thereof.

So many things are going on right now. We just got back from being refugees from Frances. We went to Nashville to stay with my sister Erin. And she was great except we had our usual confronatation. Summer and her just rub each other the wrong way probably because they are so similar.

We have no money right now. I have three houses right now but they may be running out of time. One looks really good.

We are meeting Dohnnie to set some boundaries and talk about the future. He is gonna need us for a few more Rehabs notably Summer.

I am horribly depressed. No really it took me a lot of energy just to write this. Tomorrow we just have testimony meeting because of no power in the chapel.

Summer got her first check from FBAH today. She made 142.41. not bad really. Can't wait to buy a yacht with that bad boy. Sam is potty training and we are picking up poop all over the house. I'll post some pics maybe.

I made a plan for Happiness tonight. I put it on my wall so I can see it everyday and hopefully it will motivate me to act. At this point I don't want to do anything. I am in a deep dark depression.

Been thinking about getting a different job to pay the bills and eat. We'll see I suppose.

2004-09-01T00:11:00.000-04:00

I am gonna transcribe my notes from the Workshop I just went to in Santa Rosa, CA. I haven't done it yet but there will be more to come. Laters.

2004-08-15T23:46:00.000-04:00

So today is Sunday. At least for 15 more minutes. I am lying on my bed typing this post as my wonderful wife sleeps next to me. Gotta love laptops. Church was uneventful except for Priesthood being dismissed early to help the Hurricane victims in Orlando. I don't think many people went however. Most of the men were waiting for their wives and kids to get out of their meetings trading war stories about previous storms. For me I didn't have any being a new found Floridian.

Summer and I applied for a car loan. And to our suprise were accepted. It was one of those be careful what you wish for kind of situations. So I have spent most of the day researching cars (minivans) online. For instance do you know that Only Durangos and Expeditions and a few Explorers have third row seating? That is a big feature for us with the kiddies and all. But I have a sneaking suspicion we will be purchasing some sort of minivan in the near future. But we keep telling ourselves that we won't do the loan if the interest is too high or its generally an impulse buy. Because we will be giving ourselves a lot of debt. And we have student loans coming right down the corner. So we got that going for us which is nice.

I finally found the statcounter today on my site. It is way down at the very bottom. Too bad it counts when I open the page...That way I could really tell how many people have read it. Probably not that many. I saw it spike after I read some websites and commented. Nobody left any comments though for me. I must be pretty dull or something.

Summer and I lamenting today about having kiddies so early in our lives. I mean we are only 25 and 23 for crap sakes. And we have two toddlers. Tonight at Dinner they practically drove us insane. Sam kept screaming in the high pitch voice that can break glass. We had to take them both out of the restaurant at one point to calm them down. And yes I do realize today is Sunday for you Mormon readers...(like there are any).

The Dream Team is playing like they are in a dream in Athens. I think that International competition has improved its talent pool and the NBAers are like third string all-star team. So it doesn't surprise me that the USA is losing. But not by twenty points. Yes they did come back and make it somewhat of a challenge for the fourth quarter, but come on you gotta get up for the Olympics? Please. They already have too much money what do they care.

I have created a battle plan and schedule for the next few weeks. Tomorrow I am going to see about getting Dad a car that Dohnnie can buy for him. I already have a line on a couple. With any luck Dad will be driving by tomorrow night. Looks like they are holed up in that hotel until late next week. Sucks to be them.

Also I am catching up on my workouts. This week I have the 10-8-6 week. And I am going to do an hour a day of swim, bike, run. I get my bike on Tuesday!!! Laters.

2004-08-15T00:58:00.000-04:00

So Florida just went through a huge hurricane named Charley. How do they come up with these names anyway? I actually know they represent letters of the alphabet like Bonnie, Charley, Donna and Earl. Earl is off of Barbados and might Charley's footsteps.

Where we are just got the outer bands of the storm. Just winds around 35 mph and light rain. Very disappointing. I mean don't get me wrong, I feel lucky that my family was spared. Orlando got smashed. My father and brother are now in hotel outside of my city because they will not have power for a week.

My sister was planning on going to a little resort on Captiva Island near Sanibel, Florida for her tenth year anniversary. Of course, Captiva got the eye wall and was completely flattened with 145 mph winds. So she is probably sol.

On other notes, I am really down these past few days. The weight is really getting to me and Summer and I are arguing alot. Admittedly, most of them are my fault. I am in a bad place right now. I feel helpless. I can't lose weight and I can't get out and get deeds like I did. All this adds up to one thing....Prozac. Yep I haven't taken any meds since we got here. And I am really feeling it big time. I don't think it is a side effect or withdrawal I am just going back into my nightmare of depression that I have been fighting for most of adolescence and adult life. This past year was the best year of my life and honestly, the meds really helped. So we are going to apply for Medicaid to get some help.

2004-08-08T20:57:00.000-04:00

Went to see Collateral this morning. Very good movie. But I wonder why it was callled Collateral? Funny, this is an action psychological thriller and at one part it made me cry. I guess it made me cry because at one point in the movie, Jamie Foxx's character takes charge with his relationship and situation with Tom Cruise's character and change's his destiny with that situation. It reminded how we all have free agency. And you don't ever really know until you try. So that describes my situation really well right now. I am off the "gravy train" and it is time to produce. I have a choice. I can not do anything and see what happens or I can take control and see what happens with me making good decisions.

Erin mentioned about being a life coach. She pays one right now for a life coaching. 275 a month for three phone calls and unlimited emails. Unbelieveable that people pay for that. I think I would be a good life coach. It is just like being a teacher. Funny how things work out. I am going to check it out. Right now I am going to knock on doors after I get finished eating for sure.

2004-08-04T00:59:00.000-04:00

Been a few days but hopefully worth the wait. Yeah right. Well we get paid soon. We are going to get a substantial amount of money from Summer's rehab project. After we get that we will have already made more money then we did all last year. But are we gonna stop there? I don't think so.

Looks like Dad is getting the boot from Dohnnie' s place. They had an argument a few days ago and Dohnnie will need the place open if he gets custody of Dannie. So Dad will probably get into assisted living and then perhaps even Omaha with Chris.

I got a weird email from my niece a few days ago. Looks like she is playing on the different team if you know what I mean. She is in SLC putting on some one act plays about being bisexuality, lesbianism, homosexuality, and all that stuff...Not that there's anything wrong with that except for everything. Whatever. Who knows.

Summer and I are working out together now pretty consistently. We are planning on a beach run tomorrow. Should be pretty exciting. Then our Wednesday lift and then onto the rest of the day. I knocked on ten doors today and I have to knock on like thirty more. And I haven't checked the south counties. Hopefully I will get some Deeds here soon I need to replenish now that I don't have short sales to glom off of.

So I will be set for the workshop as soon as this money comes. That means that I will have four days in San Francisco. I am going to rent a car and enjoy it this time. Maybe see some sights. Acutally go see Alcatraz instead of just look at it from afar. Maybe go the beach on the West Coast instead of the east coast.

Summer and I have been sleeping in lately. Yes we have two toddlers and yes we do get to sleep in. It rocks. Just happened a few weeks ago. We are enjoying it. We get to stay up late and watch movies like we are dating again without having to worry about getting up early. Lets just say I like being self-employed. Anyway I am enjoying this rant. Laters.

2004-07-28T00:57:00.000-04:00

So for the first time in like years, I got to sleep in till ten o'clock. Yeah ten o'clock. Before I had kids I never got up earlier then ten. But now when kids wake up at seven all bright eyed and bushy tailed, you gotta wonder if you'll ever get any sleep. But today it all came together and man it felt good. Up until the phone call that woke me up.

I answered my cell phone and it was a guy on line asking for me. He sounded upset. Turns out he was all pissed off about me calling one of his relatives to pitch the short sale deal to him. I guess I said the word "foreclosure" in the message to the relative and it started a whole sh=t storm. He called me and was threatening to sue me and the company I use for skip tracing and all that stuff. But whatever. He has no grounds. The foreclosure is public record he can't do a thing. He just wanted to vent about his mortgage company not sending him a bill. So I called him back and told him all that and I promised not to call him if he wouldn't call me. So that was that. I got kind of worked up about it though. I was shaking after the the initial call. I guess cuz of the confrontation. I was kicking myself all day for what I should have said. I totally could have been more aggressive. But whatever.

I worked out today. I am back on track. I am trying to lift and get stronger as I have gained so much more weight in the recent months. So I am trying to change my diet and ease into the calorie burn.

I am back knocking on doors again. I have committed to knocking or calling on every foreclosure that comes through my territory. That should be well over 100 contacts. If I do that I should get five or so for August. Dohnnie already has like twelve. I don't know how he does it. Unbelievable.

So for more updates, Summer got called to be the Second Counselor in the Primary Presidency of our ward. I congratulated her on the achieving the promotion to Mormon middle management. Hey gotta love it.

I am going to a workshop http://www.lifetransitionsworkshops.com at the end of August. The first one since 1999. Its been awhile.

I had a good IM conversation with Erin tonight. We were talking about how much we miss Mom. Sasha was out in Provo putting flowers on the gravesite because he had a training in SLC. Made me miss her even more.

2004-07-19T01:54:00.000-04:00

You know its funny, I just read at http://hayna.blogspot.com about her new found obsession of Blow Out on Bravo. I have to admit that I too share the obsession. As Summer and I were packing the house up we found ourselves drawn to the marathon. Would Jonathan fail at his business? Even though he's driving a MERCEDES?!?! But you can't blame the beautiful people for being part of the drama of doing hair. One of the more stressful jobs in the world (wink, wink).

Anyways, we got everything packed for our relocation. We pick up the truck and move down the block on the morrow so we are excited. Tomorrow I am going to start back on my work out plan and quest for a better lifestyle. NOT a diet, just a life change. I have been chewing on it mentally for a few months now but I think it is time. So without much ado I bid you adieu. Laters.

2004-07-17T02:42:00.000-04:00

Ahhh, things are different now. This is the first post since the changes on the "dashboard". I suppose I'll see how it works now. So I don't know what to write. Summer is up in Jacksonville for her convention which might be a huge failure. She has sold exactly two books. Tomorrow is supposed to be a big day but I'm skeptical. You know starting your own business is such a tough task to handle. Especially with two little ones and a "darling" husband. So as you can probably expect the place is a mess right now...Cups everywhere, toys, pizza boxes, and all the like.

I lost a house today. Only one good property will be bought and sold from May. But that deal may be 40 large. So that is nice. Dohnnie said he'd give me a bonus if it went through.

I am thinking about starting to train again. I mean for real this time. I have gained so much weight from all the stress that I really believe I am a better person when I exercise 10 to 15 hours a week. But after that rationale I tend to wanna buy a really nice tri-bike on ebay and finance it!!! When that happpens I just think of Summer's voice and it all goes away.

Tomorrow I have a realtor walk-through for a house that I picked up a few weeks ago that was a mail away. These banks are getting greedy, they want money to bring the account current before they will allow you to try for a discount. So whatever. Its fine if you have the cash. But some of us don't have that necessity.

Some more good news is that Summer's mother Suzanne is gonna take over the processing for me so I can just pursue houses, full time.

But thats enough for now laters.

2004-07-13T22:27:00.000-04:00

I'm disgusted with myself. Yeah I just discovererd that I have gained all my weight back. Back when I decided to start losing weight again, Summer's grandma told me rudely, "you'll just gain it back". So here I am a year later, and I have gained it all back, and more. Right now I weigh 319 pounds. At one point before Christmas, I weighed 265. Thats fifty pounds in 6 months. Thats oh what like 8 pounds a month!!!Unbelievable. And its very simple why I gained it all back. Sedentary lifestyle and fast food. See Summer is not cooking as much anymore, we're stressed with our new life, we don't have very much money, and so we eat out...Chinese, pizza, and Mexican being our guilty pleasures. You see I am in the car a lot and worrying about money and getting more deeds and stuff. And don't you know I see MickeyDs pass by...hmmm I think I'll stop there and get myself a Double Quarter Pounder. You know I don't even enjoy it. Its tastes terrible to me. I don't seem to have any hope. You know I kid because I care but there is a sense of urgency here because I am a ticking time bomb for Heart Disease and high Cholesterol. Not good. My Mom died prematurely of Heart Disease and Dad has had two or three heart attacks. So there you go. I know what I have to do. I have already two times. Lose fifty to thirty pounds pronto. How do I do that?

1. Exercise my but off 10 to 15 hours a week.
2. Stop eating out, only eat in the house, NO FAST FOOD.
3. Cut down on fried and processed foods.

And so it goes. Last year this time, Erin was staying with us cuz we just got home with Jacob. And then I decided to dedicate myself to lose weight and run my first triathlon. Well I did that and now I am back to where I started. I remember I went out to run with Summer and I couldn't even run a mile without stopping. And now I think I am back to that point. But I did do an eighteen mile bike ride last week that wasn't too bad. But I am in the flat terrain of the Florida Peninsula. But anyway I am going to try and get back on track. Its a spiritual thing not just a physical or emotional thing. I am letting myself go because I cannot deal with the stress. And that sucks. So there you go. The veracity of that sentence really just hit me.

2004-07-12T23:19:00.000-04:00

Well we're moving again. We don't have very much money right now and we have to move because Dohnnie is selling the house. He is pissed because the payoffs came back way high. Now we know why they couldn't sell the house before. So there you go. Now we are moving into a two bed two bath that we haven't been in since before we had Jacob. But now that the kiddies are used to sleeping the same room we will stay with the current setup. Its gonna suck changing our addresses on everything again. Such a pain.

But we did get some good news. Got two approval letters for short payoffs today. One deal is gonna make Dohnnie like somewhere around 44k. That is awesome. We'll make around seven grand off of it. That closes at the end of the month. So we got that going for us which is nice.

Anyway I am out of things to post about so laters.

2004-07-12T23:05:00.000-04:00

My life is rated NC-17.
What is your life rated?

yep my life is nc-17 baby. But its "legal" cuz I be married. Awww yeah...

2004-07-08T21:52:00.000-04:00

Better day today definitely. For the first time since I moved down here I actually got done everything I needed to get done in one day. Which is pretty sweet. It really feels great to see that whole to do list marked out. Funny how a little thing like that can give such a sense of accomplishment but it does.

Brevard county has blown up the last couple of days with all the LPS. I have fifteen doors to knock on tomorrow and a full day of short sales. And that is only one county! I have like seven other counties to get to. Nuts. I finally got my picture on my profile the way I want it thanks to jenna at her blog. Props to her. Thanks Jenna!!! Another sense of accomplishment. Gotta love it.

I can't help but be positive today. We are broke but we have promise and hope which is a good thing to have along with faith. Not to get sappy but we are following our dreams and there is something to be said for that. Some people don't have the cajones to do that. But we have to keep our end of bargain. And that was to be righteous and worthy. And that for us means paying tithing. We could have paid our tithing but we didn't and now we are broke. Coincendence? I think not. Anyway I feel sleep coming on.

2004-07-07T22:26:00.000-04:00

this is the real better one.

2004-07-07T22:25:00.000-04:00

this is little bit better one

2004-07-07T21:54:00.000-04:00

You know I wonder whats going on with me sometimes. I have felt very angry and depressed today. Is that possible? Probably. I heard somewhere (on TV) that depression is just anger turned inside. Well thats me. I feel like my life right now is spinning out of control and I can't do a thing about it. Really that last statement is B.S. I am in complete control of my life and my actions but only those alone. So that means that I don't have an excuse right? You betcha.

I went on an 18 mile bike ride this morning. I rode to the Health Club and worked out then rode back. Yep pretty good. I felt wiped out all day. Took me a while to recover. I burned almost 1700 calories. Then I worked all day like from 10 till 8 tonight. Summy and I had an argument it sucked. You know we are both trying to start our businesses and we are both pretty stressed out and the kiddies are really having a hard time cuz they don't know whats going on and so on and so on. Its a vicious cycle really. So I have to bite my tongue and go apoligize and hope that she will apoligize too but there's not a darn thing I can do about it. Marriage can be the most wonderful and agonizing thing at the same time. Its all worth it of course its just these moments when you really want to just get a break. But thats for another discussion I spose.

Tomorrow is another day and I really can't wait to start over a whole new day to get this one over with.

2004-07-06T22:23:00.000-04:00

I wish I had something cool to write. But I don't really. I had kind of a bad day today I guess. Dohnnie came over since he was taking Dad to the doc. He was all giddy and happy. He even gave me a hug. After that I really put myself in a bad mood. I went to work out with Summer and the kiddies later. The one thing I did do which was cool was I changed my own tire on my bike. No more charges at bike shops to change tubes when I can now do it myself. Amazing how simple it is but its a big step.

Sam won't go to bed. He is rebelling and is now taking his clothes off to get in his diaper only. He is taking the potty training thing at his own pace. Which is fine I spose cuz we are so busy with our businesses.

Today I felt like I really bad person cuz I don't spend more quality time with my kiddies and Summy. I just felt down today. Maybe tomorrow will be better. I have gained so much weight since I left Missouri it really is a shocker. I am back up around the weight I was when I working at Wal-Mart in Rolla right after we got married. Not a good time then. But we have committed to working out together and hopefully it all will come off by the fall. We shall see.

Anyway I'm tired so callin' it a night.

2004-07-06T00:53:00.000-04:00

and my lovely wife....she'll kill me if she finds out I posted her picture on the net..

2004-07-06T00:52:00.000-04:00

this is me looking rather haggard but hey waht can you do? Not much really.

2004-07-06T00:02:00.000-04:00

You know I have found a whole lotta of cool things in the blogging world. I have found other Mormons who blog just like I do. Actually pretty cool. Its been fun to read their comments on the world and stuff.

Well Dohnnie and I had a pow wow and we have decided that we need to have Summer help me with Short Sales after all. So that means that after she gets done with this Rehab on Northern Oak that she will become my gopher or Dohnnie's gopher for the short sales. Which is a really good thing because I can't do all this by myself and still get ten deeds a month. Just not possible.

So Dad declared that he wants "his" computer so I spent all the last three hours unplugging my computer from the front room and hooking the network back up in our master bed. I can't get the Lexmark printer to install. Its an old one that didn't have a XP printer driver for it. Thats what I get for spending fifty bucks at Wal-Mart for it. Its the only color we have so we got that going for us...which is nice. (think Caddyshack)

Tomorrow I start anew with an enlarged enthusiasism for this business. I am gonna hit all these counties on the east coast tomorrow. Oh yeah baby I am pumped!!! Right. Anyway I'm outtie.

2004-07-02T00:44:00.000-04:00

We went to see the Terminal tonight and we saw Spiderman 2 last night. They're both pretty good but Spidey is better. Its nice to see movies again. We got paid too. My first big paycheck from HB Funding Inc. Very nice to be sure. Anyway laters.

2004-07-01T00:38:00.000-04:00

You know I really feel overwhelmed right about now. I am so busy trying to process all these deals that I am really just overdoing it. And I am not getting what I need done done. Does that make sense? I don't know but I do know that I need to change something.

I get the feeling that Dohnnie doesn't have that much to do but I have too much to do. And now I dont know whats going on with all this stuff.

I am really frustrated. Dohnnie's deals were all supposed to close around a week ago and he is still waiting for the first one to fund. Really frustrating. I am worried that he is not gonna cash me out of my part of Santiago. So that sucks too.

He needs to hire an Assistant or something because I cannot do all this myself. It is just too much. I feel so disorganized and out of control. Plus I feel myself slipping away physically like I did at Wal-Mart. Dad's stuff doesn't help. We're moving him Friday. Or rather I am moving him Friday.

Anyway laters.

2004-06-26T00:27:00.000-04:00

Haven't blogged in awhile. I have been reading more blogs then writing. But I have been busy. I found myself jealous of the "famous" bloggers. I wonder what they do to get noticed?

I got another house today. It is just a yes but I think I can get the deed if the wife is willing to cooperate. Dohnnie didn't get any proceeds from the closings so that means that there is no money until next week at the earliest. So that sucks. I worry about money. Big time. I wish I could worry about other superficial stuff. But right now I worry about where my kids are gonna eat. That sucks for a 25 yr old guy.

I need to start exercising again. Pretty crazy that I completed my first triathlon just a few weeks ago. Now I can barely run without getting out of breath.

Dad is moving out. Thank goodness. I really hate all the gossip that goes on in my family. It always gets back to me in one way or another. It really sucks.

Went to see Harry Potter tonight with Summy. She liked it and I thought it was okay. I would have preferred the Terminal but hey you gotta do what you gotta do. Anyway thats all for now. Laters.

2004-06-17T00:37:00.000-04:00

Today was a busy day, I got a lot done with the Short Sales and only knocked on a few doors. But we got a good vacant in Cocoa and a lead on one in Orlando maybe tomorrow.

Dennis is doing pretty good. He is good with people but he struggles with the computer stuff. But I dont know if he realizes that he doesn't need to the computer stuff to succeed at this stuff.

They might move down here, but Dohnnie is not having any part of it. Summer wants me to talk to him to see if we can work something out but who knows whether that will work or not. He wants to do it for sure. But Dohnnie is not so sure.

Dohnnie got served with papers today from Lena. Surprising really, she wasn't as dumb as she lead us to believe. Or at least her mother isn't as dumb. Whatever. She's a wench.

Summer is getting ready for FBAH to open up and she is psyched.

Not working out yet but I am planning joining the gym here first chance I get. So that'll be nice. Hopefully some of these deals will go through and get some cash flowing. I am worried that Dohnnie is gonna lose all of his money to his wonderful soon to be ex-wife. We'll see.

2004-06-13T22:50:00.000-04:00

We didn't go to church today. Erin was supposed to come early for a pow wow to deal with Dad but she didnt get her until later in the morning. We went ahead and got most of everything straight about Dad. He is going to sign the power of attorney with all of us on it. And he is going to leave all the rest of the money from his life insurance to Megan to help her with school. Kind of surprising.

He is not really there. He kept saying that we all were from Fort Worth Texas when we're not. He even said that the computer in the living room was a TV that he couldn't get to work right.

I had a mini-panic attack tonight trying to deal with the kiddies and think about what is gonna happen with Dad. I am responsible for my children but not for Dad. But not really. Strange that I have to deal with all of this. Plus we have no money to speak of. We spent over a hundred bucks just on his prescriptions alone. Come Tuesday morning we willl be overdrawn again. And we are not spending a lot of money just babysitter and food. We are not even paying rent yet. So all of these worries really bother me. Plus I am getting fat again. I haven't worked out in weeks. Really starting to get on my nerves. I almost just wanna go sign up at Health-First just so I can go and work off some this stuff. Right now I am just eating it away...good example, I ate a whole bag of Oreo cookies tonight with milk.

Summer's Dad is coming tomorrow. That should be real fun. I mean he is way too stupid to do all this stuff. He doesn't get this stuff. You have to understand how to work computers and he doesn't get it. He'll just start talking about how he is from the Industrial Revolution and we are from the Technology Revolution. Like that is gonna get him anywhere. Anyway I'm ranting.

2004-06-10T22:18:00.000-04:00

Well Dad had his heart catheter today. He had five grafts in 94 and now two of them are completely blocked and one is partly blocked. Two are clear. He is doing a lot better tonight. He is real emotional he says that he saw Mom a few times and she was herself not a willowy angel or anything.

Summer thinks it might be a sign that he is going to die soon. I don't know. One I do know is that if he only has two grafts open to his heart it is only a matter of time before he has a heart attack and dies along with the other stuff. Unbelieveable really. Both of my parents will probably die before I am thirty. I shouldn't be selfish and should think about what he is going through. His life is almost over. I can't imagine all the regrets and wishes he still might have as he stares death in the face. I think he understands what he is up against. He looks fearful in the face tonight. He has told Erin and Summer that he loves them already. He is concerned about the kiddies. If something happens now the kids might not remember their grandpa.

I haven't worked out since I got here. Only a couple of bike rides one that left me with a flat tire. I really am hoping that the title is clear on the Sebastian property so that we can refinance and we can get some cash out. That would be so nice. Not to have worry about money right now.

If Dad recovers he might not be able to do as much as before. And that wasn't much then. I wonder if he would be eligible for hospice care. That might be an option even though he does not a "terminal" illness. Who knows.

All I know is that I gotta make some changes. I am overweight and subject to emotional eating. I will end up like Dad and Mom and Dohnnie. So I need to fix things. I just don't know how to stop right now. I feel like I have no control. And I guess I don't really. Just over my own decisions. Whatever. I am done. Erin comes down tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.

2004-06-09T22:47:00.000-04:00

Today has been a dandy. Dad got worse at the hospital. He is very disoriented and confused. He has only gotten worse it seems. I can hardly stand to see him like that. I am the only family member that is close to make decisions.

He had a heart attack it seems. And then his blood sugar went sky high. He is not a candidate for a quad bypass again so he needs a angiogram and maybe a stent. But the dye might cause his kidneys to prematurely fail which would mean dialysis. So that sucks. Dad needs prostrate surgery, dialysis, angiogram, and so on.

Then I get a call from Dohnnie and he is having chest pains. So now Dohnnie is in the Emergency room with chest pains and an abnormal ekg. So that really sucks. They are gonna do a stress test tomorrow on him. He is staying overnight at Sand Lake Hospital.

So all this is going on and I don't know what to do. I am so worried about everybody. Erin might be coming down tomorrow if Dad is not in better shape. I hope she does cuz I am just not up to all this right now.

2004-06-08T22:51:00.000-04:00

Well another day another dollar right? Tomorrow I have to catch up with Dohnnie's short sales. I also need to follow up with my calls tha t I made today. Plus I need to record the Deed from Sebastian after we do a title search to protect our interests.

Plus everything else too. So much to do. Plus I need to knock on doors in Brevard. I have already wasted a day or two.

Dad is doing better today. He is talking and complaining. So that is a good thing.

Summer's Dad is coming and Dohnnie has no problem with a half and half deal with Dennis. So that might be nice.

Need to exercise tomorrow dangit!!! I hope everything goes okay so we can get some cash and sign up for a gym and do some things that we need to get done around here like getting cars fixed with the cigarette lighter and ac in the Honda. And Montessori for the kiddies.

We met with the Bishop and it went well. He recommends paying Tithing in installments so that way we don't fall behind. But hey who knows he's a good guy.

I can't help but feel confident about all this. Things are good.

2004-06-07T22:31:00.000-04:00

I'm in the Money...I'm in the money...

Today I went to get the Deed for Emmons in Sebastian. I got it but I had to drive almost five hundred miles to get it. I had to go and pick up the notary public in Lake Wales and then go all the way back and forth all day. I was gone for nine hours. But its a good deal She owes around 35000 and its worth at least 75000 maybe 80.

Tomorrow I have a bunch of stuff to do my to do list is huge but i am feeling good. I have three deeds so far.

Dad is still not doing so hot. He is talking about his grandson, whoever that is and thinks he is in Missouri but at least he is talking now and somewhat coherent. Tomorrow I think I will exercise a little bit. Or at least try.

I might go and record the deed tomorrow in Indian River I need to call and find out how much doc stamps are in that county. As I write this I remember what I am supposed to do tomorrow.

Summer's father is coming on Thursday and he is staying until Wednesday. He wants to come and learn a little bit about the short sale process. We'll see how he does. Funny how I dont even know for sure what I am doing yet but I am supposed to teach him something? Interesting.

2004-05-30T23:40:00.000-04:00

Its been awhile since I called you...

Well its been about a week. And we have moved to Florida and are getting on our feet. I had to cancel an upcoming race due to work. I am self-employed now and I already have two houses or rather two yeses and I am waiting for the deeds. So I drive a lot now and I like what I do. I don't have a boss except Dohnnie but he doesn't really count. And I am in control of my destiny. But that that can be a problem since it makes you care about what you are doing so you have the highs and the lows. But I like it that way really.

I like the house we are in. I really would like to stay in it for awhile but you never know if we can get someone to buy with the lease agreement in place. I installed a network as well through our phone lines and it is nice to have shared printer and stuff.

I haven't worked out consistently since before we started moving so I have gained almost all of my weight back. But never fear tomorrow I getting started again back on a regimen of swim,bike,run twice a week. An hour each workout. That way the pounds will melt off again. And I thinks its important since I am sitting in a car so much these days. Way too much fast food.

I am excited about the two houses. One is in Ormond Beach a really nice house that can be discounted and one house that has tenants and is really run down. So we'll see. For one thing, I still don't have the deeds so until can't really say anything. But I am gonna try to stay optimistic and not get paranoid. But Summer and I feel good about the move...We need to get the kiddies in day care though. She starts FBAH in a week so she'll need that time until then. Later.

2004-05-19T04:56:00.000-04:00

Alright the move is complete. And it only took a couple of days to get it done. Summer and I drove straight through to Melbourne tonight. We both took NoDoz to keep us awake. Of course she is asleep now and I am still wide awake at four in the morning. But its all good because I got to play with my cool laptop that was waiting for me here. The house rocks. I just hope that we can keep it. Summer is in absolute love with it. It is so big. I mean it is huge. We don't have nearly enough stuff to fill it with. There are no curtains or anything. In fact earlier tonight, some random dude walked by outside like he was exercising or something. Weird. Kind of freaked us out. Sammy was up too for a while (I gave him too much Diet Coke in the truck). But whatever. We are actually here. We have a lot to do tomorrow. We have to unload the truck, go buy a refrigerator at Lowe's, I have to install the DSL service on all the computers, And call the Water people to make sure its turned on. The water is kind of on but we cant tell for sure. I really feel positive about this move. It seems we are moving on with our lives which is great. I think Dad will like this house it is just so big. How many times can I say that? Probably a few more. Anyway enough rambling. Later.

2004-05-13T23:39:00.000-04:00

Are we moving yet?

I hate to beat a dead horse here but I am so ready to move. I did an internet search on my awaited cell phone and I cannot get it until we move. So that is gonna be some wrangling. Whatever.

I just saw probably the best basketball game of the year. Lakers Spurs Game 5. Duncan hits fade away with .4 seconds left. The Spurs go crazy, the crowd goes crazy, even Doc Rivers the announcer proclaims that the Spurs are now 3-2. Then the Laker advance the ball with a full timeout. Then after a strategic timeout. They look for Kobe and end up passing it Derek Fisher who hit a flying the wrong way jumpshot to win it. Unbelievable. What a circus shot!!! I screamed so loud I woke my kids up. Wow. I found it hard to root for the Lakers but I have to due to Karl Malone. He deserves a championship even though he choked against the Bulls...Twice.

Well I got my new cell phone number which is good. I also did some research into workout gyms in Florida. And man since when can they charge an enrollment fee? Unbelievable. Its gonna cost twice as much to workout there. And I have to workout. What can I do? We'll see what Dad says.

Summer has her last final tomorrow then we are done. And we pick up the truck on Sunday and head out for sunny Florida. YES.

2004-05-12T23:11:00.000-04:00

I don't know but I wonder why anyone would want to have more then one blog...I mean how much free time can a person have?

Well I swam a mile today. Man that felt good too, I have that tired feeling in my body that you can only get swimming Its not the exhausted feeling like running or the dizzy feeling like you get when you run. Its just different. But its feels good.

My next tri is a longer swim 550 yards so I have to prepare for it. Then I am also running more to help with last transition to run at this one. I wonder how the weather is going to effect me. We'll see.

Erin and Sasha might come down to Melbourne for Memorial Day. But hey whatever. We are so ready to move. We are already there in spirit. Summy's business with family books at home is going good, she had a conference call with the Field Development Manager and Sales VP.

Tomorrow I lift and run. Maybe bike if it gets done. I really want some new aero bars the ones I have are clunkers. But we can't really afford it. But whatever. Maybe things will work out.

2004-05-12T01:23:00.000-04:00

Am I going to sleep yet?

Man I got so mad today when I heard about that poor civilian getting beheaded in Iraq. I was running and I felt like I could run all day with all that emotion. I got a good workout in though. An hour running, then weights. And I swam with Summer and the kiddies. They had fun. And I had fun too.

It is really late like twenty-five minutes after midnight and I can't get to sleep cuz I got the munchies and went to Hardees for a thickburger. Now I am waking Summer up so I'll get out of here. I am itching to move and get out of here.

2004-05-10T23:41:00.000-04:00

Today was my first day of no school. Yep thats right no more college for me at least not for a while. I made a bunch of phone calls and did some research for Dohnnie. And I didn't do a bit of schoolwork. We paid some bills and continue to prepare for the move. So we're are pumped.

I went for ride this afternoon and my bike spoke broke. I had to call Summer to come pick me up. We got to try out the bike rack though and it worked like a charm. I took right to Route 66 Bike Shop and Dan-o there is gonna order a new wheel. So that'll be nice cuz thats two spokes now and counting. Good thing its under warranty.

Not much else going on today. Its all good. So anyway. Later.

2004-05-10T01:57:00.000-04:00

Well Life Goes On

Yep we're moving. And I am done with College at least for now. I just have one more essay to write and then I am finally done. Seven years after I graduated from High School and I have finally done it. And I didn't even go on a mission to give me the excuse for the time.

Training is great. I have incorporated weights back into my schedule. I am doing a Base week next week. Around 8 hours scheduled for the whole week. An hour and half of that is weights. Lots of swimming. If I am gonna do 550 on the swim I gotta get more efficient.

We bought two laptops, One for Summer and One for me. She got hers for Mother's day. So we are giving Dad's puter to Hannah for college. She had a really bad car accident yesterday but she walked away with a big gash in her head. Summer was with her at the ER and said she could see the skull. Pretty trippy.

We are excited to move to Florida. We got pictures of the house and it looks so sweet. It would be nice if we could reinstate it or just live in it. That would be so cool. But we'll just have to see. I have ordered a cell phone for that area, and we have our laptops coming along with some software so we're psyched.

My next race is the first Orlando Summer Sprint at Belle Isle. Its a spring fed lake so I don't know if I will need a wetsuit or not. I certainly can't afford one. But come on, June 6 in Orlando Florida? Its gonna be a scorcher.

Dad's gonna fly from Nashville to Orlando...So that's nice. Wonder if we can leave his stuff too... Well we can dream can't we.

2004-05-04T00:29:00.000-04:00

RACE REPORT

So I went up to Columbia for my goal for 2004. To compete in a triathlon. Well I borrowed a sleeping pill from Dad and off we all went to the Super 8. Summer and I got separate rooms cuz there was no way I was gonna get any sleep with the kiddies and a five in the morning wake up time. I took like three immodium just to be sure and my other pills.

Off to the course. Got my time chip and set my transition area up. Not much really. Since I was using toe clips didn't really need that much stuff. Attended the pre-race meeting with all kinds of threats of dqs if rules weren't followed. With it being a pool swim I thought I would be the slowest swimmer. But I wasn't there were a lot of swimmers slower then me. That made me feel good. In the swim everybody bunched up. So it took a little longer then the planned six minutes. But I was quick out of T1 And off on the bike I was. I felt good on the bike till the first big hill and it kicked my butt cuz I wasn't warm. But I recovered and made a good go of it. My chain fell off twice and I had to walk one super hill. But I did the 17.5 miles in 1:15 which with two chains incidents wasn't that bad. Then on T2 I drank a lot and swallowed more gel boy those gels are really cool they help so much. The run was not easy. I ran for two miles then I walked about a half of mile then I ran the rest. Summer got some good footage of me on the Camcorder while I was running. I looked like a real triathlete. And that is because I am a triathlete. I won the middle of the pack award cuz my time was the exact average of all the men in the pack. Pretty cool I won an free entry in next years race.

I still can't believe I did it and did so relatively easy. I am not really that sore today the day after. The only thing I can work on physically is my calves cuz they hurt on the run. So I will add calf raises. I am quite proud of myself. So now I am a triathlete.