My Mom just got another knee replacement and has been laid up since Monday.  She came through pretty good and I’m sure she will be up and about and jetsetting the world again soon.

Emily talks so much that I am shocked (!) that there are words left for me to write down.  If there is a finite number of them, she will use them all up at some point.  Jonathan is the exact opposite.  He is just starting to use sentences to communicate, but his progress is remarkable and distinct, so I am very optimistic about him reaching age-appropriate communication skills in the future.  We have long worried about his speech development, but he is plenty clever, so I don’t think he has any delays past his speech.  He runs DVDs and computers at 4 years old, he’s no slouch.

As I said in the last post, I’ve opened up an online T-shirt shop at www.pokertease.biz.  It has clever (IMO) sayings about poker and I think many players will enjoy the sentiments.  Well, the ones wearing the shirts will enjoy it, their opponents, not so much. 

I have guys working outside my house replacing bad fascia and soffits and painting and scraping and generally sprucing things up a bit.  It’s not particularly shocking about how much needs to be done, the house was vacant for some time and quite neglected even prior to it’s vacancy, so nature does take over fairly quickly.  I’m excited about the facelift, it just feels weird watching someone else work on my house.  I’m supposed to be that dude.  A few months from now, I will be right back at it.  Can’t wait.

Poker, poker, poker, poker.  That’s what I’m doing while I’m off.  I’ve already set the bar at profiting 2k during my off time.  I didn’t really base the number on anything, I just pulled it out of my …, ya know.  But now it has been said and that is what I’m going for.  Wish me luck.

I hope that this catches most people back up to my current state of affairs.  See you at the tables, if you play.  If you have anything you want to talk about feel fre to call, email, or comment.  I’ve got time.

I’ve already been told by my wife several times that I am a horrible patient.  The doctor told me to not sit around and feel sorry for myself, so I’ve shuffled about and did some small things that my wife still thinks is too much.  I got a severe tongue-lashing last night for putting a dish in the dishwasher.  How is that for ironic?  She’s been trying to get me to do that for over a decade and now that I did it, she fusses at me.

She and I and we will be just fine.  I expect the aches and pains to lessen over the next few weeks and to be back to some sort of normalcy by Spring of next year.  I may not be doing anything extreme, but back to my normal type of grind will be great.

Yesterday I went to the back doctor to get another cortizone shot.  He told me that I could never again do squats or military presses or any sort of standing weightlifting that would put added strain on my lower lumbar region.  Never.

I’ve been in a bad mood ever since then.  I’m no ubermensch, but much of my self-identity is tied up in being stronger than average.  I’m no giant, but pound for pound, I’m used to being one of the strongest people I know.  Having activities in the gym eliminated and modified just plain bothers me.

Admittedly, I hate doing squats.  But I did them simply so I wouldn’t end up looking like a chicken with a big chest and skinny legs.  Now that’s out.  Permanently.  Not to mention that on my Physical Therapist’s little grip tester thing I register lower than average on both hands (the right slightly and the left significantly).  Lower than average is not where I want to be at.

I’m bummed.

Or any combination of the above.

I’m nowhere near being the strongest I’ve ever been.  I’m relatively sure that I will never regain my college form simply because I worked out for hours a day several days a week and will never have that kind of time to put back into it.  Having said that, I’m willing to bet that I am the fittest I’ve been in 10 years and I’m still improving.  I can say that safely because twice in the past few months someone has guessed my age at a decade younger than I am.  There is a certain social pressure to guess younger than you actually think, just in case.  But that would put a number of people thinking I’m in my early 30s, which is still complimentary enough for me at 38.

I’m happy with my progress and I’m happy with the journey.  I’m going to keep going down this road because I like the ground covered as much as the nearing of the goal.

I think I’m about done soldiering. I think tomorrow is doctor time.

Starting weight:  215ish lbs.

 So I’ve lost around 20 pounds so far, which is right in line with my goals.  With the workouts, I’ve managed to keep my muscle, too.  I’ve probably lost more than 20 pounds of fat, I’ve just added back some pounds in muscle. 

I’m really enjoying the way my body is shaping up.  Clothes fit better (well maybe not my pants so much) and I feel more comfortable all the time.  And, yeah, I’m proud of myself. I weighed myself a few minutes ago and remarked before I got on that maybe I didn’t want everyone to see the number that was about to pop up.  Marilyn quickly informed me that I was being a tad disingenous.  She believes that if I didn’t want everyone to see it, I might have weighed myself somewhere other than in front of everyone. 

 Well, shucks, maybe she’s right.

Things got worse and worse until Wednesday when I went to work I was in such bad shape that my partner, Todd, told me to go to Medical and get my temperature taken.  They proceeded to pretty much kick me out.  When I went back to the machine to get my stuff, I told Todd that it was his fault that I was leaving, because I was gonna tough it out.

The Doctor’s office was pretty much a blur. I walked out with 4 prescriptions, at least one of which has to be the most godawful concoction imaginable.  It looks nasty in the bottle and the tasting of it will not sway your initial assessment.  I’d rather get kicked in the eyeball that put that horrid stuff into my mouth again.  It does, however, quiet your cough.  It’s effectiveness resides in it’s ability to horrify a cough into submission.  It’s not so much medicine as a cough bully in convenient liquid form.

I feel weak today, but stronger than yesterday and I’m confident the worst of it is behind me. 

On a side note, I’m pleased to find out that I haven’t weakened too much over the past few years. Though this new workout doesn’t do a barbell bench press (or any isolation exercises for that matter), i was curious to see how much I could press. So after my workout last night, I put 300 lbs on the barbell and tried it out. I pushed it up easy. I was tempted to do 4 or 5, but my spotter was a bit nervous and that is a good way to get yourself hurt. Seeing as how I maxed out at about 350 a few years ago and 385 as an all time high, I’m glad to know that I still have a bit of the old muscle to me.