You say it's your birthday, it's my birthday too--yeah

So as of 2:30 this afternoon, I will have been a living, breathing member of the Earth for 38 years. And how do I plan on spending my 38th year out of the womb? That is the question I have for myself.

In order for me to come up with a plan for 38, I wanted to look back at 37, as it seemed to start out so well. I had just flown back from Amsterdam the day before my 37th birthday, and was looking forward to trips to Rome, Edmonton, London & Thailand in the coming year. I went to all of them and had a great time.

One of the reasons for this blog, as I have reiterated ad nauseum, is for me to be able to follow my progress, habits, see what works, what doesn’t work, et al. (Damn, I am up on my Latin phrases today, eh?) And it works out good today, when I look back and see that I started my 37th year at 226 lbs right after I got back from Amsterdam. And even by the time I was ready to leave for Rome at the end of June 2006, I was only at 221 lbs. It seems that my running on the treadmill problems started right before I left for Amsterdam, and I wasn’t as consistent as I remembered.

Well, not that I was bad or anything, but my goal has been to run 5 times a week, and, from looking back over my archives, I wasn’t consistently running 5 times a week most weeks before March 16, 2007. And, due to problems with the whiplash, I’ve not been able to do it much since then. Last week I ran 2 days and then had a tremendous headache on day 3 and weakness in my left cervical muscle.

I start out today at 237 lbs, a bit of a bigger belly and no stamina or ability for running any distance due to my neck problems. I am going to at least start working on walking, at the minimum, for 30 minutes a day. Get back in the routine of at least using that chunk of time after work for something other than complaining that I can’t do it.

I am going to eat healthier. I don’t exactly know why I’ve done it recently (the book I am reading says that long term stress and depression can cause people to eat more and unhealthier than they are used to) but I’ve let it all go to hell. So starting Tuesday (work is having a little meat & cheese tray for me tomorrow for my birthday, so I won’t be eating healthy then) I will start eating better, and I will walk starting tomorrow.

And finally, here is a picture of me & my special little guy Justin.

He is my nephew who lives in NYC with my brother and his wife. He is 3 year old and a little pistol, so adorable. He, just like his uncle, was recently in a car crash and we were comparing scars on Friday. He asked if I cried, cause he did. I said of course I did (I didn’t let him know I was actually yelling “Fuck!” in lieu of crying when they put staples in my head; he doesn’t need to know that) but my Mom was there for me, just like his Mom was there for him so I was fine, and then he kissed me on the cheek and said he hoped I felt better, cause he felt better. A little tear started welling up at the love little kids can show. And that is when my sister took the picture. Adorable!

Here is to a great 38th year, and maybe some more after that. But I think I have a great opportunity to raise the quality of my life if I can get healthier.