Day 1

Ok so really this is day 2 of my week off. I had planned on trying to work out every day this week, but yesterday was my wife's birthday and I just chilled and celebrated with her and the kids. I even baked a cake!

So today was my first workout day and I got in some cardio and weights, more tomorrow to get in a grove.

Ready to jump in the madness again

I am ready to really start coaching basketball again. My schedule at work is finally good enough to give me the nights to devote to practices. I applied for a college coaching job and hope to get a bit of a look, if not it'll be coaching rep teams and wait for the next job to come available.

So starting tomorrow I'm on holiday for a week. I'm not going anywhere for the week, sadly I don't have enough money saved to really vacation. My wife's birthday is tomorrow and I need to figure out a gift for her in the next 24hrs.

During my week off I'm planning on hitting the gym and diet and try to drop some weight while getting into a workout routine. My youngest daughter goes to kindergarten in the afternoon so after I drop my oldest daughter at her school bus in the morning I'm going to head to the YMCA and get in a solid 2hr workout.

I'm looking to have a Biggest loser week 1. I'll track my food all week and see if I can get into summer shape by the end of May.

Gonna be a painful week, wish me luck!

Gran brings us together

So I got some not so great news this week, but with a silver lining. My Grandmother has had to move into a care facility. She is in her 90's now and needs help with her day to day.

The good news is that I have finally gotten in contact with my aunts, uncles and cousins via e-mail and facebook. This is pretty exciting for me because all of my extended family on my fathers side live in the United Kingdom and this is the first time that I have tried to contact them.

So now I have people to get to know and connect with. So my conclusion is that my Grandmother has brought us all together, gotta be impressed with that. I hope to visit everyone soon.

I hope she stays healthy and comfortable in her new place.

Ready to workout again

Well I'm getting back into working out. I've been really lazy over the winter and need to lose some gut.

I'm getting back into the gym again, but not as often as I'd like, only once or twice a week for about a half-hour. I hope to start running again as the weather improves and also ride my bike to work weather permitting.

79 Honda Civic

Just saw a 1979 Honda Civic in mint condition. Awesome!

New Car Frustration

So I took my kids to see Disney on Ice last night in Toronto at the Rogers Centre. After the show when I came to get my new car, a Suzuki Grand Vitara, but it had a flat tire. It was really cold but I got the tire changed. My flat tire had a crack on the sidewall. My Suzuki dealer now says that the tire is not covered under any warrantee and I must have hit a pot-hole or something. This has been a frustrating day. I've had the car for two weeks and now I'm replacing the tire. So much for having a new car so that I don't have to worry about repairs. No peace of mind from this car so far Both headlights have needed replaced, belts have needed tightening and now this tire. I hope this tire is an isolated incident and my luck improves with this car.

As for the dealership. Well they have been rude to both and especially my wife since we bought the car. We went there obviously upset about having to pay for repairs on our new vehicle and instead of just dealing with the fact that we were upset they basically insulted us and attempted to make us feel petty. They were so terrible with their softskills that they really insulted my wife and now we are gonna take our service business to another dealership. All around let down with warrantees, especially for tires.

Life in suburbia

So I've gotten to thinking about how my life has significantly changed now that neither me nor my wife work in Toronto. I live and work in the suburb of Brampton, where I grew up.
I was listening to the radio about issues with wifi in the city and realized that it's been a long time since I even went into the city. These are issues that don't even effect me, kinda liberating but also kinda depressing. Now I'm really seperated from a lot of interesting things. Just joe suburb now.

Oh well maybe I'll get a lawnmower with a nice big attachment.

Back to Back Yeah!

I went and watched the local college womens basketball team, Sheridan College, win the Ontario Championships yesterday. It was a nice victory over Seneca College, who had been undefeated in their regular season. I had helped out with Sheridan over the last few years and my daughter, Daniella, goes to summer basketball camp there so we were happy for the team. This is back-to-back championships for them, so hopefully they will have good showing at the national championships.

It makes me even more interested in getting back into some coaching, I figure I can make enough time for one basketball thing next year. I was listening to a podcast last week about taking advantage of every basketball opportunity that comes ones way, it really applies to all things. I'm really gonna look around and focus on seizing opportunities that are around me. I think I like being busy better than being idle anyhow.

Buying stuff on credit

So I finally have gotten into some new credit and bought a vehicle. I bought a Suzuki Grand Vitara. I think I may have paid a bit too much for it, and got a really bad interest rate, but at least I got a decent working car. Given that I'm coming off some really bad credit I was expecting to get a bad rate, but I had hoped to get a car for a good price since the market is down. I guess if I wanted a cheaper car I should have bought north american and stayed away from all-wheel drive. It's not an entry level car so I'm happy enough with it. I'm nervous about getting back into loans and payments. I think I will just work overtime at work until I feel better about paying the bills.

First game, first loss

So I played my first game in the Hoopdome men's C league today. Unfortunately we lost by 6 to a much bigger team. I had 8 points in the loss. I had hoped to score 10-12, but being that I haven't really played in any leagues for over a year and that I put on about 20 pounds since then I feel pretty good with my effort.

Apparently the team we lost to was one of the champs from last year. I am on a team of guys who all signed up individually, so we don't even know each other. I figure that as we get used to playing together we will get more easy baskets. I figure that I missed about three shots I should have made, so I should be able to score about 14 a game if I get into better shape.

Outside of that I saw all the old crew from Hoopdome, which goes down as the favourite job I've ever had. My old boss, Ted, was there. My young buddy Eylon is back from playing pro in Israel, which I thought was pretty cool A lot of the other guys that work there I know from when they used to just play there, now they are employees.

Anyhow it's fun to go back down to the Hoopdome each week. Hopefully next week will be a win for my team!

Family night at the movies

So I'm attending the family night movie, Igor, at my daughter Daniella's school. It is crazy here, kids everywhere, but my daughters wanted to come and so here I am. Julia's at home resting up for work tonight, so I'm at this on my own.

I work all this weekend and that kinda sucks, but such is life.

This Sunday I start playing basketball in the Hoopdome mens league. I'm looking forward to it. It's been over a year since I played in any leagues. I'm hoping to get back into a few basketball things this year.

Twitterpated

So I'm getting set up on twitter so that I can record my every move. It doesn't seem to complicated except that my phone won't register with it. The joys of a Palm with Windows Mobile phone. It's great for some things but doesn't seem to work well for SMS based stuff. Well I will try to keep moving towards being more tech savvy than ever.

Get ready for the pain

So as I have vacation time approaching in April and May I am going to have to do some overtime to get some money to enjoy my vacation.

I really want to go to Scotland, but if I don't have enough to do that I want to at least go somewhere and enjoy it.

Maybe I'll go to Boston and see the Celtics and visit the friends I made lst summer that live on Martha's Vineyard. Or I'll go to Montreal or Ottawa and enjoy the museums and stuff there.

What I won't do is just hang out at home. I will go somewhere!

Off days

So these are my days off work. I have four days off before I start my new shift.

Yesterday was Family day, a holiday here in Ontario. We went to the zoo with the kids. It was nice, but I wish I had remembered my gloves and touque

Spring time!

Well it's supposed to hit plus 7 today and I'm loving the good weather. I can't wait for summer to come. Wish I could move somewhere warm and get away from winter weather.

My new shift starts February 16th and sadly I didn't get any weekend days off, but I get Tuesday and Wednesday. Because of the change-over on shifts and family day holiday I will get four days in a row off.

A four day weekend in a warm week. Nice!