Good Times

Changed the name of my blog.  I'm not really moderate.  So, "radical middle" doesn't really work.  I'm pretty extreme.  It's just that half the time, I'm extremely liberal and the other half, I'm extremely conservative.

All thrust, no vector is a term I heard from our instructor, an Air Force Captain, and it describes my life to a tee.  I love the fact that I didn't have to start working in a coal mine at 16, and work there until I die of black lung disease at 59.  I love that I live in a time when you can change careers 4, 5 or 6 times before you retire.  (Heck, some would argue you HAVE TO change careers... maybe not that often, but at least more than most folks thought at first.)

So, all thrust, no vector.  Maximum speed, random direction.  That suits me, I think.

Times are pretty good right now.  I just finished my contracting class and really enjoyed it.  Mostly, I enjoyed meeting new people.  It was only a 2 week class.  So, we ended up saying goodbye just as we were getting to know each other.  This is making me look forward to law school, though.  I'll be making a hundred new friends in my class. 

I ran outside for the first time in a long time last night.  Covered all 4 miles, which was my goal.  I did do a lot of walking, though.  Took walking breaks about every mile at the start and it ended up being a little more frequent than that at the end.  Still, my overall average was right at 13 min/mile.  So, that means I was running a LOT faster than I have been, previously.  

That was really encouraging.  The work over the past month is starting to come through.  I still have a lot of room for improvement.  When you start from zero, the first few months are awesome because you basically get faster almost every week.

My weight isn't as low as I had hoped, though.  I'm clearly more solid all the way around.  I'll just keep at the running and see how it goes.  4 miles a few times a week is a good start, but I think I should be able to get to a point where I'm covering 6 miles, 5 times a week.  30 miles a week is a solid running schedule.

Bump it up a bit with periodic weight training and rower, and I think I'll be able to get back in good shape.  My fuzzy goal is still a marathon.  Maybe in Fall of 2012 or Spring of 2013.

The biz is still tense, but that's to be expected while we claw our way out.  Best-case, we could be pretty much out of our hole around Christmas, but things may still stay tense for a while.  We're really busy right now.  Busier than we've been in a year. 

Maybe this is the turnaround.  We'll see.  At this point, I take nothing for granted. 

Going to Texas this weekend and I hope we do weapons qualifications like we had planned.  I also get to see my friends from my days at Texas Wesleyan.  Really looking forward to it.

So, lots of positive things going on.  School starts next week.  My financial and business picture continues to improve incrementally.  The future has potential.

Mostly, my son is just wonderful.  He just got his helmet for football.  I'll have to prepare him for baseball tryouts at the end of the month.  He's been doing great at basketball during open gym on Sundays.  He's just a great little active, kindhearted, hard-working kid.  I'm really lucky.