Happy New Year!

Well yesterday was a great day. I got to work from home and spend some time with Angus, and then I headed to the gym. It was my first time to visit a 24 Hour Fitness in Fort Worth (I went to the one off Western Center), and it was so nice. They have "Cardio Theater" there where you plug your headphones into the cardio machine and listen to the volume of whichever TV program you want to watch (the TV's are overhead). So I watched that elf movie with Will Farrell and an hour on the elliptical flew by. Plus the machine was so fluid (didn't hurt my shin or foot) AND it had the arm things - loved it. I finished my workout with 15 minutes of weights and abs.

Cliff bought a bottle of wine at Walmart for $2.97 and it had a pretty high rating, so we tried that last night and it was really good. It was called Oak Leaf Cabernet if you want to give it a try. We headed over to Jamie and Dana's house and we tried out Mario Kart for the Wii. I haven't even had a chance to play ours yet (Cliff bought it while I was in California), but I anticipate some serious Wii gaming today. We still need to buy Wii Fit and Mario Kart.

Cliff, Jamie, Dana, Sara and I went to JR's Steakhouse (off 121 in Colleyville) for dinner and it was great. We ordered the house Cabernet (Avalon) which was significantly cheaper than the wine list. We all got the same thing for dinner - Caesar and avocado salad, 8 oz filet, mashed potatoes, veggie (your choice of mushrooms, creamed corn, or asparagus), and dessert (cheesecake or chocolate cake). I got my filet charred rare and it came out medium rare plus, but it was still really good (and I'm thinking I might ask for charred medium rare next time). I picked the asparagus and chocolate cake. Cliff had the cheesecake and I tried a bite of that, but the chocolate cake rocked (it was kind of like a dark chocolate). We ended up calling it a night at 11:00 after dinner because we're all old and tired :) So Cliff and I drove home in time to say Happy New Year at midnight with GusGus.

2009...
Well I was preparing this list of what I wanted to accomplish in 2009... lose 20 pounds for the wedding, break 4:00 in the marathon, run an ultra marathon (30 miles), etc. However, with these nagging injuries, I have to take a little break. So for now I'll say my resolution is still to lose 20 pounds, but I want to do a great job working out, mix in some new things (like classes at 24 Hour Fitness, other cardio machines to kind of shock my body, etc.), etc. I'll be veering away from swimming (at least for the first half of 2009) and focusing on other things to try to lose weight. As far as nutrition goes, I think I am going to follow the Eve plan and track my food on FitDay with my calories and carb/protein/fat ratio in mind. I am also going to limit the drinking.

As far as the rest of my life goes, I think I'll be pretty busy with the wedding ceremony in Cancun, receptions in Fort Worth and California, and honeymoon. I'll still be coaching, but once the wedding stuff is over (second half of 2009), I want to start looking into teaching an evening accounting class at TWU or TCC. I think I'll need to take 2 more graduate accounting classes to be eligible to teach at TCC, so I might need to take care of that first.

2008...
Well I have a ton to be grateful for. 2008 brought a FIANCE, a new house, a new job (which rocks my socks), and a new baby GusGus. I have a wonderful family and great friends. I remained relatively healthy (minus the occasional running injury), and I have lots to look forward to in 2009!

Happy New Year!