2003-08-29 - 2:46 p.m.
So much stuff going on right now, it's not even funny.
J's great-great-aunt died of old age, and we have a new cousin, all in the same two-week period.
I've gotten serious about a number of things, most importantly refinancing the house and taking better care of myself.
The interest rates aren't what they were a month ago, but it looks like we may be able to consolidate some debts and still end up with a lower house payment. The house was appraised yesterday, my credit is surprisingly good, and the loan application was relatively painless. Now comes the paper chase; bank statements, check stubs, tax forms, sign this, sign that, sign the other. I hate this part. But if all goes smoothly, we'll be able to close in a couple of weeks. We get a month with no mortgage payment, a nice big refund of the escrow money, and a little breathing room at the end of each month.
We want to go to New York to celebrate. A week in October, just wandering around and gawking at things. I'll get to see some friends and family I haven't seen in a while, revisit some old haunts, tour some museums, and eat lots of great food. Apparently Mario Batali's got a mid-price joint in Chelsea or some such place; it'll be a chance to eat celebrity chef cooking without selling my blood. Katz's Deli is also on the list (I'll have what she's having…), as is Yonah Shimmel's for knishes. Dim sum also must be in there someplace, as must hot dogs and felafel from street vendors. I think the diet may go straight out the window for the week.
Speaking of diet and exercise, I've started doing daily calisthenics. Matt Furey's Combat Conditioning routine, specifically. I'd seen the video a few months ago, noted the exercises, and forgot about them. Then I saw an ad for his course, and I remembered them again. They're really simple ones: Hindu squats, Hindu push-ups, and a wrestler's bridge. His challenge: 100 squats, 50 push ups, and hold the bridge for a minute. I can do about 50 squats, but the push-ups are killers. I can do ten if I'm lucky. I can hold the bridge for maybe 10 seconds before something gives. The whole routine takes about 5 minutes to turn me into a sweating bundle of pains. Best of all, the Professor thinks I'm the funniest thing in the world while I do these. So I can exercise and keep an eye on her all at the same time. I haven't felt aches and pains like this since I was 18 years old and training in New Zealand, not even in my weight-training phase. We'll see what a month of this does for me.
Also, a co-worker of mine recommended a routine called "Ab Boot Camp" to reduce my ever-present belly. Twenty minutes of sheer agony, three times a week. I get scared just reading the routine. He did it for a month and shaved off an impressive gut. Mind you, he's an ex-Marine and a pretty tough-minded cuss. I've had this gut for a long time. One of my father's nicknames for me as a child was "Big Belly". Some times in my life it's been big, other times it's been small, but it's always been there. The thought that it might be gone in a month… heady.
Of course, I have to deal with my own psychology. There is this little doubting voice in my head that says, "You won't be able to keep this up. It'll be just like all the other times you resolved to get fit, to take long walks, lift weights, do qigong. You'll get tired of it, get bored, and you'll drop it. You're just too damn lazy." So I am resorting to some cheesy sports psychology and have written down my goals. I was always skeptical of this, but writing it down, giving the concept a reality outside my head seems to have locked my brain down on it. I've stuck with this diet for over two years because it's worked. No doubt I will see results from daily exercise, now that I'm not packing on fat faster than I can burn it. I'm not looking to bulk up; I just wanna be lean and tight.
I'm going to start the boot camp exercises over the weekend; see if I can hang.
