For the past few weeks, I’ve been logging everything I eat as well as calorie counts in an effort to eat more healthy.  I’m doing the physical exercise part, but until I start eating right I’ll never have the runner’s physique.  Five weeks ago, my average daily calorie count was 2901.  This past week, it was down to 2611.

Running is also a huge thing to log.  I’ve used mapmyrun.com to log my miles for the past 4 years.  They just forced me to use their new format and I hate it, but I would have to subscribe to export all of my data.  It sort of sucks.

After logging my miles, I have to enter it monthly into my running club website to participate in the “Challenge of the Miles”.

Here’s my current mileage chart:

I can tell you that my lifetime mileage is 2252.95 miles. January was the first month that I’ve ever passed 100 miles in a month.  My goal for 2012 is 1000 miles and so far I’m on track.

Also, my job participates in the Presidential Fitness Challenge and I’m supposed to log all of my physical activity there too.  I sort of dropped that, but to be eligible for prizes at work, I need to start back.  So, in addition to running, I’m suppose to log walking, outdoor work, t-ball, etc.

To take it even further, my health insurance carrier has a website where I can log physical activity, nutrition, and stats like blood pressure everyday to earn points redeemable for healthy rewards.

I also log my Coke points in mycokerewards.com to earn points for rewards.  I guess if I stopped drinking Cokes, I wouldn’t have to log those calories or Coke points.  That seems like a good plan.

Then, there’s disneymovierewards.com.  It’s a good thing we don’t buy many DVDs, but I have earned several Disney gift cards from this.

I haven’t mentioned the biggest: I use Quicken to log all of our financial transactions.  That’s the most time consuming, but also the most beneficial.

I’m probably missing some others as well.  I guess you see now why this blog suffers.

I used to maintain a clothing log, so that I didn’t accidentally wear the same shirt every Tuesday or the same pants several days in a row.  I gave up on that when I became a runner though. It’s not rare for me to change clothes several times a day: sleep clothes, running clothes, work clothes, casual clothes, etc.

So am I OCD? I don’t think so. Everything I log has a benefit.  The fitness and nutrition logs are helping me reach my goals. Today at Kroger, I didn’t buy a 450 calories/slice pie even though it was on sale because I thought of my log. If I wasn’t logging miles, I would have never come close to 100 in January.  Quicken helps me stay on track to reach short-term and long-term goals. And the others score me free stuff!

So, what do you log?

I was going to run this race last year, but that morning I woke up extremely sick. Kimberlie didn’t have her running clothes so we ended up watching the whole thing from the 67th floor of the Westin Peachtree.

This year went much better, even though it was pretty warm for a half-marathon.

Tristan cheering for the runners

Me running at mile 12.85

I want that bag of groceries!

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Sometimes, I miss working for Publix

I loved running around Atlanta

Probably the coolest non-Disney medal I have

I had so much fun, I’ve already signed up for next year!

This past weekend was the second annual birthday bash to raise funds. We got dressed up, ate a nice meal, danced to a great band, and just had a good time in general.  Tristan was happy to meet a couple of local television personalities.  I was surprised to receive a nice trophy proclaiming me as “volunteer of the year”.  Everyone had a great time.

This is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken in 2008.

Here it is again, taken this past weekend.

It’s amazing how fast we all grow up.

I’ve been drooling over the Canon T3i, but by the time I add all of the accessories I want and the waterproof housing, it would be well over $1000. We currently have another financial goal so that is a little steep.

Flash forward to Black Friday. Old Navy’s offer was a FREE waterproof digital camera with a $40 purchase. No problem there. I needed some jeans and we needed to pick up our gifts to donate to the kid’s school as we do every year. The only issue: “quantities are extremely limited”.

I arrived at 7:30pm on Thanksgiving in anticipation of the midnight opening. Several other adventurous shoppers confirmed that there were only 40 cameras available. I was number 9 in line when I got there and about 23 by the time the store opened (thanks to some very unethical people).

Now I don’t think many people actually shop for holiday gifts on Black Friday. People pretty much just buy things for themselves. I can’t blame them. I wouldn’t stand in a line like that for anyone else.

Here are my tips for other Black Friday shoppers:

• Black Friday is not necessarily the best time to score a deal. Other than the “doorbusters”, like the cheap laptops and TVs (and the camera), the prices aren’t that competitive. Of course, the selection on Black Friday is better than the selection near Christmas when the deals are better. It’s all a trade off.
• Those aforementioned “doorbuster” TVs and laptops are usually cheap knock-off brands like Dynex, Visio, Emerson, etc. They aren’t worth even what you paid for them. Hold out for a good deal on a Samsung or Toshiba instead.
• While the coffee and hot chocolate might be great in the 40 degree weather, you will need to get out of line to relieve yourself. It’s better to go without.
• You might think you are making friends in line, but when those doors open, it’s every man for himself.
• When you arrive, count the number of people in front of you. That number is guaranteed to at least double before the doors open. Suddenly, everyone is best friends with the person at the front of the line.
• Don’t call the cops. It is private property, so unless they are invited by the property owners, they probably aren’t going to help with crowd control. Besides, it isn’t a crime to cut in line. Besides, they probably aren’t happy about working on the holiday anyway.
• If you’re too fat to get out of your car, you need to stay home. Sitting in the car doesn’t count as waiting in line.
• I’m all for equal access (OK, so not really. And I really mean not really.), but wheelchairs and handicapped people have no business trying to compete on Black Friday.
• Prank calling the store workers so that you can watch them answer the phone through the window doesn’t accomplish anything.
• Calling the cops a second time for the same reason (see above) just pisses them off.
• Don’t cut in line. It will piss people off and you don’t know what kind of rage they are capable of.
• Trying to be the line police makes you look more like an asshole than the people cutting in line.

I’m sure I could keep going, but you get the point.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I got the camera! And I got some mediocre deals on clothing. So look for some awesome water shots right here, next June!

I have no problem telling people that we are frugly (pronounced FRUG-LEE). That stands for frugal-ugly. We would rather look plain and have a few extra dollars and more free time than visit fancy salons and spas and wear clothes that cost more than we make in a week.

We didn’t even own an iron until a couple of years ago when I needed to make t-shirts (and honestly compels me to disclaim that we haven’t used it since).

A hair dryer? We don’t own one. My wife doesn’t have a hairdresser. She doesn’t even know any. The only time she gets haircuts are when they are free because she gets enough cut off for locks-of-love.

To us, appearance just isn’t the most important thing. Yet, apparently during a moment of weakness, we decided to enter Mackenzie into Macon’s Little Miss Cherry Blossom Pageant.

The pageant isn’t your average Toddlers-and-Tiaras-type pageant. Only “Sunday” dresses are allowed. The kids are suppose to look like kids, not miniature adults. No excessive make-up, hair-dos, etc. Sounds like the perfect pageant for a frugly family like mine!

So first, we had to find a pink dress — in November. If you walk into any store, you quickly realize that red and magenta are the colors of the season. Finding anything pink was a huge challenge. By the way, I got the $60 dress for less than $20. Score 1 for the fruglies!

Next, it was time for shoes. We wanted white dress shoes, but again, those are impossible to find outside of the Easter season. After visiting at least 25 stores, we finally found a pair (and at a reasonable price). Score 2 for the fruglies!

Now, what to do about the hair? Mackenzie is cute in braids, pigtails, or pretty much any other quick hair style, but this warranted something special. We found a curling iron for $5.00 (Score 3 for the fruglies!). After pleading for help on Facebook, and nearly choking from laughing so hard when a Facebook friend suggested that we call my wife’s (non-existent) hairdresser, Kimberlie’s co-worker and friend volunteered to help with the task. This same person also trades Saturday shifts with Kimberlie and made a few wonderful pink bows for us.

Finally, there were logistical matters. We had a 5K scheduled in Milledgeville (and hour away) just 4 hours before we had to be at the theater. (It’s the end of the year and we are chasing points.) That gave us (all four of us) less than an hour at the house to shower, change, eat lunch, and prep my little princess. But, somehow, we pulled it off.

Mackenzie didn’t win the title, but we weren’t “in it to win it”. She did a wonderful job, however.

I think it all turned out pretty well. What do you think?

I did ALL of the above . . . and PRed by 27 minutes.

When I came to Mercer, I had a one year old.  Now, my children are 4 and 7 and have literally grown up with Mercer.  In some ways, it feels like my whole family is leaving Mercer instead of just me.  My wife knows the majority of my colleagues by name and we are good friends with many.  I hope we can sustain those relationships even without the daily contact at work.  I look forward to coming back to various events.

However, Mercer has a lot of challenges (mostly financial) to resolve.  For me, it’s exhausting hearing promises year after year with no results and watching resources being diverted to other areas.  I know it will be nice to be an outsider again, because from that perspective Mercer looks like a very positive place.  I’m leaving on good terms and I very much hope that they succeed.

I start my new job on Monday.  Unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything about it in this setting.  I just signed a social networking policy document with my new employer preventing me from discussing where I work or what I do on Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. 

Doesn’t that make my new job sound secretive?  I can tell you that perception is not accurate.  I’m certainly no CIA or FBI agent.  If you want to hear about my upcoming transition, feel free to email me or ask me in person.  I plan to completely comply with any policy my new employer throws my way!

A few minutes ago, I submitted my resignation notice.  I’ll be leaving my job at Mercer on March 4 and starting a wonderful new job on March 7.  I’m looking forward to new challenges and greener pastures. 

For now, make sure you come back tomorrow and wish me a Happy 32nd Birthday!

Stay tuned . . .

Run a half-marathon in less than 2 hours.

Reduce my 5K PR to < 23 minutes and my 10K PR to < 50 minutes.

Run 1000 miles in 2010.

Restart and actually complete hundredpushups.com.

Commit to and begin training to run (not run/walk) an entire marathon.

Drop my weight down to 160.

Eat out no more than once per week.

Be completely debt free by Summer 2011.