Just Write

I’m using this space to promote my sister Christy, a Chicago resident and extremely talented jazz musician.  The following video was taken at the Hearland Cafe.  Needless to say I’m very proud of my sister.  The guitarist, by the way, is Christy’s boyfriend Casey.

To see where she’s playing next, check out her website: www.christybennett.com

Casey’s website is: www.caseynielsen.com

You can check out the Bennett Nielsen Duo on MySpace at: myspace.com/bennettnielsenduo

Yes, I realize that my left foot looks weird. Thank you ankle surgery.

This post falls under the category of strictly selfish.  While I can use the excuse that everyone uses – we’ve been busy – the time for that nonsense to stop is now.  When I had ankle surgery in January of this year, I weighed about 185 pounds.  That’s a little higher than what I would prefer, especially being as active as we are.  Because I was forced into a sedentary lifestyle for a couple of months, I put on a few extra pounds. Because I neglected the concept of portion control, I put on a few more.

As of yesterday, I’m tipping the scales at 194.6 (see photo above for proof).  It’s not the heaviest I’ve ever been (225 junior year of high school), but it’s 20 pounds over my preferred weight and way too close to 200 pounds.

The intent of this post is to serve as an extra motivator.  I say extra because being around for Amy and Baby B and able to do everything that’s needed of me as a husband and father is the true motivation.  This is merely part of how I plan to track my progress.  Thanks to our trusty cameras, the DailyBurn website and its iPhone-ready counterpart, the iMapMyRun and iMapMyRide iPhone apps and our Tanita scale, I’ll be able to track my weight loss, workouts, and nutrition facts.  Numerous softball teams, yard work, and (of course) our membership at Powerhouse Gym should help with the exercise.

Long story short, I can only blame myself if I’m not successful.  If you’re curious as to how I’m progressing, I’ve created a page on our site to act as a constant reminder of what I’m working to accomplish.  It’s also a one-stop metrics page.  Why?  Because, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

Once I get the widgets working properly, that page will contain a readout of everything I’m currently tabulating.  There will be pictures somewhere, but probably only for private use.  I’m not a fan of sharing photographic evidence of my increased girth to anyone and everyone that wants to view it via the web.

Now it’s time to shed some pounds.

Today is what we will now refer to as Death to the Deck Day, or D2D-Day for short.  Amy and I mentioned to her brothers a few weeks ago that we were considering tearing down our deck because we didn’t feel it was safely constructed.  The middle of last week, I was texting my brother-in-law Ryan when I received the following text message:

Since it had been nearly three weeks since Amy and I mentioned tearing down our deck, we exchanged a few more messages to make sure I understood what he was getting at.  Fast forward a few days to the hear and now, and today did become D2D-Day.

Amy and I never really felt safe on the deck, mostly because it wasn’t actually affixed to the house in any way, and was essentially resting on small concrete blocks, though not affixed to those either.  Though we had some great times on the deck, we decided it was in our best interest to tear it down and start anew.  We’ll start the process of obtaining bids for a porch this week, and will now move forward telling stories of the day the deck died.

We once had great times on the rickety deck.

In one final homage to the deck that passed away today, here’s a 30-second video of its near-final resting place:

Check out our gallery for more pictures of the day the deck became but a memory.