smooth

Things are going smooth everywhere. Work is going well, my calling is going smoothly in spite of me (I have great assistants and secretary) my exercise is going well, my sweet wife and wonderful children seem to be well and still putting up with me. I feel good. I ran the fat burn on the bike this morning with a target heart rate of 138 and only got in 7.6 miles. I must not have enough fat to get burning longer (sincerely doubt that looking down as I am right now) or my heart rate is doing better and it takes longer to get up to where it, my heart rate, needs to be. I feel so good after riding. I have not even really had the desire to not ride since I started. Well, okay, when I first started it was harder to get on the bike but now it is part of my morning routine and I enjoy a good sweat to start the day. I have sales meeting this morning so I have to make this short and get showered but I still have to cool off. I'm not dripping profusely but there is some leakage if you know what I mean. I should finish the Book of Mormon again this weekend. Twice already this year. I enjoy the time in the car so much more now that I am listening to it and being productive. Granted it's not the same as reading it but as I listen to it, and situations come up, I recall what I have heard and it helps me with answers. Not THAT is smooth!

Recovered

I have recovered sufficiently from my all-nighter Monday into Tuesday. In fact, I had a hard time getting to sleep last night because I wasn't really tired. Of course, after I got home from work yesterday, I went on the nod for about 10 minutes and that took the edge away from my tiredness. Anyway, it was a good day yesterday. Work went well, I helped my newest sales guy close a deal yesterday! He also delivered a burnisher to a school, showing them the time savings and more importantly the labor savings. Question is as always when we become more effecient and mechanized in some things, "What are you going to do with the extra time you have?", and that always gets the people thinking. We had a couple of good visits last night as a group leadership and we were all able to go. My 2nd assistant that has had health issues was well enough to go with us. It was a great evening. I love those with whom I serve. We also had home teachers last night. I like them as well. The junior companion is quite a BYU (ugh) fan and I like to tease him about that being the "U" Man that I am. Good times! Had a good ride this morning. Ride in the Park, level 16, 8.1 miles. I am going to have to get in a quick ride tomorrow because I have sales meeting up in Roy and I need to get up there early to set up. My wife found her passport for which she had been desperately looking for over a month. She has looked and looked and prayed and yesterday, she was like Nephi, being led beforehand without knowing what she was doing, and she found it in a place that I had already looked: in my computer case. The rule, as always is: Dad is an..... Anyway I and the passport are recovered!

Skipped

I skipped yesterday for a very good reason: I was working until 4:30am. I just can't pull all-nighters like I once could I got to bed about 4:30-4:45 and then I woke up at 7:30 to take my only child at home to school (late start, we didn't have to be there until 8:15) so I was able to shower before taking her, I had meetings at work at 9:30 and at 11:30 and I made it home by about 1:30pm yesterday, took a 2.5 hour nap and was back on schedule and here I am once again. Just a warning to anyone reading this: DO NOT GET OLD (although it is better than the alternative, if you know what I mean). My spirit is indeed willing to do things I once did but the flesh, especially mine, is all too weak. Anyway things are going well at work. Things are going well at home. Things are going well with the family. Things are going well all around, not to mean that "all is well in Zion" we still have to do the things that are making things well, i,e., reading scriptures, saying prayers, obeying the commandments, not being lax in our commitment to our Savior and if we do that, things will remain "well" for us and when challenges come our way, which they will, we are/will be, sufficiently grounded in our testimonies to recognize the challenges for what they are: opportunities for growth and to learn. Stay strong. Interesting thing happened to me yesterday, I felt guilty for not riding the bike in the morning and doing my sit-ups Monday night. Good news on the sit-up front: I got to my goal last night of 50! Yay me! I got 25 minutes this morning on the bike, level 14 on Plateau. New record in mileage for me also in 25 minutes: 8.4 miles. I am glistening not dripping even as I write this now. I am recovering quicker. It is good but I do not wan to say that I have skipped my exercises again.

Getting Better

I am getting in better shape. How can I tell? I ran a program today that I haven't been able to run start to finish and was able to do it fairly easily. Sure I got a little winded but it seemed easier to push through this time. No stopping mid-cycle to just pedal on no level. I ran the Rolling Program on level 13 for 25.00 minutes and got in 8.2 miles. Feel good to be getting better. I had a wonderful week end. My nephew received his mission call to Buenos Aires Norte Argentina. He leaves in just 5 weeks on March 31! I can't believe how fast that is. Another young man in our ward (church group like a parish) is going to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (that is kind of an oxymoron being that Democratic and Congo are in the same title/name) and he doesn't leave until June 16. My youngest son was there and he got excited for his cousin and he is excited to submit his paperwork for his mission. My nephew actually received the call on Wednesday but waited until Saturday so his family could be there with him. I don't know if I could have/would have done that or not. Well, I know I didn't. I was up at Ricks College when I got my call, I opened it with my friends when I got it and then I called my mom. She started to cry. I can only remember her crying 2 other times. She is not one prone to public displays of emotion but I know that touched her. She is a bit more emotive now but I always remember her being strong and stoic. She is a wonderful lady. My recovery time is lessening as well. I cool off quicker. In fact, after about 10 minutes here, I am about done sweating/dripping when it would take me about 1/2 an hour before. See, I am getting better (at least as far as my physical fitness) and I am constantly striving to have my spiritual side also to be getting better.

Easy

I had an easy ride this morning. What once (about a month ago) was difficult this morning was far too easy. I did the program, "A Ride in the Park" on level 14 for 23 minutes (I had already done 2 on another program that I wasn't in the mood for) so I just said, "let me do this and see how it does" and so I did. My miles were all right but my heart rate never got over 127. I like to get up to 150-152 as a max and hold it at right around 140-145 for a distance so I get a good cardio. Didn't do it. I guess I might be getting in better shape. I sweat all right but my cool down is almost done. (I write this as I am cooling down and usually I am dripping even after I am finished and now I am just "glistening" and far from dripping. (too much information, I know but that is how I gague my workouts)) I feel good about my progress. Work is going well, it is not easy but it is fun and it stretches me. I have an early morning meeting this morning up at Primary Children's Hospital with one of my reps. He has been working on that one for a while. It's good to see things come to fruition. I have found in sales, or life for that matter, that if we only do 2 things, we are successful: Listen and follow up. See?, easy!

Cramped

I have been cramped for time this week. It's always that way, it seems, when you take a day off of work. It's almost easier to take a week or two and then I feel like I don't have to cram 5 days of work into 4. That is my situation this week. I took Monday off and have been running ever since to catch up. It's good, I like to be busy but I feel like I am half a step behind or off if that makes sense. I got my car fixed yesterday. It seems that some water got into the coils and had provided an outlet for the spark from the plugs rather than going where the spark/electricity should. Fixed and running great. I have to be up at Wasatch School District this morning for a huge demo for one of our new machines. I am also supposed to be helping the Interact Club with dictionary stickering for the 3rd graders. I know which one I am going to have to miss. I have to get someone to pick up the dictionaries today. I have meetings tomorrow all over the valley. It's a good time at work. I do have 3 of my guys that are having an absolutely challenging month for them. I don't know what is going on. It's frustrating but I've got to help them succeed. Well, Rotary starts soon and I still have to cool off from my ride. I do love to sweat. I am glad that I am taking and making the time to exercie. That I will not permit to be cramped!

Vices

All of you know I have a few vices: Ice cream (which I am currently trying to dominate by not having, well, not much at least, I don't think I've had any since Sunday and before that it had been a couple of weeks), reading, DVD's and eating out at good restaurants, or any halfway decent place for that matter. Anyway, I indulged one of my vices last night: reading. It seems I can't put down a book if I only have like 100 pages or so to go. I can finish this quick is my thought, and, I can, but not quite as quickly as I think or should. I was reading a book by James Patterson. His chapters are short and it seems as if the books fly by, which they do, but I always think I can be faster than I actually am. I try to get to bed by 11 so I can get up and exercise on the bike. Well, the book sucked me in and I was up until 12:30 which in turn put me up late this morning. I didn't make it out of bed until 5:46, hence my later post. For those of you wondering: Yes, I did get my ride in this morning but it was a tougher ride because I am missing about 1 and a half hours of sleep. I hope I'm not dragging today. Anyway, I don't think my vices are bad, but they are vices nonetheless and I need to overcome them and show dominion over them. I must overcome the flesh and give myself more fully over to the Spirit. I can't do that if I still capitulate to my vices.