in the spirit of the new year, i believe that it is customary to rant about how last year sucked and the new year is going to be 100x better. well, last year wasn’t the greatest, but i really can’t complain. looking back at posts from the last year (and realizing the many things i didn’t post about), it was a fun time with Joseph. we were able to take some family trips to various ‘kid friendly’ places – the Como Zoo, Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater, the Children’s Museum (twice)… and still so many other things we weren’t able to do – something to look forward to in 2010.

I wouldn’t be able to do these family trips without the other member of my family, my wife. she is an amazing person who continues to impress me with her work ethic and drive to better this family. she works two jobs, is going to grad school, keeps the house in near immaculate condition and still finds time to pamper both Joseph and me on a regular basis (more Joseph, but i get mine too

And so here we are in 2010

time, being the perpetual bitch she is, has forced us into the new year – and this only 365 days since the last new year which, at this point, seems so long ago. i don’t think i’ve ever really made a new years resolutions – the term is pretty lame anyway. and i know i haven’t posted about goals and/or plans for the upcoming year, so here’s my first attempt at putting something down in print on the web – which might actually compel me to make some life changing, er, changes. in no particular order:

1. there’s no use in denying it anymore, i’ve gained unnecessary weight. i currently weigh 243lbs. by far the most i’ve ever weighed in my life. in the upcoming year, i plan on losing at least 30lbs. and how will this be accomplished?
   • i will increase my workouts in intensity and in occurrence –  i started the 100 push up challenge again this year (day four, holla!) and i will be working out in the mornings at the HS – doing workouts from CrossFit and/or CrossFit Football and the BFS strength program.
   • i will modify my diet – this i still haven’t figured out yet. i know my dietary habits are horrible, what can i say, i like to eat. i will be obtaining a diet modification plan from a friend and will try that out (provided it’s not a ‘buy our stuff and you’ll get ripped’ kind of scheme). i will decrease the percentage of meat i eat in a meal as i do eat a lot of meat products and sometimes, just meat. i also need to boost the metabolism by decreasing the amount i eat in a sitting but eating more often.
2. i plan on spending more time on my website
   • i’ve already begun a new design (v4.0) of TDotCom, which i think is overdue
   • i would like to post at least weekly
   • i’m actually going to complete the rest of the site (about, football, projects) instead of just filler or ‘coming soon’ text
3. i will be more fiscally responsible. funds are tight – as they are across most of the US – and doesn’t sound like things are going to get better anytime soon. we’d like to get started on the savings for building our house on the land we purchased earlier this year and so some things are going to have to change
   • i’ve been pretty good with not eating out for lunches as of late, restricting my outings to once or twice a week, but we can do better – once every two weeks max – will be the new modification
   • if i can find a part-time job in the evenings that’s not a total waste of time, i will take on that additional task – anyone got anything for me?
   • i need to keep better tabs on our finances – i’ve left much to chance and placed the burden of managing everything on the shoulders of the wife. i plan on putting some time into keeping quicken up to date
4. be a better daddy and husband – pretty self explanatory, really. Joseph is a blast and his toys are getting more and more fun, so that won’t be too hard of a goal. but i do need to show my appreciation to Katie, for all of her hard work. she is an amazing woman and i am very lucky and blessed to be her man.

there are some fairly lofty goals in this list – some that i don’t have all the details on how to accomplish them – or even fully thought them out – but they’re out there in the blogosphere, on the internets and while they’re not going to be read by many, i’m hoping that by posting this i’ll be able to accomplish these goals.

before those two championships, my dad had played in over 30 state tournaments for touch football and had never won the class A – he’d been on a couple teams that had won class B and C, but never class A. i come into the picture and my first year, we win the state class A championship in a perfect tournament. we won first two games on saturday and then two games on sunday – we collect our hardware and celebrate our victories. it was during that celebration my dad gave me and another guy (new to the team and touch football scene) a bunch of crap. “it took me 25 years to win my first state championship, and you guys come in and win in your first year!” he joked.

it was good times, i’ve played in the state tournament ever year since 2002 (simple math will tell you that’s 8). we won it all the first 5 years i played; in fact, i hadn’t lost a game in the tournament in those first 5 years. we won two on saturday, won two on sunday, collected our hardware and went to celebrate! we had what some might call a dynasty in the world of touch football in the state of minnesota.

the team had won a national touch championship in 2001 as well (when i was still in college). and in 2002 we went to florida and tried to play in a national flag tournament. having no ranking points (because we had never played a down of flag), we were the lowest seeded team going in and got spanked first game by a powerhouse and obviously highly ranked squad. we took those lumps, learned from the beating and came back the next day to win 5 games before losing to another really good team – we finished 5th in the tournament. not too bad for a “bunch of guys from minnesota that don’t know how to play football” as we were called by a team that we beat.

in 2006, one of the teams complained and requested that the rules be changed because we had won so many times. by losing our first game in 7 years, we ended up winning a pseudo championship given that year (it was a convoluted bunch of crap that turned a double elimination tournament into a joke). in 2007, we placed 2nd… losing in the championship game. last year, we again lost in the championship game.

i thought that was the end. the team, while picking up an occasional player every year, was still the same group of guys for the most part and they’re getting on in years. our quarterback and my dad are both well over 50 years old. then, in the latter part of this summer… my dad calls me up and says, we’re playing again – one last time. a couple guys who hadn’t played in a couple years said they were going to come back and play one more year. so i was in (with the permission of the wife, of course).

2009 State Touch Football Tournament – only 5 teams signed up. two were fairly unknown and two we knew very well. game one: we win in style 26-6. game two: we win in style: 34-6. and sunday we could play only one game before we collect our hardware and celebrate! we play the team we beat the first game. a team i LOVE to beat with quarterback who i LOVE to sack. and we pull it out winning 21-20. we’re back on top baby!

and i think this is where the story ends. while i’d love to keep playing, i can’t justify driving an hour on a tuesday night (or an hour and half on a thursday night) to play one game. especially when we’re saving up to build a house in a year or two. plus, i think our team is going to be missing some key components, my dad and our qb say they’re done (like they have the last 3 or 4 years)… i love playing and the guys on our team are great guys, which makes the wins and championships so much more fun. at this point in time, we’re done. come next july/august… well, we’ll see.

there are a couple decent photos in there!