MIA/Update

I apologize to the fine members of this board and to Coach and Lee for my absence from contributing lately. Will give you a brief update.

I have always been busy. Currently, I am married with six children. I put in 50-55 hours a week at a family Chiropractic clinic. In addition, I do a tremendous amount of writing, lecturing and consulting which is at least another 15-20 hours a week. Did I mention we home school most of our children? Add in some more hours there-ok, my wife handles most of that, but I do my part as well. Then there is the yard and house to keep up with, church activities, children's sports activities, community and civic duties, workouts, and devotional time. About 18 months ago, my schedule got even busier. My wife has a past health condition that has been resolved and my youngest son was born with a club foot, that has been surgically corrected. Both of these conditions prevent us from getting any type of private health coverage. We had health insurance through her work, but when had the twins were born two and a half years ago and the company was sold. She also wanted to stay at home and raise the kids and start a home school. The money was not the issue, it was the health insurance. We were able to buy some time by using our COBRA benefits. We prayed for a solution and I made a commitment to do whatever was necessary to get coverage for my family, even if it made changing jobs. I love my job, but my family was more important. I believe that answers to prayer rarely come "gift-wrapped" meaning that usually the answer is not an instant solution, but rather an oppurtunity or an open door. We talked with numerous insurance agents and spent a lot of time attempting to purchase private coverage to no avail. With less than 90 days left on our COBRA, I knew our time was running out and something had to be done. I get up early each day and drive the 45 minute to the clinic before traffic gets too heavy and then I stop at a little Starbucks near the clinic and spend an hour in the cafe each day. I have coffee, read, plan my day, so any writing projects, etc, its a part of my day that I really enjoy. One morning I sitting there, minding my own business and one of the employees was out in the cafe doing some cleaning and we got to talking and out of the blue she told me that they were building a new Starbucks just a few miles from my home and then she also told me ( out of the blue) that part time employees at Starbucks were eligible for full health benefits. I did not want to take a part-time job at Starbucks, but I knew this was the answer I had been seeking. Five minutes later the manager of soon to be opening store walked in to pick up some admin supplies. I was introduced, an interview was set up and I was hired within 24 hours. I had to work two months and acrue a specific number of hours in order for the health benefits to begin. I acured the requsite number of hours less than 36 hours before our COBRA benefits were to expire. God is Good! So, in addition to my previous schedule, I work 20-25 hours a week as a Barista and have for the past 18 months. I work mostly on weekends, but often have to work 3-4 nights a week. This means, I get home at 12:30-1:am and get up at 5 or 5:15am. This has been the busiest year of my life and it has also been one of the most productive. Two months ago, I knew I had to make a change, so I registered for a on-line class in Accident, Health and Life Insurance. I spent every single minute studying and ended up passing the class witha 94 average. Two weeks later I took the state boards and scored the highest grade that the testing facility had ever seen. I have two current job offers with national companies and will be making a decision sometime this month. This will mean walking away from both jobs and starting all over. so there is a certain amount of fear and apprehension in this decision.

It will be nice to get back to a somewhat normal schedule. I have continued to lift throughout this entire time and have even made gains. What has lapsed is my overall conditioning. Bringing this back up is a huge part of my 2007 goals. I plan on using the dragging sled, doing some high reps kettlebell/dumbell type swings and doing some obstacle course/sprint type work in the backyard ( along with my kids)

happy new year all

keith