And so it begins!

Day 17 - The last day in Mass!

So this is the very last day here in the state of Massachusetts. I have a whole new experience down the road! It's hard to believe that I am actually going to be living in the southwest! As strange as it is it also feel so right and I am excited!

Since the last blog post, we have been sort of just waiting to go. A few things have happened since the last post however. Jamie's Dad got pneumonia, not a good thing. I guess seeing as my Dad finally got over his bout of the same it was time to hit the other side of the family. He is still in the hospital but is doing better. Hope he gets better soon.

We had the chance to say goodbye to some of our really good friends from the New England Garrison of the 501st Legion on Saturday. We have spent the better part of the last four years making a ton of great memories and even better friends. Over the years there has been parties and all sorts of mayhem that will be missed. I have very few friends that I call brothers but there are those who are far more than deserving of such a title and these guys are definitely some of my best buds! Stay crazy guys and I hope to again spend time at the infamous fire based conversations again!

Today I picked up the trailer from U-Haul and that was quite the experience. I ended up with a 5'X8' trailer which simply sucked. It was taller and wider than the smaller 4'X8' and created huge drag and the poor little CRV had trouble handling it. I was able to bring it to another U-Haul dealer in Leominster and get it changed over and it seems much better now.

We also had the chance to spend one last special occasion with a great friend tonight. Diane is one of the best folks I know, along with her husband Kevin. They are and will always be truly part of our family. Jamie had the unusual opportunity to pose with Edward and Diane in a not so rare appearance in Diane's shop.

We have just about everything loaded up and are just trying to finish the last load of laundry in the stupid hotel facility that takes forever to dry clothes. We got a real early morning and it would be great to get some sleep seeing as we have a long drive ahead!

Blog posts will be less frequent but Ill try and get on when I can! For now...it's off to Maryland in the morning for 4 days of tent camping and some time in D.C.

Can we please get out of orbit?

DAY 12 - Wow, this is quite a challenge!

So since the last entry we've been hanging tight at the Sturbridge Host Hotel, biding our time till we leave Massachusetts.

We had the chance to take the two little ones to OSV (Old Sturbridge Village). Falicia was with her father so was not with us. It was a decent trip and we chose to ride the river ride as well as hit the stage coach ride through town, both a first for me, even though I've been many times. I was a bit disappointed with the place as it has lost a lot of it's charm with the bad economy. Very few actors and role players, most being substituted for simple descriptive signs. The kids seemed to enjoy it and it was a nice day out overall.

I also had a chance to take a night out with some former coworkers. Had a nice night out and even though I tried, they refused to allow me to pay my way. It was nice to see that some of the people I worked with for 12 years actual cared enough to hang out with me once before I left. I was not anticipating much of a show but the ones who did come, were really the only ones that mattered anyway.

Jamie and I also spent a night at my oldest and dearest friend Paul's house. We have been friends since we were nine and it will be one of the toughest things to get passed, not being able to hang with him. We have had a lot of time apart in our adult years, as we live a good distance from each other and both have complicated and busy lives, but the option was always there.

I've learned that there is very few things that make me concerned about the move, as I will miss very little about this state.

On Sunday, it was my boy, Jayden's, 4th birthday and we spent the day at Jamie's parents house celebrating. It was a good time, with burgers and dogs as well as cake and ice cream, always a crowd pleaser. Of course just more additions to my lack of being able to stay nutritionally focused thus far. The serious lack of choices with food and the inability to cook normally is killing my digestive system and my gut has been a total disaster. I've only had the chance to workout a few times since the trip, once being at Sim's up the street from the hotel which gave me a decent resistance workout.

Well either way, we've got another 5 days in this hotel and then we are off...it may be tougher once that happens to make much blog updates unless we can find a wifi somewhere as my iphone is doubtful with this blog...

. . . and so ends another day waiting for lift off!

DAY 4 - Is mission control on board?

So, another day in the hotel, but we managed to find a way to get ourselves moved into a much better room. Same cost! This room has a half wall divider between our king size bed and the pull out sofa bed in the other room. During the day it seems much more home-like.

We didn't do too much today other than move our stuff. We did try and get Jamie's ring re-sized as it ended up being too small, but Kay's said they wouldn't have it ready until the 4th of June! We now will have to wait till we get to Tucson the get it fixed so she can wear it. I was a bit bummed about that.

The only real excitement was our attempt at eating at Friendly's. We should know better to go for dinner there as they always mess up everything. This time was no exception as they totally botched the orders. We ended up speaking to the manager and walked out basically. He said the food that was eaten was on the house which was good because i never got mine and Jamie's chicken was raw! At least the kids had their burgers and such with no issues. We ended up hitting the Clam Box in Brookfield so the kids could get their promised ice cream and I was able to have some baked haddock, shrimp and scallops.

I missed getting in a workout today thanks to the moving of the rooms and such but I plan to get into more stuff now that there is more room.

Jamie and I got to go out and hang by the lake after the kids were sleeping and drink our bottle of Asti while we unsuccessfully tossed a few fishing line in the lake. Like they say, they call it fishing for a reason, if you caught fish every time you casted, they would call it catching instead!

Keep the Clock Ticking!

DAY 3 of the infamous Stage 1

So...Here we are on the daily blog of our trip to the wondrous state of Arizona! A few things to point out that happened over the past week that I neglected to mention.

One . . . I managed to slam my right index finger in the door of my Mustang which still hurts like the dickens. My nail is all black and blue and i will probably lose the nail in the long run. It was pretty bad, ya know, blood spurting everywhere and all.

Two . . . we found out that our dog, Jango is far from the tough badass he thought he was. He seems to like the ladies no problem as he mingles with all the female patrons at the hotel, but when it comes to other men roaming around he isn't so nice. He likes to grumble under his breath acting all tough. The other night he was strutting his toughness at the local garbage dude. The kid wasn't deterred by the mumbles of our dog and came over to say hello. When he said hi to the dog, Jango jumped back in fright and actually shit himself! lol it was just too funny. Apparently he had the crap scared right out of him. Great watchdog.

So with that out of the way, I should mention that today I decided it was time to hit a workout and get back into some sort of fitness if at all possible before I get too huge and fat. I only brought along so many items of closes and I'd like to be able to fit in them throughout the trip. I popped in a new Tony Horton One on One DVD in the hotel room and blasted that out. One on One on One leg for legs...it was a killer! I even pushed out about 60 pushups and about 80 various ab exercises.

Later, we went out for supplies and for a little subway lunch and ended up hitting the mall in Auburn as well. I decided I needed a pair of converse all stars. Funny thing...i remember my mother buying me these when I was a kid much to my disappointment as they were totally not cool. Like my taste in food, so changes other things around me and now I thing they look pretty sweet. lol

While at the mall I picked up a little surprise for Jamie. It is our ten year wedding anniversary tomorrow and she had been talking about wanting new wedding bands for our tenth, so I secretly picked them up.

We also had a great night out at the Castle Restaurant in Leicester. We have made a sort of tradition of hitting this place for our wedding anniversaries and knowing we were heading out of the area, I made a reservation to go tonight. They are closed Mondays so we celebrated a day early. I gave her the rings and she was pretty pumped about those. It almost felt like it did when I surprised her with her engagement ring so many years ago.

Well its off to bed. Another day tomorrow!

I Call It Stage 1!

DAY 2 - Ignition is GO!!!

So...the countdown is in effect for stage 1. Yes I call it stage 1..ya know? Like the rocket? So anyway, stage 1 is the hotel stay, the holding pattern, the what the hell am I still waiting in Massachusetts for? Oh yeah, we have a couple of people who apparently are going to miss us enough to want to have farewell parties for us and they are all scheduled for the next couple weeks! YIKES!

So here we sit . . . at the Sturbridge Host Hotel, in a holding pattern, stage 1.

Today was the second full day, tonight being the third night of sleeping here. It has been interesting to say the least. This morning I managed a pancake breakfast in the room for the kids and the wifey. Mixing the pancake batter in a small bowl, water supplied from the bathroom sink...lol. I brought along my favorite griddle so it was a pretty easy task. For me? Pancakes? Not today. I decided it is time to keep things wired tight for my nutrition...the best I can anyway! 3 Eggs, a piece of wheat toast and a glass of OJ for me. Yeah I said toast. I plugged in the toaster from home! Rock on!

The day today consisted of basically, laundry, shopping for a few extra things like bread and coffee mate, and then a little swimming in the indoor pool. Before all that I hung outside with Jacklyn and Jayden watching them ride their bikes outside around the miniture golf area. So, when I hit the pool with the family, I decided seeing as I have had no exercise that a bunch of overhand laps were in order. That felt good...nothing better than a little cardio. I also picked up some cheap bands from Walmart to at least get some resistance road training.

After cooking some decent home cooked stuff in the microwave we kept for the trip...can't rough it too much, afterall, Jamie and I took the kiddos out behind the hotel for a little fishing. Jamie caught the only trout...and Jayden decided to follow his mother inside, unbeknownst to me. When Jamie came out she was asking where he was and I said...right there. Apparently he was not and we almost had heart attacks when we couldn't find him right away. All is good as he was located within seconds that seemed like forever. Nothing worse than the thought he fell in the dang lake from the shore when my back was turned for a second. UGH!

So day 2 is done. 15 days left to go in stage 1. I can't wait to hit the road! Today is our first day of technically being Arizona Residents as well. Our lease begins today! So I guess I am now officially just visiting Massachusetts as an Arizona resident!

The Move is in Full Swing

DAY 1 . . . sorta

So today is sorta day one of the big move of J-Squared Fitness and family to Tucson, AZ! I say this is day one, but we have been underway for awhile now! Today marked the real beginning as the home in Massachusetts was sold and closed today. It is officially no longer my problem! That being said, this is a technical day one.

I will try and hit a blog comment each day to track this trip...good and bad! Right now I am sitting on a bed in Sturbridge, MA at the Host Hotel, my new home for the next 17 days! Close quarters and a pile of stuff. A lot more stuff than I thought we would have, thus we will now need to get a UHaul trailer and have a tow hitch installed on Jamie's CRV.

In other news, my eldest son, Zack, aged 19 years, has decided to come with us and take up residence in Tucson as well. This change required us to hook him up with an apartment, and also change the plan from trucking down my Mustang to having to drive it...blah...but it's all good. We were able to cosign for him and he has a nice one bedroom in a real nice condo community for a real decent price. He will definitely need to get hoping on a job when he gets there!

So today, after finding out the house closed and we were able to take a deep breath, I celebrated with a purchase of a new digital SLR camera...something I had hoped to get to take some nice shots along the way...keep an eye out for some of those on subsequent blog posts! I got a Nikon D5000 with both a 18-55 lens and a 70-200, so I should be styling!

On the workout front...the past few days have been nill, and Im still adjusting my OCD to compensate for all the changes. Finally got in a Shakeology today...tomorrow I plan to find the gym in this palce and finally get a workout in before I gain 30 pounds on this venture!

Stay tuned for more!