Shake and Bake.

Today has been a very good day.

My diet went extremely well, I had a tuna sandwich for breakfast/lunch and trout with mashed potato for dinner. In between I had two small bananas and finished the night off with a 'weightwatchers' fromage fraiche. Another couple of weeks of eating like this and gonna end up looking likr mr bean!

I had my boys for a couple of hours and we made fairy cakes topped with icing, dr oetker has a range called 'shake and bake' which even makes me look like a decent cook.

After dropping the kids off I popped up the gym for my janathon session. I managed to run a mile and a half on the treadmill and I then did three miles of cycling. A relaxing chill out in the sauna/jacuzzi/pool comnpleted my day.

A sort of workout.

I didn't have any time to do a run today. Generally I work on saturdays and go straight from work to pick up my boys who stay with me every saturday night.
Today was slightly different in that my firm was opening a new branch today in Woolwich and I was helping out. These things never seem to run smoothly, even when no stone is left unturned something always seems to go wrong such as when a well known sporting personality is booked for the opening and turns up an hour and a half late.
It was necessary to go into Woolwich town centre to pick up some stationary accompannied by my 11 year old niece (I am the bosses brother) and having got all that I thought was needed I then recieved a phonecall on my way back necessitating a secong walk around woolwich town centre.
I think I walked probably nearer a mile during this excursion but am only going to claim half a mile as I don`t want to take the piss!

I`m back.

Its been a long time since my last post but here I am. A lot has happened in the last 18 months or so including running half marathon which I was very pleased with. Ive also started taking my boys to watch Charlton with me and they absolutely love it.
The main reason that Ive decided to update my blog again is because Ive lost my way a little bit in the last couple of months and I am going to try and get some direction back in my life by sharing my thoughts with you lovely people.
My christmas went so so, Its not my favourite time of year but Ive spent a fair amount of time with my children which has been good for me.
My main problem has been that a few things have gone wrong lately and I haven`t handled them too well. Ive been staying in far too much partly due to circumstances and I need to start going out more again.
Hopefully once the new year has been and gone I`ll be able top get beck into a routine and start enjoying my life again

Failure!!

The plan was to get up at 6-30 and do a 2 mile run, I knew late last night that I wasn`t going to make it. So at 7-30 tonight after I have seen my kids I will do my 2 mile run, definately!
I played a pool match last night in the last 16 of the doubles competition, we won 2-0 and it was fairly comfortable. My partner is a very good player which is a bonus, we are in the quarter finals now so the pressure is mounting.
I received a tip to back a darts player called Darryl Gurney in the first roung at odds of around 6/4, he won by 3 sets to 1 and I made a tidy profit.
Ive just been relaxing at work with the music channel on the tv when this Alecia Dixon video came on -http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg8yqQwiCNQ I was in heaven, the girl is seriously beautiful. But then the cleaner came over and wanted a conversation, by the time we`d finished talking the video was we`ll and truly over.
While I`m thinking about it I quite fancy watching this film - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q Slumdog millionaire is a film about an 18 year old indian guy who wins the Indian version of who wants to be a millionaire and is getting great reviews, all I need is an attractive partner in crime.

Leg 2 tonight

I`m going to do leg 2 of week 5 of the c25k tonight. -
(Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) ).
I`m hopeful that I should do this fairly comfortably, then Im meeting up with some of my workmates to watch the final of the pdc world darts championship between Phil Taylor and Raymond Barneveld. Taylor is the favourite but I`ve got a sneeky feeling that Barneveld may sneak it.
The boys stayed over last night and we watched 'Back to the future 3' together which they enjoyed. Its gonna be a quiet afternoon with them over my mums today.

Cake and golf!

The boys stayed with me again this weekend, George went to a party at quasar so I just had Ben for the first couple of hours. The plan was to make a chocolate cake with Ben but I soon realised that I didn`t have a cake tin(I was sure that I did), so we went and got a new one after picking the George up. The boys helped whisk the mixture and the cake turned out really well.
On sunday it was Bens turn to go to a party. So I took George to a short par 3 golf course in Orpington. George took about 13 or 14 shots at the first including about 7 putts and was very frustrated but after that he played pretty well. He had a couple of 5s and a 6. He even his tee shot at the seventh beyond the green (hes usually short partly because some of the holes are too long for him). A good 7 iron form about 50 yards out onto the 8th green capped a good day.

Birthday Boys!

My bithday was on saturday and Georges was yesterday. I had a quiet one with the boys which included an Indian takeaway, watching the England - Kazakhstan game and also a film called Jumper which was pretty good.
I saw the boys after they finished school so I could give George his present which was a nintendo ds and some games, unfortunately hes a Chelsea fan and his mother bought him the kit. I`ve tried to educate him into supporting the mighty Charlton Athletic but to no avail.

Positive Max!

Ive got a touch negative lately, my friend feels that since I`ve stopped concentrating on my fitness I`ve become less positive about myself. So my goal for the next few weeks is to be more positive and happy with it.
I took the boys to the driving range a few days ago and weve started playing this game where we have a chip shot each from near to the green and the nearest to the hole wins. Amazingly Ben put his chip shot sraight into the hole to seal to deal!

Terrific weekend in Camber!

Well, myself and the boys got back from Camber Sands this morning and we all had a really good weekend. The boys really enjoyed the various play areas, swimming pool and the arcades. They also played some crazy golf and we also had a trip to the beach aswell. I was able to keep an eye on them whilst watching the British Open golf on the television in the bar which was won by Padraig Harrington for the second year running. The camp was fairly well organised and Ben was disapointed to be going home. We watched a dvd in our chalet called `Nacho Libre` which was very funny and the boys loved it. All in all it was a terrific weekend and we will hopefully do something similar next year.

Best round this year!

I played golf with my friend Gary today and hit the ball probably aswell as I ever have. I shot a 46 which I was really pleased with but I still left 3 or 4 shots out there. Gary shot a 40 which is five over par but he is a 13 handicapper and very consistent.
Hole..Par..Score..
...1.......4........6...
...2.......4........4..
...3.......3........5..
...4.......4........6..
...5.......3........4..
...6.......5........5..
...7.......4........5..
...8.......4........5..
...9.......4........6..
...........35......46.
I was pretty close to all of the first 7 greens in regulation but because my chipping and putting was poor I didn`t score anything like I should have, so there is still much to work on.
Im going to attempt the 100 push up challenge which is a 6 week plan which hopefully by the end I will be able to manage 100 push ups. I also did another 2 mile this morning which felt a little bit easier than the last one.
I taking the boys to Camber Sands for the weekend which should be fun.

Gremlins too scary?

On saturday I had the boys a little bit earlier than usual and I took them to `Rascals` at Bellingham. `Rascals` has ballpools, climbing frames, slides etc, and kids love it. Its sort of organised chaos. After that we went to the driving range, Ben wasn`t really in the mood for it and he didn`t behave to well so we left early. It was a shame because George wanted to stay longer. Later on we watched a dvd called `Gremlins`, I hadn`t realised how scary this film was and I gave the boys the option of turning it off after about half an hour but they was enjoying it so we watched it all. The boys mother gave me their school reports to read and both boys are doing really well.
On sunday I night I went to Penge ceroc with my friend and had a good night. We stopped for a drink on the way at the `Goose` but still managed to get there on time for the intermediate lesson. There was a nice friendly crowd at Penge as there always is and it was pretty warm but we still had very good night.

Nightmare finish!

I took the boys to the driving range on wednesday. It was raining but they was still happy to go and there wasn`t too many people there. George was struggling with his consistency again after the good form of the last week or so. Ben had a good time and is trying to do the things hes been taught including to keep his left foot on the ground on his backswing. He also has a habit of looking behind to see where his club is on his backswing.
In the evening my friend came round and we a film called `Into the wild` which was quite sad but still a terrific film.
Last night I played nine holes with my friend, he played really well going round in 38 which is only 3 over par. I didn`t strike the ball too well generally but still scored well and had only took 41 coming to the last. Unfortunately I took a 10 at the last to finish with a 51. My friend said that I don`t always complete my body turn through the ball which means that I leave the clubface slightly open. I also don`t follow through when playing bunker shots. So these are things which I have to work on.
Hole..par..score
..1.......4........5...
..2.......4........4...
..3.......3........6..
..4.......4........5..
..5.......3........4..
..6.......5........7..
..7.......4........5..
..8......4.........5..
..9......4.........10.
.........35.......51

Hold-em or Omaha?

Yesterday I left work with the intension of picking the boys up and taking them to the park or the driving range but unfortunately it was raining quite heavily so with the consent of their mother we postponed it until wednesday. I had intended to go up driving range myself after and then go for a run aswell but had to have a bit of a rethink because of the weather. I decided to have a quick game of poker on the internet which I haven`t done for a while. I found a tournament that was starting soon and with an entry fee of only $10. Unfortunately I had mistakenly entered a pot limit omaha tournament (I usually play texas hold-em), I have watched omaha being played on the television before and it`s similar to hold-em (in omaha you start with four hole cards instead of two) but I wasn`t sure which starting hands to play and which to fold and at one point a friend of mine called me on the phone and I totally misread my hand. I think I ended up finishing 17th out of 36 players which is reasonable for a first attempt. I may have another game at some point this week.
The rain subsided after a couple of hours and I went up the driving range after all. I was swinging really well. I then went to Hayes ceroc and had a pretty good night.

Rafa wins classic final.

Ive had a pretty good weekend. My boys stayed over on saturday night as usual and we watched an episode of `Hustle` with some microwave popcorn.

On sunday we popped to the driving range in the morning and George hit his 7 iron over 70 yards on more than one occasion, he was putting his right foot at an unusually wide angle but I didn`t want to tell him as he was playing so well. Ben was hitting the ball fairly well aswell and he behaved a lot better too.

After that I took the boys and one of their cousins to see `Kung-Fu Panda` at Greenwich cinema, it was a pretty good film which they all seemed to enjoy despite the usual trip to the toilet halfway through the film. I then took them to my brothers house to play with their cousins for a few hours before dropping them back at their mothers.

In the evening I had planned to go ceroc wth my friend but because of a rain delay the mens singles final was still going at wimbledon, we watched the end of it in `The Goose` with Rafa Nadal winning a classic final 9-7 in the 5th set.

Happy Gilmore.

I took the boys for a golf lesson on saturday morning which was very enjoyable.
Ben really struggles to concentrate for more than about 2 minutes and the coach had a tough time trying to show him anything. The 2 tips he did give to Ben were to - keep his hands together, and to keep his left foot on the ground on his backswing.
George gained a lot more out of the lesson, the coach showed him how to take a proper backswing, also to keep his hands together aswell(I should have noticeed that myself) and to widen his stance a little bit. George started hitting most of them much straighter and further and he was also maintaining his balance at the end of his backswing.
I worked saturday daytime in Deptford, in the evening the boys stayed over as usual and we watched a film called `Happy Gilmore` which they loved, its a comedy film based around golf.
On sunday I met with my cousin for a few drinks at a pub in Nunhead, hes moving to Ireland next week with his family which is a brave thing to do and I hope everything turns out ok.
Yesterday I took the boys to the range again and George done really well, hes even started to do some chipping. Ben was quite naughty but that is partly because he gets bored quickly and isnt aware of the danger that exists at driving ranges and golf courses.
When I got home I watched the end of the Murray /Gasguet match at wimbledon. Murray won in 5 sets in an absolute classic.

Super sunday.

I had a good day sunday with the boys, we started with the usual McDonalds breakfast (I really need to get them out of that habit) and then we came back home and they played the playstation3 whilst I tidied up. Our neighbour then kindly offered to take the boys to the park with his two boys to play football. After that we drove to my mum and dads for dinner.
In the evening my friend and I popped to the goose for a couple of hours (I had one eye on the Italy - Spain match which Spain won on penalties) before we came back to my house to watch a film called `The killing of John Lennon`, which turned out to be a very good film.
On monday I went to Hayes for ceroc and had a fairly good night, there was some nice people there and a quite a few dances.
Yesterday I got my fingers burned on the tennis, I had £40 on Mahut to beat tursonov at roughly 11/10 but unfortunately tursunov won in 5 sets.

Saturday practise.

I went to the driving range yesterday before work. I hit a lot of wedges to try and help with my distance control for shots around 40/50 yards. I also hit qiute a few woods and most of them were moving left to right as usual, I only skyed one ball. I also done a bit of chipping and some putting. I still need to practise getting out of bunkers. A little boy got hit in the face during the group lesson which they have every saturday morning but after quite a few tears appaently he was fine.
The boys stayed over last and we watched Star wars which Ben really wanted to watch. I also done some microwave popcorn for them which they loved.

Well played maximus!

I played my friend at golf this morning and duly won. I played pretty well and shot a 48(9 holes) which was better than I expected but to be honest Mick didn`t play very well. I hit the ball farly straight and a bit longer than I am used, chipped well but putted poorly. I also took 2 to get out of a bunker(I genuinely have no idea how to get out of a bunker). Being positive again I did have 2 pars and had putts for a couple of others.

Hole yardage par score
1 .............267........ 4...... 5
2 .............272........ 4...... 4
3 .............159.... ....3..... 4
4 .............346........ 4..... 5
5 .............138........ 3..... 5
6 .............465........ 5..... 8
7 .............351........ 4...... 6
8 .............365........ 4..... 7
9 .............289........ 4..... 4
...............................35... 48

As you can see I struggle with the last four holes but that is something which I can improve. My putting can improve for sure and my bunker play really must get better.

I took the boys to the driving range last night and they had a good time. George hit the ball a bit better, theres a target at the yard point which I was trying to get him to hit and he managed to once. Ben is slowly getting out of the habit of standing too close to the ball and he hit some good shots too. We did a little bit of putting after but Ben was getting a bit bored by then so we didn`t stay too long.
I went ceroc last night but I was very tired and struggled to get into it, my friend loved it and she had a great time. Its quite a long drive on a week night so we may not go again for a while.
My bet for Euro 2008 Romania were eliminated last night after losing 2-0 to Holland so its back to the drawing board.

Communion party.

I did a mile run last night and another this morning, its starting to feel a lot easier. I didn`t really push it too much today and it felt good. I may try to push up a mile and a half and beyond next week.
I picked the boys up a bit earlier today and we went to my cousins daughters 1st holy communion party. I had a real good time and met a lot of family that I don`t see too often. My cousin and his family are moving to Ireland in about three weeks time and I wish them the best of luck. My uncle also came over from Ireland for the party and it was good to see him again too.

Wednesday golf.

I took the boys to the driving range on wednesday. Ben behaved a lot better again so he is learning. We did a bit of putting first and Ben did really well, he knocked a couple of putts in from around 4 feet and couldn`t resist telling George that his putting was better George has become a bit inconsistent lately but once he gets through this he will be a lot better.
On the range Ben again performed really well, I was getting him to stand a bit further away from the ball and helping him line up the clubface. He hit some great shots of aroung 50 yards and straight. George struggled with his consistency partly because I feel that he swings the club too fast and loses control. But he has usually been the better of the two but lately Ben has come into his own which is good. They are away this weekend in Hastings with their mother so I won`t see them again untill tuesday. Hopefully they will have a good time.