OK, so as it turns out, maybe yesterday wasn't the worst birthday I've ever had. Or maybe it still was, but it wasn't as bad as it started out.

You see, late yesterday afternoon, I got a special birthday present. I received MVP status from Microsoft for my work in the small business community. An MVP is a Microsoft designation for a Most Valuable Professional, a non-Microsoft employee who has demonstrated expertise in one or more Microsoft product lines and a commitment to participate in online and offline communities sharing their expertise with other Microsoft customers. There are currently around 40 MVPs worldwide for the Microsoft Small Business Server product, an elite group to say the least.

So, yeah, it wasn't the worst day after all. And today has certainly been better...

Today is my birthday, and I think this is going down as the worst birthday I've ever had in my 29+ years on this planet. To wit:

1. Getting up at 4:45am to get to the Fitness Boot Camp by 5:30am.
   
2. Finding that the bathroom doors at the boot camp facility are locked when I'm having an urgent digestive issue.
   
3. Muscle pain from the workout (this is not unexpected, and in fact given any other day I would welcome it because I know that only good things can happen as a result, but let's face it: pain is pain is pain and not fun to endure).
   
4. Crawling into a hot bath after the workout only to find that the cat, who just jumped up on the side of the tub, has matted butt hair and smelly, sticky mess that she is dragging around the house, and has to be cleaned up immediately, then not getting to finish the bath.
   
5. Having to wait 30 minutes in line at the post office to send a notice of bad news via certified mail.
   
6. Plugging my PocketPC Phone into the car power adapter to charge while I'm driving, only to have the power adapter do a hard reset on the device (fortunately, I had just pulled it off the USB cradle where it does a full backup every time it connects) and while travelling, I cannot get it to resync with my mail server.
   
7. Confronting both my health insurance carrier and the hospital where I had the gall bladder surgery about the obvious problem in billing (I'm somehow responsible for over 50% of the total bill, $18,000, instead of the 20% decreed by my plan terms) and having both parties agreee that yeah, it sucks, but that's the way it is so pay up.
   
8. Contacting a state agency to file complaints against both the hospital and the insurance company, only to be told that the toll-free number I dialed (picked up from the web site) cannot be used from my calling area. Then the server goes down so I can't find a direct-dial phone number.

And it's not even 3pm...

Just got in from the second workout, and I'm still feeling pretty good, even if I am still sore. The muscles that hurt yesterday don't really hurt any more, but I'm not sure if that's because I worked them out again and got the kinks out, or if it's because I found so many new muscles that hurt so much more.

Today's workout went like this:

• leave before workout starts because they have no bathrooms open [fortunately, Burger King is right down the street]
  
• catch the last 50m of the 400m warm-up run
  
• leg steps - 2 minutes [on a really, really tall bleacher seat]
  
• skull crushers - 2 minutes
  
• potty squats - 2 minutes [no, that's what they really called them this morning]
  
• walking lunches 30 yds, run back, 30 yards, run back
  
• 10 push-ups
  
• partner medicine ball toss - 2 minutes [only thing to note here is the side-stepping action]
  
• tricep curls - 2 minutes
  
• ski hop - 2 minutes [more side-stepping, my ankles are getting sore]
  
• 40-yard sidestep right, 15 yard sprint, 40-yard sidestep left, 15 yard sprint; repeat [notice the side steps? i couldn't finish this due to ankle pain]
  
• 10 push-ups
  
• jacknifes - 2 minutes [why are the easy-looking ones almost always the hardest?]
  
• shoulder press - 2 minutes
  
• some sort of awful leg exercise that really caused pain - 2 minutes
  
• kangaroo relay - 400m
  
• 25 leg lifts
  

We had to boogie out of there because Anna has her first day back at school with students today, so no being late for her.

Two down, 13 to go (in this session - there will be more).

I took Anna to see the TWU Lady Pioneers basketball team beat up on Incarnate Word tonight. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy women's college basketball, and I got a special treat tonight: the new head coach for TWU is a former Lady Raider who I got to see play several times when visiting my folks in Lubbock a few years back. I also called Mom and let her know that Rene Hanebutt was back involved with collegiate basketball. Since my folks have been season ticket holders to Lady Raiders basketball for the last 12 years (or so) and have at least one game ball signed by Rene, Mom was pretty excited with the news.

Amazingly, I can still move my fingers. That's about the area of my body that still works as expected.

Went through the first boot camp session this morning. Here's what I went through, as best as I can recall given my condition:

• shoulder press with free weights - 2 minutes
  
• jumprope - 2 minutes [i suck at jumprope, always have, it's embarassing]
  
• tricep curl with free weights - 2 minutes
  
• ran a 440m lap around the track
  
• 10 push-ups
  
• squats with free weights - 2 minutes [i have no idea what this is actually called, but they yelled at you if you didn't stick your butt way out [nah, they didn't really yell, but you get the idea]]
  
• suicide - 2 minutes [run back and forth from a starting point to 3 cones placed increasing distances from the starting point - run to first cone and back; run to second cone and back; run to last cone and back; repeat]
  
• lunges with free weights- 2 minutes
  
• tires - 2 minutes [actually, it was a ladder laid flat on the ground, but you still had to 'high step' through the ladder rungs]
  
• shadow boxing - 2 minutes [hold weights, punch an imaginary opponent with the weights - guess who I was punching]
  
• bleachers, 3 sets
  
• 10 push-ups
  
• sit-up station - 2 minutes [they had this evil 10-pound ball that you hold over your head as you're doing the sit-ups - only they told me I didn't have to use the ball about 1:30 into the station time - grrrrr]
  
• walking lunges - 60 yards [from the goal line to the 30-yard line and back - this is where I died]
  
• 10 push-ups
  
• shoulder flys - 2 minutes [i'm so tired i can't even describe this one]
  
• tricep extensions with free weights - 2 minutes
  
• kangaroo run - 400m [4-5 people in a 'team' - a baton is passed from the lead runner to the rear runner, then the rear runner sprints to the front and passes the baton back - the team has to stick together - fortunately, some of the folks who ran lead had mercy on the rest of us and slowed the team pace way down]
  

I didn't push myself to my limit on any of the elements, with the possible exception of the walking lunges. That was just evil, and for some reason I couldn't let myself give up on that one.

We got our food partner assigned and exchanged e-mail addresses. We both have to turn in our weekly homework assignment on time, or we have to run laps and do push ups the Monday following the assignment deadline. No question that I'll be making sure my partner gets her assignments in like I do.

I came home and took a long, hot bath to relax the leg muscles, which were the parts that hurt the worst. Fortunately, it wasn't very cold this morning, so I don't have to worry about frostbite. Maybe I'll take Anna to a movie this afternoon and a basketball game tonight.