I have decided that it's time to start planning a family vacation. It's been a long long time since we've done that. Years in fact since we have done anything remotely resembling a vacation. We have many obligations here in our little town. Things like caring for our elderly friends, the service work we do at church, children's activities ranging from choir to orchestra to football to volleyball and basketball games and on and on and on.
We have a busy life, two teenage children and all the things that they want to do. They want every waking moment to be filled with some sort of entertainment or activity to start their little minds from the thing they fear the most, boredom! I've written before about their iPods and how they're used to distract their minds. And I find that if the iPod's are in their ears or out of their readers are still wanting to do something to be active. I try to discourage that because I think they should spend more time with their family and being here at home. But to be honest while they're here at home it's probably pretty boring for them.
Their mother and I spent much of our time taking care of the daily tasks that are required of us and they are left to be entertained by their computers or their TVs or their cell phones or their electronic games. And I would think, that those things would get fairly boring if there really was no purpose or meaning in their use. Of which there is none at least in my opinion. So I can kind of understand how they want to go see someone their own age and act their age while they can. Soon enough they will have to shoulder the burden of making a living and most likely having a family. So I suppose I should take it easy on them and let them enjoy their time while they can.
God willing my business will develop to the point that they won't have to experience some of the stresses that my wife and I have in the building of our business. But that's a post for another day and it's even later at night now so I will end until another night.
I get my best work done long after the children and my wife gone to bed. There seems to be something especially productive about those late night hours that no other time of day can provide for me at least.
I find that my mind is clearer there is no activity in or around the house and not even the threat of an interruption. The phone doesn't ring, the TV is turned off and every light except my office is off in our house. I do most of my writing after 10 o'clock at night and a lot of my other activities that are best done when no one is around to interrupt me.
My wife has a hard time understanding why stay up at night but that is by far the reason that I do at the most. I don't like to watch TV all the light do like to read but the vast majority of my time spent writing or my desk writing or in some other activity that I'm able to focus on best when all else is quiet.
Sometimes I imagine being able to move away from the city where I can have an office apart from our house and even if I left the door to that office open I could find the quiet and peace that I so desperately seek anytime night or day. My mother lives in a place like that, she lives on about 150 acres with a half a mile driveway. You can imagine how quiet it is there at night, only the crickets and frogs are heard and sometimes they're very loud but that sort of noise would not be an interruption I can assure you.
Noises from nature are conducive to writing I have found and those that are created in another way by man certainly serve to be detrimental to any sort of creative endeavor. so for the meantime I will continue to stay up late at night and treasured these precious hours of peace and quiet in our home knowing that someday I might find my hundred acres surrounded with nothing to crickets and frogs.
I find that my mind is clearer there is no activity in or around the house and not even the threat of an interruption. The phone doesn't ring, the TV is turned off and every light except my office is off in our house. I do most of my writing after 10 o'clock at night and a lot of my other activities that are best done when no one is around to interrupt me.
My wife has a hard time understanding why stay up at night but that is by far the reason that I do at the most. I don't like to watch TV all the light do like to read but the vast majority of my time spent writing or my desk writing or in some other activity that I'm able to focus on best when all else is quiet.
Sometimes I imagine being able to move away from the city where I can have an office apart from our house and even if I left the door to that office open I could find the quiet and peace that I so desperately seek anytime night or day. My mother lives in a place like that, she lives on about 150 acres with a half a mile driveway. You can imagine how quiet it is there at night, only the crickets and frogs are heard and sometimes they're very loud but that sort of noise would not be an interruption I can assure you.
Noises from nature are conducive to writing I have found and those that are created in another way by man certainly serve to be detrimental to any sort of creative endeavor. so for the meantime I will continue to stay up late at night and treasured these precious hours of peace and quiet in our home knowing that someday I might find my hundred acres surrounded with nothing to crickets and frogs.
I live in the United States and in the United States medical insurance seems to be out of control. I can't speak for the rest of the world and at the same time I know we have the best care probably of anywhere in the world but the cost is absolutely astronomical. I have a family of four and even with employer provided insurance we pay $600 a month for that insurance. We don't even have low deductibles and co-pays. I think our co-pays for doctor visits are $20 and are deductibles are $500 and after that we pay 20% of everything else for medical insurance. For our vision care we get a new pair of losses every two years as long as they don't cost more than $100 and a doctor visit is $25.
To be honest I don't think the part we pay for the doctor visits on any of the insurance is actually a co-pay. I think the insurance company has a go shooting with the doctors so that they accept our co-pay as the price of the visit. Our dental care is even more laughable it covers basically two cleanings a year and a maximum of thousand dollars of work per person. Have you ever had to have a root canal. The last one that I had was about $2500. So if I have one root canal I have to pay $1500 for it and have no more coverage for the rest of the year. To me paying $600 a month for insurance along with whatever the employer pays his crazy.
I honestly don't know what the answer is unless there's some way that we can reign in the outrageous profits that the health providers take. I'm not necessarily talking about the doctors talking more about every little piece of the puzzle from the hospital costs to the pharmacy cost and everything in between.
Just as a side note the little bit of trivia if you will. I've heard that the last six months of a cancer patient's life are the most profitable time of a person's life for the health care industry. Do you think there might be any reason for the healthcare industry to focus on taking care at what ever cost of the person that's dying with cancer? just some food for thought and may be it will spark a thought of someone else that might be able to come up with some sort of answer because it certainly is beyond my reasoning as to why this is all happening. Unless it is as simple as greed.
To be honest I don't think the part we pay for the doctor visits on any of the insurance is actually a co-pay. I think the insurance company has a go shooting with the doctors so that they accept our co-pay as the price of the visit. Our dental care is even more laughable it covers basically two cleanings a year and a maximum of thousand dollars of work per person. Have you ever had to have a root canal. The last one that I had was about $2500. So if I have one root canal I have to pay $1500 for it and have no more coverage for the rest of the year. To me paying $600 a month for insurance along with whatever the employer pays his crazy.
I honestly don't know what the answer is unless there's some way that we can reign in the outrageous profits that the health providers take. I'm not necessarily talking about the doctors talking more about every little piece of the puzzle from the hospital costs to the pharmacy cost and everything in between.
Just as a side note the little bit of trivia if you will. I've heard that the last six months of a cancer patient's life are the most profitable time of a person's life for the health care industry. Do you think there might be any reason for the healthcare industry to focus on taking care at what ever cost of the person that's dying with cancer? just some food for thought and may be it will spark a thought of someone else that might be able to come up with some sort of answer because it certainly is beyond my reasoning as to why this is all happening. Unless it is as simple as greed.
I have a question for you parents out there with teenage children. How many children in your life have iPod or something like? Do you enjoy the fact that they have an iPod? Hi hated it! The only thing that I like about iPods and the fact that sometimes they keep the children quiet and that can be an advantage but other than that I think iPods are horrible.
I think they allow the child to play the music too loud in their ears and I think they allow too much time with the music that I don't really care for you begin with the plan their head again and again and again. I know when I was a teenager I remember liking music a lot too but for us it wasn't quite so convenient to have it played in your ear 24 seven. I had to go into my room and close the door because the rest of the family didn't want to listen to what I wanted to listen to. That at least limited the amount of time that I could do it so the effects were not so exaggerated.
It seems that every teenager that I see at least in our town has two little strings hanging out their ears and can't hear you if their life depended on it. As they got some stupid song blasting in their ears. My son even does the dishes with his iPod playing and my daughter folds clothes with her iPod playing. It seems that nothing and no activity can happen without that stupid little iPod plugged in.
If I had my way I'd take them all into a big pile and run over them with a bulldozer. I think our society would be better off because they wouldn't be just listening to music all day long. But that's just my opinion and I'm just one person and I'm sure things are not going to change so I suppose in the meantime I'll have to work on a bench in that will make them turn off from a distance.
I think they allow the child to play the music too loud in their ears and I think they allow too much time with the music that I don't really care for you begin with the plan their head again and again and again. I know when I was a teenager I remember liking music a lot too but for us it wasn't quite so convenient to have it played in your ear 24 seven. I had to go into my room and close the door because the rest of the family didn't want to listen to what I wanted to listen to. That at least limited the amount of time that I could do it so the effects were not so exaggerated.
It seems that every teenager that I see at least in our town has two little strings hanging out their ears and can't hear you if their life depended on it. As they got some stupid song blasting in their ears. My son even does the dishes with his iPod playing and my daughter folds clothes with her iPod playing. It seems that nothing and no activity can happen without that stupid little iPod plugged in.
If I had my way I'd take them all into a big pile and run over them with a bulldozer. I think our society would be better off because they wouldn't be just listening to music all day long. But that's just my opinion and I'm just one person and I'm sure things are not going to change so I suppose in the meantime I'll have to work on a bench in that will make them turn off from a distance.
Yesterday I took the whole family to get eye exams and to my surprise no one except me need new glasses. It seems that everyones eyes have maintained their health except mine. Maybe it's because I'm on the computer so much or maybe it's just because I'm getting old I'm not sure which. But be 50 in another year and a few months and I suppose that has some effect on your eyes at least in my case I'm sure it does.
My kids are 13 and 14 and fortunately their eyes seem to be holding the same and that's a good thing I would hate to think that their eyes are getting worse and worse at this young age. I'm having a difficult time finding time to get my wife had to get her exam because she works all day long and the doctors only open from seven in the morning before 30 in the afternoon and she's gone those hours almost every day not always at work. Sometimes she likes to go see her friends and shop after work so she usually doesn't get home until well after 430 in the afternoon.
I'm probably going to have to try to make her eye appointment near to her work so that she can go directly from work to the eye doctor and that should help remedy that problem at least she will have to drive all the way home before 430 because it is about 30 miles to her work one way.
Now if we can just get her to the doctor will be good for a couple years and fortunately it looks like at least for now I'm the only one that's been have to get glasses. Have you priced classes lately it's unbelievable the frames alone can be a couple hundred dollars and then you've got the exam and the lenses on top of that so it's easy to spend for $500 on one pair of glasses by the time it's all done. I hope you are as lucky as me and came to avoid spending $2000 for your whole family to get new glasses.
My kids are 13 and 14 and fortunately their eyes seem to be holding the same and that's a good thing I would hate to think that their eyes are getting worse and worse at this young age. I'm having a difficult time finding time to get my wife had to get her exam because she works all day long and the doctors only open from seven in the morning before 30 in the afternoon and she's gone those hours almost every day not always at work. Sometimes she likes to go see her friends and shop after work so she usually doesn't get home until well after 430 in the afternoon.
I'm probably going to have to try to make her eye appointment near to her work so that she can go directly from work to the eye doctor and that should help remedy that problem at least she will have to drive all the way home before 430 because it is about 30 miles to her work one way.
Now if we can just get her to the doctor will be good for a couple years and fortunately it looks like at least for now I'm the only one that's been have to get glasses. Have you priced classes lately it's unbelievable the frames alone can be a couple hundred dollars and then you've got the exam and the lenses on top of that so it's easy to spend for $500 on one pair of glasses by the time it's all done. I hope you are as lucky as me and came to avoid spending $2000 for your whole family to get new glasses.
Computer problems are playing me again and I had to totally reinstall my operating system over the weekend. It's not such a pain to do anymore because after so many times I actually have a plan where that if operating system and all the programs that I need are in one place. At one point, it was rather difficult because I wasn't very organized about what I use on my computer and the program keys were scattered all over the place. But today's a new day and I now have things much more organized.
I also implemented a backup system where all my files are backed up four times a week to an online server so that I never have to worry about losing the data again. It takes any files that have changed from the previous back up and uploads them/replaces the files that are ready back to. So my backup is no older than two days at any given time. In fact most of the time it is far more recent than that for instance if I get a backup on Sunday night and my system were to crash on Monday of course the backup would only be one day old. Worst case scenario the backup would be two days old for instance if the system were to crash on Tuesday night just before the backup was scheduled to commence.
This is a big step for me because in the past I've always worried that something would happen that would cause me to lose my data and have to start all over. As I worked more and more home the amount of data that is collecting on my hard drive continues to increase exponentially. Plus the fact that there's critical information vital to my business contained in those files which if I were to lose them would cause me to have to start my business from scratch. And I really don't want to do that.
So I would encourage each of you that may be reading this blog to take a long hard look at what you would lose if you didn't have an accurate and up-to-date backup were you to have hard drive problems. I know several people that have lost everything to a system crash and I don't want to be one of them and neither do you.
I also implemented a backup system where all my files are backed up four times a week to an online server so that I never have to worry about losing the data again. It takes any files that have changed from the previous back up and uploads them/replaces the files that are ready back to. So my backup is no older than two days at any given time. In fact most of the time it is far more recent than that for instance if I get a backup on Sunday night and my system were to crash on Monday of course the backup would only be one day old. Worst case scenario the backup would be two days old for instance if the system were to crash on Tuesday night just before the backup was scheduled to commence.
This is a big step for me because in the past I've always worried that something would happen that would cause me to lose my data and have to start all over. As I worked more and more home the amount of data that is collecting on my hard drive continues to increase exponentially. Plus the fact that there's critical information vital to my business contained in those files which if I were to lose them would cause me to have to start my business from scratch. And I really don't want to do that.
So I would encourage each of you that may be reading this blog to take a long hard look at what you would lose if you didn't have an accurate and up-to-date backup were you to have hard drive problems. I know several people that have lost everything to a system crash and I don't want to be one of them and neither do you.
I've been working on a house lately, getting ready to paint the outside and finishing up painting of the inside. It's been three years since we painted the house and I thought it was time that we tackle this project ahead on. We've got the yard pretty much like we won it after about five years of work on off and I have to say I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.
In the backyard we've got the porch surrounded by a bed of rocks that has interspersed plants and then the grass or should I say sod that we laid outside of that and it looks really nice. Now that we have the grill installed we spend a lot of time outside and that makes me really happy. This weekend we have about 13 people coming over on Sunday for a barbecue. People mostly from my wife's family and even some that I don't even know and have never met. So I'm really looking forward to meeting them and entertaining in our backyard.
Now if we could just get the dogs to quit using the backyard as a restroom maybe it wouldn't be so difficult to keep it up. But the dogs are my kids, so they guess what the kids get to do on a daily basis? Yup you got it they get to pick up the mess that the dogs made in the backyard.
So that is the update on the back yard, too bad everybody can't come over and join us for our family get together extravaganza.
In the backyard we've got the porch surrounded by a bed of rocks that has interspersed plants and then the grass or should I say sod that we laid outside of that and it looks really nice. Now that we have the grill installed we spend a lot of time outside and that makes me really happy. This weekend we have about 13 people coming over on Sunday for a barbecue. People mostly from my wife's family and even some that I don't even know and have never met. So I'm really looking forward to meeting them and entertaining in our backyard.
Now if we could just get the dogs to quit using the backyard as a restroom maybe it wouldn't be so difficult to keep it up. But the dogs are my kids, so they guess what the kids get to do on a daily basis? Yup you got it they get to pick up the mess that the dogs made in the backyard.
So that is the update on the back yard, too bad everybody can't come over and join us for our family get together extravaganza.
Well it's been almost 3 weeks now and the changes in our home have been nothing short of miraculous. My wife and I have more energy than we have had in years. We have struggled with our schedules and keeping up with everything that we need to do and keeping the children in line and all the things that families all across this globe struggle with on a daily basis. And after making these what seem like minor changes in our lives, all the sudden it says if a burden was lifted and for the first time in a long time we don't go through the day and evening pushing ourselves to accomplish the minimum daily requirements.
I am so excited about the changes that have been happening here in our home and especially because of the fact that they appear to be so minor, I'm actually thinking about writing a book. It almost causes me to be speechless and wonder if it's really true. How could such a small thing makes such a big difference. I suppose I've always been told this in one fashion or another but I had no idea that there would be such a dramatic effect if we would implement simple nutritional and rest habits into our lives.
There is no way to explain to you how much difference there is in such a short short period of time. I feel better my mood is better, my children's mood is better, my wife's mood is better and maybe the best part we have so much more energy. Where before by seven or eight in the evening we were exhausted and could barely bring herself to finish the dinner dishes now we are anxious to find a project or some activity that we can squeeze in before it's time to go to bed.
Before it was like please leave me alone, I just want to sleep, I don't feel well and on and on. Now it's completely different. Now we look forward to another activity in which we had more time to do them.I'm probably not going to post a whole lot more about this topic for now as I believe I will start to tweak it a little more. Things like what exactly are we being and are we maximizing the nutrition that we're getting. another thing is what kind of environment are we sleeping in? Is it optimal for the best sleep. For instance, my sons room has a street light that shines through the window so is that interrupting the best sleep he could have? Maybe I need to arrange for some sort of blackout curtains so that he can be in a totally darkened room. I could go on for quite some time but I think you get the idea. So when I get the book finished, LOL, I'll let you all know.
I am so excited about the changes that have been happening here in our home and especially because of the fact that they appear to be so minor, I'm actually thinking about writing a book. It almost causes me to be speechless and wonder if it's really true. How could such a small thing makes such a big difference. I suppose I've always been told this in one fashion or another but I had no idea that there would be such a dramatic effect if we would implement simple nutritional and rest habits into our lives.
There is no way to explain to you how much difference there is in such a short short period of time. I feel better my mood is better, my children's mood is better, my wife's mood is better and maybe the best part we have so much more energy. Where before by seven or eight in the evening we were exhausted and could barely bring herself to finish the dinner dishes now we are anxious to find a project or some activity that we can squeeze in before it's time to go to bed.
Before it was like please leave me alone, I just want to sleep, I don't feel well and on and on. Now it's completely different. Now we look forward to another activity in which we had more time to do them.I'm probably not going to post a whole lot more about this topic for now as I believe I will start to tweak it a little more. Things like what exactly are we being and are we maximizing the nutrition that we're getting. another thing is what kind of environment are we sleeping in? Is it optimal for the best sleep. For instance, my sons room has a street light that shines through the window so is that interrupting the best sleep he could have? Maybe I need to arrange for some sort of blackout curtains so that he can be in a totally darkened room. I could go on for quite some time but I think you get the idea. So when I get the book finished, LOL, I'll let you all know.
Here we are, a week later after we have been doing our experiment with nutrition in our family and I'm glad to report that we are doing quite well. For me, my energy level has increased immensely. I have been getting a lot more done, my mind is far more focused and it seems that the answers to the questions that come up are much more available when I need them. You have to understand that I am 50 years old and at 50 although that's not old, I have begun to notice some deterioration in my memory and to be honest it bothers me. But with this new diet and rest plan that we are implementing in our family I have noticed that the effects that I attributed to my age are not as prevalent.
At the same time, my wife has noticed that she has a less difficult time getting up in the morning because she feels more rested and also she has more energy to accomplish the work she needs to during the day. So even after a week of our nutrition/energy lifestyle change we are beginning to notice rather dramatic changes that we had hoped for.
Many of you may not believe this but starting after only two days I noticed a difference in the attitude and cooperative nature of our children also. In way of background let me tell you what they are required to do when they get home from school and then maybe you will further understand what I mean. Each day when my children return from school they are on a schedule for the first bit of their afternoon. That schedule consists of the following; for the first half hour to one hour they are to relax and have an afternoon snack. Of course that always seems to get stretched further than what it's supposed to but that is what has been set up.
After that. Of rest and getting their snack they have chores to do and their homework. Their chores consist of things like washing up the dishes and starting a load of laundry and feeding our pets, things like that. Since I have worked from home for quite some time now it has always fallen on me to make sure that they get their chores and homework done. And that's where the battle has been because many times they have lacked the focus to do it on their own.
Now the exciting part, starting after just two days of changing our diet and sleep habits the children started doing their homework and their chores without hardly being told at all. To be quite honest didn't understand what had changed. It didn't dawn on me that the diet and rest habits had already had some affect on them. I was feeling, not to be overdramatic, as if a miracle it happened. I'm telling you it was a battle every day to get them to do just the basic little chores that they had been responsible for since they were in grade school. And now all of a sudden they were doing them without hardly being told at all. I couldn't believe it.
And then it hit me, the diet and sleep changes that we have made were having a dramatic effect on our children. I hypothesize that because of their age they may be more sensitive to these changes than even we as adults. So the resulting change in behavior may be more dramatic. I will keep you posted as this experiment of ours continues.
At the same time, my wife has noticed that she has a less difficult time getting up in the morning because she feels more rested and also she has more energy to accomplish the work she needs to during the day. So even after a week of our nutrition/energy lifestyle change we are beginning to notice rather dramatic changes that we had hoped for.
Many of you may not believe this but starting after only two days I noticed a difference in the attitude and cooperative nature of our children also. In way of background let me tell you what they are required to do when they get home from school and then maybe you will further understand what I mean. Each day when my children return from school they are on a schedule for the first bit of their afternoon. That schedule consists of the following; for the first half hour to one hour they are to relax and have an afternoon snack. Of course that always seems to get stretched further than what it's supposed to but that is what has been set up.
After that. Of rest and getting their snack they have chores to do and their homework. Their chores consist of things like washing up the dishes and starting a load of laundry and feeding our pets, things like that. Since I have worked from home for quite some time now it has always fallen on me to make sure that they get their chores and homework done. And that's where the battle has been because many times they have lacked the focus to do it on their own.
Now the exciting part, starting after just two days of changing our diet and sleep habits the children started doing their homework and their chores without hardly being told at all. To be quite honest didn't understand what had changed. It didn't dawn on me that the diet and rest habits had already had some affect on them. I was feeling, not to be overdramatic, as if a miracle it happened. I'm telling you it was a battle every day to get them to do just the basic little chores that they had been responsible for since they were in grade school. And now all of a sudden they were doing them without hardly being told at all. I couldn't believe it.
And then it hit me, the diet and sleep changes that we have made were having a dramatic effect on our children. I hypothesize that because of their age they may be more sensitive to these changes than even we as adults. So the resulting change in behavior may be more dramatic. I will keep you posted as this experiment of ours continues.
Today I decided to try to make some changes in my life actually it started yesterday. I talked to my wife and we decided that for the next 30 days were going to try to eat a lot more healthy. Nothing extravagant just trying to eat more healthy and making that the focus of our meals when we decide what we're going to be. For some time now we have been rather lax in our focus on nutrition and I think it's starting to show in the way that we feel.
I find that I'm constantly tired and with a can of work I do I need to think a lot so it's important that I get enough rest and I also eat the right kinds of food so my body has the nutrition it needs in the energy it needs to focus on the task in front of me. Concurrently, my wife is a nurse working in a high stress high energy highly speed environment and she needs to be able to be rested and have a clear mind at all times when she's going about the work that she does so you can see that for both of us we really need to have good nutrition.
That's not to say that every person that is alive doesn't need to be concerned about nutrition, of course they do. We also have two children that are growing teenagers and I have noticed that when we allow them to drink soda they have difficulty focusing on the task at hand. More specifically, our son has ADD not a severe case but nonetheless he has ADD. And with him is especially true for things like soda and junk food affect his ability to focus on what's in front of him and to get it done in a timely manner.
These are all the reasons and there's a whole lot more to be honest that we have decided that we are going to eat more healthy and do our best to get the rest we need each day. Oh, one other thing we have decided that we will not consume any alcohol either. Their reason for this is not that we abuse alcohol by I'm sure it contributes to or maybe more accurately enhances the end healthy diet that we have been consuming. I noticed on several occasions that even with one drink my mood would alter and also my energy altered. So in the evening when I may need to focus on what I'm doing or may need to have the energy to continue working if I have a cocktail after dinner I might as well forget it.
I'm sure it's not that way for everyone as I have seen many people be able to maintain an energy level and focus even with a small amount of alcohol but for me it seems that I'm better sharper if you will with out it. I've even heard that although alcohol is a depressant it can interfere with restful sleep. So in order to remain consistent with our goals we decided to take the alcohol out of my diet also.
I find that I'm constantly tired and with a can of work I do I need to think a lot so it's important that I get enough rest and I also eat the right kinds of food so my body has the nutrition it needs in the energy it needs to focus on the task in front of me. Concurrently, my wife is a nurse working in a high stress high energy highly speed environment and she needs to be able to be rested and have a clear mind at all times when she's going about the work that she does so you can see that for both of us we really need to have good nutrition.
That's not to say that every person that is alive doesn't need to be concerned about nutrition, of course they do. We also have two children that are growing teenagers and I have noticed that when we allow them to drink soda they have difficulty focusing on the task at hand. More specifically, our son has ADD not a severe case but nonetheless he has ADD. And with him is especially true for things like soda and junk food affect his ability to focus on what's in front of him and to get it done in a timely manner.
These are all the reasons and there's a whole lot more to be honest that we have decided that we are going to eat more healthy and do our best to get the rest we need each day. Oh, one other thing we have decided that we will not consume any alcohol either. Their reason for this is not that we abuse alcohol by I'm sure it contributes to or maybe more accurately enhances the end healthy diet that we have been consuming. I noticed on several occasions that even with one drink my mood would alter and also my energy altered. So in the evening when I may need to focus on what I'm doing or may need to have the energy to continue working if I have a cocktail after dinner I might as well forget it.
I'm sure it's not that way for everyone as I have seen many people be able to maintain an energy level and focus even with a small amount of alcohol but for me it seems that I'm better sharper if you will with out it. I've even heard that although alcohol is a depressant it can interfere with restful sleep. So in order to remain consistent with our goals we decided to take the alcohol out of my diet also.