Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Damn holidays

Stupid holidays. All last week I was doing great on my diet (and I know, it isn't a diet, it is a lifestyle change. It is still 'die' with a 't'!), then mom and dad arrived, and it all went to hell in a handbasket. An extra ham and cheese sandwich after we picked them up, a bit too much on Christmas, as expected, and chinese buffet for lunch yesterday. And not having any way to work out on Friday, Sunday or Christmas day (I did count points cleaning out the basement - I definitely broke a sweat and worked my butt off there for several hours). And then today Diane wanted me to go with her to the rec center - where I just can't get as effective a workout as I do at work. An hour there only seems to burn half the calories that I do at work (according to the machine, and who knows how accurate they really are) - but I find I'm not sweating as much or working as hard, so I think it is pretty accurate.

So, for the first time I've gained weight. Only .8 lbs, but it still sucks big time. And I'm worried about this week as well, as we are driving to Pittsburgh tomorrow to meet my sister, and travelling is even worse on the diet. Then New Year's Eve, where we will be drinking heavily.

At least on Thanksgiving I had most of the week to make up for it, unlike Christmas and New Years. *SIGH*

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Last day of the year

at least for work. Yep, I'm off until January 2nd. It will be nice to have some time to not think about this place.

Of course with Mom and Dad coming in on Sunday for a week, I might just 'need' to come in for a while to get a break :-)!

I'm down another pound, for a total of 35.4 since I started. And if you are a fan of Oprah, well then you know what that means. Down 35 and up an inch!

I figure today I'll go work out, then I have to give blood at 2, then try to see if I have time to get any Christmas shopping in, if not then I'll be up and out fairly quickly tomorrow to attempt to avoid at least some of the crowds.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Christmas Letter

I thought I would post our Christmas letter here - it was an open letter to our friends. Everyone should have it by now, well except for one person, who I didn't get it sent to until yesterday, because I'm basically an idiot and forgot that I did have her address and have had it for quite some time - sorry about that, but it is in the mail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
December 6th, 2006


Dearest friends, family, in-laws, out-laws, and that one person on our Christmas list that no one remembers but we keep forgetting to remove;

The Ohio branch of the Carter Clan continued to prosper in the past year, or at least the government seems to feel that way when it comes to taxes and college financial aid, assuming that since we have managed to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table that we are rolling in the dough and laughing all the way to the bank. It amazes me to see the annual figures on all the spare money sitting around the house, but perhaps I only need to get my eyes checked so that perhaps I can see a wee bit of it for once.

The biggest event for the family as a whole was a trip to Chicago this summer to attend the national tour of “Spamalot”, the hit musical based on Monty Python’s Holy Grail. Everyone enjoyed the weekend, and the abuse from the waiter at the famed Ed Debevic’s Restaurant was all that we had heard it would be.

Diane and I have continued to attend the seminars that we started last December, unfortunately we were not able to graduate with those we started with because we missed one in July, which we will make up in May. This has been a wonderful voyage of self discovery, and we believe has truly helped the dynamics and relationships within the family. For this opportunity we are truly grateful.

I continue to work at Reynolds and Reynolds, though the company is currently in the process of re-defining itself, after having merged with competitor UCS, based in Houston, and becoming a private corporation. Right now I’m simply along for the ride, waiting to see how things will end up, but it definitely makes for interesting times. One of the highlights of my year was when I took third place in the NACORD National Confrontation Championship held at GenCon in Indianapolis in August. Not only did I win a bronze medal and some figures, but I also earned the admission tickets to GenCon free for the boys and me by building the terrain used for the tournament. In addition, I have lost over 30 pounds so far this year on Weight Watchers.

Diane continues to be a realtor, and has managed to double her sales since last year, even in a very weak housing market in the Dayton area. She earned both a Gold level sales award, as well as a Diamond award for achieving a perfect 100% customer satisfaction rating throughout the year. She has also continued in her volunteering, specifically volunteering me to be the treasurer of the Band Boosters, while she has taken on the role of corresponding secretary sending out the monthly newsletter. She has lost almost 20 pounds also doing Weight Watchers with me, but seems to want to sabotage me more often because of the fact men just lose weight faster than women.

Becky is now a senior at St. Kate’s in St. Paul, Minnesota, studying American Sign Language (and no, when deaf people get drunk their hands don’t slur (that’s not funny at all apparently)), and expects to graduate in the spring of 2008. She has started working part time as a Nanny as well for a pair of two year old twin girls, and is really enjoying this job. She is still with Ryan, who is now a police officer for Oakdale, MN, and she even gets to ride along with him occasionally.

Jon graduated this past spring from West Carrollton High School, and had a very productive summer, at least in the area of sleep. He is now a freshman at Bowling Green State University in the education program, though he anticipates changing his major next year. He is enrolled in a nationally acclaimed learning community, “Partners in Context and Community”, and spends every Monday in an actual elementary school in Toledo. We are still hoping he gets the idea that having a job is actually a good thing, and finds one soon.

Katlyn is still enrolled at Cross Creek Manor in the thriving metropolis of La Verkin, Utah. Diane and I have had the opportunity to visit her twice this year, once in April and the second time in October. Unfortunately, she is still fighting the program more than working it, and after fifteen months there she is still at a level 1. We talk to her every other week with Garth, her therapist, and alternate weeks we speak with Kathy, the family representative. All we can do is continue to work our own program toward making a whole and healthy family, and wait until she decides to begin working herself.

Erik is a freshman in West Carrollton High School, where the highlight for him is the marching band. He greatly enjoys being one of the ‘bones, having had a great time in his first year at band camp. In addition, all the marching has helped him to begin to trim down as well, though never as quickly as he would like. He continues to be a straight "A" student, and enjoys school though he rarely finds it challenging.

Matthew is still in Boy Scouts, and recently not only received his First Class rank, but was elected to be the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader for this troop for the coming year. He is quite excited about this, and has even recruited a couple of his friends to join the troop with him. He is in seventh grade at West Carrollton Middle School, and doing well.

Finally, Scout continues to rule the house, striving quite hard to increase his productivity and sleep twenty hours a day. He is a good dog however, and quite the protector of the yard, having caught two rabbits and a woodchuck this summer, defending his family from this horrid varmint invasion.

The entire family is looking forward to having Grandma and Grandpa Carter here for Christmas, as this will be the first time in eighteen years that we have been able to spend Christmas together, and will be my chance to really prove at Christmas dinner that “this bird is definitely juicier than last year!” We plan to top off the year by meeting up with Margaret, Jim, Joseph and Meg, the New Jersey clan, just before the end of the year in Pittsburgh.

As the holiday season is once more upon us, we wish everyone a wonderful Christmas, and a joyous and prosperous New Year. To mix a few of my favorite Irish blessings, May the road rise up to meet you, the sun always be at your back, and may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows your dead.

Mike, Diane, Becky, Jon, Katlyn, Erik, Matthew and Scout

Wiring Finished

Well I finished the wiring last night. It wasn't too bad, I picked up a circuit tester to help. It was funny, the only obvious broken wire wasn't the live circuit, it was to the new stuff. But I fixed it, and all the plugs and the new overhead light with the switch are all hooked up and working, and nothing blew up or caught fire, and no one was electrocuted. Diane should finish the painting today (mainly some touch up, the conduit above the door, and the narrow section between the door and the closet that she missed. Then clean up the mess and have Jon move the furniture back in tomorrow. There are a lot more options for it now as well, since there is now power on three walls (I could have actually run a plug down under the light switch, but it wouldn't have been used for anything other than the vacuum mainly. I figure going from 5 plugs (in the space that normally holds 2) to 10 on three walls, plus the overhead light, is good enough. The paint looks really good as well - Diane does a good job with that. She is also working with Goof-off to remove a lot of the old paint from the wood. While the wood is not in good shape at all, I hate to paint it. Even distressed wood has a nice warm feel with the grain etc.

I figure tonight I'll put the towel rings up in our bathroom, and remount a toilet paper holder in the boys bathroom. I don't know if I'll get the access panel for the tub done. (When we had the plumber in to fix the tub / shower, he had to cut a new access panel - so the section of drywall there is in two pieces. I have all the extra from the kitchen now however, so I'll cut one piece to fit in there, then add some trim around it (like it had before), though I need to measure how much I'll need for this. Jon wanted to paint the bathroom as well, which isn't a bad idea, but I don't know if that will get done (and we don't have the paint for it, though it would only take a gallon). I really wish we could replace the tub, but he is supposed to be scrubbing it this week before Mom and Dad get here - it is pretty nasty. But inserts are just too expensive.

Jon is a little upset that we waited to do his room until he was gone. Yet another mistake I can chalk up, along with all the others. One of my characteristics is that I am pretty much able to make do - I live with a lot of stuff that I shouldn't have to. That is just the way I am. Which means that I don't always get off my fat lazy butt to fix things that need it. Even the things that don't cost much, like putting towel rings up in our bathroom, or re-installing the toilet paper holder in the bathroom. Yes, we should have done his room four years ago. But then he is like me, and made do.

Why did we do it now - well we had to empty the room to allow them to patch the ceiling, and it had to be painted after patching - and one thing led to another. Plus for once we had the money - total cost on his room is approaching $800 for the celing repair (which was half of it), plus the conduit (needing 9 5' pieces at $7 each) plus all the corners and accessories for it, and the paint etc. It did run a bit more than I expected, and we normally wouldn't have done it right before Christmas (presents? what presents? What is this shopping you speak of? Why, I have 6 more days!), but the last of my bonus, and the closing Diane just had covered it.

So the next eventual one is to repaint Erik's room, which was actually in the best shape when we bought the house, as it was the previous master bedroom. Then there are all the things we would like to do with the upstairs (like put in more closets, and make the one dormer window a reading nook with pillows. And we would love to put in a gas fireplace in the hearth - it is so weird having the tile and the shelf for a mantle, but having the fireplace sealed up. And we so need a half bath on the main level - but that will be real costly. Oh, and a new, real deck as well. Unfortunately a lot of this stuff I just can't do myself (like adding a room (for the half bath), putting in a gas fireplace (without blowing up the entire house that is). And anymore I don't even know if there will be any bonuses. And no more stock either. So the real estate market will have to really pick up so Diane can pay for these fixes.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Busy weekend

It has been a very hectic weekend, and started early. On Thursday we had the drywall people in, patching the ceiling in Jon's room, and then fixing the kitchen, which required them to put up drywall to cover and seal in the cracked plaster. Both ceilings looked real good.

Of course, they didn't re-hang the light in the kitchen, but that was ok, as we needed to paint the ceiling. Diane actually likes painting, so she did that, and I re-hung the light on Saturday. Had a bit more issues with it than I expected, but it is up and working.

For Jon's room, we painted the celing, then decided to go ahead and do some LONG overdue work there as well. I picked up some plastic conduit, and am running a few more outlets in his room. This is taking much longer than I expected, but at least when it is done he will have more than one plug in the room. Diane is also painting it, and that is going well.

I have all the plugs in, and am working on adding an overhead light as well. Saturday night everything looked good and was working (what was done), but when I turned the power back on last night - none of the plugs worked (in his room or Erik's room next door), though the wall light and Erik's overhead light both worked. So I figure one of the old wires from the wall light down to the wall socket must have broken - arrgh!!!!! Those wires have so little extra, there is nothing at all to work with. Depending on how bad it looks tonight (and of course, it will be dark by the time I get home, and with the circuit turned off - I hope the work lights I have work well!) I'll have to see if I can work with what is there, or will have to re-do it from the light, and if I do that can I do it through the wall, or have to run yet more conduit up the wall (and around the mirror. *sigh* But it should be nice for Mom and Dad next week when they get in.

It is hard to believe Christmas is only one week away. Of course I have a huge amount of shopping to do, but spending $400 on this room (plus the $1100 for the ceilings) means that I have to wait for payday to get any more presents. It is pretty amazing how quickly the costs run up on these things. However I figure I'll do my shopping Thursday afternoon (I'm taking a half day vacation then, but have to give blood platelettes (apherisis) which will take all friggin' afternoon) and Friday to get it finished.

Friday, December 15, 2006

The one constant is change

Well wait no more you worried weight watchers wannabe's. As of this week the new weight watchers program has rolled out.

So of course my first reaction is "wonderful - so now I get to eat even less food." Of course, as is ususally the case, I was wrong yet again. The new program, so far, isn't so bad, and in fact I get, what I feel at least, is a lot more food than before (the advantage of being a male - one of many that I'll go into someday when I feel like the couch is ever so much more comfortable than the bed with my wife, but I digress). I actually went from 26 pts a day to 33! That is more than I started with 16 weeks ago! And with my usual exercise routine, that is up to 40 points (or a full 2000 calories) a day! I don't know what to do with that much!

Part of it makes sense however, as it seems that whenever I blow my diet on the weekend, I always end up losing more than when I really stick to it. Part of me is thinking that it is due to being right on the edge of eating enough and not - so when I go a bit over I actually end up on the side of eating enough to keep my metabolism up while losing weight, vs. not eating enough and having it slow down for 'starvation' mode.

So when I get home I go on-line to see if that is set up, since my PDA has not changed the amount this week yet, and the new program rolled out Sunday. Turns out there is a little 'assessment' (and you all know how much I like those :-) ) which you have to take - the same as in the book, though most of it is already filled out (i.e. weight, height, age, sex). The only real thing I have to add is my daily activity (which, unfortunately for the amount I get to eat, consists of sitting on my butt for 8-9 hours a day at my desk).

So then I synch up, go into the PDA program and it resets. Again and again. I do a hard reset, delete and reload it, all to no avail. But I did find the backup directory and remove a whole bunch of the restaurant databases (for points values - check out Dotti's Weight Loss Zone for a great listing of food and restaurant points) which I have never heard of - because I had so many files loaded on my PDA that whenever I went to the file manager, it puked because there were too many.

So I sent a message to support, and they are aware of the issue and working on it. But then I went and flipped back from the new on-line tracker to the old one, and everything seems to work (well, I can't access yesterday, but I can track today). So it looks to me like it is a problem with the new on-line tracker, which syncs up the data. So it works for now at least - and with any luck (like I have that :-) ) it will be fixed soon.

We also got the kitchen ceiling redone, so that the cracked plaster won't just fall on our heads. They also patched Jon's room. Diane is painting the ceilings this afternoon - she actually enjoys painting - so she can have it. I've done enough for many lifetimes, thank you.

I hope to make some time this weekend to get back to the life story - the next chapter is 'written', but kind of boring, so I'm working at adding in some humor. If it isn't interesting then it is a bit of a waste to put it up after all. So no 'factual' (like any of this is based on fact - haven't you realized that I'm just a figment of your own warped imagination!) changes, just adding some jokes (at least I think they are a little humorous).

Oh yeah, down another pound. I have to remember to keep pushing water, I think that makes a big difference for me. And now that I have more points, I had better stick to them. I doubt I can still blow it like I was, but then there are so many more points. Wish I had them for Thanksgiving - but Christmas is coming!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Up the Assessement

The times they are a changing! And these sure are interesting times.

The worst part of all these changes is that everything is so completely out of my control. The 'merger' (properly pronounced 'buy-out' as it seems that all the policies are coming from the other company, not ours) was final at the end of October. We got our bonus early, and got money from our restricted stock because of the buyout. Those are about the only good things so far.

Having the company go smoke free was no big deal for me, since I don't smoke anyway. But now they have gone to their recruiting model, which is ony hire entry level people, and promote from within. To do this everyone interviewing must take an assessement test. And they are giving everyone here the 'opportunity' to take it during this week and next. So I did yesterday.

The frustrating point isn't the test, but the fact that they don't let you know your results, and all positions are no longer posted, instead the senior VP's decide who will get them based on these tests. So my career here is now set, though I have no idea what it is set to, and won't ever know until I either get a promotion out of the blue, or lose my job the same way.

In some slightly good news, I actually won a small Confrontation tournament this past Saturday, which surprised me.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Still Tracking

Ok, so it is now fifteen weeks, and I weighed in last night at 219.4, down 33.4 lbs. Not bad, as good as I should expect I guess. Of course I want it to be faster. What surprised me yesterday was when I looked at my driver's license - and right now I'm right were I said I was two years ago for it. Now how accurate that was at the time is something that can never be determined now - but for a few weeks at least I match my license.

We bought some more christmas lights last night, including a couple of the metal lighted deer, to help break up the big blank walls in front of the porch. I like the rope lights - but they only plug into other rope lights. We have four strands on the colums - I may still get some more, I'm not sure.

It is actually nice to want to put up lights again. Last year we barely even got the tree up, and it was even more depressing because there was basically nothing under it. The present for the boys was their trip to see their mom, and Diane and I basically decided not to get each other anything. And Katie was again gone.

This year will be so different. The boys will be here, and Mom and Dad are coming out as well. I hadn't realized it, but this will be our first Christmas together since I moved from Colorado, and Jon was only 10 months old then, so it has been 18 years since I've had Christmas with my parents. We did get stockings for them, and I don't think they ever had them at home even.

It is snowing here, and for the first time I can ever remember in Ohio, I completely agree with everyone calling the city, state, county and everyone else IDIOTS! Never before have I had this much trouble driving in to work. My normal, 15-20 minute drive (depending on how many lights I hit or not) took almost an hour. I know the snow didn't start until very early this morning, but did Kettering bother to watch the weather at all? This wasn't a freak, surprise storm folks. It is December already - we do get a bit of snow. One salt truck was all I saw, and they obviously had not been out long, as there was none for any of the trip in - anywhere!

I had to slow to a crawl on Stroop at Southern, where there is the hill, because an SUV up ahead had it's hazards on and was stopped. And then I stopped, and barely made it up the stupid hill, as the road was a single sheet of ice. It took me five minutes to get up the stupid hill - about two blocks! And the SUV wasn't stopped, they were having the exact same problem I was. And I watched them swerving back and forth half the way to work. In an SUV! Stupid soccer mom in a Rav4 that doesn't know how to drive the thing - thinks its a friggin' station wagon.

It amazed me, I picked up Barenaked Ladies Christmas CD (Barenaked for the Holidays) yesterday, and managed to listen to the entire thing and start over again in the 'short' drive to work. *sigh* At least I won't have to worry about it for another 7 hours or so!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Hmm, some cute things

Ok - so I found a few 'interesting' items to add to my blog - like I have nothing else to do. Enjoy.


Your Vocabulary Score: A-

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.


You Are 40% Pure

You're usually the typical girl or guy next door...
But you also have a secret naughty side!



Your Personality Is

Rational (NT)


You are both logical and creative. You are full of ideas.
You are so rational that you analyze everything. This drives people a little crazy!

Intelligence is important to you. You always like to be around smart people.
In fact, you're often a little short with people who don't impress you mentally.

You seem distant to some - but it's usually because you're deep in thought.
Those who understand you best are fellow Rationals.

In love, you tend to approach things with logic. You seek a compatible mate - who is also very intelligent.

At work, you tend to gravitate toward idea building careers - like programming, medicine, or academia.

With others, you are very honest and direct. People often can't take your criticism well.

As far as your looks go, you're coasting on what you were born with. You think fashion is silly.

On weekends, you spend most of your time thinking, experimenting with new ideas, or learning new things.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Just like Kindergarten

Woohoo! I got my second gold star tonight. I feel special, just like a little kid. Maybe next I can be student of the week.

It is hard for sarcasm to come across when writing. I promised to keep my weight log public, so I am down to 221.4 lbs - which means I've officially lost 31.4 lbs - and that means a gold star for 30 lbs.

Weight watchers is working, though I feel the 'rewards' are a little corny. The ribbon for 10 lbs, the keychain for 10%, and the gold stars to put on the ribbon for each additional 10 lbs. I guess when you hit goal and lifetime they give something to add to the keychain.

It is funny - you can tell this is mostly women - as I don't know ANY men that want more crap with their keys! Men have to keep them in their pockets, not a purse, so we want as little as possible there. Women, and this includes both my ex and current wife and my daughter, so I've got a tiny bit of experience (which is the most ANY man can ever claim as it is) seem to love having huge globs of chains and doodads hooked together, with a key somewhere in the shuffle of rings if they are lucky. Diane pulls out a huge glob from her purse each time.

Me, I've got 5 keys total, on a double ring that comes apart. One ring holds the key to the van and to her car. The other holds the house key, the key to my desk at work, and the key to the Band Boosters PO Box, simply for convience. I can separate them easily, for when I'm in the can and someone forgets something (ok, that someone is usually me) forgets something and needs to run back in - I don't have to stop the car.

But I digress (and if you haven't figured out that I do that a lot, well then you just haven't been paying much attention. It says it right there in the title, this is a twisted ride - I never claimed I would ever get to the point, or that there was, in fact, a point at all.)

The point is to check in. I'm down more, that is good. I got another gold star, that is cute. I'm tired and going to bed, as I just realized it is after midnight, and that's all he wrote (tonight).

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

My Life Story

I was born a poor black child. No, wait that is the beginning of “The Jerk” and while that may be fitting for me (I’ve often been called worse), it isn’t really how my life story starts.

Actually, I don't think I want to put it up here. Not that I don't want to share it, but I don't know if it fits in my current stream of unconsciousness type of commentary that I've got going on here.

So instead I think I'll put it up on my normal home page - like that can be called normal by any means. So check the links to the right if you want to know all the juicy details of my life.

Why am I writing my life story? Well it's an assignment. Both to write it, and to examine it, to see where my life shows my purpose and where it doesn't.

A lot of this may not make sense (but then, I never said that any of this would) if you haven't been to any of the premier seminars that Diane and I have been attending the past year. If anything, these help you to learn to examine your beliefs, and determine which of them are valid and which aren't, so that you can live your life the way you choose to live it.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Turkey Day Recap

Ah, the great american celebration of Gluttony and Football has come and gone once more, as well as the annual homage to the gods of capitalism and commerce.

I actually like Thanksgiving the best of all the holidays. It's about family and friends, but without any of the stress or pressure from Christmas. Now that I'm the one behind the scenes every year, Christmas just doesn't seem to have the magic it once did. Take it from me - knowing how the magic really works doesn't make it better, it spoils the show.

I don't even mind the leftovers. In fact, I kind of like them. But, once again, we are out of turkey already. I cooked a frickin' 20 pound bird, and nothing is left. Granted, we let our guests take home as much as they wanted, and that seemed to be all they wanted (we have lots of potatoes, stuffing, green bean cassarole and gravy left, but no turkey. Kind of weird to make a plate of all of that without it. But tonight is probably close to the last of it. We are heading to bd's Mongolian Grill tomorrow night for a friend of mines birthday (it was actually on Saturday - Happy 26th Birthday James!), and by Wednesday they will be a little old. Of course, the boys are already sick of them, but that is kids for you. Not even any to make Turkey Cassarole with.

I've been telling that story, so I'll put it out here as well.

When I got married, my mom gave us a bunch of her recipes on cards. One of them was for the Turkey Cassarole - labeled "Mike's Favorite Turkey Cassarole", and her saying how much I loved this recipe. Mom always remembered how much I looked forward to her making it after each Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now don't get me wrong, it is good and I like it, but it is not on my top ten list by any means. She completely mis-understood me about it.

See, the turkey cassarole was always what she did with the last of the left over turkey. So I would always look forward to it, not because I wanted it so much, as it meant that the leftovers were gone, and we could go back to eating normal meals! So it wasn't the dish itself, but what it signified that is what I loved so much.

Of course, the kids hate it. Matt also hates Green Bean Cassarole, and none of them like stuffing much. I have to hang my head in shame - I don't know where I went wrong. We had 12 people, so I made a double batch of GBC, and it was barely touched. When I was growing up, we not only stuffed the bird, but had a second big pan of stuffing as well (the in-the-bird stuff always went first - much juicer and better). Of course, I have most of the stuffing left as well. The mashed potatoes were really good - a whole bag of idaho's (the yukon gold's we had gotten a week before were bad), a stick of butter, a pint of sour cream, and this garlic/herb mashed potato mix that Diane found (it was intended for 3 lbs of potatoes, we had 10, so it worked out nicely, adding just a little bit to it, but not overwhelming them). And I made a huge amount of gravy, simply because you need it for all the leftovers.

I did good on the gravy as well. Once again I turned to my Mom. I remember every year, she would have the neck and giblets boiling all day long on the stove, and make gravy with them. So once I was out on my own, I had to ask her what the recipe was. Boild the giblets (I knew that part), and chop them fine. Then add them to canned gravy. Yep, my mom's secret giblet gravy was from a can. I don't quite do that (I don't like the canned type), but I do use the powdered gravy mix for mine. But I try never to use plain water, I use the broth from boiling the giblets, and the juice from the turkey, plsu some chicken bouillon.

Another cute item. After dinner, we were talking. Amy (James' wife) and her mom were sitting at the table, and I mentioned something about the giblet gravy. They both turned a little pale. "You put the giblets in the gravy?" "Of course" "But I hate giblets." And especially her mom, who hates giblet gravy but had two helpings of mine! :-):-):-)

And I think my weigh in this week will be ok. Diane, Becky and I went and did Step-Aerobics on Thursday morning at the rec center (they had one special class - admission was canned food). That kicked my butt hard (my calves are still sore). They need to do a step class for uncoordinated white guys. It wasn't the exercise, it was trying to keep up as she kept changing what we were supposed to be doing, especially when it was just one step of something. But it was a hard workout, allowing me to eat more. And mowing the lawn one last time to pick up all the leaves on Friday, then going to the rec center both Saturday and Sunday to work out. Now I just have to be good until weigh-in (and going to The Melting Pot on Friday for a family dinner didn't help, but I think I survived it. (For the past several years we have made it a tradition to do one big family dinner out the day after Thanksgiving - before it had been to Sake' - a local Japanese steakhouse and sushi restaurant) , but we decided to splurge and do something a bit bigger (and more expensive) this year)).

Monday, November 20, 2006

Driving

I don't like driving. I know in today's society, that is not a very masculine thing to say. Men are supposed to dig cars and speed and be masters of the road. In my opinion, a car is to get from place to place - period. It is not an extension of my personality nor a status symbol, nor compensation for my 'physical' shortcomings. Yes, someday I want a convertible, because the one week I drove one ten years ago it made it a bit more enjoyable. Mustangs are cool, but I won't pay a lot for one.

In the US today, you generally have to drive to get around. Sure, there is public transportation in some larger cities, if you are on the routes. You can fly, but it is often prohibitively expensive, at least for my budget most of the time. And when you drive you can bring as much stuff as your car will fit, for no additional cost, save maybe a slight bit of decreased gas mileage when you weigh the station wagon down so far that it is almost scraping the pavement.

I'm not a great driver. I get by, but I make mistakes. I once heard that 70% of american drivers believe they are in the top 10% of drivers. I don't. I know better. But I have to do it.

We went to Chicago this weekend. It is about 5 hours drive time. Of course on the way up we went to see Jon at college - so that added about an hour and a half. But that wasnt' the big deal. We went up for another seminar (Keys to Success: Living a Purposeful Life). This is our 6th seminar in Chicago, not including the one I staffed. So we are kind of used to going up there. These end at 4 on Sunday. We have stayed over a couple of times, but that means an additional day of vacation is needed for it, so we generally head straight home. So we usually get out of there by 5. Chicago time. Which is 6 our time. The time change is kind of nice going there - sucks coming home. Plus an hour usually to eat something. And yesterday we stopped to get some Giordano's pizza for one of Diane's clients (and one for us). And at least one gas stop, plus a couple of pit stops.

Diane doesn't like to drive at night, as she doesn't see as well. Me, if I have to drive, night driving isn't so bad. Much better than having the sun in your eyes - I really hate that. So, of course I drive the whole way home. She sleeps for part of it. I work at staying awake and alert. Caffeine. Sugar. Eating junk food, or at least eating. Chewing gum. And you can't let up. It's not like you can just quit 50 miles from home and relax - you need to be up and alert all the way.
So leaving the hotel about 5, stop for the pizza, stop to get dinner (side note - we found this nice Mexican place in Lafayette Indiana by accident last time that has really good Shrimp Chimichangas. I don't remember the name - but it is on 43 about 10 miles off the interstate, just on the left as you go into town. We will definitely plan on being back after the keys in May), stop to get gas, stop to pee, stop to stretch legs and pee again anyway. Drinking diet pepsi, eating the rest of the peanuts, a snickers bar after dinner. A couple more diet pepsis, plus sparkling water (at least that didn't have caffeine).

So we get home without a problem. A bit of stuff to unload, because we brought the food for lunches - so we had a couple of coolers and bags, plus the banner for our Keys Family, and the luggage (just one bag, and my computer - which I couldn't get the wireless or wired internet to work at the hotel), and our books. The dog ignores me as usual, is so happy to see Diane he almost pees himself. Briefly look at the mail. Then upstairs. Brush teeth, get undressed, go to the bathroom. Check the alarm and get in bed.

And lie there. Waiting. Feeling the car still. Feeling the road. Alert. Awake. 12:30 at night, Enya playing on the CD player. Having pushed myself t be alert and go, now I can't stop. Diane is snoring next to me - not too load at least. And she slept for a couple of hours in the car as well. Because she didn't have to stay awake and alert, she could relax. No tension there. And I'm staring at the clock.

It takes me an hour and a half to finally unwind, let go and fall asleep. 2:00 frickin am in the morning - I remember seeing the clock. Of course, I then wake up at 3 and 4:30 to pee - because I'd been drinking pop and water all evening to stay awake. And 6 am doesn't come any later than usual. Time to get up, get to work, where once more I'm supposed to be awake and alert - and even worse actually use my brain all day - which is now completlely trying to shut down, screaming "SLEEP!". So coffee all morning, to keep me wired through the day. And lots of water - got to get back on the diet (weighed myself after working out at lunch - right now I'm close to even, so have to be real good to not gain, especially because the Body Shop (the workout facility here at work - everything has a car theme) closes at 5 on Wednesday - so while I can workout on Wednesday, I can't do it right before weigh-in like I've been doing), so that means I'm still peeing all day long it seems. Then go home and get to do the laundry that I couldn't do while I was in Chicago, so I'll have underwear tomorrow (I'm too old to go Commando).

So I hate driving. It makes me tired and cranky. :-)

PS. The irony is, my new number name is "Driving my life". Somedays I just can't win.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Suffering from my own success

That title sounds so ominous. But not inaccurate, to a small extent.

I'm doing good on my diet. Down 28 lbs. As of last night I was 224.8. Anyone familiar with weight watchers will know what that means. Yep, because I'm doing so well, I now get penalized. Well, it isn't really a penalty, but it sure doesn't seem to be a reward, or even an incentive. See, every 25 lbs is where the daily points are calculate. Not pounds lost, but on a absolute scale. Because the bigger you are, the more food you need to eat to sustain yourself. So some skinny little anorexic Barbie barely needs anything, while a growing boy like myself (that's a laugh - a 42 year old growing boy. Actually shrinking, which is better. The only direction I hae grown in 20 years is out (not up, I don't ever claim that one!)) needs a bit more food.

So loosing 2 points shouldn't be a big deal. It's not the first time, won't be the last (when I get into my goal range I'll be down to a whopping 22 pts a day - I have a hard time picturing how I'll ever make that). But I go and do this one week before Thanksgiving, the American celebration of Gluttony and Football. It already makes me feel hungry.

What I need to do is become a nursing mother under 16 - then I get an extra 12 points per day for a given weight. :-)

Enough whining - where's my non-fat no-sugar added yogurt?

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Used cars

Diane killed her car. Not on purpose, but it is dead. Not quite buried - as we are still waiting for the insurance check - but the totalled it.

We can't be a one car family - just won't work. So we had to shop for another car.

With everything else going on, we can't really afford to take on car payments. We just managed to consolidate all our debt into a second mortgage, we don't want to add more.

So of course, I went to the internet. Not a real pleasant experience, but better than what was to come. I found some on there - one local dealer is very good about putting their cars up. I ignored any without prices - I don't want to deal with that.

Diane looked at a couple of private owners. She knows I'd love to have a convertible some day, so she keeps finding those. I finally tell her to stop looking there - without a garage we will have to be replacing a convertible top every couple of years at least. It is a dream, but not one we can do anything about now.

She does find one car - but our mechanic doesn't like it.

Looking at what is available, I figure we need a little help, so I go to the credit union here at work. That was good - it looks like I have actually managed to repair my credit after so many years. To the point that they release the security deposit on my mastercard, as well as pre-approve me for a small loan - I could have gotten a lot more but don't want the payments.

I talk with people at work about things, and someone mentions they are selling their Toyota. Now we aren't seeing any Hondas or Toyotas in our price range (between 4 and 9K with the loan) - simply because they are too good of cars. So this sounds interesting, but we want to look.

So Friday night, we go out looking. What time to you think car dealers would close on a Friday night? I'm stupid - I assume something like 8 or 9 pm. Lots of stores are open that late - and I figure lots of people would be looking for cars after work on a weekend. Did I say I was stupid? Why would I assume something so . . . so - reasonable. They frackin close at 6. 6pm. On a Friday. They were all closed.

Well we can still look around a bit - so we go to the one that had them on the web. We see most of them - but can do nothing about it. So we go to another dealer.

We went to several. None of them would list prices on the used cars. At all. When I saw that, it just made me feel like there was a big sign over the door saying, "Take a dab of vasoline, grab your ankles, and have a nice day while we screw you over as thouroughly as we can."

I'm not a person to make a fuss, or cause a scene. I won't do it, but I did have an idea that would be fun if I had the guts to do it. Go into one of these places, when it was actually open. Walk around looking at cars, until a salesman comes up. Should be about 3.9843 milliseconds before the slimeball arrives. (I know, I'm being harse. 95% of used car salesmen give the rest a bad name). And when he asks me what I'm interested in, I'd say "Well, I wanted to buy a car. But since there aren't any prices on anything, then it is obvious that you don't have any for sale. Have a nice day!" And leave. My chance to dig at them a little. Won't happen, but I can smile at the thought.

On an aside, we did look at a local import dealer (he had VW's as well as Jaguar's and Porsche's, so we figure we can look). Again no prices on the low end cars. But we did see a big red tag on a Porsche convertible that said $10,000. It looked nice, and I have no idea what year it might be. So I get out to look. Turns out the red tag was $10,000 off! The car was $102,000. Guess not.

Anyway, we are pissed about this, so head home, give my friend from work a call. Pick up his wife's 1998 Camry the next morning to drive it a bit - they are going out of town for the day. Take it to our mechanic - he likes it - though it needs new strut plates or struts. So we negotiate a bit, and later that evening write them a check and get the second key.

The irony is Diane really likes the Camry. Sure it is decked out, but it is a 1998, with 109,000 miles on it. I've offered to let her have the 2003 Van (53K miles) as she needs something reliable for work, but she now wants this one.

So she has a car again. And we didn't need to use the loan after all, which is even better. Now if the insurance would just pay up, but that is another rant.

Monday, November 13, 2006

And how does that feel?

One of the pieces of weight watchers is the meetings. They provide information and support, as well as help you track your weight. And it is this information and support that make the program worthwhile for the weeks and months after you get the startup packs, because, face it - once you know how to do it, you could just do the rest on your own. Calculate your points, do the diet and exercise. But if you could do it on your own you already would have.

So I'm not begrudging them the $12 a week for membership. And pre-paying keeps me going, and I've still got 50 lbs to lose.

And they give you incentives. A blue ribbon for the first 10 lbs. A keychain when you hit your 10% goal (and it is fairly nice too.) A gold star for every 10 lbs after the first. Something (I don't know what) at goal and lifetime.

The ribbon and gold stars make me feel a little bit like kindergarten. "If I'm a good little boy then I get a gold star for the day!" Yes, I have my ribbon and gold star on my bulletin board at work, for all the world to see.

What gets me, and the point of today's rant (see, sometimes there actually is a point, though not often) is that when you get one of these awards - they always ask, "And how does that feel."

I want to say "Still FAT", but that won't work. I don't know what to say. "Not as disgusted as before?" I never know what to say. I snore a little less I guess, but I'm not sure since I'm asleep at the time. It frustrates me, because I still get winded climbing the stairs. No matter how much I work out. I hope that goes away soon.

One thing I did notice today - my "man boobs" are shrinking - so much so now that don't sweat any more - which is a good thing. Now it wasn't that they were moist or anything - just that they were big enough so that the flap of flat lay on my chest - and it was between that fold of skin that would get sweaty and be uncomfortable. So my man-boobs have shrunk and they don't sweat anymore.

Next I need to get to the point where my thighs don't rub together all the time, wearing out my pants prematurely. Which is why crickets don't wear britches - rubbing your thighs together wears them out. And unlike crickets, it doesn't attract the ladies, especially because it causes my workout short to ride up - which is oh so attractive to see my fat butt with my shorts riding up the crack after I work out. And it isn't 'polite' to pull them out of it - so you just have to try and spread your legs and wiggle a bit, hoping that you can create enough of a gap that the sweaty material will go back where it belongs - all while standing at the water cooler trying not too look like an idiot.

A fat, sweaty idiot with his shorts riding up. But at least his man-boobs aren't sweating anymore.

(and on a side note, I guess the new Bob & Tom album is named "Man Boobs" - I heard part of the title song when I started up the van this morning, but only enough to identify that was the song, not enough to actually remember anything about it.)

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Not in the writing mood

Lately I just haven't felt like writing much. Been extremely busy at work, and lazy at home. I've also been fighting a cold, which doesn't help.

Weight wise doing ok - lost 1.2 lbs this week - for a total of 26.2 - weight is 226.6. Which means that by Thanksgiving I'll have less points to eat - wonderful, just fracking wonderful!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Interesting Times

The chinese have a curse "May you live in interesting times."

Well, things do seem to be that at least.

Last week I get my bonus - better than the past two years combined, and nearly the past 3. So that is good. And a fairly decent raise as well. The buyout of the company goes through, as expected, so today I get my restricted stock bought out - again a nice bonus.

Of course, we can't have good without bad. Got the estimates for fixing the ceiling in Jon's room and the kitchen - $3K! A lot more than we expected.

Then Diane totals her car on Tuesday. She is fine, but now we have to get another car. The insurance will help a little, but not all that much. So there goes all the frickin bonus.

I got my 10% award last night at Weight Watchers - down exactly 25 lbs so far ( to 227.8 ). So that is good. Kind of waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Monday, October 30, 2006

owww!

Feeling very tired. Friday night was the last home football game, meaning that it was the last football concessions we had to run. Then Saturday was the craft show, and we run that and the concessions - that was 10 hours. Then Diane brought home Frickers and Long Island Iced Teas - way too many Long Island Iced Teas.

I'm still sore from moving everything from our stand to the cafeteria and back. Plus, when we were moving one of the Pepsi coolers (basically a big, glass door refridgerator) it caught my hand against the brick wall. Dented my wedding ring pretty good - which is really lucky - as it would have probably crushed my hand otherwise. As it is, my ring finger is still really sore. I kind of wish I would bruise - as much as it hurts you think that there should be some physical sign. And I burnt my fingers Friday night moving a metal pan - yes they get hot when they are sitting on the top shelf of the grill keeping burgers and dogs warm - yes I'm an idiot :-).

And last night we went to the Funny Bone to see Ralphie May. We should have drank more - it would have been funnier. Diane didn't like it much at all. I laughed a bit, but he wasn't nearly as good as Josh Blue who we saw three weeks ago.

I'm just having a hard time getting motivated this morning - and even getting fully awake. (Like this is anything new?) I am glad that marching band season is almost over - Saturday is Mid-States - the final championship competition. We are hoping to tailgate to it and cook lunch for the kids, though we aren't yet sure if that is allowed or not.

Then Sunday I'm taking the boys up to Toledo (picking Jon up in Bowling Green on the way) to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We have 5th row (row E) seats on the floor, near the center, so it should be good. Then a weekend with nothing planned so far, before heading up to Chicago again for the next keys, then Thanksgiving.

*sigh*

I feel like I could use a week of sleep.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Weighing in

Weigh in yesterday. This just doesn't make any sense. Last week I was dead even, and I stuck to my points all week. True, I weighed in a day early because of the trip, and couldn't work out that day (or the rest of the week), but all that to stay even.

Of course, it pissed me off, so I blew the diet. Big time. I was 52 points over my allowance, and that without recording ANY On Thursday (and had a breakfast buffet that day, chinese (the worst I've had in a long time), and then seafood pasta & appetizers for dinner - oh, and a bag of Carmel Bugles - oh those are good) - so probably closer to 80 or more points over. And I didn't record the In-n-Out double double and fries on Friday either.

Now I knew that once we got back I had to go back on. Saturday wasn't so good, because I blew it early (eating 'breakfast' items just blows points so quick) at the Atlanta airport. But the Sunday through yesterday I was good (ok, Tuesday night I went a few points over, like it would make a difference on a bad week). I did get back to exercising since Monday. So I go to weigh in. Down friggin 2.2 lbs. Diane is pissed, she gained 1.1, which I should have.

So, I'm at 230.2 - a total of 22.6 lost since we started. Good chance, if I work hard at it, that I could hit my 10% next week, which is what I would like.

What I need to figure out is why, even when I know I've had enough to eat, and don't physically feel hungry, I still want more. This is what makes me get seconds, and go back to buffets, etc. I didn't have more last night (I picked up KFC after the meeting, but only had 2 thighs. But boy did I want more - so golden brown and juicy. I put the left overs in a baggie in the fridge, and later they still looked so good, even with little droplets of grease on the bag. I mean it looked greasy - that shouldn't be appealing - but I so wanted more. So I ate some rice cakes (oops, forgot to record them - have to do that now).

It does make it hard to stick to things when I lose when I don't follow it, and don't lose when I do. *grrrr*

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Travelling

God do I hate travelling. I've said it before, but I believe that the person who said "Half the fun is getting there" never went anywhere.

We spent the last two days going out to see my daughter at her school / treatment center. Wednesday night, we get to the airport, and all the flights through Atlanta are delayed. We won't make our connection and get there tonight, unless we get on the flight before ours, which is also delayed. But we can't check out bags - so with the latest security I'm dumping all my shampoos that I save from various hotels, toothpaste, all that stuff. Because, of course, I don't have a baggie to put them in.

Then in security I buzz the metal detector because of my belt. I take it off and walk through again clean, but it just makes me think how funny it would have been for my pants to fall down while I was walking through without a belt. But we no longer have our 1st ammendment rights in airports, so we can't make any jokes. TSA does not have a sense of humor.

Then once we get to Atlanta, our flight to Vegas is also delayed. This, of course, was worse, because it was packed, and I'm stuck in the middle seat for 4 hours.

No problem getting the car, but it is a two hour drive to Hurricane Utah where we are staying. Or would be if we could get out of town - but I-15 is down to 1 lane at night for construction - so it takes us over 45 minutes to get out of town. We finally get into our hotel room at about 4:15 in the frigging morning. Of course we have to be at the school at 10:15.

It was kind of funny though - as I'm waiting for a clerk at the hotel to check in, another guy walks in - and he had also just driven in from Vegas after flying in from Houston - to see his Grandaughter, who is in a similar program to what my daughter is.

Not only that, but on Friday we run into a couple from our seminars - he was even in my focus family - who are also there visiting their son for much the same reason we are there seeing Katie.

We did go see "Man of the Year" at the theatre there, as we were done at 3:30 on Thursday. Not a bad movie - I just didn't like the conspiracy stuff much, though Diane did.

The drive back to Vegas wasn't too bad, and we went and blew our wad over at the Luxor for a couple of hours. I managed to sit on a nickle slot (Ms. Little Green Men) for well over an hour on $20.00, so while I didn't walk away with anything, it was still good (I view the money for gambling as entertainment expenses - I don't go in expecting to win, just to be entertained for a while).

The we had our red-eye flight back - again stuck on a full flight in a middle seat for 4 f*****g hours. Then a three hour layover in Atlanta. The last flight actually wasn't bad, as it wasn't full so I moved up a row to have a pair of seats to myself (and allow Diane the same behind me). Still, I didn't really sleep on either flight, so my ass is dragging today. Diane, of course, is upstairs snoozing comfortably - me I'm doing band booster work and writing in my blogs!

Also, I blew my diet utterly and completely on the trip. We have to get back to it now. *sigh* I won't like weigh in on Wednesday, but then we'll hit it hard again. I just hope the workout room at work is fixed for good now.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Very Frustrated

I thought I had a good week. I didn't go over my points. I exercised. And when I weighed in, I was exactly the same (hard to do, since they measure to the 1/10th of a pound). Damn.

So then I said screw it last night, ate pizza and had a snickers bar. Because even in my bad weeks before I managed to lose a pound.

I didn't want to change my date for calculating weekly allowance however (as last night would have used it all up if I did), so I lied slightly and put my weigh in date as today instead of yesterday.

We leave for Utah this afternoon, so I'll try to stick to things, but I know I won't be able to work out at all.

Of course, with that - another pipe burst, so the Body Shop is closed again - even though I have my clothes with me today. Just can't win there.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Flabby, fat and lazy - and stupid too

So I'm beating myself up a bit. See, I work out at lunch at the Body Shop - a workout facility here at work. Very convienent. Not only that, but I made a deal with myself this weekend. I would reward myself by buying videos to watch on my iPod for every 10 lbs I lost - but I could only watch them when working out. I have heard so much about the new Battlestar Galactica, and I wanted to catch up on it. So I bought the mini-series and first season - my reward for losing 20 lbs so far. Started watching it Friday and yesterday.

Then yesterday afternoon, they send out an email - the Body Shop is closed indefinitely. It appears a pipe broke. I'm pissed, both because I want to keep watching these, and because I've been eating nearly all my activity points - and going without them will be even harder.

So I'm pissed this morning. For a moment I think about bringing in some clean workout clothes (I sweat enough that I need clean ones every day) and leaving them under my desk until it opens again, then decide frack it.

So what happens - they actually get it in gear, fix the pipe, and re-open at like 10:00 am this morning. And I don't have my clothes to work out. And tonight is the monthly Pizza Hut scout fundraiser (10% of our bill goes to Matt's scout account, so we get pizza on the third Tuesday of each month).

Stupid, I know. But I have to have something to complain about, or else people might think I'm actually happy or something.

I also had my annual de-motivational beating today (i.e. performance review). I hate these, though this was not as bad as most. I actually did pretty well, and got the biggest raise since 2000, which is good. Of course, nobody knows what the bonus will be like yet - that comes next week. We actually will get the bonus before we find out how much it is (kind of weird, but I don't run things). Plus right after that, if things go as the company plans, then I get my restricted stock bought out as well - so a decent little bit of cash. And all a month earlier than normal. Not quite as good as when I got the 5 figure bonus, but not too bad. The key is to put some away (yeah, right).

I have a real hard time saving any money - no matter how much I manage to put away, something always seems to come up. I want to try and not touch the money I put in savings ($100 a check) and my booster checks from now on to pay for Origins and GenCon next year, kind of a plan ahead type of thing (what a concept, I know!). Plus some of this bonus money.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Lazy Sunday - and entire weekend

This weekend was a bit strange for me. Friday night there was a football game, so I helped with the concessions stand. Matt had his camping trip, and Erik was marching. Diane is in Minnesota this weekend, spending time with her daughter and going to her neices baby shower. I guess she got really drunk but is having a good time.

Anyway, Saturday Erik had band practice at 11 and then his contest (they took 3rd), so after taking him to breakfast I had all day, in the house, by myself. I paid bills, I updated the cub advancements and web page, I defrosted the downstaird freezer, and did some laundry. Today I slept in until about 10:30, and that felt really nice. I still need to head to the grocery store (haven't been 'shopping' (as oppossed to just picking up milk or whatever) in a month.

I just haven't had a weekend to sit around and do nothing in quite a long time, it is rather nice for once. Harder to stick to the diet (man I miss the activity points when I don't get them) because I want to snack and munch when I'm sitting watching tv.

I may take the boys out to dinner tonight, or a movie if they get their chores done.

So a weekend of nothing. Not too bad for once.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Wow!

It was quite unexpected last night. A cold front moved in during the afternoon, and right about five it started to just dump down rain. And Diane had not gotten the newsletters printed yet, so we decided to just weigh in at Weight Watchers and not stay for the meeting. Matt needed a ride to Meijers to shop for his camping trip, because with the rain he didn't need to be walking there.

So, like I've been doing, I went to work out after work instead of at lunch. No big deal. Average work out. But I figured I'd weigh myself before heading in. No shoes, no cell phone, no PDA or iPod. But the scale had to be off I figured. I know I was good last week - I had 5 weekly allowance points left over even - the first time ever, and I wasn't eating all my activity points either. But I felt, I don't know, bloated. I still do a bit. Not as bad as I've been, but I feel fatter. So the scale is off a bit, big deal.

Go to the weigh in. Damn, the scale isn't off by more than half a pound - and that because they use precise electronic scales there, instead of the slide ones we have a the Body Shop (that is the name of the workout facility at work) - you know, the same ones a lot of doctors use. 4.8 pounds. I'm in shock. I've now lost 20.4 pounds in 7 weeks. Of course, we weren't able to stay so I couldn't get my gold star. But I'll get that next week, though we won't be going to our regular meeting, because of the trip to Utah

So why don't I feel skinnier - I should notice 20 friggin' pounds!!! 25 is my 10% goal, and at 28.8 I end up losing more daily points (that would put me at 224 - which drops from 28 points per day to 26 per day - heck when I get to my ideal weight it will be 22 points per day - I'll frigging starve :-) ). So my current weight is 232.4, I'm losing weight, but still feeling fat. Go figure.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Not yet dead

Well, the annual day to celebrate the fact that I haven't died yet is here. Yes, some 42 years ago the world trembled, and was never the same again. Brave men paled, women wept, animals went mad. Who knew that back in 1964 such a momentous event was occurring.

The coolest thing I just realized is that for the next 365 days I am The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything.

So Happy Birthday to Me!

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Not too bad after all

Down a pound - 237.2 Almost makes me wonder why I worry about it - if I can go down but blow it. However I know that is a falacy - I need to get back on track with this.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Good and Bad weekend

We went to Chicago for another Keys seminar this weekend. This was really good, but the diet took a major hit. One of the hardest things there is driving - and the wife always wants to have something to munch on when in the car. Then having a few beers with friends before things start up. And while I'd like to make excuses, that isn't being accountable - and I chose not to follow it this weekend. I didn't have to have mayo on my sandwiches, nor chex mix with them, or a few cookies afterward. Nor french toast for dinner.

The important thing is to focus back on it.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Weekly Weigh In

Well, last night wasn't so bad.

9/27/06 - 238.2 - down a pound. Not bad for a crappy week.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Weight

Fat. I'm Fat. I have to admit that first, before I can do anything about it. And I am trying to do something about it.

A few years ago I tried Atkins, and managed to lose 30 lbs on it - getting down at one point to 202. I've since gotten it all and more back.

The wife and I have joined Weight Watchers. We actually signed up a month ago. But I wanted to put this out there as a support tool for myself. So I figure I'll publicly list put my weight log out there.

08/22/06 - 252.8 - started Weight Watchers
08/30/06 - 247.8 - decided that Tuesdays weren't going to work, plan to go on Wednesdays
09/06/06 - 245.2
09/13/06 - 243.0 - missed the big blue ribbon by 0.2 of a pound
09/20/06 - 239.2 - got the blue ribbon. I'm such a good boy. Makes me feel like I'm in Kindergarten. And if I'm really good I can get a gold star too!

Weigh in is tonight - and I'm not feeling good about it. Last weeekend was my oldest son's College Family Weekend. Didn't do too bad at first, but should have just passed on getting ice cream with the boys (I took my other two sons up, as well as a friend of theirs. The wife had to work and couldn't get off, so she didn't go). Then the brunch - should have really cut back there but NOOOOOO. And then I ate half a bag of Bugles on the two hour drive home. So did I cut back at dinner - no, of course not - that would have made too much sense.
Then last night we ordered pizza. I do like pizza. And of course I didn't stop when I should have. I should have made a salad to go with it to fill me up. But it could have been worse - there was still some left - at least I didn't finish it all off. But blew my points out of the water, of course. And I was already over for the week from the weekend anyway - so endded up like 21 pts over for the week.

So today I've been good - trying to lose a little at least. I don't feel like I'm down any, maybe even up some. Just did a Slimfast shake for breakfast (which I've been doing all along - nutritious, keeps me from getting hungry in the morning, not really bad for you) and for lunch. Boy, I'm starving now. But I'll go work out after work and before I weigh in, so maybe I won't have gained.

I am accountable for making bad choices in my meals - for letting my emotions rule me instead of doing what I knew I should.

Second Thoughts

Nope, don't have any second thoughts about doing this either. No regrets.

I've done a little of this before - and figured I could do it again. Just a place to journal a bit and share some things on my mind.

Of course, that means I'm drawing a complete blank now.

So I'll be updating this irregularly, as the mood arises.

Check out my blog about my daughter however - http://home.earthlink.net/~parenthelp/