Responsibility 199

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T10:12:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year All...

First order of business in 2012, a new blog.

Not because the new year deserves a new blog, but because blogger.com has angered, enraged, just p!$s#D me OFF one too many times.

So, off we go to a new home; please do follow me onward as I move here>>>

http://responsibility199.wordpress.com

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Summing up 2011...

2011-12-31T20:15:00.000-06:00

Picture below sums up only my enthusiasm for my weight loss relapse in 2011; beyond that I am all smiles about the year that ends in less than 4 hours...

So Long 2011

2011-12-31T17:27:00.000-06:00

Be safe this NY Eve!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Wake Up!

2011-12-30T20:42:00.000-06:00

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Good Start, Good Bird

2011-10-03T06:01:00.002-05:00

First full week of this the 10th month of 2011. October is always a month of tectonic demand for our time, patience and sense of humor. Our family has six birthdays to celebrate, our kids make up half of them. Hunting season resumes so we have deer & turkey to harvest. The kids have school events to attend. Hockey season resumes so we have a Hockey game to go to. Tectonic I tell you!

In honest reflection of my mission here, it was this time last year my progress slowed to a point of inconsistent ups and downs beginning a string of months of clumsy maintenance. Was is the increased external demands of the final months of the year which contributed to that result? Certainly it did influence it, but, the result was something I allowed. Had I stayed sharp mentally and kept my mission prioritized properly the result would have been better.

That learned experience is a tool I now have to use my quest to emerge from the final months of this year healthier, happier and handsome. No tool is useful if not used, and proper prioritization of my own mission with all else October brings is the only way this quest will succeed.

Thanks to the challenges I've joined (Go The Distance and Fall 31 Day) I am off to a good start this month. Each of the first two days saw me get in a couple of miles of combined walk/jog activity. Yesterday I also put in an hour in the gym working on upper body pulling exercises.

Exercise is good, very good. But we all know sustained weight loss or maintenance is a combination of exercise & diet. So on the diet front I'm off to a good start too. I won't bore you (or myself) with a list of everything I have eaten. But I will share a dish I had fun with. We need to remind ourselves that when food is fun we use food more successfully. Oh, to be clear, having fun with food does not mean 'food-fight' fun, but rather using fun creatively and outside of the norms that most dull diets prescribe.

Saturday's dinner was Bacon & Apple Roasted Pheasant:

Raw pheasant ready for some loving attention...

Spices, soy sauce & water will become marinade in no time...

Two pheasants marinade the day away...

Each marinaded pheasant gets stuffed w/ apple & hit w/ apple wood seasoning...

Trussed, draped in bacon (I was told I needed to use more bacon), these are ready for bagging...

Oven roaster bags work on pheasants & birds of all kinds...

Ninety minutes later we have Apple/Bacon Roasted Pheasant...

And the final photo is the one way up at the top of the post, my dinner plate; Breast of Pheasant w/ Salsa Dressed Romaine Salad. A mighty tasty and healthy meal it was.

Are you off to a good start this October ?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

A Challenge, No, Two Challenges

2011-10-01T06:46:00.003-05:00

Wow, did September move fast or what? It sure did in my eyes. A down right blurry flash of light is what I saw most September days.

Being blurry & busy is great, I prefer busy to not-busy. Actually, a quick sidebar; I am not looking forward to those retirement years because I just cannot wrap my head around being not busy. Oh I am sure when those years arrive, I'll adjust and find things to busy myself with. But for now, retirement is just not something I long for.

Back from the future to what is at hand now. October is now. I am now, you are now; our lives & livelihoods are now. The greatest hurdle to my livelihood continues to be my weight because I've allowed it to be. If you could see me typing right now, you'd see me shaking my head east-west in my own direction.

Enter October, enter opportunity to right that which I find wrong within. To make this right I need tools, many tools. Accountability is one tool which I need to leverage with greater consistency. Accountability will come from many avenues. From family, myself, bloggers, myself, our cats... well maybe not the cats.

To foster Accountability I considered organizing a challenge. But no sooner had that thought arrived when I was presented a number of challenges from fellow bloggers. I participated in a few challenges in 2010 and had good success with them; nope, I have no idea why I stepped away from them when the calendar turned to 2011. Therefore I've decided to enter a pair of challenges for October to amp up Accountability and get this mission rolling again.

One challenge is the always popular Go The Distance challenge (logo up top) organized by FatGirlVsWorld. This challenge leverages a tracking tool, promotes the importance of reward, and has an air of competitiveness within it that can be quite inspiring.

The second challenge is the Fall 31 Day challenge (logo below). This is a challenge that Clyde and his friend Jessica have partnered up on and they've been so kind to invite others to join them. The essence of this challenge; do something, anything, daily for 31 days to achieve a desired goal.

Why two challenges? Simple, I have great respect for the organizers of them, and I figure my chance of success increases when I put myself in their company. It's that simple. I know I can't do this solely on my own volition, otherwise I'd be where I desire to be by now.

If you need the benefits of a challenge, check them out and sign up. Otherwise, at least follow along with us and do us the favor of lending a hand with Accountability.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Aren't Kids Sneaky Inspirations?

2011-09-12T06:29:00.002-05:00

A great weekend for my wife & I. We went to see Ashley at college & got there just in time for her soccer game. They won, but she did not play. Being one of two freshman on the team playing time has to be earned. She played in their first two games. Go figure that the game she gets zip time is the game we drive 4 hours to go see. Oh well, we went to see her much more than we went to see her play.

After the game we went back to her dorm room; not as neat as it was when we dropped her off there a month ago. We met some of her new friends who were on their way out to go bowling. We took her to dinner somewhere she loves to go; Olive Garden- yuck! There we chit chatted for a couple of hours and just hung out. All seems to be going well with her at school. She adjusted much quicker than we expected. Not that we expected her to have any serious issues with the transition. It is very pleasing to know that your kid was able to leave home and take flight in a big way. Oh she has a long flight ahead of her, but so far she is soaring.

Here is a fun picture I snapped on the way home yesterday...

A tanker truck filled with coffee; wonder how many cups that equals?

We didn't take too many photos on the trip, and I don't have anymore to share here right now; but there is one photo that I wish I had taken but didn't.

When we were in Ashley's dorm I was reading what she had scribbled on her white board. Allow me to note here that her white board looks marvelous as it was expertly hung by a master of stuff hanging a month ago. Ok, the hanging bit was not really the marvelous part. What was marvelous was what she had scribbled. Any guesses what she had written there?

Nope, not how much she misses us.
Nope, not when she is coming home next.
Nope, not even what she is going to buy us for Christmas.

She had goals writing on her board. Those objectives she considers so important that she wanted daily reminder of them. Huh, what a novel idea...

Decide what is important to achieve, commit it to writing, and display it in a place that when you wake everyday, you remind yourself of what is important to you.

Aren't kids sneaky inspirations?

I'll be buying a white board today after work.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

NEVER FORGET

2011-09-11T07:14:00.009-05:00

NEVER FORGET: There were a total of 2,977 deaths on 9/11 [does not include the 19 hijackers who are never to be remembered]. The victims included 246 on the four planes, 2,606 in New York City, and 125 at the Pentagon. All the deaths in the attacks were civilians, except for 55 military personnel killed at the Pentagon.

< - >

NEVER FORGET: Over 90% of those who who died in the WTC towers had been at or above the points of impact. In the North Tower 1,355 people at or above the point of impact were trapped and died of smoke inhalation, fell or jumped from the tower to escape the smoke and flames, or were killed in the building's eventual collapse. Below the point of impact 107 people did not survive. In the South Tower, 630 people died. Casualties in the South Tower were significantly reduced by the decision of some to evacuate when the North Tower was struck.

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NEVER FORGET: At least 200 people fell or jumped to their deaths from the burning towers, landing on the streets and rooftops of adjacent buildings hundreds of feet below. Some occupants of each tower above the point of impact made their way upward toward the roof in hope of helicopter rescue, but the roof access doors were locked. No plan existed for helicopter rescues, and the thick smoke and intense heat would have prevented helicopters from approaching.

< - >

NEVER FORGET: A total of 411 emergency workers who responded to the WTC scene died as they tried to rescue people and fight fires. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) lost 341 firefighters and 2 paramedics. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) lost 23 officers. The Port Authority Police Department lost 37 officers. Eight emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics from private emergency medical services units were killed.

< - >

NEVER FORGET: Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., an investment bank on the 101st–105th floors of the North Tower, lost 658 employees; considerably more than any other employer. Marsh Inc., located immediately below Cantor Fitzgerald on floors 93–100, lost 358 employees, and 175 employees of Aon Corporation were also killed.

< - >

NEVER FORGET: American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon at 09:37 EDT. All 59 (crew & passengers) on board the aircraft were killed, as were 125 people in the building. Dozens of people witnessed the crash and news sources began reporting on the incident within minutes. The impact severely damaged an area of the Pentagon and ignited a large fire. Rescue efforts began... immediately after the crash. Almost all the successful rescues of survivors occurred within half an hour of the impact. Initially, rescue efforts were led by the military and civilian employees within the building. Within minutes, the first fire companies arrived and found these volunteers searching near the impact site. The firemen ordered them to leave as they were not properly equipped or trained to deal with the hazards.

< - >

NEVER FORGET: At 08:14 the attack upon America began when American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked. America was on the defensive for only 103 minutes. At 09:57:55 the heroes of United Flight 93 put us on the offensive. The hijackers in the cockpit answered the revolt by rolling the airplane left and right to knock the passengers off balance, up and down to disrupt the assault. A hijacker, "They wa...nt to get in here. Hold, hold from the inside... Hold." The cockpit voice recorder captured sounds of crashing, screaming, and shattering glass. A passenger cried, "In the cockpit. If we don't, we'll die" Another passenger yelled, "Roll it!" A hijacker said, "Pull it down! Pull it down!" and then airplane turned hard right & rolled onto its back. Amidst the sounds of the passenger counterattack, the aircraft plowed into an empty field near Shanksville Pennsylvania, just 20 minutes flying time from Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Capitol Building believed to be the hijackers target. The last piece of flight data was recorded at 10:03:10. For 5 minutes & 15 seconds the heroes of Flight 93 fought the enemy and bravely sacrificed their lives to save the lives of others.

< - >

NEVER FORGET: The deaths of adults who were killed in the attacks or died in rescue operations resulted in over 3000 children losing a parent. In the days immediately following the attacks, many memorials and vigils were held around the world. In addition, people posted photographs of the dead and missing all around Ground Zero. A witness described being unable to "get away from faces of innocent victims who were killed. Their pictures are everywhere, on phone booths, street lights, walls of subway stations. Everything reminded me of a huge funeral, people quiet and sad, but also very nice. Before, New York gave me a cold feeling; now people were reaching out to help each other.”

< - >

NEVER FORGET: The attacks had a significant economic impact on US & world market. US exchanges did not open on September 11 and remained closed until September 17. Reopening, the DJIA fell 684 points, or 7.1%, a record-setting one-day point decline. By the end of the week, the DJIA had fallen 1,369.7 points (14.3%), U.S. stocks lost $1.4 trillion in value for the week, equivalent to $1.74 trillion... in present day terms. In New York City, about 430,000 job-months and $2.8 billion dollars in wages were lost in the three months after the attacks. Business impact near the World Trade Center, 18,000 of which were destroyed or displaced, resulted in lost jobs. Some 31,900,000 square feet of Lower Manhattan office space was damaged or destroyed.

NEVER FORGET!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Squishy Time

2011-09-10T06:59:00.003-05:00

Hope all had a great week and are set for a great weekend.

Myself, a decent week. Found some of my mojo, still need to find more; a week at a time for now.

This weekend my wife & I are off to visit our daughter at college and see her play in their weekend soccer game. Looking forward to spending away from home with my wife and catching up with Ashley.

Our daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan. Her college is nothing like Hogwarts however. Some colleges do pride themselves, and market themselves, in their similarities to Hogwarts. Apparently Yale University is considered to be the most Hogwarts like in America. A campus known for it's towers, courtyards, arches and gothic architecture. Under one library a tunnel leads to another library and onward through a vast underground network of passageways. The administration process places incoming students in one of twelve residential colleges, but no sorting hat is used. And to secure its spot as Hogwarts like, they offer a class called "Christian Theology and Harry Potter". I'm sure our daughter would like to take that class. And she can, just as soon as she applies to Yale and pays for it.

Have a great weekend whatever you do!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Walking Catfish Wednesday

2011-09-07T08:09:00.000-05:00

Great walk yesterday after work. Took on my 2 mile neighborhood loop for the first time in a long time. Maybe first time since last winter to be honest. It took me 32:50 to complete, a far cry from my best time of 29:30 on that loop. Not upset at all that I was that far off my best pace. It gives me something to challenge myself on as I get my mojo back.

Great eats yesterday too. Baked up a mess of catfish, here is what a mess of catfish looks like before...

These were in my freezer for a couple of months. A work mate of mine is a fisherman & hunter as am I. So a couple of times a year we have a game-exchange. Over the summer I traded him a mess of venison chops, brats & bacon for a bag of catfish & two pheasants. It's only right to share ones harvest with a neighbor!

Here is what they look like after giving them some love before cooking...

The dish on the left and another like it not pictured are traditional corn meal & spice coated fillets. The dish on the right is not coated in corn meal or any other starchy/carby coating, thus a bit healthier. That dish ese are seasoned in different flavor combos. Top to bottom: Chili Crusted,... Lime Pepper,... Garlic-Maple.

I oven baked all the fish versus frying in oil to keep them healthier still. Whoa these were some serious delicious! These were small fillets by standard, so my mind was telling me I could affrd to eaten six fillets. But I just had two as hard as it was to stop there.
Hey I wanted to let all know that I've been reading your blogs but have had a problem commenting on some of you that use Blogger. Oddest thing, I get that error when trying to comment on some blogger blogs, not all. The ones where the comments are left in pop-ups, I do not have a problem with. But when the comment is made on the page itself (like mine) and I have to select 'select profile' for google account, that is when I get this error. I am signed in, I have to be as I can post on my blog, edit, etc, yet never in the upper right corner does it show me signed in. I've posted a cry for help in the blogger help forum, we'll see if someone rescues me.

Enjoy This Day!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Change To Lose

2011-09-06T06:57:00.003-05:00

Took that picture while out for a walk yesterday. Perfect day here, low 60's, sunny, my kind of weather!

So as summer becomes fall, the change in seasons has me pondering why the need for change. Some changes, like health changes, can at times be better reasoned by considering what will be lost versus what will be gained upon success. Here a dislikes and don't wants I hope to lose...

I dislike climbing three or four flights of stairs with ease only to feel oxygen is needed to go on to flights five, six & seven.

I don't want to have to ever gesture frantically to my wife, or anyone nearby, that I need help with the heart attack or stroke I am in the throws of.

I dislike passing by a fast food restaurant and looking upon it with want & desire.

I don't want to ever have to go back to taking blood pressure pills again every morning.

I dislike being able to wear some 2x shirts but not all as some just are more snug than I like.

I don't want 'strapping on the feed bag' to be a relief option I give any consideration when life becomes difficult, stressful, boring, etc.

I dislike finding it a chore to factor exercise into my days.

I don't want to see myself in the skype rear-view window and wonder why jabba the hut is skyping my daughter.

I dislike believing that my ability to thump anyone who deserves it is not as swift and immediate as it once was.

I don't want to have to drive a SUV so that I feel comfortable and enjoy the drive.

I dislike having to stop for a breath when walking with loaded pack and rifle to & to/from deer stands during hunting season.

I don't want to miss out on seeing my grand children graduate high school, college and get married.

I dislike feeling the need to curse the scale every time I walk up to it.

I don't want to wake up any day doubting that I can end the day healthier than I began it.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Happy Labor Day

2011-09-05T08:22:00.000-05:00

Labor Day is the unofficial end of the summer, don't worry it will return in 2012.

Labor Day is an occasion for getting your BBQ'n on, and then go for a jog to get it off.

Labor Day is a day for towns, villages, cities to put on parades; I'm not much of a parade guy myself but love free candy being thrown at me.

Labor Day is unfortunately where politicians will appear at these parades and open their mouths, worry that these folk will be around all through 2012.

Labor Day is referenced throughout the year as when the NFL and College football seasons will kick off again, amen to kicking pigskin.

Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor; in case you didn't know.

Whatever Labor Day is to you, enjoy this day.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Stand Up To Success

2011-08-31T08:19:00.000-05:00

Rain, it rained while we were attending our son's soccer game yesterday. It happens. When it does, you can break out an umbrella, hang in there & tough out that which would deter you, or, you can flee from that which is unpleasant. What would you be more apt to do?

Keep in mind I am talking about a rain shower, not a hurricane. Sometimes, you gotta flee! But do those of us who struggle to get fit, stay fit; do we tend to flee too easily in the face of difficulty?

A whole post could be dedicated to what "difficulty" means to us, and I may do just that near term. But let me stay focused on my point; why we choose to stand down in the face of difficulty.

This analysis could go in so many directions. There is the science of the flight-or-fight response, but I'm not talking about facing a momma-grizzly bear protecting her cubs. There is the quest for convenience and ease in life; but I'm not talking about using the remote control to change the channel versus getting up and using the buttons on the television console - want to have some fun hide the remote at a time when you know your kids will watch television; odds are they will flee for something else to do before they push buttons on the television.

Instead, I believe why we most often choose to stand down the difficulties of weight loss is really quite simple; we don't step up and make decisions before we act.

Over the past month or two I've had so many opportunities to exercise, but quickly if not almost instantaneously decided not to. No, that is wrong, it wasn't a decision, it was a reflex reaction made nearly unconsciously. Why do I unconsciously not do what I know I ought to do?

Where does that come from? I'm honestly not certain. But what I am certain of is that when I am on my game, I am consciously determining the pro/con of options and making reasoned decisions. When I am off my game, I've checked out in the decision making department. That inner-demon has checked in and unconsiously decides that I will watch tevelvision versus go for a walk.

To be successful I need to stand up to the challenge of making difficult decisions. For some of us, choosing 30 minutes of exercise over 3 hours of television is a difficult decision. Choosing 30 minutes to prepare a healthy meal over a 3 minute drive-thru meal is a difficult decision.

Success is recognizing when a decision is before you that will impact your weight.
Success is standing up, spending 3 seconds reasoning the options and before we act.
Success is making a conscious decision in the best interest of you, not your inner-demon!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

In Short, In truth, Here I am

2011-08-28T21:11:00.001-05:00

I've received a bunch, I mean a BUNCH,of inquiries as to ny whereabouts. I chose to reply to one of them, using that reply to organize my thoughts, and then after sending that email share them with all here via this post....

Hi Jody, thanks for checking up on me; I hope all has been well with you!

In short, everything is Ok here. Family is happy, healthy, everything is well with our home, work and school lives.

In truth, after we returned from vacation in early July I struggled to get my mojo back for forgoing ahead with my mission to slim down to 199. For a couple of weeks I kept doing the things I had been, but oddly the exercise was harder to get through, the meal discipline was harder to manage, the balancing of me-first in with my non-me priorities was harder to execute.

Even as I sit here and type now, I do not know why what was so easy, so enjoyable a year ago; I do not know why it suddenly got so hard. The best I can rationalize is that I was beginning to mentally burn out to some degree. Seeing that I knowingly decided to step back and take a break from what was proving difficult, I have no doubt that was it.

So here I am today, the weekend drawing to a close, August days away from closing as well. I've stayed away from the scale as its been a source of difficulty; difficulty in not seeing number continue downward. Today, I would guess it is 10 pounds greater than where is was a couple of months ago. Exercise has been very sporadic, my eating has been inconsistent from day to day.

Over the past couple days I've caught myself thinking more as I did a year ago. We (my wife & I) have put conscious effort into reversing the difficulty and regaining momentum. Over the next week we look to work on our consistency a day at a time. This morning we got off our butts and got them moving again in a big way with a 6.9 mile walk along a nearby forest preserve trail.

What is most frustrating is even through this difficult period, we have not forgotten how important it is to get healthy, to stay healthy. The reasons I started this mission some sixteen months ago have not changed. While the challenges and results of what we do vary from day to day, month to month; the reasons for living healthy lives are constant.

Understanding this, we must now harness the importance of these reasons in order to reclaim commitment and resume consistency.

I'll check in on your blog and those of others who I've missed this week!

p.s.. the picture at the top there is of my wife & daughter exchanging a tearful goodbye as we dropped her off at college nearly three weeks ago.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 461 - Impromptu It Is

2011-07-21T06:54:00.001-05:00

Hot is the theme of the week. There you see the temp when I left the office yesterday. Ugh is an appropriate response. Or, perhaps Ahh if you are the Heat Miser; just a subtle reference reminder that Christmas is just 5 months and a few days away.

Yesterday my son waived me off from hanging out with him so that he could continue with his summer school assignments. Smart move on his part. With my evening suddenly free, I called my gorgeous wife and we went on an impromptu date night. The rest of the kids were out and about and already knew they were on their own for dinner.

We met up for dinner and had a relaxing, casual time together. Afterwards since we each had a vehicle I made a stop off at the mall to get a battery for my watch. On my way out these two just happened to latch on to me to escape the mall...

My wife loved the "Send The Pig" scene from the Winnie The Pooh movie so much, I thought they were an appropriate impromptu gift.

What? You haven't seen the movie yet? Well you must at least watch this clip...

Now that should have you planning a trip to the theatre this weekend. Or maybe today? Just go see this movie already!

Tonight, C25K-W1D3 is the goal. Heat or no heat, this I can do.

Got a goal for today?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 460 - Kitty Kitty Shout Out

2011-07-20T07:23:00.000-05:00

It is Wednesday, seems like a good day for some cat pictures, no?

Up top there you see Crush getting some scratching before dinner.

Below you see Crush & Zinger (w/ lazer-eyes) sitting oh so close to me as I eat my dinner...

My dinner was a delicious Jalapeno Bratwurst and Watermelon; no pictures of dinner.

Yes, I am on a Watermelon quest at the moment.

Before dinner I went for a 2.5 mile walk. No jogging of C25K was in order today. Just needed a good 45 minutes of walking to clear my head from the work day before dinner.

Today & tomorrow I'll be in training at work. Always grateful for training but never does training occur on a day where I feel I can just give up the tome for the day. As for exercise today it will be a day of rest. Tonight I will go see Andrew who is working through his last week of summer school. So there you have it, my day in a paragraph.

I mentioned work which jogged my memory of a photo I snapped the other day...

No, this is not my cubical.

I found it worthy of noting because of the over use if not abuse of sticky-notes.

Myself I dislike sticky notes, seldom use them, but I know some folks use them well.

This is not an example of using them well.

What is on your agenda today?

SHOUT OUT time... speaking of agenda, or plan; let me share with you a link to a fellow blogger who does a great job assessing her positive & negative actions of the day and laying out her plan for the next day. Give JW of Awake For The Dance - The Practice Of Mindful Living a read and enjoy!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 459 - Here Fishy Fishy

2011-07-19T07:42:00.000-05:00

I know, I know; I showed you a picture of fish yesterday. But, those fish we did not eat, which is a shame I know. But this fish, this fish I did eat. And it was so good!

Up there you see it as I placed it on the grill. It rests on a cedar planked soaked in water & lemon juice. The fish, Steelhead Salmon, is seasoned with a fish seasoning I bought in Seattle (the fish I did not buy in Seattle), and crusted in Onion & Garlic Macadamia Nuts. The came from Hawaii and from this package to be specific...

Here is dinner after it came off the grill...

Before I closed the grill I tossed in a handful of apple wood chips while cooking to give it a lovely blast of sweet smokiness.

As good as it looked coming off the grill I must say it looked its best when I plated it...

Yes, I was in the mood for fruit with dinner. or maybe I was in the mood for sweetness without the bad news from the sweets in the candy counter or bakery aisle.

That dinner was a great way to cap off a great workout. After worked I got my youngest off the couch to join me for C25K-Week1/Day2. The 93F heat was definitely a challenge. A slight breeze tried to take some sting out of the heavy air but to little avail.

Cameron is a soccer player in high school so you would expect him to look at this workout as a walk in the park. But it was quite the opposite for him. He has become quite out of shape since the end of soccer season his freshman year. Even though he hit his final growth spurt over the past six-months, oh how we hope it is his final spurt; his appetite spurted as well and not with a desire for healthy eats.

Thus he struggled to make it through the 60 second jogging segments and his walking segments were quite slow. He knew it, and wasn't happy about it. Soccer tryouts are in a couple of weeks and the start of his sophomore year five weeks away; yes summer break has begun its descent for landing.

Myself, I got through D2 much better than D1. A day of good eating and anticipation of the workout helped that progression occur. Later this week I will get Day3 in and conclude the trio of workouts that make up a week. Hopefully I can grab Cameron for another workout; doubt he shares that same hope.

Got any recent successful grilling experiences to share?

What about exercise experiences?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 457-458: In Heat Monday

2011-07-18T07:18:00.000-05:00

Good weekend for me, hope yours was good as well. Some of my highlights...

As noted already my wife & I started our weekend with a date night & saw Winnie The Pooh movie which I have renamed appropriately The Eeyore Movie. Best line from the movie, "Send the Pig." -Roo

Did C25K-W1D1, felt great.

Brunch w/ Mom. Gave her a gift from Hawaii; Koa wood wine stoppers. She gave me my birthday gift; Bass Pro gift card which I'll use towards my hunting license; sweet!.

Saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Should rename this film to "HP7, The Rise of Neville Longbottom". We went at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, my wife & I were the youngest in the theatre by at least 10 years, kind of funny.

Grilled a delicious Garlic-Dill Halibut fillet. OMG it was so good.

Went to see son play in a soccer camp, on way home we got some ice cream because y'day was national ice cream day; I went with pretzel-marshmallow ice cream! Thankfully it wasn't liverwurst day.

Listened to the world cup game on radio, what a let down that was. You are welcome Japan!

Wife downloaded all of the Hawaii pictures from the cameras. Up top there you see one of them, our deep sea fishing trip results; 2 mahi-mahi (left) and 3 skipjack tuna (right).

Monday is here & so is the heat wave. Bring it on I say, but please let the power stay on. Today we get to better ourselves in any & every way we choose. How cool is that?

For me that means doing C25K-W1D2 after work. Going to drag our youngest son with me, he jiggles more than he ought to.

What about you, at days end how will you be better than when you woke up?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 453-456: Lets Talk EEYORE, Shall We

2011-07-16T09:25:00.000-05:00

This weekend sure seemed like it took a long long time to get here. Odd because I was so stinking busy with work and getting kids to and from places thsi week that I would have thought the week would have flown by. No doubt the power-outage we endured at the beginning of the week messed up our timing and left us playing catch up the rest of the week.

Our power came back on Tuesday afternoon. In all for us it was out for 30 hours. Total cost to me was $30-40 of dairy products, lunchmeat. No big deal. Some of that I probably could have saved but just to be safe I pitched it.

When I opened the freezers after the power resumed, they were still frozen solid. You really must avoid opening these during an outage. Let just a little warm air in there and the time to defrost drops faster than the weight of a recruit in boot camp. Get this... some 30,000 people not far from us, still do not have power! Thats 5days and an since the power went dark on them; yikes!

Since returning from Hawaii I have not been able to get my mind back into doing the things I need to do. Not sure why, guess I have mentally still been on vacation. Cardio particularly has not been something I've been able to get going again.

In effort to kick start my Cardio Caboose again I have decided to go through the nine-week C25K program. Even though much of it I can do when I get out there and do cardio, I feel right now I need some structured help to get back to where I want to be with my fitness. So this morning I went out there and did the first week one workout. If you don't know what C25K is, google it, I used this link.

The walk/jog combo ofthis workout felt good, and was just what I needed to be sure I accomplished a workout. So I will keep at this program until done if for no other reason to join the ranks of C25K veterans.

Lets talk EEYORE, shall we... last night was date night for my wife & I. A movie & dinner was on tap. A brief debate about which movie to go see took place. Allot of desire was there to go see Harry Potter 7 naturally. But since it was also opening day for Winnie The Pooh, or as I call it, The Eeyore Movie. The debate was short really, we wnt I saw Eeyore!

Eeyore also went to the mvoie with us. Up top you see him buckled in for the ride to the theatre. Since soda costs so much he brought his own to the show...

My wife wouldn't let him bring the pop into the theatre. Even worse, when we were watching the movie she took him from me and stuffed him in her purse! So he didn't even get to see the movie he starred in. I am thinking Academy Award for him by the way.

Have a great weekend; which you will if you go see the Eeyore Movie!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 451-452: Clean Butt Thanks To Lady Luck

2011-07-12T07:46:00.000-05:00

Monday's colonoscopy was all good news. The best part of the news was the fact I do not need to go for another one for 3 years, thank you!!!

Lady Luck was with me in the morning as I was first up on the list for my colonoscopy Monday morning, a 7:30 a.m. appointment. It couldn't have been 7:35 a.m. when they were knocking me out. Good thing too as the power went out shortly after 8 a.m., just minutes after I began waking up, the procedure complete. Those who were there, all prepared and waiting for their turn, they had to wait until the power came back on. Sure the back up generators kicked in and the placed looked as if all was normal. But apparently they are not allowed to start non-emergency procedures while on back up generator power.

That was nearly 24 hours ago. At home, our power is still out. Oh I hope they were able to get the hospital's power back online yesterday morning so that those folks waiting for there colonoscopy could get it done. It would score very high on the Suck-O-Meter if you had to reschedule that appointment after starving the day before & flushing out the plumbing that night. Hence why Lady Luck was with me in the morning.

Since our power is still out, I think Lady Luck left me, left the county it seems, as soon as the storms moved into our county yesterday morning. The storm swept through the area swiftly but it's brief stay was enough time to deliver a potent hit. I am one of the nearly 1-million Chicagolander's who lost power right away. As of this minute about 350,000 are still without power including us.

Well, speaking of this minute; I am at work where it is cool, there is internet (hence the blog post), there are cold beverages... the kids however are at home where it is hot, there is no internet, there are angry cats, and no cold beverages. I suppose I should feel bad for them.

Last night we grilled out for dinner. Since I wouldn't allow anyone to open the refrigerator of freezers when the power went out, we had to either make do with what was in our pantry or find something at a store to grill. Earlier that day when I had my son out learning to drive I noticed that one of the grocery stores was open for business. They were selling what they could via generator power. We snapped up a package of frozen chicken breasts and Ho-Ho's. So we had grilled garlic-ginger chicken, seasoned corn (from a can), and Ho-Ho's (kids felt these would help them through the heat of the night).

After dinner the kids we besides themselves since there was no internet, no television, no xbox. I had an emergency radio on listening to the news, but that did nothing to entertain them. So we broke out some old-school entertainment and played Monopoly. As the day was turning to dusk light became an issue. But we fared well making use of flashlights.

For the record, Cameron kicked all of our butts, it wasn't even close.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 449-450: Bi-Annual Fun

2011-07-10T17:57:00.000-05:00

Every other year I spend a Sunday starving all day and getting ready for Monday. This used to be an annual event. Not sure it will ever be less frequent than bi-annual, but one could hope. I used to dread this day but I've done this so many times over the past decade that while I certainly do not look forward to it I give it the same wrinkle of the nose and roll of the eyes as going to the dentist.

On Monday I'll wake up before dawn and head to the hospital where while most people are eating breakfast or commuting to work, I'll be participating in a big way in a colonoscopy. Somewhere around mid-morning it will all be done with. Then I'll have the rest of the day to clear my mind and body of the anesthesia and get something to eat. Hopefully come evening I'll get myself out for a walk.

This is all good really. The alternative would be to ignore the need for such preventative attention. A decade ago had I ignored the need for attention when something didn't seem right, I would have never experienced a colonoscopy and as a result likely wouldn't be here today to share my bi-annual fun with you.

However I've learned a number of times over, via my own experiences and those of others, that it is paramount to listen to your body and seek attention when something doesn't seem right. And just as important is to be get those check ups, tests and the like to prevent that which would cause you harm, or end you, if left to undetected.

While this may seem a bit gloomy of a post to wrap up what has been a fabulous weekend, it is in reality an affirmation of responsibility.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 448: Yep, Forty-Six Today

2011-07-08T08:37:00.000-05:00

That would be a birthday cake being frosted, my birthday cake.

Ashley baked & frosted it and did a fine job.

With this being my 46th birthday I thought I'd share a list I keep of my life's Hi/Lo-lights. Just a simple bullet-style list which doesn't do much justice in capturing all I've done, seen, etc., but it does sketch out the borders of my life. To know the detail of what is colored within the borders you'd need to ask me.

1965 Born in July in Chicago, IL on a beautiful 85F day

1966 I was the center of attention until NBC announced that all of its programming will air in full-color going forward

1967 This year was doomed right away when in Super Bowl 1 the Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs

1968 End of any dreams I had of being an only-child; Kimberly Lynn is born on a windy 69F day in Chicago, IL

1969 Was not happy my mom did not allow me to attend the 3 Days of Peace & Music at Woodstock

1970-71 Attend Ravenswood Elementary - Chicago, IL, Kindergarten - 1st grades

1972-76 Attend DeWitt Clinton Elementary - Chicago, IL, 2nd - 6th grades

1977 Attend Jamieson Elementary - Chicago, IL; Parents (Kristine M. & John R.) Divorce

1978 Mother marries Patrick D. Kille

1979 Graduate 8th grade from Jamieson Elementary; attend Mather H.S. - Chicago, IL 1st semester Freshman year

1980 Attend Libertyville H.S. - Libertyville, IL, watch the US Hockey victory over Russia at Bills Pub (Mundelein, IL)

1981 First Job: Golden Bear Restaurant, Libertyville, IL (Dishwasher)

1982 Fishing trips to Hayward, WI with Tim Cook, Shawn Cook, Bob Anderson, Jim Benes and others were unreal. Second Job: K-Mart, Mundelein, IL (Stock Boy); Joined USMC under delayed-entry program

1983 Graduated H.S., Libertyville, IL.; USMC: Graduated Boot Camp, San Diego, CA. 3rd Battalion, Kilo Company, Platoon 3103

1984 USMC: Twenty Nine Palms, CA (Completed training for MOS 2811, Telephone/Teletype Technician)

1984-85 USMC: Quantico, VA (Communications Maintenance at The Basic School)

1985-86 USMC: Okinawa & Camp Fuji, Japan (ELMACO & CSSD-32 respectively); mom sent me vhs tapes of every Bears game. Vacationed in South Korea

1986-87 USMC: Camp Pendleton, CA. (ELMACO), was still in Okinawa for the superbowl which I saw live in the wee-hours of the morning. Sitting in the chow-hall eating breakfast when the news broke of the Challenger disaster

1987 USMC: Honorably Discharged. Moved to Fallborook, CA briefly believing I would stay and live in CA, but then reality (lack of cash) hit and I moved home to Vernon Hills, IL

1988 Moved to Carbondale, IL to attend SIU oh-so briefly. Moved back to Vernon Hills, IL and held a number of small jobs while contemplating life while playing a lot of golf

1989 Moved to Beach Park, IL. Attended DeVry University (for 2 yrs.), Chicago, IL

1990 I recall eating a lot this year, probably while spending all that time on the couch watching the Gulf War unfold on CNN. Considered re-entering USMC, but chose to hear the call of love over the call of duty - if I only I'd had a crystal ball for just a few moments

1991 Went to work for Moore Corporation (Bindery, then Desktop Publishing). Married Patricia Ann DuBois & became step-father to Ashley Marie Flament. Moved to Park City, IL

1992 Separated from wife for a month or so; yeah I know - some of you told me this was inevitable. Accepted promotions at Moore which saw me switch from blue-collar to white-collar

1993 Birth of Son; Andrew Jordan Ray O'Neal

1994 Moved to Winthrop Harbor, IL, bought first home. Great Grandmother ("Bella") passes away at 92

1995 Took a few 'get-away-from-my-wife' trips; what a mess of a year!

1996 Grandmother (Alma R.) passes away at 75, traveled the country for Moore Corp. which helped get my mind off my marriage mess

1997 I don't know, recall staring at the Hale-Bopp comet. Bought my first 'new' ride, a SUV (Chevy Blazer). Otherwise '97 was just more marriage mess aggravated by worthless attempts at counseling and pretending to want to be there

1998 Divorced. Moved to Vernon Hills, IL. Last year in printing operations before moving to the information systems at Moore for a career change from manufacturing into technology (or back to technology which is what I joined USMC to learn)

1999 Married Catherine Lynn Krause & became step-father to Ashley Victoria, Ryan Christopher & Cameron Michael Flores and a cat named Cody

2000 Bought a house & moved to Grayslake, IL. Hung on at Moore as the company began imploding on it's own lack of vision and ability to change

2001 Went to work for W.W. Grainger as an application developer. Was in line awaiting my omelet at Grainger cafeteria when 9-11 went down. Diagnosed with Colon Caner, kicked its ass; ME 1 - Cancer 0

2002 Joined classmates dot com (can you believe facebook removed it when I used a real 'dot') looking for old buddies and found a few but didn't find James Dean Lewis from the Corps. Realized Grayslake sucks as a community to live in

2003 Father passes away at age 65. Had a house built & moved near Fox Lake, IL

2004 Step-Father passes away ay age 69. Wife and I celebrated 5th anniversary; Yeah - I got this one right!

2005 Went back to DeVry to complete those final classes needed for that B.S., Ashley Marie graduates from Zion-Benton High

2006 Started the year watching the Steelers win the Super Bowl with the Cook Clan and ended the year watching Saddam Hussein swing. Changes at Grainger saw me move from the application development management to project management

2007 Said goodbye to Keith Runnfeldt; you left us way too young friend. Graduated, finally, B.S. Technical Management from DeVry University. Ashley Victoria graduates 8th grade from Big Hollow

2008 Went back to USMC MCRD San Diego to get a reality check and got it! Attended 25 year LHS reunion and had a blast. Andrew Jordan Ray graduates 8th grade from North Prairie

2009 Joined Facebook.com for who knows what reason; well my wife nudged me to. Enjoyed my first Bacon-Explosion while watching the Steelers win another Super Bowl with the Cook Clan. Ryan Christopher graduates 8th grade from Big Hollow. Ashley gets her drivers license. Our 10th anniversary is celebrated at Disney in Orlando

2010 Successful year of deer hunting (97 pounds of deer bacon), purchased hunting property in Vernon County, WI. Cameron Michael graduates 8th grade from Big Hollow. Andrew gets his drivers license. Cathy triumphs over 'sticky' surgery. Attend Stanley Cup Game 1 & the Victory Parade for Chicago Blackhawks. Diagnosed with Melanoma on my right face cheek, kicked its ass; ME 2 - Cancer 0

2011 Diagnosed with Melanoma on my forehead, kicked its ass; ME 3 - Cancer 0. Ashley graduates from Grant H.S., is accepted to study Chemisty (we think that is what she'll study) at Millikin University. Ryan gets his drivers license. Family vacation in Hawaii. To be continued...

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 445-447: Vacation Photos

2011-07-07T09:31:00.001-05:00

Here are the pictures I took from my cell phone. We had two actual cameras with us as well which have yet to be uploaded; soon hopefully. Too many pictures here for me to caption each one, but if you mouse-hover over them the picture name (see bottom browser bar) does reflect the caption fairly well. Enjoy!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 443 - 444: Diamond Head Transformation Home

2011-07-04T18:01:00.000-05:00

Sunday 7/3
Being our departure day we got up early and headed to Diamond Head, the last item undone on our list. Ok, it was a mental list of things to do; I am not much of a list maker.

Unexpected highlight of the trek upward is that we passed Rex Ryan (head coach of the NY Jets) on the trail up Diamond Head. I didn't place the face to a name when I saw him & he walked by, but I knew his face was celebrity. Twenty yards later when I passed a girl in a NY Jets t-shirt the name came to me. Too bad it didn't register when I first saw him, I'd have yelled Go Jets!

The hike up Diamond Head was only 0.8 miles from the park parking lot but it was a side-busting hike. The trail is largely uneven dirt & rock that winds via several switch backs up the interior slope of the crater wall. A pair of sets of steep stairs and a poorly lit 200+ foot tunnel have to be managed before getting to the old gun emplacement you need to squat down and crawl through to get to the observation decks.

Only the way up I cussed many times & questioned my sanity for bringing the family here for this vacation's final event. But once at the top we were glad we took the challenge. Great views, excellent photos, and we got to look down on scores of folks still hiking up. Yeah we didn't feel sorry for them.

Breakfast: Leonard's bakery is where we went to recharge our post hike batteries. Known for their Malasadas, an island pastry or doughnut, we grabbed a bunch & brought them back to the hotel.

With about 90 minutes to kill before having to check out we ate, did our final packing, & chilled a bit.

We checked out just before noon, which left us about six hours before we needed to be at the airport. So off to the theatre we went to see Transformers-3. Simply we were drained from the weeks activities & I had had enough sunshine & sand and was ready to return to mostly cloudy skies & concrete again. The movie was good, surprising for the third movie of a series. I can't imagine there being a 4th, but then I won't be surprised if they cook up a plot for Transformers Quattro.

Lunch: Mmmm, airport food at Chowmein Express where I feasted on Spicy Chicken & chowmein noodles; it filled the void below.

Our plane departed Honolulu right on time, 9:09pm

Dinner: for the flight I brought a package of shortbread cookies & diet coke.

Monday 7/4
The 4hr:20min flight was by the book or shall I say better than that as we arrived 23 minutes early. But as soon as we deplaned to the terminal we learned that our flight to Chicago was delayed 2 hours due to "operational" reasons. Not sure what that means other that we got 2 extra hours to lounge in San Fran.

Breakfast: A breakfast burrito & orange juice from a mexican joint at the airport food court.

Up up & away we went at 8am San Fran time & we landed in Chicago at 1:40pm. Two hours later we were home, exhausted, and very grateful for our time together in Hawaii.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 442 - Hanauma Bay to Paradise Cove

2011-07-03T03:35:00.000-05:00

Saturday 7/2
Breakfast: same as previous days at the Shore Bird breakfast buffet.

Ashley & Andrew did not feel like snorkeling so they stayed back with G'Pa. They swam at the pool & chilled in the room. The rest of us made our way to Hanauma Bay for some morning snorkeling.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay was simply amazing. Saw dozens of types of fish & other types of sea life in these shallow coral filled waters. The weather was actually partly-cloudly and we endured a few showers while there. But rain while in the water face down is no big deal. The coral definitely needed to be respected. Not a one of us emerged from the bay with at least one scrape or cut from a run in with the reef. If we ever come back to Oahu we'll spend a full day here I'm sure.

Lunch: On the way back to the hotel we hit McDonald's with the expectation they had ramen soup. They used to serve it there when Cathy lived here in the 90s, but they no longer serve it. Still, even though that novelty stop was a bust, we ate there. I had a chicken sandwich meal.

One more stop before getting back to the hotel: Food Land grocery store. Cathy was on the hunt for a specific Hawaiian wine we weren't able to find thus far. On a whim she thought it might be here, and it was!

We had enough time to shower & get dressed in our Hawaiian best for the luau. A 45 minute charter bus ride brought us to Paradise Cove. Sione was our bus host who chatted at us the whole ride. He was funny & informative. Basically his job was to be sure knew we were on bus #5 and when we needed to be back on the bus so as to avoid a 27 mile walk back to Waikiki or $100 cab ride.

The luau was a very good event, well organized and lots to do for all. We got temp tattoos, I got a shark on my forearm. I asked if the artist could do Nemo, he said he didn't know what that was; huh? We threw spears, Ryan & I got ours to stick on target; Ryan's was a better stick while mine was closer to center but it sagged. A bunch of men were adorned in grass skirts and did a dance for us at the cove while pulling in fishing nets, so glad I wasn't picked for that demo.

The pig unveiling ceremony was a mouth watering show, a treat to the sense of smell for sure! I need to roast me a pig in my back yard.

Dinner: Roast Pork, fried chicken, mahi-mahi, lomi-lomi salmon, salad, poi, rice, and a few mai-tais. Flavor surprassed the smell that teased us since we got off the bus. Coconut cake and a coconut gelatin item were consumed happily for dessert.

During dinner was the show complete with the traditional island music, hula dancers, flaming acts of insanity, and random embarrassment of customers. A couple was married there earlier in the day & had their reception at the luau. Another couple was there with the maybe 2-week old infant, not sure the sense in that.

A great time was had by all. The luau was a fantastic way to enjoy our last dinner in Hawaii.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 441 - Fishing, Ice Cream & Landmarks

2011-07-02T01:59:00.000-05:00

Friday 7/1
Breakfast: powdered donuts at 5 a.m., we (boys, niece & I)are on our way to go fishing in the bright blue sea. Well it will be bright when the sun wakes up.

The boys, my niece & I went deep sea fishing at dawn. While we were gone the rest of the family went to the Aquarium. Our fishing trip yielded 3 aku (skipjack tuna) & 2 mahi-mahi. Great time for most of us. Cameron & Andrew were seasick within 30 minutes of the 5 hour voyage. Thus they didn't fish, unless you consider chumming the water with last nights pizza fishing.

Lunch: Back at the hotel we ate the Subway sandwiches we took out on the fishing boat.

Quick showers to wash off the sea salt were in order before we hooked up with everyone else.

Snack: G'ma treated everyone to ice cream in the mid-afternoon on what was the hottest day of our trip thus far.

The rest of the afternoon the adults just chilled & chatted by pool while the kids did the same in the room; well a safe bet they chatted less than we did.

Dinner: this evening we dined at the Shore Bird in the hotel. They have a special where you get to grill your meat. So we did just that. I has an 8oz sirloin and salad.

With some daylight left the adults headed out to Aloha Tower Marketplace Mall. A place that apparently was a happening-place when my wife lived here. Today it is far from that; half of the stores are for lease & the other half largely targeted to Japanese tourists.

Not wanting to head back to the hotel just yet we drove through downtown Honolulu. A tour of some of the land mark buildings like the Iolani Palace, the only palace in the U.S.A., King Kamehameha statue, etc..

As we were up before dawn to go fishing it was no surprise we were getting cozy in bed around 9pm.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 440 - Our Date Night

2011-07-01T01:57:00.000-05:00

Thursday 6/30
Breakfast: We chowed down at the Oceanarium Restaurant which boasts a multi-story aquarium to gaze at. Nice food spread too. I had mackerel, portugese sausage, miso soup w/ fresh seaweed, kimchi, char siu bao dumpling, brown rice, fresh fruit and bread pudding (a love of mine).

A walk through the International Market was a good way to walk off breakfast. This place is a dump, basically a flea-market that sucks in anyone with a spare buck & a coupon. They say you gotta go here, ok; we went there.

Again we had to stop for Mochi on the way back to the hotel, I think our kids are addicted to it.

Beach time for the kids. Ryan & Andrew rented paddle-boards and tried their hand at that while Monica & Cameron swam, waded & chilled in the warm water. Monica did try her hand at paddle-boarding too but gave it up after 10 minutes. Ashley read her book on the beach, playing in the water is not her thing.

Cathy & I went back to the jewelry store which I hit Wednesday to get her gift. While she liked what I got her it was too similar to something she already has. So she exchanged it for something else. Cool, as long as she likes it.

Snack: Longboard lager & sushi at the beach side bar. This is where Cathy & I were while the kids were in the water. Gma & Gpa joined us after while. Just kicking back & caring about next to nothing.

Eventually the boys came in from the ocean & retreated to the room for showers & snacks. Monica decided she needed some time in the pool so Gma & Cathy joined her. Lou & I stayed at the bar for a bit finishing our beers & chatting up old army & marine corps tales. Stories shared before, still good each time we swap them.

Snack: Snack Wells back in the room. The beer left me hungry, what can I say.

A couple hours of chill time in the hotel was sufficient to recharge the batteries for the evening.

Dinner: Cathy & I (no kids) had reservations at BLT Steak, the restaurant located in the Trump Tower Hotel. We had tuna tartar and stuffed squash blossoms for starters. For dinner Cathy had crab topped scallops & gnocchi carbonara. I had a wagyu skirt steak & baked corn with jalapeno. Dessert was an apple turnover with vanilla ice cream. All of if was divine & worth the insane price.

This was our planned time out sans the kids, call it date night. Gma & Gpa fed & entertained the kids, they went for pizza.

Back to the pool the kids went after dinner. I thought about a late swim but I was so busy digesting that the thought was just that, a thought.

Before hitting the sack I prepared the stuff we need for Friday's fishing trip. Not sure what we'll do if we catch anything of size, something we'll worry about if it happens.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 438-439: Memorials & More

2011-06-30T03:04:00.000-05:00

Tuesday 6/28
Breakfast: McDonalds, yeah I know a lame choice for vacation food fare. But McD's here has spam, Portuguese sausage, rice & other island favorites on their menu. Spam, I don't get their attraction to canned people-grade dog food but they love it here. Hence why we had McD's on our list of places to eat. I had eggs, spam & rice; gross!

We were treated to a show at McD's too. The guy sitting next to us had a handful of spare change on the table, well my guess is it was all the money he had in life. He sat the rubbing two coins together vigorously, as if polishing his coins. It was a sad show really as it is a safe guess this guy is not only homeless but likely addicted to who knows what which he cannot afford.

Time to pay our respects to those who sacrificed so we could enjoy this day. Our visit to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl was an amazing brush with history & a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are. The memorial here honors the sacrifices and achievement of American Armed Forces in the Pacific during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

Pali lookout was our next stop. This scenic spot is worth the drive to take in fabulous panoramic views of Oahu's windward side from the Koolau mountains.

Beach time, we stopped at the famous Waikiki beach for this venture into the ocean. Um, what up with the old dudes in thongs? Seen too many of them sunning every inch of their bodies sans what hung down. Oh well we tried hard to suppress laughter and went about our ocean swim.

Lunch; Salad bar, chicken wings, apple cobbler. We ate at Sizzler. Yeah I know another lame choice for vacation food fare. Long story short my wife loves their Malibu Chicken. Since Sizzler no longer exists in the Chicagoland area whenever we travel if a Sizzler is there so are we. The kids found the best part of the meal to be the buttered rolls they brought to the table. They liked them so much the wrapped all that were left in napkins & stuffed the in our daughters purse to take with us. Kids, funny animals they are.

Cathy' parents & our niece arrived mid-afternoon. We caught up with them after they had dinner. All of us hung out at the pool for a bit while the kids swam.

Snack: we ordered a bunch of appetizers for all to munch on pool side. I nibbled on some tuna sashimi.

After while Cathy & I ditched everyone and headed out to walk about Waikiki ourselves. We hit the Wyland gallery to dream of some new art work, and dream is all we did. The most expensive piece there was $685k, the salesman said that price was not firm, to make him an offer; I laughed.

We stopped at Duke's, a beach side bar where Cathy enjoyed time years ago. The idea was to grab a drink there, but it was so crowded that didn't happen. We capped of the night grabbing mochi for the kids and frozen lemonade for the walk back to the hotel.

~|~

Wednesday 6/29
Breakfast: same as Monday at the Shore Bird buffet. Needed a simple & sustaining feeding for the mornings activity.

As soon as we were done eating we headed out to Pearl Harbor. We knew to get there early to minimize wait time. Still our wait from time of ticket purchase to launch to the memorial was 3-1/2 hours.

We used most of that time to go to the U.S.S. Missouri, which is now a museum ship docked at Ford Island. An excellent walk through history walking the decks of that massive ship. I would love to be on deck when those 16" guns went off, but they are forever silent.

Likewise the U.S.S. Arizona visit was excellent. A mix of pride of nation and reverence for those who had to rise up to defend us that Sunday nearly 70 years past.

Lunch: Cathy had a brilliant idea when she steered us to Hanks Haute Dogs. A simple hot dog joint made semi-famous when Guy Fieri hit this place on his show. I had the Fat-Boy, a dog wrapped in bacon, deep fried served with mayo, tomato and lettuce, so amazingly good which is a huge compliment from me as I am not a hot dog lover. Their fries were a hit too, they fry them in duck fat. I kept my fry intake to a minimum as hard as it was to not just dive in.

We brought the dogs back to the hotel and ate with G'ma & G'pa. Our bellies happy we chilled for the afternoon. The kids his the beach while the adults sat in the commons chatting & sipping drinks. I snuck away for 15 minutes to hit the shops. Bought the kids a frisbee & beach ball, walked over to the beach, tossed those at the kids and left. Bought my wife some jewelry as an I-love-u / thank-u for doing a great job making this trip happen; what you thought I had anything to do with it?

Dinner: The Old Spaghetti Factory, not sure why we went here for dinner but the gals had this place pegged for us to dine at while here. I had Chicken Parm with salad & bread. Eating healthy on vacation takes serious discipline, I've been so-so at best with today being the least so-so so far.

We took the trolley to dinner. A neat way to quickly & cheaply see what-is-where in Waikiki. These trolleys are used heavily by the Japanese tourists. If you have a JCB credit card all you need to do is flash that & you ride free.

A quick stop for Mochi for the kids before we got back to the hotel around 10 pm and shut down for the night.

responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 437 - Sea Horse Down

2011-06-28T12:02:00.000-05:00

Monday 6/27
Cathy & I started our Monday w/ a pre-dawn walk on the beach. Very pleasant, good way to start the day. On our way back to the hotel we encountered another couple getting their "beach-head" on. They weren't very cautious about being seen either, a Hawaii thing?

When we got back to the room we took a nap & let the kids keep on sleeping. As they slept I humored myself throwing a cracker off the balcony and watched the birds fight over it. The simplest things are sometimes the most entertaining.

Breakfast: Buffet @ the Shore Bird, one of the restaurants adjacent our hotel. For myself just one trip with a conservative plate of Mahi Mahi, Portuguese sausage, rice, yogurt, and pineapple cole slaw.

We piled into the mini van & headed off to Hilo Hatties, the place to go for Hawaiian shirts & clothing of all sorts. On the wall there is a world record shirt, a 400XL. That shirt is as tall as two people and as wide as a truck.

With our new Hawaiian shirts in hand we began our memory lane tour, a drive around Oahu where Cathy & the kids lived for 3'ish years in the mid-90s. Ryan & Cameron were born here 16 & 17 years ago respectively. We couldn't get onto the Army bases to see some of the places they frequented since none of us carries valid military I.D. anymore. Still a good time and a gorgeous drive.

We ended our tour at the Dole Pineapple Plantation which was next door to where they used to live. Your typical tourist hot spot complete with activities to occupy your time & shops to capture your wallets.

Snack: Pineapple of course and I bought a can of Spam flavored Macadamia Nuts, ate one & no more- yuck!

Our drive to the north shore & then around the east shores back to Waikiki was scenic & surprising. Food trucks, many many of them along the way to serve your cravings for huli-huli chicken, shrimp, whatever. We didn't eat at any but we will at some point.

Back at the hotel we hit the beach & then pool for a couple of hours of play in the water time. Everything is for rent on the beach, beach chairs & umbrellas go fast. We were cool just flopping our towels on the sand as if we were at Oak Street beach back home. Ryan brought a soccer ball, yeah I don't know why either, so we used that to throw around in the ocean. The dead sea horse that happened by definitely caught their attention but didn't freak anyone out.

Dinner: Kimchi Ramen at the Ala Moana mall food court. Hot enough to melt most metals.

We walked over to the mall in the evening for dinner and to just walk around the city. I think the only thing we bought was chap-stick for Cameron. When done at the mall we took the trolley back to the hotel. We were the only americans on board, everyone else was most definitely Japanese.

Great day, ready for Tuesday when Cathy's parents and our niece arrive to join us for the rest of the week.

Day 435-436: Sunday Travel Day

2011-06-27T10:11:00.000-05:00

Sunday 6/26
Breakfast: Chicken Noodle soup (we bought no groceries for the house the week prior, my choices were soup or sour cream).

At O'Hare Cathy was selected for hand test for explosive residue, or maybe it was a courtesy palm reading; either way she passed! Andrew was selected for full body scan & carry on search since he tried to bring a bottle of water through screening; rebel!

Snack: Protein Bar, beef snack stick while waiting to board plane in Chicago. Decent low-carb selection. A woman sitting at the gate near us went another direction & chose to snack on a sweet-potato she brought with her. At least I assume she brought it with her as I didn't see sweet-potato on the menus of the O'Hare food shops.

Flight to San Francisco: plane was late getting to Chicago to pick us up, we departed 38 minutes late. Quiet flight on which I listened to my audiobook, Then Everything Changed by Jeff Greenfield; collection of alternative history shorts. They showed the movie Rango which I peeked at periodically but did not plug in to listen to. All who did said it was lame so good call by me.

Lunch: Protein bar, beef snack stick & mixed nuts on flight to SF.

Snack: Protein Bar, beef snack stick (detecting a theme?) while waiting to board plane in San Fran.

Flight to Honolulu: plane was late getting to San Fran to pick us up, we departed 26 minutes late. On the way watched Adam Sandler & Jen Aniston in Just Go With It, hilarious! Almost as hilarious is Me seeing a guy reading a magazine, American Tugboat Review; yes a periodical dedicated to tugboats; who knew. Some 11'ish hours after we left Chicago we landed, got our luggage & picked up rental mini-van (I hate mini-vans) without any issues.

Snack: Protein bar & mixed nuts on flight to Hawaii.

Arrive at hotel, Outrigger (seems everything here is outrigger this or that), and got checked into our rooms; wife & I in one and the four teens in the adjoining.

Dinner: Pork chop, spuds, pineapple chutney, side salad.

We had dinner at one of the three restaurants attached too the hotel, too tired to venture elsewhere. After dinner we promptly found just how comfy our beds were; very!

All in all a great travel day. I ate too much during my idle travel hours & an feeling it today. But such as it is as they say, wife & I are off for a pre- dawn beach walk to start our Monday in Hawaii!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 417-434: Summer Scramble & Escape

2011-06-25T21:33:00.002-05:00

Thanks for the notes folks inquiring about my absence, very much appreciated!

All is well, quite well actually. Simply I have taken a mental break from the plugged in world while I've become ultra-busy at work over the past few weeks. As I quickly began having trouble finding time to blog/tweet I just decided to unplug myself for a bit.

Sunday the family I have packed up and are heading out for our summer vacation which will run through the 4th of July, so I'll remain unplugged through then. For those who tweet I just may toss up a few tweets from Hawaii, maybe :-)

Hope all is well with all of you, hope you are enjoying your summer and that the upcoming holiday is nothing short of spectacular!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 416 - What, Need A Kick Of Inspiration?

2011-06-07T09:08:00.000-05:00

Having trouble sticking to your plan?

Having trouble seeing what success looks like when you finally get there?

Having doubts you can actually do what needs to be done for the long haul to succeed?

If you said Yes, I know the feeling; I said Yes too.

It is hard to come up with a mission and actually commit to it.

It is hard to face the difficulties of our mission each and every day and stay on plan.

It is hard to recognize set backs and lift ourselves up and get back on plan again.

Yes, it is hard, plain and simple, so accept that fact and step up to the challenge.

Success will happen when we are harder on the mission than the mission is on us.

Since seeing is believing, see for yourself...

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 412-415: Monday is Back

2011-06-06T08:08:00.000-05:00

Monday is a great day, although most people disregard it as be even good. It has to be a great day. If it weren't, why were so many songs written about Monday?

There is Manic Monday via the Bangles. Are you wishing it were still Sunday, your funday? I had a great Sunday. Family party at the house for the graduates. Good times, good food (too much of it), definitely a funday. Sure, I can see wanting to wish it were Sunday again.

There is Jimmy Buffet's Come Monday. Monday gets some love from Jimmy, he tells us that come Monday it'll be all right. He also goes on to say he will hold us tight; I can do without that literally, but certainly I get it that some emerge from a weekend less than sure about the week ahead and could use a hug to get going.

There is Monday, Monday by the Mommas & Papas. Whew, they hated Monday, flat out said can't trust that day. But they also said it's here to stay.

Monday, yes it comes right after what are usually the two funnest days of the week.
Monday, yes no matter what you did this weekend you may regret; e.g. ate too much, went streaking while waving a Nascar flag, told your neighbor his wife needs to shave... I regret one of those today. No matter what it was you may regret today, Monday, don't blame it on Monday.
Monday, most definitely is here to stay. When we stop having Monday come around every seven days, probably means one of the previous seven days went terminally bad for us.

Be happy that Monday is back. Today, you get to enjoy the memories of a great weekend while getting busy on creating new memories. Monday is the perfect day to grab any regrets you have by the collar and make them right. And Monday, while it gets no respect even though it is here to stay, you deserve to embrace your self-respect this Monday and get after what it is you want.

What is it that you want this Monday?

Responsibility 199, Gotta Do It!!

Day 411 - Information Is Insightful

2011-06-02T11:15:00.000-05:00

Had a conversation yesterday that included some seldom used, unusual words. Basically this person was using 25-cent words to try and impress others, it didn't work. Does it ever?

That said, it can be fun to see some of these words, and wonder, huh? To convey that, you came up with 'that' as a word for it? Some of my favorites...

Tachyphagia, to eat very fast... I am definitely guilty of Tachyphagia, I know, it is tacky to eat fast.

Pyknic, to be short and fat... I am fat, not short, is there a word for that?

Farctate, to have overeaten & feel stuffed... been there, done that. I also tend to farctate when stuffed & blame it on the cats.

Callypygean, to have well shaped buttocks. Me not so much. You?

Tetrapyloctomy, the act of splitting a hair four ways. Really? Who does this?? I could see if it were a hare, but an hair?

So, fun & insightful?

Or fun & not so much?

I wasn't sure what image to use for this post, when in doubt, I figured it safe to bring out PBR man to save the day.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 410 - Have I Bored U Yet?

2011-06-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Wednesday, Welcome to June; yes it is June already!

I'll resume the 14 part series on Leadership Traits soon. I never intended to present it 14 days in a row but to break it up over several weeks. Remember I have BADD, Bloggers Attention Deficit Disorder ADD, so I tend to jump topics from day to day without much rhyme or reason at times.

Actually I am way short on time this morning. We are moving within the office here. We do this every 12-18 months, shift everyone around to a different location within the corporate campus. Today is that day, today I am moving 14 columns to the north and 7 rows to the east. Our buildings are laid out like spreadsheets and cubical locations addressed similar to how a cell in a spreadsheet is addressed. Have I bored you yet? Have I scared you away from wanting to work here?

Anyhow, as I am short on time, let me share some recent photos of my days...
Up to there, my son's t-shirt he wore to the YMCA last week; hilarious.

And here Andrew is at the gym getting his curl on...

Ashley waiting for her cheesecake to arrive; we were at the Cheesecake Factory, what else would one wait for there?...

Cameron cleaning his rifle, notice the cat on the chair next to him? No animals,or cats, were hurt in publishing this post...

The family photo for Ashley's graduation; nice to see the boys dressed up for the occasion...

Me at the YMCA last week, taking a breather between sets I think...

My wife and Squishy after graduation; she has not let her go since...

Ribs going into the smoker on Memorial Day; they were my best yet!

Enjoy Your Wednesday!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 409 - Adorable Blog Award

2011-05-31T08:17:00.000-05:00

Back to work we go. Well, right after publishing this post that is. Hope all had a great holiday weekend. We enjoyed ours here. Saturday was our daughter's high school graduation, Sunday got in a couple of miles just before we we're treated to a monsoon of a thunderstorm, and yesterday we got in 4 miles before settling in to clean our rifles while the ribs got busy in the smoker. Good times...

How was your holiday weekend?

Karen over at Waisting Time gave me a blog award last week, The Adorable Blog Award. Very kind of her to do so. Not often I get called adorable so this is a rare treat for me. Kittens are adorable, so my wife says. But I'd rather be adored than have another cat in the house to adore; we have four, that is enough.

Rules of the Award
*Thank the person who gave you this award, and link back to them in your post.
*Tell us 10 things about yourself.
*Nominate your bloggers.
*Contact these bloggers, and let them know they received this award.

Ten things about me huh, lets see here; completely random and rapid-fire here I go....
1. Tomatoes, I love Tomatoes!
2. I grilled corn in the husk yesterday, husking corn is not fun; I'd rather have grilled Tomatoes.
3. Saw the Hangover Part 2 last week, Sick, Twisted and Hilarious; glad I went.
4. It has been at least a year and likely closer to two since I have had a real hangover.
5. Stacey Dash is trending on Twitter right now, I have no idea who that is.
6. If I were 18 again, I would not be in such a hurry to grow up.
7. I am hoping the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals.
8. Frisbee, I never found throwing a frisbee to be enjoyable.
9. Zippers or Velcro; I am old school, give me a zipper!
10. Something I never understood, How is it that Willie Wonka is so skinny?

It has been a while since I have received/passed on a blog award. Let me pass on the fun to the following...
Ewa from Trail To Wellness
Tim from Fat Boy Thin
Sarah from not An Effing Diet
Floriana from Sugarless Diet
MandaPanda from Candland To Bandland
Carrie from Family Fitness Food
Christine from Phoenix Revolution

And I could go on and on for sure as I adore all of you who blog for fun, for fitness, for sanity, for insanity. By all means check out those I have linked to here, you wont be sorry.

Have an Adorable Day!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 407-408: Memorial Day

2011-05-30T06:19:00.001-05:00

A Happy Memorial Day to one and all

Today most of us will go about our days, or lives, as we do just about every day. Many will engage in a variety of holiday activities, taking advantage of the day off of work, and enjoying the day with friends & family. And we should, for that is just what those who gave the ultimate sacrifice fought & died for; that we may live free and enjoy each day as we choose.

Part of the Memorial Day holiday in the USA includes a call for "The National Moment of Remembrance" which encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.

I welcome all from all nations to join me in observing The National Moment of Remembrance with me.

Enjoy the day!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 406 - Graduation Day 4 Squishy

2011-05-28T07:20:00.000-05:00

Her High School days are just hours away from coming to an end.

It won't be long and we'll pack into the field house where she will receive her diploma.

With diploma in hand she'll have a couple of months to chill with her friends before its off to college.

From there, who knows, whatever she aspires awaits her.

Congratulations Ashley!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 405 - Driving In Public

2011-05-27T10:19:00.000-05:00

My wife and I carpool to work 3-4 times a week since our employers are not too far apart & in the same direction from home. We do this to hang out a few minutes more each day and sure, we also do it curb the cost of gas since it is insane.

Usually she drives when we carpool since she works a bit further from home than I do. This has allowed me a tremendous opportunity to look out the windows and take in the sights in greater detail than when I am behind the wheel. Now the sights between home & work are nothing noteworthy and nor do they change from day to day. Well with one exception, our fellow motorists who we share the road with.

It amazes me that many of our fellow motorists do not realize that we can see through the glass they are behind. It is as if they do not realize they are driving in public. Just this past week alone I witnessed the following…

A driver reading a romance novel at 30+ mph (Must have been the juicy part!)

A driver lighting up a cigarette with both hands off the wheel at 60+ mph (Driving into a telephone pole would be a faster less painful way to go!)

A driver stopped at a stop sign picking his nose, turn his head to realize I was watching him pick away, then turn his head and keep on picking (Two words; Tinted Windows!)

A passenger changing a kids diaper in the front seat, meaning the car seat was in the back seat, at a red light; light turned green before the changing was complete and off they went (Not fit to be parents!)

A dash board with a bucket of KFC wedged under the rear view mirror, the driver chewing on a drum-stick with one hand while the other hand held a biscuit and the steering wheel at 30+ mph (Fried chicken, now that’s gutsy!)

A dog in the lap of a driver at 50+ mph, the dog was a Great Dane (or maybe the driver was in the dogs lap?)

A driver trimming his finger nails at a stop sign with a knife (at least he was stopped)

A driver applying a ketchup packet to a burger at 20+ mph (ketchup on a burger, yuck!)

A police officer eating a churro while walking up to a car she had just pulled over (I love churros!)

Whatever you do today, this weekend, be safe people!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 404 - Leadership 199 / Trait 8 of 14: Integrity

2011-05-26T08:28:00.000-05:00

Lived the words I've been sharing yesterday. Took initiative to make yesterday a great day and accomplished that. Early in the day I informed my son to be dressed to go to the YMCA after school, I picked him up and there we went. We decided to kick up the intensity a notch, something I could tell he wasn't sure of. Heck I was apprehensive too, but I knew I could leverage the power of my courage to get it done. In the end we endured a 60 minute session in the free weight room and then polished off the workout with 2 miles of walk/jog combo on the treadmill. Yesterday was an Oh Yeah day!

Onward we carry ourselves into a new day. With us we carry the lessons we've learned which we can revisit at will via these links...
Leadership 199 / Trait 7 of 14: Initiative
Leadership 199 / Trait 6 of 14: Enthusiasm
Leadership 199 / Trait 5 of 14: Endurance
Leadership 199 / Trait 4 of 14: Decisiveness
Leadership 199 / Trait 3 of 14: Courage
Leadership 199 / Trait 2 of 14: Bearing
Leadership 199 / Trait 1 of 14: Dependability

We're halfway through this series, which means we have lots of learning to do yet. Therefore, let us plunge into the power of our eighth trait…

Leadership 199 / Trait 8 of 14: Integrity

Defined: Uprightness of character and soundness of moral principles; includes the qualities of truthfulness and honesty.

Discovered: Let us start in on understanding this trait by visiting this definition backwards. Honesty, is something I will go out on a limb and proclaim that everyone acknowledges that honesty is a trait any leader must possess. No? I agree with my proclamation, I have to else I've been dishonest here; yet while I agree I will tell you now that honesty is not one of the 14 leadership traits.

What? How can that be you say? Look back up at the list above of the traits we've discussed thus far. Take a moment, I'll be right here when you scroll back down... I know, if only scrolling burned measurable calories. OK, having revisited those traits let us ask ourselves this question; Can any of those traits be successfully put into practice if we are not first honest with ourselves in choosing to lead with them?

Leadership is not something we can take on half-hearted. "Do or do not... there is no try", as Master Yoda would say. In short, if we are not honest in our endeavors, either with ourselves or with others, we will not succeed at them in the end.

Living with integrity is certainly dependent upon be honest. But integrity is not just about being honest.

Character, you don't have to know a person for very long to know whether there character is righteous or otherwise. Righteous meaning to be committed to doing what they believe to be right, right by themselves and others. It is one thing to want what is right, another to do what is right. If our character is to do what is right, we are leading with integrity.

Morals, ah discussion/debate on morality sure can be a sticky-wicket. So lets limit our thought here to what it is about our morals that is essential to leading ourselves to success. To decide what we want to succeed at we first have to know what we want or who we want to be. Or more specifically, how do we want to live? If we can answer that question and come away with an answer gives us a clear picture of how we want to look and why, how we want to conduct yourself and why; we then know where our morals should be set to lead with integrity and succeed.

Da-Point: If we are honest, if we believe our mission to be right and are willing stand up for it's purpose; then we are leading with integrity.

When did you last take time to truly know your character, your moral code?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 403 - Leadership 199 / Trait 7 of 14: Initiative

2011-05-25T08:10:00.000-05:00

I sincerely hope all are brimming with enthusiasm after yesterdays post. My engine was stoked red hot from the moment I hit the 'publish-post' button until I hit the bed last night. In between I knocked out a great day at work and got in 4.1 miles of walking cardio.

Lets get another great day off the ground with another leadership trait. Links to those we've covered thus far...
Leadership 199 / Trait 6 of 14: Enthusiasm
Leadership 199 / Trait 5 of 14: Endurance
Leadership 199 / Trait 4 of 14: Decisiveness
Leadership 199 / Trait 3 of 14: Courage
Leadership 199 / Trait 2 of 14: Bearing
Leadership 199 / Trait 1 of 14: Dependability

Our seventh trait…

Leadership 199 / Trait 7 of 14: Initiative

Defined: Taking action in the absence of orders.

Discovered: The word that sticks out like a sore thumb in that definition is "orders". Seems a bit strong in reference to getting healthy, losing weight, as nobody is ever there truly ordering us to do what needs doing. Yet, we receive help, encouragement, validation from others for our intentions and efforts. Some of that input we seek, some comes uninvited.

The context we need to apply to the word "orders" here is this; orders are nothing more than our plan to get healthy. However we've decided to do it, e.g. weight watchers, px90, canned physician/nutritionist program, surgery, sacrificing the neighbors pet to the goddess of six-pack abs; whatever it is our plan is the orders we've chosen to follow.

While "orders" sticks out like a sore thumb, it is the word "absence" that we need to notice.

We have our plan, we have all of that input from others, we have opportunity and the means to seize it all around us. The only thing that is absent now, is our taking action. We will only seize that which we want if WE take action...
if WE take those inputs from others we depend on and take action to filter them for what will help/work for us...
if WE believe in our plan so much that we enthusiastically put it into action...
if WE respect fear, embrace courage, and dare to take action to achieve victory...
if WE take "action"; while "orders" sticks out like a sore thumb, and "absence" needs to be noticed, "action" needs to be our result.

At the start, middle, and beginning of each day, it is up to US to take action, or choose inaction. No matter how loud our plan, our inputs, our opportunities, NO MATTER how loud they scream at us to get up and take action; it is YOU/I that must take the initiative to take action to make this day a better day than yesterday. This week better than last week, month, year, etc. until we have achieved our goals. Then we can take a celebratory breath before we seek new goals to act upon.

Da-Point: Achieving what you want starts and ends with you taking action to get it.

I said this on twitter yesterday, I am sure someone else authored it but I do not know who to give credit to; "We get old too fast and get smart too late in life; use each day to feel young & grow wise"

Initiative, what are we waiting for?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 402 - Leadership 199 / Trait 6 of 14: Enthusiasm

2011-05-24T08:41:00.002-05:00

Good Morning everyone. Hope Monday was a great day. If not, then you get to try again for greatness today.

Over the past couple of weeks we've been diving into the leadership traits we need to embrace to successfully lead ourselves to our goals. We've covered 5 of the 14 traits thus far. To catch up or freshen up on them, these links will help you do just that...
Leadership 199 / Trait 5 of 14: Endurance
Leadership 199 / Trait 4 of 14: Decisiveness
Leadership 199 / Trait 3 of 14: Courage
Leadership 199 / Trait 2 of 14: Bearing
Leadership 199 / Trait 1 of 14: Dependability

I can't wait to get on to the next one so let's not waste a moment and jump into our sixth trait…

Leadership 199 / Trait 6 of 14: Enthusiasm

Defined: The display of sincere interest and exuberance in the performance of duty.

Discovered: When starting a mission to get healthy most of us are stoked and full of enthusiasm. Sure, some start their missions less enthusiastically, under duress more likely, due to peer or family pressure, perhaps medical needs dictate lose weight now or perish. But for most, once we've mustered the courage and decided we're going to do this, we can't wait to get started and achieve our goal.

That rush of 'can-do', that desire to 'make it happen', that thirst for 'how to' knowledge; all of those highs we feel are brought upon us in that wave of enthusiasm we've embraced when we start. Some of us will recognize early on the role our enthusiasm plays in our mission and work just as hard to keep it up as they will at meal planning and getting in exercise. Others will not look that deep into what is required to be successful and likely wont notice the correlation in the fade of their results with the drop in their enthusiasm.

They key to enthusiasm, is your sincerity for what you want to achieve. Regardless whether your desire is for a need or a want, when you truly desire that something, the probability that you'll attain it increases 396 fold, or more.

Huh? That is crazy talk you say? Yes, you really do want to lose weight. You know you should do so, and you have a good reason why you want to? Great, so can I. Does that equate to sincerely desiring to doing it? Nope, it is the spark of enthusiasm, but it is not going to ignite into the fire storm needed to get this done unless we feed that spark.

Ok big boy, how do we do that you say? At least I hope that's what you said. Perhaps some of you chose to chuckle at what I've scribbled out here thus far and feel more like heckling in reply to my thoughts. If you did, bravo for you, this is your lucky day!

So many times I started an effort to lose weight, all of those times I figured I knew what I needed to do and success was just a matter of doing those things and that's it. Sound familiar? Someone who is supposed to know hands you a sheet of paper with a 1800 calorie a day diet on it, pats you on the head, and wishes you well; happened to me some fifteen years ago courtesy of a doctor who figured just because he is a doctor he had the answers I sought. Or, you buy an exercise video with a zillion exercises that will have you looking fine in no time, just so long as you do the exercises.

Ok, those failed me. What failed you? Better yet, why?

The answer for me, in large part, is that I did not sincerely want this. More specifically, I did not know that my building my enthusiasm for what I want is as important as doing the work to get it.

Sincerely defining a purpose, not just a reason, for this mission, amps up our enthusiasm.
Sincerely understanding what we need to do and how to do it, amps up our enthusiasm.
Sincerely believing in ourselves, seeing ahead to what achieving it will bring us, amps up our enthusiasm.
Sincerely acknowledging the benefits of success and the side-effects of failure, amps up our enthusiasm.
Sincerely celebrating accomplishments, tasting victory (not via cup cakes), amps up our enthusiasm.

Da-Point: Interest plus Purpose times Belief divided by Sincerity equals Enthusiasm.

Have you done the math on your mission?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 400-401: Hock-A-Post

2011-05-23T07:51:00.000-05:00

source

Time is so short this morning that I am going to have to hock up a quick post and put it out there. Hope it sticks and is worth your time today...

Great workout on Saturday. Hit the YMCA, mangled the weight room, tortured the elliptical. And I hit the assisted-chin/dip machine. Man that machine wore me out. Which is just why I am going back for more tonight.

School, this the final week of high school for 3 of our 4 high school'ers. This coming Saturday the Senior graduates; just less than three months and she is off to college. A year'ish from now our Junior graduates..., two from now the Sophomore..., three from now the Freshman. Five from now were are flat broke and selling plasma so we can eat off of the dollar menu.

Nachos, I can safely report that I ate no nachos this weekend. Although we do have a cat named Nacho, and I did pet him, so call me guilty!

Saw a snipet of a tv show this weekend where the menu included chocolate covered bacon, If ever I was to get married again it would be to a piece of chocolate covered bacon.

If I could read your mind, what would I be reading right now?

My wife got herself a heck of a sunburn yesterday while we were watching our son play soccer. And he lost 6-1, doesn't seem right mom goes out there, gets burned while watching his team get burned. Should be a sunburn back guarantee with the price of admission.

My stomach just growled, I am ignoring it. Probably just my heart moving stuff around for the additional fortitude I'll be moving in. Ah, growled again; better hurry up and get that fortitude!

I followed many tweets about FitBloggin'11 which took place this past weekend. Sounds like a great time, need to give that consideration for next year. That link there goes to the sites page of links to posts from those who attended and reviewed their experience. Some great reading there.

Ok, that is what I have to share today.

What about you, what can you hock-up and share with me from your weekend?

I'll resume the leadership traits tomorrow...

Have a Great Monday!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 399 - Happy Armed Forces Day

2011-05-21T06:33:00.001-05:00

Happy Armed Forces Day!

To all of our men & women who wear/wore the uniform to defend our freedom & preserve our liberties, I salute you.

Quite simply, if it were not for them defending our way of life, our way of life would not exist.

A friend recently shared this with me, I found it both amusing and prideful...

Have a great weekend and if you happen to come make the acquaintance of someone in service or a veteran today, salute them for their service.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 398 - Leadership 199 / Trait 5 of 14: Endurance

2011-05-20T08:23:00.001-05:00

We're you decisive yesterday? Not just yesterday but think big picture, have you been decisive about what it is you truly want to succeed at? Speaking for myself, I have decided I will run three miles by the end of summer. And do it in 28 minutes or less. That is going to be a challenge for me, but one I have decided to achieve.

If you missed our previous posts in this series on leadership traits do not cry out in agony, do not throw things, no no no. Simply click through the links below; easiest thing you will do all day...
Leadership 199 / Trait 4 of 14: Decisiveness
Leadership 199 / Trait 3 of 14: Courage
Leadership 199 / Trait 2 of 14: Bearing
Leadership 199 / Trait 1 of 14: Dependability

Time to tee up our fifth trait…

Leadership 199 / Trait 5 of 14: Endurance

Defined: The mental and physical stamina measured by the ability to withstand pain, fatigue, stress, and hardship.

Discovered: When we think of endurance we quickly think of a long and grueling physical challenge, e.g a marathon. A much younger version of myself would blurt out that a pub-crawl requires endurance. While fun, a pub crawl is not going to help us understand this trait. And neither is a marathon quite frankly. No one specific challenge is sufficient to understand the importance that endurance plays in our ability lead ourselves to success.

Our missions to get healthy are made up of many different challenges; challenges that will last our lifetimes. Lets look that deeper into that definition...

to withstand pain; what causes us pain in our mission? Exercise does. Or at least it ought to cause some degree of pain if we are properly breaking down muscle and burning fat in our quest to become stronger and leaner. Pain is not fun, I mean hello; it is called PAIN. Yet to succeed we have to lead ourselves to accept that pain will be there, that pain is part of the process, and that we can deal with it and overcome it's discomfort and the doubt it will try and have us believe.

to fatigue; so many aspects of getting healthy can get tiring. Sure, exercise causes fatigue; that's too obvious. What about doing the same thing day in day out? Eating the same 'healthy' meals, performing the same exercise 'routine'? Does doing the same thing cause you mental fatigue as the days become weeks and months? Oh it sure does for me. Call it fatigue, call it boredom. It wears on me, causes me to dull my focus and invite in failure. We have to lead ourselves to recognize that which cause us fatigue, and make changes necessary to maintain focus, maintain motivation to get up each day and choose success.

to stress; oh how we can put pressure on ourselves to do what we know we should. When we know we ought to exercise today, just knowing that can eat-away in the back of our minds until we do. And should we opt out, find an excuse not to do so, well multiply that eating-away by ten. Leaders know that we are our greatest stressors, and those tasks that stress us the most. Leaders also know that there if no way to relieve the stress of a challenge other than to tackle it, defeat it and remove it. You know you need to exercise today, do it now. Don't wait, get to it. Can't do it now because you are in a meeting at work reading my blog from your handheld, well good for you; now switch over to your calendar app and plan precisely what time today you can exercise and block that time off. Leaders manage stress, they are not managed by stress.

to hardship; why can't this always be easy? It is true, losing weight, getting and being healthy is not easy at times. As if the pain, fatigue and stressors weren't enough to overcome in our mission, we have a host of additional hardships confront. I could list 74 off the top of my head, but to keep this short and to the point I'll reference two. People, others around us make this harder at times. Well, they only really make this hard if we let them. They will toss a wrench on our well planned day at 4:29 p.m. when they come home and say, "can we order pizza and wings for dinner?" Or when they see what we are planning for lunch and say, "you expect me to eat that?" Ourselves, we can make this hard for us just the same as anyone else can. When you look in the mirror and see yourself, do you think to yourself, "wow, I am one gorgeous, healthy, amazing creature!" No, you don't. What do you say, something like, "ugh, I am a fat slob of a pig who needs to be skewered." Ever see youself in a negative sense and acknowledge it? If yes, you are making this harder than it needs to be. Stop looking at yourself and seeing what you are that you dislike. Start seeing yourself for who you are becoming.

Da-Point: Stamina is the bridge between succeeding today becoming victorious for a lifetime.

How heavy is the pain, fatigue, stress, and hardship in your life today?

And what are you doing to lead yourself to victory in spite of it all?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 397 - Leadership 199 / Trait 4 of 14: Decisiveness

2011-05-19T06:11:00.002-05:00

For those interested in our weekend at the hunting property turkey hunting, building a box blind, you can check out my post of pictures & video on my hunting blog.

If you missed our previous posts in this series on leadership traits it is easy to catch up, the quickest links on earth are right here...

Leadership 199 / Trait 3 of 14: Courage
Leadership 199 / Trait 2 of 14: Bearing
Leadership 199 / Trait 1 of 14: Dependability

Read, Set, Go time it is for our fourth trait…

Leadership 199 / Trait 4 of 14: Decisiveness

Defined: Ability to make decisions promptly and to announce them in clear, forceful manner.

Discovered: The quality of our lives is a direct reflection of our decisions. Each day we make a gabagazillion decisions, give or take a couple. Should I eat this donut or that carrot?... Not interested in work today, should go in I just tough it out or call in sick?... I have an hours time, shall I exercise or watch rare Three Stooges episodes on YouTube?... The basement is flooding, should I open the door and go fix it or ignore it because it will dry out eventually?

Some can make a decision with near zero angst or reservation. Others need an iron-clad guarantee against risk before they are comfortable doing so. Sure some decisions are easier to make than others. Just as sure, some of the hardest decisions we make are about ourselves.

It is easy to look across the street at a 420'ish pound woman struggling to walk to her mail box and decide she needs to lose weight and lose it NOW! Nope, no delay there in seeing anothers obvious need and being decisive about the solution.

Yet that same day we climb a few stairs in our own home, or walk across the mall, to arrive gasping for a full breath before doing going on. Often our own obvious struggle do not result in the same decisiveness.

Decisiveness is seeing a need, identifying how to satisfy that need, weighing the opportunities to be gained by satisfying it against the opportunities to be lost by not doing so, and then making a decision.

Decisiveness is not looking away from a need, over analyzing options to hide fear of making a decision, making excuses or procrastinating.

Once you have made a decision it is time to act upon it. That very first action needs to be announcing your decision with all involved. Whoever it is you will rely on for support, or those who will be affected by your decision, they need to know. Progress starts with a decision, results follow when decisions are clearly and firmly shared.

Da-Point: You only achieve success when you decide to pursue it.

What endeavor awaits the decisive leader within you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 391-396: Past Week Or So

2011-05-18T08:08:00.000-05:00

Hello one & all, hope all has been well with you. Last Friday Blogger was hosed-up somehow preventing me from logging in to create a post. Then I was away this past weekend at our hunting property where we were too busy to give much thought to all things electronic. Back home I chose to stay disconnected for a couple days to start the week and just focus on a mountain of needs at home and work. So there you have my brief absence explained. All is well, I am back, and a blogging I shall go...

I'll resume the leadership traits tomorrow. Today I'll share a handful of photos of the past week or so of our fun and healthy days...

Andrew waiting for me to finish my walk around Lake Andrea, he finished a couple minutes ahead of me

Squishy at Honors Night, she received recognition for her work on the Yearbook Club and National Honors Society

A cat pictures for the feline fanatics; these two sit at the chair next to me each night at the dinner table

Mmm, grilled pork chop & tomatoes w/ caesar salad

My wonderful wife getting her walk on with me

Squishy got game, this was the final soccer game I was able to attend of her high school career. Her season is now over, next team she'll play for is in college

That's it for now. I have a bunch of photos and video too of our time at the hunting property. I'll get that loaded up to my hunting blog soon and link back here for those interested.

Hope you're having a great week! Are you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 390 - Leadership 199 / Trait 3 of 14: Courage

2011-05-18T07:38:00.001-05:00

Leadership traits were on my mind last night while attending Honors Night at my daughters High School. As many of these young women & men were being recognized for their efforts they had the opportunity to step up and exercise their bearing in addressing the crowded auditorium. I was very impressed with how they conducted themselves with confidence and courage in a situation, public speaking, which is a challenging opportunity for most.

If you missed our previous posts in this series on leadership traits be sure to catch up on them here...
Leadership 199 / Trait 2 of 14: Bearing
Leadership 199 / Trait 1 of 14: Dependability

Let us see what our third trait has for us…

Leadership 199 / Trait 3 of 14: Courage

Defined: The mental quality that recognizes fear of danger or criticism, but enables you to proceed in the face of it with calmness and firmness.

Discovered: To understand courage you first must understand fear. When we recognize danger, fear is our innate survival mechanism that kicks in and prompts us to flee from or confront the present danger. The use of the word danger is a bit misleading because fear does not come over us only when we are in situations that are truly dangerous to our well being. Fear is also present when we face challenges which we believe we are at risk of failing at.

For the purposes of honing our self-leadership ability into higher degrees of effectiveness let us focus on those challenges we face for bettering ourselves. Weight loss,... training for your first marathon,... the treatments and recovery that lay ahead to care for injury or disease,... going back to school to get that college degree,... employment search,... starting your own business,... and so on. These are just a few obvious challenges many of us are facing now.

What other challenges are you facing today which will require you to address your fear of failure to overcome?

Books large and small have been written on how to overcome fear. I promise that this post will not run on into book length. Therefore I must cut to the chase on what gets us over what we fear. Courage!

Courage, like fear, is innate; we have it with in us. The funny thing is fear just pops out quickly in the face of challenge. While for many the courage within us has to be poked, prodded and sometimes pulled out.

However it is that you reach inside and get courage to come forward, do it. Courage enables your inner strength, your ability to stand up for what it is you deem right and necessary. Courage applied to challenge brings discipline to the task, provides you the required calmness to control fear versus fear controlling you.

Our challenges do not come with certainty of success. To succeed we must function effectively in our mission no matter how long, how difficult it may be. Along the way set backs may occur, the difficulty of the mission may rise. Fear will attempt to take back control with such occurrences. Perseverance comes from courage, our ability to persevere will ensure we endure through to the missions successful completion.

Da-Point: Respect Fear, Embrace Courage, Achieve Victory!

Is it hard for you to bring the courage within you to bear on your challenges?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 389 - Leadership 199 / Trait 2 of 14: Bearing

2011-05-11T06:11:00.002-05:00

Did you get a charge out of Trait 1: Dependability? I know I got fired up writing it and reading your comments. Fired Up I Tell Ya!! No way I was going to have a bad Tuesday after the high I was on from writing that post. And a great Tuesday I had. Looking forward to Wednesday being just a great if not more so.

Deep breath, clear mind, let's power ahead into our second trait…

Leadership 199 / Trait 2 of 14: Bearing

Defined: Creating a favorable impression in carriage, appearance and personal conduct at all times.

Discovered: Conduct, personal-conduct, is a noun in that sentence. Mrs. English, yes I really had an English teacher named Mrs. English, well she would not approve of this but I choose to see 'conduct' as a verb here. And if noun-abuse is not to be tolerated, then I offer another sentence...

Bearing is the manner in which you conduct yourself.

Just how do you behave in your mission to get healthy? Do you go through the motions of whatever program you are following while longingly looking forward to being done with what you are doing?

Be honest! If you answered 'Yes' to that follow-up question and that is how you conduct yourself some of most of the time, well then allow me this moment of boldness to say that your bearing is OFF.

You cannot lead effectively just going through the motions!

Leadership with bearing is to...

Arrive Alert in the face of your challenges & with Desire for the results you deserve.
Stand Competent & Confident, that you have what it takes to succeed.
Conduct yourself so that you Control the motion that is your life.

Da-Point: Conduct yourself against the highest of standards. Never accept that behaving in a manner less than the maximum of your ability is acceptable.

Is your bearing up to the challenges you face?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 388 - Leadership 199 / Trait 1 of 14: Dependability

2011-05-10T06:11:00.002-05:00

Who is it that is in charge of leading you to accomplish your mission to get healthy?

If you answered that question with a name other than your own, PLEASE do comment below. I really want to discuss how it is that someone other than yourself is on the hook for accomplishing your mission.

I am my own leader. While my actions and outcomes may affect others, and while I may depend on others for input and assistance in my tasks; at the end of each decision it is "I" who must lead myself to success, or failure, whichever I choose to deliver.

Are we clear?

I am MY own leader!

You are YOUR own leader!!

Now for the real question: Am I (are you) ready to lead?

Leadership is an innate ability which can be honed into higher degrees of effectiveness with education and experience. Note I said 'and', not 'or'. You want to lead yourself to victory, then you have to 'do' it, not just think about it. For the outcome of what you do to be successful you need to first know the success factors of leadership.

These success factors, or leadership traits as I prefer to refer to them, were taught to me nearly 30 years ago. Learning them, and living them are two different choices. To get myself from here, to my goal of 199, I am going to have to live these traits each day along the way. On any given day where I can reflect and see that I have come up short, you can bet that I can identify one of more of these traits which I did not hold true to.

Let us get busy learning these leadership traits, there are fourteen of them. Yes 14; no moaning or sighs of hot air allowed! Anything worth learning is worth learning in detail. Therefore we are going to learn all 14 of them. To increase the potential of learning and retaining them so that we can put them to practice, we are going to learn them one at a time; one per day over the next fourteen days.

Without further introduction as to my intent here, away we go…

Leadership 199 / Trait 1 of 14: Dependability

Defined: The certainty of proper performance of duty.

Discovered: Duty, a very powerful word as I see it. When we have something to do, the degree of importance which we associate it with goes up if we accept it as our duty. If we associate it as something less, then I would suggest it is a 'want' and not a 'need'. Would you agree that getting healthy and living healthy is something you need to do? Myself, I do. The it is our duty to do just that, get healthy and stay healthy.

Certainty, a word that infers an absolute. This word, I like! Absolutes are empowering, motivating, as they demand accomplishment. "For my duty this day I will certainly exercise by running 2 miles and executing my push up & sit up routine"; if you see this as your duty you would proclaimed it just as I wrote it there. However if you do not see this as your duty, you probably have proclaimed it as follows; "I need to exercise today and will do so as soon as I can."

Da-Point: Your success is dependent upon your ability to perform your duty as required.

Can you depend upon yourself to do your duty?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 386 - 387: Sister, Mothers & Gas

2011-05-09T09:07:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and especially their Mothers Day celebrations. My wife & I got away on Saturday to continue the celebration of her birthday and start the Mothers Day festivities. We took off to our backyard play ground, Wisconsin. The Wollersheim Winery was the destination (pictured above). There we picked up a case of wine as we do each trip. We also picked up the gifts for our mothers there, ceramic wine chillers. Of course we couldn't give the moms just wine chillers without a bottle of wine in each.

On the way up there we gassed up in Milwaukee, here is the price of gas (cheap stuff) there...

Cheapest we've seen around home it in well over a month, so we gassed up there on the way up & back.

We stayed in Pweaukee (a burb of Milwaukee) Saturday night. There we dined at Thunder Bay Grille which has been a favorite of ours for a decade. All of us who are serious about making a better life for ourselves embrace change. Change is good, change is needed if we want to see a better result from our efforts. And a different result from the recent changes in menu and style is what I believe Thunder Bay Grille will see. And not for the better. Seriously, we were disappointed. This rustic northwoods centric restaurant went modern in a bad way. It used to stand apart from its competition, now it reflects at least a dozen other places in the Milwaukee area. Oh well, we had a good decade, best of luck to them.

After dinner we went out to Champps to watch the Nascar race and NBA playoff games while knocking back a couple of beers and just hanging out. Along the way we felt the need to fill in the corners left from our dinner experience. To do that we ordered a hot pretzel from the apps menu. I was expecting a pretzel like you'd get at the ball game, but to my surprise and horror this is what we got...

Not healthy, not one bit. But it was good I must admit. And so was our time together eating this, drinking Leinenkugel's and Spotted Cow, excellent day with my wife!

Back home on Sunday we took in a soccer game for our sophomore, they lost 0-6; way to go winning one for Mom guys. And then off to meet our Mom's for dinner at Bonefish Grill which never disappoints; lets hope they don't embrace too much change.

Dinner was in Schaumburg, IL which is a Chicago suburb. On the way there I snapped this picture of the typical gas price there...

Ugly ugly ugly that gas marquee is. Way too ugly to just end this post on such a downer note. So let me move to a final bit of positive news to share.

This past Saturday my sister walked the stage at Olivet Nazarene University with her Masters of Arts in Teaching. How cool is that!

Congrats Kim & best of luck in that your search to secure a full time teaching position will be a short one.

OK, that is how I spent my weekend, how did you spend yours?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 385 - Prom for Squishy

2011-05-07T06:24:00.003-05:00

There you see Ashley taking a moment to take a picture with me last night before she heads off to a friends house and then on to Senior Prom. It has been nearly a decade since I nicknamed her "Squishy". Since then she has dared to grow up, along the way I've always called her Squishy. Once upon a time she used to look like this...

Now, in the final days of her senior year of High School, she is just a a trio of months away from moving about 4 hours south to attend college. I'm trying to convince her to go back to kindergarten instead, but she isn't having any of that. She is all about moving ahead and making something out of herself from all the options she's worked to line up. Yeah grow up she has, but not so much to out grow being called Squishy.

Have a Great Weekend!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 384 - Beware Of Good

2011-05-06T06:25:00.002-05:00

What it is about May I have no idea. But one constant at work each May is that co-workers bring in candy to sell for their kids various school or social causes. Boxes like the one pictured there are all over the office here. That one sits at the end of the aisle I work in so I have to pass it a dozen or more times a day.

And pass it I do. Nothing of value there, nothing good.

Well, for sure it looks good, tastes good, even the packaging appeals to me as good. But I know better, in the end eating anything out of that box will be no-good for me.

So many things in life appear to be good, but in reality are no-good for us if used. Candy is just one example. There must be others, here are a few that come to mind...

The easy ones along the same line as candy would be ice cream, cake, pie, basically all desserts. They look amazing, smell divine, tempt us as sinful without doom; but sin is what they are waistline doom is what they get us.

Fast Food applies here. It is not that it's appearance is what looks good, but the convenience of the meal is what appeals as good to us. However convenience is not good for us in all aspects of life. Convenience in food preparation, e.g. electric blender vs. hand mixing utensil, good way to go more often than not. Convenience in food via a meal in a bag in a jiffy; not so much.

How about meal-replacement bars/protein-bars? Probably not fair to lump all into a single judgement here. First lets state that these come off as looking good to us for many reasons; they are packaged to look like they are beneficial for us, they are described as a better choice amongst alternatives, and they too are sold as a convenience item. Actually I think the 2nd of those three selling points is more true than shady; choosing most such bars over a candy bar is a better choice given just those two; usually. Instead, the lesson here is that there are many varieties of these bars out there. Some are actually almost-good for you. But when you get into the nitty-gritty of the ingredients, most are not good for you. Certainly not a good alternative to a whole food meal or snack.

Here is a good one from my lunch yesterday...

Broiled salmon with squash & green beans. Looks good smells great. You see what else is there, lower-right; that white sauce is cucumber sauce. "Cucumber" sauce! Cukes are healthy veggies right, sounds like a good sauce, it is made from cucumbers after all! But NO, cream is the base of this sauce, not-good! I ditched it and replaced it with some pico de gallo. Sauces, dressings and the like are notorious for being packaged & described as good choices, safe choices to use in your diet. Reality however is that a vast majority of them only deliver good flavor at the expense of good nutrition.

Of course, any of the above can be enjoyed in moderation. Moderation is something I am a believer in as it falls in line with my belief that we need to have fun, enjoy each day fully. If on any given day you truly feel you need to satisfy your want for some candy, have it. But beware that candy is a bad thing that looks good, so think before you indulge and determine when to stop before you start. Two Snickers, a Kit-Kat and a Three-Musketeers is well past the point of moderation; trust me I know from experience.

What examples do you have of 'good' we need to beware of?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 383 - Happy BDay Cathy

2011-05-05T06:28:00.003-05:00

This week my wife has a birthday; Happy Birthday Cathy!

I wont say how old she is, but it is a milestone birthday and it may rhyme with 'orty'. That is all I'll say, don't want to give too much away.

There you see the flowers I sent to her at work this week. Those flowers are impressive if I may say so myself. But not nearly as impressive as her well organized desk.

You can tell allot by looking at a persons workspace, lets take a closer gander at her's shall we...

Photo's on the wall board, photos of 3 of our 4 kids. No photo of me, hmmm.... there is a photo on her desk too, a cool one. It is of her & her workmates standing with the Stanley Cup which visited her work place a few weeks back; so jealous I am.

Behind the flowers is a poster of Matt Kenseth, her favorite Nascar driver. My fave is Greg Biffle, the two are team mates so all is good there.

The wall calendar on the right is a Chicago White Sox calendar. She is a Sox fan, I am a Cubs fan. Somehow, we make it work. There is a desk calendar too, a page-a-day calendar; it too appears to be a Sox calendar. I should know what it is as I gave it to her for Christmas (I know, I am cutting edge when it comes to gift giving).

Stapler, appears to be a Swingline 747 classic model, good choice. Shows a sense of faith & determination, no?

Ream of paper at the ready, she either prints allot or is ready for the coming paper-shortage of 2011.

Is your desk/workspace as organized?

Myself, I can say that mine desk is as organized if not even a bit more so organized than hers. Organization is not always a sure sign of success however. Some of the most successful folks I know are terribly disorganized overall. But somehow when it comes time to perform at what is important, they excel like few others. I envy that mysterious ability. Simply for me, success comes from a organized approach

And enough of the organization sermon; all together now...

Happy Birthday!

Oh, flowers were not all I got my wife for her birthday, recall this post in March where she got her other present a bit early.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 382 - What Would You Prefer?

2011-05-04T06:23:00.001-05:00

Having a great week here; how about you?

As tempted as I am to not say anything about the picture there, I shall. This is one of those posts where I didn't have a corresponding picture immediately come to mind. Certainly I could have found something that goes along with the main topic below, but I'm just not in a symmetrical mood. Instead, you get a random picture today. There I am with Eeyore back in the summer of 2002; easily 310 if not 320 pounds I was then. I didn't care, i was hanging with EEYORE! Reflecting today, one of us seriously needed to consider more salads and less buffets.

Back to 2011, after four consecutive days of getting in the exercise, today will be a day of rest. Four on, one off; seems like a ratio one would adopt if serious about getting results. We'll put that to the test here and look to maintain that ratio going forward.

When comparing how I feel, how I think, how I perform when I choose to exercise consistently vs. when I choose to do my Jabba The Hut impersonation; it is easy to realize that I prefer myself when I exercise consistently.

That's me, what about you; what would you prefer...
Living without music or without T.V.?

Drinking a cup of mustard or ketchup?

Having a beautiful house and ugly car or an ugly house and beautiful car?

Running a marathon or giving a speech before a thousand people?

Exercising consistently or getting your Jabba The Hut on?

Having x-ray vision or bionic hearing?

Being the sand castle or the wave?

Being related to Charlie Sheen or Charlie Brown?

Have Fun being Healthy & Happy today!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 381 - Take Action to Prevent, Control, Defeat

2011-05-03T08:59:00.001-05:00

Karen over at Waisting Time (Tweets @MeWaistingTime) did me the honor of a blog post dedication yesterday. Thank You Karen, so very kind of you!

Karen's message yesterday spread the word that May is Skin Cancer Awareness month. She does this from the heart as she herself has victoriously defeated skin cancer three times! By all means use the link above to stop by and read her story & hear her message; lots of good info, links, stats and hat pictures!

The photo above is my face, and the photo below too. A trio of scars mark my face & neck and another runs nearly a foot up the length of my abdomen. It may be seen as unfortunate to have to bear these marks. But fortunate is all I feel.

Fortunate for not taking cancer for granted and seeking a medical advice for what didn't look/feel normal
Fortunate for not believing the nonsense that what I felt/saw was nothing, it'll probably go away
Fortunate for not putting me second and all else first thus being lame and saying I don't have time for this right now

Generally I don't like to write my posts in negative tones, but at times doing so adds the proper pause needed to think and absorb about the message...

DO NOT take any aspect of your health for granted, certainly not cancer. Cancer is not taking any thing for granted, while hoping you are, as takes advantage of you in its quest to end you. Cancer has one goal, to kill you!

DO NOT believe something is nothing until you have it verified that it is nothing. There is no way I know of at home to self diagnose what you feel/see as odd for whether it is cancer or not. There are definitely ways you can self diagnose whether that oddity has the potential for cancer, and you'd be wise to learn what to look for. Get it checked out by a medical professional who can diagnose and verify whether you have something, or, nothing.

DO NOT be lame, period. You are your most important asset. You are what you need to put first in life everyday. Nobody else, nothing else. Nobody can take care of you as well as you can. Take care of yourself first, and you will be able to take care of all others that depend on you.

The faces of cancer survivors are many. Some of you, like Karen & I, may be cancer survivors too. Or you may be engaged in battle with the beast today; if so my heart goes out to you in your battle.

Please do know that you can greatly minimize your risks of cancer by being cancer aware and taking action.
Please do know that you can catch cancer early and greatly minimize it's impacts by being cancer aware and taking action.
Please do know that you can beat cancer by being cancer aware and taking action.

The skinny on cancer: Action is cancer's worst enemy, Take Action to prevent, control, defeat cancer.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 378-380: Reveille Weekend Success

2011-05-02T06:08:00.000-05:00

Great News, I received the OK to return to full activity from all surgeons, doctors and even my guardian Eeyore gave his OK. Excellent, no time to waste!...

With the weekend here I got busy getting the heart rate and sweat pumping once again. So Saturday morning my wife, one son & I headed off to the YMCA. My wife got her workout on in the swimming pool as usual; a fish she is. Andrew & I hit the weights, above you see him working the lat-pulldowns which seemed like a fine machine to get started on.

Below is the rest of our routine that day...

Rowing

Iso-Pulldowns

Assisted Pull Ups

Calf Press

Tricep Presses

Leg Press

Horizontal Chest Press

Incline Sit Ups

It felt great to get back in the gym. There were a few other exercises we did which I forgot to take photos of, e.g.squats, flys; we got in good variety in the hour we were there.

Sore, sore was the word of the day for the rest of my weekend. Amazing how muscle-memory works, it was like I hadn't skipped much of a beat. I felt a bit awkward on some of the exercises, felt a tad weak on triceps; but otherwise I was owning the steel.

Sore or not on Sunday, it was time to get in some more. I was determine to make this my Reveille Weekend and awaken from the stagnant slumber that I had been in for too long. Sunday, cardio! My wife was not feeling good so she didn't join as as she wanted to. Andrew & I got after it at the Rollins Savannah...

Last year I put in some great efforts here and put up a streak of personal records here as well. My best time last year on this 3.6 mile loop was 54:49 minutes. We set out with the idea of getting as close to it as possible. No way was achieving that time going to happen this day; No Way! I hadn't put in any consistent cardio in April, I still haven't shed that 10 pound regain from the winter, and my sore muscles weren't feeling extraordinary effort within them.

Never Say Never!

We smashed that PR in a big way.

I came in at 52:04 minutes...

Andrew at 51:35 minutes.

I feel an Oh Yeah!

Did you feel any Oh Yeah's this weekend/recently?

Final thought: We have Never Forgot 9/11 and those murdered, maimed and devastated. The news of OBL's termination is reason for pride swell and affirmation in our determination for justice; but it is not reason to now forget. The cause continues, sadly in the throws of war. Never Forget means just that; NEVER FORGET!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 377 - Mrs. Kruger Visited Me

2011-04-29T08:46:00.000-05:00

Allow me to share with you a personal memory lane visit. Last night at physical therapy the candy dish on the counter caught my eye. Candy doesn't catch my eye and seize my attention often but it did then. It did last night because there was a certain Strawberry hard candy in the dish.

You see it pictured there. The wrapper of this candy has not changed since I first saw it as a toddler. That wrapper, that candy, is the connector to many of my early memories. Funny what triggers memories.

Every time I see this candy, immediately I remember back to 1969, 70 and a neighbor of ours, Mrs. Kruger. We lived in Chicago on the 3rd floor of a large apartment building. Our back porch (if you could call it a porch) was shared by our neighbor next door, Mrs. Kruger. Picture Mrs. Cunningham and then visualize what she would have been like as a Grand Mother; that is Mrs. Kruger.

Several of the memories that occupy the wing of my brain which holds my earliest memories involve Mrs. Kruger. One of my favorites is her love of prunes. It was not uncommon for me to wander over to Mrs. Kruger's side of the porch and peek in her back door. Often she'd be sitting at her tiny kitchen table eating a bowl of prunes. She let me try one once and of course I thought it tasted like yuck!

For some reason I liked talking to Mrs. Kruger, I wish I could recall what we talked about. Being Mrs. Kruger she wasn't going to let me sit there while she eats alone. In 1969 what did you feed a fidgety four year old? That's right, candy! Mrs. Kruger also had a love for hard candy, specifically strawberry hard candy. She must have, because she always had a bowl heaping with just this strawberry hard candy nearby.

It would come to be that if I caught her while she was eating her bowl of prunes, she welcome me in to sit next to her at the table, she'd place the bowl of candy in front of me, and we'd eat and talk. After a few pieces she'd take the bowl away and that was good timing. Remember I was four, as nice as Mrs. Kruger was I only had the capacity for a few minutes of chit chat before I had to get going somewhere else to play.

I also have memories of the neighbor down stairs, Mrs. Heller; but they have nothing to do with candy and they aren't fond memories either. Perhaps another day I'll let you back into that wing of my brain for a Mrs Heller moment. More likely though I'll share more of Mrs. Kruger, actually, mark June 14th on your calendar for another Mrs. Kruger snippet.

Memory triggers... strawberry hard candy triggers fond memories for me.

What is it that when you see it (or hear, smell perhaps), what is it that triggers distant memories to instant recall for you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 376 - You Have Me Wondering

2011-04-28T07:22:00.000-05:00

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From yesterdays post this is what I learned from your answers, and what I am left wondering...

1- When was the last time you exercised and were you satisfied with your effort?
About 50/50 here, actually just a slight edge in favor of those who are satisfied with their exercise. For me, lack of recent exercise had me answer dissatisfied. No doubt there is plenty of room for improvement here for many of us. Which has me wondering...

What would make your exercise more satisfying?

Myself, when my exercise is filled with variety I am my most satisfied with it. I am too easily bored. One day I have to be outside for cardio, then the next session can be indoors. Or one day a walk/jog is good, but the next session shouldn't be the same walk/jog. Same for strength training, I don't want to feel the burn in the same place from one time to the next. If I do, I am likely doing the same exercises and ho-hum will soon set in.

2- Do you find Angel Food cake easy or hard to pass up?
Unreal, just not even close to real. I LOVE angel food cake. And none of you gave it any love at all. Hello... it is ANGEL food cake! I find it very hard to pass up. Maybe I just a sucker for angel's? Or sponges?? Maybe angels who give sponge baths??? Hmmm, I wonder...

What are you a sucker for?

Not an easy question really. I am a sucker for confidence. Engage me with confidence and decisiveness, you will have my attention and maybe more. To serious of an answer for you? You don't have to answer as seriously :-).

3- Salad dressings, do you do the right thing by eating salads but misuse salad dressing?
Another 50/50 result with this one showing a slight edge in favor of those who misuse dressing. At times I do misuse dressing, at others I do not. Probably depends upon the quality of the salad stuff I am dressing up. This dangerous inconsistency with salad dressing needs to be addressed! I can only sit here, look to the sky (or ceiling blocking the view of the sky) and wonder...

Seriously, how flippin hard can it be to exhibit salad-discipline?

4- Twinkie The Kid versus King Ding Dong, in a cage match to the death, which one wins?
Twinkie The Kid had the early lead but King Ding Dong love votes came in late and we have a tie. Not sure how we can break this tie, keep voting I guess. My fellow Chicagoland'ers feel free to vote multiple times as you always do in elections. While we wait for this to be resolved, excuse me for this bit of wondering...

Has anyone else ever eaten their twinkie, or ding dong, with a fork?

Yes, I said "else", thus I admit; I have! (a twinkie)

5- Tanning booths, is increasing the chances of skin disease/cancer tomorrow worth the risk to get a great tan today?
While some kind words for tanning in general, I didn't sense any true love for tanning booths. Myself, I can't help but laugh. I am a Caucasian of Irish, Scottish, and Snowman heritage. I've never tanned a day in my life; not on purpose. Obviously, after my recent dances with melanoma I am not likely to pick up the tanning hobby anytime soon, or, ever. On this question I have no further wondering.

6- Are you going to achieve your dreams of living healthy, living long, living happy?
Lots of believers here that they are achieving their dreams. Very good to hear. For this question I have many follow up wonderings...

If you aren't working towards our dreams, then we are just existing for the sake of existing; right?

Of all of your dreams, which is the one you going to realize next?
And what will/are you doing to make that dream reality?

Of all of your dreams, which is the one you want more than any other?

And how confident are you that you will realize that dream someday?

I'll get back to you on my own dream wonderings.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 375 - Answers, Questions, And...

2011-04-27T06:22:00.000-05:00

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It dawned on me last night that I never provided the answers to last weeks riddles & such. So quickly here are the answers are should anyone have been waiting for them and wish to refer back to the questions...
1- The castle photo was a trick question as it really isn't a castle. It is the 'Castle Entrance' to the cemetery that is across the street from where I lived in the 70's. My sister should have recognized that!
2- President John Adams
3- Alfonso IX of León, King of León & Galicia
4- No Excuses
5- This was a joke, so there was no answer :-)

Ok, that bit of business over, I have a new set of questions for you; not as playful, a bit more serious, but every bit as fun...

1- When was the last time you exercised and were you satisfied with your effort?
2- Do you find Angel Food cake easy or hard to pass up?
3- Salad dressings, do you do the right thing by eating salads but misuse salad dressing?
4- Twinkie The Kid versus King Ding Dong, in a cage match to the death, which one wins?
5- Tanning booths, is increasing the chances of skin disease/cancer tomorrow worth the risk to get a great tan today?
6- Are you going to achieve your dreams of living healthy, living long, living happy?

Final thought for the day; it is said you become what you think about. Hmmm, can anyone dispute that?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 374 - Share Your Acronyms

2011-04-26T08:29:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love a good acronym?

Ah, that is a trick question isn't it? The operative word being 'good'. There are so many so-so to so-bad acronyms out there that they frankly give the art of acronyms a bad name. Yes, acronyms are an art form. If paper mache gets to be called art, then I declare acronyms get to be called art too!

Why my mind is on acronyms today is due to a horrific acronym I saw yesterday. I found it horrifying because it butchered a brand which I am quite fond of. Here it is...

ADIDAS - All Day I Dream About Sex

Oh the horror. Ok, the truth, sure I am guilty of the implication. But I don't need an acronym to reinforce my belief in this particular purpose and commitment to the same. That is after all what acronyms are for in my book, to simplify the reminder of something important and inspire towards achieving it. Sex is important, but it needs no acronym to inspire me into action. Moving on...

As I said I find Adidas to be a fine brand, and as well a funny name to be sure. A couple of mouse clicks will reveal the company name was derived from the founders name; Adi Dassler. There is your trivia for the day, use it wisely in your next social gathering. But stop there, do not, please; do not follow up with that acronym All Day I Dream About Sex. That is unless you really believe it will lead to sex, then by all means that may be the one instance where citing it is acceptable.

Left me offer a better acronym for the fine brand Adidas...
ADIDAS - Adopting Desire Into Determination Achieves Success

Ah, Adidas is not so easy to work up a 'good' acronym with. What good acronym can you cook up with Adidas?

Here are some other acronyms that I like...
PRIDE - Purposeful Responsibility Inspires Deliberate Excellence
LEAD - Listen, Encourage, Appreciate, Develop
TNT - Today Not Tomorrow

What about you, what are some of your favorite acronyms which inspire you?

Please do share!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 373 - Catching Up Bits N Pieces

2011-04-25T08:42:00.000-05:00

Hope all had a fine Easter. We got together with my in laws up at my sister in laws house and enjoyed a cozy feast. They served boy a pig ham and a bear ham. Both were excellent, the bear ham was surprisingly sweet in comparison. Good time, easy relaxing day for the most part.

So how are gas prices treating you? Yeah, I know; dumb question. This weekend I heard some one say that gas prices are already well over $5 in Florida; not sure I believe that. This morning I heard on the radio that Chicagoland continues to have the highest gas prices in the country which is typically true due to a number of factors the leading of which is the insane taxes the city and Cook county levy on just about everything.

This past week/weekend we took our college tour into Indiana & Ohio. The 1,015 miles we drove consumed a good bit of gas, probably 35 gallons. The $4.27 you see there was the price last Thursday evening in Elmhurst, IL where we stopped for dinner before leaving the area. Had we actually ventured into Chicago many of the pumps there on average run 20 cents higher. Once we got out of Chicagoland and on our way we saw no prices over $4...

We spent Thursday night in Cleveland, OH where we saw $3.84 as their highest...
We spent Friday night in Ft. Wayne, IN it was $3.97 for a high...
It was in Ohio's western farming communities where we saw the lowest price of our trip at $3.77...

Enough gas talk, just no way to put a positive spin on it as I see it. Other than, nope, not going to try.

So back to our college tour, Cleveland was our first stop to visit Case Western Reserve University. Cleveland is a decent city, but as I tweeted on Friday, they really need to invest in some street sweepers. They also have some cool lake front scenery, not that we saw much of it, in fact here is the view from our hotel room...

Case Western Reserve U. was the only stop on our tour where there was an actual admissions event planned for prospective students. Apparently they've done this before because they know the most powerful recruiting approach is not to show off their modern campus, or their many accreditations, or the many offerings of Cleveland itself. Nope, they recruit with Rice Krispy treats...

Hence, CWRU will remain on his short list for now. From there we ventured back west towards home and did a few campus drive thru's of other colleges on his long list...

The Ohio State University

Ohio Northern University

University of Notre Dame

Of these Ohio Northern was promptly crossed off of his list simply because the community was too rural and the campus didn't feel much more than that of a community college. TOSU & UofND will remain on the list for now. My guess is we will get back to Notre Dame for a scheduled admissions event next summer. As for TOSU, he will first look harder at another Big Ten school close to home; Northwestern. If he likes what he sees there, I'd expect he will drop TOSU off his list. We're just scratching the surface of what will be his college selection experience. There a no safe bets as to where he will go yet.

Some other pics to share from our trip...

Rain, rained all day on Friday. Miles & miles of rain from Cleveland, OH to Ft. Wayne, IN...

A train, a llooonnngggg train, caught us in western Ohio. While we waited we watched this white cat (see red circle) walk in the rain; that should sum up the excitement that is western Ohio...

Dinner in Ft. Wayne was very good. The restaurant next to the hotel was Naked Tchopstix.

There I enjoyed a Mafia roll and Sashimi Salad...

And the view from our hotel room in Ft. Wayne was a bit better than the night before as well...

So that was the essence of my weekend. A new week is here, back to work, back to enjoying life and making it a better life. Tonight I have physical therapy for the knee & hip. Tomorrow I have a follow up with my surgeon and have my fingers crossed I get the green light to resume weight training.

What are you doing today, tomorrow to make a better life for you?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 370-372: Happy Easter

2011-04-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 369 - Things That Make Me...

2011-04-21T06:53:00.001-05:00

Things That Make Me... LAUGH

Smart Cars make me laugh. The concept, purpose of them, I get it. But they are just funny looking and I laugh everytime I see one.

Things That Make Me... Go HUH

Zhu Zhu Pets are a testimony to the power of ideas.
For Christmas shopping season 2009 we drove ourselves koo-koo looking for these things.
Someone had an idea, a battery operated colorful hamster that putts around and makes noise.
That someone is a gabagazillionaire now.
Huh?

Things That Make Me... MMM

Buffalo Wings make me go MMM. One of my temptations I have to be cautious around for sure.

Things That Make Me... COOL!

Eeyore is the coolest of the 100 Acre Woods gang, by far! He is my definition of Cool!
Yeah, he is glum on the outside, but on the inside; he is the hero of optimists everywhere!

Things That Make Me... BELIEVE

Look way up top there.
There you see my wife with the Stanley Cup.
One of them gives me reason to believe in victory.
One of them give me purpose behind my belief in victory.
Shouldn't be too hard to figure which does which.

My wife & I, without the Stanley Cup, are off this afternoon to check out some colleges in Indiana & Ohio with one of our sons.
We'll be back on Saturday.
Hope all enjoy the rest of their week!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 368 - Three Something Wednesday

2011-04-20T06:25:00.002-05:00

Not much response to the riddle, trivia yesterday. Perhaps a bad selection from the fun bag on my part. Lets give it another day and see if anyone takes a peek back to yesterday for a crack at any of these before I give out the answers. I know one member of my family who I believe peeks in here from time to time should recognize that castle. "Should", being the operative word there.

So what shall we do today?

Lets do something responsible for ourselves, something sincere for someone else, and something a few notches outside of our comfort zones.

Here are my three somethings...

For Myself:
Spend some time in reflection upon a commitment I've made? No More Fast Food.
A year ago yesterday I made that commitment. For the last 8 months of 2010 I bet I didn't eat a fast food meal more than 5 times in total. Here in 2011, I bet I've had a dozen. While not a all out fall of the wagon collapse of this commitment, I think it is safe to say I have a limb or two hanging over the wagons edge.

Today I am committing to getting those limbs safely back within the wagon but reaffirming to that commitment to change. Next week I expect to be released from the hold I've been placed on from lifting weights and strenuous exercise while I recover from last weeks surgery. I will be ready; man I can't wait to grip that bar and knock it around. Fast food will not benefit me in any way towards reaping maximum benefit from that exercise. Choosing to eat No More Fast Food will!

For Someone Else:
I am hoping others, YOU, who read this will join me in this sincere act for someone else.
The someone else is Lynda over at Taking Less Space. In her post linked there from yesterday she stepped up bravely and owned up to having slipped up hard on the diet yo-yo. Please go read for yourself and help her any way you can.

For Lynda, this is what I have for her to ponder this day... Think, just stop and think quietly (after you read this post of course). Listen to the voices inside right now, who do you hear? I am willing to bet the $3.49 in my pocket that your Evil Inner Dialogue is back and louder than ever. Now listen harder to that evil, can you identify what its been feeding off of that has pumped up it's volume in your head? Find it, whatever it is, and focus on improving/eliminating that one loudest source of evil. For now, forget about all the other sources of angst, today they are not important. One day, today, you can choose to find & fix the primary root of your weight gain. This you can do, today, tomorrow and any day you choose.

Outside My Zone:
I'm going to have some fun with this one, I can't help myself; sorry (not). I have a personal purchase to make soon; not going to say what it is here to protect surprise factor from onlooking eyes. In most buying situations I do not haggle price much if at all. This item does have some room for price haggling. So I am going to haggle my face off.

The amount I may be able to haggle down is irrelevant as I have no intention of making the actual buy today, my need today is product comparison. The fun will come from observing the reactions of the store sales people as I drag them through a haggling that is really more of a hazing.

Do you have three somethings?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 367 - Pull Over And Play

2011-04-19T06:17:00.004-05:00

For good reason most of my recent posts been serious. Positive and with great news and plenty to feel good about as well, so I'm all good with the recent string of serious sharing. But today, the last sentence is the last serious one I plan to share on this day.It is time to pull over and play for a day. Join me if you care...

Recently I stated it had been a while since we've had a picture riddle. So for starters lets do just that, sort of. Sort of in that this picture riddles a bit different than those we've done in the past where you had to guess the larger object from a picture of a small section of that object. Today, you get to see the whole object; the castle picture above.

1. Where on earth is that famous, or infamous, castle located?
I know some of you are castle buffs, most are not. I think we would all appreciate the hard work that goes into building a castle. No? Ok, then how about the pain of seeing hours and hours of your hard work washed away when the tide comes in washes your castle away; no? I'm the only one?? Hmmm...

Don't care about castles period huh, Ok. Try this...

Nicknames can be cruel, especially for those over weight and doubly especially for kids who are over weight. But not even the mightiest to live have escaped the scourge of a heavy nickname...
2. What world leader was also known as His Roundity?
3. What world leader was also known as The Slobberer?

Seems the brain bats we did recently were enjoyed so lets throw one in here...
4.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWYZ
QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

And last but not least, an oldy but goody from the joke department. We obviously are all into computers anywhere from a little to ALLOT. If you disagree then I am interested to know who printed thos post out on paper and handed itto you? Enjoy...
5. Gender and Computers

Top nine reasons computers must be male:

They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
A better model is always just around the corner.
They look nice and shiny until you bring them home.
It is always necessary to have a backup.
They'll do whatever you say if you push the right buttons.
The best part of having either one is the games you can play.
The lights are on but nobody's home.
Big power surges knock them out for the night.
Size does matter

Top nine reasons computers must be female:

Picky, picky, picky.
They hear what you say, but not what you mean.
Beauty is only shell deep.
When you ask what's wrong, they say "nothing".
Can produce incorrect results with alarming speed.
Always turning simple statements into big productions.
Smalltalk is important.
You do the same thing for years, and suddenly it's wrong.
They make you take the garbage out.

Have Fun Today!!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

DAY 366 - Moving Forward

2011-04-18T06:31:00.000-05:00

THANK YOU to all who respond with such excitement and relief to my news Saturday of my latest victory over cancer. Your comments, tweets, emails, phone calls, and I believe someone actually made it through to me telepathically; it is 2011 after all. Again, for all of your support allow me again to say...

THANK YOU !!!

Three exclamation points, one for each time I've knocked the beast out of me. Please let that be the last.

Now, with all the cancer nervousness behind us minus the healing and some follow up appointments; it is time to move forward again with this life I have been given to live. And living I am, and living I vow to do as I've never done before.

My wife & I started doing just that Saturday evening....

On Valentines Day for some reason I didn't share her what I gave my wife. Amongst the flowers and dinner was the gift of an evening with Johnathan & Andy Hillstrand, Captain's of the Deadliest Catch's Time Bandit. That evening was this past Saturday evening at a community college about 90 minutes south of where we call home.

Cathy (my wife) is a reality show fanatic and Deadliest Catch is one of her faves. Some may recall last summer we met Josh Harris at a local restaurant. Captain Andy is her Captain and given the chance she'd punt me for him in less time than it takes to turn channel. Um, remember when we actually had to 'turn' the channel?

We had a great time listening to the entertain us from the college auditorium stage for 90 minutes and then afterwards sign autographs and take pictures. For the record Johnathan was bad boy who was well on his way to a good drunk from the moment he got on stage. Also for the record he was the crowd favorite as anytime a kid asked a question he got up, hopped off stage and met them in crowd. Andy was the good boy who played off his brothers antics very well. If anyone can remember Laurel & Hardy here, these two could be the modern day L&H.

Like I said we had a great time, we always do together! The picture up top there is Cathy & I waiting for the show to get started. As you can see my neck is still quite swollen from the surgery. Hoping that abates shortly. Can't see it? Ok, here are some better shots of what will be my victory scars...

Before I close I must once again say....

(yeah, I am not an arts & crafts person; marker on a paper towel is akin to Picasso from me)

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 364 - VICTORY

2011-04-16T10:14:00.001-05:00

We received a call last night about 9:45 p.m.

My wife was on the couch watching t.v. and I was on the third step headed upstairs to go to bed, wiped out. Blackhawks game or not it was time to turn in.

As she answered the phone she said I'd want to take this, the caller-id flashes on the t.v. screen so she knew who it was.

Three seconds later I had made it back down those three stairs, enough time for a conversation as she was already wrapping up the call.

By the time I walked the four steps across the family room floor to the couch the call was done and she hung up.

"All clear," she said.

"Excellent," I replied. "We'll celebrate tomorrow". And off to bed I went.

My nights sleep was the best one I have had in weeks. No doubt from knowing that I am once again CANCER FREE!

So today, tonight & for the rest of our lives my wife & I will celebrate being cancer free (again), being in love, being alive!

What are you celebrating today?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 363 - Turkeys & Sequins For Friday

2011-04-15T10:21:00.000-05:00

Very glad to hear from so many of you bloggers, tweeters, emailers that my hospital fashion sense is at best trend setting, and at worst lacking sequins. Sequins? As if I'd ever consider such a thing. Thanks again for all of the well wishes; very much appreciated!!

The healing goes well. Sure there is pain and I have meds for that. I've tried to hold off on the meds as long as I can to avoid being loopy anymore than I have too. My knee & hip pain jumped up a bit late yesterday. That perhaps is more frustrating than any post surgery pain.

Enough talk about me today. Lets do some Friday Follows, Shout Outs, shall we...

Jody is in the running to become the Face Of Fitness over at Fitness Magazine. You can vote for her HERE. You can vote daily! Voting ends 04/17/2011... As Jody says, "Let's show them older people rock too!"

Tish over at Incremental Improvements continues her recovery from surgery for herniated discs in her back. She continues to do well and continues her posts packed with amazing nature pictures.

Lynda over at Taking Less Space has written, is in the process of writing, a Dear Blogger post that is worthy of your time & comment.

Ewa over at Trail To Wellness is a blogger I have very recently connected with. She goes on some amazing hikes and has some amazing nature & wildlife pictures. One of them that caught my eye, and I must say got my mouth watering, can be seen up above. Many more like it are on her blog for your enjoyment.

Oh and I could go on and on as I follow so many fine people with interests in health, weight loss, fitness and much much more.

How about you, who do you have a urge to give a Friday Follow, Shout Out?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!