Aren't Kids Sneaky Inspirations?

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!!

Squishy Time

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!!

In Short, In truth, Here I am

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 410 - Have I Bored U Yet?

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 406 - Graduation Day 4 Squishy

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 391-396: Past Week Or So

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 385 - Prom for Squishy

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 332 - Soccer, Spring & Surprise

Yesterday I got in 2 miles on the elliptical and kept the calories to around 1700; fairly even split as far as nutrients go. So a decent effort getting this mission re-saddled and on the path again. Could be better, and that is what today's goal is.

How was your Monday eating & exercise?

After my wife & I exercised yesterday (she did treadmill while I did elliptical) we caught our breath and headed out to attend my daughters first soccer game of the spring season. Bbrrrr, spring my @$$... at 34F there was no spring to be found. She is a senior, so this is the last year we have to endure soccer starting before spring officially gets here and before Momma Nature gives us a break. Everyone was dressed for ice fishing, as pictured above (my wife in red coat center-right), even the players. Sadly, we lost 1-3, which made the game colder.
 
Speaking of my wife she has a birthday coming up in May. Plenty of time yet to get the birthday party planned and gift figured out, but I've known for a while what she was going to get got her fortieth. She's been drooling over these ever since they came out a few of years ago and were pumped up in the Transformers movies. This weekend I figured it'd be a neater surprise to give it to her a couple of months early...

 


Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 234 - Bussssyyyy

How goes your Tuesday? All is well I hope.

Super busy one here at work today & it will continue to be so with kids sports this evening. First time I've had more than 39 consecutive seconds to play today. At the moment my daughter (pictured) is driving me home from work; my truck is spending the night in the shop. Been a healthy day food wise and hopeful I will squeeze in some exercise this evening.

Be Good!

Responsibility199, Gotta Do It!!

Day 191 - Pic At This

Thought I'd spend today putting up some pictures. Why not start with a picture of something, something that you may or may not know what it is. If you think you do, offer a guess, otherwise, I'll come back tomorrow with what it really is. So take your best guess, it costs nothing and won't hurt a bit.

- - -

Our daughter Ashley turned 18 this week. It was just another day as a high-school senior for her in most ways with one exception; she got to vote for her first time. Thanks to early voting in Illinois . Her birthday cake was as she wanted, a stack of chocolate donuts with candles on top; and it was for breakfast. Hey, she wanted chocolate donuts before getting off to soccer practice.

- - -

Part of her day also included a trip to a couple of banks to close out her children's savings account and get her properly set up to bank as an adult. I wonder if she can spot me $5 until Tuesday?

- - -.

My wife and I went for a walk yesterday evening. Felt good to get out and walk for some exercise, first real cardio I've done in a week. All of the neighborhood trees planted along the roadside parkways are void of leaves. The rapid leaf loss this year has more to do with the high winds of late versus the temperatures which have been quite warm the past few weeks.

- - -

Good thing I saw this lawn decoration while it was still a bit light out. If I hadn't noticed it until one of my 4:30 a.m. walks I may have well been freaked out enough to run. Hmmm, that may not have been a bad thing. We used to go bonkers on the holiday decorations when the kids were grade schoolers. These days they could careless and participate less in such things. Thus we do not decorate at all for Halloween and my once Grizwold like Christmas display pales in comparison to a decade ago.

- - -

This past weekend my wife & I went on a date. We took in our first hockey game of the 2010-11 campaign.

The Blackhawks 2010 Championship banner looks great hanging from the rafters of the United Center.

Now we need to get another, and another, and...

- - -

Today's word of the day is ABLE.

I am able to rule this day and end it healthier than I started it.

How was your weekend?

 Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 165 - Got Handbook?

Tuesday was an 'A' effort by myself. Exercise was had and my eating was akin to that straight out of a diet handbook. If only there were such a handbook that was perfectly tailored to me. And there were one perfectly tailored to you. If only...

Well, lets noodle that for a second or three. Mmm, noodles; um focus!  Over the years and my dozens of weight loss attempts I have probably purchased, borrowed or stolen (borrowed & never returned) a book on this diet plan or that diet fad for each attempt. Oh the money I've donated to this gaba-bazillion dollar industry.

In no way am I saying it was all good money thrown at bad information. Applying honesty to my thoughts, and I must, I did benefit from those past attempts. My brain has knowledge packed in its corners from what I've read, listened to, seen, etc. during each of those previous attempts.

Today, on this mission; my final mission that will take the rest of my life to enjoy. Today, I have come to believe that I finally have the ONLY handbook to follow. It doesn't come from a book store, or online store, or from a neighbors collection.

My handbook follows no one diet & exercise plan. Simply, I do not believe there is a handbook out there that is perfectly tailored to ALL of us. Although that said, most all in the end break down to a common thought; eat better and eat less than you burn and burn more by moving more than you move now. Huh, so what is the difference in all those books, plans, and the like for sale out there?

That is up to you to decide. For me, I've decided that the best approach for me is a slow and steady track towards a better me. Where did I come up with that. Just from experience, from my collective learnings, failures, and shaping how they can help me achieve what I current want to achieve. I do not want to fail & quit a mission ever again.

And fail I will not. Because I have found my handbook. It has been so close at hand for so long. It is in my head. I believe I know what will work for me because I have taken the time to give it thought, come up with an approach I believe in, and am doing it.

Trust yourself. Believe in yourself. You know you better than any book, anyone else. Take the knowledge you have assembled, seek more if you feel necessary, and then you determine how to do this. Follow a commercial plan, or not, your choice. Follow what you so fully believe in that you can put your complete trust behind it. Find that, come up with that, and I am betting you (and I) will never fail & quit a mission ever again.


What does all of that have to do with that photo up there? Not a thing. That is my daughter who worked the concession stand during my son's varsity soccer game yesterday. My exercise was to walk around the high school campus for an hour before the start of his game.

When done, I stopped by to razz her (my job) and get a drink to chug-a-lug during the game. Yeah, I know, it is a diet soda versus a bottle of water. My taste buds were wanting more than no taste. Look at all those wonderful treats beside her; amazing how there is not a healthy item to be found there. maybe the popcorn can be considered a healthy item. Simply, they know they'd sell far less, thus raise far less for the school, if the options were not those you see there. Sad, but true lesson in what is considered (right or wrong) to be really important I suppose.

What are you snacking on today while you ponder the handbook inside of your head?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 135 - Snap To It

No exercise for me Sunday, decided to take a day of rest. Felt good, and needed. It's back to the exercise today for me.
These photos were snapped the last few days, thought I'd share.
Some are health related, all are fun related. Fun I tell you, getting healthy is FUN...

Have an idea what this is a picture of? Yep, another picture riddle, so take a guess if you dare. 

I'll reveal the answer tomorrow, or earlier if someone guesses correctly...

-_-

This was at the family gathering a couple weekends back;

somebody wanted my chair and I couldn't comprehend such nonsense.

-_-

The time is now, for new walking/jogging shoes that is.

So many of you have talked about your new shoes, Asics have been chatted up the most it seems.

I chose a pair of Asics GT-2150, they were the only pair of Asic's the store had in a 4E Width.

I've worn them out & about to break them in, they get their maiden exercise voyage this week.

-_-

This tomato and feta salad was part of our anniversary dinner with my wife Saturday night. Simple and tasty!

I also took a picture of my entree but the picture came out looking dull and disgusting, the complete opposite of the actual dish; it was awesome...

A grilled Cobia fillet with a bacon & jalapeno sauce. Not sure what Cobia is, a tasty warm water ocean yummy-fish.

It is also known as Black Salmon although it's skin is what is black, the flesh is white, firm and similar to Salmon. Here is a pic of the fish...

source
-_-

Need more food porn, Ok, there is our dinner last night.
Halibut pan seared in garlic infused olive oil with a side of Green Beans tossed in Onions and a bit of Bacon (yes, I has a touch of bacon twice this weekend).
-_-

What, still not enough? Tough crowd you are...
Here was dessert last night, a treat shared to us by Karla.
Greek Yogurt, Apples (Fuji) & Cinnamon - So simple yet an amazing trio of flavors, perfect for dessert.
-_-

A guilty pleasure of mine this weekend while I was hanging with my wife while she shopped for a bridesmaid dress.
Saturday I took her to Macy's, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom's, Carson's, and multiple locations of them, I needed some GUM!

-_-

Speaking of my wife there she is arriving to a soccer game last week. I was sitting in the top row of the bleachers.

She ascended the stairs to join me which shows how far she has come in healing from surgery nearly 4 weeks ago.

-_-

My daughter also came to the game, but would she sit by me? Nope, not until told too. Teenagers!
-_-

For those who need a cat picture fix, here is Nacho. He seeks flat surfaces to sleep on most of the time.
Here he is on my dresser. He'd be sleeping if I had left him be.
Need another? Here you go, sleeping on what will be our wedding gift to Brian & Eileen...

-_-

That's it, all I have for this Monday. Have a great day, great week.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 86 - Da Numbering

Yesterday was time to get away from the neighborhood for my walk so we went to the Rollins Savannah and it's 3.6 mile loop. My wife is nursing a bum leg and couldn't join me but two of the kids did in her place. There you see Cameron & Ashley by the trail map before we got to it.

They are both soccer players so their keeping up with me was not in question. It had been nearly a month since I walked the Savannah for time and then I set my best time of just over 62 minutes. Today with Cam & Ash pushing me I crushed that time and registered an awesome 58:18 minutes. Oh Yeah!, Thanks kids.

As promised yesterday I got the tape measure out and measured myself as part of my celebration for hitting 33% of my weight loss goal.

My Measurements~
0% Progress on April 18, 2010
Weight:... 320 lbs.
Neck:...20-1/2"
Chest:... 56-1/2"
Upper Arms:... 18-1/2"
Girth:... 58-1/4"
Waist:... 55-3/4"
Hips:... 51-1/2"
Upper Thighs:... 30"
Calfs:... 17-3/4"
Forehead:... 22-3/4"

33% Progress on July 11, 2010
Weight:... 280 lbs. (down 40 #)
Neck:...19-3/4" (down 3/4")
Chest:... 52-1/2" (down 4")
Upper Arms:... 19" (up 1/2")
Girth:... 55" (down 3-1/4")
Waist:... 54-1/2" (down 1-1/4") 
Hips:... 49" (down 2-1/2") 
Upper Thighs:... 28-1/2" (down 1-1/2")
Calfs:... 17-1/2" (down 1/4")
Forehead:... 22-3/4" (no change)

If I did my math right, and that 'if' should not be taken for granted; but if I did then I have reduced 13" off my apple shaped body so far. Hhmmm, sure; why not - Oh Yeah!

The upper arm measurement confuses me. Either I measured it poorly when took the initial measurement in April, or, the weight/strength training has been more friendly to my upper arms that I could have imagined. Not sure which really.

Another oddity I find in these results is the relationship of the girth, waist and hips measurement. The waist, where I wear my belt, was the considerably smallest loss of the trio. The girth is no surprise as the leader of this trio as it is measure across the widest mass of fat around my gut. Hips, allot of bone involved in the hip measurement but some upper butt fat too I suppose so no question for that loss. Hey, just an oddity as I said, I'll take these numbers!

Oh, forehead. So it didn't move but my progress sure has it feeling rather swelled at the moment.

How big is your Forehead?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 83 - Pix 4 U

Slightly different kind of post today for me, one based in pictures...

Food, I have to have food in a pic right. There on the upper-left you see lunch from yesterday, Whitefish Salad, from the South Gate Cafe where my Mom took me for my birthday. Not sure why the pic came out looking so blusih. It was excellent! What is your take on fish skin? I don't care for it much unless it is cooked up to a crunch. Like poultry skin it does allot to add flavor to the meat but I find unlike poultry the fish skin itself is not a savory and this I usually strip it off after cooking and discard.


Below is my oldest son Andrew. Wednesday night we went to see a minor league baseball game. Anyone else here like minor league baseball? The Lake County Fielders are a new single-A team that is owned by Kevin Costner which he founded for Lake County. A great idea and we went to support them. The problem, well look at Andrew. He is all wet. Minutes after buying our tickets and getting our peanuts and drinks the skies opened up in a big way. Here we are standing under a concessions canopy waiting it out. But the game was cancelled. So we will go back another day with our rain checks.

Below is a fruit stand where I like to get locally grown fruit & veggies. The day I took that picture I hauled away a steal of a deal on bing cherries. Who here doesn't like cherries?

Below is a picture of our oldest Ashley taking a chomp out of a buffalo wing. Wings, is there a better bar food? This past Tuesday I worked from home and we had a power outage. Now outages always occur at the worst time of day tight?Yep, minutes before the start of the World Cup game between Uruguay & Spain. So, power out means internet out means I can't work; perfect! Off we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game and eat some wings. I was good, I only ate 3 of her 12 wings and I ate all of the celery.

Below is a picture of the middle son Ryan. Here he is hamming up a shot for me to send to his mom. Why I felt the need to send her this shot I am not sure, just having fun I suppose. Subway in hand, he wasn't in as good of a mood as the picture suggests. This was last week and he had tweaked his back at wrestling camp. We were waiting for CVS to fill his script for muscle relaxers so we thought we'd stop in for lunch at the Subway next door. The Subway Diet, a joke or something to consider?

Last but not least... Click here to see my fresh off the press 30% progress pictures.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!