DAY 366 - Moving Forward

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 81 - Josh Harris

Part of my mission to get healthier is not just to lose weight and get in better shape physically. Oh that is a BIG part of it but it is also about getting into a better place mentally. When we think of the mental aspect of fitness we usually are referring to attitude, confidence, etc.. In addition to that I insist on including having-fun as a characteristic of a sound mental approach to being healthy. That means identifying the things I/we enjoy and finding the time/resource to do them.

Who here likes crab? I like crab. I like most seafood, but many of you likely know that from all of the fish dish pictures I have shared with you. Well last night was another day of enjoying seafood, but it was more than just eating some. It came with a good dose of fun.

We heard that Josh Harris was going to be at one of our favorite seafood houses, Bob Chinn's. Do you know who Josh is? He is one of the crab fisherman from the reality TV show Deadliest Catch.

Our family being a fan of the show figured why not go to Chinn's for dinner and meet Josh. So we did. Up there you see a picture of Josh and I, and below is a picture of Josh and my wife.

He is quite a friendly sort, very personable and likes to talk. He spent about 5 minutes chatting with us before getting down to the business of signing autographs and taking pictures. His sense of humor was evident too and also came out in his autographing, for the poster he signed for me he did so as follows,"Patrick, Big Balls = Money. Josh Harris". Hmm, did I learn something there?

If you watch the show which is nearing the end of its current season now, then you would know that Josh and his brother Jake lost their father, Phil, on the show this past winter while filming the season that is airing now. Talking to Josh, he is grieving for sure, but he is using the loss to find new focus on what it is he wants to do in life. One thing is to quit smoking and get healthy. In short order he's turned his pain into effort and is now touring promoting an alternative to smoking cigarettes as part of a plan to quit the habit. If you are a smoker and part of your mission to get healthy includes quitting, perhaps Josh can help, read more about his effort here.

Oh, back to Bob Chinn's... Chicago has several seafood houses but Bob Chinn’s in Wheeling is hands down the best of the best whether it be for crab or fish. Here is the Sockeye Salmon I had. Oh, my wife gets a giggle out of me taking pictures of my food and played with my green beans first, guess she is saying HI to all of you...

Have a great Wednesday!


Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!