Close to the Edge

So the entire weekend I wore two pairs of shorts that were a 34 waist.  Before I started my program (back in February), I was wearing a 38 waist.  The 34 is a little snug, but it fits!  Hooray.

We had a graduation party for my daughter on Saturday and it was a big hit.  The kids played with water balloons and guns and buckets and got each other wet for several hours.  I made hamburgers and hot dogs.  Most of the kids had one or the other and that was it!  I suspected that 14 year old boys would be throwing down a couple of burgers down their throats and then a dog on top of that!  Then the sun started going down, so the water fight stopped and it was time for make your own sundaes.  The kids all brought toppings.  We now have 4 bottles of Hershey syrup in our house.  Then they played Manhunt in the dark.  Well, mostly they sat in circles and talked.  Best part for us was that the kids were only in the house for bathroom breaks.  My daughter had a GREAT time and I guess that was the main point of it all. 

Sunday was Father's Day.  I had a nice day.  Played softball in the AM and we won.  My parents came over about 2:30.  My sister had stayed over from the night before.  I barbecued again.  This time London Broil and tilapia.  I grilled some zucchini and I made up a batch of my peppers and onions.  The food was a hit!  I love cooking for people.  Just make sure you compliment me afterwards.  I need my ego stroked, people!  And I deserve a little stroking after my hard work.

In the midst of all of this, I had to get 5 presentations done.  3 were done by Friday night and submitted to the powers to be.  One wasn't really a presentation, it's a panel discussion.  So I didn't have to do a PowerPoint for that one, but we still had to finalize what we were doing.  The one that's left, well, I hadn't really started it until last week.  I had it about half done as of Friday night.  So I needed to work on it in the midst of all this other craziness going on.  And as of Sunday night it was all packaged and submitted.  Yay for me!  :-)

So I feel great today!  Why?  Because I got all my presentations submitted.  The other stuff?  Just gravy!

Oh, and the kids leave for seven weeks on Saturday.

Down at the end, round by the corner.
Close to the edge, just by a river.
Seasons will pass you by.
I get up, I get down.
Now that it's all over and done,
Now that you find, now that you're whole.

Give The People What They Want

Fine Jocelyn, you want me to post, I will post.  I'm all about giving the people what they want.  Here are a few quick hits:

I've been working out and I've changed my diet.  I've lost more than 15 lbs.  My weight fluctuates a bit, but that seems normal.  I've gained lots of muscle and I have some definition now.  I've lost at least 3 inches off my waist.  Last time I did that, I weighed at least 15 lbs. less than I am now.  Must be the exercise.  It's definitely changing the shape of my body.  I'm starting to wear more form fitting clothes.  I don't mind showing it off.

You know what's odd about exercising?  When I weigh myself after I'm done, I've usually GAINED weight.  I attribute this to all the water I drink.  I probably drink 30 - 40 oz. of water in an hour workout.  Anyone know of a better reason?

I was sick last week.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I did nothing those days except stay in bed, watch TV (World Cup games were fun to watch) and played XBox here are there.  I had lots of work to do, I need to finish a presentation from scratch by this Saturday.  I'm confident I can do it, but I should have done it last week.  Except my brain wasn't working so well.  But I could have done SOMETHING, right?  I'm such a procrastinator.

My daughter has an evaluation at a theater school tonight.  I'm taking her.  I like doing things like that with her.  Therapy has helped my relationship with her.  At least I think so, hopefully she does too.  I studied with her last night.  She didn't want to study with me for fear of my wrath when I found out how little she knew.  But I was calm and I explained it to her in real world terms.  Later that night she came and hugged me and thanked me and told me she finally understood it and she'll remember the example we came up with for the test.

I guess that's good for now.

Well, it's been said before, the world is a stage
A different performance with every age.
Open the history book to any old page
Bring on the lions and open the cage.

Blogs SUCK!

All blogs suck.  My blog, your blog, your friend's blog, your friend's dog's blog, etc. 

None of us update enough.  None of us!

We all check each others blog on a daily basis.  "Is there an update?" we think.  And usually we are disappointed.  I find that most people update around two times a week; some more, some less.  But when you decide to read all of the blogs you are following, you are generally disappointed.  Out of 15 or 20 blogs there are usually 3 or 4 updated on any given day.  I check blogs in the morning.  There are usually one or two updated at that time.  Maybe during the day one or two more will be updated.  That's a trickle of information.  Not very impressive.

How to check blogs is another subject.  You can subscribe to the RSS feeds in your browser, that's one way.  It will check them for updates on a periodic basis and notify you if there are any changes.  Then you can go read them for yourself.  There is also Google Reader, which is pretty much just a fancier RSS reader.  You can "follow" those that you like with Blogger, but then you need to check your Blogger account for updates.  That seems annoying.  Or you can just click on them one at a time when you have a chance to see who updated.

How do you check the blogs you read?

Then there are comments.  I like to leave comments.  I know my comments are cryptic and confusing sometimes.  I don't mind that.  This whole medium is cryptic and confusing sometimes.  I think it was Kate that once said that she didn't mind my comments; she just figured that it made me think of something in my life and that led to my comment.  That's pretty accurate.  One person on a blog I read has accused me of being a stalker because I comment on nearly every post.  I spoke to the blogger about this and she thinks the person is crazy.  I agree.  However, I get the feeling that another blogger does think I am a stalker.  *shrug*

Lots of people don't leave comments.  That's a different personality than mine.  To me it's all about the interaction.  I'd rather someone call me a fucking idiot than say nothing.  But most people say nothing.  Not much I can do about that.

So, like I said, blogs suck.  I guess most people have moved on to Twitter or Facebook where you can say very little and make it meaningful.  (That was sarcastic, I think.)

Now, aren't you glad you had something to read here?

This Song Has No Title

Sorry, no song today.  I know how upset you all are.

Brian's Stats

Current Weight: 210.0
Loss this week: 1.2
Total loss: 6.0

Kate is at 210 too.  Good job, Kate!

Down to You

I loves me some Joni Mitchell.  Today's Random Song Friday is Down to You by Joni Mitchell.  It's on the fantastic Court and Spark album.  It's a wonderful song.  Melancholy and regretful.

Everything comes and goes
Pleasure moves on too early
And trouble leaves too slow
Just when you’re thinking
You've finally got it made
Bad news comes knocking
At your garden gate
Knocking for you
Constant stranger

A warning for all of us currently in a good state of mind.  Remember, it comes and it goes.  I don't really want to hear that right now, but I know it's true and I know I need to hear it.

Brian's Stats
Current Weight: 211.2
Loss this week: 1.2
Total loss: 4.8
% of body fat: 33.4%
BMI: 29.5

I need to talk about this whole weight thing.  I'm not losing weight all that quickly, but my love handles are almost gone.  I can only pinch them now, not hold them.  When I lost weight last time I was well under 200 before I could do that.  So this is clearly different.  I can also squeeze another belt hole down, but that wouldn't be comfortable.  When I can do that comfortably, my waist will be around a 34.  I started at a 38.  The last time around my waist was a 34 when I was under 190 lbs.  I feel I'm doing this the right way.  I'm not starving myself, far from it.  I'm usually not hungry!  Not that I starved myself last time, but I was clearly hungry more often last time around.  (The definition of starving?)

Bottom line, I'm proud my commitment and away I go!

The Book

So I'm reading a new book.  It just hit bookstores yesterday.  I recommend you read it too.

Click on it for more information. It's the most straight forward, sensible advice book I've ever read. And I'm only on chapter two.

Seriously, check it out. It's at all bookstores and Amazon, B&N, Borders, anywhere you would buy books online or at a store.

Summer Concert Series

I enjoy going to concerts, especially when it's with my favorite performers.  My children go to sleep away camp, so it works out well during the summer.  First, lots of concerts take place during the summer.  Second, it's easier to schedule since the kids are away.  Third, it's a nice way to spend time with my wife.

So when I saw that Sting was touring, I was very interested.  He's touring with an orchestra.  Ok, maybe that's a little more grown up than I want to be, but he was going to play lots of songs I loved, so why not?  I started watching American Express for their pre-sale.  If you're a card holder you can get tickets before the general public.  This is why the concerts are always sold out before they even go on sale to the general public.

So I checked the AMEX website and the tickets were on sale.  The closest place to my house he'll be playing is in Bethel, NY.  That's near Monticello.  AKA not close to my house AT ALL.   But it's less than a 2 hour drive.  I'm thinking, maybe we'll grab a hotel room and make a couple days out of it.  Or I guess we could drive home after the concert if we really wanted.

So I go onto Ticketmaster, put the information in and I get good seats!  Row L on the left side of the stage.  Cool!

Then I look at the price.  $162.80

$162.80????

Did I mention that was for ONE ticket?  Yeah!  It is!  So around $350 for the two of us plus fees.  And this is in Bethel, middle of nowhere, New York State!  I mean, seriously?  WTF?!?!?!  Ummmm, no thanks!