Friday Flashback 02.26.10

Out in the desert for today's flashback...

We are in or near Barstow. One of the many visits there to visit our cousins. Our uncle Rick liked to shoot guns... my dad liked to shoot guns... so when we visited, more than likely, we were going to shoot guns. Here we are, with our .22 rifles, probably aiming at old tin cans and stuff like that. I remember it being pretty fun. I'm guessing this is around 1989?

getting caught up

I've been really busy the past month or so with scout duties and goals, and also with just trying to keep up with all the things life brings. Those things have kept me from putting up posts to the blog that aren't of a "weekly" nature. But I have some time right now, so here we go with getting caught up...


In January, our leaky faucet finally annoyed us enough, that I had to do something about it. Instead of changing out the stem in our old faucet, I decided I wanted a different faucet. I didn't like the old one. So I picked one up from Home Depot that was similar, but had better handles. I didn't realise till installing it, that it was plastic, and the tip rotated (which didn't work too well with our faucet-tip-mounted water filter). So after about a week, we had had enough of the new plastic faucet, so I took it back (still had the box), and bought a much nicer fixture set. I also bought and installed an under the sink water filtration system. I spent a lot of time underneath the sink that day.


Here are the new fixtures. From left to right- soap dispenser, faucet, water control, filtered water faucet.

the filtration canisters.

Liam had his two front teeth loose at the same time. But the one that was loosest got the most attention, and it wasn't long until it seemed like it was barely hanging in there. One night, as Liam was showing me how loose the tooth was, I told him to grip it tight, and pull it out. I don't think he thought it would actually come out, but... out it came! He was so surprised! That's his third tooth, and they were all pulled out by himself. 3 for 3!

Duncan received his Bobcat rank at the "Blue and Gold" dinner and Pack Meeting a few weeks ago. He also earned a soccer belt-loop (something he wears on his belt). He looks quite spiffy in his uniform. That night he also led the gathering in reciting the Cub Scout Promise and the Cub Scout Law.

I can't remember if it's been a week yet, but Liam's other tooth came out. As soon as the first of the front two teeth was out, he began to constantly work on the second tooth. It didn't take long for it to be quite loose, and get the "let's pull it out" attention. I tried having Liam pull it out himself, but I don't think he was trying too hard. Anna convinced him to let her lasso it. He was pretty nervous, but trusting. One tug... and that's all it took, the tooth was out! It bled just a tiny bit, but it made Liam pretty upset. He got over it quickly. His adult teeth are already visable, so it won't be long till they're in.

Duncan and I worked on some more of his cub scouting requirements. One of them was to stand 10 steps apart and throw the ball back and forth till Duncan could throw and catch. The catching was the harder part, but after about 20 minutes or so, he was getting much better at it. He actually has a pretty decent throw.

Jennan was very inspired by playing catch, and got her glove and ball to join us. Then, we got Tegan a glove and the girls had a great time playing "catch" too. Pretty much every day since then, Jennan has gotten her glove and ball and asks to go outside to play catch.

There you have it. All the stuff I've been holding out on. Good times.

Hi Thursday...

Hey look, it's thursday.

I've decided to change the day I talk about losing weight to thursdays. Tuesdays can be pretty hectic because that's our ward's mutual night, and I'm usually preparing during the day, for that evening.

Anyhow, it's been a pretty normal week, food wise. Except for the weekend (that tends to be the pattern), and the Cub Scout 'Blue and Gold' dinner, I was able to keep my calorie and carb intake in check.

I continue to do my best to get in at least three walking sessions of 30 minutes each on the treadmill each week. If we go to Disneyland during the week, I count it as a bonus, and still do my three. I still need to start using weights. I need to decide if I want do them on the same days I walk, or on the alternate days.

The numbers:
Last week- 221.8
This week- 219.4

I'm happy with a 2.4 pound loss. On Tuesday, I weighed 220.2, so the extra couple days helped with the lower number. That brings my total weight loss to just over 15 pounds. I'm happy with that. I'm sure it would be more if I didn't have those "cheat" meals, but that's fine with me.

monday music 02.21.10

Monday music time.

There's been a couple of times I've heard this song, and it's caught my ear. Turns out it's a new-ish song from the group AFI.

Have a listen. It's called "Beautiful Thieves", from their album titled Crash Love.

It's probably not their best song, but it's pretty good. At least I haven't gotten tired of hearing it on the radio yet.

friday flashback 02.19.10

Hey, look at me, I remembered to do a friday flashback amidst my busy schedule today!

Here it is...

We're at the Pali lookout at the Nu'uanu Pali State Park in Hawaii. As you can tell, it's WINDY there. This is from our family trip in 2001.

Kyle and Keith are posing twins (doing the same thing in the picture).

Anna's dreads were going crazy in the wind. Mom's hair was probably just as crazy, and Kristi probably had her dreads tied up (or is it down?).

Our shirts were very filled with air... yeah, that's it... they were filled with air... that's why they look all filled out!

This spot is on my personal "must do" list when ever I go to Hawaii. Probably because I've visited there every time I've ever been to Hawaii. My Hawaii is the island of Oahu. Anna's Hawaii is the island of Hawaii. We've never been there as just a couple, so it'll be interesting to see how we compromise any future Hawaii trip itinerary.

Which reminds me, we need to plan our anniversary trip. Hawaii is on the list, as well as a cruise, and Portland, Oregon. We should probably start the booking process soon to get the cheapest rates. Anyone have an opinion on any of that? Or advice?

heading in the right direction

The first half of this week, I was very good about staying on my diet. The weekend was a different story, but it was still ok.

This is the section where I go into detail of all the "bad" stuff I ate this week. Well, I'll spare you the boring details, but I will say, we went to a wedding reception with good food, and better cake! Then the next day, ate at Ernie Jr.'s Taco House, where I limited my chip intake, but ate a pretty hefty carne asada burrito. Then Yesterday, Anna and I used a B1G1 free coupon for Macho beef burritos at Del Taco.

I didn't get to walk on the treadmill as much this week. Instead, we walked at Disneyland, and the LA Zoo.

The numbers:
Last week- 225.2
today- 221.8

That's 3.4 pounds lost. I'm very happy about that. I'm looking forward to being in the "teens" next week.

monday flashback from friday 02.12.10

So, I totally spaced on doing a flashback photo on friday. Spent a lot of the day getting ready to go to Pasadena and Studio City.

Dropped the kids off in Pasadena at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so Anna and I could go to a wedding reception in Studio City. We ended up staying the night in Pasadena. On Saturday we spent the day going to the zoo, eating lunch in Ernie Jr.'s Taco House, and visiting the compound in El Monte. Then we went home and to bed.

Aaaaanyhow, what about a picture?...

I spent the day preparing a presentation on the life of Baden-Powell, the founder of the scouting movement, to give to my scouts this weekend. Here's a picture of B-P blowing a Kudu horn. It's a horn made from the horn of a Kudu. It was the way the Matabele tribe would warn each other of danger in Africa in the late 1800s. B-P used it to open Scout Jamborees and Wood Badge Training courses.

I know, pretty boring stuff. But it's what's on my mind.

monday music 02.15.10

It's a bit late in the day to be posting my monday music, but better late than never.


Since it's President's Day...

Presidents of the United States of America- Lump

PUSA- Peaches

Fun happy songs.

Happy President's Day!

how bad is it?

I spent most of last week helping out some good friends, the Bocanegras, with their new house. We've done hours and hours of painting, installing laminate flooring, etc. etc. While I've been helping out at the new house, Anna's been watching not only our kids, but their kids, as well.

Since I've spent a great deal of time working, our friends have been feeding me while I'm there. Subway sandwich one day, burrito another day, KFC chicken, pizza, and so on. I knew I was working hard, and hopefully burning lots of calories, so I ate what they brought me. Also, when ever Anna has their 10 year old daughter over, they always bake some kind of goody for everyone. So add some sweets to the mix.

Saturday, we invited the Bocanegras over after church on Sunday, for lunch/dinner since they're old house is in shambles, due to packing. We had chicken enchiladas ready to go. Anna prepared 4 trays! At church, we were invited to eat later in the day with some Tongan friends, the Moalas, in our ward. They blessed their new baby, and had a lot of family in town, and only invited a handful of ward members to have some food. We were lucky enough to be invited... but we already had plans... but I couldn't say no. We decided that I would go by myself, so it wouldn't be weird for us to tell the Bocanegras we had to leave to go have food somewhere else. Plus, this way, we're still honoring the invitation.

I showed up to the Moala's gathering by myself. I got a barrage of questions about why my family wasn't there with me, so I caved, and told them we had invited the Bocanegras over, and didn't want to be rude by changing our plans. Then Sis. Moala said she invited the Bocanegras too! So I had her call Anna and tell them all to come (I forgot my cell). They all came. Turns out, both us and the Bocanegras were among the families invited, but because we had made plans with each other the day before, and not knowing if we were each invited, had not said anything about it. But it worked out.

The downside, to going to the Moala's for food, was we had just finished eating enchiladas at our house. We were already full. But there's NO WAY to get out of eating at a Polynesian gathering! It's IMPOSSIBLE! I tried really hard. Not only is there pressure to eat from the family, but it all looked so good, too! Needless to say, I was hurting by the time I got home. I knew there was no way I was going to have lost any weight this week. In fact, it was really just a question of how much did I gain?

In addition to helping out at the Bocanegras, I was still able to get in 3 sessions of walking this week, including last night. That may have helped keep my weight gain at bay.

I weighed in at 225.2 pounds. Surprisingly, that's actually .8 pounds less than last week!? I was really surprised. It's actually quite encouraging. I won't be able to help as much this week at the Bocanegra's house, so that means I'll be able to eat more "diet" food. I'm hoping to lose a few pounds by next week.

monday music 02.08.10

I've been helping some friends in our ward with painting and flooring their new house since last Thursday. There was one day when almost every time Anna and I spoke on the phone, that there was a Lenny Kravitz song playing...

Here's one of those songs...


This is one of my favorite songs of his. Good stuff.

friday flashback 02.05.10

Sorry it's so late in the day, but I was pretty busy today.

This is a picture I took when I was a kid, with a really old camera that only shot black and white photos. If I remember right, the view finder was on the top of the camera, so you had to look down to frame your shot. I remember taking a bunch of pictures this day. One is of my dad mowing grass in the back yard, another is of a couple toys on the ground, etc. This is probably my favorite from that day though.

A clear example of dog and owner resemblance.

By the way- Fancy (that was the dog's name) was a saluki.

over indulged

Well, I weighed in this morning, and it's not good. I added some weight back on. Oops.

The two days to blame are Saturday and Sunday... ok, and Monday, so that's 3 days.

On Saturday, I started off well- eggs and bacon for breakfast, and a good lunch. But the second half of the day was not as good. The scouts had a pizza fundraiser that evening, and during the activity, we ate some pizza. It was also a "date night" for Anna and I. Our friends in the ward swap babysitting with us, and it was our turn to go out. I had a coupon for Red Robin to get a free appetiser, so we went there. We had a chicken quesadilla for our appetiser. I ordered the turkey burger (kind of on the diet, but not really), and Anna had the Royal burger. But the real down fall was having the refillable rootbeer float! They're nice and big, and oh so good. We put three of them down between us.

On Sunday, a banana for breakfast. A good start. After church, for lunch- pizza (bought from the scouts). Not so good (for the diet, but a really good pizza). Then, that evening, we went to a baptism for Jenny, who lives with my grandfather and his wife Maggy, in Hemet. After the baptism, we went to their house for dinner/refreshments. Cheese tray, fruit tray, homemede chili, sherbet punch, and SANDWICHES! It's been so long since I've had a sandwich, that I ate a bunch of them. Some on crescents, and some on rye bread... all good. Plus there was really good cake. So yeah, not too good for being on a low-carb diet.

It also didn't help that we were sent home with a plate of sandwiches either. I ate a couple for lunch yesterday too. Though I did refrain from eating cake.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Anna was given some cookie dough on Saturday. It's REALLY hard for Anna to pass up cookie dough, so we took it home. We baked them for our family night treat yesterday, and I couldn't resist either. I ate a few too many.

I did get on the treadmill three times this week, including last night (with an additional 10 minutes to boot)... but it wasn't enough to counteract my intake for the week.

I weighed in at 226 lbs. Last week I was at 223.4, so I put 2.6 pounds back on. A lot of that is the caloric and carb intake, but I think most of that is also just the pure weight of the food I ate, and I hope to "drop" a lot of that soon. (What a lovely way to end this post.)

Hope to pull big numbers for next week!

monday music 02.01.10

I can't remember if I've posted this song before or not, and I don't really have the time or energy to find it if I did... so here it is...

Chevelle, "Letter from a thief"



I enjoy Chevelle's music.


That's it.
Short and sweet this week.