Well, it’s been a week since we committed ourselves to positive, lasting lifestyle changes. Christ, that sounds creepy and commercial-jingle like. Ewww.

Anyway, we’re making good changes. To recap:

• Bayou has lost 3.4lbs
• I’ve lost 5.7lbs
• We’ve reduced coffee consumption to 1-2 days a week with strict monitoring of milk, etc added
• Soda has been eliminated from my diet, and Bayou is drinking much less processed/calorie laden versions, such as Dry Soda
• We got our indoor trainer for the bike to make it a stationary bike, and got the tires inflated. Today I tested it out at various speeds for 10m. It felt good and will definitely be a workout
• We’ve begun splitting meals if we go out, but if at all possible we try to cook at home
• We’re positive and encouraging each other every step of the way
• I’m faithfully taking my Zocor as well as multivitamin, vitamin D, and Omega 3 supplements
• We’re doing a good job of avoiding processed foods

For the first time in a long time, I feel positive and good about what we’re doing. We’re not beholden to impossible-to-meet-and-maintain goals, we’re giving ourselves little treats here and there, and we definitely feel mentally better about it all.

Next up: researching more recipes and adding more exercise in. And prizes! 10lbs will be our first prize event. I really think both of us will be 10lbs lighter by the time we get to Kauai. Which is fanfuckingtastic.

Well, if the scales are to be believed, Bayou and I have lost a combined 8lbs this week. Cutting out the soda, alcohol, and sugary coffee has divested us of some serious water weight/bloat, I think.

We’ve also managed to add some walking into the mix, and I played drums on Rock Band for awhile last night. I was sweaty when it was over. Today, our indoor trainer arrives, too. (Oh how I love Amazon Prime!)

On tap for this weekend, gardening, geocaching, and buying fireworks!

It’s only day three but so far so good. I’m enjoying the stability and clarity of tracking our calories & meals at Lose It.

We still have to figure out a few more recipes that will make leftovers and won’t break the calorie bank. Time to hit the books, virtual and literal.

In order to help with the exercise part of this equation, we bought this:

This will be less of an impact (important for Bayou) than riding outside, and since we’re slated to have a totally craptastic summer weather-wise, it will help when the rain comes back.

We also broke down and bought a scale. We both felt that if we were going to be watching our calorie intake so much, then we ought to see what it is or isn’t doing. Bayou was disappointed to appear to have gained since her last doctor’s appointment. I seem to have lost some water weight since last week, stupid PMS. Meh.

But onward and upward! Here’s hoping I feel as good about all this in a few weeks as I do now.

I had my annual physical last week and got “The Lecture” I knew was coming.

“Your weight has increased every time I’ve seen you in the past three years. Your cholesterol is border-line high. It’s time to make some changes.”

None of this was news; but I needed to hear it as a counterpoint to all the well-meaning friends who’ve told me I look great, ignore the doctor, etc etc. I knew they were trying to make me feel better but in my heart I knew what was happening.

Grief and a punishing work schedule, along with my retirement from soccer, have really upped my weight. I’m just under 5’3′ and 160lbs. Too heavy. Read more…

Spied this over at Irk’s. Her answers inspired me.

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness? I used to think I knew the answer to this question, but now I’m not so sure. My answers are changing significantly. Part of that has to do with current concerns and just general evolution. But I do think that whatever vision I would have for “perfect” happiness would involve equal parts creativity, love, and professional fulfillment.

2. What is your greatest fear? I’m not sure which plagues me the most right now, but it’s a close race between financial fuck-up-edness and not finding my niche professionally.

3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Avoidance. If I don’t want to deal with something, I will do just about anything to get out of it. I do this less than I used to, but it pops up at annoying times. Second to this is the justifications that I conjure up to make the avoidance have the sheen of logic.

4. What is the trait you most deplore in others? I don’t know if there is one trait that I despise above all others, simply because different traits in different people in a variety of situations evoke different responses from me. I think it’s all correlated to how vulnerable I feel in a given situation. One thing I cannot stand in a professional setting is a holier-than-thou, condescending attitude. On the personal side, it’s people who haven’t a shred of self-insight. To me, that’s like living blind, deaf, and mute. Read more…

…I’ve gotten around to posting some photos from Bayou’s last-gasp-of-her-twenties recent birthday. The set’s on Flickr.

We have a good friend, Lesa, who’s starting her own party/event planning business. She’s excellent- I can’t tell you how awesome it was to have her buy the decorations, buy the food, COOK IT ALL, and get everything set up. Handing her some dough was extremely easy.

Everyone had a great time and remarked on how awesome the food was, so definitely a smashing success. Bayou also had a friend from art school who made her cake. It was to die for… and huge. But we made a significant dent in it, as you can see from the last picture in the set.

For Bayou’s 30th, we’re going overseas. She wants a stamp in her passport. Anyone have a suggestion?

Remember when you were a kid, and the ice cream truck come by on summer evenings?

If you had the pleasure of this experience, answer something for me. Did it sound like this? That’s how it sounded for me.

Well, not now. We live in such a cool little pocket of diversity that we are treated to the dulcet tones of what I fondly call Mariachi Ice Cream Music. A little bit Three Amigos, a lot techno, it sounds something like this.

That’s not exactly it- but close. I’m going to see if I can catch it on video the next time it rolls through.

And not the fulfilling, wow-I’ll-make-radical-life-changes kind, either.

About a month ago we decided to go see Tom Petty at the Gorge Amphitheater with our friends S&L. It is one of the most amazing outdoor venues -if not THE most amazing- I’ve ever seen. I’ve been there to see Dave Matthews, The White Stripes, the Jeep Tour back in 2002. Many good times have been had.

We truly expected nothing different this time around. Perhaps that was our first mistake. Read more…

I suppose that title is somewhat silly, since change is more often than not unexpected.

We had a disturbing letter arrive in the mail this week. It was a three page document from a local city/private developer informing us that about 1/3 of our street will be demolished in August to make way for 30 densely-packed units of low income housing.

For those of you who have not visited our abode, this is a massive, massive change. Read more…

There have been a few changes afoot here that if you see me on FB, you probably already know. Twitter, too. Yes, I’m a social media whore. Shut it.

After four tortuously long, heart-breaking years in Montana, Bayou’s Momma is moving to Washington State. She got a job as dean of students for one of the wealthier tribes in the area. It will be a thousand steps up from where she was- crazy, dangerous rez dogs, water that was un-potable, 160+ mile round trips just to get groceries…. not to mention all the insanity of the of the school itself.

It will be a welcome change. She’ll be thirty minutes away, which is reassuring. She starts school just in time to house-sit for us while we go to Kauai. Read more…

Usually when I hear that phrase, it means bad things. Not this time!

After much wrangling, pleading, begging, and finally some strategic moves, we have our trip to Kauai booked.

Yes, booked. As in tickets paid for and hotel confirmed. Holy cow, what a ride that was. Read more…