Archive for the ‘family’ Category

Taking steps

Posted: March 31, 2013 in Bariatric surgery, diabetes, Exercise, family, Physical activity, The Beetus, Walking
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Happy Easter to everyone!

Hope that your day is filled with family, friends and food. I’ll settle for the first two 🙂

8549862800_7ea4c5bc75_bI’ll even throw in a cute picture of baby bunnies and a chick. Literally.

So, yesterday was a good day. Still no progress on the pressing issue, but maybe if I stop obsessing about it things might just move along. My mom and sister stopped by. They were suitably impressed by how well my incisions are healing up. They think I look healthy.

I actually even managed my recommended fluid intake yesterday. I managed to down two liters of water. That was the first time since the procedure I accomplished it. It took all day, but that’s too be expected. Small sips on a regular basis. I also attempted pudding, and that went down well, and tasted pretty good to boot. Not only that, my sugars came in at 101 (even though I’m off the meds, I need to stick once a day to make sure things are staying where they are supposed to be). The coup de grace was that I managed to sleep flat in bed and scored over 7 hours of solid zzzzz.

One other thing I accomplished was to take a walk last evening. I was bored and thought maybe I’ll walk to the end of the block. When I got there, I decided to keep on going and got in a half mile. It wasn’t very fast, but it was the most I’ve walked since the middle of last week. It felt pretty good, actually. I still need to be careful due to the reduced amount of intake, but I’m going to try to do it again. I chose to take the uphill portion first, rather than later in the walk, just to make sure I’d be OK. And yes, I tool my phone with me.

That’s always a good habit to get into. I always have my phone with me while I’m walking. Not only does it provide music, it’s a good thing for security. If you fall or are otherwise injured, you can contact someone readily, or if you see suspicious activity. It’s also useful if you go walking in natural areas and see something photo-worthy.

At any rate, I’m going to go and get started on today’s fluids. I hope that you all have a happy Easter, or if you don’t celebrate Easter, a happy Sunday. And I’ll leave you with one of my all-time favorites:

Song of the Day: Gimme Some Lovin’ – The Blues Brothers

Ahhh… holidays

Posted: December 22, 2012 in cold weather, family, friends, Holidays, music
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year, or so sang the late Andy Williams.

In many ways it is. There’s usually a display of the best of humanity. Stories emerge of the layaway angel, or the anonymous donor who slips a rare coin or a large denomination bill into a Salvation Army kettle.

Sadly, though, many of these generous acts are overshadowed by the worst humanity has to offer. Even before the school shootings in Connecticut took place, Teh Interwebz was awash in stories of people brawling over women’s underwear at Victoria’s Secret storte in Sacramento or over phones at a Walmart. This has led to deaths, tramplings, even shootings in previous years. All to save that $20 off a PS3.

So, you have both the good and the bad. This blogger falls somewhere in the middle. I appreciate a good savings, but I do value life and limb over a $38 Blu-ray player. In addition, my time is far too precious to me to stand in line freezing my cojones off on Thanksgiving night.

I was trying to find a way to express the craziness of the season in a nice, neat package. I found this video:

It just kind of expresses the craziness of the season. Plus, it cracks me up.

I do love holiday music, though. I have an extensive collection of holiday music across all different genres. The song that sticks with me the most is Greg Lake’s “I Believe in Father Christmas.” It’s been criticized for allegedly being anti-Christmas, but I feel Lake is trying to speak out about what Christmas has become.

It’s more about the consumerism than the peace and forgiveness it used to be. Yes, when I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to get the cool stuff, but the older I get, it’s much more about being with family and friends and celebrating the year. The people who say that “we need to put more CHRIST in Christmas!” are not totally wrong, nor are they totally right. There are plenty of folks who celebrate a different holiday around the same time. Instead of making it all about one faith or another, make it about being the best person you can be. Do something good, make someone smile.

Make some memories, because all too often the people we make the memories with are gone too soon. If you’re estranged from a parent or sibling, swallow the pride and reach out to them. Life is too damn short for petty grudges.

I’ll close with these lyrics, because it’s very true:

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave new year
All anguish, pain, and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear
They said there’ll be snow at Christmas
They said there’ll be peace on earth
Hallelujah, Noel, be it heaven or hell
The Christmas you get, you deserve.

Merry Christmas, my friends.

Quality time with the family

Posted: December 16, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Baseball, diabetes, family, music, Supportive Partner Woman, Weight loss
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So, since Supportive Partner Woman (Editor extraordinaire!) had to work tonight, I headed off to the hinterlands of South Jersey to join in a family Christmas tradition at my cousin Kurt’s home.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but Kurt is a bit of an expert on ballparks. He’s written a series of e-books called Ballpark E-Guides, in which he tells you the best way to get to the park, best way to score low-price tickets, even the best concession deals. He puts a lot of time into the books and they are meticulously researched. I know because I went to a Brewers – Nationals game with him at Nationals Park and barely saw him… he was so busy checking sight lines and chatting up ballpark employees.

Anyway, Kurt and his lovely wife and daughter opened their home to a large contingent of the family. I drove down, survived the traffic at King of Prussia and the cattle chutes on the Walt Whitman Bridge, and spent an enjoyable afternoon with my favorite branch of the family.

Far_Side ©Gary Larson

Well, it’s a family tree.

Sadly, we don’t see each other enough. Usually of late, it’s been at a funeral, and that’s gotta stop. We have so much fun… my cousins are intelligent and able to hold a conversation on multiple topics at the same time. For example, when I arrived, there was a big discussion going on regarding the best double albums ever recorded and whether or not they would be OK as a single album.

This is the kind of stuff we talk about at family gatherings. For the record, we figured that there’s no way Tommy or Quadrophenia could e trimmed, however, my cousin Doug feels that The Wall could be trimmed. There was not much agreement on that one.

They can be loud and boisterous, but better people are hard to find. A few weeks ago, when I was feeling pretty down in the dumps, my cousin sent me a lovely e-mail that brought tears to my ears, reassuring me that the family had my back. Not only that, he called my mom to make sure I was doing OK.

That’s what I love about this particular branch of the family tree. Not only do they care, they can laugh at the antics of some other branches of said tree. During our Giant Catholic Wedding Circus©, one of my cousins from Pittsburgh got exceedingly trashed and pretty much surgically attached herself to SPW’s arm, slurring all the way. This is always good for some chuckles at family gatherings.

Speaking of family, I finally told my mother that I intend to have the gastric bypass surgery. She took it a lot better than I expected. She said that she respects the fact I didn’t rush right into it and I took the time to talk to people who have had the operation with varying degrees of success. That was one of the major hurdles, because I fully expected a load of objections about the risks and all that. I told her that in my mind, the rewards outweigh the risks. Yes, it’s major abdominal surgery. Yes, it’s general anesthesia. Yes, there are risks. The chance to live a life free of the syringe makes all the risk worthwhile. It’s not going to be an easy journey, but after a year, I want to be patient of the month at support group, telling how I managed to make my decision and get off the fence and how it helped me lead a normal, non-diabetic life.

Plus, not looking like a whale in a chair is a great incentive.

Have a great rest of the weekend, folks!

Song of the Day: I Believe in Father Christmas – Greg Lake
Currently reading: A Blaze of Glory – Jeff Shaara

What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family. – Mother Teresa

Finally… some good news

Posted: December 12, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Cooking, Doctors and Dentists and Nurses... oh my!, Exercise, family, Physical activity
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Greetings!

Today was a good day. Well, actually, it started yesterday (after work, of course). I had an appointment at the gym and had a good workout, which really brightened my mood. I came home and Supportive Partner Woman (Possessor of Much Pop Culture Knowledge) and I did some decorating of the Pop Culture Christmas tree. It’s your basic Christmas tree, with many sentimental ornaments, but also a wide variety of pop culture ornaments. There’s some Star Trek stuff, Superman, A Christmas Story, Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Chick-fil-A, and one year, we even had the miniature embodiment of death on the tree (Don’t judge)

537628_10200178673256104_846522353_nOne of the other decorations set up was a present from SPW. It’s a miniature Chick-fil-A complete with a cow wearing the sandwich board. I know that many folks have come down hard on the restaurant due to its corporate policies seen by many as hateful, but the local franchise does quite a bit for charity. Last weekend, they had a matching program… for every sandwich they sold during a busy afternoon, the restaurant would donate an equivalent number of sandwiches to Water Street Ministries, an aid organization here in town.

Anyway, after doing some decorating, we headed off to grab some dinner. We would up at J.B. Dawson’s, a local chain, and I managed to put my usual restaurant habits to the wayside. I ordered a salad, no dressing, and only managed to eat about half of it. Took the rest for lunch today. It was still pretty yummy.

Anyway, I had an appointment with the dietitian this afternoon and I lost 10 pounds. And that included a Disney trip. Woot! I’ve said before that I felt the diet portion of the bariatric clinic was the weak link, but it was nice to see her be genuinely happy for me. She offered some suggestions for improving the nutrition value of the clam chowder that I plan to make in the next week or so, and we booked another appointment in a month. Assuming that goes according to plan, it will be time to schedule the operation.

People I’ve talked to at support group have described parts of the process as horrible, but I have yet to meet someone who regrets doing the procedure. The worst part that I’ve heard is the liquid diet for basically three weeks. That will be tough. Guess I might as well get used to protein powder.

Anyway, I’m going to wrap it up. Have to be at the gym at 7:00 and some shut-eye would probably help.

Thanksgiving

Posted: November 23, 2012 in Cooking, family, Holidays
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The family traditions of Thanksgiving are many and varied. As a youngster, we always went to my grandmother’s place for a turkey dinner. I loved my grandmother and miss her very much, but she was not a great turkey cook. That bird came out of the oven drier than the Sahara. You wound up needing to irrigate yourself like a personalized Tennessee Valley Authority in order to choke it down. I think, had the Camelbak been around at that point, it should’ve been part of the place settings. Things got to be too much, though, and we started a tradition of going out on Thanksgiving. This would be broken up when someone felt like hosting dinner, but we generally would choose a buffet and go to town.

Buffets/smorgasbords have their own special risks. Usually those risks involve eating way too much, but the other thing is that a lot of the food choices simply aren’t good for you. I’m kind of the expert in that kind of diet. Maybe I should make a weight loss video where a camera crew follows me around and then I exhort people to order the exact opposite of what I did order. That might work.

My sister-in-law’s oven roasted turkey

Seriously, though, there are ways to make Thanksgiving dinner somewhat healthy, even for dyed-in-the-wool carnivores like me. First of all, I know a deep-fried turkey tastes awesome. I get that… something about that oily juiciness sets it apart. However, it is possible to oven roast a turkey that will rival a friend bird in overall juiciness. I know this because my sister-in-law accomplishes this on a yearly basis. Her bird is perfectly golden brown every time. She claims the art is in the basting, but I’m pretty sure there’s a healthy dose of witchcraft involved as well.

The really weak link in the holiday meal chain is the potato filling. This stuff is like a food group all its own, and therein lies the issue. It is soooooo easy to just shovel that stuff on the plate and chow down. It was hard, but I only had one modest-sized helping yesterday, along with a spoonful of corn and some green bean surprise. There was also a huge salad made by yours truly, with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette (recipe below).

The dessert selection was stupendous… Supportive Partner Woman (better baker than I!) made a selection of her mom’s favorites, as it was also her mom’s birthday. She made a pineapple upside down cake, a birthday cake, and a pumpkin pie. And, since she’s awesome, she also baked a batch of sugar free cupcakes for me.

Of course, there’s the best part of Thanksgiving dinner… leftovers. Nothing like a pile of yummy, juicy turkey to make sandwiches. Or, you can just nuke some of that stuff and you have a lovely, well-balanced plate. That’s all you really need.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tablespoon crushed garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
pinch of rosemary

Combine and mix well. Modify amount of oil is dressing is too vinegary for your taste.

Song of the Day: I Had a Memory – Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Currently reading: Poseidon’s Arrow – Clive Cussler

Random thought…

Posted: November 4, 2012 in family, friends
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This might be my shortest post ever… Just wanted to say that life is fleeting. Good people go too soon. Make sure that you don’t regret not spending the time with them. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

Free Saturdays

Posted: November 3, 2012 in family, Weather
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This will be a short post… Just want to keep my streak going. I’m trying to post something every day in November.

Wound up having today off. Not a bad deal, but I was actually hoping to work today. Extra overtime is always a good thing. Alas, the employer saw clear to say ixnay on the orkway.

So, Supportive Partner Woman (survivor of the dog and pony show!) and I headed to our ancestral stomping grounds of Berks County, PA. Dropped her to visit her parents and I went to my mother’s house to do my good deed for the day and take out her window screens. That’s all of abut 20 minutes of actual work, so I took the time to BS with her before fetching SPW and taking her to work. I also managed to move some stuff down to the Nerd Lair that’s been hanging around the hallway for a year. I need to be better on taking care of that stuff.

Only downside is I somehow came down with a headache the approximate size of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Took a nap, but it’s still lingering.

So there… My day in a nutshell. I didn’t do a lot, but never underestimate the value of seeing the family.

Everything old is new again.

Posted: September 6, 2012 in Comcast, Cooking, Customer service, Exercise, family, recipes, Supportive Partner Woman, Weight loss, Xfinity
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The Comcast saga continues.

After I actually got decent customer service, Teh Interwebz worked fine for a couple of days. Sunday through Tuesday. Wednesday morning, it was jacked up again. So I called them. When I finally got a live person, I explained the issue, stressing that they were out on Sunday and I still think the problem lies with the modem. As I was on the phone, the modem rebooted itself and things were working. I was told to call back if it happened again. It did. 10 minutes later. I called, spoke to someone different, who insisted on setting up a service appointment. For Friday. Two days with intermittent (at best) Internet service. I reluctantly agreed, still thinking it’s the modem. When I finally got off the phone, I unhooked the modem and reattached the old one. I tested the circuits and no anomalous voltage readings. I let it power up, the AirPort’s green light winked on and the Internet was back.

It’s still back on.

With my (supposedly) EOL Linksys modem from 2003 or 2004.

I have to wonder if Comcast gets a kickback from Motorola on these “recommended” modems. This thing is a piece of shit and I will be taking it back to Best Buy tomorrow. Lord help them if they give me crap about it being open… Admiral Furious might set sail. I might need bail money, so if you have a couple bucks to spare, I’d appreciate the help.

Chicken skewers… all kinds of yum.

Just kidding. I’m gradually getting back on the healthy eating train. Yesterday, I made some chicken skewers for lunch that turned out yummy. I’ll post my marinade recipe below. I usually alternate the meat with slices of green pepper, sweet onion and tomato. I will use mushrooms, too, if I have some in the fridge. I like to get the grill heated up, spray the grates with cooking spray, then back the beat off as soon as I put the skewers on. This allows the meat to get some grill marks and a bit of a sear without overcooking the meat.

I’m on the hook to work Saturday night. Hoping for an unexpected day off, as SPW’s cousin’s daughter (one of our pseudo nieces) is having a birthday. Gotta love that the child likes Legos.

Back to the regular workout schedule next week… I have sessions on Tuesday and Friday. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve missed the usual setup, with two or three other people. It should help to shake me back out of the funk I’ve been in.

I’m going to wrap it up for tonight… Hope you have a great evening and a better day tomorrow. I leave you with my marinade recipe.

Garlic & Herb Chicken Marinade

  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup vinegar
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried Italian-style seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the water, vinegar, oil, garlic, thyme, Italian-style seasoning, poultry seasoning, rosemary, salt and ground black pepper. Mix well and put in a heavy zipper bag along with your chicken breast pieces. Don’t let it go more than 5-6 hours for maximum flavor.

Song of the Day: The Secret of my Success – Night Ranger
Currently Reading: For Love of the Game – Michael Shaara

Quote of the Day:

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. Doug Larson

July 30

Posted: August 2, 2012 in Exercise, family, Supportive Partner Woman, Travel, Weight loss
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I was feeling kind of down the other day… I wasn’t quite sure why this was until this evening. The date finally dawned on me. July 30. See, July 30 marked seven years since my grandmother passed.

My grandmother and I at my college graduation – December 1999

See, I only ever knew one grandmother. My paternal grandmother passed away many years before I was born, but my maternal grandmother, well, she was a constant in my life. Every up, down and sideways, I could always count on my grammy to be there. She helped all of us through the loss of my dad, and was there when SPW and I got married. There’s a low and a high for you. She was there for every birthday, graduation, confirmation, spring musical, communion, and I’m pretty sure she was at my baptism, but that was 41 years ago and my memory is a little fuzzy.

One of the things that really sticks in my mind about my grandmother… she was a Disney fan. I guess I come by it naturally. One time when she was down with us, I think it was either 1978 or 1982, we coerced her to go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. That was amusing… to us. She was slightly less amused.

I got to travel with my grandmother periodically. We took a bus trip through California after I graduated high school that was a lot of fun. We started in San Francisco, went to Monterey, Sacramento and Lake Tahoe, and then headed back through Solvang and ended up in Anaheim. The sad thing is that I was within a stone’s throw of Disneyland and never got there because my grandmother felt that it would be disappointing after having been to Walt Disney World several times. Wish I could’ve made my own decision, though… I’ll get there one day. We did wind up going to Universal Studios Hollywood and that was a lot of fun. I even got to participate in the Star Trek Experience… That was an interesting experience. I got to be the Klingon captain. Woot! One real highlight of that trip was when I took her to the Hard Rock Cafe in San Francisco. For anyone curious as to what my acting “debut” really looked like, I think you could say that I was about as wooden as Shatner… then again, you can be the judge.

Our other big trip together was to Las Vegas. We did Las Vegas style stuff, including Siegfried & Roy, taking the Dam tour, and gambling a little. We stayed at Treasure Island, which was one of the newest hotels in the city, and I managed to get an incredibly bad sunburn, but it was some fun.

One of the best things about my grandmother was how she would take a shine to people. When she was ill and in the home, if Supportive Partner Woman (Bestest ever!) was visiting and a new nurse came in, my grandmother would always introduce SPW as her granddaughter, not as her grandson’s wife or granddaughter-in-law. She was also too generous. If it would snow, I would go to her place and make sure her car was cleaned off and shovelled out, and she would always insist on paying me. I would always refuse, and then the next time I would put on my gloves, there would be money stuck in one of them. If you protested the next time you saw her, she’d give you this little grin and deny it was her. Every time a minor holiday came by, she’d always have a card for you (Happy Columbus Day?!?) with a couple of dollars stashed inside. Just the way she was.

In the end, she left with no regrets. She told me that she had done what she wanted with her life, and she was ready to go. We all should be so lucky to have that much peace and to leave with no regrets.

I’m going to head to the gym now… day 4 in a row. Back is feeling slightly better. The weekend will prove to be a challenge as Supportive Partner Woman (fitness machine!) heads to NYC to attend BlogHer ’12. I’ll miss her terribly, but I’m not going to go on an eating binge. That would be so counter-productive and, well, what would be the point? To just totally scarf down food until I sit there feeling physically sick and mentally guilty? This is a huge improvement for me, though, as in previous incarnations, I’d already be thinking about what I could binge on. Not gonna do it. Never again.

Hot “fun” in the summer time

Posted: July 8, 2012 in Cooking, Exercise, family, Travel, Weight loss
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Warmest greetings!

As you know, we spent yesterday at a family gathering in the Reading, PA area. For those of you who think they live in a bad place, Reading takes the cake. Recently named the most dangerous city in Pennsylvania, Reading is pretty much a complete garbage pit filled with gangbangers, druggies and corrupt politicians. It’s like a smaller version of Washington, DC, but without the museums.

I might mention at the same time, Phoenix was only 106.

Might I also mention it was hot yesterday? I mean really stinkin crazy hot?

That’s kind of beside the point, though. The nice part of the day was seeing a lot of family members who we don’t see nearly enough of and getting a chance to catch up. My cousin Kurt, an avid baseball fan and blogger, was telling me of his newest venture where he talks about all things Wildwood. It sounded pretty interesting, but then I realized that I really don’t like the beach all that much.

I checked out the blog, though, and Kurt’s got some great stuff… useful reviews and such on restaurants, attractions and amusements, and he also covers a lot of the restaurants with gluten-free dining in mind, as he lovely wife is afflicted with celiac disease.

I mentioned I’m not a huge fan of the beach. It’s not that I don’t like the ocean breeze or the water, it’s that I hate sand. Not really sand, but the fact that sand gets everywhere, including some very uncomfortable places. It’s a pain in the ass to get rid of, and well, it kind of stopped being fun the older I got. I also have no interest in being a sun worshipper… I once got a sunburn in Vegas that was so bad I couldn’t sleep on my back for over a week. Ever since that time, I keep a lot covered. Well, that and the last time I attempted to go shirtless on the beach, Greenpeace showed up and was trying to push me back into the ocean.

I realize, though, that a lot of people like going to the beach and many people go to the same beach for the same week every year. I also find it ironic that these are the same people who look askance at me for going to Disney as much as we do. It actually cracks me up… they will say, “Why do you always go there? It never changes!” They don’t seem to understand that for The Management and I, it’s a chance to see many of our friends from all over the country, and the world as well. I also wonder what gives people the right to ask that? I don’t say, “Why are you going to the beach again? It never changes!” All I’m asking for is the same courtesy.

Enough venting about this. I’ll leave the topic by saying that people’s vacations are their business. Now, if someone feels the need to venture to a tropical wonderland like Myanmar, well, maybe that’s worth a raised eyebrow. Otherwise, just say, “Enjoy!”

It’s tiny, but it’s a tomato!

Today was a landmark in our lives, too. Today we picked our first produce of the season. A very cute little tomato. I mean little. Also noticed that there’s a little pepper growing on one of the plants and both the zucchini and cucumber plants have blossoms. I give credit to The Management… I might water them, but she plants them. I don’t have a green thumb. I have more of a black thumb. I could kill kudzu. As a result, I try to never touch the plants themselves. Seems the only thing I can’t kill is crabgrass. Sigh.

Dinner

Tonight’s dinner consisted of sautéed sea scallop pieces with steamed broccoli and fresh corn on the cob. We tend to buy the scallop pieces. It’s nice to get them for $4.99/pound rather than $18.99/pound for the whole ones. I like seafood… you can eat a lot without a heavy caloric penalty. Granted, there’s cholesterol and mercury and all that fun stuff, but it’s tasty and very adaptable to any kind of cooking.

On that note, I’m calling it a day. Morning appointment with the exercise physiologists followed by work and all that. I’ll be posting a review of the upcoming Roger Waters show on Saturday at Citizen’s Bank Park. I’m really psyched to see it after viewing some video clips.

Until next time!

P.S. If you’re going to Wildwood, NJ, check out my cousin’s blog: Beaches And Boards. Also, if you’re not doing the beach but are headed to the ballpark,  check out his other site… Ballpark E-guides.

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