Ahhh… holidays

Posted: December 22, 2012 in cold weather, family, friends, Holidays, music
1

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
1

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

I got nothing

Posted: December 15, 2012 in Exercise, Physical activity, rants
0

The events that took place yesterday in Connecticut were a terrible tragedy. The lives of so many children, cut short by the actions of a single gunman, is a terrible thing. When innocence is lost on such a grand scale, well, we all die a little on the inside. I hope this brings meaningful change to a society that is increasingly polarized and marginalized, but knowing our track record as a country, we probably won’t. Instead of doing the right thing, our “leaders” will do something, anything, because not reacting in a situation like this will just fan the flames of outrage. It is time for a frank and open discussion on gun violence, mental health issues, security, and some of our societal values.

That’s all I will say on the topic for now… other than to keep those families in your prayers.

Until the events of yesterday, I was having a pretty good day. I got my rotund posterior up at 4:45 and was at the gym at 5:15. Made it a cardio day and somehow wound up on the treadmill that was surrounded on both sides by two Jersey Shore wannabes reeking of Drakkar Noir. One of these guys, who I’ll call The Predicament, was chomping on a wad of gum so loudly it was audible over the Queensryche I had cranked up to “ear bleed”. Sigh. I figured the way things were going, maybe Snooki would show up, you know, just to add some class. I managed to get about 45 minutes in, then headed home for a shower and off to the office. You might ask why I didn’t just shower at the gym… I mean, I was there. True. But I was afraid that while I’d be shampooing, the shower curtain would be ripped open, and Gratuitously Naked Guy would be standing there, beaming.

This is the kind of stuff that goes through my head. Curse my fertile imagination!

Short entry, I know, but there’s a busy day ahead.

Finally… some good news

Posted: December 12, 2012 in Bariatric surgery, Cooking, Doctors and Dentists and Nurses... oh my!, Exercise, family, Physical activity
0

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.

I went to the gym! Twice! In two days!!!

Posted: December 10, 2012 in Exercise, Physical activity, Walking, Weight loss
1

As the title says, I did it.

I dragged my tubby ass out of bed and went to the regular gym on Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t do any lifting… rather I just did some cardio. It felt pretty good to get some work in. There were no sightings of Gratuitously Naked Guy, either, so it was pretty much a win-win.

I had really dropped off the map in regards to training outside of my twice-weekly sessions with the boys. I could offer a whole host of excuses, but truth is that I wasn’t able to do any weight-bearing aerobic activity after the last blister, and I was afraid of getting another blister before the most recent trip. I think that the Boot of Shame on vacation would just suck most profusely.

I hit the treadmill both days. I was doing a pretty constant 2.8-3.0 mph, with variable inclines between 0% and 6% incline. I walked for around 40-45 minutes. Probably not difficult to those of you who are actually in shape. but for me, that’s a pretty good start.

I plan to keep up with it. Would be nice to do seven straight days. Let’s see how it goes.

Back to the grind

Posted: December 8, 2012 in Uncategorized
2

Let me start off by saying that 32 years ago, we lost one of the most influential musicians of our time. Rest in peace, John Lennon.

So, I’m back from a wonderful visit to the World. It was great to see people I haven’t seen in months or years, and it was great to be amongst some of the very best friends a person can have. Once again, the folks at Mouse Fan Travel and WDW Today outdid themselves in making magic and memories.

I would be remiss, though, to not mention Deb, Linda, and the rest of the AllEars team for throwing a fabulous IllumiNations dessert party. I was so pleased to find there were fresh fruit options available, as well as a nice cheese selection. It made the night that much more magical.

One of the things people consistently ask me is why we keep going back to Disney. Or I’m criticized because we go there as opposed to Las Vegas or some other more “adult” venue. I often wonder why folks feel they have the right or just the sheer chutzpah to question our vacation choice. I usually give a non answer, something along the lines of the weather, or the food, or asking why said person goes to the same beach year after year. It’s all of those, but there’s a lot more to it. It boils down to two major points. We go for the magic and for our friends.

I realize we’re in the minority… we don’t have children, so why would we willingly go to a place that is filled to overflowing with burbling Mouseketeers? I could talk for days on the way the Walt Disney Company has ruined the experience… ranging from the dumbing down of the attractions, attractions are starting to look run down, the food prices, the naked cash grab that is Duffy the Disney Bear, the need to force certain characters down your throat, changing nearly every nice place to eat into a “Character Dining Experience” just so they can charge more, or worse, letting the princesses invade the castle at every meal, the elimination of park and resort specific merchandise, and the proliferation of cheap light-up shit at every nighttime show, just to extort more cash out of weary parents. I could go on and on, and you’d say, “Brian, if you hate it so much, why do you keep going?”

I keep going because in the midst of all the chaos, there’s still magic to be found. Maybe it’s the ties to my childhood and being totally fascinated with the way the air rifles worked on Tom Sawyer Island. Maybe it’s remembering being under the Magic Kingdom as a teenager, preparing to play in Fantasyland with the school jazz band. Maybe it’s just seeing a child who gets what the magic is all about and isn’t whining about wanting every souvenir under the sun. Maybe it’s seeing that same child’s eyes light up when he/she sees Mickey Mouse for the first time. Maybe it’s getting that top row middle seat on Soarin and losing yourself in the majesty of the music and visuals. Maybe it’s all of the above.

The best time of year to find magic is in the holiday season. The Magic Kingdom offers the Very Merry Christmas Party, EPCOT offers Holidays Around the World and the Candlelight Processional and the Studios offers the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights:

73010_10200154587253969_695792868_n

Normally, the lights are like a big sardine can. Thanks to Beci and her crew at Mouse Fan Travel, we were able to enjoy the lights with a rather small crowd. It makes it so easy to take photos and video and to just walk around seeing the sights and enjoying the snow (yes, snow) falling.

With some of our very best friends

With some of our very best friends, including the guy on FaceTime.

The other draw I mentioned is our friends that we have met through the community. A finer group of people you will not find, and that alone makes we want to return. Where else would you find a group of (allegedly) sane adults crammed into a booth at Beaches and Cream, laughing like crazy as we chat via FaceTime with a friend who couldn’t make the trip? Later the same night I was able to FaceTime the fireworks to the same friend. It’s the wonder of technology, yo.

Speaking of the fireworks, what makes them special is the five minute holiday tag. It’s an amazing amount of pyrotechnics thrown in the air to the accompaniment of the Boys Choir of Harlem singing “Let There Be Peace of Earth”

So, anyway, we had a great time and I’m back in the saddle. I even had my tubby ass at the gym at 8 AM for 45 minutes of cardio. I think I wound up losing a couple of pounds since I was able to walk a lot without a blister (bless you, moisture-wicking socks). I have a dietician appointment on Wednesday, and hopefully I’ll be getting a surgery date soon. I know it won’t be easy, and this is a change for the rest of my life, but it’s what I need to do. I’ve screwed around way too long and abused my body for way too long. It’s time I get on the road and stay on the road.

Have a great weekend, folks!

It’s a wonder of nature

Posted: December 1, 2012 in Disney, Exercise, Foot issues, Holidays, Physical activity, Supportive Partner Woman, Travel, Walking
0

So, I’m writing this from Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter resort. As I sit here in the half light, the gentle sounds of Supportive Partner Woman’s breathing providing a quiet counterpoint to the hustle and bustle of families getting ready to hit the parks, I realize just how lucky I am.

I spent a lot of time the past few posts basically whining about life in general. I have it pretty good. I have a job, a loving wife, a roof over my head… Ad yes, I do have a few friends. It’s funny how things work out. That united by a common interest I am closer to people I’ve known for a relatively short time than I am to people I’ve known my entire life. I’ve met people in this community who aren’t in it for the right reason, but I’ve also met people who simply ooze character and class from every pore. They give back unflinchingly and always put others first, without fail. I’m proud to call these folks my friends and their friendship is something that I treasure.

So, on to the meat of the post.

Supportive Partner Woman (World’s Most Beautiful Pack Mule!) and I come to Walt Disney World around the same time every year. Not only to meet up with the aforementioned friends, but to get ourselves into the holiday spirit. There are many special events going on with a holiday theme, each of which serve to increase our excitement. There’s the Candlelight Processional, in which an orchestra and massed choir perform while a celebrity narrator recounts the tale of Christmas. SPW and I were fortunate enough to see it on Wednesday evening, and it does not disappoint. Our celebrity narrator was Neil Patrick Harris for the second year in a row… However, this year was actually dry, as opposed to the biblical rains of last December. The orchestra and choir was wonderful, as always, and well, here’s a video clip:

I hope that works… Using the WordPress iPad app is not something I do often. I usually write it in Pages, then just copy and paste it into WordPress.

One of the other points of the Disney holiday trident is the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. This event has some five million lights dancing to well known Christmas songs and is probably the one event that really gets me in the mood. SPW (Osborne fan!) and I had the opportunity, thanks to MEI and Mouse Fan Travel, to take in a private viewing of the lights last evening that was just amazing. I took a lot of video, none of which I’ve gotten uploaded yet, but here’s an example from last year’s Osborne Lights:

The third point of the trident is EPCOT’s nightly show called IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. Every year, the holiday season adds an extra five minutes of pyrotechnics accompanied by the Boys Choir of Harlem and a narration from the late Walter Cronkite. This really finalizes the prep for me. Just hearing the soaring music of the whole show as the lasers and fire and fireworks burst over the lagoon, topped off with the extra tag just never fails to send shivers up and down my back. I know that one day, the current IllumiNations will go away in the name of change, but believe you me, that will be a sad sad day.

At any rate, I have much more to tell, but suffice it to say that as of now, the feet have shown no blistering. This makes me very happy, especially considering the amount of walking we have done. The only wound is from the first day, when removing the protective moleskin also removed a tiny chunk of Wayne. A little NuSkin and gauze padding has worked wonders.

Well, I’m going to grad a shower and wake up SPW (Sleeps like the dead!) and we’re off to EPCOT for another day of fun and camaraderie.

More in the next few days!

20121201-090959.jpg

Check this out…

Posted: November 26, 2012 in Baseball, Great writing
0

I will periodically find some great writing and I like to share. Joe Posnanski wrote a wonderful story about Stan Musial that’s well worth the read.

Check it out here:

http://joeposnanski.blogspot.com/2012/11/musial-redux.html#more

Vacation…

Posted: November 25, 2012 in Disney, Exercise, Stress, Walking, Weight loss
0

all I ever wanted.

Vacation, had to get away…

So, Supportive Partner Woman and I are headed to Florida on Wednesday for our annual WDW Today Reunion trip. We’re really looking forward to it… Lord knows we need it. Between family stuff and SPW’s new job, she’s been under a lot of stress and I have, mainly because I stress when I see SPW is stressed.

It’s only been a couple of months since the last time we were in the World, but there will be a lot of new stuff. There’s been a massive expansion to Fantasyland that will officially open in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, we look forward to soft openings (previews). In addition, it’s a chance to see our friends that we only get to see once a year or so.

I’m really going to focus on eating better during this vacation. I usually strap the feed bag on at Ohana. This time, I’m going to cut down on the amount of meaty refills. I’m also going to try and avoid the grazing that I often fall prey to. Ideally, I would like to actually lose a few pounds while we’re down there. I am prepared for the possibility of blisters, though… I have two huge rolls of moleskin and a box of gauze pads. I also bought a three pack of Nike Dri-fit socks. Supposedly, these should help keep my feet dry and offer some serious support while we’re walking. The other thing that should help is that the temperatures are supposed to be in the low 70’s.

Other things that we are doing include the Candlelight Processional with Neil Patrick Harris as guest narrator. We are dining at Ohana (as mentioned before), Artist Point and a dinner at the new Be Our Guest restaurant in the expanded Fantasyland. Other meals are as we can grab. One of our other events is a special dinner called the Meal of Fortune that should be a lot of fun.

I hope to get a couple more posts in before we jet off to sunny Florida. I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a peaceful Black Friday.

Thanksgiving

Posted: November 23, 2012 in Cooking, family, Holidays
1

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

Older Entries
Newer Entries