Rainy days and Sundays

My day started as a bit of a question mark.  I wanted to get out and go for a walk but it just wasn't great walking weather.  However, I promised myself to get out and take Precious with me.  So we took off to the beach but as I was driving near fisherman's wharf I thought I might as well walk around the inner harbour.  As soon as I parked the truck I bumped into a friend of ours Caroline  - she was walking her dog and it was nice to bump into her aside from the usual places.

Precious and I took off to Fisherman's Wharf and strolled about there for a while.  We met up with a brown Pelican.  The poor thing was shivering in the doorway - I think he is lost.

We continued our walk around the harbour and eventually headed up in bastion square.  I was taking pictures of the walk from what was pretty much a dog's eye view.  So it was a bit like what Precious might have saw if she didn't have so much hair in her eyes.

You can see those pictures here -

We had a nice afternoon, we didn't do a lot but it was nice hanging out together.  In the evening we decided to take off and see Les Miserables at SilverCity.  It was a pretty good show - very intense.  I kind of dragged Marla to the movie.  She used all her favourite delaying tactics but we still got there really early.  A few minutes into the show it was pretty clear that she was enjoying herself.

No spending day

I decided when I woke up and it was a combination of light rain and heavy mist that the walk was out and this would be a stay at home no spending day.  At least it started that way.  After breakfast, back to the two poached eggs regime, I went out to the garage, fired up the treadmill and walked for an hour.  Actually reading a book while plodding along is rather restful.

I came in and did some work around the house.  I got the Christmas Tree working again.  It took a new bulb so my no spending day was suspended while I went to Home Hardware with Precious.  We got a walk and a bulb and Precious got a cookie.  My highlight was to move the swords and knives from the living room and put them into the turret.  They are much better hung this time around.  Then I just had some nice time with Marla, playing with Precious and getting ready to go to work.

It was a very good hockey game and very restful from the first that I got there because my followspot would not start when I tried to fire it up.  Between Shannon, Simon and me we finally got it going but it took four trips up and down the stairs.  that is a bunch of exercise for the day.

The game was interesting the first two periods were all Prince George.  But in the third period the Royals came to life and did some serious scoring.  They tied PG's three goals and scored the winning goal in an overtime shoot out.

Post Christmas good day

Today was a really nice friday.  I was going to go for a walk in the morning but I actually slept in.  Must have something to do with staying up until 1am last night.  Tonight I am getting to sleep earlier.  I try to get seven hours of sleep apparently that is just on the edge for WLS patients.  They are supposed to get more. But I have too much energy for that.

But did do a lot of home stuff and Marla and I needed to get out this afternoon for some post christmas shopping.  I really wanted a new white shirt, maybe it is that urge to go Mormon.  Marla also needs a white shirt so we took off to Marks and got a really good deal with them.

We met up with Little Pam at the Garrick Head for a beer and some very nice conversation.  She is a nice girl and we had a delightful time.  A quick trip home and then I was back to the Arena for the Royals/Prince George game.  It was a really good game with the Royals winning 5-1.  Tom and Jason were not there which was really different. 

All in all a pretty good day.

Merry Christmas 2012

Today is Boxing Day but we didn't really have all that much to box up.  So with the tradition aside I left myself to a mega walk with Precious the Pooch, a little sight seeing with Marla, and a quiet night at home. One of the treats of the day was we did a walk through the Festival of Trees at the Empress Hotel.  It was very pretty and Christmasy.

 

 After that we came home and called it a day.  Precious was very tired from our walk earlier in the day.  She was tuckered out behind the couch.  

Reflecting on Christmas it was pretty good this year.  Marla and I got each other a reasonably good collection of small gifts.  I got some cool magazines, a station house for my train set,  a Roughrider gnome, and Marla got her diamond earrings, the calendar that I made for her, a new infinity scarf, and little treats and treasures.  We are sharing tickets to Burton Cummings this spring at the Skagit so we have something to look forward to seeing and another road trip.

The day after boxing day was a bit more busy.  It was normal routine type stuff.  Marla was volunteering at the Senior's Home and I took the truck out to Costco to get the tire fixed.  It was slowly leaking.  then we went downtown to Pags for lunch.  We went a little early and had to stand in line but it was nice out and we had a good time.  I sure couldn't eat much.  I think I had less than a cup of food - just tastes of soup, Capoletti, and some really good bread.  I definitely stopped eating before I hit any bad points - that feeling of a lump in the chest.  I am doing better at stopping before I feel bad.

After that we had a walk, Marla wasn't feeling so good so we hoped some exercise would help.  It did a bit and we took off to see the Gingerbread Houses at the Laurel Point.  They were very nice.  I will get the pictures up in a day or two.

In the evening we went to see Ballet Victoria's Pandora's Box.  It was nice and sweet.  We had a pre-show snack at Baan Thai.  We had the usual and it was okay.  I have really been enjoying my time off. 

this is me being social at Christmas

So I started my morning off with a walk down to Cuthbert Holmes park and back.  Precious really liked her walk but she came home covered in leaves and crud.  I cleaned up the car because it really needed it and it was an absolutely wonderful morning.  Then I came in and got all showered up and ready to head off to Leslie's for the traditional pre-Christmas dinner. 

I had a great NSV happen this morning.  I was fidgeting with my wedding band and I discovered that I am now small enough that the ring fits on my thumb.  It is like I drop a ring size every two months.  Marla and I were planning to get the ring re-sized in February so we are right on schedule.

The Christmas social was really nice.  It was good to see some old familiar faces and they had nice compliments for me.  My ego really liked it.

Marla and I left Leslie's about 3pm and headed downtown.  I am after some hiking shoe and found a great deal on Timberline hiking shoes at Atmosphere.  Normally they were $109 but today they were $54.  I am looking forward to having some good walking shoes.  And also being able to keep my feet warm.  The downside was that theyhttp://www.urbanspoon.com/r/317/1431297/restaurant/Downtown/Garricks-Head-Pub-Victoria are size 13 I was kind of hoping for 12s but this will do for now and as Marla says "All Shoes size differently."

We shopped a bit downtown, Marla tried on some nice dresses at Bryan's.  She looks really cute in the sparkly ones.  Then she went for glam in Roberta's Hats.

We were a bit hungry and thirsty so we tried out the newly renovated Garrick's Head Pub.  http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/317/1431297/restaurant/Downtown/Garricks-Head-Pub-Victoria

We came home and settled into a nice quiet night.

its beginning to look a lot like christmas

Today is December 22nd and I am finally getting into the christmas spirit.  Up until now my life has been very hectic with work at Camosun, work in the theater (Royals Hockey, Chantel Kreviazuk and Burton Cummings) all in the last couple of weeks.  The weather outside has been frightful with lots of storms and general yeechyness.  Lots of wind and rain and little opportunity for walking.  I finally got out today when Christopher and I got to go for a walk along the ocean front with Precious.

I have been having a good time getting Christmas presents.  I like christmas shopping.  I like making up presents too.  I am kind of excited to see if Marla enjoys her presents.

Of course the big item is my impending retirement.  This is the first time I mentioned it here but I am going to retire from Camosun College at the end of January.  With holidays taken into account I have less than 20 days to work before I hang up my spurs.  I feel bad that my leaving will be at the root of some big changes for the difference but also it is time for the department to change.

I am looking forward to retiring in every way except for maybe the serious drop in pay.  On the otherhand I am really looking forward to more time with Marla, being able to study in daytime courses at UVic, more theater work and just generally enjoying life.

I need to remember that I was given a gift of this wonderful surgery to change my life and ensure that I don't fuck it up.  I worry about that sometimes.  But I am also trying to make the appropriate changes and my body tells me when I did something stupid.

Seattle Musical Theater Roadtrip

Seattle Musical Theater Roadtrip

Okay so this was a trip of indulgence. I wanted to see a couple of shows which were playing in Seattle and the stars fell in the right position so we made off for the Emerald City. We took off on the Friday of the November 11^th long weekend. There was some question of how we would go to Seattle – our choices were: the clipper (too expensive and stranded without a car), the Sidney Anacortez Washington state ferry (not a bad idea), BC Ferries from Swartz Bay (but it is a longer drive with Border waits) and finally the good old Black Ball Coho (Still kind of expensive but it at least was a different route). So we found ourselves pulling into the Bellevue Street Docks for the Blackball at 9:20 on Friday morning. We didn't have any reservations since we were flying be the seats of our pants. The direction guy said “Maybe we can get you on; its a bit iffy.”

But for some good reason, which I am very thankful, we ended up being the second last car allowed on the ferry. Maybe next time we should get a reservation. The trip was very uneventful. It is only an hour and a half crossing so we spent our time watching old tv shows on my nook. It is a nice way to pass the time watching Spin City and Taxi. The crossing was very smooth and we pretty much stayed put in the observation area. Not a lot to see, 22 miles of flat water with fog holding close to the waterline.

We were among some of the last cars off the ship but our timing was good because we hit a very fast customs line up. After a few questions of where we were going and me letting it slip that we were off to see the Addams Family (that was supposed to be a secret from Marla) we were heading down the highway. Our first stop was the 7 Cedar's Casino near Sequim. It is a nice little casino and I see they are doing more renovations to make it even larger. It is a place where we can pick up lunch for not too bad a price. This time they had a strip loin roast which is cut down to make excellent steaks. I really liked my small piece. Eating for me wasn't much of a challenge here. I may have mentioned in other posts that I like buffets because I can pick and choose what and how much of it I want. True I did have a little more than usual but my smaller stomach stops me when it has had enough.

Sometimes that is a little frustrating because I would truly like more tastes and more quality of foods. But then on the other hand I know that I have my limits and not eating as much is my choice. We continued our drive listening to classical music and an audiobook about George Carlin. We crossed the Hood Canal, which is a very cool long bridge, and then made it to Kingston to catch another ferry across Puget Sound. Sunset over the water was pretty.

We finally found our way to the Residence Inn in Bothel, Washington. I like staying here. This trip we are in unit 232 for a few days. So I took the time to unpack. Then we figured out we were hungry so we drove over to the Outback in Mill Creek. It is becoming a regular stop. And seeing as we can split our meals it comes out to be a pretty good deal. After supper we went to get some supplies and do some shopping at Fred Meyers. I upped our USA phone for another $10. We must have been right on the line for time since we were able to keep our phone number.

We were late getting to bed; still a little hyped from a day of travel. But we zonked right out and went to sleep. The next morning I was up bright and early and went for a two hour walk as the sun came up. It is a really pretty area to walk behind the Residence Inn. I came back for breakfast (scrambled eggs and sausage patties) and then got Marla going for the day.

We drove downtown for the matinee performance of Wicked at the Paramount Theater. I wanted to get us down there a little early so we could get parked and settled. We found ourselves a $7 a day parking spot at the lot on 6^th and Olive. Then we started our slow walk up to the theater. We have lots of time. Our first distraction stop was at the Barnes and Noble at the Pacific Center. Why are so many places in Seattle called Pacific? I headed towards the humour section, mostly because I saw some interesting books about Mad Magazine. But the real treasure was coming across a collection of Berkley Breathed books containing all the Bloom County comics. This was a delight because in the 1985 collection I found our favourite cartoon about everything is changing and nothing ever remains the same except the good old taste of CocaCola. At that time Opus the penquin says “this coke tastes different” in reference to the 'new coke'.

Next we downstairs and checked out the major portion of the bookstore. I love going through books. It is a wonderful feeling to know there is such an eclectic set of knowledge and fantasy in all of those tomes. Finally we left the store and crossed Pine street to go to Von's.

We like going to Von's. It has a magnificent bar, great food and a fine location. We settled down for a small lunch before the show. Since we were pretty much in a saloon we thought we might as well have a drink. Marla went for a Helfenwizen wheat beer and I had a brandied cherry martini. It sounds like a girly drink but it was still pretty good and potent enough to strip paint. For lunch I had clam chowder. It was excellent, very full tasting and very creamy. Marla had a salad and something else which I currently forget. The something else would have been enough.

We killed some time, had some wonderful conversation and then headed up the hill to the Paramount. Along the way we stopped at the Hyatt to check out the lobby and also pop into our favourite steak place Ruth Chris. We haven't been to a Ruth Chris in ages and I was a little leery about going back since I can not eat very much. But we talked with the front desk and they say it is no problem to split a meal so we are going to put it on our list for when we return.

I like going to the Paramount. It is a beauty of an old theater. It has a Middle Eastern quality to its design and it is very beautiful. Our seats for Wicked were in Row N of the House Right side. We were two seats off the aisle so the really were not that bad. I would not want to sit any further out or further back than that.

Wicked the show is very good. It is more spectical than play. But the songs are enjoyable, there is lots of flash and money on the stage. We had a good time. The highlight for me is to watch Marla enjoying the show.

We left the show and it was just starting to get dark outside. One of the reasons I like going to matinees is because it is easier to get out. Or so I thought. Traffic was a nightmare. It took us nearly a hour to go a dozen blocks. But once we were on I-5 we headed out to see Gerry and Jan at their place in Federal Way.

We had a very nice visit with Gerry and Jan. So nice to talk with old friends. After a while we headed back up to Bothel and called it a night.

The next morning I was so stiff I could barely move. I felt very old as everything was sore and creaked. I don't think it was the bed and it shouldn't have been the walk from the previous day. Maybe it is a bit of the flu. I had a nice long bath, I don't usually have baths but this one felt pretty good. I was wondering if we should slip into Seattle and see the pin ball museum but frankly it just seemed like a nice quiet day. We did drive over to Lynnwood and see if there was anything I could get at the Big 5 sporting goods store but not really. Our next stop was for lunch at the Olive Garden. It was good as usual. We tossed with the idea of going downtown or going back to the hotel for a nap. The nap won. So we slept for a couple of hours and I felt a bunch better. Then we took off to downtown to watch the Addams Family musical at the 5^th Avenue Theater.

I got us down there about two hours early with the view that it would be easier to find a parking spot nearby and go over for lunch. The parking spot worked out okay. We ended up in the Hilton lot which is connected to the theatre via an underground walkway. But we forgot to take in the fact that there was a football game on and the bar was really really busy. Making matters worse, on sunday night there is nothing open around the 5^th avenue theater. Although we did do some window shopping we ended up just waiting for the doors to the theater to open so we could get in out of the cold. Marla found herself to sit for a while and I picked up myself and Addams Family the Musical t-shirt for the collection.

The Addams Family Musical is a delight of a show. Check your brain at the door, enjoy the jokes, and just have a good time. It is macabrely harmless. I was very happy to see Marla enjoying it. She liked it more than Wicked. I especially liked Fester and Wednesday. But all in all it is a perfect example of my kind of show.

There were no troubles getting home, none of the traffic jam issues that we ran into on Saturday. We were both pretty tired but we got watching this really interesting documentary on Hugh Hefner. We couldn't finish it so I hope I can find a place to download it.

The next day we made our way back to home via a short stop in surrey for another visit to an olive garden for lunch. I really like getting soup there. We zipped off to the ferry and just missed the 3pm but since it is a holiday weekend I don't think we would have gotten on anyways. So we finally did make the 5pm ferry so we got home early enough to unpack and get ready for tomorrow.

It was a really nice weekend. We had a wonderful time and between you and me, I can't wait to do it again.

its been a whole year

Well it has been one whole year since my RNY surgery.  What a year it has been.  From my heaviest weight before I started seeing Dr. Amson (339 lbs) and my day of surgery weight (299 lbs) I am down to 320 and feeling great.  My life has pretty much returned to normal.  Or at least it has returned to a new form of normal.

So lets start with the physical changes.  I have gotten smaller, much smaller.  At my largest I work a tight size 46 pant and was likely more comfortable in size 48's.  Today I usually wear size 36s and have actual hips.  My shirts have gone from XXXL to L.  This is especially true in t-shirts.  My hands have also gotten smaller. My wedding ring used to be tight on its ring finger.  Then it was falling off when I went swimming so I did the old 'wrap tape' about it.  Then I got a second ring to hold it in space, then it moved over to my pointer finger and is now still pretty loose there.  One other thing is that I do tend to get cold more often so I will wear more sweaters (especially hoodies)..  But the real joy is making that transition to smaller sizes and getting support from my friends.  One guy at work gave me like 15 pair of nearly new pants. Then another friend passed on some really cool and once expensive shorts.

And when it comes to shirts, I have run into a few issues.  I started off wearing XXL and larger shirts, but now my wife kind of made fun of me because they have become quite sloppy.  But I really don't want to buy new clothes since I am still changing.  I think the thing that has really baffled me the most is my wedding ring. I had to move my wedding band from the ring finger then to my middle finger and finally it now occasionally rests on my pointer finger.  I had to buy a new band just to hold it in place.  I don't want to get it resized until I have been out of surgery for two years and I am sure I have stabilized.  The real catch is that the ring is 35 years old and may not re-size all that well.  We shall see.

The other big physical change is my interest in exercise.  For years I exercised to help lose weight but it didn't always work.  I developed a fitness class for overweight men.  I have a walking group.  and it was something I did first to demonstrate my commitment to fixing my health and secondly because I enjoyed it and the companionship.  But once I had my surgery and the weight started coming off I could go faster and further.  I started walking faster and after about six months I started running more and more.  I often have to go between buildings at work and I began running between the spaces.  It gets a lot of interesting looks because many of the people who have watched me as a fat guy for years are wondering who this jogger is.

I will have to type more on this, but leave it to say I am happy, healthier, and very very thankful.

Going to the Rider Game

So here is the second reason we went to Regina.  The first  reason of course was to see my Mom and Sister - they haven't seen me since my surgery.  Yesterday, Saturday, was a day of visiting.  Today, Sunday, is a football day.  So after my morning walk, Marla and I jumped in the car and headed down to Mosaic Stadium, I prefer Taylor Field, but its real name is Mosaic Stadium.  We had our breakfast at Trifon's just across from the Ramada hotel.  It hit a new middle of mediocrity.

then we were off to the stadium, we are going to try to use the handicapped parking so we went way out of the way to 13th Street so we would be on the right side of the street and not have to cross traffic.  We finally found a parking spot near the Rider Store.  I have to hand it to the Rider's organization for having good parking spots for people who have difficulty getting around at no charge.

We then joined a whole bunch of people going through the store.  I guess we were there about two hours early.  Which was really good.  We got a killer parking spot, time to go through the store, and when we bought yet another Roughrider T-Shirt I was able to deposit in the nearby car.  Then Marla and I went over to the practice field and have an incredibly mediocre hamburger.  It was edible but it was kind of sucked.

Then we walked into the stadium.  My absolute favourite moment of sports viewing is the few seconds when you walk into a baseball stadium and go from the darkness under the bleachers and see the green grass of the diamond, the lines of the bases and the blue sky above.  Taylor Field, a CFL football stadium, is up to snuff when it comes up to that same view.  we got these tickets the first day that Rider Tickets went on sale.    So they were pretty good seats.  They were on the first level, about 20 rows up from the field and at the 35 yard line.

So we found our seats and got comfy.  there was nobody around yet.  But soon it will be awesomely crowded.  And green.  the stadium hold 34,000 people and today it was sold out.  That means there must be 33,500 people there dressed in green.  Even Marla was getting lots of notice in her green wig.  She didn't want to wear it at first but once we were at the stadium and she got so many compliments she was beginning to like it.

The game was really good.  Made even better that the Riders won.  You can see a bunch of the pictures on my flickr site.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/56705607@N00/sets/72157631639545757/

It was a terrific day, lots of people and lots of fun.  We visited mom one more time and then got ready to go home.  We had to get everything ready early because we were flying out of Regina at 5:30am.  That meant we had to get up and get a cab to the airport at 3:30am.  It really wasn't that big of a challenge, I just pointed Marla in the right direction and we were off.

 It was an excellent flight home.  It was so early that nothing was open in Regina or Calgary so we just went from one plane to the other.  There was very little wait but everything went fine.  It was a really really nice holiday.

Walking in Regina

Well I was up at 6:30am but having only gone to bed at 2:30 that was still too little sleep even for me.  So I stayed in bed for another couple hours and was up to face the day at 8:30.   I was very glad to get out walking but gee was it ever cold outside.  I was glad I had my rider jacket.  I work one of my nice red shirts because I didn't bring any t-shirts.  I knew we would buy one or two once we got to the Rider store.   But after a little walking I warmed up and was quite enjoying myself.

I walked over to Marla's old neighbourhood, Cathedral District, it is very nice and funky.  I think if we lived there that I would pick to live in this neighbourhood.  then I walked over to the museum and along the lake for a while.  I came out in the Broadway housing area and then walked down behind the hospital and came out on Victoria Street fairly close to Enterprise Car Rental. 

I stopped at Enterprise to pick up our car rental.  I got a pretty good deal and a two car upgrade.  I declined the insurance since it was nearly three times the daily rate.  So now that we had a car we could do some running around.  The first stop was to see my sister at the Norman View Shopping Center liqour store.  It was a nice visit among the bottles.  Then marla and I went over to smitty's for breakfast.

Smitty's is a favourite spot and this one is pretty standard.  It's food had a really chain food taste.  Bleh.  But I had a nice scrambled egg, mushroom, bacon, et al stuff.  Then we went over to see my mom.  Model is looking good and was busy making a pie.  She has a cute little dog - Maggie, and all apprears to be okay.

We did some shopping, first Canadian Tire (T-shirt, cooking apron), Golden Tiger (nothing but some pj bottoms I liked) and finally the Rider Store (t-shirts for marla, new ear rings, and some stamps and first day covers).  Having purchased enough for one day we took off to find Marla Mom's headstone.  It is just over a year since she passed.  We had a lovely sit and tribute at the cemetary.

On the way home we stopped at Safeway for some water and then crashed at the hotel for a while.  all in all it was a great day.

You can't go home again - sort of

So here we are in Regina - I wanted to see my mom and most importantly have her see me since it has been one year between visits and she hasn't seen me since my surgery.  I am down 105 pounds and basically lost one third of myself.

Our trip here was nice.  We are flying using airmiles so it only cost us $170 and that covered the taxes.  But the times kind of sucked.  We didn't leave Victoria until 8pm so we were flying in the night.  It is really pretty watching the houses and cities lit up as you travel over them at 35,000 ft.  Why don't they give that information in meters?

Anyhow, we changed plans in Calgary, good thing we had the wheelchair helper because it would have been a very long walk for Marla.  We jumped onto the plane for Regina and lo and behold we had the same flight attendant as we did on the YYJ/YYC leg.  Marla and I settled in to watching Billy Connoly do his act.  He was very funny and we snorted to ourselves as we listened through the headphones.  Comedy is hard to listen to when you are trying not to disturb others.

We landed in Regina at about 12:55am and caught a taxi to the Regina Ramada.  We have a nice room on the sixth floor.  It is a jr. Suite and it is a good size comfortable room.  It was 2:14am before we actually got to sleep.  All in all, we got to Regina safely, the cab was on $15 and the room is night.  I would put this one in the win column.

Back at school - again

I can't count how many times I have had gone back to school.  What with working at a school, and being a student the number is staggering.  Let's see - grade 1 through 12 makes 12 septembers.   Then 2 years of college.  That's 14.  I have been with the College for 32 years so now we are at 46.  Then I did another 5 years concurrently going to UVic.  So that is 51.  Fifty one times of finding the place to sit, negotiating new relationships and meeting new friends, sometimes meeting old friends.  Getting excited about the new classes and instructors and best of all the new material of something interesting.

this year's class is already interesting.  It is WRIT300: Narrative and Character in Action Films.  It is a cross between creative writing, history, and critical analysis.  The instructor in knowledgeable enough.  So my next 10 weeks should be pretty interesting.

Speaking of interesting, I had an interesting couple of days.  Sunday was great because Marla and I got to see the Roughriders sneak in a win in the Banjo Bowl.  Then that evening I went down to SOFMA and did the strike of Cirque Du Soleil's show Quidam.  It was a pretty good out, we got 15 trucks loaded and out by 4 hours into the call.  I would have made more money working on kd lang but to spend the afternoon with Marla was simply much better.

Monday was a cool day at work except for a very strange first aid call.  How do you treat someone for being anxious?  But it was a good day and I came home to get ready for my first day at class.

I opted to make Tuesday my bus to work day.  In fact it was a bus to work times two.  First I took the bus to Interurban and then across town to Lansdowne at lunch.  Today was very busy and had a lot of relationship skills issues to discuss.  But at the end of the day I walked home which was really nice.  It took about an hour and 15 minutes - I came home a new route by going through the golf course, lots of sexy looking young runners - I love pony-tailed joggers - and nice quiet streets.  I stopped in at Sherri's to say hi as I walked by.  Marla and I should go for Chinese Food but we haven't been wanting any lately.  But by the time I got close to home I elected to go to Brady's for fish and chips.  Fish and Chips is interesting now because I don't eat the chips, Precious the pup gets most of the batter and Cuetea the cat gets some of the inside halibut.  All in all the family does good on one dinner.  Next time I have to order a half order of chips - we toss out a lot.

In the evening we watched Heat - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113277/ which was pretty good but kind of long. 

Back to school

Well it is the first day of classes at Camosun and I am starting my day off with a manager's meeting.  It was actually pretty interesting.  Most of the day was doing stuff like organizing my space, keeping the guys busy and soaking up the atmosphere of having the college being alive with people again.

I came home through a traffic jam, it took nearly 25 minutes to get from Lansdowne's parking lot to the Esso station at Hillside and Shelbourne.  Then when I got up to Walmart this speeding car lost his whole tire as he scooted down the road.  The wheel jumped right off and nearly hit a pick up truck.  Finally when I drove to Gillian's for my shot - there were more cops working on the traffic at Vernon and Saanich Road.  I haven't seen that much traffic accident stuff in ages.

I weighed myself at the doctor's office and after a few weeks of nothing I dropped a bit more.  I went from 108 kilo down to 106.4 kilo.  That's 234 pounds - 105 down from my heaviest.  Yahoo.  After my Dr's appointment I brought a pizza home for Marla.  I just ate the sauce and cheese on the top of two slices.  Wow, was I ever hungry after that.  It was like there was no nourishment at all in that meal.  So  I grazed a bit.

In the evening, Marla and I took off to Costco, which was really busy.  So we came home and called it a night.  Not much exercise today, I will try to do better tomorrow.

Labour Day Weekend or where is my Fitbit

Well here it is the Labour Day Weekend - fall is just around the corner, school starts on Tuesday, and all it all it is the wrap up to the summer. We decided not to go anywhere and that's okay - I think we are best to be in a saving mode right now.

Friday was my ETO so I had the day off which was cool. I dropped Marla off at the clinic and then headed down to the ocean for a long walk with Precious. Damn I left my FitBit at home. This was kind of our usual walk except that instead of stopping at the breakwater after a stroll from Clover Point we went all along Niagra Street to Beacon Hill Park. It was a great walk.

Marla and I went out for lunch at Sauce. I wasn't all that hungry so I just had a bowl of chowder which was pretty good. I still do not eat a lot, usually about a half a cup and sometimes 3/4 cups. I may be eating a bit too much because I will have a meal of some kind every four or five hours. That is likely one more than a normal person but the meals are pretty small.

Lunch was good and really nice company with Marla. It is great how we can share time together. We then went over to Capital Iron and Value Village to continue our shopping quest for Tim Horton mugs. But midweek at Capital Iron all the parking places are rented out so it became such a pain in the rear we chose to go home. But first we had a stop to make a Walmart for some necessities. Milk and cream for sure but also I wanted some Ensure and my current addiction - BBQ Peanuts. I know the peanuts have to be bad for me because they taste way too good. Still I eat only a few.

The strange thing was when we took the stuff through the till the clerk missed checking about four items and when we got home we found we were missing the Ensure, Marla's Bread, some Jam and some other stuff. We that discovery we decided to stay home for the night.

Saturday - Saturday is always a morning walk with Christopher and Precious. I really like this time but Damn I forgot my fitbit. It was the usual walk and it was great outside. Afterwards I went to the WLS meeting. Boy I wish more people would come to it. There is so much that can be offered to those who partake.

In the afternoon we went out to GreekFest. I like GreekFest, the multicultural dances, the hot weather, a glass of cider and of course Greek food. I wasn't sure what I could eat but they had skewered pork and that was perfect for me. I had a great time and Marla tolerated me. It is one of those things I am sure she does for me and so it is nice and appreciated.

Sunday - the traditional Labour Day Saskatchewan Roughriders/Winnipeg Blue Bombers trip. Now the riders have not been doing so good but I can still hope and my wishes came through. The Roughriders came alive and won 52 to nothing. I was doing a happy dance. Well Precious does the happy dance - We dance after every touchdown.

Monday - I was up early to make up for missing my walk on Sunday. Precious and I did a two and a half hour walk along the shore and by the boats. We had a great time again except that I forgot to bring a ball for Precious. I feel so guilty when I don't have something to throw for her. So we chased a few chunks of driftwood. I saw a river otter running along the beach which was cool then I recognized a guy I was sure I knew. It was Graham from the PrimeApes. It is amazing that they guys are still together - my god it has been nearly 20 years. Good for Graham, Jack and Dave.

I checked my distance walked in my fitbit and then came home. When I got home, I couldn't find my Fitbit. Sense a theme for the weekend. I looked all over and couldn't find it. So Marla and I went out to the airport to check if our new bags will fit in the carrier. They did. After lunch at the airport's WhiteSpot we came home via a short shopping trip in Sidney. I really enjoy weekends like this. I look forward to when I can have more time to have more long weekends. Oh, by the way, I found my fitbit, I put it in a safe place.

Okay so here I am again way out of order.  A bunch of stuff has happened and I will post on it later.  For now let it be said that I am enjoying a Victoria summer.  Summer in Victoria appears to last for a few days in August and we call that the great heat wave.  It was rather uncomfortable and I had trouble sleeping.  But it was no ways as bad as when I was heavier.

I have been very much enjoying my walks.  So much that I have made it a habit to take the bus to work each monday and then walk home in the evening.  It takes about an hour and 20 minutes to walk home.  I don't really rush it and in truth I quite enjoy listening to a podcast along the way.  I have been enjoying news from DisneyWorld and Disneyland on a podcast called Inside The Magic.

Marla has been feeling really unwell this week.  Last wednesday we had to go into emergency and she was pretty much benched all this week.  It made for a nice quiet weekend at home.  I have been busy taking all my information from the two dying hard drives and moving them over to a new 3TB drive.  My other new toy is that I bought a Kobo Vox.  It should make travelling a lot more fun and interesting - at least both of us can see the screen.

My boss has left the college in favour of living and working near his home in Surrey.  So now we are on the search for a new IT director.  It should make for interesting times.

all in all a pretty good week - Victoria Busker Festival

So this was a pretty long week.  A very nondescript week at work - just a plugging a way.  Still it was nice to see some projects that I have been working on come to fruition. I started off the week in a bit of a down mood since a couple of pounds that I lost have found me again.  So I have mostly been behaving in my eating.  On monday I did something really special.  That is the day I usually take the bus to work - in the afternoon it was so nice I decided than rather doing a 45 minute bus ride home I would walk.  It is only about five km so it took me just over an hour and I really really liked it.

Marla and I went downtown on Monday night to take in the Victoria International Busker's festival.  We saw Sharon Mahoney at the Re/Max Ship's Point stage.  She is an ultra Canadian show that was more annoying than apologetic.  We took a walk up Government street and watched a marimba band and a couple of other little acts on the street.  Our last act of the night was Victor Rubilar.  He did a very good and very funny act on the lawn of the Empress.

Best of all was that we had lunch from the rood trucks.  There was a Mexican Truck, Pig the BBQ place was there, a spot called Bonnie's Grill (Marla really liked their fries) and a hot dog truck.  There was also a Greek Food Place left over from folkfest.  I found that the people in the trucks were very good at helping me find bariatric alternatives.  In some cases, like the perogy place  - I just had the children's meal.  But over all it worked out good.

The next night we were back again.  Marla wanted more of her fries but we found that a small fries order was more than enough for her.  I opted to bring a tomato and stuff from home.  All was well.


On Tuesday we returned and watched The Checkerboard Guy who was a total hoot.  He is a very funny BC guy who reminds me of a vaudeville act. Following him was Les Vitamines.  They are a pair of very athletic gymnasts and clowns from Quebec City.  I really liked their show.  The things they could do with a balance ball was amazing. 

We watched Jessica Arpin whose show was only so-so.  It had a few good moments but mostly it was kind of dull.  It picked up a whole lot when we watched the next act Les Walkyries.  They are a three girl gymnast and fire act.  Waay too much story and not enough tricks but pacing is depends on the energy from the crowd.  We found our limit for the shows is only about two hours so we packed it in.

Thursday night was exercise night so we didn't make it downtown but we were back on Friday.  Apart from getting a super parking spot we missed the six pm show so we took some time to go through the night market.  Not much new at the market.  So we got some food and went over to the Harbour Air stage to wait for the next show.  It was the Rock and Roll Magic Brian.  He had a good idea and a good accent but his magic show belonged at a children's birthday party.  We were freezing so we left the harbour and walked  up to Bastion Square.  There we saw the end of Miss Australia.  By far this was the worst show of the festival - it was just weird.  Finally we went to Government Street and found a piece of the curb to watch Fraser Hooper.  He was more of the silent clown only using whistles and chirps but he did very well especially with children.  His best part was that one of his 'helpers' was a little 3'6" Darth Vader.

All in all - a pretty good week.

Work, work, work

This week was totally focused on working at the college. The highlight was my walk up Mt. Tolmie. I did this walk a year ago and it took me an hour. I did it on Tuesday and it took 28 minutes. Okay so I did run a bit of it but it was mostly just a nice brisk walk. On the way up I came nose to nose with a deer who was nibbling behind a bush. He was not emamoured at me as I was at him. He just turned and dissappeared quietly behind a bush. I think it is nice not to be so focused on everything that one could just turn and close themselves to the things that do not matter.
It was a glorious day and wonderful walk. My fitbit said that I climbed 14 stories. So it made for a good day which I hope I can repeat often.

Last job for a while

I am still catching up, so today's writing is about last Wednesday.  I like Wednesdays, I work at Interurban campus so my focus is different.  Literally different this week because I was out shooting images of the totem in the courtyard to update our photobank.  

Then I was off to the Dr. for my allergy shot.  And I have the evenings all to myself - a nice walk with the dog, some photos, catching up with my cleaning chores, or just goofing off.  Tonight I had to work but it was good work.  My call for the theater was for 8:30pm but it got pushed back to 9pm.  Which was kind of nice.  I was down at the theater early so I could find a parking place.  There was one right by the courthouse so that was cool.  Then the light was perfect for shooting at the Cathedral so I stopped by and caught some nice images. 

Finally I went back stage to watch the Lyal Lovett concert.  Lovett is rather shy so I just found a crate off stage in the wings.  Lovett's show was like is should have been behind the WSM Microphone on the Grand Ole Opry stage.  Lots of guitars, mandolins, strong drum line and great music.  A cross between Oh Brother Where Art Thou and Buddy Holly.  I really enjoyed the show.  I ended up sitting by one of the backup singers and just pleased with seeing the show.

It was a fairly fast strike of the show with a fairly big crew.  I like being fit enough to hump about gear and equipment and aside from a big cut I got on my arm all was well.

I got home about 1am and immediately fell asleep then it was up for work early in the morning - I had a 8am meeting at Lansdowne.

Thursday was a great day - I felt good all day and in the evening at the gym I ran four sets of three minutes at over 5mph each.  This is huge - I was running!  Not lumbering or wogging or fast hustling out right running.  It felt great!

looking backwards with Bill Maher

So last Saturday (July 7) I started the day out pretty nice with a walk with Gerry and Chris down along the water front.  It is nice seeing Gerry as he can really see how much I have lost.  Chris although keeps me going.  I owe a lot to him for being around and keeping me motivated.  It was a beautiful morning for a walk and we all had a great time.

Afterwards Marla and I went down to Sauce for lunch.  I was hungry enough that I could eat the full chicken appy order - four small pieces of chicken breast in an ailoli sauce.  And that was pushing it a bit.  Still well nourished and ready to roll we went over to Sound Advice to pick up Marla's car.  Its security system was acting up and needed to be replaced.  They did a really good job but it also cost $100 more than we expected.  Apparently the old one wasn't installed that well either.

So in the evening it was time to go back to work.  Tonight was Bill Maher down at the Royal Theater.  I was on spotlight and had a good time doing the show.  He did a funny show but I don't think it was worth the price they were scalping tickets for - $200.

The next day Marla and I went down to catch the end of the Pride Week Parade.  It worked out pretty nice where we saw the end of the parade route and were really close to the Pride Festival.  We checked out a few of the booths but soon had to go as it was time to see Gerry and Jan before they return to Federal Way.  We had a nice lunch at the Swiftsure and then Marla and I toddled off to check out the provincial museum.  We took a bunch of touristy photos and had a wonderful time in the sunlight.  I made sure to get a picture in front of the Empress.

We had a really nice walk through the museum.  I was amazed that Marla liked the Dinosaur exhibit.  We actually went to see the Photos of the Queen but it kind of sucked.  So that wrapped up a pretty good weekend.  I write more about the rest of the week a little later.

Blake

great baseball weekend

Thursday June 28, 2012

This was one of our get out of town weekends. I had the Thursday through Tuesday's off and there was a definite need for a road trip.

I may complain about the price of BC Ferries but never complain about the view. However, today we elected to be a little different. Instead of heading out to Swartz Bay and crossing through Active Pass to Tswassen we drove up to Naniamo and left from Depature Bay. It made for a really nice drive. We were on the Queen of Colquitlum which is no where near as nice as the super ferries but on the other hand we didn't spend a bunch on the buffet and instead had a White Spot burger in the cafeteria. We ended up sitting beside a nice retired couple who told us the joys of being a senior with neat little benefits.

So we drove through the city and found our way over the Lions Gate bridge which is getting narrower and narrower or so it feels. City traffic wasn't too bad, either that or I am becoming extremely patient which I think Marla would dispute. Still we found our way to the River Rock Resort in Richmond. I was a little bummed that the Night Market wasn't on tonight; it is only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays but we still had a great time staying in. For some reason I was fiddling around on youtube and found a whole bunch of interviews done with James Garner. So it was a treat playing all them for Marla.

The view from our room at the River Rock Hotel

The River Rock is a nice place to stay and it has some things that we just love to have happen. The first is the story of Rory the dog. We used to have a bearded collie rescue dog named Rory but sadly he passed away. He had a wonderful long life in our happy home. So a few years later we were in Value Village and found a sweet little stuffed dog whom we decided should be the guard dog for our car. The only challenge is that when we stay a places like the River Rock we tend to freak out the valets when we grab the dog and toss him casually into the trunk for safe keeping.

This time we checked into the room and they gave us an upgrade to a suite. The issue was when the bellhop took us up to our room we ended up on the wrong side of the hotel with no marina view. One of the reasons we stay here is because of the marina view. So our very efficient bellhop called the front desk and had us transferred to the right side.

So we got settled into our room and it was very nice as usual. It just took a while to get there. I like staying at the River Rock. They have the most comfortable beds of any hotel where we have stayed. The rooms are small but comfortable and the view is great. From our room we look out across the river where there is lots of barge and tug boat action. We can see across to the mountains past Vancouver and directly onto one of the runways of YVR airport. Every so often a plane flies over head to land and we are close enough to read the small print on the wings – well a bit of an exaggeration but we are pretty close.

We always book with Iprefer and this time was no different except that usually we get a bottle of wine with the room. Somebody must have figured it out because now the free gift is an appetizer from Lulu's or Curve. So now they are making bar money with the free appy. It was okay because we watched a bit of the Seattle ballgame on the big screen while we had our plate of wings. They were pretty good too.

We both slept pretty well in the big comfy bed and the next morning I was up for my walk. I did a good long hike through seedy Richmond. I checked out where the night market would be and then walked a bit along number 3 road. When I came back I went for another swim in the pool. The pool at the hotel is really nice. It is forest like and fairly warm. I didn't do the slide this time since my only urge was to enjoy the hot tub. After a shower I got Marla up and we hit the road for Seattle.

Friday June 29 – Richmond to Marysville

We are not really in a big hurry since Marysville is not that far away so we had a nice buffet breakfast at the River Rock. I am eating less and less all the time it seems. I got my two eggs but I basically ended up doing a deconstructed eggs benny. I 86ed the bread and had the ham, poached egg and a bit of Hollandaise sauce. It was good but frankly the poached eggs are fine. It was a good thing that the buffet is included in the meal since we definitely don't eat the value of the price. However I have come to the realization that I do not pay for the volume of the buffet as much as I do for the selection.

We were off on the road by 11am and toodling down to customs on highway 99. We have changed our usual route that now we prefer to go down through customs at the Peace Arch Crossing. The border crossing store is much nicer at Peace Arch and it is frankly equipped with better bathrooms. That's important because it is the difference between a clean nice place and freezing your bottom off. We continued down our trails and this time just zoomed through Bellingham and past the Skagit Valley Casino. We went straight to the Tulalip and our spot for the night.

Checking into the Tulalip was really easy. The valet took the car and we got a trainee bellhop to help our bellhop. They upgraded us to the tenth floor – another advantage of iPrefer.com as a place to book our rooms. We had a nice room that overlooked the pool and down towards Seattle. Of course it was cloudy and foggy so we didn't see anything. There was a strange looking collection of ram shackled huts back of the hotel off of the property. I thought it may have been strikers or something but it turned out that it was the residents of “Boom Town”. Boom Town as it happens is a collection of about seventy vendors of fireworks. The town is divided into five or six streets each one lined with about 15 vendor stalls. It is like the redneck America that we hear about in stories and comedy shows. Lots of muscle shirts, casual people whom you would associate with the carnival but really they were the nicest bunch of folks. All were very friendly, willing to talk even though they knew we were not buying anything. And the fireworks were amazing. Everything from small little ladyfingers to big shells and mortars were on sale. Some packages were as big as six feet high and four feet wide. They sold for a couple of hundreds of dollars and were quite amazing. Off to the side of the place was a field where people could blow off their booty. There was a constant boom of fireworks and the bright show that goes with them.

Our room was now normal for what we would expect from the Tulalip. It is very nice, comfortable and of course had Marla's' most favourite shower. We got settled in and then went out to go shopping at the Premium Outlet Center. The shopping wasn't so good. I saw some stuff that I liked but not enough to buy. We did find a really nice leather jacket for me at Wilson's but it turned out that it was not priced down so when we thought it would cost $80 it actually cost $260. So screw that. That pretty much established the theme for our trip which was “oh crap, well we will do something different.”

So rather than shopping at the outlet place we ended up going over to Fred Meyer's. I found the runners that I was looking for and at $30 felt much better about my purchase. We went back to the room and settle down for a while. The place was full of lots of ladies who came to see the Chippendale dancers. We got comfy in our room and siddled up to the window really close so we could see the battery of fireworks being fired off. They wrapped up the impromptu firework display at about 11pm but the bangs outside our window were replaced by the carnal thumping from the couple next door. The viagra must be working because they went on longer than the energizer bunny long into the morning.

Saturday June 30 – Marysville – Lynnwood

We had picked up some breakfast supplies at Freddies so it was a pretty simple meal. We decided that tonight rather than going to the theater and seeing Les Mis that we would catch another baseball game. Good thing too because the tickets were much cheaper. We picked some up off of stubhub and they were really nice seats third row of section 221 in the Terrace Lounge. It was Boston against Seattle and we were hoping for a good game. But first we had to secure our room for the night. It was still early but we decided to check into the Residence Inn in Lynnwood. I didn't want to rush too much so we left pretty early. As we were driving in Lynnwood we saw a Best Buy and since there was time I slipped in to pick up a FitBit.

It is a really cool pedometer and electronic toy. Hopefully it will also be a helpful motivator. Parking at Safeco is pretty steep - $30 but it is also very convenient. Since we were down early we went for supper at Pyramid Ales. I like Pyramid and had some really good calamari. Marla, god bless her, was trying to be adventurous and tried a BBQ chicken pizza. When the food came the pizza tasted differently. It tasted surprisingly like a Hawaiian. In fact it was a really good Ham and Pineapple pizza.

Turns out the waitress brought us the wrong pizza and so now we found we had two pizzas on our table. Really good thing because the adventurous pizza we had ordered really sucked. Our seats were great for the game except that we had a tv camera just in our view, it didn't block anything but we could see it. We were in the third row and it was fun. The game was long – 11 innings and Seattle won it at the end. So we all went home happy. On the way we made another stop at Freddies and picked up some dessert – cheesecakes.

We could have had a soak or a swim at the Residence Inn where we were staying but in truth we were just tuckered out.

July 1, Sunday, Safeco Field

The next day, Sunday, I went out for a nice long walk along the interurban trail. Along the way I found a Target store so I stopped in and picked up some baseball food (pistachios for me and sunflower seeds for Marla). My fitbit worked pretty good logging in about 10,000 steps on my walk alone. This time we already had a parking pass so we just zoomed into town. We didn't have time for another lunch at pyramid so instead we just did a little shopping in the Mariner's

Store. We got Marla a cute little Mariners top and found the way to our seats. This time we were in Section 219 which is a little further out than ours were the day before. Still they were really good seats and we enjoyed them. The nuts held off the hungries but I did need some protein so I tried out a $9 roast pork sandwich. Even without eating the bun it was pretty good. Food prices in Safeco are pretty outrageous; a hot dog is $6 a beer can cost $10. It is all good food though and eating at the ball park is part of the experience.

After the game, the Mariner's lost, we drove up highway 99 rather than taking I-5 yet again. It was nice driving through the collection of strip malls and auto dealers. It took a little longer but it was better than flying down the interstate. We found our way to a grocery store and picked up some cheesecake for dessert then we went over to the Lynnwood Outback restaurant. I was a little unsure of the place because it was in a mall rather than in a stand alone restaurant building but in the end it was pretty good. We had shrimp and rib eye steak. It was a little fatty but really good.

After we got back to the hotel we had an urge to have a hot tub but it turns out that they had to cement in the tubs as they could not be handicapped accessible. So no hot tub which was a bummer. Still we were tuckered out so we just had our cheesecake and relaxed for a while.

Monday, July 2

Lynnwood to home

I started my walk by going the other direction this time on the Interurban Trail in Lynnwood. It is a nice trail but it is nowhere nearly as nice as hiking around the Bothel Residence Inn. The Interurban trail goes along side the highway so there is a constant drone of traffic. Fitting with the theme of this trip we decided to come home a different way. This time we travelled to Anacortes Washington to catch the Washington State Ferry to Sidney BC. We did a quick stop at the Swimminomiish Casino which was all right. We won about $10 each but they didn’t have very good food service. So we moved onto the Anacortes Ferry terminal. We were there with our reservations about an hour and a half early so we had time to try out the gastronomic delights of the terminal. It was basically a hut and a bbq that made pretty good hamburgers.

We got onto the ferry and neither of us were too anxious to go up on deck so we stayed in the car and watched Pirates of the Caribbean III. Marla made the most out of her sleeping time and I checked out the occasional view of the pretty islands as we passed.

Soon we were home and all in all it was a very good weekend.

Oh  what a night.  Okay so that's a song about a good night - mine was the other kind.  Somewhere along the line after supper I developed a sore stomach. As the night went on I got hotter and hotter.  Finally I went outside just to cool down - I felt like I was roasting.  So when it was time for bed I took a t3 just because I felt bad.  It was kind of numbing and I was able to get to sleep. 

About two hours later - 1:30am - I was up with the worst stomach ache that I have had since my surgery.  It was like my insides were a rag being rung out and twisted.  Finally after a few sips of ginger ale, a lot of moving around, cleaning up the tables and counters and a couple of advil I was able to go back to sleep.  It took about two hours for the feelings to pass and I don't want that to happen again.

So bleary eyed I got up at 6am and got ready for work.  I focused through most of the day on working so I kind of ignored food.  There is not much that I would want to eat so I did eventually convince myself to have some decent protein.

Then after supper tonight I was again so tired I just crashed out for a couple of hours.  I am napping more.

It has been a very busy week.  First with the Graduation and later with my visits to the hospital and the 24 hour blood pressure tests.  All day Thursday and Friday I got to carry around this pack that was about the size of an old Sony Walkman.  Every thirty minutes a powerful grip would grab my arm and squeeze it tightly.  But when all was said and done it all went okay.  the only challenge is that my readings were all disgustingly normal.  None of the high pressures that I was getting four and five weeks ago.

so we will see what the dr has to say.  On the other side of the scale, I signed up for another UVic course.  this time it is a 300 level writing course looking at narrative and archtypes in film.  So that will take care of my Wednesdays next fall.  It was nice to spend some quality time with Marla this weekend.  That was until we went shopping.

Precious and I had a great walk on Saturday morning and then after I got home Precious, Marla and I went out for a car ride.  first stop was the bank and then we took the opportunity to go shopping at the Bay.  We actually had a great time and then I realized I wanted some stuff in the truck - so there I was in a rush - got my stuff and shut the door to come back inside.  then I looked through the windows and saw the keys to the truck sitting on the car seat. 

So that meant getting precious out of the truck, no reason she should miss out on another walk, and hiking it the 2 kms to home and another 2 back.  This is so much easier to do now that I am thinner.  But with so much walking today I was kinda pooped.  But we had to have dinner first with Leslie.  We had a really nice supper with Leslie, Linda and the dogs.  Then we came home and called it a night.

Sunday was filled with home stuff, we got a lot of stuff down.  I am down another pound to 107.5 kilo.  So that puts me at 236.5 pounds.  Only seven pounds away from my 100 pound weight loss since my surgery.

Graduation

Well today is the 8 month Surgiversary of my RNY Surgery way back in October 19, 2011.  My how things have changed.  What's different?  Well I am down 103 pounds from my heaviest weight off 339 and down 62 pounds since my surgery.  I am smaller - down to a size 36 pants from a size 48.  I can wear a L shirt instead of an XXXL.  My face is smaller and my ego is large.

Today is also graduation day for the College.  I spend yesterday setting things up at the Royal and getting ready for today.  Next year we need to do just a one day move in.  So today is the actual even.  Grads are rather inspiring.  In a couple of years I look forward to my UVic grad in a couple of years.  Maybe even next year (2013).

It may be dull but it was a wonderful weekend

The stall has been broken. Okay so I only lost one pound in a week but it is still one pound down. I am not sure what I am going to do when the scale goes the other direction. It will be a sad time for me when I gain rather than lose.

I think it has been a combination of lots of exercise and lots of work this week that help. I did two photo shoots, one an artistic and commercial shot of an award and the other was a graduation awards breakfast.

At the end of the week I did a photo shoot at the Olympic View Golf Course. It was at 9am so I was up and out to the course really early. Only problem was that I forgot a piece of equipment and had to drive from Costco all the way back to the College and then out to the course again. It was a pretty fast set up and the photo shoot went very well.

That night I had a call to work on the out for Bryan Adams. It was really different because I wasn't doing the whole show I just did it for the work and picked a spot on the loader crew. It was quite cool because four of us ended up together - we had Brandon, Warren, Cam and me. It was like the A team of the most experienced guys on the crew. It was a pretty good night of moving, hauling and shifting stuff about. I would do it again.

It was also nice because it gave Marla and me the weekend together. Our saturday was a nice normal day. Chris and I did the Saturday morning walk with Precious (our last for three weeks) and then Marla and I spend Saturday afternoon doing good stuff about the house. We took Precious out to the vet but instead of Neil we got a fill in for him. she was more nervous about getting a shot than precious. We went to the farmer's market out at the Saanich Fair Grounds - boy it was cold. so we came home and had a nice night. We watched Sherlock Holmes 2.

sunday was a repeat of Saturday with a little sleeping in, Brunch at John's Place. and a couple really bad movies - Puss In Boots and Safe House.