Week 271 Update

Dotti and I have been searching for some routine in our lives. It seems that we are being tugged in a lot of different directions, and it is hard to settle down into anything that might be called normal. Even when we are home the days hurry by, and even after long days, we often seem to be farther behind rather than catching up on what needs to be done. Even when we finally start to make some headway, something pulls us away and we fall behind again. And getting sick for several weeks this last month didn't help either.

August should be a pretty good month for getting things done. We don't have any trips scheduled. Jim and Tammy are coming down for a few days, but that will be a welcome relief, and an enjoyable time, spent with our best friends.

Today, we are going to head down to Mom's house where Glenn, my oldest son, Rie, my daughter-in-law, and Kai my grandson will be meeting us tomorrow. It has been 10 years since we last saw Glenn and Rie. We have never met Kai. So, we will have a lot of catching up to do. It is an exciting time in our lives.

However, this week was special too, because we got to go up to Olympia and visit with LeRoy; and just because we see him more often doesn't mean it is any less wonderful to see him. Our relationship with LeRoy is very precious to both Dotti and I, and it is always a joy when we can spend time with him!

On Saturday, I weighed in on our traveling scale at 193.5. We were at LeRoy's house, and normally both Dotti and LeRoy are later sleepers than I am. So, I get up, weigh myself and then settle into a recliner in the living room with my laptop until the others wake up. There is something very pleasant about those moments, where Dotti is sleeping on the air mattress beside my chair, and LeRoy is resting in his room. All is well with the world, and it is one time when the feeling of hearth and home seems overpowering.

When everyone was up, we had fun time visiting, and we went out shopping. We ended up having Mexican food for dinner (28.5 points for me, which shows why I should not do this very often). It was a birthday meal for LeRoy, 5 days early, because Dotti and I wouldn't be there on his actual birthday (July 20). We had a great time.

Afterwards, we walked over to a nearby camera shop that we spotted. (A little exercise to keep from falling asleep. ) I found a nice tripod for my camera to replace the one I have been using since the mid 1970s. The old one is still functional, but the handle that drives up the mounting rod broke off years ago, and cranking it up is a bit tricky, and it is never fast. Also, the new one extends up to about 8 feet into the air, which is much higher than the old would reach. The legs are easier to extend, and it is solidly built. And the price was far lower than I expected. (That was what set my mind to finally get it. I have wanted a new tripod for years.)

On Sunday we went to a park near his place. We had a lot of fun taking pictures, and here are a few of us that we took (click on the images to see the full sized picture):

It is amazing how places like this can exist inside the city limits in towns in the Pacific Northwest!

On the way home, we stopped at Burgerville, and 37.0 points later my plan for the day was in the toilet. I ended up eating 70.5 points for the day, and that even pulled my average points up for the week significantly. I am journaling every day. I am attempting to eat within reason, but I just don't feel right. Something has changed, and I need to move back towards a more structured eating routine.

Monday was the last day in my written Journal Book 9. It was the 1893rd day of my journey and I weighed 192.0 pounds.

Tuesday I started my Journal Book 10, up 2.5 pounds at 194.5.

Dotti and I were in the car trying to reach Trader Joes, and we took a different route than normal, due to heavy traffic on the main road. All at once Dotti spotted a theater that we didn't know existed. We had wanted to see Superman Returns, and so we stopped to see when it was playing. As it turned out, it was only 15 minutes away, and it was playing in the theater's "Living Room." We had no idea what they meant by that, but it sounded intriguing.

Moments later we were seated in theater unlike any we had ever been in before. It was truly like sitting in your living room watching a movie. The chairs were comfy and they reclined, and there was a hassock for Dotti and I to put our feet up on. Each row of this theater was separated from all the other rows by walls, so no one seated in another row could see us, and we couldn't see them. There was only a light crowd anyway, and we had our row entirely to ourselves. (Additional amenities that we didn't partake of included waiter service, and meals from the restaurant, adult beverages, and pillows on the main floor carpet that could be taken and used as desired.) It was amazingly comfortable and quiet.

Naturally, with alcohol being served the entire audience was 21 or older, and that held the noise and distraction level way down. And the very popular movie had not been out that long to have such an uncrowded showing.

We decided that this was going to be our theater of choice from now on!

I had a box of Milk Duds, and later worked out the points for it, and it came to 9.0. Together with a Snickers candy bar, I was up to 20 points. This cannot be a regular thing!

Fortunately, I ate pretty well for the rest of the day, and my total points hit my old maintenance level of 46.0 points exactly.

Thursday, LeRoy's actual birthday, Dotti and I hit the movie theater again and watched The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. I am not wild about these POTC movies, but Dotti really wanted to see it. So, it was back to "The Living Room" on Wednesday. Once more we had our secluded row to ourselves! That is just amazing when you think of how jammed the normal theaters are for these popular first run movies. I had some popcorn this time, with no extra butter, because I thought it wouldn't be too bad. Later I researched it and found that it came out to about a point a cup. I had 12 cups I estimated, which made that worse than the Snickers bar I had the time before. It has been years since I had movie theater popcorn, and I think that it may be that long before I have it again. Not only that, I didn't do as well on the rest of the day, and my total popped up to 59.5 points. (That didn't help my daily average either!) While the movie wasn't much better than I had expected, the time with Dotti was priceless!

The weather was a big deal this week. It was hot!

Friday, I was busy working at my computer when all at once I got a phone call from a lady in distress. You guessed it, my lovely Dotti was in trouble: She had locked her keys in her car.

So, I jumped on my trusty steed (in my Toyota) and rode off to slay her dragon (bring a spare key).

When I got in the car I took a picture of the outside reading for temperature and this is what it said:

So, I flipped on the air conditioner full blast and the fan started moving the air very quickly; all that hot air hitting me in the face didn't seem to help my overheated feeling at all. Even when the air started coming out of the vent at a temperature that was below the cabin temp, it didn't do much good before I got over to the post office. However, what I saw standing there did:

She always puts a smile on my face!

Fortunately she had been waiting inside the post office building and it was air conditioned.

FLASHBACK: I remember one time I had left for work, and it was well below freezing outside. Dotti had no insulation, either in the way of natural padding, or in the way of clothes. It was about the time this picture was taken, and she was dressed in something very similar as she was here:

She locked her keys in the car, and she couldn't get into the car, or our apartment. She was able to get a neighbor to let her use the phone, but she kicked Dotti right back into the cold to wait. It took nearly an hour before AAA showed up, and Dotti was dancing around pretty good in the freezing temperature trying to stay warm.

RETURN TO THE PRESENT: Since I was in the car already, after I let Dotti back into the van, so she could get her purse, I left her to mail her package at the Post Office, and I headed over the gas station to fill up our car, because it was riding of fumes. (It is the one we will be taking on the trip tomorrow and it wouldn't do to run out. :D

On the way over the temperature went up another degree:

I filled up and headed for home. I passed Dotti as she was pulling away from our mailbox on our street at home. She followed me into the driveway. :)

When I looked at the outside thermometer here is what it said:

Too hot for me!

While that thermometer is in the shade, it is right under the roof that is being hit by the sun and that added a bit to the total. However we did hit 104° that day. Our normal high temperature for this time of year should be around 79 or 80, and our lows should be somewhere in the 50s. Here is what our temperatures looked like as they rose this week:

Well, it's another week in the book. The journey continues, even though it gets confusing sometimes.

5 years, 72 days OP; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-

6 '3"/239.5/194.0/180±2/BMI:24.25/WK-271