Week 313 Update

If weeks were days, and my journey began on January 1, I would be up to November 9th of my first year today, and I am 36 pounds lighter today than when I started. (Dotti, who today is 67 pounds lighter than when she started, would be up to 5 p.m. on May 2nd of the second year of her journey that officially began on January 5, 1998.)

I have been taking a hard look at myself of late, and I think my face, everything from my shoulders up really, and my legs are all just about right for the weight they are carrying. But I feel that my chest and stomach area are too large. I am 36 pounds down, but I need to be at least 45 pounds down to be right I feel. So, I will continue to strive towards moving the scale down to that point.

This week was a nice recovery from last week, and I am back to where I was two weeks ago. Mr. Scale said that I weigh 203.5 today. My points-per-day fell below 39.0 and that is more than a point-per-day drop. Of course that was only just over 7 points less total that I ate for the week, and could not possibly have engineered a 3-pound drop. (That came mostly from less sodium and ibuprofen this week, especially near my weigh-in time.)

I feel better about this week than I did about last week, not because of the weigh-in but because of how my journey went. This week I never went "over my points" on any day. I consider my upper limit to be 46.0 points, because that was my old maintenance level for 185 pounds. I don't like to go over that number on any given day. Last week I went over that number twice, but this week not at all. That is an improvement that I am happy to see.

I also held my course steadier this week. Last week my points swung over a 22.5-point range day to day. This week the swing was only 13 points. I was not completely out of control last week, but I was in far better control this week: striving for improvement, not perfection. ☺

Saturday our little stereo in the bedroom started giving us some trouble, and since Dotti was using that stereo to do her hypnosis CDs, that was a problem. So, for our walk on that day, we walked to Best Buy, which was 1.25 miles from our house, and purchased a replacement that would accept IPOD. Dotti also has her sessions on her IPOD and so this made it easier all the way around. I put the box in my backpack and we walked back home, for a good 2.5 miles of exercise, killing two birds with the same stone, metaphorically speaking. (No birds actually died as a result of the making of this trip. ☺)

Sunday, my weight decided to move up even higher than the 206.5 I had witnessed on Saturday. But no worries; my points were under control, and I was not putting on fat. I ate in the mid 30's for points, and Monday the scale finally dropped to 205.0 pounds.

Dotti and I took a break and we walked to Starbucks, the one that is one mile from our home. (We have another one that is 1.5 miles away, and we go there if we want to take a little longer walk.) When we got there, I had my standard house blend coffee with some half and half for 2.0 points. We read for a while before walking back home. (I am working my way through the New York Times Bestseller The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History. It is the most enjoyable history book that I have read in a long time. Taking off the PC glasses before viewing history puts a very, very different light on things.

The backpack does bother my back a bit, but it isn't too bad. And I like getting the extra exercise it gives me. Walking to Starbucks I carry our books and sometimes a water bottle. We bring paper and a few odds and ends as well, in case we decide to have a little meeting while we are there. It isn't terribly heavy, just a few pounds, but it is noticeable.

Wednesday, we got in the car early, because I had a 7:45 a.m. appointment over the Columbia River at our doctor's office. Dotti often works late at night, and does not usually like to wake up early. So, it was a tough start for her for the day, but she did well anyway. The appointment was for a minor ailment that fortunately turned out okay, but when I stepped up on the scale at the office, it said 217 pounds. I know that I weighed 205.0 that morning, and that our scale is accurate, through independent checking with other scales. So, that means between food and drink consumed and the clothes that I was wearing, I was carrying around 12 more pounds than I had with me first thing in the morning, and that was after I took my coat off. It is sort of like weight lifting for my legs all day with a light 12 pound extra load.

Since we were out and over the river anyway, we had a couple of errands to run. So, we got a bit of walking in doing that before heading back home. (We didn't get onto I-5 heading north until just after 3 p.m. and we hit the start of rush hour. However, with two of us in the car, we were able to use the High Occupancy Vehicle lane and it allowed us to skip past most of the backed up traffic.)

During that drive home we go a phone call with some bad news about Tammy's Mom, and we are pretty down about that. I was hoping that she might get into a gradual recovery, but things look pretty bleak right now.

We have a family in Spokane; that is the way we view it, and that was true even before our beloved son moved up there. Jim, Tammy, their girls, their grandkids, their parents, and siblings are all part of our family in our hearts. Tammy's Mom is like our Mom. She has always treated us like family and we have felt the same way towards her. One of the special events for me each time we have a family get together has been to play Amazing Grace for Tammy's Mom in memorial to Tammy's late sister Denise, who in turn had been tied to me in song, since I had sung at her wedding in 1982.

Families provide the really important things in life, but the joy of a new addition must share the reverse, and far too often. Tears of joy and tears of grief are mixed down through the years and life is carried on. It is the family that surrounds our life, and which remembers that life when it is past. Our three score and ten, give or take a few, are only a blink of an eye. Passing is more surely to come than taxes, with apologies to Ben, and it is there that our feet are carrying us, no matter in what direction they point. The philosopher, the poet, the priest, and the pastor approach the closing scene, and yet it remains an opaque curtain that we each move through in our turn. And it is always too soon.

In the evening, we took a nice walk for dinner. We walked to Subway (1.25 miles from home) and then on the way back, we made a stop at Borders books since we were walking right past it. My backpack was much heavier on that trip home, with several books added to the load. ☺

Thursday the scale said 204.5. It was a busy day at the computer.

Friday the scale was down to 203.5, and we got in 2.35 miles of walking, including a stop at Subway, and Borders, this time just for coffee and music. They had an Irish band playing at Borders, which played a number of songs that I knew and liked. (Finnegan's Wake comes to mind as one of the numbers.) The lead guitarist and mandolin player was exceptionally good, and the singer had a very good voice as well; actually all four of the musicians were quite good. I could tell that they were used to playing in bars by the way they carried on, and their sense of humor. They broke out of the Irish/Celtic mode for one song, where they played the Johnny Cash song Folsom Prison Blues, and in the middle of it, without missing a beat they continued the same melody but started singing the words to Pinball Wizard, which fit the tune perfectly. While they were serious musicians, they didn't take their songs or themselves too seriously.

From time to time Dotti I used to go to the Borders in Peabody, Massachusetts and listen to the live music they provided. I remember in the early 1990s watching them build the building, with the construction sign posted stating that it was going to be a book store. I have always loved bookstores and I was eager to see this one completed because it was bigger than any bookstore I had seen before. (I had never seen a Borders or a Barnes and Noble back then.) It was better than I had hoped it would be once they got it opened up.

During our walks here in Vancouver, we walked past the place where Borders stands now. And we watched that one go up as well. I once again was mentally urging them to hurry up and get it finished, but this time I knew what was going to be there. I still haven't lost my fascination with that establishment, and probably never will.

In between songs I read some in a book I brought with me: The Chilling Stars . Ever since our Alaska Cruise and seeing Glacier Bay I have been marveling at the way the ice had melted 10s of miles back from the mouth of the bay, most of which had happened before we could have possibly thrown up enough carbon to have warmed the planet. If the planet was warming, but not because of what man is doing, then what is the agency making it happen? This book has an explanation with arguments that I find compelling. It is nice to see something from a scientist, rather than from a politician on this subject.

As is almost always the case, I have three books going at once this week. Two are non-fiction and one is fiction. I read a bit in Robots of Dawn at night to get tired enough to fall asleep, and am about halfway through that one now. In fact all three books are just about at the halfway point right now.

Oh, I forgot to mention that when I am in the car and have time to kill, I am listening to Oliver Twist again. Dickens is in a league all his own. (I am reminded of a story that Vin Scully told back in the 1960s. The Dodgers had just won an important game that Sandy Koufax had pitched. The radio announcer was in the locker room trying to find Koufax for an interview, and he asked one of the other players where Koufax was. The player responded only half in jest, "Oh, he's been called up to a higher league.") Dickens makes it seem easy to write, with a smooth and appealing style. He makes things come alive in your imagination like no movie can. I submit this little snippet from his Christmas Carol for your consideration:

"...These young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked loudly at the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled."

When I read that, just a string of words, black ink on a white page, I am magically taken into that room and can see the kids a play, enjoying the wonders of Christmas day; and those potatoes—I can see them bouncing in the water as though alive and enjoying Christmas too. The man was a genius, a true genius.

Dotti's knee is not 100% yet. It tends to ache at night, and sometimes interrupts her sleep. Ice helps, and we are torn as to whether we should scale back the walking or not. There is no pain while she is actually walking but later on there can be. I guess we need to talk with a doctor and get some guidance.

Today we will be heading down to visit with my Mom for Mother's Day, and that should be fun.

42 years, 14 days on my journey; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-
6'3" 239.5/203.5/197.5±2.5/BMI:25.44/WK-313

Starting weight: 239.5       Target Weight Range: 195 lbs to 200 lbs