Week 359 Update

The house seemed empty this morning. Mr. Scale said that I weighed 201.0 pounds, but honestly I hardly noticed. I woke up and looked at the clock, and thought with a heavy heart, "He won't be here this morning to knock at my door." I wouldn't hear that little voice saying, "Grampy, open for me! Open for ME!"

We had our lives completely filled up this past week with a little boy, in the Terrific Twos stage, brimming over with energy and passing out love and smiles by the bushel. He and I have about the same rising schedule in the morning, and I would get settled into my office about 5:30 and around 5:45 I would hear my doorknob rattle and that dear little voice calling out to me, "Open for me!"

But not this morning; today he is back home in Spokane, and we are left with a million happy memories to tide us over until we see him again. Hunter taught me that my office chair isn't really used for sitting at a computer and working. Oh no, it is for spinning a two year old grandson around, while he laughs with glee, and Grampy sings, "Round and round the mulberry bush..." And of course, when the song is all done, I hear, "Again!"

My piano never sounded so sweet as when it was being "played" by those little hands, joining in with whatever I was playing as we sat side by side on the bench. He asked over and over again to "play a song" when he came into my study. And I learned long ago, things like this don't come around a second time, you make the time for that little one and soak it all up today, because tomorrow he grows up, and those moments will be lost. We drew pictures together, and he and I spent an afternoon at the park running up and down the slides and other fun stuff. Hunter carved out a big spot in our hearts, set up housekeeping there, and now the memory of his voice is echoing in the empty rooms he left behind. Well, not quite empty, he will always be there, and when we talk with him on the phone, for a moment it will be like he never left.

And if that were not enough, we had a week with our wonderful niece as well. Jamie has grown really close to us over the past two years and we so very much enjoy having her visit. At nineteen, she is mature far beyond her years. I have to remind myself that this devoted mother and confident lady is still a teenager. When she was a little girl, she used to dream about being a movie star, and today she is beautiful enough to be able to walk with that crowd as an equal, but fortunately she is instead focused on her son, and on college to help give them both a solid future as he grows.

Hunter is advanced, and talking better than most kids his age, and that is mostly because of the attention he receives throughout the day from Jamie, and his wonderful grandparents Tammy and Jim. Hunter is surrounded with love, and he is flourishing as a result.

We knew that we only had our precious two visitors with us for a week, so we tried to pack in as much fun as we could. We went the zoo, and had pictures taken at Sears. We colored Easter Eggs with Hunter, and we enjoyed Easter morning as he found his Easter basket. Dotti and Jamie had a day of girl stuff, including a pedicure and shopping while Hunter and I went to the park for a fun day of running, sliding, and climbing. We visited IKEA to pick up some frames for all those pictures that we took at Sears, and visited the mall several times to walk around and do various things. I had a nice niece/uncle lunch with Jamie, with us sitting there long after the meal was completed, and visiting. (She was very patient in listening to advice from an old man, and sharing her ideas and plans for the future for Hunter and herself. Having a niece like Jamie is a blessing beyond measure. Every time she visits Dotti and learn to respect her more, and find that we are even more attached to her than before. And Hunter couldn't be in better hands!)

One evening we watched Little Lord Fauntleroy with Jamie. While it is one of our favorites, Jamie had never seen it before. I explained to Jamie that, although I had enjoyed the movie for a long time, today I can truly relate to the grandfather in the movie, who said that he was becoming "quite an old fool" over his grandson. When Hunter calls "Grampy!" from the other room—well what else—I come running. When he throws those little arms around my neck I feel like I have lived my whole life just so I could reach that one moment. I do feel like an old fool, and I love it!

If you are a grandparent, you already know what I am saying, and if you are not, you never will understand until you are.

Here's Hunter looking all grown up in his cowboy outfit.

I took this picture of Jamie in our kitchen before we left for the Sears photo shoot. Both Dotti and Jamie wore dresses especially for Uncle Al, because they know how much I like to see ladies in dresses. It was a great day for me, because I was surrounded with beauty on either side, and a bundle of grandson joy in my arms. It just doesn't get any better than this!

I had to show restraint here, because I could look at pictures of our lovely niece and handsome grandson all day long. So, I only included this one picture of Jamie from the "before" pictures, even though there were several others that were really nice that we took outside.

The sun was breaking out from the clouds periodically, and I had pulled the van out sideways in the driveway, to use as a little backdrop for a few pictures of my own before leaving for Sears. The sun, when it came out, was at the camera's back. Hunter naturally got in front of the camera first! He sure looked ready for the camera didn't he?

And here's my favorite model of all time, my lovely, sweet, and wonderful wife Dotti! I can't even begin to say how much she brightens every room that she enters. She looks great in that red top, and she wore it for me, because she knows it is my favorite color. Yep, I'm a lucky guy!



I am having so much fun taking pictures I don't know what to do when I get on the other side of the camera. Who wants to look at this old guy, when there are two beautiful women and a really cute grandson to take pictures of?

And speaking of being spoiled, here I have the most wonderful woman in all of the world in my arms, and am reminded that 31 years of marriage with Dotti has only made me want a lot more of them! She's the very best!

We got into our cowboy hats and shirts on for a couple more shots. It was fun trying different poses and seeing how they came out.

Hunter had his thumbs in his pockets, just like a cowboy, and Elmo was still making him smile.

I had to include this darling shot of Hunter smiling in his cowboy hat! Isn't he cute? I have put a lot more pictures of Hunter, Jamie, and Dotti in the video below. It was a week of photos for sure.

Moving on, as time always does, I must now continue on, while holding the picture in my mind of Jamie with Hunter, on the other side of the security barricades heading off to board their departing plane at the Portland Airport, and the two of them waving back at us as we waved and blew kisses to them. The everyday routine of watching my weight waits for my attention.

This is the end of my 359th week since starting my journey. If weeks were days, and I had started at the beginning of calendar year—and in 2008 it's a leap year—this would be day 359 of the year, and it would be December 24th, Christmas Eve! (No wonder this was such a great week for me! )

As for doing all the things I had hoped to do on my journey, well, it hasn't been such a great week. I did get some exercise, and I do feel better as a result. Last night Dotti and I walked to Red Robin and then went on to Borders Books for an evening of computers and live Irish music, and even with the backpack, I didn't feel too bad after the walk. I am not quite up to the level where I would like to be, but I am much better off than I was a week or two ago. With the Zoo, mall-walking, the day at the park, and our walk yesterday at least I didn't have a sedentary week. Also, I did intentionally stay away from Taco Bell when the subject came up. But I ate at places that were worse, so I won't be breaking my arm patting myself on the back over that one. A few examples:

• Having an Elephant Ear and a big piece of fudge at the Zoo. (I keep bouncing back and forth between the joy of how good they tasted and the guilt of, well...you know.)
  
  
• Various cake treats from Starbucks and Borders Books.
  
  
• Chocolate/peanut butter bunnies for Easter.
  
  
• I had cheeseburgers at Burgerville, McDonalds (twice) and Red Robin (technically a chili cheeseburger)
  
  
• A two-scoop waffle cone at Baskin and Robins.

All things considered, I was lucky to be only 201.0 pounds this morning.



In fact if you look at my Weight Commander graphs, you would think that all was well. The only thing that saved me this week was that my teeth were very painful when I used them for any heavy chewing, and so I didn't eat all of the food I would have otherwise eaten. I only ate half of my Ruben Sandwich and half of my fries when I was visiting with Jamie. I just wasn't hungry enough to force myself past the pain. This week that was actually a good thing.

So, now the dust is settling from our wonderful week, which really did feel like Christmas Eve, it is time to focus on this week and see if I can't do things right, and have a really good OP week. My heart and my head are filled with memories that will keep me warm and toasty for some time to come, and of course we don't have to wait too many months before we will be seeing our little Hunter again. I will close with a link to a movie I made for Hunter. Dotti uploaded it to YouTube and here it is:

6 years, 323 days on my journey; a lifetime to follow.

-Al-
6 '3" 239.5/201.0/197.5±2.5/BMI:25.12/WK- 359

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

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