Fire!!!

I’m becoming a nervous wreck! Every time I heard a chopper overhead, I looked to see if the chopper displayed the red paint of search and rescue. I haven’t post for so long that I’m suspecting some of you might have called them on me.

So please call them off, I’m not lost, I was in a wait-and-see shit-uation. It is a bit like when you are at the dentist, you are sitting in the chair, you known that time period between the time a person show you the chair and the arrival of the dentist… that waiting period when you can’t do nothing else then wait (or in my case think about running), well it has been like that for me the past month.

At work, we knew that there would be cut of personnel, I even volunteer to be one of them. Then I wait to see if I would get my walking out paper. Yesterday, I had a meeting with my divisional director and he gave me a letter stating that they were sorry, but because of the budget cut, my position has been cut. Youppi!!! I am going to retire at the latest September 28, 2012. That is in 150 days. This is like sitting in a bus and then you just found out that it is an express, it will bring you directly to your destination.

Yesterday, the director was meeting individually with the entire accepted volunteers. This was easy for him, as we are the happy bunch of the cut. However, in the middle of July, he will be serving letter to others that will not be that happy. The work environment is not too good, everyone are so nervous and stress about not knowing if they will still have a job. Management will start a process where every one would have to compete to keep their job.

My biggest problem is my wife (and I say that in a nice way:) ), her department is not cutting position, so she need to find someone that is being cut off and trade position with them. There is a whole system being deploy to help accomplish this, let’s hope that she find a good match.

I have been pushing my kids to get a “good job” in the public service, however, they didn’t listen to me… thanks the god-of-security-job that they didn’t listen.

  

Week 11

This is the eleventh week of my goal of loosing 60 pounds.

For the first 20 weeks, my goal is to loose 1.5 pound per week.

Week 1 to Week 5: 10.8 pounds
Week 2 to Week 10: 8.2 pounds
Week 11: 1.2 pound

Total weight lost: 20.2 pounds

Houray, this is more than a third of my total goal.

I was not looking forward to stepping on the scale this Monday. It was Easter Sunday and my wife birthday Saturday… All occasions of taking a side road to a buffet of calories.

I can take a deep breath (and there is still room in my pants to do so :))

Sorry, this is starting to look only like a Weight loosing blog, I will post couple more time this week to do some catching up on what is happening.

Next week, picture time... Poor you!

Week 10

This is the tenth week of my goal of loosing 60 pounds.

For the first 20 weeks, my goal is to loose 1.5 pound per week.

Week 1 to Week 5: 10.8 pounds
Week 6: 0 pound
Week 7: 3.2 pounds
Week 8: 1.4 pounds
Week 9: 1.6 pounds
Week 10: 2 pounds
Total weight lost: 19 pounds

Wow 2 more pounds that I don’t need to carry everywhere I go.

Last week, I stopped logging the food I eat in Spark People. I stopped because my food intake is pretty much always the same thing.

Let’s say that I had to trained myself into good eating habits. When my first goal of loosing 30 pounds is reach, I will re-start to log my food intake because the number of calories might have change too much.

My weight has passed the 200 marks (198.6). My Body Mass Index (BMI) is now at 31.1. If I could only find a way to grow… I would not need to do anything to get my BMI less than 30. For the one that doesn’t know much about BMI. A BMI of over 30 indicate that you are obese and that you are in a highly risk for health issues. A BMI between 25 and 30, is you are overweight and at risk for health issues. A BMI of 20 to 25, it’s the normal weight. For less than 20… hurry up start eating FRYES and cake!  

Since my weight is less than 200, I start training. Today, I walked 30 minutes. Boy it was windy and with the pair of cheek that I have… wind can be a real hassle!

Week 9

This is the ninth week of my goal of loosing 60 pounds.

For the first 20 weeks, my goal is to loose 1.5 pound per week.

Week 1 to Week 5: 10.8 pounds
Week 6: 0 pound
Week 7: 3.2 pounds
Week 8: 1.4 pounds
Week 9: 1.6 pounds
Total weight lost: 17 pounds

Ahah still on target, my average per week is around 1.88 pounds per week, a good thing that at the beginning of May we are going to a cruise otherwise I could reach my goal way ahead :)

Last weekend, we went to our trailer. The thaw is over and we were allowed to drive our car to the door. We brought our camera, and would you guess that NOT a single deer show up! Maybe it was karma coming back at me because I ‘joked’ last week of having them on the BBQ.

On the work front, there is a lot going on. Last week, we had a meeting with management about the imminent layoff. They asked if anyone are considering volunteering to get layoff to contact them. As soon I got back to my office… I volunteered! We also got some details about the layoff Schedule:

This Thursday – Budget Day
2 weeks - management will announced how many layoffs
4 weeks - management will tell the persons volunteering if they were accept
8 weeks - start of the process of determining who will stay
From then whoever is layoff will have 12 weeks to made a choice about which option they take (there is 3 options, the only one I’m interest about is the second option, get 42 weeks pay and retirement)

The problem is NOT me, it’s my wife. Her employer is very unlikely to layoff employee, she might have to find someone that is layoff and trade position with him/her. This should not be too difficult, but, it will need approbation from her management head…

Week 8

This is the eight week of my goal of loosing 60 pounds.

For the first 20 weeks, my goal is to loose 1.5 pound per week.

Week 1 to Week 5: 10.8 pounds
Week 6: 0 pound
Week 7: 3.2 pounds

Week 8: 1.4 pounds

Total weight lost: 15.4 pounds

Last week, it was a real mental struggle to stay focus to the goal. It seems to me that all week, I wanted to eat more… and not only some delicious carrots!

But with keeping the goal in sight… and starting to see a physical difference, it makes it easier to carry on. Sunday, I was so proud that I stuffed… myself in a new smaller size pair of Jeans (36).

Now this is week 8, generously, I'm offering pictures of myself... haha. Before I get a comment, I should really get some sun tanning (I haven't find the right salon yet).

Jan 29

March 18

Jan 29

March 18

We spend the weekend at the trailer. The thaw has started and cars are not allow in the campground. So you have to leave you car at the gate and transport everything by the shear power of your arms. I’m telling you, you just bring the necessity: food, water, and in case of emergency wine. We even brought the laptop… I wouldn’t want to miss reading some of my blogs pals :)

One of the non essential item was the camera grrrr…

Like every weekend at the trailer, when we arrive, the first thing I do is to fill the delicious basket of feed for our deer. The last 3 weekends, they came but only nibble some, and they came at the covert of darkness. Wanting to change their diet a bit (and enticed them to show themselves more), we even bought some apples for them to snack on!

Last weekend… they were 5 eating everything in the basket… they ate the whole thing… you will have to take my words because WE HAVE NO PICTURES!!!! At the end of their feast, they flip the basket over, I think that they wanted, rudely, to let me know that they want more. If that was not already frustrating enough, those inconsiderate beasts, came in day light. That would have make amazing pictures… I am seriously thinking about starting to lear to hunt… I might give some iron in their diet! This would be great to admire them while they are sizzling on my BBQ!

Week 7

This is the seventh week of my goal of loosing 60 pounds.

For the first 20 weeks, my goal is to loose 1.5 pound per week.

Week 1 to Week 5: 10.8 pounds
Week 6: 0 pound
Week 7: 3.2 pounds

Total weight lost: 14 pounds

AhAh! I knew it; last week was a mis-read of the balance. I had no doubt about that, but, I didn’t want to song like a not-looser looser and blame it to a device instead of holding my pants high and swallow the non-fat outrage!

All the signs were there…

I’m at the last hole of a belt that has been around my waist for the past 10 years (most of the time). Soon, I would have to part with this accessory and send it to a museum somewhere. It is going to be a heart breaking goodbye. I knew, I shouldn’t get attach but what can I say, I am a sent-i-mental person.

My pants are also going to have to find some other buns out there…

My coat has enough room in it to breathe again.

If my head could not be sooo swollen with success… it would be perfect!

The only drawback… I said that as soon I reach 200 pounds of muscle… I would start to add exercise to my daily change of life style. This would be in another 3.6 lost pounds.

I will not be training for a marathon. I will just work on flexibility (in case I have to tie my own shoes one day), a little muscle building and some cardio in my pot-of-training-schedule.

May is coming soon and we are going on a cruise, so exercising might be my way of controlling my weight to not go overboard!

Growing older

This week, someone send me an email about Rose. I don’t know if it is a true story, but I found some good life wisdom in it. This is such a great story....hope you enjoy it.

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, 'Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?'

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!' and she gave me a giant squeeze.

'Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked.

She jokingly replied, 'I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...'

'No seriously,' I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

'I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!' she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this 'time machine' as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she revelled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium.. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, 'I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.'

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, ' We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humour every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody! Can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets…'

She concluded her speech by courageously singing 'The Rose.'

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those months ago.

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. We make a Living by what we get. We make a Life by what we give...

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

'Good friends are like stars...... .....You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.'