Swanie River

We went boating with my son in law, Janet and their brood.. oh my what fun we had. They have a tow along that the children love riding. They love bouncing along the waves and cry "faster dad, faster", "make a bigger wake, dad". The two younger ones don't ride on it because they don't like getting wet, but Theresa and Isaac would stay on it all day.
As we left the dock and were going out the channel this swan followed us, I think he was making sure we were really leaving. LOL

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids out on the tow along.

Some serious stuff...

Yesterday I had an appointment with my trainer again. He is not happy with the way I am improving or should I say the lack of improvement in my cardio training. My resting heart beat is still way to high and therefore when I am working out it is much too high. Against his better judgement he started me on some weight training although not very much. But like I told him, I can't afford to pay for the gym and the gas to drive back and forth to the city every day just to ride the bike and walk the treadmill. I can understand where he is coming from but he also has to understand me too. So we did a compromise. He is concerned that without the proper cardio fitness I wouldn't be able to withstand the weight training and end up quitting, which is a possibility but there is a much bigger possibility that I would quit if I just continued doing the cardio. Some is better than none in my books. So I promised him that I would let him know if I start finding it to hard to keep up with the training, I doubt that will happen since he only has me on four machines and very low weights at that. The problem now is that my hours are increasing at work.. I should have known that would happen. I sit here bored to death all year with nothing to do and as soon as I find something to do they increase my shifts.. doesn't that just stand to reason!!!

This heat and humidity is incredible!! I roast at work and then come home and cook some more unless I stay downstairs with nothing to do. The windows upstairs in the computer room and the craft room are too small for air conditioners.. we thought we had found one that would fit but it was half and inch too wide. :( I think this weekend is going to be spent at the beach if I can find one close enough where you don't have to walk half way to the states to get out far enough to swim. :)

Encouraging Results

August 1st was weigh-in again and I am seeing some signs of improvement. I am down to 181 pounds, Yippee!!!! So all in all I feel much better. Over a month of doing without and I have only given in and smoked the one pack of smokes during that time. I am very pleased with myself. Taking caffeine, nicotine, and sugar from your system at the same time is not an easy task and I certainly expected to fail a lot more times than I have. Determination is strong though and having come so far it is much easier to say no way not after going this long.. and now that I am actually seeing some weight loss I have no excuse to smoke at all now. Of course the losing must continue and not just be a one time thing. I do need to lose more than the seven pounds.
I have to admit that I am starting to feel a bit better with the training and am now able to do 20 minutes at level 2 on the bike and 20 on treadmill without my heartrate going "beepbeepbeep" at me all the time. Improvements to say the least. :)

Discouragement - Big Time!

Today was weigh in time and while Alan has lost five pounds I haven't lost a pound. Needless to say I am devastated. I can't believe that I haven't even lost one pound. I was so discouraged the first thing I did was had a cigarette. Yes, I needed it. I can't do anything right so why should that be the only thing I be able to do right?
I didn't even bother with going to the "Y" right now I am asking myself why bother..
I know I will get past this but right now I am discouraged and angry with myself.

One Hour Card Sketch Challenge

My Sketch World is having a One Hour Card Sketch Challenge.
Here are the particulars:
**Friday, July 24th
**Sketches posted at 9:00pm EST
**Finished cards need to be posted in the gallery and linked to sign in thread by 10:20pm EST.
**The 6 sentiments we are working with will be posted the day before so you can pull papers and get psyched up.
**6 sketches will be posted and you will get one prize draw for each card completed and posted by 10:20pm EST.
**All action will take place the "Card Challenges Forum."
**WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!! Ummm...I mean....It's going to be a swell time!!

New Beginnings

I have hit a point in my life where I realize that I have to do something for myself. I need to reset the direction my life is going. I need to take charge of my health. So, a week ago I quit smoking.. put the soda pop aside and decided to join the "Y".
I have to admit that once I put the determination to quit on the table, will power followed right behind and it wasn't half as hard as I expected it to be. As a matter of fact I have to admit that it was downright easy. Oh sure, I crave a cigarette but it is easy to just say no I am not having one and with each passing day it is easier.
The Diet Pepsi was actually a bit harder to quit than the smoking... especially when I am at work. However, I am sticking with the water or the diet iced tea... mostly iced tea because it is supposed to be good to help you lose weight and I have 55 pounds that has to come off. So far my trainer has me working on just the bike and the treadmill, he says that I need to build up my cardio before he will allow me to start any weight training... pfffffft!!!! Darn it after all I want to start loosing the weight now, not later but I guess he knows best. I was very discouraged that after one week instead of loosing I had gained three pounds... I was almost ready to give it up already. I blame that on Alan though because I know better than to weigh myself that often and I shouldn't have done it but he was excited to see how much he had lost... no more scales for me until the end of July.

So much for the bland diet!!!

I think I am destined to be in pain LOL. I just can't eat plain food, I don't have it in me. I have to spice it up some or I just can't eat it, it's as simple as that! So I eat the good food and suffer the consequences. Thank Heavens for Tramoset and Imodium, at least they help keep me from suffering too much. :)
We have discovered a Chinese restaurant in Sarnia that is top notch.. believe me, they are a rarity around here. This one is scrumptious!!! The hot food is hot and the cold is cold... the buffet has a humongous selection to choose from.. all you can eat and believe me, I can eat an awful lot. The best thing about them is that they are cheap.. yeppers, Cheap. We can even afford to go there to eat. Oh my.. the mushrooms in Oyster sauce are to die for... yummy, the curried chicken is perfection, the honey garlic ribs are beyond description.. oh yeah they even have a sushi section too. :) They have quite a large seafood selection, which being a Newfie pleases me to no end. Crab legs, so many different kinds of shrimp that I couldn't name them all, smoked salmon, cheese crab, oysters, and I better not forget the scallops. :) This is on top of all the chinese dishes. Now I have gone and made myself hungry after eating a huge t-bone steak for dinner. Sheeeeeesh, can never fill the huge hole I call a stomach.
This week we went to visit the Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic site in Dresden. It was very interesting. The site commemorates the life of Josiah Henson, the Black slave who's biography inspired the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. It is built on part of the land where he lived. The Museum has a building that contains a lot of artifacts from that period and a lot of slave history, as well it has the last house that he lived in, another house from one of the fugitive slaves, the church, part of the sawmill they used and the Henson graveyard.
Now of course I learned about slavery in school and I have known of existence much the same as anyone else. I have to say though that walking through the site and standing in his house, sitting in the church.. it was a little over-whelming. It seemed to make it more personal. Looking at the whips, chains, the neck clamps and the other stuff almost made me cry. I couldn't possibly imagine the suffering they went through. I could almost hear them cry out. How could any human being treat another in that way? To think they were not even considered to be humans.. how did they stand under the burden! It is not that I learned anything new, it was just that I was brought a little closer and had my eyes opened. Not a pretty sight.
I don't know what this week will bring, we shall just have to wait and see. I am thinking about making a trip to the Moore Museum but it will depend on how well my money lasts LOL