the magic number is 195 (32)

Hi there! Happy Christmas Eve!

Dashing out to the store in a few minutes... a 24 hour bug has thrown off my "week before Christmas" and I've spent the last 2 days sick in bed. Thank goodness for The Dark Knight... as good as the movie is, it was the one thing that put me right to sleep! :)

So... as I recover from no appetite and gear up for one last run to the stores, I'm meditating on weight loss. There's nothing quite like 2 days of no appetite and an upset stomach to really drop a lot of liquid weight. (btw, I don't recommend this as a serious weight loss technique, but it IS a nice boost). This morning I hopped on the scale to discover I was 227, almost 8 pounds down from Monday. Yikes! I feel it, too. That non-stop rumbling? That's not winter thunder. It's my stomach.

Well, I'm going to use this as a boost. My plan is to drop these final 32 pounds in the next 6 months. That's a bit over a pound a week, but I think it's achievable. Exercise, portion control and journaling will all play a part in this. I will go one step further and keep track on this blog. I made a promise to start drawing again on these pages, and perhaps there's some common ground (sketching, and the [fun] struggle to get to a healthy weight). Time will tell.

One of the rewards for hitting 195 is going to Hawaii with my brother. I promised him a trip there, and I decided that the price of my ticket is achieving 195. I can do it, I know I can. It's just... I'd like to see that number on the scale, too.

So... starting tonight... look for new sketches. In fact, here're two quick pages, done while watching Casino Royale (and thinking about how to capture grief), and then later, walking a dog at midnight along the lakeshore.

Merry Christmas! More to come!

Woody

So Sketchy.....

Hmmmm....

I promised.

things.

I promise things all the time.

That's the problem.

Like having eyes that are hungrier than my stomach, I have plans bigger than the day.

Well, a half mile is better than no mile...

So.... Good Afternoon! I hope you're well! The sun is shining, the sky is a light blue, and there's a feeling of optimism, hope and fear out there. It's Election day. New President. New administration. What better way to celebrate than by showing some of my sketches?!?

I promised my friend Pinky that I would start drawing again. I allowed myself to play Halo3 til midnight, instead. So... as a compromise, I've got my sketchbook at the ready.... and I've scanned some quick drawings from July's San Diego Comic Con! Here they are! Just thumbnails, but I LOVE drawing people. I don't have an economy of line (yet), but there are nice things at work here. If nothing else, I'm grateful to be drawing again. Like a surprise return of a long-ago friend.

Take care! Be well! and Vote!

Woody

Saturday - Great Day, Totally Exhausted

Halloween Party late last night.  Sarah and Catherine's first Halloween party.  Big success... 15 people, all in costume, mingling and munching and making new friends.

Home and asleep by 1am.

Awake at 4am.  rolled over, asleep in seconds.

Awake at 6am.  rolled over and covered head with pillow.

Awake? at 8am...totally late!  Supposed to be in the city picking up friends for day at Six Flags Great America.

Final weekend for Fright Fest... did I mention I love rollercoasters?  3rd weekend in a row I was at the park.  Rides, hot pretzels, rides, funnel cakes, rides, and.... more rides.

Made it back into the city in 45 minutes for pizza and Dr. Who at Ben's house.

Totally exhausted.  Knee feels better.  I'm happy I had a day off from the gym.  I hope all the walking counts as a low impact cardio workout.

Alright... take care.  Thanks for reading.  I PROMISE more interesting posts to come, including NEW ARTWORK.  :)

Happy All Soul's Day!  Nice to think of all those souls, watching over us...?

Penultimate All Hallow's Eve

I THINK I've got that right... Halloween being All Hallow's Eve, and so today, the day before Halloween is ACTUALLY the penultimate All Hallow's Eve. And yesterday was the ante-penultimate All Hallow's Eve.

sigh... this is how my brain works. License plates, too. I study the numbers, flip them, add them, look for symmetry and then scramble. Kind of like a screen saver for my brain as I'm driving. I don't know if it's a waste of time or a useful activity, like Brain Age on the Nintendo DS. hmmm..... time will tell! (an oft-repeated and not appreciated turn of phrase I like).

By the way, how are you this morning? Forgive me for not asking earlier. Did you sleep well? Is your costume ready? This is such a great time of year... we're about to roll into that perfect trifecta.... Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas!

So... another early morning. I skated by on my good looks and clean living! Asleep by midnight, and up by 4:30. MUCH more of a struggle today over yesterday. If I'm going to make this lifestyle change, I need to heed Richard's good advice: "asleep by 8pm" (Richard being one of the Bally's regulars who has ALWAYS been at the gym by 5:15). I struggle with the concept of an early bedtime (too many fun things to do at the end of a day), but it was very easy to wake up on Wednesday with nearly 7 hours sleep.

Christmas is fast approaching, and with it, I'm considering presents. Money is tighter this go around. I'd like to spend an afternoon with music, a notebook, and no other distractions as I meditate on it. I have good ideas, they're just lurking below the surface right now.

No dreams last night. Untroubled (4-1/2 hours of) sleep. My right knee feels a little tender, so I'm alternating exercises and am keeping a knee brace handy. I will not give up exercise for these new aches and pains.

Take care! Enjoy the Hallow's Eve Eve! Practice your phrasing of "trick or treat"... it'd be embarrassing to mess it up... "Treat Trick Or," or some such nonsense... :)

Wednesday challenge

Good morning!

ahhh, to sleep like an old man.  Lights were out by 9:30 last night.

Dreamt about work, and divorce.  I wish I could have had a flying dream instead.  Those are great!  For me, it's very low to the ground, at high speeds, zipping around in the trees.  hmmm, this has been a year for a lot of sad, reunion-type dreams.  Perhaps the new year will offer more dream types.

Quick summary: woke up wide awake at 4am, at the gym and on an elliptical by 5:10, home by 6:30, showered and out the door by 7.  I felt very organized, for a change.

Okay.... back to it!  Take care, thanks for reading!  Volleyball and working out and a last minute scramble for the final piece to my Halloween costume tonight.

Getting a Haircut - It's a Bet

Alright... it's a bet... I need a very light haircut.... just a quick trim... little fuzzies on the back of my neck.  So a coworker is going to help me out.  Only problem is that I promised to be at the office at 7:45 tomorrow morning.  And I've been 15-30 minutes late to work for the past 2 days!  

So... it's 8pm.  If all goes well I'll be asleep by 9, up by 4, gym by 5, work by 7:30.

hmmmm.... we'll see.  I seem to do better when it's a bet, a challenge.  

So... the reward for an early lights out is good rest, a morning workout, and a dapper appearance.

Good night!  Until next time.

Tuesday - forecast cloudy

Good morning.

The sky is clear, but I'm intrigued by the idea of a coming storm.  October is such an interesting month... potluck weather and a closet as chaotic as my mind.  I've been on a precipice between ho-hum and testing myself for some months now.  It's time to step forward.

What to do now?