You're kinda fat.

I'm kinda fat, just a little bit, enough to motivate me to get moving, again. I had a doctor appointment a couple months ago, and my blood was drawn to get some tests done for my annual visit. I was waiting to hear back for the results when I got a letter in the mail telling me the doctor's office didn't have my current phone number, call them. The last time I went and got a checkup before this most recent one was at least two years ago. Go figure.

I called assuming they would say I was on the high end of a healthy weight like they had before. Instead, they dropped the cholesterol bomb on me.

"Cut back on red meat, and eat more vegetables and fish. Take two fish oil pills a day."

There are a few of problems with this.

1. I love red meat. Burgers, sausage, bacon, ham, ground beef. It's probably fifty percent of my diet, hence the problem. The fifty percent might be an exaggeration, but you get the point. I likes the tasty animals.
2. I love fish, but the Mrs. is allergic, and we're not sure to what extent. We know she can't eat seafood, but can its mere presence be enough to give her hives and cause her throat to swell up? Not sure. What we do know is that I'm not allowed to kiss her on the lips after I eat shrimp because it could be a literal "Kiss of Death", and we know that if she eats something that has been cooked with the same kitchen equipment used to cook seafood, it can cause problems.
3. I hate swallowing pills. I can barely swallow an Advil if I have to. I can almost swallow an entire slice of pizza, but if you put that little pebble of medicine in my mouth, my throat tightens up to the size of a soda straw.

I do like salad, though. I plan on eating more of that. Luckily I'm a fan of honey-nut Cheerios, too. I'm sure if I just move more than my hands on a keyboard, it would help this problem even faster. Gotta be healthy for those twin boys. Oh, by the way, we had twin boys.

My family, my friends

Happiness is abundant here. A week ago Melissa and I had an appointment to get another ultrasound, and we got to see our two little ones, again. They are doing well and growing strong. Melissa and I thank God every night for these blessings.

After our appointment, we headed to Andrew & Crystal's wedding rehearsal. Things were coming together well for their ceremony, but as the event drew closer, so did the stress and nerves for the members of the wedding party. I was confident everything would be fine, and I tried to relay my positive feelings to the others involved. Andrew chose me to be one of his best men, and I was going to do my best to help make sure his and Crystal's day would be everything they hoped for.

Andrew stayed the night at our place so that he would not see his bride before the wedding. We shared some video game time over a couple shots of Jaegermeister before we crashed for the night. The next morning, we spent the remaining hours of his bachelorhood playing some Battlefield 1943 and eating Thundercloud subs with the other groomsmen.

That afternoon, with some minor scheduling issues, everyone arrived at the venue, and the wedding went off without a hitch, er, with a hitch. Either way, they have been successfully wed. We welcomed Mr. and Mrs. Paynter into the reception with food, drink, and celebration. Michael, Andrew's brother and best man, started off the toasts for the evening, I followed, and Crystal's sisters finished. The night was grand.

The next day, the newlyweds took a plane to Hawaii. They are having a great time as Andrew has made me aware when he called me earlier today. I'll be picking them up from the airport on Wednesday and having some lunch with them. I'm truly blessed to have these two wonderful people as friends.

Blessings are plentiful here at the Graham residence. We have wonderful friends and an awesome family. This is a bit of a sappy post, but that's the only kind of post that sticks. Spread the love, and don't take anything or anyone for granted.

Cambios

I've been getting more sleep, and it's doing me good. Today, I plan to make myself a schedule. My days have been unstructured, and this has lead to laziness and unproductive habits.

I'm taking a break from League of Legends, again, but this time it feels easier. I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. Skyrim, on the other hand, is monopolizing my time. There is so much to do in that world, but it reminds me that there is so much more to do in the real world. Just taking a walk through my neighborhood is relaxing and enjoyable. I plan to take more of these and listen to Spanish podcasts as I do.

My writing slows because I think too much. I think about what others have written, what others think about what I write, so I don't write anything at all, and that is the worse thing I can do. I care what others think, but it should never keep me from being myself.

Long story short, I need to listen to this more often.

Chest pockets and their usefulness

Pockets are a wonderful thing. Without pockets, our hands would always be full of stuff we can't stand to leave home without; cell phone, keys, wallet, portable gaming device, etc. It would only make sense that the more pockets you have, the better! Right?

Well if you don't agree, here's a list I made about my favorite kind of pockets: chest pockets.

Practical Uses of The Chest Pocket

• Got a stick of gum you want to save for later, but your wife and her bottomless purse are nowhere to be found? Good thing you have a chest pocket, otherwise that stick of gum would have become a lint magnet in your jeans.
• Playing your cards close to your chest? Why not leave them there for insured safe keeping. I learned from my days working in a comic book store that chest pockets are the perfect size for Magic: The Gathering cards.
• Do you consider yourself organized with your Moleskine notebook full of all your to-do lists? Not if that list is nowhere near your heart. Add to the list: Buy shirts with chest pockets.

My favorite buttoned shirt I picked up from Mexico has FOUR pockets on the front. What does that tell you about our neighbors to the south? They chew a lot of gum, collect Magic cards, and have a long list of things to do.

P.S. Last time I stood on the scale I weighed 148 pounds. My goal was 147 pounds, so it looks like I'll be hitting it soon.

"The Incredible Hulk" in the form of my car

I am the proud owner of a '98 Chevy Monte Carlo which I have given the name "The Hulk". It's big, green, has its share of battle-scars, and I don't like it when it's angry. What I love about this car is its dependability. I have been the proud owner of this car since 2002. I don't know many people that can say they still drive their first car; I know less that would be proud to.

This car was given to me as a gift from my Dad on my sixteenth birthday. I didn't actually have my driver's license at that point. I was a 16 year old procrastinator (surprise) that didn't get my license until 6 months later. Since then, I have driven the crap out of this car. There isn't really any other way to put it.

It hit the 150,000th mile almost a year ago. It has been declared totaled after an accident it was involved in (other person's fault) three-ish years ago. It is a pain to work on, so I don't. The A/C is now powered by mother nature. The Chevy emblem, which should be on the front, is somewhere in New Braunfels after a rainy day fender-bender (ok, that one was my fault). Oh, and the rear-view mirror is in the backseat. I have no idea how much money has been put into repairs and maintenance, but I'm sure this free car has been paid for twice at some point or another.

 In summation, I want to just say thank you. Thank you, Dad, for the great car. Thank you, Mom, for teaching me how to drive so that I didn't have to learn in some classroom. Thanks to my brother for buying and installing the Sony CD player that still works and sounds great; the pedal covers are still there, too. Thank my wife for not making me get rid of it, yet. Thank Chevy for making this car that I'm looking forward to driving for another ten years, at least.

Three Goals of Five: Progress Report

As another goal for today, I am typing this without looking at the keyboard; not so easy for me. I'm a pretty decent typist, but I am normally not looking at the screen as I type. As a writer, I'm a bit ashamed. Not sure why I never learned, so lately I began passively practicing while blogging, gaming, and working. Blogs are taking a bit longer to write, communication to teammates in games is inaccurate, and work is awesome because I have some.

I began a new project for the Austin Community Foundation, working on some web pages in their "about" section on their web site. This will be great for my portfolio, and I will be working on it for the next two weeks. The current web pages need some emotional and professional touches, so I'm really excited to start writing them after the long weekend.

My weight loss has been a bit different. I have excuses, none are good. I'm still sitting around at 152 lbs. I really want to hit it hard, and go at it like I used to in my high school athletics program. I took that dedicated time of running and weightlifting for granted. Now, I'm lucky if I motivate myself to wake up and go for an hour walk in the morning. Small changes are easier to make than big ones. I just have to figure out what they will be.

Golfing yesterday with a few distant relatives at our family reunion was very enjoyable. We played a tournament with a scramble format and three teams. Playing best ball sure made our score look pretty good, but not good enough. We finished last, but we still had a great time on a good course, and don't tell anyone, but I think the best ball was usually mine.

Overall, I feel progress has been made. I'm happy with that.

My '57 Chevy Bel-Air is in the shop

Okay, so maybe I wasn't absolutely clear on that. My model '57 is in pieces, in the garage, or at least it was over a year ago. Currently, I am finishing what was supposed to be a Father's Day 2010 gift. It has since turned into a, "When I finish it," gift. Thank you, Dad for being so patient.

I purchased the kit in April of last year.

Two months later, I painted the engine parts and glued them together.

Last week--yes, as in, almost a year later--I finished piecing together and painting the interior.

Today, I am waiting for the paint to dry on the wheels.

My Dad owned an actual '57 Chevy Bel-Air, but sold it when it was becoming too expensive to maintain. It was a beautiful car he kept in great condition. It was always enjoyable to take a ride in that car, knowing everyone in their Honda's and Toyota's were secretly envious of our good ol' American industry ingenuity. With my new attitude towards getting things done, this project will be finished in less than two weeks. Dust off that spot on the shelf, Dad.