P Bruins, Scorpion Bowl, Bigger Pants weekend

So what is in a weekend?  Time for fun? Time for painful chores? Time for friends?  I usually migrate towards the things that are fun.  Danielle and I left work Friday and headed to Patriot Place.  I had to buy some jeans that fit considering my ass continues to grow (go figure) and my clothing doesn’t fit.  So rather than work out, and burn a calorie, I feel it is easier to buy new clothes.  In all honesty It had been more than 5 years since I purchased a pair of jeans.  I guess the carpenter jeans just aren’t cool any more.  So we hung around Patriot Place for a little and did something we do not enjoy, shop for clothes.  Then we went to Toby Keith’s, “I love this bar” bar.  I had not been, I kind of refused to thinking I am not all about Pop Culture Americana, but I gave in.  It was fun, had a beer in a mason jar, and watched all the staff in their costumes, some were just so funny! 

Then we headed to Providence, to catch a Providence Bruins Game.  The Boston Bruins along with the rest of the NHL is still in a lock out, but felt like this would be a good way to see the stars of tomorrow.  When I purchased the tickets, I did not realize that UMass Lowell was hosting Boston College, in Lowell at the very same time.  BC were the 2012 National Champs, so that would have been an awesome game to catch as well. 

The only time I had been in the Dunkin Donuts Center before was for a Monster Truck rally with Zach my nephew and my brother Adam like 7 years ago.  They have really done a nice job updating it but they charged $9 for a beer.  $9 BUCKS!  Unreal.  I guess I am in the wrong line of work.  So If you go to a game, do yourself a favor and smuggle in brews.  That is an friggin rip off!  Its not like they are trying to off set the $20 million dollar salary of someone on the ice.

The game was very fun, the P Bruins threw down with several fights.  If that were a statistic that was kept and helped with a win, they would have won in a land slide.  Byt thy ended up losing in a close game, closer than it appeared at 3-0.  It was “Pink in the Rink” night so they gave everyone a pink towel and the 75% full crowd would have them from time to time.  And yes you bet your ass I will be writing off the $5 per ticket that was going to the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer foundation.  This years taxes shall be fun!

We spent the weekend in Plymouth, complete with seeing my friends, the mini lop rabbit owners, and teaching my brother how to ask inappropriate questions to Siri on his iPad. 

So between a scorpion bowl, and seeing the Pats at a good buddy’s house from work, just Destroy the Rams, it was a good weekend where I question where the time has gone by the end of it. 

With the class in the rear view mirror I have not decided whether I am taking a new one yet but I should decide because they are starting this week.  Whatever the case may be, enjoy Hurricane Sandy, don’t let her get the best of you! Stay strong.  Josh

Catching up with the obese airman

So I am 2 weeks away from finishing this class.  The time commitment is a bit more than I was thinking, but then again what was I thinking?  It’s a graduate level marketing class.  But I have a couple nights a week where I do the schoolwork, and one night a week is the actual class.  Couple it with something like the scenario I had this weekend, where I had drill with the Air National Guard and it makes for one hell of a scenario.  I know having all of these commitments is a good thing in the end, but I have an uneasy feeling thru all of it.

So other exciting things in my life, well I interviewed for an officer position in the Guard.  What is the significance of this?  In the National Guard you must be commissioned as an officer before you turn 35 years of age.  And those of you who know me know that (GASP!) that window of opportunity is closing quite quickly.  So I had to put together a package with school transcripts, write a letter of intent, submit AFOQT scores (Air Forcer Officer Qualifying Test), my PT scores, a letter of recommendation from my commander, and a couple other pieces of information.  I have interviewed for 3 positions like this in the past, yet never have been successful.  The last time I sat thru a board, it was 2006.  And I left the interview thinking, OH MAN THEY LOVED ME.  I answered every question like a friggin champ!  I might as well start planning the rest of my career around this.  And then WHAMMO!  This very political process passed on me, and chose someone who I felt was the polar opposite of what I was.  Now, repeat the process 6 years later.  Still the same enlisted rank, no gray hairs yet, but about 25 lbs heavier.  In that six years I managed to move from RI to MA to VA to MA.  In that six year period I went from being an uncle of two to an uncle of four.  I went from being the son of two hard working parents, to the son of two parents who no longer work.  And at a time when I thought I would never find anyone to date; now I am married, go figure.  Six years has flown by.  And I found myself answering these canned questions very similar to the way I answered them in 2006.  Only time will tell if this time around they actually listened to what I was saying, or will I once again fall into the “We regret to inform you that you were not selected” category. 

Other exciting things, I brewed my first beer at a place called “Incredibrew” in Nashua NH last week.  It was a fun process, gave me an appreciation for how the Lord’s nectar comes to be.  We head back next week to bottle it.  Looking forward to it. 

Um, my drill weekend also was spent 30 minutes with a doc who had to counsel me about my weight, and nutrition habits, because of the weight and the tape measurement of my abdomen recorded prior to last drill weekends fitness test.  Ignore the fact that no one in the group (40+ folks) finished within 90 seconds of me for the 1.5 mile timed run.  Ignore the fact that I may not have the genes of someone with a 6 pack.  The USAF / ANG feels that measuring my waistline and having me step on a scale is a true reflection of whether I am fit to fight.  I wish they would do something a tad more practical, like say, put on a ruck sack, fill it with 55 lbs of weights, and have you jog across a football field a few times, climbing over obstacles.  Lets see the chain-smoking dude that happens to have crack heads as parents, and his 29 inch waist line keep up with me!  Let him drink his 5 Mountain Dews a day, walking duck footed, and taking almost 20 minutes to do the 1.5 mile run.  I know I am in the worst shape of my life right now, but MY worst shape exceeds the majority of the clowns that get a better assessment score because of what they take into account.  1 min of pushups and 1 min of sit-ups also helps put together an idea of just how fit to fight you are. 

If Scott Brown is re-elected this year I am going to write to him and have him question the thinking behind that scoring for these annual assessments.  I have enjoyed having a Senator who serves in the military as someone to throw ideas at.  For me to wait for an hour to meet with a Doc to have them tell me I need to be aware of my saturated fat intake, question if I drink (um, yeah doesn’t everyone) and advise me to have plenty of fruits and vegetables is a complete waste of time. 

What is a funny thing though is to see my health record, from when I enlisted, 12.5.1998 to present, and see my annual weigh in’s for the physical, begging as a 168 lb Airman basic, and now a 204 lb Staff Sergeant.  Good stuff, It is quite the bell curve, well at least half of one so far. 

So part of me wants to correct this, and make some significant improvements, and then part of me wants to try to pack on 40 more labs, tip the scales, but try and blow everyone out of the water on the run again.  J

With all of this being said, I enjoy my time in the Guard, I like serving the country and the state I serve in, and for every one of those moments I shake my head at, I have 8 moments that I can stand and say with pride and confidence that this remains a great choice for me. 

Other things..  Had an alumni event in Plymouth at the Cabby Shack last week.  Shipyard in a glass with a cinnamon rim, nothing beats it!  Good to see a few of the people I liked from school.  For a Thursday night it is tough to get people to travel to something like that. 

Grabbed 3 buds and played golf on Friday at Indian Pond in Kingston.  I know I golf you ask?  Not really and not well at all.  Once in Panama in 1998.  Once in Wareham in 2000.  Once in Maine in 2002. Once in Egypt in 2005.  And last Friday in Kingston, MA.  Pretty random, but my claim to fame was that I held on to the same ball thru the first 16 holes!  And no one in the foresome could have said that either!  Jake, Jon and Matt, thanks for making it a fun time! 

Anyways I have procrastinated too long, I need to brush my teeth, head to bed, and catch the rest of the Monday Night Football on the iPad. 

By the way, I did not edit this, nor go back and spell check or correct anything.  I just started typing, and now I am submitting this.  Because that is how I roll.  If I needed you to be Suzanne Blanchard on my ass, I would ask for it. 

Josh

Bring the teacher an apple

So I started going back to school last night, a “Marketing Fundamentals” graduate school class at UMass Lowell.  Why you may ask?  Because it is long overdue.  One class at a time, sitting in the corner among most people 10 years younger than myself. 

Benefits of this are, now I have a college ID.  I can go to the UMass Lowell Hockey Games for free, and the gym, which is walking distance from the condo.  Tonight I was VERY unsuccessful at doing my homework.  I really have no desire to get home after 9 hours of work, and stare at a computer screen (like I am now) and do something that is UN-fun!  So let the growing pains begin.  Plenty more to write about, but I will keep this entry short and sweet!  Happy fall, Josh

I guess its gross to want to win

So this is my first year in a softball league, we have a pretty sizable league at work, 24 teams. When I heard about softball I figured, this could be fun. Yet we started off the season 0 wins and 3 losses. It hurt badly. I didn't realize how much I hated losing until that reminder coming up on the losing end on more than one occasion.  It seemed to bother my team mates as well, one of which is Danielle, aka wifey. She would get so mad when she lost. Then in the 4th week, we flipped a switch as a team. We really pulled for one another. We put it all on the line for each other. We got passionate about the positions we were playing, and we felt responsible for the highs and lows that the team had. Between several rained out games to be rescheduled we are slowly approaching the end of the season, pre playoffs. Two weeks ago today I tried to stretch a single into a double and slid into 2nd base with a double. While the thrill of an extra base hit felt so good, a win was always in the back of our minds. I turned 1st and slid into second aggressively for a double two weeks ago. After the slide I realized I was in a recreational softball game, and secondly I was wearing shorts. On the crushed stone dust, ata high rate of speed, and a complete sense of reckless abandon you can imagine what happened. Pain. Blood. Limping. A feeling of stupidity. On the eve of leaving for the National Guard for a week, it was important to get this thing clean before field conditions.  The next morning one of the nurses at work did just that. What an angel. Equipped with supplies, a magnifine glass and a couple dozen of gause pads. 
So I have been getting better, slowly shrinking in size, as the lesson learned sank in. Until tonight where I pulled off the same thing. What possessed me to do it, we will never know. See pics of 2 weeks and and then again tonight when I hit another "double"

Its been a week, and trying to stick with it

So it’s been one week.  Seven days and I have been on this “diet” so to speak.  I guess this causes for a celebration, right.  Anyone who knows me, I have probably never tried a “diet” before for more than 24 hours, and that is not an exaggeration.  I grow sick of it; my steering wheel will pull to the side when passing a fast food place.  This week has not been one about sacrifice.  It has been more about trying new things, not having any reservations, and having a support network around me.  For the first time in a while I am saying, hey you know you have this wedding coming up shortly; maybe you should stop putting off this life changing experience, and do something for yourself.

So this is what I have learned in the past 7 days.  I have not gotten more motivated to work out yet surprisingly.  The tug I always felt to work out when younger has not arrived just yet.  I love avocados.  I never even purchased an avocado before, and Friday morning I found myself eating two of them after watching a YouTube video on how to open and eat one.  It was amazing.  Much like the Engine 2 movie said, I will learn to appreciate textures of foods, and tastes.  Sounds pretty funny when I first heard it, but I was crazing strawberries instead of ice cream by day 3.  Odd transformation.  I have weighed myself several times over the week.  It’s been quite the roller coaster.  I have not been hungry at all, I really haven’t curbed moderation at all, I am finding myself full off foods from plants, or other things.  I haven’t stopped drinking.  It was a tough week.  Between three UMass Lowell Hockey Eat playoff games, and a desire to unwind for a weekend, drinks flowed.  I just opted for a Coors Light, or Shawsheen Light or any other kind of light beer, as opposed to the stiffer, darker ones that I have learned to like later in life.   So I am drinking Almond Milk with my Coffee, I cooked Kale for the first time this week, bought salad at work a couple times, made a whole grain and rice with black bean recipe, and cooked an Israeli Morracon dish tonight with Couscous.  I have learned that I do not cook Kale well, and I drink 48 oz of vegetable juice and I feel great.  My energy levels have been 2x higher than normal I would say, I am not coming home from work in a pissy mood, I feel semi empowered and jubilant.  I tried to run outside tonight for the first time in over a week and I only lasted 2 miles.  It was rough.  The weather was 46 degrees and it was sunny out, but my legs felt heavy and I didn’t have a running energy to me.  I will have to learn to work on this. 

With all of this being said I am trying to do homework for my first time in a VERY long time tonight.  It is my first grad school class this Wednesday in almost 6 years, and I have first paper and homework assignments due.  I stayed home tonight to read and do the homework but I got distracted, and have forced myself into a corner where I must concentrate on this after work the next two days so I can start this school year off right.  I am ecitied to return to school.  I am annoyed to the high heavens that my company will not be paying for it, which I thought was my plan when I reapplied for admission into the program that I left 6 years ago, but the company had other plans for me.  So the $2110 before the book fee will be coming from my own pocket.  For this one class.  I have completed 2 classes in 2006, and will need another 10 classes to graduate from this school with the Masters degree that I set out to finish.  In the mean time I need to find a way to finically make it all work.  More to follow there. 

So time for the weigh in.  As I said, I have weighed myself Sunday night when I started this journey and now it is 7 days later.  After just having finished dinner, and watched a movie called the 5^th Quarter (which was quite good and I never heard of that story before) I can just imagine what it will read. 

So a week ago I was 208.6.  Tonight I am 203.0.  The lowest I weighed myself this week was 201.2 and I was astonished.  So I guess something is working, I wonder if I can actually start working our and running now that we have some longer days with the time change this weekend.  Additionally I am supposed to be running the New Bedford half marathon this weekend.  I haven’t run a race since I blew the worst marathon out of my ass in West Virginia in June of last year.  Should be exciting, considering I struggled with 2 miles today.  Off to do some more homework, Josh. 

Shopping was very diffrent

I let the carnivore get whatever she wanted.

A new approach, with greenly leaves?

So in very Josh like / blog fashion, I hit another rock bottom moment over the last few days.  Didn’t know someone could hit rock bottom that many times, oh my friend you don’t know me very well.  I went to get a new drivers license for the great state of Massachusetts, and I had them take two different pictures and my CHINS would not hide (wait until I get this license I will post a picture its amazing!).  Amazing, yes I said CHINS.  I have said to a couple people, violating all rules of P.C that I now have “more Chins than Chinatown” which some can be offended by a statement like that.  This is why I am not affiliated with my work, with anything else, nor running for an office by writing a blog.  They are my own thoughts.  If you don’t like my sense of humor your Mom probably didn’t like to give you hugs when growing up either.  Get over it, and then play in traffic. 

SO yeah I am 33 years old now.  My energy level sucks.  My motivation to get in shape is best summarized that it will be gone within 48 hours, no exaggeration, and it’s been that way for years now.  I don’t like the way my clothes fit.  I don’t like how I look in pictures.  I don’t feel healthy in any aspect of my life. 

This drill weekend in the Air National Guard we had to don and doff our chemical warfare gear for an upcoming exercise and inspection.  For those familiar with these get-ups they are quite cumbersome.  Heavy pants (to go over your existing military uniform) a heavy jacket, thick rubber boots, a gas mask, cotton gloves, rubber outer gloves and a hood.  Carry a belt with the gas mask case and a canteen full of water on yourself.  It’s aggravating to wear this stuff but we understand its part of our mission.  We have to be able to demonstrate that we can put them on in a quick fashion when a horn or alarm sounds that calls for something like that.  Well I struggled with it.  I may look like I wasn’t after all I have run thru this crapola since 1998.  I am familiar with the equipment, its nothing new.  Just as your lack of flexibility increases, to go along with their waistline, and then have a cardiovascular system that used to be in pretty damn good shape and I have successfully put it into the toilet in less than a year, well its mind blowing. 

So I read an acquaintances facebook when I got home from drill.  They mentioned this movie called “Forks over Knives” and I watched a preview for it, and thought, interesting.  I have never given anything like this a chance.  My good friend Courtney is a Vegan, and I make fun of her lifestyle more than I probably should.  Refer to the stuff she eats as sticks or twigs and berries.  But in actuality, she’s a phenomenal athlete, has unparalleled energy, and makes her lifestyle seem easy. 

Me, I am a guy who likes cream in his coffee, needs caffeine to drag me thru the day.  I like chocolate, I like the supersized anything, I like ranch dressing

Here are cold hard facts.  I get married in 82 days.  No way around it, I found the perfect woman for me, I know it’s going to be awesome, but I am going to be looking at the pictures of that day for the rest of my life.  If I cant stand my drivers license picture can imagine something like that?

I weighed 208.6 tonight.  The body fat was off the charts too, I don’t know how accurate a $30.00 scale is, but I know it’s not pretty. 

So something creepy about me, I have 4 photos on my phone I am not proud of.  Times I took a picture of the scale when weighing on it, to show the weight and the date.  I did this when I was at another “rock bottom” moment when I convinced myself I was going to get serious, get my head out of my ass, and make some changes.  Run, Bike, Whatever.  Become some ironman triathlete with rippled abs that wears no shirt to parties because he can.  In reality, I haven’t felt comfortable without a shirt probably since 2007 or so.  I find some way to blame it, on bad genes, I am too tale, big bones, whatever the case may be.  And then I let some stupid number convince me that I am healthy.  NO guy that’s has run ## number of marathons is fat?! Or, Can a fat person drop what they are doing and go bike for ## miles?  My head strong approach usually got the best of me, when I would not ease into some new training opportunity and like I said within 48 hours of embarking on this awesome journey, I fizzle out, found myself playing some videogame, drinking a few beers, polishing off a huge bowl of my favorite ice cream.  Yeah nice choice!  Comfort food for me is a list that probably could take a week to finish, so I will not attempt that.

This movie much like the documentary Food Inc I watched years ago I thought, oh man, I am going to make some changes.  Yet this time I have a tad more incentive. 

I am currently running probably .75x a week on average.  Yeah you read that right; I bet I “run every 10^th day at this point in my life.  And by run, my last run was a 10 minute walk on the treadmill, built up to 6 mph, where I was slugging along, cranked it up to 9 mph for about 45 seconds and then practically had a heart attack, hit the stop button, got off, and yelled at myself in the condominium elevator.  Healthy, right?  Were any changes made, um no not really. 

Anyways, I am tried, so I will wrap this up, and not even proof read it, because that’s how I feel.  SO I started off eating peanut butter and graham crackers when I started the documentary tonight.  Halfway thru I stopped (the people in this movie can not touch something like that for food), and dug to the back of the fridge to a can of 100% vegetable juice I purchased back in October I believe that I never touched.  I opened it, and proceeded to drink all 48 fluid ounces before the end of the movie.  The movie energized me, gave me some hope, made me feel like after 90 minutes of watching this I could make some changes in my life that would make my life a longer more enjoyable one, and make some crazy commitment.  So I am stating that I am going to try and follow this greens only / vegan like lifestyle for 2 months.  End it if I choose to on Cinco De Mayo, a couple weeks before the wedding.  I have nothing to lose, but sluggish actions, lack of motivation, a piss poor attitude often times, and about 40 lbs.  More to come. 

Josh

The last day of January, woo hoo!

Blogging.  Its not jogging, even though both of them take a considerable amount of effort, and somehow I seem to not be able to find time in my life for any of these.  Why, what’s the excuse you may ask?  Um, not much of one.  It’s the final hour and 8 minutes left in the month of January, and I eagerly look forward to a more productive February.  While the shortest month of the year, I feel it can be a powerful one. 

So speaking of power, my nephew Danny AKA Baby Danny took his first steps on his own today.  I wish I was there to see it.  For a couple months now he has been doing this scooting on his butt thing, its pretty amazing stuff.  Scoot on your butt by bouncing, moving forward and not using any hands.  Sure try it at home; I don’t think you will find yourself successful.  My sister seems to have mastered this art of creating not only gorgeous children, but ones with great lower body strength.  From Zachary on down, her kids have always had these legs like they belong on the defensive line of the Patriots, or pushing wheelbarrows of bricks around a work site or something. 

Speaking of Patriots, Super Bowl is this weekend.  Patriots with a rematch from 4 years ago against the New York Giants.  Or the New Jersey Giants as I like to refer to them as.  The team resides in New jersey, why not give that state their due, they put up with the traffic, and their fans, and the hoopla that goes along with the team.  Why should someone in Albany,NY be able to call that his home team.  That’s bull.  Regardless of where they play at, I have had a strong dislike for that franchise my entire life that I have been making my own decisions.   The last time they met in the Superbowl I logged onto a sports better website as out 18-0 Patriots warmed up, and emptied my checking account on a bet for my hometown team.  Then I watched in amazement as David Tyree made the catch of the decade, and Eli Manning tore out of sacks.  After that Super Bowl I stood with my mouth agape for 20 minutes after the game.  I could not control my behaviors.  Not only did I lose a crap load of money, that I thought was such a guaranteed win, but I saw the unthinkable happen before my own eyes. 

I did not listen to sports talk radio for more than 2 months after that.  A routine I was doing for 2 + hours a day for the two years prior, driving from Plymouth to Providence for my job. 

So as I approach February 1^st, I hope to be able to make a few big moves in my life.  Things like, get my taxes done EARLY!  Plan the honeymoon.  Get a wedding cake.  Take a pottery class.  Maybe take a dance class.  Have my pants fit better.  Re-establish friendships with some friends I really haven’t spent much time around for quite a while, and file every piece of paper in my life, in a hanging file folder, once and for all.  I have all the drawers I need, just need to find the time to do it.  Until next time, Josh