Getting old...it brings some thoughts to mind.

In a couple of days I'll be 39 years old. I share a birthday with professional cycling's legendary masher Jan Ulrich. That's kinda cool, I'm a bit of a masher myself, and if I were to ever line up at the start of a race, I'm sure the announcers would proclaim me overweight.

That brings up one point. I am currently measuring at 27% body fat according to my scale, which puts me in the "obese" category. This is not something I am happy with, though at 194 lbs. I am a solid 10 lbs. lighter than I was 6 months ago. I am hereby setting a goal, in public. I desire to be in better shape at 40 than I was at 20, and I want to drop (let's make it even) 10% body fat.

Now I have to say that at 20, I was certainly not in the best shape of my life. I had been in the Air Force for 6 months, and had gained probably close to 15 lbs. from the very light 150 or so I was when I graduated from high school in 1986. My cardio-vascular fitness was nowhere near what it had been before, and the extra weight came from eating 2 minute meals in basic training followed by double cheeseburgers in tech school. Then there was recreational beer drinking and entry into an adult world where you spend most of your time at work, where physical exertion is to be avoided as much as possible. It all added up to put on weight I didn't need, and at the time didn't care about. I was under my max, after all.

Now I am stronger than I ever was in high school, with more upper body strength, and I'd say that for someone that wasn't an athlete I was pretty strong then. This makes it hard to set a weight goal. The one time I've been below 150 since 1986, it wasn't a healthy weight for me at the time, and I've gained some upper body and leg mass since then. As a result, I can only guess what a healthy weight for me is going to be, but I'm guessing that at 17% body fat it'll fall somewhere between 165-170 lbs..

So what am I going to do about it? Well the most simple thing I've found is that if I am riding my bike consistently, I lose 1 lb. for every 100 miles I ride. So my mileage goal for the period of Dec. 2, 2006, and Dec. 2, 2007 is 2500 miles. I will count trainer time at 14.5 miles per hour spent on the trainer, which is close to my current average speed for 2006. Trainer time will come into play from December to about March, and I'll use this time, following Chris Carmichael's concepts, to increase my cardio-vascular capacity. Additionally, I'll continue to use my Total Gym with the goal of muscle toning, not building. I don't want to be 60 and have to pump iron to keep from going all to flab. Then of course there's the dietary considerations. I'm going to increase my vegetable intake and decrease my carbohydrates, allowing my body to create the sugars it needs like it was intended to do. I will keep you posted on my progress.

On a more profound note, I also share a birthday with Britney Spears. She seems to be partying it up here lately, so maybe if I get in touch with Jan, we can get Paris to throw us all a kegger.

In the spirit of Sam's Christmas List post, I'll do the same, sorta. I don't want pants; I'm planning to lose some weight. Shirts would be OK in a L or XL size, I don't generally do well with long sleeves or turtle necks. Cycling clothing is always great. I generally wear an XL size jersey and M size shorts. There's tons of cool jerseys available, and for the love of God stay with black shorts, with chamois. In other cycling gear I could use some Shimano SPD-SL cleats, the yellow ones, not the red. Spare tubes with presta valve to fit a 700 x 23 tire are always appreciated. Away from cycling, some of you may be vaguely aware that I appreciate good knives, and feel that a dull knife is dangerous. I've been wanting a Lansky Deluxe sharpening kit for years. It's about $40 and available at most sporting goods stores, I just haven't ever gotten around to buying one, so buy me one and I'll sharpern your kitchen knives forever! I've also become quite fond of my Blade CP R/C helicopter, and could use a set of stock rotor blades for it and maybe even a machined aluminum swashplate kit. The rotor blades are something I need from time to time, the swashplate is a really cool accessory. Hobbytown is your friend, and mine! Other than those items I'm pretty clueless when it comes to a Christmas list.

With that, I'm going to call it a night. I'm supposed to ride with Mark and Chris tomorrow, so there should be an abundance of pain and suffering.

Short entry for me today.

After being sick, I got back out on the bike today with Chris. We went to Purcellville, and I added a couple of new pictures from the route to the ones taken back in September. Had some fun with a couple that didn't turn out so good as well, so visit the Site Map/Pictures - News/today's entry to see the pictures. Enjoy!

Sam's Christmas Wish List

For anyone who wants to know what I want for Christmas:

Rascal Flatts: Me & My Gang CD
Martina McBride: My Heart CD
Carrie Underwood: Some Hearts CD
Portable CD Player with headphones
New winter coat
Several soft, hooded over sized, sweatshirts
2-3 pairs of jeans
Anything that has beading instructions
Small, aromatic candles to scent a bath
Thanks!
Sorry for the pig Latin posts;)

'Twas the night before Thanksgiving...

...and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring,
not even Bob.

Poetry isn't my thing.

Where to start? I'll recap the last week or so. Last Thursday I went to a funeral at Quantico National Cemetery. Nice place, interesting funeral. Maybe I'll decide to be planted there, but without the motorcycle gangs. Anyway, after the service, I noticed that my throat was getting pretty sore, and some salsa gave me a quick head's-up that something was amiss.

So when I got home I took a look and found some little white spots sores in my throat. They're on my tonsils, the back of the roof of my mouth, on my dangly thing. So I called the doctor's office and made an appointment for Friday morning. We're supposed to go and cook Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws, 'cause Annie just had knee replacement surgery and I want to do for her. They've hosted great Thanksgiving dinners for the last several years, and I'm looking forward to pampering her a little bit. So anyway, I know I can't get her sick, last thing she needs is an infection and rejection.

So Friday morning I look at my throat and the spots have grown to form open sores. You know, those things like you get when you bit the inside of your cheek. Doctor does a throat culture, saying he's pretty sure it's strep throat, gives me a 10-day run of Amoxicillan and some lozenges and some good decongestants, and renews my Midrin prescription for good measure.

By Saturday I can't eat. By Sunday I'm absolutely miserable. So back in I go on Monday. Turns out the strep test came back negative. So this doc runs blood work, looking for maybe mono, and a white blood cell count. Both come back negative, so she determines it's probably a bacteria infection of some sort and gives me a stronger antibiotic, Levaquin.

I guess I'm feeling a little better, but I still can't say more than a few words at a time without hurting and my voice giving out. Doc also gave me some Lidocaine to swish around so I can eat. It helps some, but I may as swell be eating Play-Doh. Still can't eat much, but it's a great diet. As of this morning I was down 7 lbs. since Friday.

So here we are, the four of us prepared to have Thanksgiving at home by ourselves. I think Terri is pretty well bummed, the kids to a lesser degree, and I'm disappointed but trying to make the best of it. I made fresh cranberry sauce, with a little extra sugar in it because Jason really digs cranberry sauce, but I gotta get him out of the can. Both kids wanted pumpkin pie, and I truly love it too, so Jason and I made a recipe I found in one of my Southern Living cookbooks. It's a pumpkin pie with meringue. If it turned out OK, maybe I'll challenge Annie to a lemon meringue bake-off. I'll lose, but we'll have plenty of pie! To continue though, I have a turkey (barely over 20 lbs., a record small bird for me!) and a spiral sliced ham, stuff to make a veggie tray and green beans and mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and rolls.

Maybe I'll be able to eat!

Oh, and I'll talk to Sam about the pig Latin posts.

Oyay oyay oyay!

Iay ustjay inisheday ymay omeworkay!
ayyay orfay ymay! Osay oday ouyay avehay nythingaay otay hattay Iay houldsay nowkay boutaay? ONAY! Owhay oringbay reaay ouyay? Avinghay unfay etyay? Iay maay! Iay avehay othingnay otay riteway boutaay, theroay hantay hetay AWPAY ARTYPAY!
The PAW PARTY was very fun. We(meanning Sam, Kristen, Lida, and I) were watching "CARS". That movie is very.....................interesting........fun....& exciting! (Really, Juls, You should go see it, and take very one else with you.) We had chips, a SUBWAY small party sub, cookies, soda, and a small peice of cake. YUM!!!

Good News

Jason came home with good news today. I took him for his audition for District Choir on Tuesday, and today he learned that he was successful. His batting average on these audition gigs is pretty high, and I'm not sure he truly appreciates the level of talent it takes to be so consistent in making these things. I worked hard to make some of them, and he's already surpassed what I accomplished in that direction, I think. I'll let everyone know when the concert is and where.

MCQ Sew-In at U.S. Army Women's Museum

On Saturday, well before the crack of dawn, the alarm woke us up to hit the road. Destination: U.S. Army Women's Museum at Ft. Lee, Virgina. We grabbed a shower, a bagel, and some fruit, and went out the door just after 0600.

We arrived at the Museum shortly after 0800 to find BJ and Hank, as well as Pat, the president of the Army Women's Foundation, and some of the museum staff. They already had a lot of stuff set up and well organized. Tables all over the place, food in the kitchen, a square signing station, sample quilt, display board and other informational stuff, name tags, etc.. BJ was ready to rock and roll!

As we arrived, Trinia and a couple of kids (Trinia is staff at the museum, and one of the kids was hers) were putting state flags out front to greet everyone. I later found out that this was was done special for MCQ, and that the flags hadn't been out in 5 years!

By 0900 others were starting to filter in. The regular Virginia crowd was well represented, with Kim and Tracy and other familiar faces, but there were lots of people I didn't know as well. By the end of the day I believe there were somewhere between 50 - 60 people involved. I know that there was a church group, a girl scout troop, and a Marine Jr. R.O.T.C. unit represented.

BJ was all over the place trying to keep everything running smoothly. Kim was likewise putting out fires, and Tracy was doing a mix of that and getting hands-on with a lot of the layout work. Hank provided instruction to the different groups that came in, showing them how to do whatever task they were taking on. Mike was doing likewise, and Terri barely left her sewing machine all day. I took pictures.

Did I mention the pictures? I love my digital camera! I came home with over 260 pictures on my flash card, and somehow I think I ended up with more posted than I brought home. I'm not feeling very well and I've been processing images all day, so you may find some duplicates when you go look. Get over it! Actually I may fix them, but not right now. I tried to get a flavor of the event, and also show some of the museum itself.

Throughout the day the ladies at the museum were more than hospitable. They were involved in sewing and signing blocks and helped keep things moving smoothly. They brought yummy munchies and just made the whole event memorable.

The museum itself was worth the trip, with exhibits showing how women have been involved in military action in the U.S. since 1775, going through present day operations. I think Terri and I will visit again in December.

Again I have to mention our troops. Yeah, I'm married to one. But I never fail to notice the quality of the people that serve in uniform. Throughout the day there were several times when different Army personnel came into the museum. Some were with their families who were visiting, some were lost and looking for directions. All were professional, courteous, sharp people. Toward the end of the day two guys came in doing a security check, one a lieutenant, the other enlisted (sorry I don't know Army enlisted rank insignia) and I talked them into signing squares. They appreciated the effort being made for military families and didn't let on that they were bothered by the fat bald guy.

There were some minor issues with so many people involved, but those things will be worked out with experience, and we got through it all OK.

I can't tell you how impressive it is to see people commit so strongly to a cause when they believe in something. The folks that show up every time, the folks that are drawn in for the first time, they all come and work for their own reasons, but these quilts are priceless treasures to the people that receive them. I'm proud to be a very small part of it.

OK, the tease is over, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Hit the menu link, then the Pictures - News link. It's easy to find, and there's something like 12 pages worth of thumbnail pictures. Clicking the thumbs will give you a larger picture, and your "back" button will take you back to that thumbnail page. If you want any of the pictures in full resolution, drop me a note with the file name and I'll send you the big versions.

On an unrelated note, I broke another spoke on my bike's rear wheel. I was planning to rebuild it anyway, but now I have to do it before I can ride again. It'll be fun, I think.

What's new this week?

Let's see, Terri came back from California sounding like death warmed over. She didn't feel much better, and a trip to the doctor on Monday got her a regimen of strong antibiotics and decongestants. She's good for a few hours of consciousness at a time now, and improving.

We had some work done to take care of a leak around the bay window. After the original contractor talked the condo association into new siding for our unit, complete with new gutters, windows (the only part we paid for) and front door, we still had the leak. So Anton came and pulled the drywall and started troubleshooting it with a hose, and it looks to me like he got it taken care of. Good clean work too!

Tuesday night I had one good game bowling with a 243 my middle game. I think that might be my highest sanctioned score ever. Series was a 580, so I was still 20 pins from taking $1 from my sister. We have a standing bet each year for first 600 series. Terri was right around her average all night, but the other team had not one but two sub bowlers, both zero handicap bowlers. We got stomped.

After a misfire on trying to help Richard get his two boats out of the lake on Tuesday, things went well today and we got both out without any significant problems. He graciously thanked me by taking us all out to Golden Corral for dinner. There goes the diet!

Speaking of diet...I seem to be in a holding pattern. Maybe I'll ride tomorrow. I did ride with Chris on Tuesday, and that took my total miles for the year to 1225, eclipsing my total for last year by less than 20 miles. I have however climbed 8,000 feet more than last year, and my average speed is up by about .5 MPH. If you're still reading the statistics, that was done over 55 rides, so my average ride this year has been about 22.25 miles, and I've burned close to 50,000 calories on the bike over just under 85 hours. Total miles on my bike: just under 2,700.

Nothing outstanding going on this week, could you tell?