Just A Thought

I was on the plane coming back from THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE (Pittsburgh, PA for those who don't know yet) and I wondered.... If some ultra paranoid person wanted a parachute as a carry on, do you think the airline would let them. They have no rules on the matter, I would guess they would suspect something was up. I wonder if they would even let you check the chute???? Anyone know the answer?

FYI. Since I will be in Pittsburgh most Wednesdays for the upcoming months, Weight Watchers will be moved to Thursdays. It is my way of replacing "Friends" in America's Thursday night schedule.

Ocotber Recap

Halloween was a mixture of fun, silliness, and joy this year. Those of you who know me well, know that October is generally one of my worst times of year. I have no idea why, but since I could drive, bad things have happened in the month of October. This October was not that bad. We managed to set a wedding date and time (Aunt Barb, it is 3pm)! Halloween has become one of my more respected and enjoyed holidays because it indicates the end of my "bad season" and ushers in my most favorite time of year known as the "holiday season." I refer to it as chuankawanzzachamas.

This Halloween season started on Saturday the 28th, Amanda and I being as popular as we are went to two parties. The first party was hosted by my co-worker Eli. Amanda and I showed up as Dr. Sheppard (McDreamy from Gray's Anatomy) and Dr. Meredith Gray. We both adorned nametags to identify ourselves and some authentic stethoscopes. I kept a pair of Meredith Gray's sexy black panties in my pocket to play on last year's season finalie. We had some good food, enjoyed conversation with adults that did not work in education or the automotive industry (a welcome relief) and played some foosbol in Eli's dining room. (yes, like Chandler & Joey, they have a foosbol table in their dining room.) We then traveled to hootersville (Huntersville) for Tim & Sara's party. They had it dark and spooky with little more than candle light. Everyone had a great time dancing, enjoying more food (but I was good, I lost three pounds overall) and we got a little tipsy. Overall, it was a fun Saturday.

Halloween day I had lunch with Dhara at Camilles, their potato soup was killer. After that I made my way to Kings Mountain to see my long lost friend Lisa.

Lisa and I were in school together for a long time, but we grew close in Chemistry class in High School. She was the kind of person you could tell anything to, a good listener, a great friend. Lisa and I went to UNCC and had lunch together almost every single day for the first three semesters. Through a tough relationship and a bad first year of college, she was there for me like no one else. As we all do at times, she fell on some rough times, left school, and disappeared from the earth. I looked for her, even breaking some privacy laws by using DMV computers to look up a registration (didn't help that she got married and changed her last name). I never found her and for the last 4-5 years, her well-being had been on my mind. I programed my AOL Instant Messenger to forward my IM's to my cell phone. Though I never use AIM anymore, I guess it stays logged on permanently. I got this IM on my phone while at work last week, and in the username was the word Daisy and I knew exactly who it was. Lisa had found me, using myspace to get to my blogspot to get to my im, the internet makes this such a small planet!!!

I went up to see Lisa and her two gorgeous little boys Ethan and Simon. Simon is three and we really had a good time playing, he like to climb Mount Jon and then flip over my head. Both boys have blonde hair (though Ethan has a touch of red) and Lisa looked like I remembered her, her smile and giggle have not changed. It was very important to me to see that she was doing well, she deserves a good life after all she had given to me. They have a nice house on a huge lot of land. The kids have two of everything that Toy-R-Us carries. Going forward I hope that weeks do not go by that I don't speak to Lisa.

I guess all in all this was one of the best October's I have had in recent years. This blog is to serve as my chronical of life. There were some crappy things that happened to me and because of me this month (like every month) but I think if I write in the positive, I will think in the positive.

(by the way, I am really sorry i don't edit my entries, I know my spelling and all is bad, but I write like I speak, and when you speak there is no backspace)

Wait Wattchurs Winsdey

I felt really good about this week. I have had a least one person per week who hasn't seen me in a while who will notice some weight loss, what a great motivator. I want to look slimmer, I want the compliments. Your ego baloons up and you get confident. I can't wait till I have to get a smaller jacket and pants for the wedding. I cannot wait until the suit I got my senior year in high school from mom fits really well again. I can wear it but it is a touch snug. I wouldn't being way to small for that suit when my high school reunion comes up in 2009. I felt so good after the meeting, I went to the grocery store and picked up some bananas, apples, weight watchers 1 point carrot cake bite size snack things, a box of honey nut cheerio's and a fridge pack of DIET pepsi. 2 months ago I never would have bought this stuff. It would have been full-tilt coke, fudge rounds, cookies, and hot pockets. When you feel better, you make better decisions. Now, I just have to avoid that big bowl of candy still sitting by the front door. I hope my skinny fiance will polish some off, we can distribute the remaining among her students and all the kids I work with!!! I want to get over that 20lb mark next week!!!!

This Week: -3.0lbs.
Total Loss: -19.4lbs

2007's Event of the Year

One year from this very day, Amanda and I will be getting married at MPUMC. Save the date for what will undoubtedly be the Malady/Bradshaw/Andrew/Adams event of the year!!!

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Damn! 1.8lbs... my second bad week in a row (a bad week consist of a bad weekend in which I eat what ever I want to the tune of 40 or 50 points. These weekends have also been known to contain weddings.) Okay, I didn't mention that the 1.8lbs were lost, not found!!! I cannot believe I lost weight yet again. But I have no weddings to go to this weekend. (Bad news: Two Halloween parties to attend, both are pot-luck types) I must stay strong. I will be going as McDreamy (Dr. Sheppard) from Gray's Anatomy, Amanda will be Meredith Gray. I have grown my hair a little bit so I can have some of Patrick Dempsy's curls, I stopped shaving Saturday because it takes me an entire week to grow 3-day stubble.

This Week Total: -1.8lbs
Five Week Total: -16.4lbs.

Manda's Mazda

Manda's 2005 Mazda 6 S Grand Touring

Sara said it looks like a Mommy Mobile and we should fill it up soon. My mom begs to differ!

Specs:

Exterior
Length: 187.8 in.
Width: 70.1 in.
Height: 57.3 in.
Wheel Base: 105.3 in.
Ground Clearance: 5.1 in.
Curb Weight: 3461 lbs.
Gross Weight: 4491 lbs.
Interior
Front Head Room: 38 in.
Front Hip Room: 54.7 in.
Front Shoulder Room: 56.1 in.
Rear Head Room: 38.6 in.
Rear Shoulder Room: 54.9 in.
Rear Hip Room: 54.1 in.
Front Leg Room: 42.3 in.
Rear Leg Room: 36.5 in.
Luggage Capacity: 33.7 cu. ft.
Maximum Seating: 5
Performance Data

Performance
Base Number of Cylinders: 6
Base Engine Size: 3 liters
Base Engine Type: V6
Horsepower: 220 hp
Max Horsepower: 6300 rpm
Torque: 192 ft-lbs.
Max Torque: 5000 rpm
Drive Type: FWD
Turning Circle: 38.7 ft.

Features:

Folding Center/Rear Seats
Heated Front Seats
Power Moonroof
17 Inch Wheels
3.0L V6 DOHC 24V FI Engine
6-Speed Shiftable Automatic Transmission
Clock
Tachometer
Alloy Wheels
Traction Control
4-Wheel ABS
Driver and Passenger Front Airbags
Front and Rear Head Airbags
Front Side Airbags
Anti-Theft Alarm System
5 Passenger Seating
Front Bucket Seats
Leather Seats
Power Driver Seat
Audio Steering Wheel Controls
Cruise Control
Front Center Console With Storage
Overhead Console With Storage
Power Steering
Remote Trunk Release
Tilt and Telescopic Steering Wheel
Leather Door Trim
Leather Shift Knob Trim
Leather Steering Wheel Trim
Automatic Climate Control
Single-Zone Climate Control
Intermittent Windshield Wipers
Power Windows
Rear Defogger
Rear Window Wiper
Remote Power Door Locks
Heated Exterior Mirrors
Power Exterior Mirrors
AM/FM/CD Changer Audio System
Bose Audio

Wedding Web Page

To the right of this entry, there is a link that says Amanda & Jon's Wedding Page, oddly enough, if you click it, it links to a web page about... you guessed it, our wedding. Check it out, when we figure out details, we will post them there!

Busy Weekend

So Friday Amanda and Coleton went to the Charlotte Checkers home opener. By suprise, I got off work early and joined by college pals at Carraba's (I did not eat though) for some chatty convo. We then went and saw The Prestige.

The Prestige was a really good movie. A little on the long side, but no minute detail goes unappriciated. This is one of those long movies, like Slingblade, that you realize while you are watching it that it is terribly long, but it doesn't quite feel like wasted time. You will spend the whole time trying to figure out how they do what they do and who will end up on top of the other. Go see it, tell me what you think!

Saturday I took Amanda's car to KMX so my boss could appraise it. We then went to Brixx (this was a bad WW day) and ran some errands. We then got all dressed up and went to my friend and former co-worker Lee's wedding. It was held at Providence UMC off of Providence Road. Amanda and I were both suprised at how small the wedding was, about 75 people. They had the advantage of growing up in Virginia and Maryland respectively, so not a lot of people made the trip. Amanda and I, with friends and family both being local and with a VERY limited budget are going to have trim our guest list considerably and even hurt a few people's feelings in the process. The reception was held at Queens University's Alumni House (Withers) and was wondeful. Open bar, good DJ, a Mashed Potato Bar (yes, sMashed Potatos in a martini glass with cheese, chives, bacon, sour creme) and turkey. It was a really well done small affair. We had a superb time. As a couple we spent more time on the dance floor than any other. I got to meet a corporate legend. Dick Hunt, the 3rd Carmax associate ever hired and the first Purchasing Manager at the First Store. Lee grew up across the street from them. He was a very nice man, though retired now, he speaks so highly of the company and made me really proud to work for them. He was the third employee, we now have over 13,000 across 80 stores. His son works at the Richmond store and will be grand opening at the Charlottesville VA store while their daughter is the Assistan Business Office Manager at the Midlothian store in Richmond. Amanda talked to Mrs. Hunt all night, both being educators and all. Behind every Carmax man is a great teacher! Overall, the evening was quite fun and I hope our wedding compares to Lee & Brenda's!

Oh yeah, save the date!!! October 27th, 2007 at Myer's Park United Methodist Church in Charlotte, at the corner of Queens & Queens & Providence & Providence (if you are from Charlotte, that intersection makes complete sense, if you are from somewhere else, you will probably die trying to make sense of it)

Wednesday Weight Watchers

Well, after fretting a poor performance this past week, I somehow managed to loose 1.2lbs, yep, that put my total up to 14.6lbs. Imagine the impact that carrying 3 bags of sugar around with you all day, or two gallons of milk, one in each hand. That is what I have lost so far. I am a little over half way to my 10% goal in only 5 weeks. This week motivates me to have a really good week, because I think if I can loose a little wieght on a bad week, how much can I loose as a good steward of my body?

Relapse Week

So, I had a bad week, tomorrow I weigh in and I know I have gained 2 or 3 pouds back. Still, I am lighter, I plan to really stick to my system, be a good boy, and see how it goes. I went to a wedding on Saturday, the groom's family was Italian so there was lasagna, ziti, and HOLY CANOLI'S!!!! Tonight, for Sara's birthday, we went to the Palm and ate. I had a wonderful steak topped with crab meat and hollandaise sauce. 3 cheese potatos au grautin as the side dish, and about the best ceaser salad I have ever tasted in my life. So, I will regroup this week and update you tomorrow on how much I gained, and how I will move forward with loosing weight.

FYI, please remember to vote, mid-term elections are very important, they tell the leaders how they are doing and they tell the parties what they can do between now and 08 to win the big one. I don't want to use this blog as my political pulpit (though I will likely do so from time to time) but I do want to stress that it isn't how you vote, but rather that you vote that makes you a responsible citizen.