Moving Day

I'm Moving!

No, not moving houses..... I am moving my Blog!  Blogger has been very good to me over the last few years, however, it doesn't seem to play to very nice with my new Mac.  And I am not giving up my new Mac, so instead, I am giving up Blogger.  

I won't be making any more updates to this blog, but I will leave the site up for while so everyone has a chance to bookmark my new blog site. 

Link to my new blog site.   

Picnic Double Header

Yesterday was a fun day as I had two picnic scheduled.  

The first was a work-related picnic.  I belong to a great organization at the company I work for; all great people to work and party with.  We get together at picnic or other social gatherings several times a year, and this is our annual summer picnic.   We had a good time grilling chicken, ribs, and salmon and after eating all that great food, we headed up to the ball-field and played a fun and competitive game of softball.  

I hadn't played softball since my knee and elbow replacement, but the workout must be helping cause I was able to hit, throw and even run the bases with some degree of confidence and very little, if any,pain in the joints.  Granted, today, the day after, I am a bit sore in places, but overall I was happy with being able to participate in a sport I used to enjoy.  BTW, our team won with a clutch  pitching save by yours truly.   

After the fun of that picnic, I headed to a great park on the western shores of the Puget Sound to meet up with some old friends for a birthday bash picnic.  These are friends I had in Seattle before moving to NYC and it was nice to catch up with them and their lives (and their kids!).  Three of the folks ll have birthdays in close proximity, so we had a big cake for them and celebrated with more good food, great conversation, and a beautiful view of the sun setting behind the Olympic Mountains.  

I was tuckered when I got home, but it was a fun way to spend a beautiful sunny summer day here in Seattle.  Plus I managed to do both picnics without gaining any weight.... YAY!

Calgary & Banff..... A Year Ago

Last year in June, I flew up to Calgary to visit a good friend of mine. We spent one day visiting the downtown area and the second day of the weekend we headed off to Banff in the lovely Canadian Rockies.

Well, I finally got the photos processed and up at my Smugmug site thanks to the wonderful efficiency of my cute little new Mac laptop.

A few sample photos ......

Olympic Fountain in downtown Calgary

Family of Man Statue in downtown CalgaryPanorama of BanffThe Banff Hot Springs

Loosing Weight

When I last updated y'all on the diet at the end of May, I had lost roughly 34 pounds.  I got back on track in June, but progress has been slow.

It is now early July and I have been at the weight loss thing for 6 months now.  Per the scale this morning, I have now lost 38 pounds and over 2 full sizes of clothes.  I am not complaining at all cause that is a great achievement for me.  I went clothes shopping the other day for some summer shorts and it was so nice to go down 2 whole sizes in pants.  I only bought 2 pair of shorts cause I still want to loose more weight and drop a few more sizes before I go out and pretty much have to get a new wardrobe.  But, it is a great feeling to be able to take your jeans on and off without having to unbutton the waistband or unzip the zipper.  

Then I read this article this morning and realized that when I started this diet, I kept a food journal for the first 3+ months.  I stopped after getting back from Japan and that's when the diet stalled and the progress slowed down.  I have only lost 8 pounds since returning from Japan in early April.... I should have lost more and I think the main reason the progress slowed is because I was no longer keeping the food journal and counting my calories daily. 

So, today, I am back to keeping the food journal.  Based on a recommendation from a friend, I use SparkPeople.  Weird name, but it is a great website where you can keep track of your daily calories and food intake and keep account of your workout routine and weight loss.  Plus there are recipes, forums, and a whole bunch more.  

My goal is to loose 80 pounds total by the end of the year, so I got to kick it in gear and get busy loosing the weight.  42 pounds to go!

Fireworks

July 4th means fireworks and I am lucky to have a pretty nice view of a great Seattle fireworks show over Lake Union.  

Here are a few shots.....

More Firework photos are at my Smugmug Photo Site.

Mother Nature's Fireworks Show

As Independence Day approached here in Seattle, Mother Nature decided she wanted to display a little bit of her own fireworks show.  Wednesday night we had a rare lightning storm over the eastside in Seattle and thanks to a deck with a nice view and a bit of distance from said storm, I was able to get a decent lightning shot.  

I also got some photos of the human version of a fireworks show from the 4th.  They are in work and will hopefully be posted soon. 

Seaside & Cannon Beach

A few weekends ago I headed down to Oregon for a weekend in Seaside.  This is a small little town along the northern coast of the Pacific.  Right down the coast from Seaside is Ecola State Park and the town of Cannon Beach with their great beaches and beautiful sea-stack rocks lining the coastline. 

I spent most of my time there exploring the area and doing a bit of photography.  The rest of the time was spent relaxing.  

Here are some photos from the trip.  You can find the rest of the photos in the usual place, my Smugmug site.  Enjoy!

New Toy!

I totally forgot to tell y'all.

I got a new toy!


















Meet my new Macbook Pro.

Yup, I am drinking the coolaid!