Retro #1 - The Well

On Easter we were having an Easter Egg hunt over at my parents house. As we were helping the kids look in all of the strange places for these treasures, I saw 'the well' which brought many memories flooding back.

We had a drainage well in our side yard to help lower the water table around our house to keep the crawl space from flooding. Well, my dad had a great idea to use this well to pump water for sprinklers for the yard. He needed to dig the well deeper so he would have plenty of water storage in the well so he wouldn't pump the well dry. He employed my brothers and me to do this job. I must of been 6-7 years old at the time. He would lower us down by rope into the well and then have us dig and fill buckets that he would raise out. We would accomplish this in waist deep water, often having to dive under the water to get the bucket full. Other than it being quite cold, so we would have to trade people down the hole every so often, I remember that this was a fun job and we looked forward to it.

As I look back, I am not sure if my dad was a good salesman or if we were just a few bricks shy of a load.

The Retro Series

I've decided since Jenny is able to use all of the good 4-yr old Andrew stories for her blog, that I would drop in a few stories from my younger years growing up to fill in gaps every now and then. These stories hopefully will meet all of the stringent requirements that I hold dear, plus the statute of limitations have expired on all of them, so hopefully, no one will go to jail for retelling them, especially me. Also, my girls are always begging me to tell them stories about when I was younger. They always tell me that they don't know anything about me growing up. They are such the drama queens. Well, after a few of these spots, they will be begging me to stop.

I will call it the Retro Series.

Bedtime Stories are Priceless, Nightmares are Free

It was a dark and stormy night. The power was out and the kids wanted to snuggle under the blankets all huddled together. It doesn't get any better than that. To me this was the ultimate family bonding time. The stage was set for one of my favorite family pastimes: the scary story.

I had them eating out of my hand. They asked me to tell them a scary story. I graciously declined telling them that they would never go to bed again because they would be too scared. This only encouraged them as I suspected it would, and they went into the begging mode. I again turned them down and told them that I would tell them a story that they could handle, and then went into a short story about siblings with names not resembling our kid's but mysteriously sounding quite similar to familiar family circumstances ending with a pertinent moral. This only made them more impatient and desperate to hear a scary story. I finally consented.

This was going to be good. I started out slowly building upon elements that always conjures up vivid images, but nothing by itself would be considered inherently terrifying. Just subtle sounds of the wind, branches in the breeze, motion sensor lights coming on for no apparent reason, indistinguishable images in the distant, and the coup de force: the naive parent (me) who goes out with a fading flashlight to check out what was behind the chicken coop. (you know all of the creepy nasty things always hide behind the chicken coop). Just as my adventure took me to the corner of the coop, Jenny sneaked into the room and touched the back of a couple of kids while simultaneously letting out a blood curdling scream (A nice touch-no pun intended- I might add). The effect was even greater than I had expected, the youngest was in tears, the next oldest wouldn't come out from under the blankets, and the two others refused to leave the room. They eventually, but reluctantly, all went to their rooms. Jenny worked hard to console each one as I kicked back restfully in bed. She couldn't figure out why I could be so calm after causing so much stress. I simply said, "don't blame me, I warned them that they would end up like this, plus I think it was the screaming that put them over the edge."

See, I also know one other thing, that Jenny sometimes forgets. This whole episode follows the same sequence every time. First they ask, and then they beg, and then I consent, and then they get scared. By the next day they are begging me again to tell a new scary story, and so I comply.

What else can I do? At least it keeps the kids from playing out back on a cold and dark rainy night and then tracking mud in the house.

Glutton for Punishment

I've been asked what I did as a routine to accomplish what I did in this body fat contest.

Diet: Ate smaller meals up to 6 times a day which eliminated sugar, unhealthy fats, and bad carbs. Ate high protein, good carbs, fruits and vegetables, and drank tons of water.



Exercise: 4:30 a.m. - run ramping sprints, 2-3 miles (3 times per week)
5:30 a.m. - Swim 1.5-2 miles (5 times per week)
Lift weights 45 minutes (3 times per week)
Run sometime during the day an additional 6-13 miles (6 times per week)
100 pushups before bed (every night)



Basic summary: 50 miles of running, 10 miles swimming per week.
All running and even weight lifting took place outdoors all winter
long regardless of -20 degree temperatures, rain, snow, or wind.

I Took the Body Fat Bronze

I took third in the contest out of 37 people. The competitive person in me is kind of disappointed. The intellectual person in me thinks that I worked hard but not smart. The lazy person in me thinks that I'm glad that it's over. The prudent person in me thinks I've just added years to my life. The practical person in me thinks that I can now fit back into the 80's clothes that I have never thrown away. The fashion conscious person in me thinks that, "Hey, I can fit back into those 80's clothes again." The grateful person in me is glad that my family put up with me through all of this. The boastful person in me thinks that I kicked butt in remaining consistent and dedicated to a goal completely for the entire five months. The vain person in me thinks thinks that regardless of what everyone else thinks, I think I'm hot. The confident person in me thinks that if I could conquer this goal, there is nothing out there that can't be accomplished.

The competitive person in me wants to weigh in again. He thinks that the 206 mile road bike race from Logan, Utah to Jackson, Wyoming is looking pretty enticing. Look out LOTOJA 2009 here I come.

42% of the Year, 22% of My Body GONE!

I know that you all have been waiting for this :)

Here are the results from the 5 month ordeal.

I won't tell you which is the before and which is the after. The test results aren't back yet, I'll let you know the damage when it comes in. I did lose 37 lbs. From 175 to 138.