Time for the weigh in! Well, I remain at 240 lbs. I am not disappointed at all. This was a tough week. On Wednesday I weighed myself just to see how I was doing. I was at 238. Then I had a sales meeting Thursday and Friday. Sales meetings are mine fields for failure. But I really hung in there.
Eggnog Bill would have eaten junk food non-stop at sales meetings. While I did sway off the plan a little, the fact that I did not really gain vs last week is a huge positive for me. So I am very happy with how I conducted myself. Usually Sunday is my cheat meal and this weekend I will not have a cheat meal.
Plus I did not go to the gym yesterday. Three weeks of intense work out is catching up to this 46 year old body. So I will be going back to the gym today. Sunday I will rest again.
THE BIG NEWS IS THAT I CAN FIT IN TWO OLD PAIRS OF KHAKI PANTS! And my jeans are gettting looser.
So now I have three pairs of work pants I can wear! Ha Ha. How did I let myself get to this place. Never mind....those days are over and I am going in the right direction.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Day Twenty Two
The voice saved me. It pushed me to play sports. Sports released my anger to a positive end. Excelling at sports helped me show myself and others that this fat kid was one hell of an athlete. How many fat kids are that good at sports? Becoming a bully and beating up kids was beneath me. I made my point with dignity by defeating the punks who made fun of me with my physical abilities and prowess.
I loved baseball and played it all the time. I made up hitting games that I would play in the backyard of my dad's house in Crestwood. I played roller hockey in my basement, outside anywhere. Hockey was my true passion but Dad told me we could not afford to play. The reality is Dad did not understand hockey. He was a football guy. To be good at hockey you had to have a 6th sense. Basketball is the only other game that comes close to hockey in the 6th sense aspect. It is the sense of knowing your teamate is there and he is going to be there even when you cant see them---I call that grace too. It is a special chemistry/connection with another person. You cant have it with everyone. In basketball, I was the center. I would grab rebounds turn and throw the ball up court without looking to one of my teamates who would be there to catch the ball. You cant teach that. Oates to Hull, Orr to Esposito, Gretzky to Kurri, Bird to McHale, Magic to Jabbar, Cheeks to Dr. J., Bradshaw to Swann etc.
In sixth grade I started playing basketball. My buddies wanted me to play. We had two teams. One team was made up of the gifted players and the other team the not so gifted players. I was not very good at B-Ball but I was big, the biggest kid in my class. I already had a good reputation as a strong baseball player and soccer player. And since I wasnt that good at B-Ball I felt like I belonged on the second division team. I recall playing St. Clements on a Saturday and I heard the St. Clements kids making fun of me. I was determined to give them a Bill sandwich and prove them wrong. We got clobbered but those boys never called me fat again. And in 7th grade I moved up to the A team. And everytime we played St. Clements I played my hardest.
In eighth grade on Saturday Jan. 13th I sprained my ankle playing against, you guessed it, St. Clements. I was on the way to having my best game. I worked very hard the summer and fall before the season started and I was coming into my own. We had some really great players on our team and I was finally becoming a player. But that severe ankle sprain ruined the season. But it also changed my life. I was fitted with a cast. And for a week, I stayed home, in bed until the swelling and pain subsided. Then back to school. But on the Friday of the week back at school I did not feel right. I ended up catching the chicken pox at age 15. And I was bed ridden for another 10 days. I eat very little and I went from 210 lbs to 175 lbs in that three week period.
It was as if God sprained my ankle and forced me to be quiet and listen to him. All I could do in the bed was think, eat, when I could or when someone brought me food (either my Grandmother or my Mom) and sleep.
I really started to look at my life. At first I felt sorry for myself. My basketball season and career was pretty much over. But then something came over me. I saw how my Mom and Grandmother rallied around me. Friends would come with homework and visit me. A bell went off in my selfish little head. I realized that I had to change my life because so many people cared and loved me. No one else was going to do it for me. I had a responsibliity to be and do the best I could. And so the weight came off and I stopped doing stupid things. I took responsiblity for myself. You can't take care of anyone until you take care of yourself first. They say that everytime you get on an airplane. "Put the mask on yourself and then help the person or child next to you put on the mask."
I think those three weeks started me on the journey to becoming a man. (The pictures are 5th Grade, 7th Grade and 8th Grade)
I loved baseball and played it all the time. I made up hitting games that I would play in the backyard of my dad's house in Crestwood. I played roller hockey in my basement, outside anywhere. Hockey was my true passion but Dad told me we could not afford to play. The reality is Dad did not understand hockey. He was a football guy. To be good at hockey you had to have a 6th sense. Basketball is the only other game that comes close to hockey in the 6th sense aspect. It is the sense of knowing your teamate is there and he is going to be there even when you cant see them---I call that grace too. It is a special chemistry/connection with another person. You cant have it with everyone. In basketball, I was the center. I would grab rebounds turn and throw the ball up court without looking to one of my teamates who would be there to catch the ball. You cant teach that. Oates to Hull, Orr to Esposito, Gretzky to Kurri, Bird to McHale, Magic to Jabbar, Cheeks to Dr. J., Bradshaw to Swann etc.
In sixth grade I started playing basketball. My buddies wanted me to play. We had two teams. One team was made up of the gifted players and the other team the not so gifted players. I was not very good at B-Ball but I was big, the biggest kid in my class. I already had a good reputation as a strong baseball player and soccer player. And since I wasnt that good at B-Ball I felt like I belonged on the second division team. I recall playing St. Clements on a Saturday and I heard the St. Clements kids making fun of me. I was determined to give them a Bill sandwich and prove them wrong. We got clobbered but those boys never called me fat again. And in 7th grade I moved up to the A team. And everytime we played St. Clements I played my hardest.
In eighth grade on Saturday Jan. 13th I sprained my ankle playing against, you guessed it, St. Clements. I was on the way to having my best game. I worked very hard the summer and fall before the season started and I was coming into my own. We had some really great players on our team and I was finally becoming a player. But that severe ankle sprain ruined the season. But it also changed my life. I was fitted with a cast. And for a week, I stayed home, in bed until the swelling and pain subsided. Then back to school. But on the Friday of the week back at school I did not feel right. I ended up catching the chicken pox at age 15. And I was bed ridden for another 10 days. I eat very little and I went from 210 lbs to 175 lbs in that three week period.
It was as if God sprained my ankle and forced me to be quiet and listen to him. All I could do in the bed was think, eat, when I could or when someone brought me food (either my Grandmother or my Mom) and sleep.
I really started to look at my life. At first I felt sorry for myself. My basketball season and career was pretty much over. But then something came over me. I saw how my Mom and Grandmother rallied around me. Friends would come with homework and visit me. A bell went off in my selfish little head. I realized that I had to change my life because so many people cared and loved me. No one else was going to do it for me. I had a responsibliity to be and do the best I could. And so the weight came off and I stopped doing stupid things. I took responsiblity for myself. You can't take care of anyone until you take care of yourself first. They say that everytime you get on an airplane. "Put the mask on yourself and then help the person or child next to you put on the mask."
I think those three weeks started me on the journey to becoming a man. (The pictures are 5th Grade, 7th Grade and 8th Grade)
Sales meeting today---the below is a huge improvement compared to what Eggnog Bill would do at these sales meetings.
BRKFST--PROTEIN SHAKE
SNACK--BANANA AND ALMONDS
LUNCH-PANERA CAESAR SALAD W/CHICKEN
SNACK-APPLE AND ALMONDS (I did eat a gluten free dark chocolate cookie that one of the reps brought into the meeting)
DINNER--SCHLAFLY PUB--I DID PARTAKE IN SOME APPETIZERS, MEATS, AND PRETZEL PCS--MEAL WAS STEAK AND FRITES BUT NO FRITES HAD A SIDE SALAD INSTEAD AND ONE PALE ALE BEER.
NO DESSERT
Exercise: 45 mins on the Gerbils......legs are hurting.
Very tired today. But determined not to let that stop me. Early to bed tonight.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Day Twenty One
These pictures are from 2nd grade, 3rd grade and 4th grade. You can see that in 2nd and 3rd grade I look pretty normal. But in 4th I started to put on the weight.
I know that I have spelled out some heavy stuff the last couple of days. And it took a bit out of me to write all this down. But understand that my current weight climbed due to stress and not releasing that stress down the healthy avenue.
Everything is a choice in life. I am now choosing to turn my stress into something positive. Let's face it: Life is hard and the older we get the harder it seems to become. This is due to responsibilities, but eating up the tension is not the answer. Action is the answer. Movement is the answer.
By taking my life by the horns, I have taken back control and that is not just a gift to me. It effects everything and everyone in my life--it is a gift to them too.
Life is hard. I firmly believe that our real purpose here is to learn, to expand our souls. I know that all of us, especially guys, would love to live in the Garden of Eden. Just think of it: walking around naked all day and not a care in the world. Even better would be a giant screen TV with every sports channel imaginable and a nice comfortable chair. Everything you need is at your finger tips.
I hate to break it to you, but I think Eve had it right. She was bored and decided to shake things up. We really would not have learned a thing if we still lived in Eden; we would be bored to death. It would be a permanent vacation. It sounds idyllic at first, but eventually it would get old. How many days can you sit on the beach all day? We need the angst of change. It really makes things more interesting -- especially after we not only survive but thrive through difficult times.
Life is filled with opportunity to learn. And God teaches us things whether we want to learn them or not.
Life is filled with opportunity to learn. And God teaches us things whether we want to learn them or not.
Menu for yesterday:
BRKFAST:Go Lean Crunch
NO SNACK
LUNCH: Grilled Turkey on sourdough with cheddar cheese. An orange and an apple.
Banana before work out.
DNR: Flank steak (4 slices), Alexia Sweet Potato Fries (baked), and Lima Beans. Dessert was an apple and a protein shake.
EXERCISE: Hour on elliptical and 30 min of weights.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Day Twenty
The ages of nine to fifteen were the toughest years of my life. I left off on Monday where the ground started to crumble under me. Well, obviously life became even tougher. Nine to twelve was really bad. I can tell you a story about a nine-year-old boy on his bike on the sidewalk at the bottom of his driveway. His dad packed up his 1971 Chevrolet, said his goodbyes, backed down the driveway to the end of the block and out of the neighborhood. Some of the kids came up to the boy and asked him where his dad was going. He didn't answer, got back on the seat of his bike, and rode off in the other direction.
Two years later my parents officially divorced, in May of 1975. By that fall, all my siblings had either moved out or were attending college. Suddenly it was just my mom and me. She could not afford to stay in our house, not because of the mortgage payments but the upkeep. The heat and electric bills were more expensive than the mortgage. (Can you imagine that?) So we moved a couple of blocks away to a house that should have failed a house inspection and in today's real estate market it would have failed miserably and might have even been condemned. I walked into this new house and it smelled like cat urine. (The woman who owned it previously hoarded cats and they "liked' her carpet.) The carpet was the first thing to go. There were many more things wrong with this house which actually looked like the house from Amityville Horror. But my mom worked her tail off along with myself and my brothers to make it into a home. And we accomplished that over a couple of years.
Suffice it to say that whatever cracked ground I had under me was now completely gone. I felt like I was stuck in the Six Flags ride where you spin around and get stuck to the wall while the floor drops out from underneath you. I went from having a large family to only my mom, a single working mom. I felt so alone it was like someone tore a hole in my gut and then gave me another person, which was the depressed obese version of me, to carry around on my back.
I was not easy on my mom. I look back on those days with great pain and embarassment. Part of the issue was that I was a young teenager, and the other part was that I was a very sad and angry boy. My mom was an angel. She took it. I certainly would not take it. If I was her, I would have whipped me silly until I showed respect. She showed me that she had a huge heart and incredible patience. But it took me four years to figure that out. No matter how much torture I put her through she continued to love me. She never uttered any mean words to me or a bad thing about my dad, and he never said I bad thing about my mom.
So how did I cope? I ran to food. And Mom let me. I was given an allowance and I could do chores around the house for extra cash. And I would visit Williams Pharmacy like a junky visits the dealer. I would eat bags of chips, candy bars, whatever was my whim at what I could afford. One of my favorite things was Old Vienna Cheez Snaps. Old Vienna is a local bakery. Those cheese snaps blew away Cheetos. And I would consume the entire bag in one sitting. Of course ice cream was another big comfort. Mom would also buy Velvetta Cheese. I liked Velvetta cheese and toasted English Muffins. I would put the cheese between the toasted muffin and wrap it in a paper towel and poof a toasted cheese muffin. My brother Bob fell in love with that invention when he came home for the holidays one year. I would also make whipped cream and eat the whole thing. I would eat entire pots of popcorn and sometimes two or three pots. What I write and list here is only the tip of the food mountain that I created for myself.
I loved sports, too, like any young boy. I was into all sports. And sports saved me in many ways. I grew during these years both in weight and height. I loved to collect sports cards and play imaginary games with them. Without the gift of sports, I would have just fallen deeper into the hole of depression. It was my lifeline. I used to tell myself that I had a happy childhood and it was not until I was much older that I realized how sad I truly was. I always pictured myself laughing and having a good time. Which is true, I did have some fun, but underneath I was a seething, churning mass of molten, oily sadness.
But there was a voice in me that said I was better than how I appeared. There was a voice in me that knew I was loved deeply by my father, my mother, my grandparents, my aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and so on. There are so many stories I could tell you about these years. But this voice is the most important thing to remember. I like to think it was grace, always singing to me that love was in my life no matter how bleak I may have felt. And that my life would improve. In fact I remember playing pool in my basement one day, alone, and I fantasized that I was a great pool player and that I found a love by the name of Susan (pronounced with a z). And now here I am married to Suzanne. But I am not a pro pool player.
I think I ended up with the best part of that fantasy that actually came true.
Yesterday's meals:
BRKFST--protein shake--1/2 cup of Greek yogurt 0 fat, one scoop protein powder, cup of blueberries, 1/2 bottle of Naked Blue Machine Juice, 1/4 cup Red Mill Oats.
Banana for snack.
LUNCH--Caesar Salad with chicken, no croutons, two diet Pepsis (don't like the water at Our Lady Of Snows).
No afternoon snack
Dinner--Veal Picatta, 5 small red potatoes, steamed Broccoli.
Desert---1.5 scoup of protein powder. 12 oz of Almond Breeze, unsweetened, handful of blueberries. 4 pcs of ice. Hit the spot.
Exercise: 50 min on Gerbils again. No weights. I will do that today.
Two years later my parents officially divorced, in May of 1975. By that fall, all my siblings had either moved out or were attending college. Suddenly it was just my mom and me. She could not afford to stay in our house, not because of the mortgage payments but the upkeep. The heat and electric bills were more expensive than the mortgage. (Can you imagine that?) So we moved a couple of blocks away to a house that should have failed a house inspection and in today's real estate market it would have failed miserably and might have even been condemned. I walked into this new house and it smelled like cat urine. (The woman who owned it previously hoarded cats and they "liked' her carpet.) The carpet was the first thing to go. There were many more things wrong with this house which actually looked like the house from Amityville Horror. But my mom worked her tail off along with myself and my brothers to make it into a home. And we accomplished that over a couple of years.
Suffice it to say that whatever cracked ground I had under me was now completely gone. I felt like I was stuck in the Six Flags ride where you spin around and get stuck to the wall while the floor drops out from underneath you. I went from having a large family to only my mom, a single working mom. I felt so alone it was like someone tore a hole in my gut and then gave me another person, which was the depressed obese version of me, to carry around on my back.
I was not easy on my mom. I look back on those days with great pain and embarassment. Part of the issue was that I was a young teenager, and the other part was that I was a very sad and angry boy. My mom was an angel. She took it. I certainly would not take it. If I was her, I would have whipped me silly until I showed respect. She showed me that she had a huge heart and incredible patience. But it took me four years to figure that out. No matter how much torture I put her through she continued to love me. She never uttered any mean words to me or a bad thing about my dad, and he never said I bad thing about my mom.
So how did I cope? I ran to food. And Mom let me. I was given an allowance and I could do chores around the house for extra cash. And I would visit Williams Pharmacy like a junky visits the dealer. I would eat bags of chips, candy bars, whatever was my whim at what I could afford. One of my favorite things was Old Vienna Cheez Snaps. Old Vienna is a local bakery. Those cheese snaps blew away Cheetos. And I would consume the entire bag in one sitting. Of course ice cream was another big comfort. Mom would also buy Velvetta Cheese. I liked Velvetta cheese and toasted English Muffins. I would put the cheese between the toasted muffin and wrap it in a paper towel and poof a toasted cheese muffin. My brother Bob fell in love with that invention when he came home for the holidays one year. I would also make whipped cream and eat the whole thing. I would eat entire pots of popcorn and sometimes two or three pots. What I write and list here is only the tip of the food mountain that I created for myself.
I loved sports, too, like any young boy. I was into all sports. And sports saved me in many ways. I grew during these years both in weight and height. I loved to collect sports cards and play imaginary games with them. Without the gift of sports, I would have just fallen deeper into the hole of depression. It was my lifeline. I used to tell myself that I had a happy childhood and it was not until I was much older that I realized how sad I truly was. I always pictured myself laughing and having a good time. Which is true, I did have some fun, but underneath I was a seething, churning mass of molten, oily sadness.
But there was a voice in me that said I was better than how I appeared. There was a voice in me that knew I was loved deeply by my father, my mother, my grandparents, my aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and so on. There are so many stories I could tell you about these years. But this voice is the most important thing to remember. I like to think it was grace, always singing to me that love was in my life no matter how bleak I may have felt. And that my life would improve. In fact I remember playing pool in my basement one day, alone, and I fantasized that I was a great pool player and that I found a love by the name of Susan (pronounced with a z). And now here I am married to Suzanne. But I am not a pro pool player.
I think I ended up with the best part of that fantasy that actually came true.
Yesterday's meals:
BRKFST--protein shake--1/2 cup of Greek yogurt 0 fat, one scoop protein powder, cup of blueberries, 1/2 bottle of Naked Blue Machine Juice, 1/4 cup Red Mill Oats.
Banana for snack.
LUNCH--Caesar Salad with chicken, no croutons, two diet Pepsis (don't like the water at Our Lady Of Snows).
No afternoon snack
Dinner--Veal Picatta, 5 small red potatoes, steamed Broccoli.
Desert---1.5 scoup of protein powder. 12 oz of Almond Breeze, unsweetened, handful of blueberries. 4 pcs of ice. Hit the spot.
Exercise: 50 min on Gerbils again. No weights. I will do that today.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Day Ninteen
Great work out yesterday. I am learning the names of the machines. Usually I get on the Precor 576i elliptical. This one is pretty good. It works your, arms, thighs, and calves. But today, with all the resolutionist at the gym, I was forced to get on the Precor 100i, which is the same theory as the 576i, but much harder. This one looks like the machine for Aliens when Sogourny Weaver fights the Alien Momma. (slight exaggeration) and much tougher and better for you than the Precor 576i. There is a meter that tells you if you are getting full range of motion. And in order to get the FRM you really have to exert yourself. So I found a new love, the Precor 100i.
I will blog tomorrow about ages 9-15.
Here is my list of yummys from yesterday:
BRKFST: 1/2 cup of Egg Beaters (scrambled) 2 glasses of water
LNCH: Jerry's Cafeteria in Granite City IL---Sliced turkey (no dressing) touch of gravy (I know a big no no). Salt infused green beans and salt infused broccoli. And a Diet Coke. This is what I mean about home style cooking on sales calls. My other choices were fried chicken, or pork and beans (navy beans). Glad I wisely did not chose the later. I would have been floating all night on a methane high (ha Ha) and Suz would have really been mad at me. They also had every kind of pie imaginable but I did not stop to look at them for fear of the pie trance, where somehow it ends up on your tray and down your throat.
DINNER: Tilapia/crusted with corn chips, small portion of mashed potatoes, lima beans and two cups of water. Dessert was an orange. Then H had flag football practice. We got home about 8:00 pm. I was still hungry so I had an apple and a banana.
I will blog tomorrow about ages 9-15.
Here is my list of yummys from yesterday:
BRKFST: 1/2 cup of Egg Beaters (scrambled) 2 glasses of water
LNCH: Jerry's Cafeteria in Granite City IL---Sliced turkey (no dressing) touch of gravy (I know a big no no). Salt infused green beans and salt infused broccoli. And a Diet Coke. This is what I mean about home style cooking on sales calls. My other choices were fried chicken, or pork and beans (navy beans). Glad I wisely did not chose the later. I would have been floating all night on a methane high (ha Ha) and Suz would have really been mad at me. They also had every kind of pie imaginable but I did not stop to look at them for fear of the pie trance, where somehow it ends up on your tray and down your throat.
DINNER: Tilapia/crusted with corn chips, small portion of mashed potatoes, lima beans and two cups of water. Dessert was an orange. Then H had flag football practice. We got home about 8:00 pm. I was still hungry so I had an apple and a banana.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Day Eighteen
Today is the first installment of digging into my various health stages. Let's begin by going all they way back to birth through eight years old. The pictures from top to bottom are kindergarten, 1st grade, and then first grade part two.
The first seven years of my life were largely normal. I have 5 older brothers (3) and sisters (2). They are all clumped together within a year or two. I am seven years younger than my next oldest brother, Bob, or Robert as my mom calls him. Being the youngest, I never lacked attention. I was also the youngest male grandchild on my paternal side. So "William" was often the center of affection. I was the king of the world. And all my cousins, and aunts and uncles had all kinds of fun with me. I was pretty much a clown and made everyone laugh. I must admit I truly enjoyed that role. That fun loving wit has never left me and served me well over the years.
Our family eating habits were very healthy. We ate 3 square meals everyday. We did not really partake in junk food. But I was little when the food industry really started to take off. My generation saw Hostess become a cult. But many of my school chums got "Ding Dongs, Twinkies, HoHo's etc, while my lunch was Bologna, salami, braunschweiger (yuck), and an apple, an orange, banana etc. and maybe a couple of Hydrox chocolate cookies. The only time we had soda, Vess Soda, was at family holiday parties. My dad would pick up a mixed case or two of Vess Soda in the can and bring up a wash tub from the basement that had two compartments. One side had beer on ice and the other had Vess on ice. Still to this day I am not a big soda drinker. Soda is a treat, like a candy bar.
The family wheels started to fall off when I turned seven and I noticed that my dad was not home in the morning when I woke up. Mom tried to lie a few times and stretch the truth. "Your dad slept at the office", or "he got up before you woke and had to get to work." Sure I was seven but not stupid. I knew something just did not add up. I did not fully understand it, but I knew things were not good. My grades in first grade suffered. And I was a crack up. So Mom and Dad decided that I would "stay back". Basically I got to do 1st grade over again. It made a huge difference. Sometimes even today I wish we had do-over days where we could make the right decisions and fix things we screwed up---wouldn't that be cool.
Once my second try at 1st grade was over things really started to change. So up to the age of eight life was OK. I think I struggled my first crack at first grade because my Mom was teaching, which took away time from me. She would admit years later quilt over not working with me on reading and writing etc. in those crucial years, like the things we do now with our own children to help them along in the early years, which is so important. I don't blame my parents at all. They were going through some tough personal things.
I will end this blog this way. My life was overall pretty normal those first 8 years other than noticing my dad was not around the way a normal dad would have been. That being said, I taught myself how to ride a bike. I would not let my Dad teach me. He was not a real happy man and I wanted nothing to do with him teaching me how to ride a bike or anything else for that matter. My brother Steve tried to show me how to tie my shoes. And I just could not get it. Then one day, walking back from William's Drugstore (a locally owned pharmacy and catch-all), my shoe laces untied. I did not panic though. It took me a couple of tries but I finally figured out how to tie my shoes. I was at the Millbrook crossing at the bottom of William's hill (William was a street). (You can see why I might have a strong ego when I was little---it seemed that the entire neighborhood was named after me. Ha Ha) Poof I could tie my shoes. To this day I have a hard time letting people show me how to do things. This personality trait drives my beautiful wife crazy.
I digress. All families have quirks and issues but somehow for the most part we all seem to survive and thrive. Kids are very adaptable, but that does not mean that they should have to adapt. The optimum is a stable loving environment. My situation was certainly loving. Stable? Let's just say that the ground had some cracks up to this point.
The first seven years of my life were largely normal. I have 5 older brothers (3) and sisters (2). They are all clumped together within a year or two. I am seven years younger than my next oldest brother, Bob, or Robert as my mom calls him. Being the youngest, I never lacked attention. I was also the youngest male grandchild on my paternal side. So "William" was often the center of affection. I was the king of the world. And all my cousins, and aunts and uncles had all kinds of fun with me. I was pretty much a clown and made everyone laugh. I must admit I truly enjoyed that role. That fun loving wit has never left me and served me well over the years.
Our family eating habits were very healthy. We ate 3 square meals everyday. We did not really partake in junk food. But I was little when the food industry really started to take off. My generation saw Hostess become a cult. But many of my school chums got "Ding Dongs, Twinkies, HoHo's etc, while my lunch was Bologna, salami, braunschweiger (yuck), and an apple, an orange, banana etc. and maybe a couple of Hydrox chocolate cookies. The only time we had soda, Vess Soda, was at family holiday parties. My dad would pick up a mixed case or two of Vess Soda in the can and bring up a wash tub from the basement that had two compartments. One side had beer on ice and the other had Vess on ice. Still to this day I am not a big soda drinker. Soda is a treat, like a candy bar.
The family wheels started to fall off when I turned seven and I noticed that my dad was not home in the morning when I woke up. Mom tried to lie a few times and stretch the truth. "Your dad slept at the office", or "he got up before you woke and had to get to work." Sure I was seven but not stupid. I knew something just did not add up. I did not fully understand it, but I knew things were not good. My grades in first grade suffered. And I was a crack up. So Mom and Dad decided that I would "stay back". Basically I got to do 1st grade over again. It made a huge difference. Sometimes even today I wish we had do-over days where we could make the right decisions and fix things we screwed up---wouldn't that be cool.
Once my second try at 1st grade was over things really started to change. So up to the age of eight life was OK. I think I struggled my first crack at first grade because my Mom was teaching, which took away time from me. She would admit years later quilt over not working with me on reading and writing etc. in those crucial years, like the things we do now with our own children to help them along in the early years, which is so important. I don't blame my parents at all. They were going through some tough personal things.
I will end this blog this way. My life was overall pretty normal those first 8 years other than noticing my dad was not around the way a normal dad would have been. That being said, I taught myself how to ride a bike. I would not let my Dad teach me. He was not a real happy man and I wanted nothing to do with him teaching me how to ride a bike or anything else for that matter. My brother Steve tried to show me how to tie my shoes. And I just could not get it. Then one day, walking back from William's Drugstore (a locally owned pharmacy and catch-all), my shoe laces untied. I did not panic though. It took me a couple of tries but I finally figured out how to tie my shoes. I was at the Millbrook crossing at the bottom of William's hill (William was a street). (You can see why I might have a strong ego when I was little---it seemed that the entire neighborhood was named after me. Ha Ha) Poof I could tie my shoes. To this day I have a hard time letting people show me how to do things. This personality trait drives my beautiful wife crazy.
I digress. All families have quirks and issues but somehow for the most part we all seem to survive and thrive. Kids are very adaptable, but that does not mean that they should have to adapt. The optimum is a stable loving environment. My situation was certainly loving. Stable? Let's just say that the ground had some cracks up to this point.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Day Seventeen
Here is a pic of Bachelor Bill. This is from the summer of 1997, a few months after I met Suzanne. We are having dinner (Meet the Family dinner party night) at the now defunct Sinatra's, which was in downtown St. Louis. I ordered the "Dean Martin Martini" which was a dry martini w/green olives and a Camel cig. I can see why Suz could not keep her eyes off me or her hands. Ha Ha. I still have that dress shirt. I think Suz would like to burn it. I think it would be a great quilt piece.
So it's Sunday again. Normally I don't post anything, but a close friend/follower suggested that I tell you what I am eating everyday. So I wanted to say I will be posting my "menu" as well on the daily blogs. The daily meal list for the day will appear at the very bottom of the post.
Today I ate a gallon of Ted Drew's Vanilla Custard ice cream and a 12 pack of Bud light for breakfast. My snack was a tin of Blue Diamond Oversalted Almonds. Lunch was a California Burger from Red Robin with limitless fries. (its from California so it must be healthy---NOT). My afternoon snack was 2 bags of Frito Lays "Smart Food" which is cheese popcorn. And dinner was a bag of Quaker Cheddar Cheese Rice Snacks, a 6 pack of Guinness, and four Whole Food's Sun Dried Tomato and Blue Cheese Chicken Brauts. I have not been eating between meals. I dont know why I only lost 1 lb this last week..............Psyche........Ha Ha.
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