Still Alive, VERY Well….Thanks!

Sorry for the long gap in communication–consider it my own “Nixon Tapes”. Deal?

Sooooooo much going on over the past month…..copious amounts of substitute teaching, considerable number of applications filled out and mailed, and lots to do around Mom’s place. Plus intermittantly knitting here and there, and a five-day trip to KC last weekend, in support of a good friend who was having a really rough spot in his personal life and needed some emotional and physical shoring up.

And now for the fun news! In the morning (Saturday, 5/28) I will pack my car full of essential belongings and point it northward towards the KC Metro area for the summer! I’ve found one part-time position and I’m looking for a full-time gig or a couple more part-time things to sustain me over the non-school months. So far, I’ll be “farmhand” at a small nursery and produce farm, helping with the physical labor and also the direct-to-public sales that are part of their operation. It is going to be an interesting proposition, as I also have a few other creative ideas for marketing for them, along with a few of my own products that I’ll want to create and sell at the farm stand. That whole country-boy thing comes in handy, eh?

Weight loss/fitness quest continues with great success. I’m down more and more and more each week, and I can see greater enhancements/changes in my physical self as well. While in KC last weekend, I (of course) met up with my first partner, Chris, and we had a great meal at one of my favorite KC haunts–Arthur Bryant’s BBQ (the original, on 17th & Brooklyn). When he answered the door when I came to his house, he almost dropped dead…..he was amazed at how I’m looking these days (down four more pounds since then, too!) and admitted that I’m definitely thinner/better shape than when we left KC for me to go back to grad school in Columbia (that was 1991) and might actually be about where I was when we met (in 1988…when I was 24?????). That’s some pretty amazing testimonial right there. WOW. And he knows, as he’s known me for over 23 years now. And given the additional weight I’m pushing these days, the muscle mass is building…and I like it!

For some odd reason, I seem to have crossed over the “watershed weight” and have started to attract quite a bit of attention from gentleman callers. It’s kinda annoying, as only recently have men really started to pay attention to me, now that I’m thinner and seem to have passed “that weight” where they are more receptive to approaching me. I guess I understand, as being way silly overweight isn’t attractive, but it’s just odd to SUDDENLY be garnering attention. There’s on particular suitor that really has my attention of late, and I look forward to connecting with him almost immediately after getting to KC this weekend (yeah, imagine that–I found a local boy!). I’m not going to say much just yet, as things are way WAY at the starting point. But suffice to say the conversations are great, the mutual interests are there, and the spark may just be happening. Deets for you (not ALL of them) as soon as I know more, but I do know he’s quite the looker, a sweet sweet man, and terribly fun. And he has his sites set on updating my wardrobe…..cuz I’m dressing…..not great. And I think it could use a little infusion of style.

So, it’s been a tense evening of talking with Mom regarding my leaving in the morning. She and I started to discuss it last week, when I got back from KC (because subbing was drawing to a close, rapidly) and I need to have a source of income, for certain. She didn’t like it then, and she’s been rather……uncomfortable….when I told her tonight that I needed to leave for KC in the morning and start work first thing on Sunday morning. I only found out yesterday, so it’s not like I”ve been holding out on her and didn’t give her notice (I didn’t have notice!). So while it’s exciting for me, it’s also difficult for both of us, as it’s been great to be around here and help out as much as I can with her needs in the house and around the resort. I understand her surprise, and her disappointment in me not being here until July/August when the teaching thing kicks into gear, but I also have to go earn some $$$ and live my life a little….and that’s not going to happen down here.

Speaking of the teaching gig, I’ve applied for a ton of secondary (HS) positions and all of the very few university positions that came open. One of the university opportunities is actually TWO different positions at the same institution, so I’m really looking forward to hearing more, as they e-mailed and said that I made the first screening, and the next cull will tell them who comes to campus for interviews. YAY! A real, live university position, and best of all–both are great opportunities and one is EXACTLY what I’d love to do with my professional life. (sadly, it’s not in KC, so I’ve joked with Mr. Suitor “so, how do you feel about the DEEP South”, to his…..silence).

And for Brenda and other readers…..we’re about a 3.5-hour drive from Joplin, so we escaped that whole sad situation completely. That same cell/storm, however, passed right over here two/three hours later, but it had significantly weakened by that time. We’ve been very fortunate that the only rough weather we’ve had has been WAY TOO DAMN MUCH RAIN. The lake has gone up over 45 feet (in DEPTH) since early Spring, and that’s just ridiculous (and makes for wicked maintenance on the boat dock) and really damages the tourism business down here. Sad….very sad.

Be well, thanks for continuing to stop by, and now that school is over I hope to have more time to post. And dont’ fret–I’m joining a major chain of work-out sites, with one about four blocks from where I’ll be living. I will NOT stop eating right and improving my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual self. YAY!

For those interested/asking about photographic proof of the recent changes, here’s me on May 4th

wearing one of my favorite new shirts. And here’s one from May 13th, snapped at the gym of course

I found some photos of me from March/April 2010 (about six months into my weight loss journey, and about a month after joining the gym in Lansing) and the difference in my (naked) physical self is just shocking to me. I’m fortunate to be able to execute these plans…to date I’m down 158 pounds (holy shit, I’ve lost a Backstreet Boy!…..goodbye, Howie!), with a goal of another 30-40, maybe 50 more. I will be about HALF the size I was when I started this whole process on Friday, September 11, 2009. And it has all been done through sheer will power and determination–no surgeries, crazy diets (I still eat too many Hershey’s Kisses….), or other nonsense. Just the “old fashioned” way–eating better, drinking water, and exercising. It can be done–you can do it too!