6 lbs and counting

Yes, my loyal and dedicated blog readers, in the last 7 days, I have lost 6 pounds! How? Why? Whoa boys and girls, settle down with the questions, I will explain. Ya know those little blood pressure chairs you see in WalMart and Target that make you think "I wonder how my blood pressure is?" as you walk by them only to be distracted by the question of "How did Michael Phelps get on the can of Barbasol shaving cream?" and as you turn the corner you think "Why do I always feel sort of 'taboo' when I walk by the condom section?"....and sure enough, as quickly as the thought of checking your blood pressure enters your cerebral vortex, it vanishes and you never actually sit down in one of those chairs to see how close you are to having a stroke. Well, last Saturday I stopped myself in Target and actually sat down in one of those chairs and discovered that I have borderline hypertension. I believe it was 143 over 83!! WHOA NELLY! I realize to people who actually have high blood pressure, this is probably a good reading, but I've always been closer to 110 over 70 or something like that. So, that concerned me a little and gave me some motivation to take better care of the only body I have. Also, the next day in church, our pastor mentioned how he's lost 18 pounds in 4 weeks. I talked to him afterwards and he said he's not following a diet per se, he's just drinking A LOT of water, exercising, and eating less at mealtime but a little more frequently. I can do that! So, in the last 7 days, I have not had a single soda, I have drank at LEAST a gallon of water every day, I have exercised 5 days (walking/jogging/weightlifting), I have cut back the amount I eat at mealtime, and I have tried to eat healthier snacks...like instead of a Mr. Goodbar, I eat a banana or grab some natural, unsalted almonds. I can not TELL you how good I feel! Physically and mentally. My body feels SO much better...I'm not as tired during the day, my stomach doesn't feel gurgly and sick from 4-6 sodas per day, I feel stronger, my attitude is better, I'm happier, etc. Can you imagine where I'll be in a month? I know 6 pounds isn't much, but it's a GREAT start to what I hope is a major change in my life. Seriously, I've gotten to the point (according to the scientific charts) where I am probably 35-40 pounds overweight. I'm not necessarily trying to lose that much (although I might), but if I can lose 25 pounds and be healthier and in better shape, I will be happy. I mean, I'm not going to put myself in prison in terms of a strict eating regiment. The only way I can make this work is to still eat whatever I want (sensibly), just eat less of it. For example, last week the boss bought everyone pizza. I ate 2 slices instead of 4. Three nights last week, I had my microwave popcorn, but I only ate half the bag instead of the whole bag. Probably, because of this, I won't lose 40 pounds, but losing 25 pounds and still enjoying the foods I like is a good compromise to me.

For the past year or two I have thought it would be a rewarding accomplishment to run a half-marathon. The only problem is that I never wanted to actually TRAIN for it. So, last week, I decided I would pick a sanctioned 5k run about 2-3 months away and work up to that. Understand that I do not run at all...so I'm starting from ground zero. Today I walked across the street to make a deposit at my bank and saw a pamphlet for the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure sanctioned run to raise money to help fight breast cancer on April 7th. I took one back to the office with me and looked it over, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. Even though I may not be able to run the entire 3.1 miles in a month, I can give it my best shot and walk the rest while feeling good about my registration fee going to a good cause. There's even a place in the pamphlet to list donations from various people you get to sponsor you. Awesome!! So, not only can I get a jumpstart on my goal to do a 5k run, I can try and raise money to help fight breast cancer! It's a win-win! A lady at work has already said she will donate money! You can win prizes for raising money, but that is sincerely not what is motivating me. What motivated me to try and raise money is something in the pamphlet that says "IF every participant raises $100, over $2,000,000 will be collected!" All to fight breast cancer - that is awesome!! So, I'd like to try and raise at least $100 just to play my part in that! So, if you're interested, let me know.

With this new motivation of attempting to run 5k in a month in mind, tonight at the gym (Saginaw Recreation Center - $20 annual membership - I know, that's CHEAP!) I got on the treadmill with the intent of walking 5 minutes and then jogging until I had to stop. Then tomorrow night and each night thereafter I would increase my time by 30 seconds. Every night up until now, I have only walked for 30 minutes at a very brisk pace. I was fully expecting to run for 5 minutes and then have to stop, go to the locker room, and puke my guts out. To my surprise, 5 minutes rolled around and I was feeling pretty good...my legs burned a little, but I wasn't breathing hard yet. Granted, I was jogging pretty slowly, but still. Pretty soon, 10 minutes passed and I was still feeling good and wondered if I should stop and not overdo it. Soon enough, 15 minutes and 20 minutes passed and I was still jogging! I had started to breath a little harder and my legs were getting tired, but by now, I wanted to finish my 30 minute workout, so I pushed it 5 more minutes and then cooled down. I ended up running 25 minutes without stopping!! WOW!! That was VERY encouraging! I'm sure you runners out there are not impressed, especially because I only ran 1.7 miles in 25 minutes, but to me, that FAR exceeded my expectations! I felt great afterwards too! I went into the weight room and worked on my upper body. Here I am now, almost 11pm, and I haven't fwlt this good in a very long time. Running is definitely a drug. I've heard that running one mile is like taking a prozac. HA! I believe it! I can't wait to do it again tomorrow night!

There's several other things in the pipeline that are worthy "feel-gooders". We've just decided to go with a small group from our church and help lead a weekend retreat in Winter Park, Colorado in early June. There is a brand new church in Denver that our church has adopted that is just starting up and they have asked us to lead a retreat for their church leaders to help them get on track with growing their church. I will help lead worship and possibly teach a class or help with the backyard bible school for the leaders' kids. The details are still being ironed out, so Jennifer is not sure what she will help with yet, but there will be plenty to do, so I know she'll find her place. That is exciting! We will be staying in cabins in the mountains! Colorado is my favorite place in the country, so I can not wait to bask in one of God's most beautiful creations!

Another "feel-gooders" - I talked with my boss and asked him if he could give me an idea of what he's thinking for me salary-wise over the next 5 years. He was very receptive to that and is putting a plan together that he'd like to show me sometime in the next week or two. He gave me the impression that part of my salary may be linked to assets under management, and could easily turn in to a salary close to what a marketing person would make (six figures). If this is indeed his plan, I am completely on board with that. This basically means I would get a set salary plus a small percentage of the assets we manage. Since I began working here 2 years ago, we have grown about 25-30%, which is good, but it's actually a slower rate of growth than the previous years. Anyway, I'm not intending to boast or build it up or anything, it's just exciting that we very possibly could be making a very nice income in the coming years.

Still another "feel-gooder" - I think I may actually be getting close to FINALLY getting rid of my ugly junker clown pickup and getting a jeep! Maybe next month!!

OK, as always, this is a very large post, and thanks for reading this far (Alyssa, you didn't skip paragraphs did you? I didn't mention the economy or politics or sports ONCE!). Hope you all are doing very well, and I'll probably post again in a month! I'll at least let you know how the 5k run goes! I will leave you with the following response to an email Jennifer received from our sister-in-law. Feel free to leave your own responses in a comment!

1. What time is it now? 11:14pm
2. Name? Kirk
3. What are you afraid of? how I will react when my children have to take practice TAKS tests
4. What do you drive? S-10
5. Have you ever seen a ghost? no, but I probably looked like one during my first snipe hunt
6. Where were you born? Glendale, AZ
7. Ever been to Alaska ? no
8. Ever used toilet paper for decorating trees? I wouldn't call it "decorating", but yes
9. Croutons or Bacon bits? both
10. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
11. Favorite restaurant: Texas de Brazil
12. Favorite Flower: that's gay
13. Favorite sport to watch: do I even need to answer this one? (football)
14. Favorite drink: Sangiovese
15. Favorite Ice cream: Oreo
16. Disney or Warner Brothers? I don't know
17. Favorite fast food restaurant: Taco Casa
18. What color is your bedroom carpet? Beige
19. How many times have you failed your driver's test? none
20. Before this one, from whom did you get your last email? Marcela
21. What do you do most often when you are bored? Watch recorded shows on my DVR
22. Bedtime? I hate going to sleep...usually somewhere around 12:30am or 1:30am.
23. Who will respond to this email the quickest? Jenn
24. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond: Chris Deges
25. Who is the person that you are most curious to see their responses? Josh Burgess
26. Favorite TV shows? The Office, The Ultimate Fighter, American Idol (please don't take my man card away), Saving Silverman Program
27. Ford or Chevy? I don't care
28. What are you listening to right now? Lambeau snoring
29. What are your favorite colors? blue and red
30. How many tattoos do you have? I've thought about it, but none
31. Which came first the chicken or the egg? God could have created either first
32. What would you like to accomplish before you die? I want to see my kids grow up to be healthy, self disciplined, and wise decision makers...marry wonderful people and have happy lives. I'd also like to see the northern lights, run a half marathon (maybe marathon after that), and own my own business.
33. What are your favorite birds? Quiet ones
34. How many people are you sending this e-mail to? none - I'm blogging it!
35. Do you recycle things? only bad jokes