I have thought long and hard about whether I wanted to post the following story on our blog. See, for the past 12 weeks, I have been deeply involved in a special project that has radically changed my physical appearance, and in doing so, has also had a dramatic positive affect on my inner self as well.
So, what is this special project? It's called Body For Life. It is a comprehensive exercise and diet program targeted at those who have fallen out-of-shape, grown overweight, eaten too many fatty foods and added too much cholesterol to their diet, and otherwise let themselves go. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to make a positive change in their appearance and their health. It has changed my life - and I mean that.
Don't believe me? Just take a look at the picture below (click on the picture for a larger photo).
The real change is in the statistics, though. In 12 weeks, I have taken 3 and 1/2 inches off my waistline (35.5 to 32), lost 11.5 lbs, lowered my body fat percentage from 22.2% to 14.0%, dropped my cholesterol from 296 to 253, triglycerides from 296 to 176, lowered my VLDLs from 58 to 35, and taken 2 minutes off my 1.5 mile run time (13:55 to 11:50).
I have just submitted my final picture and stats. I'll keep you posted on how I do in the competition.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Lieutenant Commander Mary K. Parker, USN
[This post has been a long time coming and I apologize for that. I've recently been otherwise occupied by a special project (more about that later) and forgot to hit the publish button on this one.]
Mary K was promoted in June to Lieutenant Commander (abbreviated LCDR).
She has worked long and hard in her military career and certainly deserves this recognition. Nearly 11 years as a US Marine, then another 11 as a Navy Nurse. She has never chosen the easy path, that much is certain.
As for me, a little pity please. Since she now outranks me, I have to call her "Ma'am" and salute her when in uniform. Ugh.
On the other hand, her new rank entitles us to a larger house on base. Not too bad.
Mary K was promoted in June to Lieutenant Commander (abbreviated LCDR).
She has worked long and hard in her military career and certainly deserves this recognition. Nearly 11 years as a US Marine, then another 11 as a Navy Nurse. She has never chosen the easy path, that much is certain.
As for me, a little pity please. Since she now outranks me, I have to call her "Ma'am" and salute her when in uniform. Ugh.
On the other hand, her new rank entitles us to a larger house on base. Not too bad.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Anna Finally Gets a Trophy
Anna has been very upset since Drew won his first trophy in the Pinewood Derby race. Well, now she has one as well.
In my earlier post below, I talk about her appearance at the Guam Islandwide Science Fair. She took 1st Place in Chemistry in her age group. On May 30th, Guam held the awards ceremony and Anna received her trophy.
So, you would think all would now be settled in the Parker household, wouldn't you? No such luck. Drew is now upset because Anna's trophy is bigger than his.
In my earlier post below, I talk about her appearance at the Guam Islandwide Science Fair. She took 1st Place in Chemistry in her age group. On May 30th, Guam held the awards ceremony and Anna received her trophy.
So, you would think all would now be settled in the Parker household, wouldn't you? No such luck. Drew is now upset because Anna's trophy is bigger than his.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Everyone is Back!
This is a late post because it has been a very busy week. Gregg, Anna, and Drew got back from Tennessee on Friday, 27 July. They had a great time and I wished I could have gotten the time off from work. They had only a few days of early retiring and early awakening before adjusting to Guam time. Gregg was happy to find Miss Hobbs gone (and she is doing very well at Mom's place, although she was distressed to find other cats living there). Anna and Drew were very excited to learn that Mackenzie, Samantha, Emily, and John would be returning in a few days from New York.
I thought I would have accomplished more while they were gone, but after a week, I was ready for them to return. I felt aimless without them. I talked with Mike next door and we agreed that families give us a reason to come home.
I thought I would have accomplished more while they were gone, but after a week, I was ready for them to return. I felt aimless without them. I talked with Mike next door and we agreed that families give us a reason to come home.
"It's just like magic. When you live by yourself, all your annoying habits are gone!"
NOD Duty and Bad Hair Day
I had NOD (Nurse of the Day) duty Wednesday and Thursday which means I wake up extra-early on Thursday and Friday so I can make rounds of the inpatient wards and report to the Senior Nurse Executive so he or his representative can brief the Commanding Officer.
Of course, Thursday morning the power went out at 0423. My alarm was scheduled to go off at 0500. Nervous that I might oversleep, I set the duty cellphone to alarm as well as pray the back-up battery in the alarm clock would still go off. Needless to say, I did not sleep well those last 37 minutes. Then I had to make the decision whether I would go to work and shower or simply wash up at the sink because there was no power to run my blow dryer. I looked at my hair by flashlight and decided my unwashed hair would look better than air-dried clean hair. I vowed I would not look in any mirrors all day and I would tell anyone who made comments on my hair that it was due to a power outage and not a complete disregard for professionalism.
When I talked to Gregg that evening, he said the power still hadn't come on by lunch time. And no one said anything about my hair.
The only interesting and sad event on my watch was the death of an 18 year old local male who was brought in by ambulance (BIBA) with a pellet gunshot wound (GSW). In the Guam PDN, police were withholding the type of weapon used pending an investigation mainly because no one dies from a pellet gun... This particular pellet managed to transect the aorta and lung. When the ER crew inserted a chest tube, one liter of blood came out. This young man essentially died of cardiac tamponade.
Yesterday's NOD would have had an interesting duty as well because a 29-year old Japanese tourist nearly drowned at Fish Eye (I saw the ambulance and fire truck and saw them pulling the victim from the water on a gurney as I drove home yesterday) and a pedestrian was transported to Naval Hospital following a hit-and-run in Agat.
I much prefer the uneventful watch because any "excitement" for hospital personnel entails a very bad day---much worse than bad hair---for everyone else.
Of course, Thursday morning the power went out at 0423. My alarm was scheduled to go off at 0500. Nervous that I might oversleep, I set the duty cellphone to alarm as well as pray the back-up battery in the alarm clock would still go off. Needless to say, I did not sleep well those last 37 minutes. Then I had to make the decision whether I would go to work and shower or simply wash up at the sink because there was no power to run my blow dryer. I looked at my hair by flashlight and decided my unwashed hair would look better than air-dried clean hair. I vowed I would not look in any mirrors all day and I would tell anyone who made comments on my hair that it was due to a power outage and not a complete disregard for professionalism.
When I talked to Gregg that evening, he said the power still hadn't come on by lunch time. And no one said anything about my hair.
The only interesting and sad event on my watch was the death of an 18 year old local male who was brought in by ambulance (BIBA) with a pellet gunshot wound (GSW). In the Guam PDN, police were withholding the type of weapon used pending an investigation mainly because no one dies from a pellet gun... This particular pellet managed to transect the aorta and lung. When the ER crew inserted a chest tube, one liter of blood came out. This young man essentially died of cardiac tamponade.
Yesterday's NOD would have had an interesting duty as well because a 29-year old Japanese tourist nearly drowned at Fish Eye (I saw the ambulance and fire truck and saw them pulling the victim from the water on a gurney as I drove home yesterday) and a pedestrian was transported to Naval Hospital following a hit-and-run in Agat.
I much prefer the uneventful watch because any "excitement" for hospital personnel entails a very bad day---much worse than bad hair---for everyone else.
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