Thankful

4 years ago we were going to have Thanksgiving at our house. It was just a 6 weeks or so since I had a Doctor tell me that he didnt know how I was dead or at least in a coma. I was glad to be alive and wanted to celebrate with friends.

One Doctor thought that there was a slim chance that my kidney damage could be reversed. I had a kidney biopsy done in early October but they had gotten the wrong part of the kidney. Another biopsy was ordered for the week of Thanksgiving. This time, they nicked a renal artery and I spent the night in ICU. I came home to celebrate Thanksgiving but I felt horrible and ended up having to go back to the hospital after everyone had eaten.

This year, we're doing Thanksgiving dinner with family again at our new house. Knock on wood, this one will be much better than the one 4 years ago.

I have so much to be thankful for this year. A great wife, a healthy son and good health. I count myself truly blessed to have friends and family like you. I hope that you take some time to count your blessings this holiday season.

Lessons Recently Learned

A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days in Minneapolis for work. I liked what I saw and wouldnt mind going back but only in the late spring or summer. Here are a few things I learned on my trip.

1)When travelling, wear clothes that fit. I flew up wearing jeans that fit me well back in June. Losing 40 pounds tends to make jeans saggy. When I took my belt off at the airport, the people behind me were treated to a good long look at my pirate boxers.

2) The $8 bottle of water in your hotel room mini bar can sometimes be found elsewhere for free. I stayed at a really nice hotel. I found that in the hotel gym they had complimentary bottles of water. The same water that was $8 in my room. I drank a couple hundred dollars of water while there.

3) I dont hate running. I have never really been athletic nor do I consider myself a runner, but while I was in Minneapolis I ran each morning for about 40 minutes. I brought gym clothes on a trip and actually used them which really impressed me. Did I mention that it was 34 degrees?

4) Pro athletes take naps on game day. Actually I have known this for quite sometime. On game day (at least in the NBA and NHL) players stay near the arena so they dont have to drive back and forth and so they can get a nap in. The Timberwolves stay at Graves 601 when they have home games. I found this out by running into some of them while I was getting off of the elevator and they were getting on. So if you are in Minneapolis and a Timberwolves fan, you now know where to go and act like a stalker.

5) ZZ Top shows are a great place to people watch. Before heading up, I checked out to see what was going on and saw that ZZ Top was playing at a small venue 2 blocks from my hotel and these guys were the opening act, so I had to go. Lots of people were wearing long fake beards which was fun. The music was good. The most interesting thing to watch was the couple in front of me. He was in his mid 40's. She was (I am guessing) 19 or 20. He had his 15 year old son and a friend of his son with him. When the warmup act started he started replacing her soft drink with a mixed beverage but while he was up using the bathroom or buying more drinks, she was flirting with the men sitting around them and even entered her number on one guy's cell. Half a drink later she was about passed out. I felt bad for the son who obviously was embarrassed by his dad's conduct as well as his dad's girlfriend's conduct.

Four-0

Forty. 40. That's the total pounds I lost in four months of boot camp.

Wow!

Around 8 inches have disappeared from my waist. I'm down 2 suit sizes. I am about to spend a small fortune having clothes taken in but that's an ok problem to have.

I could post all of the numbers of how my PT results have all drastically improved but you probably arent that interested in the details. I know I will have to keep up with eating better and exercising or the changes I have seen will be only temporary. I have a bruised heel from Thursday's workout but after a couple of days resting it up I will be out jogging the streets of our new subdivision. The other day I was looking at the playground and I had some sick sadistic thoughts on some workouts I could do there after jogging the half mile uphill there.

I like the new "skinny" me. I hope he sticks around