Oyi, the end of the month

So the cruise ruined me, on a couple different levels. Last night I was having a nice dinner out in Seattle, and the waiter didn't put the napkin in my lap and/or stand a couple feet from the table all night. Not only did the cruise have wonderful food, you got so used to the level of service that nice(r) restaurants around the area seem to pail a bit.

Also, I haven't been able to lose the "cruise weight". Oh, its painful. I have less than 24hr to remove 1 more pound, or I'm out a point for this month. This morning I was in at 163.2..but as you can tell from the previous paragraph, last night was filled with a couple beers at Chopstix (getting in my bar requirement) and followed up by dinner out. I had made the mistake of trying to cut into my weight that morning, so by the time I was tempted with beer and good food, I was way to hungry for my willpower to keep trucking.

Anyways as of lunch today I'm still sipping the morning coffee, and hopeful I can walk / run / bike off some water weight tonight. Yes Mom, I know this isn't the healthiest of options; I don't plan on doing it again.

For those that missed it - Top Gear has blown through their 6 episodes for season 11 back to back (I believe they go on a break now). Very funny and beautiful episodes. If you're a torrent fan, they can be found here, though, as always, the legality of getting a BBC show not offered in the USA is slightly gray, at best.

Only a little over a month until I start my MBA work at the University of Washington; I'm not sure if I'm excited or anxious - or both.

Lastly, for those that made it out for the birthday bash before the cruise - thank you. Was really a great time. Also, if anyone is heading to Apex Karting in Olympia, let me know. I'm trying to work on my lap times (I knew I shouldn't have ever started Karting).

I'm already down 1.3 seconds from my first run around the track with Angie in late June. My scores can be found here. Only 107 thousands until I'm into 29 second lap times. Who hoo.

***

EDIT: Well I overshot my goal, and after a breakfast and a lunch consisting of a soy latte; and a dinner out with Alex & Jenny @ TGI Fridays where I managed to eat just 1/2 a plate of pasta, my July weight was 160.8 - a nice chunk below my 162.5 that I needed. I should skip breakfast and lunch more often (kidding, Mom).

Bye Doug & Avery

Was a great two weeks having Doug and Avery up, but alas, all good things seem to have to come to and end. We managed to get some touristy items in before the end of the trip:

Pikes Place (yes, I need to crop this vertical (5x7) to get rid of the woman eating her hand.


St. Helens:


Water Fountain @ Seattle Center:


Space Needle:


As Doug would say, "Man that camera takes some great pictures." To which, after eating his lasagna, "Man, my oven makes some good food."

If only....

Great Steven Clips

Steven interviews the Sierra Club; I jumped it to the self depreciating part.




For the first time in 33 years on US TV... Rush -- And they come to the Steven Colbert show. That's pretty cool in my opinion.



Rush - behind the scenes at Steven's show -- trying to play their song on Rock Band.

Alaskan Cruise

I wish I had a bit more time to add some explanations to the pictures, but they'll just have to suffice mainly on their own. Besides combining into HDR, these are completely unedited (and crooked / uncropped / etc). Figured I should at least put them up.

Leaving Seattle





First night at sea:



Heading up the Trace Arm














Pure gluttony. I have never managed to pack so much food into my stomach in 7 days in my life. Nothing like a 24hr a day, gourmet, all you can eat stuff-o-thon. Once we figured out we could fit 8 dessert plates at our 4 person table, that was pretty much the end of only eating 1 dessert at dinner.



See, I'm not kidding. That's actually 9 desserts, as an extra one came and was dumped onto the plate next to the heart shaped dessert.

This is of course after eating 4 plates of King Crab, and an appetizer.



Without issue, we ate it all... Avery didn't have enough sugar yet, so she ordered hot chocolate.

And most nights there were at least two corks on the table

Birthday Celebrations - Join Us!

For the 2nd year Alex and I are doing a multi-day, multi-event birthday party. What can we say, we like to milk it. If you would like to join us anytime through the weekend, feel free (PLEASE DO). Shoot me an email / voicemail so I can plan food accordingly.

Friday:

Early Morning (~9am) - Golf @ Allenmore Public Golf Course (just me so far)
All afternoon / evening @ My House (~4pm until very late):
- Texas Hold'em Tourny
- Rock Band
- Dragonforce Showdown (its awesome if you have no idea)
- Obligatory Drinking

Saturday
- Apex Kart Racing - Meet up at Noon - Race when we have critical mass of racers. We'll do at least 1 race, maybe more depending how people are feeling

- After races - Pizza's / Etc at Alex's place until about 5:30pm - where a portion of us head up to Seattle for an Eddie Izzard Show @ 8pm

- After party @ my house ~11pm - Late Late.

Sunday
7 Day Alaskan Cruise. You're welcome to join.

Resolution 2008 - June Update

Okay, so I'm either busy or lazy this month - because I'm well behind on doing the update for everyone in the challenge. Sorry guys - I had actually completely forgot until Doug asked how long until we got an update. Hah. So. Here we go:

Me: I am in maintain mode these days - needing to keep it under 162.5 for the rest of the year. Pushing my limits, I came in at 162.2.... And I have a cruise in July (not to mention a birthday weekend). Might get a bit ugly. The show at Studio 7 (for the rest of my challenge), was a little underwhelming. The location is pretty... bare bones, and it was too hot (no AC) to be really enjoyable. I'd rather see these bands at Fuel.

3 out of 3 points

Kristy: Her business is rock'n (setting patient # records) do to a lot in part to execution of her marketing plan. I'm really happy to see her doing so well. With the weather turning nice, she's moved her workouts outside to long walks and such. I can't blame her.

3 out of 3 points

Doug: Despite some major changes in his life, he's managed to really stick things out (both on the kitchen improvements), and weighing in this month 4 pounds below where he needed to @ 231. For July - Just get to 230. He's on the cruise too, so .. haha, good luck to yah bro.

3 out of 3 points

Tow: James thought it would be neat to copy me, and came in just 4 tenths below his maintenance weight. So the pressure is on for him as well this month - though he isn't joining us on the cruise; so things should be a bit easier. We're still waiting on some pictures from his rafting trip; but since they were taking on a disposable camera, I'll give him credit for it, despite not being posted online just yet. =P

3 out of 3 points


Points:
Bryce 18
James 17
Kristy 16
Doug 16