Pushing my weight around

Well, after about a month of taking my diet really, really seriously and going out on walks, bike rides and playing basketball to work on a little cardio, I've gone back to the gym again. I figure I am at the cusp of breaking the 230lb zone, if not already, most of my clothes don't fit right anymore, everything is sagging and my belt can't hold up my pants anymore.
The city of Gilbert had built a new rec center to the south of me, about 3 miles away. Daily use fees are $3.50 for residents, and I may get a 6 month or annual pass for around $150, which is a whole lot better than $3.50 a day. Its a cool place, with a cardio area, free weights, machine stations, a huge indoor gym with multiple courts, raquetball courts, sauna, steam room, a rock wall and an indoor track. Only thing missing is the damn pool! I think I may hit up the city of Scottsdale for their pool facility. I think they have passes too, but since I'm not a Scottsdale resident, it may be pricey.
Anyways... I went to the gym last night after work and checked out the place while I worked out. The place is clean and has not too many people there at once, but still a good handful.
20 minutes on the treadmill, and 1 hr working on various muscle groups. I thought I was taking it light by lifting weight that I knew was easy. Easy yes...the next day...not so easy. I forgot about the pain! I'm one sore mutha today, and reaching bottles on the top shelf at work tonight is gonna suck! No pain, no gain though.

I wish I was a little bit taller...wish I was a baller

I've been enjoying the 76 degree sunny spring weather while it lasts for another 3 weeks. In 3-4 weeks its gonna be like 98 degrees or some shit. Anyways, I've been spending more time outdoors, one, trying to get some flava before Hawaii so I'm not the blinding white guy at the beach, and second, getting a workout so I'm not the blinding white fat guy on the beach.
So, to tackle both tasks, I've been playing Basketball at our community court up the street pretty frequently lately. It's fun, and good exercise. Plus, it's damn nostalgic of the days back home in RWC from when I was a kid with Dirty Ryan and Vinny playing "HORSE" or round the world over at Woodland Church or John Gill. I have to say that now my skills are a bit more refined since the days when I was 12.
Maybe sometime soon I need to organize a group thing over here to play hoops or sand volleyball around the corner. There are grills installed and tables/ benches to party on. That would be cool to do while the weather is good.
On a even more positive note, 4 more days till Mr. Beans is in town. I hope that the valley is ready for the return of the trio...

Officially

On a down note, last week my pops said that his doctor found something wrong in some xrays with his lungs. He got scheduled to get more definitive tests done a few days ago and as a result, today Dad was officially re-diagnosed with lung cancer. The tumor is small, small enough that micro-surgery is an option so it won't be so invasive. It's located on the top of the remaining half of the left lung where they removed the first cancer a few years ago. As of now, they don't want to bother with chemo or radiation due to its size, they are just gonna cut it out, along with maybe some extra tissue surrounding the tumor to try and avoid any missed cancerous cells.
Mom and Dad go in to see the doctors on Tuesday to talk to the surgeon and maybe to schedule a date for the operation. Whenever the operation is scheduled, more than likely I will be going home for a few days to be with the family. I'll keep you all updated as things progress.

Beans!

Beans, beans the magical fruit...our token Latino brother in arms, Mr. Frank will be returning to the valley in a few days for an extended visit! I get the feeling that there will be quite a few soirees, a flowing of alcohol, shenanigans and incriminating pictures being taken while he's here...all leading into our week in Hawaii...consider it a warmup.
It'll be good to have our brother back here for a little while. We haven't seen him in ages and a gathering is looooong overdue. Who knows, it may even be a prequel to a permanent move out here to the valley. Never fails though, our token black guy got transferred to Utah, so the diversity club isn't whole.
No matter, we'll still have a time to revel in! FRANKS AND BEANS!!!

Freggin clothes man!

I don't mind shopping for new duds most of the time, but today was one of those days where I wish either we were back in the caveman days of loincloths or just able to walk around in chonies all the time.

I'm stuck in the middle of the road on sizes. I aint the trendy preppy 170 lb size medium GQ model and I aint the xxxxl kool ade man. Even though I am slimming down, I have been a xxl since high school, not due to my beer storage unit, but because of my shoulders and chest.

Now then, here's my gripe. 95 % of all the department stores don't really carry the xxl. There's a few stragglers on the shelves, usually in styles that look like crap. They have plenty of smalls-XLs, but I can't get the XL because once washed, it shrinks to a large.

So, only a few stores really carried my stuff. Robinson's May was the shizznik...I say was. Macy's and their GQ model ways bought out Robinsons and are liquidating the stores. Fiesta Mall...gone...Chandler Mall...going...and I'm sorry, I aint driving clear across the valley to buy a shirt. The only store now I can count on is Desert Surf co. in Chandler. Its a small...really, really small store-think about as big as my living room and bedroom combined. Plus it's a surf store (even though they don't sell surfboards-well duh, it is the desert). That's about it for shops outside of the internet. Who knows how long the Surf co. will stay open though.

Cancer blows

Nice way to start your St. Patrick's day. I'm sitting at the dining room table today eating breakfast, drifting in and out of thought. I'm thinking of how much longer I'll be living in my house, when I will move, where I will move and more so, I know that my parents are getting up in age...when I will more than likely have to move back home to take care of the family. Ironically, as I think that, the phone rings. I answer and its my parents. They were in a cheery mood and mom spouts out, "Hey Dad, you want to tell him the news?" My dad happily says yes and tells me that he has to go to the doctor again because he has another growth in his lungs. My dad has beat out 3 cancers in 4 years, has had half his lung removed on the left side, and after over a year of remission, there is a growth again in the spot where they cut the cancer out of him. There is no definite diagnosis yet. He has had xrays and a CAT scan done with no definite results yet, so next week he goes in for a PET scan. I really hope that it is scar tissue or some benign growth because I don't think he, my mom, my family or I could handle the 4th cancer in 5 years.
On a lighter note. I've been cigarette free for over 2 weeks now and my cravings are all gone. The diet is going well and I've shed a few pounds. 33 days till Aloha bound I be. I just hope to be celebrating good family news while I am there and not contemplating a move back to California.

Go, Go, GO!!!!

I officially have a newfound love in my life. I went out a week ago and bought me a espresso/ cappuchino machine and a bean grinder. Hello world, can you say crack in a glass?? At $9 a bag of whole coffee beans, a supply will last me about a month. I'm suckin down quadruple iced espressos with one packet of nutrasweet like a fat kid at a Village Inn buffet line. Beats the crap out of dumping $5 a drink at the local communist Starbucks.Go go GO is right! Hold on...I'll be right back. I'm gonna go dig a pool, fill it, do 20 laps, drain it, and then fill it back in with dirt...ok I'm back...We'll see how long it takes me to get burned out on this legalized upper, but for the meantime, I'm awake, alert, fully regular now and slightly more fidgety and can go even more all night long now. The current downside to this trend? Just like any junkie, eventually the buzz wears off and the user crashes. My crash time is usually around 11pm, right in the middle of my work shift, and that, most definitely is a "buzz" kill.

Return to Paradise

I'm soooo freggin stoked right now I'm about to soil myself! After doin research up the ying yang of where to go on vacation this year around April, I'm returning back to paradise. Cabo San Lucas? No...Puerto Rico? No...The Caribbean?Nope...
Since it's been 2 damn years too long...I'm goin back to Hawaii.
Chris and I are doin a gradual migration out west with hopefully 3 days spent in Hermosa Beach in Cali from Apr 17-19 and then leaving bright eyed and bushy tailed Apr 20 at 9am for Honolulu. We'll get back at 11 pm on the 24th with hopefully a wicked sunburn and a very WIDE grin on our faces.
I so can't flippin wait! 80 degrees everyday, a beach 2 blocks away, warm water, good surf, good places to party and good babes to watch.
45 days to go and now I really have to crack down on the diet and scraping extra play money up for the trip. Granted I am a whole lot slimmer than what I was 2 years ago in Hawaii, but I still want to lose more!
I'll be sure to call all o y'all when my toes are in the water and send you a postcard!

Spring Training 2

Chris and I went to another spring training game on Thursday to see the Angels vs the Giants. I got to see three cool things happen at this game.
First, it was good to see ex-diamondback Steve Finley playing again and whack a homer out of the park for the Giants.
Second, I got to see Barry Bonds in his first spring training at bat in over two years. And during that at bat, homeboy stuck out..ha haaa!!!! I even got it on video if you wish to see it.
Third, I got to see a game end on a walk off home run. A no name rookie for the Angels cranked out a walk off homer in the bottom of the 9th with the score tied 5-5. I guess the kid secured his job with the club that way.
Once again, good times and good friends.
I have another 2 games to go, one on Saturday with Crystal, and another game on Tuesday with whoever...I still haven't given out the spare ticket yet.

Showing my age

I remember when I was 20-22, I'd party my ass off at night, get wasted, wake up the next morning and be fully functional and ready to party again later on that day.
Reality check-I'm 29, my tolerance is shit now, and I am in a world of pain today as I recover from last night's drunken debauchery. I can honestly say I got royally drizzunk last night. I was the definite king of GFU land (get fucked up). It wasn't even supposed to happen like that though. That's Murphy's law for you! You plan on getting drunk, you never do, but whenever you don't expect it...BAM! You a drunk MF!!
Last night was fun, but rough. Had a handful of peeps over at the house for BBQ and drinks last night. Good food, good friends and good times. We ended up playing a game called BuzzWords, which is fun but freggin hard! Eventually we ended that game and started to play a classic..drinking Jenga. Man, I can't remember the last time I busted out the blocks. There was stuff written on those blocks regarding people that I don't associate with anymore..aka..the Crystal block...for those of you who may remember.
My party ended around 130 passed out in bed. I got shit for sleep and one brutal hangover.
So I'm done writing now, gonna go pass out again and recover until I have to go to work at 6.

God bless baseball

I think that the only thing keeping me sane to the fact that in a month and a half it will be 100 degrees is Spring Training baseball here in the valley. Monday afternoon, outside, 74 degrees, party cloudy skies, light breeze, cold beer, good baseball and good friends. It doesn't get much better than that except if there was a stripper grinding down on my lap at the time.
My bro Bret and I went to the A's and Cubs spring training game in Phoenix on Monday and had a kick ass time. Bret made a valiant attempt at getting kicked out of the game, but failed...maybe next time. Only at a fun game can a beer that costs $7.50 taste so damn good.
The Cubbies kicked the crap out of the A's 12-3, saw a couple of homers leave the park, caught a good beer buzz, dished out some good heckling and didn't want to go to work later that night.
I gots me 3 more ball games to go to around the valley within this next week, so I anticipate a shitload of good times. I may have an extra ticket for one or two of the games coming up, so if some of you guys are free around 1pm this week, give me a ring!

Return to civilization

Well, our trip was a success in terms of a big old party! The hunting part sucked. So we made up for it in socializing, boozing and shenanigans.
We actually had a good turn out this time around with a total of 9 people and 3 dogs. We could have had a couple more show up, but circumstances didn't allow them to make it. Maybe next time.
We had plenty of stories to share, booze to drink, games of I Never, What the Fuck and the Name Game to play that just served to get us even more sloppy. I have to say that Chris and I are proud of Greg and Ryan for hanging with the best of em and getting their drink on. Both got pretty tore up two nights in a row and hung in there with the best of em. Ryan still has to learn the joys of jagermeister, but he sucked down the jack and cokes damn well.
We had the immense joy for having cooper(Leslie's dog) join us, who proceeded to piss on EVERYTHING. We have officially declared war on him, and I WILL piss on the little fucker when I see him again.
We had some lovely ladies on the trip and I have to say that I am getting fond of Crystal, but I don't know where that would be going yet. They all hung in there like champs besides the 20 degree weather and the constant need to go pee( but hey, that's why we invented our own personal porto-john).
Everyone left Chris and I on Sunday afternoon, and us two stayed until Tuesday at 3pm. Sunday was by FAR the coldest night, with temps in the 20's and wind chill in the high teens.
We had a couple of visitors to the camp a couple of nights, and a cat cruised by on Tuesday afternoon before we left.
We got back on Tuesday evening, degeared and passed the hell out.
Back to the real world now and to resume 2 major things.
1) back on the diet plan again. I splurged insanely on the trip, so now its back to lo carb and small portions.
2) and I need to quit that damn smoking habit. For good this time. I smoked waaaaaay too much on the trip, so much so that I was hurting. So, if I seem a little on edge, it's because I am moody from withdrawals.
Well, that's that. The next major trip may be in April for Chris' birthday, but that isn't solid yet. Next camping trip though should be in September or October sometime, maybe November when Turkey, Elk and Deer season comes around again.