I read this article in one of my HP oriented e-mail blasts I get from them and thought it was worth sharing with the rest of you.
Unless youre a professional athlete, chances are that you spend a fair portion of your day sitting at a desk. The average American works about 40 hours a week, and many spend a large portion of that time sitting at a desk. Unfortunately for desk-bound workers, research has shown that these people are likely to suffer from weight gain, decreased muscle tone, back pain and increased stress. Despite your best intentions, it can be difficult to balance exercise with the rest of your life. However, employees with desk jobs can find ways to incorporate healthy habits into our daily routine that will help alleviate the negative impact of sedentary work.
1. Skip the coffee and take a walk instead. If youre looking for an energy boost, walk straight past the coffee machine and just keep on walking. Taking a 15- to 20-minute walk will make you feel more alert, get your heart pumping and help you relieve stress without caffeine or sugar!
2. Avoid the snack machine.Many businesses have vending machines that dispense any number of tempting snacks such as chips and candy. To beat the temptation to indulge in these unhealthy items, try to keep some healthy, tasty treats nearby. Good choices include fruit, chopped vegetables, yogurt, nuts or low-fat cheese.
3. Enjoy a healthy lunch.Even if you manage to bypass the snack machine, there are still other food-related pitfalls at the office. One culprit could be frozen or take-out lunches, which are often high in calories. Specialty coffee drinks can also pack a punch sometimes upwards of 400 calories each! So whenever possible, try to bring a healthy lunch from home. This helps you control portions and is less expensive, too. If you must go out for lunch, choose a lighter option from the menu, like a salad. Trade your morning café mocha for a green tea, and be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
4. Pretend the elevator is broken.If you work in a multi-story building, take the stairs as often as you can. About 10 minutes of stair-climbing burns approximately 50 calories, so the next time you need to take a report upstairs to the boss or go down to check on the fax machine, take the stairs rather than the elevator.
5. Get fit while you sit. Stuck at your desk waiting for an important call? If you can't get up, dont do a few exercises while you sit. Try push-ups: hold on to the armrests of your chair, and push up until arms are fully extended. Next, lower your body until youre almost seated, then push up again. Alternatively, do stretches at your desk. Place your hands behind your lower back while sitting up straight. Move your right ear toward your right shoulder and then slowly move your left ear toward your left shoulder. Then, look down at your desk while pulling in your stomach muscles and straighten your back. Then look up at the ceiling. These and other stretches can help protect your back during the work day.
6. Bike or walk to work.If possible, leave your car at home and walk or cycle to the office. You might be amazed how invigorating it is to start your day in the fresh air, or how relaxing it is to decompress and think over the days events as you stroll home in the sunshine. It saves on gas money and can provide you with a days recommended amount of exercise.
These are just a few of the many ways you can keep your desk job from negatively impacting your weight and health.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Back on Track with healthy choices
Six weeks ago when we moved from Goose Creek to Johns Island I determined that I would take advantage of having a safe place to walk and get more exercise. My goal was and still is to lose a minimum of 1 lb per week. As of today I have lost 5 lbs and while I have not kept my goal of 1 lb pe week I am going to be happy about the weight loss. I have discovered that as I increase my exercise levels the better I feel and I have more energy. I am also finding that the increased activity has helped me to manage stress during the week as well. As the hashtag in Twitter #backontrack suggests I am “back on track” with my health related goals and seeing some small but marked improvements. Every day I have a choice to “start over”. Every day I have to choose to make healthy choices when it comes to my body. I can eat garbage and not do those things that I know I need to do or I can educate myself about the things I do need to do and DO IT. You know the saying, “JUST DO IT!!!!”
One of the things I have been doing is going to www.calorie-count.com and logging all of my calories each day. Every time I eat a meal or snack I try to remember to go there and log what I am eating. If I forget to do it one day I go back and think about what I ate and add it to the list for the previous day. I also log my exercise and weight there as well. Keeping track of all my calories makes me aware of exactly what I am putting in my mouth and it keeps me from eating emotionally. I read the other day that my mindset about eating should not be that of entertainment but rather to think of eating as using food as fuel. I am eating because I am hungry and I am eating the right things so that I can give my body the fuels it needs to burn calories. One of the pitfalls of eating because it is entertaining is that I get into the habit of thinking “I am sitting in front of the TV so I must have a snack”.
I have found that it is too easy to use eating as a way to make me feel better when I find myself suffering from situational depression. I might be upset about this or that or a circumstance out of my control so I will go rummage around in the refrigerator and look for something to eat that I “like”. When I am doing this I am redirecting my attention away from that thing that has me depressed or angry and I am focusing on food instead. The only problem with emotional eating is that I am doing myself a disservice by packing in the calories and pounds when I do this. I am happy to say that my wife Katy has hopped on the #backontrack band wagon with me and she has the same goal as I do, to lose weight and be more healthy. I think that she realizes that I am serious about “JUST DO IT” and that her being a partner with me will give me the added encouragement that I need to keep on keeping on. We can encourage on another and have the same goals. There is nothing like having an accountability partner that can help you stay on track.
One of the struggles with losing weight is to change how I think about eating but also to change what I eat. One of the low country bloggers mentioned to me in a comment on my blog that we should not have junk food in the house. If you do not have it you will not eat it. There is a lot of wisdom in that thought process and thanks to our budget being as lean as it is we have not had a problem with having a bunch of junk around the house. We have found some low calorie ice cream that we like so we get some of that from time to time to share. We have been eating more salad and baked chicken and boiled eggs as well. I know that we need to get better about drinking more water. We have been drinking tea with splenda and diet Dr Pepper. Katy has actually slacked off of drinking regular Coke and I am proud of her choice to sacrifice the sugar and calories that comes with drinking that.
My goal this week is to walk each day for at least an hour and to eat less than 2200 calories per day. Thus far I am averaging around 1850 calories per day and I am burning somewhere around 450 to 650 calories with exercise. Hopefully if I can keep this up and not let anything discourage me from this then I can stay #backontrack with the rest of you good folks out there that are doing the same thing. We will only be better off and healthier because of good choices.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Camp Happy Days 2009
Eight years ago on August 5th our Jessica lost her battle with cancer. On September 11, 2001 she would have been 11 years old. Just before she passed Jessica was able to experience Camp Happy Days which is camp for children with cancer and their siblings. My son Justin and daughter Kristina have been attending Camp Happy Days for the last 8 years. Kimberly was Jessicas' first and only camp counselor at Happy Days and this is what she wrote to be read by one of the counselors who is attending the camp this year. This will be read during the Renissance portion of the camp.
Kimberly also shared with us her jounral that she kept while taking care of our Jessica. Thanks Kimberly....
Kimberly writes
Jessica Ann Moffitt attended camp 8 years ago with a huge smile on her face and the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. She had an unbelievable week. She drove a golf cart, made a ridiculous amount of sweets, danced with a boy for the first (and last) time, laughed a ton, fought mightily with a water gun, and made her mark on mine and several other counselor’s hearts for life. She did all this from her wheel chair, with very little hair, and the recent knowledge that there was nothing more the doctors could do for her. She lost the battle she was fighting with a brain tumor a month later. Jessica is now in no pain, her body is no longer broken, and she may even have hair (if that’s how things work up there). She will never be forgotten and her spirit will always be present at this camp. Her strength, faith, and kind words are the things I remember most about her. Please release a balloon for Jessica today. I pray that her precious memory will touch your heart and stay with you always.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
Kimberly also shared with us her jounral that she kept while taking care of our Jessica. Thanks Kimberly....
Kimberly writes
Jessica Ann Moffitt attended camp 8 years ago with a huge smile on her face and the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. She had an unbelievable week. She drove a golf cart, made a ridiculous amount of sweets, danced with a boy for the first (and last) time, laughed a ton, fought mightily with a water gun, and made her mark on mine and several other counselor’s hearts for life. She did all this from her wheel chair, with very little hair, and the recent knowledge that there was nothing more the doctors could do for her. She lost the battle she was fighting with a brain tumor a month later. Jessica is now in no pain, her body is no longer broken, and she may even have hair (if that’s how things work up there). She will never be forgotten and her spirit will always be present at this camp. Her strength, faith, and kind words are the things I remember most about her. Please release a balloon for Jessica today. I pray that her precious memory will touch your heart and stay with you always.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
Monday, June 22, 2009
45 Rules by Regina Brett
I got this via e-mail this morning and thought they were worthy of sharing....
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain .
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words -- In five years, will this matter?
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.. It is the most-requested column I've ever written."
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain .
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words -- In five years, will this matter?
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."
Friday, June 19, 2009
Happy Fathers Day weekend
This week flew by like most of them do. Last Saturday we drove for four hours taking Kristina to Camp Agape up in Batesburg SC. This is a camp that is sponsored by the state offices of the Church of God of Prophecy church in SC. Our kids have been going to this camp for the last 8 years. I am glad that they have the opportunity to attend this camp because it gives them something fun to do and hopefully provides them with an environment to be with kids their age and to experience faith based activities designed to encourage them and build their faith.
In the last two weeks our weather in the evenings has been very active with some intense pop up thunderstorms. I am thankful we live in a brick and mortar house vs a double wide trailer. As I listened to the heavy rains, hail popping off of the skylights in our living room and the flashes of lightning I had flashbacks of having to load the wife and kids in the Durango and make a mad dash to the church in Goose Creek. I am so thankful we no longer have to do that.
One of the funny things that happened was President Obama killed a pesky fly on national tv and was reprimanded for doing that by PETA. PETA stated that Obama is not Buddha and that he should be more thoughtful and respectful of lower life forms. Peta is even going to send Obama a fly catcher so he can catch these lower life forms and set them free outside. Do we really want our commander and chief focusing on catching flies and setting them free? Ok, I suppose one of his staff members will wind up with the menial chore. I am wondering if Peta realizes that while the staff member is setting the captured flies free that all of the “other” flies outside will now be “inside” the Whitehouse.
I thought that the president taking the time to wrap the lifeless form of the fly in a napkin and handing him off to the staffer was a nice touch.
South Carolina seems to be in the news quite a bit however the reasons we are in the news does not seem very positive. The latest news out of South Carolina is the unemployment rate which is going through the roof. I think we have gone up to 12 percent which is one of the highest in the nation. I know that my wife has been looking for part time work in the last month or two but has not had any luck getting interviews. I am sure the school kids out for the summer and all the rest of the unemployed folks are battling it out for any work they can find. I looked at Craigs list the other day and it seems as if there were plenty of commission only sales jobs out there but not that many jobs worth mentioning.
One of the negatives to our moving out of Berkeley county into Charleston County and Johns Island is that the schools in Johns Island are not known for their scholastic excellence. My 14 year old son did some research the other day and wrote me a 2 page e-mail begging me not to send him to Haut Gap Middle school which is 10 minutes walk from our house. I looked at the scores that school has received and how they match up with other schools statewide and they are absolutely horrible. We are investigating sending Justin to a James Island school but we have been told by one of the principals that they are no longer taking traditional transfers out of district. The Charleston County School District has been slashing their budget which equates to fewer teachers in the classroom. We were also told about the No Kids Left Behind iniative which we can apply for from the Johns Island school board and if approved Justin could transfer to James Island tha way and then the principal would be guaranteed some extra teachers through that act.
As I was writing this I listened to a news report on channel two who highlighted a town hall meeting where President Obama had a panel of fathers present. President Obama said that fathers need to step up and be there for the children past the point of conception. He said that our children need for the men in the family to be willing to invest their time and energy into the lives of their children both in the good times and the difficult times. I would agree whole heartedly with the commander and chief. To be a father requires that we be active participants in the raising and training of our children. We should be emotionally, spiritually and intellectually engaged in the lives of our children. Our society is plagued by too many single parent families where there is no father involved. We also have families where the father is physically present but emotionally absent and not interested in any parental participation. That is the definition of a dead beat dad.
This weekend is Fathers Day weekend so I hope all of you fathers are able to enjoy this time with your families and are thankful to God for the blessing your family is to you. I am also hoping that your families will appreciate all that you do for them through the year. I always tell my children that the best gift in all the world that they could give to me is just to love me. I know that my children love me and it is always extra special to me when they take the time to demonstrate that love in some small way.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
In the last two weeks our weather in the evenings has been very active with some intense pop up thunderstorms. I am thankful we live in a brick and mortar house vs a double wide trailer. As I listened to the heavy rains, hail popping off of the skylights in our living room and the flashes of lightning I had flashbacks of having to load the wife and kids in the Durango and make a mad dash to the church in Goose Creek. I am so thankful we no longer have to do that.
One of the funny things that happened was President Obama killed a pesky fly on national tv and was reprimanded for doing that by PETA. PETA stated that Obama is not Buddha and that he should be more thoughtful and respectful of lower life forms. Peta is even going to send Obama a fly catcher so he can catch these lower life forms and set them free outside. Do we really want our commander and chief focusing on catching flies and setting them free? Ok, I suppose one of his staff members will wind up with the menial chore. I am wondering if Peta realizes that while the staff member is setting the captured flies free that all of the “other” flies outside will now be “inside” the Whitehouse.
I thought that the president taking the time to wrap the lifeless form of the fly in a napkin and handing him off to the staffer was a nice touch.
South Carolina seems to be in the news quite a bit however the reasons we are in the news does not seem very positive. The latest news out of South Carolina is the unemployment rate which is going through the roof. I think we have gone up to 12 percent which is one of the highest in the nation. I know that my wife has been looking for part time work in the last month or two but has not had any luck getting interviews. I am sure the school kids out for the summer and all the rest of the unemployed folks are battling it out for any work they can find. I looked at Craigs list the other day and it seems as if there were plenty of commission only sales jobs out there but not that many jobs worth mentioning.
One of the negatives to our moving out of Berkeley county into Charleston County and Johns Island is that the schools in Johns Island are not known for their scholastic excellence. My 14 year old son did some research the other day and wrote me a 2 page e-mail begging me not to send him to Haut Gap Middle school which is 10 minutes walk from our house. I looked at the scores that school has received and how they match up with other schools statewide and they are absolutely horrible. We are investigating sending Justin to a James Island school but we have been told by one of the principals that they are no longer taking traditional transfers out of district. The Charleston County School District has been slashing their budget which equates to fewer teachers in the classroom. We were also told about the No Kids Left Behind iniative which we can apply for from the Johns Island school board and if approved Justin could transfer to James Island tha way and then the principal would be guaranteed some extra teachers through that act.
As I was writing this I listened to a news report on channel two who highlighted a town hall meeting where President Obama had a panel of fathers present. President Obama said that fathers need to step up and be there for the children past the point of conception. He said that our children need for the men in the family to be willing to invest their time and energy into the lives of their children both in the good times and the difficult times. I would agree whole heartedly with the commander and chief. To be a father requires that we be active participants in the raising and training of our children. We should be emotionally, spiritually and intellectually engaged in the lives of our children. Our society is plagued by too many single parent families where there is no father involved. We also have families where the father is physically present but emotionally absent and not interested in any parental participation. That is the definition of a dead beat dad.
This weekend is Fathers Day weekend so I hope all of you fathers are able to enjoy this time with your families and are thankful to God for the blessing your family is to you. I am also hoping that your families will appreciate all that you do for them through the year. I always tell my children that the best gift in all the world that they could give to me is just to love me. I know that my children love me and it is always extra special to me when they take the time to demonstrate that love in some small way.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Life changes
Two weeks later and we are settled into our new home on Johns Island. We relocated from the busy metropolis of Duck Ditch to the sticks on Johns Island. Having lived in the fourth largest city in the US I have to chuckle when I compare Goose Creek to a busy city. In the last two weeks I have noticed that Goose Creek certainly has many more stores, gas stations and access to almost anything you would want. The only thing I did not like about Goose Creek is that if you want to go out and eat a good steak you were forced to go to North Charleston or Summerville.
Just yesterday my son Justin and I spent some quality time in the dining room putting together a lawn mower. Out of the box I figured it was going to be easier to sit at the table in front of a fan in the AC vs bending over in the hot garage. Once I dug into the parts and instructions I realized too late that one of the nuts was missing for one of the wheels. I hoped in the SUV and headed down Maybank Hwy around 6:45 pm and realized that the TruValue hardware store had long since closed for the night. I wound up driving 18 miles over to James Island to get a 2.36 part.
By the time we got back from James Island and put the final touches to the lawn mower assembly the sun had gone down and it was not quite so hot. I fired up the lawn mower and took it into the back yard and made its first official round of the fence and then turned it over to my son. Having lived in a double wide trailer with very little yard and a townhome with no yard this is something different for all of us. I did the fatherly thing and warned my son to keep all body parts out from underneath the mower unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life handicapped.
Once I figured that Justin was in control of the mower and hopefully would not kill himself I went to the drive way and began washing the Durango. I love being able to wash my own vehicle without being forced to take it to a car wash. I have always found car washing as therapeutic. As a child I remember having to wash my parents cars as a chore and I guess to this day I still make a point to wash my own vehicles by hand. There is nothing like standing back and admiring a nice shiny paint job when it is done.
Moving out of Duck Ditch to the sticks means that there are lots of nice quiet places to go for a walk. I have started walking more in the hopes of implementing a new life change that will be beneficial to my health. In the last several years I have grown increasingly aware of my need to shed some weight. Some folks might look at me and think “gosh that guy is huge , he probably sits around all day and just eats”. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been struggling with the weight issue for quite some time now. In the last couple of weeks I have lost some weight and while it is no where near where I need to be I am going to use that loss as a positive thing and try to make better life choices.
The first thing I have had to do is to get to the point where I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of being fat. Someone chided me the other day about having man boobs and I think that was the straw that broke the proverbial camels ( baby seal in my case) back. Was the person that said that being a jerk and insensitive to how I feel? The answer to that question is yes. Then again truth can hurt but it can also be a motivator for change. Instead of getting depressed and despondent about it I am going to kick myself in the behind and find things that I can do personally to make my situation change.
The second thing I had to do was to realize that I need to make myself accountable for WHAT I am eating and HOW MUCH I am eating. In an effort to do that I am using the online calorie-count.com website to journal my daily calorie intake and exercise habits. Every time I eat something I find a moment to go to that website and enter it into my food log. I also keep track of my exercise and have a journal where I can write down my thoughts for the day.
The third thing I had to realize is that I need to burn more calories than I eat in order to lose weight. I am taking this one moment at a time, one day at a time. I did not gain this weight over night and I wont lose it over night either. My goal is to lose one lb per week. I think that is a reasonable goal and that it is obtainable. I am mentally forcing myself to be less sedentary when I am at home. During the day it is pretty easy for me to limit my calories because I can take my breakfast and lunch with me to work. When I am busy at work I do not have time to sit around and snack or eat food when I am not hungry. The danger zone is when I am home at night sitting in front of the TV and laptop. It is the time after supper and before bed time when I get the munchies and I think I must put something in my mouth to chew on. Night time is when I over eat and run into trouble. Now that we are in a nice neighborhood that is safe to walk in I am going to make a purposeful decision to get some exercise. My goal is every other day but lately I have been able to do more than that which is good.
Now that we are settled in somewhat and most of the boxes are unpacked we now need to find a church home closer to where we live. I have not been looking forward to this but I know it is inevitable. In the next three or four weeks we are going to visit area churches and see if we can find one that has a good youth program for our teenagers. We worshipped and served at Grace Fellowship church in Goose Creek for 8 + years and those folks are like an extended family. It is going to feel totally weird not being there and going to different churches. I HATE looking for a new church home. Who knows, we may find out that GFC in Goose Creek IS still our church home and we may wind up driving to Goose Creek once or twice a week to continue our service there. Only time will tell though.
Now that my food has settled and I have cranked out three pages of drivel I need to wrap this up and go for that walk I was telling you about.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
Just yesterday my son Justin and I spent some quality time in the dining room putting together a lawn mower. Out of the box I figured it was going to be easier to sit at the table in front of a fan in the AC vs bending over in the hot garage. Once I dug into the parts and instructions I realized too late that one of the nuts was missing for one of the wheels. I hoped in the SUV and headed down Maybank Hwy around 6:45 pm and realized that the TruValue hardware store had long since closed for the night. I wound up driving 18 miles over to James Island to get a 2.36 part.
By the time we got back from James Island and put the final touches to the lawn mower assembly the sun had gone down and it was not quite so hot. I fired up the lawn mower and took it into the back yard and made its first official round of the fence and then turned it over to my son. Having lived in a double wide trailer with very little yard and a townhome with no yard this is something different for all of us. I did the fatherly thing and warned my son to keep all body parts out from underneath the mower unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life handicapped.
Once I figured that Justin was in control of the mower and hopefully would not kill himself I went to the drive way and began washing the Durango. I love being able to wash my own vehicle without being forced to take it to a car wash. I have always found car washing as therapeutic. As a child I remember having to wash my parents cars as a chore and I guess to this day I still make a point to wash my own vehicles by hand. There is nothing like standing back and admiring a nice shiny paint job when it is done.
Moving out of Duck Ditch to the sticks means that there are lots of nice quiet places to go for a walk. I have started walking more in the hopes of implementing a new life change that will be beneficial to my health. In the last several years I have grown increasingly aware of my need to shed some weight. Some folks might look at me and think “gosh that guy is huge , he probably sits around all day and just eats”. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been struggling with the weight issue for quite some time now. In the last couple of weeks I have lost some weight and while it is no where near where I need to be I am going to use that loss as a positive thing and try to make better life choices.
The first thing I have had to do is to get to the point where I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of being fat. Someone chided me the other day about having man boobs and I think that was the straw that broke the proverbial camels ( baby seal in my case) back. Was the person that said that being a jerk and insensitive to how I feel? The answer to that question is yes. Then again truth can hurt but it can also be a motivator for change. Instead of getting depressed and despondent about it I am going to kick myself in the behind and find things that I can do personally to make my situation change.
The second thing I had to do was to realize that I need to make myself accountable for WHAT I am eating and HOW MUCH I am eating. In an effort to do that I am using the online calorie-count.com website to journal my daily calorie intake and exercise habits. Every time I eat something I find a moment to go to that website and enter it into my food log. I also keep track of my exercise and have a journal where I can write down my thoughts for the day.
The third thing I had to realize is that I need to burn more calories than I eat in order to lose weight. I am taking this one moment at a time, one day at a time. I did not gain this weight over night and I wont lose it over night either. My goal is to lose one lb per week. I think that is a reasonable goal and that it is obtainable. I am mentally forcing myself to be less sedentary when I am at home. During the day it is pretty easy for me to limit my calories because I can take my breakfast and lunch with me to work. When I am busy at work I do not have time to sit around and snack or eat food when I am not hungry. The danger zone is when I am home at night sitting in front of the TV and laptop. It is the time after supper and before bed time when I get the munchies and I think I must put something in my mouth to chew on. Night time is when I over eat and run into trouble. Now that we are in a nice neighborhood that is safe to walk in I am going to make a purposeful decision to get some exercise. My goal is every other day but lately I have been able to do more than that which is good.
Now that we are settled in somewhat and most of the boxes are unpacked we now need to find a church home closer to where we live. I have not been looking forward to this but I know it is inevitable. In the next three or four weeks we are going to visit area churches and see if we can find one that has a good youth program for our teenagers. We worshipped and served at Grace Fellowship church in Goose Creek for 8 + years and those folks are like an extended family. It is going to feel totally weird not being there and going to different churches. I HATE looking for a new church home. Who knows, we may find out that GFC in Goose Creek IS still our church home and we may wind up driving to Goose Creek once or twice a week to continue our service there. Only time will tell though.
Now that my food has settled and I have cranked out three pages of drivel I need to wrap this up and go for that walk I was telling you about.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Happy Birthday Gizmo
The move started last Thursday evening and ended this last Monday afternoon around 12:30 pm. We moved 6 loads of boxes and small odds and ends in our Dodge Durango between Goose Creek SC and Johns Island. Most of the driving and loading was done in a slow wet drizzle which I am sure helped to bring on the cold that I am still fighting with. Katy came down with some sort of stomach bug that climaxed to its full potential sometime Tuesday which is when I wound up driving her back to North Charleston to Health First. Come to find out I could have taken her over to Doctors Care on Sam Rittenburg and Savannah Hwy. That is what happens when you move to a different town you have to figure everything out again. I guess in the heat of the moment I opted to take her where I felt that she would get the best care and the most expediently without having to go through the insurance discovery madness.
The month of May is birthday madness at our household because everyone other than me has a birthday. Not only that but Katy and I celebrate our wedding anniversary in May. As of this May Katy and I celebrated 19 years of marriage adventures. As my pastor says, she is a saint. I would not have tolerated me for 1 year much less 19 years. Ok, maybe I am being too rough on myself but let’s just say Katy is the blessing in this marriage.
We have only been in the house now for less than 3 days but I think we are really going to enjoy this neighborhood. I spent several hours washing my SUV since it was horribly gross from the move and I noticed that several of our adjoining neighbors got off of work, came home and then stood around talking to one another in each other’s yards. It is nice to see neighbors actually talking to one another. That also means that people know who is supposed to be on that street and who does not. From what I can tell it is very quiet in the neighborhood. It has been nice to sit out on the front lawn and not hear the rush of traffic or the screaming of kids from all directions. Not only that but we will not miss the noises that came from the townhome directly above us.
In the last year or so I have been wandered deeper and deeper into social networking online and offline. I probably have spent more energy online than offline but I have forced myself to attend several Lowcountry blogger meetups in the Charleston area. I am not much of a social butterfly and so it is difficult for me to be in a group of people and find a way to break the ice with them. I guess that it just takes some time. One of my friends who has gone to one meetup told me that I needed to remember that Katy and I are older than most of the meetup attendees. Ok, so Katy and I are a bit older. Does that mean that we do not have something to offer? I know how to walk up to a table full of folks I really do not know and listen to their conversation. The only problem with that is I feel uncomfortable doing that. We have been able to make a connection with three or four folks but for the most part I get this feeling of not belonging. I find myself wishing that the organizers of these meetups would think of a way to help people to “break the ice” with everyone in the group and not just the people that they have already made friends with.
I understand that not everyone is going to like everyone nor is everyone going to have something in common with everyone. I was hoping that social networking online would also make it possible to make those kinds of connections with new people in the real world. Twitter, Plurk, blogs, Facebook, Myspace are all good media access points that enable us to connect in the virtual world. The only problem with the virtual world is that it can be difficult to communicate feelings and it can also become very impersonal. Just today I asked a friend of mine if she would mind calling my wife on the phone and wish her a happy birthday. Her response, “is she online so I can send her an e-mail”. My thought was that sending an e-mail to wish someone you know locally to wish them a happy birthday is sort of impersonal. Maybe that is what technology is doing to us, driving us more inward than outward. We are happy to know that other humans exist and we want to experience their connectedness to a certain degree but we really don’t want to invest too much personal energy to be near them.
This evening I have plans for Katy and I to go out and celebrate her birthday at California Dreaming in West Ashley. Katy turns the big 50 today and I want her to celebrate this special day and know she is loved and appreciated.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
The month of May is birthday madness at our household because everyone other than me has a birthday. Not only that but Katy and I celebrate our wedding anniversary in May. As of this May Katy and I celebrated 19 years of marriage adventures. As my pastor says, she is a saint. I would not have tolerated me for 1 year much less 19 years. Ok, maybe I am being too rough on myself but let’s just say Katy is the blessing in this marriage.
We have only been in the house now for less than 3 days but I think we are really going to enjoy this neighborhood. I spent several hours washing my SUV since it was horribly gross from the move and I noticed that several of our adjoining neighbors got off of work, came home and then stood around talking to one another in each other’s yards. It is nice to see neighbors actually talking to one another. That also means that people know who is supposed to be on that street and who does not. From what I can tell it is very quiet in the neighborhood. It has been nice to sit out on the front lawn and not hear the rush of traffic or the screaming of kids from all directions. Not only that but we will not miss the noises that came from the townhome directly above us.
In the last year or so I have been wandered deeper and deeper into social networking online and offline. I probably have spent more energy online than offline but I have forced myself to attend several Lowcountry blogger meetups in the Charleston area. I am not much of a social butterfly and so it is difficult for me to be in a group of people and find a way to break the ice with them. I guess that it just takes some time. One of my friends who has gone to one meetup told me that I needed to remember that Katy and I are older than most of the meetup attendees. Ok, so Katy and I are a bit older. Does that mean that we do not have something to offer? I know how to walk up to a table full of folks I really do not know and listen to their conversation. The only problem with that is I feel uncomfortable doing that. We have been able to make a connection with three or four folks but for the most part I get this feeling of not belonging. I find myself wishing that the organizers of these meetups would think of a way to help people to “break the ice” with everyone in the group and not just the people that they have already made friends with.
I understand that not everyone is going to like everyone nor is everyone going to have something in common with everyone. I was hoping that social networking online would also make it possible to make those kinds of connections with new people in the real world. Twitter, Plurk, blogs, Facebook, Myspace are all good media access points that enable us to connect in the virtual world. The only problem with the virtual world is that it can be difficult to communicate feelings and it can also become very impersonal. Just today I asked a friend of mine if she would mind calling my wife on the phone and wish her a happy birthday. Her response, “is she online so I can send her an e-mail”. My thought was that sending an e-mail to wish someone you know locally to wish them a happy birthday is sort of impersonal. Maybe that is what technology is doing to us, driving us more inward than outward. We are happy to know that other humans exist and we want to experience their connectedness to a certain degree but we really don’t want to invest too much personal energy to be near them.
This evening I have plans for Katy and I to go out and celebrate her birthday at California Dreaming in West Ashley. Katy turns the big 50 today and I want her to celebrate this special day and know she is loved and appreciated.
James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
chiefpropellerhead@comcast.net
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