Day 179 - Minimalism

158.5 on the scale.

Day 178 - I Wanna PLAY!

157.5 on the scale, no exercise yet. Had to work.

I spend the morning at home finishing up some design stuff for a noon meeting at Target. Just got back to the office after the meeting and having a burrito with Angela.

Now on to Ameriprise stuffs for Tiffany by EOD.

Hopefully I can finish that sooner than later, I wanna play with our big RFP opportunity!

Day 177 - Plus One

157.0 on the scale. 67 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.7, 150/100.

Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. I'm having trouble keeping up with everything lately, including blog entries.

Today, I hired a Production person. (WELCOME to the team Matt!) That brings Ham in the Fridge to 15 full-timers, 16 if you count our intern, Doogie.

I mowed the lawn tonight and cleaned the garage in preparation for the HamBBQ this Friday night. Keeps getting bigger and bigger! I still have to find a babysitter, which is proving not to be easy. Have a couple good leads, hopefully something will come through soon.

Anyway, on to some Target work, then off to bed!

Exercise Update

70 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 150/100.

HOT outside. That's all I have to say about that.

Day 176 - Weekend Adventure Recap

160.5 on the scale, no exercise yet today, will kick some walking-path ass later.

So, this is going to be a recap of the weekend, since I had no cell service and no internets way up nort' in Nestor Falls, Ontario.

I found the cabin around 8:30 Friday night, and entered still dressed in my work duds. I promptly changed into clothes more fitting the environs, and after greeting my wife with a wee kiss and greeting my friends with a hearty hello, I cracked a Labatts Blue Lite.

Unfortunately Lisa's car was stone cold dead after they got in earlier on Friday, so right away Saturday morning Dave and Jeremy had to jump her car and drive it into town to the mechanic

While they were doing that, I laced up the tennies for a brisk morning walk through Canada. I don't know for sure, but based off of average pace and the amount of time I was out there, I think I walked about 8 miles, up to the falls in town and back. While I was walking, I walked right by the mechanic and saw them as they were dropping the car off.

Saturday saw all 6 of us get a good buzz on multiple times. We did some fishin, some drinkin, some talking, some bull-shitting, some poker-playin' and then had a tremendous fish fry Saturday night (nice work Jeremy and Denise!!), after which we got on the boat and cruised over to a local pub for a couple of pitchers with the locals.

By the way, I say "locals" loosely, since it was evident from the license plates whizzing by me while walking earlier that the vast majority of people in Nestor Falls that weekend were actually state-side folk. Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota... It's a resort community.

On the way back from the pub, we were treated to a beautiful light show courtesy of God, who was tossing lighting bolts all over the place. We avoided getting dumped on while on the boat, but shortly after as we finished the poker game on the porch, it started coming down really really hard. It also stormed later that night pretty hard I guess, but I slept through it completely.

On Sunday morning, I got up and walked again the 8 miles or so, and did my 150/100. Afterwards, I jumped in the lake with a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo which was awesome (I also cleaned up that way on Saturday morning). We spent the morning after breakfast cleaning and getting things ready to head out, and the rest of the day was driving.

Last night I spent a few hours making mods to a Target project, and then got up early to work again on those mods.

That brings us to today, which sees me sitting at my desk and then working furiously to catch up with everything after the short week Flashbelt created for us last week.

Have a good Monday! I'll try to do a better job of posting this week.

Quote of the Day

While driving home from the cabin...

Bret: "I haven't shit today, have I?"

Jo: "I don't know dear, I'm not your ass."

Day 173 - On The Road Again

158.0 on the scale. 90 minutes on the walking path, about 6.5 miles, probably about 4.6, and 150/100.

I just finished having lunch downtown at Au Bon Pain so I'm utilizing their free wifi to catch up with my blogging duties, of which I've been considerably derelict.

I'm about to shut down the laptop and hit the road for Ontario. I hope I don't get any trouble at the border.

So, the quote of the day today comes from my friend John on the walking path. Today he was wearing a shirt with a huge green square on it, and inside that square was a big "O".

So I says to him I says as he walks by, "John, you know there's a big "O" on your shirt, right?"

And he said, "Ahh, but that's a zero. That's my net worth." then chuckled.

Sharp on his toes that John.

Day 172 - Marathon's Suck

160.0 on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking paths, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 150/100.

Today was not a good day. I ended up with a day of back-to-back meetings starting promptly at 9:30 that went all the way until 4:30. Granted, one of them was a birthday lunch for Eric with pizza and cake, but still.

I got nothing tangible accomplished whatsoever.

I totally misbehaved today food-wise. I had like 5 pieces of pizza at lunch, and a piece of birthday cake. Then, the boys and I went to dinner with Jo's parents at Ruby Tuesdays where I had two huge plates of salad from the salad bar (yeah, salad, but still) and then finished the rest of Bruce's onions straws.

Then, in the checkout at Target later I was tempted by a bag of peanut butter M&Ms, and when I got home, I couldn't stop eating animal crackers.

Dang. Bad day points-wise too.

We're going to a friend's cabin for the weekend with a few friends, and Jo left with them to head up there at 4:30 before supper. I'll be driving there tomorrow afternoon. Someplace in Ontario.

Yeah, that's Canucktopia. Shore is!

Day 171 - Momma's Home!

159.5 on the scale. About 6 miles on the walking path in the evening with the kids in tow, not sure how fast or how long we were out, but it was nice to get out. Oh, and 150/100.

Jo-Anne got home tonight, and when we got back from the walk we were surprised to find her sitting front of the TV on the couch, relaxing.

I missed the morning sessions for Flashbelt on account of work again, but the last two were really good. I went to the motion graphics guy (who was amazing) and then the Code Cosmos presentation, where the guy demonstrated a great deal of flash ecosystems he'd created based on algorithms that create amazing pieces of art.

Anyway, it was a good day. :)

Day 170 - Scattered Day

157.5 on the scale. No exercise.

This morning was a logistical nightmare all 'round.

1) The boys were incessantly screwing around instead of doing what they were supposed to be doing to get ready.

2) I couldn't find the house Cole was supposed to be dropped off at due to an address being noted incorrectly, Cole's inability to recognize the house, and the homeowners being deep in their backyard not hearing their phone ring. Through the power of the internet-enabled phone, I finally located the correct address, but we were like 20 minutes late already.

3) Cory got to orchestra camp JUST in time, not the 15 minutes early he was supposed to be there.

4) I did not get everything done prior to having to leave the house in the morning so had to skip the first two sessions of Flashbelt (which I was late for anyway due to the cumulative aforementioned things combined with some nasty construction traffic around the university).

Anyway, it was nice to sit in the coffee shop with earphones on and recollect myself with some photoshop work after all of that. The last two sessions were pretty good, but had to skip out of the final session to present what I'd finished in the morning.

Here's to a more collected day tomorrow morning.

Day 169 - Flashbelt Fun

169.5 on the scale. 75 minutes or so on the walking path, 5.5 miles, 4.6 approximately, 150/70.

Me and the boys went for a walk after a homemade taco dinner, I on foot and they on bike. Cory got a new bike befitting his size, so Cole got upgraded to Cory's old bike, and all are suited to their recreational mode of transportation again.

Since I didn't get to walk this morning, this felt good. Got the pith out from sitting all day at Flashbelt (which so far has been good!).

Anyway, I'm gonna get the kids ready for bed, then I'm gonna have to get up early to get another project ready to show tomorrow for Target. Tonight, I relax.

Home Again - Facing One Crazy Week

We're back home, we've had supper (snarfed some leftovers), and we're getting ready for three weekdays without Mommy, who will be in Florida for her step-grandmother's memorial service.

Cory starts Orchestra Camp tomorrow, and Cole will have three playdates pretty much.

Flashbelt (big local Adobe Flash convention) overlaps these three days exactly, otherwise I would have tried to find a way to work at home with the kids or take them with to the office.

Instead, it is going to be a complicated dance migrating kids from place to place that will involve Daddy, our neighbor's, my cousin Marisa, the kid's friends, and more. Jo-Anne did a tremendous job coordinating everything though, so she's made it as easy as it can be for me.

Tonight, I'm getting some work stuff done for a project that has to show tomorrow, and will try to get my head around this crazy week.

Day 168 - Headin' Home

??? on the scale (although not good I'm sure). 65 minutes walking around Appleton, about 5.0 miles, 4.6, 150/70.

And on the road again for home.

I had a good time at the reception last night, despite knowing nobody but the bride and groom. I met some of Ross's college buddies, a lot of Marit's family (aunt Christine rocks), and a fair amount of Ross's family as well.

I dipped in and out of the reception and "moonlighted" a bit in the tiki bar periodically where Sandy the barkeep took good care of me. I think Sandy was sharing my status with other patrons, because I rapidly became known in that bar as "the-guy-attending-a-wedding- reception-that-doesn't-know-anybody-there", so people were striking up conversations with me with wild abandon.

Okay, that was an exaggeration. More like "mild enthusiasm".

Anyway, all-in-all I had fun, and after a couple too many drinks, around 10:00 I headed upstairs to the room, intending to come back down and get my groove on the dance floor after a quick refresh.

Instead, I layed down on the bed for a few minutes that turned into like 6 hours.

No Chicken Dance for me. No Electric Slide. No YMCA. No Bunny Hop. No Come On Eileen. No I Knew the Bride When She Used To Rock and Roll.

I could go on...

The boys had a great time with Aunt Linda, who was kinda and gracious enough to watch the boys overnight and treat them to a fun arcade night and miniature golf and such with Uncle Larry while I had fun at the reception. Thanks Linda! The boys always love hanging at your casa.

Ross & Marit Are Married!

Safe and Sound and Swam Out

We've settled in for a long summer's nap at the Radisson in downtown Appleton. Boys are tucked in and I'm just waiting for them to fall asleep. :)

When we got here, we got changed and headed straight for the pool (which is very nice) and got rid of some pent up road-trip energy.

We'll get up tomorrow morning and invite Aunt Linda over to watch the boys swim and have breakfast with us.

Sweet dreams y'all.

Supper Stop in Wassau

We just finished eating at a throwback 50's diner turned smokehouse called "George's Restaurant" where we saw the above sign. :)

While the food and atmosphere was pretty good, there was a couple in there with a small child who's behavior sort of appalled all three of us. No, not the kid's behavior. The parents'.

They were in their mid or late 40's, and this kid was no more than two and pretty whiney and fussy. Well, the bi-polar mom outright bitch-slapped the kid which of course didn't help the fussiness, AND then yelled at her multiple times right there in front of everyone in the restaurant like she didn't give a damn who heard her. And I'm not talkin' restrained pissed-off parental tone of voice -- I'm talking about outright yelling. F-bomb and everything.

My kids were appalled, in fact they said that her behavior was worse than the kid's! I had my fingers poised over the 911 keys on my phone just in case she freaked on the poor girl.

So, while I'd patronize "George's Restaurant" again, if that woman is a regular, I'll have to pass.

Day 166 - On The Road Again

160.0 on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 150/70.

Had a short day today, filled with a couple of meetings and some communication this morning, and then now we're about to head to Appleton, WI for my friend and coworker Ross Atkinson's wedding.

Jo was gonna attend, but is now not able to, and the boys will stay overnight tomorrow with my aunt and uncle in Appleton (who are excited as hell to have them), which leaves me alone for the wedding and reception. Reception should be fun, and WATCH OUT. I'm staying in the same hotel as the reception, and I don't know anyone. :)

Take whatever meaning from that you wish.

I'll periodically update from the road for all you nervous nellies concerned for my safety while road tripping (yes you, Mom).

Day 164 & 165 - Double The Pleasure, Double The Fun

Day 164: 158.0 on the scale. 45 minutes on the walking path, 3.45 miles, 4.6, 150/70.

Day 165: 157.5 on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 150/70.

And I could NOT stop eating the night of day 165. Holy crap.

Day 163 - Self-Banishment

158.5 on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 150/70, had schtuff to do for work this morning though so it was after I got home from work at like 7:15.

So not much to report today except I had a solid day of back-to-back meetings (which is never the most fun thing in the world), and barely had a half hour to sit at my desk.

I did not sleep well last night. I was up working on work stuff after having a big cup of coffee but puttered out earlier than I'd hoped, hoping instead to get up early. However, I really didn't sleep well because of the coffee, and also because my wife had to keep waking me to get me to stop snoring (allergies or something apparently), so didn't get up all that early and so was rushed this morning to finish the stuff I had to finish, then rush off to a solid day of meetings.

I'm sleeping downstairs tonight so we both get a good night's sleep.

Exercise Report - Attonement For Buffet Sins

7.4 miles on the walking path with the boys accompanying me on their bikes. Dunno how long or how fast I was going, but 150/70.

That oughtta serve as sufficient penance for the Old Chicago lunch buffet, don'tchathink? That, and the boys had fun tagging along, and momma got some alone time to go work out.

Everyone wins!

Day 162 - Flora, Fauna, and Fast Walking

159.0 on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 150/70.

So, wow. I saw lots of animals this morning! Right away, I saw a bunny on someone's lawn literally sitting right next to a cardinal, like 3 feet apart.

And right around the corner was a wild turkey!

Then... Well the next sight wasn't as pleasant, so I didn't take a picture (though I was tempted). It was a poor little mouse that had been splayed by some ferocious wild animal or something. I swear, posed exactly like you'd imagine a dead mouse on a street would be in a 3D animated Disney movie, except all the meat picked off it. Ewww.

After I shook that image out of my head, I ran into Mother Goose and her family. Her little ones are getting big! I got a few threatening gestures thrown my way, but no altercation despite stopping long enough to snap a picture.

THEN, as if all of the above wasn't enough, I saw a painted turtle on the residential loop around the marsh. A pretty big one too! It didn't exactly like me picking it up so it buried all of it's extremities inside its shell, but I got a good couple of pictures anyway.

I swear, had I seen all of these animals in pairs, I'd have thought I better head for high ground and build an arc!

In other news, over the weekend, I weighed in over 160. That's bad. I mean, we did go out and stuff, but still. I am going to have to walk more, I've decided to up the crunches to 150 from 100, and I have to stop all the little munchie in-between meal stuff, like the goldfish, licorice, almonds, etc. Gotta keep myself in check, I don't exactly want to lose 30 pounds again.

Having just said that, I totally went to a pizza buffet for lunch.

Bad Bret!

Day 160 - Reunited And It Feels So Good

?? on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking path (with Cole tagging along on bike), 5.0 miles, not sure how fast, and 0/0.

Then also another 1.5 miles behind a lawn mower to mow the lawn.

Today, me and the boys got up and got out on the boat at about 9:00 for about three hours. We tried fishing, and had very little luck, not anything more than a nibble.

Also, we got an interesting call at the house today, the Minnetonka Police. Apparently the cashier at the gas station where I filled the boat and bought some beverages and snacks did not remember to ring up my gas, despite my pointing out the pump and the rough amount for her. And of course I signed the credit card slip without paying any attention to the total. The gas station reported me as a drive off, and Jo had to run there to pay while we were on the lake.

I'm such a crook. (Thanks, Jo!)

Cory is at a birthday sleepover at one of his friends, and we've got a babysitter for Cole (my cousin Marisa) so Jo and I can go out tonight to catch 3 Minute Hero at the Fine Line. They've reunited since our college days. We know a number of the band members because we were all band geeks together in Concert Band in college.

Should be a good time, although they don't go on stage until like 11:00 or 11:30. That's late for all us old-timers now. They should reunite and go on stage at 6:30, so we can be home in time to soak our dentures.

From Brown to Blue

So, the siding on our house (which is I think original from the 70's) is rotting in some places and we've decided to invest some of the tax refund towards residing the house.

We're going with Maxitile, which is a wood/concrete composite. Comes painted, looks like wood, the paint job is guaranteed for something like 15 years. NICE.

Here's our house as it is now:



We've been trying to decide about colors for trim and shutters and stuff, and so we took pictures and I did some fancy photoshop work to help us decide. Here's where I think we've netted out:



Whatcha think? Big change, eh?

Day 159 - Friday, Friday, Friday

157.0 on the scale. 67 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.7, 100/70.

Feeling contemplative today.

I've spent the last few hours in a coffee shop getting ready for a meeting this afternoon. I'm about to head into the office again, and then I'll be in meetings the rest of the afternoon. Until Beer:30 that is!

Next Adult Swim game has been approved with the big schedule we wanted. YAY! This one's gonna be funny. Everytime someone says the name at work, I have to giggle.

Good times at HAM.

Busy weekend ahead, as I mentioned. I'll splain more later...

Cell Phone Etiquette

I'm sorry, but is it appropriate to take or place business phone calls while on the shitter?

I would tend to think not.

However, it seems there are others in my building that think it is perfectly appropriate.

A phrase I give to all shitter-callers of the world: "I'm sorry, can I call you back in 5 minutes?"

Day 158 - What the Hell Happened to Bret?

Wow, almost two full days without a post. I'm totally slipping. So, to catch you up (because I know you've been on the edge of your seats with wonder. whatever...):

Day 157: 158.5 on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 100/70.

Day 158: 156.5 on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 100/70.

So, I've actually not been keeping close watch about the time and pace for the walks the past couple of days. I just know the loop I do is a 5.0 mile loop.

Things have been well. We had a big presentation to a potential new client yesterday that went smashingly well. It is a competitive RFP, and whether or not we win it, I think we went in with our best foot forward, and presented some strong, well-thought-out concepts. Quite proud of my collective team, I am.

I'll tell ya more if we get it. (The walls have ears!)

So, so far, all those things I mentioned in Monday's post that would have to fall in place just right this week? They have been. *knocks on wood*

And I'll be damned if the week isn't already almost over. Two new people starting Monday, an intern, and another designer.

Gonna Get Along Without You Now - Patience and Prudence

Day 156 - Late Entry

158.5 on the scale. 70 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.5, 100/70.

Had a little convo with John on the path today. He asked where I started from. He starts from Williston Road and does a 6 mile loop, almost every day. WITH cross-country skiing poles.

Had a good day today. Spent most of the morning in a coffee shop getting ready for a presentation that went smashingly well (almost too well) this afternoon.

Also was honored with a run-through of a presentation for some new business that's gonna happen tomorrow that made me proud. I had to hug people.

Anyway, we went to Dairy Queen tonight to celebrate the boy's last day of school. Wooo! LOVE the Lime Mr. Misty Freeze, extra lime, extra slush. YUM.

Exercise Report

About 90 minutes on the walking path with the boys on bikes and me walking. I think we went about 5.75 miles or so, but not sure pace and all. Oh, and 100/70.

We stopped all of us for a bit for them to explore the shore, but I was able to keep up a steady almost normal pace otherwise while they were able to sprint ahead of me, then get off the bikes and explore, then get back on and go further, etc.

This might become something we do more of, takin' the chilluns. They had fun!

Anyway, we returned the turtle to roughly where I found him, which was our primary mission tonight outside of keeping Daddy from getting fat again. Turtle is in nature's loving embrace once more.

Now I'm craving Dairy Queen. How wrong is that?

Day 155 - Makin' a Down Swing

158.5 on the scale. No exercise yet, will get out tonight I hope.

Had some work stuff to finish this morning before coming into work so didn't get out on the trails, though it seems to have been the PERFECT morning for it. Oh well.

Filling the spirit with music instead.

Gotta get that weight number back in check after the weekend barbecue & beer binge, so watch me behave like a good boy this week again. No freakin' Goldfish, more soup and salads, and plenty of walking.

Um, so I have a busy week ahead of me, and then a busy weekend ahead as well. Much must fall into place smoothly over the next few days especially, and I think it will. Things just need time and attention, and I'm the guy to give 'em both.

Alright, Happy Monday and stuff!

Day 154 - Holy Parentheticals!

159.5 on the scale (eek!). 66 minutes on the walking path, 5.0 miles, 4.6, 100/70.

Last night's party was a success. We had a good turnout with 30+ people, and there were still 10 left by the bonfire around 11:00!

One of the highlights (outside of the attempt to play a rousing game of "Bullshit!") was when I brought out the 1976 Bicentennial Hummel jeans quilt (thanks Mom!) which sparked a round-robin about how old everyone was in 1976.

Mind you, these are almost all parents of a 4th grader from Cory's class at Spring Hill School. Answers ranged from 16 all the way to a sheepish, "Um, I wasn't born yet."

Yeah, I ate too much last night. WAY too much. Brats, dogs, burgers, chips, oh my! (not to mention the non-light uppity beer!)

Anyway, today was pretty low key. Another rainy day, but managed to get the party remnants cleaned up for the most part AND get a walk in, albeit late in the day and with umbrella in hand. I had hoped to get out on the boat today (I'm developing an itch) but the weather was not with me on that one.

So, tomorrow. Yeah, Monday. Plenty to do tomorrow. Monday, that is.

Day 153 - Aw, Poor Lil' Guy

157.0 on the scale. 155 minutes on the walking path, 12.18 miles, 4.7, 100/70.

I did not get out to walk last night as I'd hoped, so I endeavored to go on a long walk this morning. It was a beautiful beautiful morning for it, so I just kinda kept going, past Excelsior to Cty Rd 19 before I turned around.

Found this little guy on the trail about 1.75 miles from home, and couldn't pass picking him up to take home for the boys. Yeah, he both pooped and peed on me on the way home, but the boys were excited to get him (or her I guess). Good times.

Also saw a deer, and a deceased rabbit that looked as though it'd just recently been scared to death and was laying on the side of the trail.
Anyway, my feet hurt, I'm starving, and my wife wants my help right now, but I've had a great morning, thanks!

Tonight's the shindig!

Day 152 - I Got Nuttin'

158.5 on the scale. No exercise yet (maybe tonight).

I had some stuff to wrap up this morning for an 11:00 Target meeting, and had a 9:30 second interview with a designer before that, so had to use my walk time for work time.

We'll see if I can get out there tonight or not. Depends on whether it rains again, and what I might have to accomplish while Cory's in gymnastics. If nothing on both counts, I'll walk while he's in gymnastics - new territory to explore.

Tomorrow night we're having a bunch of Spring Hill parents over for a "Burgers, Bonfire, and Beer Tasting" party thingy so Jo's stressing about the condition of the house and the yard and the garage and everything. Aside from the stressing, it should be fun, although I bet we're gonna get some shit about leaving and going public next year.

DECISION MADE. PERIOD. NO WAFFLING.

Yeah, that's right.

In other news, I'm too low key for my own good today. Grey, humid, & threateningly rainy day it is, and it's kinda making me just wanna disappear into a crowd today. I got nuttin' to give nobody, knowwhatI'msayin?