29 Monday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
http://tchphotography.smugmug.com/Botanical-Gardens/i-KcLBn6p/A
24 years ago today I married my best friend and my sweetheart. I love this woman more than anything else in this world. She has put up with my antics which any other woman would probably have divorced me years ago. She has given me three of the most wonderful kids anyone could ask for. Here’s wishing for another 24 wonderful years together.
Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!!
“Life Goes On!”
28 Sunday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
Although the Fourth of July is less than a week away some of the local churches are celebrating it a bit early. One of the churches had theirs tonight and boy was it a wild celebration. They had predicted over 2000 people to show up. Whether or not they all showed up remains to be seen. I passed by the complex earlier today as they were setting up and they already had several bounce houses set up and a stage being erected. The firework show at the conclusion was awesome. I just wished I had my camera gear already set up. I missed capturing a lot of good images because I didn’t have my camera with me. Oh well. Maybe next time.
I went to the cycle shop today to look at road shoes. OMG, I had no idea they were so expensive. I say a couple of pair that was around $90 but they were not in my size. In fact, none of the shoes fit me. They’re having to order some in for me to try later on in the week. I have such a wide foot that either they wouldn’t strap down. If I got a pair that would strap, the shoe would be so large that my foot would slip up and down.
My LOOK pedals came in on Friday and I’m really looking forward to getting some shoes to put them on. I can’t wait to get them on my bike and go riding.
27 Saturday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
365 Day Photo Challenge, Alabama, BBQ, College Tour, Football, Marching Band, Million Dollar Band
I spent this morning and some of this afternoon taking my daughters on a college tour at the University of Alabama. My son already goes there and we’ve already been on this tour with him. After the tour we went and visited the newly renovated Butler Field. This is where the Million Dollar Band practices. In years past they’ve been having to deal with an uneven field where water would always stand when it rained. Now it’s all terf with painted end zones just like a regular football field. It’s really nice. They did an awesome job. I’m glad that they’ve finally decided to spend some money on the band instead of just the football teams.
After which we went out to eat at Dreamland BBQ, a place known for their BBQ ribs. Boy was it good. My son is home until the end of July before he has to leave for band camp. I’m looking forward to spending some time with him before he has to leave again.
“Life Goes On!”
26 Friday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
Did not care for the decision today. Do not like the fact that WordPress had decided to force me to look at this banner so I’ll make this very brief.
It’s been very hot and muggy the past few days. Today we finally got some relief but the other day I was watering my lawn and noticed I had about seven or eight Robins taking a bath around my sprinklers. They were having a good time fluffing their feathers and getting clean.
Told you this was to be brief and will continue to be brief or none at all as long as I have to look at this banner.
“Life Goes On!”
25 Thursday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
I took a nutrition class a couple of years ago that my office offered and we were asked to fill out a survey and one of the questions asked what was my weight loss goal. At that time I weighed a lot more than I do now so I put down I wanted to lose 100 pounds. A couple of days later I got an email requesting that I meet the instructor and go over the survey with her. The first question was regarding my goal. It’s too much she said. You need to start off with smaller goals and work toward bigger goals once you meet the smaller ones. So with that I started off with 5 pounds the first month then 5 more the second month and so on. I lost 60 plus pounds doing that.
Goal setting is not only for weight loss. I do it for my cycling as well. When I started riding my bike I could only do about 5 miles at a time. The only thing I did different was that with each goal that I met I would always increase the goal for the next month so 5 miles became 10, 10 miles became 15 and so forth. Within about six months I finally reached my last goal of 50 miles. Pictured here is a group of scouts that I rode with during my 50 mile bike ride. We all had a blast that day.
Remember when setting goals, make them attainable. Make your goals challenging but not too high where you may lose interest or get discouraged. Give yourself an award for reaching your goals. I remember reading where one lady put up a $1 bill for every pound she lost. She set her main goal of $50 and when she reached her 50 pounds she had $50 to spend any way she wanted too. I thought that was a pretty good idea.
If you’re trying to lose weight I hope you’re meeting your goals. Good luck!!
“Life Goes On!”
24 Wednesday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
365 Day Photo Challenge, Alabama, Cycling, Eating Healthy, Exercise, Exercising, goals, Healthy, Weightloss
Pay attention to your health NOW! Don’t wait until you get to be an adult, don’t wait until after you’re out of shape and don’t wait until you’re so big you can’t do anything about it. Do something now, even if it’s just 30 minutes a day, do something to get your heart rate up and burn some calories.
In the last two years, I have had eye surgery, 25 doctor appointments and 6 days off from work mostly due to my diabetes. I have hardly any vacation built up and my sick time is non existent. The diagnosis of my CML hasn’t helped matters none but there’s nothing I could’ve done to prevent this cancer but the diabetes is another story.
I’m not telling you this to gain sympathy or to draw attention to myself. I’m doing this so that you won’t have to go through what I’m going through. I want you to be my friend for a long time.
Trust me when I say that it is MUCH HARDER to lose weight as an adult than it is while you are younger. I’ll be 52 in a couple of months and I honestly think I”ll never get to where I want to be because my metabolism just doesn’t function like it used to. Either that or I still eat more calories than I burn. I do exercise more and I feel that it’s still not enough. I love to ride my bike for hours at a time but it takes too much time away from my family.
My son will graduate college in the first week of December.of this year. I have a goal that I want to get down to and it’s going to be really hard for me to get there. It’s not an unrealistic goal but it’s just going to be a challenge to get there.
Again, pay attention to your health now. No one knows better than you if you need to do something or not. I know I need to work on my weight and I’m trying to do better.
There’s no need respond or reply unless you just feel the need too. If you know someone who is having health issues due to diabetes and you know they’re having difficulties with their dieting, say a word of encouragement. A little encouragement goes a long way.
Thanks for reading this and thanks for being there for me.
23 Tuesday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
I weighed in at 186 pounds on the day I graduated high school back in 1982 Back then I was active, I was in the high school marching band. I lifted weights, I rode my bicycle everywhere I went and my brother and I cut grass in the neighborhood for extra money. I remember even then thinking I was overweight. Little did I know then that I would be really overweight as an adult.
I really didn’t start gaining weight until sometime before I got married. I was living by myself in a mobile home eating out mostly but I did manage to cook on occasion. I guess sometime after I got married my metabolism slowed down and my weight started creeping upwards rather quickly. But who was I to impress. I was already married and had no one to impress. I thought about my weight on occasion and I would try to diet once in a while but it didn’t last.
If I had known then what I know now (I know, it’s a cliche) I would have tried a little harder and eaten a lot healthier. We all say that I know.
“life Goes On!”
22 Monday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
http://tchphotography.smugmug.com/Fire-Truck/i-LMGpXT3/A
I’m not sure why but today has been a day of reflection. Maybe it’s because my son went back to college yesterday, maybe it’s because we’re taking my girls to a college tour on Saturday or maybe it’s because my dad turned 77 yesterday. If feels like I’m on a fast roller coaster and there’s no way to get off. Everything is changing so fast.
We started planning my daughter’s senior trip today. It just seems like last year we were planning my son’s senior trip. Well, it was my wife’s and I 20th wedding anniversary that turned into a senior Disney Cruise. It just happened to be during the same time. But anyway, I can’t believe that my daughters will be graduating this year.
To think my son will be graduating college in December is yet another thing that I can’t believe is happening so soon. It just seems like yesterday that we dropped him off for his first year. Where has the time gone?
To think that my mom and dad are in their seventies is another thing that I can’t believe. I’m blessed to have them both still around. Many people my age can’t say that. We’ve gone through so much together and yet it doesn’t seem like they should be that old.
In some ways I wished that there was a pause button so I can stop just long enough to catch my breath. There is still so much I want to do and see with my kids and my parents I just hope we all are here long enough to do them.
“Life Goes On!”
A
21 Sunday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
I’ve been riding on a regular basis for three years now and I’ve never felt like I’ve had the full support from my family. They’ve always kidded with me about my cycle shorts, the dri fit shirts that I wear and of course my head gear. Whenever the subject comes up around the house about bike riding or cycling in general I always get a deaf ear and the subject gets dropped or changed.
Around the house if there’s anything to be fixed I’m the one to fix it. I’ve got tools to do woodworking, auto mechanic, lawn mower repair, plumbing and even heating and air conditioning repair. But what I don’t have is the proper tools to do bike repair. It seems that there is a lot of things on a bicycle that takes a special tool. A tool that I don’t have. In fact, just the other day I needed a spoke wrench to tighten a spoke that had come loose and I didn’t have the proper wrench to do the job. I went the next day and purchased a three sided spoke wrench (because I didn’t know which size I needed). I even mentioned this to my wife who again turned a deaf ear.
Today, to my surprise, I received this tool box for Father’s Day. I can’t tell you how surprised I was when I opened my gift. I actually thought that it was a set of pedals that I have been wanting because I saw the box sitting on the front porch when I came in from work on Friday so I knew the box came from a bicycle supply house.
I made sure I gave each of my kids a huge hug and thanked them over and over. I think they got the message that I was extremely thankful for my surprise. I[m not sure if I’ve got them won over with me cycling yet but this looks like it’s a start anyway.
“Life Goes On!”
20 Saturday Jun 2015
Posted in Photography
Tags
365 Day Photo Challenge, Alabama, America, Cats, Feline, Governement, Gun Control, Opinion, Photography
There’s been a lot in the news about the massacre in South Carolina. My deepest, heartfelt condolences go out to all the friends and families of those that lost loved ones during this horrible tragedy.
If you’ve been following long you should know by now that I don’t normally talk about politics, religion, and anything that is controversial. I wanted this to be a family friendly blog that you wouldn’t mind if your eight or ten year old happened upon you while you were reading my blog. Anyway, I must say, and your opinions may differ from mine and that’s okay, that I believe that we do not need any more gun control. In fact, we don’t need any more control from the government than we already have. My opinion is not to have more gun laws but to get this nation back to where it used to be. We have become a country that is so afraid of offending others that we have forgotten our own roots. Our country must get back to God and not try to be so politically correct any more.
That’s my opinion and as they say, I’m sticking to it. You may or may not agree with me and that’s fine.
“Life Goes On!”
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