Last night i went out for a business dinner with Microsoft people and people from my company. I tend to be pretty loud at these things because that's just the way I am. I do watch how much i drink to make sure I dont get too out of hand but I did have a couple of glasses of wine.
Anyway, it felt like it all went well but I always have this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that maybe I screwed up and offended someone. I can't point to a specific instance from last night but there is that nagging feeling in the back of my mind. I guess this is the price you pay if you want to participate in these sorts of events. the alternative is to sit there very politely and to keep the conversation on work but I think that defeats the purpose of these events. Certainly talking about work is necessary but we can do that in a meeting and dont need an overpriced restaurant to facilitate the conversation. The point of these events is to get to know your partners on a personal level.
So i'll have to put up with a little worry over my behavior. The evening was great. We ate at a really nice restaurant in Philly called Amada. It was a Tapas place so little plates of appetizers kept coming out all night long. The wine was all Spanish varietals and the MS rep picked a really nice Red (Tinto).
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Gangbusters
That's how the week has started. It is unbelievable how busy things are and it feels like every project i touch goes to crap. i hope my boss doesnt feel that way.
I've started tracking my daily exercise and food intake in a journal. i dont want to do it on this blog because i find that sort of tiresome and I dont want to bore all my faithful readers. My goal though is to get down to my bootcamp weight. that's going to take a lot of doing. i dont expect to be done for some months and that's with total concentration. I need to lose, as of today, 69 pounds. the interesting thing about that though is that yesterday i needed to lose 67 pounds...wrong direction. i'm hoping it was water retention.
Anyway, i've cut my food back and increased my exercise. my clothes do already feel looser so i believe it's probably a malicious scale would likes to see the expression on my face when i step on it.
I'll try not to make a habit to talk too much about my weight loss journey in this space but i'm sure i will update on certain milestones...10 pounds lost, 20, 5 pounds gained, etc.
I've started tracking my daily exercise and food intake in a journal. i dont want to do it on this blog because i find that sort of tiresome and I dont want to bore all my faithful readers. My goal though is to get down to my bootcamp weight. that's going to take a lot of doing. i dont expect to be done for some months and that's with total concentration. I need to lose, as of today, 69 pounds. the interesting thing about that though is that yesterday i needed to lose 67 pounds...wrong direction. i'm hoping it was water retention.
Anyway, i've cut my food back and increased my exercise. my clothes do already feel looser so i believe it's probably a malicious scale would likes to see the expression on my face when i step on it.
I'll try not to make a habit to talk too much about my weight loss journey in this space but i'm sure i will update on certain milestones...10 pounds lost, 20, 5 pounds gained, etc.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
weekend sick in bed
this weekend didnt fly by as quickly as most of them. most likely because i spent the weekend in bed. I did manage to get out of bed and drag myself to the Troop 230 Eagle Ceremony. It was long but worth the time.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
it was a long week
Although it was a long week full of the typical work stresses and anxieties and the busy days I'm sitting here on Saturday morning, survived, with a nice cup of tea, my two dogs and a nice quiet house. I just finished the crossword puzzle and am about to get into my book but first i thought i would put a few words down on the blog so i can look back and remember what i was doing someday.
This is strategy season at work so we're all busy trying to determine how we can make ourselves relevant to the company's new business strategy. The company recently came out with a 3 year plan to get ourselves to a stronger position and they set out some significant activities to make it happen. It seems that the work my group does falls squarely into at least on of those activities so now i have to make sure we have a robust enough mission to ensure that i get funding for myself and all my people. I think it will not be an issue but there is, of course, the stress that it will.
So i live in Powerpoint land., My boss is an expert in communications and I am not so it often takes several rounds of reviewing slides with him before i get it right. He's a busy guy so I want to have as few rounds as possible.
Anyway, after a week at it I think i'm pretty close so next week should be better.
The kids have their school stuff going on and their extra-curricular things. Oona was out of school two days this week with some sort of cold that I also seem to be coming down with. So far Dylan and Maureen seem fine but they're usually the ones that get sickest so I'm not sure we're out of the woods yet.
This weekend will be devoted to getting ready for Thanksgiving and an Eagle Scout Ceremony. I love
the Eagle Ceremonies so I'll take some pictures and do a post about it.
This is strategy season at work so we're all busy trying to determine how we can make ourselves relevant to the company's new business strategy. The company recently came out with a 3 year plan to get ourselves to a stronger position and they set out some significant activities to make it happen. It seems that the work my group does falls squarely into at least on of those activities so now i have to make sure we have a robust enough mission to ensure that i get funding for myself and all my people. I think it will not be an issue but there is, of course, the stress that it will.
So i live in Powerpoint land., My boss is an expert in communications and I am not so it often takes several rounds of reviewing slides with him before i get it right. He's a busy guy so I want to have as few rounds as possible.
Anyway, after a week at it I think i'm pretty close so next week should be better.
The kids have their school stuff going on and their extra-curricular things. Oona was out of school two days this week with some sort of cold that I also seem to be coming down with. So far Dylan and Maureen seem fine but they're usually the ones that get sickest so I'm not sure we're out of the woods yet.
This weekend will be devoted to getting ready for Thanksgiving and an Eagle Scout Ceremony. I love
the Eagle Ceremonies so I'll take some pictures and do a post about it.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Benefits of Green Tea
I recently gave up coffee and replaced it in my morning ritual with Green Tea...specifically Tazo Green Tea because it gives me a reason to keep going to Starbucks.
The alleged Health Benefits of Green Tea are very impressive and raises the question, "Why doesnt everybody drink green tea?". After all it is reported that green tea is helpful with
The alleged Health Benefits of Green Tea are very impressive and raises the question, "Why doesnt everybody drink green tea?". After all it is reported that green tea is helpful with
- cancer
- rheumatoid arthritis
- high cholesterol levels
- cardiovascular disease
- infection
- impaired immune function
It is a veritable "Who's Who" of baby boomer complaints. So why doesnt everyone drink green tea? There is currently only one drawback to green tea and that is that it is sometimes linked to insomnia because it does contain caffeine. IT contains from 30-60 mg of caffeine to Coffee's 100mg in a single cup. So, why dont more people drink green tea?
It tastes like crap.
What are you reading now?
I'm reading a book called "Case Histories" and due to work and personal commitments i've been reading it for weeks now. that's not a reflection on the book though; it is really good. one of the reasons i'm able to read it so sporadically is in the way it is written. It's a series of short stories that connect several characters. Each of these stories holds up on its own though so if i walk away for a couple of weeks I can jump back in. I have lost the thread from time to time but it comes back. the book is very well written and holds your attention...unless you're very busy at work and your personal life. I don't tend to recommend a lot of books but I do recommend this one.
Amazon Link to Case Histories
Amazon Link to Case Histories
Monday, November 15, 2010
Wilderness Survival
On November 12th I ventured into the wilds of the Poconos for a weekend wilderness survival trip with the Boy Scouts. We arrived late Friday night, setup our tents in the dark and went to sleep. we woke up at around 6am, tore down the tents and set the boys about building their own shelters to spend the night in that night.
It was quite an experience to watch the boys team up and build their shelters and to see the incredible job they did. the shelters were all different shapes and sizes but all of them were built for a great night. It was a long day but we managed to get a hike in and to have Scoutmaster Heinz give a demonstration on utensil-less cooking in the campfire...and i mean IN the campfire. The potate and onion were buried in the hot coals while the steak was laid on top of a coal. Everything cooked in less that 20 minutes and we were all able to taste the food. it was fantastic.
in the evening we had a great campfire where we sat around and told jokes and teased each other. It was a great time. Trevor, one of the younger scouts, did get a little sick and we had to take him to a house to sleep in that night...one of the downsides of having no body fat. The scouts though went to the shelters they had built and turned in for the evening. the temperatures were well below freezing and I was very cold in my tent but most of the scouts reported being very comfortable. the ones that built the very large shelter were the exception though. when it comes to wilderness shelters bigger is not necessarily better.
Below are some pictures from the weekend.
It was quite an experience to watch the boys team up and build their shelters and to see the incredible job they did. the shelters were all different shapes and sizes but all of them were built for a great night. It was a long day but we managed to get a hike in and to have Scoutmaster Heinz give a demonstration on utensil-less cooking in the campfire...and i mean IN the campfire. The potate and onion were buried in the hot coals while the steak was laid on top of a coal. Everything cooked in less that 20 minutes and we were all able to taste the food. it was fantastic.
in the evening we had a great campfire where we sat around and told jokes and teased each other. It was a great time. Trevor, one of the younger scouts, did get a little sick and we had to take him to a house to sleep in that night...one of the downsides of having no body fat. The scouts though went to the shelters they had built and turned in for the evening. the temperatures were well below freezing and I was very cold in my tent but most of the scouts reported being very comfortable. the ones that built the very large shelter were the exception though. when it comes to wilderness shelters bigger is not necessarily better.
Below are some pictures from the weekend.
First post
Starting a new blog which represents a new shot at reaching some goals.
i have suddenly realized that I'm 46 years old and have more years behind me than in front of me. I, of course, knew this all along as each year ticked by but I don't think it rang home until recently. more and more my middle-aged self becomes a non-entity in large groups and that may be somewhat owing to my personality but perhaps not. at any rate, i've accepted it and plan to run with it.
In an effort to try to have a few more years ahead of me than I currently do I'm going to start working on my health life a little more carefully. Last year I gave up alcohol and the world didnt end but when i added it back in this year i've found there are other vices that don't co-exist well with my current state. I won't give up alcohol again but will work to limit it to the weekend and holidays. I have given up a couple of things this year though...
1. Soda. This is a huge one for me. I used to drink probably 5 or 6 two liter bottles of diet pepsi a week and have now cut that down to zero. i misread an article that said that all sodas cause kidney disease...it was really only in women but by the time i figured that our soda was a thing of the past for me.
2. Coffee. This is relatively recent. I gave up coffee last week because i was having trouble sleeping. without the coffee and in this short amount of time I am sleeping much better. I have moved to Green Tea. It still has caffeine in it but n ot as much and I drink way less of it than I did coffee. I miss the coffee and the morning ritual but sleep is more important.
I have also begun going to the gym on a regular basis. I go at least 4 times a week and try to get more in if possible. I'm currently focusing on getting back in shape so limiting myself to the elliptical trainer and some light weight sessions. i want to move up slowly to avoid any injuries and to avoid being let down by a lack of progress. The gym is an interesting place and I'll have to blog later on some of the more eccentric characters. I think a psychologist would love to spend some time watching the behavior in the locker room.
So there's the beginning. just a blog about how my life is going and how i'm reaching my goals. I should have a post about my goals but I'm a little shy about that. Of course they say that the best way to ensure you attain your goals is to tell people about them so we shall see if i work up the nerve.
Lastly, please let me know if you're out there reading this. I try to think no one will read it so I can write whatever I'm feeling like but it would be nice to know if someone is reading and has some feedback for me.
Best Regards,
Pat McGovern
i have suddenly realized that I'm 46 years old and have more years behind me than in front of me. I, of course, knew this all along as each year ticked by but I don't think it rang home until recently. more and more my middle-aged self becomes a non-entity in large groups and that may be somewhat owing to my personality but perhaps not. at any rate, i've accepted it and plan to run with it.
In an effort to try to have a few more years ahead of me than I currently do I'm going to start working on my health life a little more carefully. Last year I gave up alcohol and the world didnt end but when i added it back in this year i've found there are other vices that don't co-exist well with my current state. I won't give up alcohol again but will work to limit it to the weekend and holidays. I have given up a couple of things this year though...
1. Soda. This is a huge one for me. I used to drink probably 5 or 6 two liter bottles of diet pepsi a week and have now cut that down to zero. i misread an article that said that all sodas cause kidney disease...it was really only in women but by the time i figured that our soda was a thing of the past for me.
2. Coffee. This is relatively recent. I gave up coffee last week because i was having trouble sleeping. without the coffee and in this short amount of time I am sleeping much better. I have moved to Green Tea. It still has caffeine in it but n ot as much and I drink way less of it than I did coffee. I miss the coffee and the morning ritual but sleep is more important.
I have also begun going to the gym on a regular basis. I go at least 4 times a week and try to get more in if possible. I'm currently focusing on getting back in shape so limiting myself to the elliptical trainer and some light weight sessions. i want to move up slowly to avoid any injuries and to avoid being let down by a lack of progress. The gym is an interesting place and I'll have to blog later on some of the more eccentric characters. I think a psychologist would love to spend some time watching the behavior in the locker room.
So there's the beginning. just a blog about how my life is going and how i'm reaching my goals. I should have a post about my goals but I'm a little shy about that. Of course they say that the best way to ensure you attain your goals is to tell people about them so we shall see if i work up the nerve.
Lastly, please let me know if you're out there reading this. I try to think no one will read it so I can write whatever I'm feeling like but it would be nice to know if someone is reading and has some feedback for me.
Best Regards,
Pat McGovern
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