Day 18 Happy Birthday To Me!

The clock keeps ticking.  Today I turned 36.  It was a great day full of wonderful gifts and surprises.  I also had some great food.  I guess I should start at the beginning.

My typical day starts at 5am, where I get up, make some coffee, and spend some time reading and thinking through the day.  By 730 the pidder-padder of my youngest daughters feet can be heard as she searches for me ... every morning ... by first going to my bed, then searching each room upstairs softly calling for me before she finally makes her way downstairs to sit with me for a while before she starts asking for me to cook breakfast.  Usually by that point, my older two are finally rolling out of bed and our day begins.  But not today.



This morning I awoke at 455 with my oldest daughter looking me right in the face telling me about her little sister's immediate need of my attention.  She was having a nightmare (screaming in her sleep) in which, as best as I can understand from a 3 year old panicking, she was covered in snakes.  To her credit, her poor little feet were covered in mosquito bites (like 7 or 8).  I treated them then tried to put her back to bed but no dice.  She wasn't having that.  She asked me to sleep with her in her (bottom bunk) bed.  I offered her to sleep in my bed (I was ready to get going) but she didn't like my plan.  She wanted me to stay with her and so I conceded.  It won't be long and that little girl will be a teenager.  I tried with some success to lay there and mentally do what I do ... then I woke up at @ 8am ... and she was gone.  So I walked over to my bed and climbed back in.  Hey, it's my birthday.  Yuci asked me what time I was to be awakened and I asked for 10.  When I woke up and looked over at the clock, it was 1030.  I haven't slept that late since high school.

Breakfast was some oatmeal with raisins and thin sliced apples.  Lunch was some grilled chicken, wheat bread, and spinach leaves.  After going to the hardware store and picking up some hardware to repair a drawer on a set of dressers I just picked up to resurface, I started on the dinner I had chosen for myself.  Grilled shrimp and salmon (marinated in olive oil, butter, lemon, salt, and pepper), fresh green beans cooked in garlic and salt, brown rice, and grilled wheat bread.  Check it out!

I know the marinade sounds fattening, but actually it's not.  The fire is going to pull so much of the oils out.  It is much better than frying it or trying to pour the oil on it ... and I dare you to try to grill any type of seafood without the use of any oil.  But for real, just a couple of tbs in a gallon freezer bag works miracles.

So I thought I was done ... but I had a surprise waiting on me.  We had some visitors come by with some special desserts bought from whole foods that were made from whole grains and wheat flour.   Pure heaven!

In case you're wondering, my kids stood at my side the whole time I was eating and ate 3/4ths of it ... which I invited.  I was just glad to be able to have a treat that did not break my discipline.

I did not, however, receive any word from the dream jobs I have applied for that are supposed to contact me this week.

In the end, it was a great day.  I received Happy Birthdays from a lot of people that I care for ... and am blessed to have that many people remember me (thanks Facebook!).

Hey, I should also mention that I weighed myself today at my wife's gym.  I started this 18 days ago at 236 (light - no clothes in morning).  Today, at 3pm with clothes and shoes I weighed 218!!!  That's 18+lbs in just over 2 weeks.  Not bad if you ask me!

I also entered my introductory blog in NOLA.com.  It will be up tomorrow or so then I will be linking to it.

Till next time, thanks for reading!