May you be with friends and family as we thank God for this country where we are free to worship him.  Enjoy your long weekend as well!

I'm sure most of you know that over the past year and a half, I've been losing weight. Not drastically, but little by little by eating better and exercising more. And in about 15 months, I had managed to lose and keep off 30 pounds, going from a bloated 267 down to 237, and feeling much better about myself (even though the doctors say that may have contributed to my gallstone/gallbladder problems).

Well, in the two week span around my surgery, I dropped another 16 pounds, checking in last weekend at a svelte 221. I'm sure it's mostly due to the fact that there were about seven days in the hospital when I wasn't allowed to have solid food.

I guess it made such a difference that a number of my co-workers mentioned that I looked a lot slimmer. It's not how I'd normally like to lose weight (yes, the big jumps are nice, but are much harder to maintain), but I'll take it this time. After all, I'm not trying to devour everything that comes near me (though I have had cravings for food I hadn't had for a while). In fact, my appetite has been down so far, and we'll see if it stays that way as I get healed up.

Anyway, now that my clothes are getting baggy, I'm feeling even better about the way I look, and I'm going to keep on working to keep the weight off. At least within the limits of my healing process. That'll just mean more smart eating choices and plenty of walking for now.

Well, today Marci and celebrate three years of marriage, just a few months after celebrating the fifth anniversary of our first date. I know we both feel extremely blessed to have one another, and can't imagine life without one another. We've been through a lot together already in our marriage, but we always seem to be growing closer together.

Even though this year's anniversary snuck up on me (yes, major surgery can do that to you), I know we're both firmly looking towards the future together. We're in the process of buying a house for our family, which is already starting. That's right, while I was in the hospital, Marci found out that she was pregnant. I'm very excited to be a dad, but I've got to make sure I've got myself all healed up before then. So, we've just been grouping all these things together at once, it seems.

Of course, that's just how life goes though. You can plan all you want, but He may have something else in store. So we just continue to move forward in life, and grow in our love, knowing everything else will come together. That's how we've made it through the last three years, and will likely continue for many more.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end.  Today was one of those days, as my first dog, Copper, had to be put down.  After more than 12 years, his body was just giving out on him, and my dad decided the best decision was to not leave him living in pain and fear.

It's really one of those sad moments, and it's hard to let go.  He was always well behaved and very loving. 

I still remember the night we got him when I was in high school.  He was supposed to be a Christmas surprise, but as a nervous puppy, he got a bit yippy and gave away his presence a bit early.  Then we took him to my grandmother's for our Christmas vacation visit, and while he ran around with us while we were sledding at the local golf course, he got a bit cold and my dad ended up walking around the rest of the afternoon with a little puppy head sticking out of his jacket.

Then there was the summer after I graduated from college when he was my workout buddy.  Three days a week we'd go jogging in the neighborhood for a few miles.  He'd always be pulling me, keeping me going, and he was well trained enough to sit at every intersection without me having to say a word.

While I haven't lived around Copper full-time for a while, he's always welcomed me back every time with a big grin and wagging tail.  He was so loyal and dependable, and it's kinda depressing to think that he is no longer with us.

We'll all miss you buddy!

Came across this interesting breakdown of the changing price in food from last year to this year. 

The Price Of Food: 2007 Versus 2008

It's pretty amazing to see how much the price of field crops (like wheat and lentils) have jumped in comparison to most fruits, vegetables, and meats. I'm sure most of it is due to the rising price of fuel, but it can't explain all the price jumps, can it?  After all, there are some foods whose prices have actually gone down while fuel prices have risen.

Either way, the breakdown is definitely some interesting food for thought.

So far over the past week, the most frustrating part of my road to recovery has been the list of activities which I cannot do.  I mean, they make sense, but they make life more difficult.  I can't lift anything over 10 lbs right now (which means I can't even pick up my dog) because I don't want to re-injure the skin and muscle that is already starting to heal.  I also can't drive because of the painkillers I'm on, which makes me feel like I'm bound to our apartment.  And the sooner they can remove my staples the better, because I think now they're irritating my skin more than they are keeping my incision closed. 

It's not that I can't do or deal with these things.  It means that sometimes I get a little impatient to get back to doing some of the things I'm used to doing.  And even when I'm doing better, I'll still have to re-build much of my strength to be able to get back to some of the activities I love.  For now, it's simply a bunch of walking to at least try and keep me active.

On the bright side, at least I didn't get any dietary restrictions...

Well, after a few weeks of voting, it looks like Geoff and Courtney were not selected as Top 3 finalists for the Dream Wedding.

Oh well...you can't win them all.

Well, several weeks ago, my brother's girlfriend entered him and her into a contest through Us Magazine to win a dream wedding, and they were since selected as one of the Top 20 finalists.  Today's the last day of voting for the Top 3, from which the winner will be selected. 

If you'd like to help them out, just head on over to Geoff & Courtney's page to vote.  They're in good shape, but I'm sure any extra votes will just help secure their position.

My wife and I caught the premier of ABC's Wipeout tonight, which is basically a takeoff of the Japanese Viking obstacle course type show, and we were very amused.  Even though the production efforts clearly weren't there (with some pretty awful green screen work going on behind hosts John Henson [former Talk Soup host] and John Anderson [former SportsCenter anchor]), the show is hilarious for just watching regular people try and make it through these difficult obstacle courses and challenges only to take a spill in the water or mud.

Ya know, kinda like craning your neck at a car wreck or following the careers of a pop starlet, but it's much funnier and nobody gets seriously hurt or emotionally scarred.

It's not the kind of thing you'll watch religiously, but if you've got a Tuesday evening this summer where you need a few laughs, then just turn on Wipeout and you'll get your fill.

Well, I had been getting tired of the plain appearance of my blog (once again), so I decided to give it a bit of an overhaul this morning.  I still have some cleaning up to do of the header area, but it was in good enough of shape to move it on up.

Let me know what you think.