Who's a Fat Bastard - A little Heart, and a lot of love.

June 8, 2014

     It's six o'clock on Sunday evening and Lisa is making her world famous Paella for our hosts, the fabulous Bridgewater Deckers. We stay with them every time we come back east. Charlie, Janice. Laura and Stephen open their home to us and let us run wild. We showed up at 11:30 last night from Philadelphia then sat around till the wee hours of the morning.

     I went to bed at 4:30 and got up at 9:00. Did my stretching and crunching, still doing ten sets of ten. I thought about increasing the reps, then I thought again. I can finally do the whole thing without crying like a baby! So, I'm staying where I'm at for now. It's Weigh Day today. I have no scale. The scale here only goes to 280 lbs. 

I wish! If I was down to that weight, I'd have ice cream for breakfast. Two scoops!

     There is a place called Duke Farms, where Charlie and Janice go to get their hands in the dirt. 

Much like the Community Gardens we have back home. They have a garden in the yard at home as well. Fresh lettuce today from both gardens will make a great salad tonight. 

Lettuce eat!

     We tried to do a walk at the gardens Wednesday before we went down to DC. That was the day the thunder storm cancelled our plans. Not today. Thirty degrees and a slight breeze. You would think it would be a nice time to walk. Half a mile in, I look like a used Tea Bag. Crumpled and stained, dripping with sweat. God I love the heat. NOT! I can't remember ever being cold, but I can work up a sweat in the middle of winter just trying to remember my postal code! 

    Twenty minutes into the walk, they have an Atrium full of Orchids that is pretty cool.

 Oh yeah, and a fan too! It didn't help.

If I was a Superhero, my super power would be Sweating. 

"Stand back kids. I'm going liquid!" 

Sweat Man and his side kick Dontouchme!

     There are twenty-three miles of trails on the farm. We did nowhere near that much. We however did walk for 1 1/2 hours. There are several lakes on the property, a sculpture garden in the old burnt out hay barn where some kids were doing a play.

To beet or not to beet.

    Plus a Tram that goes all around the property. That we didn't take because that would have stopped me from melting! Just kidding. I like walking, and I know it's good for me. I wouldn't have taken it anyway. 

     We grabbed a bag of lettuce from Charlies Farm and headed to the Supermarket. Lisa and Janice had already picked up Prawns and Scallops from Costco. We went to Wegmans for the rest of the ingredients, Chorizo, peppers and a watermelon made it's way into our cart. Then we headed back to the house so Lisa could get prepping the Paella. 

     Charlie and Janice had a power nap while Lisa got things ready and I started writing this. My goal is to be done before midnight. Dinner was ready by 8 o'clock and Stephen got back from the Jersey Shore just in time to eat. Dinner is served.

Paella

Asparagus

Mussels and Clams

Decker Salad

     It was great to be able to sit down with the whole Decker family. With Stephen working in Italy, and Laura judging fencing all around the world, it's a rare occasion.

A Peck of Deckers

       As always when Lisa cooks, the meal was wonderful.

Asparagus, salad, and all the good stuff out of the Paella.

     After dinner we played a little Screw Your Neighbour. It's a card game you dirty minded freaks! Of course I won. Ten Yankee Dollars into my jeans.

     We have had a great time in our first week of vacation. Connecting with family and exploring this part of the U.S. Tomorrow we head up to Northern New Jersey to spend  a week with Papa Dawg and the lovely Joan. 

     I am going upstairs now to see if I can break their scale. It turns out I was using it wrong. You have to step on it, then step off, when it sets to 0.0 and away you go. It's not the scale I am accustomed to, and I don't know how accurate it is but it's the only scale I have to use.

Happy Happy Joy Joy! Just walking the pounds away. I have not been able to do my usual routine so Lisa and I have been walking as much as possible. We walked for at least six hours every day we were in DC. Other than the Pizza, that upset my stomach for two days. I have been sticking to the food part of the program. No bread, No pasta, No potato, No rice. I feel strong and healthy. To be honest with you. I can't remember when I have felt better. By my reckoning that is 8.5 lbs since last Weigh Day and 6.1 since Wednesday at the truck stop. That's 3863.63636363 super slim grams. Charlie says the scale is accurate and I choose to believe him. I can almost smell my thong! 
     I am going to call it a night. I thank you all for the support and kind thoughts you have been sending me. I hope you all realize how much a part of the process you have become. Every time I'm tempted to cheat on my diet or don't want to workout, I feel like I'm letting not just myself down, but all of you too. 
     Here's a couple of pics from Duke Farm Community Garden in Bridgewater NJ. 

To succeed in anything worthwhile you need a little heart,

And a lot of love.

That's all I got.
Till next time.
Peace Out Y'all

        ©2014 Dave Squatch Ward