OK, as we get into the last couple weeks of the year, some exciting stuff has happened, and interesting stuff will be happening as we move into 2011 (wow, 2011.)
So let's start it off with what has happened. It's been 2 weeks since i blogged, and I don't even remember why i didn't last week (probably because i updated at the end of previous, and thought it would have been repetitive to do it again at the beginning of the following week.) Last week i just worked mostly, made some decent money, and got some interesting news that will affect my future, but we'll go into that later. The end of the week was the fun stuff. Saturday was a big day at the orphanage. It was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. A very religious day in Mexico.. Basically, it's a day celebrating one of the apparitions of the virgin Mary, to Juan Diego, back a long time ago. So at the orfa, we had a mass, complete with Brother Fernando doing his customary one man performance, re-enacting the story of Juan Diego and Mary, and dances from the kids, etc. After that was the meal, which was very good, as always, and then presents for the kids, and an open house for the people who came (benefactors, people from the kids school, etc.) It was a pretty awesome day overall, and it wasn't over. So we hung out with the kids, and had a blast as always, then headed back north. At the border we saw a couple get their car searched by a few border patrol officers, and a drug-sniffing dog. That scene ended with the couple being taken away in handcuffs, so that was cool.. When we crossed, and got back home Tom, one of the AV's asked what I had planned for my birthday (the following day) and when i said that i was working all night the following night, he decided we were hanging out that night..
So i went over there a little later, we drank some beers, along with Ali and Allison, and watched a couple movies and talked for a bit. As it was getting later, we (Tom and I) decided to head out downtown. We were gonna meet a friend of his at sidebar, but decided it would be better to meet some other friends over at Maloney's instead. We grab some drinks and find the girls (JVC's and one of their friends).. we spend the rest of the night drinking and shooting the shit with the girls, then decide, after the bar closes, to head back to the Volunteer house. We have a drink or two and decide to put on a movie, next thing i know i'm awoken at 7am by Tom telling me that our ride is there. Definitely a good birthday (day before) all around, and nothing was really exciting on the actual day of my birthday, except that the Pats rolled, and it was in the 80's.
Another thing that happened this past week, was rumors starting to fly around that in the next 2 to 3 weeks, our restaurant will be closing down. Honestly, we've kinda felt like this was going to happen for a while, but that doesn't make it suck any less now that it seems almost inevitable. I was starting to not hate it there, to be honest. I was getting good shifts, good sections, and this month the restaurant has really picked up, and i've been making decent cash. It sucks because now i'm gonna have to go somewhere where i will once again be the new guy, and be making shit money. Considering maybe a career change? who knows. I have an application in at Harrah's for a restaurant manager position, but i'm not really confident about that.. we'll see. So if anyone who reads this (that's right, both of you) have any advice on what i can do with my career, i'm all ears.
As for the weight loss thing. I haven't been doing TOO great with eating healthy (had a couple burritos over the past couple weeks, french fries, soda a few times) but i've been doing well with going to the gym, have made some progress on eating, and right now i'm feeling, and hopefully looking better than before (even though the numbers aren't as low as i would like, yet.)
Week 6: 213 lbs
P.S- skipped the weigh in on week 5. Down 12 pounds in 6 weeks. 2 pounds a week is steady, but i'd have liked to have been down more at this point. Still, 213 isn't bad, 24 pounds from my original goal.. so at this rate, i'd be looking at another 3 months or so until i hit that 189 mark. If I can fix my eating habits a bit more, I can do it quicker, and be even lower than 189 by March. Ok, this was long.. Peace
-Roddy
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
An excess of Phlegm..
I'm starting to have to be pretty creative to keep with my motif for the names of my blogs, we'll see how much longer I can keep it up. OK, so I didn't update last week, at the time when I should have updated I was still 221, so there was my week 3 score.
So I have a lot to talk on in this post, so i'll try to sum things up quickly. So the week following my last blog, I was sick almost the entire time. I got sick Tuesday Night, and didn't feel well again until like Sunday. I was starting to feel better on Saturday, but then I met Johnny, Tom, and a friend of theirs out for drinks and ended up walking 20 blocks in the rain, needless to say, I didn't feel great the following day. I was essentially coughing and sneezing from Tuesday until about Monday night the following week (hello title of my blog..) so I didn't go to the gym much that week, however, my snacking was kept down by the fact that I had no appetite. The week after was Thanksgiving week, which entailed two Thanksgiving dinners (a pre-Thanksgiving one with the Augustinians, and then the real one with the volunteers, Dan, and some others. The week was also filled with drinking with friends, and only a couple gym sessions..
Thanksgiving, like last year, was one of the best holidays of the year (Christmas might have passed it last year, spending it at the orfa, but still, it was great.) I definitely missed my family, and I missed last years AV's, with whom i spent my first BIG holiday away from home last year, but overall it was a great day. Dan and I went shopping, made two buffalo chicken dips (which we had never made before, and they came out really well..) and then headed over to the AV's house, where a teacher from one of the schools (Brendan) and one of the AV's brothers (Chris) were already there. After a little catching up, we had our own football game. It was a very hard fought game, and unlike last year, I didn't dominate this game. I played decently on offense (quarterback, made some really good throws, as well as some shitty ones.. and caught a couple touchdowns) but I got torched on defense. After getting beat on the first drive, i switched to sorta just playing safety as we weren't going to rush the passer, that didn't work out well, as I still got outjumped and outran for a few TD's and my winstreak ended at only 1 year (although, my brothers record in AV Thanksgiving football games now stands at 3-0.. weird.) After football it was back to the house for food. We drank, ate a very good Thanksgiving dinner, drank, ate some awesome desserts, drank, and played some pretty fun games (Fishbowl, which the guys dominated) and some game called "what is yours called" that Kathleen explained. After that it was drinking and talking about random things, from discussing my hate for Kesha, to religion and philosophy and a lot in between. It was really an awesome day, and I thank the AV's for inviting us, I really had a blast!
So now that Thanksgiving is over, I can concentrate on two things.. making money in a very busy season at work, and my getting back into shape. I worked all weekend (except Saturday, when I went to Mexico) and got back to the gym this week. As I didn't work out much the previous week, and ate and drank a whole lot.. I decided to make my weigh in Tuesday instead of Monday. I went to the gym monday, played basketball tuesday, and went to the gym today, Wednesday.. I also made good decisions the past couple days on food and what not.. so while I haven't made great progress with my numbers so far, I feel good about it moving forward. So as of my Tuesday weigh in..
Week 4: 218lbs
So I have a lot to talk on in this post, so i'll try to sum things up quickly. So the week following my last blog, I was sick almost the entire time. I got sick Tuesday Night, and didn't feel well again until like Sunday. I was starting to feel better on Saturday, but then I met Johnny, Tom, and a friend of theirs out for drinks and ended up walking 20 blocks in the rain, needless to say, I didn't feel great the following day. I was essentially coughing and sneezing from Tuesday until about Monday night the following week (hello title of my blog..) so I didn't go to the gym much that week, however, my snacking was kept down by the fact that I had no appetite. The week after was Thanksgiving week, which entailed two Thanksgiving dinners (a pre-Thanksgiving one with the Augustinians, and then the real one with the volunteers, Dan, and some others. The week was also filled with drinking with friends, and only a couple gym sessions..
Thanksgiving, like last year, was one of the best holidays of the year (Christmas might have passed it last year, spending it at the orfa, but still, it was great.) I definitely missed my family, and I missed last years AV's, with whom i spent my first BIG holiday away from home last year, but overall it was a great day. Dan and I went shopping, made two buffalo chicken dips (which we had never made before, and they came out really well..) and then headed over to the AV's house, where a teacher from one of the schools (Brendan) and one of the AV's brothers (Chris) were already there. After a little catching up, we had our own football game. It was a very hard fought game, and unlike last year, I didn't dominate this game. I played decently on offense (quarterback, made some really good throws, as well as some shitty ones.. and caught a couple touchdowns) but I got torched on defense. After getting beat on the first drive, i switched to sorta just playing safety as we weren't going to rush the passer, that didn't work out well, as I still got outjumped and outran for a few TD's and my winstreak ended at only 1 year (although, my brothers record in AV Thanksgiving football games now stands at 3-0.. weird.) After football it was back to the house for food. We drank, ate a very good Thanksgiving dinner, drank, ate some awesome desserts, drank, and played some pretty fun games (Fishbowl, which the guys dominated) and some game called "what is yours called" that Kathleen explained. After that it was drinking and talking about random things, from discussing my hate for Kesha, to religion and philosophy and a lot in between. It was really an awesome day, and I thank the AV's for inviting us, I really had a blast!
So now that Thanksgiving is over, I can concentrate on two things.. making money in a very busy season at work, and my getting back into shape. I worked all weekend (except Saturday, when I went to Mexico) and got back to the gym this week. As I didn't work out much the previous week, and ate and drank a whole lot.. I decided to make my weigh in Tuesday instead of Monday. I went to the gym monday, played basketball tuesday, and went to the gym today, Wednesday.. I also made good decisions the past couple days on food and what not.. so while I haven't made great progress with my numbers so far, I feel good about it moving forward. So as of my Tuesday weigh in..
Week 4: 218lbs
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The midnight deul..
OK, so it's been a week since I started my 40 pound challenge, and i'm doing ok.. but i'll get back to that later. Quick update on life..
So nothing all too excited has happened since the last time I posted, but I got a couple things that I can talk about. So a couple of weeks ago, my nephew chose me to help him with a project that he was doing in school. It's based off of the book Flat Stanley about a kid who gets flattened and then goes around the world having adventures.. So my nephew, and all of the kids in his class, made their own flat counterparts and sent them somewhere to go on an adventure for a week. So, I was very proud to find out, my nephew chose me to show "Flat Matt" an adventure. The two of us definitely went on some adventures.. We went to Mexico twice, one time just to volunteer at the orphanage, playing games, helping with homework, taking care of sick babies (mi Angelica, pobrecita) and, of course, learning some spanish.. the second time, we took the children at the orfa to go horseback riding in Rosarito! It was an awesome time! We also went to the beach, went sightseeing in downtown san diego, played basketball, and, on our last night together.. we went to an awards ceremony celebrating non profit organizations, workers, and volunteers from all over the country! We walked the red carpet, schmoozed with some amazing people, fighting for great causes, and just had an amazing time. The night was very inspiring, the message being that it's very important to give back. That there is a lot of things wrong in this world, between poverty, hunger, disease, genocide, etc.. however, there is also a lot of beauty, and love in the world. A guy from Australia who got drunk and had an idea about growing mustaches for a month with his friends is going to donate about $65million to prostate cancer research this year, a cancer survivor was able to walk 10 miles, literally in her late sisters shoes, in support of breast cancer awareness, and so on and so forth. It confirmed in me something that I already knew, that it is incredibly important, and fulfilling to help other people, and through that, they help you just as much.. not only through my work at the orphanage in Mexico, but through my nephews project. By taking Flat Matt to all these events, and trying to show him (and my nephew back in Massachusetts) how I live my life, and try to live it with purpose, it taught me that I have it pretty great. I live in a great area, have awesome family, some good friends, am learning a second language, travel to another country 2, sometimes 3 times a week, and spend a lot of my free time with about 50 amazing children who are helping to shape my life, as much, if not more, than I am helping to shape theirs..
OK, now that i'm done being all mushy and whatnot (I did this same thing at the end of the journal that I kept for the project) let's move on to the reason why I've started blogging again. So, as can be expected, my first week was filled with wins and losses in the weight loss struggle. I started the week off well, with 3 days at the gym in a row, and good dinners.. but slacked off once Thursday came and I was busy at work. I didn't go Thursday, went Friday, no Saturday, and no Sunday. The other part of my problem, has been my constant battle with midnight snacks (hence the name of the blog.) I always tell myself to eat well, and to have complete meals, etc.. however, when i'm sitting down late at night, watching tv (on the computer) and have nothing else to do.. my will power caves and I snack incessantly. Since I can't hope to break this habit over night, i'm trying to combat it by buying better snacks. Granola bars, saltine crackers, pretzels on occasion, as opposed to potato chips.. if i have to have cheez-its, i rock the 40% reduced fat which are still good.. and lots of apples and carrots.. Also, no more soda. Oh well.. on to the weigh in
Week 2- 221 lbs
So nothing all too excited has happened since the last time I posted, but I got a couple things that I can talk about. So a couple of weeks ago, my nephew chose me to help him with a project that he was doing in school. It's based off of the book Flat Stanley about a kid who gets flattened and then goes around the world having adventures.. So my nephew, and all of the kids in his class, made their own flat counterparts and sent them somewhere to go on an adventure for a week. So, I was very proud to find out, my nephew chose me to show "Flat Matt" an adventure. The two of us definitely went on some adventures.. We went to Mexico twice, one time just to volunteer at the orphanage, playing games, helping with homework, taking care of sick babies (mi Angelica, pobrecita) and, of course, learning some spanish.. the second time, we took the children at the orfa to go horseback riding in Rosarito! It was an awesome time! We also went to the beach, went sightseeing in downtown san diego, played basketball, and, on our last night together.. we went to an awards ceremony celebrating non profit organizations, workers, and volunteers from all over the country! We walked the red carpet, schmoozed with some amazing people, fighting for great causes, and just had an amazing time. The night was very inspiring, the message being that it's very important to give back. That there is a lot of things wrong in this world, between poverty, hunger, disease, genocide, etc.. however, there is also a lot of beauty, and love in the world. A guy from Australia who got drunk and had an idea about growing mustaches for a month with his friends is going to donate about $65million to prostate cancer research this year, a cancer survivor was able to walk 10 miles, literally in her late sisters shoes, in support of breast cancer awareness, and so on and so forth. It confirmed in me something that I already knew, that it is incredibly important, and fulfilling to help other people, and through that, they help you just as much.. not only through my work at the orphanage in Mexico, but through my nephews project. By taking Flat Matt to all these events, and trying to show him (and my nephew back in Massachusetts) how I live my life, and try to live it with purpose, it taught me that I have it pretty great. I live in a great area, have awesome family, some good friends, am learning a second language, travel to another country 2, sometimes 3 times a week, and spend a lot of my free time with about 50 amazing children who are helping to shape my life, as much, if not more, than I am helping to shape theirs..
OK, now that i'm done being all mushy and whatnot (I did this same thing at the end of the journal that I kept for the project) let's move on to the reason why I've started blogging again. So, as can be expected, my first week was filled with wins and losses in the weight loss struggle. I started the week off well, with 3 days at the gym in a row, and good dinners.. but slacked off once Thursday came and I was busy at work. I didn't go Thursday, went Friday, no Saturday, and no Sunday. The other part of my problem, has been my constant battle with midnight snacks (hence the name of the blog.) I always tell myself to eat well, and to have complete meals, etc.. however, when i'm sitting down late at night, watching tv (on the computer) and have nothing else to do.. my will power caves and I snack incessantly. Since I can't hope to break this habit over night, i'm trying to combat it by buying better snacks. Granola bars, saltine crackers, pretzels on occasion, as opposed to potato chips.. if i have to have cheez-its, i rock the 40% reduced fat which are still good.. and lots of apples and carrots.. Also, no more soda. Oh well.. on to the weigh in
Week 2- 221 lbs
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The invitation..
Ok, so once again I'm going to try to revive my blog. Once again, it's going to be about things in my life, and not poker, but whatever..I'm just gonna start here with the random stuff, but will devote more time to it in the future, obviously. I've been going to Mexico 2-3 times a week, and it is still the biggest thing in my life. My spanish is getting pretty good, to the point where i'm on the verge of starting to answer something other than "not really" when people ask me if i speak spanish.. Other than that, i'm working a job that I don't like, and am essentially living in the apartment by myself, because Dan is in Mexico 5-6 nights a week (and 7 days a week.)
So the number one thing right now is that I'm rededicating myself to the gym, and to getting back in shape. At the beginning of this year, I was working hard at it and got myself pretty close to my goal.. (I think I bottomed out at like 208 pounds, down from 250 from when i moved to Cali, and over 270 from my highest point in 2009.) I weighed in at the gym yesterday at 225, and my goal is now to make it back to my senior year wrestling weight (189.) It seems like a solid goal, and i hope to make it. I usually don't care about the numbers.. i just want to feel good, but i feel like this is an easier way to keep myself at it. If I just say that I want to go until I feel good, I can cop out at any time.. this gives me a solid goal, and if I don't stop until I get there, I know I will be feeling pretty damn good. And this is where the name of the blog comes in.. other than fitting with a motif i've been working with lately, it works because I, like always, need a little help. I'm inviting everyone to bitch at me, and whatever (via facebook, text, or in person, for those reading this on the West Coast.. which is really no one..) to get me to go to the gym, and stop eating shit food. A lot less Cali burritos, french fries, and no more soda.. (except every once in a while?).. but yea.. ¡ayudenme!
So:
Week 1- 225lbs
So the number one thing right now is that I'm rededicating myself to the gym, and to getting back in shape. At the beginning of this year, I was working hard at it and got myself pretty close to my goal.. (I think I bottomed out at like 208 pounds, down from 250 from when i moved to Cali, and over 270 from my highest point in 2009.) I weighed in at the gym yesterday at 225, and my goal is now to make it back to my senior year wrestling weight (189.) It seems like a solid goal, and i hope to make it. I usually don't care about the numbers.. i just want to feel good, but i feel like this is an easier way to keep myself at it. If I just say that I want to go until I feel good, I can cop out at any time.. this gives me a solid goal, and if I don't stop until I get there, I know I will be feeling pretty damn good. And this is where the name of the blog comes in.. other than fitting with a motif i've been working with lately, it works because I, like always, need a little help. I'm inviting everyone to bitch at me, and whatever (via facebook, text, or in person, for those reading this on the West Coast.. which is really no one..) to get me to go to the gym, and stop eating shit food. A lot less Cali burritos, french fries, and no more soda.. (except every once in a while?).. but yea.. ¡ayudenme!
So:
Week 1- 225lbs
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The first task,,
OK, so it's been a really long time since I blogged, let's see if I can put up some sort of an update. So I guess a lot has happened since i've last blogged, don't know where to begin. Guess I'll start with my Vegas trip, but will shorten it a bit.
Vegas- So I went to Vegas for the first time at the end of March. I went with most of the AV ladies (Emily, Allison, and Kupski) and Ali's friend Mary. It was different than I thought my first Vegas trip would be, as I was with 4 girls, but it was still an awesome time. We rented a car and drove up to Vegas, leaving at like 4 o'clock on Friday and getting there sometime close to midnight. Got to the room, got changed and headed down to start drinking. Ali and Mary got a 100oz Margarita, which I ended up finishing, along with quite a few other drinks. Not much gambling happened until after the girls went to bed around 2:30 in the morning (i taught Emily and Kupski how to play craps, but that was it.) After they left, I headed down for some more craps and my first go at the poker table. All in all I got the shit kicked out of me and it hampered my gambling for the rest of the trip. I stayed up playing (and drinking.. not smart) until about 11am and then caught some sleep. My plan was to wake up a few hours later and head to the sports book for some hair of the dog and to place a bet on West Virginia against Kentucky, and St. Pierre against whoever he was fighting.. I was late for the WV bet (they won) and forgot about the UFC bet. I headed back to the poker table and promptly got beaten over and over again. Having lost twice as much as I planned to spend on the entire trip withing 16 hours, I swore off gambling for the rest of the trip and decided to simply drink, which is what I did for the remainder of the trip. This is already too long, and I haven't even touched on just hanging out with the girls having a good time in Vegas, the awesome ride home (which took WAAAAY too long, but thankfully involved a stop at Peggy Sue's diner somewhere in the ~middle of nowhere..) But yea, Vegas was a blast and it renewed my love of poker, and specifically, live poker.. Bringing me to the name of this blog..
So I have sort of a motif going with my blog names (see if you can eventually figure it out, this is the third in the series.. haha) and this one is talking about how I want to get something rolling again with poker. Obviously not going to take it as seriously as I have in the past, but in my last couple blogs i've said I was kind of giving up, and this one is refuting that. The first task, is to somehow get to Vegas for this summer. Whether it's somehow saving up enough for a $1000 or $1500 event, or winning a seat in the ME (neither are too likely, but i'm gonna really try!) it is what I am aiming for here. Just to get into the swing of things, it's been so long since I played on the World Poker Tour and played in a few WSOP Circuit Events, and I really miss that feeling that I had at that point.. It was the best I've ever felt while doing something that I considered work.
As for everything else going on.. it's the same as it has been. It's weird that so much has happened yet so little has changed. Still working at Uno's in Fashion Valley, and not digging it (although money is starting to get slightly better, which is good as I already said I spent over twice as much in Vegas as I should have..) Still learning Spanish and doing pretty well. I was christened an honorary Mexican at work last week because of how my spanish has improved.. i will henceforth be known there by a few of them as "Miguelito" (even though I told them that I'm way too big to be called anything with -ito on the end of it..) To that point, I've been hitting the gym a lot (not as much recently, but still a decent amount) and between my workouts, and playing basketball a lot, i'm continuing to drop weight. I still can't get over the hump to where I'd consider myself in good shape, that is to say not "overweight" but i'm on my way.. and if I can keep myself going, i'm hopeful i'll get to where I want to be. The last update is the obvious one..
I'm still obsessed with going to the orphanage with Dan whenever I can. It's literally what I look forward to more than anything else. I stayed over for Easter and then wasn't able to again until the following Thursday, and when I returned a bunch of them came up and hugged me and yelled at me for taking so long to come back. Now usually i'll get a hug and a lot of attention from one or two when i get there.. but I think 7 or 8 of them came up to me.. all because i wasn't there for a week and a half. It's really great how close i've become with all of them (yes, all of them, not just Nayeli.. haha) and how they've become such a huge part of my life. Well I'll leave it there for now.. I could talk about the orphanage for hours (in fact, I do.. all the time..! haha) and I don't want to bore those of you who made it this far further with my rambling (continued rambling that is..) Oh well.. I'll say that i'll update again soon, but I can't promise that.. Peace!
-Roddy
Vegas- So I went to Vegas for the first time at the end of March. I went with most of the AV ladies (Emily, Allison, and Kupski) and Ali's friend Mary. It was different than I thought my first Vegas trip would be, as I was with 4 girls, but it was still an awesome time. We rented a car and drove up to Vegas, leaving at like 4 o'clock on Friday and getting there sometime close to midnight. Got to the room, got changed and headed down to start drinking. Ali and Mary got a 100oz Margarita, which I ended up finishing, along with quite a few other drinks. Not much gambling happened until after the girls went to bed around 2:30 in the morning (i taught Emily and Kupski how to play craps, but that was it.) After they left, I headed down for some more craps and my first go at the poker table. All in all I got the shit kicked out of me and it hampered my gambling for the rest of the trip. I stayed up playing (and drinking.. not smart) until about 11am and then caught some sleep. My plan was to wake up a few hours later and head to the sports book for some hair of the dog and to place a bet on West Virginia against Kentucky, and St. Pierre against whoever he was fighting.. I was late for the WV bet (they won) and forgot about the UFC bet. I headed back to the poker table and promptly got beaten over and over again. Having lost twice as much as I planned to spend on the entire trip withing 16 hours, I swore off gambling for the rest of the trip and decided to simply drink, which is what I did for the remainder of the trip. This is already too long, and I haven't even touched on just hanging out with the girls having a good time in Vegas, the awesome ride home (which took WAAAAY too long, but thankfully involved a stop at Peggy Sue's diner somewhere in the ~middle of nowhere..) But yea, Vegas was a blast and it renewed my love of poker, and specifically, live poker.. Bringing me to the name of this blog..
So I have sort of a motif going with my blog names (see if you can eventually figure it out, this is the third in the series.. haha) and this one is talking about how I want to get something rolling again with poker. Obviously not going to take it as seriously as I have in the past, but in my last couple blogs i've said I was kind of giving up, and this one is refuting that. The first task, is to somehow get to Vegas for this summer. Whether it's somehow saving up enough for a $1000 or $1500 event, or winning a seat in the ME (neither are too likely, but i'm gonna really try!) it is what I am aiming for here. Just to get into the swing of things, it's been so long since I played on the World Poker Tour and played in a few WSOP Circuit Events, and I really miss that feeling that I had at that point.. It was the best I've ever felt while doing something that I considered work.
As for everything else going on.. it's the same as it has been. It's weird that so much has happened yet so little has changed. Still working at Uno's in Fashion Valley, and not digging it (although money is starting to get slightly better, which is good as I already said I spent over twice as much in Vegas as I should have..) Still learning Spanish and doing pretty well. I was christened an honorary Mexican at work last week because of how my spanish has improved.. i will henceforth be known there by a few of them as "Miguelito" (even though I told them that I'm way too big to be called anything with -ito on the end of it..) To that point, I've been hitting the gym a lot (not as much recently, but still a decent amount) and between my workouts, and playing basketball a lot, i'm continuing to drop weight. I still can't get over the hump to where I'd consider myself in good shape, that is to say not "overweight" but i'm on my way.. and if I can keep myself going, i'm hopeful i'll get to where I want to be. The last update is the obvious one..
I'm still obsessed with going to the orphanage with Dan whenever I can. It's literally what I look forward to more than anything else. I stayed over for Easter and then wasn't able to again until the following Thursday, and when I returned a bunch of them came up and hugged me and yelled at me for taking so long to come back. Now usually i'll get a hug and a lot of attention from one or two when i get there.. but I think 7 or 8 of them came up to me.. all because i wasn't there for a week and a half. It's really great how close i've become with all of them (yes, all of them, not just Nayeli.. haha) and how they've become such a huge part of my life. Well I'll leave it there for now.. I could talk about the orphanage for hours (in fact, I do.. all the time..! haha) and I don't want to bore those of you who made it this far further with my rambling (continued rambling that is..) Oh well.. I'll say that i'll update again soon, but I can't promise that.. Peace!
-Roddy
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Beginning
So I can't say how long this one will be, but figured I'd give an update. So I've been giving it a lot of thought, talked with Dan, with my mom, mentioned it to my friends, both out here and at home.. and I am strongly considering going back to school. I think it's really something that I'm finally ready to take seriously. Poker was my dream for so long, and while I've had some great success, I'm not at the point right now where I can depend on it. My plan, if i go through with it, will probably be to enroll at either San Diego City College, or Mesa College and then eventually transfer into one of the local schools here (although it's also possible to transfer back home.. I don't know at this point, that's too far away.) I will probably study English, take Spanish classes obviously, and i'm still considering minoring in something like philosophy. My thought is that I will take the necessary steps to become a teacher. Through all of my career changes, that is one thing I've always thought I'd be really good at, and would really enjoy doing every day. Right now I hate my job, and poker wasn't what i thought it would be (and i just couldn't build my roll up..) so in order to be happy, I will take the plunge, go through the years I should have gone through long ago, and finally start taking control of my future (who knows, maybe it will help in other areas as well.)
Quick update on the other stuff.. Still going to the gym a lot. I actually really enjoy it, and look forward to going, which is something I've never been able to say.. so that's awesome. The eating is still the most difficult. I just love foods that aren't good for me, haha. I've cut way down, and am continuing to lose weight.. but slowly. If I could conquer my eating habits, I'd be on a really awesome path.
Studying Spanish has slowed down a little bit, but I'm also really starting to understand more, so I should really keep working at it. I still go to the orfa a whole lot, so that helps.. love it there, I never want to leave when i'm there.
California.. new update, but I've been wondering lately whether or not i'm gonna move back home. I mean I miss everyone at home so much, but there is so much I need to do out here, and I've finally started to make some really positive strides in my life. Like I said, there are certain things that I need to do out here.. one of them being helping at the orphanage. I thought I understood it when Dan said he couldn't leave.. but you really can't know until you've experienced it first hand. It transforms you.. I can't explain it, but it's an unbelievably strong feeling.
Other.. Yea, not much else to report.. but with each positive step I take, I'm opening more doors, and getting closer to taking other positive steps.. which is evidenced by the fact that I've started working on myself, and am close to deciding to go back to school.. There are other things I want to achieve, and I'll get to them when I can.. Alright, another long post done.. Peace
-Roddy
Quick update on the other stuff.. Still going to the gym a lot. I actually really enjoy it, and look forward to going, which is something I've never been able to say.. so that's awesome. The eating is still the most difficult. I just love foods that aren't good for me, haha. I've cut way down, and am continuing to lose weight.. but slowly. If I could conquer my eating habits, I'd be on a really awesome path.
Studying Spanish has slowed down a little bit, but I'm also really starting to understand more, so I should really keep working at it. I still go to the orfa a whole lot, so that helps.. love it there, I never want to leave when i'm there.
California.. new update, but I've been wondering lately whether or not i'm gonna move back home. I mean I miss everyone at home so much, but there is so much I need to do out here, and I've finally started to make some really positive strides in my life. Like I said, there are certain things that I need to do out here.. one of them being helping at the orphanage. I thought I understood it when Dan said he couldn't leave.. but you really can't know until you've experienced it first hand. It transforms you.. I can't explain it, but it's an unbelievably strong feeling.
Other.. Yea, not much else to report.. but with each positive step I take, I'm opening more doors, and getting closer to taking other positive steps.. which is evidenced by the fact that I've started working on myself, and am close to deciding to go back to school.. There are other things I want to achieve, and I'll get to them when I can.. Alright, another long post done.. Peace
-Roddy
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The flaw in the plan..
OK, so I have been doing really well lately. Going to the gym a lot, eating much better, learning spanish.. it's been great. BUUUT, this weekend was a huge setback in the weight loss department. It was worth it, but still frustrating in hindsight.
So Matt came for a surprise visit this week. Him and Dan had planned it a while ago and didn't tell me, so all of a sudden Matt walks into the apartment and I was like "what the hell?" So that was fun. It was a shitty weak, weatherwise, so the only San Diego things we could show him were food things, haha. We had In N Out, California burritos, burgers at Hodad's in OB, churro's at the border in Mexico, and went out to the Outback.. The other thing that made it difficult was we didn't go to the gym except for a quick trip his first day here. So i've been eating crap food, and not exercising, not a great combination.
Other than the obvious setbacks in that department, things have been going pretty great for me. Matt and I fell back into our old patterns, and we bickered a lot.. but that's just what we do, so that was alright. We went to the orfa a bunch, which is basically my favorite thing to do at this point. On one day we went to the Trompo museum in Mexico with ALL the kids in the orphanage, so that was great. Seeing them get all excited for the science exhibit things, and playing with bubbles, and jumping on the walking piano thing.. it was really awesome.
Also, we hung out with the AV's a bit, which is always fun. The first night we just hung out and talked, which was cool, but last night.. we wanted to do something else, and since matt isn't 21, our ideas were limited. We got Fro-yo, then were gonna go bowling, which apparently is very popular around here, as it was an hour and a half wait.. so we said scratch that and went elsewhere. We wound up playing mini-golf, which was awesome because it made me feel like a little kid. So there were 8 of us (7 playing ::shakes head at Allison::) all in our 20's playing mini-golf at 10pm on a Saturday night.. haha (P.S- I won.) After that we went back to the AV's house and played Kings and Asshole, which was obviously a good time as well. So that brings us to now. It's Sunday, I'm bored, and I don't feel good enough to put in a workout. Overall this was a pretty awesome week, but I have a lot to do to get back on track. As for the other things i've alluded to and talked about in previous blogs that I left out of this one.. we'll cover those at another time.
-Roddy
So Matt came for a surprise visit this week. Him and Dan had planned it a while ago and didn't tell me, so all of a sudden Matt walks into the apartment and I was like "what the hell?" So that was fun. It was a shitty weak, weatherwise, so the only San Diego things we could show him were food things, haha. We had In N Out, California burritos, burgers at Hodad's in OB, churro's at the border in Mexico, and went out to the Outback.. The other thing that made it difficult was we didn't go to the gym except for a quick trip his first day here. So i've been eating crap food, and not exercising, not a great combination.
Other than the obvious setbacks in that department, things have been going pretty great for me. Matt and I fell back into our old patterns, and we bickered a lot.. but that's just what we do, so that was alright. We went to the orfa a bunch, which is basically my favorite thing to do at this point. On one day we went to the Trompo museum in Mexico with ALL the kids in the orphanage, so that was great. Seeing them get all excited for the science exhibit things, and playing with bubbles, and jumping on the walking piano thing.. it was really awesome.
Also, we hung out with the AV's a bit, which is always fun. The first night we just hung out and talked, which was cool, but last night.. we wanted to do something else, and since matt isn't 21, our ideas were limited. We got Fro-yo, then were gonna go bowling, which apparently is very popular around here, as it was an hour and a half wait.. so we said scratch that and went elsewhere. We wound up playing mini-golf, which was awesome because it made me feel like a little kid. So there were 8 of us (7 playing ::shakes head at Allison::) all in our 20's playing mini-golf at 10pm on a Saturday night.. haha (P.S- I won.) After that we went back to the AV's house and played Kings and Asshole, which was obviously a good time as well. So that brings us to now. It's Sunday, I'm bored, and I don't feel good enough to put in a workout. Overall this was a pretty awesome week, but I have a lot to do to get back on track. As for the other things i've alluded to and talked about in previous blogs that I left out of this one.. we'll cover those at another time.
-Roddy
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
HEY 2010!
So it's a New Year.. and I'm gonna make it a very good one! So i'll just update quickly
Poker- So I said last time that I cashed out most of my winnings and left only a little bit to mess around with.. well I turned that into a grand, and am now trying to take poker pretty seriously. I bought HEM, and created a Rakebrain account for rakeback, so I can datamine and also make a little extra money. I want to try and build something up, and do it slowly and intelligently like I haven't ever done before.. i've always been a go big or go home type guy. I also moved to Absolute Poker as well as I've been told it has softer games.. and I've switched to 6-max tables as it suits my style better.. I'm playing .25-.50NL to start, and gonna practice good bankroll management. Wish me luck
Getting healthy- My brother and I joined a gym, along with 6 of our friends out here.. so hopefully that will motivate me to finally move in the right direction. I'm starting to eat better, like i said before.. so my weakness has always been in the exercise. My membership allows me to work out at 14 different gyms in San Diego County, so I have so many options.. classes, pools, equipment, classes, basketball, racquetball, etc.. I finally feel like this time I will go through with it.. I'm giving myself like 5 months to get back in shape.. once again, wish me luck
Spanish- Estoy aprendiendo Español con me hermano. He estado estudiando para los ùltimos dos meses. Ahora yo hablo solo poquito, pero yo se que pronto voy a mejorar. (I think i just said "I am learning spanish with my brother. I have been studying for the last two months. Now I only speak a little, but i know that soon I will improve." I just learned how to make -ing verbs.. so i'm showing it off.. haha. I'm working pretty hard at spanish, and it's getting much better.. but I still can't really make out what people are saying.. but when things are written down for me, or i take the time to go over the whole sentence, I can make a lot out.. I also can say a lot more now than I could before. I'm still in the early stages, but before long, I'll be speaking Spanish.
SO, at this point, I have very few complaints. Money situation isn't awful, I have good direction, and I'm happy about the changes i'm making in my life. Now all I have to do is stick with these things, and I'll be in good shape moving forward. OK, this was long enough.. I'll update again soon.. Peace
-Roddy
Poker- So I said last time that I cashed out most of my winnings and left only a little bit to mess around with.. well I turned that into a grand, and am now trying to take poker pretty seriously. I bought HEM, and created a Rakebrain account for rakeback, so I can datamine and also make a little extra money. I want to try and build something up, and do it slowly and intelligently like I haven't ever done before.. i've always been a go big or go home type guy. I also moved to Absolute Poker as well as I've been told it has softer games.. and I've switched to 6-max tables as it suits my style better.. I'm playing .25-.50NL to start, and gonna practice good bankroll management. Wish me luck
Getting healthy- My brother and I joined a gym, along with 6 of our friends out here.. so hopefully that will motivate me to finally move in the right direction. I'm starting to eat better, like i said before.. so my weakness has always been in the exercise. My membership allows me to work out at 14 different gyms in San Diego County, so I have so many options.. classes, pools, equipment, classes, basketball, racquetball, etc.. I finally feel like this time I will go through with it.. I'm giving myself like 5 months to get back in shape.. once again, wish me luck
Spanish- Estoy aprendiendo Español con me hermano. He estado estudiando para los ùltimos dos meses. Ahora yo hablo solo poquito, pero yo se que pronto voy a mejorar. (I think i just said "I am learning spanish with my brother. I have been studying for the last two months. Now I only speak a little, but i know that soon I will improve." I just learned how to make -ing verbs.. so i'm showing it off.. haha. I'm working pretty hard at spanish, and it's getting much better.. but I still can't really make out what people are saying.. but when things are written down for me, or i take the time to go over the whole sentence, I can make a lot out.. I also can say a lot more now than I could before. I'm still in the early stages, but before long, I'll be speaking Spanish.
SO, at this point, I have very few complaints. Money situation isn't awful, I have good direction, and I'm happy about the changes i'm making in my life. Now all I have to do is stick with these things, and I'll be in good shape moving forward. OK, this was long enough.. I'll update again soon.. Peace
-Roddy
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