Letters to Mom

We missed Monday because of the hurricane.  Wed. went okay - I pushed more on the bike than I did this last summer and worked to exercise the muscles more on the circut.  I was a little stiff yesterday but not as bad as I feared.  Wed night my hands and forearms hurt really bad so I pulled back a little on the machine that hits those and went a little light on one of the shoulder ones. My muscles pull out of whack so easily, Ma! We took "before photos" - Jackie is dismayed that she's at 160-163lbs.  I was at 160, today it was 156 1/2 - if I can keep it headed downhill....  optimum weight would be 130-135 lbs.  Healthy would be 140 lbs. Not easy but we're more motivated to get up and go, thankfully.  Jackie wasn't up to it Wed but I was going to go without her and she changed her mind and was glad that she did. Wish us well, Mom.  I think this time she really wants to get healthy.  Me too

Jackie's cholesterol numbers are up and her blood sugar is slightly above average.  She's determined to get healthy inside of just ignoring doctor suggestions.  She's joined Gold's Gym with me and we had our meeting with a trainer and got suggestions for eating habits and workout.  I'm a problem case, of course.  My carpal tunnel, Viking's disease and bad back makes getting physically active a bit diffcult.  I'm going to focus on my legs and cardio on the recline bicycle and slowly start building the strength back in my arms being careful with the forearms and shoulder muscles. Jackie did 2 rounds on the circuit and I did 25 minutes on the bike Friday.  Ended up doing 3.3 miles - the last bit at a faster rate.  Tomorrow we'll give it another go around. Jackie's watching her calories (so am I).  We miss the mark but have dropped the calories a lot and she's learning just how many calories are in some things like white bread.  After losing

You would be so proud of Nick, Mom!  He graduated last Friday at the top of his class (one guy beat him academically by 1 point and physically by 4 pushups).  He's lost more weight and has toned up nicely.  We got to watch his graduation on the internet (couldn't spot him, of course, oh well). Then we got a call Saturday that he was flying to his schooling in Pensacola and he was coming through Atlanta with an hour delay between flights.  "What time?" asks I.  "9:45 tonight," says he.  "We'll be there." Because he was traveling with a group they got held up and we only got 5 minutes with him before he and a friend had to rush back to go and get to the next gate.  It was so great to see him!  We got a call Sunday, a face-time call - like Dick Tracy - we could see him and he could see us - yay!  He's so excited about his class and job.  He can't tell us what part of the base he's on except that the rooms are really nice (a/c,

It amazes me how much I miss you, Mama.  We don't ever really get over a loss like this.  We do the same thing you did after losing Grandma - seeing a bolt of material, smiling a sad smile and say "Mom" and Jackie knows exactly what I mean. Adjusting to the hand and forearms being sketchy is difficult.  Knowing my hand isn't going to get better really sucks.  Everything I do involves my hand.  I've really got to get into Dragon and treat it like a school course or something.  I know you can use voice recognition to give commands to the computer beyond just the typing. I ordered a left-handed shell for my pistol (already have the base holster).  I got a call last night that the left won't fit my holster base.  I had sent back the first one as it being too small for my Kimber.  The guy said that since switching from being right handed to left handed wasn't my choice and is a medical thing he gave me a deal on the entire holster for left handed.  Most awe