Hello!

Ok, so it’s been a while since the last post.  It’s been a little crazy, that’s for sure.  I’ve been trying to keep up with the holiday prep, and work, and working out – all that kind of stuff.  Let me pick up where I left off the last time –

The “Spring Cleaning” that I went through was very successful – not as bad as I thought it would be.  I lost a bunch of weight – something like 11 pounds.  The supplements were all Shaklee products – really great stuff.  After the first few days, I felt pretty normal – very tired, but still able to function.  It’s amazing how good I felt after being roto-rootered out.   The food was actually a bit more tolerable that I had thought it would be.  I also discovered that I LOVE pears.  Mmm, good stuff.

The hardest part for me was the pure protein drink that I had to drink 3x a day.  That induced my gag reflex just about every time.  I should have gotten the flavored stuff, but I made it though the whole week without a problem.  And, as an added bonus, I learned how to suppress my gag reflex. So, bring on the protein drinks anytime!!!!

I made it through Thanksgiving unscathed as well – I was way better that I thought I would be especially coming off of a week of eating nothing but broccoli and fruit. I took a little bit – a scoop or two – of the things I wanted a taste of and stopped at that.  My restraint was really good that day.  I was happy with how things turned out.

So, cheating death….that was a pretty scary experience.  I was driving home from a gig with the band from Racine….it was about 11:00pm, and I heard a thumping from the front driver side of my car….I thought it was just a noisy stabilizer link, so I figured no biggie.  I had just crosses over Moreland road and was almost to Barker rd on 94 when the thumping got so LOUD.  Guess what the smart guy here decided to do?!  C’mon guess……Ok, so as the noise got louder, something in me decided that it would be best to speed up – not the smarted thing I have ever done.  So as I accelerated to a speed of around 74 miles per hour, the thumping got even louder and my steering wheel started shaking.  I was nervous, but figured I’d check it out when I got home.  But, alas, I never made it home.

<sigh>

As I reached my top speed the vibrations steadily increased, until WHAM!!!!! There was a huge noise, then the car was engulfed in sparks and I had a hell of a time trying to steer the car.  I never even looked into the other lanes, but I moved all the way from the left lane to the shoulder on the right and pulled the car to a complete stop.  I was totally freaking out…….

So, I tried to open my door to get out and survey the damage, but I couldn’t open my door anymore that 5 or 6 inches.  What the hell?!  So I pushed on the door until I could squeeze out.  I walked to check out the wheel, but there was no wheel to check out!!! It had fallen completely off of my car!!!! I’m lucky it didn’t hit anyone and that I was actually able to keep the car under control.  Every one of the lugs was broken off and the rotor was flat on one side from scraping on the ground.  In addition, my front quarter panel was shattered and in pieces.  As I assessed the damage, I felt a strong wind on my hind-quarter….I then came to find out that I was actually standing in the freeway with cars narrowly missing me.  I guess I was in shock or something.  I got to the side of the road behind the car, and tried to figure out what to do. 

I got back in the car, and started making calls.  I called my bud Steve who has bailed me out so many times now, I’ve lost count…..He gave me the number for a tow, and I had him take it to the garage where Steve works.  He looked at it the next day and found that all the lugs were indeed broken and the nuts on my rear tire were also loose.  Scary stuff.  After a day or two, he had it fixed and I was on my way.  Thanks Steve!!! 

So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Moral of the story – when my tired start thumping that loudly, pull over immediately and check it out – don’t accelerate!!!! What was I thinking?!  LOL

Since then, I also went on Vacation – to the Bahamas!!! That was incredible – the first time I ever flew in a plane, the first time I saw and swam in the ocean, the first time I snorkeled – so much awesome stuff that I did.  I will save that for the next post – It will be fun to re-visit my trip – I had such a great time. : - )

As far as working out and diet goes, the vacation really derailed me – or I derailed myself is more like it…..I have A LOT of work to do to get back to where I was.  It’s amazing how much damage a week of not working out and drinking like a fish can make you gain 13+ pounds rather quickly…..I am totally frustrated about that part of it…..Next time I go on vacation, I know that I will have to stick to some regimen and not over-indulge like I did.  I guess since this was the first REAL vacation I ever took, I just wanted to enjoy it – which I did – but now I’m paying the price.  Gotta get back on track – nothing to it but to do it, right?!

Alrighty – stay strong and keep the faith…

Love and stuff,

Tommy