Twenty years ago today, I was 17 years old and a senior in high school. We were sitting in Coach Reid's classroom that morning, talking and probably playing Rook. Coach Reid had been out of the room, but ran into the room and rushed over to the large wood enclosed TV that sat on one of his two desks. He turned it on and yelled "Look at this!"
Now this was unusual, because Coach Reid was not known to be very excitable, other than occasionally throwing an eraser at someone who was being particularly dense while answering math problems at the chalkboard. So naturally we all quickly stood up and gathered around the television set.
I knew there was supposed to be a shuttle launch that morning, but I hadn't really thought much about it. I've always been a space buff, but like everyone else shuttle launchs had become a little routine. Once the TV warmed up and the picture appeared I could see that it was a view of Kennedy Center and they were saying something about the shuttle launch experiencing problems. A few minutes later they showed the replay of the launch, with the familiar huge white cloud and the SRBs snaking off to both sides. My heart sank at that point because I knew they were all dead.
Someone in the class said something like "well, I'm sure they ejected." I said "No, they don't have ejection seats on the shuttle, they'd have to physically go to a door, open it, and jump out." I knew this because I used to read everything I could about the shuttle and while the first few shuttle launches had ejection seats since there were only two people on board, none of the later ones did. They still don't.
In the following weeks I became completely disillusioned with NASA. I think they have brilliant people working there, but their vision is set by politicians and as we all know, politicians pretty much suck. I used to tell people after the Challenger accident that I'd still love to take a ride on the shuttle. How insane was that? I'm not sure I'd even want to be in the state of Florida when it launches anymore.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
A Tale of Two Scales
I finally broke down and replaced my bathroom scales. I ordered the Soehnle 63664 Zeta Glass Bath Scale from Amazon. It's a little pricey, but since I buy scales about every 10 years I figure it's worth it to get a nice one that will last. They've got good ratings for being accurate and good reviews from other Amazon customers.
Well, they are accurate and consistent. The only problem is that my old crappy scales have been reading about 6 lbs too low all this time. Couple that with me eatting bad the last week and the current D.B.A.N. as of this morning was 298.6. Yes, that's right. Since all of you have been demanding the extra accuracy I've added a whole decimal point of precision for you.
So once again I'm giving up on the low calorie higher exercise route for a while. It's just too hard to stick with unless I'm in the perfect state of mind for it. For the lasts two weeks all of our friends from church have been bringing us food every two days in celebration of the baby being born. It's a tradition in our Sunday School class. Since we go to a Baptist church, and Baptists love to eat stuff that's not so great for you, we've been getting lots of casseroles and pastas and bread and all the stuff to make a Hatch fat.
Speaking of fat Hatchs, after we got the new scales we had Victoria get on them then get back on them while she was holding Jackson. With a little subtraction we found that Jackson was 10.6 lbs on Monday afternoon. That's 2 1/2 lbs gained in 26 days. He's definitely my child since he has not butt or legs and is all chest and belly. I picked him up in his car seat at a weird angle Sunday morning and pulled something in my right lower back. It's still a little tender today and has led to less steps since then.
Well, they are accurate and consistent. The only problem is that my old crappy scales have been reading about 6 lbs too low all this time. Couple that with me eatting bad the last week and the current D.B.A.N. as of this morning was 298.6. Yes, that's right. Since all of you have been demanding the extra accuracy I've added a whole decimal point of precision for you.
So once again I'm giving up on the low calorie higher exercise route for a while. It's just too hard to stick with unless I'm in the perfect state of mind for it. For the lasts two weeks all of our friends from church have been bringing us food every two days in celebration of the baby being born. It's a tradition in our Sunday School class. Since we go to a Baptist church, and Baptists love to eat stuff that's not so great for you, we've been getting lots of casseroles and pastas and bread and all the stuff to make a Hatch fat.
Speaking of fat Hatchs, after we got the new scales we had Victoria get on them then get back on them while she was holding Jackson. With a little subtraction we found that Jackson was 10.6 lbs on Monday afternoon. That's 2 1/2 lbs gained in 26 days. He's definitely my child since he has not butt or legs and is all chest and belly. I picked him up in his car seat at a weird angle Sunday morning and pulled something in my right lower back. It's still a little tender today and has led to less steps since then.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Week in Review
Sorry about the lack of updates recently. All I can say is I haven't really been in the mood to blog much lately. Things will return to normal soon I'm sure.
Jackson continues to be a source of much delight and change in our life. He's staying awake more during the day now, but he's definitely still a mommy's boy. He lets Victoria and I hold him for short periods, but we soon have to give him up to Marissa after he gets fussy. He's making more eye contact now and likes to stare at lights and ceiling fans. Tonight I was snapping my fingers around his head, and he'd stop sucking on his pacifier when I did it, but he doesn't know how to turn his head to find out where the sound is coming from yet.
I tried to switch off the low carb diet this past week and it hasn't gone well. I haven't really gained any weight and I've maintained a pretty good exercise level, but I think I'm going to have to go back on the low carbs. I'm at a frustrating point right now where the easy weight has already been lost and I'm going to have to get serious about diet and exercise to lose any more.
Jackson continues to be a source of much delight and change in our life. He's staying awake more during the day now, but he's definitely still a mommy's boy. He lets Victoria and I hold him for short periods, but we soon have to give him up to Marissa after he gets fussy. He's making more eye contact now and likes to stare at lights and ceiling fans. Tonight I was snapping my fingers around his head, and he'd stop sucking on his pacifier when I did it, but he doesn't know how to turn his head to find out where the sound is coming from yet.
I tried to switch off the low carb diet this past week and it hasn't gone well. I haven't really gained any weight and I've maintained a pretty good exercise level, but I think I'm going to have to go back on the low carbs. I'm at a frustrating point right now where the easy weight has already been lost and I'm going to have to get serious about diet and exercise to lose any more.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Step Totals
Here's the number of steps I've taken for the last seven days, starting with yesterday.
12,292
2,673
3,106
5,271
11,016
5,256
10,483
Average Daily = 7157 steps = 3.25 miles
12,292
2,673
3,106
5,271
11,016
5,256
10,483
Average Daily = 7157 steps = 3.25 miles
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Weekend Update
We got a little more adventurous with Jackson this weekend. We took him briefly to the last basketball game of the season that Victoria was cheering at on Friday. He slept through it. We ate at a small diner afterwards in Mt. Juliet and he slept there too.
Saturday we went to a very early supper at our favorite local Mexican restaurant and he slept through the whole supper again. Afterwards we stopped to see our friends Craig and Karla, whose baby girl was born 15 days before Jackson. It was nice to spend some time with a couple going through all the same issues we are.
Today we took Jackson to church for the first time. Marissa is still a little paranoid, so we didn't let anyone really touch him or hold him, but he spent most of the time sleeping anyway. Afterwards we stopped by my mother-in-law's house and spent a few hours there. I got a chance to walk in their neighborhood, which has a lot more hills in it. I went up one that was so steep I was really huffing and puffing by the time I got up it. I wish there were more hills around here like that.
Along with a trip to the grocery store and a few dog walks this evening, I've gone over 12,000 steps for the day, or a little over 5.5 miles. I even jogged several times while I was out with the dachshund and I mean to really start doing more interval training this week. I've even got a hill or two in mind that are close to the house on the way home from work.
I've also decided to stop doing the low carb diet again. I've seen almost no progress on it for the last two weeks. I've also decided when it comes right down to it, if you want to lose weight you need to exercise more and eat less. It's really just that simple. If I can't control my appetite and exercise habits with my own mental fortitude that means I'm just a weak person and I refuse to accept that.
I'm not completely giving up on the low carbs. I'm still not going to eat processed sugar and I'm going to keep the starchy food down to a minumum. I've had success with this in the past and now that I'm able to walk 5+ miles a day several times a week I think I should be able to keep losing weight. I can always go low carb for a few weeks again if I feel like I need to jumpstart things.
I've got about 70 days until my 38th birthday. I still want to do a fairly long hike on the Stone Door trail on my birthday weekend, so I need to drop at least 20 more pounds and do hills like a mother to build up more endurance before I try the 9 mile hike that I'm thinking about.
Saturday we went to a very early supper at our favorite local Mexican restaurant and he slept through the whole supper again. Afterwards we stopped to see our friends Craig and Karla, whose baby girl was born 15 days before Jackson. It was nice to spend some time with a couple going through all the same issues we are.
Today we took Jackson to church for the first time. Marissa is still a little paranoid, so we didn't let anyone really touch him or hold him, but he spent most of the time sleeping anyway. Afterwards we stopped by my mother-in-law's house and spent a few hours there. I got a chance to walk in their neighborhood, which has a lot more hills in it. I went up one that was so steep I was really huffing and puffing by the time I got up it. I wish there were more hills around here like that.
Along with a trip to the grocery store and a few dog walks this evening, I've gone over 12,000 steps for the day, or a little over 5.5 miles. I even jogged several times while I was out with the dachshund and I mean to really start doing more interval training this week. I've even got a hill or two in mind that are close to the house on the way home from work.
I've also decided to stop doing the low carb diet again. I've seen almost no progress on it for the last two weeks. I've also decided when it comes right down to it, if you want to lose weight you need to exercise more and eat less. It's really just that simple. If I can't control my appetite and exercise habits with my own mental fortitude that means I'm just a weak person and I refuse to accept that.
I'm not completely giving up on the low carbs. I'm still not going to eat processed sugar and I'm going to keep the starchy food down to a minumum. I've had success with this in the past and now that I'm able to walk 5+ miles a day several times a week I think I should be able to keep losing weight. I can always go low carb for a few weeks again if I feel like I need to jumpstart things.
I've got about 70 days until my 38th birthday. I still want to do a fairly long hike on the Stone Door trail on my birthday weekend, so I need to drop at least 20 more pounds and do hills like a mother to build up more endurance before I try the 9 mile hike that I'm thinking about.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
George... Hatch tried to pants me...
So I've been stuck at 286 lbs for the last week or so. I was getting a little concerned about it since I've been walking a lot and staying off the carbs, but then I realized today that my belt is on its last notch and my pants are not staying up very well. I'm going to have to break down and buy new clothes soon so I don't risk mooning people on my daily lunch walks.
I did 5200 steps yesterday, which was about half of what I did the day before, but that's still almost 2 1/2 miles. I was just completely whipped when I got home from work yesterday and didn't feel like doing anything else. I'll probably go over 8000 steps today though, and might get close to the 10k mark again.
Getting my Omron HJ-112 pedometer has been a great way to get more exercise in. My goal is to work up to taking at least 10,000 steps a day, which is close to 5 miles. The pedometer only costs about twenty bucks on Amazon and is probably one of the best things I've ever received for getting healthier. I find myself parking further away when I go to the store, or getting up once an hour to at least walk around the building once just to add a few hundred more steps to my daily total.
At my weight, the pedometer tells me that going over 10K steps burns almost 700 calories. If I go faster than 60 steps a second or walk continuously for 10 minutes or more it tracks those steps separately as "aerobic" steps. On Monday for example, it counted over 7K steps as aerobic out of the 10.4K I walked that day.
I did 5200 steps yesterday, which was about half of what I did the day before, but that's still almost 2 1/2 miles. I was just completely whipped when I got home from work yesterday and didn't feel like doing anything else. I'll probably go over 8000 steps today though, and might get close to the 10k mark again.
Getting my Omron HJ-112 pedometer has been a great way to get more exercise in. My goal is to work up to taking at least 10,000 steps a day, which is close to 5 miles. The pedometer only costs about twenty bucks on Amazon and is probably one of the best things I've ever received for getting healthier. I find myself parking further away when I go to the store, or getting up once an hour to at least walk around the building once just to add a few hundred more steps to my daily total.
At my weight, the pedometer tells me that going over 10K steps burns almost 700 calories. If I go faster than 60 steps a second or walk continuously for 10 minutes or more it tracks those steps separately as "aerobic" steps. On Monday for example, it counted over 7K steps as aerobic out of the 10.4K I walked that day.
A 10k Day
On Monday I walked a little over 10,400 steps according to my new pedometer. That's almost 5 miles and is the most I've walked in one day in a long, long time. I strayed off the diet some when my father died and when Jackson came along, but I only went back up to 290 pounds. I'm back down to 286 as of this morning.
Jackson went to pediatrician again today and he's grown 1.5 inches and put on almost a whole pound. He went from 8lbs 1oz to 9lbs as of today at 13 days of age. His Momma's got some good noog-noog. The doctor said he's perfectly healthy and he doesn't have to go back until Feb. 10 when he'll get 5 shots. Ouch.
Jackson went to pediatrician again today and he's grown 1.5 inches and put on almost a whole pound. He went from 8lbs 1oz to 9lbs as of today at 13 days of age. His Momma's got some good noog-noog. The doctor said he's perfectly healthy and he doesn't have to go back until Feb. 10 when he'll get 5 shots. Ouch.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Six Days Old
So we dragged ourselves out of bed this morning about 8:30 so we could make it to the pediatrician's office by 9:30. The visit went well, and Jackson is up to 8lbs 6ozs today, so he didn't lose any weight after being born and has added 5 ounces already. No sign of jaundice and only a few minor rashes that the doctor said was normal. He'll go back on the 10th for his next check-up.
Jackson went through three diapers while we were in the room at the clinic. He almost peed on the doctor but his aim was off. He managed to get me wet last night when I was changing him. He's got a good stream because he managed to shoot it completely over his head and onto the bed before I could interrupt it.
Jackson went through three diapers while we were in the room at the clinic. He almost peed on the doctor but his aim was off. He managed to get me wet last night when I was changing him. He's got a good stream because he managed to shoot it completely over his head and onto the bed before I could interrupt it.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Happy New Year
Happy New Year from the Hatcher family! Things are going great here and Marissa and Jackson are both fine, although Marissa could probably use a little more sleep. I promise when things get a little more sane around here I'll do a long post about the birth of our new boy Jackson. For now I've posted some good pictures on my Flickr account and you can click the link on the right side of the page to see them all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
