Monday, July 26, 2004

   It must be opossum season...


My alarm woke me up this morning at 5:41. I added an extra minute for the psychological effect. =P
I rolled out of my bed and was across the room in one swift motion. I turned the alarm off, I thought. I went back to bed. (Gah, I've got to stop doing that)

Luckily for me, I must have hit Snooze or something, because the alarm went off again, waking me a second time. This time I managed to rouse myself enough to get up and head downstairs.

I woke up my dad so that we could go to the gym. He wasn't feeling very well, so he suggested we go this afternoon. I reminded him that he's working this afternoon.

"Shit, you're right." *groan*

He lay there, thinking the whole thing over. I suggested that I could go for a walk later, but that it wouldn't help him all that much. He mumbled a bit, saying that I could for a walk right then.

And so, I did. :)

I got changed, ate a banana and a slice of turkey to tide me over until I got back, and drained the rest of my water bottle. I said goodbye to my mom, and was out of the house by 6:20.

It was chilly out in the early hours of the morning, so I put on a windbreaker. My nutritionist, Becky, suggested that I try jogging every now and then during my walks. It would get my heart rate going, she said, and burn more calories. *shrug* So I did. When I came to a secluded part of my route, I'd break into a job for a few minutes, and then slow back down to a walk to catch my breath.

I made it home five minutes sooner than normal. :D

I had a bowl of cereal, and I ground up my daily vitamin. It tasted horrible, but I managed to get it down with some milk. I shuddered like crazy, though. The stuff tastes nasty.

I'm off to take a shower. It appears that after that, though, I'm stuck at home. My mom and dad are both working, my older sister is working, and my little brother is here with me.

If I leave, he'd be all alone. And so, I can't leave until somebody comes home. =/

That kind of stinks, and nobody even asked me if I minded doing it. I mean, I have a life too!






Or at least, I'd like to have one.

._.

Geez, do I ever want to play Yu-Gi-Oh right now. >_>;;
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Sunday, July 25, 2004

   And on the seventh day, HE RESTED.
Geez, I've had a busy day. =/

After waking up at 7:30 this morning, I decided I didn't really want to get up, take a shower, and go to 8:30 mass. I wanted to go back to bed. So, after taking a side trip to the bathroom, I went back to bed. My mom was sitting on the couch reading, and I explained the situation to her before hopping lightly up the stairs.


A couple hours later, I got up and got ready for 11:00 mass. We were late, as usual. Victoria was the only altar server, and her mom covertly asked me to dress up and join her. I know how much it sucks to be the only altar server, but I haven't served in months, and they've changed things since then. I prodded my younger sister Emily into doing it instead.

Mass progressed as it normally did. *shrug*

We went from the church to Stop and Shop, where we picked up some groceries so that my mom could overwrite a check. We then went to Wal-Mart, so she could overwrite another check and get more cash.

We had plans to go to the Tall Ships thingy down by the river, and it was expensive.

It also wasn't worth it. =/

After eating lunch, me, my mom, and the two youngest headed down to the river to check out all of the ships and booths and such.

There was a bluegrass band there, composed of a number of Russian kids from 11 to 18 years old. They were very good, I thought. It's a shame we only got to see three of their songs.

So, we went on a couple of sailboats.

Yeah.

Sailboats.

With sails.





The food booths smelled good. >_>
I had eaten before I went there, to prevent me from eating something I shouldn't eat. A good thing, too, as there was a spicy "shrimp on the barby" thing at this Australian food booth. Mmmmm mmmmm that smelled good. But, again, the price was steep. $8 for a little shrimp-filled wrap. =/

I saw some plankton on one of the ships. That was boring.

Most of the ships closed an hour earlier than they were supposed to. My sister took a few pictures.

I had my mom take one of me perplexedly staring down the barrel of a cannon. Fun.

All in all, the whole thing sucked.

My mom drove Michael and I home, and then she and my sister went back to watch the ships cast off and leave. My other sister came and picked Michael and I up. We went over to my aunt and uncle's house for a random picnic.

Chili, saurkreut, hot dogs, tortilla chips, and many fabulous desserts. I didn't touch a thing.

I was so proud of myself. ^____^

I played with my cousin, Sophie, who just turned 6. Then I hung out with Jack, their new dog. Jack's teething, and so he likes to nip at people. He especially wanted to have a go at my ears and nose. Cartilage makes for good chewing, I guess.

My mom and Emily had driven over after the boats went out, and so I was provided with a ride home when I got hungry. We went to Quizno's to get my dad dinner with the gift certificate he won from a radio station. I got myself a nice salad, in addition to his. 0:)

We went and dropped off my dad's salad with him at the golf course. Then we drove home, where I ravenously dug into my own. After that I drained a bottle of water and headed upstairs.

Not much happened today, but it seems to have taken a lot of time to accomplish that very little. :p

Eating Log.

Starting from the most recent, and then I delve into the past that is this morning. >_>;;

An apple. Yum.
That Quizno's salad, with roast beef and bacon bits and cheese and barbeque sauce and ranch dressing. It was scrumptuous.
A yogurt, which wound up being not-good for my eating. 30-something grams of carbs and 28 of sugar. >.>;; My bad.
I had sushi for lunch. ^_^ I enjoyed it, but I don't know how bad it is with the sticky rice on the outside. Meh, I'll live.

I can't remember what I had for breakfast. =/

Oh! Right! My dad made me an omelette. :D It had some sort of sausage-ish thing in it. And it tasted very good. Yum indeed.

Plus water.

Yay for healthy living!
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Saturday, July 24, 2004

   Just Improvising.
My day didn't really go anywhere past my room. =/

Most of today was spent sitting at my computer, drinking lots of water, and getting rid of said water.

At one point I tried to take my daily vitamin, but I just couldn't get it down. It's big, and it doesn't taste very good.

I signed up for Solo's Anime Stereotype High School. I had originally wanted to be a trading card game playing psycho, but I just couldn't see him as being a stereotype; it's more of a specific character thing, I thought.

But whatever, I'm happy with what I came up with.

In other news, Juu and Sara both accepted my challenge to a game of Ninja Kid on Group Sounds. In turn, I went and played my halves of each challenge.

Total pwnage. :p

I don't understand why nobody else is good at, or even plays, this game. I find it fun. ^_^

I wound up sleeping through the Duelist League this morning, which was a bit unfortunate. I knew that one of my friends was not going, and he was one of the ones I wanted to play most anyways.

Maybe I can invite him over sometime this week. Or I could head down to Rainbows and play against Kevin. We'll see.
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No. Don't! NNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Bah. I'm signing up for another RPG. :p I've got an idea for Solo's Anime Stereotype High School, and the RPG itself is just so darn appealing. >_>;;

More to come, as my day progresses.
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Friday, July 23, 2004

   Friday, part two.
I didn't go to the beach, I was far too tired to walk down, run around for a while, and then walk home. Besides, it was hot. :p

Instead I stayed home and took a little nap, one that was very needed. Sleep has been scarce in the past half week, with all the things I've been doing and going to the gym/exercising in the morning. It was quite a pleasant nap. ^_____^

I got up because I had a phone call, I think. I don't remember who it was, but I stayed up and about after that. I did eventually decide to head down to Sacred Heart, though. I brought my now ever-present water bottle, my dueling deck, and a plastic bag with Victoria's lobster in it.

There weren't any kids there around my age, which was sort of a drag. It's the first time I've been to Rainbows all summer, and I felt a little uncomfortable about just showing up without anything to do and nobody to really talk to.

I hung out with a few fifth graders that I knew, and introduced myself to some of the younger kids I didn't know so well. I worked my magic, and the kids were soon falling over with laughter. ^___^

Nobody had Yu-Gi-Oh cards, though, so I didn't get to crush any pathetic mortal souls duel anybody. Most of the time I hung out with my neighbor Jamal, who's working Rainbows. I realized that I knew all of the people who were working today by sight and most of them by name. Same with the kids; most I'd seen before and most I knew by name.

At 5:30, when Rainbows ended and the last kid had been picked up, Jamal and I headed down to Victoria's second home; i.e. her mom's kindergarten classroom. I swear, they both spend more time in that school than they do at home. =/

Victoria's mom needed some help moving things around in her classroom, namely large and heavy things. She had asked Jamal to help her, and I was just nice enough to tag along and help.

Upon my arrival in the classroom, Victoria arched an eyebrow at me. I handed over the bag with her lobster, and she flashed a delighted smile. Her smile grew even more as she actually took out he lobster and cuddled its soft cuteness. :p I'm such a nice guy.

There was a lot of very heavy stuff. The teachers' desks were the heaviest things, with drawers still loaded with materials and such. We managed eventually, though, and Jamal and I left with aching limbs and sweat all over. My water was mostly gone, and I had already mopped my face all over with paper towels. The breeze blowing across us felt very good as we walked home, let me tell you.

I went home. I knew I should probably take a shower after all the work I'd done in the classroom, but I already took one today. Two seemed excessive to me. I called my grandfather and asked him if his pool was open. It was, and I said I'd walk down soon.

I decided to first make myself dinner, so I wouldn't be tempted to eat anything I shouldn't be eating down at his house. I put together a small salad and a turkey wrap. D-E-licious. I make good cold food. :p

So, I packed my bathing suit and some extra clothes into a bag. I refilled my water bottle from our spring water cooler, and then walked down.

My grandfather had a quick errand to run, so I watched TV while until he got back. When he returned, he reminded me that I had wanted to go swimming. I still did; if I wasn't going to shower, I'd at least submerge myself in chlorinated water. =P

The water was cool, not cold, and delightful to swim in. I used my new technique of adjusting myself to the water. I used to just slowly, bit by bit, lower myself in and wade painstakingly until I was covered. My new technique is a simple leap. I take a few steps, and then jump and tip myself backwards to get the impact all along the back of my body. It's much quicker than my old way, and much more effective.

I swam around for a bit; my arms still sore from moving the furniture. My little brother Michael came out for a while, and we played around a bit with one of the diving toys. It was 8:00 when I went in, though, and by 8:30 it was getting awfully dark. So, I got out and got myself and Michael towels. We dried off, and went inside to change.

Upon changing, I went into the kitchen. Leftover pizza sat on the counter. I opened the two boxes with a more than mild curiosity. Sausage, pepperoni, and cheese.....

So, I succumbed to the evil that is leftovers. I ate one piece. Later on, another. Then another one, just because. I couldn't help myself. The place they got it from, G&S, they make their pizzas with a sweet sort of sauce that I find very, very good.

I think I'm going to avoid this house so long they have leftovers around. >_>;;

And I had been doing so well eating, too. I'll not let this get to me, mind you. It's just a sign that I'm human, I guess :p
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   The gym: Day......What? No gym?
Yeah, no gym. I'll explain it later.

I went to bed late last night, after playing Yu-Gi-Oh with my younger sister for a while, and singing happy birthday to my older one. Jess turned 18 yesterday, and couldn't wait to go out and buy some lottery tickets. :p

Tonight she's going out for more gambling with some family and friends, since she is old enough. They're going to play Bingo at Foxwoods, I think. Either there, or Mohegan Sun. I don't remember.

So, Eric IMs me early on in the day and says that we're going to laser tag at 6:30. ("We" being me, him, and the regular group) So at 6:30, my dad dropped me off at the Mystic Carousel and Fun Center, wherein the laser tag place is located. None of the guys were there yet, so I sort of wandered around and watched some kids play games. I gave them a half hour to show up; they were usually late anyways.

After the half hour, though, their benefit of the doubt was retracted, and I called home for a ride. While I waited for my dad to show up, I bought four tokens and used them to play a shooter game. In this game (I can't remember what it is called) the object is to shoot the targets in each of four levels.

Level 1: Single Stationary Target

Level 2: Dual Stationary Targets

Level 3: Single Moving Target

Level 4: Dual Moving Targets, and then a cup appears that you mst shoot and shatter.

I may have Levels 2 and 3 messed up, but that's pretty much how it works. Your gun has to be in the holster in front of you in order to start a level. It's a quick draw sort of thing, which I find fun. ^_^

With my four tokens, I placed 13th, 7th, 4th, and 2nd out of a hundred scores. Placing in the top five let's you put in your initials, so I've got mine in there twice. :D

My dad drove up, less than pleased that I got stood up. I knew there had to be a reason for it, but he still didn't like it. It was about 7:30 when we left; I'd been there for an hour. We headed over to Quizno's, because my dad had won a gift certificate there on the radio yesterday morning.

We each got a roast beef salad, which turned out to be absolutely delicious. Not much after that, other than crushing PT in a Group Sounds challenge. >:D

Now, on to today, which has only been a few hours, for me. (I have so much more time when I get up earlier. :p)

When my alarm went off at 5:40, I really was not ready to get up and go to the gym. Having gone to bed at 1:00, it just was not going to happen. I staggered across my room to shut off the alarm, and then slumped back into bed.

About an hour later, I woke up again. I was determined to go to the gym, even if I was a bit late. The extra hour had really helped, though, and I was actually ready to go. I woke my dad up and got changed. When he was ready to go, and I went to grab my CD player, he told me I wouldn't need it. We weren't going to the gym.

Slightly nonplused, I went out to the car with him, and we drove in the opposite direction than we would take to get to the gym. We eventually pulled to a stop in the parking lot of Groton Tire and Auto, a car repair shop. My dad filled out a little form, and slipped the keys into an envelope.

As soon as we had pulled into GT&A, I knew what was going on. We weren't going to the gym, because we were going to walk home. A good mile or so out of doors. I said to my dad: "So, we're going on a short walk?"

"Short?" he replied, raising his eyebrows.

Heh, from there to home was maybe a little more than half of my regular walk. A lot of it was on the same streets, even. My dad had a rougher time of it than I did. His face was pouring sweat, and he sipped often from his water bottle.

Me? Heh, I hadn't broken a sweat halfway to our house. XD It's cool outside, and I'd walked this way a bunch of times before. Ah, 'tis good to be young. :P

We eventually made it home, after numerous jibes from me at my dad. (^_^) I took a shower and decided to try my hand at making an omelette.

It didn't turn out too well. =/

I couldn't flip it over to cook on both sides, so I just sort of folded it. Then I maneuvered the thing around a little bit until it was, again, folded. I broke up the folds, and then just decided to toss some cheese on the mess; an omelette was not happening.

The end result was something between an omelette and scrambled eggs. It was as if someone had taken an empty omelette, folded it several times, and then cut it into haphazard chunks. Cheese gobs here and there. Meh, it tasted okay. I just need to figure out how to cook both sides. v.v

And that's been my morning so far. I think I might head down to the beach and say hello to Victoria, and maybe even go down to Sacred Heart to play with the kids at Rainbow Connection, the school's summer daycare program.

Some of them play Yu-Gi-Oh. >:)

And to finish things off, Comment Commentary!

Mimmi: I didn't stretch at all, come to think of it. =/ That may have been the reason. Good thinking. ^_^

Solo: You're so knowledgeable. :p

ParnoidPerson: I don't often stretch, either, except for when I'm trying to get to sleep.

anatema: I don't know, those mini-escalators looked fun. ^_^ Yay me!

Baron: I was doing situps and pushups every night for a while, but I couldn't get many done and I slacked off after a while. :p

And yes, we shall have to pose together at some point. Us and our sexah bodies. =P
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Thursday, July 22, 2004

The Gym: Day 1
5:40. My alarm clock was set for 5:40 AM. When it rang, I got up. (Silly me, I had thought we were getting up at 6. In actuality, we were going to try and leave by 6)

I went downstairs and grabbed an apple and a glass of water. I drank the glass of water, and then munched on the apple as I went down to the basement to get some clean clothes. Coming upstairs, I noticed my dad wasn't up yet. I went into his room and shook him a bit. He groaned, and mumbled something indistinguishable, but was clearly awake.

So, I went up to my room and finished my apple. I got dressed, and by the time I went downstairs, my dad was up and about. We got out my new CD player, and I put in the Coheed and Cambria CD Raine gave me. We got a bottle of water each, and then headed out to the car.

We decided that it would probably be best for me to do cardiovascular exercise today, just to get me used to working out every morning. That, and my dad didn't want me trying to use the equipment before he could set up an appointment with someone to show me how to use the equipment, and about how much weight I should be lifting.

There were several different machines available there. There were treadmills, which my dad had suggested, exercise bikes, a couple different stepping things, and one really neat thing that was like a mini escalator. It was about four steps tall, and was constantly moving. There were only two of them, though, and they were both occupied.

I don't really like treadmills, so I told my dad that I'd hop on an exercise bike. There's something about treadmills I just don't really like. I don't like to be walking, but not really going anywhere, you know? I like to see the progress in my environment, not a little number on a dashboard. Besides, the scenery gives me something to think about.

I got on the bike, and read the instructions, and promptly broke the strap on the bike pedal. >_>;;

Well, it wasn't really broken, I had just forced it to become undone. I got off the bike and fixed it, and then started pedaling. I tried out the different difficulty settings, and determined that Level 2 would probably be the hardest one I could do constantly for twenty minutes.

Eleven minutes and a couple of songs later, I got off the bike and got a drink of water. Back onto the bike I went for another ten minutes, before getting off for another drink. My dad was done on the treadmill, so we decided to leave. I had been doggedly pedaling for a satisfactory amount of time, I thought. >.>

He dropped me off at home, and then he went to talk to my grandfather about the car, which was making odd noises when it turned. I went inside and waited for my mom to get out of the bathroom so that I could take a shower.

I walked up the stairs to my room, and one of the effects of the exercise came into play. It was quite a laborious climb, up those stairs. =/

Going down stairs was even worse, though. It felt as if my legs would give way at each step. Every other step or so, I'd straighten out my leg, so that it would get greater support from the bones and not tax the muscles so much. =P

I took a nice, long, hot shower and got changed into clothes that were not so very sweaty. I came upstairs, hopped online and here I am. It's nearing 9 o'clock, and I've been up for three hours already. 0.o Amazing stuff.

My sister Jess walked into my room a little while ago, having just gotten up to go to work.

Here is the exact conversation:

"You're up early."

"I went to the gym this morning."

*Jess arches her eyebrow(s)*

"Good for you."

"Thanks."

What caught me was the sincerity with which she said: "Good for you." In the first few waking moments of her day, before she has time to get her wits about her, it seems that my sister can be honest!

I should ask her questions when she's this pliable. :p


Now, let me describe some of the other effects brought about by my exercise this morning.

Headache: I've only got a little one, and that could be caused by the music that was pumping in through my headphones. I've never had a CD player before, so maybe that was a factor.

Nausea: Maybe I didn't eat enough before going to the gym, maybe I didn't have enough water, maybe I pushed my body too far too soon. *shrug* Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Legs that feel like tightly coiled springs: I lifted my leg up behind me to stretch it out, and it sort of went the distance on its own. I apply a little bit of mental direction to it and SPROING, my legs go up.

Delusions of grandeur: Already I'm picturing people at school gawking at my healthier body. :P

Whee, this was fun. I'll be posting more often now that I have something to post about. ^___^ Be sure to check back every now and then.


Long habiter la résistance saine!
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Wednesday, July 21, 2004

   hero
Arcadia posted up her issue in hero, and so I was allowed to put up mine, which I had done while in Maine. A few adjustments were made prior to posting, but I think it was all for the better.


My dad bought me Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon today on DVD. I had mentioned something about it to him while I was thinking of weapons for my Kill Adam 2 sign-up. So, when we were shopping at Wal-Mart today, he picked it up for me. ^_^

He also got me a CD player, so I could listen to music when we go to the gym tomorrow morning.

At 6. v_v

I've been drinking more water lately, and we just went grocery shopping and got a lot of healthy foods. I had a turkey wrap tonight, with cheese and roasted red peppers. It was awesome.

I can't wait to try my hand cooking something. ~_^

It's late, and I've got to get up early tomorrow. So, good night everyone!
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Yar! I'm a pirate!
I slept over my friend Kevin's house last night. We played a bunch of video games most of the night, on his Xbox and my Gamecube. Strangely, he did better than me on Gamecube's Soul Calibur 2, and I was better than him on the Xbox. Weird stuff.

In addition to the video games, we also played Yu-Gi-Oh.

!!!!!!




I just remembered! He traded me his Raigeki! !O_O! It's a very rare, very powerful card that destroys all monsters on my opponent's side fo the field. I've been wanting one for a long, long time. *dances happily*

I also remembered to record the scores in my nifty golden notepad. *checks notepad* I beat him eight times. Out of eight times. ^_^ A couple of them I actually used one of his decks. It was determined that mine was just far too powerful for him. ~_^

I went to bed early in the morning, after several hours of games and duels. The sound of an old telephone ringing woke me up, and I knew instantly that I had to get moving. My dad was coming to pick me up and drive me to the library for my page position test.

He showed up, I said goodbye, and we headed off to the library. On the way there, he told me that he had heard from Becky. She had gotten the results of my blood work, and, to be short, they were not good.

My cholesterol is too high, my blood sugar is too high, my triglycerides are too high; a lot of things were out of sync. Things that could be corrected with proper eating and exercise. Another thing worthy of note, those conditions he mentioned qualified me as a "borderline type 2 diabetic."

In other words, I'm dangerously close to being diabetic. >.>

That sort of jolted me a bit, and strengthened my resolve to live better. It certainly surprised my dad, as well.

He dropped me off at the library. I walked in the front door and saw a bulletin board that said the test was being held in conference room #2. I looked around warily. Where was conference room #2? :p

I then overheard one of the receptionists directing an older man to the same place, and I just went where she pointed. Indeed, on the door it said: Conference Room #2.

I stepped in, and took a seat at one of the tables. Each table had four seats, and some people were already seated. I was sort of surprised, really. I had stepped into a room of middle-aged adults, and they all were the sort I wouldn't care to talk to. All very quiet and queer-looking. I had expected the applicants to be younger, and not quite so diverse. 0.o

I waited, though, for some library staff person to come in and hand out the tests; the pencils were already on the tables. As the minutes ticked by, a few more people trickled in. Not the least of which was a very pretty girl around my age, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.

Rawr. :p

I don't think I'd mind working with her. Luckily, there are two spots available. ~_^

Eventually Joe came in. Joe is the guy who called me up and told me about the test. He works for the library, apparently. He passed out the tests and explained them as best he could. It was simple stuff really, just alphabetical order, numerical order, and the peculiar mesh of them called the Dewey Decimal System.

It was all just logical thinking, which I'm good at, usually. I'm fairly certain that I did well. Joe told everyone that because of the number of applicants, they were merely going to pick those who scored highest for interviews. Everyone else would be notified of their abject failure incompetence not-getting-offered-the-job-ness.

I finished the test in a little under a half hour, and then called on the payphone for a ride home. My grandmother came and picked me up. After a brief side trip to the post office, she delivered me home safe and sound. I hopped onto my computer and did internet stuff for a while.

My dad called me up from wherever he was and told me that he was coming to pick me up; we had stuff to do.

So me, my brother and sister got dressed and ready to go. First we headed over to Work Out World, a.k.a. W.O.W. That is the gym that my parents used to go to, and plan to start going to again soon. I got signed up for a membership, and we start tomorrow morning. >_>;;

After that, my dad drove me over to Subway, where I grabbed a nice turkey grinder loaded with vegetables. My dad tells me to enjoy my last day of unhealthy eating, but I'm several steps ahead of him. The night I had the pierogies was my last day. I've been drinking water more since then, and I've been taking the vitamins Becky gave me.

I'll be going to the gym early tomorrow morning, so I'd best get some good sleep tonight. I'll bet it doesn't happen. v.v

Ergh. I should work on RPGs, or something. I just don't feel like it now, though, for some reason. Bleh. I need something to do. >.>

We're heading out grocery shopping later to get healthy food for my dad and I to eat. I've been starving myself every now and then, since we really don't have anything here I can eat without feeling that I shouldn't be.

That's about it for now.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2004

*bangs head against the wall*
Aleia called me just a minute ago. I had almost forgotten that she was calling, until my mom handed me the phone and said it was a girl.

Unfortunately, I made plans to go over a friend's house tonight. I was getting ready to leave when she called. v_v

I am so, so sorry Aleia. : (

I told you that I don't know what I'm doing at any given part of the week, and I meant it. I only just made the plans to go over Kevin's house. >_>;;

Hopefully we'll be able to talk some more later, and I may be able to actually hear you. :p

G'night everyone, wish me luck on my test tomorrow morning.
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