This week I’m bored. I know what you’re thinking; how could someone with as bubbly of a personality as me be bored?
I’ll tell you how; my wife is visiting her parents in Montana. Over the last couple of years I have really grown to value those rare times of solitude where the time is mine to do with as I please.
This however, is not a couple of hours by myself, this is boredom. Jenn and I have been married a little under 3 years and dated for 4 before that. That means that for the last 7 years I always had someone to hang out with and if you know my wife, you know that she’s pretty awesome to hang out with.
Now, I’ve been reasonably productive in my wife’s absence and the house has not burned down (not yet anyway), so I’m not a total waste of space, but without my wife around I’m just a little, well, bored.
So hurry home sweetie, there’s only so many reruns of prime-time soap operas that I can watch before I start going a little cooky.
As part of my goal to lose 100 pounds, I’ve taken our lead pastor up on his offer to join him at the gym. Three days a week we hit the tread mill, lift some weights and then head off.
I’ve had some other experiences with gym memberships and have never really stuck with any of them. I think this is because I’ve gone with friends or with Jenn and I always got to the point when I decided that I cared less about flaking on them than I did about getting out of bed early in the morning.
This makes Pastor Steve a perfect gym buddy. He’s my boss and so bailing on him is not exactly an option. Consequently, I’ve been to the gym three times this week (hitting the goal right out of the shoot) and am feeling good (except for the soreness).
It’s also been very cool to get to know Steve a little better, talk life and ministry. He’s a pretty smart dude.
So, I’m pretty convinced that this is going to be a long lasting thing this time (cuz frankly, I couldn’t get out now even if I wanted to). All I have to do now is get over the fact that a guy twice my age is sort of kicking my butt in the gym!
As you can tell by the title, my official weigh-in day has changed to Saturday.I was doing Wednesday for a while but with the weekends so varied as of late, it has been difficult to get any sort of consistency for any longer than three two or three days and so my weight-loss totals have been less than awe-inspiring.
This week’s weight-loss total: 4 pounds!
I’m pretty stoked about this, as I’ve had really successful weeks and then a bad day or two followed by a weigh-in, so my total to this point has been 1.5 pounds in a month. This is a definite shot in the arm for me.
Some of you may be thinking that this week’s totals were helped by a day of intense vomiting, though I believe that two liters of saline put on anything I would have lost from that and so these numbers are pretty legit. Regardless, I need all the help I can get and now, down a total of 5.5 pounds I feel like I’ve got some momentum!
The last time I vomited was 1994. That’s right, 1994! It was Thanksgiving and not only did I not get to miss any school because we were on Thanksgiving break, but I did miss all of the amazing food.
Since then, I have been the model of vomit-free living, rarely sick, uneffected by trips to Mexico and Africa and after 14 years feeling pretty untouchable.
That is until Nora and Clara got a hold of me. We walked into my sister’s house at around midnight on Monday and the girls had just thrown up. Aw poor babies right? I felt bad for them, I really did, until Wednesday afteroon that is.
We were ready to head home when I started feeling really nautious. I laid down, couldn’t get comfortable and then it happened. The streak was over. I’ll spare you the details (let’s just say I won’t be eating all-meat pizza for a while). Over the next few hours I made up for the last 14 years and then some. Finally, I was in so much pain from dehydration that Jenn had to take me to the hospital at 12:30.
4 hours, three holes in my arms, two liters of saline and some anit-nausea meds later I was ready to go, still feeling a little shaky. The plan was to take our time getting up on Thursday and have Jenn drive home while I slept so that I could make it to rehearsal last night. Unfortunately, Jenn got sick as well and so I had to drive. 3 hours of driving when you’re tired and not sure if you’ll be able to hold anything down is not fun.
The final total? By the end of the three days, the two babies and all four adults had spent a significant amount of time giving our insides some fresh air.
Let’s just say, we aren’t planning another trip up to Sacramento anytime soon.
I’ve written about them a lot here, and even though I’ve put up pictures, it’s hard to get a full idea of who my nieces are. Nora and Clara are going to be a year old in less than a month and so I thought I’d post a little video of them.
Keep in mind, they were a little sick so not as active as normal. In fact, they got me sick and it landed me in the hospital! More on that later.
Jenn and I got to visit my sister and brother-in-law and their adorable twin girls this week. While showing her a little bit about video editing I stumble upon this footage that she had.
You see, last year we had a “pink party” for my mom and celebrated her 5 years cancer free after her battle with breast cancer. It was a big day for all of us, and as we put together the party, my sister asked me to write a song, so I did.
It’s recorded from a digital camera and I’m a little teary while singing, so no judging the sound quality alright!
1) Luke Mundy used Twitter to direct message Micah Foster and ask what they were doing last night.
2) Micah calls me and says “wanna hang out with Luke and Sara?”
3) I say yes and the result was a great time!
So, all thanks to Twitter, the @Fosters, the @Mundys and the @Haugens all met up and had a great time. Most of us had never met each other, but because of Twitter and blogging we all seemed to know a ton about each other. Last night was just part of the process of filling in the “twholes.”
I have slacked a little on my updates, and here’s why; I haven’t been losing. I got off to a great start losing 4.5 pounds the first week, and then spent the next 2-3 weeks gaining 5 back.
Now that vacation is over and everything has settled down a bit, I’ve had two good weeks!
Last week I lost a pound and then as of today I was down another one, bringing my total to 1.5 pounds lost; not exactly the break-neck pace I was going for, but nonetheless I’m pleased. Jenn made a calendar where we log our points for the day each day, and that’s been a huge help. The only problem is that I have to stop lying about how many points I’ve had now.
My name is Paul Haugen and I am the Music Director at Clovis Hills Community Church. This is me; no pretense, no show, just who I am, quirks and all. This is the Open Door.
