"Cheese Cheese Cheese" (59)

Halleluiah, I’ve got my Mojo back! I once went to a church in Philadelphia that I really enjoyed because the Pastor always gave a practical message. One Sunday he gave a message that I never forgot. He said, “When you feel like your soul is tired, weak and just about empty, instead of looking for things to try to fill it up again, empty it out and give whatever is left to others, helping others, giving to others…God will fill your soul back up.” So today I did just that, I mustered up all of my energy to send a thank you to many of the Soldier’s Angels who have consistently been writing me and sending the squadron letters and support packages. It felt great and sure enough, my soul is full once again.

With just 59 days to go I can really feel the momentum of it all now. The new squadron will be arriving in just a few short weeks and I’ll begin turning everything over to them. My friend Victor booked a trip for us to spend a week in Puerto Vallarta Mexico at a resort when I get back from this deployment! It’s going to be great and just what I need – a Master Suite at a resort in Mexico, far away from any concerns, sipping margaritas as I stare out of my grand balcony overlooking the Pacific. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that already! Also – a great housing opportunity fell into my lap this past week and although I’m not going to jinx myself just yet, I may have a beautiful newly renovated place already lined up for me when I get back! (more to follow on that) I’m so ready to make a fresh new start when I get back. I’m really excited about getting my new car too. It’s all in motion now. I even beat the computer at chess – finally!

As for my “cutting up” workout phase... It’s been tough, but I’ve been doing an amazing job at staying disciplined. I’ve lost a lot of weight already and my gut has already been replaced by 4 well defined and 4 somewhat defined Abs. I eat a healthy lunch of a lean sandwich (no mayo, no cheese), some fresh fruit and a small square of red Jello with a skim milk. Then for dinner a chicken salad with some fat free dressing that just arrived from one of my Soldier’s Angels Kathy who knew I was on this crazy cutting up phase (Thanks Kathy! The fat free dressings are awesome!), then a protein shake later in the day. I lift weights 6 days a week, Abs classes for 30 minutes Mon/Wed/Fri, Ab weight training Tue/Thu and do an hour of cardio 5 nights a week (treadmill or elliptical machine)! It gets tiresome, but I feel healthier than I have ever felt in my life and that makes me feel really good about myself. I need to remind myself that being skinny (and losing weight) isn’t necessarily a bad thing – that I shouldn’t let the scale be the judge of me – if I look and feel great then that’s all that matters. (Marines here tend to obsess about “getting big”, so it’s sometimes hard for me to not want to compete and get big myself, but that’s not the way to an 8 pack of Abs.) So the Strawberry Oreos are on hold for the moment!

Another healthy antidote for me today was to watch some home movies that I recorded last year – specifically of last Christmas holiday and also last year when I drove cross country and moved to Hawaii. It was great to see the faces of all of my friends and family again – Kelly, Mike, Kiera, Mom, Victor, Jan, Mr. & Mrs. C (“think Morton’s Neuroma”). You know, when a person makes a home video its usually a pain in the ass when they’re filming, aka, no one wants to be filmed, everyone is tired of looking into the camera, etc. But one of the main reasons why people make the damn videos is so that they can one day look back at it and smile, - that they can laugh and be reminded of some great times. Today I was glad that I made those videos.

I attached a picture of my niece Kiera and I that was taken on Christmas morning of last year. I woke up and wasn’t alone after all that morning, as my niece jumped into the bed and told me that “Santa had come”! Whenever a camera got in front of her she'd say "Cheese Cheese Cheese". It was so cute.