The New Year's A Comin'

I am not one to make New Year Resolutions. I would never keep them if I made them. A New Year is a good time however to reflect on where your life went in the old year and what you need to change to get your life on track for the New Year.
So here we go. 2009 was in one way a terrible year, but what made it terrible also made it great. Quadruple bypass surgery saved and changed my life. The experience was the terrible part. Lots a pain and discomfort for sure.
The aftermath however has been the great part. There's nothing like an experience that shows you first hand your mortality to spur a life change. That is what I have been able to do so far, with varying success. I have lost 57 pounds this year, 52 of that since I started rehab after surgery. I was hoping to be around 70 down by now but 57 is a start. I have another 60 or 70 to go, again a good start but it has gotten a lot harder. Thus the varying success part. I have been on a plateau for quite some time now and haven't been able to break it. At least I'm not going up, now that would be really bad.
Family wise 2009 has been pretty good. Amanda is doing well in school, with a few exceptions and really loves marching band. My Mom hasn't had any major health issues, a couple of trips to the emergency room and one stroke scare but it wasn't a stroke and the emergency room trips are not surprising at this point in her life. Chris and I are still together and going strong and she has made me very happy this year.
So where to go in 2010. I know that I need to work even harder getting into shape. I am hoping to get Chris to be a part of my exercise and eating right quest as well and I think she is interested in doing that. I will not reach my goal of 229 pounds by January 23rd, the year anniversary of my surgery, but I am hoping to get there maybe by beach time in late June. It will take a lot of work and a lot of sticking with my diet but I know if I work hard I can do it. 2010 could also bring change to where I live. It seems pretty likely I will move back into Austin around late August because the commute to Amanda's school is getting to be more than both of us can handle. I am not thrilled by moving and have no idea where the extra money will come from to pay the higher bills that will come with a move back into Austin but it is something that will probably have to be done for both Amanda's sanity and mine.
So I have some high hopes for a much better year in 2010, for myself and my family and all of my friends and on-line acquaintances. Happy New Year Everyone!

The Quick Update

So now that I have three followers I guess I should try to update this more often. I got the CD from the Cedar Park High School Band marching season and I'm going to see if I can figure out how to post some of it here, at least the marching performance part of it. It sounds really amazing and I want to share if I can figure out how to do it. It's pretty easy to do on the work website but never tried on this one.
Speaking of the work website (www.lonestartexasnews.com) it looks like I will be involved in a redesign since it's extremely boring. It really just kind of lays there and once you have read the 14 or so stories that are on it there really isn't anything left to do. My idea is to make it more interactive by adding some weather information, a video section and a podcast section and putting up daily newscasts that you can listen to on the website (after all we are a radio network for goodness sake). You can hear my weekly show on there but that's the only audio on it so far (it's at the very bottom if you want to take a listen, it changes out every Sunday morning).
I plan on posting more stuff around the holidays and really trying to work on this blog while I am on vacation. It's not going to be a traveling vacation and I will still have to update the work website (easy enough) but I don't have to be covering stories and writing and voicing anything so that will be nice. I will also get to spend some quality time with my daughter without having to get on her about homework and that may be the best part of the vacation period.

It Was My Honor

I was very surprised when the people at St. David's Cardiac Rehab told my in July that they wanted to honor me and two others at their Rehab Banquet in November. That banquet was this week and it was a great experience. I haven't been completely successful in losing the amount of weight I would like, but my progress has continued and my blood work has been outstanding since I have changed what I eat and added a lot of exercise to my life. I wanted to share my speech with you. Hopefully my story will help with any health struggles you are trying to deal with. Whatever it is you can overcome it with enough work. Just find a reason and get to it and you will feel so much better. I am still amazed at how good I feel. So here is the text of the speech. I didn't deliver it exactly like this but you will get the idea:

There have been many health changes in my life. Up until November 15th of last year the biggest had been a diabetes diagnosis. That all changed however when I found myself slumped over a trashcan at Bobcat Stadium right before the Texas State/Nichols State game a little over a year ago. My chest was hurting, I could hardly breathe but after about five minutes or so I was feeling better. Of course once I was feeling better I did what all people who have had a minor heart attack do…stayed for the game.

I mentioned it to my doctor the next week and he said I should get a stress test which I did. Finally everything came down to January 23rd of this year…laying on a table at Heart Hospital being told that the catherization I was there for wouldn’t do any good and I needed quadruple bypass surgery RIGHT NOW.

Well that was a shock of course…even more shocking the extent of my blockages and the fact that I wasn’t already dead. Students would kill for the kind of numbers I had…four blockages…all over 90 percent…one 98 and one 100 percent.

The next shock of course was the length it would take to come back from this surgery, it’s one that a lot of people in this room I am sure have gone though.

So I laid around for a few weeks, walking a little here and there and then I come into rehab, a whole new world. Yes I had exercised here and there, I have lost weight…at one point going from 430 to 229 over a 10 year period, but this was very very different. This was exercising and losing weight with a real purpose that I really hadn’t considered before. That purpose of course is living…pretty good purpose huh.

So everything has changed. I actually try to eat right, learned to read labels, really watch my salt and not tell myself that…oh I can eat bad today and make up for it tomorrow. There is no making up for it. Yes occasionally I can fall off the wagon but I can’t get too far down the road I used to be on because I know that’s a short road and I know where it ends.

Another thing had changed too. I actually like to exercise. My problem is finding time but it’s something that I really work at doing now…finding time to exercise. I broke my foot during rehab and I found myself driving by the hike and bike trail a few weeks into my recovery from that fun experience and actually found myself missing the place. That is something I would have never said before this all happened.

So the theme is the missing “peace.” When you have a 14 year old daughter who is a freshman in high school believe me I can tell you about missing “peace”

We were asked to pick a couple of things from a list and tell you why. Well here are mine. First I thinking sitting in silence for 10 minutes would be a nice change. The only real silence is right before bed for me, but I live and work in a world full of sound…I’m a radio reporter so sound is pretty much my life. A little silence might do me some good.

The other is pretty easy for me because I’m already doing it, thus why I picked it..and that is eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants. That is one thing that I have started to do is eat more salads and more veggies. For example a sandwich with whole wheat bread, lean turkey and instead of chips I have carrot chips occasionally. I little change but one that fits within the goal.

Some would say that I have had a pretty terrible year, going through all of this. I however would say that I have had a life changing and life saving year and I’m pretty happy to have gone through it…minus the chest pain next time though.

I Am Amazed

So I have written here before about my new healthy lifestyle quest after my quadruple bypass surgery in January. You would think I would have gone on this healthy kick before the surgery but sometimes you need a wake up call and let me tell you that was one hell of a wake up call. Anyway my blood test numbers have been getting a little better every time and today I get the best numbers ever, probably the best in my entire life. From the triglycerides (84) to bad cholesterol (51) to good cholesterol (34) to heart risk ratio (1.49) everything is amazing. While the good cholesterol is still lower than I want that is up from an anemic 18 so everything is moving in the right direction. Yes some of those numbers are helped by medication, including my excellent blood sugar numbers, but a lot of that movement has also been because I am eating what I should in the amounts I should and working out 6 days a week. I feel so much better and I never thought I would actually miss a gym but I do when I don't get there. I really wish it hadn't take my chest getting torn apart to realize how I should be living before, but believe me I get it now. I am also so happy that my daughter also gets it and will hopefully never have to go through what I went through from the teasing about weight to the massive surgery.

Another Marching Weekend

My regression back to my high school days continued this weekend as we were at UIL contest. I remember these well and they really haven't changed that much, except now they no longer do the inspection rating. That means I wasn't up the night before boiling and cleaning a trumpet and shining shoes. That is definitely a good thing. So here is the video of the Cedar Park High School Band's performance. They won a first division (as did all of the 5-A bands). It was a good show and next week it's BOA in San Antonio. My daughter's first chance to see what it's like to perform in a dome. That was the first place I ever marched before an audience,the Astrodome in Houston. It was wild how the drums echoed in that place. I remember the first time we were rehearsing in the Astrodome and we were called to attention and the drums hit....boom boom boom boom boom. Seemed like it would go forever...and the entire band just went OOOOOOOOOO! all at the same time. Then we laughed and went on. See more regression.

My Wonderful Band Father Life

It was a great weekend for the Cedar Park High School Band, thus a great weekend for me. This of course is my daughter's band. So far it's been a great year and I have enjoyed going to the contests. Thought I would share a little bit. The video quality isn't the best because the camera I use is built for stills not for video but you will get the general idea and just listen, this band sounds awesome.

Well Howdy

I tell you I haven't had much time to write anything lately. One thing I am really proud of is my daughter and her work in the marching band so far. When the whole thing was about to start last Saturday she had a really bad attitude. She didn't want to wake up early, she didn't want to play, basically she didn't want her summer to end. Now however a week into it she absolutely LOVES it. She loves seeing her friends, she loves that she has made new friends, she is proud of how good the band sounds so far (and the best is yet to come) and she is really having a wonderful time. She is probably having a better time than she will even admit to me. This morning she wanted to be up extra early to make sure that she wasn't late and sure enough she got up right when her alarm went off and was all over me for not being fast enough to get ready. Now that is a role reversal if ever there was one. I knew this was the kind of experience that she would have and I kept telling her that in the days leading up to rehearsal starting. She didn't believe me but now she does. You see...Daddy IS always right!!

Getting Healthy

So it's been a really good day health wise and that's saying a lot this year. So if you don't know I had quadruple bypass heart surgery in January...the 23rd to be exact. Since then I have been rehabbing at St. David's cardiac rehab in Austin, TX. They have a lot of wonderful, caring people there and I have enjoyed doing it. My last trip there is Friday so before I go they wanted to do some blood work to see if all of the hard work has paid off. First I have lost 40 pounds so far (as of today)and it shows. I am wearing clothes I haven't been able to fit into since 2001. Second the blood work was outstanding. My heart disease risk factor, which is the big one, was a 7.5 when I started rehab, it is now a 3.12. Anything below a 4.7 is considered pretty good. They come up with that by measuring things like good and bad cholesterol, I was way up on good and down on bad, and triglycerides (went from 205 to 94) and overall I am very very happy with the results. The trick now is to keep going since I will be done with rehab and no one will be pushing me to continue. I will however continue because I have plenty of reasons to stay healthy, the number one reason is pictured here. St. David's is also honoring me in November as one of the people who has turned their life around this year. I am not sure I am worthy of that kind of praise but I am very happy that they think I am. It means I did something right.

Cleaning Out the Crap

I am usually pretty good about keeping my small apartment fairly clean, but I have lived there since 2002 and that means I have accumulated way too much crap. Most of it is stuffed in closets and never used. My outside storage closet is jammed full of stuff that is...again...never used. So the San Marcos Goodwill will be seeing a lot of me this weekend. I have decided to spend the weekend cleaning out the crap. My closets will be empty with only those things that I really need in them. I will be organized. I will know exactly what I have and where it is. While this sounds like a crappy way to spend the weekend (and cleaning out the outside storage closet will be pretty crappy because it's hot) it's actually not all bad. That's because I know I will find things that I have long forgotten. It will be kind of like Christmas at every turn...oh look at this kind of stuff. I am actually looking forward to it...well a little bit anyway. The trick is getting all of this done by the end of the weekend. Now that will be pretty hard.

It's My Anniversary

Believe it or not Chris, my girlfriend, and I have been together for four years now. A lot has happened in those four years but she has made everything better. She is my best friend, certainly my best looking friend, and a wonderful role model for my daughter. She is someone I can tell anything to, she is someone who can talk to my daughter about "girl" stuff that I either don't know about or aren't comfortable in talking about. It's just been great and I love her a lot and I wanted to share with the throngs of people who read this blog (yes I am talking to you) how wonderful she is. Really I can't believe it's already been four years. It shows you how fast time goes by and how precious it is.

So Here I Am

Even though I am a political reporter by trade that is not what I will write about in this blog. This is about my life and while work is a big part of my life it's not all of it. I will from time to time talk about stories I have covered but I will write about the event and not my opinion of it. Believe me I certainly am opinionated. The issue here however is staying objective. Media critics, many who have never done the job, feel that there are no truly objective reporters anymore (or never were). That is not the case at all. Yes all reporters have opinions but the ones I hang out with don't put those opinions in their stories and most of the time not even on their work sponsored blogs.
So here is what I am doing as I write this. I am sitting on the floor of the Texas House listening to them debate amendment after amendment to the state budget. It's always a very long process but one that is very important for all of us. It does a lot more than just spend money. It really sets the agenda for Texas. That's why these members fight so long and hard for some of these amendments, because they are fighting for what they believe in.
Hope you enjoyed the read. While I write for a living this kind of writing is not something I do very often. I find it relaxing. Hopefully reading it will be relaxing too.