The Asian Journals of Bishop Dan: Part 6

This is the preface to the Advent Retreat for clergy and dioscesan staff I will be facilitating tomorrow:<br /><br />Our advent retreat is Watching And Waiting: The Practice Of Soulful Attention.<br />There will be some teaching and some exercises.<br />The purpose is strengthening our souls’ capacity to heal and reconcile<br /> our lives and the lives of others through curious,<br /> compassionate, observation.<br /><br />But as an American offering a retreat in the Philippines,<br /> I need to say a little first about post-colonial theology.<br />I need to say this because the American role in your history has been oppressive.<br />Through Bishop Brent and others,<br /> it has served to convey the gospel,<br /> particularly the Anglican brand of the gospel,<br /> but our colonial power distorted the gospel and in some ways,<br /> made it harder for you to know Christ – not easier.<br /><br />So I need to say a little about the need for a post-colonial theology<br /> to overcome the obstacles we and the Spanish created for you.<br />I will say only a little because I know only a little.<br />But I need to say something because your generation’s challenge<br /> is to work out a post-colonial theology in the Philippines.<br />The work has already begun.<br />Sr. Mary John Mananzan, for example has been at this since the early 1980’s.<br />But as movements in theology go, that is pretty recent.<br />What’s more the theology that matters most isn’t academic articles.<br />It’s what you do when you teach, when you preach, when you lead churches.<br />You develop a theology while giving pastoral care.<br />Most critically you develop a theology when you reflect<br /> on the economic and community development work you are doing.<br />Such efforts have to grounded in faith<br /> and linked to sharing the gospel<br /> if they are to survive and flourish.<br /><br />When you form a cooperative, process coffee, or manufacture soap,<br /> when you help people come together to support each other,<br /> then you ask “Where is God in this?”<br />You read your Bibles and ask, “What part of the salvation story<br /> do we hear as an echo in our community development work?”<br />You look at the Holy Mass through new eyes and ask,<br /> “How does this ritual express what we are doing in the community?”<br /><br /><br /> You develop a theology of the cross as you address human rights issues.<br />You are doing post colonial theology in your liturgy<br /> as you develop indigenous prayers and rituals.<br />You already have Filipino intellectuals writing post-colonial theology,<br /> but, more importantly, you are all already theologians<br /> doing your theology in this unique context.<br /><br />What I have to say about post-colonial theology is relevant <br /> to our Advent retreat for two reasons:<br />First, post-colonial theology does not yet exist as a doctrine.<br />Important work has begun; most of it is still emerging.<br />We are watching and waiting for the birth of this new theology in our time.<br />Christ is about to reveal himself in a new way;<br /> so in Advent 2010 we wait for that revelation<br /> as people in 4 B.C.E. awaited the messiah.<br /><br /> Second, because of who I am, because of my culture and our history,<br /> I am unable to teach a theology that is true for the Philippines.<br />I can only express my personal regret and apology for the American occupation,<br /> and I can teach spiritual practices that will help you pay attention<br /> to your own experiences,<br /> and pay attention to the situations arising around you,<br /> then to tell the truth about what you see.<br />If you pay attention in this context and tell the truth in this context,<br /> that will be the best theology for the 21st Century Philippines. <br /><br />I understand just two things about post-colonial theology.<br />First, it isn’t about making Christianity politically acceptable.<br />It’s about telling the truth.<br />When we describe God as Trinity, we mean that God,<br /> the heart of reality is a mutual loving relationship.<br />God is a dance and an embrace.<br />God is not a king or general barking orders.<br />God is more like a cooperative than the general of an army.<br /><br /> God does not dominate the world, but loves it into being.<br />And when the world falls away, God responds not with dominating power<br /> whipping us into shape but with the suffering, reconciling love<br /> manifest in Jesus Christ.<br />That is the gospel. It is a gospel of love and freedom.<br />Such a gospel cannot be imposed.<br />We cannot impose love and freedom.<br />So whenever the gospel is imposed, it is twisted.<br /><br />It is twisted by colonialism but it is not made completely false.<br />It is a miracle and a grace that the gospel is so strong<br /> it can survive even the twisting.<br />The truth of the gospel is so bright,<br /> it shines through the clouds of colonialism.<br />I can see in your worship and in your service to each other<br /> and the community that you have received the gospel very well indeed.<br /><br />But the task of separating what is truly Christian<br /> from what is just American or Spanish is essential to your mission.<br />The task of growing a Filipino Christianity is still a work in progress.<br />As you grow a unique Filipino Christianity, you are making the whole world richer.<br />You help us see the true faith better.<br />You proclaim the gospel in a new language<br /> which we Americans may not understand but we can admire its beauty<br /> as we admire your art.<br /><br />The second and last thing I know about post-colonial theology is this:<br />The post-colonial world is still new.<br />The social structures are unsteady on their feet like a newborn lamb.<br />Vestiges of the old power system distort the newly emerging society.<br />Post-colonial theology has to speak to these realities<br /> if it is going to have anything to say that people care about enough to hear.<br />That is what our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in Latin America<br /> have been doing – and getting in trouble for it<br /> – as some of you have gotten in trouble for it.<br />It is the same task – to discover what the gospel says in the Philippines<br /> about the distribution of wealth,<br /> about political killings and violence against dissidents,<br /> bout the rights and dignity of women and children,<br /> about human trafficking, about care for our earth.<br /><br /> <br />Before beginning our Advent retreat proper,<br /> I want to suggest to you two subjects for reflection.<br />They will not give you answers to any questions.<br />Rather they are meant to spark your imaginations and free your thinking<br /> to come up with your own new theological ideas.<br /> <br />First, I invite you to ask yourselves a “what if?” question.<br />We have the history that actually happened.<br />Christianity began in Jerusalem, then became the dominant religion in Europe.<br />Catholic Christianity then came to the Philippines with the Spanish.<br />Anglican Christianity came later with the Americans.<br />That’s how you got the brand of Christianity you got.<br />My friend Demi Prentiss, an educator in Texas, says:<br /> Christianity began in Jerusalem as a relationship.<br /> In Greece, Christianity became an idea.<br /> In Rome, it became an institution.<br /> In America, it became a business enterprise.<br />So that’s what you got.<br /><br />But I just recently learned that Christianity spread from Jerusalem<br /> to the East very early.<br />Christianity was a living wisdom tradition in China from at least as early<br /> as the 300s until the 800s.<br />Christianity was first called “the Way” which sounds a lot like “the Tao.”<br />Christians were respected by Taoists, Confucians, and Buddhists<br /> as fellow sages.<br />They were having a wonderful, rich interfaith dialogue.<br />All this lasted through the reign of the Khans.<br /><br />It was after the Khans fell from power,<br /> that the Ming Dynasty stamped out Christianity in China.<br />It had been a rather different Christianity from the evangelical version<br /> taken there by American missionaries in the last century.<br />Now here is my “what if?” question.<br />What if the Mings had lost and Christianity had not<br /> been crushed in 9th Century China?<br />Then the Philippines would almost certainly have received the gospel<br /> from China instead of Spain and received it centuries earlier.<br />What would that gospel have looked like and what would it have become?<br /><br />Second thing to think about:<br />You may well already have thought this through.<br />Perhaps I am saying it just so you will know that I am thinking about it too.<br />I am just now reading your great novelist and national hero, Jose Rizal.<br />But I gather his novels are quite critical of the Church.<br /><br />When Rizal was asked if he intended to attack the faith, he said,<br /> “I am aiming at the friars,<br /> but since they were shielding themselves<br /> behind the rites and superstitions of a certain religion,<br /> I had to free myself from it in order to strike the enemy behind it.<br /> Those who abused its name must bear the responsibility.”<br /><br />Any post-colonial theology in the Philippines<br /> must take Rizal’s critique of the faith seriously.<br />We must hear the voices of the prophets in our own countries.<br />But there is an irony in the life of Rizal that also deserves to be noticed<br /> as you develop your theology.<br />Here was a rebel who spoke against the Church.<br /><br /> But he was a man, who gave his life to telling the truth,<br /> to justice and to healing<br /> to challenging authority and exposing hypocrisy.<br />For his integrity and his compassion, he was martyred.<br />No one has more clearly walked in the steps of Jesus;<br /> no one has more faithfully followed Jesus’ way.<br />A theology for the Philippines has to take Rizal into account<br /> – not in just one way, but in two ways --<br /> both as a challenge and an inspiration.<br /><br /> -- Thanks to Fr. Joe Duggan for helping me correct substantive mistakes in the first drafts.

The Asian Journals of Bishop Dan: Part 6

This is the preface to the Advent Retreat for clergy and dioscesan staff I will be facilitating tomorrow: Our advent retreat is Watching And...

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The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 5

It was another festive dinner -- this time with the diocesan staff and the clergy who had gathered from around the diocese and from other dioceses – some had driven from Manila (9 hours) to get here for the ordination of the transitional deacon. These folks really show up for each other.<br /><br />One retired priest, when prompted, shared a recollection from the Marcos days. He was on the government enemies list. One day someone told him the death squad would come to his house that night to kill him, so he stayed in another town. When he came back, his home had been burned. He said there were several such death threats over the years, but he figured he would die when God was ready.<br /><br />Today, we ordained (yes, I got to be in on it – asked questions – hands on the head, the whole bit) Baby Auhra A. Galope as a transitional deacon. I know our context is different, but their discernment and formation process is so different from ours that it has to say something. She became an aspirant in 2002. She finished her 4-years of seminary in March, 2009. She then served as an intern lay pastor until today. I asked the bishop if there was some reason for the nearly 2 years between graduation and ordination, expecting him to explain why it had been so long. Instead, he told me there was a pressing need for her services so was on the fast track. It is normally over two years. She will now serve as a transitional deacon for two more years before being eligible for ordination to the priesthood. We are talking about a 10 year track to priesthood going at it full time.<br /><br />It was a splendid service. In addition to ordaining Baby Auhra, a sparkling eyed diminutive young adult as the first non-Cordilleran clergy person to serve in this diocese, we dedicated the brand new St. Joseph’s Church. Their stained glass West window commemorates St. Joseph the Worker, showing him not with carpenter tools but plowing with a water buffalo.<br /><br />We also had baptisms, confirmations, and receptions. I got to do the receiving. 11 new Episcopalians. The open air church sat 150 people. It was packed SRO plus chairs and people standing outside for a marathon liturgy in hot humid, often raining weather. The high point for me, after the ordination and the receiving, was the offertory. We sang a rousing version of Standing On The Promises while the new deacon censed the altar, the altar party, and the congregation. I have never seen incense used while Standing On The Promises was being sung. I loved it!<br /><br />After the liturgy and lunch, we had a full afternoon of presentations. First, the MC invited the Senior Warden to say a few words about the construction of the new church. He took the mike and sang Victory In Jesus in mellifluous soulful tones! Asian Gospel! The last time I was so moved by a song, it was a Filipino singer at St. Luke’s, Las Vegas, singing Why Me Lord – I recall doing a blog post about it. There was of course playing gongs and dancing galore. There were more speeches and more songs.<br /><br />At one point, the cutest little girl – about 6 with a missing front tooth – wearing a pink ballet outfit came over and placed a pale blue ribbon around my neck. The blue ribbon held a circle of pink ribbons enclosing white daisies. I wore it proudly the rest of the day. The children were simultaneously fascinated by me and shy with me. The afternoon was full of children and singing, dancing celebration.<br /><br />You may recall I visited another brand new church yesterday, and stopped by yet another one with the paint barely dry on my way back from dedicating St. Joseph’s. The faith is on the move in the Philippines.

The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 5

It was another festive dinner -- this time with the diocesan staff and the clergy who had gathered from around the diocese and from other di...

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Affirmations or Askfirmations?

I've been reading a lot about stair climbing in the last 48 hours, since I decided to do The Big Climb March 20, 2011. Setting this as a goal, with a weight loss goal of 20 pounds by the time of event seems to have really motivated me. When I want to eat something not on plan, I think about climbing those stairs (like those chocolate truffles someone brought in to work today).<br /><br />It turns out stair climbing is quite a competitive sport. Who knew? I certainly had no idea. <br /><br />During my research on how to train (the StairMaster alone isn't go to be anywhere near enough - I have to do real stairs), I came across a very interesting article.<br /><br />The article is <a href="http://www.westseattleherald.com/2010/12/02/features/which-better-affirmations-or-%E2%80%9Caskfirmations%E2%80%9D">Which is Better: Affirmations or “Askfirmations?”</a> by PJ Glassey, but this is the excerpt that really caught my attention:<br /><em>Is there a better way?</em><br /><em><br /></em><br /><em>I am always on the hunt to reduce the need for willpower, because I firmly believe that achieving true fitness doesn’t have to be a battle. This is why I was so excited to read the research study by Dolores Albarracin, published in Psychological Science, April 2010, Volume 21, Number 4. She discovered that phrasing affirmations as a question instead of a statement drastically increased success! When people asked - “Am I going to exercise today?” instead of saying “I will exercise today.” – They were much more likely to follow through.</em><br /><em><br /></em><br /><em>She found that framing the desired outcome as a question presented a challenge to the person -instead of a requirement that they might rebel against. By asking themselves a question, people were more likely to build their own motivation. The results of this experiment showed that participants not only did better as a result of the question, but that asking themselves a question did indeed increase their intrinsic motivation.</em><br /><br />I really like this idea. There's rarely a morning that goes by where I don't have an argument with myself about going to the gym. It's a battle that usually I give up fighting it and just go, but I wonder if it might be easier if I try this approach that PJ talks about. Tomorrow morning I'm going to give it a try.<br /><br />My food has been pretty good the last couple of days. Although I can't get over the zero Point fruit. It seems that I was spending a lot of my Points on fruit, as well as Points on vegetables because I never ate a 1/2 cup serving of any vegetable (and there were Points in vegetables if you ate more than a minimal sized serving). <br /><br />Now that I don't have to do that I feel like I have a lot of Points available. I honestly don't know how this is going to work but I'm going to give it a try. I believe Weight Watchers knows what they're doing, but this one seems a little bit too lenient to me. I guess the proof will be in Saturday's weigh in.

Affirmations or Askfirmations?

I've been reading a lot about stair climbing in the last 48 hours, since I decided to do The Big Climb March 20, 2011. Setting this as a...

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Family Fun Cruise – Days 1 & 2

<p>Early Sunday morning Kyle & I arrived at our local airport to wait for a delayed flight. :( We ended up sitting in the airport for 2 1/2 hours before taking off.  <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtReuaF-Jj0eps-iURte4MikIYCi3qQ_nhd4CVJzZmhzMcY1ZcnaeD6paonrT2xBCoxdNzxIxvCjYumTlh-VbVGSegEaWPnhiflfeVA1BbW5AtezfJ60-R6prv1XQ3nR-jgHWx3nMQbMS/s1600-h/DSC09353%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09353" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI6QPNHTfEsM9EwfEQGMCSDMu-fhnBx31b7quSTI83dpgKoe1K3rGLRn2-tKTNG13faYPkrK8YgItDLJPTkc6eLl3bLlp0VMQaxzA_BBtuYQn2Hdwo-KZ3MGxVRTtqnZcxRB-VqWqR60qo/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09353" width="404"></a></p> <p>We stayed positive though and were excited for our upcoming vacation!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBvSAfo0C-oA0JNuUolwV57POyIcqFEnLuYpEv-y-iYUOf-MVrrBJ9R5BmAIsPyHtkLkntSlmqGVDIfhcicyXBUMYG9ybjbhlpRIdVmt_b1879y34iBmQ-uMvPN41GPmZS4dJgykls0DWv/s1600-h/DSC09356%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09356" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpHqxdeYUIOzctO_QbH__aYjvYmJPpQ8cY3kuW9BH2ZndRiCDAlJG70AaIMOZ_mfoDI_mW5TU3FAX7dcBsK6dbCrkE5s2WZB9N9xqkgJeSwqBe0tyyEgYNCtLPn62EPtbKlKuVRxco3lN/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09356" width="304"></a></p> <p>We missed our connecting flight and got to Tampa around 6pm, rented a car, and picked up my sister, Mindi, & her hubby, Preston.</p> <p>We hit up Giordanos for 2nd time in 2 weeks! <a href="http://weightloss-stories.blogspot.com/2010/11/weekend.html">Chicago anyone?</a> ;)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1At2qpV2nq-zcbePPmMtWYPOgUXq3Xa_CUU7bt_4AbujyT3ZbUXwp82Y1maT6y4Nraj5TdhrylZESDptMUkQxYV97MlPA3nZey8fukblX5FhB-oNq0FUmoTXI5vaGrypDeu6-cB0LllC2/s1600-h/DSC09361%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09361" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71vPHJRp4UdTSZLwu4OwOeTY52WlvVugoE9Ogk8KqZS1wDgqVf8OCmwHhv74V3S4_vRwyG9D7dBsLZ0KkrLN8SZdmj0zJVI4D70jc4FWcdSElVi6-Rokl0Nu5V8_hFzOfyfWaF3gBX8eh/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09361" width="404"></a></p> <p>Mindi & Preston were more than excited to try Chicago style pizza!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF82Oqxng-4ICpLDrdo8rNFs9ErZhAr8ej07fY1AjiXrjGjaMj06N7mtSZcoMmF0d-Xaz1Qwt7S389d_GCUrtagXgF_nrGHHI1nqPZlWTQsFKWtvYoJXjXNy-u0LoDyNoERpOgxII3ZkGe/s1600-h/DSC09357%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09357" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiry7jzh6xrqts_YsfRPhYCnrB2SMyc837u6kvjvzZe3EyV4A0HBLn3fj1ltDTlJdnqFDCbfdEyC3HhxzYrHAWJRFMK__uLsFRE4TOf8ttGE_eE8zkpCMfU81KkhQAh8Gvk56HROndZsynD/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09357" width="404"></a></p> <p>And of course Kyle knew all the yummy, pizza goodness that was he was about to devour!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht6M8g2CLqHn8TgGgIHcZUMFUFSfYS1Zr60VzLS6A-aKZc30JH5xp2g-KsZOI1btyySqUQjEgAeqQFQJnESP00B6yeCWzCahGYiEw5EV3NCZOjtU0_aWnRz6eog1a3uTCgiSV8U7rAOSRD/s1600-h/DSC09358%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09358" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fvbeO2jlGz4_gfd0l52r8BAjjCIv410duYveRijqmgG8nSU3HIF59z_O2XI7RmRXt5MkDmcROM7nQXDrQGD_s_ewUOPVFdWB-9u3XIJvFfah2172CiDOhq0q5pVske5M0sDxRAYflVNO/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09358" width="404"></a></p> <p>We met up with my sister, Stef, and her husband, Geoff. <img alt="_DSC1612" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkk3wAsKyvz10KIlRiyWTT07B-02_CtOKF_dHqt81x6PdTvb6pYnFuFzOwvY79AA06bZfsWQ6H0R8inO_ELJLMFQ4muT2kn1zqcbE4N4RaGb8wvXtl2NNU2YJqXIkVh9x5Z0Hpf6FxXeQY/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1612" width="404"></p> <p>And my cousin Dar, and his fiancé, Julie!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13MuzqR5QxMgTacD-7NhcgIl-qysvachb63EKJFeGL5Z8vpEhqZ-UAUa0zmw4OGcWJYKi1X0H-1WiybsDWXE0lmlOcxA1Zv3I7ekMMKMcypa_qWALjieIbpU-lmAKsgi4Qk-4edQpcGZm/s1600-h/_DSC1615%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1615" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_H764WUZkciWrGNjML8_qcIJHjF-eD8Q0IesHSd-bVsZ6TVmtxTAgMH7rVr-z8Fo2mo7r3m2GQhVJyGzyLKvoo-kyI383QN6WXaS4HnUpgBUYZ8sdUILULp2EfqHYnfM7XrjqlLpNsIHT/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1615" width="404"></a></p> <p>We all stayed in downtown Tampa for the night, just a hop, skip, & a jump away from the port!<img alt="_DSC1603" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLMNq_qojw76JkLILiK86Wdo1a-Ra0MOKgHzpCj7t4DVrc19GRgANRetgkC0ewbGwroSnePuU7RGwh66aT7MdH3vR8_BqyHdzNUFXsj-OPjnT_dLRucQpGMBTl4GiCDujY6GMHM7A_OZb/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1603" width="404"></p> <p>We all met up for breakfast the next morning and couldn’t wait to get on the boat!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0jZCd9bhh0Xg1IbgWO4CVuJLI2YbDc660qlM_H7L3VhVNsw7blNUkJTLYPea3DxC0qKrMTB_MY-h4YYhLzrRW3UMXzuU5nLValHZ9Ic6legchvGunuuDzuf2IPcq8gxfV0eJtvsCV7V3/s1600-h/_DSC1636%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1636" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQKgpqmyPtVgN439teratE4xmrRuXM2H-cQWCcByMLUwmQGZJ0QolJEqsKEXAiSTLsPG26Eg3bfAiTm97TmbaZne6l0ybUBJw79zeRmuHDp7Yj79kO9xGOZJU0W27FWF4VxafZL_hAzam/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1636" width="404"></a></p> <p>It was a short bus ride to the port.<img alt="DSC09365" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnb8TMQAtcVc9KBsXr_Ph7e7cScCMN2FBC9v_dnO4tOOAb3ivXnL67xkrP6radldAZ3b8IiAWbfKk7H1p5yIj8i6FlAoa3z6d0-AgiZQpUXB-6TL8BDZQSxQiX355uq2x3RDt7aPPLc2E/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09365" width="404"></p> <p>Everyone was all smiles!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvWjMByTCzRFDYTneI_ujGXQPGs_0fxpWOunZlWblcolX5evB-1jjyCC0aAOSkG3iQ-f3ceN1OuHWP_duiUt5XtkWiKZqVt9BTQIhtYUuqeOLLFpGY_AbAV8rvHXntMyHUlvO_ZsvSC5U/s1600-h/DSC09362%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09362" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57hyVdxVDvACtarVckB7vX9F2Hnnp7lKCMintPgewbNH_L6HTiWBSMfJ7C2HILfU6_RHyuZGYJcM2LpF5bA5ppa9MD7z7tfannsunRmWDZs4wyc87sX7foAK0tGqU2R-cwyOEIB0E2jPG/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09362" width="404"></a></p> <p>Especially me & my Superman…aka Kyle! ;)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWlE9ND31Z9OC52iueRM1kGS4k7CsPAEaqvE4bFwtDRI1NxdcAo2YiY3nRt4EAutFop25Gv6fK-yd1MSi5ghJbio3cOdMmzzoIc0z8XM_waP7WusCJnpNjOEdqcQ8U1QLrYVwVClHF5tG/s1600-h/DSC09364%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09364" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLSt9MN3xLFx2jJU2c_MkTVM-in1SoZxnmLTEjiAe3zIF5SZdCEClBY2BX45mr9WhllG6iBcZWKZsRUdA2nGVOnNX6dcaz32iQmTG633JGEVR4oky-a05XiqYFrEQOzEmxN4udjhSj-7fK/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09364" width="304"></a></p> <p>Checking in was a breeze, this was the first view of my home for the next 5 days! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdd-ZwTAN889MfqwSWw2P4bxOXPa4lWx8pfP_eVOpdRUoVfp6MDhqs9uISZbfGIxXiioJgkrJtHJmrsBXhtQFEZd4gCUc_sCc3fTSpvzSKAlGDE9D2K_aiTE1dlvaBMs6rHWYuvVkHbKuB/s1600-h/DSC09367%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09367" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9IU1H48JdCDmX9Adqc-oGpCN3My4mRLTVmq8aWW9JULIVr3q7lTrAUncTKN-UH8M24YF2cPwGXy8oE3yaDU3JGORxyCJjyKKAesBgckLniBQLyn-K85jIUgKJwenUGl9qQq4M-o2rYcoA/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09367" width="404"></a></p> <p>We spent the first few hours exploring the ship. Check out our room!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Mr9qlnLAV87RhQwBicN_etiKs2jp32DNXG7VnsQkx_KduAfjzjOSZMof0kooD_hnjSAgM-CexkKGsunVXdH4xxmTZAmsY09jZCP_Jz8t8_e1SkpOQ0lTphhb0UIh_SKemvCkJ5fCLiQj/s1600-h/DSC09467%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09467" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRlHMnumMgSHxrlTUwXGq9S0OrHe_RY_UGkPVBFdXkd5ysWJZPAMVgFHr4BQJSLo_qSxTkd0f3RQWRWsu1qkDq5WgulfKG7BTLcR4lyEFkrIWzvsxZ6kMeXy4kHxgsCXz6knpfadld6Gh/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09467" width="404"></a></p> <p>The bathroom wasn’t quite big enough for my burly husband!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaeUWiHBZ7u73aEQaoRPVzcO2bcColdC5khPW5i5vIEuAs2dKXPR5fDPzSZ3fPNyM9Pp7mKQirVHaQMfIaUTkqW95m9ow2mDFY8PMH24UnHe_Erbb0nH0D6TzU3VZXfd2GPeifRr2l3Xst/s1600-h/DSC09468%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09468" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBR3tyhwEPVWrq4OV20CxKGDcHN6XDTBHXPJ0gPHfqpmnDVL3RiJkfNfxddRiPwu76c9NaMigYPZEykAxHBFDiJ7siKPLPQF0Xb0HPonoRl1iTAbLJKgV_qxPGN8P6P2vWHH_-9dyHOAAh/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09468" width="304"></a></p> <p>We even squeezed in a few activities before we left port. <img alt="_DSC1681" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZ8u5NySMtNm8bzmX1LeJYlCYRIJlnQcLGI6bz8g1FuSY2-U8_OyxA6BnHOpTl_De_lYTsAyC2y0rJgVn0dOEfLunKKrhHZyUFzVVqYR0tQZBSAW8S0F2v9tDUqKHOIVfMw33shQTHzIj/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1681" width="404"></p> <p>At 5pm sharp, we left the Tampa port…..<img alt="DSC09370" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOCVeyn_CJ0bZnnx24OIj5qyWWgddpeFpO0rTK2VftHoEA0idmyDP9YD9t2r72ztx-NEyTlkPkabFv7SEs-qqNi4KIt1FggGtn3Oe3_A0jriveVpQ6dGjCUKFp3BZiX5SUbjXRNUxub7SZ/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09370" width="404"></p> <p>and we had front row seats!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5j-5piecMfyfKfAte9vw3kZyhGLIXSmz7ejNd023rqI3DTv1S4p5aca32gk1W-LbrHzcGQ_esfPSHib2_DwZ0mK-7TPycwGj-gIV5dTh9CQ_ZgVqq5EX7RxNqdtkmA53vR79aOBakfZM/s1600-h/_DSC1707%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1707" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicItElLYTb501_OAHNVGI8i3U-GA0vbxrlGMU5OxejMd2J7gUbqgYpIHrer995-4D0_LIp0_6HPjjdCNuvKlcjxiJcek324qUeot8bav_AIjZ7zChCn7bw356JjZX1nYworyUn3j4KmrU3/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1707" width="404"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7QpMZDTEDpMQ1D249VIdi41yKHNq5vb1P0Ta1wUIQiEprzw-oamj6f8y3uMDf-2qfnG_JWFlGagsW3QI03LtDjez_raDvLkpamnzEEJYnIEwU962013lrf9MpH0k8ZOs8SZcXp7X7ohf/s1600-h/_DSC1778%5B5%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1778" border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EdYRgn4LnLuHUy8JfJvKdNUdLetV1ha9vH7i7yT3NwHU9VxjMBjAVY1WF0ojtYTFFVR6engJTw3oKNDhRLaREvB08LRHbSiMJi75wgAWgbKDHU8VUxffmkFZi7ntNtPFoDkvBwApzImA/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1778" width="404"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7YfRyopKd9h-so7uZlqyMJ7nHIQ6dVVfV3KGLVIHMnXHgmp309y5w88U_XRO1glc-Bkr8n9nApbgMsqo4nlu0RzYFWHYaKS074BajUEOo62CHn5B-ZeJSmGMR7F5vk5vRNAv15zvvioG/s1600-h/_DSC1783%5B9%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1783" border="0" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Jb0rTx5aWYdAaGHi-sP0TN_h6nBAPwg_v-jLqo-tIOIYJv9pmMHeFNIM25er8wT87CjbMuPqj0INEInZXti8mvy3hKdfqCMbaw8huHLXdQqRy_k6y4zxXd-oDOh6KhYwNp__DhzWBUQE/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1783" width="355"></a></p> <p>Everyone cleaned up & changed for dinner!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDfOGoeG84s_5BObhSVSWD1OHiuulzvkv4v7M-KMwRWHjsqb1xWuX-LTEhShR517fvX6eqOnsdvL9rkR7sjiSbxfdJzrVqItQjfAVDbGkVEkmL0UutWA_yphHwe0XN3lbz64OAZwYFtgbr/s1600-h/_DSC1800%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1800" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNysAZvsCl0xrglWTw3VPO1VpTxF4A8fOSOk40YS8SPYSWTYt1RI64ELwN9yCkkyK_ncuNmVTarzMM_srl7epAGzvqmYMWQjRHwFG78P4SQCm_3LO4bmbFW2M8xgEy2_M-OP86bUx63E-T/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1800" width="404"></a></p> <p>Brent & Shelly were the last couple to join our group, 10 of us total!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlHI6jTUsFeSQ3ybO8jrfB3DW6Lw2CFhGvamdKjzhw6bKp3ebRHnSRs6Q09herY-c_8-g1RtY2AXMojD4PmLJV79cElfVoZ6FYHOBVtFs4yPTL0okMSRzvo93gaLgBsM9II1osRupy7YR/s1600-h/_DSC1803%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1803" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQIBfWdSyGgR_gNr1-iAI4aLX29RtFK2iFvQ6zOrwDZriEuGj42Sbla0wAOWV4fpTCbOUFzB2bVtS2XkVv5olEX1OUloVwlksogXEf9xYk9kWzFhRktoOSWo9_BVbDg0ZCeK3dS64YFI1/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1803" width="404"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65bFUAxY0-NXG4AObXxX5jBevH88k43G9rheItC3cG150CESbCa_gG8d2PI7F5Sct0u2TPg65di34yZ3WqKl-dRwF6ar8-MfoxTeVRdHvFbfs9vye_7PPtbjy1C3gi7ThrEPTUxpknNVG/s1600-h/_DSC1805%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1805" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1FvdOJktlTc4QNTzW6wz_zqwNC8eFg5FD1OVH0s0Wrd-2Wp7ZgGROPa1MovHuSBBXgYVHIF-NeyyZ-ioI-STfhkkAu9qx_EDkMC-cZmqUK1JP-oWXu8x0p7hi4lm2y9rU0gNi2FHdXu_K/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1805" width="404"></a> <img alt="_DSC1799" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGO615H59fS5QM74m6pI1K1fKlvX64nWzqNnn7YJ7fNLNYMFh3dpPtxwx63nd10PN52wxluR2JCKCQRjihT6Jt8CLrQet6fh4f70cwEladZpnWlmUJcxXHflFlMA7sxIdOsQzAJnAeHegd/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1799" width="404"></p> <p>The menu was full of options!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzYekwtsQ7dTAalAjuY5VHC7TelrpiplhftwfDeXZdyW1EKToDWQX9sI8b1d341Fn9g-J1GNEVwq-xgHVAltKl_8YUedAPRwWvoInzN1pZZvmTP84JvWR3jcWM8Lo-YXJ_ZcXFHkKYVkTE/s1600-h/_DSC1794%5B8%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1794" border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh121FHAxkllNSR0pYkGLJHwoltTuFo7LqeftWAnHZq4dScWMldUf1fkAmX4r_VTX5G5sbos_fE_ISNb1v8a-XsRQ8AzRyDwH5qsBak6WREeteYBm_VuFeHUOhL-aNyyhVPRsLQV7L_kPre/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1794" width="304"></a><img alt="_DSC1795" border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLbg0CRcT2ABsiKZUJPEOpbpYDKmsDaV4DeM34U-JoNvlQK9rMZpARypsLrfjmUoZTeGuCw4Y9kn0Xiiwg6drpi6oVtXfaE-sLOvNIWCUfklSRKe49KkUgzjYLYGyTzWzK3I1SuQGiSJ9B/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1795" width="404"></p> <p>Even healthy options!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_xNnzm6Ti5uddRPDNW7iuub8LSHQQaRucR4Y7PSwd9GjQGJtG72KfvE-t-sYZOCX6WhO7pchVUSnchOs6JG4sL-UIzThfST_L-QkKxsmDbxFrqTcTIJMrCNZFHQGdtzcTbSV-QsLcR6C/s1600-h/DSC09377%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09377" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZWve_OxDgsXGm5gvN9ODISdYIBMKjoWuuXdAd3eTSlfXzXxE6YaBXf8CFyoieod8FRbcjIRlR5gA6gFV0DZNhLwwnqA4IOivlT93viIAm4EF1IXTtq56sUNMPkV4FOSGxzf6uEqHQLaa/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09377" width="404"></a></p> <p>And maybe some not so healthy ones! Gotta splurge on vacation!<img alt="DSC09379" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFCZVz9ZCFZ7FDnaKon8g1AGnT6HKDTR4x7xeF-cEfUkf123p4Uda9tdKTo9HePj5BT0hRL52-h4vn_Us2AD3xzclcfQD545uYQHx5jP4GfBTBzNj5WcPq4h92zDsHpEjahz1tqNWJnnP/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09379" width="404"></p> <p>Dessert is our favorite course!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLKKZp7wDn0hNJqb4y6vnLYUzsmjvRyqNTEVAGNwAy1wBXsvLKp2bpwJsJ1d-xEsZdhvHI2tg_H1-ZwjkbmcxM27LBhyphenhyphenp99HArN47h2EFcA7bJCip8oS_fZnYfhs7Xlzk3796WR6wMcvU/s1600-h/DSC09382%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09382" border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHmMGhUL7rm88xSCG-W5Vx6fpXtq0tIiY5B0Urv0Y_GdJzE6_Zz7J60SzjJhR7Y-Qt5MVZc4id_EZ00E4rH2eK44LBfzYo9CK6HqSEGZxOyNjCxXBqx_xox5c0rOjF19s_nkVfbliskGdn/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09382" width="304"></a></p> <p>After an excellent dinner with happy tummies, we headed to the front of the ship for the opening show!<img alt="_DSC1822" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJN3Mr-3Tqa6cmJ70UxGB11HCnoJs3tMZEQ30f4lHTXSIICN-O7HV0QS7mCzgGkbat0VO-IHHCtmbL6OCTRuQo1jqKcwwtQD9s4_MaLcRLhHH_iomRb_DWn5W0qHq5R6U51MIQTVKLklE/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1822" width="404"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3NrMj_7GjT-kvp6o3RjQeFel6rD_EbQe2cbNqzCY2mw-XCcJepIgJ_EbiWiOZLTru6PqhEOqxQmkfR2N3cQIJUwfO8E1AjwZzbuKXBMiJLI1hTP4hh88uW7LVfMlRgLx4rnpRllc_uBax/s1600-h/DSC09383%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09383" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-hhjR4hXSjHPw9ZWT-zLHjznUSuCcqdVXSuug7LsZKJgerjrFy0dsQvLRYLlm6firZrJlyarWgCh6h8rvlfj_oMxwU46BOwW-VlxXxPDDa5zXdf1u__icEmunCLmCGCRN8m83eKjx9o-u/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09383" width="404"></a>           </p> <p>Day 2 – At Sea  </p> <p>We spent the majority of the day, RELAXING! We slept in, enjoyed a wonderful breakfast was a view of the Gulf, and soaked in the sun! It was glorious!</p> <p>Dinner day 2 was the formal one and I LOVE to dress up!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgphvWphm9cYlURJ-T5Uk72ZKbCeGq8NMmCO-c2kltn6Pot_C58w0aTbR0RDb9El_jmZdzd49TAZN6_yt6fJ16kttGXaSFSYwONr9IXUtHUrxR-It_6qvqpjb7kCO1nz8ygB-k3yM9R0-zH/s1600-h/_DSC1830%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1830" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQkL0s4gP-RrDsf8QA07XuuXhc196T8rrrq5nlHWinKL_AkxbZojY7hXVcC-El-IJnh_ATZF_485SRjQWo6Ncg6-ZPWkd5pegF7YxGFUEeO345IzsGIZY544U2s6bMU7ElRaEVbwqfRoOq/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1830" width="404"></a></p> <p>I picked up my dress at Younkers, a size too big, had it altered and still only had $17 total in it! LOVE good deals!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjRP2oh-M5flU_AKYSiqGzgojqTJ7PHA0Hshhyphenhyphenf7Y3CSf0EGnQKPCKGFIa2xreHp3k7Fd79uYs0AhythiDFGf49HRtrPXjEtzPTVz0q5d4gmll7b8gqZKyGiNIdWzE3HDLiV8LUeD8nyn_/s1600-h/_DSC1832%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1832" border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNK91StLRyrOIBy1EQP4PxHVr60eowoVXonJuErh1uOElzmeGMQ8kFb0sO_KsOkyf-JkBS4gX06fPPdeNSxOaXBv8zcFLu3rCVrAWtW9BoKGJKpd1zYsdEzY_O5HUs1gEhyPMeTtOUlt2/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1832" width="304"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-y9XoJ-tUJWawEoet6l2EEYd-jKqIvbFxZHwSevO_kDICY1O7vjGf11Yz0ufU5At-4RfSE4oefWIPrWrEN5jq3CvKskwK-c9NiDb-nNJyeR670VZW-zXsgcG2wecB_oA-AqPehoTegBS/s1600-h/_DSC1833%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1833" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrapS0GXBhBzJpsDFbPdD5TZGOj3JDlBAdD5PrYucKYkRQ2g3k9MvJJMPhLi3qbOcXCH8QyapkzI5SGGTlpf9y2rdr4TL6kMCmOdQ7Pym2WkPkDqoL7gE720ISVV7Pr1R5ejTSZcP7i-8h/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1833" width="404"></a>   <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwS39ymdeYCmmlVv2MrH4B-o2eCMC4YjLaKvBGNVruEaS1v8RVFOB7BjU-z4Hz3SAnN7NexE6_IVffumXhA7VoDamd33ogfdC4nytrq0r8B3RC0_XQ6_CHlOvlXODjHXleUCPQ5qYqWefK/s1600-h/_DSC1845%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1845" border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdX8xGF-N6HR1Dyu3W8WB7JUhsIHFT3i5B2_Ca6svr801GWJzOuFPyRpuzvhJT59NbLEVxkYgA3zjM002PMWc4BPrSJ8nWhHzkAgHAuCkBmHRdcNHeDTwx6Spni-Iz2FPsNfqSDZbXzMhr/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1845" width="304"></a></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKr2ytTme9qgP7cFzrrHXSa_yBksdutaPgZ4TKJ8iCrwZhWrhC5tFx2H-Tt4cB7CbAdJkBwAcOHu5t-58MNIxDsispDWkNARrtU1KgvFMl9C6kvGdxhRZzTk_CUnhiUZ8l6E5HIFrLrpBJ/s1600-h/_DSC1847%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1847" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IrWeD4tQ2xKmWbq_jjQITuWH56M3DfzOQab3zJaQv1CnKro0pTGlyo1t14CCFJZNiVvvwKc68bp1dz3U6gNVShHk1ufe6WdXEvmjD_bZeaYHX7JdgKpaCF3nakubHJKoP9iE9QTiriZz/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1847" width="404"></a></p> <p>We met up at the President’s Reception before dinner for some complimentary champagne! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC6xhPyK4kVOQ2eYC2ImZzv8b3AlJP1KsMFmNbWczKQDuK2VhB82xzkI1v2p8S_TmXZ099b9qfqtQVOeUKArOavN8_vUG4heV79gGN7RNx47UB4snzTDtsoDWSZyFKSt-GDUvillFgZFKy/s1600-h/_DSC1843%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1843" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70ZXfOR4sJOGIVNYE2JoKc27J3SQaWmCHxvb1N99W5PBGqc_nyjuxZ3niB-nO5FGHy0KOOT5nEmzliWlxcaZEmIcFJp0Zf8TC7vEheqN5s8txqxEhuE6O-Gw3az7yH74a0BKx4hXPZ2Nc/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1843" width="404"></a></p> <p>Who can say no to free drinks?!?!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYvmaAGygq-x3c8Ml9Y-VUtaGTxi8SNUWIYvJyz6FOkdRL36f0r0s0DgyzPuFs-MpfR_XKRU2MBHIzEu_eZ90zMN-PDnRhVmPqPBeCUFKBz8BlZNK5gLAX0zxayxDYX4hlP2UV4dVG2TbR/s1600-h/_DSC1849%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1849" border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQ6DODctj3NZq01-ALnJnBEt41UlBiRh0JlX9ENpek7Le6F1i3bgiCc8ESHg75KopVFo6KH5dlzh5VsjoEG8Y6LjCBSu6tMqKAeFcTsjHGinMUtTOVzm6AhsBjBoUDKHpHmyRsy4enxF5/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1849" width="304"></a></p> <p>It was SO fun to go on the cruise with my sisters! One little sister was missing though! :( Next time, Wendi, right?!?! ;)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAPngQHbJaB4NTX2Ypib_QksQ8IVD9j0LEBBUSoDbq0-eJa-PgQEmVl-FRE7xgMHMT3tadILyv65rPgQWsyUvPGBPrG7TiIKj6ct0RGkMRobAt6ZfcvBAGxisCY4pcvMf75Xdfoi_ZLn3/s1600-h/_DSC1848%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="_DSC1848" border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo4Vm9HYARYisGi-KZKI1alGQ1KrId_A2LAF4JNWGOw5QPA7MKWDj8uJ5bQu2AdyH13aVKK0bT3pRpzSxbFgsa7P59jSdGBPcMlyoTd3DKXo299BQePZxoakNt4Q-FzvLhBw_rRc9t_EKI/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="_DSC1848" width="404"></a></p> <p>Once again, the food did not disappoint!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHeFum8WL8tQPS56PTxFI5G7PFlzeudNpm3u_tCumNdL5NgK-TeD1t14wb30dg5XyqXYnTTbe1asnGq18GsrWC1arq0yrkPHTdhgxGMve0h7MCijB2qRuaIwk6twZjFS-uJy2c9FfrHpC5/s1600-h/DSCN3742%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSCN3742" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4DkB_Wo15RrBmXSEW5HViY5QvbmJ1MI64iUSmGCrdD-dwuN7BwSbJtQUlvmf150i5Bum9U4tEBaYThfdyWDWHUo7hakiDAOmVvA185-a57eqHLmB42Qu7N0st0TABDY84TariEqQBYpb/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSCN3742" width="404"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUaw1Km0vt7AqFGDQT1_x1-C50_l7HzXkWOvh-iMQ2HWROmJ-dOODwK2WEJ6M6aiq1rT6iphsmUnVrDzUAk9WBm-XUw_WE3UaAJwkpgVVzgG79__Q0PkSNKXTHCNt4vbfGlm9El10Fr4fX/s1600-h/DSCN3744%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSCN3744" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNMN7uf95_5FDssSg42WAHzPSDt8DWSp2W55_VQ7vjyBiyCQA4ZCW8J8uFPeg1ukOPlIbMPTZ2Nb0Ivg41MdjzJUUdyWJoaYNnRy1P50MW04560a4ofUfZbJt1KvsQUW5VMVTK-WtZkBJ3/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSCN3744" width="404"></a></p> <p>But of course, dessert was, as always, my favorite!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZHsUxUcXdAeKwtocpuvN8xSmDMJtR5BA5OPeO0fjSdEzF-vSGyGGDIOIf2n1WAbTTgQiMedshWHj-_gvNPfOxT6bv_geajVBc8sS44xBZr7pgaZKY10vjiJTXMRB-g_g95FF4tbcZdgA/s1600-h/DSCN3745%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSCN3745" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilqD3UieLX2LxJZafIlMaTd_i-G1kK-x24oSzoCMoHBDkJyIlF-RE5LUWJ8-kBPoKbAQoRvQIV8R2EEZuwL8JlSzQIKUE0QzTtYLcsEzg9gQ4XbhTMGKa_lVhyphenhyphenDw42v2Ojwfpx-Y-N-Fqi/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSCN3745" width="404"></a></p> <p>And I love that you can order more than just one! ;)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-xQQgZruGBlDJcRY9yeAV7BUtA1gbhwjSXBW91fQshvTzhdWlzZE2q0f6Z-KxzD6u97Qu7cp6gtL9JcaRQm2TGz_-aJvGvTEfkIJiH3VFdE0a-qBCu4KEdP5psjsQ211tNENnPPxcvur7/s1600-h/DSC09385%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09385" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Q1gT3260-JXgbyj31OJoDpZOhMSkgfTOBchVD3vP0ldd8HYS0IpNgpsleNZTNuJEV8LrzciM_rqgK_EvAJsOApd9LtmHbWgsK9uGS3nodcM5Z7Ta-7l4wjnzVt84rOQo4fw_BjwWk3Ck/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09385" width="404"></a></p> <p>Heaven!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvGA4uBeH65ufCKJHn3THzb2MQoRc246CLxauUBBdAPY0ImeWrIPh_Se1di6OgoOtzdrKpDNayAYQfHdrJKJA_451ad772SLkmgvvTM1aZXKF5PCNCajKihdDgHxzY4p2kzgzU7yCDKjDY/s1600-h/DSC09384%5B3%5D.jpg"><img alt="DSC09384" border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiRbr8UjeBH_a6Imj9HB0hLSQ4-nYJcQCzHyHvRTd1xx3HD6_FusOSmIBVaCmihxkKQ9N9Q8vOFJ2a7HecF5bAIC4V5rrcItvkxvVNEn5TY68DR8g5hSYfhrWLeFh3kdCJsxNkVf7vxmhd/?imgmax=800" style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-bottom: 0px" title="DSC09384" width="404"></a></p> <p>I ended up calling it a night after dinner. I know, I know, party pooper! I was feeling a bit under the weather. The rest of the crew enjoyed the show & some dancing! </p> <p>To save you from picture overload, I’m going to split my cruise re cap into a few posts. Check back tomorrow for more!</p>

Family Fun Cruise – Days 1 & 2

Early Sunday morning Kyle & I arrived at our local airport to wait for a delayed flight. :( We ended up sitting in the airport for 2 1/2...

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The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 4

Last night I had dinner with Bishop Alex Wanadag and a young engineer from New York who is here with the Young Adult Service Corps doing community development work with the diocese. We then shared a traditional Filipino breakfast this morning before joining the diocesan staff – about 18 of them – for Morning Prayer.<br /><br />After the daily office, the staff told me about the things they do. There is a major push on evangelism. The Episcopal Church has traditionally been identified mostly with the Igarot tribes, but is now drawing members from other tribes as well, especially in this diocese. The other big push is on Christian formation, specifically “lay enhancement” (particularly training lay preachers and Eucharistic Visitors) and continuing education for clergy. All of the clergy come to the two clergy retreats per year. I was about to explain that our clergy cannot do that because of our vast distances. To set up my explanation I asked Bp. Alex how long it took the most distant clergy to get to the retreat. He said, “It’s about a two days’ walk.”<br /><br />Next I heard from their staff members who work full time in community development. There were 6 of them. They have more people working in community development than our entire diocesan staff. Community development includes a variety of projects like: forming agricultural cooperatives, setting up micro-credit small business and agricultural lending to free farmers from usurers, building a warehouse to store agricultural products without charge to the farmers, converting a water project’s power source to solar for cost savings, working with Heifer International to provide livestock to farmers and overseeing the farmers’ passing on the offspring of their gifts to other farmers.<br /><br />Community development begins with the diocesan worker living with the community for a few months to learn their needs and earn their trust. They then do Asset Based Community Development analysis: what could this community do together for economic support? The diocese then offers training – first in the values of Christian living essential to being a cooperative, then in business methods and financial responsibility, then in the enterprise itself.<br />The government has also tried to form these cooperatives but theirs fail while the ones established by the Episcopal Church survive. The difference is the Church builds a real community with relationships and values.<br /><br /> I was inspired by the enthusiasm of the whole staff about how they were overcoming poverty through creative enterprise and Christian values. Instead of offering band aid charity to the poor, they are putting people on their feet. Self-reliance is a core value they practice and teach. Their challenge is to keep the social ministry tied to evangelism so that they nourish the souls as well as the bodies of the people. It is a challenge but it is a front burner priority for the community developers. This is, by the way, closely related to what we are trying to do through PICO in Reno and Las Vegas Valley Interfaith with our community organizing efforts. It is so inspiring to see the Episcopal Church here going beyond maintaining its Sunday morning operation and going beyond hand-out charity, to make a lasting difference in people’s lives and transform the society and economy around them.<br /><br />This afternoon, I visited two small open-air churches. One had a large concrete slab used for drying the members’ grain and a warehouse for storing it. The priest, Fr. Tando, also showed me their health clinic. They have no doctor so they use herbal remedies, massage, and acupuncture. They grow their own herbs and have begun a major herbal soap business. Fr. Tando is also a bee keeper and has hives there on the grounds. Poor farmers can’t sustain the church with cash so honey and soap sales go to pay the bills; and the farmers can give more since they are not paying a warehouse to store their grain. Other churches are helping farmers convert to organic farming. Some are helping their coffee farmers who have been selling raw coffee beans to big companies process the coffee for sale themselves.<br /><br />Bp. Alex and I had a serious talk this morning about the human rights situation here. I don’t think it best to blog about that, but one story is public knowledge – except that I somehow missed it. Did you? On Nov. 23, 2009, there was a massacre here in Miguindanao. One political leader had warned a potential rival that if he announced his candidacy, he would be killed. So the rival sent his wife (figuring in a Muslim region women would be safe) to make the announcement accompanied by a convoy of journalists. The entire convoy of 57 people was abducted and gunned down in broad daylight. 32 of them were journalists. 42 were women. That case was unusual because of the numbers, but political killings here are frequent and usually go unpunished. Human rights violations are being addressed this week by a group of visitors from the World Council of Churches. Participating in or reporting on the political process here is not for the faint hearted.

The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 4

Last night I had dinner with Bishop Alex Wanadag and a young engineer from New York who is here with the Young Adult Service Corps doing com...

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More about Weight Watchers PointsPlus

I know this is only Day Two of me following the new PointsPlus Weight Watchers plan, but I'm totally in love with it. It makes so much more sense than the old plan. <br /><br />Counting calories works for losing weight. Eat less, move more. Of course it works. With the old Weight Watcher plan there were ways to "cheat". I had been doing it for so long that I figured out how to stretch my Points (but this also increased my empty calories). The problem was I would sometimes (probably too often) choose foods that weren't as healthy because  they were lower in Points than a more healthy version of that food. Well, Weight Watchers fixed this problem. Foods that are fake are no longer the better choice because of lower Points.<br /><br />A perfect example are the Oroweat Sandwich Thins* versus Dave's Killer Bread** (check out the ingredients for both at the end of this post). Two slices of paper thin fake bread, the sandwich thins, were one Point on the old plan. Dave's Killer Bread, 21 Whole Grain (and delicious) was two Points. On the new PointsPlus plan they're both <strong>3 Points</strong>. Now I'll always choose the one I like the most and is healthier, Dave's Killer bread! <br /><br />By the way, Dave isn't a "killer" and he is a real person. He served quite a bit of jail time over the years for drug possession and he was a drug dealer for a while, the lowest form of humanity. However, he's totally turned his life around with the family bakery business. I've actually emailed him a couple of times, and he responded. He's a super nice guy and makes "killer" bread (now available at Costco and Winco). Here's a video on his life story, <a href="http://www.daveskillerbread.com/story.shtml">Dave's Story</a>. It's very interesting how he changed his life. <br /><br />Anyway, back to the PointsPlus plan...the Points earned for activity have increased dramatically. I earned 14 APs yesterday. Seriously, there's no way I could eat all of those and lose weight. My heart rate monitor (which I think lied to me) said I burned 800 calories in two hours at the gym. Maybe, but probably not. That just doesn't sound realistic, the 800 calories or the 14 Points. According <a href="http://msbitchcakes.blogspot.com/">*Bitch Cakes*</a> (who wrote a much better post about the new plan than me), we can only cash in a total of 42 activity Points a week, regardless of how many we earn. <br /><br />So far, I love this plan. I ate well yesterday and exercised hard. I weighed this morning and saw a small loss from yesterday. I even ate three Clementines and a banana at midnight. Zero Points. This is just so cool. I can hardly wait for Saturday's weighin. I'm expecting great things from myself. <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br /><br /><strong>The Big Climb</strong><br />I'll probably end a lot of posts talking about <a href="http://www.llswa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BC_about">The Big Climb</a> in the next few months. I hope I can get some fellow bloggers to join me in doing The Big Climb. If you live in the Seattle area (or even if you don't), let me know if you're interested. I think it would a lot of fun to meet and do The Big Climb  together. Start training now!<br /><br />Also, I've set a weight loss goal for myself:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Lose 20 pounds in time for the Big Climb</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">March 20, 2011</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Big Climb Goal weight:  158 pounds </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">15 weeks - 1.3 pounds per week</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I hope everyone is enjoying the new plan as much as me. Here's to a great day and a great week for all of us!</div><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~</div><br />Which would you choose for the same Points?<br /><br /><strong>*Oroweat Sandwich Thin</strong> ingredients (not listed on their website!). Seriously, this stuff is disgusting.<br /><br />Whole wheat flour, <strong>unbleached enriched wheat flour [flour, malted barley flour, reduced iron, niacin, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid]</strong>, water, <strong>cellulose fiber</strong>, wheat gluten, yeast, sugar, cracked wheat rye,<strong> polydextrose</strong>, salt, ground corn, canola and/or soybean oil, <strong>preservatives (calcium propionate, sorbic acid),</strong> grain vinegar,<strong> guar gum</strong>, cultured wheat flour, brown rice, oats, <strong>mono-glycerides</strong>, soybeans, triticale , barley, flaxseed, millet, citric acid, <strong>sodium stearoyl lactylate</strong>, <strong>sucralose<em> (note...sucralose is Splenda!)</em></strong>, soy lecithin.<br /><br /><strong>**Dave's Killer Bread</strong>, 21 Whole Grain ingredients (listed on his website). I know what every single one of these ingredients are without Googling them. <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><br />Organic whole wheat flour, organic cracked whole wheat, water, organic evaporated cane juice, grain mix (organic whole ground flaxseeds, organic whole flaxseeds, organic sunflower seeds, organic oats, organic pumpkin seeds, organic millet, organic rye, organic brown rice, organic triticale, organic barley, organic unhulled sesame seeds, organic black sesame seeds, organic amaranth, organic buckwheat, organic spelt, organic blue cornmeal, organic yellow corn, organic kamut, organic poppy seeds, organic quinoa, organic sorghum), organic wheat gluten, organic oat fiber, organic molasses, sea salt, yeast, organic cultured wheat.

More about Weight Watchers PointsPlus

I know this is only Day Two of me following the new PointsPlus Weight Watchers plan, but I'm totally in love with it. It makes so much m...

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIGLIeGpzU_McrW-jF1kC2hXk7diMBOmp2DzhBV4QwbYP9WYehHaBi_ymHulIVVsS51JisvBfbO2oF2Jhxi-f3tADp5DDGyKhaTp757ctM5gug6cyZPWWYzPNTe30OD3x348KatM2_Yg9/s1600/Meet-Me-in-St.-Louis-house-Winter%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhIGLIeGpzU_McrW-jF1kC2hXk7diMBOmp2DzhBV4QwbYP9WYehHaBi_ymHulIVVsS51JisvBfbO2oF2Jhxi-f3tADp5DDGyKhaTp757ctM5gug6cyZPWWYzPNTe30OD3x348KatM2_Yg9/s320/Meet-Me-in-St.-Louis-house-Winter%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table>One of the most charming and potent portrayals of Americana to grace the screen, <b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b> (1944) tugs at the heartstrings as powerfully today as it did 65+ years ago when it was crafted by MGM's "Freed Unit."<br /><br />The film's sparkling perfection is the work of producer Arthur Freed, director Vincente Minnelli, an incomparable ensemble cast, an ace artistic and technical team, songwriters Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin and...Technicolor.<br /><a name='more'></a><br />This is one of my all-time favorites...<br /><br /><b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b> was adapted from a series of reminiscences by Sally Benson that first appeared in <i>The New Yorker</i> in early 1942. Told from the perspective of five-year-old 'Tootie' Smith, Benson's memory pieces, though rich in warmth and humor, were light on plot and conflict. A more defined storyline was developed, the characters were strengthened and 17-year-old Esther Smith (played by Judy Garland) became the pivotal character. The plot evolved into a "year in the life" of an idealized American family and was comprised of vignettes set in each of the four seasons with its dramatic climax, a family crisis, set at Christmastime. <br /> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsj82o226JHaChOULsPpWonspNesiY1p0np_zHUEB3qA4H_YhlFLUbyG1eoSYWcPrhyphenhyphenYooKyN7BbpMFl-cf3MWzYWzQVD6_MFEB2jh2adjhdqFDvfdSPBa6_ygnyN-ziguJSqWyedNLFu_/s1600-h/judy+-+no+-+eakins+baby+at+play.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="143" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417563524708086562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsj82o226JHaChOULsPpWonspNesiY1p0np_zHUEB3qA4H_YhlFLUbyG1eoSYWcPrhyphenhyphenYooKyN7BbpMFl-cf3MWzYWzQVD6_MFEB2jh2adjhdqFDvfdSPBa6_ygnyN-ziguJSqWyedNLFu_/s200/judy+-+no+-+eakins+baby+at+play.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Baby at Play" by Thomas Eakins</td></tr></tbody></table>  The Smith family home at 5135 Kensington Avenue (Sally Benson's real childhood address) was the film's central interior and Minnelli made the decision to build a continuous set with interconnecting rooms, just like an actual house. He reportedly wanted the entire picture to have the look of a painting by Thomas Eakins, and art director Preston Ames' assignment was to recreate a St. Louis neighborhood, circa 1904, as evocatively as possible. Ames did so, creating a full block of Kensington Avenue (at a cost of 200,000 1944 dollars) on Metro's back lot.<br /><br />Focused on the film's visual look and intent on accurate period detail, Minnelli supervised every aspect of set and production design. He brought in top Broadway set decorator Lemuel Ayres and, in addition, spent time with Sally Benson who described to him every feature of her girlhood home. To handle costume design, he turned to Irene Sharaff, another recent Broadway-to-Hollywood transplant. Sharaff researched the historic era carefully, even using a 1904 Sears & Roebuck catalog as a reference.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBY_Kmjgqocj_TEmeQTUg7CLVssTA1hjw0LzjZvcoObubscdOdo9Z64tJnM7LOHWZRuw0_CbDd9ixNTdwKNr4eaL7xCYYQjGBco-ASK-5p0IKwns_Eiea70KhT4mu4S4KfqvbG-QCMoJ-/s1600/meet-me-in-st-louis_snow_family%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="141" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBY_Kmjgqocj_TEmeQTUg7CLVssTA1hjw0LzjZvcoObubscdOdo9Z64tJnM7LOHWZRuw0_CbDd9ixNTdwKNr4eaL7xCYYQjGBco-ASK-5p0IKwns_Eiea70KhT4mu4S4KfqvbG-QCMoJ-/s200/meet-me-in-st-louis_snow_family%255B1%255D.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Snow People"</td></tr></tbody></table>Minnelli and cinematographer George Folsey took such pains with the film's colors and textures that some scenes do resemble period paintings. <b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b> was the first MGM film to be fully shot in Technicolor and Folsey and Minnelli proved to be adept at its use, even managing to capture subtle changes in seasonal light.<br /><br />The songwriting team of Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin composed three very special songs for Judy Garland: "The Boy Next Door," "The Trolley Song," and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (click below to watch and listen). Each became a standard in Garland's later repertoire and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" remains a holiday classic today. To add more period flavor, Blane and Martin also reworked popular tunes from the turn of the century - "Meet Me in St. Louis," "Skip to My Lou" and "Under the Bamboo Tree." Up to this time, most films had music inserted arbitrarily, but the songs in <b>Meet Me in St. Louis </b>were integrated into the action and dialogue to help advance the plot.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yudgy30Dd68?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yudgy30Dd68?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b> was an immediate hit, the highest grossing film of 1944. It turned out to be just the tonic a country at war needed to lift its spirits. The film firmly established Minnelli's reputation as a top director, provided Judy Garland with a solid push to the next plateau of her career and toward her ultimate status as a legend, and it ushered in a golden age of Hollywood musicals.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6q095LvAonf0dhIU0fGpFL-i1B1J8msUxNuf7DPlEYh-rZmVooeeOIx12wQNTgQnCKVeRGKkM2vyqtnGr4rQYYPRWwBCXuYAHNDjyBAnxJ06_WiEsA-ddgwyRd63w7FS9IkEjFkL3axlk/s1600/meet+me+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="147" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6q095LvAonf0dhIU0fGpFL-i1B1J8msUxNuf7DPlEYh-rZmVooeeOIx12wQNTgQnCKVeRGKkM2vyqtnGr4rQYYPRWwBCXuYAHNDjyBAnxJ06_WiEsA-ddgwyRd63w7FS9IkEjFkL3axlk/s200/meet+me+1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Christmas Ball</td></tr></tbody></table>There is much to admire about <b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b>. For me its appeal is that, though nostalgic, the sentiment isn't heavy-handed. The film beguiles gently, taking one on a fanciful trip into a golden epoch. The turn of the century in America is depicted as a languid time before the World Wars and the Great Depression, an era when multi-generational families lived under the same roof...when mothers made vats of ketchup every summer in large, window-filled kitchens...when horse-drawn ice wagons regularly clattered down neighborhood streets...and when a young lady might easily fall in love with and dream of marrying a boy who lived right next door...<br /><br />As Esther Smith, Judy Garland glows as the film's heart and soul. She is at her best - wistful and endearing, spunky and warm, her voice at an early peak.<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAiRLlFmErdQ-8-DGBR-HYAhWrdKtdpIJrkG2dyfoJTZWH2dsQnh0oZP97yguMFo-UZsJOxUMwaStVIRPR7iivbCl_H6rAJeytY6RSOQKA2sueWPZ2HJF9Rnlfe05KINHlVG6bYy7F_Izn/s1600/meet+me+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAiRLlFmErdQ-8-DGBR-HYAhWrdKtdpIJrkG2dyfoJTZWH2dsQnh0oZP97yguMFo-UZsJOxUMwaStVIRPR7iivbCl_H6rAJeytY6RSOQKA2sueWPZ2HJF9Rnlfe05KINHlVG6bYy7F_Izn/s1600/meet+me+2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joan Carroll and Margaret O'Brien</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Margaret O'Brien as the high-spirited young 'Tootie' adds a dimension of childhood mischief and carries the imaginative Halloween sequence almost entirely on her own. She takes another precocious turn during the climactic Christmas scenes with Judy Garland.<br /><br />Leon Ames blusters as good-hearted family patriarch, Alonzo Smith. Mary Astor is light-as-air as 'Mrs. Anna Smith;' Lucille Bremer is winning as the older sister, Rose; Harry Davenport shines as lovable 'Grandpa' Smith; Marjorie Main adds spice as the cantankerous maid, Katie...and Tom Drake is affecting as 'boy next door' John Truett. Very fine in fleeting roles are Chill Wills and a young June Lockhart.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=131412133&m=131412356"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Click here</span></a> to listen to a 1989 interview by Terri Gross on NPR's "Fresh Air" with Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane in which the songwriters discuss working with director Vincente Minnelli and writing the songs for <b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b>...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Meet Me in St. Louis</b> airs Sat., Dec. 11, on TCM's "The Essentials" and again on Christmas</i></span></div>

Arthur Freed Harry Davenport Hugh Martin Judy Garland Leon Ames Margaret O'Brien Marjorie Main Mary Astor Meet Me in St. Louis Ralph Blane The Lady Eve (author) Tom Drake Vincente Minnelli HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

 MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS One of the most charming and potent portrayals of Americana to grace the screen, Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) tugs...

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The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 3

Sunday began for me at 4:30 a.m., up early to pack and get ready for Church. The 6:30 service was Holy Mass in the National Cathedral's side chapel. It was a service at once simple and high, as a side chapel Cathedral service should be. I believe this is my favorite form of the Eucharist. Two young men in albs assisted an old white bearded priest, who presided at the liturgy of the table facing liturgical East – which is to say the altar was against the wall. He reminded me a bit of the Rev. Canon Edward West who was this sort of priest at my beloved Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. (Here I resist the urge to go on a long tangent about Canon West.) The liturgy was close to our Rite 2 Prayer A with a few variations in the ECP BCP. I loved it! It was just so Episcopal! I miss services like this so much – no personal idiosyncrasies, no egoistic surges of “creativity,” no attempt to mix other liturgical season into Advent, no carving on the liturgy to make it acceptable to someone’s theological sensitivities – just the ritual reverently prayed by two dozen early risers, with a solid competent Advent sermon by one of the young men in an alb. There are many wonderful ways to celebrate the Eucahrist. I respect them all and enjoy most of them, but this one is my favorite.<br /><br />After Mass, the old priest, who turned out to be a seminary professor, invited me to breakfast at the student café. He talked at some length though I only understood some of it, for he mumbled a bit and seemed more interested in his ideas than he was in either me or himself. He was not so much communicating as pondering aloud. I did not even learn his name, only that he was an American from Maine but had spent most of his adult life in Asia and planned to be buried here under a tombstone which will say “I lie here in protest and hope for the resurrection.” He also quoted someone – was it Ramsey? – who said “A priest is someone who stands before God holding his people in his heart.”<br /><br />Then it was on the road with my driver, Wilson. Having a sidekick named Wilson keeps me feeling as if I am in the movie Cast Away and that my experience of Wilson as the son of a miner, husband of a working wife, and father of three children, one of whom is autistic, might all be my own delirious projections onto a soccer ball. If you haven’t seen the movie, just disregard this paragraph.<br /><br />The drive was long and wonderful. Once out of Manila, we drove through rice paddies and sugar cane plantations – the sky sunny with a few clouds, the weather warm and humid, coastal. The cd player brought us Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton “Islands In The Stream” -- Abba, “Dance With Me” – Elton John “Daniel” (personally significant because of my brother’s death in the 70’s) – The Carpenters “I’m on the top of the world, looking down on creation . . . .” – Ann Murray – “Just one touch and then it happens. I fall in love again. . . .” Somehow you hear all that differently while driving through rice paddies.<br /><br />Then it was up into the mountains, where lush tropical forests were interrupted by villages and more rice paddies – didn’t know rice grew so high up. Today I have seen my first water buffalo and my first ox carts. In fact, these may have been my first oxen. Where are the oxen in America? I know we used to have them. There were security checkpoints on the road. Wilson tells me they are looking for illegal logging and guerilla insurgents. I haven’t seen either – just water buffalo, oxen pulling carts, and the occasional goat.<br /><br />We stopped for lunch at Angelina’s Eatery Ihaw Ihaw (which means the food is roasted over coals) in Turo Turo a village consisting of two, maybe three buildings. I had chunks of pork over rice. Wilson said it was a typical Philippine lunch. We ate al fresco under a thatched roof. As we left, the owners told Wilson I was the first “foreigner” who had ever eaten there. I hope I behaved well. Wilson said he would get flack from the National Church Office for taking a visiting bishop to lunch there. I’m glad he did.<br /><br />As the sun was setting, we arrived in Santiago City, capital of Isabella Province – the last region to succumb to the American military in the 1920s. One of the diocesan clergy helped us find our way to the Gatian Hotel & Resort. I cannot figure out what sort of place this is. I have a simple suite in a compound that has lots of bright Christmas lights. Outside my window is a multi colored star of lights with more lights circling it in a progressive round flow of red. (Keeps me from being too homesick for the Fiesta Casino sign that flashes outside my window in Henderson. By the way I did put up last year’s Las Vegas style Christmas tree and ornaments before commencing this Asian odyssey.) Inside there are sticker signs. One is a sticker on the door to the bedroom saying “Jesus never fails” and one on the mirror says “Jesus Loves You. John 3:16” – which is not exactly what John 3:16 says, but the point is good anyway.<br /><br />There is a Gideon Bible and towels so I am content. There is also an unplugged floor lamp. Remembering what happened to Thomas Merton, I plan to leave it unplugged.

The Asian Journals Of Bishop Dan: Part 3

Sunday began for me at 4:30 a.m., up early to pack and get ready for Church. The 6:30 service was Holy Mass in the National Cathedral's ...

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Planning de la semaine du 06 au 10 décembre 2010

<BR><br /><h2><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 113%;color:#005c9b;" >Permanences<br /></span></strong></h2><ul><br /><li>Le <strong>Conseil Général du Loiret</strong> sera présent dans les locaux de la Maison de l'Emploi du bassin d'Orléans<br />- le lundi 06 décembre de 9h à 12h30,<br />- le mardi 07 décembre de 9h à 12h30 et de 13h30 à 17h,<br />- le mercredi 08 décembre de 13h30 à 17h,<br />- le jeudi 09 décembre de 13h30 à 17h,<br />- le vendredi 10 décembre de 13h30 à 17h.<br /><br /><li><strong><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2007/11/boutique-de-gestion.html">Boutique de Gestion</a></strong> (sur rendez-vous)<br />- lundi 06 décembre de 13h30 à 17h<br />- vendredi 10 décembre de 09h à 12h30</ul><br /><h2><strong><span style="LINE-HEIGHT: 113%;color:#005c9b;" >Ateliers</span></strong><br /></h2><br /><ul><li><strong>CV</strong> - mardi 07 décembre de 9h à 12h30 et mercredi 08 décembre de 13h30 à 17h<br /><br /><li><strong>Lettre de Motivation</strong> - mardi 07 décembre de 13h30 à 17h<br /><br /><li><strong>Pôle-emploi.fr</strong> - vendredi 10 décembre de 10h à 11h30<br /><br /><li><strong><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2009/07/atelier-situtilises-tu-trouves.html">Sit'Utilises tu trouves</a></strong> - vendredi 10 décembre de 14h à 16h</ul>

Planning de la semaine du 06 au 10 décembre 2010

Permanences Le Conseil Général du Loiret sera présent dans les locaux de la Maison de l'Emploi du bassin d'Orléans - le lundi 06 dé...

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Post cherry cobbler weighin, Weight Watcher love, the Big Climb

<span style="color: #cc0000;"><strong>Post cherry cobbler weighin</strong></span><br />I seriously think I have mental issues. How else would you explain my bipolar weight loss attempts? <br /><br />One day I'm 100% on track, nothing can derail me. I am PERFECT. <br /><br />Then the next day, I'm once again 100% on track. I'm so proud of myself, I'm superwoman. Nothing will make me go off my diet.<br /><br />Then that same day the clock strikes 11pm, and I, the person who claims to desperately want to lose weight, decides to whip up a cherry cobbler. Not only did I make a cherry cobbler, I ate the WHOLE THING. I wish I could say it tasted horrible, and it made me sick. I can't. It tasted wonderful, and I didn't get one bit sick. A massive influx of sugar, and I slept like a baby. <br /><br />I woke up this morning with my first thought, "I have to weigh in today. What in the hell was I thinking last night?!" Mental illness is the only conclusion I can some to. There simply is no other explanation.<br /><br />I almost blew off Weight watchers today, but I was so excited to find out more about the new program that I couldn't skip it. My girlfriend was going too so I couldn't be a no-show. <br /><br />The weighin wasn't what I expected. When I stepped on the scales I told the receptionist that I knew I had a gain, and I was okay with it. I waited to hear the bad news, dreading another gain. Instead, I had a loss! <br /><br />Down 2.2 pounds! <br /><br />Current weight: 178.6 pounds<br /><br />You know what I was thinking. If I just hadn't eaten that cobbler, imagine what a really great weight loss I could have had today. I shut that thought right out of my head. My goal is lose two pounds a week through the end of the year. So far, so good. <br /><br /><strong><span style="color: blue;">Weight Watcher Love</span></strong><br />I totally and completely love what they've done with the program. I love how they're not even looking at calories anymore. Food is really so much more than calories.<br /><br />For example, those stupid 100-calories snack packs of cookies are no longer two Points, they're three Points.  They're just junk food in small packages. I'll never forget my first 100-calorie pack of cookies. I bought a big box of them. I think there were ten packages. I can't even remember what kind of cookies were in there, but I do remember I ate all ten packages in one sitting (see, I told you, mental illness). I never bought them again.<br /><br />Now Weight Watchers is looking at the Fat, Protein, Fiber and Carbohydrates in food to calculate Points. This makes total sense to me. 100 calories of Carbs is not the same as 100 calories of Protein. I don't care what you say, but they are NOT created equal. I've known this for a long time, but to have Weight Watchers come out and say it makes me super happy.<br /><br />Now I get 29 Daily Points on the new plan. The best part, I'll never get less than 29 because 29 Points is the minimum. I was getting 22 (or 21 under 180 pounds). That's not a lot of food. Of course some of the food has more Points now, like those Sandwich Thins that I didn't like anyway but for 1 Point you couldn't beat it. Now they're 3 Points, the same as a slice of my favorite bread.<br />My most favorite thing, fruits and most vegetables are <strong><span style="font-size: large;">ZERO</span></strong> Points. Yes, that's right, ZERO! Even bananas are ZERO Points! Now that doesn't mean you can go crazy and eat a case of Clementines or ten Honeycrisp apples or a bunch of bananas, but you can have reasonable portions without dipping into your precious Daily Points quota. <br /><br />I'm really excited that most vegetables are zero Points. I eat a ton of vegetables, and it really made me mad that a cup and half of Brussels Sprouts were a Point on the old plan. I never liked that it was the same Point value as one of their junk food Weight Watcher 1-Point bars (which are now 2 Points). Now the Brussels Sprouts are zero Points. Even ten cups are zero Points. Butternut squash, zero Points. Again, ten cups of Butternut squash, zero Points. <br /><br />I know I'd gain weight if I ate ten cups of Brussels Sprouts or ten cups of Butternut squash. What is so exciting about this is I can eat the foods I love, again, reasonable portions. I don't have to weigh and measure my fruits and veggies anymore because they have a big, fat zero Point value. I totally love it. <br /><br /><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">The Big Climb </span></strong><br />I was on the StairMaster today listening to Lady Gaga singing Poker Face for the millionth time. I was thinking this has to be the most boring exercise in the world. Climbing up stairs to no where so I can see nothing and sweating to death in the process (or having a heart attack). <br /><br />Then I started thinking about the <a href="http://www.llswa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BC_about">Big Climb</a> and how much I really want to do it. I want to be able to do it without feeling like I'm going to die. I started thinking about the purpose of the Big Climb.<br /><br /><em><strong>WHY?</strong>To find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.  Funds raised through the Big Climb go directly to support research, patient aid, patient services, education, and advocacy.</em><br /><br />It made me think about how lucky I am to never have had a major illness. I know these diseases must be horrible. I've seen shows about St. Jude's and their kids. Absolutely the saddest thing in the world. I remember seeing one a few days ago about a little seven year old girl being diagnosed with leukemia when she was a year old. It broke my heart. <br /><br />Then I remembered a guy at work, Steve. He has MDS and just underwent a stem cell transplant. MDS is Myelodysplastic syndromes. MDS has been known as "smoldering leukemia," or "preleukemia." It's a very serious disease and without treatment MDS always leads to leukemia.<br /><br />Steve is a truly awesome person. Everyone loves him. Even though I don't work on his team I know him, and the people that work with him love him to pieces.  So I had this great idea. I'm going to get a team of people together from my company and we're all going to do the Big Climb. <br /><br />Plus, if there are any Seattle area bloggers that would like to join us, please email me (<a href="mailto:ww.lady@gmail.com">ww.lady@gmail.com</a>) and let me know. I think it would be super fun to meet. <br /><br /><a href="http://notes-by-grace.blogspot.com/">Grace</a> has already sort of committed to it. She's thinking about it. <a href="http://seattlerunnergirl.com/">Seattle Runner Girl</a>....<a href="http://www.poundsoffplayoff.com/">Pounds Off Playoff (Allan).</a> What do you say? We have until March 20 to train. I'd love to meet you. I'm sure there are others out there too.<br /><br />This really lit a fire under me today during my workout. I had my best all-time ever workout:<br /><br />45 minutes on the StairMaster - 190 Flights! <br /><br />Step rate of 67. Weight Watcher Activity Points of 10! Which I did NOT eat.<br /><br />1 hour lower body workout, with lunges, squats, leg presses, calf raises, leg extensions, leg curls, bent knee squats and more lunges. <br /><br />I've never worked out as hard as I did today. According to my heart rate monitor I burned 800 calories. My normal is 350-400.<br /><br />Steve (the guy that made my heart beat fast today...on the StairMaster):<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtRVCQIWeK5KWgL9vIoCvY5D_LEIrvcSgQq88sYqFvyp8qzO_B6EZoPggmpvD2vGSoD2IA5x15k4BFkUur9kC0dk61BOC001O-nPTb3Yae_LDfaPSrk1yU4DP6o7UtafQw1BxxzxYhEsx/s1600/steve.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAtRVCQIWeK5KWgL9vIoCvY5D_LEIrvcSgQq88sYqFvyp8qzO_B6EZoPggmpvD2vGSoD2IA5x15k4BFkUur9kC0dk61BOC001O-nPTb3Yae_LDfaPSrk1yU4DP6o7UtafQw1BxxzxYhEsx/s320/steve.png" width="320" /></a></div>

Post cherry cobbler weighin, Weight Watcher love, the Big Climb

Post cherry cobbler weighin I seriously think I have mental issues. How else would you explain my bipolar weight loss attempts? One day I...

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