Weekly Review #2 March 1-7, 2010

Let's begin with the news of my continuing weight loss effort. February saw a slow down in the amount of weight I lost. I lost 8.2 pounds over the 4 weeks. That's a 37% decrease compared to 13 pounds I lost in January but it's still a significant weight loss. I know I am eating more carbs and calories than I have in the months right after surgery but I'm also trying to be more active. I missed my goal of getting under 260 by March 1st but only by a pound. I'm not discouraged by this slow down I'm just going to adjust my expectations. I may have to settle for reaching my goal by Christmas instead of my 50th birthday in September.

March came in like a lion for both Paula and I in regard to our health. At the start of the week we both came down with a cold. Mine started, as usual, with a sore throat then quickly turned into the classic cold symptoms but traded off sneezing for coughing. . I lived on a steady diet of liquid cold medicines (both day and night versions) for the rest of the week.

It was the first time since our surgeries that we had to take cold medicine of any kind. We both have learned just how much and how often to take and how the ingredients and the sugar content effected us.

By the end of the week both of us were on the back end of the cold and feeling a little bit better. Paula even went with Michael & Heather to see the new Alice in Wonderland movie at the IMAX in Nashville on Saturday.

I started reading the next 7 chapters in the gospel of John this week. I'm now reading chapters 8-14 each day for this month. Chapter 14 is probably one of the best known chapters in all the 4 gospels. The section starts with the Pharisees bringing the woman caught in adultery to Jesus in the temple and ends with the conclusion of the Last Supper. With the Easter season coming up in a couple of weeks it's a great time to be reading this part of the gospel. I'm really enjoying reading and becoming familiar with it.

One of my recurring issues over the last couple of months has been my frustration over the lack of consistent ventriloquism performance opportunities. I have blamed this mostly on my work schedule having no weekend days off. Well after a talk with my friend, Brent, I've realized that there's a pool of potential performance opportunities waiting out there through churches having VBS this summer.

I'm going to create a publicity packet and sent them to the area churches offering my ministry at their VBS ministries on either of the days I'm off of work. Not many performers are available at that time of the week. My availability may result in an opportunity.

In my packet I'm going to include a business card, an introduction letter and a list of references. I'm excited about this idea and am optimistic that if I work hard at making the contacts the doors of opportunity will open.

The weather here in south central Kentucky improved a bit this week. The sunshine returned and the temperatures got into the mid 50's. On my day off, rather than taking the car to run some errands in town I walked.

Stops at at the local pharmacy, post office and library made for a relaxing and invigorating walk. It was also unique because I didn't have the dogs with my like I usually do. I could enjoy the scenery and take my time. It reminded me of just how much I love walking through my little town.

I did some DVD watching this past week. I finished watching the first 3 seasons of "My Name is Earl" that I got for Christmas and also the final season of "Taxi". That's the 70's series that featured Judd Hirsh, Danny Divito, Andy Kaufman, and of course, Marilu Henner. The episode where cabbie Alex Riger cares for his terminally ill dog is sad and gets to me every time I watch it. (Excuse me while I brush a tear from my eye).

I also watched what is probably my favorite Disney live action animal movie, Charlie the Lonesome Cougar. The 1967 movie is a scripted adventure of a mountain lion and his life in the timber country of the Northwest USA. I was this movie in the theater when I was a kid and now have it in my Disney collection.

I have finished reading the Washington DC guidebook and am now in the 2nd phase of the planning of our mini-vacation there. The good news is that most of the national museums and parks we want to visit are free admission. That's good because the hotel rooms are priced at nearly double what we usually want to pay for one and that's on the low end of the market. We'll probably stay in the Alexandria, Virgina area and take the Metro (DC's subway system) into the National Mall area.

Finally, I want to announce the addition of 3 new team shirts to my major league baseball t-shirt collection. Thanks to a catalog clearance sale I was able to add a tie dye shirt for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angles Dodgers, and Seattle Mariners to my closet. I now have shirts for 17 out of the 30 major league teams. I'm more than halfway to my goal.

That's about all I have for this week's review. For daily glimpses into the RH Factor world add me as a friend on Facebook and watch for my status updates. Catch you again in 7 days with another RH Factors Weekly Review. God Bless.