The Weight Loss

On December 12th, Jason and I decided, on the advise of our doctor, to lose some weight. We, like most bears, love food and enjoy it to excess. Jason's blood pressure went up last fall to a dangerous level and the doctor had put him on pills to try to get it back down. I have type two diabetes and sleep apnia and had to wear a CPAP machine when I went to bed. We both KNEW we were overweight, but didn't worry too much about it. It was actually Jason who kicked me in the arse and said, let's do something about our weight.

Our doctor suggested "Simply For Life (SFL)", which is a very successful diet program, so we went to visit them and signed up. Aaron, our advisor, is a young well-built guy who used to be in the same shape we were, but changed his life with SFL. He was very friendly and encouraging.

The diet was much harder for Jason than me because he isn't a vegetable eater. He's a meat and potatoes (and gravy) guy who loves his chocolate and sweets. I, on the other hand like most foods. We had to eliminate potatoes, corn and peas totally from our diet. We can have lots of other veggies, meat, fish, poultry. Eggbeaters, brown rice and whole wheat pasta are staples. But you get lots of snacks, mid-morning, afternoon and even a small bad of smart-popcorn for a tv snack.

It's been just over three months, and I'm happy to report that so far, I have lost just over 51 pounds and Jason almost 47, and we feel great! Jason is off the blood pressure pills and the doctor has reduced the number of pills I take for the diabetes daily. Oh, and the CPAP machine has been put away. I don't stop breathing in my sleep anymore. I only have to lose 18 more pounds to reach my goal. I've dropped 4 inches off my waist size and have had to dig out the skinny clothes again. I'm glad I kept some of them. But I hope, this will be the last time I have to diet and we can maintain it after we reach our goals.

It's amazing now how little food it takes fill us and how much more energy we have. We're getting there... wish us luck.

Florida Vacation... all alone!

We had decided to take a winter vacation to Florida and booked everything in April 2006. During the summer, several projects we did on our home took a lot of cash to do. So, we decided not to take the trip. Later we decided to change the tickets to a September visit to Wisconsin to visit our good friend Jay. We were told the tickets had to be used by April 2007. So, Jay is coming to visit us and he and Jason are going to Newfoundland. Jay's goal is to visit every Canadian province so he will be able to scratch one more off his list. My ticket to Florida was all paid for and just sitting there, so Jason suggested that, rather than throw it all away, I should go. Alone!

I decided to make the journey. I arrived, picked up the rental and felt like a lost sheep. Trying to figure out the maze of roads and exits alone without a navigator was hell, but I somehow managed to get to my cousin's place. Oh yes, she lives here too and wanted me to go buy her a new computer. Hers had many viruses and was a windoze 98 OS. We got the computer, set it up, and waited for the cable company to come and connect the high speed a couple of days later. I left and want to our friends home.

It was great to get away from the very cold Canadian winter, the coldest February I can remember. Florida felt warm and our friends David and Eric always are wonderful hosts and make their home available to us when we're down. But, they work, as do most people I know here, leaving me all by myself all day. I'm terrified of the traffic and going to the theme parks alone is no fun. God I missed having Jason with me.

I did have a couple of very nice bears I had met through the internet many years ago, take the day off work to spend the day with me at Universal. They even went out of their way to come and pick me up and take me to the park. We had a wonderful day together. Bob is like a little kid and loves to ride the coasters. We're much alike. Mike doesn't like coasters but did go on several rides with us. He would it on the bench and wait for us. I thought how nice it would have been if Jason had been there with him since he doesn't like coasters either. We rode the Hulk 3 times and the Duelling Dragons once. We walked all the way through BOTH parks. It was in the 80's without a could in the sky. It turned out to be the BEST day of my whole vacation.

Almost every night, I call Jason to hear his voice and tell him how much I love and miss him. I didn't realize how lonely I'd feel without him. Even though I had a great day at the park and David and Eric are super hosts, it hasn't been much fun this week here alone. I have felt so empty this week it hurts. I've decided I'm never going to take a solo vacation again, ever.

On another point... We've decided this year will be the last FurFest ( http://www.furfest.ca ) we're going to do. It will be #12 and that's enough. We're tired and burned out with all the work that's involved in organizing a party for well over 100 bears each summer. Not to mention it takes a week of our holidays. Next year, we can have that time to travel and enjoy OUR summer. I feel I've accomplished what I set out to do. We started with 30 bears in my back yard when FurFest began and have now become Canada's Biggest Bear Party! Not just that, we went from a very private function to a point where the City of Fredericton is involved as a sponsor or our event. We were courted for three years by the Crowne Plaza to move our event there and finally did last year. We have made many great friends who have returned year after year to support the event. We hate to let it go, but it's time to move on. I hope to see many of you return this year for the last bash. Let's go out with a bang.

Larry