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Today was the first day of the Summer Institute workshop for Kris.  Charlie’s and my job is to hang out in the hotel room until designated times when we can go visit Kris so Charlie can nurse.  We are strictly not allowed to leave the room and go do fun things unless Kris is with us, wife’s orders.  So, there’s not much to report.  We just hung out and read those new books Charlie got from Carol.  Charlie is showing signs of being ready to walk.  I caught her standing without assistance next to the end table by my chair.  For dinner we went to a Greek restaurant called Ambrosia.  It was alright.  Our Greek place in Lawrence is much better.

Ms. Charlie

Tonight I built a sled to aid in cutting guaranteed straight lines.  I researched this device for days and decided on a design.  My table saw was one of the first power tools I bought for myself, many years ago.  I bought it because it was the one I could afford at the time.  So, I have a junk ass Craftsman table saw where NOTHING is sized to “standard” table saw sizes.  No.  And after futzing with a particular piece of my sled for, like, an hour, I discovered that the miter slot to the right of the blade isn’t even the same size as the miter slot to the left!  <SIGH>.

Finished sled

I finally got my sled built to satisfactory specs, mounted up my first leg blank … and discovered the friggin’ blade wasn’t tall enough to cut though the blank plus the sled!  Seething with frustration and determined to make some good cuts tonight, I busted out two squares and set the miter fence.  I also ended up having to remove the rip fence to make use of every millimeter of blade height.  It was scary (and dumb), but I managed to not cut anything but the wood.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get an after pic of me, but I was totally covered in saw dust.  Kris just laughed at me.

One side cut on each blank

On our evening walks we have started taking pictures of some of the neat features and markers around campus.  Most of you will remember we got married in Danforth Chapel.  On the side of the building, I never noticed that it has the University Seal:

University seal on the side of Danforth Chapel

My car’s thermometer registered 106 when I got in it to come home today.  Ugh.

Oh, and I had to stop for gas.  Suck.

Today is my lovely wife’s birthday.  We had her birthday dinner at The Mad Greek (her request), one of our favorite restaurants in Lawrence.

My Beautiful Wife

Happy birthday, gorgeous.  I love you.

Brae and Hannah have been at their mother’s all week.  The weekend visit starts on Thursday instead of Friday, this week, so that we can spend Friday celebrating Kris’s birthday rather than driving.  When I arrived to pick the kids up, this was what I was greeted with:

The New Do

I think it looks great.

Another uneventful day.  On our evening walk, the sunset was beautiful.  My picture does not do it justice:

I recently set up the first Windows box I’ve had in over four years, and it’s the first time I’ve touched Windows since Windows XP.  The experience reminded just how much I don’t miss Windows.  Now that I have this machine, I need a place to put it.  I will be building a desk for it.  I’m currently in the planning stages.  I have researched joinery, tools, jigs, and finishes.  I know how I will build it, what I want it to look like, and even what stain I will try.  Now I’m in the process of making a tools and parts list.

Nothing much happened today.  We went to Encore for dinner, again.  I think Kris will refuse any kind of Asian cuisine for some days to come.  We went for a walk, as usual.  We noticed a windmill on top of Mallott Hall.  Wonder how many years it has been there without us noticing?

The week before Memorial Day, my doctor had a very frank discussion with me about my weight.  It was something that I had been ignoring, thinking “I’ll take care of it someday.”  I mean, intellectually I knew that it was a problem, and of course I didn’t think it was pretty to look at, but I just couldn’t seem to take on the task.  It felt impossible.  And it seemed like no matter what I’d tried in the past, nothing worked.  I just kept getting bigger.  And bigger.  I was growing pretty depressed about it, really.  I felt powerless.  But that day, something just clicked.  From the discussion I had with my doctor, I made a few very simple changes which have made a real difference.  First, I stopped drinking soda.  I was drinking 4 – 6 Dr Peppers a day.  I avoid all caffeine and high fructose corn syrup, now as a rule.  Next, we used a water consumption calculator to get an idea of how much water I should be drinking to facilitate weight loss.  It turns out I was very under-hydrated.  I now drink a gallon of water a day.  We were already taking evening walks a few times a week, so we just stepped it up a little.  Now we go for a walk of at least 1.5 miles 4- 6 nights a week, weather permitting.  Finally (and probably most importantly), I started to pay attention to how many calories I was consuming, with a goal of 2200 calories per day, net.  It takes planning, but it’s working.  Sundays are weigh-in days.  I only lost 1 pound this week, but it’s enough to keep me motivated.  I am teetering on dropping a pants size.  I now buckle my belt on the third hole, where the first hole used to be tight.  It’s very satisfying to feel in control, finally.

I’ve also picked Sunday as Weekly Self Portrait Day: