Kull's World

Friday Morning Weigh In #4:

213 LBS
(Previous  weigh ins: 224 - 219 - 217.5 - 214LBS)

Like my man Mark on the Biggest Loser, I only lost a pound this week.  But unlike him, I was not surprised and actually satisfied with it.  It was a tough week.  Since last Friday, I hate out a few more times with the father in law, had a 3 year old's birthday party with cake, and only got two workouts in with hoops.  So to still lose a pound after all that, I'll take it.  Sure, it's not a "big numbers" as they say on the show...but 11 lbs since the Super Bowl, I'll take it.

Need a big week this week though, I'd like to get back down to 210.  Time to step it up.

Sap-a-licious!

I was going through some personal documents on my work computer and stumbled across something I wrote about three years ago.  I remember at the time after I shared it with a friend it was recommended that I post it somewhere public, but at the time I guess I didn't want to.  I was recently reflecting on how much I cherish my two sons and wife, so finding this was kind of nice.  I had actually forgotten that I wrote it.

Of course Ben had to go and mess up the whole thing by being born with 2 and 1/2 hours left in April.  But still. And also...good lookin out to Chubb Rock who gave me the idea of writing a letter to my unborn child.

See you in May

Hey son, I can’t wait to meet you in May

You will be the best gift ever, looking forward to the day

When you join us in this world, and I can finally see you

Been waiting for this day for a long time, your Mom has too

I’m saving a spot on my calendar for my new favorite day

That will be the day you’re born, sometime in early May

When we first heard the “whoosh-whoosh” of your heart, it was the best sound to hear

Gave me a feeling hard to describe, I had to fight back the tears

You’re being born into a world that is a crazy place

But that doesn’t change the fact I can’t wait to see your face

Your Mom and I will do our best to protect you the best we can

We may not be perfect parents, but that is certainly the plan

I love you so much already and you have not yet joined us

Can’t wait to hold you in my arms, even if I can’t stop the fuss

But you’ll grow up so fast and before you know it you’ll be a man

I know you’ll be the best son and I’ll be your biggest fan

We’ll support you and encourage you to do anything you want to do

Whether it’s a cop, teacher, or a businessman working on top of the Pru.

I hope you think of me as your superman like I did with my Dad

And of course that you are happy, far more than you are sad

Someday I hope you’ll find a woman you love that is just like your Mom

Because I love your Mom so much and I think she’s the bomb!

I knew from the moment I met her that she was the one

And now that we have you…our lives have just begun!

BUBBLES!!!

 
 
 

Something about watching a bunch of kids overcome with joy at hundreds of bubbles floating over their heads just makes you kick back and enjoy life.

Friday Morning Weigh In #3:

214 LBS
(Previous  weigh ins: 224 - 219 - 217.5LBS)

Very happy with this morning's weigh in.  Feel like I am back on track and at this pace, I have an outside shot at winning the contest at work, but more importantly am on a good pace for myself to reach my goals.

I am enjoying a new technique on the treadmill that I think has increased my caloric burn, but also makes the time go by much faster.  For years I have just jogged at an average pace, somewhere in the 5.5MPH range for a full 30 minutes.  But now I am doing this:  jog fast for 2 minutes, at like 7MPH, then walk at about 4.5MPH for another 2 minutes...rinse, repeat for a full 30 minutes and the time flies by!  Actually after the first 10 minutes I creep up the top speed to 7.1 and bottom speed to 4.6, and continue throughout the workout until my final 2+ minutes is at 7.5MPH or higher.  I've been doing this for a week or so now and I am enjoying it.  After the 30 minutes, I crank up the treadmill to simulate walking up a hill and go for 15 minutes at a 4.2 MPH walking speed.  I average about 4 miles and 800+ calories burned in that workout.

I haven't watched The Biggest Loser yet this week, but am dying to catch up on the DVR to see what happened to the dude from Mass while they were in Vegas!

Go shorty...

...it's your birthday, we're gonna party like it's your birthday!

Woo hoo...Friday Night Lights might be saved!

More on Burrito Wars

Well someone beat me to the punch, ever since I first blogged about burritos in the Boston area, I thought about putting a panel of friends together to rate them all, but it's been done!

And not surprisingly, if you click all the way to the end and vote for your favorite, you'll see Anna's is the runaway winner.  I used to go to "The Wrap", which I think might basically be Boloco, hmm.  And I can't believe they didn't include El Pelon to their study, the El Guapo es muy bueno!

God my mouth is watering right now!

Thanks to Moondog for the tip on this great study.

What would have happened IF...

So I am driving home towards Boston from my graduate class in Manchester, NH last Saturday and I see a sign for Rivier College.  I think to myself, "huh...I wonder what would have happened if I went there?"  In high school I was recruited by the basketball coach to play ball there.  It was kind of unique because the college had just gone from an all girls school to co-ed.  During my official visit to the college, there was literally only one male student on campus, who was also the b-ball team's first recruit.  My freshman year was going to be the first year of Men's Basketball for the college, so I would have been a part of a historic accomplishment for the school.  And also had great odds with the ladies, but I digress.  I didn't go there.

But it got me to thinking about how many "what if" situations there are in life. 
- What if I applied myself in high school, could I have gotten into a prestigious college?
- What if I took this job instead of that job, etc?

There a million different scenarios you can think of.  But then I got to thinking of all the "WHAT IFS" were involved in me meeting Kristin back in 2000.  And all of the things that had to happen for our relationship to grow.  Here are just some of the variables that contributed:
* The scheduling of a Bachelor and Bachelorette Party on the same day (9/9/00) at the same location.
* Kristin wearing her blonde hair in pigtails that night, thus catching my eye and immediately comparing her to actress Heather Graham, and me actually having the balls to talk to her and the rest of her group.  Which was not exactly something I would typically do.
* The fact that Kristin worked at a Business School and at the time I was working on a construction project building a Business School and I made a big deal of that connection and that it was "fate" or some other liquid confidence fueled statement.
* Kristin making a big deal about having two "I's" in her first name and two "E's" in her last name.
* Which made it easier for me to track her down after not having the guts to ask her for her phone number that night, but remember the Haaahvad Business School connection, her name, and by process of elimination, finding her work number to call her.
* The fact that she remembered enough about me (or thought she did) to call me back.
* Her working at a brewfest in Sturbridge the next day and suggesting we meet there.  And Barry willing to meet to go along to the fest.  Would I have gone alone?  I doubt it!
* The fact that I was already in the process of looking to re-locate to Mass from CT and was able to get a job.  What if I didn't get that job and had to keep living in CT?
* What if me relieving myself in an alley outside a B.C. bar during like our 3rd date was enough to turn her off for good and she ended it?  By the way, it wasn't a like official date, we were out drinking with many of her workmates, and I thought it showed how comfortable with her I was.  Whoops!

Okay, that might not be the best one to end on.  But that shows just a few of the "what ifs" along the road of our relationship.  I think the biggest one is "what if I was never able to find her?"  I could not stop thinking of her the rest of the night after we met.  I even told one friend on the trip that I would marry that girl.  Of course that was a strong statement to make considering I didn't even have her digits.  But god love the internet for helping me find her number.  And despite being called a stalker by a good friend, I had the courage to call her, and she called back.  And I will never forget walking into the crowd at the brewfest in Sturbridge, and hearing Barry say "hey..there she is"

And the rest is history.  But take away any one of the what ifs listed above, and I might not be writing this post.  Weird.

Do you have a particular WHAT IF that comes to mind?  Please share.

I know a guy featured on ESPN.COM!

Who would have ever thought that the guy that taught me how to dunk a basketball in high school, provided the beatbox for BnW Posse's Earth Day Rap, and cut all sorts of fancy designs (including martini glasses) while complaining how hard it was to cut a white dude's hair would work his way onto ESPN.COM by catching bass?  From another article:

...the energetic and charismatic angler from Shirley, Mass
Charismatic is an understatement...I can still laugh at some of the shit this kid said 16-17 years ago, classic.

Of all the people I know/have known that spend a lot of time fishing, Sheron B would be the last guy I would have ever guessed to be damn good at it and end up on ESPN 2 on a Saturday morning?

Congrats to Sheron B for "living the dream"!

Blah, Blah, Blah...

Thoughts that have crossed my mind while I procrastinate writing a Literature Review for my graduate class:

• If you were scouting out a gym/fitness center and found the manager trying to sell you a membership was a big fat guy, would you sign up at that gym?  That is the case at the place I currently sweat off calories.  The guy that appears to be running the place is bigger than I was on my wedding day.
• Okay, I am a JEEP guy and have been a Jeep guy my whole life.  My first vehicle was a Jeep and while I have not exclusively owned Jeeps, I have had my fair share of them.  But I understand people's decisions to buy other makes such as Chevy, Ford, Honda, Toyota, etc.  Those all seem to be very popular and get good reviews over the years.  I was wondering the other day, what makes someone decide to buy a Mitsubishi?  I just can't see myself waking up one day and thinking "I'm gonna head to the Mitsubishi dealer for my new car!"
• Is it just me, or is the fashion of wearing your baseball hat propped up on your head coming back in style?  I fear this, I remember kids in my high school practically needing bobby pins to hold their lids on the back of their domes.  I've seen more then a handful of dudes going back to this look of late.  Not me, I prefer to wear them in the traditional sense.
• The potholes suck this year!
• Is it uncomfortable or scratchy to go commando in blue jeans? I guess I could have just asked the dude at the gym yesterday.
• Ben started singing this Baby Bumble Bee song at the dinner table last night and I started crying, not sure why but it was a strangely proud moment for me.  Maybe because he learned it at school and it was the first time we heard him sing it, and could understand nearly every word?  It was heart warming.

Okay, enough babbling for now.  Back to the paper.  I got an A on my first college assignment in ten years, so I gotta keep it up.  BTW, thanks to Kristin for talking me off the bridge last week when I was getting ready to quit my class when I was stuck on the second sentence of my first paper.

Ben says...

Hanging out on the "toy porch" at my Dad's house a while back.  Ben is playing with Woody from Toy Story, playing make believe, talking to him, etc.  Things that pre-schoolers do, I believe in the business they call it "imaginative play".  After Ben decides to put the toy character up my pajama pants for a hiding spot:

Kristin: "Where is Woody?"

Ben: "It's in Daddy's pants."

Kristin: (laughing) "Woody is in Daddy's pants?"

Ben: "Yeah...a little Woody, not the BIG ONE!"

Thanks kid.