Slumdog Millionaire and Bagels

Kristi and I ran over to Goshen after work to see the 5:00 showing of Slumdog Millionaire. If you haven't seen it yet, don't miss going before it is out of theaters. It definitely lives up to all the hype. It's fantastic.

On the way to the show, Kristi and I decided to get a snack so we wouldn't be so hungry for all the tempting movie theater fare. Thinking they had bagels, we went to the drive thru at Dunkin Donuts. I pull up to the speaker and am greated by a friendly girl inside Dunkin Donuts.

Dunking Donuts Girl: Welcome to Dunkin Dounts. May I take your order?

Me: You have bagels?

Dunkin Donuts Girl: You have bagels?

I'm A Wild and Crazy Guy

I may not be Steve Martin, but a wild and crazy guy nonetheless.

Today at school we had "mismatched outfit day." I went wild and crazy! On my right foot I wore an older Merrell moc and on my left foot I wore a newer Merrell moc.

A Father's Day in August

Today was quite the day of fathers for me.

Landen usually likes to sit on Kristi's lap for a while after he wakes up in the morning. Today Kristi was at work when Landen woke up. So Landen and I sat together on the couch for an hour this morning and watched Word World and Wow Wow Wubzy.

This afternoon my father-in law came over and helped me take a quickly-growing cottonwood tree down that was too near our shed. I haven't done much (if any) tree falling in my life (at least not that requires a chain saw.) I enjoyed this experience and working with Kristi's dad.

Tonight my dad arrived in Nappanee. He lives in Las Vegas and is in town for Nappanee High School's 50th class reunion. He took us out for supper at LaFogata. Back at home we watched the kids play in the driveway and watched the Olympics.

Days like this are few and far between for me. I'm glad I didn't miss appreciating what a special day it was.

Don't Drink So Stinkin' Much Mt. Dew Diet - An Update

I'm still at it. Three and a half months ago I said, "I don't think I have weighed under 130 since 2000. That's my goal."

I reached that goal today. . . 129.6 pounds. First time in eight years!

I've really just stuck to the plan I started in March.

• Don't drink very much pop (I mostly drink water)
• If hungry between meals, eat some fruit or Cheerios
• Try not to eat too much, especially junky stuff
• Get some exercise

It's been really nice having the Omron HBF-500 scale to make sure I'm losing fat, not muscle.

I Love James

I hate graffiti.

I spent eight hours at Little Paws Playground today, helping out with the community work day. About three hours of that time was spent power sanding graffiti away.

While I know it is not as bad as many playgrounds, the graffiti there is disheartening; knowing how much time and money the community spent building the playground. On the bright side, Kylee and Makenna worked with us for about four hours today. After seeing how hard we worked at removing other people's graffiti, I'm pretty sure they would never dream of graffitiing something themselves.

So Long James

Newscenter 16

I took Kylee, Makenna, Tilly and Cooper to the rally in support of the Wa-nee teachers yesterday. Cooper got on the news holding one of the signs that Tilly made. You can see Cooper in the screen capture below. On a side note, nice radar image on channel 16's website on this cloudless day.

My New Ride

I got my new bike today. Rides like a dream! Even came with a bell!

The Tandem

We have a forty year old Schwinn Twinn tandem that my mom and dad bought in the late 60s. I used to ride in a baby-seat on the back when I was a toddler.

When I was in middle school it was the coolest ride around. My friends and I used to fit as many as seven people on it. Mike, Toby and I did some pretty amazing "tandem tricks" along the golf course rode in Nappanee during these years. Well, I'm not sure how amazing they were, but I know I would not attempt them today as they involved completely rearranging the seating positions of the three riders without stopping the bike.

The past few years we've used it as an extra bike. My dad and I rode it last summer when he was here. Kristi's parents use it sometimes to go on family bike rides with us. Pastor Paul and Laresa rode it out to McDonald's with us last summer. Recently, Kylee and Makenna have grown tall enough to ride on the back seat. I know it won't be long until Kylee and Makenna can ride it together by themselves. Who knows, maybe some day their kids will be riding the tandem.

I'm on a Diet

It's called the "Don't Drink So Stinkin' Much Mt. Dew Diet." I made it up myself. Here are the basics.

• Don't drink very much pop
• If hungry between meals, eat some fruit or Cheerios
• Try not to eat too much, especially junky stuff
• Get some exercise

I've lost about six pounds in the last six weeks. Today I dropped below 140 for the first time in a few years. I don't think I have weighed under 130 since 2000. That's my goal.

Bike Switch

I sold my mountain bike! The new owner is an 11 year old boy from Saxtons River, Vermont. I was hoping to avoid having to ship it. Although, I am glad it sold because I already bought my new bike, a "bike path bike" this time. Definitely a step down on the coolness factor, but a step up in riding comfort. The new bike is on order and is supposed to arrive early next week!