Russellsphere

We had a great weekend working on the yard; and we watched the latest Dreamworks Dragon movie; which was fantastic.

Most important of all…

Was that we put down a deposit for a FENCE; this is a massive step forward for the Russell family. There is this one kid who ignores my pleas to go around the yard; and runs through and tramples everything. I want to put spikes in the yard to impale his feet; but my kids might run into them.

A more effective solution will be the fence; and we can’t wait. We have quite a bit of land out in the ‘shrubs’ and pine trees; and we will have the opportunity to clean it all up and have a really AWESOME BACKYARD PARADISE. The fence should be born; May 3rd – can’t wait.

So a week ago; I had to work Sunday; and I didn’t eat much – and I had to work a great deal Monday; and I had to work a great deal all week. The product of all that work; I am immensely proud of; but I need to get rest so I can fully realize the accomplishment that was made by myself and my fellow team members. It is a new website; and it is stunning; it truly is.

With that said; I started taking a natural based diet pill 1 week ago today; and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The stress of the week; has made me less hungry anyway; and the pills have been VERY good at decreasing my appetite. So this week has been a springboard for a new diet plan. I don’t necessarily see it; as a ‘diet’ as ‘diets’ are not long term; none are. I am trying; and I know its a big feat; I am trying to change how and why I eat. I’m going to start eating; because I need to eat; eat to live; not live to eat.

It will take time; and I have to be patient; I have done this once before – but I made a fatal mistake. I set a target – 50 lbs – and I lost that 50 lbs and it was amazing; I can’t explain how wonderful it is to feel having that weight ‘lifted’ – my biggest memory of those days; is going to Target and picking out shirts that could fit me- I just loved it; I was a shirt fiend. I want to feel that again; and feel good about myself – but the mistake I made back then; was that I was obsessed with a number – the number 50. Once that goal was reached; I quickly slipped back and gained it all back.

Then of course; there was a phase of resentment and sadness; but that only held me back from losing weight. It took two years; but I have reset and I am truly ready to do again ;with some adjustments – one step at a time. I have no specific goal in mind – I am simply going to lose weight; back then – I was obsessed with recording my weight sometimes daily; this time – I will probably weigh once every 2 months. I need to enjoy it and focus on other things other than food.

Ive already cut out at least 1500 calories per day by not getting ANY hot food from our work cafe; thats a big step – and a great starting point. The pills ($4 from walmart; Green Tea; Acai Berry and Hoodia all in one) – are fantastic. I have a long way to go; but Im doing it – and Im already happy. I estimate Ive lost 4lbs this week. Although it doesn’t really matter.

Finally with all this (Ive been reading too many of Ricks blog entries) – I am learning tips and tricks from my wife and applying a facial system to my umm face; which is youthernizing me. I mean; I want to feel good; so I feel this is an important step. Its a 3 step process each morning; first – REPAIR system from Mario someone; then YOURTH SURGE with SPF 15 moisturizer- and finally; eye repair kit from Clinique for baggy eyes. My cheeks – which were a little acnefied have already been repaired. Im super impressed.

Now time to go geocaching; Nick and Jenny are going to visit Nicks 1st grade teacher at home (shes on bed rest for pregnancy) and hes very excited. I know he will have a great time.

We are compiling a DVD of footage for Jenny’s Father and step mother David and Kathy. I have never met them; so I am (as we all are) very excited about meeting. They are coming down to visit around the end of April; and it will be great. They have slower internet access; so David has not seen many of the videos we have out there (we have many..) – and so we will compile it on a DVD. As I understand it; technicians have told them it will be a month yet since they have to ‘bury’ a line. In my experience; this usually means 3-4 months.

So to hold them; we’re going through our VAST array of pictures and video; and I am updating and reindexing and doing all sorts of nerd like stuffs. Here are 3 gems I found just perusing through :-)

Emily has developed a new scientific element called ‘Heron’. This is what she calls Lauren now. Using a precise calculation; she merged the previous name she used for Lauren (Her) – and merged it with the proper name Lauren; hence the ‘en’ at the end which sounds sometimes like ‘on’. & so Heron is born.

HERON as she screams for attention.

I have a side business called NEL Development (Nicholas Emily Lauren) ;-) – and it has some good business; I have fun with it. Well I came up with a FAQ database; so it gives my customers a fall-back information repository; just in case they switch to someone else (hopefully not..) – its just good practice. Well I used a simple WordPress template to deliver the information; its working out really well; and easy too. I’ll definitely put it in place for all my clients.

We had a great time in Augusta today – we visited Rinharts for Fish and Chips; found 3 Geocaches; had ice cream at Cold Stone – walked along the broadwalk; and on the way back hit Target and Starbucks. Phew – it was a tiring and enjoyable day!

All pics

Augusta GA

Snapshot

GPS Embedded Photo Map

The Russell twintette and Daddy found 2 more geocaches today; FINALLY found the Red Robin one; I challenge a beginner to find that one; its nigh on impossible – but I got a hint from a friendly soul; and found it – OMG its so clever. Anyway; we got it; thats what counts; and a burger too. Can’t beat that.

BTW – I had no idea Alligators were at the Clemson EXT !!!!

Emily and I would like to present our Going Home song; developed enroute home from 2 geocaches found on Sunday. Our song is inspiring and complex.