More Weight Loss!

I'm still loosing weight. The last few days I have weighed in at 189 lbs. I think it's great that I am losing weight but Janis and momma are getting worried. Back in late January or early February when I started on a diet, and weighed about 250 lbs, I told Janis I would look older and people would say, "Oh, you're loosing too much weight," or "I think you've lost enough." Well, it's happening, and Janis is joining them. Now, we didn't know at that time that I would soon be on medication that would help with my diet (that's the way I look at it). I lost about 20 lbs. before medication and I've lost about 40 since beginning the medical treatment - a total of 60 lbs. since January.
I'm glad I'm loosing the weight but the medication has taken away that drive that's always demanding more food. I guess some would say that I have lost my appetite. I've gone from a size 44 waist to a size 38. Now, think about it. My closet was full of size 42s and a few 44s. I especially liked those pants with the additional few inches supplied by the stretchy waist band. Now, having a smaller waist, I go to the closet and pull out just about any pair of pants and they are too large. That means I've got to buy some new clothes. Well I did that and bought some 40s. Ah yes! That felt much better, but when the 40s began to be too large I decided to try 38s. Ah yes again! So now I have a few 38s and a few 40s and a lot of 42s. Who knows? Before my 23 more weeks of treatment is over, I may have to buy some 36s.
I can hear momma and Janis right now. "Oh no you're not. We're not going to let you lose any more weight. You are going to eat."
My reply is, "We'll see."
I am still overweight, so whats the big deal. Let me lose about 15 more lbs. and then I'll start eating some of those delicious, dripping with juice, Wendy's hamburgers, and frosties, and maybe even a few french fries. Oh, yeah! I know I could gain it all back when I'm off the medicine. Now, there's a scary thought. But by the help and grace of God, I'm not going to gain it back. You know when people gain back the weight they've lost, they always gain more. My prayer: "Oh Lord! Please help me to never gain too much weight again. Amen!"

Carpe Diem

I’ve just picked up a book entitled Carpe Diem – Making the Most of Every Day with a Serious Illness by Ed Madden, published and copyrighted by Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc. in 1993. Ed Madden was a newspaper columnist for ‘The Reporter’, ‘The Dorchester Reporter’ I think. I’ve only read the Preface, the Acknowledgements and the first of His 53 entries, each about one and a half pages long, but it has inspired me to share a portion of it with you as I read. Here are some highlights of his first entry entitled “The Journey Begins”.

“I have just entered upon a new adventure, the most exciting, challenging, spirited experience of all my 53 years. I’ve discovered I have cancer.
“Of course, had I been given the choice…the ailment would most definitely not have won out. But, as in so many of the other wonderful things that have happened to me – my birth, choice of parents and siblings, my rearing in Boston, my schooling, my magnificent body and looks, the choice was not mine.
“I can hate it, fume against it, pout and sulk, but that hurts only me. Or I can put it in its place and go on about my business, and that’s what I intend to do.
“But just as Ireland engaged Italy in the recent quarter-finals of the World Soccer cup, knowing the outcome in advance, I will enter my game with gusto and play with all my heart. I’ll use the best resources that medical science has to offer me, but I have something even better – my own will and desire and spirit….
“Of course, I will be the winner too. It will be through the agency of this cancer that I will pass over the River Jordan to the Elysian Fields, where the peace and happiness never end.
“I decided to go public with my illness…to assist others to whom the revelation of their cancers or other terminal illnesses has been devastating. It always helps to know that we have companions on a journey.
“Horatius Flaccus, the Roman poet whom we know familiarly as Horace, said it well: Carpe diem.”

Now, if you are reading this, you apparently have access to the www, so do a google search on Carpe diem and see what the wikipedia definition is. For those of you who cannot do that right now, lest you forget, I’ll do it for you. “Carpe diem is a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace (Odes 1.11). It is popularly translated as seize the day, although a more literal translation of "carpe" would be "pluck" (pluck the day), as in the picking or plucking of fruit.”

Seize the day!

Some More Good Songs

THE CRABB FAMILY
Please Come Down To Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybv_z4_6pi4
The Reason That I'm Standing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6inf3Z1R-I
Through The Fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP4OvUU-ZHU
He Came Looking For Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=advyy6JOuBw
Still Holding On http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA3vFs0VgD4

CASTING CROWNS
If We Are The Body http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4wojcSO9Ww
Does Anybody Hear Her? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIim2Hvz0sE
Praise You In This Storm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji2rLXr3cEU
Voice Of Truth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hVeZJA8rJ4
Set Me Free http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aJ1sLokTNs

My Health Progress and My Honey-Do Progress

It's been ten days since I have posted a blog! Shame on me! But I have been moving right along. Some 'up' days and some 'down' days. I have just finished week number 24 of my 48 week journey. At my next doctor visit, I will give a little more blood for the test that will determine the viral load. If you remember, I started with a 7.2 million reading and after about 13 weeks it was down to 164,000. That's good, Yeah! I'm expecting to hear them tell me that the load is undetectable when I get the results from my next encounter with the blood needle. Hmmmmmmmmm! I will still have the remainder of the 48 week journey to complete, so I may still have some days that are not real good but what I've experienced thus far, I can cope with for 24 more weeks, if I just don't get sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Just so you'll know that I am not an invalid, here are some pictures of what I have been doing. Those of you who remember the way it was will perhaps appreciate it more than others. Oh, and also, this is not really just so you can see that I'm doing good in my body, but it is also for the purpose of bragging I suppose. :o - lol

I've added a new blogger!

Jennifer Baldridge is my youngest daughter. She lives and works in Sulphur, LA. She loves cajun food, as does her husband Bill, and I guess that's why she cleans teeth for a living. Her blog address is: http://toothsleuth.blogspot.com/.

Hurt

Have you heard this one. It just let's you know how life is passing by, and everything that means so much to us now will soon be dirt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

Just Ramblin!

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, will be the beginning of week #23 for me of my medical therapy. That means only 25 more weeks to go. I'm almost half way through this ordeal. I've not been doing any work since Friday, so I have been doing pretty good. I plan to start back to my 'honey do' chores tomorrow. That may wear me out, but I can't just sit here and do nothing. Now, I'll admit that I sit at the computer a lot but as much as I enjoy it, I still get tired of it sometimes. I could go shopping all day at Wal-mart but that would definitely wear me out, plus, you gotta consider the money factor. :( I could visit people all day long, if they were at home, but even that becomes a chore. I think the best thing for me to do is just keep on doing little improvements here on my house, which will probably wear me out. I'll just work slow and rest often and take all the sympathy and attention that my wife offers. Now, I wouldn't take candy from a baby! Would I? ............ Nah!

I have been blessed today with the visit of my brother Fred, and his wife Frances, and my cousin from Florida, Junius, and his wife. They really love God and are wonderful people. We've never had the privilege of getting close to or relatives, so when we have the opportunity we do like to ensure ourselves that we have them. You know, that is the cost of choosing to get close to God. As we tried to get close to Him, He called and said, "Go Preach the Gospel"! So, in order to stay close to Him, we have to go where He says to go and be what He says to be. With my Dad and Mom that was also true. As a result, while I was very young, the Louis Brannen family left Florida to follow God's leading. It was always a highlight to go to Grandma's house for Christmas and occasionally in the summer also. Believe it or not, I did not know that there are so many Brannen's in this world, until I began to discover it on the WWW. I am not alone. The Brannen family is not alone. There are more of us out there. Ain't that something?!

I guess it was about time - Time to sell my boat that I have never moved out of my yard. I've had it about two years and it has not been out of my back yard, so I decided to sell it. I can use the money for something really important you know, like getting a new computer. :) It wasn't a new boat, nor was it a big boat, but I thought surely I would use it and go fishing now and then but I never did. My neighbour is all the time asking me if I am ready to go fishing and I am all the time never ready. I think that is a shame. Fishing is Biblical you know. Oh! and by the way, so is carpentry. I guess if I can't go fishing, I'll just enjoy doing my little bit of carpentry work.