Here's your sign...

You just gotta wonder about some people.
I was reading about the County Treasurer from Alcona County who got involved in an email scam. The story says:

Thomas Katona, 56, was arraigned in Harrisville today after an investigation that began in December when county officials learned he had directed eight unauthorized wire transfers totaling $186,500 to beneficiaries linked to the Nigerian Advance scheme, Cox said in a statement. Investigators also found that Katona had wired $72,500 of his own money to the same accounts.

So, not only did the guy steal a big portion of the counties funds, but he emptied his bank account also.
What makes this really hit home for me is that I've got a ton of family that lives in Alcona County. Those people up there can't really afford to have this kind of stuff happen.
You just have to wonder how this guy got his job don't you? I'm sure this couldn't have been his first brush with stupidity. I guess this just goes to show you that stupid people should come with their own sign.

If you've ever thought about responding to one of those email scams, hopefully the PSA below will disuade you:

Happy Birthday

My wife and I got to meet a new member of our extended (re: work) family yesterday. Her name is Mia and she is: a doll; cutie; sweetheart; (unpack your own adjective here, just as long as it's sweet!).

Her folks are some of the nicest people you're gonna meet.
We've gotten to know them over the last few years and really enjoy their company.

We got her some cute little boots and an pink outfit that she won't be able to wear until sometime next year :)

If we were more clever (which wouldn't be hard), we would have gotten them something from one of the white trash stores (you know, Old Navy, The Gap, etc) cause little Mia's mommy is a bit picky on the stores she goes into (and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to tease her about it).

I'm always reminded of the line from the Ded Bob Show where Ded Bob says he's gonna be all over this lady like, and I quote, 'Old Navy on White Trash'.
That may be, just may be, the funniest thing ever said by a puppet.
What makes it particularly funny is that we like Old Navy close and don't really dispute our White Trashi-ness!

We could have gone over the top and bought her something from White Trash Mecca, Wal-Mart, but that would have just been mean, and everyone knows I'm not just mean.

Anyways, I digress and say, congrats to the (once again) new mommy and daddy!
All looks to be fine as wine and dandy as candy.


*couldn't find a good poem with Mia in it, so I found the next best thing....enjoy

Found it on eBay

Well, I've done it. After years and years of procrastination I've gone and done it.

I've bought AND sold on eBay.

I can't really say why I've never really bought much on eBay. I've shopped there many many times, but always preferred Brick and Mortor stores to the eShopping of eBay. That's all changed.

We recently upgraded our cell phone service and for doing that, we received two new Razr cell phones from Motorola. That was cool...free is almost always good. It was cool until I went to buy car chargers and belt clips for both of them. At the verizon store, they were (you may need to sit for this) $40.00 A PIECE for a charger clip combo. $80 bucks for some plastic and wire.

Well, that's silly. So, off to eBay I went. Bought THE SAME THING on eBay (new, yes, brand spanking new) for $13.00 for both. Including shipping and handling. That is a savings of, what, $67.00. That's not chump change there. That's real cheese.

So, seeing as I was now the eBay king, because I saved $67.00, I decided to sell some speakers that I've had for a few years. So, I dialed up eBay, signed up as a seller, and auctioned off two speakers. Some dude from Georgia bought them yesterday for $200.00 plus $20.00 Shipping and Handling. Nice. A good deal for both of us.

Not sure if I'll do a bunch more of either buying or selling on eBay, but it's proven to be a fun little experience. I'm considering letting the kids give this a try. Find a toy or something that they don't use/play with/like anymore and see if they can sell it. I think it'll be an educational thing for them to do...the whole free market thing. We'll see.

In any case, if you've been hesitent to give eBay a try or any kind of electronic shopping, start with something small, where there is an obvious savings for you and see if you enjoy the experience. Saving gobs of money should be fun for all.

The Geek Shall Inherit The Earth

There's the famous saying, "Be nice to geeks, cause someday you're going to work for one!"
That's very very true. Think of the difference between old school companies and new, high tech companies.
Whereas in many cases they both started in a Garage (Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, The Guys from HP, Apple) the type of people who started those machines are very different.
However, they both have one thing, one major thing, in common. CREATIVITY.

This SOC was generated based on this here shirt at Think Geek dot com

This is clever. It's inside baseball. It's all the things that the Fellowship of the Geek like (unless you're part of the HATE BLOG subculture, in which, you're not reading this anyway and I really don't care).

But most of all, it's creative.

IMHO creativity is looking at some 'thing', be it technology, process, nature, people, whatever, and you put a twist to it that no one has seen or thought of. That, by itself, isn't enough to make something 'creative'. To make it creative, its got to be 'gotten'. (get it?)
People, even if it's a small group of nerds, will look at it and go 'Dude!! Why didn't I think about that??"
Nowadays, Geeks do that better than anyone.

I went to the doctor and the doctor said....

So, today was my follow-up appointment for the doctors.
I went last month for the first time in forever. I didn't like my old doctor. Didn't like him at all. I'd wait for an hour in the waiting area, then another half hour or so in the little room (it was generally such a long wait that they actually put little TV's in there to keep you occupied). When he finally would grace me with his presence, it was for 2 minutes or less, only to be given a prescription for something or another and told to lose weight.
Note to Doctors everywhere: People who need to lose weight, generally know it.

As a result of this frustration, I stopped going. Stupid? Yes. Surprising? No.

Lots of people have this same frustration, I'm sure. You go to a doctors for a while because that's the one you've always gone too. Once it's realized that he/she's a creep/bad/stupid/lazy/scammer/(unpack your own adjective) you stop going and are afraid to find a new one.
Or, maybe it's just me.

One way or another, my wife found a doctor she really liked and convinced me to give her a try. She was sure I would like her. I did and I do.

As a result of this, I went to the doctors last month. After taking my Blood Pressure, the nurse asked me why I was still alive.
"A little high?" I suggested.
"Um, yeah. Like King Kong was a little gorilla."
She didn't have to be snarky!

So, after spending quite a while with the doc, and getting a prescription for some BP meds, off I went, vowing to lose weight and bring my blood pressure under control (and liking my doctor for the first time since....ever).

Fast forward to this morning. My BP is now on the low side of normal and my weight is dropping. I still got all the other out of shape and over weight things to worry about (cholesterol and tri-glycerides), but those will come under submission with the diet and exercise.

Maybe I will make that 40th birthday party.

Glittering Jewels of Colossal Ignorance part 2

Ok, so, I think if you spend much time at all watching/listening/reading the news you find some people doing some things that make you scratch your head and go "hmmmmmm".
The latest among a long line of people who should win the Darwin Award is this lady from California who died from drinking too much water.
However, that doesn't really make her a Glittering Jewel of Colossal Ignorance. It just makes her stupid.
No, the GJCI is her family. They are filing a WRONGFUL DEATH lawsuit against the radio station for KILLING THEIR DAUGHTER. The local police are looking into filing charges against the radio station (DJ's?)
Now, I'm not sure about whether or not a crime was committed but to sue someone over this seems utterly ridiculous.

Think about this. You sign up for a contest to win a video game (No Wee for a Wii or something like that). You decide to drink water and not go to the bathroom for a week in order to win this. Now, I realize that no one really thinks that drinking water will kill you, but wouldn't you think that, after you start feeling bad, you do a little research, realize that you can die from this and give it up????
I would. I would also think, if I'm one of her parents "Gee, my daughter was a moron for doing this!" Not "Gee, my daughter was duped and someone is gonna pay!".

I also understand that she had three children that need to be taken care of and if they win the lawsuit those kids will be helped. But, shouldn't the mom have thought about those three kids before she did something that COULD KILL HER?
I'm sure the game she wanted to win was for those kids, but that's hardly justification.

At some point, people are going to have to start to take responsibility for their actions and ought not be able to push that responsibility off on anyone else.
She signed up for the contest.
She got sick
She either didn't do research or did do research and ignored it
She died.
No one forced her. From what I read, no one lied to her.
Does her family deserve any money because she was an idiot?

Or, am I just being mean?

Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow? Here's why!

For all of you who have a hard time being efficient and can relate to the following, found on a T-Shirt:

Top Ten Reasons to Procrastinate:
1.

There is now a scientific explanation* for your malady.
In effect:

"Steel's formula, called the Temporal Motivation Theory, calculates procrastination like Albert Einstein's equation for energy, E=MC2. It factors the person's expectancy for succeeding at a given task (E) or self-confidence; the value of completing the task (V); its immediacy or availability (Gamma); and the person's sensitivity to delay (D) to come up with the desirability of the task (Utility)."

I love the highlighted quote from the article, where the professor who came up with this explanation talks about the 'motivationaly toxic environment' that people live in an likens it to dieting:

Imagine trying to diet with a magic floating spoon of ice cream following you around.
--Piers Steel, professor
University of Calgary

Of course, my spoon would be carrying Rocky Road ice cream with chocolate syrup drizzled on top and maybe a touch of whip cream....oh the humanity!

I think the key quote in the story is where Steel says

"The heart of procrastination is an adaptive natural tendency to value today much more than tomorrow,"

That's so true when I'm putting things off that I should, but don't want to, do. Right now is so very important, but by doing and living that way, I am, in effect, devaluing later! Wow, what a cool way to look at it.

*note the date for this publishing...so many great things are born that day!

A time to reflect..

Ok, so, two weeks into the New Year, how are you doing?
I hope all is well and you are becoming the person you ought to be. I'm feeling a bit introspective today and started thinking about how my New Year's resolutions are doing.

I'm pretty happy with the results so far.
I feel closer to my family than ever. Not quite sure how to explain it, but something seems to have clicked with me and the boys. They've always been (and really continue to be) closer to my wife then to me, but lately they've seem to have find a bigger place in their heart for me. Gotta love that.
Marion and I have always clicked in that fashion and still she continues to be daddy's little girl.
As for my wife, I still get amazed at how much I care about this woman. We've been married for 15 years, and I love her way more today than I did then. We've gotten to be even better friends, even though she's been my best friend for as long as I can remember.
So, resolution 1: on track

I've lost 11 pounds so far this year. I'm on a bit of a plateau right now, but even though the weight isn't going away, I'm looking a bit thinner in the mirror, so that's cool
Resolution 2: on track

I feel like my mental disposition has changed a bit, but not nearly enough. I still get sullen and have a difficult time pulling out of it, but I recognize both when it's happening and why it's happening and am working at getting out of the funk when it does happen and prevent it from happening as much. I think more than a little of this is because we've not been in church as much as we need to have been. That's changing now that we've found a new church to call home.
Resolution 3: On track (but behind schedule)

We've even gotten a bit of control on spending. Still got a lllloooonnnngggg way to go but you gotta start somewhere. Besides, this was the long shot resolution.
Resolution 4: still to early to tell.

How are you doing? Many people don't make resolutions, either because they always fail or because the feel that this is a never ending effort that shouldn't begin arbitrarily at the beginning of each year, but still.
How are you doing?
Do you like who you are?
Who you are becoming?

I hope you find yourself where you need to be. I'm of the mind that, no matter what this year has in store; good or bad; sickness or health; feast or famine that I'm going to become the person who I ought to be. The Christian, husband, father, son, brother, in-law, employee and person that I ought to be.

It's good to be me.

What a weekend. VV nice.
I'd like to thank the family and friends who came over to the house yesterday to help celebrate my birthday. You all rock so hard the house shakes!
We had a brazillion people over; half of them seemed to be girls!
I got to see the cutest thing ever. We had 6 (count 'em 6) girls under thirteen stay the night last night (in age they were 6, 6, 8, 10, 10, 12) plus my two boys (6, 12) playing Dance Dance Revolution (DDR)...all at once. It was like having my own Chorus line in my living room. That was the definition of cute (I know, I looked it up and there was a picture of the 8 of them playing DDR).
All of my wife's immediate family came over and it was sooooo nice to see them all. Billie and John brought little Eden's (known as 7 of 10) Pony Walker over and she was zooming all over the living room.
Missy and Brian stopped brought their three over with them(all girls, one of which stayed the night!)
And Nick and Sabrina came with Mal (Bad, in the latin) who may be about the most handsome little boy ever.
The Wallace's and their Daughter, Son-in-law and their daughter (who is the second entry in the dictionary under cute) stopped by as well. What a nice surprise and I was sooo happy to see them all.

Also, Sunday was the first day at our new church. Service was excellent and the people there are really great. The Pastor has been a good friend of mine and my families since we were teens. Pray that we are a good fit there.

My buzz got a little harshed late Sunday night when my mom called and told me that my niece and the family she has moved in with are planning on suing my folks for my nieces' social security money. Never mind that my folks DON'T RECEIVE ANY MONEY FOR HER!
When she moved in with that family, I told my pastor that I didn't really harbor any ill will towards them, I just felt sorry for them for what they had brought into their home. Well, that is no longer the case. I'm to the point where I'm wishing gobs and gobs of ill will on them. Not a place I like to be in.

My guess is that's it's either a bluff or a lie, but that's really beside the point. I can't believe that a lawyer, being the wise, upstanding people they are, would take their case.


Not much to do in either case....what comes around goes around and these things have a way of getting worked out.

Oh, and BTW, Happy MLK Day folks. Keep the dream alive!

This is the day that the Lord has made....

Famous People Born on January 11:
Actress Amada Peet born 1972
Singer Mary J. Blige born 1971
Husband, Father and all around good guy Donnie Castaldini
Singer Naomi Judd born 1946
The L'Esperance quintuplets

Significant events on January 11:
1787 - Uranus' moons Titania and Oberon discovered by William Herschel. (editors note: "Does anyone else find if funny that Uranus and moons are mentioned in the same sentence?")
1805 - The Michigan Territory was created.
1843 - Francis Scott Key, American lawyer and writer of the National Anthem died. (editors note: "Oh say ain't that sad?")
1861 - Alabama seceded from the Union. (editors note: "Why did we let them back in?")
1902 - "Popular Mechanics" magazine debuts
1934 - Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. (editors note: "You go girl!")
1964 - The first government report regarding the dangers of cigarette smoking was issued by the U.S. Surgeon General, Luther Terry.
1964 - Billboard magazine publishes its first country and western album chart. At Number One: Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire album.
1969 - Shirley Castaldini gives birth to her third (and final) child.
1973 - Baseball's American League adopted the "designated hitter" rule which allowed another player to bat for the pitcher.
1974 - The world's first surviving set of sextuplets are born to Susan Rosenkowitz in Cape Town, South Africa.
1978 - Ibn-e-Insha, Pakistani humorist and Urdu poet died (editors note: "Gotta love that Pakistani humor!")
1980 - Rupert Holmes was at the top of the pop music charts, with "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)".
1995 - The WB Television Network begins operations. (editors note: "Should they apologize?"
2003 - Outgoing Illinois governor George Ryan cleared the state's death row by commuting the sentences of 167 inmates. (editors note: "MORON")
2007 - Bill Ford Jr. gives his entire share of Ford Stock to (then) little known employee Donnie Castaldini, who uses his new found fame and fortune to turn the company around financilly, making it the most successful business (of any type) in history.
And of course, every year on this date, the planets align, stars shine brighter and cats and dogs live in peace.

That time of year (revised)

It's approaching that wonderful time of year again. For 37 years now, on January 11th, planets align, stars shine brighter and cats and dogs live in peace. For one day. My birthday. Yippee.

My wife has asked me to post my birthday list.
"Post my birthday list?" I thought. "hmmm...isn't that a bit pretentious?"
Probably, but I'm gonna do it anyway but I'm going to also post the 'why' of the list item.
Without further ado, the birthday wish list of a semi-nerdy-geeky-but-ultimately-way-cool-guy.

1. The Communist Party T-Shirt. This is the funniest t-shirt I believe I have ever seen. I like funny things, and if the thing is funny AND clever, OMG it doesn't get any better than that! Threadless.com has tons of cool t-shirts...thumb thru the site and I bet you'll find something you like.

2. New addition to the "Galaxies Greatest Vehicles" collection. At work I have several models that I call the Galaxies Greatest Vehicles. These are: The 65 Ford Mustang, The P-51D Mustang WWII Fighter plane, a small scale model of the Millenium Falcon, X-Wing Fighter and a Ford GT40. I'd like this collection to grow, so whatever you think falls into this category would be shiny. Some suggestions: Millenium Falcon model, The Mach 5 from Speed Racer, another Mustang wouldn't hurt and Serenity.

3. Books. I read books in bunchs....I'll go through several books in a row then not read anything for a year. Well, that year is about up. The last book I read (I think) is book 4 in the Pendragon series. A good book. However, I'm looking for something different. I've been itching to re-read and finish the series of books from the Mythadventures series by Robert Aspirin. I started reading these in college and was upset when Asprin stopped writing them. After a few years though, he started again and I never picked it up again. These are books that my oldest son will ADORE so if you can find a set of them, that would be awesome! Another couple of books I'd like to read are by Wil Wheaton. He's got two, Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek. I started reading his blog a few months ago and found that I really enjoy his style of writing. For those of you who don't know who Wil is, he played Ensign Wesley Crusher on the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV show.

4. Guitar Stuff. I'm working at playing my guitar more. I have a few guitar tab books (Bob Seger, Mtv's Top 100 songs, and I think one called 100 Pop Songs). I like to play songs I know (I know, weak!). I like a pretty wide range of music, from John Denver and Johnny Cash to Jimmy Buffet and Harry Chapin. I also needs some new guitar strings for my Acoustic. I love the guitar. I thank and credit my Brother in Law, John, with getting me re-interested in the guitar a few years back.

5. Finally, stuff for the house. I'm really, really (no seriously REALLY) hating to admit this, but I'm starting to get taken with IKEA stuff. We've got a couple of IKEA shelves, and I'd like to add a few more of the same to our collection. Whereas the shopping experience at IKEA is akin to stabbing myself in the eye (but only, like, twice), the range of stuff you can get and the inventive sundries are pretty sweet.

6. This falls under the category of: Please God?!?@?---R2D2

Did somebody get the license plate of that bus?

Wow. Backwards. Wow. Anyway you look at it: WOW!
Yesterday was our last service at the church we've called home for more than 15 years.
When we told our Pastor that we were leaving (reasons and all) we left it for him to decide what the best way for us to go would be. Whatever would make it better for the church. Since we have been pretty active members in our church, we weren't sure if we should just leave without saying goodbye or what. It was his choice.
After some deliberation, he mentioned that he and the Asst. Pastor thought it best if we came back for one more service to say goodbye. That service was yesterday.

I'm not sure what I thought would happen. Really didn't have much of a frame of reference. I figured that near the end of the service he would say something or another and we would come up front and have the church pray for us and say our goodbyes. Simple.
One snag, however. The sermon.

The Asst. Pastor preached yesterday. We've known him for the last few years, since he came to our church to help when our Pastor was diagnosed with cancer and would have to go through radiation treatments and all. It was a good thing he and his wife did coming to our church. His wife and I had worked together for the last year or so in the Kid's Church Sunday School program.

I don't recall all the scripture verses that he used in his sermon....they were in the book of Joel. However, to our ears, the sermon sounded something like: Get ready church, it's gonna be a great year because TODAY is the day the God is getting rid of all the troubles and problems that have PLAGUED THE CHURCH FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS!!!
That's it in a nutshell. He spent twenty minutes telling the church that today was the last day of trouble. God was purging, pruning, burning, getting rid of the junk. The Northern Army was defeated and leaving. Yippee!

Then, when he was done, and people prayed for a few moments, the Pastor got up and told the church we were leaving. (Coincidence? I think not.)
Of course by this time, Kim had left, humiliated and upset.
Like I said, I wasn't sure what to expect, but to be asked to come to church on that day to say farewell, and then to have to listen to a sermon like that was not really on the top ten lists of things that I would have expected to happen.

What makes it even harder is that we had planned (are planning?) to go to the Ypsi church starting next week. However, the Pastor of that church is now a board member of the church we've just left. If we are seen as such a problem, will they want us? Will they see us in the same light? Are we a problem? Who knows.
Another problem is that we had planned on still calling that church our home. We've got so many good friends there, so many good memories. Would we be welcome back there? Can that still be home if we have been "pruned"?

When it all comes down to where the rubber meets the road, it feels like we were made an example yesterday, and I kinda guess we thought we didn't deserve that.

Who knows, maybe it's true. Maybe we have been a problem in the church all these years. All I know is, yesterday hurt. It hurt me and it hurt my wife. It hurt a lot and will probably hurt for a while.

Goodbye Westland...goodbye.

Crud.

One week in....

Ok, so we have one full week in the books. Time to review this years resolutions:
1. Working well on not taking the important things for granted. Because I was sick last week and the kids didn't have school I got to spend a bunch of Q-Time with the kidos and Kim. Muy Bueno.
2. The weight loss thing is in full effect. I lost a whopping (sw) 6 pounds in the last week. Would have liked that to be more, but when I realized that is more than 10 percent of my goal, then I'm ok with it.
3. Doing ok at the sullen-ness. Had a bout with it on Saturday but got over it.
4. Not spending so much money. Failing miserably (see 3)

How are you doing? Keep tabs on your resolutions and don't give up. You can do it.

Preachy Feet

Went to the movies yesterday with Kim, the Kids and my Mom and Dad in law. We went to the IMAX to see Night at the Museum. Problem was that Night at the Museum wasn't playing at the IMAX. So, we decided to see Happy Feet instead. What can be cuter than penguins dancing, right? Plus it has Robin Williams! How bad can it be?
Well, it wasn't bad. If you can get past the whole "Religious people are a bunch of backwater idiots" and "The human race is soooo evil that they are killing everything everywhere" then you'll really enjoy yourself.
If you can't, then you'll just have to enjoy the very good animation, the great music (everywhere from Queen's to Motown) and the whole IMAX experience.
As for me, I enjoyed the animation and music...the message was a bit annoying.

All Good Things....part 2

Sunday, my family crosses a rubicon. It will be our farewell service at the church we've attended for the last 18 years. In that time I have been:
Member
Sunday School Teacher (for toddlers, children, teens and adults)
Sunday School Superintendant
Board Member
Choir Member
Bass Guitar Player
Service Lead
and
Occasional Preacher

That's a lot of myself to leave in a place.
It's funny, I feel peace at leaving to go to a new church, but at the same time, I feel really sad for leaving. Pastor and Sis. Roberts are two of my family’s dearest friends, and I feel sad to leave them and their work. I do believe it's the right thing for me, my family and for that church though, so I don't feel bad or feel like it's the wrong thing to do.

Next week we are going to go to the Ypsi church. I'm not sure if that is where we'll end up for good, but that's the church we started out at so it's a good place to start.
We've got tons of friends there still, many of which we've kept in touch with over the years. It'll be interesting to see how things work out.
The touchiest part of the whole new church thing will be seeing how the children take to the new church. Mitch will be fine, I'm sure. The twins, however, like change much less than their younger brother and will have to acclimate to the new environment. I'm sure they will and our hope is that they will meet new friends there that they can have for the rest of their lives.

Silver Lining

I've been sick. The (hopefully) last sicko in a long line of sickoes. Most of my family have had this bugger of a stomach flu over the last week or so. It got me yesterday.
So, as a result, I worked from home today. I like working from home...I can do most of my job here, so it works out well.
One of the best things about working from home, especially when the kids are home, is the kids.
Today, I got to watch the three of them play Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). (While on a break from work, of course). Honestly, you've never seen funny until you watch Mitch play DDR. His feet, arms and legs whirl around like you wouldn't believe. And the grin on his face goes from ear to ear. Just watching him makes me laugh out loud.
So, sure, being sick blows, but everything cloud has a silver lining.

The Saga Begins...

A long, long time ago. In a pair of blue jeans far, far too small...

Ok folks, here it is...time to start those resolutions. I'm hoping that this'n blog thingy helps me keep them. Anyway, starting today, is the kinder, gentler more me me.
What I love about the New Year is that it at least gives you a chance. A chance to be the you that you've always wanted to be. Sure life can jump up an kick you in the nards, but there is always the chance that it doesn't. Why expect it to. Why not expect the better or even the best.
There was a time when I was always optomistic. Always looked for the good in things....everything was Shiny! I've kinda lost that over the last few years and I don't like that.
Don't you want to be the person you've always wanted to be?
Slimmer? Wittier? Funnier? Pray more? Exercise more? Nicer?
Visit your folks more often? Get together with your Brother or Sister more often? Read a popular novel? Start a blog? Be a better employee? Be a better (fill in the blank)?
It's the first of the year and you can do any/all of these things if you choose. You've got the chance, all you need is a kick in the pants and some determination.
As for me, I'm gonna give it a shot.
My big goal is to lose 50 pounds THIS YEAR! I'm starting today at 270 pounds. Not as big as I've ever been (I was 284 a few years back) but way bigger than I should be. I'm going to lose 50 pounds and I'm going to do it this year. More excersise and less chocolate (and cake and candy and blah blah blah).
Of course there are the other resolutions that I've made that I will be working on keeping as well.
Good luck and may the force be with you!

Happy New Years!

Happy New Year everyone!!!