Wednesday, April 29, 2009

May 2009 Birthdays

Since I will be in Amsterdam on 1 May and won't have access to a computer, here is advance notice of May birthdays. This month we have two doubles and a triple.

8th - Terry
13th - Chelsea (12 years)
16th - Tamara (John's daughter) 20 years
16th - Camille
16th - Isabella (2 years)
17th - Gregory
18th - Gaston
18th - Sheung
19th - Jason
22nd - Renauld
22nd - Wendell
26th - Omey (the BIG 80)
30th - Allison (5 years)
31st - Mike

18th - Happy 13th anniversary to Sheung and Lisa
19th - Happy 54th anniversary to Raoul and Omey

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!!

Monday, April 27, 2009

A cousin's reaction to the LLW syndrome....

I will say I was shocked to see that Garnet was afflicted with the LLW syndrome!!!! I know back in the day it was all about who had the tighter six-pack. And from his soccer days, his legs were like tree trunks and his calves were like solid, ripe fruit stuck under stretched plastic wrap. Then at one point he confessed to me his odd work schedule and the bad habit of buying fast food very late and then....going to sleep afterwards! (After reading Garnet's analysis, this sounds like a BIG NO-NO.) He was still strong like an ox, but his skin was noticeably "smooth" as fat had begun to cover those chiseled muscles.

Fast forward to roughly a week ago when he posted pics from his "Daddy & Daughter Day" on Facebook, and I couldn't help but comment saying he looked like the teenager I knew from back in the day. I had to give him props as I know how hard he worked to get that way. Not that he did it to get props from his cousin (I admire his true reasoning about Marisela whole-heartedly) but I imagine the props he gets from Charity is the true icing on the cake. Marisela will dish out props when she's old enough to know what props is. =o)

And I can testify that Sandra is living the LLW life to perfection. Not that any of you needed more evidence by the fact that she looked 25 years old at the reunion. But I clearly remember at a family gathering at Lisa's house (I can't remember what it was for), she didn't give in to the fact that it was a family gathering and she should simply eat what everybody was eating. No, there was separate bake made (with no salt I think) and separate chili prepared (using turkey I think) that she diligently consumed to LLW standards. Hardcore I thought to myself, but you gotta be hardcore about it to be serious. The payoff is that huge laughing smile on her face in the picture Janine posted. LOL

Jay, I got your back 100% cuz! Although coming from me (and all my 120 pounds) it may not mean much, but I know you can do it! I too remember back in the day that you too also had the symptoms of fruit-like calves and I was impressed because it was from all the riding you used to do. (My legs were like twigs and I knew I would have to walk a bike up the hill near your mom's house.) Going out to clubs, you'd get all the ladies attention as your clothes fit just right. I felt like an assistant: "Make way ladies! Tall, Dark and Handsome coming through! Coming through! Please, give the man some room ladies!"

But if there's one thing that stands out to me about your situation....it's that fact that your wife is afflicted with LLW!!! You should be able to catch the disease just by being around her! At the reunion Karen was looking fab and chic....shades and earings in the water and everything! Marriage is a team and you two should team up to live the LLW life! Do like what Garnet said, gut the fridge and stock it with good healthy stuff. Can't eat it if it's not there to eat, right? She can lead the way as she's already living it. Look to her for inspiration as well as motivation to look good FOR her.

Taking on a life-altering mission is so much easier if it's done tag-teaming with a partner. Sure you'll have the whole DNN family behind you, but it starts with you and the people you see everyday. And with Terehz, imagine the good habits you will be instilling in him (as well as De Andre as I'm sure he's already thinking about looking good for the ladies.) Heck, take De Andre with you to the gym and tag-team Father & Son-style. Have the whole family get bikes, get a bike rack and take trips to the park for riding excursions. With the warm weather coming around, start a plan and go for it. You've got two LLW lifers willing, ready and able to give you priceless advice on how to start the plan the right way. Then you, Karen, De Andre and Terehz will be taking family walks for lunch eating a shopping bag full of grapes....and talking about, "Damn skippy we all look good." =o)

-Your cuz, Chris

Sunday, April 26, 2009

An Open Letter To My Family

An open letter to my family;


Not to take anything away from the accomplishments of those in the LLW article but I think it's time I asked my family for their support. I currently weigh about 252 pounds and I would like to lose about 40 of those. For the last few years, I have been able to hide it pretty well - or so I thought. Lately, my clothes don't quite sit right and with the new season, the shorts that fit me last year are a little bit tight. The shorts from last year were bigger than the shorts from the year before. I wear sport jackets over my shirts and ties even on the httest days. There are not too many pictures of me out there and I realize that I avoid them for a reason.

As a kid, I rode my bicycle everywhere. It was my method of transportation. Now? Not so much. Its easy to jump in a car and drive.

So now that I can admit that I have a problem, I have a plan to try to correct it.

1) I loooove to eat and that love affair may have to end. I know that when you eat, it takes 20 minutes of so for your brain to register "full" on the gauge. But I keep eating anyway. I can control that or I ought to be able to control that.

2) I have a fairly good bicycle. I look at it and admire it, I shine it up and repair it but don't ride it as much as I should. I drive to places around here that are easily accessible by bicycle. I can control, or ought to be able to control that.

3) I also know that to achieve results, they must be measurable. Using my current weight as a starting point, I can keep everyone posted on the progress.

So I come humbly to my family - and with a bit of shame - for their support.

If anyone would like to join me as a sponsor (kinda like AA), let me know.....

Wish me luck folks.....

....and thanks Garnet for saying what you said about losing a parent. I will look to Rezzy and DeAndre for inspiration too.

Your cousin/nephew/brother/son/husband/friend;

Jay

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN

Sean, Sorry I can't make it for the party today. You see, I wasn't invited. However, if you can wend your way up north to TO, I will escort you to a Yankees game or, if you prefer I will arrange for someone else to do so. The schedule is as follows: May 12/14, Aug. 4/5 and Sept 4/7. September sound like a good time as you could probably take in the game on Friday night and then meet the rest of the family upstate as it is the labour day weekend. Please say "WER'E ON".
Whatever you do today have fun and enjoy it.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Health Alert: DNN reports Big Losers within the family!

A shocking syndrome affecting millions in the western world has been reported among members of the Duchausee family.This phenomenon is called Long Lasting Weightloss (also known as LLW) and its symptoms include a loss of fat from the body, dramatically increased levels of self esteem and delusions of happiness. There have been at least three reported cases within the Duchaussee family


Sandra T (last names have been withheld) was one of the first in the family struck by the condition.
It was a gradual process I just remember being unhappy with the way my clothes looked and fit. It was crazy because I had never felt that way before. At first the symptoms of the disease were subtle. “I found myself avoiding some foods that struck me as overly greasy or too salty. Gradually I started avoiding more and more foods until I had finally cut out almost anything fried and oily and was only eating fresh fruits and vegetables, small amounts of lean meats and very small amounts of breads and whole grains.”
Helpful nutrition experts working from the grocery stores were baffled. They made heartfelt appeals to get her to return to her pre LLW way of eating including sending coupons and putting certain products on sale, but with no success. The affliction is too deep and most disturbingly the 40 something year old seems delightfully happy. She is actually unwilling to rid herself of the shocking condition. “I know it’s weird for someone my age to be as thin and perhaps thinner than they were 25 years ago” she says peeling a banana “but I don’t want to change. I love carnival costumes and I love putting new holes in my belt. I guess I’m addicted!”

Worse still, it is believed that Sandra T* may have passed LLW on to a family member living in the same city. Karen C* recalls acquiring the condition soon after Sandra. “I started having feelings of always being the biggest one at a party or gathering. And I was even more distressed when no one disagreed with me if I made fat jokes about myself. I’m pretty sure by then I had caught LLW. It hit so hard that no one could help me” The first symptoms were revealed on the social networking site Facebook where she published a status update that read “I will lose 20 pounds by the end of this year”. Though slightly strange it didn’t attract much notice until 9 months later when she appeared in photos wearing elegant shape revealing clothes and having people mistake her son for her little brother. One year later still suffering from the effects of LLW she finds herself walking on her lunch hour with a bag of grapes instead of eating fast food with co-workers. Disoriented and desperate for help she checks in at the gym every night for one hour. Dinner is always a salad. Despite her attempts she isn’t hopeful for a cure. She shakes her head vehemently at the question as if to banish the thought “No. I won’t go back to the way I was before. I’ll never stop being this weight.”

Far away in the southern United states Garnet D* reports LLW had struck before as a young man. However it had left him after his happy marriage and just when he thought he was free of the the condition for good, a sudden relapse two months ago left him minus 25 pounds of fat and down four pant sizes. Contrary to popular notions of the disease, he did not contract it by banishing all of his favourite foods. For Garnet it was making different choices at fast food restaurants, adding lean protein to his diet and two hours running and lifting weights at the gym every day that lead the disease to have its way with him. Despite these changes the 32 year-old does not accept responsibility for having contracted LLW. Instead he points the finger at a 10 month old baby and a 75 year old man. In his article “Hump Busting at the Gym and Eating Healthy” he rages What makes me keep going back is my daughter. I do not want her to go through what I went through with the loss of a parent. I want to make sure I'm healthy so I can see her all grown up.” and “My dad living close to me, I supply the healthy food and he cooks it." Both father and daughter were unavailable for comment.

Although the government and the food industry have made their best efforts to protect the DuChausees, there are just too many environmental and genetic factors to save the entire clan from being afflicted. It seems the family's only hope is to educate one another on the many ways LLW can strike. The spread of information could be the only way of understanding and controlling this life changing condition



Sunday, April 19, 2009

Soul (by KIA)

Another box car Soul (as in Seoul, Korea) but reviews seem OK.




Haven't seen the other box Cube (Nissan) here as yet although it is in T&T.

Blue Jays

So the Blue Jays are off and running. Let's see if they can stay ahead of the pack!!

2009 Hyundai Elantra vs. 2009 Toyota Prius

Hyundai compares their 2009 Elantra to a Toyota Prius. An true indication about how competitive the auto industry has become.



Nissan....Stay out of it!!!

X-Men Origins - Wolverine



I am planning to be in NYC on May 2, 2009 for the 5 boro Bike Tour. Lets organize and go to this movie!! Gerry should be around then too. Let's all go see this!!!!!!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

An Easter Miracle


An Easter Miracle

Call it luck, call it Divine Intervention, call it what you want but for Janet Carrington it was nothing short of a miracle. 363-316 the final score of a scrabble game that ended the 3 game losing streak for Janet Carrington..

Janet and her opponent her nephew Christopher Barrow had had a long standing Scrabble feud. The two had gone head to head at family gatherings and ever since discovering Scrabble on Facebook they had continued duking it out internationally.

Lately however, Janet had found herself on the losing end of this Scrabble battle too many times for her liking.

“It was incredibly frustrating! It was almost like he knew where I was going to play. I would have an amazingly intricate set up of words in place and I’d be one click away from racking up a massive score and boom! When I looked he had gone exactly where I was about to go.” She shakes her head remembering. “If you could have heard de steupsing that went on during those games.” she laughs.” I remember thinking If this child wasn’t my nephew…”

And then it came. One magical game just before the Easter weekend. “I was getting vex with losing to be honest. And that day when we started I had decided ok it’s time to get serious.” So she brought out the heavy artillery. A little extra brain age. A warm shower to relax the mind. A microwaveable heating pad on the wrists to keep the mousing muscles loose. “Before the game I thought. This is it. If this game doesn’t go well I may have to move on to Sudoku or Monopoly.”

She recalls that the game didn’t begin in any special way. No seven letter word or triple word scores or anything like that. “I just pulled my letters, made my words and played them where they went best.”

Gradually however, she started noticing her lead creeping up. First it was only a couple points. Then a good ten, then twenty then forty and before she knew it she was leading by some sixty points.

“I couldn’t believe it. I remember thinking at one point in time that maybe he was letting Bella play!” she laughs recalling the thrill of being sixty or so points ahead of someone who had trounced her so many times. But as her lead started to shrink she knew it was not Bella. It was indeed Chris and her precious win was in danger. “I got a little worried once the point differential came down to forty. I thought oh boy this is taking too long. I better bring this thing home.”

And bring it home she did. Her last word (she can’t remember what it was) sealed the deal making the official final score 363-316. It was a long time coming but the Canadian has definitely earned her bragging rights. So what did the victor have to say?

“It was a great game, it will make a great Scrabble memory. Chris is a great player and a great guy and I look forward to more games with him in the future.”

Word.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Happy Easter

Here's wishing everyone a happy Easter. Hope the bunny comes hopping along with good things for you in his basket. (Can't say when was the last time I saw a bunny with a basket)

Monday, April 6, 2009

Universal Healthcare?

Watch this video and ask yourself if you'd reject universal healthcare if you were in the same situation. Or if the state of Nevada should turn down stimulus money. Or if you'd be willing to die rather then accept socialized medicine.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

April 2009 Birthdays

Sorry I'm a little bit late but these are the birthdays/anniversaries for the month of April

6 April - Vanessa (Our German connection)
Aydhan (two years old)already!!!
11 April - Yannick (Happy 18th)
13 April - His Mom, Margaret
17 April - Alfred (the karate kid)
19 April - Patrice
22 April - Nancy (a major milestone)
22 April - Christopher
25 April - Sean (also a major milestone)

Happy 15th wedding anniversary to Tony (aka Collie) and Yraiz

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