Well, we had another trip to Atlanta this past week. It was good, I think, except for the trip to and from and everything in between those driving periods. No, just kidding. CHOA partners some with the Braves (or vice versa), and the Braves provide tickets to the game, dinner, and pictures with some of the players. It was fun. We got the stadium around 4 or so, walked around outside (see Elaine's blog or Facebook page), and then got out of the wind for a while before heading into the stadium around 5:20. Dinner was a ballpark dinner, which was fine. Two players, Matt Diaz and Blaine Boyer, came up. Ian did pictures with Diaz, but wasn't interested in Boyer (really wasn't interested in Diaz, but we convinced him to go ahead). Chipper was busy getting ready for the game, we suspect. :) The wind blowing across the stadium was sharp and quite chilly, so we got cold pretty fast. Livy didn't make it to the first inning and she was ready to go, so Elaine and Livy left for the car to wait on Elaine's sister to come get them. Ian and I got a blanket from the car, courtesy of Elaine, and made it a bit longer. We got some cotton candy for Ian around the end of the 4th, and he said that was worth staying for. But he got cold trying to eat it, so around the end of the 6th inning we called it quits and headed for the car. We stopped at the restroom (that's an important detail for everyone, isn't it?) and finally cleared the stadium around the 7th inning stretch. Ian is interested in doing it again next year, I think.

The visit at the hospital went well. They are pleased with how Ian is doing, and we got some tips for dealing with 'Evil Ian'. He gets pretty bad at times in terms of sassing and poppin' off. Some of his meds contribute to that. He has done well the last few days, especially.

The drive home was pretty rough. Livy cried...no, Livy screamed a lot. Elaine climbed into the back seat between the two car seats in the Corolla and sat back there. She has a nice bruise to show for it. The Corolla is officially done taking all of us places. Its just too dang small. We also determined that Livy is done travelling to Atlanta for a bit. Six hours in a car seat is not fun for her, and therefore not fun for us either.

I have not blogged much on my weight loss efforts much, but I'm pretty pleased overall. Since February, I've dropped close to 15 pounds, so I'm down from around 255 to around 240. I still have a ways to go, but I credit the Wii Fit for most of the progress. Not only does it help me to exercise, but now whenever I even think about eating something, I have to also consider what it is going to do to those scales later. Thus, my eating and drinking habits have changed considerably. I eat better and less, and soda is pretty much an unthinkable now. I do love the Vitamin Water, though, especially the Energy flavor. I'm not too certain that the weight loss is visible yet, but I feel better, which helps with the motivation to keep going.

Not much else for now...

Needless to say, it has been quite some time since I last made a post. Lots has happened (no, Ian has not had his transplant).

No telling whether or not this will work, but its worth a shot... Elaine and I have had a little girl, Livia Janene Herbst, join our family. Pictures are available on my Facebook profile. She is cute as a button. She has my nose, Elaine's chin, and Elaine's fingers and toes. I think she looks like Elaine (yay for Livia), but there are some who think she looks like me (which would be a shame).

The new job is going well. I'm learning a lot, and keeping pretty busy with that and some of the projects I'm working on. My current big project is creating a forecasting model that will assist in getting loads of scrap metal picked up from around the facility and transferred to one of two locations. I'm searching through freeware now to see if I can find something that will work. The catch is that work blocks the download of freeware, even if it could potentially be something of benefit to the job... that's a bit frustrating, but I understand why they do that. It means that much of my searching is done from home. With the arrival noted above of Livia, that means that the search is going slowly.

We are pretty well settled in Goose Creek (Charleston area) now... and we should be since we have been here for three months now.

I took Ian to the driving range this past Wednesday. It was entertaining for both of us, but for different reasons. I'm going to get a video of him posted to YouTube. Once that happens, I'll update this post or add another very short post providing the link. A very nice lady gave him a ball marker from the golf club we were at. She and her husband and daughter were impressed that he was out there at the tender age of 3. He had fun, and that is the most important thing. I want it to be something he enjoys, not something he feels obligated to do.

The blessing for Livy is set for next week. We should still have a decent showing by family, but not as much as for Ian's (we live further away from people and gas is much higher than it was three years ago).

I got yelled at by a friend who saw a picture of me about my weight, then by my doctor telling me I should look to shed a few pounds. I've started working on my diet already, and will be adding exercise in regularly next week. I've determined to blog on my efforts to lose weight in hopes that it may help someone else and also to make myself accountable to myself. I think and hope it will help. Why is it so hard to perform lifestyle changes?

Keep an eye out for that YouTube link to Ian swinging his clubs at the driving range... it really was lots of fun for both of us...