When asked to make Gooey Butter Cake for Musket Cellars & Vineyard bottling day, you make it.
Memorial Day Parade
The Kassels were all busy in the Memorial Day parade. First, Laura carried the banner for Sterling Wyatt, a Troop 706 Eagle Scout who was killed in action.
Then, Andy walked through the parade with the Troop 706 Scouts.
Finally, John marched through the parade with the Columbia High Schools combined marching band.
My job was to watch and take pictures. It was great to attend the Memorial Day parade again after all these years. It was a great tribute to all those that never made it home.
Americana Decorations
The Americana decorations come out today. They will be up until just after July 4.
Bat Mitzvah
We had the privilege of attending a Bat Mitzvah for Shoshana Trachtenberg today. Andy and her dad, Ben, are both in Sigma Chi and we have known them since Shoshana was young. It was a beautiful ceremony, and it is impressive what must be learned for the ceremony. Afterwards, we ate lunch and then attended the celebration party at the Tiger Hotel.
We all had a great time, and it was a great experience for all of us. Congratulations Shoshana!
Senior!
School’s out for Summer and we have a Senior! Buckle up because it will go too damn fast.
Combined Band Practice
The Hickman High School Marching Band will be combining with the Battle High School and Rock Bridge High School Marching Bands to march in the Columbia Memorial Day Parade. Tonight, John got to march with one of his best friends from Ridgeway Elementary – Caleb.
It was fun to watch part of practice and see these bands that usually compete against each other come together.
Four More Weeks
In March, I talked to my doctor out of desperation. My weight was out of control, and I had no motivation to do anything about it. When I told her my fears about developing weight-related health issues like a lot of my family, she said, “I think you should try a GLP-1.” I was horrified. I responded, “That’s cheating.” She fired back, “Well, that is one way to look at it, but you aren’t going to make your goal weight with just a GLP-1. How about you look at it as the motivation you need?” I was skeptical at best. She said, “Just give me four weeks.” I gave in and told her to write the prescription.
For the next four weeks while I waited for insurance to approve the prescription, I started doing research. I read literally everything I could find. Nothing changed my mind that I was going to be cheating, but I felt a little better about it all. When it was finally approved, it still took four days for me to do the first injection. Week one was weird. I felt very different, but about halfway through I decided that I would add a goal each week to take my mind off how weird I felt.
Week 1 Goal – Exercise 3 times for 30 minutes. Accomplished!
Week 2 Goal – Exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. I walked 89,458 steps. Accomplished!
Week 3 Goal – Walk more than the week before. I walked 96,103 steps. Accomplished!
Week 4 Goal – Get 70,000 steps and ride my bike twice. Accomplished!
I stepped on the scale on Monday to realize that I had lost 10 pounds. Then, I checked my activities on both Strava and FitBit and realized that I had exercised 21 days in a row. I sent my doctor a message with my weight check-ins and activity level. I mentioned I was also drinking at least 80 ounces of water a day and tracking my meals. She wrote back, “Can you give me four more weeks?” I responded, “No. I’ll give myself four more weeks.” She said, “That’s better.”
Today, I had a bad day at work and the urge to pop open a bottle of wine was in my head by 3:00. However, on the way home, I thought, “The bike would be a better choice.” So, I loaded up my bike and headed to the trail. Two miles in, I was already starting to feel better. By the time I reached the Big Tree, I was smiling because I was literally riding away my bad day. On the way back, I realized my doctor had been right. The GLP-1 was just the motivation I needed to kick me into gear. I know this will be a long journey and there will be a lot of hard work along the way, but in the end, it’s just four more weeks.
