USA !!!! USA!!!!

OK ... so it never seems to amaze me how insular the Americans can be ...... Im driving home from work, and there is a radio competition to win a fully paid trip for 2 to see “Offspring” play anywhere in the world (they are touring this year around the world, including Australia) .....So this guy wins ... guess where he chooses to go ..... New York!!!!

LUCIE AND MATT's WEDDING

Pamela was Maid-Of-Honour (or as I liked to referred to her as the "Top Chook").
Lucie had the unusual arrangement of partners of the Wedding party sitting with their respective partners .. and since Pamela sat next to Lucie .... that put me right next to the Newlyweds (ie, next to Pamela), and being able to have a fair share of laughs and jokes with them.

By the end of the night Lucie was complaining about her sore pinkie toe ..... and what a sight it was ... Sorry Lucie ... this was definitely Blog worthy!!!!!

How can something like that be attached to such a pretty girl???

JOANNE & ROSS's WEDDING

BACK IN ADELAIDE

Baby Shaggs, with Pamela

After a boozy weekend in Brisbane (with Sully), arrived back in Adelaide for a couple of weeks....
Busy trying to catch up with everyone, including meeting 2 weeks old Leroy (baby Shaggs), and attending two Weddings .... Congratulations to both happy couples:

• Jo and Ross
• Lucie and Matt

FEB SCALES

So February was a better month for weight loss ... still tracking it ... and hovering around low 190's (87kg).

Im about to head off to LAX to fly back to Adelaide, via weekend in Brisbane .. to catch up with Sully.... so it will be intresting to see how the 2 weeks in Oz will affect the scales!!!

MY WEIGHT-LOSS FOR JANUARY

I made a new year's resolution to get healthier and fitter ... which involves a goal to lose some weight (get to 80kg by my birthday in July)......Now when I told Damian about this ... he said that there is "no way it was going to happen" ... and we made a bet about it .... also involving him losing more weight than me.

When Damian left, we had a weigh-in (at the airport, of course) .... and at the time I weighed 200 pounds (91.2 kg) and he weighed 202 pounds (92.1kg)....I was little surprised to see that my weight had creeped up into thew 90's.... but understandable, given the pizza eating and drinking that occured during Damian's 2 week visit ...so on the way home, I stopped by and purchased a scale (unfortunately it measures in pounds).

Since that day, I have religously measured my weight in the morning (when I first get up, after taking a morning piss), and at night, just before I go to sleep.... I have recorded the measurements, and figure that an average of them is a good indication of my progress.

I have also recorded these measurements in a spreadsheet, and created a graph, which is a easy graphical representation of my progress (I figure if i do that over months ... it will be very interesting to see)

First few weeks, the weight loss was very consistent (healthy eating, exercise, no alcohol) ... but last week was all over the place (thanks to Máté's visit, which involved the usual behaviours associated with having a guest Aussie over ... ie. drinking) .

I decided that Febuary is going to be a dry month .. and the first drink Im going to have is in Brisbane ... when I catch up with Damian again.

MATE IN NEWPORT BEACH

Máté flew in from London for a week.... just like Sully (last month), to get away from London's winter (1 degree and snowing)... and enjoy the Californian sun..... and with a few days of 25 degree sun ... he was not disappointed ... and worked up quite a decent tan.
We played a lot of golf, did our fair share of drinking (I took couple days off work during the week)... and had a great time.

While he was here ... I grabbed his Beijing photos and updated my October 08 posts:
http://okbyebye.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

This is London when he arrived back from OC!!!

MARCH 09 : BRISBANE & ADELAIDE

Just booked flights back to Australia for first two weeks of March.... Two of Pamela’s friends are getting married in the first two weekends of March (Lucie and Joanne)... and since I have 35days annual leave for 2009 (I carried over most from 08)..... it is good enough reason to use it up.

It was actually cheaper with a Saturday stop-over in Brisbane (Sully will be there, so I will catch up with him).... so it should be good times for all.

Looking forward to seeing everybody again!!

COUNTRIES I HAVE VISITED

DRIVE BACK TO OC ALONG THE COAST

Solvang (a Dutch village)

Santa Barbara

VIEW FROM COIT TOWER

BOAT CRUISE AROUND THE BAY

The Bay Bridge

Alcatraz

San Francisco skyline

The Golden Gate Bridge