One of the barriers ...

went out to eat with girlfriend and family yesterday evening. One of our favorite places is a local micro-brewery that also specializes in barbecue.

I did not have a beer and I ordered a garden pizza (which was just ok but my other choice was nachos without the meat toppings). I also had a side of the mac & cheese (which does have bacon bits in it) and a cup of the pepper crab soup. So I had plenty to eat (brought half the pizza home), but the smells!!

Into my fourth day of vegetarianism. Still seems to be going pretty well.

Over the years ...

I've tried many different diets. I've been fortunate to have pretty good health overall; unfortunately an all-too-healthy appetite combined with poor eating habits has led to weight struggles. Both parents were heavy so yes I'm sure there is a genetic component ... and I'm also aware that eating fills holes caused by depression, boredom, etc. I'm 60 years old and I'd like to live long enough to see my grandkids play high school sports AND have the energy to go watch them. And I refuse to buy new bigger clothes. So ...

Barring weight loss surgery (something brought up by my doctor) it seems that the best way to go is becoming vegan (or vegetarian). This scratches several itches for me ... environmental, animal friendly, and health-wise.

But ... there are huge cultural and habit barriers. So perhaps I'll simply start slow. I hesitate to compare it to addiction, however many of the excuses, the behaviors, etc ARE very similar to an addicts. So ... one day at a time. And we will see.

It's been a year ...

yes it's been a year since I've done any blog posting ... after some 'deep' thought, I think that I can use my blogs to do two things

1) keep a record of my recently begun "Fill in the Blanks on my Stamp Pages" campaign. I recently went through a bit of a mental struggle with what to do with my ever burgeoning stamp collection/hoard. I considered just selling the whole mess ... Diane discouraged that option saying that I would regret it and I'm sure she's right. But something needed to be done so ... over on this blog (http://clifsstamps.blogspot.com/) I've begun documenting my attempt to bring order from the chaos.

2) this last winter/spring I finally took the plunge into the world of Advanced Squad Leader. This is a boardgame that has a significant and very loyal following ... it's quite difficult to learn and play and takes years to obtain and play all of the modules and scenarios. I will document THIS journey on this blog (https://deepboardgames.blogspot.com/).

So, my next twelve months will be dedicated to working and keeping up with these two projects (along with the myriad other ongoing projects that keep me busy). Wish me luck.

small part of the stamp chaos

and a bit of the ASL world ...