Black Belt Living

Any Questions?

Remember this old classic PSA from the 80's?

Well this is my brain after three full days of carb detox and hard exercise:

Any questions?
(just pass me the Aleve already!) 

* * * * *

Today we might actually have a working microwave and later tonight Ginger and I are seeing Michael Buble in Columbus. It's going to be a brilliant good day!

This Week's Layover, Weight Watcherville

There is no denying that I've had the good fortune to visit some really great places in the past few months, and I've eaten my way through them. From dessert at The Plaza in New York City, to cocktails in Miami, to seafood in Palm Beach, I've been able to sample the best of some really great food and drink. 

But as we know, all good things must come to an end. In my case, it's a big REAR end, and today we travel to the kitchen for our latest tourist destination, South Beach Diet City with a layover in Weight Watcherville. Because like these ladies, eating Cheetos and drinking pina coladas at the pool is doing it wrong, and I've got enough junk in my trunk to prove it. 

So armed with motivation instead of a margarita, all three of us will be charging forward starting today with healthy eating and a recommitment to exercise. Since retiring from taekwondo last year, I've struggled to find a workout routine that really motivates me. At this point, I have just resigned myself that I probably never will, but I must just suck it up and get it done anyways. Right now the current plan is to get back on track doing something different every day, combining my P90x DVDs, other cardio, bike riding, roller blading, weight training, and yoga (but not the P90X yoga). I'd really like to try to start running, but at 95 degrees and rain-forest humidity levels, I might push that effort off to the fall, when I'm lighter and so is the air. So I'll be getting it done, 5 or 6 days/week, no excuses. 

As for food, we picked our first ripe tomato yesterday and that's a real treat. It's a whole lot easier to eat right with loads of fresh produce to choose from. I've got meals (well, dinners) planned for the whole week. Here they are:

• Monday: Grilled Pork Chops w/ portobello mushrooms, grilled corn on the cob
• Tuesday: Spicy stir fried tofu w/ edamame and purple cabbage, wild rice (no rice for me!)
• Wednesday: leftovers (I'll be out of town for the evening, so the gang will be on their own)
• Thursday: Barbecued turkey drumsticks, fresh green beans, some other side dish
• Friday: Grilled Salmon, roasted cauliflower, cowboy caviar
• Saturday: Chef Salad (a healthy version)
• Sunday: 4th of July BBQ elsewhere

So that's the plan. I'm also motivated to try new things, which means new recipes here on the blog. I have never cooked with tofu before, so if you have any suggestions or recipes, I'd love it if you'd share them with me. My family is very adventurous when it comes to trying new things, so bring it on!

By the way, I use Meals Matter to keep track of my meal planning online and it's super easy. Check it out.

The Third Saddest Day of the Year

Okay, the saddest day of the year is probably the day after the Super Bowl, or the day after the Stanley Cup is won, but the "travel home" day on your summer vacation is right up there.  And alas, that's TODAY. 

I never feel as bummed when we have to go home after a ski trip.  Maybe it's the sore muscles or the separated shoulder (on the last ski trip) that I bring home with me as souvenirs. 

How can time fly by so fast when all you're doing is sunbathing, eating, reading, and sleeping? For some reason, this year's Florida trip has been even lazier than most.  I didn't blog much, not because I didn't want to, but my pics aren't too great, and frankly I don't have a mouse with me and that makes photo editing a real pain. But mainly, because I was a lazy slug.  I didn't even read much while I was down here this year.

Normally I kill about a book a day. Not this trip. I brought one of my all time favorite books with me, The Pillars of the Earth, and decided that medieval historical fiction doesn't exactly make for good beach reading. I'm only about 1/4 into it. I just couldn't deal with starving stone cutters this week. I also have The Help with me as well, and thanks to my disinterest in POTE, I just started it last night. Hopefully it will entertain me through a ghastly layover in the armpit of all airports, Atlanta, this afternoon. It's read or watch the USA in the world cup and I'll probably be doing both. 

Fortunately, there are good things to look forward to at home:

• Shannon is going to camp next week
• Olive the Wonder Dog
• A faster internet connection
• South Beach Diet as opposed to South Beach (...okay, well maybe that's NOT something to look forward to)
• Another Michael Buble' concert
• Booking next year's return trip to South Florida

Okay, that's about it.  So much for staying positive. Time to wrap this up and pack my bags. See ya back in the land of sweat. It might be Africa hot here, but at least there's a breeze and an ocean. 

South Beaching

Yesterday we took a road trip to Miami to check out the architecture (okay, and the fun that goes with it) in Miami Beach and the Art Deco district in South Beach. 

I haven't uploaded my pics from my camera yet, but let's just say that I'm VERY sorry that I didn't bring my good camera gear here this time. In all the trips we've made to South Florida, I've never brought it and never really regretted it, until YESTERDAY. So I did the best I could with what I had. 

 

There is so much to look at...so much color, so much great design, so many interesting people. And yes, it's true, the women of Miami are in general, just gorgeous. I felt like such a frump. 

We will be back there, you can bet on it. Hopefully next time, we'll stay there for a few days. 

PIcs are coming, I promise! The ones above aren't mine, but you can at least get an idea. 

Just Like Groundhog Day

In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray kept reliving the same day over and over and over again.

It's not that much different here, really.  We do a lot of relaxing, playing in the surf, reading, enjoying the resort, and of course eating and drinking. Lather, rinse, repeat. I haven't even taken that many photos, because frankly, they look like all of my other photos from down here. Granted, we're at a new resort this year, just up the road from the old one (if you can call it old).  I will be putting up a few pics of that later this week.

But in the meantime, here are a few shots from our balcony and from around the resort. We're on the 19th floor, one from the top, and the panoramic views are fantastic! As you can see, we've also had some pretty impressive clouds and storms, usually late in the day but sometimes in the very early morning. 

 

  

Some impressing storms down here, that's for sure!

 In the photo below, that's Shannon waiving from our room balcony. Way. Up. There. I took this shot from the comfort of my pool chair.  Don't be a hater.

 

That's all for now...aren't the skies great!  I bet we'll see more like this tomorrow and the day after....

Going sightseeing in Miami and South Beach tomorrow! I've never been there, and I'm really looking forward to it! 

Return of the King (fish)

Depending on how long you've listened to me babble on this blog, you may or may not recall this photo, where Andy nabbed several meals on one hook....the Kingfish!  

Well that was two years ago, and since a family reunion took us to the Outer Banks of North Carolina last year, we haven't had a chance to return to our favorite home away from home, Singer Island Florida.  

Until today.  

So look out all you grouper, snapper, and kingfish. We're back, and we're HUNGRY! 

If you're interested in reading about our Big Fish Story, you can find it here:  Sucking the Big Donut  

If that title doesn't get you to click on the link, I don't know what will.  

NYC in HDR

I promised that I'd get these photos up here and finally...here they are!  I hope you like them.  I sure like taking them.  I realize that HDR is not everybody's cup of tea, but I think they're fun and different. 

Grand Central Station

NY Public Library

Bryant Park Station

Times Square

 ESPN Zone, Times Square  

 

Radio City Music Hall

     

30 Rock (Rockefeller Center) and Top of the Rock 

 

St. Patrick's Cathedral

 Fifth Avenue

    

Ground Zero

NY Harbor

   
 

 All in all, a glorious day!

Checking In

Wow, it's been nearly two weeks since I updated. I don't know how time gets away from me.  

Actually, I have a bunch of photos to put up, but I've taken about ten billion photos in the last month or so and I'm just starting to finally get a handle on things. I was in New York City two weeks ago, and I took a truckload of photos and turned them into HDR photos, so those are the ones I'm really psyched to share, but they do take some time to prepare. I promise that I'll get the ones I want to show resized and posted this week.  I also have a good recipe to add tomorrow. It's time to get back to some summer cooking inspiration and if you help me with some, I'll try to help you.  

In the meantime, I'll put up some new layouts that I have done recently for The Digi Dares and for Audrey Neal's Open Book challenge blog. I haven't done much digital scrapping lately and I don't really know why. Maybe it's the fact that I have about 2000 hockey photos and my girlfriends can only take so much of my hockey-loving ways! 

 

 

This one was actually selected for the Gallery Standouts blog last week... that's always a fun surprise! And wow, I just noticed that the first layout up there (19 Years) made the gallery standouts last night. That never happens to me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
         

Have a great Monday! I always liked Mondays, it's like getting a fresh start on a new week.