Today is day 12 of 21 days without coffee. 
And you ask how am I doing? 
How do you think I'm doing!
Okay, just kidding. I'm doing just fine!
I can report that although I have proven that my indulgence in coffee is actually a habit and not a dependency,I have become acutely aware of just how intertwined coffee drinking is with my daily routine.
Over the last 12 days,I can't even begin to recount how many times I went to do something and realized that normally that activity would take place with a cup of coffee at hand.
Driving to South Jersey...need a travel cup of coffee.
Afternoon break ...cup of coffee. 
Visit to the shop in the middle of the day...cup of coffee. 
Waitress asks can I get you something to drink....I respond coffee.
Conference call...cup of coffee.
Return from morning bus run...yep , coffee!
I can hardly think of a daily activity that does not get rewarded or accompanied by a cup of coffee.
It's pretty amazing.
This is my third week with my new Friday schedule.
Thankfully the temperatures cooled enough yesterday for me to get the lawn mowed. I also finished cleaning out the pool.
This cleared my schedule enough or me to accommodate my revised calendar for the day. 
I still have plenty to do including work as well as readying for Shabbat. However the pressure seems to be off.
I drove, I shopped, I shopped some more and then after unpacking and checking my emails had some lunch.  
Then I went to work on the Halloween stuff that needed my attention. After all of that was cleaned up, I spent some time preparing as much as I could for tonight's dinner before once again attending to business matters.
I was just about to kick back and take a break when I realized I had not written to you today. 
It's almost 4:30 and dinner is ready to be heated up.
The dogs still have to be fed.
I have 1 must email to get out and I am waiting on an important phone call.
Still, there's no pressure.
Well maybe a little anxiousness surrounding the phone call I am expecting but hey, that's part of doing business.
The pool is filling which means tomorrow morning will be spent hooking up the filter. 
That will be my morning as the afternoon has me bathing dogs at the shop once again.
I have to admit I enjoy all of this. 
What's not to enjoy?
As the t-shirt says:
Life is good!

Shabbat Shalom!

If the good Lord could find a way to send me 364 more days a year that were like this I certainly would not complain!
It is absolutely perfect outside. 
My morning bus route was cool enough to allow me to drive with the windows open and just warm enough to not have to wear a jacket or sweatshirt.
As the day has moved along, the weather has gotten better and better. The whole area is bathed in bright warm sunshine .
Absolutely glorious!
The one cloud in my sky came when I received a phone call from a friend. He's roughly my age and finds himself in a place that I am only too familiar with.
In his early 60's, after decades of being an entrepreneur, he faces the same challenges I have struggled with for what seems like forever.
Smart, passionate,lovable,friendly,honest, hard working, yet feeling that because of his financial woes, he is struggling. And this is effecting his life in every arena.
What have I made of my life? 
What should my next move be?
Where did it go so wrong?
How did I get to this place, so far behind the financial 8 ball?
Where do I go from here?
As I said , I am way too familiar with that cursed house.
I have to admit,in this moment, at this particular time and place in my life, I feel as if I have moved out of that house.
You can't imagine how different that feels unless you have experienced life from both places.
I want to help. 
I would love to supply him with some answers, even guidance or suggestions.
To be honest, not only don't I have any, I am sure that they would not work or be appropriate. One thing I have learned along my Journey.....we have to find our own way.
So what can I offer?
My support.
My experiences.
My unyielding friendship.
And an ear whenever he feels the need to speak to some one .
Advise is usually a terrible offering.
Friendship and support .....like the credit card.....priceless!

Today marks the 17th anniversary of my father's passing.
As is custom in Judaism, I decided to go to services this morning so I could say the mourner's kaddish .
It was on my way to the synagogue that I realized that with my new bus schedule start time, I could, with a few adjustments to my morning routine, make it to services just about everyday.
To be clear, I am one who rarely connects to prayer in any way shape or form.
However,supporting the daily service , I can help fill a role by being one of the 10 men needed to make a minyan (Google it if you must).
In a flash, some of the dots that have been clouding my vision, became connected.
The other day I shared with my Rabbi my latest quote (yes every once in a while I am quotable!).
I stated:
"You can't start a fire with wet wood!"
I went on to share with him that lately I have been a piece of wet wood. A soggy , soaked,dripping wet log. 
I felt no spiritual or communal tug that would help draw me to be part of our congregation and community.
No matter what spark he could offer, no matter how much kindling the community could supply, my being wet wood could not catch on fire. 
Without the fire, there is no heat, no energy.
It's a fairly useless and generally unpleasant place to be.
Suddenly there is an opportunity for me to change all of  this.
I can take away the negative impact of my shortened work schedule and replace it with doing something positive,actually performing a mitzvah (good deed).
And how did I come to realize all of this?
By learning a lesson from my father. 
17 years in the grave and he still managed to find a way to show me a path towards being a mensch.
Thanks dad!
I needed that!

As I walked with the home appraiser around my house, we happened to get on the subject of weight loss

(Gee what a surprise!) 

Honestly he brought it up. So I kind of filled him in on my Journey and what we do at Why Weight.

I then pulled up a photo on my cell phone to give him an idea of where I have come from.

After the obligatory "WOW", he asked "how long ago was that?". It was only then that I realized it was 4 years ago today that I sent out my first email.

4 years!

My 100 day Journey is now 4 years old!

For 4 years you have kept me company, listened to me gripe and complain, and most importantly followed and supported me.

Words can not even begin to express the gratitude that I have for each and every person who has been there with me along the way.

There really is nothing else to say.

 In the words of  Lou Gehrig:

"Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

Thank you my friend....you have no idea how wonderful this is and how much you mean to me!

"A Journey of 1000 miles DOES begin with a single step!"

A couple of weeks ago, I made a deal to augment my income by taking on another part time/spare time gig.
The project required me to put together a series of contact messages which eventually will be sent to each new client the company brings in.
My first challenge was to put together the dozen or so appropriate messages that will go to the clients. 
Once launched, every time a new client signs up, they will get these reminder emails . My job then becomes to make sure that as each client comes on board, the emails launch on the proper day as they are all time sensitive and address specific days in the program.
Today is launch day!
And I am actually nervous about this.
We're not talking about anything earth shattering or globally significant. 
Still, after weeks 2 weeks of putting this together, which comes after more than a year since the idea was first broached, I find myself both nervous and filled with a bit of anxious anticipation around this launch.
I am not sure what's at the root of all of this angst.
Possibly and most probably it is because for the first time in a long time it feels productive. 
There is no measurable result to let me know just how productive or useful these campaigns will be. 
The productive part is that I was tasked with a project and I have completed it.
No one stood over me and had to ask when will it be done.
No one had to prompt me or cajole me to meet a deadline. 
In fact other than a basic frame work of what was hoped for, the project fell squarely on my desk . But for a little bit of last minute polishing, I am ready to enter the email address of the new clients and press the send button.
I have no idea why this has me filled with so much anxious anticipation or nervousness. 
I just know how I am feeling about this and wanted to acknowledge that to some one.
Thanks for listening!

After a fairly productive Saturday, my Sunday continued with my regularly scheduled trip to the in-laws in South Jersey. This week instead of sitting around the old folks home ( literally, what else would you call an assisted living facility), Susan and I took her parents out for a "field trip".
We attempted to take them to church and then out to lunch. I say attempted because when we arrived at the church we found that they were celebrating this weeks service visiting with another congregation that they are considering merging with.
To say that my mother in-law was disappointed would be an understatement.
I tried to find the new location , however by the time we did, it was just too late to even attempt to go inside. The in-laws don't exactly move quickly nowadays and this new church had terrible access for someone in need of handicapped accommodations.
Undaunted, we made a mental note to make sure that the next time we attempt this we check with the church office before hand. 
So now it was off to an early lunch.
At one point during the drive my mother in-law turned to me and said"you must hate coming all the way down here every week" to which I replied "absolutely!".
I added I certainly have many other things I could be doing with my time and quite frankly our visits are about as much fun as a root canal without anesthesia.
I also added that how much I may dislike coming down or what I am giving up to make this weekly pilgrimage really doesn't matter. 
It's the right thing to do.
End of statement.
Maybe it's the price you pay as family.
Maybe it's my sense of responsibility. 
Maybe it's my way of making sure that they are not abandoned.
Maybe it's supporting my wife.
I can't tell you what it is other than it's my choice!
And quite honestly, it seems like a no brainer.
BTW.....lunch was very nice  and then we even took them on a little shopping trip.
 It was a very nice day.
Shavua Tov!

There will be no Spring this year!
We have had a lot of wet and cold up until now. 
Today Summer set in!
The work I have planned for the day is all outside and I'm telling you it's rough out there. 
The Sun is brutal and the sudden spike in temperature is miking getting a whole lot accomplished difficult.
So I make adjustments.
I am taking frequent breaks, drinking plenty of water and pacing myself. I have also made sure that the list of what I want to get accomplished today is not beyond my capabilities. 
At day's end, being able to say "Job well done!" to myself is important.
Expending this much energy and ultimately being disappointed in what didn't get done would be self defeating.
It's going on 2 p.m. and the Sun is at it's most oppressive point in the sky.
I will probably shut down for a couple of hours, recover and recuperate from the last few hours and then pick up again when the heat has subsided a bit.
With any kind of luck, I may be able to get a helping hand from my son to wrap up the day.
I know that with a modicum of assistance I will be able to summon the strength to finish strong. 
Shabbat Shalom!