Snow Patrol, Lent Ends, Carowinds Opens and Planning to Skydive – We’re Busy!

Snow Patrol
Last Monday I took off from work early and drove straight to Atlanta where I met up with my friend Jen to see Irish band Snow Patrol in concert. It is one of my Top 5 concerts of all time – just a great show from beginning to end. It was at The Tabernacle right in downtown Atlanta and was a great smaller venue for a live show like that. I made a vow at the end of that show that I would go see Snow Patrol EVERY TIME they come to America for as long as they continue to exist. And next time around I won’t settle for one show – I’ll make a plan to see them in Atlanta, Nashville, DC, Philly and New York. Every show. They were that good.

Lent Ends
This year for Lent I gave up sugar. And while I didn’t give it up entirely (I didn’t worry about natural sugars as they appeared in food such as potatoes), I did give up 99% of sugar in my life. The net result: I lost 13.5 pounds in 40 days. I’ll be giving up sugar every year from now on. Easter Sunday was a treat not just because we celebrated the Risen King, but because I overindulged in sugar the entire day. Cadbury eggs, jellybeans, a donut, a Dunkin’ Donuts hot chocolate, a Sonic Route 44 cherry slushee – I enjoyed all those things. Surprisingly, I didn’t get sick. *lol* For Easter dinner Denis really did it up – leg of lamb, brussel sprouts, rolls, potatoes – it was yummy! But having lost the 13.5 pounds, I wanted to keep going, so I had two days of sugar indulgence (Sunday and Monday) and then opted to limit sugar consumption. Not forbid, but esverely limit. I’ve giving myself 1500 calories a day, which is more than I was allowed when I did the medical study several years ago (I was allowed 1200 a day then), but still less than I typically eat in a day. So with any luck I’ll continue to lose weight at a good pace, and keep it off. That’s the most important part: not gaining it back.

Carowinds Opens
Our local amusement park opened last week and the kids and I have already been once. Denis didn’t renew his season pass since he only went twice all last year. We didn’t go a lot last year, so I’m hoping we can go more this year – especially now that CootieBoy is taller and able to ride a lot more rides than last year. I’m most looking forward to the waterpark inside Carowinds opening – I even bought a new swimsuit for the (eventual) occasion!

Planning to Skydive
Last year around this time I went skydiving for the first time, and had such a great experience that I immediately signed up to do it again. Well, the time has come – my pre-paid second jump expires on May 7, 2012. I’m planning on going on the dive on Saturday, May 5. Can’t wait! No video/camera guy this time – just me and my tandem jumper. Rumor has it that after your second jump you are eligible to do a solo dive. So we’ll see how I feel after this second jump and whether I want to make this an annual event, or be content with doing it twice in a lifetime.

And that’s what has been going on the past couple of weeks since my last post! How’s by you?