This blog is like half a day old and already has like three Jenn posts on it, so I guess it’s high time I got in on the action! So here is my answer to today’s blog challenge, reprinted below for the readers’ convenience!
DAY ONE:
Introduction, recent picture, and 5 interesting facts!
There’s a picture first, because I’m rebellous like that. This shot was taken at our friend Karli’s wedding last summer! It was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed much dancing and cupcake-eating!
My wife has already done a good job of introducing me, but I suppose I can elaborate a little more. I’m 32, I have a BS degree in Electrical Engineering, which somehow eventually translated to designing plumbing and fire protection systems for a varierty of building types, but primarily supermarkets. If you ever go to the bathroom at a Shaw’s, think of me because there is a chance that I may have had something to do with making it work (or getting it through permitting anyway!) I hope to get my Professional Engineer’s license in Fire Protection this October.
I love my wife very much. She is the center of my world, and I love being in love and just enjoying the simple things we do together, like holding hands, cuddling in front of the TV or a camp fire, and taking off to different fun locations around Maine and beyond, like Rockland, Islesboro, Boston, and this summer Barcelona, Rome, and France.
I also have a lot of fun with her being active, whether it be walks, a trip to the gym, or swimming in Sebago Lake in mid-April (triathlon training; you do what you gotta do)!
Lastly, as Jenn touched upon, I am also a super nerd. Not as much as I was pre-Jenn, before I had a life, but I still have a file at Casablanca Comics (that’s where the people working there grab things that I’ve reserved so I can pick them up at my convenience), I know all the names, mask colors, weapons, and personalities of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I sit down in the basement about every third Friday night with my friend Justin and play with little plastic superheroes. So some of my nerdy heritage certainly lives on.
Now onto the five facts…hopefully they are interesting!
1. I’m going to totally copy Jenn, and start with the fact that up until four years ago my blood type was Ragu. Let’s have a look at the photo, taken around the summer of 2006:
Attractive, eh? I had been fat all my life, and eventually stopped weighing myself and getting regular physicals. My last childhood physical was sometime in 1993, I believe. I had whatever I needed to get into college in ’96, but I really didn’t go to the doctor’s office for like 13 years. I got my current job at Harriman towards the end of 2005, and being my first real job with benefits, by summer of 2006 I decided to go see my old family doctor again.
I’m not sure if he really remembered me or not, I remembered him having dark black hair, as opposed to none. The physical basically amounted to I was 6′ 4′ and 337 lbs and tall or not, that was BIG. I spent the next sixth months or so thinking about it, and then on January 11, 2007 I met with a personal trainer, who is paid for my my office for all employees as part of our benefits package. Turns out my blood pressure was high; 150/98, which is apparently level 2 hypertension. Thus began a lot of working out, and changing my eating habits. About a year later I met Jenn for the first time and had lost nearly 100 pounds. By a year or so later I had topped out at 160 lbs of weight loss and now have a healthy body mass index!
I went back to my doctor after the fact,a nd he was blown away. It turns out he was about to retire (like the next day) and gave me my medical file to bring to my next PCP. According to the information inside and my memory, I am at my 6th grade weight! Woo-Hoo!
2. I am 32 years old, and I am a stroke survivor. Last October, during a routine workout, a felt a “zap” in my head, which I thought was a pulled muscle, but seemed to affect the ability to move my left limbs, and made me incredibly dizzy. I also threw up twice, which is something I rarely do. Jenn called an ambulance and I was carried out on a chair to stretcher and rushed to Maine Med in an ambulance while Jenn followed close behind. Also rushing there was our friend Stacey and the two of them provided me comfort all night in the ER. Finally, at like 4:30 am, I was diagnosed with a headache and sent home. My symptoms had faded somewhat. But they came back three days later, and Jenn drove me back to the ER, where they did some better tests and determined I had had a stroke and admitted me for one night. A doctor quizzed me, and it turns out I had trouble naming the President, Vice President, and I didn’t know what the upcoming election was, but I could name the original five X-Men.
Recovery was long, and still not totally over. Even as I type this, I still have trouble positioning my left hand on the keyboard. There are many more stories I could tell about this experience, but I’ll save those for a later post!
3. I learned to ride a bike when I was 29. I had never been able to ride one very well without training wheels, due to balance issues, being overweight, and loving my Atari 2600, NES, and SNES. I decided during my weight loss journey that I wanted to be able to say that I could ride a bike, and a couple of coworkers helped me out. Now I can ride! Well, casually, at least, and in a triathlon once a year.
4. I went to my first real concert when I was 32! My 32nd birthday present from my wife last summer was four tickets to Daughtry! We went with Jenn’s Mom Sandy, and Stacey, and had a great time! I am a big Daughtry fan! Lifehouse opened for them and did a cincert in and of themselves, and cemented me as one of their loyal fans. Sandy’s present to me was Bon Jovi tickets, so that was my second concert, all in the same summer! I am a huge Bon Jovi fan as well!
5. I’m having trouble with #5. How about I secretly watch “Teen Mom 2”? See, I really want to right now, so I guess this will be it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little window into my life and I look forward to future postings! What will they be about? Triathlons? Spider-Man?? Richie Sambora??! Stayed tuned!!
If we let them 
Like a comet pulled from orbit 
It well may be 
Who can say if I’ve been 
And because I knew you… 
