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With 2012 being such a spectacular and life-changing year, there was no way that 2013 could be just as good, right?  While that turned out to be true, 2013 was still a fantastic year.

I lost my job, which caused me to lose the house I was a few days away from closing on.  However, I landed a new job about 6 weeks later.  I still haven’t had any desire to start looking for another house again.  One of these days…

I think I did more traveling this year than any previous year.  I went to Las Vegas, Canada, Reno, Tahoe, San Francisco, Seattle, and New Orleans.  I had a great time on each trip.

I got to spend time with old friends this year and make new ones.  The 2-week visit from my good friend John and our trip to Canada was one of the highlights of the year.  I’ve become involved in some local groups, so I’m even more socially active.

I’m looking forward to 2014.  I think it’ll be even better than this year.  I have some things in the works and I hope there will be some good surprises.

I won the weight loss challenge that I took part in. I needed to lose 7.7 lbs and I lost 8.0 lbs. Out of the 24 participants, 11 people were winners. The pot was $840. I put in $35 and I got a payment of $57.25. DietBet takes out a 25% fee apparently. I’m just happy I got more than I put in.

I didn’t do as well as I could have. I didn’t lost as much in the first week as I did in weeks two and four. I was still eating too much junk food. I actually gained weight in week three, which was Thanksgiving week. Altogether we lost 189.7 lbs in 4 weeks. Good job everyone!

I had a good Thanksgiving week here in Portland. I took the whole week off from work. I decided to take the week off not long after I was hired in June and realized how many vacation days I would have to use by the end of the year or lose them. I’m taking another week off between Christmas and New Year’s.

The week was fun even though I was busy a lot. I cleaned up on the insides, raked the leaves the leaves on the outside, and ran a lot of errands. I watched a lot of TV (finally caught up after getting behind during Voodoo Fest), and played a lot of video games. On Thanksgiving Day, I went to a potluck that I found out about in a local gaming group that I’m in. All of those people who came know each other from a different group, so it was a little awkward being the only one who didn’t already know people there. It was still fun though. I think it was first Thanksgiving celebration since 2007. Everyone loved the potato salad I made. It was the first time I’d tried making it. I used a dish my mom used to always use for potato salad. She gave it to me when I got my first apartment in college. I held on to it, but had never used it until Thanksgiving. On Black Friday, I had the Pearl Jam concert, which was the highlight of the week.

I’m going back to work tomorrow refreshed.

I decided to take part in Geek Out Loud’s weight loss challenge. It’s called Civil War Episode 7: The Fatoff. It started yesterday and goes until Dec 6. Basically, everyone put $35 into the pool. Each person who loses 4% of their body weight in 4 weeks splits the pool. Right now the pool is at $805. I have to lose 7.7 lbs to win.

I lost 90 lbs, but then I put about 25 back on. It’s shouldn’t be too hard to drop 7.7 lbs if I do what I know I should be doing. My only issue is that I hate the word diet because of what it sometimes implies. I made a lifestyle change when I lost my weight. I never changed what I eat, just how much of it I eat.

Anyway, I think I’ll get back the $35 I put in, maybe more. Maybe I’ll get back down to my former weight within the next few months. Check out the page here.

I haven’t done much lately. I’ve enjoyed having a few weekends in a row to relax around here. Two of my co-workers and I have started having a weekly board game night here at my place.

Last week we didn’t have game night because one person was busy, so I decided to take advantage of the extra time to get a head start on some routine cleaning that I was planning to do that weekend. I always liked cleaning growing up and I still do to this day. I cleaned the bathrooms, mopped the floors, and vacuumed the carpets. When it came time for me to clean the couch using an attachment on my vacuum, I noticed that the spinner thing wasn’t moving as quickly as normal, so it wasn’t performing as effectively as it should. I ran it over the couch longer, hoping to collect more hair.
Over the next couple of days, I noticed more hair than normal on my clothes and in the air. I decided to try the attachment again. Same result. I took one of the attachment things off while the vacuum was still on and a big ball of hair came flying out of the hose. This is when I realized that the “change bag” indicator was on. It never occurred to me that the bag might be full. I was still using the last of the bags that came with the vacuum about 4 years ago. My last place didn’t have much carpet, so I didn’t vacuum much. I’m not sure that I ever had to change the bags there. I’ve gone through 2 bags in the year and half that I’ve lived here.

So I went to Target to get some replacement bags and I couldn’t find any. I was looking near the vacuums, but I thought that maybe I was looking in the wrong place. All of a sudden it hit me. Maybe they don’t make vacuums that use bags anymore. I checked all the ones on display and all of them were bagless vacuums. This irritated me for no rational reason. I knew that I could probably go online to order some bags, but I had it in my head that I would have my couch cleaned that night. So, I impulsive bought a new vacuum.

I got one of those Shark vacuums, a Shark Navigator DLX. I know I’ve seen or heard an advertisement for them recently, and they claim to have more suction power than a Dyson. This one was $160, which is about twice as much as my 4 year old Bissell cost. I wasn’t about to pay $400 for a Dyson. This one has a 5-year warranty, which is about how long I expect anything to last these days. I remember my mom’s old vacuum that she had all throughout my childhood and into my college years. They don’t make things to last anymore, do they?

After I assembled my new vac, the only thing I did was use it to clean the couch. The hair on the couch along filled up about ¼ or 1/3 of the cup, which isn’t small. I didn’t re-vacuum the entire apartment, but think that this vacuum will do a much better job at sucking up dirt and hair than my old one did. My dog sheds like crazy. When my friend John was here in February, he had problems with allergies even though I cleaned the entire apartment a couple of days before he got here.

So, yeah, I’m at the point in my life where I get excited by new appliances and I’ve been here for a while. I’m excited to run through my entire apartment with this thing.

About a week and a half ago, I went to see a podiatrist to have a piece of glass removed from my foot. I stepped on a piece of glass from a broken mirror about 5 weeks earlier. Since my foot never completely healed and my regular doctor didn’t find anything, I figured I needed to get it checked out by a specialist. Also, my medical insurance that I had from working at Tactel was about a week away from expiring.

One thing I’ve noticed since I moved here is that I never have to pay anything before I leave a doctor’s or dentist’s office, even if there’s a sign stating that payment must be made at the time services are rendered. When I was in Starkville, I always had to pay something before leaving the office. There were times when I was close to broke (still in school or barely out of school) and asked if they could file it with my insurance and send me a bill later. Nope. They always wanted me to pay something before I left the office. Now that I’m in Portland and more well off, I never have to pay anything before I leave. I always stop by the checkout desk before I leave, and they look at me like they’re confused and say, “Do you need to schedule a follow-up appointment?” When I say that I don’t they tell me that they’ll bill me what my insurance doesn’t pay.

I wonder why there’s a difference. Is it because I lived in a small town then and I live in a major metropolitan area now? Is it because of the insurance plan I’m on? Maybe I’ve just been lucky with my choices of medical providers since I moved here. Who knows? It just makes me happy when doctors are more concerned about helping patients than getting money from them.

They did find some glass in my foot. I hope they got it all out. It still hurts a little, but hopefully I won’t have to go back.

I bought a Fitbit One about a month and a half ago. It’s one of the many wearable fitness devices that are growing in popularity. It keeps track of steps, calories burned, stairs climbed, etc. You can also use it to track your sleep. I had already pre-ordered the new Fitbit device that’s supposed to be coming out soon, but I got tired of waiting. At one point, I thought about getting a Nike Fuelband, but I didn’t want to wear anything on my wrist. I don’t even wear watches anymore. I can put the Fitbit in my pocket and forget about it.

Fitbit has an app that I use a lot now. I was already using it to track my weight, but now I use it for more. I’m constantly checking my stats throughout the day on the app and on the Fitbit website to make sure I’m making progress toward my daily goals. You can set goals in several categories, but the most important one to me is number of steps. My current goal is 6,000 per day. On days that I work out, I usually take about 11,000-12,000 steps. On Saturday, it’s about 12,000-14,000 because I run errands that day. On other days of the week, I usually struggle to make it to 6,000. There’ve been times at night where I find myself reading and pacing back and forth just to reach my goal.

I once thought that I would never track calories because it’s too time consuming and I didn’t want to become obsessed with it. When I bought the Fitbit, I said I would do it for a few weeks. Well, over a month has passed and I’m still doing it. It’s helped me to see why I couldn’t seem to shake the weight I’ve gained back since I moved to Portland. The king-sized Reese’s that I’ve gotten in the habit of eating again can easily put me over my recommended calorie count for the day. A lunch from Subway or Quiznos can get up to 500-600 calories while the lunches I eat at home are 300 calories at the most. I’m getting back on the wagon and coming in very close to my recommended amount each day. That amount is adjusted based on your activity level during the day. If Fitbit’s estimates are correct, I can go at a medium pace and be back at my pre-Portland weight in August.

I’ve also been using the Fitbit’s sleep monitoring capabilities. You place the device in a wrist strap and sleep with it on your wrist. Supposedly, wrist movement is an accurate way to detect whether you’re awake or asleep. What I’ve learned is that when I fall asleep, I’m out like a light.

Soon after I bought a Fitbit One, I bought a Fitbit Aria, which is a wireless scale. It measures your weight and body fat and uploads it to your online profile. You can go here to check out my online profile. Cheer me on. Mock me. Whatever. A know a lot it is visible only to friends on the site, but you should still be able to get an idea of how I’m doing.

John was here in Portland for 10 days.  He arrived on Thursday the 14^th and left on Sunday the 24^th.  He told me he wanted to come here for his 30^th birthday (the 21^st) about 5 or 6 months ago and we’ve both been looking forward to it since.  We had a blast!  I wanted to write as much down as I could recall to help remember the trip.

Thursday – John’s flight was scheduled to arrive late Thursday night, shortly before midnight.  I saw online that it would be arriving a little late.  At some point, I stopped my car while I waited.  Some security lady told me that I couldn’t stay there and I had to circle around.  When I tried to start my car, it wouldn’t start.  I waited for John to arrive and then went to get help.  The airport sent someone to jump my car and we were on our way.  It was a great way to start John’s trip.

Friday – John went out and explored the city while I was at work.  My company had a party celebrating the opening of our new office here in Portland.  After John and I went to get my battery replaced, we chilled at my apartment that night.

Saturday – We got up and drove to Vancouver, British Columbia.  It was my first time leaving the country and John’s first time in Canada.  The hotel was pretty cool.  We went out to some clubs that night.

Sunday- We went to Granville Island and had lunch with my married friends Michaela and Dave.  After that John and I drove to Cleveland Damn and went on a short hike before it started to get too dark. We decided to go ziplining the next day in Whistler. We were exhausted after that, so we went to bed early.

Monday – We drove up to the mountains to Whistler.  I believe they had some winter Olympic events there in 2010.  The zipline tour on Cougar Mountain was so much fun. We got quite a bit of snow. We spent the night at Michaela and Dave’s in Richmond.  We had a steak dinner and some great beer.

Tuesday – We made our way back to Portland.  We stopped in Steveston Village, which is where they film Once Upon a Time.  It was cool seeing some of places where they film the show.  When we got back to my apartment we watched the latest 2 episodes.

Wednesday – I went to work and John did some more exploring.  Later John went to dinner with Breck and Mickey, two people that we knew back in Mississippi but have recently moved to Portland, unbeknownst to me.  After that John and I went shopping at Powell’s and Buffalo Exchange before heading home.

Thursday – This was John’s 30^th birthday.  I got him a cake and an hour-long massage.  That night we went out to dinner at a pub and we went out to a club.

Friday – We had lunch at Little Big Burger.  They have delicious fries.  We drove to Tillamook near the coast for a wine and cheese tasting.  I discovered some great wines we both brought back something with us.  I don’t remember what we did that night.

Saturday – We went to the first ever Portland Comic Con.  We had 3-day passes, but I think we did everything we needed to in that one day.  We got to get Morena Baccarin’s autograph and see a bunch of stars.  That night we went to see Skyfall ant Baghdad Theater with Breck and Mikey.

Sunday – That morning it was time for John to go back to Mississippi.  I always hate parting from friends after having a good time. After he left, I cleaned a little, took a long nap, did some grocery shopping, and watched the Oscars.

I was glad that John got to visit.  I was worn out after being on the go for 10 days straight, but it was worth it.  I hope he’ll be here again soon.  I think he liked Portland and the Northwest enough that he wouldn’t mind living here.

This past weekend some friends and I went to Las Vegas. All except one was someone who I had met in person for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con 2011. We had been tossing around the idea for a while, but finally started planning something last summer. I knew that Des, Alirio & Christine, Michaela & Dave, and Jim would be there. However, we ended up getting a surprise visit from Chris as well. A couple of people knew he was coming, but not me. Most of our group stayed at the Luxor, which was inexpensive and pretty nice. I had a good view from my hotel room and the hotel itself looks awesome at night. I got in late Friday night, so I didn’t do much except gamble at the hotel.

Saturday we went to brunch at the Wicked Spoon. We all ate so much food. We were there for over 2 hours. Some members of our group did their own blind taste test, which was neat.

After that some of the group went to the pool at Michaela and Dave’s hotel (I’m probably staying there the next time I’m in Vegas) while the rest of us went shopping. After we regrouped, we walked around A LOT and took in the scenery. There’s a lot of scenery to take in. I was amazed at all the lights and everything screaming for your attention. I didn’t like the people on the sidewalk who were constantly shoving flyers and cards into your face. I’d say Vegas is nice but with a hint of trashiness. While we were walking around we did stop occasionally to gambling.

The last thing we did before the whole group separated was have dinner at the Heart Attack Grill. I’ve heard about them in the news because of people who have died after eating their unhealthy food. People who weigh over 350 lbs get in free and they make you wear a hospital gown while you’re in the restaurant. I ate the smallest burger that they have and it was almost too much. I barely finished it and I thought I was going to vomit at the end.

I was so tired and full when we got back to the Luxor. I’m still sore 2 days later from all the walking. I had my most successful gambling time this night before I went to bed.

On Sunday, I did a little more gambling in the Luxor. I won a little bit. I was down about $45 for the whole trip. I had a flight at 1:55pm, so I didn’t have time to do much before heading to the airport.

I had such a great time in Vegas, even though the trip was short for me. I’ve gone on several trips alone lately, and this one was so much better because I was there with friends. I hope we can continue getting together like this from time to time. I’m already looking forward to seeing everybody again.

I finally broke and went to see a doctor Friday.  I got to a point where I wasn’t getting better and I’m going to Las Vegas in less than a week.  I was better when I was at home, but I felt like crap when I was in our cold office where we have no control over the temperature and when I was out in the cold.  It turns out that I had bronchitis.  I remember having bronchitis once when I was in high school.  The doctor prescribed a Z-Pak and some cough medicine.  The next day I felt so much better, even when I was in the cold.  I’m glad to finally be getting over this sickness.