sluggobear

Photos from Disneyland over the weekend. (19 photos, requires Flash, work-safe.)
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Just returned from an awesome visit to Georgia and Tennessee. I was able to spend some quality time with shortstackbear and cubatlanta... then we enjoyed a long weekend in a cozy log cabin near Dollywood in Tennessee. Hung-out with LJ'ers p00kitty, gibbo67, zacwolfdotcom and non-LJ'ers Jeff, Jack, Thad, Bo, John, Charles, Ray and Dave. (And cameos by benjiej, Billy, Shawn, Jamie & Jim, just for good measure.)

I had a marvelous time! The weather was cold and wet on the day we went to Dollywood, but it didn't dampen the fun. It's a beautiful little park, with outstanding theming (and of course, a little campiness.) And I've gotta say, the three coasters are truly kick-ass!

Our cabin was awesome... a three-story, six-bedroom on the side of a mountain... and offered a stunning view of the Smoky Mountains.

Click here to see a slideshow with 40 photos from the trip.

Nick & Rob tied the knot last night! OMG, so happy for you guys!

And so happy to have you guys both in San Diego now!

(Rob = crimsonsaint, Nick = HskyRxBear)

Check-out this little promo... my sister missalphabet designed the clothes!

Had a fun 4-day weekend in Vegas with my dad. We drove-up in his brand-new BMW (which he picked-up in Germany!) then stayed at the fancy new Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino ($99 a night thanks to Priceline.) It was a nice chance to hang-out with Dad and get some R&R.

Hit a few of the hot spots... Caesar's, Stratosphere, and saw Beatles: Love by Cirque Du Soleil... which was awesome. We also managed to meet my aunt and uncle for lunch, watch the awful new Pussycat Doll knockoff pirate show at Treasure Island TI, etc.

No roller coasters this trip. Why:

• High Roller, the coaster on top of Stratosphere, has been removed. (It wasn't that great anyways.)
• It appears that Speed: The Ride (NASCAR Cafe at Sahara, a favorite of mine) is now closed.
• Manhattan Express at New York New York Casino sucks. And it's painful. And expensive to ride.
• Desperado (Buffalo Bill's) appeared to not be running.
• I couldn't see paying $30+ to ride Canyon Blaster (Circus Circus Adventuredome).

A 13-photo slideshow appears below. (Requires Flash, slideshow runs 1min 10sec, work-safe.)

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Sent from iPhone

Kudos to braddumm  for my vampir-ification!

Featuring the aamazing Aaron aaka aairplane aaka xtreem_aaron!

I feel a bit self-conscious doing this, but several folks asked me to post some recent "post-surgery" pictures.

I didn't want to do anything cheesy and I really dislike the idea of a before/after thing. Just kinda lame.

Anyways, so above are some recent pics of me. (Taken by crimsonsaint, jpinsd and liquid_wayno.)

I dunno, I guess if you want to see a "before" shot, there's one here.

I've dropped over 70 lbs, gone from a 4XL to a 2XL shirt, and from a size 44 (sometimes 46) pants to a size 40. (I can actually wear my 38 jeans but they fit very snugly.)

I've been walking or biking every day, and occasionally mixing-in other stuff. Over the next few weeks, it'll include hiking, kayaking and volleyball.

The weight loss has leveled-off a bit, so now comes the next phase: the goal now is to lose about 2-3 lbs a month for the next year.

Meanwhile, my sleep continues to improve, though perhaps more slowly than I'd hoped. I'm definitely over the first "hump" and able to sleep soundly throughout the night. I'm also happy to report that I am alert enough to work a full 40 hours per week at work again. WHEW. But oximeter readings indicate that my blood oxygen is still low, and I still have some daytime sleepiness. This means I need to keep using my BiPAP*; and I'm working with a sleep specialist to keep finding ways to manage my apnea better.

Things took a giant leap forward when I started using a new BiPAP mask: the Respironics ComfortFull 2. It's practically a perfect fit... my numbers indicate an amazingly low leak rate every single night since I got it. It's comfortable, and I don't get air blasting in my eyes. (This, after experimenting with at least a dozen different kinds of masks over the last few years. Yay!)

So that's one problem solved. Now onto the next one: getting the right BiPAP pressure settings. I got a new BiPAP machine, it's smaller and has some nifty electronic reporting features that should give us some clues. Right now the BiPAP pressure is set to 20/16. I told the doctor that I thought 16 was too high, because I couldn't exhale completely before the BiPAP started making me breathe-in again. He looked at my last sleep study and agreed that my oxygen levels looked better at 20/14. So we've adjusted the machine, and we're tinkering with a few other settings that it has (ramp, cycle, min/max breath time, etc.) to get things better.

So things are progressing!

*A BiPAP is just like a CPAP, only it has two levels of air pressure: one for inhalation, and another (lower one) for exhalation.

A pic my friend Rob (crimsonsaint) took from a recent party we went to... the theme was 80's. Tee-hee!

Ran across some gorgeous photos of this now abandoned amusement park in Germany.

A mural of the family, as created by my uber-artistic sister JoAnne. This is on the living room wall at my parents' house now.

From left to right: Dad, Mom, Me, JoAnne (interesse), Amber, Suzanne (cooling1018), Elizabeth (missalphabet), Allison. (Plus dogs Cole, Casey and Roxy.)

It looks awesome, JoAnne!

(Click for more pics of it.)

A bunch of us went riding bikes out in Balboa Park this week. We're gonna try to ride at least twice a month.

Per kingfuraday's request. (Taken from a photo from our trip to Europe a few years ago.)


(And yes, this was a rush-job, I coulda done it much better.)

They're healing quickly. (For reference, here are the scars about 1 week after surgery.)

Thanks again to everyone for your encouraging comments and e-mails!

A bunch of us went to see Sex and the City: The Movie on Saturday. I'll admit, I enjoyed it a lot.

Before the show, a bunch of us met for cosmo's (not gay!), then went to have either a manicure, a pedicure spa, or both (also not gay!). Actually I had pink lemonade. Which is definitely not gay.

I opted for the pedi; I'd never had one before. (My feet are always a bit dry and needed a little work, though I opted not to have my toenails painted... unlike some of my buddies! They are decidedly not gay.)

Above, Brian relaxes whilst gettin a pedi. More pics if you click any photo. (There are about 20 in the set.)

Just got back from 5 days in San Francisco over the holiday weekend. My sister Amber and her husband DeShion invited me up for their 10th Anniversary Wedding Reception. Yes, they've been together for ten years, and because they only had a simple ceremony at City Hall, we never really had a chance to do a full-on party with family, friends, drinks and gifts. I was so happy to finally get the chance. The photo above is me dancing with my sisters Elizabeth (missalphabet) and Suzanne (cooling1018), and their friend Jenny.

Most of the guests came from the Bay Area; others came from all over California. It was great to spend some time with my folks and five sisters, as well as their friends and significant others.

This was definitely not your typical reception. Tables were set-up as stations where guests could contribute a page to a scrapbook for the married couple, make their own souvenir keepsake (complete with their own professional photo taken on-the-spot by the talented interesse), leave a tape-recorded message for people of the future, browse through photo albums, remember family members who had passed, and participate in a staring contest with other guests. Later (after some food, wine and music) there was a soul train, and get this--jump-rope and double dutch. In fact I think the music kicked-off with the classic 80's song Double Dutch Bus. (Have you ever been to a reception like that?)

Sunday night, the family headed to the beach in Pacifica and had a bonfire. It was cold and foggy but we had a nice time.

So over the weekend I spent time with family, saw a few friends, and got lots of rest and relaxation, which was much-needed. I didn't go-out much, but I did manage to catch-up with gibbo67, pharmbear, beefurjoe & John, p00kitty & Dave, Jamie, railguy, intoutdoors and an all-too-brief hello with bentwright. (Sorry about that Drew!)

Other than that I did a lot of walking, a lot of sleeping-in, listening to music and just being mellow. (On Monday I had quite possibly the best nap ever, falling asleep as my favorite music played in 7.1 surround-sound.) It was a great little vacation.

Here are some Flickr photos from the weekend... there are about 20 of 'em.

I shaved my beard because I was told it would be better for the breathing tube.

They also shaved my whole belly, and part of my wrist (where the IV goes.)

This is only the second time since 1995 that I've shaved my whole face.

(Took a few other photos while waiting for surgery, which can be found here.)

Pics by my Matt!

More here!
http://mattrosephotography.smugmug.com/gallery/3096705